Category: Christianity

MIRACLES ON DEMAND? MAYBE NOT…

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, SermonLeave a comment

miracles

G.K. Chesterton writes about miracles that those who believe in them, do so because there is evidence for them, and those who reject miracles do so because they already have a belief against them. Jesus clearly knew that a miracle will never convince someone who demands it as proof.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Matthew Part 40

 

Matthew #40 . Matthew 12:35-50

Remember that the overall theme of chapter twelve is Jesus’ growing conflict with the Pharisees. We’ve covered Jesus’ staggering claims that he is the “Son of Man” who has all authority, and also “Lord of Sabbath” which is a claim to Divinity, and we saw how this was unacceptable to the Pharisees. We considered how some of the Pharisees, by rejecting Jesus, committed to utterly rejecting the work of God’s Holy Spirit, putting themselves in a place where God could not help them. Matthew closes chapter twelve with three more thoughts centered in this conflict.

First, some of the Scribes and Pharisees said to him: “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

Presumably, these are some of the same people with whom Jesus has been speaking. What they are saying is, “Show us a miracle to prove that you have authority to say these things.”

At one level, this is a staggering request. The whole conflict came about first because Jesus healed the crippled hand of a man on the Sabbath. The present conversation was started because he delivered a man from a demon. Before Jesus did that, the man could not speak or see, and afterwards, he was perfectly normal. Matthew has recorded numerous miracles done by Jesus even before those things, and surely the Pharisees had heard of them. Now, it is barely possible that this particular group of Pharisees did not include anyone who had personally seen him do any of his miracles. In this case, their request is, “Do one for us, so that we can see it for ourselves and judge that you are from God.”

This demand for the “sign” was essentially the very same thing the devil had tempted Jesus to do in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2-3). They are saying, just as Satan said, “If you are the Son of God, prove it!” Satan tempted Jesus to prove it by making bread out of rocks and satisfying his hunger. Through the Pharisees, Satan is bringing the same type of temptation: “Prove it! Just do a miracle.” No wonder Jesus calls them “an evil and adulterous generation.” He recognized that they were doing the work of the devil.

Now, why couldn’t Jesus just prove it? I taught about this a little bit in our sermon series: Matthew #7 (Chapter 4:1-11). Remember, part of the sacrifice Jesus made was to set aside the use of his own divine power, and rely entirely upon the Father through the Holy Spirit. Jesus, in taking on human nature, committed himself to live in complete dependence upon the Father, even as we humans are called to live in dependence upon him. To live as a human, to fulfill his mission, he had to trust in the Father to take care of him. He had to trust in the Father to do his work through him when and where he wanted. The Pharisees said, “If you are Divine, you can easily show us.” But that would have ruined his mission. He would no longer be living, as we must, in complete dependence upon the Father. If the Father didn’t want to do a miracle right then and there, then Jesus chose to trust and obey him, rather than “prove” himself.

There is another thing. Jesus clearly knew that a miracle will never convince someone who demands it as proof. Luke records a parable that Jesus told about an unrighteous rich man, and a faithful poor man named Lazarus. After they die, the rich man finds himself in hell, and sees Lazarus sitting with Abraham in heaven. He calls across the void, pleading with Abraham to send the spirit of Lazarus back to earth to warn his family:

“ ‘Father,’ he said, ‘then I beg you to send Lazarus to my father’s house — because I have five brothers — to warn them, so they won’t also come to this place of torment.’

“But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’

“ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

“But he told him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’ ” (Luke 16:27-31, HCSB)

Remember, when the New Testament says “Moses and the Prophets” or “The Law and the Prophets” what it means is “the bible.” The moral of this story is that if we do not believe the words of scripture, even a miracle will not be enough. This story of course is also a veiled reference to the fact that Jesus would die and come back from the dead, and even then, most of these Pharisees refused to believe it.

So, Jesus knows that even if he produced a miracle on demand, it wouldn’t be enough. The Pharisees have already convinced themselves that Jesus can’t be from God. They have already decided in their hearts, they have already ignored the scriptures about the Messiah. The truth is, anything can be explained away. G.K. Chesterton writes about miracles that those who believe in them, do so because there is evidence for them, and those who reject miracles do so because they already have a belief against them. This was certainly true of the Pharisees. They have rejected the testimony of those who saw Jesus heal and deliver others. They have rejected the testimony of the people themselves who said they were healed and delivered by Jesus. It is clear that even if Jesus were to perform a miracle in front of their faces, they would find a way to discount it. In fact, we know that Jesus healed the man with the crippled hand in front of some of the Pharisees, and obviously, they rejected it, saying it couldn’t be a miracle from God because it was done on the Sabbath.

I’ve used this illustration before, but I think it’s useful. Consider a person whom you think is entirely reliable. If she tells you that chicken is only $0.99/pound at Kroger on Wednesday, you know that you can go to Kroger and find chicken for exactly that price. If she tells you that she once met the mayor of New York City, it does not surprise you at all when she produces a picture of her with the Mayor, and a signed note from him to her. If you ask her to give you the square root of 361, you can bet your next paycheck that she’ll say 19.

Now, suppose, one day, your friend tells you that she just found out she has cancer. You know she wouldn’t lie to you. You know she wouldn’t be mistaken. You absolutely believe she has cancer. A few weeks later, she tells you that she went to a prayer meeting, and people prayed for her healing. A few days after that, she went to the doctor, and found out she is now entirely cancer-free. She claims she has been miraculously healed. Would you believe her?

The only reason not to believe her, is that you have already decided miracles do not happen. If that was the case, you might attribute good motives to your friend, but you would be ready with a host of alternative explanations for her healing.

It’s a simple fact: miracles won’t convince people who have already made up their minds.

Jesus does tell the Pharisees that they will get one sign/miracle: the sign of Jonah.

For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s proclamation; and look — something greater than Jonah is here! (Matt 12:40-41, HCSB)

This, of course, is a prediction of Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is the first time in Matthew that Jesus has overtly mentioned such a thing. In dependence upon the Father, Jesus can’t decide when and where to do a miracle – he waits for the Father to act. But the Father has shown him his mission: his coming death and resurrection. So that’s the only miracle Jesus can guarantee that they will get to witness. In fact, the resurrection is the main sign that Jesus has the authority to say the things he has been saying. Even so, the Father has revealed to Jesus that most of the Pharisees will reject that sign also.

Jesus continues by chastising the Pharisees and their generation. He calls them evil and adulterous. He says that the people of Nineveh, and the Queen of Sheba will stand in judgment on them on the last day. The point of that is that the people of Nineveh were particularly evil, yet when confronted with the preaching of Jonah they repented and were saved. The queen of the South (Sheba) was a pagan; but she sought the word of God from Solomon, repented and was saved. He is comparing his generation to those people, and pointing out that the main difference is that his generation has not repented. Then he tells a little parable, and basically suggests that they are like a man who was once possessed by a demon which left for a time, and then brought back more demons into the man’s life.

I think sometimes we would get so much more from the scripture when we just pause and think about it for bit, and ask the questions that arise for us. Here’s what strikes me: this is Jesus talking. Jesus is calling people evil and adulterous. He is saying they are going from bad to worse. He is saying they will be judged by previous generations who were considered evil, but repented.

We are inclined to think of Jesus as being loving, and never being judgmental or unkind, so what is going on here?

First, of course, often our idea of Jesus is not much like what the scripture actually tells us about him. We need to let the scripture correct that. Second, I think Jesus says these things because they are true. Third, he says them because it might possibly save a few of these people.

Think of a surgeon performing a heart procedure on a patient. If it is possible, doctors often try to fix blockages to the heart by running a tiny tube through the blood vessels of the patient. Using this method they can clear arteries and insert tiny “stents” which keep the blood vessels open and flowing properly. These types of procedures are best for most patients, because they are minimally invasive. Recovery time after such a procedure is relatively short. Imagine a surgeon doing this, and suddenly the patient goes into cardiac arrest. Nothing the surgical team tries is working. They will progress through a series of procedures that are more and more invasive and dangerous to the patient. The more the patient continues to fail, the more desperate and dangerous the interventions become. If necessary, they may have to cut open the patient’s chest and do open heart surgery. A surgeon may even have to reach in and massage the heart with his own hand.

These difficult and dangerous procedures are not usually recommended, but sometimes, it becomes the only chance the patient has for survival. It may be extreme, but it is done when hope is failing, when all measures are being used to try and save the dying patient.

I think that is exactly what is going on here. The Pharisees are in danger of rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit. A kind, gentle word is not sufficient to save them anymore. That “procedure” has become ineffective on them. Jesus speaks to them so harshly to try and get their attention, to warn them, to save them, if possible. Make no mistake, these harsh words are spoken in love, as Jesus tries everything possible to bring them back to repentance and faith.

Matthew adds a final incident here.

Someone told Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to You.”

We know that Jesus had a least two half-brothers: James, who became a leader in the early church and wrote the Epistle of James, and Jude, who wrote the second-last book of the New Testament, a short letter. Imagine being the younger brother of Jesus! Your teachers at school would never let you hear the end of it. Matthew doesn’t record why they wanted to see him. But Jesus takes the moment to teach those around him.

But He replied to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers? ” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven, that person is My brother and sister and mother.” (Matt 12:47-50, HCSB)

Jesus is putting into action his own words that the kingdom of God is even more important than family relationships. This is also a final word aimed at the Pharisees. True fellowship is found in doing the will of the Father. I want to point out here that in the Greek, Jesus does, in fact, says “sisters” as well as “brothers.” This would have been a bit surprising to the Jews. Jesus is including women as equals members of the kingdom of Heaven.

I have a tremendous spiritual heritage in my earthly family. The first Hilperts that we know about were French Huguenots, who stood up for their faith. They were persecuted for it, and lost land and home and all they owned, but they continued to remain faithful. They had to leave France, and flee to Germany. The next we know of them, the first Hilperts in America came as Lutheran missionaries. Since coming to America, the record is fairly well known, and every generation of my family has had at least one individual who served the Lord full time as a pastor or missionary.

My wife has none of this spiritual heritage in her family. She was the first in her family to follow Jesus. When she was in Bible school, she would meet missionary families like mine, and feel like she was some sort of second-class Christian.

But you know what? As much as I am grateful for the spiritual heritage of my family, it doesn’t do me any good unless I myself trust Jesus and obey. I don’t mean I have to be perfect at it. Jesus knew we weren’t perfect – he knew that’s why he was here on earth, to address our inability to perfectly do the will of the Father. But what he wants is for that to be our orientation, our direction. When we fall, we get back up, and continue in the direction of trust and obedience. In any case, my point is, I have to trust and obey for myself. I am not “born” into Christianity – I enter in faith and obedience, like everyone else. My wife Kari, with no spiritual ancestors, is just as much part of the family of God as I am. He welcomes us all on the same basis.

So, what do we do with all this?

I think the piece about miracles is worth considering. Do we demand that God act in order to satisfy us before we will trust him? Jesus had some harsh words for the Pharisees who were like that. Sometimes, this is a comfort to me. I think, “If only God would do ________, my friend would believe and trust!” But God doesn’t do it. However, this passage shows that my thinking isn’t necessarily right. Miracles do not always help a person in their relationship with God. I suppose it depends on the person and the situation, because clearly, Jesus continued to do miracles after this.

Speaking of Jesus’ harsh words to the Pharisees, I think it is far more difficult for us to judge when harsh words might be needed. Too often, we use harsh words because we are angry, not because it is the extreme act of love in trying to help someone turn back to the Lord. I think great caution is required here. We are not Jesus. It isn’t easy for us to tell when this approach is needed. But I do think it is important for us to understand that sometimes, telling the truth without sugar-coating it is necessary, and it might possibly lead someone to repentance and faith.

I think it’s also important for us to see Jesus’ harshness here for what it is: love, doing everything it possibly can to bring people into reconciliation with God.

Likewise, I love the picture of Jesus looking at his disciples and saying, “You are my family. You are my brothers and sisters. We’re bound more closely than family, because we all trust and obey the Father.”

Listen to what the Lord is saying to you today.

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A DAY OF RULES, OR A DAY OF REST?

On By Pastor TomIn Bible Teaching, Christianity, House Church, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, Sermon1 Comment

sabbath rest

 

What the Pharisees did was to change the Sabbath from a picture of God’s holiness into a series of steps you could follow. It was no longer a challenge that made you turn to God in desperation. It wasn’t even any more an invitation to rest in God’s grace and trust Him to take care of you. Instead, it was a series of boxes that you checked off in order to feel good about yourself

 

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Matthew Part 38

 

Matthew #38 . Matthew 12:1-13

I think that one of the most frequently misunderstood things in the gospels is Jesus’ conflict with the Pharisees. Many people think that Jesus had a particular problem with them because they were religious and traditional. In a way, that is true, but it’s not quite as simple as most people make it. Also, far too many people go on to take that as a blank check to reject anything they want to call “religion” including things like being a part of a church, or worshipping regularly with other believers.

The truth is, what Jesus rejected was a particular kind of religiousness, and a particular way of using traditions. It is good for us to follow in his example, to understand and avoid those same types of dangers; however it is also good not to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Let me back up and set the stage for the religious behavior of the Pharisees in the time of Jesus. In the middle part of the history of the people of Israel, the time of the judges and kings, a majority of Israelites did not live according to the covenant that God had made with them. During the time of the judges, they continually turned away from God, and God continually got their attention by allowing the nations around them to oppress them. Then, for a few generations under Samuel, David and Solomon, the nation of Israel lived generally true to their faith, and they flourished. After Solomon, however, they turned to the worship of idols. There were good kings who led them back to worshipping God, but the overall trend was for them to get further and further away from living like the people of God. Finally, God allowed Assyria and Babylon to totally conquer the people of Israel, and a huge proportion of them were taken away in exile.

When the Lord engineered the return from exile, it seemed like the remaining Israelites had learned their lesson. The Jews became much more strict in their observance of the Law of Moses. At some level, they understood the consequences of turning away from God, and they wanted to avoid repeating history. There were some Jews, however, who were much more secular, and whom embraced the ways of the conquering Greeks. (the Greeks controlled the region for a while after the return of the exiles). After a struggle, a group of observant Jews succeeded cleansing the temple, and then in taking control from both the secular Jews and the Greeks (they were led by Judas Maccabaeus). Jewish independence under the Maccabeans only lasted a few generations, but the lesson seemed clear to many: the way to freedom as a nation was to strictly follow the Laws of Moses.

Another thing began to happen during the two centuries right before Jesus. The Jewish people concerned about following the law began to ask questions about how to do it. Moses had said:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You must not do any work — you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates. For the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)

That was all well and good, said the Jews, but what does it mean, practically speaking? What, really is work? What makes a day holy? What constitutes rest? The Jews began to make up rules that explained in excruciating detail what it meant to properly observe the Sabbath. They came up with a certain number of steps that you were allowed to walk. They decided that lighting a lamp or candle was “work” and so the mother of the house would light these things on Friday night, and let them burn until Saturday night, so that she wouldn’t “work” by messing with lamps on the Sabbath. They basically created a new set of rules that you were supposed to follow, and if you just followed them, then you had done your duty to God.

The Jews did this with almost every command given by Moses. So you see, observing the Law no longer meant living in faith by trying to follow the commands in relationship with God; instead it meant following the rules made up by Rabbis. In general, those rules might have been irritating or inconvenient, but anyone could do them.

There are two major problems with this. The first is that the commands of the moral law given through Moses were meant to show us God’s holiness, and, in comparison, our sin. The law was supposed to show us how Holy God is, and how far short we fall. It was meant to show us our true and desperate need for God, and to make us seek a Savior. But what the Jews did was to turn this picture of God’s holiness into a series of steps you could follow. The Sabbath was no longer a picture of God’s holiness. It was no longer a challenge that made you turn to God in desperation. It wasn’t even any more an invitation to rest in God’s grace. Instead, it was a series of boxes that you checked off in order to feel good about yourself. Every law became similarly debased by man-made steps. Every law became just a manageable checklist. If you checked most of the boxes, and went to the temple and made sacrifices for the ones you missed, you could call yourself holy. Now there was no need for savior – if you just followed the rules of the Rabbis, (which were easier than the actual law) you were righteous.

The second thing that this rule-making did was to make following God about performance, rather than heartfelt repentance, worship and relationship. All you had to do was follow the steps. Your heart could be filled with murder, lust, greed and bitterness, but if you just did the steps, everyone would consider you to be holy. You could even hate God, but if you followed the steps laid out by the Rabbis, you were holy. What all this meant, is that God wasn’t even really in the picture any more. You could do the entire Jewish religion without God.

The great Israelites of the past followed God in faith. Abraham believed God, and God counted it to him as righteousness – not because he performed well, but because he trusted wholeheartedly in God’s promises (Genesis 15:6, Galatians 3:6, James 2:23). Moses interacted with God face to face. David worshipped God heart and soul through music and poetry and personal prayer, as did many others (just read the Psalms). Ruth and Naomi trusted in God’s gracious provision. Elijah prayed and trusted God.

But most of the Jews of Jesus’ time had reduced the life of faith to checking off boxes on lists of rules.

Now, we come to Matthew chapter 12. The disciples are walking through the fields on the Sabbath – with Jesus. What could make the Sabbath more truly holy than the presence of God in the flesh? Their day is set apart for spending time with the Lord. The fields were apparently fields of ripe grain which had not yet been harvested. For a snack, the disciples were pulling of heads of wheat as they walked, and munching on the whole wheat berries. It was equivalent to finding crab apples on a hike, and picking one or two, eating them as you walk.

But the Pharisees saw them and said: “Picking heads of wheat is technically harvesting grain, and harvesting grain is working; therefore, you are violating the rules of the Sabbath!”

But Moses never said, “Don’t even grab some wheat berries as you pass through the fields on the Sabbath.” He said, “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Don’t do any work on that day.” It was the Pharisees who defined what the disciples were doing as work. It has as little resemblance to work as tossing a football around with the family in a private backyard resembles the practice-work of a professional football athlete. The disciples weren’t toiling at their livelihood; they weren’t threshing or grinding, or even cooking. They were relaxing with Jesus, and snacking from the readily available bounty of His creation. They were in fact, honoring the Sabbath and resting in the Holy Presence of the Creator Himself.

Jesus could have responded to the Pharisees in a number of ways. He chose to direct their attention the scriptures. First, he reminds them that when David had need, he ate the bread that was set aside only for the priests; yet David did no wrong in doing so. He then reminds them that priests work on the Sabbath. Since he says “the priests of the temple,” he is probably referring to the offering of sacrifices on Sabbath days, which was part of the work of a priest. He adds:

But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here! If you had known what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Matt 12:6-8, HCSB)

He is making two points. First, the important thing is not to follow man-made rules about the Sabbath – what God really wants is “mercy, not sacrifice.” In other words, the Lord is after a changed heart, not an external conformity to man-made rules. Second, he says that he (when Jesus says “son of man” he is referring to himself) is Lord of the Sabbath. Once more this is a claim to be Divine. He is saying, “I made the Sabbath, I think I know what is appropriate for it or not.”

Matthew records another confrontation over the Sabbath. This time, the Pharisees are actually using the Sabbath as an excuse to accuse and discredit him, to prove he is a bad Jew. There in the synagogue on the Sabbath was a man with a paralyzed hand. The Pharisees say to Jesus, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” Once again, what they are doing is insisting on viewing the Sabbath as a checklist of dos and don’ts, instead of an invitation to trust and rest. They are insisting upon their own, man-made version of the Sabbath, instead of taking God’s word through Moses in faith and trust.

Most of the world, at that time, including Galilee, was largely agricultural. Jesus points out that if someone has an animal in trouble on the Sabbath, they help it. How much more worthwhile to heal a human being in need! Again, Jesus’ response is to get to the heart of the Sabbath.

I want to point out something that is often misunderstood: Jesus is not abolishing the Sabbath here. He is not saying, “The Sabbath no longer matters; do what you want every day of the week.” But he is saying this:

“The Sabbath, like all of the Old Testament, is all about me (Jesus). It shows you your need for me, and it is fulfilled by trusting me and living your life in relationship to me. There is still rest that you need to take, and that rest is found in me alone.” He is not against the Sabbath, or any of the Old Testament law, but he is against the man-made rules that the Pharisees have made about it.

I have several pastor friends whom rarely take a day set aside for honoring the Lord by resting. When we talk about it, they sort of take an “aw, shucks,” attitude. Sure, they’d like to rest, but they’re just too busy doing the Lord’s work. In America, we’re inclined to give people like this a pass. How can working hard be a sin? In fact, we are inclined to admire people who work hard and are too busy to take a whole day to rest.

My friends are good men. If I told them that I regularly stole money and didn’t feel bad about it, they’d be shocked. If I told them I was committing adultery, they would urge me to repent. Yet the command to keep the Sabbath comes in the ten commandments, just like the commands to avoid stealing and adultery. It is no more holy for them to not take a special day of rest than it is for me to steal.

Let me say it again: Jesus does not abolish this command. He points out the error of how the Pharisees have turned it into a mere man-made checklist. He makes it clear that the true rest is found in trusting in him and being with him. He is clearly against a legalistic set of rules defining how the day must be spent. But he does not say, “forget the Sabbath.”

Returning to my friends who do not set aside a “Sabbath,” a time to rest and honor God, let’s consider a few things. They may feel like they are honoring God by working, however, what I think is really going on is that they are dishonoring God by not trusting him. They don’t trust that everything will be OK if they take time out. They act as if everything depends upon their hard work, as if their churches will fall apart without them. The Sabbath shows us, among other things, that God is in charge, it is up to him, and we can trust him. When we don’t take it, we are missing the chance to strengthen that trust.

Ironically, the Pharisees had turned the Sabbath into things that had to be done, rules that had to be followed, so that rest and trust no longer had much to do with it for them either. This is what Jesus criticizes them for. Never taking a Sabbath on the one hand, or insisting upon strict rules for how to implement it on the other, are two sides of the same coin, and that coin reads: “In ourselves we trust.” I want to make sure you understand what I am saying here. In today’s world, a Christian who does not set aside a day to honor and trust
God through rest, is essentially the same as a Pharisee in Jesus’ time who used rules to take the honor and trust and rest out of the Sabbath day. Even though the Pharisees outwardly looked righteous, they had gutted the real substance of the Sabbath. Even though non-resting Christians outwardly don’t look like Pharisees, they too, have gutted the real substance of the Sabbath, which again, is to remember and enter into God’s holiness through trust and rest.

Like so many things in the Christian life, what we need here trust and balance. Jesus clearly shows us that it is wrong to create a Sabbath checklist, a set of rules to show us we’ve righteously observed the Sabbath. On the other hand, the Sabbath, like the other commandments of the moral law, remains important for Christians. Though it may look different for different people, it is important for us to set aside a day that belongs to God, in which we honor and trust him by resting.

Let me use an example that may be helpful: Is it OK to mow the lawn on your “Sabbath?” (by the way, I don’t think the particular day of the week is as important as simply having some day that is set aside for trustful rest in the Lord; again, Jesus shows us not to be legalistic about such details). The answer is, first of all: stop trying to figure out a set of rules for the Sabbath. Trust the Lord. Accept that you need rest, and if you take it, the Lord will take care of what you are not working at. If you need specifics, ask Him first what it should look like for you.

Now, I’m aware that my first answer may not be immediately satisfying. You may genuine want to know, “how do we do this?” So here’s another answer: it depends. For me, mowing the lawn is a chore. It isn’t restful for me, and I usually end up wanting to curse at the lawnmower. So I don’t mow my lawn on my Sabbath (nor do I make my children to do it). But I have a friend who finds mowing the lawn enjoyable and restful to his soul. For my friend, mowing the lawn might be one of the most God-honoring and restful things he could do for a Sabbath; for me it is the opposite. The point is not to have a rule about a specific activity – rather it is whether that activity helps us to rest and to honor and trust God. So my friend sets apart the day as restful and holy by mowing the lawn; I set apart the day as holy and restful by not mowing the lawn.

Here’s another one. I often find writing restful. However, there are times when I find myself getting anxious about my career as an author. The result is that on some Sabbaths I write, and on others, when I’m finding it difficult to trust God with my writing, and it feels like work, or that I would be doing it because I’m worried about it, I avoid it. Do you get the idea here?

What about you? Have you been prone to the error of the Pharisees, making rules to control the Sabbath, or some other part of the moral law, thinking “if I just do a, b and c, I’ll be fine,”? Hear from the Jesus that He is the point of it all. Learn to listen to him and not lose sight of the point.

Perhaps you are on the other end of the spectrum, thinking you can safely ignore God’s invitation to remember his holiness by resting and trusting? Learn from Jesus that these things matter, because they are all about Him.

Let the Holy Spirit speak to you today.

~

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

I want to remind you again that we are a listener-supported ministry, and that means, first and foremost, that we are supported by your prayers. We need and value your prayers for us.

Please pray that this ministry will continue to be a blessing to those who hear it. Ask God, if it is his will, to touch even more lives with these messages. Ask him to use this ministry in making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Please also pray for our finances. Pray for us to receive what we need. Please pray for us in this way before you give anything. And then, as you pray, if the Lord leads you to give us a gift, please go ahead and do that. But if he doesn’t want you to give to us, that is absolutely fine. We don’t want you to feel bad about it. We want you to follow Jesus in this matter. But do continue to pray for our finances.

If the Lord does lead you to give, just use the Paypal Donate button on the right hand side of the page. You don’t have to have a Paypal account – you can use a credit card, if you prefer. You can also set up a recurring donation through Paypal.

You could also send a check to:

New Joy Fellowship

625 Spring Creek Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Just put “Clear Bible” in the memo. Your check will be tax-deductible.

 

Thank for your prayers, and your support!

REST FOR YOUR SOUL

On By Pastor TomIn Christianity, House Church, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, SermonLeave a comment

rest

Our own expectations are a burden to us. Our demand for Jesus to behave the way we want him to turns our spiritual life into a wearying struggle. There are other things that wear us out, also: our own goals and ambitions for this life, our attempts to control circumstances and relationships, our attempt to hold onto things that we know are sinful and wrong. Jesus says, “Drop all of that! Take on me, and me alone, and you will find rest and ease for your souls.” This is not a word of judgment, but of grace.

 

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Matthew Part 37

Matthew #37 . Matthew 11:7-30

Last time we considered how Jesus failed to meet the (quite reasonable) expectations of John the Baptist. Jesus responded essentially by saying, “Look back to the Bible and trust what it says. You are blessed when you aren’t upset because I don’t act like you expect me to.”

We pick up this time as John’s disciples are leaving to give him the message. Jesus continues his thoughts by talking to those who are left about John.

John has been overshadowed in history by Jesus, but during his life, and for an entire generation during after his death, John the Baptist was a very influential figure. Many of his followers did not make the transition to following Jesus, and instead, they formed a powerful sub-segment of Judaism until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Jesus clearly acknowledges John’s greatness. He explains John’s place in the history of God’s people: he is a prophet and more than that, he was the one predicted by Isaiah who would come before the Messiah and announce him to the world. In fact, Jesus calls him the greatest man alive. Then Jesus adds two interesting thoughts. First, he says that in spite of John’s greatness, “the least in the kingdom of God” is greater than him. This is puzzling, and there are several possible things that Jesus may have meant. It could be that what Jesus means is that John represents the old covenant, the one which the people of Israel never could keep, and by which they could never be reconciled to God. In this scenario then, John was the greatest man who could live by the old covenant, but the righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ is a completely different and greater righteousness. The most pathetic one who is justified by faith in Jesus Christ is closer to God than even the most diligent and self-denying law keeper of the old covenant.

Another possibility is that Jesus means that those who have died and gone on to glory are greater than even the greatest living man. This fits somewhat with what we learned last time, where John was anxious about his present circumstance. Jesus might be saying, “John’s greatness in this life is nothing compared to what he will experience once he dies in faith and fully enters the kingdom of heaven. He is concerned about temporary salvation, but the eternal salvation I offer is so much greater.”

The second strange thought that Jesus shares is this:

12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been suffering violence, and the violent have been seizing it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John; 14 if you’re willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who is to come.

I think what Jesus is referring to here is the widespread belief, perhaps also held by John the Baptist, that the Messiah would bring physical and political deliverance from foreign oppressors. In fact the Jewish people (and possibly John as well) were expecting a violent Messiah. This may sound shocking to us; we know what actually happened, what Jesus actually did and taught. But at the time Jesus walked the earth, the Jewish people sincerely believed that the Messiah would arrive to do violence to their enemies. Jesus is not affirming this. In a continuation of what he said to John, he is explaining that he will not meet those expectations. The idea that the Messiah would preach love, and seek to reconcile all human beings to God (even Romans and foreign soldiers), was completely unique and unexpected to the people at the time.

In fact, for most of the rest of Chapter 11 Jesus is pointing out that he is not meeting expectations. The people criticized John for overt, severe self-discipline; then they turned around and denounced Jesus for not showing overt, severe self-discipline. Both C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton have observed this continuing habit of criticizing Jesus and Christianity for opposite things. One the one hand, people say that our faith is merely wish-fulfillment and pie-in-the-sky; we are too optimistic. On the other hand, Christians are frequently criticized for the doctrine of original sin and the future of the world; we are too pessimistic.

When Jesus speaks to the towns ins verses 21-25, he is continuing with this same theme. The towns he mentions are all in the area of Galilee, where he has been ministering. His point is that he has done amazing miracles, that he has fulfilled many prophecies about the Messiah, and yet the people in these towns have not accepted him. Most likely, the reason they did not was because he did not behave the way they expected the Messiah to behave.

It’s hard to believe that the culture at the time thought the Messiah would be a violent man of war. But what are the common strange expectations of our time?

Our culture believes that God asks nothing from us, and holds us to no personal moral standard. We expect to do as we please, and then be welcomed into heaven when the time comes. To the extent that our culture believes in Jesus at all, it believes that Jesus died to show us love, and that now we should continue our lives unchanged and unaffected by that sacrifice. In fact, Jesus himself calls us to die to ourselves and surrender to Him and His purposes; we’ve seen that already in the book of Matthew. Just as the people at the time ignored what the Scripture actually said about the Messiah, so also our culture ignores what the Bible actually says about Jesus.

Our culture believes that Jesus preaches a kind of universal religion, no different from anything else in the world, when in fact, Jesus’ own words proclaim that he is unique, and that our entire future hinges on our response to him, and him alone. Of course, there are elements of truth in other religions. But Jesus makes it clear that he himself is the ultimate revelation of truth, and that our choice to either receive him or reject him is of eternal consequence.

When we hear the words of the Bible, do we receive them and surrender to them, or do we, like the towns in Galilee, reject the truth because it does not conform to our expectations?

Jesus closes this discourse with one of my favorite passages in the Bible:

“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30, HCSB)

Our own expectations are a burden to us. Our demand for Jesus to behave the way we want him to turns our spiritual life into a wearying struggle. There are other things that wear us out, also: our own goals and ambitions for this life, our attempts to control circumstances and relationships, our attempt to hold onto things that we know are sinful and wrong. Jesus says, “Drop all of that! Take on me, and me alone, and you will find rest and ease for your souls.” This is not a word of judgment, but of grace.

Just to make sure we have the picture correct, let me explain what Jesus meant by “yoke.” A yoke was a kind of farm or work implement. It was a piece of wood that was somewhat curved and could fit over the necks of animals or human beings. If the yoke was for a human, the ends might attach to a harness, which then could be attached to a plow or a cart. The man with the yoke across his shoulders could then use the leverage of the yoke to pull the plow or the cart. Alternatively, a load could be hung from each end of the yoke, balanced across the shoulders of the man. Picture a man with a bar across his shoulders, and a bucket hanging from each end of the bar, and you get the idea. There were also yokes made for animals. Some of them were double-yokes in which, say, two oxen could be fastened, and using the yoke, their strength could be combined to pull a load.

I think there are two things we can get from this image, both of them appropriate. The first is the straightforward meaning of Jesus’ words, which is that the burden or work involved in trusting him is light, and even restful for the soul. Picture a yoke with no weight or harness attached to it. The point is, when we give up our own expectations or demands, and surrender to Jesus, and to living life his way, it is restful and healing for our souls.

The second image is that of the two oxen pulling together. Jesus might be saying: “Hitch yourself to me, and let me do the pulling. When I do the work alongside you, you will find it easy and restful.” The idea is that we trust Jesus to do what needs to be done, we let his strength take the weight of the burdens that we face.

I like to picture it like this. Imagine that you are wearing a large, hiker’s backpack. The pack is absolutely stuffed with equipment and all sorts of things that you might reasonably think you need for the journey. It weighs 60 pounds or more. Now you meet Jesus standing by the trail. He is holding a very small, comfortable -looking pack. As he hands it to you, you feel that it is maybe 5 pounds. There is no way it could hold anything more than perhaps food for your next meal.

Now, you are carrying so much weight and bulk that when you try to add that 5 pound pack from Jesus, you find it is considerably harder than before. Jesus laughs at you. “No, silly! Get rid of your big old pack and carry only my pack.” The key of course, is to trust that if we take on only the 5 pound pack, Jesus will be with us to give us the other things we need, when we need them.

You see, I think so many Christians do not find following Jesus to be restful. The reason is, they try to follow Jesus, and at the same time, try to maintain their own control, their own goals, ambitions and expectations. This is not the rest that Jesus offers. The rest and peace come when we give up our own burdens and take his yoke, and only his yoke, upon ourselves. The way to lightness and ease for our souls is to take the yoke of Jesus on ourselves, leaving our own “yoke” behind.

I invite you to do that right now. There is no time like the present. Are there expectations that you have of this life, or of Jesus, expectations that the Holy Spirit is now calling you to release? Are you holding onto the weight of controlling your own life? Is it possible that your own ambitions and plans are a burden to you? Is there some way in which you are insisting that you get what you want, or that you must get it in your way?

These are all heavy burdens that Jesus is calling you to release. In exchange, he offers you just one light, ease-filled, restful burden: to trust him, and to let him be in control. Let him pull the weight, while you relax and trust him.

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

I want to remind you again that we are a listener-supported ministry, and that means, first and foremost, that we are supported by your prayers. We need and value your prayers for us.

Please pray that this ministry will continue to be a blessing to those who hear it. Ask God, if it is his will, to touch even more lives with these messages. Ask him to use this ministry in making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Please also pray for our finances. Pray for us to receive what we need. Please pray for us in this way before you give anything. And then, as you pray, if the Lord leads you to give us a gift, please go ahead and do that. But if he doesn’t want you to give to us, that is absolutely fine. We don’t want you to feel bad about it. We want you to follow Jesus in this matter. But do continue to pray for our finances.

If the Lord does lead you to give, just use the Paypal Donate button on the right hand side of the page. You don’t have to have a Paypal account – you can use a credit card, if you prefer. You can also set up a recurring donation through Paypal.

You could also send a check to:

New Joy Fellowship

625 Spring Creek Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Just put “Clear Bible” in the memo. Your check will be tax-deductible. Unfortunately, we cannot do the tax deductible option with the paypal donate button, however the money does go directly to support this ministry.

 

Thank for your prayers, and your support!

GIVING THANKS EVEN WHEN IT’S HARD

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Christianity, Podcast, Religion, Sermon1 Comment

tgiving

Giving thanks is a way to really take hold of, and receive, what God has done and who he is. It is a key component in faith, grace and peace.

 

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

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THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving has become an American holiday and tradition, but it does originate from deep, Christian spiritual roots. One of the things that I find interesting is that many of significant Thanksgiving celebrations early in the history of America took place in the middle of very difficult times.

The “original thanksgiving” took place in the New England settlement of Pilgrims during the sixteen-hundreds. It is true that at the time they celebrated, they had a good harvest. But they had just gone through an incredibly difficult year in which large numbers of the Pilgrims had perished from disease and malnutrition. From a simple cataloging of bad events versus good, they had much more to be upset about than to be thankful for. Yet they held a three day feast, thanking God for his blessings.

The first national day of thanksgiving was proclaimed by the brand-new American government in 1777. It is true, at the time many people were elated by the American victory over the British at Saratoga. But also at the time of the proclamation, the British still occupied the capital city of the new country (which was Philadelphia at that point) and also held New York City and several significant southern cities. The war was far from over, and times were still quite desperate, and yet they called for a national day of prayer, thankfulness, and repentance toward God.

Considering this history, perhaps it is appropriate that Thanksgiving became an official national holiday during the middle of the Civil War. Once again, the war was far from over, and many desperate times and terrible battles were both behind and ahead. Yet President Lincoln wrote of the many blessings that persisted in spite of war, and said:

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

It isn’t my intention to give a history lesson. But I want to point out explicitly that the early Americans seemed eager and able to thank God, even in the middle of significant hardship. In fact, the American Thanksgiving tradition arose more from hardship and war than from peace and prosperity. Even more, I want to point out that this idea of thanking God at all times, even in difficult circumstances, is a biblical practice.

Job chapter one records a series of calamites that befall Job, a righteous man. At the end of it all, this is what he did:

20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

and naked I will depart.

The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;

may the name of the LORD be praised.”

Psalm 69 was written by someone who felt he was “poor and in pain.” His appropriate response was to thank the Lord:

But as for me — poor and in pain — let Your salvation protect me, God. I will praise God’s name with song and exalt Him with thanksgiving. (Ps 69:29-30, HCSB)

Paul says, “Good, bad, normal, it doesn’t matter. Give thanks all the time.”

Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1Thess 5:16-18, HCSB)

And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful. Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Col 3:15-17, HCSB)

Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. (Col 4:2, HCSB)

The older I get, the more I am inclined to believe that thankfulness is a key part in receiving the grace and love and joy that are offered to us through Jesus Christ. I have long known that when I confess my sins to the Lord and repent, what really helps me to feel forgiven is the act of thanking him for that forgiveness. When we thank God, we are, in a way, reaching out and receiving what we thank him for. We are agreeing with what the Bible says about his graciousness and love toward us; we affirming something true about the nature of God. We are saying, “Yes, I have received your love and grace,” and as we declare that to be true, it somehow becomes more real to us. I think this is one of the reasons that the New Testament is so clear about the fact that whenever we pray, part of our praying should involve thankfulness to the Lord. Thankfulness breeds faith and grace.

Thankfulness also leads to peace and contentment. Philippians 4:5-7 teaches that thankful prayer is an antidote to worry:

Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:5-7, HCSB)

Yes, it is good and proper to ask God for what we need, and to share our burdens with him. It is also important to thank him as we offer up those prayers. Through turning our burdens over with thankfulness, we experience the peace of God, which is beyond understanding. The fact that it is beyond understanding means that sometimes we will experience peace when our circumstances suggest that we shouldn’t be able to do so. It is thankfulness, at least in part, which leads to this sort of peace in all circumstances.

I have found that thankfulness (and the benefits of peace, grace and faith which come with it) can be encouraged by some self-discipline. Sometimes, it is helpful to just make myself start thanking God. I don’t like mornings, and I’m not usually very happy until after mid-morning. But, stepping into the shower grumpy and irritated, I can begin by thanking the Lord for running hot water, and then soap, and then a towel. I can thank him that I have my own bathroom. That reminds me that I have my own house to live in, and it is plenty for my whole family. I can go on, and thank the Lord for warm, clean socks, and the existence of coffee, and then for my wife and children. You see how it goes: once we get started, there are an endless stream of things to thank the Lord for. I think one thing that is biblically appropriate is to frequently thank Jesus for his sacrifice for us, and for his promise of eternal life to us.

Thank the Lord today and this week, and let him encourage thankfulness in your heart!

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

I want to remind you again that we are a listener-supported ministry, and that means, first and foremost, that we are supported by your prayers. We need and value your prayers for us.

Please pray that this ministry will continue to be a blessing to those who hear it. Ask God, if it is his will, to touch even more lives with these messages. Ask him to use this ministry in making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Please also pray for our finances. Pray for us to receive what we need. Please pray for us in this way before you give anything. And then, as you pray, if the Lord leads you to give us a gift, please go ahead and do that. But if he doesn’t want you to give to us, that is absolutely fine. We don’t want you to feel bad about it. We want you to follow Jesus in this matter. But do continue to pray for our finances.

If the Lord does lead you to give, just use the Paypal Donate button on the right hand side of the page. You don’t have to have a Paypal account – you can use a credit card, if you prefer. You can also set up a recurring donation through Paypal.

You could also send a check to:

New Joy Fellowship

625 Spring Creek Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Just put “Clear Bible” in the memo. Your check will be tax-deductible. Unfortunately, we cannot do the tax deductible option with the paypal donate button, however the money does go directly to support this ministry.

 

Thank for your prayers, and your support!

JESUS CLAIMS #1 SPOT FOR HIS FOLLOWERS

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Faith, House Church, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, SermonLeave a comment

carryingthecross-2

At some point, anyone who calls himself or herself a Christian is faced with a call to daily deny himself or herself, die to self, be willing to actually die, and follow Jesus. This isn’t just theoretical. It will affect the way we relate to other people. It will affect what kind of jobs we take, and when and where we take them. It should make an impact on how much we indulge ourselves. It may even at some point cost us our lives.

 

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Matthew Part 35

 

 

Matthew #35. Matthew 10:32-42

Remember, Matthew chapter 10 begins with Jesus sending his disciples out on a training mission. He gave them certain instructions, from which we can gain certain principles, and we looked at those already. Last time, we looked at the words of warning that Jesus gave his disciples. He told them to expect persecution and trouble. But he also gave them (and, by extension, us) many wonderful words of comfort and promise, words which we can hold on to in times of trouble.

After these comforting promises, Jesus begins with this: “Therefore…” One of my old Bible school teachers always used to say “What is that therefore there for?” It’s a useful little question. In this case, it is to remind us that what Jesus is going to say next is connected with what he has already said. In other words, because we have these warnings, and especially because we have these promises, Jesus says this:

“Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven. (Matt 10:32-33, HCSB)

Jesus doesn’t simply say, “Acknowledge me before men.” He first gives us instructions, and a sure and beautiful promise of his presence and his grace to us in the middle of hard times. Considering those things, he now says, “All these promises are connected to me. To receive them, you must confess me. You must put me before all things.”

The Greek word that is here translated “acknowledge,” might also be “confess.” The two root words of the Greek term, put together, really mean “to say the same thing as,” or “to speak with.” Some translations make it “confess.” I like this better than “acknowledge.” We are to confess Jesus. Confession means not only to admit something, but also to agree with something or someone. We are to say the same things that Jesus says, to agree with him. Jesus makes it clear that we are to do so not only privately, but also in public.

Jesus goes on. He makes reference to a verse in the book of Micah, implying that it is a messianic verse and he is fulfilling it:

Surely a son considers his father a fool, a daughter opposes her mother, and a daughter-in-law is against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own household. But I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will stand up; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. (Mic 7:6-8, HCSB)

He also says “Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” This is one of those things Jesus said that many people don’t seem to know about. You don’t have to go far to hear Christians and non-Christians alike saying, “Why do conservative Christians have to stir up so much trouble? Christians are supposed to get along with everybody. It isn’t Christian to cause controversy.” In light of these verses, I guess maybe Jesus wasn’t a Christian. He is quite clear: He is a polarizing personality; those who follow him will find themselves at times embroiled in conflict, even within their own families. This isn’t an endorsement of violence in any way, shape or form. It isn’t a license to be rude, or to bully. But Jesus does want us to recognize that following him can lead to controversy and difficult relationships.

I don’t believe I’ve ever heard this preached by anyone else before. But obviously, it is right here in the text. If Jesus said anything at all, he said this as well. We can’t ignore it. These days, when we agree with (that is, confess) the things that Jesus said, or the things that his Holy Spirit inspired his apostles to write, it is easy to draw flak. If we agree with the Bible about what the Holy Spirit calls “sin,” we are called hatemongers. If we agree with what Jesus actually said about himself, we are called narrow-minded and intolerant. Following Jesus does indeed lead us to be peaceful and loving. But it does not mean that others will see us that way, or even that our lives will be free from conflict with those who do not follow Jesus or his word.

Now, Jesus ratchets it up a notch. Not only does he suggest that following him can lead us into conflict, but he demands that when there is a conflict, we choose him above anything and anybody else.

The person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the person who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. (Matt 10:37, HCSB)

It’s easy to breeze through these words of Jesus. But hold on a minute: we are supposed to choose Jesus even above our own children? That is what He says here. Now obviously, much of the time we are not faced with choices like this. Following Jesus is usually compatible with loving our children. But Jesus is saying, flat out, that we should always love him more than we love our own children, or anyone else for that matter.

Let’s step back a minute and look at this message. This is not merely a great moral teaching about loving other people. It is, in fact, a demand that we love Jesus, and that we do so at a higher level than we love anyone else. Unless Jesus is God, this teaching is either nonsense or pure evil. There is no sense in which Jesus is saying “Follow your own path to enlightenment.” He is not saying, “Follow me, follow Buddha, it makes no difference as long as you are sincere.” He is not saying, “Just love everybody else and you’ll be fine.” Instead, he is clearly saying: “Everything comes down to how you relate to me. I am the basis upon which you must prioritize your life and make your decisions.” To put it another way, the central teachings of Jesus are about himself. No wonder he was such a polarizing figure.

Next he says this:

And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Anyone finding his life will lose it, and anyone losing his life because of Me will find it. (Matt 10:38-39, HCSB)

Over the years, this little part of what Jesus said has morphed into this: “I have my own cross to bear.” But this is not at all the meaning that Jesus had in mind. It’s true, each person has their own unique struggles in life; I think it’s fine to recognize that. But when Jesus was talking about taking up our cross, he wasn’t talking about that. This was the period in history when the Romans used crucifixion as a method of execution. Typically, if the condemned person was healthy enough, he had to carry the instrument of his own death to the place of execution. In other words, condemned people could be seen from time to time carrying the crosses upon which they were to be killed. To carry a cross was to be on your way to death. So when Jesus tells us that we must pick up our crosses and follow him, he is saying that we must follow in his example of dying.

I think it is appropriate to understand that Jesus means, among other things, that we must die to our own ambitions, comforts, and goals. Jesus actually repeats this teaching again later on in his ministry. Luke records that the second time Jesus said it, it was “let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” I think this definitely captures the meaning. Taking up our cross means that we deny ourselves. We don’t deny ourselves just to show that we are self-disciplined, but we put Jesus’ goals and ambitions and desires for us ahead of our own. I think it’s useful that Luke says this needs to happen “daily.” But even more than dying to our own desires, right here, Jesus is telling us that in order to follow him we need to be willing to go as far as actual physical death. Throughout the past 2000 years, many Christians have been faced with the choice to either deny Jesus or give up their physical lives. I live in a time and a place where that is unlikely to happen, even so, Jesus wants my willingness. Not even continuing to live should be more important to me than Jesus Christ. As Jesus says, if you save your own life, by compromising your relationship with him, you have actually lost it.

In the next few verses Jesus’ claim is emphasized once more. He says that he is so central to everything, that when people offer respect, regard, or even a cup of water, to his followers, because they are his followers, they will be rewarded. The point here is not the reward, it is the fact of people recognizing who Jesus is and honoring that in the way they relate to his followers. It is about honoring Jesus.

I hope you understand that these words of Jesus are confrontational. He is presenting us with a choice: does he have the preeminent place in our lives? Do we love him more than we love anyone else? Is Jesus our number one priority? He is claiming here that he should be. This isn’t about following a moral code, it isn’t about living according to some sort of principle. It is about making Jesus Christ, the person, number one in our lives.

When controversy comes because you confess Jesus Christ, or you agree with what he says, what is your response? It isn’t wrong to seek peace with those with whom you disagree. But when peace is impossible, when agreement cannot be reached, Jesus unequivocally calls us to side with him.

At some point, anyone who calls himself or herself a Christian is faced with a call to daily deny himself or herself, die to self, be willing to actually die, and follow Jesus. This isn’t just theoretical. It will affect the way we relate to other people. It will affect what kind of jobs we take, and when and where we take them. It should make an impact on how much we indulge ourselves. It may even at some point cost us our lives.

Now of course, we can’t be perfect in putting Jesus first. I know I fail to do that in many ways. I believe Jesus offers me grace and forgiveness when I fail. But I do think he wants me to make the choice to put him above everything, even if at times I fail in following through. It is good to know, that my failures are not the final word.

Once again, we do not have the comfortable choice of viewing Jesus as a kind, harmless moral teacher. In some ways, he has been at the center of controversy for the past 2000 years. We can reject what he has said here, and call him a lunatic, or a megalomaniac. Or, we can receive him as our Lord, take up our crosses, and follow him.

DO NOT FEAR! YOU ARE WORTH MORE THAN MANY SPARROWS!

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, Sermon1 Comment

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Sorry, there is no audio for this message at this time. As of the post date, I am battling a cold and severe laryngitis.

 

Matthew #34 . Matthew 10:16-31

Last time we began to look at this passage, where Jesus is essentially training his disciples for mission work. He is sending them out immediately after he finishes speaking, and so much of what he says applies to their immediate mission. However, it is clear that there is much within these verses that also applies to the ongoing mission that the disciples will have after he dies, is resurrected, and ascends to heaven. In fact, it applies to us also as we engage in the ongoing mission of Jesus in this world.

So for instance, when Jesus tells the disciples to go only to the towns of Israel, and to avoid Gentiles, those instructions are limited to this first training mission. On the other hand, there is no evidence that the disciples were particularly persecuted while Jesus was still on earth, and so his warnings about persecutions were given to prepare them for the future, for the time after he had returned to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit.

The point is, most of Matthew chapter 10 is still relevant for us today. As we learned last time, we are called to engage in Jesus’ mission just as those first disciples were. Jesus’ words here are therefore also for our training.

Jesus says that those who follow him can expect to be taken to court. We can us expect public floggings; public trials where everyone would like to see us convicted; ridicule; struggle and strife. Our persecutors may be religious people. They may be people of great worldly power. Following Jesus might even bring strife into our family relationships. It could cost us our lives.

I don’t want to minimize these things. Jesus said them, and he clearly meant them. In fact, these things have been coming true since the day he sent his Holy Spirit to his disciples. From that time on the historical record is filled with evidence that those who followed Jesus are persecuted. For the past 2000 years there have always been places in the world where Christians are persecuted. And it continues even today. Just this week, I have been reading about the severe persecutions of Christians in Iraq and Syria. One Christian couple sat down with their children and explained to them that they might be threatened, even physically harmed, even killed. But they told their kids to hang on, that was only temporary, that soon all of them would be together with Jesus. This happened just this past month; it isn’t just something from long ago.

So why does Jesus tell his disciples these things? Why is it here for us? I think in this day and age, it is very important for us to understand that following Jesus is not necessarily a path to an easy life here on earth. This whole chapter portrays a life that could be hard. If and when persecutions come we should not be surprised, or even dismayed.

In some small degree, I have even felt little bits of adversity myself. Someone in my extended family compared me to an Islamic terrorist for holding to my conviction that the Bible is the word of God. Twice, in my ministry as a pastor, I have been called “David Koresh.” Koresh was a depraved, wicked cult leader, whose actions led to the destruction of many lives. Those who said it obviously meant that I am controlling, wicked and depraved. I’m not perfect, obviously, but I know I’m certainly nothing like either a terrorist or David Koresh. I remember these words of Jesus:

A disciple is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master. It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a slave like his master. If they called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more the members of his household! (Matt 10:24-25, HCSB)

“Beelzebul” was a common name for “ruler of the demons.” Some people said Jesus did miracles because he was in league with the devil (we read that in 9:34), and I think that is what he is referring to. He is reminding all of us that if we are ridiculed and insulted and slandered, we are in good company – his company. These words are a comfort to me.

And in fact, there is a lot more comfort here too. These words are not meant to scare us or depress us – they are meant to encourage us when hardship comes along, especially when the world seems against us for our faith in Jesus Christ. Listen to Jesus:

“Therefore, don’t be afraid of them, since there is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered and nothing hidden that won’t be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. What you hear in a whisper, proclaim on the housetops. Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s consent. But even the hairs of your head have all been counted. So don’t be afraid therefore; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matt 10:26-31, HCSB)

I think this is a good place to stop and “camp” for a while. What I mean is, let’s give some attention and meditation to these particular verses. In the Greek, verse 29 says, literally: “Are not two sparrows sold for one penny? And yet not one of them falls to earth without your father.” Some English versions say “without your Father’s will” or “consent” or “knowledge” but the Greek is just “without your Father.” The picture here is that even when common a little bird dies, our Heavenly Father is there. To put it a different way: not even a sparrow dies alone. Sparrows do die sometimes. In fact, all them do die, eventually. The same is true of human beings. But the Father is there. He is with us, in every circumstance, even death. He isn’t distant, unaware of what is happening with you. He is right here with you. Not only does he know what is happening with you, he is right there with you in the middle of it. Paul understood this when he wrote this:

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare His own Son but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything? Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the One who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the One who died, but even more, has been raised; He also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: Because of You we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord! (Rom 8:31-39, HCSB)

You may look back on your life and remember times of trouble and say “where was God in that?” I encourage you to turn that into a prayer. Instead of complaining, come to him humbly, honestly in your hurt and say, “That was awful. Where were you in the middle of that, Lord? Will you show me?” If you are presently in the midst of trouble or suffering, I encourage you to ask him the same question, only about the present time.

I know someone who was not a Christian until she was fifteen years old. Her childhood before that included some tragedies – the kinds of things that can mess up a person for a long time. In her middle twenties, the Lord began to bring up her memories of the very hard things she had been through. Only this time, she could see Him there in the memories. Obviously, the Lord hadn’t prevented the tragedies, most of which were due to the choices of other people. But he showed her that he had been right there with her in the middle of those things; he offered her comfort in those moments in her memories, and when she was able to see that, she experienced a great deal of peace and healing.

One of my favorite fantasy fiction book series is The Riddle Master of Hed by Patricia A. McKilip. In the story, the main character, Morgon goes through many exciting and terrible struggles as he searches for answers to questions that will change the fate of the world. He suffers pain, loss and fear. He loves his friends, but loses some of them in his quest. Among his other questions, he wonders why he must suffer so much. And then, when he first finds the answer, this is what happens:

[Morgon] closed his eyes. His heart beat suddenly, painfully in his throat. He wanted to speak, but he could not. The harpist’s silence circled him with the peace he had found deep within living things all over the realm. It eased through his thoughts into his heart, so that he could not even think. He only knew that something he had searched for so long and so hopelessly had never, even his most desperate moments, been far from his side.

Even as I write this, Christians in the Middle East are suffering terrible persecutions, like the ones Jesus describes here. But none of it happens without the presence of the Father with them. If you live very long, you will experience hardship and suffering of one sort or another. The Lord is never, even in your most desperate moments, far from your side. Though Jesus warns of this, he also says, “Do not Fear!”

Let the Holy Spirit speak to you today.

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Engaging in the Mission of Jesus (but it isn’t a secret)

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, SermonLeave a comment

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Today, Jesus still involves his disciples (that is, all Christians) in his mission. I am not saying that you should quit your job. But I am saying that all of us should depend entirely upon the Lord in every way as we seek to be involved in his mission.

 

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Matthew Part 33

 

 

Matthew #33 . 9:35-10:15

From the end of chapter 9 all the way through chapter 10, Matthew records how Jesus involved his disciples in his mission here on earth. During this period, Jesus was deeply involved in ministry to many people. It seems that he felt more than ever how important it was to train others to continue his mission after he had fulfilled his purposes here on earth.

Although all of chapter 10 properly belongs together, I think there is too much that may be valuable to skip over it quickly, therefore, we will only go through the end of verse 15 today.

The first, and possibly the most important thing to notice, is that Jesus involves his disciples in his mission. It is the mission of Jesus, but because they have trusted him and follow him, it now also becomes the mission of the disciples. At the end of chapter 9 we see Jesus teaching, preaching, healing, and driving out demons. In chapter 10 verse seven and eight, he tells the disciples to proclaim the kingdom, heal, and drive out demons. He wants them to do what he does. He wants them to get involved in the “family business.”

At this point in time, he has not yet released them to go into all the world. He still has work that he needs to do here on earth before that can happen. So he limits their mission to just the people of Israel. But he is preparing them for what will come. This is, in effect, a training mission.

Here, the mission was given just to the 12 disciples. Luke records that later on, Jesus sent out another, larger, group for essentially the same purposes (Luke 10).

Today, Jesus still involves his disciples in his mission. Biblically speaking, anyone who trusts Jesus is supposed to be a disciple. We don’t have “Christians,” and then “disciples.” All Christians are called to be disciples. And all Christians are called to be involved in the mission of Jesus. Though he involves us in his mission in many different ways, and it isn’t the same for every person, what is the same is that he wants us all involved in some way or another, with what he is doing in the world. Virtually every Christian in the New Testament understood this. Not all of them served Jesus full time. Not all of them left their homes to travel to other places. But all of them surrendered their lives to Jesus, and lived as if they were on a mission for him. He is calling you to do the same.

Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body. (1Cor 6:19-20, HCSB)

For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. (1Cor 7:22-23, HCSB)

For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:10, HCSB)

The New Testament is quite clear. Trusting Jesus involves surrendering fully to him. We are not here on earth to please ourselves. Jesus does not set us free from sin and selfishness so that we can pursue our own ambitions in this life. Now that we belong to him, we are part of his mission. Now, I will say that in my own experience, pursuing the mission of Jesus with my life has been incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. It hasn’t always been easy, but I can’t imagine living any other way. To put it another way, living for the mission of Jesus, though sometimes difficult, certainly has its rewards.

I don’t think we can simply imitate exactly everything that is here in this text. This was how Jesus wanted his disciples to be part of his mission at that particular time and place. As I have said, he calls us in different ways and in different circumstances. Paul writes about this to the Romans:

Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the standard of one’s faith; if service, in service; if teaching, in teaching; if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness. Love must be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. Show family affection to one another with brotherly love. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Be in agreement with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Try to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone. (Rom 12:4-18, HCSB)

So our calling does not have to look exactly like this first training mission given to the 12 apostles. However, I do think there are some principles we can gain from the instructions that Jesus gave to them here in this text.

First, as we’ve already mentioned, Jesus asks them to imitate himself. He tells them to do what he has been doing. I’m not always a fan of the expression “what would Jesus do?” The truth is, none of us is Jesus, and it isn’t always appropriate to behave as if we were. Even so, I think what we can gain here is an important perspective about the mission he has for us. What I mean is, it isn’t our mission, it is the mission of Jesus. We aren’t here to do our own thing, not even to do our own thing for God. We are here to get involved in what Jesus is doing. So as we seek to live our lives in the mission of Jesus, the real question to ask God is not “what is your purpose for me?” Instead, I favor praying more like this: “Lord what are you doing? How do you want to involve me in that?” It may be a subtle difference, but the point is the focus should be on the Lord, and his mission, rather than a self-centered, individualized view of our own particular purpose in life. It isn’t supposed to be my purpose, it is supposed to be the Lord’s purpose.

A second thing I see from Jesus’ instructions to his disciples is that he calls them to rely entirely upon God’s provision. In verse eight, he says “you have received free of charge; give free of charge.” In other words, is telling them not to ask for a set fee for their ministry. They are not to say, “deliverance from demons is 100 denarii; regular healing is $85, healing from leprosy is $97.50.” In verse nine, Jesus tells them not to bring their own money or even to provide anything for themselves. But then he adds “for the worker is worthy of his food.” So if they aren’t to explicitly charge anything, and they aren’t to bring their own provisions, the only thing left is to trust God.

I have met a number of people, (strangely, many of them were quite wealthy), who insist that pastors and church workers should not be paid. They use verses like these to bolster their positions. That’s not what Jesus is saying here. He is telling his disciples not to demand a certain amount of money before they will minister. He’s telling them to go ahead and minister, and especially, to trust God to provide. But he implies that those who are blessed by his mission will in turn give to these ministers (“the worker is worthy of his food”). And I think that is the New Testament model. As Paul explains to the Corinthians, and to others, some people will devote their working lives exclusively to serving God, and God’s people should give money to support those full-time ministers (1 Corinthians 9:13-14; 1 Timothy 5:17-18; 2 Tim 2:6; Galatians 6:6). But those full time ministers should consider God as their primary resource, even their primary financial resource. In other words, as one of those called to full-time service, I think of God as the one who pays my salary. I rely on him. Now, I’m deeply grateful to those people who support my ministry financially, and I think of them as partners in the ministry. But if I look first and foremost to the Lord as the one who supports me, I won’t get upset when people fail to give, and I won’t treat those who give more with favoritism over those who give little or nothing. If I look at God as my primary resource, I won’t decide to engage in a ministry based upon whether or not I can live on what someone will pay me.

It goes beyond finances as well. It’s true, there are a few Christians called to full time service. But every Christian is supposed to be a disciple, and every disciple is called to participate in the mission of Jesus in one way or another (Ephesians 4:11-16; Romans 12:4-8 [quoted above]; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31). Most disciples do not make a living by working full-time in ministry. But we all still need to rely on the Lord to accomplish his purpose through us. We need to trust him for the energy; we need to surrender our time to him. We need to believe that he will do everything necessary to fulfill his mission through us, if we will simply give him our willingness. We need to look not at whether something appears feasible, but rather, at what the Lord is inviting us to do.

I am not saying that you should quit your job. But I am saying that all of us should depend entirely upon the Lord in every way as we seek to be involved in his mission.

There is one other point that I want to highlight today. In verses 11 through 14 Jesus describes how his disciples should relate to others as they fulfill his mission. What he tells them is not at all what most Christians have come to expect. In essence, he tells them to look for good people who are open to the message of the kingdom of God. If they receive that message, well and good. But if they do not receive the good news, the disciples are not to waste time with them. In fact, Jesus says that if people will not listen to them, they should “shake the dust off their feet,” when they leave. It was a custom for Jews to shake the dust off their feet as they left Gentile towns. It was a symbol for them that the Gentiles had rejected God, and that they (the Jews) had nothing more to do with them.

We don’t typically think of this attitude when we think about being involved in the mission of Jesus. But as we have already seen in our study of Matthew, Jesus did not come in order to be popular, or to make a lot of friends. His message offended many people, and he expected that to happen. He is sending his disciples with the same message, and it only makes sense to assume that the message will offend others as well. We should take care never to be unnecessarily offensive by how we behave or by how we go about the mission of Jesus. But if the message of Jesus is not received, that is not our problem. Our job is to participate in the mission of Jesus; the results are up to Jesus, not us.

So what is the Lord saying to you today? Have you fully engaged in the mission of Jesus? Have you surrendered your willingness to him? Do you need to learn to trust more? Is the Holy Spirit encouraging you today to rely upon Jesus truly and fully in everything? Do you need to be reminded today that the message of the kingdom of God is sometimes offensive, and not everyone will receive it?

Let the Holy Spirit speak to you now.

WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN FAITH AND HEALING?

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Faith, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, SermonLeave a comment

Jesus heals bleeding woman

First and foremost, this passage of Scripture, like all of the Bible really, is here to show us Jesus. These miracles drive the point home that Jesus is divine in nature, and has authority to forgive sins. He is the central figure, he is the star; our eyes are meant to be drawn to Jesus.

 

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Matthew Part 32

 

Matthew #32 . Matthew 9:18-34

This time, we’re going to try and cover a larger piece of Scripture than normal. Truthfully, most of chapter nine should form one, complete passage, and I have artificially broken it up into several sections. So I will try and complete the main body of the chapter today. In reality all of what we covered today should go along with the incident where Jesus heals the paralytic.

There are two basic themes running throughout all of chapter nine up to verse 35. The first theme is that Jesus has divine authority and he proves it through miracles. The second theme is that his claims to have divine nature, and his controversial actions, are beginning to create opposition among some of the religious leaders of his time.

Altogether Matthew chapter nine records four instances of miraculous healing and one incident of deliverance from demonic oppression. But the point is not so much the individual miracles, as it is confirmation that Jesus has the right to say the things that he said at the beginning of the chapter, and indeed, the right to say everything he has said up until this point. I think it is important to understand the healings and miracles in that context. Their main purpose is to validate the words of Jesus Christ.

But there is something here that I think is worth examining further. Many people have claimed that if you want God to heal you, it won’t happen unless you first have faith that He will do so. But in these miracles, we find a curious thing. We don’t know if the paralytic man had any faith or not. Then we read about the woman who is healed, and Jesus indeed says, “your faith has delivered you.” The next person that Jesus heals is actually dead, which means, among other things, that she could not have had any faith to exercise. Most of the people around her clearly didn’t have faith, since they laughed at Jesus when he said he would make her well. Even so, Jesus heals her. And then, we come to the blind men, to whom Jesus says “as you have trusted, let it be done in you.” Finally, we come to the demon-oppressed man and find there is no record of him exercising any faith or his own deliverance. Altogether in Matthew chapter nine we have three miracles where no mention is made of faith, and two others where Jesus says something about the faith of the people he heals.

The truth is, the connection between faith and healing is complicated and difficult to understand. In fact, I would not claim to understand it myself. As we have seen, even this single chapter doesn’t especially clarify things.

In my own life, I have encountered this same difficulty understanding the connection between faith and healing. Several years ago, I was speaking at a church retreat. As I began one session, I suffered a kidney stone attack. By that point in my life, I had already had three or four kidney stones. I knew then, and I know now, what a kidney stone feels like. I shared with the group what was happening, and begged their forgiveness, and told them I was going to have to go lie down. Several people in the group asked if they could lay hands on me and pray for me before I did so. I agreed of course, but I was hoping that they would make it quick, because the pain was starting to become very intense. Before that point in my life, people had prayed for me for various ailments at one time or another, and I never could tell that the prayer made any difference. On this occasion, I wasn’t expecting much. However, when they prayed for me, I actually felt the kidney stone disappear. I have never experienced anything like it before or since. I was able to continue on with the retreat and suffered no ill effects. The kidney stone was completely gone. In short, I believe I was miraculously healed.

About six months later, I woke up, suffering from another kidney stone. It happened to be on a Sunday morning, so, as I fought the pain, my wife drove me in to church. There, the same people who had prayed for my kidney stone at the retreat several months previously prayed for me once more. After my experience at the retreat, I was filled with faith. I was fully expecting to be completely done with the kidney stone as soon as these people had prayed for me. I assume that they too, were filled with faith as they prayed for me, since God had used them previously in the same situation. And yet, on this particular occasion, I was not healed. I wasn’t able to stay at the church service, and I had to go home, take painkillers, and wait for the kidney stone to pass in the ordinary way.

If healing is dependent only on my faith, I should not have been healed the first time, but I should have been healed the second time. However, what happened was exactly the reverse. Both times I was facing virtually the exact same situation: I was about to deliver a scriptural message to the same group of people, I experienced the same ailment in both cases, and the same people prayed for me in both instances. But the result was different, and it did not seem connected in any way to how much faith I had.

So why does Jesus say “your faith has delivered you” to the woman with the bleeding problem? Why does he ask the blind men if they believe he can heal them, and then say, “as you have trusted, let it be done for you”?

I should point out that in the Greek, at least in this passage, Jesus never says, exactly, “your faith has healed you.” To the woman he says, “your faith has saved you.” The Greek word there is sodezo. It is the same word used when Jesus says:

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it. (Mark 8:35, HCSB)

It is the same word the disciples used in the middle of the storm when they thought they were going to drown, and called out to Jesus: “Lord save us!” Now obviously, Jesus could mean that her faith has saved her from illness, but he might just as easily mean that by her faith she is saved from the devil and hell. I suspect that he means both. In any case, the words “healing” or “healed” are not used.

With the two blind men, Jesus still does not use the word “healed.” The most literal translation, would be something like this: “as you have trusted, let it begin to be created in you.” Of course, in context, Jesus must be talking about healing. But the emphasis here is that their faith has begun something inside of them. Healing is undoubtedly a part of that, but there is nothing to suggest that it is only about healing. Even the fact that Jesus asks them if they believe he can heal them is a more complicated question than we realize. I am certain that Jesus was not primarily concerned with whether or not people believed he could do miracles. Our faith is never supposed to be simply about what Jesus can do for us; instead, it is supposed to be first and foremost, about who he is.

The truth is, I don’t have a definitive answer about the connection between faith and healing. I am pretty certain that Jesus can and does heal even people who do not have the faith to believe that he will. I think we are egregiously mistaken if we think it all depends on us and our faith. On the other hand, I am also pretty certain that it is better to have faith in Jesus’ desire and ability to heal us, than to not have such faith. And in both of the instances here where Jesus talks about faith, it seems to include more than just faith that Jesus can and will do heal. It seems to also include the idea of trusting Jesus for everything: for life, for eternity, and for salvation.

In verse 30 Jesus says something that might seem strange to us. He tells the formerly blind men to keep quiet about how they had been healed. I’m a little bit torn about how to understand this. It simply can’t be that Jesus thought they could keep their sight a secret. Anyone who had ever known them, or seen them begging on the road, would surely notice that now they could see. I think, however, that Jesus really did mean that they shouldn’t tell people it was he who healed them. This actually makes sense. Jesus came to earth with two main purposes:

1. To train disciples who could and would communicate the truth about him to others, and who would train new Jesus-followers to do the same.

2. To sacrifice himself; to take our place and our punishment for the sins and failings we have, making us righteous in God’s eyes.

At this point in time, Jesus was clearly not done with the first task, so he could not do the second, since it involved his own death. The more popular he got, and the more influence he had, the more enemies he would gain. Eventually, the powers that be would decide they had to do something about him. This was part of his plan, part of how he intended to sacrifice his life for us, and it is exactly the route that led to his crucifixion. But since he had not trained his followers yet, it wasn’t yet time for him to be killed. Therefore, he did not want his influence to spread too quickly, which is why he told the men not to mention his name in connection with their healing.

In verse 34 we have the first indication of tension between Jesus and the Pharisees. In other words, his influence was already growing, and certain people were already starting to view him as someone who must be opposed. We have already seen several times that Jesus makes stunning claims about himself, and implies in many places that he is in fact divine in nature. If Jesus never did anything miraculous, this wouldn’t be so much of a problem. The Pharisees could simply dismiss his claims. But as we saw at the very beginning of the chapter with the paralytic man, Jesus connects his miraculous power to his divine nature. In that incident, he basically said, “let me prove to you that I have the authority to forgive sin.” In fact, most of chapter 9, even though we have broken it up into several sections, is an ongoing record of how Jesus demonstrated his divine authority to forgive sins.

So anyone who does not want to accept his divine authority must somehow discredit his miracles. The Pharisees, offended by his claims of divine authority, therefore attribute his miracles not to God, but to the devil. It is interesting that nobody claims that the miracles did not happen. Clearly the events themselves were quite convincing. Yet again, we find that it is not possible to consider Jesus just a good man, or a moral teacher. The people at the time understood that either he was who he claimed to be, or he was a devil.

Now let’s focus on what the Holy Spirit might want to say to us through this passage today. First and foremost, this passage of Scripture, like all of the Bible really, is here to show us Jesus. These miracles drive the point home that Jesus is divine in nature, and has authority to forgive sins. He is the central figure, he is the star; our eyes are meant to be drawn to Jesus.

In addition, I think this passage encourages us to seek Jesus as our only hope, our only resource. The father was desperate to have his daughter healed; Jesus was his only hope. The woman had exhausted all other resources, at this point, Jesus was her only resource. The blind men surely could have no hope of seeing, apart from Jesus.

One of my ongoing life lessons is to learn to see Jesus as my first resource, instead of my last. The man’s daughter was dying already when he came to see Jesus; the woman had already spent all of her money on doctors before she came to see Jesus (Luke gives us this detail in Luke 8:43). How much better if they had come to him first! How much better for us if we learn to go straight to Jesus with everything. I don’t mean that Jesus’ primary mission is to function like some sort of cosmic vending machine for us. As I’ve already mentioned, sometimes he heals, and sometimes he does not. Even so, I think he wants us to look to him first. He may answer our need the way we want him to, or he may not. But either way, he should be our first resort, not our last. And he should remain our hope, even when he doesn’t behave the way we want or expect him to.

Although faith is not really about getting what we want in this life from God, it is clearly something important. Jesus was delighted with the faith of the centurion, as recorded earlier. He is delighted with the faith of the woman here, and also the two blind men. As always in the New Testament, the Greek word for faith might just as well be translated “trust.” Jesus wants us to trust him with everything, and he is delighted when we do. These miracles show us that his word is good and reliable. We can trust what he says. We can trust his forgiveness for us. We can trust his grace and his love.

But the Holy Spirit speak to you today.

 

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

I want to remind you again that we are a listener-supported ministry, and that means, first and foremost, that we are supported by your prayers. We need and value your prayers for us.

Please pray that this ministry will continue to be a blessing to those who hear it. Ask God, if it is his will, to touch even more lives with these messages. Ask him to use this ministry in making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Please also pray for our finances. Pray for us to receive what we need. Please pray for us in this way before you give anything. And then, as you pray, if the Lord leads you to give us a gift, please go ahead and do that. But if he doesn’t want you to give to us, that is absolutely fine. We don’t want you to feel bad about it. We want you to follow Jesus in this matter. But do continue to pray for our finances.

If the Lord does lead you to give, just use the Paypal Donate button on the right hand side of the page. You don’t have to have a Paypal account – you can use a credit card, if you prefer. You can also set up a recurring donation through Paypal.

You could also send a check to:

New Joy Fellowship

625 Spring Creek Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Just “Clear Bible” in the memo. Your check will be tax-deductible. Unfortunately, we cannot do the tax deductible option with the paypal donate button, however the money does go directly to support this ministry.

 

Thank for your prayers, and your support!

DO YOU REALLY NEED JESUS?

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Faith, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, SermonLeave a comment

 

Jesus

 

As always what is at issue is not “religion,” but Jesus himself and how we respond to him. Jesus’ problem with the Pharisees was not that they were religious. The issue was, they did not think they needed him. They were satisfied with themselves as they were. They weren’t willing to admit their need for grace, nor were they willing to humbly follow Jesus Christ. You can be a self-righteous Pharisee, and think you don’t need Jesus. You can be an obvious sinner, and still think you don’t need Jesus. Either way, it’s the same thing, and it’s a tragic thing.

 

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

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Matthew #31 Chapter 9:9-17

As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me! ” So he got up and followed Him.

While He was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came as guests to eat with Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? ”

But when He heard this, He said, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Then John’s disciples came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast? ”

Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests be sad while the groom is with them? The time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matt 9:9-17, HCSB)

Matthew records that Jesus came to him when he was a tax collector. In this incident, Mark and Luke call the same individual “Levi.” However, later on, when the twelve special apostles of Jesus are named, Luke and Mark use the name “Matthew” and mention no one named Levi. The obvious solution to this puzzle is that just as the apostle Peter once was called Simon, and Paul was once Saul, before he was changed by Jesus, Matthew was known as Levi. Matthew himself, feels the change is so profound that he does not even refer to his old name in the telling. He is fully convinced that he is not the old person, Levi, but rather the new person, saved and changed by Jesus Christ. He isn’t who he used to be. He is done with his former way of life.

What was his former way of life? Well, Matthew/Levi was a tax collector. The Romans controlled Judea and Galilee and the whole region, and they required taxes from it to run their empire. They used underlings who were not Jewish to help them – these underlings were the Idumean people, the most famous of whom was Herod the Great. The Idumeans owed the Romans the taxes for the region, and they also collected their own taxes to run the provinces and also to enrich themselves. The Idumeans, in turn, left the dirty work of actually collecting the taxes to traitorous, unscrupulous Jews, who willingly cooperated with these foreign oppressors because they could get rich doing so. Matthew was one such person.

Basically, the way it worked was this. Matthew was given an amount that he needed to collect to satisfy his Idumean masters (who in turn, also had to satisfy the Romans). But Matthew could collect any amount he wanted. In other words, suppose his masters needed a thousand dollars from each family. Matthew could charge a family $1500, give the Idumeans the $1000 and pocket the $500 for himself, and go on to the next family and do the same thing. So he was a traitor, because he worked to support the foreign oppressors, and he was a parasite, even a thief, because using his position, he took whatever he thought he could get from his fellow countrymen. If anyone objected to what he was collecting in taxes, he simply whistled for the soldiers, and the person who refused to pay was beaten and imprisoned, and the tax was forcibly taken anyway.

Not to belabor the point, but Matthew was not “good people.” He was a quisling and a snake. People looked at him the way you and I might view a pimp, or an organized-crime boss. He might have money, but it was the kind of money no good citizen would touch. Respectable folks did not hang around with people like Matthew.

We have to understand this, because it was shocking – scandalous, even, that Jesus, a godly Jewish Rabbi, would invite Matthew into his core group. It was even more shocking that right afterwards, Jesus went to Matthew’s house for dinner, and Matthew invited such friends as he had – none of which were good people, because good people wouldn’t hang around with Matthew. So use your imagination to recreate the picture. Jesus is at the house of a local organized crime boss. Next to him on one side is a drug dealer. Two places away is a pimp. Across the table from Jesus is a guy who makes his living breaking the legs of people who don’t cooperate, and he’s in the middle of a discussion with a hit man. The meal is being served by hookers.

If this makes you uncomfortable, then you are getting a sense of why the Pharisees reacted the way they did. They ask him why he’s hanging out with such people. It’s not an unreasonable question. Jesus says, basically, “I’m here for sick, not the healthy.”

It’s easy to mis-apply the words of Jesus here, so pay attention. What Jesus basically means by his words is, he is seeking people who need him, and who know it. Some people mistakenly claim that Jesus prefers blatant sinners to religious people. But Jesus’ problem was not with the fact that the Pharisees were religious. The issue was, they did not think they needed him. They were satisfied with themselves as they were. They weren’t willing to admit their need for grace, nor were they willing to humbly follow Jesus Christ.

Applying this to today, a “Pharisee” may or may not be religious, but the defining characteristic is that such a person does not truly, in his honest heart, admit that he needs forgiveness, grace or Jesus. So today, like back then, you find some “Pharisee-types” in churches. These people are concerned with the form of religion, but their hearts are not humbly surrendered to Jesus. They have never truly acknowledged that they need him.

Surprisingly, you can also find many “Pharisees” who never go to church, and who sin blatantly. They are Pharisees not because they are religious (they aren’t) but because they don’t think they need Jesus, or they aren’t willing to follow him. They may admit (even somewhat cheerfully) that they are sinners. But obviously, they don’t take it seriously, and they refuse to humbly receive the grace that Jesus offers them and to follow him.

You can be a self-righteous Pharisee, and think you don’t need Jesus. You can be an obvious sinner, and think you don’t need Jesus. Either way, it’s the same thing, and it’s a bad thing. As always what is at issue is not “religion,” but Jesus himself and how we respond to him.

There is no doubt that in the church we still have some people who look down upon those who are caught in overt sin. Jesus’ words should speak to us. He came precisely for everyone who knows they need him and want him. We have no right to reject, or look down upon, anyone who wants Jesus and is willing to take him on Jesus’ own terms. He says, “I’m here for those who know they need me, who want me, who know the desperation of their situation without me.” Matthew was precisely one such person and that is why Jesus called him. We can assume that Jesus was hoping to find other people like him at the dinner party in Matthew’s house. By all accounts he did.

Jesus was not affirming the sin of the sinners. But he was also not affirming the self-righteousness or prudishness of the Pharisees. As Christians, it is good for us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and welcome sinners who want him. We shouldn’t exclude anyone, no matter what they have done, no matter how bad they are. Jesus makes it very clear: his mission is to call sinners to repentance and faith in Him. Our mission should be the same.

It is also true that not every sinner wants Jesus. And I think it is a mistake to affirm people who are not interested in repentance or in following Jesus. We are not doing them a favor if we give them the impression that a sinful lifestyle is okay. Part of the proof of this is that Matthew’s own lifestyle changed radically. Matthew left his position as a tax collector. He gave up cooperating with the foreign authorities and he gave up vast wealth to follow Jesus. The same is true of other sinners whom Jesus encountered. For instance, Mary Magdalene, who gave up prostitution and followed Jesus, Zacchaeus, another tax collector, followed Matthew’s path, and even the thief repented as he was crucified next to Jesus.

The Pharisees were not the only people who failed to understand the mission of Jesus. The followers of John the Baptist were also puzzled. They approached the disciples and asked them why they and Jesus did not engage in fasting. What this has in common with the problem of Pharisees is that Jesus is not conforming to their expectations. The Pharisees expected Jesus to stay away from sinners. The followers of John expected Jesus to fast. Jesus did neither one.

Jesus’ reply to the followers of John is yet one more instance where he claims to be divine. His response is essentially, “Why would anyone fast when I’m here with them? The whole reason for fasting is to get close to me, and here I am!” Jesus clearly saw himself as the “bridegroom.” This picture is drawn from Jewish weddings, but basically what it means is that Jesus sees himself as the one everyone has been waiting for. Once more, this is not great moral teaching – unless it is true. Once more we are confronted with this choice: Jesus is either a megalomaniac, or God come in the flesh.

Matthew closes out this section with a comment from Jesus about patches and wineskins. Unfortunately, these days, many of us have never even patched a piece of clothing, let alone seen a wineskin or used one. We need to understand the cultural reference before we can realize what Jesus is talking about.

This was long before the invention of polyester or nylon so imagine a piece of cotton clothing. Cotton shrinks appreciably when it is washed and dried. So if you sewed a brand-new cotton patch onto a piece of clothing that had already been washed and dried, the first time you washed it after the repair, the new patch would shrink more than the fabric around it, and simply tear the shirt again.

The picture with the wineskins is similar. In those days most wine was not put into bottles like we do today. Instead, the wine was put into containers made from animal skins – basically, leather. However, the wine was not fully fermented when it was placed into the skin container. As the wine continued to ferment inside the leather container it bubbled and released gases, putting pressure on the sides of the container. If it was a fresh new wineskin, it would stretch with the expanding gases within it and continue to hold the wine securely. However, if you put new wine, not completely fermented, into an old leather skin that was already stretched out, when the gases expanded, the leather would have no more flexibility left, and it would burst.

It amounts to this: both the Pharisees and the followers of John wanted Jesus to conform to their own expectations. But Jesus was telling them “something new is happening here. You can’t contain it within the old forms of the Jewish religion. You can’t make it fit your own personal expectations.” It took a long time for both sides to realize, but this is the beginning of the split between Christianity and Judaism. Jesus was saying, “this is not the religion you have known. Something new is happening now. It will take a new approach to get the good wine I’m offering.”

So what does all this mean for us today? Have you thought of yourself as a sinner? Do you feel that you don’t deserve grace love and forgiveness? The wonderful news is that Jesus came precisely for you. His whole mission was to find people who are not perfect people, not “good” people, but rather, people who know that they need him and are willing to receive him. So receive him. There is nothing that you have done, or could have done, that puts you beyond his grace and forgiveness. He says that he came for people just like you and me.

As you receive Him, he calls you also to follow him by obeying Him, to the best of your ability. As you continue to trust Jesus, the Holy Spirit will make you more and more able follow him in obedience.

Next, I think it is important for us who have begun to follow Jesus to recognize that Jesus’ mission is to sinners. We don’t get to decide who deserves his grace. The fact is, he offers his grace to everyone: even tax collectors and prostitutes and hit-men. I believe he wants us right there beside him offering his grace to everyone. On the flipside of course, just because someone is a sinner does not mean that she automatically wants the grace that God offers to her in Jesus Christ. And it is not helpful for us to pretend that it is better to be an honest, yet unrepentant, sinner than a dishonest religious person; the truth is it is better to be neither, and instead to be a repentant Jesus follower. Even so, we Christians should not dismiss anybody out of hand. Jesus came for those who are sick, those who are sinners.

Another thing is that, like the Pharisees and John’s followers, I think we all tend to want Jesus to conform to our own personal expectations. But he has a way of bursting our paradigms like old wineskins. Are we willing for Jesus to be himself even if that turns out to be different from how we expect him to be? I think one of the biggest reasons that people reject God is because he often does not behave the way we want him to. He doesn’t always heal those we think he should heal. He doesn’t always answer prayers that we think are reasonable and even righteous. Jesus is calling us to forsake our own paradigms and accept him as he is; to follow him in trust, even when we don’t understand.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you today?

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

I want to remind you again that we are a listener-supported ministry, and that means, first and foremost, that we are supported by your prayers. We need and value your prayers for us.

Please pray that this ministry will continue to be a blessing to those who hear it. Ask God, if it is his will, to touch even more lives with these messages. Ask him to use this ministry in making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Please also pray for our finances. Pray for us to receive what we need. Please pray for us in this way before you give anything. And then, as you pray, if the Lord leads you to give us a gift, please go ahead and do that. But if he doesn’t want you to give to us, that is absolutely fine. We don’t want you to feel bad about it. We want you to follow Jesus in this matter. But do continue to pray for our finances.

If the Lord does lead you to give, just use the Paypal Donate button on the right hand side of the page. You don’t have to have a Paypal account – you can use a credit card, if you prefer. You can also set up a recurring donation through Paypal.

You could also send a check to:

New Joy Fellowship

625 Spring Creek Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Just put “Clear Bible” in the memo. Your check will be tax-deductible. Unfortunately, we cannot do the tax deductible option with the paypal donate button, however the money does go directly to support this ministry.

 

Thank for your prayers, and your support!

WHY DOES JESUS HEAL?

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Jesus, Matthew, Podcast, Religion, Sermon2 Comments

healing

Healing in this life, or making this life better somehow, is ultimately meaningless unless we respond to Jesus in faith. Jesus is focused on the eternal person, the spiritual person. That’s where his priority is, and I think that is where our priorities should be also.

 

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Matthew Part 30

 Matthew #30 . Matthew 9:1-8

This time, we will take the incident with the paralyzed man and his friends. Mark and Luke include the detail that the paralytic man’s friends couldn’t get him through the crowd, so they lowered him from the roof to set him in front of Jesus. Once again, there is no reason to assume that this contradicts Matthew. Matthew often omits details supplied by Luke and Mark. Again, I think it is the result of the fact that Matthew is relying primarily upon his own memory of these events, whereas Mark and Luke had to do research before writing, thus turning up details that Matthew either forgot, or did not think were important. Matthew is usually concerned most of all with focusing on what Jesus said and did, rather than giving extraneous details.

What Jesus says first is quite surprising. These men had brought their paralyzed friend and laid him in front of Jesus. What would you say? I might say something like:

“You are blessed to have such friends – take comfort from them!” Or maybe “See how many people love you!” If I had healing in mind, I might have said, “Do you believe you can be healed?”

But Jesus looks at him and says: “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.”

Matthew records that this caused a murmur among some of the onlookers; they called it blasphemy. Luke and Mark explain why:

“Why does He speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone? ” (Mark 2:7, HCSB)

We need to be clear here. This is one more answer to the question: “When did Jesus claim to be God?” By telling this man his sins were forgiven, Jesus was claiming to speak as God, and many of the people at the time understood that was exactly what he was implying; that’s why they called it blasphemy.

So, I do think that one reason Jesus says this is to let people know who he is, and to set up the opportunity with this paralytic to more or less prove it. But I think there is something else here. I think Jesus also says it for the sake of the paralyzed man. John records an incident where Jesus’ disciples encountered a blind beggar:

As He was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples questioned Him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? ” (John 9:1-2, HCSB)

In that culture, it was common to think that if someone had a great physical disability, it was the result of some sort of sin. It was considered punishment from God. It is very likely that this man felt not only the misery of his condition, but also the misery of knowing that he had caused it by his sin, and public shame that everyone else knew what a bad sinner he must be.

Into this situation, Jesus spoke in front of large group of people, publicly removing his sin and shame. Now, everyone sins, and there is no doubt that this man, like every other human being, committed sins. Jesus did not say, “you didn’t sin.” That would have been a lie, and the man would have known it was a lie. But Jesus says, in front of a big crowd: “You are forgiven. You sin isn’t on you anymore.”

There is an old debate among Christians about whether it is more important to care for a person’s physical need, or address her spiritual condition. One argument says that you should start with caring for the physical need, and only then, once that need is addressed, will she be able to really hear the gospel and respond appropriately to it. I want to point out that Jesus did not take that approach here. To Jesus, the most important thing to do for this paralyzed man was to free him from the paralysis of sin and shame. Of course, he did eventually address the physical need also, but he started with the spiritual problem, which goes against a lot of today’s conventional Christian practice.

There’s another thing about Jesus’ approach that I think is very important for Christians in America and other well-off countries. We put so much focus on this life, and what we can get out of living on earth. Many American Christians have even come to see Christianity as a means to attaining a safe and comfortable life here on earth, and many of them abandon God when that doesn’t seem to work out. In fact, I believe that Christianity as a whole has never been more focused on this life, and making things comfortable here on earth; and I believe that is a huge mistake. The truth is, that paralyzed man’s body has been dead for two-thousand years now. The healing he received back then is meaningless to him right now. What Jesus really wanted to give him was something eternal – forgiveness, leading to reconciliation with God and the promise of a body that will never die or become ill. Suppose Jesus had not healed the man. He would have had a hard life, lasting maybe 80 years, and he would have experienced a high level of suffering, for sure. Even so, presuming he did respond to Jesus in faith, for the last 2,000 years he has been in glorious grace and joy, and he still has an eternal, imperishable body to look forward to, one that will be forever healthy. The eternal, spiritual gift is much greater than the gift that lasts only for one mortal life. Healing in this life, or making this life better somehow, is ultimately meaningless unless we respond to Jesus in faith. Jesus is focused on the eternal person, the spiritual person. That’s where his priority is, and I think that is where our priorities should be also.

But of course, some of the people in the crowd doubted that Jesus could provide the eternal gift. The healing miracle wasn’t primarily about making life easier for the paralytic. It was to prove to the people – and to the paralyzed man himself – that the forgiveness and eternal life Jesus offers is real. In fact, Jesus himself tells us that this is the reason for the miracle:

But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — then He told the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” And he got up and went home. (Matt 9:6-7, HCSB)

What Jesus said was basically this: “You think I don’t have the authority to say this man’s sins are forgiven? Well let me show you what kind of authority I have: get up, son, and walk.”

Think about what a gift this was to the paralyzed man. Of course, it is huge that he has the full use of his body. But imagine him a year or two later, feeling aware of his failings, wondering if he is truly forgiven. All he has to do is think: “Can I walk? All right then, as sure as I can walk, I am forgiven.”

Pause for a moment and internalize this message. We all have things that we want changed in our lives. That’s normal and natural. We don’t have to feel badly for wishing that we were healthier, or had better opportunities, or that our marriage would be better, or any number of things. But we need to take our cue from Jesus – the eternal is greater and more important than our temporary struggles and trials.

The apostle Paul understood this. He wrote:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. (Rom 8:18, HCSB)

If you know anything about Paul, you know he had a lot of suffering in his life. But he didn’t consider that his sufferings had any comparison to the eternal joy and grace that were waiting for him. The difference between the suffering and the glory is so vast that the suffering doesn’t even deserve mention.

Fixing our lives here and now is pointless if we are not made right with God by trusting in Jesus. And even just one hundred years from now, it won’t matter to us one bit whether or not we had a better house, or a healthier body or an easier time paying our bills. However, everything will hinge upon whether or not we trusted and followed Jesus and received the grace and forgiveness he offers us.

I don’t mean it is wrong to try to relieve suffering on earth. I don’t even think it is wrong to try and better your own life. But I think both things are pointless if we don’t start out by receiving Jesus, and continue by trusting and obeying him. If your struggles and aspirations for this life here and now are getting in the way of Jesus in your life, listen to what Jesus says. “My child, let’s start with the eternal issue. Let me start by getting you in right relationship with me. We can deal with the other stuff – or not – later, as I see fit. Only trust me.”

Let Jesus speak to you first about the important issues, the eternal ones. Forgiveness and reconciliation with God are central to all our needs. These are more important than your immediate problem with this life. Jesus thought this was true, even for a man who was paralyzed.

We can’t pretend we don’t sin. And the excuse “everybody sins, anyway” doesn’t get us anywhere either. We may repeat that to ourselves, but if we’re honest, we know it isn’t good enough. What we need is true forgiveness, true acceptance. It starts with realizing that we are as helpless as a paralyzed man lying on a mat. True acceptance means that someone knows us truly for who we are, and yet forgives us anyway, and that is exactly what we have through the sacrifice of Jesus.

Pause and listen to Jesus for minute. Hear him say to you: “Take courage, my child. You are forgiven. Your shame is removed. Yes it is – it really is. I have the power to make a paralyzed man walk, of course I have the power to forgive you and remove your shame.”

Can we get it through our heads that what Jesus offers us is infinitely more valuable than the ability to walk is to a paralyzed man? He offers us something that will continue to bless and impact us through the infinite corridors of eternity, while we ask for shiny toys we will play with today and break tomorrow.

There is one other thing here. The way the paralyzed man’s friends acted is a great example for us. The man himself was helpless. They were helpless in that there was nothing they could do for him either. But they did the one thing they could – they simply brought him, and laid him in front of Jesus. This is a tremendous and encouraging picture of what we do when we pray. We take our friends and our own burdens, and set them down in front of Jesus. Jesus did what he wanted to with the man. He started out by addressing a need that none of them even thought about – the spiritual need.

Next time you pray, think about these friends of the paralytic. Picture yourself taking your loved ones and your own personal burdens and setting them down in front of Jesus. Be sure and bring them to him, but let Jesus decide what to do with them, and trust that what he will do is best for all eternity.

Let the Holy Spirit speak to you today.

Thanks again for making use of Clear Bible.

I want to remind you again that we are a listener-supported ministry, and that means, first and foremost, that we are supported by your prayers. We need and value your prayers for us.

Please pray that this ministry will continue to be a blessing to those who hear it. Ask God, if it is his will, to touch even more lives with these messages. Ask him to use this ministry in making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Please also pray for our finances. Pray for us to receive what we need. Please pray for us in this way before you give anything. And then, as you pray, if the Lord leads you to give us a gift, please go ahead and do that. But if he doesn’t want you to give to us, that is absolutely fine. We don’t want you to feel bad about it. We want you to follow Jesus in this matter. But do continue to pray for our finances.

If the Lord does lead you to give, just use the Paypal Donate button on the right hand side of the page. You don’t have to have a Paypal account – you can use a credit card, if you prefer. You can also set up a recurring donation through Paypal.

You could also send a check to:

New Joy Fellowship

625 Spring Creek Road

Lebanon, TN 37087

Just put“Clear Bible” in the memo. Your check will be tax-deductible. Unfortunately, we cannot do the tax deductible option with the paypal donate button, however the money does go directly to support this ministry.

 

Thank for your prayers, and your support!