Doubt or Affirmation ...

Sometimes an obvious question is not as much about seeking the answer, as about hearing the answer said out loud, again and again.  A wife asks her husband, do you love me?  It is possible she has occasion to wonder, but just as likely she simply enjoys hearing him say it out loud, again and again.  Sometimes we know the answer, but conditions or circumstances give us pause, they cause to seek affirmation, to chase our doubt away.  A wife asks her husband, did you do it?  When faced with the accusation of a crime, when compounded with evidence even if only circumstantial, her faith in her husband begins to tremble.  What she looks for now is re-assurance of that faith she already holds.  She looks for his affirmation to chase away her emerging doubt.  But when conditions are overwhelming, when doubt has not only entered the building, it has taken over the building, we throw our question to the wind, desperately hoping for an answer strong enough to quell doubt, strong enough to overcome common sense, strong enough to be centered in a still small voice through which only God talks.

Imagine yourself, a minister of Christ, devout in your duties, and with great success.  You preach every day.  The power of the Holy Spirit is evident in both your words, and the response of hearts that melt in those who hear them.  With your success, the “organized” church begins to take notice, and resentment begins to build.  These are powerful men, with powerful friends.  You are a nobody; just a humble minister of Jesus.  As your ministry grows, the church in whom you should belong, begins to take steps to curtail your ministry, by having you thrown into prison on false charges.  And it works.  Now consider, you have gone from humble minister with great success, with a great number of people who listen and respond, to complete isolation in a cell with limited visitors on limited occasions.  You own nothing.  You have no family left living.  You have only a few friends left who have not yet deserted you.  Could you have been wrong?  Could your own words have been what “you” thought, perhaps not what God wanted you to speak?  Could you have been so wrong, God allowed you to come to this end, in order to stop what you were saying?

If you can imagine yourself here, you may begin to imagine the mind of John the Baptist in prison at the time of Christ.  He spent his life preaching the coming of the Messiah.  Then he announced Jesus as he came to him.  But not long after, he is cast into prison, with a grateful priesthood, and conniving powerful women bent on his quick murder.  In a religious philosophy where God rewards the faithful and punishes the wicked, which side of that equation would you imagine yourself to be on.  Your circumstances would clearly outline, you are the punished of God, not the rewarded.  It is this underlying misguided philosophy that even today forms the basis of “wealthy gospels” and “eternal hells”.  It blames God for all the evil that occurs to one of His servants.  We get cancer, it must be God’s fault, for allowing it.  We lose our homes to disaster in hurricanes, earthquakes, fires and floods; again God’s fault, we even term these events “acts of God”.  We are robbed, raped and killed; or worse our children suffer this fate.  We blame God again for allowing it to occur.  Atheists determine a loving God must not exist, because evil does.  Doubt begins to creep into our own thinking, when our circumstances do not reflect the rewards God offers, but only the punishments we hold Him responsible for.

Matthew begins to recount the question of John, and the thoughts of Christ about the ministry, message, and person of John.  Perhaps in this story, is undone the misguided philosophy we continue to cling to even in our own day.  Matthew picks up in chapter eleven beginning in verse 1 saying … “And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.  [verse 2] Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,”  The gospel commission has just completed in chapter ten.  Jesus has sent His own disciples into the region of Judea to preach the gospel of the Messiah.  To perform miracles in His name.  They were to spread the gospel of salvation to the house of Israel, that the Messiah is come, to bear witness that it is Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Messiah, God incarnate.  And while His disciples do this, Jesus Himself remains active in the ministry.  And with predictable success.  Not many can resist the pure love of our God.

By contrast, John sits in a cell largely in isolation.  He has periodic visits from Herod, perhaps the last listener of his gospel the world will ever offer him.  John is smart enough to know that the message he speaks of repentance will not take root in the ears of Herod’s adulterous wife and daughter before they work out a way to kill him.  The priesthood will not come to the aid of John, they are not happy with him either.  And while John sits here.  The disciples of Jesus wander the countryside, performing miracles, teaching and preaching largely unimpeded, empowered by Jesus through the Holy Spirit.  Jesus Himself wanders the nation, with no agent of the Sanhedrin bold enough to kill Him in public.  Even the Romans keep their distance from Jesus, excepting the ones who seek His help, which He grants.  While the largely Nazarite John, of meek clothing and diet, sits in jail; Jesus has taken up a tax collector for Rome into His company.  A man of at least formerly lavish lifestyle, built upon the backs of his own people.  Hardly seems fair.  Hardly fits the model of a just God, one who punishes and rewards based on those who deserve it.

Matthew continues in verse 3 saying … “And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?”  The question John asks two of the last disciples he will ever have, to ask our Savior is, are you the one?  Is this doubt or affirmation?  Is the answer obvious to John, or has his own circumstances particularly when contrast with other disciples of Christ grown so far apart, doubt has begun to creep in?  John is on death row, and he knows it.  Jesus is doing nothing to break him out.  Wouldn’t the leader of the Jewish nation, with the full support of the people, have the power to simply demand his release, or overrun the jail if needs be?  What kind of leader, leaves a righteous man in prison to die, while sending far from righteous men into the field to proclaim His name?  How is any of this fair?  The leadership of the organized church hate Jesus already, do they have a point?  Jesus is undoing the concept of rewards for those who deserve it.  Jesus is undoing the concept of punishing those who deserve it, instead He offers forgiveness and redemption.  This goes against long held beliefs about the nature of God, both then and now.

Jesus answers John’s disciples beginning in verse 4 saying … “Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: [verse 5] The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. [verse 6] And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.”  Note how Jesus responds, those in need are getting the miracles they need.  And the gospel is being preached.  But finally a blessing is offered for those who are not “offended” by who Jesus is, and what Jesus does.  To have a sinner come to repentance is a thing to be praised, not to be criticized because of how it occurred, or that I was not present when it did.  The goal is the redemption of mankind, not the pre-perfection of the messengers of that calling.  Increasing the membership of the Kingdom of Heaven, did not come with a prequalification test, it came with a simple answer, do you want this, or not.

John could have easily taken offense at what Jesus did for him, or rather, did not do for him.  John could have demanded that by his lifestyle he had earned special treatment by Jesus, and a special place at His side.  But Jesus points out, the ministry is its own reward.  What is special, is that lives are converted, souls are saved, and relationships are established with Him.  When the Holy Spirit blesses that effort, none need doubt about the results, and none need criticize the messenger who aided in it.  John had the benefit of having his doubt removed by the miracles which alone were probably up to the task.  You and I should have a similar lens in examining our own lives, where we are today, and where we were so many years ago.  There should be measurable progress there we do not understand.  There should be testimony there of victories we had no hand in, but benefited from.  Our testimony is about our own salvation, wrought by the hand of Jesus Christ Himself, our only Savior.  It is not boast, because our progress has nothing to do with us, and everything to do with Him.  That evidence should be the miracle we need, to overcome our own doubt.  None else can take it away.

John understood much of this.  Though he remained on death row, and he died a cruel death alone with an executioner.  Jesus never came to save him from jail or the axe.  Jesus never broke him out of prison, or demanded his release.  Jesus allowed the earthly life of John to end, the first martyr for the gospel, faithful to the end.  Later followers of Christ would look back to the example set by John, and echo his response.  When faced with roaring lions, and seeing their children killed; these future martyrs would continue to take up the cross of Christ instead of the swords of resistance.  They laid down their lives, and the lives of the spouses and children for the cause of Christ at the hands of wicked men.  This was not the punishment of God.  It was the ultimate destination of sin.  What seems innocuous in sin, ends in the coliseums of ancient Rome, and the axe of the executioner of John.  All roads of sin lead here.  The innocent are punished by sin itself.  This is not a condition God allows in apathy, it is a condition God permits in order to have time to save the precious life of the perpetrator.  That is not fair.  That is not justice.  It is mercy.  The same mercy that saves you and I.  The goal is the redemption of mankind, not to punish it for what it has coming.  Punishment will be finally an eternal separation from the love of God, for those who chose no other course.

The questions and life of John, disprove a misguided philosophy about the character of God, in his own day, and in ours.  But what Jesus would then say about the life of John is an even more interesting consideration …

 

Extreme Courage ...

There are stories of extreme courage when despite heavy risks, and personal danger, a person does what seems like the impossible.  When we hear of these stories, we picture men, in excellent shape, of a young age, able to perform at the peak of their fitness.  Sometimes the stories surprise us, when it is someone older who steps into the breach.  Children can only do so much, so few stories exist here other than heroic fights against disease, or the courage to stop a bully.  But what few of us imagine when the words extreme courage are uttered; is a mom, and a prostitute.  These two are hard to associate with the ideas of extreme courage.  Add to their pair, a servant girl, and then another.  Add to that group a cook, a maid, and a daughter with a famous name.  How could a band of women be associated with terminology we reserve for our military in action, and yet have no military association at all?

Courage begins with standing against the popular.  In a time when reputation is everything, and particularly so for a woman, courage begins with risking it to do what is right, instead of what is popular.  Religious association, being a student of the Word, is one way to help maintain both spirituality and reputation.  Being cut off from religious association for what you do, or what you say, is a recipe for ruin, and ruin on a public scale.  Could you face this, to do what is right?  To face it not boldly in arrogance of your beliefs, but in humility, seeking truth, unsure you have found it.  Courage for a woman in the time of Christ was to ignore the threats of the Sanhedrin to be cast out of the Temple forever, and serve at the feet of Jesus.  Courage was not defined as railing accusations against those still in the wrong, but humble service in the ministry of Jesus.  It was feeding them.  It was washing what needed to be washed.  It was caring, without arrogance and confrontation, all the while suffering the greatest loss a woman could suffer, her reputation damaged beyond repair, in a time when that was all she had.

Courage remains by loving those we should not love.  This was not a group of the holy, it was a group of the injured, the sinful, the untouchables.  Hookers are not often welcomed by women of any church.  Demon possessed hookers even less so.  But Jesus repairs a life, sometimes more than once, and those women never acquainted with such pain, are expected to accept, embrace, and love the reclaimed without limit or reproach.  Hookers, now former, are to love housewives, and vice versa, without a word of condemnation from either.  Hookers who know the hypocrisy of families where husbands cheat in secret.  And housewives who fear the unbridled sexuality of a prostitute will lure away that which should not be lured.  Now intermixed by a Rabbi who loves everyone, in a society that does not.  But not just the hookers are of ill repute.

The woman was alone at the well in Samaria because of who she was, and what she had done.  Her lack of commitment in marriage, her trivial treatment of the forever, had landed her many husbands, and now only a live-in lover.  She too was destined to join this band of women.  She too was to be reclaimed, and after the evangelism in her region which converted so many, would become yet another servant, of no reputation whose name we do not even know.  She too would be listed as only part of “many women” who served and ministered to Jesus and His disciples … as if this was all she did in the furtherance of the gospel, and the redemption of souls.  But acceptance into the collective of other women required forgiveness in the hearts of them all, not just in the heart of Jesus.

These women, one and all, sacrificed their reputations, whether by their deeds in a former life, or by their association with each other in the spirit of forgiveness and love.  And now they were willing, to a woman, to risk their lives in a display of courage the world had never seen.  An act so great, the Holy Spirit will not let Peter forget it.  In the brevity of Peter’s telling of the gospel at its end, Peter takes time to recall what women did.  When the courage of men failed, the courage of women did not.  When the followers of Jesus, His disciples, were scattered to the wind; the assembly of women began.  These women gathered themselves, and presented themselves in growing numbers at His trial.  It was not their voices calling for death in tones of hate.  It was their voices calling for mercy, as it had always been given to them.  But they were drowned out by the screams of evicted demons now bent on revenge.

But women of no repute, continued to assemble, and without fear, or perhaps without concern that it should cost them their very lives.  You cannot stamp out the message of Christ, until you kill all of His followers.  While men hid themselves in upper rooms afraid to see what would transpire, women were out in the places they needed to be.  They followed His procession up the hill of Golgotha in tears, and in association for all to see.  Peter recalls it to John Mark in his gospel in chapter fifteen picking up in verse 40 saying … “There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;” 

Notice Peter first points out that in this group of women is Mary Magdalene.  The Hooker is listed first.  The demon possessed former hooker is listed first, above all other women there.  Why?  Could it be that for whom much is forgiven, much is expected?  Could it be that the woman with the most corrupted idea of love had been reclaimed the farthest in what love is now.  Chief among sinners is listed first.  Reputations of those who follow her, of those who dare to be with her, are done.  Next Peter lists Mary the mother of Jesus, but in an unusual way.  Peter lists her by the names of the siblings of Christ.  So much for the idea of a perpetual virgin.  Mary was a normal wife and mother after the birth of Jesus.  James, Joses, and Salome (whose name was also given to the daughter of Herod Phillipi living with Antipas at the execution of John the Baptist).  These were the names of Jesus’ family at the recollection of Peter.  He would know.  The hooker and the housewife lead this assembly.

Mark continues in verse 41 saying … “(Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.”  These women ministered to Jesus, to each other, and to assemblies so large they were hard to number.  They did this at the cost of their reputations, shunned by the religious leadership for association with Jesus.  Shunned by the public, for association with women of ill repute, hookers, divorcees, and such.  They lost what could not be replaced, and without a word of discontent.  For they had found something of far greater value, a vision of love and what love should be, that does not look for credit or disdain, only to serve. 

But this was no book club, knitting circle, or potluck.  They were assembled in the place of a skull.  They had no weapons, or skills to use them.  They were sheep.  They were witnesses to a fallen Lord now dead upon the cross.  They had no one to protect them, or give care should they be raped or killed without mercy from soldiers who paid no mind to the virtue of a woman.  They were Jews in front of Romans.  They were apostates in front of priests and rabbis who governed in absolute control over religious matters.   And their Lord was dead, unable to hear their cries, or offer assistance or love.  Everything they had hoped for was dead on that cross.  Everything they had dreamed of for the Jewish nation was lifeless on that cross.  Jesus hung naked before them, without a shred of dignity.  And they were there assembled as sitting ducks for a raging temple system, and Roman military to do with as they pleased.

Their lives, their reclaimed virtue, their reputations were as vulnerable as it gets, and all of this was by choice.  For the women in this assembly could be in no other place.  They MUST be with their Lord, even if He dies.  Even if He is dead, these women cannot tear themselves away from their Lord.  That is faith.  That is a courage in spite of death or worse, that knows NO fear at all.  This is where a maid, and a cook, and a mother, and a hooker defy the entire Roman empire with steadfast steel in their bones.  This is where Truth stands against the corruption in hearts of religious leaders who wish to kill it.  This is where a housewife comforts a hooker, who reaches back to comfort her.  Jews are amazed by this.  Even in death these women do not flee, they remain.  Even when there is nothing more to gain for any of them, they do not flee, they remain, and they still love each other.  When hope is gone, the extreme courage of a woman is revealed.

This confounds the Roman soldiers in attendance.  Romans have seen families of victims come out to a crucifixion before.  But never does a mother welcome a prostitute in comfort.  Never does such an assembly of women seem to genuinely care for each other in love that defies explanation.  This is not some wailing performed by those hired to wail.  This is silent crying by those who love so deeply no sound can emerge from it.  This is not the noise of grief; it is a grief so profound it lacks all noise.  Where Romans who hate Jews would have been prone to move sin from the crucified to his entourage, no such inclination is present today.  The darkness, the earthquake, the plea of forgiveness from the cross itself, has dampened further ideas of evil in the soldiers at the cross.  These women represent only another marvel the Romans cannot understand.

It is not their perfection that defines this moment, it is their imperfection.  Mary Magdalene is still known for her former life, a hooker, with multiple demons.  She is present, but still imperfect.  She has not transcended as Enoch did, to a life ready for heaven.  She is in its process, but not at its conclusion.  But despite her imperfections, she is here, where she must be.  This is why it is courage.  Because risk is still present, perfection is not.  Damage is still present, immunity is not.  But despite the reality of this situation, a demonstration of true ministry occurs.  Love for each other in full display, even when Jesus is dead.  Love for each other, even when reputations are in the mud, and death is at the doorway, and Jesus will not be here to save them.  This is the moment Peter must recall to John Mark.  And by contrast, to further deepen his own shame.

Peter must faithfully recount the deeds of women, when his own stand in contrast as abject failures.  When our churches stand, and debate the roles of women in the gospel, we forget that in times like these, men fail, and women deliver.  Those who are in tune to the Holy Spirit, who become a vessel of the love of God, are those destined to preach the word.  This assembly was not preaching in word, but the lesson in deed has survived 2000 years, and will live on in infinity, because even when Jesus was dead, love lived on in His followers.  This love was not done in secret, or in a place of convenience, or in denial of who they served.  It was there when He was dead.  It was there when Hope was dead.  It was a courage that could never be mimicked again. 

To be embarrassed to be associated with Jesus in our day … is such a thing possible?  In our modern age when a co-worker, or associate, asks us if we are a Christian; is hesitation still possible from a thought to what our answer will mean to our reputation?  If the answer was not already apparent, the need for the question, is what will break my heart.  If my actions, my words, and my motives are not already in such tight alignment with His, that those who casually know me, must ask if I follow Christ, I still have far to go in my journey.  I want that answer brazenly self-evident.  I want a measure of love from God, to mimic the love of mothers, hookers, servants, and housewives in an age where extreme courage was defined.  To love like that before He had arisen, was proof, that His Father remained.  It was proof that Jesus provides us a connection to His Father.  We are not connected to only Jesus, but to the Holy Spirit, and to His Father.  This was reconciliation His death was to accomplish for us, and we need only do the simplest of things: to accept it.

Then watch what a reclaimed life looks like.  Watch how extreme courage becomes so common it can no longer be thought of as courage, but just as nature.  Witness how the love for a hooker becomes transcendent.  Love that is no longer a filthy thing, but a holy thing, able to flow from husbands and housewives alike without a moment of condemnation from anyone.  Watch how a risen Lord, who reclaims lives, can change how you love so profoundly that words lose their ability to describe it …

 

Stubborn Love (witness number thirteen) ...

The Feast of Tabernacles, or booths, or tents with organic roofs if you prefer, was a several-day time for celebration and reaching out to God.  The brothers and sister of Christ planned to go, and in the beginning of the gospel of John chapter seven, they suggest that if Christ is really doing all these things people report about Him, that He ought to go to the Feast as well and let His disciples see Him publicly do them.  Perhaps they reasoned such a public display might win Him back those disciples who had left Him at Capernaum when He announced He was the only path to His Father God.  Perhaps they reasoned that to build an army large enough to take on Rome, He would need more followers and this might be an excellent opportunity to drum up support from around the nation, as many would be traveling to Jerusalem for this feast.  But no matter their logic, verse 5 reveals a sad and painful truth … “For neither did his brethren believe in him.”  Oh, his family knew He was special.  They knew He worked miracles as they had witnessed these things.  But the idea He raised in Capernaum, was that He descended from His Father God to save us all, and salvation would only be found in believing in Him – this was a bridge too far for them at the moment.  So despite knowing the religious leadership was looking to kill Him, they suggest He ought to go confront them in their home turf, perhaps this would test His divinity, and either prove His claims, or put the subject to bed.

Jesus, reading their intentions, responds in verse 6 … “Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready. [verse 7] The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.”  Christ points out, that the thinking His family shares regarding His ministry is the same one the people and leaders cling to.  They look for a deliverer from Rome, from poverty, from oppression.  Because their thinking is in line with popular thinking, even with that of the religious leaders, they are not hated by them.  But Christ is, because instead of aligning Himself with these goals and ideals, He points out that the source of the problems of Israel is not found in Rome, but in the hearts of each person there.  It is the evil within us, that is the root of our problems.  It is our slavery to self-service that is the core of the evil that enslaves us.  We are powerless to defeat it, and equally consumed by it, blinded by it, and do not enjoy having it called to our attention.  This is particularly true, when we are unable to cast blame back on the person who brings it to our attention.  Often when confronted by someone else about the evil behavior we are engaged in, our first thought, is to defend ourselves, by pointing out the evil our accusers do as well.  We feel successfully defended if we can point out bigger sins in our accuser, than in ourselves.  But when the perfection of love reveals to us our error, we are unable to successfully “blame” it.  In the mirror of Christ, our selfishness is revealed, and we are unable to blame “the mirror”.  In that instance, the evil of selfishness, we embrace, we are stuck with.  And for some, hatred of this revelation follows.

Even here, Satan is offering Christ, “an easy way out”.  To win the love and respect and belief of His own family, all He needs to do, is give a little on the idea of reducing Rome’s power over them.  OK, so maybe we don’t overthrow them completely, but at least you could send a little plague their way, and cause them to reduce their presence in Judea.  But love does not manipulate to gain its objective, and love is not interested in control, but in choice.  The love of Christ was ever based in truth, and so He could not align with the near sighted goals, even of His family.  He must instead stay true to the will of His Father, who longed for an end to evil, the evil within us, not the evil around us.  As for the timing of going to the feast, Christ continues in verse 8 … “Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come. [verse 9] When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee. [verse 10] But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.”  Christ tells them to ahead and go to the feast, that he will be staying put for a while as His time is not yet fully there.  I would guess, His family interpreted this to mean, that His time to raise an army, or confront the religious leaders, was not just yet.  Though Christ may actually have been referring to His death and sacrifice for us, as not quite being the time.  In any case, He delayed His trip, and went there secretly.

The salient question then, is “why?”  Why on earth go back to Jerusalem, even in secret, when you know the leaders there are intent on killing you for the deeds you do, and the words you say?  Why put your own life at risk?  Surely the disciples, at least the original 12, did not need further “proof” you were the Messiah, they already declared they believed it.  Surely the people of Jerusalem had heard about Christ, as verses 11 thru 13 reveal, He was quite the topic of conversation at the feast this year.  So it was not as though Jesus needed a campaign of public awareness.  One could argue that He went to save Mary Magdalene from being stoned for adultery which would happen soon.  But then, that entire scenario was constructed to trap Christ, more than to punish Mary, had He not gone to Jerusalem, she might have been safely unmolested in her sins.  So “who” was Christ there to reach?  Who was He so stubbornly intent to love?  I submit, He was there to try again, to reach those leaders who were intent on killing Him.  I believe He went back, again, to reach them, His most ardent enemies.  He did not return in a spirit of confrontation.  Nor did he return in fame, carrying with Him a great crowd to protect Him, and display to the proud leaders, their inability to do anything about Him.  Instead He returns alone, anonymously, and looks to teach His doctrine of love to any who might listen.  Verse 14 states … “Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. [verse 15] And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?”

Deja vu anyone?  When He was only twelve years old, He taught the leaders in Jerusalem for 3 days, having never had a “formal” education.  Here He was again, teaching the people, and the leaders, doctrines and scriptures, without the benefit of a long career of reading and study in the formal religious training schools of His day.  Christ knew scriptures the leaders did not believe Him capable of knowing.  Perhaps He quoted scrolls only few had had access to read.  Perhaps He cited little known prophets, or obscure references that only a man of deep education could possible know.  In any case, it was the religious leaders who appreciated the miracle they were witnessing.  He was doing something, saying something, teaching something, He should not have been able to teach.

Jesus knows what they murmur and responds in verse 16 … “Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.”  Therein is found two key truths.  The first, truth is not found within us, but in Him that sends us into the world.  In the case of Christ, the doctrine of love He was teaching came from God His Father.  In our case, the doctrine of love we bear witness to, the doctrine of love that transforms us into a new creation; does not originate within us, but comes from the Christ who saves us from ourselves.  The second truth, is that doctrine that is used to glorify the messenger instead of the message, is not truth at all.  Those conference leaders, or pastors, or evangelists, or television spokesmen, or laymen, or just ordinary Christians intent on witnessing – who look to present themselves as models of achievement, or sources of truth and understanding, reveal they know little of either.  Even the precious truth of salvation, is not intended as a vehicle for us to prop ourselves up, and try to become “proud” in the victories He has bestowed upon us.  The gospel at its core is not about pride, but humility.  It is not about our fame as His messengers, but about our work done in anonymity.  Christ, who was God of all, was the chief servant of all.  Who are we, to model ourselves differently than our leader?

Jesus continues in verse 17 … “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. [verse 18] He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.”  Christ was not looking for fame, as the greatest religious scholar of His day.  He was not looking to replace the Rabbinical schools with new leadership.  He was not even looking to replace the High Priest with Himself, or His own appointees.  Instead, He was looking only to teach truth and love, and reach those who would listen.  The fears and insecurities of the religious leaders should have been put at ease, as Christ was no real threat to their organization or authority.  But those fears could not rest, because the message of truth and reform that comes from love placed within us, might truly undo the financial empire they had built around the forms of religion.  Instead of abandoning misconceptions and misinterpretations of scripture that Christ revealed and embracing a new knowledge of old truth that might have truly revolutionized the teaching in Israel, they chose to meet truth with hate, and respond to love with intent to kill it.  There would be no fundamental overhaul of doctrine that might actually change the world.  Instead there would be a perpetuation of existing thinking, even if it had to kill God to accomplish it.

And what has changed?  The original claimant of the Christian faith in Catholicism has amassed wealth, art, as well as political power and influence such as the world has ever seen; though Christ craved none of these things, shunning them all, instead serving in humility until His death.  He needed no spectacle, no pomp, no gold, no flowing robes of brilliant color – He only sought to teach love and truth.  Protestant Christian denominations have little more to say than their Catholic counterparts.  While not steeped in the gold and art of spectacle, protestant churches strive equally for a place in the halls of power and legislation.  They maintain elaborate organizational hierarchies, that are more intent on maintaining “their” particular brand of Christianity, than about serving in humility, poverty, and love.  Today’s American churches look to invest themselves in politics, in order to make legal, the teachings of morality they believe.  In an effort to defend themselves against the unbelievers, they would make themselves, the arbiters of morality and enforce it with controls of the government and effect of law.  In short, our religious leaders seem very preoccupied with leadership and the preservation of church influence, than with the simplicity of love and transformation it offers.  Were Christ to enter our pulpits of today, and advocate abandoning our doctrinal uniqueness, our wealth, power, influence, and spectacle – would we too reject Him, and look to kill Him to preserve what we have built?

Jesus knows His teaching will be met with hatred, by those who wish to preserve their influence and wealth over accepting the truth He espouses.  To them he says in verse 19 … “Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?”  Here Jesus cites their “go to guy” and questions the motives that would kill love rather than accept it.  Rather than have their innermost motives reveal, they accuse Christ of being crazy saying in verse 20 … “The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?”  Had Jesus not been trying to win over those that hate Him, and attempt to undo their hatred, He could merely have responded to them by name.  He could have said … well, Bob over there is thinking he should stone me, and George in the red cap, is planning to knife me when nobody is looking.  He did not.  He does not reveal the individuals who seek His death to the rest of the crowd that might have decided to do something to prevent that from happening.  Again, Christ does not act in a manner that would preserve His own life, or incite the people to take “righteous” action in killing those who were intent on killing Him.  Love does not meet evil with equal evil; it meets evil only with more love.

Instead, Jesus will try again, to correct the misinterpretation of teachings on keeping Sabbath holy, that the people suffered from.  This time, He will point out an inconsistency that they allow for one kind of medical procedure to take place “lawfully” on Sabbath while decrying another.  He says in verse 21… “Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel. [verse 22] Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man. [verse 23] If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day? [verse 24] Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”  If circumcision is allowed on Sabbath which does not accomplish any kind of healing, why is restoration on Sabbath something to be considered unlawful?  The ‘work’ of recreation is not something that takes the Sabbath off.  The ‘work’ God does to restore us unto Himself, is actually enhanced by the Sabbath.  For one day, we make a choice to focus our time and attention on just hanging out with our God.  Instead of all the things that vie for our self-centered vision of the world, we make a conscious effort to focus on God, and in so doing, service to others that mimics the behavior of God.  And Sabbath becomes something new entirely.  When love replaces our other motivations, obedience is truly possible.  While love is superseded by other motivations, obedience is not possible.  Unconverted, unchanged hearts, could not understand this.  But there were others who were listening that could.

There were some in that crowd that recognized the truth of what Christ was saying.  In verse 25 it reads … “Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill? [verse 26] But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ?”  These people knew, the religious leaders did seek to kill Christ.  They could see some of these very men in the crowd on this day at the temple.  Here was Christ in plain sight, teaching and answering them, and none of the men bent on killing Him, were doing anything about it.  Perhaps then, the religious leaders, KNEW, this was indeed the Christ.  Perhaps this is the reason they took no action.  Perhaps the truth of what He said, was true after all.

But almost as quickly as they had the thought that perhaps this was truly the Christ, doubt entered in.  In verse 27 they stated … “Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.”  This was a shot at the parentage of Jesus.  Jesus after all, from their perspective, came from illegitimate parentage.  Mary was found pregnant, before Joseph married her.  People knew it.  They might also have known, that Joseph’s first reaction was to put her away privately and not follow thru with the wedding.  But knowing that, they would have also known, that Joseph did follow through because of a message from an angel.  They would have also known, that the angel visited Mary, and told her she was chosen among all women from the house of David.  They would have known that Mary, Joseph, and Jesus escaped the carnage of Herod to the new children in Bethlehem when they fled to Egypt on the word of an angel.  They would have known Jesus was raised in Nazareth when His family returned from Egypt.  They had heard many things.  What they chose to believe was at issue here.  Belief after all, is a choice.

Jesus declares in verse 28 … “Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. [verse 29] But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me.”  Christ points out to them the truth they also know.  The truth of the 3 wise men who bore gifts and followed a star from the east to the night of His birth.  They knew of the angelic host, who tore the night sky open with brilliant light of daylight and sang anthems to announce His birth.  They knew of the shepherds tending flocks by night, who also bore witness to the miracle of His entry into the world.  And more importantly, these same men bore witness to His miracles, His love, His healings, and His truth.  If they were to persist in refusing to know, it would be God they were refusing to know.  For God was the God of love, and Christ was love revealed to the world.  They had lost sight of the idea that God was a God of love.  Instead they had cast God the Father as a God of vengeance, justice, and punishment.  Christ aligned with none of these ideas.  They missed all the elements of redemption from the Old Testament witnesses, and focused only on the violence.  They missed all the tender mercy and love God had shown throughout all the stories of the Old Testament, and instead glorified the violent acts of men who thought to “help” God out in each of those situations.  As such, they did not know God at all, nor could they recognize Him in the form of His Son who bore witness of what it means to love in this world.

The reaction of those men, who did know the truth, but refused to accept it was swift and intense.  Verse 30 reads … “Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.”  The only thing that prevented the death of Christ on that very day, in that very minute, was the preordained timeline God had established.  Angels literally had to restrain those who would have put an end to Christ on the spot.  They did this, because love had not yet been fully revealed.  We were to have yet a little more time with Christ among us.  We were to yet have a little more chance to see what it means to love like God loves.  When hatred is embraced however, and love is rejected, the only response left is one of murder.  Those who think the nature of evil is not so bad, those who believe not all evil is the same, forget the lessons written here of love rejected.  Murder was their response.  Death is the ultimate path and destination of every evil, no matter how small or innocent it looks.  It is the reason there is only one result, for there can be only one result, when one turns away from life and love, it is misery and death.  Thus the supernatural prevented, what evil would have determined. 

The bright spot in this otherwise dark storm however, was that not all the listeners were so determined to reject the truth of the words of Christ.  Verse 31 reads … “And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?”  Common sense won out, in those who were willing to use it.  It was painfully obvious to those who were not so consumed with hate as to ignore it.  Christ was teaching truth and love.  He was reciting texts and doctrines of love that He had never been formally educated to present.  He was working miracles in the plain sight of the people.  Who would ever come, that would do MORE, than He was already doing?  Healings, feedings, teachings, and packaged in humility, truth, and love – what more was there to wait for?  This had to be the Messiah.  This had to be the one they had so long waited for.  The intent of Christ to reach even His most ardent enemies had some limited success; for there were among the people those who made a choice to believe.

 

Christian Rock Music ...

The greatest day in a person’s life is the day they accept the gift of salvation from our Lord Jesus Christ.  On this day they begin a journey that leads them into perfection of mind, body, and soul.  It begins here and reaches fulfillment in the heaven we all so long to see.  As we submit ourselves to Christ, He changes how we think, what we want, and therefore what we do.  We come into harmony with God, and begin to learn how to love like He loves.  This is the power of the gospel.  This is the reason why love conquers all, even death.  This is the only ideology where a God works so hard to redeem the erring creation that sometimes fights Him as an enemy.  Our God indeed loved us while we were yet His enemy.  As we allow Him to recreate in us a new heart, a new mind, and eventually a new body, we begin to escape the pain of self-inflicted evil that we were once enslaved to.  The greatest day in a person’s life is the day they come to accept our Lord.

So it stands to reason, that for the devil to have a chance at winning the fight against love, he must do everything he can to keep people away from a decision to accept Jesus Christ.  He must keep them too busy, too skeptical, too disoriented, too distracted – anything he can use to avoid a call that might lead one lost soul to the throne of grace.  Once a lost soul accepts the gift of faith granted by Christ, the devil will forevermore be fighting a losing battle.  Anything that would point a lost soul to Christ, is something that is sure to meet with the intensity of hate as nothing else on planet earth can warrant.  For it is nearly impossible to pluck one dear person from the protecting hand of our Father God.  Our God is jealous to protect His own, and faithful to save us to the uttermost.  The devil knows this, he has lost too many souls to the simple love of God.  So he must spend his energy warring against the witness of a changed life.

How then does a lost soul come to find the Lord, when the devil is so determined to keep them away from the source of all salvation?  Perhaps the most common method is the personal testimony of a caring friend or family member who has experienced it firsthand and can tell of the saving power of Christ to take pain away from our lives.  When Andrew found Christ, He quickly went to call his brother Simon Peter to let him know the good news.  Even today when Christ actually saves you from a sin which you had no power over, and brings you victory you did not deserve but were given anyway – the freedom from pain this brings is enormous and MUST be shared.  So today the power of personal testimony has not lost its edge, we still desire to share the good news we have found with those we care about.

Sometimes however, a lost soul is not fortunate enough to have a close friend who has personally experienced salvation and can tell them firsthand what it means.  In these situations, God must rely on other means to reach the children He so desperately wants to save.  As our eyes and ears are bombarded everyday with stimuli from Internet screens to TV; from iPods and satellite radio to cell phones and twitter updates; we process information and try to make sense of it all.  Satan uses this to keep us occupied, but God uses this as well to slip in references to His word, and His love.  It comes as television programming dedicated to spreading the word.  It comes as internet sites dedicated to ministry of Christ.  It comes over the radio waves as music from every sub-genre and style popular today, but by musicians dedicated to the cause of Christ and with lyrics designed to uplift one to the throne of grace.  Messages to the masses, hoping that just once, the long lost child of God will pay attention and be drawn to the source of all love.

It really does not matter so much “which” message a person hears that leads them to Christ.  It is enough that they are led to Christ.  All of us find God with many erroneous ideas, many mistaken assumptions, and thinking that has long been corrupted by evil.  It takes time for God to undo in us what must be undone.  It takes time for Him to show us how to let go of pain, and our erring ideologies, and allow Him to lead us to truth.  But the journey cannot begin until we decide to begin it.  That greatest day must occur before growth can occur.  That greatest day must occur, before we have a chance to find deeper truth, and an even better definition of love than we thought possible.  Should we as Christians really care, if a person finds God through the sermons of Billy Graham, or Oral Roberts, or the Pope, as long as they find Christ?  Does it really matter “which” Christian musician inspires them to seek the Lord of Love, so long as they seek Jesus?  Do we care which internet site it was that led a person to a knowledge of Christ, if that knowledge begins their journey?

Too often Christians set expectations for new converts too high.  It is not enough to merely find Jesus, one must find Him in the proper way, using the proper doctrine, and be completely devoid of even the appearance of incomplete truth.  Yet none of us has complete truth if we were honest.  Our own limitations keep us from it.  Truth, like salvation from evil, is a process.  It has a beginning and a fulfillment.  It is a journey.  And what we can completely rest assured in, is that our God desires ONLY to save us.  He will not lead us into error as we move forward with Him.  He will not lead us to slaughter, but to truth.  Our Shepherd does not allow His flock to go astray, He leads them beside the still waters and restores our souls.  Restoration of that which is corrupted by evil to the state of perfection He intended.  But He does not do this in the blink of an eye.  And He does not expect us to wait to come to Him until we are sure that we know it all first.  He expects us to be ignorant, mistaken, and full of woe.  He knows our condition.  It is not a secret from Him.  But to fix us, our journey must have a beginning.  It matters little if the vehicle that brings us to Christ is a perfect one, it only matters that it gets us started.

The tendency of a Christian to believe their version of truth is the best one around, or their version of worship style is the only one acceptable to God is too great in our world.  Thus we fall into the trap of ridicule over ministries not of our own designs.  We disparage musicians who play a style of Christian music we do not personally equate to, particularly if it is similar to music that is not designed to uplift one to God.  We are not happy about the ministry of other denominations, fearing that “they” are leading people astray while only “we” have the right take on how to get to know Christ.  The problem with all this thinking is that it is “me” centric instead of Christ centric.  We forget that it is Christ who leads the captive soul to truth, not me.  We forget it is only Christ who can remove a sin from someone, no matter what I do or say, only Christ can actually bring someone a change of mind and heart.  We forget that Christ has more of an interest in saving a person than we ever will, no matter what our relationship is with that person.  In short we take our eyes off of Christ, use our own judgment, and begin to condemn what should have never been condemned.

Consider the alternative; would it be better that a person never came to accept Jesus Christ, than for them to be introduced to salvation by a Christian Rock artist, or Christian Rap artist, or a Christian poet or actor, or a Christian pastor of another denomination or faith?  Is it better to see a person denied the freedom and truth that Christ would lead them to, because WE do not approve of the tool used to bring them to Christ in the first place?  Better for darkness to reign, than to give the light a chance to break through; surely not.  I would rather walk down the streets of gold and find you there no matter how you first met Christ, than to debate with you if that method should have ever existed in the first place.  The devil has ZERO interest in seeing people led to Christ.  No matter what we think about the style, or completeness of truth of the vehicle that leads one to Christ – at least the person will have a chance at salvation because of it.  There is only one Jesus Christ.  There is only one decision that matters.  And there is only one result that occurs when a person surrenders to Jesus, they are saved from evil – all evil – in every form.  Truth will out.  People will change.  But it must all start somewhere.

The only appropriate response to a lost soul who finds redemption in Christ is one of exceedingly great joy.  The angels rejoice in heaven for even one soul, think of it, just one is precious.  Those heavenly beings who know how to love in perfection understand the value of even one soul who finds his/her way to Christ.  It is the greatest day of that person’s life, and will be followed by greater and greater days as the grace of Lord is revealed in them.  If heaven rejoices, how can we begrudge?  If angels sing, how can we condemn?  It is more revealing a portrait of those who can criticize a person for the method in which they found Christ, than it is the object of their criticism.  Love understands that truth and change come over time.  Love does not expect perfection first, but instead sees it occur over a distance.  It is a metamorphosis that occurs because of the proximity to Jesus Christ.  And for each of us, our story has a beginning.  Let us rejoice the end of our journey is the perfection God intends, and rejoice that any method that works, helped a lost soul reach the Lord.