R.P. Nettelhorst's Blog, page 39

The Basics

I was reminded of the importance of the Basics this past couple of weeks when I saw the reactions to some things that I recently wrote for the Jerusalem Post. What I wrote was not well-received by a lot of people—by people who called themselves Christians. In fact, a few of them went out of their way to inform me that not only was I very wrong in everything I’d written, it was so wrong that I must have done it on purpose, and it was so wrong that I couldn’t possibly be a Christian at all. None ever bothered to tell me what was wrong about it. They just said I was wrong, using exclamation points.

I would not say that my critics were not Christian; not at all. I think, in fact, that they most likely are. But I do believe that they have gotten…how to put it…distracted from their faith. And they’ve forgotten what Christianity is really all about. It’s so very easy to do, after all.

So I want look back at what Christianity is all about; I want to talk about the basics of our faith.

There’s only two of them.

Just two. And yet it is so very easy to forget them, and screw it all up.

First Basic:

Rabbi Hillel, according to tradition, was born about 110 BC and died about 10 AD. He was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud. Renowned within Judaism as a sage and scholar, he was the founder of the House of Hillel school for Tannaïm (Sages of the Mishnah) and the founder of a dynasty of Sages who stood at the head of the Jews living in the land of Israel until roughly the fifth century AD.

These are some of his better know quotes: “If I am not for myself who is for me? And being for my own self, what am ‘I’? And if not now, when?”

And:

“Whosoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whosoever that saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.”

Hillel lived in Jerusalem during the time of King Herod and the Roman Emperor Augustus. He died not long after Jesus was born.

One day we are told, a pagan came to Rabbi Hillel saying that he would convert to Judaism if Hillel could teach him the whole of the Torah while he stood on one foot. Rabbi Hillel replied, “What is hateful to yourself, do not do to your fellow man. That is the whole Torah; the rest is just commentary. Go and study it.” (Talmud Shabbat 31a).

Jesus said much the same thing not many years after:

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

Leviticus:

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. (Levitcus 19:18)

Jesus:

One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:35-40)

Love God: Deuteronomy:

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5)

Paul:

The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:14)

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8–10)

What this means: if you interpret the Bible in a way to justify bullying, hatred, bigotry, oppression, the mistreatment of others—anything that leads you to treat another person in a way you wouldn’t want to be treated—then you’re doing it wrong.

So I’d like to begin by focusing on a great man of faith—the author of Hebrews tells us that about him in Hebrews 11:32, and lists him along with other greats like David and the Hebrew prophets.

He was one of the Judges; his name was Jephthah. I’ve talked about him before, but let’s review just a bit by reading some of his story from Judges:

       The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably.”


       Jephthah sent back messengers to the Ammonite king, saying:


       “This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites. But when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the desert to the Red Sea and on to Kadesh. Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Give us permission to go through your country,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent also to the king of Moab, and he refused. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.


        “Next they traveled through the desert, skirted the lands of Edom and Moab, passed along the eastern side of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon. They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its border.


        “Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, ‘Let us pass through your country to our own place.’ Sihon, however, did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He mustered all his men and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel.


        “Then the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his men into Israel’s hands, and they defeated them. Israel took over all the land of the Amorites who lived in that country, 22 capturing all of it from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan.


        “Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before his people Israel, what right have you to take it over? 24 Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the LORD our God has given us, we will possess. Are you better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with them? For three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Why didn’t you retake them during that time? I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the LORD, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”


        The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him.


       Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”


        Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands. He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.


       When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh! My daughter!        You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break.”


       “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”

        “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and the girls went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.


From this comes the Israelite custom 40 that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite. (Judges 11:13-40)

Um. Well. So he wasn’t a firm monotheist—that is, he seems to have accepted the existence of other gods in his letter to the Ammonite king:

Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever theLORD our God has given us, we will possess. (Judges 11:24)

Then, when the Spirit of God came upon him and empowered him, he made a vow to God, promising to sacrifice the first thing that came out to meet him if God made him victorious in battle. So when he came back, triumphant, his only daughter came dancing out to greet him—and he fulfilled his vow and sacrificed his only daughter as a burnt offering to God. (see Judges 11:29-39)

Hmm. Loving God? Loving your neighbor as yourself? Hold that thought.

Another person who is described by no less a person than the Apostle Peter himself as a righteous man, a good man, a fine upstanding citizen…is equally puzzling to those who forget what it is we believe. Lot.

…and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)… (2 Peter 2:7-8)

But if we take a look back at Lot’s story in Genesis 13-14, and 19, we’d be really hard pressed to find even one deed of righteousness that he ever performed: he didn’t want to leave Sodom when the angels came to get him, most of his children refused to join him in leaving, his wife was reluctant and she ended up as a pillar of salt. Then the two daughters who did leave with him—well, they got him drunk, had sex with him, and gave birth to his children for whom he was then both father and grandfather (Genesis 19:30-38). Yes, a wonderful, righteous man, a good man. An excellent fellow Lot: the Apostle Peter himself says so!

So what are the basics then, if these two losers are both described as either righteous or having great faith; heck, Jephthah, we’re told, had a filling of the Spirit when he went off the rails.

So what is going on then? How do we fit any of this with the first Basic?

The second Basic:

Second Basic:

Jesus died for our sins.

What does this mean?

       1. We do not contribute to God’s solution of the problem.

       2. The good news is the proclamation of this: that Jesus died for our sins and it’s all taken care of. Nothing more for you to do. Believe and be baptized, okay?

       3. Sin, judgment, that’s something that the Holy Spirit does. You don’t need to help the Holy Spirit. You don’t need to be the Holy Spirit for someone else. When a person believes the good news, what happens? The Holy Spirit goes into them. Having God living inside of you is likely to have a profound effect on how you live your life.

However: remember Jephthah? Just because a person has the Holy Spirit, just because they are a Christian, doesn’t mean that they’ll be as nice as you are, or believe like you do, or believe or act like they should. Apparently that’s okay because…um…Jesus died for them and it’s all covered. Teaching, instructing, that’s okay. Telling them they aren’t a Christian or that God hates them: demonstrably untrue.

A few years ago an article in the Los Angeles Times (back on April 2, 2006) told the story of xxxChurch.com, a ministry outreach to those caught up by pornography. They wanted to have some Bibles printed up that had this on the cover: “Jesus Loves Porn Stars”. The Bible publisher they tried contracting with wouldn’t go along. According to the article, “The publisher said that while it applauded the outreach to those who make a living off pornography, ‘the wording is misleading and inappropriate for a New Testament,’ according to a letter the pastors received from the executive in charge of standards at the nonprofit Bible publishing company.”

“Misleading and inappropriate?”

Really?

The Bible publisher would doubtless have had NO trouble with this phrase: “Jesus loves sinners.”

But they, like many Christians, seem to lose their minds if you insert a specific sort of sinner that is loved in place of the generic word. “Jesus loves rapists” or “Jesus loves murderers” or “Jesus loves the self-righteous” doesn’t seem as reasonable somehow.

Why is that?

Because the radical nature of what Jesus did for us isn’t reasonable. Paul wrote:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (Romans 5:7-10)

Jesus loved us and gave his life for us when we were his enemies. He died for all the people that give us the creeps. He died for those of us who give others the creeps. We can do nothing to contribute to our salvation. But he loves us anyhow. He doesn’t just love people who repent and turn from their sins. He doesn’t just love those who are perfect. He loves those who are really bad and kind of stay that way.

Christians believe—or at least claim to believe—that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross cleanses us from sin—that we made righteous not by what we do, but instead by what Jesus did: his righteousness is credited, or attributed to us.

Paul, among other New Testament authors, makes that very clear. Consider for example this from Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Or from Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia:

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Galatians 3:1-6)

The good news is that it does not matter what we do. It matters what Jesus did. A surprisingly large number of Christians don’t take this particularly seriously. A lot of people don’t think it’s fair.

And they are right. It isn’t fair. It’s unjust, even.

But think about it: when someone does something bad to you, you probably want justice. But when you do something bad to someone—is justice what you want? No. You want mercy.

And mercy, by its very nature, is unjust. God is merciful, and he errs on the side of mercy. He offers us compassion. He offers us grace. He is a loving Father.

It is amazing the number of Christians, even publishers of Bibles, who apparently don’t really believe the Gospel message or understand just how uncomfortably radical it really is.

I don’t see any examples of “hell-fire and brimstone” preaching in the New Testament—except maybe some of the things Jesus had to say to the self-righteous religious leaders of his day.

In fact, Jesus told his disciples to preach “good news.” He left it to the Holy Spirit to handle making people aware of sin: “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). I seem to recall that Jesus also said, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17). God is more about mercy than he is about justice, and mercy, by definition, is unjust.

So again, what are The Basics?

       1. Love God, love your neighbor as yourself.

       2. Jesus died for your sins. You don’t have to. Your neighbor doesn’t have to.

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What It’s Really All About

What is the central theme of the Bible? A Pharisee asked Jesus a question in Matthew 22:35-40:

One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

This same conversation is paralleled in Mark 12:28-33 (and also consider Romans 13:9-10 and Galatians 5:14). The entire Bible can be summed up with these two commands: Love God and love people. This then is the central principle in interpreting the Bible and determining ethics.

One needs also to keep in mind a second important point: salvation and our relationship with God is by grace through faith; our righteousness is in Christ, and nothing we do or don’t do will affect that. I’m sure you’re familiar with such passages as Ephesians 2:8-10:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Or Titus 3:5:

he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

Or Galatians 3:1-5

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing– if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

One’s relationship and usefulness to God are not dependent upon one’s behavior. This is stated explicitly in the New Testament and is illustrated over and over again in the Old Testament. Simply consider the lives of the people listed as great paragons of faith in Hebrews 11. In fact, let’s consider Jephthah, mentioned in Hebrews 11:32. He’s the poster boy for salvation by grace rather than works. You can read about him in Judges 11 and 12, where you’ll discover he acknowledged the existence of other gods and winds up sacrificing his own daughter as a burnt offering. And yet through all this, he had the Holy Spirit empowering him to serve God.

2 Peter 2:7-8 tells us Lot was a righteous man. Yet, what good this is recorded about him in the Old Testament? In Genesis 11 we see he was reluctant to leave Sodom and Gomorrah, his family didn’t respect him, and in the end his daughters get him drunk and he has sex with them and they become pregnant. He is righteous because he is in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10) not because of what he did or didn’t do.

The spies in Joshua (see Joshua 2:1-5) are sent to spy out the land. They go to Jericho and visit Rahab, a prostitute and stay there. Why do you suppose they went to visit a prostitute? Think sailors on shore leave. Why else would men visit a prostitute.

Then, she lies to her government, acts the traitor, and hides the men and sends them safely on their way.

And God’s comment on her is what, in Hebrews 11?

Joshua, at the end of the book states “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)

Why does he say this? Because the people were not firmly committed monotheists yet. In fact, this remains a problem for the Israelites until they return from the Babylonian captivity. When David flees from Saul, how does his wife try to protect him? She takes an idol and puts it into his bed and claims that David is sick. (1 Samuel 19:11-16) Where’d she get an idol? Even in David’s household, you have idolatry.

And yet, these imperfect, often very unsavory people were used by God to do marvelous things. If God needed to wait for people to be perfect and sinless, then he’d never get anything done.

Does this mean I think we should be doing bad things? Of course not. But our relationship with God is not dependent on us, it is dependent upon what Jesus did on the cross. Our righteousness is in him, not in ourselves. We have been freed from the burden of sin and the law.

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Ten Commandments

I saw expressed once again an idea which I simply find hard to believe any Christian would argue for: “Hang a copy of the Ten Commandments in every classroom in the school to be read by a volunteer every morning before classes, followed by one minute of silent prayer. The good will take effect and our schools will be protected and be a safe place for learning again.”

Say, what?

What exactly did Paul mean, then, when he wrote Romans 8:2: “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.”

Or did he have something else in mind in Galatians 3:10-13:

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

Since when have more laws solved anything? The message of the gospel is salvation by grace, not by works. The nature of our life in Christ is grace, not works. Or do we just not think that Paul was being practical when he wrote:

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing — if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Galatians 3:1-6).

I fear that we are losing sight of what we’re all about: we are called to proclaim Christ and him crucified. Jesus died for our sins; he paid it all. There is nothing we contribute to our salvation. And making people obey laws, however well intentioned, will not solve the fundamental problem with the human heart. Trying to make sinners behave is like giving morpheme to a person with appendicitis. Sure, it gets rid of the pain, but it doesn’t cure the underlying problem and the appendix will still rupture and kill the patient. Make a sinner behave, and you’ll be more comfortable, but nothing has been altered except some symptoms. We are not here to treat symptoms. We are called upon to cure the disease, which is our sinful hearts. And the only cure available is the sacrifice of Jesus. We do not contribute a bit to that. Salvation and the Christian life are by grace, through faith (cf. Ephesians 2:8-10). Christians are not called upon to be drug pushers; we are called to be surgeons.

And besides, when it comes to our living the law, Jesus is quite explicit, and Paul echoes it, that the law is summed up in only two commandments: Loving God, and loving people (Matthew 22:36-40; cf. Galatians 5:14 and Romans 13:8-10). Posting laws will not change a thing; that’s why Jesus had to come and die, because the law doesn’t solve a thing. As an example, consider: how many people really pay much attention to those laws posted along the side of all the roads and freeways in the country, you know, the speed limit?

As Christians, we offer hope and help to those who are burdened with sin, who are suffering the consequences of their poor choices. We wish to show them the way to life, not beat them over the head; instead we must trust that God will transform people if we can only introduce him to them. Don’t we know from our own personal experiences that when the living God takes up residence in a heart, that he cannot help but have a rather significant impact on how life is lived?

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Submission

Ephesians 5:22 states “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.”

I don’t have a problem with wives submitting to their husbands; however, stopping there creates a false sense of what we as Christians are called to do. After all, if we look at Ephesians 5:21, the immediately preceding verse, we read:

“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

So we discover that all of us, regardless of gender, are supposed to submit to one another. That puts what follows in 5:22 about wives submitting in a little different light. Too many take the biblical passage out of context. I think it would be useful, if we want to think about the nature of our interpersonal relationships, to also consider what Jesus had to say about leadership in Matthew 20:25-28 (Cf. Mark 10:42-45, Luke 22:25-27):

“Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'”

The interesting passage in 1 Corinthians 7:4 also indicates that the point, scripturally, is mutual submission: “The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.”

We need to recognize that submission is an act of love motivated by a free will choice; it cannot be made to happen. The meaning of the term “submit” in Ephesians 5, and the point of Paul’s argument, can be summed up in Matthew 22:36-40:

“‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’

“‘Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'” (cf. Galatians 5:14 and Romans 13:8-10)

Everything boils down to loving one another. Jesus is so bold as to say that love is the whole point of the Bible: its central theme. Everything else is commentary. Thus, any interpretation we make of the Bible must make sense in light of the two commands, to Love God and to love people. If our conclusion puts us at odds with either of these commandments, we can be certain that we have failed to interpret a passage correctly. If our attitudes toward one another violate the spirit and letter of 1 Corinthians 13 (Paul’s famous passage explaining what love is), then we are out of line.

Those men who are uncomfortable with the equality of women should ask themselves a slightly modified version of a question Abraham Lincoln asked those who advocated slavery. Would you like to be a slave? If the answer is no, as it must be, then perhaps it is obvious that slavery is a violation the golden rule. Likewise, if you are uncomfortable with the idea of being forced into a subservient role yourself, how can you in good conscience advocate it for others?

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Robbers

Jesus went into the temple complex and drove out all those buying and selling in the temple. He overturned the money changers’ tables and the chairs of those selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written, My house will be called a house of prayer. But you are making it a den of thieves!”

The blind and the lame came to Him in the temple complex, and He healed them. When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders that He did and the children in the temple complex cheering, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?”

“Yes,” Jesus told them. “Have you never read:

You have prepared praise

from the mouths of children and nursing infants?”

Then He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there. (Matthew 21:12-17)

Was Jesus against commerce in a religious setting? Was he against profit? Did he dislike business? The religious leaders had decided that ordinary money could not be used in the temple area and insisted that it first be exchanged for special temple money. Only the special money could then be used to buy the only animals that the religious establishment allowed for sacrifice. Of course the religious leaders took a cut of the profits. Jesus’ words alluded to what Jeremiah had written: “Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching!” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 7:9-11).

Then, when the religious authorities criticized Jesus for letting the children cheer and call him the Son of David, he quoted a section of Psalm 8 to them—a section that had to do with praising God. The religious authorities had been upset because of the messianic implications of what had happened in the temple and what was being said by the children. Jesus just upped the ante and claimed not just to be the Messiah, but God.

There is nothing wrong with profit and doing business. A worker, as Jesus said, was worthy of his hire. But if it stands between a person and God, then it has to go.

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Don’t Get Bored

Jesus returned to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat down. A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all. The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel.

Then Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way.”

The disciples replied, “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?”

Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”

They replied, “Seven loaves, and a few small fish.”

So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd.

They all ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. There were 4,000 men who were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children. Then Jesus sent the people home, and he got into a boat and crossed over to the region of Magadan. (Matthew 15:29-39)

Don’t get bored! The story of feeding the four thousand sounds very much like the story of feeding the five thousand—so much so that we might be tempted to think it’s the same story. What purpose do two very similar stories serve?

After healing the first blind man, people were amazed. After the hundredth, it probably didn’t feel so remarkable any more. How many demon expulsions happened before the disciples started yawning?

God fed the huge crowd of Israelites in the wilderness every day for forty years. What Jesus did with four thousand was much the same. The Jewish people of Jesus’ day expected the Messiah to feed the masses, so that’s what he did. It took willful hardheadedness for the religious establishment to conclude, in the face of all Jesus did, that he was not, in fact, the Messiah.

It is easy for us to grow so familiar with Jesus that we lose sight of how marvelous he is. Every day, lives are saved, homes restored, sins forgiven, relationships mended. One person’s miracle is much like another. The blessings of God surround us. Don’t get bored!

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Signs and Wonders

Some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.”

He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.

“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. (Matthew 12:38-43)

Does God give us signs? The desire of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law to see a sign from Jesus seems odd in the context. Jesus and his disciples have healed the sick, raised the dead, and driven out demons on a regular basis. How could the Pharisees ask for more?

The phrase “wicked and adulterous generation” that Jesus used in his response reiterated the condemnation of the Old Testament prophets, who told Israel that she was like a wife who was unfaithful to her husband. The Israelites had abandoned God for idols. Like ancient Israel, the Pharisees had turned from God. They were rejecting Jesus, and so they were acting unfaithfully with the God they claimed to love. Jesus told them that there was but one sign left for them: his death, burial and resurrection. The pagan people of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba had repented in the face of Jonah and Solomon. But the religious establishment, confronted by Jesus who was God himself, couldn’t be convinced.

Jesus knew that there was nothing more that could be done for the religious establishment. He knew that another miracle wouldn’t change them. Miracles do not convert unbelievers into believers. Instead, unbelievers needed to repent, just as Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba had. Like the Pharisees, we don’t really need signs. We’ve already gotten plenty of them.

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War Can Happen

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:34-42)

The angels declared, “peace on earth, goodwill toward men” and their words are repeated endlessly during the Christmas season. But Jesus also affirmed that he did not come to bring peace on earth. Instead, he came to bring war.

Jesus divides people. He breaks up families and friends. Followers of Jesus have suffered persecution, even death. Jesus’ demands are paradoxical: if you love your parents more than Jesus, then you’re not worthy of Jesus. If you don’t march off to your own execution every day, you’re not worthy of Jesus. If you find your life, you’ll lose it, but if you lose it for Jesus, then you’ll find it.

It sounds very extreme in a comfortable society that tolerates and even encourages Christian commitment. But in some parts of the world, what Jesus said remains literally relevant. In some parts of the world, if you decide to become a Christian, you’re deciding to be cut off from your family, to have your husband or wife divorce you, to lose your friends, and to quite possibly lose your life. In a comfortable, tolerant, western civilization, we don’t have to make such choices. But the question Jesus asked remains relevant even for us: what is our priority? What matters most to us? How far will we go for Jesus? We still must decide.

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The Details

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.

“Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 10:24-33)

No matter how bad a mess we make, Jesus will help us clean it up. In the context of Jesus sending his disciples out to proclaim the soon coming of the kingdom of God, Jesus gave them a warning. Don’t be afraid of people, be afraid of God.

Jesus told his disciples that those who denied him before men, he would deny before his Father in heaven. But consider that Peter denied Jesus not once, but three times before a rooster crowed.

Did Jesus deny Peter before his Father? And if so, what does that mean? Since Peter was forgiven and restored after his denial, denial can be forgiven. It’s not a one way ticket to Hell. Just because we didn’t stand up for Jesus today, doesn’t mean we can’t do it tomorrow. What Peter did in a moment of terror did not render him unfit for eternity. Our fear of someone who threatens our life may sometimes overwhelm our fear of God who can do far worse to us. Jesus knew that, and so he warned his disciples. Being human, they were able to keep their perspective better at some times than at others. But Jesus was quick to forgive them when they lost perspective about who to fear. So we can’t be any worse Christians than Jesus’ first disciples. And as bad as they sometimes were, they still turned the world upside down. We can, too.

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Prey and Preditor

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. (Matthew 10:16-23)

We’re going to suffer. Jesus expects us to. When Jesus sent his disciples out into the world to proclaim the Good News and to heal people, he warned them that they were defenseless.

What Jesus described to them was, and ever has been, the experience of the Christian church. Without end, portions of the body of Christ have always experienced persecution, from the time of the Romans until the modern era. Usually that opposition came from the outside, but sometimes it came from inside their own families. And how did Jesus suggest his followers respond to persecution? To endure it if necessary, and to flee from it if possible.

Jesus told his disciples that they would not pass through all the cities of Israel before “the son of Man comes.” Although some take Jesus’ words as a prophesy regarding the second coming, the context seems to suggest something else. The twelve went among several villages in Galilee, then Jesus and his disciples went to Jerusalem and Jesus was crucified. Therefore Jesus’ crucifixion and the resurrection were the “coming” Jesus was speaking of: the redemption of humanity, the beginning of the kingdom of God in the hearts of people everywhere. Since Jesus endured the cross and lives with us today, we can endure anything.

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