This is the Condemnation

John 3:17-21

Introduction

We have been studying through the Gospel of John, as most of you know: Last week and the week before, we twice read that Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world. And, we saw, briefly, that most people would reject Him anyway.

But the question comes to mind, “If all their sins are paid for, how can anyone be condemned?”

A partial answer, in the form of an analogy, was proposed last week, pointing out that Jesus wrote out a “check” in the amount of “Eternal Life,” to be deposited to the account of “Whosoever Will.” And we pointed out that, in order to have that eternal life, one does have to “endorse that Check” by faith. Each person has to respond personally, believing that Jesus’s blood is the sacrifice for their own sins…it is not just “generic.”

So, the next few verses (17-21) explain why people can still be condemned, even though Jesus truly has paid for their sins:

¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. ¹⁸He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. ²¹But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

God’s Will: Restoration and Reconciliation

Verse 17 clearly states the purpose of God toward man at large: He sent Jesus “…that the World through Him might be saved.” The invitation is to “whosoever will!” (God so loved the world!) This is not a selective Grace, except in the sense that only those willing to “endorse the check by faith” will enter in. The invitation is there, but many refuse to heed the call to faith.

2^nd Peter 3:9 supports this idea, saying that the Lord “…is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

1^st Timothy 2:3, 4 says “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

As members of the Body of Christ, we have the general assignment to function as ambassadors of Christ. 2^nd Corinthians 5:20 says that we are to function “…as though God did beseech you by us…be ye reconciled to God!” That is our collective job! That is our Job! We may all have different tasks, but the job is evangelism and discipleship.

During all the years when I worked at Gunderson, Inc. our collective goal, or “job” was to build high-quality railcars and barges. The Engineers, the supervisors, the forklift drivers, the painters, the welders, and even the janitors had that collective “job.” We all made our living by the successful pursuit of that one collective “job.” But all those different people had completely different tasks.

I’m pretty sure the nurses in the medical office did not really see their job as “producing rail cars.” The medical staff probably saw their job as being “to provide medical oversight and triage, to keep the crews healthy, and avoid liability lawsuits.”

(Well…yeah!) But, had the company not been producing railcars, then their goal of providing medical oversight would have been a moot point. They would have had no one for whom to provide care! And the same is true for every other skill or discipline within the company. We did not sell paint—we sold painted railcars. We did not sell pieces of steel: we sold steel railcars, and we did not get paid for just shuffling pieces of steel around in the plant with cranes and forklifts: we were paid for the completed, painted, inspected and fully functional, brand-new, flawless railcar that went out the door after all the shuffling, welding and painting was done!

If anyone forgot that main goal, they rapidly descended into non-productive and even counter-productive behavior, squabbling amongst themselves, supervisor against supervisor, and department against department. That was highly unprofitable behavior, but it frequently went on for years, uncorrected.

We need to keep God’s purposes in mind: we do not want to be counterproductive, or unprofitable as believers. We want to behave in a manner that is profitable for the cause of Christ.

This is the Condemnation

So…if God’s will really is “…to save everyone,” why isn’t it happening? It turns out that God has an eternal standard: though He desires to save the world, His standard has always been to save “through faith in Him.” There has never been an exception. Every single person who has ever been salvaged from the wreckage of the Human race has been saved through faith in God’s plan of redemption. All the way from Adam to the thief on the cross, and all the way to the end of time, the statement Jesus made is true: “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me!”

Jesus made it very clear, in verse 18, that “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

We may balk at what seems to be such a limited, narrow path, but in reality, this is the most “equalizing” prerequisite possible. It has to do only with a personal choice, not one’s personal ability or character. Gifting, skills, intelligence, physical strength, or emotional fortitude are not on the table: Wisdom and philosophical stance are not a factor. Wealth, health, or moral purity are never considered. Being perceived as “good” is not a requirement (again, witness the Thief on the Cross, or the Woman at the Well.)

One thing only has been required: that we “believe in Him whom God has sent.” The people asked Jesus, in John 6:28, “What shall we do that we might work the works of God?” Jesus replied, in the next verse, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent!” Had there been any other prerequisite or any other agenda, He could have stated it right there; But He did not! The way was open to whoever would believe.

As the saying goes, this “levels the playing field,” more than anything else could do. Anyone can enter; because no one can “forbid you to believe.” And no one can force you to believe, so it is always a matter of coming by your own free will.

But there’s the rub: not all are willing! Jesus went on to say, “This is the condemnation, that light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

How do we respond to Light?

How we respond to the light of God simply shows the state of our heart. Even a true believer, if they are out of fellowship with God, may turn from that light, because it shames them: it hurts them to hear God’s voice, because they know they are not in fellowship.

On a human level, we may choose to avoid contact with someone whom we have wronged…or who has hurt us. I once was avoiding a man who I thought had behaved treacherously toward me, but he noticed my behavior and sought me out, saying, “Chet, are you avoiding me?” I confessed that I was, and I expressed my observation that he had been part of a group that had wrongly condemned me. But he explained that while he had been there, by invitation, he had not agreed with what was going on, and really wanted my fellowship. I accepted his words as truth, and fellowship was restored, at least to the point that I did not feel the need to avoid him.

J. Vernon McGee shared how the different animals in the barn at night responded differently to the light of the lantern when he walked in. The livestock knew they were about to be fed: they were the servants of the light, and the man who brought it. The rats on the barn floor ran for cover, fearing the light and the man who carried it, because they recognized him as an enemy. But the birds in the rafters mistook the light for sunrise, and began to sing! They knew nothing about the man who carried the lantern. They were responding to the light itself. Each response revealed character of the animal as it revealed their relationship with light.

²⁰For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. ²¹But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Adam and Eve fled from the voice of God: they fled from the Living Word as He walked in the Garden in the cool of the day! They fled from the One True Light of the World. Why? Because they had sinned, and had instantly become spiritually dead! They fled the Light of God because they had become creatures of darkness…just like us! They regained a secure position with God through faith, as we see in the rest of that chapter. But we are their progeny by nature: every one of us was born with a sin nature, inherited from Adam.

Romans 5:12 confirms that, saying, “…through one man, sin came into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…” The result is that, by nature, we were children of the darkness and, by nature, we fled the light.

But there came a moment in each of our lives where the light broke through upon us and we actually understood that light enough to consider the claim of Christ on our lives. John 1:4, 9 show not only that Jesus is that light, but also that He “…lights every one who comes into the world.” The light is for everyone, but we can’t see their hearts. We don’t know when they might respond, nor whether they ever will respond. That is something only God can see.

Drawn to God by the Cross

In John 6:44, Jesus said, “No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him,” and, in John 12:32, speaking of His impending crucifixion, He said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” He is the “magnet,” if I may use that illustration: all we see is a “pile of dust” on the floor. Some looks metallic, as it reflects light: some looks like dirt, and some is in particles so small they are impossible to characterize: but Jesus passes the “magnet of the Cross” over that dust, and regardless of all other properties, metallic or nonmetallic in appearance, only the “iron content” of faith responds to the magnet.

In general, other metals will not respond to magnets. Brass, tin, gold and lead have zero attraction to a magnet. Copper can affect the behavior of a magnet, but the magnet cannot pick it up. Plain dirt may have sufficient iron content to be picked up by a magnet, without our recognizing it by other means. Stainless steel, on the other hand, may have enough nickel in it to completely nullify the magnetic quality of the iron, though it still has very high iron content.

Only Jesus can see the hearts of people and know “who they really are” inside. All we can do is to present the “magnet” of the Gospel, and shine the light of the Word, and pray for God’s Spirit to make an impact in their hearts.

Coming to the Light as Believers

Coming to the Light is not a “one-time” experience: Initially, we “came to the light,” because we were drawn by Jesus, and we placed our faith in Him. Perhaps some portion of His Word shined on our lives and made us see a need. Perhaps initially all it did is make us angry, as we thought “Well, who are you to judge me…”

But then the Word continued to echo in our minds as we saw the truth of our guilt reflected in our own behavior, or, we saw it in someone else’s life, and finally realized that what we saw in their life was also true in our own. In every case, eventually we had a decision to make: we would either respond in humility and confession, seeing that God’s Word was true, and that we were truly lost sinners, or, we would reject the truth and turn away, perhaps claiming to have our “own” truth, or simply declaring that God’s Word is irrelevant.

But, as a believer, who has once come to the light, being drawn by the Savior, and having once been born again into the household of God, our position in Christ is secure. However, we still must choose how to respond to His light: We can see the green plants reaching for the sunlight: will we daily, moment by moment, seek His face, just as they so? Or will we treat His Word casually, indifferently…still preferring to stay in darkness, for the most part? We want His blessing, but not His dominion, and we fail to see that the one is not accessible without the other.

How we respond to God’s Word as believers is an indicator of our spiritual condition. God says we should hunger for his Word as a newborn child hungers for milk: He says, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby.” (1^st Peter 2:2) Milk does not make a baby a baby: It makes a baby grow! They desire that milk as part of being a baby…if they reject it, we know there is something wrong!

We may be uncomfortable with some portions of God’s Word, because it points out things in our lives that are not pleasing to God.

Conclusion:

There is a story about a man who was very proud of the huge old oak tree in his front yard: It was centuries old, and was admired by all who passed by. He felt very privileged to have such a treasure near his house. But one day, he saw a squirrel run partway up the trunk and disappear: He was puzzled, so he walked closer to get a better look. Then he saw the hole into which the squirrel had vanished. He became worried, and called an arborist to tell him what was wrong. It turned out that his precious tree was hollow, and completely rotten inside: it was not only no longer an asset, but it threatened to fall and destroy his home. Finally, he sadly said, “I wish I had never seen that squirrel!”

That is “rejecting the light!” That is what we are doing when we are offended by God’s Word. We wish we had not seen that light. But ultimately, like the man with the tree, we have to make a decision: Will we cut out the rotten parts of our life, which threaten all that is of eternal value, or will we go on enjoying the very temporary pleasure of cherishing that sin, whatever it is.

You see, we can do that same thing as the man with the tree: As a believer, you are secure in Christ. That is not the issue! Your position in Christ is secure forever: but your condition requires constant attention from God. He has to continually correct and “prune” our lives so that they do not develop fatal flaws which can render us useless to His service. We are in no danger of being rejected by Him, but we can certainly become unprofitable.

So, by faith, we make a choice to feed on His Word, respond in obedience, even when it is uncomfortable or runs counter to our natural inclinations and desires. And the result is that we grow in Godliness, as He re-shapes us into His likeness.

I’m grateful to see the Lord at work in each of your lives. I rejoice to see people voluntarily feeding of God’s Word, and growing closer to Him as a result. Let’s press forward together, and be transformed by His Word.

Lord Jesus, we see Your face in the scriptures, and we see our own faces reflected in its light. We realize that apart from You, we have nothing to offer a Holy God. Pour out your Spirit in our lives, and supply us the will and the ability to serve You.

October 30, 2021October 31, 2021

In this Manner God loved the World

**In this Manner God loved the World**

John 3:16, 17

Introduction

Last week we considered Nicodemus, and the first teaching Jesus offered to anyone in the Gospel of John…we stopped with the story of the bronze serpent on the pole, from the account in Numbers 21:5-9. Jesus made it clear that the bronze serpent on the pole was a prophetic image of Himself, as He was offered up to take the judgment for our sins, and to give us eternal life.

In the next verses, possibly the most frequently memorized and recited verses among evangelical believers, Jesus reiterates the concept of salvation by faith, but this time He focuses on the source of that redemption: the Love of God.

John 3

¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. ¹⁸He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

“God So Loved:” What does it mean?

Our first problem, here, is that we have a wrong idea of what constitutes love. We nearly always associate the idea with an emotional response, or a passionate response, or a tender feeling. But the Love that God commands and which He demonstrates in His actions toward us is actually none of the above: It is a practical response to the need of the Human Race. Yes, it is described and tender and compassionate, too, but the fact is, God’s Love is supremely practical. His Love is one of His two primary attributes, secondary only to His Holiness, as demonstrated in Isaiah 6:1-8 (Remember, the angelsdid not cry out, “Love, love, love, God is Love!” They cried out, “Holy! Holy! Holy is the LORD of Hosts! The whole Earth is filled with His Glory!”)

In fact, part of our problem in understanding this passage is in how we interpret the word “so:” in modern English, we think of this verse as saying, “God loved you soooo much!” …as if it were a statement of quantity or magnitude, when in fact, the meaning of the word “so” in this passage is “in this manner.” In fact, in Spanish, that is how it is actually translated: “Porque de tal manera amo Dios al Mundo…” (Meaning, “…in this manner God loved the World….)

So, let’s back up and see what we know about how God has continually manifested His love for the Human race, and how it culminated in His death at the Cross in the Person of Jesus Christ.

**How does God show Love?**

In the Creation?

In Genesis chapters one and two, we saw that God created a perfect world for the human race to live in, before He created the Humans. He didn’t just “fall in love with the baby chicks at the feed store” and buy a dozen of them, only to go home and realize He had no chicken-house. Nor was He as someone who “buys a St Bernard puppy,” and goes home to a tiny apartment, where no pets were allowed in the first place. He made perfect, complete preparations for our existence before He brought us into existence. That is wise, thoughtful, kind, and imminently practical!

In our Sin?

But it goes further: When His creation fell into Sin, His Holiness and His Righteousness had to be satisfied, so Judgment fell: it first fell upon the Serpent (whom we are told later was actually Satan, indwelling the physical snake), then upon the woman, and finally upon the man.

But within the curse upon the Serpent, in Genesis 3:15, there was a deeply-veiled promise of deliverance, The Prophecy was made by God that a Person would come, called the “Seed of the Woman,” who would undo the damage caused by the Serpent, and, in so doing, would complete the judgment on the Serpent. Adam believed that promise, and God responded to his faith by clothing Adam and Eve in the skins of slain animals…which was the first blood sacrifice.

We may think, “What a gory solution to the problem of sin!” But in Revelation 13:8, we find that God’s “preparations” went deeper than we could ever have imagined: Jesus is described as “The Lamb Slain from the Foundation of the Earth.” Notice that it does not say, “from the fall of man,” or anything similar. God, the Creator, knew before He created us, that we would fall into sin, and before he laid the physical “foundation of the earth,” He had laid the spiritual “foundation” for our redemption!

In fact, according to Ephesians 3:9-12, His eternal purpose included our redemption, so that before any portion of the Creation was begun, the plan was made for the redemption of believers, for the express purpose of demonstrating to the Holy Angels the manifold wisdom of God.

In the Flood?

Then He followed through on the promises, and maintained the Human race through all the attempts of Satan to destroy us through our own sin, corruption and violence. He showed His faithfulness and wisdom in the Flood, designing the perfect vessel in which to provide the salvation of the world: the Ark. We saw in our study of the ark and the flood of Noah’s experience that there were numerous ways in which the Ark was a picture of Christ, prophetically pointing, out in some detail, the character of the salvation He would provide. Meanwhile, the blood sacrifices had continued, all pointing forward to the Cross.

In the Passover?

The Passover underscored God’s Solution for sin, again, this time describing rather graphically the coming crucifixion of the Savior. And it forever separated the believers of Israel from Egypt. We have been forever separated from the World, by the Cross…and Egypt, in Israel’s experience, was a picture of the World, for us to learn by it.

The blood of the Passover covered the sins of the believers at that time, but our Passover, the fulfillment of the object lesson of the Passover, is Jesus Himself, who completes the work of all the blood sacrifices of the Old Testament, taking away the very sins that the animal sacrifices could only cover. Jesus is our blood sacrifice for sin. And Jesus said that God’s Love was best demonstrated, right there at the Cross.

In 1^st Corinthians 13:4-8, we see God’s description of the Character of that specific Love…what we call the “agapé” love. And when we read that passage, we see that every single descriptor, used there by God, is a verb: they are all action words. They have nothing to do with feelings: They have everything to do with acting on the behalf of another. In John 15:13, Jesus said, “Greater Love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” And then He went, and He did just that!

At the Cross

So, what did Jesus actually accomplish at the Cross?

To begin with, He fulfilled what John the Baptist predicted: He took away the sins of the World. Not just the Jews, not just the Christians, not just “good people:” He took away the sins of the World! 1^st John 2:2 assures us that “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but also for the sins of the whole world!”

But, if that is really the case, then why is the world in such horrible shape? Do you recall what people had to do when they brought a blood sacrifice to God? They laid their hands on the head of the sacrificial animal, identifying themselves with that animal. They knew and admitted that they were guilty before God. And by faith, they transferred their own sins to the animal, so that the animal was to die in their place, as a substitute for the guilty sinner.

In the case of the Passover, every person in the household had to eat of that Lamb: It had to be a personal choice to believe in that lamb! The sins were taken away by Jesus’s blood poured out at the foot of the cross, outside the city gate. The way into the Holy Place was opened, shown by the fact that God tore the veil in the temple in half, from top to bottom, opening the way for anyone to see into and to actually enter the Holy of Holies. We are told in Hebrews 10:19, 20, that that physical veil actually depicted the body of Jesus, and that we are to voluntarily enter in, through that torn veil: His flesh!

This is why Jesus was able to say, in John 14:6, “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me!” He was describing the open way for all believers: “whosoever will, let him come!” But, since most of the world rejects His sacrifice, for various reasons, the rest of the passage follows:

**The Rest of the Story**

¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. ¹⁸He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Jesus clearly states that the purpose for His coming was so that the World could be saved through Him. But almost in the same breath, He explains that many would reject His offering, reject His blood sacrifice, and would still be condemned.

Notice He says that whoever believes is not condemned (as He stated in John 5:24, they will never be condemned.) but that those who do not believe are (present tense) condemned already, because they do not believe in the Son of God.” (Not because they are such terrible, corrupt people, or because they are dishonest, or they swear a lot, or practice abominable things….but, because they do not believe.)

Jesus wrote a Personal Check

When Jesus died for you, He “wrote a check,” in the amount of “Eternal Life,” payable to “Whosoever Will!” And He signed it with His own Blood, at the Cross. That check is good! His divine account as “God the Son” has “eternally sufficient funds” to cover Eternal Life for anyone willing to receive it. But, just as a paper check has to be endorsed and cashed or deposited, the “check” Jesus wrote for you and signed with His own blood must be endorsed by faith, or it has zero effect on you.

If I never endorsed my paychecks (back before automatic deposit) they were still good, but their value had no effect on my life or the lives of my family: I could not spend their value, nor use their value, in any way, until I made it personal, and endorsed those checks. I did so by faith. The check was just a piece of paper with numbers and letters, until I signed it, and handed it to the person who could give me its value in money. But it worked, every single time!

Jesus’s “check” is good…it is not a paycheck, but rather, a gift! You cannot earn it or deserve it. And it still requires that you endorse that check by faith, today…in this life, and receive that value. It is not something you are to “just hold onto until you die, hoping you won’t lose it:” It is something for you to have today, and which, having once received it, you can never lose it! Jesus made the Promise, “He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life (present tense) and shall not come into condemnation (future tense,) but has passed from death into life!” (Past perfect tense: “ It happened at a past point in time, and has permanent effect on the future!”) And once you believe, it IS “automatic deposit!”

In Redemption

One of the things that happened at the Cross is that our sins were taken away. But another thing that happened is that we were eternally taken out of the Marketplace of Sin, with the intent that we are to be set free. That is what “redemption” means.

And the other side of that is that the Righteousness of Christ has been permanently deposited on our accounts. God now sees us as being literally “as Righteous as Jesus!” This is called the “doctrine of imputation.” It literally means the same thing as “posting to one’s account.” You are no longer “spiritually bankrupt,” even if there may be times when you feel that way! The full value of the righteousness of Christ has been deposited to your account: imputed to you, as it says in Romans 4:1-25.

We have become the literal children of God: not as though we were some homeless waifs He pulled in off the street and cleaned us up a bit, and told us to “…just try to stay clean until suppertime.” No! He has made us His legitimate children through the New Birth in Christ, and we are eternally clean before Him! And, as we need a sense of purpose and direction, He has given us a job to do, working side-by-side with Him as His ambassadors, to lead others to Him!

In our Daily Lives

As we learn to walk with Jesus, and learn to trust His Grace, and learn to expectantly look to Him for our sustenance and care, we learn to see His Love in our lives.

He has “big hands,” and as we learn to look to Him, we begin to see “His fingerprints” in every aspect of our lives. We call this “learning to walk by faith.” We see His supply of “extra handsfuls” of blessing, just as Boaz ordered his servants to drop for Ruth. God supplies more than just what we “have to have to survive.” And He offers His Peace and Joy, along with His Grace by which to live.

Believers all across the world, in deepest poverty, and under heavy persecution, still find His Joy and Peace in their lives, because they are trusting in His character and His faithfulness, not their own precarious circumstances.

We need to learn that practice, here, as well, while there is still time for us to learn it.

Lord Jesus, train us up in faith, and teach us to learn your Peace and Joy, so that we can shine as lights in this ever-darkening world. Make us faithful servants and ambassadors of the eternal King.

October 24, 2021October 24, 2021

Ye Must be Born Again

John 3:1-21

Introduction:

We have been studying through the Gospel of John, and, so far, we have heard very little of the teaching of Jesus. We have learned Who He is, and a little of Why He came, and a tiny bit of What He can do. But now we are going to hear the first of His private teaching…not in secret, by any means, but the individual to whom this teaching was directed came to Him privately, by night, so, evidently, Jesus gave him a private audience…or, at least, perhaps just His disciples were there.

It is worth noting, that, at the tail end of chapter two, there were a great number of people who believed in Him, because of miracles (plural) that He did. Evidently some things had happened beside just the clearing of the temple and the miracle of the wine, that John simply did not tell us. At any rate, we can see that His fame was already beginning to build, and He was wary of the people, knowing how unstable they were, so, He did not commit Himself to them.

But a man named Nicodemus came to Him:

¹ There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: ²The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. ³Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. ⁴Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? ⁵Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. ⁸The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. ⁹Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? ¹⁰Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? ¹¹Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. ¹²If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? ¹³And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. ¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: ¹⁵That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Nicodemus

We are only told a few things about Nicodemus: He was a member of the sect of the Pharisees, and a “ruler” of the Jews. Some have declared him to be a member of the Sanhedrin, but the scripture does not actually make that clear, though there is some evidence to that effect. At any rate, he was well educated in the scriptures, and was looked up to as a teacher, (v. 10.)

He came to Jesus by night, apparently not wanting his fellow Pharisees to know about his visit…or possibly he didn’t want anyone to know: maybe he felt it would damage his credibility as a teacher and a ruler, if he was seen to be consorting with this “odd street-preacher from Galilee.” I don’t know his exact motive. I think, because it does not say “ …he came over one evening…” as if it was just an evening visit, we can at least surmise that it was a visit “under cover of darkness.”

He began by flattering Jesus a little, saying, “We know you are a teacher sent by God, because no one could do the miracles you have been doing unless God is with him.” Jesus wasted no time with small talk: He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you…” That is Jesus’s preface to uncomfortable revelation: It means, “Listen! this is the rock-solid truth, friend: ”

Jesus went on to say, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus dropped the small talk too, and protested the physical impossibility of going back and being born over again. He said “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot go back into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?

Jesus said something even more challenging: He said, “Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” That alone must have stumped Nicodemus pretty badly, as there was nothing in the Old Testament that could have taught him this truth. But Jesus pressed on: He said. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: So is every one that is born of the Spirit.”

Water? Spirit? Wind?

It is tempting to guess that the “water” in this passage is in reference to baptism, and there are sects who teach just that: they insist that you cannot be saved without water baptism.

Others guess that, because of the following verse, contrasting what is born of the Spirit with that which is born of the flesh, that the water must refer to the sac of amniotic fluid present in the gestation of all mammals. But neither is supported by the rest of scripture.

To begin with, the Apostle Paul stated clearly that baptism was not even part of his mission…not that he didn’t approve of it nor that he didn’t practice it…it was simply not part of the core issue. He said “Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the Gospel…” Further, every time the question arose asking How to be Saved, the answer was “Believe the Gospel!” Many of those followed up with baptism, but that was not part of salvation…not part of being Born again.

Finally, if it referred to the amniotic fluid, it would have been pointless to make the statement at all, since every human, along with every other mammal, already has that experience. So, what are the other possibilities?

Water of the Word

Ephesians 5:26 gives us a clue, saying that Christ cleansed the church “with the washing of water by the Word.” In John 15:3, Jesus said to His disciples (not including Judas Iscariot) “Now ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you….” (Judas heard all the same words that the rest had heard…but he was not clean…He never believed.)

Finally, in 1^st Peter 1:23, it says that we have been “…born again…by the Word of God…” So, if the cleansing of Salvation was accomplished by the Word, and the re-birth itself was by the Word, and the Word is called “water” in Ephesians, I think it is safe to assume that the Water in John 3:8 is also in reference to the Word. Jesus said in John 5:24, “…he that heareth my Word and believeth…hath everlasting life.”

Wind and the Spirit

The Greek word for spirit is “pneuma,” literally meaning “breath, or wind.” And, the passage about the “wind” being unseen is using the same word as the word for “spirit.” But the context clearly shows that He spoke of the natural wind, saying “you can hear it, but you don’t know where it came from, nor where it is going.”

We can see the result of the new birth in a person’s life, as the Spirit transforms them, but we are blind to the Spirit Himself, and can only go by what we hear and see. The fact remains, however: no one has ever been saved apart from the Word of God, and no one has ever been saved apart from the Spirit of God.

But HOW?

Nicodemus had a genuine desire to understand. He said, “How can these things be?”

Jesus replied rather sharply; saying that Nicodemus ought to have understood it. He said, “You are a teacher of Israel, and you don’t understand this? We are telling you what we know and what we have seen: If I have told you earthly things and you don’t believe, what will you do when I tell you heavenly things?”

Then Jesus brought up a lesson from Numbers 21:5-9, because He knew that Nicodemus was familiar with that passage: He compared Himself to the bronze serpent on the pole, which Moses had lifted up in the wilderness. (As you may recall, judgment had fallen on Israel in the wilderness, because of sin, and God sent thousands of migrating vipers to cross paths with them and deliver judgment. Many people were bitten, and many were dying. They asked Moses to pray and ask God to take away the judgment of the serpents…but He did not: He told Moses to make a bronze serpent and hang it up on a tall pole where everyone could see it. (Bronze stood for judgment.) They were called to look at that serpent if they were bitten by one of the snakes. If they turned to God’s solution, admitting that the real problem was sin and judgment for sin…if they looked, in faith, to that serpent, they would not die.)

Jesus said that as Moses had lifted up that serpent, so He Himself must be lifted up, “That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

I think Nicodemus could understand that one. He knew of the bronze serpent. He knew the story completely, and had probably already observed that the ones who looked to the bronze serpent did not die, but nothing was said about instantaneous healing from the bite. It just said “…he shall not die.” And he knew God had kept his promise. Those bitten, who looked to God’s solution for sin (which included both Judgment and Grace) did not die.

Jesus went on to explain more thoroughly, with the more commonly recited John 3:16…I don’t want to go there today, but I do want to point out what He said regarding judgment.

The Basis of Judgment:

He said that those who believed in Him were not going to be judged, but that those who did not believe were judged already, because they did not believe. And the basis of the judgment was their response to light: He said that light has come into the world and that people as a whole, prefer the darkness, because their deeds are evil… and the light would reveal them for what they are. Those who will come to the light are those who will “do truth:” they want more light, and the light reveals them for what they are, as well…and the yare approved by God.

There is an interesting sidenote to this:

Every single one of us starts off in darkness! (Ephesians 5:8)
Every single one of us starts off as an enemy of God: God says so! (Romans 5:10)
Every single one of us starts off as a child of wrath, according to Ephesians 2:3.

So, we cannot claim that “some people are good to start with,” nor that “some people are just bad.” The whole Human race is tarred with the same brush called sin. Romans 3:23 says ALL have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. Each person then, has to choose how they will respond. Jesus may have been hinting to Nicodemus that he needed to step out of the darkness. To us, however, it is not a “hint:” it is a command: “Walk as children of light!” “Walk in the light as He is in the light!” No longer associate with the unfruitful works of darkness: you were in darkness, but you responded to the call of Jesus and came to the light. He took your Judgment at the Cross! You trusted in His Grace and in His Blood for your salvation. You were born again at that moment, whether you knew it or not, and now you are a child of light.

Aftermath

We don’t know a great deal more about Nicodemus: we know he spoke up once in defense of Jesus in a venue that may indeed have been a meeting of the Sanhedrin, though, again, it doesn’t say so. We also know that Nicodemus and another rich man, Joseph of Arimathea, were the ones who approached Pilate and asked permission to take away Jesus’s dead body and prepare it for burial. Evidently Nicodemus had become a genuine believer. There was some risk involved with associating with Jesus, even in death. But that seems to be the last reference to his involvement.

So, what is your “legacy” going to be? What is the “after” story in your life? Are you going to choose to consistently walk with Jesus? Or is it mostly just an entertaining way to spend a Sunday morning?

I pray that all of us will grow in the intensity with which we love the Lord and desire to serve Him. I want my life to have eternal value. I trust that you have a similar desire.

Lord Jesus, fill us with a desire to walk with you and to learn the work you have assigned for us to do. Draw us into a pattern of faith and obedience that will transform us into your likeness. Cleanse our lives so that you can live through us, and we can serve as your ambassadors.

October 17, 2021October 17, 2021

The Zeal of Thine House

John 2:13-22; Psalm 69:8, 9; Ezekiel 34:17-22; 1^st Timothy 6:10; Colossians 3:5

Introduction:

Last week we finished studying what happened at the Marriage feast at Cana: We saw the purpose of miracles, and what God says about marriage: why it is so important and Holy to Him.

Finally, we saw that, if we are willing to listen to Jesus and do what He says, then he will turn the Water of our “daily grind” in life to the Wine of His Joy and supply an Eternal perspective on life itself. We saw that this was exactly what happened in the lives of the servants who obeyed by faith, hauling a half-ton of water, or more, not knowing why they had been commanded to do so. Their reward was that they were the only ones (along with Jesus, Mary, and His disciples) who saw the miracle of the literal, plain well-water being changed to a high-quality wine.

But the next passage is an equally famous passage, with an entirely different picture: we see the Holiness of God demonstrated in the Person of Christ.

John 2:13-22

^“13And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: ¹⁵And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; ¹⁶And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. ¹⁷And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. ¹⁸Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? ¹⁹Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. ²⁰Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? ²¹But he spake of the temple of his body. ²²When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.”

The Zeal of Thine House

The Passover feast came up, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Remember how important the original Passover was: it was literally a matter of life or death: making a choice between trusting God’s Word or trusting in Human philosophy, science, wisdom, whatever. God had given ample warning, through all the nine preceding plagues upon Egypt, but the time had come to make a decision! Either trust in the Blood of the Covenant that God was offering, that day, or reject it and suffer the consequences along with Egypt. There comes a time in everyone’s life when we are called upon to choose: Either stand with God and suffer the rejection of the World or stand with the World and miss out on the promise of God.

Jesus attended the Passover gathering right along with everyone else. But there was a difference: They all saw what was happening in the Temple: perhaps some were grieved by it but felt they could do nothing to change it. Perhaps others simply accepted it as being “Just the way things are.” Perhaps others fully approved of it, as a very practical way to “gain revenue for the Temple!” (I get e-mails several times per year, offering ways for our church to “make money.” That is not what we are here about! There is a reason we don’t do “fund-raisers!”)

But Jesus stood alone in this matter: He chose to do something about what He saw.

So, what was He seeing? The area in question was inside the temple court walls, where women and non-Jews could come: It was specifically in the area reserved for non-Jews: the “Court of the Gentiles.” This was the only place where Gentiles could approach the God of Israel and Worship Him. They were not allowed to come closer. And the moneychangers and sellers of sacrificial animals had set up their booths there, rendering it a marketplace; more like a county fair than a place of worship. There was no reverence, no quiet, no sense of the Holiness and Majesty of God. They had defiled the holiness of the only place of worship for the whole rest of the World!

That particular issue had been addressed by God in Ezekiel 34:17-22, where he condemns the behavior of the strong members of his flock for fouling the way for the weaker ones…muddying the waters of God’s Word, so that they could not come and drink; trampling down and contaminating the food, so that others could not come and feed on the Goodness of God. What an incredibly selfish and thoughtless thing to do! But, what could be done about it? The Temple authorities never should have permitted it in the first place: they were the Guardians of the Faith, and, of all people, they should have taken a stand for righteousness. But they were making money and maintaining power, and that was all that mattered to them by that time.

God condemned those leaders, as well, in Ezekiel 34:1-10, calling out their malfeasance and nonfeasance of duty and declaring that because of their behavior, He Himself was going to take over the job of shepherding His flock, and they were going to be out of work. (Less than forty years after the confrontation we read about, here, the Temple in Jerusalem was completely destroyed, and the priesthood was permanently out of work…all those who actually survived.)

Zeal in Action

There may have been others who “felt” the same way Jesus did, and who were grieved at the desecration of the Temple. But Jesus took action: It says that He made a scourge out of small cords and drove them out. Notice that it does not say that He actually struck any of them. Probably the fear of what was a common tool of judgment and punishment in that day, and the ugly, whistling sound of it whipping through the air, was enough to get them moving, just as it is for livestock.

The only ones against whom it says that He took physical action were the moneychangers: He tipped over their tables and dumped their money on the floor! (I’ll bet that ruined their day!) Their greed and love of money was the root of the entire problem! Does that sound familiar? “The Love of money is the root of all sorts of evil…” Do you recall hearing that before? (It comes from 1^st Timothy 6:10)

The New Testament word “covetousness” is most frequently translated from the Greek word “philargurion.” It literally means the “love of silver.” And Colossians 3:5 clearly states that covetousness IS idolatry. So, the Jews in Jerusalem, by their greed and their love of money, had brought idolatry right into the temple of God!

The scripture says He drove the cattle and sheep out of the temple, along with those who sold them, but to those who were selling doves (also for sacrifices, but selling primarily to the poor) he simply told them, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make My Father’s House a house of merchandise!” Incidentally, Jesus cleared the temple again, two years later, but that time He quoted Isaiah 56:6, 7, saying that His Father’s House was designed to be a House of Prayer (and Isaiah includes the fact of the Gentiles worshipping there: it says “… a house of prayer to all people!”) but Jesus said that they had made it a “den of thieves!”

Take these things Hence!

Unfortunately, the World today often accuses the Church of the same thing, saying “All they want is your money!” So, it is doubly important that we truly grasp and take to heart the lesson offered here: In 1^st Corinthians 3:16, 17, God declares the Body of Christ (the Church, at large) collectively, to be the “Temple of God.” We must not introduce idolatry into the Body of Christ, nor allow our reputation and testimony to be ruined by the idea that we “exist to gain wealth.” (Again, there is a reason we don’t do “fund-raisers,” and choose to remain debt-free.)

Also, 1^st Corinthians 6:19 says that each of our physical bodies has been made the “Temple of the Holy Spirit.” So, we can see that even in our so-called “private” lives, we must avoid “bringing idolatry into the temple.” God knows our thoughts and our true motives. There is no such thing as a “privacy” that excludes God’s Omniscience! He sees right through our plans and desires: if they are motivated by the Love of Money, though we plaster “piety” all over the outside, saying “Well, the Lord led me…” He condemns such plans and desires at the source.

The Cost of Discipleship and Zeal:

Yes, Jesus took a stand! And the disciples remembered Psalm 69, where it says, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” I don’t know whether they remembered what came before and after that passage, where it said “⁸I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children. ⁹For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

There is a cost involved with taking a stand for God: Even your own family may count you a stranger. And those who hate Jesus will hate you too! If you take a stand for the righteousness of God, don’t expect that others will love you for it unless they have also seen the desecration of God’s Word, or the division being caused by false teaching, and appreciate your correcting the matter. We also have to humbly recognize our own weakness and our own capacity for wrong. We do not have the omniscience of God. We need to be gentle with those around us, not condemning them, though we may reject the things in which they have involved themselves.

Jesus took physical action by clearing the Temple, but the only ones against which He exercised physical judgment were the moneychangers: they were the thieves, offering a badly skewed “exchange rate” for so-called “temple money,” against whatever people had brought with which to buy the sacrificial animals to offer the Holy God of Israel. So, He dumped out their money.

Galatians 6:1 says to approach one another gently, in humility, with an eye to restoration: Is there a time to simply stand up and walk out? Yes, there is: if deliberate heresy is being taught, with a clear motive to deny the Cross, or some other cardinal doctrine, then I think we do not have the option to “hedge,” or say, “Well, now, let’s discuss this.” Be aware, though: when you stand and say something like, “You are denying the Blood of Jesus!” You will instantly set some people against you, though others may agree. You will very likely cause division. Be wise.

In general, when someone has taught things that I thought were grossly unbiblical, I have first approached them privately, to see if possibly they just made a mistake, or were simply confused about what the Bible actually teaches. If their motives are pure, but their understanding is just confused, I don’t want to discourage them, but rather to strengthen their service to God. But if it turns out that they are absolutely committed to false doctrine, I have no option but to either warn the flock, through the elders, or simply leave, if I am not in a position to sound a warning.

The late Howard Ingram once demonstrated this principle: He was sitting in church when the (relatively new) pastor stated that there were ways to salvation other than by the Blood of Jesus. Howard heard it clearly, but he raised his hand and offered the option to back up and correct the error: “Wait a minute! Are you saying that there are other ways to salvation than through the Blood of Jesus Christ?” The young pastor hesitated, but then firmly stated, “Well… Yes!”

Howard replied, “Well, that’s heresy! We are leaving!” and he and his entire family stood up and left the church. The warning had been made, the stand had been taken, and eventually the church woke up as well, and asked the fellow to leave. Sadly, though, the reason he was finally dismissed was not the doctrinal issue: it was a money issue that ended his position there. The doctrinal issue absolutely should have been the primary focus, but it wasn’t.

The Private Cost of Discipleship and Zeal:

How might the cost of discipleship manifest itself when there is no “doctrinal conflict” or church fight? Perhaps a family decides to move to a location where the schools are not actively attacking their faith, so that their children have less confusion as they are growing up…but it means they are separating themselves from all their friends and family in order to do so. Or, taking a job that pays far less, because it does not force you to compromise your faith and your values, where the higher-paying job actually required decisions that were contrary to God’s Word, if you hoped to continue employment.

Does persecution for faith exist in this country? Sure, it does! Just (at least for the time being) not to the same degree as it does elsewhere. But I have known people in this country, who, as soon as their employers discovered that they were Christians, were terminated without other cause. (It happened in an area heavily dominated by a particular cult.)

Mockery is very common, in the workplace of the World, and quiet exclusion is even more common, in every walk of life. Coming to work on a Monday morning and hearing every other person in your work-group chatting about the “great time they had together” at some social event, a party, a boating trip, or other outing… and realizing that you alone had been excluded: That hurts, even when you may not really have wanted to go and do whatever they had done, anyway. It never feels good to be excluded! It is a lonely feeling.

The Only Authorization Offered:

The Jews challenged Jesus, asking for a sign; demanding that He show by what authority He took this stand, and drove out the merchants. But He offered only the sign of His own death and resurrection. He took His stand, knowing that the ultimate result would be His crucifixion.

Jesus’s death and resurrection is the reason we live at all: He is the only reason we can offer as to why we have a standing before God, and why we have a sure confidence of Eternal life. The thief on the cross had no explanation as to why he belonged in Paradise, other than the fact that Jesus had promised that he would be there with Him! That is where our confidence rests as well.

But “joining Jesus” means joining Him in His loneliness: joining Him in His social rejection. (Not that we reject them: They may once have been our dear friends! But we eventually discover that, as they reject the Lord Jesus, they also ultimately reject all who believe in Him and all who seek to follow Him.) That is why Hebrews 13:12, 13 admonishes us to Join Jesus, “outside the camp: bearing His reproach.” If the World altogether approves of you, then very possibly you are not doing what Jesus wants. Jesus warned that, if they hate Him, they will hate us, too. Deal with it! Accept it!

Conclusion:

We are to seek peace with others, as Peacemakers, but we are to do so as Ambassadors of Christ: not as a “career politicians,” whose main goal is to “stay in office.” Our main goal is to walk with Jesus, and to behave in such a way as to honor Him and to draw others to Him: Some people will “smell Jesus” in our actions and be drawn to His fragrance. Others, rejecting God’s Grace, will “smell Jesus” also, but only as the dreaded “stench” of coming judgment. It is the same aroma, in both cases, but an entirely different response.

All we can do is to walk with Him, day-by-day, in faith and obedience, learning and growing in our walk, so as to become more consistent in our behavior and more coherent in what we communicate to others. That is what we are called to do. Let us press on to do just that.

Lord Jesus, draw us along as your disciples, learning from your Word and your example. Convict our hearts to become consumed with a zeal for your person: not for show, but within our own hearts, so that it rules our actions. Make us the men and women of God that You have called us to be.

October 10, 2021October 10, 2021

Whatsoever He saith unto you, Do it!

John 2:1-11

Introduction:

We have looked at the Wedding Feast at Cana a couple of times now… we have examined God’s Purpose in Miracles, and we have examined what God has to say to us about marriage…but we still haven’t touched on two other important things. Verse 5 has a treasure for us, and verse 9 has a related treasure.

John 2:1-11

¹And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: ²And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. ³And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. ⁴Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

⁵His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

⁶And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. ⁷Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

⁹When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew😉 the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

¹⁰And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

¹¹This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

We briefly pointed out, two weeks ago, that this is the only command Mary ever gave in Scripture. She is granted no special authority, though she enjoys a most blessed status as the Mother of the Lord: Even before Jesus was born, Mary’s older cousin, Elizabeth, recognized her as the Mother of her Lord. And the baby in her womb, six months along, leaped for joy at the sound of Mary’s voice. (Now, how do we know that he wasn’t just kicking? Or that he wasn’t startled by the noise, or something else that is commonplace and mundane? The way we know that it is true, is that when Elizabeth made this statement, she was filled with the Holy Spirit—under the Holy Spirit’s direct control: she was not speaking of her own accord! Luke 1:41-45 tells us the story:

⁴¹And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: ⁴²And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

⁴³And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

All these things really are special, and joyful, but Mary also experienced great tragedy in her life. She was prophetically warned of that coming grief, when Jesus was only a few days old, by an old man named Simeon, in Luke 2:34, 35.

My point is that, in spite of all the blessedness and uniqueness of her position, she was never given any special “pull” with God, and no authority. She herself admitted her own need for a Savior, in Luke 1:47…She was a sinner saved by Grace, same as each of us. She did have the privilege of bearing Him, nursing Him, and watching Him grow to adulthood, to emerge as the Lamb of God! But no one prayed to her…no one crowned her “Queen of Heaven,” or any other such thing, and she would have been horrified to know that such things would one day be said of her. So, when she “nudged” Jesus, telling Him the party had run out of wine, she was banking on her special relationship with Him, but He let her know that the choice was His, not hers. So, she turned to the servants of the household and issued her only Command: “Whatsoever He says to you, do it!”

Whatsoever He says to You

Could that have any application in our lives? “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it?” Have you heard His voice? Can you read His Word, and not “hear His voice?” He is speaking, still today, if we are willing to listen. The Bible is literally the written Word of God. Jesus is literally the Living Word of God, and He is given that label more than once in the New Testament.

The Person with whom Abraham chatted while he fed Him beef, bread, butter and milk was Jesus, in one of His preincarnate appearances! Hebrews 11:3 confirms that the Word of God created the World. And Hebrews 1:10 records God the Father, speaking to God the Son, and confirming that God the Son created the Heavens and the Earth! How does that make you feel about the Bible, which is the black-and-white written representation of the Living Word of God? If Jesus is speaking to you (and He is) through the Word of God, doesn’t it follow that you should be deliberately taking time to read it, and to learn to understand it, so that you, like those servants, can do whatever He says?

Mary’s only command happens to also be the most frequent command in the Bible: “Obey God!” So, what might happen if we learned to walk with Him in obedience? Would everything just be happy and easy, like some people teach? Not necessarily!

Those servants obeyed: they hauled the water…a lot of it! And water is heavy! Scholars tell us that those stone pots each held between 20 and 30 gallons…and there were six of them: that means they hauled between 120 and 180 gallons of water, not knowing why they were doing it. Water weighs 8.33 pounds per gallon, so those poor servants, already tired from their work, were called to haul between 1,000 and 1,500 pounds of water, not even counting the weight of the jars or water skins or buckets, they used to haul it.

And then, they dipped the water into the wine containers that they were to carry out to the ruler of the feast: they obeyed! But the next morning they were still lowly servants. Except that, something had changed: Those servants, and Mary, and the disciples, were the only ones beside Jesus who knew what had happened. There was a special blessing for them: a secret joy they shared. They had hauled the water, all right, but He had changed their water into wine!

Turning our Water into Wine

There are going to be some people who have a problem with this passage: I have personally known people who vehemently insisted that “It was grape juice! Jesus would never have created wine!” Their reasoning included the supposition that He was a Nazarite (as was John the Baptist), and couldn’t drink wine…but He said, “John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said he was demon-possessed: the Son of Man comes eating and drinking, and He is accused of being a winebibber and a glutton!”

Besides, in Psalm 104:14, 15 the scripture tells us that God provides food for us, and wine that makes glad the heart of Man” So, that is what Jesus was doing! The word here in John 2 is “oinos:” exactly the same word as in Ephesians 5:18 where we are warned not to be drunk with wine. (It was wine! Deal with it.) Now, I can’t easily relate to any of that because I can’t stand the taste of alcoholic beverages, for which I am grateful, as it means it is never a temptation to me. And there are many in our society and elsewhere who overindulge in alcohol and it is a huge social problem. And it has been since the beginning of time. Noah started a great tradition almost 3,500 years ago: He went for a long cruise on a ship and when he got off the boat, he got drunk…on wine! Sailors have been doing that ever since! (By the way, the Hebrew word for what Noah drank is “Yayin:” the exact same word used in the Psalm we just quoted.) So, the wine isn’t the problem: our propensity for misusing it is the problem.

Water to Wine?

So, how can this part apply in our lives? If we are a bunch of teetotalers (as I am) is there any application for us? Or is this verse just for people who like wine?

Let’s consider: Is Wine necessary for our survival? Of course not: it was given by God as something special to “make glad the hearts of men.” It is one of the thousands of things that God did not need to do for us, but He did it as a gift. (Yes, I understand the danger therein! Many of His gifts can be wrongly used…but we aren’t going there today.) But Water is absolutely necessary for our survival. So, why didn’t He just leave it at water? Why provide alcohol at all? He already explained that! It was to “make glad the heart of Man!” And that fits with the party Jesus attended.

Let’s back up to another story: In the Book of Ruth, Ruth and others were gleaning in the field of Boaz. They had a legal right to do so. The Law required that if the reapers dropped stalks of grain, they were not allowed to pick it up: it was left for the gleaners. And they could not reap the corners of their fields…that also was for the gleaners. But Boaz commanded his servants that when Ruth was near them, they were to drop extra handfuls of stalks of grain on purpose, so that she would have a good harvest! That was pure Grace! Was it necessary? No! The story of Boaz and Ruth is a picture of Christ and the Church! And Jesus does not just give us the minimum: He pours out His Love and Grace to those who love Him and who walk with Him.

That is what Romans 8:28 is about! ²⁸And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

If we walk with God, and are looking for His “fingerprints” in our lives, we will learn to find them: He has big hands and He leaves His “fingerprints” everywhere for us to find, in answered prayer, in special Grace by which to overcome the trials of Life, and in the secret Joy of simply walking with Him in Fellowship. He turns our “water” into “wine!”

We thank Him for our daily bread, and humbly trust Him for our sustenance: but He invites us, in Isaiah 55:1, 2, saying “¹Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price. ²Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.”

He says this is not going to be a barren relationship: He will provide joy to the believing heart and grace by which to live…even in hardship, in famine, in disease and even in death.

All we have to do is take personally the command, “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it!”

Walk with Him…that is pretty much the bottom line. Micah 6:8 says, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

John 13:34, 35, Jesus gave us a new commandment by which to walk: “Love one another, as I have loved you!”

If you want God to turn the “water” of your survival needs into the Wine of His Joy, you need to learn to walk with Him, in faith and obedience. That is what those household servants did, hauling a half-ton or more of water, by faith. They filled those pots to the brim, it said. And their reward was the secret joy of having seen the first Miracle Jesus did in His earthly ministry.

The Joy we receive can often be shared…but still, only believers will receive that joy. You can share it with unbelievers and it will be a very strange thing to them. They may be attracted to that joy in your life and become believers, or they may accuse you of hypocrisy, as the pharisees did toward Jesus and the disciples. Either way, the Joy can be yours, if you are willing to patiently walk with Him.

Lord Jesus, lead us into a transparent walk with Yourself, and teach us to look for the Joy You supply in life. Open our hearts to the teaching of Your Word and the leading of Your Holy Spirit. Draw us along to see the transformation You have promised.

October 3, 2021October 3, 2021

What do we Know about Marriage?

Genesis 2:22-24; John 2:1-11; John 4:17, 18; Ephesians 5:21-23; 1^st Peter 3:1-9; etc.

Introduction:

In light of the fact that we “just happened” to be studying John 2:1-11 (the Marriage feast at Cana) at the same time as Brennan and Addie were getting married, it seems appropriate to talk about Marriage as a concept. But not much is really said about the subject, here, in John 2:1-11.

There are certain passages which are “traditionally” quoted in regard to marriage as a concept, pointing out the fact that it is not only designed by God and ordained by God, and blessed by God, but that it is Holy to God. It is important to Him! I’d like to explore why that is the case: Why is marriage so important to God?

Origin of Marriage

One of the passages frequently cited is the actual origin of marriage, as part of the Creation. It was not a simple “mating” of two members of the “animal kingdom,” as humanists would have us to believe: there was something special that God ordained, here in Genesis 2:22-24. KJV

²²And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. ²³And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. ²⁴Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

That passage is cited in virtually every Christian wedding, as evidence that marriage is God-ordained, and blessed by God, etc. But we seldom discuss why it is something special to God.

Examples of Marriages…Good and Bad

We also tend to cite John 2:1-11 as evidence that Jesus honored marriage, and we correctly point out that He performed His first public miracle at a wedding feast.

What about the example cited in John 4:17, 18…”the Woman at the Well?”

¹⁷The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: ¹⁸For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

You see, just “living together” does not constitute marriage. Jesus did not say, “you have had five husbands and you are working on a sixth:” He said, “the one you have now is not your husband.” So, we see that there is a standard for marriage, and apparently it varies wildly across the thousands of different cultures in the World. Some cultures require lots of ceremony: others require a simple statement of intent. Some have laws protecting women, whereby, if you spend the night with them, you are married, like it or not. Some are even more strict…if you lure her away with you, and she goes, you are married, even though you never even got out of sight of the girl’s family!

I remember reading of a missionary’s account of such a situation: A young man was interested in a young lady, and evidently believed she was also interested in him. The young fellow crept through the underbrush of the jungle, to the edge of her family’s garden and beckoned the young girl to follow him: and she did, but before they had escaped into the jungle the girl’s mother spotted them and furiously ran to catch up with them. She raged at them, and beat both of them savagely with her digging tool, but she finally went back to her field alone: they were married! So the standard exists everywhere, but it varies a great deal, in appearance.

A Hidden Purpose for Marriage

The Genesis passage is also quoted by God, in Ephesians 5:21-33, almost as a footnote, as the Apostle Paul gives revelation as to how husbands and wives are to relate to one another:

²¹Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. ²²Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. ²³For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. ²⁴Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. ²⁵Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; ²⁶That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. ²⁸So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. ²⁹For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: ³⁰For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. ³¹For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. ³²This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. ³³Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

We usually use this passage along with other similar passages, to teach about the marriage relationship. That is a good thing to do, and that is the intentof those verses. But look more closely at what was said, here: Remember that this is God’s Word, not just Paul’s opinion: and He says that the verse He quoted from Genesis demonstrates that marriage is supposed to be a picture of Christ and the Church! We know that; it has been taught many times over. But look at when that pattern was given: it was given before sin entered into the world!

God knew ahead of time that humans would fall into sin, and that Jesus the Messiah would die for the sins of the whole human race, and that those who trusted in Him would enter into a relationship that is unmatched anywhere in the Universe: That the Holy God who created them would actually indwell those who trusted in Him; that they would become one with Him, as a body is One with the Head. And we can see that He was already committed to that relationship before sin became an issue. He is the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the World.” (Revelation 13:8) And, we knew that! But He was also already committed to being the Bridegroom, long before the Bride existed!

In 1^st Peter 3:1-9, we see an amplification of the commands given in Ephesians 5, along with a warning to the husbands that if we ignore this command, it will affect our relationship with God.

¹ Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; ²While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. ³Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; ⁴But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. ⁵For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: ⁶Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

⁷Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. ⁸Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: ⁹Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

A Two-way Relationship

So, when we choose to respond to one another rightly in marriage, as God teaches, we are demonstrating that Holy relationship between Christ and the Church. Consider the implications of that statement. It goes two ways: it means that the love and respect spoken of here are supposed to be in our relationship with our spouse; but it also gives some insight as to what is available in our relationship with Jesus! It means that, as we learn to walk with Him, there is a partnership being built with Him: one which can actually be enjoyed on a daily basis, and one which we can be excited about, as we work with the Bridegroom, doing His work.

Wives working with their husbands to build a physical house are excited to see it growing into a habitation for the two of them and their family. And usually, they are excited about decorating it, furnishing it, and making it a home, not just a well-built structure. That is why we sometimes refer to such a person as a homemaker…Most men do not naturally think in terms of “making a house a home.” They want it solid, functional, code-compliant, attractive, etc., but they frequently have little imagination beyond that. I do not think I am unusual when I say that, without Ann’s touch, our house would not be nearly so much a “home” as perhaps a “cabin,” or a “hunting lodge,” or something. Possibly even just a “workshop with living quarters attached.” But Ann works constantly to make it a pleasant habitation for us: because of her, and her work, it is a home.

Proverbs 14:1 says that “every wise woman builds her house.” She works to strengthen her household, her home, her family. It goes on to say that a foolish woman “plucks it down with her hands.” She behaves in such a way as to tear down the relationships that make for a secure home environment for all of her family.

Proverbs 31:10-31 describe a woman who is wisely, diligently building up her household. But, if we consider the fact that the Church is compared to the Bride, and that the Marriage relationship is specifically called out as a picture of Christ and the Church, then we can gain some insight as to how the Church is supposed to be carrying on the business of God, here on earth, and pursuing the agenda He has laid out for us.

God says that He is building His Church, and that He involves us in the building process. He says “That which every joint supplieth” is what is strengthening and building up that “Habitation of God” that He has designed us—The Church—to be, for Him.

So, Why is Marriage Holy to God?

Marriage is Holy to God, because it is a living demonstration of the relationship He wants with every believer. So, we need to think about what we are demonstrating: He says we are to Love one another, and that we are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. We see one another as fellow-heirs of the Grace of Life in Him. We love one another with the Agapé Love, in Him. God describes that Love in 1^st Corinthians 13:4-8.

⁴Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, ⁵Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; ⁶Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; ⁷Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. ⁸Charity never faileth:

Please notice that not one word in this passage has anything to do with “feelings:” this is not about romance; it is not about emotions, or how we feel, at all. Every single descriptor in that passage is an action word: a verb. They are things we can choose to do. That also means they are things we can fail to do. Every moment, we either choose to do them or we fail to do them. And it is a choice, whether a conscious choice, or not.

Ephesians 4:1-3 tells us how to relate to one another, knowing that we are not perfect. It says we are to “Forbear one another in Love.” It says we are to “endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” God created that unity: all we can hope to do is to keep that unity. We are to accept one another as the imperfect humans that we are, looking through the veil of human frailty to see the beauty of the Person of Christ within. God has chosen to set aside our sin, nailing it to the Cross with Jesus. He no longer sees us as sinners, but as His precious saints: holy, and members of His Bride. We need to see one another in that light as well.

**Marriage is Permanent, just like our Salvation**

Jesus assures us over and over in the Bible that our position in Him is secure forever: His Blood at the Cross has forever made us holy to God. In light of that, your marriage is to be secure for life. Never leave one another, nor even “threaten to leave:” that is a gross denial of Christ.

We may be angry with one another sometimes (hopefully it is quickly resolved, and peace is restored,) but we are never to even imply that we might sever the relationship as a result. That is what our vows are about in marriage. That is why we say, “as long as we both shall live.” Jesus will never abandon his saints. We are never to abandon our loving commitment to one another.

Jesus Himself addressed the permanence of marriage in Matthew 19:4-6.

⁴And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, ⁵And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? ⁶Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Jesus made that pretty clear, didn’t He? But, are there exceptions?

Exceptions

There are passages that seem to make exceptions: Jesus said “Except for the cause of fornication…” Well, there are two different words in Greek, just as there are in English, for premarital sexual sin, and extramarital sexual sin. One is called “fornication” in scripture, the other is called “adultery.”

You see, in their culture, “betrothal,” or “engagement” was such a serious agreement that it required a divorce to break an engagement. (We take engagement pretty lightly by comparison.) Sexual sin during the betrothal period was called fornication, just as it would have been without that engagement. This was the only exception Jesus gave.

This, by the way, is the reason Joseph was about to seek a quiet, secret divorce from Mary, when he found out she was pregnant: He thought she had committed “fornication.” And, he would have been behaving correctly, as Jesus said; but God sent the angel Gabriel to clear up the matter: Mary had not sinned.

Joseph believed God and, by faith, he went ahead with the wedding. (Faith is an obedient response to a revealed truth.) Joseph lived the rest of his life with others believing he had sinned. Mary lived the rest of her life with others thinking she had sinned. Only the two of them knew the real truth.

Conclusion:

How you view marriage as a concept will affect how your marriage actually functions. If you (both Husband and wife) see it as God sees it, you will find it a total blessing, as you work together in partnership with the Living Christ. If you do not see it that way, nor choose to live that way (and, yes, it takes two,) then, to whatever degree you vary from His plan and purpose, the marriage will suffer accordingly. The World has long abandoned God’s values, and rejected them wholesale: so, marriages and husband-wife relationships suffer, everywhere in the world.

We are to demonstrate the reality of Christ to the World through our marriages, as well as through our spoken testimony and our overall behavior. This is a key example of what it means when Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have Love one to another.” The love that others can observe in action between you and your spouse is one of the two criteria Jesus gave to the World, by which to judge the church. Love is one, and Unity is the other. How you respond to your husband or wife will proclaim to the world the nature of your relationship with Jesus. Give that some thought!

Lord Jesus, all of us desire to have fruitful lives and peaceful, joyful, loving marriages. Grant us the wisdom to apply Your Word to our lives in such a way as to build that reality in our lives. Make us the men and women You have called us to be, and enable us as Your ambassadors.

September 25, 2021September 25, 2021

What is the Purpose of Miracles? (“Manager’s Override”)

What is the Purpose of Miracles? (“Manager’s Override”)

John 2:1-11

Introduction

We have been working our way through the Gospel of John. There were about a dozen messages from chapter one, and we have finally arrived in chapter two. My first thought, when reading this passage, was to teach about marriage, because it is the account of the wedding feast at Galilee; but it occurred to me that most people reading this passage are probably attracted to the miracle involved. So, we need to address the purpose of miracles. Why does God sometimes override the laws of nature (though He is the author) and do something “outside the rules?” Managers in retail stores often are called to “override the system” when a regular clerk can’t accomplish something or has made an error. Why would God step in and “override the system?”

On the other hand, since He is the Author, with authority to “override the system” as it were, why would He not do it all the time, to make us happy and healthy and blessed? Why does God allow bad things to happen at all? And particularly, why allow bad things to happen to his children, the believers?

So, trusting the wisdom and goodness of God, I have to assume that He has a plan, and that His plan usually involves allowing the normal rules of nature and science to apply without His interference, and usually, to allow us to suffer the consequences of sin in the world. But if that is the case (and it is!) then what would be His purpose in ever going “outside the rules?”

What was the purpose of the Miracle at Cana?

Consider a time when Jesus did not use His authority to benefit a needy person: During His own testing, (Matthew 4:1-11) Satan challenged Jesus with this exact question. He said, “You are the Son of God; prove it! You are hungry; turn these rocks into bread!” But Jesus refused…why?

He answered, quoting God’s Word (Deuteronomy 8:3), “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” He deliberately set aside His own prerogatives as God the Son and subjected Himself to the authority of God the Father. Until God provided food, He chose to continue his fast, or to get food by ordinary means, like other humans. And, when we read the rest of that account, we see that, in this case, when the test was over, God did meet His needs through angelic intervention.

But there is a miracle here at the Wedding feast at Cana, for far less cause: The people had consumed all the available wine, and the party wasn’t over. I have asked Hebrew Christians about this passage, and they assured me that the celebrants at these weddings get fairly far into the cups before the party is over. So, running out of wine was a bad thing. (By the way: yes, it was alcoholic wine, not fruit juice. The word used here is identical with the word in Ephesians 5:18, where believers are warned against drunkenness.)

Is that the real reason for the miracle? Was it just to alleviate poor planning on the part of the people hosting the feast? Or was it just in response to Jesus’s mother being there, and having alerted Him to the fact that they had run out of wine? (Incidentally, when people are elevating Mary to a position of “semi-deity” or beyond, be aware: this is the only command Mary ever gave in scripture…she told some servants, “Whatever He says, do it!”) From Jesus’s reply to Mary’s “nudge,” my guess is that He didn’t do it just for her sake. So, what was the point?

It also looks as though none of the guests ever found out what happened. Mary and the servants and Jesus and His disciples may have been the only ones who knew the secret of the sudden influx of high-quality wine. But, the result was that Jesus was glorified and His disciples believed on Him! The miracle drew attention to the person of Christ and His message. If a miracle does not do these two things, there is something wrong.

What about other miracles?

We see healings, some of which seem to have been done specifically to show the enmity between Jesus and the hypocritical Jewish religious leaders. He healed on the sabbath, at Bethesda, which infuriated those Jewish leaders. He consorted with lower-class people, whom they snubbed. He claimed God as His Father, which they considered outright blasphemy. But He also kept performing miracles in the public view. He fed the five thousand men with their families, by miraculously multiplying the bread and fish. And in every case, He taught: he had a message. And, in every case, the miracles gave credence to the message.

At Sychar, the woman at the well was impressed because He told her about her own checkered past: and did not judge her. She and the others believed His message. In John chapter nine, He healed a man blind from birth, and caused a great division amongst the Jews. They began to realize they had a decision to make: The Pharisees said he was a sinner, because he healed the man on the sabbath… but the people were starting to wake up a little, and they protested, “How could a sinner do such miracles?” (That’s a good question!) The miracles drew people’s attention to the message Jesus was preaching: the Gospel of the coming kingdom, and they glorified Him for who he was…the King!

His unquestionable authority demonstrated who He was. He raised the dead, He healed the lame, He cast out demons by sheer authority, not by any device, nor charms, nor liturgy of magic words. He used real authority…not even the assumed authority of the threat of violence, like the Romans used. He did not have to “threaten” the wind and the waves, in order to bring them to heel. He simply spoke. He did use threats to get the demons to leave: He simply ordered them to go. They knew who He was! They called Him by name! And they obeyed!

He spoke and healed a man sick of the palsy…whatever that ailment was…there have been many illnesses called “palsy.” When I was growing up, they called Parkinson’s Disease “palsy,” perhaps just as a colloquialism…but the fact is, the man they brought to Jesus couldn’t walk, and was permanently bedridden. And, when Jesus commanded him, he got up, picked up his bed and walked home. All this showed Jesus’s authority before His enemies, the Pharisees and Priests.

What was the Purpose?

The message Jesus brought was entirely different than that of priests. Jesus taught the Grace of God under the Law. They only taught judgment, and a phony show of “technical righteousness,” which conveniently made themselves look good, but enslaved the people.

Jesus drove them out of the temple where they had set up money-changing tables and stalls from which to sell sacrificial animals in the court of the Gentiles. This was the specific place that was designated as the place where non-Jews could approach God…and they had defiled it.

The poor people rejoiced to see genuine righteousness. The rich and powerful were offended that He showed them no special respect, but rather rebuked them openly. Jesus invited people to get to know their God. The Priests put up barriers against any such relationship.

When Jesus healed a man, the poor and the sick rejoiced because He offered Hope. The powerful religious leaders only saw the threat to their power. By healing the sick, bringing sight to the blind, etc., Jesus was fulfilling the prophecies showing Him as the Messiah. He used miracles to announce the coming kingdom, as John the Baptist had done, and to introduce Himself as the King. The poor were far more open to receive Him than were the rich and powerful. The miracles brought Glory to God; they brought Glory to God the Son, and they confirmed the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom which Jesus and John the Baptist were preaching.

But then The Message changed!

There came a point at which the Jews as a nation (not the people at large, or the poor, or the common folk, but the leaders) completely rejected Jesus, so He quit offering them the Kingdom. In Matthew 12:22-42, the leaders accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Satan. Jesus sharply warned them that this was perilously close to blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and He went on to point out the consequences of that sin.

But then in verse 38, in a bizarre twist, they asked Him for another sign; another miracle! And His response (v.39, 40) was that they were an unbelieving generation and that the only sign they would now receive was the sign given by the prophet Jonah: He said, “as Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man (Jesus) will spend three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” He offered His own death and resurrection as the sign! And, of course, we know that when it actually happened, they also rejected that sign. But he was no longer preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom: He was warning of the Tribulation to come.

And, in John chapters 11 and 12, when He publicly raised Lazarus from the dead (after four days in the tomb) the religious leaders (who were right there to see it) responded by plotting to kill both Jesus and Lazarus. They had utterly rejected Him as their King and Messiah.

In every case, the miracles were to bring Glory to God, to prove the authority of Jesus as God in the Flesh, and to prove the truth of His message. They also brought comfort, hope and healing, as a rule (not always…remember the fig tree He cursed.) But Jesus only healed one man at Bethesda. He only fed one crowd with the bread and fish. He could have started the manna falling every morning, again, if it had suited His purpose: but it didn’t!

Even the miracle of feeding the five thousand was specifically to provide the opportunity to preach Himself as “the Bread of Life.” He was the one who gave them the original manna, but He pointed out that the manna was only a picture of the Bread of Life who was The true Messiah: He said that whoever partook of Him (by faith) would have eternal life. Many of the people who had been following Him (possibly for the wrong reasons) were offended by this message, and they eventually walked away and quit following Him. They wanted the fish and the bread…not Jesus.

The Miracles Continued

In the Book of Acts, there were still miracles while the “new” Message, the Gospel of Christ, began to take hold. In Acts chapter 2, we see all the disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking the glory of God in the languages of the assembled crowd. The miracle drew the crowd, and drew attention to Peter’s message, giving credibility to his words.

Then, Peter actually offered the Kingdom one last time, in Acts 4…but the leaders rejected it again. The miracles continued with essentially the same purpose as before: they brought Glory to God and confirmed the message of the Apostles. As we are reading, the thing we want to notice, is that in every case there were Jews present, and specifically either unbelieving Jews, or, as they began to go to the Gentiles, there were Jewish believers present, who needed to see that the message was valid among the Gentiles as well.

In Acts chapter 10, we see that Peter really did not want to go to the house of Cornelius with the Gentile messengers who were sent to him.. But God made it abundantly clear that he was to go, and he took a group of Jewish believers along with him. The whole household of Cornelius believed the message and God immediately filled them with the Holy Spirit, giving miraculous confirmation by their speaking in languages they had not learned… that is what “speaking in tongues” is, in the Bible…not gibberish, but real, human languages. That was what happened at the day of Pentecost, when the disciples spoke the languages of all the various Jewish peoples that were gathered from many nations, who were there for the feast of tabernacles. They spoke those languages, never having learned them. It drew the attention of the Jewish crowd and gave credence to the message that Peter brought.

So, some of these Jewish believers were now hearing the same thing happen again, with a “bunch of heathens!” (That’s what “Gentile” means.) And their conclusion was that “This is the real thing! These people have been accepted by God!” And Peter proceeded to baptize them all.

Later, (Acts 11:1-18) when Peter was accused by other Jews of having “entered the home of Gentiles” and having eaten with them, this specific miracle was his defense: the Jewish witnesses who had been with him confirmed it. So, everyone had to admit that God was doing a new thing, and bringing in the Gentiles. God used that miracle to confirm the message, prove the Authority of the Name of Jesus, and to shut the mouths of those who argued against it.

But, What about later?

In 1^st Corinthians 1:17-25, the Apostle Paul makes several important points about the primacy of the Gospel of Christ—the message of the Cross. But in the midst of it, (22-25) he says something that is very easy to miss: He says that the Jews demand a sign, and the Greeks (Gentiles) seek after Wisdom, but that God’s wisdom is greater, and His power is greater, and that both of them are demonstrated in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Did you get that? We Gentiles want everything to “make sense.” We tend to think that everything should be approachable through human wisdom…and if the message doesn’t fit our Human wisdom, then it is rejected as “foolish.” Meanwhile, the Jews want miracles and signs. They demonstrated that over and over with Jesus, and still in the book of Acts, they were the ones looking for signs and wonders. If they can’t see miracles, they reject the message…but once they have rejected it, even the miracles have no effect. They still reject the Messiah.

We all tend to think either that we are too smart for God, or too good for God. We reject things we can’t understand, and declare them to be foolishness, or we reject the Blood of Jesus at the Cross, demanding that we have the privilege of earning our salvation. What a pack of idiots we are, as a race! We reject the author of Wisdom because we can’t understand Him, and when the Author of Life proved His authority by raising the Dead, we wanted to kill him…and then asked for more miracles! Amazing!

What about Today?

We are still doing it today! We yearn for the exotic, the miraculous, and the exciting! We are not satisfied to feed on the Bread of Life, the Living Word of God. We are “tired of manna!”

I have come to believe that, while the power of God remains unchanged, there are very few circumstances in which I would expect Him to step in and “override the system.” Those would possibly include situations where the Gospel is first being preached by missionaries in remote places, and/or in the lives of new believers, who need to be encouraged by the evident hand of God in their lives. Yet He really does it fairly regularly if our eyes are open to see it in our lives.

I find less than plausible those who go from town to town claiming to “heal lots of people” or to “perform lots of miracles.” They are not doing the kinds of miracle Jesus did (in public, with lots of unbelievers around…specifically unbelieving Jews.) They never heal someone born blind, or having a major, visible, verifiable illness or injury. It is virtually always in the presence of only believers, and only on issues that were questionable to start with. And they usually seek pay!

Are there exceptions? Possibly… many of us have heard of or even have seen miraculous interventions of some sort, whether great or small. But, in God’s Word, the thing we are actually called to do is to walk by faith! That does not mean we get “miracles and warm fuzzies” all the time! It means that we are called to “endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” Paul did not have the privilege of healing his co-laborers: Epaphroditus nearly died. And he couldn’t even claim healing for himself: God actually told him to stop asking. He said, “My Grace is sufficient for you!” God’s Grace, and the sign of the Resurrection should be sufficient for us, too!

Yes, we serve the God of Miracles! But He is the one to choose when to “override” nature and do something supernatural. As a general rule, we are told to accept what He provides and press on with our job. Let’s get on with the job, but still keep our eyes open to see His hand at work! He is still working, and we are invited to work with Him!

Lord Jesus, we desire to see Your Power in our lives, but we recognize that the Power You are exerting is the Power that raised You from the dead. We ask that we can walk in the newness of Life with You and raise others to life by the Power of Your Gospel and Your Name.

September 11, 2021September 11, 2021

Nathanael: An Israelite indeed

John 1:45-51

Introduction:

We have been studying through the Gospel of John and have seen Jesus through a number of different viewpoints: we have seen Him as the Living Word: we have seen Him as God, the Creator; we have seen Him as the Light of the world, and the only source of life. We have seen Him as the Word made flesh…the incarnate God. We saw Him as the only source of Grace and Truth. We have seen Him as the Lamb of God: God’s chosen sacrifice for sin. We have seen Him as God the Son, specifically the “Only Begotten Son.”

These are just the introductory views that the Gospel presents. As He begins interacting with the disciples and others, we begin to see more things that deepen our understanding of Who Jesus really is. In John 1:45-50, we have His initial meeting with Nathanael. Starting in verse 43, we see:

⁴³The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. ⁴⁴Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. ⁴⁶And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. ⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! ⁴⁸Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. ⁴⁹Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. ⁵⁰Jesus 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. ⁵¹And 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.

Geographic Context

There are some “peculiar” things said in this passage, by both Jesus and Nathanael, as well as a number of other unanswered questions. Perhaps we have some answers, perhaps not. Let’s take it idea by idea: First, remember where they were: they were at a place called Bethabara, beyond Jordan, (John 1:28) This is at least six weeks after Jesus had been baptized by John the Baptist, and about sixty miles north, as John’s continuing ministry moved him from one end of the country to the other. Jesus was baptized near Jericho, at the closest point to Jerusalem (still 20 or thirty miles away…east of Jerusalem, near Jericho.)

They were not far from Galilee, now: They were right across the Jordan, in a province called Peraea, which just means “Beyond,” and about 13 miles south of the sea of Galilee, where most of these men worked as fishermen.

In verse 43, it says that Jesus planned a trip back into Galilee, where His hometown of Nazareth was. He already had called Andrew, and Peter, as well as one other disciple, who was almost certainly John, later to become the Apostle John. (John never referred to himself by name in his Gospel.)

Calling Philip

Jesus found Philip and called him to follow Him as a disciple. We aren’t told much about that exchange, either. Why would Philip want to follow Jesus? Had he heard of Him? Was there some background that we are not given? I can’t be sure…but somehow, Philip knew who Jesus was and was not only willing to lay aside everything else and become his disciple, but he went and found a friend, Nathanael, and invited him to join him, in following Jesus.

Philip was from Bethsaida, the same village where Peter and Andrew lived. Bethsaida means “House of fishing.” We might surmise that Philip was also a commercial fisherman, though we are not told so. We might even assume that he was already friends with Peter and Andrew, and that possibly this was part of why he was easily able to choose discipleship.

Nathanael is named as one of those who followed Peter back to the boats and the fish, in chapter 21. However, Nathanael was not from the same town, but rather from Cana, where Jesus would be going in the next chapter. Cana was about sixteen miles from Bethsaida, as far as I can tell.

(Part of the problem in determining where Bethsaida is in relation to the other places, is that the city of Bethsaida was abandoned after about AD 65, because an earthquake had filled the north end of the Sea of Galilee with silt, putting the fishing village too far from the water, not to mention possibly having buried all the boats. We simply have to accept that things have changed a bit, over the last 2000 years in that area. We have similar occurrences, here: the Salton Sea of southern California is part of what was once a giant inland sea of 2,200 square miles, which today is called “Cahuilla Lake,” But that lake had filled and emptied many times over the preceding millennia, and had been desert again, for centuries, until about 1905, when an accident caused by human meddling diverted the entire Colorado river into that area for about two years, filling it again, flooding towns and much of the local Indian territory. It has dried up again, mostly, but the event significantly changed geography for more than a century.)

But all of these men (Andrew, John, Peter, Philip and Nathanael) were in Peraea, at the village of Bethabara, when Jesus called them: they were 25 miles (or more) away from Bethsaida, and around 20 miles away from Cana or Nazareth, in a different direction. My supposition is that all these men probably had specifically come there because of the preaching of John the Baptist, and all probably had been baptized by him, identifying with his message of the coming Kingdom. And now, in Jesus, they were meeting the King!

Calling Nathanael

Philip either already knew a fair bit about Jesus, or he picked it up from the others very quickly, because he told Nathanael that they had found the predicted King, prophesied by Moses and the prophets, and Philip referred to Him as “Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph.” It is interesting, too, that Philip used the Greek form meaning the heir (huion) of Joseph, not the common “bar-Joseph” which simply means “son of Joseph.” I can only guess that the difference might have specified that Jesus was the eldest Son: the heir. If that isn’t it, then Philip was simply mistaken, as Jesus was not actually Joseph’s son, at all, though He truly was his “Heir-apparent.”

But Nathanael’s response is interesting, too: He asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” We might assume that he simply didn’t think much of Nazareth, and that is certainly a possibility. Even today, people scorn certain towns as being unimportant and even contemptible. (Consider the various towns called “Podunk”—Podunk, MA; Podunk, NY; Podunk, VT; etc.)

But it seems more likely that Nathanael knew the prophecy regarding Bethlehem as being the birthplace of the Messiah, and the bloodline of David being the ancestry. He may simply have been questioning the possibility of the Messiah originating in Nazareth at all. In that case, he would have been correct, but he simply would not have known that Jesus actually had been born in Bethlehem, and was of the lineage of David, fulfilling that portion of the prophecies. But, Philip’s only answer was “Come and See!”

Come and See!

“Come and See” is a good invitation! We can invite a friend to “come and see the promise of Jesus” in John 5:24, and invite them to deal personally with the promise of Eternal Life: Life to be experienced now, not as a vague, “pie-in-the-sky” hope, but as a present knowledge of the Risen Christ. Philip invited Nathanael to come and meet Jesus personally.

As they approached, Jesus saw Nathanael, and said, “Behold: a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile.” (“Guile” is phoniness: sly trickery, deception.”) Jesus was saying that Nathanael was honest, and that he presented no “false front.” No false “show” of religious piety, as the Pharisees were known to do.

And, Nathanael was startled that Jesus (whom he had never met) was making a statement regarding his character. He asked, “Where do you know me from?’ Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

What about the Fig Tree?

So…what did He see? Was it just that Nathanael “happened to be” under a fig tree before Philip called him? And, did Jesus simply mean, “Yes, I saw you sitting under that fig tree when Philip called you,” Or did he mean, “before Philip called you, back when you were sitting under the fig tree, I saw you.”?

In either case, what was Nathanael doing there, under the fig tree? Was he praying? Was he meditating on God’s Word? Or was he just having a nap? We aren’t actually told, and if it were not for the following exchange, it might not have mattered:

Nathanael completely capitulated on the idea of whether anything good could come out of Nazareth: He blurted out, “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.”

Now, how could he come to that conclusion with the extremely limited information he had to work with? Jesus asked essentially that very question: He said, “Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.”

And then He said something really strange:

Prophecy

He said ^“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.” I had a hard time following Nathanael’s “jump” to faith, but I have an even harder time following Jesus’s prophetic response! What does one statement have to do with the other?

Is Jesus simply stating something special in Nathanael’s and the other disciples’ future? He didn’t say “You will see Me coming in clouds of Glory and setting up My kingdom here.” He did tell others some things of that sort…but what He said to Nathanael is only matched in one place in the scriptures, as far as I can tell:

Jacob’s Ladder

It matches Jacob’s vision in Genesis 28:10-17, where Jacob was at Bethel, andsaw a vision of a “ladder,” whose top reached to heaven, and he saw “the angels of God ascending and descending upon it.” What a strange vision! The only thing that cleared it up (a little) was that The LORD was at the head of that ladder, and He used that vision to reiterate to Jacob the promises given to Abraham and Isaac. Is that, perhaps, what Nathanael was pondering and wondering about, when he was under the fig tree? I really have no idea.

But much has been made of that “ladder.” People have gotten the idea that we are somehow to “climb” that ladder: Songs are written about it, saying “We are climbing Jacob’s ladder…every step goes higher, higher…etc.” But that is simply not true!

Believers do not “Climb” into Christ

The day you trusted in Christ as your Savior, you were placed in Christ, and you already have been seated with Him in the Heavenlies, according to Ephesians 2:6. There is no hint of our “climbing into God’s presence,” or somehow by our works gaining worthiness to enter in. Jesus paid our way, and He has entered in, and we enter in by faith… in Him.

So, for what cause are the angels going up and down? (They aren’t doing home renovation, or maintenance work. They aren’t changing lightbulbs!) If I look at Job, the first two chapters, I see that Satan had to get permission to do all the terrible things he did to Job. God permitted it for two purposes: our edification and Job’s education. But angels (both holy and fallen) do have access to this world.

If Satan had to have permission to act, perhaps the vision of Jacob’s ladder and the comment Jesus made, together allow us a peek at a spiritual truth: angelic intervention on earth is only possible through Christ. So, even the holy angels only work on earth as God’s messengers: they are not free to come and go, and just do whatever they think of. And it is further evidence that the fallen angels have no power over us, except as God allows testing in our lives.

And what else did we see…or not see…regarding that ladder? Were there people climbing that ladder? Nope. There were not. Even the Old Testament makes it fairly clear that when a wicked person confesses his guilt and repents, his sins are forgotten. (Ezekiel 33:14-16, compare Psalm 103:12) And in the New Testament, far from our “climbing” into God’s Grace by our works or piety, we are placed into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit at the moment we trust in Him; and as a result, we are already fully accepted by God and we are permanently His children.

Transparency and Honesty

I don’t know all that Jesus saw in Nathanael, beyond what He told us: “an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile” Apparently Jesus really likes transparency in His relationship with us. He is most certainly not impressed with man-made “piety” and “shows” of “righteousness.” He pretty strongly condemned the Pharisees for that particular behavior:

In Matthew 23:25-27, He said “²⁵Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. ²⁶Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. ²⁷Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

The English word “hypocrite” comes from the Greek word “hupokrites,” meaning “an actor:” specifically, the kind of actors they had at that time, who literally held up a false-face mask from behind which they read their lines. If they played a “nice guy” they held up a smiling benign-looking mask: if they played a villain, they held up a nasty-guy mask, to show the audience who they were supposed to be. A person who simply fails to do what they really believe is right, is failing, not “acting.” We don’t call a child a hypocrite for falling down when they are trying to learn to walk, nor do we call an adult who has a wreck on a bicycle, a “hypocrite” for failing to maintain his balance…we know he failed. He was in no way “pretending” to ride a bicycle.

The ones Jesus called “hypocrites” were pretending to be Godly men, and hiding a false, evil heart. Nathanael was evidently the opposite of a hypocrite: he was completely transparent, both about his doubts (“How can anything good come out of Nazareth?”) and his faith (“Master, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”) He suffered the same failings as everyone else, but he called them as he saw them. He was not trying to impress anyone. Jesus evidently liked that!

What about us?

Can we be transparent with God, to begin with? Can we then grow in that faith, enough to be transparent with one another? Can we abandon our “Company and Church Face,” and replace it with a Christ-like heart, so that what comes out in the sight of everyone else is genuinely the kind of person Jesus calls us to be?

Believe it or not, people pretty easily see through our “fronts and facades, and fakes” anyway: why not just give up the pretense, confess our faults, and humble ourselves enough to honestly walk with Jesus? Only in that way are we free to love one another, and to help one another, and not suffer shame for who we really are. I may not know, for sure, the connection between Jesus and Jacob’s Ladder; but I can at least lay hold of what Jesus said about Nathanael and try to apply it to my own life. I want to be transparent with God and with my fellow humans, so that the charge of “hypocrite” will never be appropriate.

Lord Jesus, we ask that you open our eyes to the realities of our own lives and allow us to be honest with you and with those around us, about who we are, and the changes that need to happen. Help us to shine as your lights in this world.

September 4, 2021September 4, 2021

The Repeated “Call” of Peter

John 1:40-42; Matthew 4:18-22 (Mark 1:16-22); Luke 5:1-11; John 21:3-19

Introduction: The Call of God

We have been studying in the book of John, lately, and there is a rather peculiar passage here, in chapter one, regarding the early “call” of some of the disciples, including Andrew, Peter, Philip and Nathanael for sure, and evidently John is the unnamed disciple in 1:35. There are several noteworthy things, here, but the one I want to focus on, today, is the “Call of Peter.”

Usually, when we hear about “the Call” of somebody, say, Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or Saul of Tarsus, we see it as a one-time call, and the person involved responded in faith and obedience, dropped whatever they were doing and went where God told them to go…and did what He told them to do!

Avoiding the Call

There were a few exceptions: Jonah, for example, was called and immediately ran the other way, and booked passage by ship to somewhere far away. Somehow “running away from God” doesn’t strike me as a very smart thing to do: where are you going to go? Even the Psalmist posed the question, 200 years before Jonah’s time: Psalm 139:7 says, “Whither shall I flee from thy presence?” He went on to point out that wherever he could go, God was already there.

In Jonah’s case, of course, we know what happened: God stopped the ship by means of a storm, and gave Jonah a free ride back to land on a specially-prepared “water-taxi.” He even got to ride “under cover” the whole way! He wasn’t happy with the accommodations, however, so, after three days and three nights, Jonah changed his mind about who was in charge (that is called repentance) and the ride ended as the sea-creature deposited him unceremoniously on the beach. Then he headed off to do God’s bidding… but not with a great attitude.

Forgetting the Call

There have been others who were reluctant as well. But Peter seems to be a great picture of the average believer, in that he seems to have frequently forgotten his calling: Jesus kept having to call him again! The rest of the disciples had the same issue, to varying degrees, but Peter seems to have been a prime offender, and the ringleader, of sorts.

First Call: (John 1:40-42)

In John 1:40-42, the call seems fairly informal, and perhaps not so “binding” as, for example, that of the Apostle Paul. Peter was invited by his brother, Andrew, and was renamed by Jesus. Some of the disciples Jesus called seem to have left everything and immediately followed Him, but all had to be called again, later, it seems.

In this text, they are in Bethabara, which is about 13 miles south of the Sea of Galilee, and on the east side of Jordan (See verse 28.) This in itself is a little confusing, as in the Matthew account, where Jesus was baptized, they were in the Jordan river, but closer to Jerusalem. (The closest point is about 20 miles east of Jerusalem…not far from Jericho.) But this exchange is much later, as, we see in the Matthew account, that Jesus left immediately after His baptism and headed off into the desert for a 40-day fast and a time of testing.

New Location

So, the next time John the Baptist saw Jesus (and said, “Behold the Lamb of God…”) was at least six weeks later, and John had moved north in the interim, not far from Galilee, across the river, in the province of Peraea, at Beth-abara. (“Peraea” means “beyond,” and “Beth-abara” means the “house of the crossing.” This was part of the land where Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh had settled “beyond” the Jordan, hence the name. The town was named “Bethabara” because there was a ford there, where people crossed the Jordan on a regular basis.)

Jesus was approached there, by the two disciples of John the Baptist (Andrew and John) who were also partners in their work as commercial fishermen, on the sea of Galilee. (This is in both the Matthew and Mark accounts, that they were commercial fishermen, and in the Luke account, that they were partners at it.) Andrew went and found Simon (later called Peter.) Jesus renamed Simon “Cephas,” meaning, a stone. It seems fairly clear that all of these men were deliberately choosing to follow Jesus.

Second Call: Matthew 4:18-22 (Mark 1:16-22)

In the Matthew and Mark accounts, the location is not made so clear, but the original area where John the Baptist was preaching was named…and it was not the same. It was down near Jericho, somewhere. But, as we said earlier, Jesus had left there immediately, and had disappeared for six weeks.

But what is interesting is that Matthew 4:12-17 seems to match John 2:1-12. In both passages, Jesus ended up in Capernaum (in Galilee) with His disciples. But in Matthew, right after that, we see Him again calling the fishermen to follow Him (Simon-Peter, Andrew, James and John.) So, what had those particular disciples been doing in the meanwhile? Evidently, they had all “gone back to work!” Jesus offered no rebuke, but simply invited them again (possibly this time it was more “formal?”) Whatever the difference, this time He clearly stated that He would make them “fishers of men.”

The Mark account differs only in that it specifies that they went with Jesus back into Capernaum. So we know from Matthew and Mark that Jesus had been in Capernaum of Galilee and that after that, He had walked by the sea of Galilee and called the fishermen…again.

Third Call: Luke 5:1-11

The Luke account is different, as, for one thing, in Luke 4:14-37 it begins to tell us what Jesus preached in Galilee, including His message at Nazareth, His hometown…and the fact that the townspeople attempted to kill Him! It also included (Luke 4:38-39) the fact that he entered into the home of Simon, and healed his mother-in-law (See Mark 1:29-31.) Then He proceeded to heal everyone who came to Him, casting out demons, and preaching in the synagogues. (Luke 4:40-44) No problem, there…but, in the Mark 1:29-31 account, we can see that she was healed some time after SimonPeter’s second call! (His second call was in Mark 1:17.)

So, Peter and the others had gone back to fishing again, while Jesus had been preaching all over the area, and healing sick people, and casting out demons. (But, hey! Ya gotta make a living, right?) So, all of his disciples who were commercial fishermen had gone back to the boats and the fish! Again, Jesus made no rebuke, but met them where they were, and found them on the beach, washing their nets.

A large group of people were evidently following Jesus, and crowding Him. He asked Simon Peter to row Him out a little way from the beach, so He could preach from the security of the boat, with a water-barrier between Himself and the crowd. Simon Peter did so, but when Jesus finished teaching, He told Simon-Peter to row out into deep water, and “let down your nets” for a “draught:” a draw, or a pull.

Different Nets for Different purposes:

This was a type of “purse-seine” net, called a “trammel” net. It is still used today, in the Sea of Galilee, and it is still used only at night, just as during Jesus’s time. The net was quietly paid out behind a boat, and let down in a semi-circular path, with a weighted line holding the bottom edge down, and a float line holding the upper edge at the surface. They waited a while, after which they pulled the ends of the net together and then began drawing in the bottom line, so as to trap all the fish within the enclosure. This usually took a team effort. Andrew and Simon Peter were working a boat together. James and John were working another such vessel.

The kind of net we saw over in Matthew 4:18 was a “cast-net,” which is a circular net with weighted edges, and a long lanyard. It is thrown so as to land in a circular pattern, and drop down to the bottom, like a giant umbrella, hopefully trapping fish within the net. The fisherman then pulls the net to shore, or into a boat, with whatever fish are inside the “umbrella” of the net. This is usually a one-man job. It can be cast out from a beach, or a dock, or a boat, but it is usually for smaller fish which travel in schools.

So, what Jesus told Peter, here in Luke, was to “let down a trammel net in daylight.” Peter said, “Master, we have worked all night, and caught nothing: but, because You say so, I will let down the net!” And, of course, the miraculous daytime catch took two boats to bring them in, and both crews to handle the bountiful catch. In fact, there were so many fish, that, the net was tearing, and when they tried to load all of them into their two boats, both boats were in danger of sinking! (This would be very entertaining to watch, but a total panic to experience.)

Simon Peter was shocked to the point of fear, and he fell at Jesus’s feet, begging Him to leave! He was terrified, because he knew that he himself was unworthy to receive God’s attention. He said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” The other fishing partners felt the same way, but Jesus answered, “Fear not; from henceforth ye shall catch Men!” And verse eleven says, that when they had brought the fish to shore, they left it all behind and followed Jesus. (What happened to the fish? There were other fishermen there, according to the Matthew account, so they probably jumped right in there and took the fish…in case it really matters.)

So, was this the end of the calling of the twelve? No, there were at least eight more men Jesus called. Two (Philip and Nathanael) were named in John 1:44-51. The remaining six were picked up later. But my real question was whether this was the last time Jesus had to “call” His disciples. And, again, sadly, the answer is “No!”

Fourth Call: John 21:1-22

We have talked about this passage before, because this is where we clearly see the distinction between the Agapé love and the Philéo love. This is also where we see that there were two kinds of “feeding” or “care,” that Jesus required of Peter.

But this is also where Jesus has to confront Peter about his constant “relapsing to the fish!” The commercial fishing was Peter’s life! He yearned to return to his work. Fishing was his comfort zone, and his area of expertise. This was all he really knew!

But bear in mind, as we look at John 21, that the Resurrection of Jesus was in the previous chapter! Jesus already had risen from the dead, and already had been seen by every single one of His disciples. He had spent time teaching them and giving final affirmation to them as His proteges. And, yet: here they were, headed back to the boats…and the ringleader was Peter.

Peter was with six other disciples: he said, “I’m going fishing!” and they all said, “We are going, too!” Remember that this was not a “recreational” thing for them: it was an occupational choice! But Jesus had already assigned a new “occupation!” He had told them that they were to henceforth be fishers of men…not fish!

Fleshly choices, Fleshly results

So, they worked all night, and again, they had come up empty, lowering those nets and hauling them back in, over and over. Things were not going well, but all of them had experienced such things before…and most of them had experienced something nearly identical, with Jesus.

So, in verses 4-6, Jesus appears on the shore, in the dawn’s light, and called to them, “Did you get anything? Do you have any food?” They answered, “No!” and He replied, “Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.” They did so, with whatever kind of net they were using (seems to be a cast-net, now,) and they were not able to pull the net into the boat. John told Peter, “It’s the Lord!” Peter, impetuous as ever, grabbed his fisher’s coat, put it on and proceeded to swim to shore. The other six fellows simply rowed to shore, dragging the overfull net. It turned out that Jesus already had fish and bread, cooked on the coals, ready to eat.

But the question Jesus asked Peter, after they had all eaten, in verses 15-17, was pretty direct:

A Personal confrontation

“Simon, Son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these?” What did Jesus mean by “these?” He meant the fish! Peter kept going back to the fish! And what Love? The agapé love: the committed love that pours itself out for its recipient without regard to the effect on the giver. Peter skirted the real issue and replied with the philéo love… “I really like you! I love you like a brother!” And Jesus answered, “Feed my lambs.” (The word is “boske” from bosko “to feed.”)

But Jesus asked the question again, still using the agapé love. And Peter answered again, still using the phileo love! Jesus didn’t argue, but just answered again, “tend my sheep.” (KJV says “feed”, but the Greek is poimaine…shepherd my sheep! Take care of the flock!)

Jesus asked a third time, but this time He changed His own wording to match what Peter had been saying; He said, “Peter, do you even like me? Do you even care?” Peter was grieved because Jesus asked the third time, using the philéo love. He answered, “Lord, you know all things! You know that I (philéo) love you!” Peter would not claim the full commitment that he had boasted before the crucifixion. Peter had denied the Lord after vowing that “though all others leave you, I will stay!” He just couldn’t bear to repeat his earlier claims.

I think Jesus understood: Jesus simply said, then, “Feed my sheep!” You see, this is the fourth time Peter had been called! It was the third time he had specifically been called away from the fish, and had been given a new assignment! And Jesus was telling him, “If you have any feeling for me at all, get on with the job I gave you! Fulfill the gifts I have given you! Be the man I have called you to be!”

What about us?

It is interesting to see that in Matthew 28:18-20 (which we call the “Great Commission”, Jesus actually set in motion a “spiritual chain-reaction.” The command he gave His disciples included the command that they make disciples and that they should teach them to observe all that He had commanded those original disciples! So…what Jesus told Peter goes for us, as well!

Jesus has called every single believer (Romans 8:28-30) and He still is pleading, “If you have any feeling for me at all, get on with the job! Every one of you knows what the job is: not every one of you knows how you can fit in to that job. We have among us some people who are gifted soulwinners. That is marvelous! We have people among us who are gifted prayer-warriors! That is also a wonderful thing!

But, the fact is, I am neither! I am easily distracted during prayer, and though I have faithfully shared the Gospel with possibly hundreds of people, very few have responded in faith…at least not while I was there. Am I then “released” from the responsibility of prayer and evangelism because I am not richly gifted in either one? Resoundingly, NO!

Personal Responibility

I still am called to share the good news of salvation with anyone who will listen. Evangelism is nothing more or less than one beggar telling another beggar where to find free food! I can do that! If they refuse it, at least they will know where to find it, if they later change their minds. (This does require that I actually know where it is, of course! If I give incorrect, or incomplete information, they will not be able to claim the living bread and living water that Jesus offers.) With practice, I can be more effective! But I still have the job, regardless of how I feel about it.

The same goes for prayer: Every single believer has that command, over and over.

My primary gifts are in teaching: I can feed the flock. There are some parts of the job regarding which I feel pretty inadequate. But, just like you, I am called to use the gifts God has given in such a way as to edify the other believers and strengthen the church.

God says He has already called you! The question now, is, “How many times will He have to repeat that call, before you respond in obedience?” I am not “pointing this question at anyone:” It applies to me just as much as it does to anyone else. But we do need to take this personally, because the fact is; the call is to us!

Lord Jesus, let us hear Your call, once again, and heed the call, daily, to learn to walk with You and serve as Your hands and feet, shining Your light in this dark world.

August 28, 2021August 29, 2021

Power to Become the Sons of God

John 1:10-13

Introduction

Last week we considered the implications of John 1:34, where John the Baptist declared Jesus to be “the Son of God.” We extended our focus to include the fact that He is the “Only begotten Son of God, and what that means. But there are many references to other persons being called the sons of God.

In Job, chapters one and two, we see a group of persons (evidently the angelic host) who are called the “sons of God,” and Satan was among them. In Job 38, God says that (earlier) at the Creation of our World, “all the Sons of God shouted for joy!” (That actually gives us a hint as to when Satan must have fallen into perdition: if “All” the Sons of God shouted for joy at the creation, but by Genesis 3, Lucifer had become the adversary, Satan, then his fall into sin and rebellion must have been between those two times.

In Genesis 6:2, we have a somewhat obscure reference to some persons also called the “sons of God,” and whoever they were, it seems that they were doing something bad. We aren’t going there, today, except to point out that the term “Sons of God” is not always in reference to “His cherished offspring.”

When Jesus cast out evil spirits (demons, devils, unclean spirits as they are variously called) they frequently spoke and called Him by name, recognizing Him as Jesus of Nazareth, “thou Son of the most high God” (Mark 5:7) They obviously knew the difference between themselves (who had once been numbered among the “sons of God,”) and Jesus, THE Son of the most high God.

So, it seems a good idea that we learn the difference as well. Last week we saw that Jesus is the Eternal Son, God the Son, fully God, and specifically, the Creator of all the universe, both physical and spiritual. He is the Creator God, but eternally existent as God the Son. So, with that as our starting point, and, knowing that Jesus, in His earthy ministry was the “Only Begotten Son:” born the Son of God, lets address this passage where we are told there is a way for us to “become the sons of God.”

Unpacking the passage

John 1:10-13

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

¹¹He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

¹²But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

¹³Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

This is what we call a “packed” verse: there is a lot there, and we want to “unpack” at least some of it. I don’t speak or read Greek beyond just a few words, so I have to laboriously “look up” any words for which I need better understanding. The words I would want to research in this passage would be at least the following:

His own…who were they?
Power…what sort of power?
To Become…how? (Transformation, evolution, what?)
Sons…what kind of “sons?”

“His Own”

So, the first one is pretty easy: Jesus said repeatedly that He had come primarily to reach the Jews. They were the children of the Promise, and Jeusus, the fulfillment of that Promise, was now among them, if only they would receive Him. But, as a nation, they rejected Him. There were thousands who believed in Him, many of whom followed Him and worshipped Him. To those who did receive Him; to them is directed the rest of this passage.

“Power”

There are at least three different kinds of “power” listed in the scripture. The most common, of course, is the one we usually mean: “ability,” raw power to accomplish great things. The Greek word in that case would be “dunamis,” from which we derive our English words “dynamo” and “dynamic.” But that is not the word, here.

Another would be the word “kratos,” meaning rulership, or dominion. This is the word from which we derive our English words, “autocrat, plutocrat, aristocrat, bureaucrat, and democrat, or democracy.” But that is not the word used, here, either.

The third is the Greek word “exousia,” meaning “authority.” This is the kind of power Jesus exhibited when he calmed the storm. There was no “force” exerted by which he stopped the movement of millions of tons of moving water, nor halted the moving masses of wind. He simply spoke and the Creation obeyed. In fact, that is the same “power” by which he originally created the physical universe: He spoke it into existence, according to Hebrews 11:3. He willed it to be so, and it was so. It is interesting and a little distressing to note that we humans and the fallen angels are the only creatures to ever have disobeyed the will of the Creator.

By the way, this is also the word Jesus used when He said, “all Power is given unto Me in heaven and earth: go ye therefore…” The word is “exousia.” Authority. And that is the word here in John 1:12. To those who receive Him he gives the authority to do…what?

“To Become”

There are lots of ways to become something different than one already is: one can grow up into adulthood, physically, so that, physically at least, one is no longer a child. We can choose to learn, to be educated to become skilled or knowledgeable in a given field.

A caterpillar will “metamorphose” into a butterfly or a moth. They do not simply “grow” wings and legs: they build a cocoon around themselves, and a mysterious thing occurs. Their entire body dissolves into a “living soup” which is then reconstructed into a completely new body. Metamorphosis means a change of body. Meta = change. Morphe = form or body. (Interestingly, the word “Metanoia” is translated “repentance,” and it literally means “change of mind.”)

When Jesus became a man, he was born into the human race just as we have been. In doing so, He became a “Son of Man.” But, for us to become children of God, we must be reborn. How do we know that?

Jesus said so: He told Nicodemus that unless a man was born again, he could not see the Kingdom of God. And, interestingly, the word translated “become” in John 1:12 is the Greek word, “genesthai,” which is a form of the infinitive verb “gennao,” meaning, “to be born.” (This was an “aha!” moment for me when I first discovered it!)

So, what we just read is that to everyone who receives Jesus (as opposed to rejecting Him) He gives the authority to be born into His family! We are not the children of God by our natural birth: Paul says (in Ephesians 2:3) that we are by nature the children of wrath. In John 8:44, Jesus told the Jews more pointedly that, “Ye are of your father, the Devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” And he told Nicodemus that he had to be born again to change that status. And John is telling us how it is done!

“Sons…what kind?”

Last week we found that there are three different words translated “sons” or “children,” in the New Testament, and that they are not the same. The word used regarding Jesus, in every case, and regarding others in some cases, is the word “huios”(singular) or “huioi” (plural) meaning a fully mature, and universally recognized heir: Not just “offspring.”

Another, less common, is the Greek word “nepioi” meaning “babes…not able to talk yet” which is not translated “sons,” but rather “babes” or “children” in the context that we are not to remain “children” but are to grow up.

But the one used in this case (and in most cases, in regard to believers) is the word “teknoi,” meaning, “offspring: born-ones.” It literally says that if we receive Jesus for who He really is, the master, and the Savior, the Messiah, then He gives us the “authority” to be “re-born” as the “offspring” of God. How do I know that it is by faith? Verse 12 goes on to say it is to those who “believe on His name.” It means those who trust in Him as their Savior. Acts 4:12 says that there is no “…other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved.” Acts 16:31 says “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved…”

Why does it matter “what kind of son” is in view, here? Because, in the first place, it was possible for someone to be declared an heir who was not the offspring of the one whose heir they had become. (Abram complained that he had no son and that the heir of his house was one of his servants, Eliezer of Damascus.) We will be joint-heirs with Jesus, as we discussed last week, but we are already born again as God’s legitimate “offspring:” His children by rebirth.

Even if you knew nothing about any of the things we are talking about today, if you have trusted in Jesus as your Savior, you were born again that moment, as a legitimate child of God. You are His offspring. Yes, you will also be His Heir, joint-heir with Jesus, and positionally, you are already a Son, and a joint-heir with Jesus. Ephesians 2:6 says you are already seated in the Heavenlies with Him.

Galatians 4:6, 7 states that “because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father. Wherefore, thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” This is our eternal position in Christ, even though we are not experiencing it yet.

But you are His precious child right now! You are free to experience that tender relationship with Him every moment. He loves you. He counts you as precious in His sight, and He is pleased with your toddling attempts to walk with Him. Psalm 103:13, 14 tells us that He understands our frailty, and He is compassionate toward our weakness, as a loving father is compassionate toward his little children.

He further clarifies our relationship, in John 1:13 by pointing out that it is not the natural birth in question, but rather, being born of God. (“…born, not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”) In some translations of the New Testament, it is referred to as being “born from above.”

Sons of God

So, what kind of sons have we become? We are certainly not among the angelic host. And we are in no danger of committing whatever sin the fallen angels committed that resulted in their eternal perdition. We are eternally God’s personal possession, and His holy offspring, whether we feel that way or not.

Obviously, we are also not in the same class as Jesus, who is the Only Begotten Son of God: there is only one of Him. But, He does say that we have been “begotten again”, and that we are His begotten children.

On the other hand, we are also not full-fledged heirs, able to command the elements or whatever things the full-grown heirs can do. The rest of humanity, let alone the rest of the physical creation, does not recognize us as being in authority. Why? Because we have not yet been elevated to that status, in the sense of being able to employ the authority of Sons. Paul explains, in Romans 8:23, that we will receive “the Adoption” (Greek “huiothesis” = placement of sons) when we receive our new bodies.

In the meantime, He calls us “teknoi” (plural) or “teknon” (singular.) We are God’s offspring, His children: and he calls us to behave as His children. He says that we have received the “Spirit of Adoption”, and that we are to act as the sons of God. Every single one of His “born-ones” will eventually receive full “Sonship,” and live through eternity as joint-heirs with Jesus. But we are called to live in the reality of our position in Christ today, acting as His Sons are expected to act.

Living as Sons

When I consider how a Son is supposed to live, and when I see Jesus as my eternal example, I am frequently overwhelmed, and think, “But I can’t! I can’t even come close to that standard!” That is why we have been given the “Spirit of Adoption.” Remember that the word “Adoption,” in Greek, is “huiothesis.” It means the “placement as sons.” If the Spirit who already placed you into the Body of Christ to begin with, according to 1^st Corinthians 12:13, is the same one who lives in you to see you grow in Christ, and function as a Son, then the promise that we can choose to walk in the Spirit by Faith makes perfect sense.

Galatians 5:16 says, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” 1^st John 1:7 echoes that promise, saying “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin.”

And that is the only way we can do it! This is not a “self-help” scheme: not a “do-it-yourself” project. In John 15:5, Jesus said, “Apart from Me ye can do nothing.” He meant it literally! The only way we can behave as the Sons we are called to be, is if we allow the Holy Spirit to do it through us. Philippians 2:13 says that “it is God who works in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Jesus, the eternal Son, lives in you, in the person of the Holy Spirit. He can behave perfectly as a son because He is The Son! And He desires to lead us to do the same, along with Him. He calls us to walk with Him. He calls us to work with Him. He calls us to serve and to suffer with Him.

Choose to walk by faith, allowing Jesus to live through you, so that your priorities become His priorities, and you embrace His agenda entirely. Feed on the Living Word as you learn from the Written Word, and see His nature begin to grow in you. This is the only way for us, as believers, to enjoy the Peace and Joy He has promised. It is also the only way we can bear the fruit in our lives that He created us to bear.

But, day by day, the choice is ours.

Lord Jesus, help us to see you before us as our example at all times, and grant that we may walk with you in obedience and faith. Teach us to live as your children, and let us grow to be Sons that honor you in every area of our lives.