John 14:9 Jesus says, “How long have I been with you and yet you have not known me?”
I read that Monday morning, and immediately mindful then of the end of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:20 I am with you always to the end of the age”
I am guilty too often of just wanting information and directions and Jesus says, “I am with you… come with me… watch me… follow me.“ This verse in John 14 is part of a larger discussion. Jesus is about to die, and then after rising from the dead, he will ascend to the Father and send The Holy Spirit. And so here he says, “I go to prepare a place for you… you know the way…” and Thomas says, “we don’t know where… how can we know the way?” And Philip says, “Show us the Father… that’s enough” and Jesus’ response to both of these confused followers is, “Look at ME” – “I AM the Way, I AM the Truth, I AM the Life… If you have seen ME, you have SEEN the Father… Believe in ME.“
Certainly Jesus gives us instruction and direction but generally and truly he is always with us. So he says, “Follow ME… Go with me… take my hand… Look… and Believe… Do what I am doing.”
v12 the one who believes will do the works that I do… even greater things than these
v15 if you love me you will keep my commands
v16 I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever
v21 The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me… loved by the Father… I will reveal myself to him.
Do you see the correlation? JESUS is the answer we seek. He is the power, he is the direction, he is reality. We follow him, we know him, we receive him, and we find, way, truth, life, revelation.
And so, the Lynchpin is Love and Faith. Henry Blackaby said we don’t have obedience issues, we have LOVE issues. I would then add that we have also faith issues then.
What are you hearing God say as you enter this new year?
Are you just looking for Direction or God’s Presence? Go WITH Him
Knowledge comes as we see HE is what we seek
Take some time to stop, look, listen, take his hand, and go with Jesus
As we enter a new year, I hear Jesus – who I have known as Savior for 54 years – say, “how long have I been with you… do you know me?” And I would honestly answer, “yes Lord, I know you “; and He would respond, “I know you do – but do you love me, do you believe in me – in ACTION not just in Knowledge?”
Romans 8 is much an amazing chapter. It follows Paul’s discourse on the struggle with our “two natures” in Romans 7. He talks about then the Law of the Spirit of Life, vs the Law of sin and death. he says then in v18 that the suffering of this life is nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed to us. All of creation was affected by The Fall and so all of creation is longing for what is coming.
Then the idea of “firstfruits” is mentioned. We have the Spirit of God living in us v23 as a firstfruit, a foretaste of the glory that is coming while we wait for the redemption of the whole body.
We have HOPE but of course the nature of hope is that we don’t have the fullness yet, we can’t see it yet, but it IS coming.
v25 then says we eagerly wait with patience – hypomone = a remaining behind, patient endurance. And then v26 – In the same way the Spirit also helps us with our weakness because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.And he who searches (Ps139) our hearts – knows the mind of the Spirit because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God
Then we get to the verse that we all love, but often take out of context – All things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose
We want this to mean, “everything is good – but well – yes and no.
See vv29-30 then conect with vv 26-27 and v28 is just a definer.
v29 begins, “FOR” – hoti=that, because
All things work out FOR Good of those called according to his purpose – what’s the purpose? v29 For those he foreknew – those known by God for all of history as those who would BE HIS i.e. those who would respond to his drawing, would receive his gift of Grace, those indwelt by the Spirit as Ephesians 1:13-14 describe when you heard the word of truth… when you believed…you were sealed with the Holy Spirit… the down payment (firstfruit) of our inheritance UNTIL the redemption of the possession (emphasis mine)
Do you see the connection. The HOPE we have – it is a “ticket” but the delivery is yet to come. It’s waiting at the “will call window” it’s there and has your name on it with certainty of the promise – we have a firstfruit living in us but the best is yet to come.
What is coming? As the Spirit is interceding for us, according to the will of God. What IS then the will of God… v27 and what is the purpose in v28… what is the Good that all things are working together for?
I’m glad you asked
v29 For – because – those he forknew he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son
Why?
So That – He (Jesus) would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters
Two different firstfruits being spoken of here – and firstfruits are the first harvest of a greater harvest to come. The Spirit is the foretaste of Eternity in God’s Presence. And Jesus is the foretaste of How WE will be for eternity.
Jesus died – but he rose and lives and so shall we. And we will be alive, not just like we used to be, not struggling with flesh and spirit – but conformed to the image of the Son – Jesus – in every way.
1 John 3 says how great is the love that God has given us that we should be called children of God and that is what we are. 2 We are God’s children NOW and what we WILL BE has not yet been revealed (seen clearly) but we know that WHEN he appears we will be LIKE Him… 3everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure
Oh my, the struggle now is great, but I have a firstfruit of glory living in me. I have the firstfruit of the resurrection life displayed in Jesus. And so I understand that I am going to be LIKE Jesus. It is why God called me, justified me, and he has glorified me. All of these are past tense actions. For me the first two have already taken place and the third is yet to be but they are certain completed events.
And I know and experience the Spirit then helping in my weakness along the way. I have to surrender to him, and I know he is praying for me. He is ordering events and circumstances in my life toward the end of strength and transformation into the image of Christ.
Know this – the Spirit’s intercession is sometimes then different from the way I pray, and the way I act, but it is always in accordance with the Will of God which is to conform me to the Image of the Resurrected Christ. Oh I’m a child of God but the family resemblance isn’t always as it should be, but the Spirit is praying and working toward that end.
And then 8:31 – again in this context we understand – what then are we to say… if God is for us, who can be against us?
Again this doesn’t mean I can always get what I want and win the battles I want to win, but it means that God is and will shape me into the image of Jesus regardless of the struggles, the battles.
Hmmm – go read Psalm 139:1-5 now and see how the Spirit works, what he is doing – He is always with me, always aware – and then v5 says, you have encircled me; you have placed your hand on me.
Praise God the Spirit aides me in my weakness and I will look like Jesus when it’s all said and done.
In Matthew 16 Peter famously confesses Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Jesus says that this confession and understanding is the basis for the church. When we confess Jesus as Lord, Messiah, Promise fulfilled, that is the Life-Changing Life-Giving answer. Jesus is not just another prophet, preacher, or leader, and not just an inanimate Idol, but the Son of the Living God.
Jesus says that he is the Rock on which the church will be built, and that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. The gates of Hell cannot hold up when we release his powerful confession. He then talks about “keys to the Kingdom” – power to bind and loosen.
Now remember, we are on a freedom mission. Just as Jesus in John 3:17 says he didn’t come to condemn but to save, the world is already bound, and we have the keys. We base freedom or bondage on what is done with Jesus. Was God making Peter the “First Pope”, no I don’t think so. But it is agreed that he was talking here and in Matthew 18 about Christ empowering and the Church Recognizing Leaders as well, Leaders, with power to lead. Yet still I would bring us back to Jesus as the Key and what we do with him binds or releases.
Come back then to the Necessity of Nature, Nurture, and Nihilation. Yes, by nature, we are sinners and bound in that city of sin. But followers of Christ, we are on a mission of freedom and our leaders, as long as faithful to the call and the mission, do have power and authority from Christ. Remember also in Revelation 1 that Jesus walks among the “lampstands” that is the local churches, and he holds the “stars”, pastors, in his hand. He is leading, protecting, and correcting the church and their leaders – but I digress.
If our nature is sin, in Christ a New Nature arises. That new nature, then needs to be Nurtured as the Spirit calls us for the Father. John 6:44 tells us that no one comes unless the Father Draws and so the Spirit moves and draws and then within us something Christlike happens…
I am using the word, Nihilation – “to reduce to nothing”, to die to self. My point is that it is all about timing and purpose – Jesus, hero of heaven, laid aside his glory, and he tells his disciples there in v20, “tell no one that he was the Messiah”
Why? Service is about purpose and timing. Service is about becoming nothing for something. Jesus said, “don’t tell anyone”, because he had another purpose, do die for our sins, not to be popular in that day.
v21 says From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem… suffer many things… be killed… and be raised on the third day.” Wait, what? That wasn’t on the advertising poster we saw. Peter tried to stop that… to which Jesus responded, “get behind me satan! You are not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”
Oh the battle between our 2 natures – Old and New, Flesh and Spirit. It’s a struggle of Nature, Nihilation, and Nurture.
We read Romans 8:5 Sunday – “those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit” – Nature, Nihilation, and Nurture.
The Spirit, Romans 8:6 says is Life and Peace, but the flesh is death.
Then in Matthew 16 Jesus goes to the most famous part, vv24-27 If anyone wants to follow after me let him deny himself (nihilation) whoever wants to save his life must lose it… what benefit to gain the whole world but lose his life? Then he must have blown their minds when he said, the Son of Man IS COMING with the angels in the glory of the Father, AND THEN he will reward according to what is done.
We get our Advents confused sometimes don’t we? How interesting there IS Jesus, Son of Man, The Messiah, already recognized as such by the disciples, but he had come as NOTHING… and said, “don’t tell anyone how big I am because I have some ‘nothing work’ to do. I’m going to be a suffering servant and die, but rise again… but don’t worry I am coming again later – with all the glory and the reward – and You Will be nothing with me for now, on a Freedom Mission – but GLORY is coming later – Just wait”
The Necessity of Nature, Nurture, and Nihilation – Now and Exaltation is Yet to Come
BONUS POST – I wrote this a year ago and just noticed it still sitting in my “draft” folder – so here it it…
John 7:38 says The one who believes in me, as the scripture says, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.
It’s a great conditional message here. They were in the “feast of shelters” where they remembered the wilderness wandering. They came together for a camping party basically. They had daily fires, times of remembrance for what God had done leading them out of bondage into the Land of Promise.
So if you go back to v37, “on the last and most important day of the festival… Leviticus 23:34-35 instructs that they didn’t work for a week. They had a sacred assembly to start, presented daily food offerings – which was food presented to the Lord but eaten “in his presence”. Then on the 8th day they had another sacred assembly and greatest food offering. Deuteronomy 16:13-14 says,Rejoice during your festival – son and daughter – male and female – slave and Levite, resident alien, fatherless, and the widow – i.e. EVERYONE
So they ate and celebrated for 8 days, then on the 8th day, Jesus says, if anyone is thisty let him Come and Drink…
James Freeman / Harold Chadwick’s book New Manners and Customs of the Bible says that traditionally every day a priest would go to the pool of Siloam and draw water in a Gold Pitcher – Singers and Musicians, the People, would be with him. They would come to the Temple and with 3 Horn Blasts, he would pour water into a bowl that was on the western side of the Altar.
That bowl had 3 holes and so the singular water source would run out in 3 Streams on the Altar. What was the symbolism?
the water provided in the desert
the promised “latter rain” – blessing to come
the Holy Spirit would come with the Messiah
Well, that was nice – but did it quench their thirst? – NO – Of course, though they had been feasting, drink included for 7 days.
Jesus then offers a conditional promise here on Day 7.
if anyone… COME to me
Believes in me
Then Streams of living water flow from deep within
And in vv40-52 people have different thoughts about Jesus here – Some said, this is a prophet. Others said, this is the Messiah. Others said, the Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee. It then says the crowd was divided and some wanted to seize him.
But very interestingly v53 says, then each one went to his own home. and 8:1 Jesus went to the Mount of Olives
Wow – Thirsty, Festive, Worshipers, but no one came to Jesus.
we must Leave to Come
we must Believe in Him – Who He is, What He has
Then we can LIVE – Streams of living water deep within
I just was in El Salvador, my 12th trip over 17 years. I’ve been preaching for 46 years… why? Because Living water deep within comes to those who BELIEVE.
It’s a stream so it’s alive, it’s flowing. Sometimes stagnant water can get contaminated, but this has life within. it is life-giving, life-changing.
I know a friend who was oppressed by the enemy, by alcohol’s attempt to quench his thirst, his life was falling apart. He came to me many years ago and said, “I want to be free”. We Came to Jesus. He confessed his belief in the Lord, received God’s forgiveness in Christ. We rejected the evil that was attacking him, and Life Came.
Oh yes, there were struggles, just like Paul in Romans 7, and there will always be those on this earth. But Streams of Living Water Flow.
Today he is sober, he is full of Jesus, he has a wife, children, and serves the Kingdom – Why? Because Streams of Living Water Follow, and they are deep within him.
What’s the NOW in your living? Is it what you want? Is it heading to the destination you desire?
I laugh when I remember my parents coming to visit us from Texas to St. Louis many years ago. My Dad was fantastic with directions and he passed that down to me. But THIS time, he was late, and due to construction he had missed our exit off the highway. He was coming from southwest of us, moving north east. He had transitioned from 45 to 270 to 70 east. And he called and said he didn’t know where he was. A series of questions followed and I asked, “did you cross the river? (Mississippi) – he said “Yes”. To which I responded, “You are in Illinois.” And my Dad asked, “Do I have to turn around?” HAhahaha. “Well,” I told him, “If you don’t, you will end up in New York City.”
Paul says, “I’ve been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives IN me – The Life I NOW Live…” My Dad WAS on the right path, but the drive he was NOW ON no longer was taking him where he wanted to go. So he had to make a decision – turn around or keep going. The Road seemed good, the weather was nice, but where did he want to go?
So, I gave him directions, he turned around and he got to where he intended to go. Sometimes we realize “the Life I now live” isn’t taking me where I want to go. Paul had made a change in life from a religiously legal life to a Christ centered faith-driven life. “the life I now live… I live by…” that little word, “by” is en=in, on, at, by, with. “The life I now live… I live by FAITH” You probably know or have heard of that word, pistei = trust, faith, confidence, assurance, persuaded. Lot’s of people “live by faith” – My Dad was driving with confidence, on a good road, but his confidence, and trust faded as the trip went on, went long, and he got to the skyline, and the arch, and then left the city behind as he crossed the river – So, WHERE your faith is placed is a big key isn’t it?
The life I now live… Paul was a man of faith, but he had begun to see and hear things that challenged his faith path. He had seen that deacon Stephen stoned to death for preaching Jesus. It seems that Paul had not seen Jesus personally, but he had come to Jerusalem, and he was working against these followers of Jesus. That all changed on the road to Damascus in Acts 9. He had a direct encounter with Jesus and he changed his position of faith. Paul heard Jesus, believed Jesus, obeyed his instruction, and God saved him and changed him.
Now – The life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God – The Object of his faith changed. He came to understand what Hebrews 1:2 says, “in these last days he (God) has appointed him (Jesus) heir of all things” Paul says here in Galatians that his faith now rests in Jesus, the Son of God, so now my faith is in something else, and my path has changed. Why did Paul shift his faith point? Because now it was in the one who “loved me and gave himself for me.”
The whole context about which Paul is talking in Galatians is Law vs Grace, Law vs Faith, Law fulfilled in Jesus. His conversation is that the law was a tutor to bring us to and grow us up to show us Jesus. The Law wasn’t the end but a means to an end.
The road my Dad was on was a good road, and brought him nine hours from Texas to St. Louis, but the road wasn’t the purpose, it was a means to the end. Dad needed to take the exit and shift roads to finish the journey. That day he was coming to see his grandson play soccer.
Romans 2:4 says, “his kindness leads us to repentance”. Down your path, God has brought you to Jesus, will you take the exit or miss it? Will you keep driving or come to Jesus?
Then WITH Jesus, we live by faith, rightly placed in the one who loved us first, loves us best, and paid the price for our sin to fulfill our purpose and desire to know God – Turn to Jesus.
Let me add one other thought for those of you who follow Jesus, Serve Jesus – KEEP Living by Faith – sometimes, we just keep doing what we’ve been doing, but Jesus has taken and exit, has made a turn, is doing a new thing, and we don’t just need to turn TO Jesus, but we need to turn WITH Jesus
The life I now live, I live by (in, on, with) faith (confidence, trust, assurance, persuaded) in Christ who loved me and gave himself for me.
Are you walking with Jesus? Are you moving toward what he is doing? Are you trusting him with the direction? If you have never trusted Jesus – do so now, confess him as Lord, receive his offer of forgiveness of sin because of the cross of Jesus. If you HAVE trusted Jesus, take a check, ask the question, “am I still following what Jesus is doing?” If not, you may be IN faith but you aren’t living BY faith in the Son of God who loves you and gave himself for you.
Lazarus’ death was no doubt hard on Jesus. Not because he couldn’t do anything, but because he knows what we are going through, and he knows what God is doing.
We don’t know what sickness Lazarus had, but Jesus knows all, knew all, and knew these days were coming. He got word of Lazarus’ sickness and the report that he was close to death. His response was “this will not END in death, but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
There are many things to learn here – Jesus could have prevented the illness. he could have stopped the death from happening – But God was at work and cared in the midst of difficult circumstances.
Well, Lazarus died and most likely by the time Jesus “got word” he actually was already dead, because he stayed where he was 2 days and then made a 2-day trip and Lazarus had been dead for 4 days. But on the way, Jesus said, “I’m on my way to wake him up.” Whatever you go through, believe that Jesus is ON the Way.
I just want to focus on one thing here. In v21, Martha comes to Jesus and entreats him honestly, gently, “Lord, IF you had been here (THEN) my brother wouldn’t have died.” She says “if” and the “then” is implied. This was HER understanding, but If death was God’s plan and for his glory, THEN it would have still happened IF Jesus had been there. But then she continues, “Yet, even now I know that whatever (if) you ask from God (then) God will give you.” And Jesus answers, “your brother will rise again.”
There was disagreement in their day among faithful Jewish people about “The Resurrection of the Dead”. Some believed in it, others did not. So Martha states her theologically correct position, “I know that he WILL rise again in The Resurrection at the Last Day.” But she is saying, “I have an IF and a THEN for the future but I want and IF THEN for NOW.”
And then Jesus responds with his own IF / THEN… “I am the Resurrection and the Life. (IF) The one who believes in me, even if he dies, (then) will live. Everyone who lives and (if) believes in me (then) will never die. Do you believe this? And Martha says, “Yes Lord… I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world.”
Well… interesting response, but ultimately GREAT. Martha isn’t quite sure what this answer means pertaining to her brother here and now, BUT she’s got her faith set on Jesus, her eyes fixed on Jesus, bringing her troubles to him, and that’s Great. We don’t always understand what God is saying, what he is doing, but if we can focus on HIM.
Then it continues, “having said this, she went back and called her sister…” It’s also interesting that Mary comes to Jesus and says the same thing. Only Mary had fallen to her knees, was weeping, and it’s all she could get out. The crowd, not from the same faith position, also speaks among themselves a similar “If/Then” but from a position of incredulity rather than faith. And the mixture of feelings, knowing all, knowing the positions they were all in, he is deeply moved. I’m sure a huge stew of emotions the Savior felt.
See this, for now, our “if/then” is not always accurate, nor always in God’s plan. However, IF he is the Son of God, THEN we can still come to him with our understanding, our requests, our hurt; we can trust him, we can believe in him, and we can live by the Greatest “if/then” – that is, IF I believe in Jesus – This will not end in death. Death will likely come, but it will not be the end of the story. If we believe in Jesus, Then LIFE is the End of our Story, Eternal Life – that is where we are heading, through every door, every trial, every struggle, come to Jesus, TRUST Jesus, Believe in Jesus – HE is the Resurrection and the Life –
Matthew 6:13 as Jesus was teaching his disciples the priorities in prayer, he said “Lead Us Not Into Temptation” – and we think, “well we are good at that all by ourselves”, or “God would never lead us INTO temptation. And yet – 2 chapters earlier in Matthew 4:1 we read, “Then Jesus was LED BY THE SPIRIT into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
Jesus was baptized in Matthew 3 and the Father says, “this is my son with whom I am well pleased”, and then immediately he was led into the wilderness by the Spirit for the purpose of being tempted by the Spirit. Well now perhaps we see why he taught us to pray, “lead us not into temptation”. It’s sort of like the prayer in the garden, if possible let this cup pass… but not my will but yours.
When I read this my mind jumps to several passages. Proverbs 21:1 says, “a king’s heart is like channeled water in the Lord’s hand: he directs wherever he chooses.” Now, I don’t have time for a discussion on free will and sovereignty but both are clear here. Water does what does, but God creates the boundaries. So stay on the focus here about God ordained temptation. If you are going through – God has set the parameters – God has directed the river’s edge of the channel to go where he desires for his purpose, you make choices but he made the channel. Then 21:2 says, “all a person’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the hearts.”
And in my quiet time yesterday, I read Proverbs 17:3 – “A crucible for silver, and a smelter for gold, and the Lord is the tester of hearts.” Back in 21:3 Solomon writes, “doing what is righteous and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.”
A Crucible
Doing happens in Action, not in philosophy. Yes, if you are IN Christ, you are positionally the “righteousness of God”, BUT Righteousness DOING often begins in the wilderness, in temptation, led by the Spirit. God, the tester of the hearts, is doing something in you.
Back in Matthew 4:2, “After he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights… he was hungry” – Well yeah –
“Ok Lord, if you want to send me into difficulty, just feed me well, fill me up, and then we are ready to go…” and God says, “yeah, well – no.”
God often empties us BEFORE he uses us and leads us into temptation where he smelts us. He was hungry – when we are hungry, we decide what is right to fill us… and that reveals a lot about our hearts. we must decide that God will be my filling.
If God has led us into the temptation – my mind went right to James 1:2 “consider it JOY… whenever you experience various trials”. Now it does say it IS Joy – it says Consider it – that means to regard it, but figure it as – truth is it may NOT be Joyful or Happy, but we must decide, regard it as, Joy when we face testing. Why? Because good is coming on the other side.
James 1:3 – “Because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its full effect, that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing”
In the smelting process, the raw ore has everything that is worthless burned away and the precious is what is left. I’ve heard that when smelting gold the smith burns away all the dross until he can see his face in the melted gold. Well, 1) that takes intense heat and 2) there needs to be a crucible to hold the ore while it is heated – Again in Proverbs 17:3, the Lord is our Crucible, that holds us, the Smelter that is doing the work, as he tests our hearts.
Go read the rest of James 1 as well and look at temptation – v12 says “blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test he will receive a crown of life”. But that’s when we let the Lord lead, and hold us. But if you read on it says that if WE take over the process and we let OUR desires rule, it leads to sin and sin to death.
But if we allow The Spirit to lead us… go back to Matthew 4 – Jesus led by the Spirit – look at the little part of the process revealed.
He was Hungry – “tell these stones to become bread”
i.e. fill your hunger – and hungry Jesus could have done that, but he responded, v4 “man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Jesus wasn’t going to cheaply fill his hunger.
Jesus was about to begin the ministry he had planned from the foundation of the earth. He left Heaven, laid his glory aside, and the temptation comes
Throw yourself down God will command his angers concerning you
i.e. see if God will keep his word – as he quotes Psalm 91:11-12 – Remember in the Garden of Eden we learned that satan always calls into question the Word of God and the Goodness of God – thus the Love of God. But Jesus responds, “it is written do not test the Lord.“
And then hungry, lonely, longing… satan tempts again…
I will give you all these things if you fall down and worship me
the evil one often tempts us with what appears to be a short cut, but if followed we miss the real task, and we shift the object of worship. Jesus didn’t come the first time to be worshiped but to pay for our sin and you can’t short cut sacrifice. v10 Jesus said, “get away satan! it is written, worship the Lord your God and Serve him ONLY.”
In Temptation… We decide…
who will fill our hunger
will we trust God
we will worship God ALONE
we will serve God ALONE
When we fail in temptation it comes down to hunger, trust, worship, and service.
When we are tempted – led by the Lord…
we learn about ourselves
we learn about God
we must stand behind and with the Word of God
we get ready for the battle and service to come
in Matthew then Jesus withdraws from his home town and goes to Capernaum in Galilea and v17 says “from then on Jesus began to preach, ‘repent, because the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.’”
Don’t be afraid of temptation – the Lord holds us in it like the crucible that can withstand the heat and contain us as we melt and the impurities are burned away – then as his face is visible we are read to be shaped and
Jesus had sent his disciples out to minister in towns where he would follow alter. In the instructions in chapter 10 he says in v40, the one who welcomes you welcomes me, and the one who welcomes me welcomes the One who sent me. Then in chapters 11 John the Baptist has been arrested, would soon die, and he “double checks” to make sure that Jesus is “the one” – you know if I’m going to die – die for right the one. Jesus questions them what they have seen happen by him, through him as affirmation of who he is. Then Jesus affirms that John is the promised Forerunner from Malachi 3:1. Jesus then makes an observation about their current generation, that sounds quite apropos:
11:16-17 to what should I compare this generation? It’s like children sitting in the marketplace who call out to other children: ‘we played the flute for you, but you didn’t dance, we sang lament but you didn’t mourn.’
Wow has Jesus been on the X? Too often nothing is good enough. They had called John a demon because he did not eat and drink. Then they called Jesus a glutton and a drunk because he did eat and drink. “dance to my tune”. But Jesus simply says, v18 Wisdom is vindicated by deeds. WELL?
Then v27 No one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son – AND ANYONE to whom the Son desires to reveal him…
Oh I hope Jesus will choose me for revelation – if only – how can I be sure I’ll get that revelation? Do I have to be in a specially chosen group? What is the prerequisite for revelation? And Jesus says, “I’m glad you asked…”
v28 COME – Look at that
Come to me all who are weary and burdened,
I will give you rest.
Take my yoke
and learn from me
because I am lowly and humble in heart
You will find rest.
My Yoke is easy and burden light
and we see – “Rest” – Check. “Learn” – Ok, I guess. “Easy/Light” – Check Check. Send it on over Jesus – NO – COME.
<long pause>
Why do we struggle with the command to “come” the invitation to “come”?
We have to LEAVE where we are to come
We have to GO someplace else to come
We have to Accept a different direction to come
We have to Admit that where, what, how we are is not correct, needs to change to come
We think Our Way is best or at least good enough in order to come
And Yet, we are working to satisfy ourselves and then find ourselves still unsatisfied. John 7:37 – Jesus says if anyone is thirsty… come to me and drink That invitation was at the end of a week of feasting, and Jesus knew they were still unsatisfied. And yet EVEN THEN – if you come, it’s not enough if you don’t take – drink Jeremiah 31:25 God says, I satisfy the thirsty and feed all those who are weak
So, go back to our verse- Come, Take, Learn, and Find – Such a Paradox here.
Come – Leave where you are, what you are doing, and Take my yoke upon you – Interestingly that while this is obviously reference to a plowing instrument, but also that word, yoke is ho zygos which also means a pair of scales – Jesus says come and take my work, measure it out on the scales and learn – that word is mathete – yep the word for learn is the word where we get the word MATHEMATICS – And it’s in the 2nd person active imperative – So Jesus is saying – “You, Now, Must LEARN – DO MATH… 😉
Oh You are losing me Jesus…
Come – Work – and do math? Well … yes – because I am humble/lowly – i.e. I’m not going to force you. But COME and you will FIND – Leaving, coming, working, learning – we FIND the unexpected – REST. The Rest you were looking for, working for, longing for, and yet you are weary – worn out – weighed down – still wanting rest – unsatisfied…
Come, Take, Learn, and Find
My yoke is easy – chrestos = kind, good, benevolent (state of being)
My burden is light = easy to bear
Why? How? – Well a Yoke has 2 Sides. Jesus wasn’t saying come and I’ll give you a list and you go do this work. No, Jesus is saying come join me. Get on the other side of this work with me. Jesus is actually pulling the weight, showing us how, giving encouragement, giving strength…
So, Come – Admit our insufficiency
Come – Accept his instruction
Come – Leave where you are
Come – to ME
Come – with ME
and Find what you’ve looked for, longed for, sought to live for, is right here
Belief and walking in faith is often a process. It’s one thing to believe that Jesus forgives, that he saves, but often a different thing to believe he can change my circumstances here and now. I would go so far as to say there are many things God COULD do that don’t “seem miraculous” and yet they are because we won’t believe and follow and allow.
Jesus, Peter, James, and John have been on the Mount of Transfiguration. They have seen Jesus transfigured, seen Moses and Elijah, heard God speak saying, “this is my Son, listen to him.” Then on the way down, Jesus tells them, “don’t tell anyone until I rise from the dead.” With all they have seen and heard, they were most wondering about v10 what does he mean by “until I rise from the dead.” They don’t understand.
Then they all get back down and find the other eight having an argument with religious leaders and a crowd and want to know, what’s this all about. To which they find out it is over the request for freedom from demonic activity that a boy is experiencing and his father had brought him looking for Jesus, got the disciples, and they couldn’t do it. Jesus says, “you unbelieving generation… how long must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” Wow, I don’t know what Jesus sounds like but I sort of hear this.
I love the give and take here. Jesus is teaching us how to work in this circumstance. He asks the father about the history of the situation, “how long has this been happening to him” v21. It’s not that he didn’t know but I like what he is doing. He is teaching the disciples and sort of testing the father. Father tells him basically most of his life. He tells him it has been very dangerous, potentially fatal, and then instead of TELLING Jesus what to do, setting expectations, he says, “if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Ok – I believe this father is in a faith filled, humble position. The request is to feel this deep inside, compassion, and help, come to our aide. And then within that framework of request he leaves it to the Lord. I hear him saying, “Jesus, feel what we feel, come to our aid, do what you can, what you will, what you think is right.
IF?Well – Yes I can – “everything is possible for the one who believes.” – He’s asking, “do you believe, I can?” Where is your faith? Again, the man answered humbly and honestly. “I DO Believe, help my unbelief?” Honesty and a request for assistance where he falls short. In every circumstance, we need to trust our Sovereign Lord to do right, best, to feel fully what we feel, and come to our aid with the right answer. And Jesus speaks directly to the unclean spirit and says, “… I command you: Come Out of him and never enter again.”
So… yes, “everything is possible” – that word dynatos = powerful, able, possible – there is an idea of potential power – but there is a connection to Belief. Now, this has been misused over the last 2 millennia. This does NOT mean you just need to want it seriously, or beg furiously, it doesn’t mean to fire up your faith engine either. It means to place your trust in a fully confirmed fashion with the Power of God, the Will of God, the Purpose of God, and for the Glory of God. Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he reminded his sisters, “did I tell you that you would see the glory of God?” John 11:40
So, back to this story, in vv28-29 – the disciples ask Jesus privately, “why couldn’t we drive it out?” Alright, we are still learning. We tried, we didn’t succeed. And Jesus says, “this kind came come out by nothing but prayer.” Oh man, I didn’t get the words right, what’s the magic “abracadabra”? Prayer is where we ask God what he wants to do, and believe what he says, and in obedience follow and attempt the impossible. In 1 John 3:19-24, it teaches that our spirit, must line up with The Spirit of God. If then as we pray, The Spirit confirms with our spirit then things can happen. The Holy Spirit will confirm or condemn that 1) we are RIGHT with God 2) we are IN LINE with God’s plans, purpose, and timing and so THEN 3) when we ASK, fully informed, truly believing we have confidence before God and receive whatever we ask 1 John 3:21-22 – why because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight. So then John teaches there in vv22-23 that FAITH is evidenced by obedience and love or worshipful living.
My guess here in Mark 9 is that either the disciples wanted to do this for the wrong reasons, which at their developmental stage at the time was not uncommon; or it wasn’t God’s will for THEM to do it, but for Jesus to do it and be glorified and proven to be who he was. IF they had attempted this with MUCH PRAYER – the Holy Spirit would have revealed one or both of those realities and told them to get it right or wait for Jesus. Then, instead of arguing, and trying, they could have encouraged, Jesus will be back soon, and he will do this.
So, I come back to my first thoughts. So many things, like marriages, addictions, attitudes, struggles with anger, you name it, actions that fail to see deliverance in our lives is often because we do not believe God can, or we do not really WANT God to do it, so we don’t ask and believe. Do we want God to deal with our anger? Do we want God to fix our marriage? Do we want God to deliver us from the addiction? The come, pray, hear, act in faith and obedience, in love for God and for Others and then know that ANYTHING is POSSIBLE if we Believe.
Another side of this then is our lack of communion with God to ask what he wants and stay there. If he says, “yes, but wait” – Stay there. Sometimes God says “no” and faith stops asking, because God says, “no” so we receive the answer and stay in faith, but move from the ask. In all of that we can still pray confidently to God for compassion and help, full of faith, with great trust, knowing that God is Good, God is Great, and God is Going to Lead us From Victory to Celebration.
Matthew 5:38-48 – Jesus is in full revitalization of our thinking mode here. One of the significant components in the “Sermon on the Mount” is the stretch, the shift, Jesus teaches. He takes our practice that is good, and pulls us toward better. He takes our selfish and calls to selflessness. He takes our religion and turns it toward relationship. He takes our shack and lays the foundation for a mansion of glory, a better Temple of God.
Repeatedly he says, “you have heard that it was said…”. Here in this section in vv38-48 – he’s already done this 4x already, but 5 and 6 are where I was today. He is invoking Exodus 21, and Leviticus 24 and Deuteronomy 19. And YES those words of instruction in the Law are From God, but he is calling us to fuller context and greater application. Back in The Law God was blessing the Children of Israel, the descendants of Abram, but also in context, he was exacting Just Judgment on the people of Canaan. Jesus is also telling them to put their remembrance of commands into context. He calls them to Ex21:24, Lv24:20, Dt19:21 you have heard it said, an eye for an eye… But their practice had gone passed God’s intention.
you heard… eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth v38
you have heard… love your neighbors and hate your enemies v43
But I TELL YOU… i.e. go look again and read the whole thing, know the Character of God, the Plans of God, the Promises of God, The Possibilities with God.
But I Tell you – he is not changing, he is explaining, reminding, returning them. The world was then and wants to be often now, an eye for an eye place right? v39 but I tell you don’t resist an evil doer or don’t set yourself against / retaliate – We fight the wrong battles or we take the right battles too far.
if they slap the right cheek… turn the other
take your shirt… give your coat
v41 if anyone forces you to go a mile – so it was a common practice in these Roman controlled countries that a soldier on mission could enlist / command someone to carry their equipment for a mile while going from one assignment to another. Of course, they didn’t like being under Roman control, nor having to do their work, but Jesus said, when that happens… if someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two –
Go – hypago = Go – (active, present, imperative 2nd person tense) you “YOU, YES YOU, MUST, NOW, GO with him Two.
v44 – love your enemies … pray for your persecutor. So again, context. Yes you are told back in the Law to love your community members. And in Deuteronomy 23:6 they are told not to pursue Balaam’s welfare, as long as you live. Again, that was judgment on one who lied, deceived the people of God. But then in context God even instructs them NOT to take it out on the Edomites or the Egyptians, even saying that their descendants CAN seek the Lord in his House. Context is not exclusion but inclusion.
Why Be Extra Mile people in an eye for an eye world?
v45 so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven – We are displaying the family, our progenitor, our Father. I used to tell my boys when they left the house, “don’t forget who you are and who we are.” Look like the family to which you belong.
Love Spread to All tells a Gospel Story
That extra mile may be the time when you get to tell WHY, and WHO.
Sun and Rain produce a harvest. Perhaps seeds have been planted that you know nothing about, but you get to nurture. Maybe you are planting a seed and someone else will nurture and harvest.
You are Better than that and You are BECOMING Better. He says Be Perfect – that word is teleios = perfect, mature, complete – being extra mile people helps us Grow up
Pastor Goforth 