Hope Squandered (witness number eight) ...

John continues his book of signs in chapter five of his gospel.  The scene now shifts to a feast of the Jews, whereupon Jesus returns to Jerusalem.  Jerusalem was more than just the center of the nation’s political leadership, it was the center of the religious leadership and with it the nation’s identity.  Everything about the Jewish people that separated them, made them special and unique, and should have given them hope was tied up in their spiritual identity.  The law, or rather the ten commandments, given to Moses on the top of Mt. Sinai was their most prized artifact, as it was the closest the Jewish people had been to receiving instruction directly from the mouth of God.  Over the years, education had become closely tied to the study of the law, and refined by debates regarding its meaning and how best to implement it.  It was in this societal context that Jesus enters Jerusalem, and why what followed was so profound for those of His day, and in ours.

The story begins with hope.  A pool, near the sheep market, whose name was Bethsaida, having five porches; this was no ordinary pool.  Occasionally, an angel descended from heaven, entering the waters and “troubled” them, whoever was first to enter the pool after this event, was cured of “ANY” disease they had.  John’s exact words in verse 4 referring to this healing … “whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.”  Let’s say that again … “was made whole”.  So for example, a paralytic would no longer be paralyzed.  A person missing an eye, would by miracle have the eye restored.  With this level of miracle, those beyond the realm of medical science were sure to surround this pool at all times waiting for their chance at a healing.  This was a place of hope, when there was normally no hope left.

John makes no dispersions regarding this pool, the angel who stirred the waters, or the people who hoped to be healed.  This was not considered by John, to be mere superstition, it was considered to be real.  Makes one wonder, if it still holds true?  Of course, in order for those who were lame to enter this pool, they would require assistance.  Interesting that those who provided assistance on the Sabbath day do not appear to be condemned for it by the leaders who would soon be criticizing Christ, but that is jumping ahead a bit.  John instead introduces us to a particular man beside this pool who had been there for 38 years.  We do not know if this is how old the man was, or just how long he had been afflicted with his disease.  Perhaps his parents brought him there as a child.  Perhaps when he first arrived there, he had someone to help him get in.  But whether he and his helpers were just not fast enough or not, over the years, those who thought to help him out had left.  At this point, he was alone.  He was within sight of healing of his condition, but fully unable to take advantage of the healing offered.  Close, but without hope.  I believe it was for this reason; Jesus singles out this particular man.

In verse 6 Jesus asks … “Wilt thou be made whole?”  As usual, the words of Christ carry so much more meaning than we first ascribe.  The question of Jesus was beyond the physical infirmity this man had carried the majority of his life.  This question was for more than just the man there at the pool who had lost all hope.  This question was for you.  This question was for me.  Are you tired of the condition you find yourself in?  Tired of the pain you embrace with the choices you make, and the desires within you, you are unable to control?  Are you ready for relief yet?  Are you ready to be made whole?  This is something you cannot do for yourself, and something only Jesus can do for you, within you, and perhaps in spite of you.  For those without hope, for those who realize the futility of trying to make themselves whole, here is Jesus plainly asking the obvious truth – Are you finally ready to be made whole?

But being human, and thinking only in the terms of humanity, this man would not answer this question from a spiritual perspective but from a practical human one.  Like the woman at the well, he had not comprehended yet the full meaning of the question posed to him, and did not yet know it was more than a man that asked it.  So the man in verse 7 explains his predicament … “Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.”  Perhaps Jesus is offering to help the man into the pool.  Perhaps Jesus just needs to understand that while he wants to be healed, he is unable to heal himself, and no one is willing to help him.  Perhaps if Jesus does not want to take the time to help him into the pool, He might at least have pity on him and offer him some spare change before He goes on His way.  The man stated his case, and in it, reveals his lack of hope.

But Christ did not enter this world, to part with spare change, or leave those without hope in the condition He encounters them in.  No, far from it.  The Father who watches every bird in every tree, and knows every cow on a thousand hills, had not forgotten this poor suffering man by the pool.  The Father who sits on His throne in heaven, felt deeply for this man.  The Father directed His Son, to this pool, and on this day, for a reason.  Re-creation is the only way we will ever be made whole.  Re-creation is the only method by which that we who are broken can be restored to what He intended.  This man had suffered long enough.  When all hope was gone, enter Christ to restore it once again.  No-one should think of themselves beyond the restorative power of Christ, or beyond the love of His Father.  Jesus wastes no time in verse 8 responding … “Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.”

The gift had been bestowed.  And the results of it happened in an instant, as it did in the original creation of our world.  Verse 9 says … “And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: …“  There was no delay.  There was no “half measure” of this gift.  The man did not arise BEFORE he was made whole, he was made whole first.  The paralysis was gone.  The deformity was gone.  He looked and felt as good as new.  Health entered his body in such a full measure, he had no basis for comparison.  When the creator God is allowed to re-create what we have broken, it is fully restored.  When we finally humble ourselves and accept the healing within us that He so longs to give us, it is healing complete.  It is our stubborn refusal to accept our helplessness that keeps the restoration of God at bay.  In trusting our own ability to just say no to sin, our failures are destined to repeat.  But when we let go of our own disease, and look to healing from Jesus, He never fails to deliver.  His restoration is full and complete, and the only thing that will ever enable us to rise.  It was not the power of the man that enabled him to rise, it was the power of Christ.  So it will always be.

This should have been an occasion of great rejoicing in Jerusalem.  It was in heaven.  The Father who so longed to see the misery of this poor man brought to an end, had finally been able to witness it.  Angels would sing.  The Father would be filled with joy.  The man was getting a new life, one he could scarcely remember or understand.  Everything he had known, had been swept away in an instant.  This should have been a celebration of renewal and recreation.  But from the perspective of those who spent their lives studying the law of Moses, ironically from the religious leadership of the day, the MORE pressing concern was not this man’s healing, it was the timing of when it occurred.  Verse 9 continues “ … and on the same day was the sabbath.”  While this was no inhibitor to joy in heaven, it would prove to be a source of major contention in the religious capital of the world.

And enter the negative-Ned’s.  These were people who in all probability knew this man by the pool without hope.  They knew his former condition.  They may have even offered him spare change while walking by on occasion.  But now, faced with his obvious physical restoration, they completely ignore his restoration and focus only on the fact that he is carrying his bed on Sabbath.  Talk about poor and blind and naked; talk about a complete lack of perspective; talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water; but this is what happens when the focus of your life is based on law, and not on the love that was behind it.  So they say … “The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.”  The accusation has been made.

We, of course, would like to think we would have told those priests and leaders where they could go if put in a similar condition.  We would like to think we would have the strength to defend ourselves, and particularly the gracious Lord who had just intervened on our behalf.  But this was no small accusation.  It was not beyond the realm to know that this group of accusers might quickly degenerate into an irate mob bent on stoning this obvious law breaker, for not adhering to their understanding of the law.  Religious zealotry often gives way to violence for those who refuse to comply.  And in this, is the doctrine of Satan defined.  Satan is not about freedom, he about control.  Satan does not offer you a choice, he enslaves your very will.  Satan has no problem using the sacred word to be the instrument of your hate, your intolerance, and ultimately your demise.  Any way that Satan can get you to forget about love, and embrace hate (even if “righteous” hate) is a win for Satan, and a loss for you and for God.  It was entirely probable the answer this man gave might determine if he would actually get to live that life that Christ had just restored to him.  And so like Adam before him, the man passes the blame.  His body had been restored, but the job was not yet finished.  He responds in verse 11 … “He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.”  When under the pressure of life and death, move the attention away to someone else.  In this case, blame the God who just healed you, for what you are doing.

This new fact of course, was more disconcerting to the religious leadership than just the guy “breaking” the law.  A person who ordered folks to break the law was a bigger threat to their authority than the law breaker himself.  So they respond in verse 12 … “Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?”  They needed to find this person and correct them, or punish them if they refused to accept “their” truth.  Keep in mind the understanding of the Jews on this point was universal.  From their point of view the “truth” about how to keep the law was plain, accepted by them, the man, and everyone around.  There was no debating the “truth” of their wisdom and understanding, there was only the need to see it enforced, even on pain of death.  And religious persecution is born in the world: then, as it is now.

How many modern Christians embrace feelings of disdain, anger, and perhaps even hatred for those who refuse to comply with “our” truth?  There is no debating “our” truth.  After all, we have studied the scriptures and developed our doctrines over time, we know we are correct.  Those who refuse to see “our” light, must somehow be lesser than ourselves, doomed to eternal loss, and beyond the love of God.  Those who refuse to accept “our” truth may even need to forfeit their lives, so that none of our number ever become corrupted by their teaching of different values and morals.  And this thinking leads to centuries of persecution by Catholic Christians against those who would not submit.  It leads to Protestant Christians persecuting smaller religions, and minorities for years, and gays in our age.  It leads to 9/11 as devout misguided Islamists decide the “great Satan” must be punished.  Anytime religions embrace violence for those who refuse “their light”, they become religions of Satan, and abandon the God of love in so doing.  This was the hard lesson of the Jewish faith in the time of Christ, and remains the hard lesson for Christianity in our day.

In verse 13 we find … “And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.”  I love the use of John’s words “conveyed himself away”.  I can almost envision a teleportation away from the pool.  In any case, knowing what was about to happen, I imagine Christ was looking to avoid an all-out riot.  In any case, the man was so consumed with his physical restoration, that he had not bothered to find out “who” it was that healed him.  And in the near term, he had lost that opportunity as now Christ was gone.  But like He longs to do with us, Jesus is not satisfied to leave the restoration unfinished.  Jesus instead seeks out this man, in order to offer him counsel.

In verse 14 it reads … “Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.”  Jesus wanted to share with this man, that his physical restoration alone was not the only goal of Christ.  He wanted Him to be made whole spiritually.  A healthy body is no protection against the destructive nature of sin, in some ways our health can be made to serve sin.  The mind and heart was the true target of this restoration.  Christ longed to restore those, to offer him the blessing of freedom from sin.  As always, it was Christ who sought this man out again.  Like with us, it is God who comes looking for us.  It is God reaching out to us, longing to finish the job he begins with us, longing to get us to see there is something more important than even our health. 

But like many of us who sometimes refuse to see, we take the gifts of God, and what we do with them is to our shame.  Verse 15 is perhaps the saddest words encountered in the writings of John to date, a prequel for Judas, a postscript for us that an offer of salvation is not always accepted.  This is particularly true if we side with our traditions and understanding of “the law” more than with the Lawgiver.  I can only believe that the healed man was a resident of Jerusalem, and so no wanting the continued wrath of the Jewish leadership focused on him.  He went the extra mile and returned to his accusers to give them the name of the person who ordered him to take up his bed and walk.  You will note, this was the actions of this man on his own, no one ordered him to do this.  Some amount of time had already passed between his original confrontation with his accusers and Christ seeking him out once again.  But verse 15 reads … “The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.” 

Like Adam before him, this man now blames the gifts of God for his own behavior.  He takes no personal accountability for his own actions, passing responsibility to the Man who told him to take up his bed and walk.  He ignores his own healing, and decides to report the name of this Man, back to the accusatory mob, in effect betraying Christ to what is sure to be certain death, without any pressing need to do so.  This is the result of an understanding of “truth” in the absence of the love behind the truth.  Here for Judas to see, is what it looks like to betray the Son of God, to the religious leadership bent on His destruction.  Here is what it looks like, to be restored, and to throw away that restoration and embrace tradition over truth.  Here is what it looks like to be offered a new life, and then spend that new life by betraying it.  This lesson was for more than the 12, it was for us.  A restoration discarded, leads to a betrayal of God, and of ourselves.  To choose to ignore what God has just done for us, miraculous as it may have been, and return to our version of “truth” instead of embracing Christ, leads to the betrayal of God and of ourselves.  A restored body, and a corrupted spirit, is of no value.

And the results of this man’ decisions were also immediate.  Verse 16 reads … “And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.”  Betrayal complete.  The man appears to have ignored the counsel of Christ, and the results of his identification of Christ to the angry leadership has the predictable response.  And perhaps even more sad, the love of God the Father in seeing to the healing of this man is ignored, by the religious leaders of the day.  An event of joy is turned into an event of hate.  An event of celebration turned into a cause of persecution, and conspiracy to commit murder.  How sad that those who had the “truth” would believe the “truth” required defending to the point of committing murder to protect it.  Real “truth” needs no such defense.  But it would get worse …

 

Gathering Disciples ...

In the gospel of John, chapter one, and in verse 38, John records the first verbal exchange he and Andrew had with Christ.  As they began to follow Him, Jesus turns to them and says … “What seek ye”?  A very good question for them, but also for us; what do you want from God?  Our first responses are often like those of a child talking to a mythical Santa Clause; we begin with a list of things (often material) that would make our lives “better”.  Then as we catch a breath, we realize we might just be being a bit greedy, so perhaps we begin to ask for things (again often material), for others who we know and love.  Then when our list is winding down, we begin to think about spiritual things and maybe what we might need in those areas.  How much different would be our relationship if the first answer that sprang to mind was … “save me from all the evil that lies within me”.  What if what we wanted more than anything else was to truly be saved from ourselves?  What if our highest ambition was to be fully transformed into the perfect image or reflection of the God we stood before?  This accomplished, no material thing in the world would matter again.  This accomplished, the length of our lives in this world would be irrelevant.  This accomplished, our very next thought would no longer be for ourselves, but for those we love, and now, for those who refuse to love us.  The question appeared to surprise the two would-be disciples and the best answer they could think of on the spot was … “Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, as Master), where dwellest thou”?  That’s it!?  You want to know where He lives?  His address? 

But our Savior in His tender mercy, does not ridicule their answer, nor give them the brush off, nor reject their attempts to follow Him.  As He does with us, when our prayers and requests are far from perfect, He accepts them anyway.  And with a tone of love in His voice, He responds to them … “Come and see”.  And they went and spent the day with Him.  It was only one day.  But it was one day in the literal presence of God on earth.  And for both of them, one day was all that was needed.  It took only that long for Andrew to decide that his brother Simon (later called Peter) needed to come and follow Christ.  What Andrew was actually proposing to his brother was a radical idea, whether back then, or even now in modern times.  Andrew was not asking his brother to take a part time job, so he could study scriptures in the evenings as time permits, and when it was convenient.  Andrew was literally asking his brother to drop everything, quit your job, give up all assurances you won’t starve to death.  Leave your family behind, leave every other responsibility you have in this world, and at present trust me, I have found the Messiah all Israel has been waiting for.  In essence, Andrew asked his brother to give up his entire life, and begin a new one.

Simon Peter was not rich.  He had no mansions to dispose of, or tax shelters to wrangle out of.  But he did have a life he was familiar with.  He made enough money to eat, cloth himself, and take care of his family.  It was something to him, like our lives are something to us.  But perhaps based on the fervor in the eyes and expression of Andrew, Simon knew he had to check this out.  Andrew brought him to Jesus, but before he could introduce him to Jesus, He called him out by name.  And what is more He gave him a new nickname, “a stone” or perhaps better interpreted “a pebble”.  Simon Peter must have liked the idea, and he stayed, leaving as Andrew had proposed his entire former life behind, in exchange for the complete unknown of following this Son of Man.

The next day, Jesus went into Galilee into the same home town of Andrew and Simon Peter and found Phillip.  And in verse 43 Christ calls out to Phillip and says … “follow me”.  To me this is the essence of our Lord and our Gospel.  Those who, what looks like on their own, are seeking God – find Him.  John and Andrew found Christ because they were looking for Him at the side of John the Baptist.  Christ accepted them as followers.  Simon Peter was called by his brother, and came to Jesus based on the words and witness of one who he trusted, even though up to then, he had no personal experience with Jesus.  But Jesus accepted him as well.  Phillip however, was at home going about his daily routines.  He had no one to call him into service, he had no expectations to meet the Messiah.  But Phillip was about to have the best day of his life, when out of nowhere, comes the God of the Universe, to ask him specifically to … “follow me”.  Whether it is we who are looking for God, we who will find God through the testimony of another, or we who find God because God is looking for us – there is no distinction on the part of God to accepting us into His service.  Phillip, being called, did not delay, he immediately followed.

Phillip knew in less time than it took Andrew, who it was who called him.  His first thought was to call his brother as well.  So in verse 45, Phillip calls to Nathaniel his brother and says … “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”  Phillip appeared to know this in an instant.  That is the mark of being touched by the Holy Spirit, to find wisdom in a spiritual matter that you had no inherent reason to know.  Phillip did not hedge his bets.  He did not say it “might” be him.  He did not appear to doubt, and perhaps in a further rebuke to the priests of his day, Phillip cited the very patriarch of their religion Moses, and all the prophets who followed, as the evidence that this was the Messiah.  Nathaniel however, was a skeptic.  Nathaniel would have made an excellent modern day American Christian.  For his first response was … “can any good thing come from Nazareth?”

Nathaniel felt like Nazareth was the Harlem of his day, a neighborhood known more for crime than for accomplishment.  Given that Jesus was supposed to have come from such a wicked place, how could he be the one they were looking for?  For Nathaniel where you come from mattered.  Phillip does not ridicule him for his response.  He does not judge his brother harshly, or rebuke his lack of faith and trust in pretense.  Instead, with a faith in Christ that could have only originated outside of himself, having just met Jesus only a little while ago, he responds … “come and see”.  I doubt Phillip knew he was actually quoting the words the Savior Himself used with Andrew and John only a day ago.  But those words imply Phillip had no doubt about who he was following, and he knew too, when Nathaniel saw for himself, he would be convinced.

Jesus, knowing all things, decides to give Nathaniel a boost in his faith, and seeing him coming he declares to those around Him … “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”  A rather nice compliment, but as Nathaniel is quick to perceive, you would have to know me for quite a while, in order to know I am an honest man in my dealings.  Nathaniel challenges this new Jesus in verse 48 … “Whence knowest thou me?”  So when did we meet, and how do you what kind of person I am.  Jesus responds with an answer only God could know.  It is clear these two have never met.  It is clear Nathaniel is trying to call out Jesus by challenging Him in how He might know what He is talking about.  But the answer Jesus offers is a private one to Nathaniel.  For only Nathaniel knew where he poured out his own heart to God in prayer.  He did this only when he was alone.  He did not pray in the temple and under the spectacle of a public audience.  Instead he sought solitude before he came to God to confess the private thoughts and feelings of his heart.  He craved solitude to do this and he had found a private spot where he knew he would be alone when he did it.

Verse 48 continues … “Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.”  Jesus was saying directly to Nathaniel, something private, that only Nathaniel would understand; you sir, were praying to me, I am the God who heard your words under that tree when you were alone to pray.  The rest of the disciples might have simply thought that Jesus had seen Nathaniel before, or had encountered him some time in the past.  Nathaniel knew this was not the case, and knew that only God could know what Jesus knew.  In verse 49 Nathaniel responds to Jesus saying … “Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.”  Nathaniel first acknowledges Christ as the Son of God.  He marks His divinity first, as he knows the private answer Christ has given, having heard the prayers of Nathaniel.  He then proceeds to reveal he shares the common misconception that the Messiah is there to restore the kingship to Israel.

Jesus responds in verse 50 saying … “Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.”  He continues in verse  51 … “And He saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”  In a subtle way, Jesus turns the attention away from the misconception about which Kingdom He is here to establish, and points them forward to His ultimate ascension into heaven where they who were gathered there would all be a witness to.  At the same time Jesus confirms His divinity by stating that Angels would be attending to Him, and that indeed He saw Nathaniel where no one else knew he went to pray.  Jesus also addressed Nathaniel’s skeptism, by saying to him, “thou shalt see …”.  If Nathaniel must see to believe, as his brother Phillip had responded when he first challenged the Messiah, Christ lets him know, there is far greater things which he will see as they move along together.  Nathaniel had already been convinced.

The lesson is perhaps more for us.  It is Christ who hears the desperate prayers of our hearts, no matter where we are when we give them voice.  He hears them even when they are nothing more than thoughts in our brains.  There is no privacy when it comes to us and our God.  There was never supposed to be the need for privacy, as an intimate relationship was always the intent of our God with us.  Our nakedness was never a barrier to spending time with God, nor was our union between man and woman in the sacred vows of marriage.  Our God desires to be with us at all times, and is unashamed to call us His children, despite what we do, and what we desire.  His goal is to see us freed from our sins and bondage to pain and evil.  His goal is to see us restored to the perfection He intended.  Therefore Jesus points out to Nathaniel and to us, is it HE who hears our prayers when we think ourselves alone.  It is HE who meets the needs of our hearts, and longs to show us His great love for each of us.  It is HE who values the prayers of a single person, and knows us better than we know ourselves.  This is the lesson of the discipleship of Nathaniel, despite our skepticism, Christ is still here to save and redeem us.

All throughout these first few encounters, our responses to God are far from perfect.  We come with the baggage of our own misconceptions about the interpretation of scripture and the mission of the Messiah.  Yet our God is patient with each of us.  He does not rebuke our lack of faith, or judge us as we deserve.  He does not cast our efforts aside, or reject our service because of our imperfections.  He did not tell a single person who wished to follow Him, that they were not welcome.  Only Phillip had been directly called to that point in time, yet 4 others were there and welcomed as well.  Even in the earliest part of his ministry, while he was still gathering disciples, Jesus was not condemnatory, judgmental, or requiring that his followers have a perfect understanding of truth.  Instead He was happy to welcome them into a collective mission to redeem mankind, a service oriented mission in which they would be a part.  This is the mission, in which He still welcomes us today.  Christ knew then, as He knows now with us, a perfect understanding of truth can only happen as we spend more time with Him.  Only then will our errors and misconceptions about scripture, be corrected in the face of the love of Christ.  It is with Him that truth can be revealed, for He is truth.  It is we who are changed and molded by the encounter.

 

The Disciples of Christ

And then there were twelve: The story of Christ unfolds first from those who were with him from the start.  It was common practice in the time of Christ that when a great philosopher or theologian or prophet became known, those who wished to learn more became disciples.  The hope was often to become an apprentice much like Elisha did with Elijah in older times.  John the Baptist was born close to the time of Christ, in fact he was His cousin.  But John began his ministry earlier than when Christ became publicly known.  John was called to prepare the way of the Messiah.  He spoke with power and conviction, and the Holy Spirit blessed his work.  John had a weird diet.  He lived away from the cities and out in the wild.  He dressed funny.  He spent most of his time calling for the people to repent of their sins and be baptized in anticipation of the soon coming of the Messiah.  And due to the blessing of the Holy Spirit, this wild man speaking from the rivers became widely known throughout the region.  As usual the established religious leadership felt threatened by John and did not approve of a ministry they could not control.  When John rebuked them as hypocrites, their animosity for him only increased.  But despite the prevailing wisdom and long history of formal education of scriptures, it was John who was called to prepare the way of the Lord, not the current priests or religious leaders.  The establishment had failed.  And as it happens two young men became the disciples of John to learn more of the coming Messiah.  When Christ entered the scene, John directed them to follow Him, the One they had waited for.  It was from this humble beginning that two who were seeking God found Him.

The story of the first two disciples has a commonality with many past Biblical patriarchs.  Abraham searched for the true God, rejecting the customs of his family and the practice of worshipping idols in favor of something real.  And Abraham found God.  Paul too had a religious fervor, and truly believed He was serving his God, until on a road to Damascus, he found Him.  Paul knew this was God, and from that moment on, He served only the God He found on that road.  The point of many stories throughout scripture is that when man goes looking for God, He generally finds Him.  Christ did not pick His first two disciples at random, they picked Him.  At the time, all those two men had was the word of their current teacher, that this stranger was the Son of God.  No proof, no evidence yet, no miracles to rely on, just the word of John.  Once they saw the Baptism of Christ, they saw their first evidence that indeed this was someone new.  But they did not begin to follow Christ until He had returned from His torturous 40 days in the desert.  By then Christ was emaciated.  His appearance would have been near death from the ordeal His humanity endured to know what temptation for us is like.  But despite the physical changes, John knew Him right away, and again sent his disciples to be with Christ. 

The two would grow to a number of twelve over time.  Some of them would pick Christ, some He would pick.  The number could have been more than 12 if the rich young ruler had accepted the call of Christ to sell his belongings, give it to the poor, and follow Christ.  An esteemed offer from the God of creation, rejected because of the lure of wealth.  One could count Lazarus, Mary, and Martha as disciples as well, but it appears Christ counted them as more than that, He counted them as friends.  John was given the honor of being called the beloved.  Perhaps that is because John loved Christ more than he loved himself.  It was only John, who stood next to Mary the mother of Christ at the terrible crucifixion.  He had slept in the Garden of Gethsemane, and fled at the betrayal of Christ, like all the others.  But at some point he must have decided nothing else mattered, he had to be with his Lord, and in so doing found himself comforting Mary at the cross.  Again it looks as though John did not earn the title of beloved because Christ loved John more than He loved the others, but perhaps because John loved Christ more than the others.  How we become disciples of Christ may well be just like those 12 came to know Him; because we look for Him.  We choose to follow Him.  We choose to love Him.   And in so doing we become “the beloved” as well.

We start with an examination of the works of the disciples simply because they had the closest proximity to Christ for the longest period of time.  I make a distinction between disciples and apostles in that I consider apostles as those who had great ministries and lived at the time of Christ, but may not have been part of the original 12.  Matthias the replacement for Judas for example had only a limited time with Christ before He ascended; whereas John knew Him from that day at the river some 3 and half years earlier.  I would bet that some of the apostles named later in scripture were a part of the 70 others who Christ had called in His ministry.  Perhaps Stephan, Apollos, and maybe a few others named in the New Testament were a part of that crowd. 

When most Christians think of who the twelve disciples were, the names of the first four gospels spring to mind – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  In point of fact, only Matthew and John were actual disciples of Christ.  It is believed that the gospel of Mark, may well have been dictated to him by the disciple Peter.  And the Gospel of Luke as well as the book of Acts were written by a well-educated, well-traveled, Jewish literate physician who was a companion of Paul.  The twelve disciples of Christ who were with Him the longest in His ministry included:

·         Simon Peter (also called Simon Bar Jonah/Jochanon, and Cephas) he was the brother of Andrew

·         Andrew who was the brother of Peter and the former disciple of John the Baptist

·         James the son of Zebedee and brother of John (sons of thunder)

·         John the son of Zebedee and brother of James (sons of thunder) and the beloved

·         Phillip from the Bethsaida of Galilee region

·         Bartholomew (also called Nathaniel) son of Talemai

·         Matthew (also called Levi) the tax collector

·         Thomas (also called Didymus) famous for doubting

·         James (also called James the lessor, or James the Just) the son of Alphaeus

·         Thaddeaus (also called Jude or Lebbaeus)

·         Simon (the Zealot)

·         Judas Iscariot the one who betrayed Him

Whether they were called by Christ to follow Him, or took the initiative on their own to do so, they were welcomed and given the opportunity to spend every waking moment in close proximity to our God.  Though the conditions were far from ideal; they were poor, they were outcast, and they were perpetually in motion – either chased by or requested by the people; they were also spending all their time at the feet of our God.  They knew His love personally.  They knew it as a direct expression of a personal relationship each one had with our God.  This is why their testimonies remain so powerful even today.  The personal testimony of a life directly touched by God, saved by Christ, has something to say to the world.  The words carry weight when they come from a place that is real, that is personal, that has a meaning only you can know.  We too can be a part of this close-knit group, this one to one fellowship with the Savior of the world, and of ourselves.  It is what He calls us yet to be.  Our only part is to accept His call, and receive the gifts He offers, including a close-knit fellowship that can begin today that will one day reach fulfillment face to face in His eternal kingdom.

For now, we begin our re-examination of His Word, beginning with what just may be family.  While Mary the mother of Christ was a virgin at His conception and remained so until His birth, there is nothing to indicate that Mary and Joseph did not have a normal married life following the birth of Christ.  There are several references to Mary as being the mother of more than just Jesus.  The other children who are mentioned in the New Testament include: James, Joses, Juda/Judas, Simon, and Salome (likely His sister).  These siblings would have only been half-brothers and sisters by blood as God was the Father of Christ, not Joseph.  But this familial distinction was hardly relevant from Christ’s perspective.  He welcomed anyone who chose to believe in Him as family.  It is however believed that the book of James may well have been written by the half-brother of Christ.  There are other competing theories about the origin and authorship of the book of James, but as it may have been written by a family member it is worth examining sooner rather than later.  Another book in our New Testament that may well have been written by another half-brother of Christ was the general epistle of Jude.  As with many of the books included in our Bible, the authorship traces back to several different theories, but it appears the most likely, that this was the brother of James, and half-brother of Christ.  As such we will begin our examination with the books of Jude and James.

God and Money ...

Organized religion is good at one thing – taking your donations. It does not matter which denomination, which belief system, or even which god is being advertised; open yourself a 501-C3 non-profit and you are off and running. Televangelists seem to be known first and foremost for the lavish presentations and pension for offering collection before any other characteristics. One such minister actually claimed God would kill him if he failed to raise one million dollars for his church. He lived. Since Christ has returned to heaven, why would He ask us to give our money to “His” work, could He not provide the funds Himself? Why does God seem to want our money, or does He?

The Bible states … “the cattle on a thousand hills are Mine” - loosely interpreted this passage shows that God considers Himself the rightful creator and owner of this world’s natural resources, beauty, and wealth. So why would He institute systemic giving of our wealth to His ministries or causes? The practice of tithing is first recorded by Abraham who gave ten percent of his increase to a priest of the Lord named Melchizedek. The minor prophet Malachi seems to reaffirm the practice much later in his days not long before the Messiah arrived. When Christ did arrive, it was common practice for the Pharisees and Sadducees to give even more than ten percent of their income towards tithing. They saw this as a business investment counting on God to return their monies with interest accrued, and they were not generally disappointed – despite their motives.

One could argue that since the tribe of Levi was faithful to God during the Mount Sinai incident, He sanctified this tribe as His priesthood. They would get no inheritance in the land of promise, but instead would receive 10 percent of the increase of all the other eleven tribes as their income. 110% if the math holds. But Levitical rights ceased at Calvary, and since then members of the Church have been the messengers of the gospel. Christ never really setup an organized church leadership, as He reserved this role for Himself. Christ said … “I am the shepherd, and you are my sheep.” Despite Catholic claims to the contrary Christ never set any one apostle above another, nor did the early Christian churches act as if He had. Differences and disputes were resolved in councils, sometimes agreeing to disagree. Religious hierarchies then are a creation of man, developed to organize great numbers of believers and increase the efficiency of our missions, but creations of man none the less.

When Israel left Egypt, they took with them the wealth of Egypt as payment for their slavery. Jewelry, golden statues, and other precious stones went with them into the desert and were maintained by the families there. When God gave directions to Moses on how to build a temporary sanctuary, Moses went to the people to ask for donations. The response was overwhelming. People brought so much gold, linen, and stones, that Moses had to ask the people to stop. When was the last time you saw a congregation give this much? And when was the last time you heard any preacher as you to stop giving, that it is more than enough - two things almost never seen in the modern Christian era. One might argue that this was easy for the Israelites to give up, since the items did not really belong to them anyway. They were ill-gotten profits for back pay. But this would not diminish the willingness of the Israelites who went most of their lives in poverty, to shed the little gold they had in service for the sanctuary of God.

And many generations later, David set about to do the same thing. His plans were more ambitious, and would require more of the people’s wealth. And true to form, the Israelites came through again. So much so, that David, like Moses, had to ask the people to cease giving. It was more than enough. Solomon who actually oversaw the construction of the Temple of God did such excellent work that this building became famous around the world. The Queen of Sheba came to visit it. The King Nebuchadnezzar came to raid it a bit, and then came back to destroy it after yet another unsanctioned rebellion by the Jews. But my question remains, why was Israel so willing to part with the golden wealth they had come by in service to God?

At the birth of Christ, Kings gave valuable treasure to His parents. It was this treasure that allowed Joseph and Mary to flee and live in Egypt while Herod sought to kill Jesus. Kings thought it a good idea to bring the best of what they had to offer, to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Later the early Christian church was organized around a communal philosophy that everyone gave everything into a central pot for distribution to those who had need. This was 100% giving of everything, not the 10% tithing we are familiar with today. And early Christians, like the Israelites who preceded them, willingly gave all they had.

Perhaps the secret to the willingness to part with this world’s wealth is found in proximity to Jesus. The closer one grows to Christ, the less gold holds any value at all other than what it can accomplish as a gift. It would appear the opposite is also true, those who are reluctant to give of themselves, tend to be far less Christ oriented than those who do. But perhaps the greatest secret of all was the one God knew, the real treasure of this world is not in its resources but in its people. His children are His greatest treasure, He values them above all else. Not just above all else in this world, but above all else in the entire Universe. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son ...” Immortal words of promise that define the meaning of love to the Universe. God gave it all. More than enough. Everything of greatest value was given to save His erring, obstinate children. There could have been no higher price to pay for our redemption than the one God our Father gave on our behalf. Gold He uses as cement, but your life was worth the torture and death of His only son to redeem you from evil.

So if people are what God values, then why does He continue to ask for our money, which He is not so crazy about? It has to do with building faith and trust. It makes no sense to give money to God, it is not logical, it is financially irresponsible, it probably does not even get used in the way He would really want it to. There are many reasons NOT to give. There is only one TO give; because He asked us to. Despite the lack of logic, despite the unwise usage of our precious funds, despite the suffering our families put at risk in order to give – we are asked to do just that – give Him back 10% of our increase, and then free will offerings over and above that. No emissary from God has yet emerged with a message saying we have given enough. We have simply not been released from this request. So why you ask?

The first reason is that every time you give, God gives back to you so that your needs are met. You do not go hungry. You do not go without housing, clothing, and the things you need. You may believe that giving God His due will cause you to lose all these things, but His blessings prevent it from happening. Over time as you are continually tested with the facts of financial discipline, and then confronted with the miracles of God’s methods – you build faith. You begin to see that God is faithful to every promise He makes us. He does indeed take care of us. He is indeed, the one responsible for if we eat or not. We begin to learn that He is in control, despite what logic may say and despite what accountants may recommend. God cares for us, His children. Now He does not do this BECAUSE we give. But we are able to see it demonstrated BECAUSE we give. We appreciate a bit more the fact we are eating when we know that we should not be, because we should be out of money by now. We appreciate a bit more knowing that God intervenes with us, because we put it to the financial test of His intervention. Demonstration makes faith a reality, not just a concept.

The second reason we are asked to give, is the change that occurs within us when we do. We begin to share God’s secret that the only real wealth in this world, are its people. Giving a dollar to a homeless man despite how he may use it, teaches you charity without judgment. Before long, you begin to realize the pain of the homeless man more acutely and begin to want to do more for him. That is the awakening of Christ within you. It is not natural to sacrifice your own wants, needs, and security to meet the needs of others; especially when they do not seem “deserving” of your help. Yet this is precisely what our Savior does for each of us, and we are ALL undeserving. Giving to meet needs can become an all-consuming passion, and at the same time be the most rewarding fulfilling experience of your life. This change can ONLY occur when you actually follow through and participate in systemic giving.

All the rationalizations, all the excuses, all the valid reasons in the world NOT to give, do nothing but perpetuate your own selfishness. Giving breaks the hold. Giving resets the attitude. Giving is the beginning of a new consciousness the world will not understand. Sometimes, our self-motivation and instincts for self-preservation are so highly developed we are not now willing to give. If this is our lot, we must take our stubbornness to Calvary and ask God to melt our hearts so that we can give. He will answer this prayer. Sometimes our instincts are only to give as a business investment, sure in the knowledge that we cannot out give God. If this is our lot, we must take our greed to Calvary, and let Christ replace our thirst for gain, with a thirst for serving others. Christ is able to give us the proper mindset to see the wisdom of giving. Are we then willing to ask for it?

Remember the next time you write out a tithe check, or give a poor person something of yourself – it is the changes in you that are the first priority of God in what you do. Your benevolence then goes to a place where it is needed, and God watches over how your money is spent and used. This is of less concern to us, as we are not asked to watch how the money is spent, just to give freely. It is in this giving that we become a new person. It is in this giving that the world becomes changed as well. Giving is intended to free us from the bonds of our selfishness. It is the only reason why God still asks us to give him of our money. Giving; is His gift to change us for the better.

A Basis For Truth ...

Logic dictates a few truths about the nature of a Supreme Being we call God. Evil self-destructs over time, so a true God must only contain what we call good, no evil of any kind. As we can see that both evil and good exist in our world, something must have gone wrong with the plans of God. A God of love could not demand our affections but only ask for them. A God of love must somehow let us know what is going with Himself and with evil in order for us to make an informed choice of whether to love Him or not. Obviously someone chose not to love Him as evil now exists.

The question for us is where to go to find this communication from God to us regarding the state of things. In the beginning of our world, when man used 100% of his brain instead of the meager percentage we use now, God spoke directly with mankind. He walked with Adam and Eve in the perfection of the Garden of Eden in the evenings together. Adam and Eve passed their knowledge of God down orally to their children, and children’s children. Even Noah lived for 400 years after the flood. But in the years that followed, man’s life expectancy was greatly reduced, and his knowledge of God began to fade from the earth until Abraham. Abraham began a quest to find God once again, and God heard his pleas. God spoke directly with Abraham, and even visited him a few times in person in the guise of a traveler.

Abraham was blessed of God and began passing his information on God down through his genealogy who also had a few personal experiences with God (Jacob wrestling with the Angel, and dreaming of the ladder to heaven; Joseph interpreting dreams to pharaoh, etc.). But over the years the children of Israel became slaves in the land of Egypt, and began losing sight of God once again. Moses came and restored the reality of God in the eyes, minds, and hearts of the people once again. Moses in the time He spent with God in the mountains of Sinai began writing the first few “books” of the Bible, originally called the Torah. This was the first written manuscript of communication between God and man. It was written by Moses but inspired by God. The man was not perfect, but the communication would have to be, or the message of God would not come cleanly to His people and we would be misled. We cannot make an informed decision to love someone, based on half-truths, innuendo, or outright lies and misrepresentations. Therefore Logic again dictates that God must be accurate in His communication with us, or the point of communicating itself would be lost.

Over the next few centuries as the history of God’s originally chosen people would unfold. Leaders, Prophets, Judges, Priests, Kings, and humble servants would arise and chronicle the interactions of God with His people. Their hope was founded in the original promises of God to Adam and Eve, that a Messiah would come. The Messiah would take away the sins of the people, redeem them to God, and be our deliverer. Many prophesied about the details a Messiah would fulfill in His lifetime. But by the time of his predicted appearing the children of Israel had so degraded their view of God, that they wished only for a deliverer from the bondage of Rome. They had lost sight of the greater mission of the promised Messiah, to redeem them to God. So when Christ appeared on the scene, the religious leaders of the day thought only to maintain their power and control over the masses, and rejected the cornerstone of their faith.

After the ascension of our Lord to heaven, His disciples began once again chronicling the interactions of our God with His people, as well as His extension of Salvation to ALL men, not just those of Israel. Many new books were written, generally carrying the name of the Author, again inspired by the Holy Spirit but written by men. In roughly 325 AD the council of Nicaea under Roman emperor Constantine, sifted through the manuscripts of the day, sorting out the historical from the sacred and compiling what is now known as our Bible. Our Bible is then a collection of smaller books, written by authors from time of Moses until the time of the disciples, last of which was John the Revelator who penned the last book from the Isle of Patmos.

There were always books that claimed divine inspiration but for one reason or another were not included in the 66 volumes that now comprise our Bible. Might we have lost something important in the collecting process? Possibly. But remember the point of communication from God is to allow us to make an informed decision about whether to love Him or not. If what we were missing were critical enough to affect that decision, our decisions would be moot. Therefore Logic dictates that the information included in the Bible must be accurate and complete enough to make our informed decisions. And so we now use the Bible as our basis of truth. We compare new communication with the messages we read within it to determine the validity of the new information. If it builds upon what we know, we tend to be accepting, if it destroys what is written, we tend to reject it.

Logic dictates other less positive news for us as well. The presence of evil in our world creates a virtual guarantee that despite its final outcome in loss, it will nonetheless war with fervor against all that is good. One of the most effective ways of countering the influence of good in the world is to develop alternative ideas to it. People will not choose pain if the alternate choice of joy is available. But people may become confused if there are several choices available which all claim to result in joy, when in fact only one does. And so comes the invention of counterfeits, items that resemble the original, but are lacking in the quality or content of the original masterwork. In the spiritual world, this required counterfeiting the mission of our Messiah. Horace was introduced in Egyptian religions with many of the same characteristics we were to expect in our Messiah. But Horace does not meet all the requirements and so the counterfeit is revealed. Still, just the existence of a single counterfeit is enough to destroy the faith of many in what is real.

So where Good offers us the volume of the Bible, Evil must also present some alternatives to keep us confused. Enter all the other competitor books claiming divine inspiration for their origin, but all have one single element in common; they each and every one – undo principle teachings of the Bible. The Quran may be the most insidious. This is because outright lies are easier to detect, and dispute. But lies mixed with half-truths are much harder to ferret out and reveal the distinctions that cause the errors they produce. The Islamic faith traces back its God to the same God of Abraham. The Quran accepts many of the Biblical patriarchs as “prophets” of God, including Christ. So by not denying Him outright, the Quran attempts to reduce His role in our Salvation, denying His divinity. But the end result of this teaching winds up with the same religious basis of every other counterfeit religious system – the idea that man can save himself and achieve perfection by sheer will and the actions he performs.

Evil must attack the key principles of our Salvation in order to defeat it. Evil first attacks the idea that we even need to be “saved”. Evil markets evil to us as fun, excitement, and the only reason for living – why would anyone want to be saved from that? Next, for those who see through the illusions that evil presents in its marketing, evil suggests that if you do need to be saved, you can do it yourself. This idea of self-reliance, and focus on self, is the base principle for all that is evil in the first place. Keeping self at the center of our religion, defeats Christ’s ability to offer us real change. If we believe we can in effect, save ourselves, we do not need a Savior, and therefore are excellent candidates for religions systems such as Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, or even New Agers. Then for those who see through this illusion of self-based salvation, evil offers competing Saviors. Enter the dynamic cult figures such as Jim Jones or David Koresh; men who use the Bible to mislead sheep into following them hook, line, and sinker. Though the numbers are smaller, the principle of counterfeiting what God offers is an effective strategy against the good our God offers.

Next, in order to muddy the water further, evil introduces external written manuscripts as having equal weight with what is found in existing scripture. The gospel of Judas was recently discovered in Palestine, and as such it is immediately offered equal weight with any other gospel by those who do not believe in the scriptures anyway. The same phenomenon happens with the gospel of Mary Magdalene, and Mary the Mother of Christ. There is no way to verify the authors are who they claim to be, in addition, like always, these “gospels” disagree with the truths we know from the real Bible. But it is not just with old texts that falsehood arises, ideas like those of Joseph Smith and the Mormon faith arise. More modern texts have arrived that offer alternative ideas to those of the original scriptures.

And this entire conversation to this point has only dealt with the written forms of communication between God and us. There is an entirely different method that He sometimes, albeit rarely employs, that is face to face communication through prophecy, dreams, and real world encounter. Many claim to have heard from God directly, and most then usually begin by telling us how scripture is mistaken. That of course is the first clue the source of their supernatural experience is probably NOT of God. Truth as we have discussed can deepen, but not be overturned in its fundamental form. I make a distinction between the doctrines we may cling to that are supposed to be ideas that help us understand some characteristic about God, and the idea that our God exists, and is who He says He is. The latter is fundamental and cannot be undone, the former is more subjective and may in fact completely change as our knowledge of truth deepens. The idea that you can save yourself is a fundamental lie that cannot be altered, while the process for how Christ removes sin from you is up for much further discussion.

We should be open to finding more meaning in the scriptures we read than just what meets the eye. For example there are those that suggest the story of the flood is not literal, but only an allegory about the eventual destruction of evil in our world. This is one of those deceptive half-truths. The story is an excellent allegory, and could be used to teach us real world lessons for life right now. But it remains also a literal story of the history of God’s interaction with us. Where prophecy is concerned often there is more than one meaning that could be applied. Perhaps this is just another deepening of truth rather than discarding of it. Perhaps we should apply multiple meanings and see where each leads. As discussed before the most effective part of the process of studying truth begins with submitting the will, the ideas, and the dreams of the student to the Master – Christ.

Logic allows us a degree of certainty that our Bible is accurate, literal, inspired of God, preserved by Him over the years, and given to us as a gift to discern truth from error. Without this fundamental tool we would not have a basis to make an informed decision regarding the character of God who offers us unconditional love and hopes to see it returned. We can safely place our faith in both our God and His written word to us, and safely ignore what we come across that lies in conflict with what we know to be true. While it is good to evolve doctrines, and deepen truth, it will not ever change the fact that Christ is our Lord, Son of the living God, and Savior. Our Bible established this fact, and our lives will affirm it when lived in submission to Him.