Have you ever passed out?
The feeling is ugly. One minute
everything is fine, then your blood sugar, or blood pressure, goes too low and
you lose control of your mind and body.
The mind begins to go blank. The
body follows. You will collapse to the
ground if standing or sitting. At the
start of it, you realize something is wrong.
You are losing control of things you otherwise believed you would always
be fully in control of. But that
illusion of control is slipping away and there is nothing you can do to stop
it. When you come to, when you are woken
up, when your systems are restored, you begin to take account of where you are,
and of what happened. At that point you
will need to rely upon the stories of others to know exactly what happened to
you. Your memories cease as the incident
occurs, they do not follow you in to the unconscious state. Your mind stops recording them, your normal
brain activity does not work the same, your senses do not function the
same. Everything becomes weirded
out. It is not a good feeling.
Watch a politician some time who is beginning to lose
his/her grip on power. It is daunting
how far they will go to keep hold of it.
What a person will say, regardless of the facts, let alone of the
truth. When a politician begins to
become under siege, usually of incidents of their own making, they look to cast
blame. Cast blame anywhere but on
themselves. There can be no personal
accountability, lest the people are unforgiving, and the problem is made
worse. Finding a scape-goat, a fall-guy,
a patsy, is job one of the first order.
Give the constituents somebody else to focus on, let them vent their righteous
indignation somewhere else, anywhere else, just not on them. Lies are the neural network of a politician
under siege. Most campaigns are built on
partial truth to begin with, so going full-on-liar is not a far reach. It is the next logical step in the
maintenance of power. But if control
slips away anyway, that is if the illusion of control is proven to be what it
is, an illusion – anger, rage, denial, any step of the grief process ensues,
sometimes all at once. The only
additional step might be shame, but that requires some level of self-awareness
that behavior was less than ideal. It is
not a good feeling.
So what happens when morality, power, and the idea that God
ordained the person (combined to form religion as we know it) – goes through the
same risk of losing power over the people?
Matthew records such a case study in his gospel to the Hebrews. Keep in mind Matthew was trying to reach his
contemporaries and blend the Old Testament with the life of Christ, not to
alienate them by what he wrote. But
because of his love for his audience, he could not shield them from the truth
either. The Jewish faith was
changing. It was meant to change. It’s entire point was to await the Messiah,
and to become enriched by the life of the Messiah. To deny He had come, was to deny the central
core tenant of their belief system. It
would be hard, for a typical Jewish believer, taught from childhood to honor
the traditions and the priesthood, the leadership of the faith – to understand
how far off track that same leadership had gone, when facing the idea that
power was slipping away from it. But
then, how far would any modern Christian church leadership go, if placed under
the same threat of loss? To examine
ourselves, we must examine our spiritual forefathers and realize we are very
little different.
Matthew begins in chapter twenty-one of his gospel picking
up in verse 23 saying … “And when he was come into the temple, the chief
priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and
said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this
authority?” This was a trick question
based on a premise of certainty every modern Christian preacher shares. Tradition gave the Pharisees their
position. They were anointed. They were approved in a system, through a
legacy. None of them just declared
themselves to be something the system had not given the voice of approval
upon. The Pharisees and Sadducees were
certain of their authority. To an
extent, even the Roman empire had approved the governing religious body of the
day in Israel. But Jesus? Who was He?
No one anointed Him (outside of the baptism of John). No Roman gave Him papers for this. No Priest would dare offer Him the stamp of
the system’s approval. Jesus was an
upstart. Jesus was a homeless, hippy,
rebel, who seemed to claim only a one-on-one direct connection with God
Himself. And we all know how crazy
people are who claim to hear God orally in their lives. We throw those guys out as fast as we find
out who they are. It stands to reason
the people might follow that course too, so if they could get Jesus to admit
who gave Him His authority they could perhaps unseat Him in the minds and
hearts of the people.
But here is the first place we go so horribly wrong. While the priest was looking at power and
authority, the formerly lame man was looking at a fully restored leg and
hip. Love did that, not power, love. Love cared enough to stop, to single him/her
out, to recreate that which had been deformed from birth – to restore it so
perfectly none would ever believe him/her crippled again. Even his/her parents would marvel at the
perfectly recreated limbs from the hands of love Himself. Jesus did not call down fire from heaven to
do it. Jesus did not lift Himself up,
during the process. A lot of times, He
told the healed person to keep it quiet, refusing even the publicity that He
knew would come and shorten His ministry.
While religious leaders look to power, the head of ALL religion was
composed of love, and looked at us through that lens alone. A passion for loving others, engenders
reciprocal feelings and creates an environment of love that has the power to
transform. Not just the flesh and bones,
but the hearts and minds. It is
transformative love that makes us new creatures from the inside out. A focus on power, is an absolute divorce from
that kind of thinking.
None the less Jesus responds in verse 24 saying … “And Jesus
answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me,
I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. [verse 25] The
baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? … “ The religious leadership had challenged
Christ with a question, now Jesus returns the challenge with what would appear
to be a simple question. Every member of
the audience of Matthew’s gospel would understand this reference. Many would be personally familiar with John
the Baptist. Many may even have had the
privilege of being baptized by John personally before Herod abruptly ended his
life at the insistence of a woman who refused to bend her pride and find
forgiveness in a God who so longed to pour it out on her. But what seems like an obvious question to
Matthew’s readers, was a complex problem for the church leadership. Picking back up in verse 25 it reads … “… And
they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will
say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? [verse 26] But if we shall say,
Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.”
We all go horribly wrong again. We choose to overlook truth for the sake of
power and the illusion of control. Just
as the reader of Matthew “knew” the answer to this question, so did the chief
priests in the Temple. John did what he did,
because God through the Spirit drove Him to do it. It was his life long mission to prepare the
way of the Lord. He was appointed to it,
even as far back as in his mother’s womb, a miracle to begin his life even
then. But when John spoke truth to power,
power rejected it. The chief priests of
his day, the church leadership of our own, and perhaps even we – were reluctant
to think we “needed” the baptism of repentance in our lives. Our modern-day tradition looks at baptism as
a one- time event we do in our childhood, or when we come to know Jesus. We do not consider doing it again unless we
may have publicly backslidden in our faith.
But the audience who came to see John, and to hear his burning message,
were just common ordinary believers.
They were not at the start or end of their faith. They were in the middle of their lives. Just like you and me. And John discerned both then and now, that we
“needed” repentance. Are we willing to
publicly display to others, that what John said all the way back then is still relevant? And that we, the saints, STILL, need the
baptism of repentance, even if it causes humility in us? The priests of old, that is the religious
leadership of old, did not.
So when you deny truth, and you still wish to cling to power,
you must lie. But if you lie to those
who clearly know the truth, you may create for yourself an incident from which
there is no escape. Matthew continues in
verse 27 saying … “And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he
said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.” The only out for the Pharisees is to refuse
to say, to claim they are uncertain. A
full denial of truth, without being held to the denial by the people. Jesus too refuses to fall into the trap that
was set for Him at this time. The power
and authority behind Jesus would be self-evident to the people. To anyone who would listen, Jesus always
identified His Father as the source behind every miracle, behind every act of
love, behind every action they pursued next.
Jesus was in constant submission of His own will to the will of His
Father. He had absolute trust in His
Father. Never questioning it, until the
garden when even then He would continue to submit.
The mission of Jesus however, was motivated in love, not
power. So even though these wicked
priests had tried to trap Him, Jesus was still bent on saving them, as He still
looks to save the church leadership of our day.
Jesus decided to speak directly to the church leadership of old, and of
now, through the telling of stories or parables. There is truth in a parable, in its theme, in
its illustration. A parable is not a
word for word exact revelation of truth.
Instead it is the equivalent of going to a play, or a movie, albeit with
a much greater author, a much deeper meaning, and a motive of redemption few
entertainment venues still care about.
This way of story telling could keep the direct rebukes to the church
leadership under a slight mask. It would
allow Jesus to chastise us, without the direct horrific pronouncements we might
use on each other, or like the one Jesus uses on the fig tree in our earlier
study. Instead the negative aspects of
the stories would allow church leadership to see where they are, what their
roles are, and how they could still find redemption if they turned away from
self, and towards the only source of our salvation.
So story #1 begins, picking up in verse 28 it reads … “But
what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said,
Son, go work to day in my vineyard.”
Here Jesus portrays Himself as a Father figure, who has two sons
(presumably the whole world). The world
breaks down into two camps, those who are religious, or faithful, or see
themselves as followers of Christ. The
other as those who see no value in the love of God, and reject the Christ
choosing to do whatever they please, or whatever pleases them. This is actually a pretty accurate
description of how the world breaks down even today. The command is given of our God to go into
the vineyard and work. This is also
pretty close to a command given to go into all the world and spread the gospel
of love, to work for the redemption of those who have not heard it, or who are
in so desperate a need of it. You would
think since both are sons, both would listen and obey. But then ask yourself, when was the last time
Christians were known for their obedience?
The story continues picking back up in verse 29 saying … “He
answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.” The first son just completely refuses to do
what is asked. How typical of those who
do not believe. They reject being “told”
what to do. But the pain of living
without Jesus as the center of our lives is significant. The things we do outside of the will of God,
bring us pain, they hurt those we say we love.
Over time that pain becomes excruciating, all of it, of our own
making. When finally presented with the
love of Christ, we are broken, and only then see, that His way, was the better
way all along. We are transformed by His
love. And at once, we develop a desire
to join in the work of redemption of others.
This is the process Jesus describes as “repented” followed by the
obedience we once refused to offer.
Jesus continues in verse 30 saying … “And he came to the
second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.” Yikes.
This is the answer offered by the church. This is the answer you claim, I claim, and in
His day, what the chief priests were publicly saying. All the supposed followers of Jesus, that is
of the faith He authored, were claiming to obey and do whatever God asked. But our God asked us to love. Our God asked us to care about the salvation
of others, not just to passively say we care.
The work of redemption is NOT reserved for ministers, it never has
been. It is supposed to be the work of
believers, that is, anyone who claims to believe in Jesus. Keep in mind, the verbal response is
respectful, but the action of the feet and hands is non-existent. They, or we, do no real work. We simply never go. We talk a good game, and do nothing. We wait for others to go. We wait to encourage missionaries, never to
become one, even in the fields that surround our home or office. We rationalize that this is not our “gift” of
the Spirit, while never considering it is our “testimony” and our “witness”
that is lacking because we have never really experienced the salvation the
first crowd has. And no action is taken.
Jesus then asks the cutting questions in verse 31 saying … “Whether
of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus
saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go
into the kingdom of God before you.” The
priests examine the situation, and can easily say it is the first crowd who
actually “did” the work of the Father.
Both groups are no less considered sons.
This is not a story about a son and a slave or a servant. God loves us all. But how we respond to Him reflects whether we
have found true salvation from ourselves, or whether we believe that “we” are
pretty good people, you know, saints, or something like that. People who find true forgiveness, find also
true transformation, and a different purpose for their lives than the purpose “they”
thought they would have. They give up
“their own” will in favor of following the will of the Father. People who find only forgiveness and are
content to stop there, and never experience what it is like to truly obey,
because they refuse to truly submit their own will to anything. They worship their own will, even in matters
of religion, and therefore do “nothing” while claiming to fully do everything.
So Jesus offers a stinging rebuke to us. If we were to modernize His language into
something modern Christians would understand better. Jesus says “the hookers, the abortionists,
the pornographers, the homosexuals, and the pedophiles – will find the kingdom
of heaven and go in – before you or I do”.
It is not that any of those sins are welcome in perfection. But it is that any of those sinners can find
true reformation because they are willing to repent, and want a change, and see
the value of His transformative love, prizing it higher than anything their pathetic
lives can offer. Whereas you and I, like
the Pharisees of old, believe we already “know” God, and are already “good”
people, already claiming His forgiveness for the relatively small sins we
commit – while not truly embracing transformation, or seeing the need of it. So like the Pharisees of old, we repent so
late in our experience, we lose so much we might have otherwise had. We love sinners so late in the process, we
are hardly the effective vineyard workers.
Instead we sit around the vineyard and judge which grapes we think are
worthy, and which ones we should not even bother ourselves with.
Jesus concludes the first story saying in verse 32 … “For
John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but
the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it,
repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.” These church leaders refused to admit the
truth of who John was, and of the need of true repentance. So do we.
But those in pain heard John, saw the love of God in his message, and
repented of “who” they were. It was not
just of what they had done, but of who they had become. This is the level of true repentance that
brings about seeing the need of transformation.
Church leaders refused to do so; both then, and now, and in the
mirror. We refuse to see our pain,
instead calling it pleasure. We indulge
in the momentary-feel-good and ignore the lifetime of regret and pain we cause
to ourselves, to any who love us, and to our God most of all. We think these acts of sin are isolated
incidents, not a representation of “who” we really are. And we deceive ourselves, clinging to pride,
and refusing to submit. And so the
sinners we judge, become the ones who truly work in the vineyard of redemption,
because they come to know what it means to love like God loves. While we, clinging to pride, learn to love
only ourselves, and claim forgiveness makes it all OK. The repentant seek no control. While the saints believe they must hold all
of it, or risk the church heading over into the ditch. But true control belongs only in the hands of
our Savior, it is nothing more than illusion in our own.
Yet the story of Jesus was not meant to end in
condemnation. It was meant to end in
enlightenment. There is still time, for
us to let go of our pride, abase ourselves before our God. We can still submit our lives, and truly give
them over to Jesus, so He can rewrite them however He sees fit. If we allow this, our testimony will become
real, our witness unmistakable, and our care for the vineyard nearly immediate. The work of redemption is not complete, and
there will never be enough workers in it, until all are a part of it. Let us learn to be the sons, He calls us
still. Let us go and do, because it
burns within us. Because He puts a heart
of flesh within us, ripping out our heart of stone. In this we will never be happier. In the absolute lack of control, we will find
our bliss, trusting in Him to handle all things. And in this we will find a kingdom of heaven,
in the here and now.
But the lessons for church leadership, both then and now,
were not over yet …