By Far, the Stronger Sex ...

Remember those “He man” bubble gum comics back in the day?  For those of you asking what is bubble gum, just try to humor an old man.  Way back in the 1950’s version of America, when men were men, and women were … let’s just be kind and say the object of men’s affection.  Yes, we all know they were considerably more than that, I’ll get there.  The comic strip of the day pictures a 90lb weakling, who goes to the beach and gets sand thrown in his face, by the big muscular strapping “He” man of the day.  Should you identify with the 90lb weakling, all you needed to do, was respond through correspondence (yes, snail mail, it was a thing), and the company who created this awesome advertisement, would send you a gallon of it’s patented muscle growth formula which you could presumably add to your diet.  The results, as also pictured in the comic strip, would be that you would now be bigger than the other guy, get the girl, and live happily ever after.  And yes, all this was packaged with huge chunks of bubble gum with certainly enough sugar to cause an elephant really nasty weight gain.  Just about everything you need to know about the perfect vision of America in the 50’s can be summarized through this ad.  Easy to see, it was wrong about nearly everything.

For starters, my wife married me for my brains.  I had hoped it was for my sense of humor, but she has none, so that makes sense.  If it had been for my body, she got “JIPPED” (another ancient word meaning she suffered a huge disappointment in expectations, it was a thing.)  My body went from bone skinny, eat 3 large pan pizza’s at Pizza Hut and not gain an ounce, literally – to – eat water, gain 20 pounds.  Look at a candy bar, gain 20 more.  You get the idea.  Right now I am proud to say I maintain my weight within a 10 pound range, I am considerably less proud to let you know the baseline of my scale before we start talking about the 10 pounds.  So why does she continue to stay with me after three plus decades and counting?  You could be cynical and say it is for my money.  To which, I would fall on the floor laughing, asking what money?  Yes I have been a millionaire before, and yes, I have been bankrupt before too.  I have had long stints of executive work, and few fairly long stints trying to create my own business that just never got anywhere (turns out I am not a sales man).  So if my wife expected me to be rich, or to be a “He” man, she never came close to getting either.  So much for why women choose men, and even more a mystery, why they stay with them.

Given how much I love my wife today, you could say that is the reason.  You would be right … today.  But for as much as I love her now, I have wounded her far greater in those three decades.  She swallows her pain, forgives me, moves on, finds herself on her knees with Jesus – and is now living with those answered prayers.  Who has the strength to do that?  Not men.  We throw in the towel the minute the going gets rough.  We don’t have the stamina to deal with pain that lasts for years, let alone months, or days.  Sure men can gut it out, man up, and face a lot of mess.  But most of the mess we face, is the mess we make.  To have the iron will to forgive, to choose to forgive, to live without the past clogging your every day of the present – that takes strength.  Inner core strength.  Not the kind that nets you a six-pack abs, but the kind that nets you answers to prayers you pray for as long as the pain lasts.  That is nothing like a “He” man at all.

One part of that ad that was so mistaken, is that the girl does not go home with you because you are bigger than the next guy.  If she does, brace yourself, she will be moving on inevitably, because there is always another guy bigger than you.  She might just as willingly have gone home with you, when you were the 90lb weakling who put his faith in God, and bases his commitments in the concrete of faith, rather than the strength of will that is defeated in the moment.  That kind of strength in commitment, to follow Jesus, not to try to lead Him, is a strength we all need.  But I find women have it.  Men are still looking for it.  Here is a case in point.  Matthew records the aftermath of the death of Christ in his gospel in chapter 27.  There are almost no men mentioned, one or two at most.  Keep in mind Jesus had 12 male followers at the time.  One hung himself, so down to eleven.  One in extreme grief for letting faith go, when challenged by a mere servant girl, who accused him of nothing more than association with Jesus.  Three times he denied that.  He is now consumed by shame, not showing an ounce of strength.  And he was supposed to be the little rock.

Matthew does not record it, but John the beloved was there through all of this.  And Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin would play a role.  But the ones with cast iron faith, were the women.  These women risked their own lives, and virtue, just by being at this scene facing all of these cruel men who raped women without even a second thought.  It was part of their training, and expected of them when they conquered a people.  There was no respect of women.  Women were objects at best.  They could be bought or sold, raped or forced into marriage, no choices left to them of any kind.  This was their lives at the time.  Yet their faith in Jesus was so strong, their love for Him so unmutable, that they refused to be anywhere else.  Now I ask you, who is the stronger sex?  The one who can defeat you at arm wrestling, or the one who can love you when everything else in your life fails, and fails again.  These women remained in place with Jesus AFTER He has died.  He was dead.  No arguing it.

Matthew picks up in verse 55 saying … “And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: [verse 56] Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.”  Notice Matthews carefully chosen wording, he states, “many” women were there watching from afar.  Many, is a whole lot more than you can say for the men, down to John, possibly Matthew as he is writing this.  How many women does it take to outnumber the 12 minus one?  And if they did outnumber the men, are we certain we give the fairer sex its due for being the stronger sex?  And look at what Matthew casually weaves into his description of these “many” women.  That they ALL ministered unto Jesus, and you can imagine the rest of His followers as well.  These women, the many, were all silent disciples already playing a ministering role, that is a supportive role, to the best of their abilities while all the events of Jesus’ life played out.  They followed Him.  They believed in Him.  They were forgiven and set free by Him.

Mary Magdalene probably was forgiven the most by Jesus.  Jesus removed demons from her seven times.  She was the known prostitute who was prostitute no longer.  Mary the mother of James and John, had once asked Jesus for primary positions for her sons.  Jesus had to defer those positions to the will of His Father.  But she felt comfortable enough with Jesus to make the ask.  And Jesus loved her enough to share the Truth with her in His answer.  Jesus’ mother was also there.  Likely His sisters as well.  Then there was Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus who of the women there, likely had the most hope in what would take place.  For they had seen the words I am the Resurrection and the Life, play out in the raising of their dead brother Lazarus.  Probably also in that crowd was the woman at the well in Samaria, who became the first notable evangelist, converting nearly her entire region by pointing them to Jesus.  By contrast was the woman who had hemophilia and merely touched the hem of His garment.  No one had ever tried that kind of crazy thing before but it worked.  And from then on, everyone lined the roads, doing it as well, and finding the same positive results.  These were women of cast iron faith.

They were there because of the Day of Atonement.  They had traveled to Jerusalem in part for tradition and in part to see Jesus be crowned king as everyone was sure would happen.  But alas, a twist of events brought on by the betrayal of Judas, and the hatred of the men who were religious leaders, and now they were there to witness the object of their divine love up on a Roman cross.  And now dead.  But these women had what men do not.  They were not alone.  They drew strength and encouragement from each other, even though their hearts were breaking.  Tears flowed, yet strength remained.  Jesus was dead, yet still they persisted.  Men did not.  Men were logical, once death sets in, the story was over.  But women were strong enough to peer through the tears and wonder with hope “if” the story was truly over.  Mary and Martha had seen it keep going.  It is certain they shared that hope with the others.

But to avoid being eaten by dogs, which is what happens to bodies after their crucifixion, logistics must now be made most important.  Matthew continues in verse 57 saying … “When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: [verse 58] He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.”  Christ would not be eaten by dogs in a mass grave.  He would be buried because of the humility and courage of Joseph, who would make no profit from this.  Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin.  His money would buy him a certain degree of favor with greedy men.  But to align himself with Jesus would make him an immediate outcast with them.  Further, Joseph’s act of kindness, would continue to fulfill prophecy, so Joseph would be even less popular with religious leadership now.  And Pilate, who could not wash the guilt from his mind and soul, consented knowing it would anger the priests.  Pilate being blissfully unaware he too was helping to fulfill prophecy about the burial of Jesus.

Matthew continues in verse 59 saying … “And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, [verse 60] And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. [verse 61] And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.”  Matthew talks about Joseph wrapping the body of Jesus in a clean linen cloth.  But to do that, the body would have to be wiped away of all the blood first.  The crown of thorns would have to be removed.  The cross taken down, and spikes removed from His hands and feet.  Any ropes untied.  And hardest of all, His back which had so many chunks of meat removed from it by the cat-of-nine-tails whip with the glass shards tied in the ends would have to be carefully wrapped to try to keep what was left of Jesus in place.  Joseph was one man.  He likely had servants to help.  But the other hands that helped in this horrific process were the hands of the “many” women who were there with tears flowing.

Cast iron faith that can prepare the body of Jesus for burial.  They were burying their Messiah.  There would be NO Roman overthrow, as all this blood was witness to.  Their own persecution was to continue throughout the days of their lives.  Lost hope.  Lost dreams.  Yet still, love demanded they be here, and do what must be done, to give honor and love to their Lord.  If you ask me, it is these women who have earned the place on the right and left hands of Jesus in His Kingdom when it comes.  They did the hardest work anyone will ever have to do.  They did it with broken hearts.  And they did it with love, because of love, because love can make cast iron faith in a woman, if she lets it.  The body is then carried to a new tomb that has never been used before.  Another detail of the prophecy.  Jesus is carefully laid inside, and then a large stone is rolled in front as the door.  The women are there the entire time.  They have seen and helped with every detail.

By contrast, witness the groveling of men at the time.  Matthew continues in verse 62 saying … “Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, [verse 63] Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. [verse 64] Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. [verse 65] Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. [verse 66] So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.”  First, Friday the day is over, and Sabbath is here, it will continue until sundown.  Priests had made a ton of rules about what can and cannot be done on Sabbath.  They include rules about how many steps can be taken, as well as million other harsh and stupid regulations none of them based in any kind of love for God, or man.

Yet against their own statutes the Priests go to Pilate and beg for a Roman seal, and a Roman guard to watch over the dead body of Jesus.  Only now do they fear the disciples might regain enough courage to steal the dead body of Jesus and try to make up a lie about it.  So Pilate grants them a Centurion, likely the same one who was there at the moment of Christ’s death.  But there is more here than may at first meet the eye.  Centurion is not just a rank, it is an indicator of how many men are under his command.  Chances are good there were a hundred men assigned to this grave guarding duty.  After all, it would be a good break from all the other ugly things Roman soldiers are assigned to do.  There would be only as many as 12 men in opposition, unarmed men, who generally were fishermen and tax collectors, so the odds would be highly in the Romans favor.  Romans would not just send 5 or 6 guys to face 12.  They would send 100 to overwhelm 12 should a skirmish take place.  And with that many, it would be a cake walk.  You could effectively relax for a Saturday and Sunday (the weekend as we know it).  Not likely to be fighting.  Not likely to be facing anything unusual.  Even if Jesus was the Son of God, He was dead now.

But who was there intermingled with these wicked soldiers?  Mary Magdelene and the other Mary, sitting against the grave.  Mary Magdelene was likely not afraid of men like this.  She had seen and serviced her fair share in the past.  She may even know some of these men personally.  Romans did have coin after all.  But neither she nor the other Mary who had always minded her virtue were inclined to forfeit any of it now.  They remained heart broken.  But somehow unable to leave the scene of the continuing crime.  Women with cast iron faith, who even now, had the courage and strength to be in a place long abandoned by male disciples.  Those male disciples would not risk getting anywhere near a Roman soldier as they were paranoid and sure they would be arrested and killed just like their Master, maybe even worse.  Yet the women who faced the same risk, made entirely different choices.  Choices steeped in love.  Love that built a cast iron faith, that could not be shaken by Roman cruelty, or Roman steel.

Who then, by far, is the stronger sex?  And if we can recognize this, it does not diminish our masculinity.  It informs and educates it.  We can cloak our masculinity in the same love, that builds the same faith it does in women.  Our strength can be measured in our commitments made in the concrete of faith, rather than the quicksand of our will.  Our love can be measured as the only yardstick worthy to be used, never again to use the number of pounds we benchpress in a gym.  Our bodies to be given in service of others, not the vanity of self.  And what will emerge is not a confusion of the sexes, or the roles of our sex, but the unity in which both of us come to the cross, do what must be done, in spite of broken hearts and lost dreams.  Yet still in the back of our minds, a nagging hope, of knowing what the words “I am the Resurrection and the Life” mean.

 

The "A" Team ...

When a difficult task stands before you, a wise approach to accomplish it, is to select a team that is able to contribute a set of unique skills that when combined are able to meet nearly any task of any size.  In professional sports this team of athletes is referred to as “starters” or if the need is singular, then special teams.  In the military, teams are assembled like this within the special forces branches, and only elite, albeit different soldiers are used.  In the business world, the moniker the “A” team is still sometimes used.  It refers an organization’s best and brightest.  It represents the folks who are most likely to overcome any difficulty, rely upon each other’s strengths, offset each other’s weaknesses, and march on to victory.  So in the spiritual world, why would we expect to see anything different?

Imagine the magnitude of the task that stood before Jesus at the outset of His ministry.  Jesus must change the perception of God in the eyes of the people.  He has this task to do not just for Gentiles who believe in many gods, but for Israelites who believe in a vindicate, rules-obsessed God.  Jesus must change the way an entire nation views how to interpret scripture.  For even though they call themselves by His name, and the name of His Father, they have twisted scripture to fit the doctrines of debate, and in so doing have squeezed the love completely out of it.  How like us.  Jesus must demonstrate to all people the intentions of He and His Father in tangible ways, erasing the pain of sin, inside their hearts and minds, and outside in the defects sin brings by bad choices, heredity, and misfortune of Satan’s rage.  To heal a sin sick world, crying from pain of disease, deformity, and even possession will be no small task.   And while Jesus takes on this work, He must remain spotless (no shortcuts), and He must groom His followers to become a church that will stand the test of time and fury of a Roman empire, and Jewish religion, that will stand against it.

What Jesus needs is an “A” team.  Both then and now, Jesus needs a few followers that can assist Him in these tasks, and make the work of redemption easier by example, and by action, and by personal testimony.  So who should Jesus select?  From a decidedly human perspective, our minds would immediately turn to the great spiritual leaders who have lived in our past, or perhaps are still carrying on great missions today.  We think of pastors of large churches, or leaders of large conferences.  We think of singers who have international acclaim, and have toured the world over.  We think of miracle workers, who have performed great acts of healing, most of them on television. 

Our thinking is not much different, than the church leadership thought in the days of Jesus on earth.  The Sanhedrin was waiting on the call.  They expected that when the Messiah emerged, He would immediately come to them for assistance.  After all, who better than they to provide spiritual guidance in matters of doctrine.  They were the established leaders of the people in all matters of the Temple and of religion in that day.  Any doctrine outside of their blessing was heresy.  So any teacher outside of their order must by definition be a heretic.  And besides, these men, were just waiting on the call.  They had every intention of responding when it came.  But it didn’t.  At least not the way they thought it should.

Quietly, that is to say, without any formal pronouncements from the Temple order, or solicitations of the same; Jesus had come to earth.  Even the angels who burst into song at His birth because they could hold their voices no longer, found an audience of humble shepherds in the fields, not priests in the Temple.  The same star that guided men from half way across the world, went unnoticed by the Sanhedrin.  The voice of the Father Himself, and appearance of the Spirit in the form of a dove, were heard at the river Jordan, during a practice the priests discarded as unnecessary, but God obviously did not.  For all the sacrificial system of the Temple, a simple humbling of the heart, was worth more to God.  And it was that.  It was humility that all but had disappeared in the hearts of those who “knew” the word of God, and who studied it without ceasing, yet loved very little.

They, and we, have become proud of our accumulated religious knowledge.  The Sanhedrin, and the modern Christian, await the call of God as if God owes it to us.  After all, we have read so much, learned so much, done so much “mission” oriented work.  The fact that we do not know how to love, and who to love, does not even cross our minds.  We are too obsessed with a perfection we intend to achieve, either completely alone, or in some sort of “partnership” with God, where we do “our” part, and then He makes up the meager difference.  Although in truth these “partnerships” produce nothing more than excuses for our continued imperfection, and a chance to blame God because we continue to fail.  Albeit, we take pride in our rich spiritual history, and claim it as our own, though contribute very little to it.  We are spiritually wealthy in our own eyes, and now only await the official call of God, to put His seal on our life’s work.  So it was then.  So it is now.  How little has changed.

But the “A” team for Jesus was not to be found in the Temple, or ranks of the Sanhedrin, nor perhaps in the hearts of the modern Christian who yet refuses to humble himself no matter the size of his ministry.  The “A” team for Jesus was to be found in the least likely of suspects.  Jesus had already picked up the mantle of John the Baptist.  Jesus was preaching his gospel message of repentance, and was baptizing in the same river John did.  As for disciples, the “A” team so to speak, Matthew was not there when they were first picked.  He did not see it first hand, but he reported on it, from collective recollections he heard. 

His account begins in chapter four of his gospel picking up in verse 18 saying … “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. [verse 19] And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. [verse 20] And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.”  The disciple John provides a better first person account, revealing more details that it was he and Andrew, who were already disciples of John the Baptist.  That when Jesus appeared, John directed them to follow Him, as Jesus was the Messiah.  It was John and Andrew who raced to their respective homes, and told their respective brothers, about the discovery of the Messiah.  And then it was Jesus who follows as Matthew records above.

Matthew continues in verse 21 saying … “And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. [verse 22] And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.”  Fishermen.  After all the preconceived ideas about who Jesus would select for His “A” team, He picks four fishermen.  He could choose to do so again today.  Though the methods have evolved, the profession remains even till our day.  Can you imagine if the fate of modern Christianity, is still resting in the hands of common, ordinary fishermen.  Not the preachers.  Not the teachers, or singers, or miracle workers.  Especially not the conference leaders, but instead the entire fate of Christianity continues to reside in the hands of fishermen along our coasts.  It is unthinkable, in every mind, but the mind of Christ.  Perhaps in our day, Jesus might expand His selections of an “A” team but limit it only to any other truly blue collar position in life.  Still unthinkable, even to them, but NOT to Jesus Christ.  He not only thought it, He picked it.

The stain on the face of the Sanhedrin could not have been brighter.  To be overlooked in favor of illiterate fishermen, who had only a baby’s view of the scriptures, was inconceivable.  This very pick, puts Jesus in the fake Messiah column.  Because surely no “real” Messiah would start out like this, and then pick these idiots as His “A” team when SO MANY better qualified candidates exist right here in the Temple, and center of the established religious leadership of the day.  It’s like trying to start a baseball team, and walking right by the Hall of Famers and picking the janitor, hot dog stand guy, and ladies working to clean the bathrooms instead.  Only an idiot would ever do that right, so if Jesus did it, that makes Him an … but hold the phone.  If Jesus is God, and we know He is, then it may be that our ideas of “qualifications” that are all twisted around, just like those of the Sanhedrin.

What Jesus needed was and is, men who are willing to admit, they do not know everything, in fact, they know very little.  Jesus needs humility in us, so that He can actually teach us, the right things, the right ways, in the right time.  He can’t do that, if we refuse to let Him, because we ALREADY know what we need to know.  Our submission to Jesus then, is the hallmark trait of an “A” team member for His purposes.  He does not need us to lead at all.  He has that covered.  Instead, He needs us to play, understanding we have NO skills, and He will provide them to us, when and how we need them.  Imagine what it takes for the janitor lady who normally cleans the bathrooms to step up to the mound against true “professionals”.  That takes faith.  That takes trust.  That does NOT take confidence, it takes dependence and humility.  It is our confidence that has been our problem all along.  We put our confidence in us, in the accumulated knowledge and work we have done for Jesus.  Instead of putting our confidence in knowing we know nothing, and he knows everything.  We can solve zero problems, but He can solve every problem.  Our lack of humility, and misplaced confidence, keeps us out of the real game entirely.

And what does Jesus do right after picking this team?  Matthew continues in verse 23 saying … “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. [verse 24] And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. [verse 25] And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.”  Jesus does what Jesus always does, and what Jesus was meant to do.  The better question is, how did this “A” team “help” Jesus do what Jesus does?  In point of fact they did not.  They were there as witnesses, not as participants, at least not yet.

It turns out the job of an “A” teamer for Jesus may also be quite a bit different than we thought as well.  Instead of jumping right in and offering their opinions to folks.  They were a bit dumb-founded as they watched God do, what God has always wanted to do for us, and through us, and sometimes in spite of us.  Watching God work is staggering, both then and now.  Same God, who wants to do the same work.  Jesus is every bit as interested in healing the sick now, as He was then.  The modern Christian is the one all twisted around, because we pray weak prayers questioning the will of God, or we take credit for what He does, as if it only happened because we prayed at all.  Neither condition was a problem in the days of Jesus.  Jesus healed, without any prompting from His disciples at all.  Jesus healed because that is what Jesus does.  He restores men to God, and to the image He intended for them to be in.  Peter did not have to pray to get Him started.  Peter just had to step aside and watch Him go.

It is we who have lost confidence in the will of our God.  We now sometimes believe it must be His will when calamity strikes (instead of most often a cause and effect relationship between choices to sin, and the results of pain that sin inevitably brings with it).  But then you ask, how else could bad things happen to the innocent?  I answer, Satan has not disappeared or gotten tired of playing.  He is every bit the unflinching animal he ever was, and will inflict as much pain as he can.  In addition, when I choose to smoke, and I get cancer, that is not God’s will for my choice or its result.  That is cause and effect.  And when my unborn child suffers because my second-hand smoke penetrates his mother and gives him grief in the womb.  That is also NOT the will of God, but the result of my choices, and their results.  Modern Christians are all too keen on passing off responsibilities we should own to our God, and then wonder why the unbeliever questions His character. 

Our environment is polluted, our air, water, and earth, because of the greed sin promotes, and the choices our forefathers, and we ourselves continue to make.  When disaster arises from environmental disturbances that come up, they too are NOT the will of God, but the results of what man has done to himself, and what Satan makes worse from his efforts.  You will notice in these texts, that Jesus does not go around creating earthquakes, and tornadoes, and otherwise judging and killing the wicked.  That is unthinkable to what we know about Jesus.  You will also note, that Jesus does not go around creating terminal diseases in the innocent, and using terminal disease to judge the wicked.  In fact that is NOT what Jesus does, or ever did.  That is what sin does, and always did.  Jesus ends the pain of those things.  Jesus restores humanity to what He intended for it.  He does not create misery in order for people to run to Him to avoid it.  That is not love.  That is fear.  And fear does not change lives or motives, it only puts things in perspective for a moment.  Then life resumes just as it was.  Love however, changes things forever.

Jesus ends suffering, He does not cause it.  The “A” team witnessed this, over and over and over again until it was drilled into their minds and hearts.  They became so confident over time, that THIS was the will of God, to end suffering.  And later they would be able to see God do it, even after Jesus had left this world.  They knew it was still Him.  They knew it had nothing to do with themselves, only everything to do with ending the suffering of the person in need.  The “A” team saw God in action.  The “A” team had their own perceptions of God changed.  The “A” team were humble enough to allow this to occur.  Are you ready to join that team?  Or do you already know, everything you need to know?

 

Family Ties ...

Imagine for a moment, what it must have been like for a childhood friend of Jesus.  Jesus was born in Bethlehem but was quickly moved to Egypt for His first seven years.  I wonder how many kids He might have remembered in His early days in Egypt, or if He learned to speak the language there having grown up in the shadow of the Nile.  On moving back to Israel, Joseph and Mary chose to settle in Nazareth, in the region of Galilee.  Perhaps Joseph feared that returning to Bethlehem may have inspired Herod’s successor into equally violent acts to kill the young child.  But for the remaining years from 7-8 all the way till He was nearly 30 years old, Jesus grew up and became a young man from Nazareth, in Galilee.  Given His loving disposition, He was bound to have made friends there.  There was that incident where at 12 years old, He taught in the Temple for three days while His earthly parents were in a panic on His location.  The Temple scholars were amazed at His doctrine, and in His Truth.  But outside of that single incident, we have no written documentation about His life from 8 to 30, though we might be able to imagine a “normal” life for Him.  Could it truly have been so?

To give it context, we will invent a friend for Jesus called Bob (yes, I realize Bob is hardly a normal Jewish name at the time; that is sort of the point, this is an imaginary friend only to illustrate a point).  Bob would have gone with Jesus at 12 and frankly every year to the Temple for Passover.  This was not a onetime event in the lives of practicing Jewish families, it was an annual one.  If Bob were the same age as Jesus, Bob would have been around when the brothers and sisters of Christ came into the world.  Keep in mind, Jesus was the first born and eldest in His own home, but decidedly NOT an only child.  John Mark will be providing more specifics on that shortly.  But if Bob and Jesus were friends and roughly the same age, they may have played together as younger children, and helped each other out taking care of younger brothers and sisters as they too began to grow up in Nazareth.  Bob would had to have noticed that Jesus was not like all his other friends.  Jesus was different.  He loved everybody.  He knew scriptures well enough to teach Temple scholars at the age of 12.  He never swore, or used foul language.  He ate simple healthy foods, not given to gluttony or excess.  He was in great physical shape, because He worked as a Carpenter’s apprentice.

Bob had to have been by Jesus’ side when Joseph died.  Bob would have been a pallbearer at Joseph’s funeral, helping carry and bury the body of Joseph, perhaps adding a stone for respect and commemoration.  While Jesus was deeply saddened over the loss of His earthly father, He did not grieve as others grieve, because He seemed to know something about death that nobody else could understand.  What a temptation it must have been for Jesus to raise Joseph in order to comfort Mary, and His brothers and sisters.  But it was not the will of His Father that His ministry begin this young.  So Joseph must remain in the grave. 

Bob would have noticed that Jesus did not seem to have a favorite toy, but would give away the toys He made to anyone who showed an interest in them.  Bob would have noticed that Jesus took over the family business, and taught His brothers how to carpenter, waiting until they were self-sufficient before He would leave to pursue a different career in Ministry.  For the life of him, Bob could not remember Jesus ever committing a single sin.  No one ever witnessed Jesus doing anything for Himself, only ever for others.  Truly this had to have been remarkable.  Bob’s other friends would be willing to get into mischief with him, but not Jesus.  Jesus loved Bob consistently, but would never be a part of anything that might have caused pain to another.

So if Bob, or you, could imagine knowing someone like this for more than 22 years, could you not come to “know” in your heart who He surely must be?  Looks like Bob missed the boat, more to the point, are we missing it was well?  Peter recalls to John Mark what should have been a triumphant return of Jesus to His home.  But there was no Bob to greet Him.  Instead what happened was truly remarkable, and so close to how we treat Jesus today.  John Mark transcribes Peter’s recollections beginning in the Gospel of Mark chapter Six and verse 1 saying … “And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him. [verse 2] And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?”  Jesus had come home.  Perhaps the first thing He did was to check in with His mom and siblings and get settled in with the disciples.  Perhaps their home was not big enough to accommodate them and He went to stay with other friends He knew from back in the day.  But for wherever they settled down, Jesus went to the synagogue on Sabbath … to teach.

Jesus was no longer just a parishioner, He was now on a mission to teach the Truth.  His doctrines, as ever, were sound and irrefutable.  His Truth and message was powerful and moving.  His delivery was perfect.  And His reputation preceded Him.  The locals remembered Jesus, but hearing Him speak this way was blowing their minds.  When did Jesus become such a powerful preacher?  When did He have time to learn so many scriptures and speak more authoritatively than any Rabbi ever?  And how was it that He was performing so many miracles in His ministry?  He never did so many before.  The people who knew Jesus, and could not recall Him ever committing any act of sin (because He didn’t), could not connect the dots for who He was.  John Mark continues in verse 3 saying … “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.”  The people knew Jesus not as a preacher, but as a carpenter.  They were offended at the idea of being taught by just another carpenter.  Joseph had been dead so long, they did not recall him as the father of Jesus, only citing His mother’s name.

But in their response is enumerated for us, the beauty of family.  In this day, men were counted and valued, women were not.  Jesus had four brothers; James, Joses, Juda, and Simon.  In addition Jesus had sisters.  I would so bet there were three of them J (of course that is me personally just liking the number 7).  Mary was not a perpetual virgin as our Catholic friends would like to believe, perpetuating a myth of pagan lore.  Mary was a wife and mother, a real wife and mother, who loved her husband and without benefit of birth control, gave birth to at least 6 more children (note the tense of the female siblings as sisters not sister).  Perhaps some of these brothers or sisters were born in Egypt.  The rest were born and or raised in Nazareth with Jesus.  His family was known there.  Bob would have known Him.  Other had to as well.  The locals had a family context for Jesus, and the remainder of His family were ALL normal people.  His brothers, sisters, and mother were not perfect, they were just like us.  So by association, if His family was not perfect, He could not be either.

John Mark continues in verse 4 saying … “But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.”  Jesus points out a truth of human nature both then and now.  Those who should have known Him for who He is and was, did not.  Those who had spent years knowing Him, being around Him, listening to Him, talking to Him, and watching His life, did not really know who He was at all.  How like us.  Christians who have been in the church for years, talking to Jesus, talking about Jesus, claiming the name of Jesus … but having no clue who He really is.  We associate with each other, like our Pharisee forefathers.  We do not go to those in need, and give them our time, our love, and our means.  Instead we collect into groups of like-minded believers, and share Jesus in conversation with each other, feeling good that we did so afterwards.  But isolating our conversations to those who already believe as we do, taking no risks of rejection or ridicule, and showing no real love to anyone in need.

Yet we like Bob, and like those who grew up with Christ, have no idea who He really is.  We worship a God fashioned after our own desires, instead of a God who can remake what we want.  We pray to Him to “do” things for us, get off our knees, and “do” nothing for others.  Our knowledge of Jesus is one way, from Him to us, never finding Him when it is we who do for another.  We who have known Jesus for more than 20 years, and still know so little about who He truly is.  We, like our imaginary Bob, should be ashamed.  We can recall no time when Jesus did not show us how much He loves us.  The love of Jesus for us is always constant.  Yet our own love of each other is sporadic, temperamental, and often one sided.  Our hearts reflect a priority centered on self, and demonstrate that we have yet to be fully transformed by His power.  When our hearts are transformed through surrender to this same Jesus we may have talked about for 20 years, but never really surrendered to, we find we love differently.  Our love for others becomes a driving passion in our lives that cannot keep silent.  And for the first time, we begin to know the minister, instead of the carpenter.  We begin to know who Christ really is, instead of what we thought He was.  We begin to know what it really means to be saved from ourselves, instead of steeped in our embrace of sin.

John Mark continues in verse 5 … “And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. [verse 6] And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.”  Not only did those who should have known Him, refuse to accept who He was, their lack of faith prevented Him from doing for them, what He came to do for them.  Here the parallels in our day are terrifying.  Do we as nominal Christians, so lack faith in Christ, that we actually prevent Him from healing us, transforming us, and pouring out His power upon us?  In a further terrifying assessment statement, Jesus “marveled” at their unbelief.  Jesus is literally amazed at how little belief those who should know Him best, actually have.  Does He also marvel at us?  Are we like our predecessors, able to talk about Jesus, but completely lack a real faith in His ability to actually change who we are, and how we live?  Are we still bound in sins, we should have long been made free of, but are not, because our lack of faith prevents Him from doing the great and mighty works He would love to do for us?

Despite their lack of faith, those in need were still able to benefit from His healing touch.  Perhaps those in deep need were willing to accept a different picture of who Jesus was?  Perhaps their need drove them to this.  Does it take this kind of tragedy to drive us to see Jesus differently?  Or can we like simple villagers in the surrounding towns, accept the teachings of Jesus who thought it important to visit small communities and reach the unreached.  Jesus went to Nazareth first, but Nazareth was not having Him.  Jesus went to Israel first, but the Jewish religion was not having Him.  But the ministry of Jesus was not reserved ONLY to those He encounters first, but to all mankind.  It is the loss of Nazareth in how they responded to Christ, as it was for the Jewish faith.  But any who would hear, who would believe, would find that Christ has flung open the doors to His family, will find that all are welcomed there.  Being a blood brother or sister of Christ may have provided a level of more time spent with Him.  Being a friend who grew up with Christ, may have afforded a lifetime of getting to talk to Him and know Him.  But to really know who Jesus is, we must look beyond the Carpenter, and find the Savior.

To truly embrace the family of Christ, we must learn to love all of its members, with a love that is reflected through us from Him, not attempted to originate within us.  We are not the source of love, we are only its vessel.  We can carry His love to others, relying on His strength to do so.  But only as we surrender who we are to Him.  We must put our desires on His altar.  We must allow Him to change how we think about loving others.  A change in the core of us, will produce a harvest in the feet of us.  Our actions will follow our transformed hearts, and our motives will become what they were intended to be, instead of what we try to force them to be.  To truly become a brother or sister to Christ, we do not need to share the blood of Mary, but the blood of Christ with the world around us.  Our family ties to Christ by choice, and by surrender to His transforming power, are stronger than a genetic linkage that serves no other purpose.

 

Standing Room Only ...

In our world, rock stars often are so popular, that a performance in a given venue sells out every seat; to fit in even a single person more, requires them to stand for the duration of the event (standing room only or SRO).  I’m sure modern musicians would love to believe this phenomenon started with them.  It didn’t.  Perhaps the first recorded SRO event in history came at the time of the Messiah.  Peter recounted it to John Mark in the opening of chapter two of the Gospel of Mark.  Not coincidentally, Peter is quick to call attention to the venue, as it was his own home in Capernaum.  And while we have no real idea what the voice of Jesus might have been like, from a singing perspective; we definitely know He was an awesome speaker, and His restorative healing powers had made the miraculous possible.  To go where Jesus is, represented a chance at restorative, re-creative, healing like nothing else on planet earth.  To hear His words, receive His teachings, and have Him remove even your desire to sin, represented a restorative healing to your soul, that ONLY Jesus could offer.  If you had to stand, that was only a small price to pay.

It is no small lesson for us to absorb.  As followers of Jesus Christ, and personal witnesses to the power of His restorative power to remove sins from our lives … have we ever stopped to consider why so many of our churches are half full or less from week to week?  We offer ample seating, with literally zero SRO events.  Oh sure, you could argue that there are no “personal” appearances made by Jesus Christ in our churches today, but if so, how sad.  How sad, that the world does NOT see Jesus Christ reflected in His professed followers.  How sad, that though we “talk” about the removal of sins from our lives, we continue to rely upon self to see it done, and continue to fail at it, such that the world sees only themselves in us.  We appear to have nothing to offer them, because the impact of Christ on us, has been refused by us; choosing rather to “partner” with Christ, or supplant Him altogether, in a continued illusion of our ability to simply “choose” not to sin.  Were we to completely surrender to Jesus, and see even our desires to sin removed, we too might have such a witness to tell, that SRO church services might once again dominate the landscape.

Peter outlined just such an event to John Mark.  Sure the main story line was about a paralytic that was healed, but the far more important sub text, was about how ALL of us might be healed and restored from the disease we know as “sin”.  Peter begins in chapter two and verse one recalling … “And again he entered into Capernaum, after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.”  Like any good concert event, word of mouth is an effective tool at publicity.  Where we might use social media today to spread the news, in the days of Peter, “social” media was truly “social”.  People actually physical spoke with one another, building personal connections, and relationships defined by presence and context.  Note here too, Peter is quick to recall that Jesus was … “in the house”.  Elvis is in the building.  The Beatles have arrived on set.  Pick your generational equivalent terms of excitement, for Peter and the surrounding community, having Jesus there in person made a buzz that no one could ignore.

John Mark continues transcribing in verse 2 writing … “And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.”  Notice the immediacy of the gathering crowd in the words “and straightway”.  If you were going to get a good seat near the feet of Jesus, you had no time to dilly-dally.  The push of the crowds was going to be real.  The craving of the people to hear everything clearly and learn at the feet of Jesus was going to drive early-birds, and lines of folks pressed as close as they could get.  In no time at all, the entire home of Peter well exceeds the fire code for maximum attendance.  You simply could not squeeze one more person in there.  So next, the crowd presses around the open doors and windows, hoping there too, to get a glimpse of the Master inside.  And the preaching of Jesus began.  Would that our churches so ably reflected the love of Christ, that crowds today would press up next to the windows and open doors, just to glimpse the love taught from our pulpits, and shown in our pews.

John Mark continues in verse 3 … “And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. [verse 4] And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.”  Here Peter reveals something subtle we often overlook.  The first time Jesus Christ was at this venue (Peter being proud to have Jesus in his home), Jesus healed every person in the area that was sick or demon possessed.  You will note here, that the story centers around only one sick person, whose friends had to bring him there, likely from a greater distance.  There were no “physically” sick people pressing in on Jesus this time around, because He had already healed them all, except for this one person who was likely “not from around there”.  The people who were pressing in on Jesus had a different reason to be there, than for mere physical healing, they were there for a spiritual healing they believed He might bring.  And they were not to be disappointed.

You might think, that having four guys climb up on your roof, and then destroy the section over the head of the Messiah might be at the least … distracting.  You might think, that the owner of the home, likely Peter himself, might be a bit, perturbed to have such a gaping hole in the middle of his living room, cause when the rain comes …  But Peter is not distracted in the retelling of this story, by the damage done to his home.  He does not count the un-invited friends as trespassers, and vandals, in this account.  Instead, the extent to which the condition of the paralytic has degenerated is the focus of attention here.  This is not someone who can get around limping, or relying upon a cane, or set of crutches.  This poor person is bed ridden.  He has to be literally carried around on a blanket or stretcher to move at all.  His disease is so advanced he must be still of his own power, and can only move, when he is moved by outside forces. 

How like us.  We too are so enslaved in our sins that we are powerless to move from them, UNLESS we are moved by forces outside of ourselves in the form of Jesus Christ.  Notice the parallels too of the four friends who are so moved with compassion for the paralyzed man, they take the time to … “heal him”?  No, they cannot do that.  They are powerless to do anything for him, EXCEPT, “bring him” to Jesus.  If only we counted our friendship so dear, as to measure it by our introduction of the love of Christ to those we know are in such desperate need of it.  Instead of bearing them, in their pain, in their slavery to sin, on blankets to the feet of Jesus; we throw rocks at them because of their condition.  We avoid bringing them to the source of love, and instead cast them out of our presence, and ridicule them for weaknesses we hide in our own hearts.  These four true friends knew they were powerless to help the man, but were willing to carry him to Jesus Christ in an act of love that would live on for eternal memory in the scriptures recorded here.  We do not know their names, but we know the extent of their love for this man.  These four would not take “no” for an answer where it came to bringing this man to Christ.  They did not pummel the crowd, but they found a way around them.  If it took, breaking and entering to get to Jesus, they were willing to endure the punishment to see their friend made whole.  How few of us, would do “anything” in love to see our friends made whole by Jesus.

Mark continues in verse 5 … “When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.”  And here is where the priority of heaven is revealed.  The FIRST thing Jesus offers this poor paralytic is NOT physical relief, but the more important priority, a spiritual relief.  The FIRST thing Jesus does is bless this man, not only with forgiveness, but with the removal of sins and the desires that enslave us to them, from the heart of this man.  It is the faith of the four, that so impresses Jesus.  Jesus sees, that they were there for the deeper blessing of salvation He could offer, and He does not disappoint them.  The crowd there were gathered to determine if spiritual salvation was possible through the power of the Messiah.  They too were not disappointed.  Jesus had just revealed to all pressing in to see and hear, that forgiveness and freedom from sin was possible through His transformative power.  That was the priority message the crowd wanted and needed to hear that day.

It was not as if Jesus was done with His encounter with this man as yet, but before He had a chance to proceed, He began to pick up the thoughts of the religious leadership of His day, that were also gathered there to determine if salvation would be possible through this Messiah.  John Mark recounts in verse 6 … “But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, [verse 7] Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?”  These men did not “speak” these thoughts, they simply were thinking them.  It is telling that our motives, and private personal thoughts, are as transparent as glass to our God.  Had logic ruled the day, the act of Christ in knowing what they were thinking would have been enough to determine His identity as the Son of God.  Another myth debunked here, is the idea that we have the power to forgive the sins others commit.  We can forgive them for what they do to us.  But we cannot rectify them with their God.  Confession to each other, is not the same as confession to God.  Only God can forgive sins, men dressed in black robes, or preacher’s apparel do not have that power.

John Mark continues in verse 8 … “And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?”  To see divinity flash through humanity, and be called out for what you are thinking should have already been a clincher on the identity of this man.  This was not reading body language, this was reading the inner most thoughts of those who reasoned this Messiah might not be the Son of God.  The religious leadership were so bound to their understanding of scriptures, that they were questioning the power of God to provide salvation.  How like us.  We are so bound to our understanding of scriptures, that we call blasphemy by its right name, yet refuse to see it in the insertion of self into the process of our own salvation.  We come to believe, that “we” can forgive our own sins, and remove our own sinful desires by the power of our will, thus blaspheming the power that alone belongs to God.  Yet we ignore our sins, and proclaim loudly the mistakes of others as determined in the word.  Only God can forgive sins, only Jesus can remove the desire for them from our hearts.

Peter recalls in verse 9 to John Mark … “Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?”  Here too, is another subtle message of truth revealed to us.  For Jesus, our physical restoration is just as EASY as our spiritual one.  The work of restoring us to the creations He intended us to be, is NOT a hard work for our creator.  It is an easy one.  We see it as hard, in fact, as nearly impossible.  We see our countless failures, and repeated sins, as hallmarks that it is impossible for us to be holy.  Because we view our lives through the lens of our own will power and determination not to sin.  Instead, Jesus looks at our physical diseases the same way as He looks at our spiritual disease, and LONGS to transform and restore us to what He intended us to be.  For Him, this work is a no-brainer.  For Him, sin runs away and hides and never again wishes to be in His presence.  For Him, this is a work He can do easily for us.  It is we who complicate it, and make it appear hard, because we refuse to let Him do it.  We keep inserting ourselves in the process and messing it up.  We keep telling Him, to let us handle this or that, and in so doing prolong the easy transformation He would have accomplished in us.  We are by far our own worst enemies.  When we give it all up to Jesus Christ, we begin to experience the full restoration He longed to give us.

John Mark continues in verse 10 … “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) [verse 11] I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.”  Two events are here tied together.  Our assurance, not just the doubting scribes listening to the Messiah that day, our faith is to be made certain because Jesus healed the physical infirmity of this man – JUST – like He heals the spiritual infirmities we are plagued with.  “Arise”, or be lifted up, or rise above, your previous life, your previous disease, your previous desires – not because you have inherent power within you, but because Christ gives you the power to obey.  “Go home” with an assurance that you are not only physically well, but you are spiritually made whole.  The most important blessing was given FIRST.  This one only helps you share it without having to have four friends carry you around to tell of it.  If the gospel of Peter through John Mark is not a lie, then the marriage of what happened here both physical and spiritual are true, and possible for us. 

We may not have physical palsy that requires our friends to bear us around on comfortable blankets.  But we decidedly have a spiritual malady in a slavery of loving-self, that exhibits symptoms of selfishness in every sin we commit.  If Jesus was able to heal the physical needs of this man, why would we doubt His ability to heal the spiritual needs within us?  After being brought into alignment with His laws, and learning through His power, how to love others like He loves others; we do not need to be carried around by our friends, we need to find a comfortable blanket, and go rescue another who is not found the healing we have in Jesus Christ.  We are not to add to their burdens through our righteous condemnation of their sins, we are to bear them up gently, and in love, take them to Jesus to find healing of their own.  Tear the roof off a church if that is what is needed to find the love of Jesus Christ.  Disrupt the tradition of quiet reverence with acts of love that are provocative, but meaningful, and result in seeing another find healing at the feet of Jesus Christ.  Our silence is not what is called for, our love is.  Our songs and our speech made only on a weekly basis, are a poor substitute for a love that would do “anything” to see a friend find Christ.

The story continues in verse 12 … “And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.”  The physical restorations, this crowd had seen.  They had seen ears replaced, eyes restored, missing limbs put back where they go, through the power of Christ.  They had seen demons driven from their hosts and compelled to keep silent.  In short, this crowd had seen nearly every variation of physical restoration possible the last time Jesus was in the house.  But they had never seen salvation occur like this ever before.  They, like us, had the knowledge of the Law, but the inability to keep it, or be in harmony with it.  Until this day, they never thought to be transformed and restored within, the same way they were healed on the outside.  They had never thought that the easy work of God was to remove sinful desires that had so long enslaved their hearts.  But after today, no more of that.  Salvation was possible, and was real, through the transforming power of Jesus Christ.  It did not have to wait, or depend on me.  My role was to get out of its way, and let Jesus do what He needs to do within me.  My role is to surrender to Christ, not attempt to insert further controls.  My role is to give up and let it happen to me.  Christ does not need a partner in this work, He needs to be allowed to do it for us.  The work is His, not ours.  He needs for us to believe He can, and He will do it for us.  He needs for us to get out of His way, and quit thinking we know better than He does.

Notice Peter uses the words “and immediately he arose”.  The transformation did not take weeks to implement, it was instant.  The faith of this man, and his friends, was to allow Christ to heal him.  They brought everything to Christ, and did not walk away empty handed.  There is no “risk” to us, in bringing every desire of our corrupted hearts to Jesus Christ.  What He removes from our lives and our desires, He replaces with something much better.  His restoration is not casual, partial, or incomplete.  It is full.  It is liberating.  It makes a life one worth living.  This is the excitement Jesus can restore in the hearts of those would let Him do the work of physical and spiritual restoration.  An SRO series of church services is possible today, if His house becomes one filled with those who have a firsthand knowledge of what it is like to be restored.  If we would care so much, as to carry those we know who remain in desperate need, to Jesus on comfortable blankets, in acts of love that too will be remembered for all time.