Whose Commands Will We Obey? (Acts 4:1-22)

The scene: Peter and John before the Sanhedrin, the ruling authorities for the Jewish people. The back story: Peter and John had just healed a lame man, followed by Peter giving a speech about Jesus to an astonished crowd.

The conversation continued for a few hours there in Solomon’s porch. Suddenly, the head of the temple police and some members of the Sadducean party interrupted Peter and John. They were indignant and angry because Peter and John were enthusiastically teaching that in Jesus, resurrection of the dead is possible—an idea the Sadducees completely rejected.

So they arrested Peter, John, and the man who was healed and kept them in jail overnight.  But Peter and John had now convinced about 5,000 people to believe their message about Jesus (nearly two thousand converts since the day of Pentecost).

The next morning, the Jewish leaders—their officials, elders, and scholars—called a meeting in Jerusalem presided over by Annas (the patriarch of the ruling priestly clan), along with Caiaphas (his son-in-law), John,[1] Alexander,[2] and other members of their clan. They made their prisoners stand in the middle of the assembly and questioned them.

Jewish Leaders: “By what kind of power or what kind of name (whose authority) did you do this?”

Peter[3] (filled with the Spirit):  “Rulers and elders of the people, yesterday a good deed was done. Someone who was sick was healed. If you’re asking us how this happened, I want all of you and all of the people of Israel to know this man standing in front of you—who has been made whole[4] —was healed by the authority of Jesus of Nazareth, the Anointed One.

This is the same Jesus whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead. He is “the stone that you builders rejected who has become the very stone that holds together the entire foundation”[5] on which a new temple is being built. There is no one else who can rescue/save us, and there is no other name under heaven given to any human by whom we may be rescued/saved.”[6]

Now the leaders were surprised and confused. They looked at Peter and John and realized they were typical peasants— they “did not know the scrolls” and were untrained (idios).  The leaders recognized them as companions of Jesus.  But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together.

Jewish Leaders: “What do we do with these fellows? Anyone who lives in Jerusalem will know an unexplainable sign has been performed through these two preachers. We can’t deny their story. The best we can do is try to keep it from spreading. So let’s warn them to stop speaking to anybody in this name.”

The leaders brought the prisoners back in and prohibited them from doing any more speaking or teaching in the name of Jesus. Peter and John listened quietly and then replied,

Peter and John: “You are the judges here, so we’ll leave it up to you to judge whether it is right in the sight of God to obey your commands or God’s. But one thing we can tell you: we cannot possibly restrain ourselves from speaking about what we have seen and heard with our own eyes and ears.”

The council threatened them again, but finally let them go because public opinion strongly supported Peter and John and this man who had received this miraculous sign. He was over 40 years old, so his situation was known to many people, and they couldn’t help but glorify God for his healing.

* * * * *

The Trouble With Truth (it might be different than we think it is)

Jesus said, 

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

“IF you hold to my teaching.” The Sanhedrin already had a theological framework about what they assumed God must be like, and it wasn’t Jesus. Peter’s eyewitness accounts of Jesus (and the healed man standing right there) destabilized them. They had to choose: cling to their certainty in something that they were wrong about, or be open to God doing something new in Jesus.[7] This is the way truth works. It isn’t neutral; it always takes a side. It either affirms us or challenges us. When God does work in our lives, whatever is false is going to have to go and get replaced with whatever is true. Don’t be surprised if this hits all areas of our lives.

• Considering 2000 years of different traditions and denominations, could we have misunderstood God’s nature due to distorted teachings or traditions?

• Are we too tied to just one view of the cross, like Penal Substitution, when church history offers other perspectives that also offer beautiful insight?

• What do we do when we find out that a leader we admire is actually drawing us away from Jesus rather than closer either through their words or through the model of their life?

• What if we find out that the way we are representing Jesus is pushing people way instead of drawing them closer?  Could we recognize that our end goal is noble but that our means of getting there is not great?

In all these situations, we have the opportunity to respond to or resist the nudging of the Holy Spirit. Will it bring out humility or a hardness of heart? Will it make us inquisitive or defensive? Will we be excited about learning more, or will we be dismayed that we might have been wrong?

Truth is that it might be different than we thought it was, and we have to make choices about what to do when we find this out.

The Sanhedrin: The Problem of Power and Privilege

This is the problem the Sanhedrin is facing. The Sanhedrin’s resistance to truth was both theological and personal.

First, they had an idea of what the Messiah must look like, and it wasn’t an itinerant carpenter from Galilee who was going to challenge them rather than applaud them.

Second, the religious leaders listed in Acts were very cozy with Rome. The Sadducees blended the leadership of God’s people with the power of Rome.[8] The leader named John apparently “found favor in the eyes of Ceasar,” and Alexander was “highly esteemed by Agrippa.”[9] Rome wasn’t impressed by their witness; Rome was pleased at their subservience. For the Sadducees, embracing Jesus meant risking Rome’s wrath.

The people were offered Jesus, and they chose Barabbas, a Zealot, in hopes of crushing Rome with a more violent Messiah. The Sanhedrin were offered Jesus and they chose Rome, in hopes of keep their status quo comfortable.

When truth challenges our status, comfort, or plans,  we face the same choice. Are we acting in Jesus’ name -embodying His character – or are we acting in the name of someone or something else?

Filled With The Spirit (that he already had)

Unlike the Sanhedrin (who clung to cultural power) or the people (who kept joining Zealot revolutions), Peter and John leaned on the power of the Holy Spirit in their stand for truth.

Peter had received the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Yet in Ephesians 5:18, Paul wrote to Christians in Ephesus who already had the Holy Spirit, “Cram yourself full with the Spirit.”[10]

Somehow, we have it – and there’s more! Maybe think of the Holy Spirit as a great lake we have been given. For you Great Lakes fans, there are special types of water movements, called storm surges and seiches, that happen when a storm moves across the lake. There isn’t less water; it just sometimes surges.

There are moments when the Spirit surges in power for witness, courage, and clarity. When this happens, ordinary people represent Jesus well and spread the good news of the gospel in ways they never thought possible. And when we cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God takes back some ground from the enemy of our souls.

No Other Name Will Save Us

Empowered by the Spirit, Peter boldly told the Sanhedrin that only Jesus saves. That exclusive claim still shapes our witness today. No one but Jesus can take our sins upon Himself and trade it for His righteousness. No one but Jesus conquered the power of death. No one but Jesus has both the power and the love to redeem any soul. John tells us God did this for the world[11] -  whosoever will may come.[12]

This makes Christianity an inclusive faith in that all are invited to the spiritual banquet Jesus provides, but we make the exclusive claim that salvation is found only in Jesus.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 2:5)

It is the unique sufficiency of Christ who alone bears our sin, conquers death, and gives life, and gifts the Holy Spirit of God to fill and guide us. And that will lead to situations where the work God does is impossible to miss.

He Was Standing Right There

Speaking of work God does that is impossible to miss, the healed man was standing right there before the Sanhedrin. After 40 years, he was walking in front of the whole community. People can push back against doctrine – and they do - but it’s much harder to argue with a changed life. When we think of different kinds of “apologetics” for this faith,  a changed life remains powerful.

• The greedy person who is now the most generous in the church

• the addict who is free

• the gossiper who now speaks words of life

• the sexual sinner who chooses a life of purity

• the angry dude who is now the gentlest in the group

• the one who lets go of years of bitterness and rage and forgives the one who hurt them

These stories are all around us to remind us that Jesus does good work in the world. They are standing right there – or sitting right next to you this morning.

Whose Commands Will We Obey?

The story starts with a question: “By what name…?” It ends with, “Whose commands will we obey?” [13] Jesus asks us the same thing: Who will we obey? Who will we cooperate with when we do work in the world?

Peter and John’s witness forced the Sanhedrin to either embrace God’s truth in Jesus and enter the Kingdom, or cling to their old beliefs and miss out. What will we do? Will we let Jesus’ truth reshape our lives? Here’s what that might look like.

• When the world says to hate our enemies, Jesus says the way of the Kingdom is to love them (Matthew 5:43–44; Luke 6:27–28).

• When the world says that “lording it over others” shows who is important, Jesus tells us the way of the Kingdom is to wash each other’s feet in humble service (Mark 10:42–45; John 13:12–15).

• Where the world loves boasting, Jesus values humility (Luke 14:11; Philippians 2:5–8).

• When the world tramples on “the least of these,” Jesus says that those in His kingdom should care for them (Matthew 25:40).

• When the world equates our value with productivity and usefulness to others, Jesus says, “Come to me…in my Kingdom I will give you rest”(Matthew 11:28–30).

• When the world says gentleness and kindness are weak, God gives them as fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23), proof that the Holy Spirit is moving in us with power.

• When the world loves mockery and name-calling, Jesus insists that his Kingdom should be full of words of life (Matthew 5:22; Colossians 4:6; James 3).

• When the world says “It’s your life; do what you want,” Jesus says, “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me” (Luke 9:23–24) as we look out for “one another” (94 verses in the New Testament).

So we are going to have make choices as God’s truth calls us out from the value systems of empires and into the righteous calling of the Kingdom.

But in Acts 4, Peter and John weren’t yet challenging Rome. They were challenging the Sanhedrin. They were challenging religious leaders who claimed to speak for God but did not and were steering God’s people in the wrong direction. With that in mind, let’s look inside the American church to see where, even today, we must be wise in discerning if we are listening to God’s truth or a distortion of it.

When today’s Christian leaders…

• …tell us that wealth and luxury are markers of faith, Jesus challenges us to give generously, store up treasure in heaven, and identify with the poor (Luke 12:15–21; Matthew 25:35–40), warning how hard it is for the wealthy to enter into the Kingdom of God (Mark 10).

• …tell us that the church’s reputation must be protected at all costs by covering up sin and silencing victims, Jesus calls us to expose unfruitful works of darkness, confess our sins, bring hidden things into the light and seek restoration (Ephesians 5:11; James 5:19; Luke 12:2–3; 1 John 1:7).

• …stoke panic over the newest area of cultural decline (“It’s us against them!”), Jesus calls us to trust in His sovereignty and love fearlessly, building bridges across divides (1 John 4:18; Matthew 5:44–45)” (It’s us for them!”) as we go to the highways and byways to let everyone know the King is inviting them the banquet table of His love. (Luke 14).

• …insist that getting every little detail of theology perfectly right is the way to please God, Jesus reminds us that loving God and loving others with justice, mercy and humility pleases God (Micah 6:8; John 13:34-35; Colossians 1:10; Hebrews 13:16)

• …that it’s okay to fight culture wars with culture’s weapons (the ends justify the means), Jesus reminds us not to forget the Jesus way: blessing enemies, and overcoming evil with good (Matthew 5:43–48; Romans 12:20–21), so that the means don’t ruin us in the end (Leviticus 10:1-2; 2 Timothy 2:5).

• …that a proud exclusion of outsiders (people whose sin offends us more than our own sin does) is being faithful to God, Jesus shows us the way of agape love: inviting the outsider in, eating with sinners, and practicing repentance together (John 4; Luke 15:1–2; James 5:16).

Check out the list of what we just covered. If you look at all the wonderful things Jesus calls us to, if this characterizes us consistently, is this not a vision that is life-giving in so many ways?

We would be freed from the pressure to prove ourselves, perform for others, or conform to passing cultural trends. Instead, we could rest in the love of Christ and be filled with the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17–19)

Our church communities would be marked not by scandal, division, or pride, but by cruciform love— lifting up the name of Jesus by bearing each other’s burdens, practicing honesty and repentance, and welcoming whosoever will come (Galatians 6:2; Romans 15:7; Revelation 22:17). The church would be a living witness to God’s kingdom breaking into this world.

Our local community would not look at Christians and see they hypocrisy, greed or unrighteous judgment that headlines love to point out. They would see humility, generosity, and sacrificial love. As Jesus Himself promised: 

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

_____________________________________________________________________________________

[1] “This was  [likely] Jochanan ben Zaccai, who was very famous at that time in the Jewish nation. Of him it is said in the Talmud, Jucas. fol. 60: "Rabbin Jochanan ben Zaccai the priest lived 120 years. He found favour in the eyes of Caesar.” (Adam Clarke)

[2] “This was probably Alexander Lysimachus, one of the richest Jews of his time, who made great presents to the temple, and was highly esteemed by King Agrippa.” (Adam Clarke)

[3] “Now was fulfilled the promise of Christ, Matthew 10:18-20; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake; but take no thought how or what ye shall speak; for it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.” (Adam Clarke)

[4] “The verb, as in our Lord’s words, “Thy faith hath made thee whole” (Mark 10:52; Luke 7:50), has a pregnant, underlying meaning, suggesting the thought of a spiritual as well as bodily restoration.” (Ellicott’s Commentary)

[5] (Psalm 118:22)

[6] “St Peter thus intimates that the cure of the lame man is only a sign of the power of salvation for the soul which was in Jesus. The people were to draw from the effect produced by “Arise and walk,” the conclusion that the same power could as surely give the greater blessing, “thy sins be forgiven thee” (Matthew 9:5).” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)

[7] Gamaliel’s is soon going to comment that “If this is of God, you will not be able to stop it.” (Acts 5:38-39). And of course, they didn’t stop it. What would the Sanhedrin do with that?

[8] We covered this in a fair amount of detail in our Gospel Harmony series.

[9] According to Adam Clarke

[10] Okay, it is “be filled” with the Holy Spirit in most translations, but the verb tense suggests it’s an ongoing process of being filled to the brim.

[11] John 3

[12] Romans 22:17

[13] The Old Testament prophets had already called the people of God to choose wisely (Joshua 24:15: “Choose this day whom you will serve.”) In Revelation 13 vs. Revelation 14, John uses the image of a beast vs. a Lamb and asks whose mark we will take.

“His Name Made This Man Strong” (Acts 3: 1-26)

Now Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer (the ninth hour). And a certain man who was lame from his mother’s womb they laid daily at the door of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for some alms. 

And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him, with John, said, “Look on us.” And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “Silver and gold have I none; but what I have, that give I up. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”[1] 

And he took him by the right hand, and raised him up: and immediately his feet and his ankle-bones received strength. And leaping up, he stood, and began to walk; and he entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.[2] 

And all the people saw him walking and praising God,  and they took knowledge of him, that it was he that sat for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. They were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.[3]

And as he held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in Solomon’s Porch[4] greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it, he said to the people, “You people of Israel, why do you marvel at this man? Why do you fasten your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him to walk? 

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Servant Jesus; whom you delivered up, and denied before the face of Pilate, when Pilate had determined to release him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted unto you,  and killed the Prince of life; whom God raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses.[5] 

And by faith in his Name has his Name made this man strong, whom you see and know:  the faith which is through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. 

What does it mean that “His Name made this man strong”? I’ve been doing some work on this verse, and I am pleased to tell you…I have a tentative answer that may not satisfy you as we explore our faith and the faithfulness of God :)

First, of all, what is this ‘Name’? And what does it mean that faith in this Name brought strength?

“The Name… is not the syllables which are sounded ‘Jesus Christ.’ They are, in the view of the Old Testament, attempts at a summary description of things by their prominent characteristics… the ‘Name’ of God [is] equivalent to ‘that which God is manifested to be’…[6]

In Acts 5 we read that the Apostles ‘departed from the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for ‘the Name,’ and we find at a much later date that missionaries of the Gospel are described by the Apostle John as going forth ‘for the sake of the Name.’” (Maclaren’s Exposition)

That’s a good summary of what is noted in many commentaries. The Name of God is the being and reputation of God, revealed specifically in Jesus.

When in John 14:13-14, Jesus promises, "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do," he is saying that when you ask for something that aligns with his character and nature – and thus his will – he will do it.

In Philippians 2:9-11, Paul declares that God has given Jesus ‘the name that is above every name’ – I mean, he was God in the flesh - so that every knee will bow and every tongue joyfully confess the lordship of Jesus. They won’t bow because of the syllables; they will bow in awe of Jesus.[7] Jesus IS the Name above all names.

It reminds me that the commandment not to take God’s name in vain is not about the syllables (though how we treat the spoken name of God reveals something about our heart toward God). Don’t claim to be in God’s family and then blaspheme God’s reputation. [8]

Meanwhile, who is having faith in this verse? Check out this translation, which highlights the ambiguity in the original language.

“And by the faith of his Name, this one whom you see and know, he has restored and healed, and faith in him has given him this health before you all." (Aramaic Bible in Plain English)

In this translation, the man is restored and healed by the faith of his Name – or, the faith/faithfulness of Jesus. There is faith in him, but it’s not clear what the source is. Was it his? It doesn’t seem to be, because he didn’t even ask to be healed. Was it the faithfulness of the Name in him? Was it the faith inside of Peter and John?

This isn’t the only time we see this kind of room for discussion. Galatians 2:20 can be rendered two different ways:

"The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in/by the faith(fulness) of the Son of God."

So, let’s explore the word we translate as “faith” in the New Testament, which has a range of potential meaning. In Scripture, “faith” (pistis) can mean:

·      trust, belief, conviction (something you feel)

·      faithfulness and reliability (something you do)

Both God and humanity are said to have pistis (faith or faithfulness):

·      At times it is what we feel and do (if we have faith in God)

·      Other times, it points toward the posture of God toward us (He is faithful to us).

Romans 3:3 is a great example:

“What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness (apistia) nullify the faithfulness (pistin) of God?”

So, is faith something we work to build, or do we have it in the measure God gives it to us? Or both? Is it like genetics, where we have been dealt a hand and we can decide if we want to maximize it by working at it? Or is it more like being given a finite allotment, and allowance, and some will get more than others? As you are likely already thinking, these differences matter.

If faith – the feeling or belief - is something that we work to build, then it seems like when miraculous things (like the healing of the lame man) do or don’t happen, it’s because of us. This would mean my dad died because he or those of us around him lacked faith. God was just waiting for us to get stronger, and we ran out of time. This would mean that our bad health reflects weak faith. This would look at almost every situation in which there is sin or sickness and lay the blame at our feet for our lack of faith. That’s a heavy burden to carry when we have been promised a yolk that is easy, and a burden that is light.[9] I wonder how Paul would respond to this considering how he prayed for a “thorn in his flesh” to be removed (2 Corinthians 12:9) and Jesus basically said, “No, but relax. My grace is sufficient.”

On the other hand, maybe a big part of understanding faith has to do with understanding God’s faithfulness towards us, how God is faithfully present with all of us in whatever journey we are on, working and moving as God sees fit, sometimes moving by His Holy Spirit, and sometimes moving tangibly through us. This would mean my dad’s story unfolded the way it did not because we didn’t even have faith the size of a mustard seed,[10] but because God’s sovereign plan did not involve my dad’s temporary healing in this world, but instead involved his ultimate healing in the world to come.

This list could go on. Name the situation in your life that did not go or is not going as you hoped it would. In this view, God is present, active, and faithfully at work not either because of our faith or in spite of it. (Here I am thinking of Paul again, when God intervened in his life while he was persecuting followers of Jesus).

The Bible seems to say both these things at different times, almost as if faith is complex and God wants us to wrestle with this together My goal today is to accomplish two things: I want to help us to rest in the confidence that God, the author and finisher of our faith, has given us a measure of faith by His grace. I also want to invite us to embrace what that means as we step into the high calling that comes with faith.

Let’s start with verses (and there are definitely more!) that present faith as something we are given, and then we strengthen it.

·      “But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver…”(James 1:6) 

·      “Beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith…keep yourselves in the love of God...” (Jude 20–21).[11]

Then there are the verse that suggest it’s something God gives us.

·      Christ is “the author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2)

·       “To another, faith by the same Spirit” in reference to spiritual gifts. (1 Corinthians 12:9)

·       “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has measured out to each of you.” (Romans 12:3)[12]

* * * * *

So, how is it both God’s free gift and something we build?

The Eastern Orthodox church likes to talk about the synergy of faith: God initiates; we respond and build with the help of the Holy Spirit in the process of becoming more and more like Jesus. God's grace-filled gift of a measure of faith is the primary and essential factor, yet we respond to this through our choices, actions, and spiritual striving (think of Paul “pressing on to the high calling of God” in Philippians 3:14). 

In this view, perhaps we could think of faith as a dance. When our boys got married, Sheila and I practiced dancing. This was not in my wheelhouse. It was fascinating to me to slowly learn the subtleties involved in leading and responding in slow dancing. We both had to be attuned to the rhythm of th song, paying attention to nudgings and promptings. It took us a while, but we figured it out. It was such a better way of dancing than we had tried before.

Where God leads with His grace-filled offer of faith, we are invited to respond, to follow His lead through obedience and trust, becoming more like Christ by cooperating with the Holy Spirit. God is always going to lead, and we are daily choosing to follow His lead or not. We will need to be attuned, responding to the nudges of the Holy Spirit. We will need to be focused with that relationship as the primary point of our focus. And then we dance a holy dance filled with faith as we follow the lead of our Savior.

If you like gardening analogies, think of God planting a seed we are called to tend.[13] God’s going to make it grow (1 Corinthians 3), but we participate by adding fertilizer, watering, etc. God gives us the privilege of investing sweat equity in His plan.

You might be thinking that this means we CAN tell who has the most impressive faith. They will have more impressive fruit, right?  (And usually by that we mean an outward sign or wonder like Peter and John did).

Since God “assigns the measure of faith”, we must remember that the result of our cooperation will look different. Don’t forget what we just read:

“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has measured out to each of you.” (Romans 12:3)

When Paul wrote to the church in Corinth about the way they were being generous with the finances they had been given, he noted an important principle:

“For if the willingness is there, the what you give is acceptable according to what your have, not according to what you don’t have.” (2 Corinthians 8:12)

It would have been easy to see what others were giving and reach a conclusion about the state of their heart. Only a dollar? I doubt THEY are righteous and generous. Yeah, but what if they only had ten dollars, while the critic had a thousand and gave ten? Who is the most generous?

This is a good reminder not to compare people and make assumptions about whether or not someone is walking in faith based on marquee events like healing. We don’t know what measure of faith God has given to others; we don’t have insight into how they are tending the seeds of faith God has planted.

Someone who looks like they are crushing it might be squandering an immense gift they have been given. Someone who looks like they are struggling might be tending their mustard seed of faith with great care.

It also might be the case that a different kind of sign and wonder is taking place that others don’t see. A transformed heart, a healed soul, a new ability to love, a first step into repentance or forgiveness, freedom from greed or lust. All of this is indeed a wonder. It’s all a sign that faith is making us whole. (Mark 5:34)

I wonder sometimes if part of what makes faith hard to understand is that we assume it to be grand and showy and outwardly observable, when it is often quiet and ordinary and transformative in ways not so easily seen.

* * * * *

We still haven’t landed on a clean definition of what faith is. I’m looking for foundational things. Let’s go to Hebrews 1. I find this translation to be helpful.

“Now faith is the foundation of that for which we hope, and a conviction of the reality of things which we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

We already noted that a faithful God gives us a measure of faith as a foundation for our lives. What results from that? What does this enable us to do according to Hebrews?

First, it enables us to believe in the reality of things we can’t see with our eyes. I think this is a call back to Jesus telling Thomas that those who didn’t have to see Jesus in order to believe in him were blessed.[14] I do have that faith: I believe that Jesus was who he claimed to be: God in the flesh, the Savior of the world, the Great Physician, the Healer and Restorer we all long for in our hearts. If you believe this too, we are joined together in this kind of faith in Jesus.

Second, having hope in the power and love of God to do hopeful things in the world seems to be a sign of having faith. Another good way to think of this is having trust. If we trust that God has in fact reconciled the world to himself through the cruciform love of Jesus,[15] and that He is going to finish the work He begins in us, and that one day He will make all things new,[16] then we are joined together in our trust in the faithfulness of God.

I have often wondered just what kind of man of faith I am. I’m just looking for a mustard seed’s worth.[17] Like I said, I’ve never healed a lame person. I have prayed for the sick, and sometimes they got better and sometimes they didn’t. I have dealt with anxiety for years, and also had really good stretches of peace. Sheila and I had times of despair in our marriage where it was not at all easy to lean on Jesus in trust and hope, and then other times when it was clear that God had not abandoned us at all. There have been times when, like the Psalmist, I want to yell, “Where are you?” and then other times I think: “Oh. You were right here all along.”

So because I wonder this a lot, I started to make a list this week of what measure God has given me if I gauge what it means to have faith by biblical standards. I am sharing this with you not because I expect it to put me on a pedestal - there will be no healings on this list - but because I am inviting you to find yourself in this list to find the seeds of faith God has given you to nurture.

·      I trust that Jesus is who He said He is: God incarnate, the hope of our salvation, the Risen Savior who takes away the sin of the world. I think that’s faith.

·      I trust that God can do anything God wants to do, and that whatever God wants to do is good even if I can’t see it. I think that’s faith.                                                               

·      I trust that God is love by nature, and that “the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning,”(Lamentations 3:22–23), even when I don’t feel it.  I think that’s faith.

·      I trust that God heals us either by healing us now or by ushering us into eternity for our ultimate healing when He reconciles all things to Himself (Acts 3:21) and will wipe all the bitter tears from my eyes. I think that’s faith.

·      I trust that following His lead in the dance of faith is good, even if I don’t understand it and even while I might question Him about it. I think that’s faith.

·      I trust that the path of righteousness God has laid out is for my good and God’s glory, so I have sought to follow His loving path through my love-motivated obedience. I think that’s faith.

·      When I stumble in the path or wander from it, I trust that He runs toward me not away from me because God is for me, not against me, and a good Father does not abandon His children, but will instead search for His lost sheep until they are found. I think that’s faith.

·      I trust that God can take my life and make something good of it[18], in spite of all my attempts to undermine it, or in spite of the harmful things done to me by others. I think that’s faith.

·      Here is my last, and most important one. I rest in the fact that God’s faithfulness depends on His nature, not my perfection. “If we are faithless (apistoumen), He remains faithful(pistos), for He is not able to deny Himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13). I rest in that. I think that’s faith.  

I invite you to anchor in this unshakeable truth: God is faithful. Whether your faith feels strong or fragile today, God's faithfulness holds you in the measure you have been given. God is enough, and His gift will be enough.

Whatever role Peter and John played in the lame man’s healing, the man ultimately walked because of the faithfulness of Jesus’ Name. We too are being made whole — maybe not always in the ways we expect, but always by the same faithful Name. The Great Physician will complete His good work in you, restoring all things in His time. Let us respond in trust, stepping into His mission with hopeful hearts, knowing His mercies are new every morning

________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Interesting that this isn’t about the lame man’s faith (since he likely didn’t know Jesus).

[2] The Messianic age is here. Isaiah 35:3-6 prophesied the lame leaping like deer in the messianic age.

[3] Quick note: this is a Jewish audience at the Temple. Peter’s upcoming speech is going to pull from their Jewish history.

[4] A covered walkway in the outer courtyard.

[5] Note again the collective responsibility. All had some accountability even if they had not participated directly.

[6] Proverbs 18:10: “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.”

[7] In Acts 4:12, Peter boldly proclaims, ‘There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’ The Name of Jesus isn’t just a label—it’s the embodiment of His authority, His character, and His saving power.

[8] “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes, “This use of name = power, and even as an absolute equivalent for God, is very Jewish; cp. Acts 4:12. The usage grew out of such passages as Psalm 106:8, “He saved them for His name’s sake.”

[9] Matthew 11:30

[10] Matthew 17:20

[11] Or this one: “[Abraham] grew strong in his faith…” (Romans 4:20-21)

[12] Or these: “By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not from works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)  “It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him.” (Philippians 1:29) Peter will later talk of believers as those “who by Him do believe in God, that your faith and hope might be in God.” (1 Peter 1:21)  

[13] “Faith is not what makes God’s love true for us; faith is what allows us to enjoy and participate in it.” (Brad Jersak)

[14] John 20:29

[15] 2 Corinthians 5:19

[16] Revelation 21:5

[17] Matthew 17:19

[18] Romans 8:28

This Is My Story

As I come off of my sabbatical, I’d like to give you some context about why I needed a break. Yes, sabbaticals are important in ministry work. I can’t deny there is some ‘wear and tear’ that comes with pastoring (like all jobs).

But that’s not the only reason.

 A couple months ago, my wife said, “You aren’t healthy, and you haven’t been healthy for weeks, maybe months, maybe a year.” My wife was being generous. I think it was longer than that, actually, and there was a reason for it that reflected what was happening in my personal life.

I also want to talk about what I hope life looks like on the other side of the break, as Jesus has been faithful and good to me. I am finally learning understand what it means that He will search for his lost, floundering sheep until he finds them. I have on my bedroom wall that shows this. This is how I have come to experience Jesus.

Here is my story.

* * * * *

When I was a child, I had many wonderful experiences. I also experienced two life changing things that were quite traumatic: I was significantly bullied by my peers in really life-altering ways, and I was molested by adults I should have been able to trust both spiritually and relationally. This mostly centered around two years, when I was 9 and 10 years old, though the bullying started earlier and lasted longer.

While I had suspicions and one isolated memory of the abuse (that I had glosses over), about two years ago I began to remember more after someone close to me revealed their childhood trauma. I found out that’s not an unusual reaction: someone very close to me revealed their pain, and it caught the attention of something inside of me. I also found out it’s not unusual for men in their 50s to have this happen.

It was upsetting and destabilizing, to say the least. It’s hard to describe remembering what it was like to be abused. I sought some counsel from Jackie probably about this time of year two years ago on when I would know if it was time to get professional help. She said, “When life becomes unmanageable.”

Well, it eventually did. There was a day when I was in a meeting at church that had some relational tension. It ended well, but I went out to my truck and fell apart. I just sobbed and sobbed. I knew in my head that it wasn’t about the meeting per se; it was about something that meeting reminded me of.

And so, I sought counsel.

I had discovered at Freedom Farm that interacting with horses really confronted some insecurities and fears I had, so I started my therapy as a client at Peace Ranch. It was really helpful. More on that in a bit. After that, a took a break before beginning a different focus with an EMDR trauma therapist in town, which is ongoing.

I am going to have to paint with a broad brush this morning. There are many details that aren’t appropriate to share from the pulpit. I have had so many wonderful friends and experiences in my life, I want to be clear that I feel blessed to have the life I have, but I am feeling the need to share with you about 1) how the threads of trauma were woven into the tapestry of my life, 2) how that legacy shaped me in ways I wasn’t always aware of, and 3) how a path toward healing has been revelatory about myself and God.

It’s been a wild ride. There were days when I just cried for what I started to call Little Me, the child who did not tell others his pain, and for whom no one grieved, so I did. I remember coming home one day after talking with a sweet friend for whom life has been so hard, and I told Sheila, “I cried for her when I left, and then I started thinking about how no one cried for me, so I am going to do that today.” And I did. Sheila did too.

I would take naps and fall asleep holding my hand and telling Little Me he was safe now. I took Little Me fishing. I invited Jesus to sit with us in our sorrow and healing and our fishing, and I know that he did.

Some days, I experienced the world as a 10-year-old. It’s hard to describe, but everything was bigger, and there was a childlike innocence. And fear. And curiosity. And a lot of being overwhelmed.

 So many days I would spend hours in my room, in the dark, in the safest room I knew. I would invite Jesus to join us, and I would remember, and weep, and then sleep.

One of the things that surprised me was how much the legacy of the bullying came roaring back. The first EMDR session was on one of my memories and boy howdy did that lead us into months of discussion.

 I unpacked some really deep emotions that I had never really owned, and in that process began to see more clearly how terribly it damaged my sense of self; how desperate it made me to always want to be liked; how much to this day I react to people who bully others with their words and actions. It’s more than just, “You shouldn’t do that.” It’s, “I know how being treated like that damaged me, and that is not okay.”

As I cared for for Little Me, I started to see just how much of my adult life had been shaped by those childhood wounds of bullying and molestation. I am telling you this because I have become increasingly aware of how I was living a trauma-impacted life that was not a trauma-informedlife. I wasn’t aware just how profoundly the abuse I experienced as a child shaped me.

In some ways, it brought out good things as a reaction to the bad I experienced – I never wanted to pass on what was given to me (except on the basketball court. Oof. I had so many anger issues that I can’t get into right now.)

In other ways, it really messed with my sense of identity and worth, the way I experienced other people (especially those who reminded me of past abusers), my body image, my pursuit to prove my masculinity (by cultural standards), my quest to learn how to control every situation I was in (‘hyper-vigilance’ is a term I have learned to know), my sense that it was never enough to just “be me.” I would need to impress people to be liked (that’s a response to bullying), or I would need to show up how other people expected me to so they could get what they wanted (that’s the response to the abuse).

I remember as a kid that Hulk was my favorite comic book character. Why? Because Hulk is the strongest there is. You didn’t mess with Hulk – if you did, you learned not to, because Hulk would smash. I decided I would get really strong (and hopefully big like Hulk) so that no one would mess with me. That didn’t work out like I had hoped, but it didn’t stop me from trying for decades. I just wanted to be physically present in such a way that people wouldn’t even think about messing with me.

The other thing was that I learned how to use my words.  I could talk. I could get people to laugh. I could steer conversations – sometimes I could even change the tenor of room. To this day, people tell me how good I am with words. It’s true. I am. That can be a good thing, but that skill didn’t come from a place of health. If I could just get the words just right, and read everyone’s emotions, I could keep all my venues safe, and no one would be hurt, most importantly me.[1]  I recently saw a meme from an online therapy group that resonated with me.

“’You're good with words.’ Thanks. My trauma response is to problem solve, sincerely explain myself, and present evidence because of feeling constantly misunderstood and attacked. As as result, I come across as stoic, analytical and an over-communicator; meanwhile, I was suppressing intense emotions. I quickly take on responsibility to fix or clarify things because of the traumatic times when no one had my back. This ‘gift’ with words is a fawning reflex to once feeling overwhelmingly unsafe."

That’s not the whole story of why I am good with words, of course. But it was far more a part of my story than I realized.

Equine therapy at Peace Ranch was revelatory in terms of how I related to others. Horses are amazingly intuitive animals. They read body language, and sense emotions. They communicate with themselves and people in fascinating ways.

I had learned with Julie’s huge draft horse, Hannah, that I had issues about fear of rejection, reaction to what felt like bullying, inability to be with Hannah on her own terms and not mine – like, I didn’t get to control the situation, and I hated it. The first time Hannah bumped into me my anxiety skyrocketed. When she walked away when I tried to pet her, I was devastated. Why is it that a horse makes me do a deep dive into what is going on inside me?!?!?!?

Peace Ranch put me into these dynamics with a whole herd of horses. I remember once walking toward horses and I was nervous how they respond to me, so what did I do? I talked. They didn’t care. They were observing my body language and sensing my presence, but I was convinced that enough words would to the trick. It didn’t. But I remember telling my therapist and saying, “That’s what I do all the time. I lead with words to guide people’s responses to me.”

Part of the grace of God is that I have been able to use my words for so many good things in the world, and for that I am grateful. It turns out being good with words often does have a really good impact on others. Words fitly spoken are like apples of gold in settings of silver (Proverbs 25:11), and I have “fitly spoken” many things. But I have also become more aware of how often my reliance on words to diffuse every tense situation came from a place of fear, and it caused me to manipulate situations and people in way that ended making things worse in the end.

Relationally, when things went wrong – tension, anger, misunderstanding, bullying, molestation – I tended to “fawn”, which is what I had done in response to being hurt as a child. The goal is to let the threat take its toll and move on. Just get out of that place of pain and into a place of safety. Traumatized children tend to think they did something wrong to invite what was happening to them. It was a default assumption as an adult, when I was in similar situations, that when things went wrong – when I was hurt again or someone was angry - it must be my fault. If you are thinking, “Those dots don’t connect,” your right. That part of the legacy of trauma. It deceived me into thinking I deserved what happened to me then, and it was appropriate to believe that I was always the problem now.

In all of this, I developed a real cynicism and maybe even fear of those who had positions of power. My experience for several years as a child was that people with power were to be feared because they hurt you. (And no one in power at that time came to me aid – the good ones didn’t know, and yet that is what I experienced.) \

Since that time I have had really wonderful, godly people in positions of power in my life who showed me what healthy power could look like (I think Jesus called it meekness in the Sermon on the Mount). But there was always a part of me that remembered when power had hurt.

When I was first given the opportunity at Peace Ranch to put a halter on a horse and lead it, I was surprised how much I did NOT want to do that. Why would I make a horse do what I wanted it to do? I did it, and it was great for both of us (I think?) but I just didn’t feel comfortable. I don’t want to make others do what I want them to do.

Of course, all of this struggle with power shaped how I saw God.

MY VIEW OF GOD

God is all-powerful, right? The ultimate authority figure. What do I do with that? Well, for a long time, I had trouble separating my traumatic experiences with people from my relationship with God.

It was too easy to believe that I was valuable and loved only to the extent that I made God happy to have me as His child. And that fact that God would love me – well, that says something about how amazing God is, because look at me. “God loves even me,” I have said so many times from this pulpit, as if I was loathsome to God.

As if I was not created a little lower than the angels, and crowned with glory and honor, and bore His image.

As if God was not pleased to call me friend.

As if the parable of the Prodigal Son meant nothing.

As if God did not love having me as His child.

I spent so many years groveling when the Father was inviting me to a feast at the table he had set – for me.

* * * * *

“Victim” is tough word. It feels weak. The first time I said out loud, “I was a victim of sexual abuse and bullying,” I cried because I didn’t want that to be true. But it was. I had in fact been victimized, and I hated that, which is just part of the terrible fallout of abuse. It wasn’t a label to wear as a point of identity. It was just an honest statement.

But there is another thing that is true also.  I am a child of God. That was sufficient for me to be honored and protected. I was not someone who deserved the evil others did to me; I was the victim of the broken sinfulness of others.

This has impacted me in ways that make sense, and I will not be apologetic or filled with shame for doing the best I could, and I will not beat myself up for the ways in which adult Anthony wrestled as best he could with history. 

For example, I tried for so many years to be culturally masculine. As a child, men had treated me as they did the women in their lives; my peers had treated me as if I was beneath them. How does one respond to that? Well, by proving mymasculinity!!! – not biblically , but culturally. In my circles, it meant sports, muscles, construction work, sweat. It meant that I always compared myself to other “manly men” and successful men – at least as I measured it in my head. Muscles, beards, boy toys, manly skills like fixing cars (which I still can’t do). But I could bench 300+ lbs. Take that. Who’s the man now?

It’s sound so foolish to say out loud, because I don’t think any of those things actually measure masculinity, but that’s where I was for so many years.

As much as I knew it in my head, I couldn’t get it into my heart that what Jesus thought about me was enough. I had to learn that “Child of God” was my core identity, and being a real man (and ladies, I think this also true for being a real woman) was becoming like the model of a perfectly righteous human, Jesus – slow to anger, abounding in mercy, characterized by love.

My identity is meant to be set by the love of Jesus and not the evil of others. That truth has only really sunk in the past two years. It’s been a life-giving revelation. Jesus says I am his image bearer - maybe dented, but never destroyed. Damaged, but never devalued- like kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold.

 Jesus is pleased to love me. He doesn’t endure me; he cherishes me.

I have been clinging to God as revealed in Jesus, because they are One. I needed the Greatest Story Ever Told to be absolutely true: God’s love will overcome all evil, sin, suffering, and pain, and will make all things new.

I needed a God who could redeem the sinful violence done to me – and the sinful violaters. I didn’t want just a good ending for me in which all broken things are made new.  I wanted even those who violated me to be redeemed and restored. Why? Because some of them were people I loved. If God can make that right, that’s the greatest story ever told.

What if  he people who did the worst things are brought to repentance, salvation, and restoration? What if one day I could fully fellowship with those who hurt me, not as a white-washing of their sin, but as redemptive narrative of repentance and reconciliation that ends in loving fellowship?

 I needed a God who is love without remainder, whose very being and every action is a display of love. I needed a Savior:

·       Who, through his crucifixion, “will draw all people to himself.” (John 12:32,32)

·      Who will “… reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:19,20)

·       Who will “…make known to us in all wisdom and insight the secret of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Ephesians 1:9,10)

·      In whom “heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:20-21) 

·       Who is “highly exalted…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue joyfully confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)

·       Of whom “every created being in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, will say, ‘To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might into the ages of ages!’” (Revelation 5:12-13)

·      Who “is seated on the throne saying, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:5)

·      Who "is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

·      Who “will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 25:6-8)

·      From whom nothing can separate us. “What can come between us and the love of God’s Anointed? Can troubles, hardships, persecution, hunger, poverty, danger, or even death? The answer is, absolutely nothing…. no matter what comes, we will always taste victory through Him who loved us. For I have every confidence that nothing—not death, life, heavenly messengers, dark spirits, the present, the future, spiritual powers, height, depth, nor any created thing—can come between us and the love of God revealed in the Anointed, Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)

I think Jesus is better than I can imagine. I used to sing a hymn: “The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell.” The God who is sovereign over all of what happened to me was fully revealed in the cruciform and hopeful love of Jesus. God will make all things new, will reconcile a broken, groaning creation to God, and will wipe every tear from our eye. He has promised to do this. To this I cling.

* * * * * *

All things considered, here’s what I hope a healing Anthony can look like as you pastor.

First, I want to become increasingly grounded in my identity as a child of God, keyed in on how God sees me, because that’s truth about who I am. I am who God knows me to be. All kinds of people have all kinds of impressions about me. I have impressions about me, for goodness sakes. While I want to be attuned and open to the input of others in my life (because I have blind spots and flaws that a loving community can help me improve), at the end of the day I want to be sure I am thinking God’s thoughts about me, and having God’s heart for me.

Second, I want to be wise and helpful with my words, God willing. It is really good to use words to heal and not hurt. But I also want to stop trying to control tense situations or regulate other people’s emotions by choosing just the perfect words and tone so that nothing will ever go wrong! I want to remember that it’s entirely unrealistic to expect that we will always live in perfect harmony.

If there is tension, I want to assess if I did something wrong and if so, attempt to make it right. But I’m not going to let anxiety and fear churn inside of me as I wonder what others are thinking and feeling and panic until I fix it.  

If someone needs to address something with me, I will pray that you are comfortable telling me. If you aren’t, I pray you will find someone who can come with you, and I can learn how to be more approachable for you.  I just can’t keep trying to read minds and anticipate offense.

Third, I want to be the kind of pastor in whom God has “worked together for good” (Romans 8:28) a calling, personality and presence from the sum total of my life. Jesus has been sovereign over what I experienced and how he has healed me, and Jesus has a reason for that.

Considering what I said earlier about power dynamics, I have needed (for my own sake) to  differentiate between power and authority particularly in institutions (the church, the state, businesses, etc). These might not even be the right words, but they are the best ones I have, and I am not going to obsess on getting the words just right 

Power, as I’ve come to think of it, is something that’s often tied to a role or title. It can be granted externally—by a system, a position, or a hierarchy—and it gives someone the ability to make people do things. This can be a good things, but I still get uneasy. In my history, for several key formative years, people with institutional power used it to control, manipulate, and harm me.

As I noted earlier, I have had really good experiences with powerful people since then, so the issue isn’t having power per se. It’s when I see people flex—dominate, throw their weight around—It feels unsafe, even if they don’t mean harm, and it actually is safe.

So, I personally am uncomfortable with power. But authority, to me, is different. These are my definitions and distinctions, but it has helped me think through this.

I see authority as having a ‘weight’ in the lives of others not because you demand it, but because they willing give it to you. In this view, authoritative people doesn’t coerce—they invite. They don’t impose—they influence through modeling credibility, consistency, and love.

Jesus had all “delegated power” (Matthew 28:18)[2] in heaven and on earth, and he used it to serve, not to control. He invited; he washed feet. He gave his life. He didn’t demand allegiance through force—he loved people into transformation and invited them into the Kingdom. All followers of Jesus have chosen to give him the “weight” of authority  in their lives in response to who he is and what he has done.

Because of the distinction I just made, I now think of myself as an invitational pastor. It’s my effort to fulfill this role in a way that acknowledges all the ways God has allowed life to form me. Jesus invites us to follow him; I will invite you to follow Jesus ever more deeply.

Do you remember that I didn’t like putting a halter on a horse to lead it? It turns out horses will follow you without a halter. There is a scenario in which someone leads and someone follows -  because they want to do so. That was my favorite day of equine therapy.

For horses, it’s about body language and other subtle things that help them feel safe. It’s different for people – or is it? Maybe it’s that and more? All I know is that I much preferred inviting Vinny (the horse) to follow me rather than making him.

I will invite you to practice repentance when you wrong others, and extend forgiveness to those who wrong you.

 I will invite you to pursue holiness, purity, righteousness, integrity and love. But I’m not going to make you.

 If I could actually make you do those things, I doubt they would stick, because you need to choose them in response to Jesus, not because of pressure from Anthony. People in the recovery community will tell you that forced interventions don’t have a high success rate; when people choose to pursue recovery and health, that’s the starting point that bears the most fruit.

Meanwhile, I believe that any authority I have in the role as a pastor comes not from a title but from two things that ought to be present in all of us: speaking truth with grace, and living with loving, cruciform integrity

To the extent that I am leading us in this role as pastor, I am committed to leading not by cult of personality or coercion or showmanship or anything like that. I am not interested in pastoral flexing.

I must speak true things with grace, guided by Scripture, the Holy Spirit and the community of God’s people around me who hold me accountable. And I must commit to living a life of cruciform love that lines up with the truth I teach so that, as Paul says, I don’t disqualify myself.

Any meaningful authority – “weightiness” -  I have with you must come not from my title or because I flex  or because I have a microphone. It must come from a life characterized by integrity, truth, and cruciform love so that, like Paul said, “follow me – as I follow Christ.” 

Really then, it’s not follow Anthony any more than it’s follow Paul. It’s follow Christ who is in us, a reality that is hopefully on display.

Finally, I will constantly talk about the love of God. A renewed focus on the love of God as revealed through Jesus was the rock I have stood on the past two years to weather this storm. I don’t know how many times I cried listening to podcasts that unpacked what the love of God really looked like, not just for me but for those who did bad things to me. So I will insist that God is love without remainder, and His love extends to all people.

I am increasingly persuaded by the Eastern Orthodox view that God’s only attribute is love, with every other description we use functioning as a description of how God’s love is expressed (a merciful love, a just love, a kind love, and patient love, an all-powerful love, etc.)

And I will insist that the primary sign of our transformation into the image of God is that we are characterized by the love of God and others growing in our lives. What is the first fruit of the Spirit? Love.

The cruciform love of God and the power displayed in the resurrection show us that salvation, redemption, healing and hope are all very real things. I know this, because I have experienced it.  I know this because at least one of my abusers repented and finished his life safe in the arms of Jesus. The person I mentioned at the beginning whose revelation of trauma shook my memories loose? He prays that his abuser makes it to  heaven. He wants the restoration of all things in the end.

I do to. It could happen. It turns out that history is not destiny when Jesus intervenes.

* * * * *

I’m not fully healed yet - but I feel like I’m walking closer than ever with Jesus, who began a good work in me, and promises to complete it.

And I believe more than ever that the love of God is stronger than any pain, any trauma, any wound, any sin in my life and yours.

___________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Interestingly, my introversion has been making itself known. I am pretty sure I subconsciously learned how to be an extrovert to control the environments I was in. The more I have found healing the past two years, the more I am pretty sure I am an introvert at heart. But that’s a side note.

[2] That is how HELPS Word Studies defins “authority,” which is used in most translations.

Harmony #71: Always Pray, And Don’t Lose Heart (Luke 17:11- 18:8)

Now on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance, raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”

When he saw them he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went along, they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He fell with his face to the ground at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (Now he was a Samaritan.)[1]

Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to turn back and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to the man, “Get up and go your way. Your faith has saved you.”

Now at one point the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was coming, so he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

This narrative stresses several themes we have been seeing in Luke’s gospel.

·  Jesus has mercy on social outcasts. Jews did not travel between Galilee and Judea by going close to Samaria. Jesus had no problem doing so.[2] Meanwhile, foreigners (allogenēs) were warned not to enter the temple past the outer court.[3] Jesus is sending a pointed message: you stop foreigners from entering the Jerusalem temple, but here is one of them worshipping Jesus, the Son of God.

·  On their way to the priests, the lepers were healed. File away somewhere that Jesus did not require saving faith from them to heal them. He just healed them without commenting on their faith.  So they were healed, but the returning Samaritan was saved: “used principally of God rescuing believers from the penalty and power of sin – and into His provisions (safety).[4]Literally, his response of faith (trust) brought him salvation from his fallen state.[5] He received the greater healing - that of his soul.

·  The Pharisees wanted a grand political upheaval or signs in the heavens – some impressive display of public power. Jesus said, “It’s not like that. The Kingdom doesn’t come with an outward show. It's not a visible, earthly, temporal kingdom which could be pointed out as being here or there.[6]  The kingdom of God, “the dominion of righteousness”[7] was being manifested in Jesus among them, right in front of their eyes. Ten lepers had been cleansed of leprosy, and they basically yawned.[8]  Do you remember Marvin the Martian? “There was supposed to be a kaboom!” They wanted political or cosmic fireworks that unleashed the power of God while failing to see the unleashing of power of God right in front of them.

So, Jesus told them the Kingdom of God had arrived. He followed this up with a cryptic warning/encouragement. This passage has been widely debated, along with the harmony passages in Luke 21, Mark 13 and Matthew 24 - 25. Jesus is talking to his disciples about how to prepare themselves for what’s to come, but his language is highly symbolic while referencing the Old Testament and Jewish colloquialisms.

Commentaries wrestle with whether or not Jesus, when referencing what will happen in “this generation,” was talking about spiritual realities, upcoming events within the lifetime of his audience, future events that usher in the end of history, or all three. I am increasingly of the opinion that he was prepping them for what they and the Jewish people would personally would face spiritually and physically,[9] so that’s how I’m going to approach it this morning.[10] I will include plenty of footnotes. Luke seems to focus on the implications of Jesus’ death and resurrection (spiritual realities), while the other gospels land more heavily on the coming destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.  We will reference both.

To be cIear, I could be wrong :) . This is a great passage that should lead us into discussion as we strive to understand God’s word together. No matter what, this message would end with the same timeless encouragement, so let’s work our way there.

* * * * *

 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.”

Already, I have questions. Jesus just said the Kingdom is here. Then he told them they were going to long to see the days of the Son of Man, but they won’t, so that must be something different. Clearly, the disciples to whom he is speaking are going to go through a lot of difficulty as they wait for something in the Kingdom that has not yet happened. And yet…

‍Matt 10:23: "But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes."

Mark 14:62, Jesus tells the high priest, “From now on you shall see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

And here, I think is the interpretive key. Son of Man is a term Daniel is famous for using. Most commentaries will tell you Jesus is wanting his audience to remember this passage from Daniel 7:13-14: 

“I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.”

When the Son of Man comes in Daniel, he’s not coming to earth. He’s coming to the throne room of God to take his place at the Father’s right hand and establish his heavenly Kingdom. This is not what people expect of a King taking his place on a throne.

People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 

• In Acts 5, Rabbi Gamaliel speaks of two such messianic pretenders: Theudas, and Judas the Galilean, who led a revolt against the Romans.

• In Acts 21:38, Paul is suspected by the Roman temple guard of being the Egyptian who led four thousand Jews to the Mount of Olives.

• Josephus wrote of such prophets and messiahs as dangerous criminals bent on leading the nation to destruction. Josephus claims Felix executed imposters almost every day.[11]

For the Son of Man in his day[12] will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

That lighting imagery makes me think of the newly arisen Jesus.

“There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.” (Matthew 28:2-4)

Back to the text. Jesus must suffer many things and be rejected by the generation of people who crucified him. What will be happening in the world as these things happen? Nothing like some good Old Testament imagery to give them some hyperlinks.

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

 It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

People will be doing ordinary things, going about life, not aware that everything is about to change. In the two examples he gives, a judgment is rendered on the sinfulness of the world. This will happen on the cross. The ultimate judgment is rendered: the wages of sin is death. Of course, the ultimate salvation is offered at the same time: “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)[13] Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, he shows that He has conquered the devil, death, hell, and the grave (1 Corinthians 15:55-57; Revelation 1:18; Hosea 13:14; 2 Timothy 1:10; Hebrews 2:14-15). He takes captivity captive and gives good gifts to mankind (Ephesians 4:8-10). He crushes the serpent’s head (Romans 16:20).

 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife!  Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 

Choices will need to be made. What matters most: the things of this world, or the things of Heaven?  If you try to hang on to this world, you will lose your life. If you let go of this world, you embrace life in the most profound way possible.

I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” “[Taken] where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the eagles[14]/vultures will gather.”[15]

Those being taken are going somewhere with dead bodies and vultures. This is clearly a reference to judgment; the image is certainly not of “heaven.” Commentaries will tell you this is likely the valley of Ben-Hinnom (Gehenna), the city dump used for incinerating garbage, dead animals, and executed criminals. This is also where the poorest of the poor lived, having been denied housing in the city or the outlying villages connected with the city.

“On that day” during the days of the Son of Man, they will have to choose an empire of material things or a kingdom of spiritual things. “On that night,” the consequences of that choice begin. Some will stay and live within the provision of the Kingdom; those who reject the Kingdom will live outside the Kingdom, much to their grief (weeping) and frustration (gnashing of teeth).

The parallel section of Matthew 24-25 ends with the Parable of the Sheep and Goats by concluding, “And [the goats] will go to the chastening/pruning of the Age, but the just [sheep] to the life of the Age.” (Matthew 25:46, DBH translation).  That translation suggests there is something that happens now, in this age, that is a consequence of our choice of whether we want to enter the Kingdom or not. Jesus elsewhere (Mark 9)[16] described Gehenna as a place where “the worms that eat [the corpses] do not die, and the fire is not quenched.”[17] Then he adds,  “Everyone will be salted with fire,” which seemed to include something relevant to present reality if everyone gets it.

I wonder if there is some sense in which we choose our fire. We can accept the fire of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to purify our hearts and minds – and that will be a fire. Repentance and reconciliation when we have sinned against others; practicing humility; embracing truth even if we don’t like it; extending grace even when we don’t want to; practicing the sacrificial lifestyle of agape love; being relentlessly honoring and kind. That will burn through wood, hay and stubble like a fire.  

Or… we can endure the wages of sin, reaping the consequences of sinful choices as we weep and grind our teeth. We can be the prodigal stuck in a sin-filled pig sty eating pig food until we come to our senses. That, too, is a fire. Everyone will be salted with fire.

Lk 18:1 Then Jesus told them a parable to show them they should always pray and not lose heart.

They need this right now. Following Jesus is going to be hard. Remember, they will be longing for a glimpse of God at work, to feel God’s presence, to know in the midst of trials that God is with them and for them. History tells us (and the parallel passages break it down more) how brutal life was for the Jewish people leading up to the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70: wars, famine, persecution, natural disasters. For Jewish people following Jesus, they are going to suffer for being Jewish and for following Jesus. Almost all of the disciples will be killed for their faith. They are going to need hope.

  He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. There was also a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

 For a while he refused, but later on he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, yet because this widow keeps on bothering me (“gives me a black eye”), I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out by her unending pleas.’ “

And the Lord said, “Listen to what [even an] unrighteous judge says! How much more will God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night.[18] [Like a farmer waiting for a ripe harvest, he will not delay long[19] to help them when the harvest time has arrived]. I tell you, he will then vindicate them speedily.[20]

 Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes,[21] will he find [the kind of persistent] faith(fullness) in this land[22] that trusts God to [bring justice and vindicate his people]?”

“To show them they should always pray and not lose heart.” The lesson of the parable is not that God is reluctant to be bothered with our needs, so we should keep pulling on his arm going, “Dad, dad, hey dad, daddaddaddaddad” until he annoyingly yanks his arm away and says, “WHAT!?!?” His point is that if an unjust judge would answer the request of a widow he doesn't even know, how much more will a loving, righteous, generous God hear the prayers of his children?

Have times been tough throughout history for followers of Jesus? Have there been times when we have been tempted to lose heart, to wonder why on earth God is not showing up NOW in ways we want God to show up? Will we contribute to the persistent faith(fullness) in our land that trusts God to bring justice, to be faithful, to never leave or forsake us?”

Can we live in prayer-filled hope? The whole section we read this morning tells a crucial message: the Kingdom has arrived; Jesus is Lord; don’t lose hope. Keep praying. Stay in “constant involvement with God as we interpret and deal with the world in which we live.”[23]

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Romans 12:12)

_________________________________________________________________

[1]  “It echoes Elisha’s healing of a Gentile (2 Kgs 5:1–19a), which Jesus notes at the beginning of his ministry.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[2] As noted in the NIV Women’s Study Bible

[3] NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible

[4] HELPS Word-studies

[5]  ESV Global Study Bible. “They all had faith to be healed but only one out of the ten turned back to thank the Lord… Your faith has made you well” suggests that whereas the nine were cleansed from leprosy, the tenth was also saved from sin!” (Believers Bible Commentary)

[6] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[7] Asbury Bible Commentary

[8]  Now, “The kingdom of God is a spiritual reality present within the Christian believer and within the community of the Church.”  (Orthodox Study Bible)

[9] Check out Adam Clarke’s commentary on Matthew 24. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/acc/matthew-24.html

[10]  Jesus constantly references “this generation,” and it’s…that generation J Matthew 24:34  “Truly, I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”  Matthew 11:16 (cf. Luke 7:31) “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates.” Matthew 12:39 (cf. Mark 8:12; Luke 11:29) “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Matthew 12:41 “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it…  Matthew 12:42 “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it….”Matthew 12:45 “Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.” Matthew 16:4 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign…” Matthew 17:17 (Mark 9:19; Luke 9:41) “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? ” Matthew 23:36 “Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” Luke 11:50-52 “…so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.”

[11] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament

[12] ‘Notice that in this passage, the "coming" of the "son of man" is not a coming here, but rather a coming before the throne of God in heaven: he is "presented" before God and found worthy of authority. The “coming” described in Daniel 7 is not a descent or “return” from heaven to earth, but the opposite: the “son of man” is carried by clouds into heaven and enters into the holy presence of God, whereupon he receives an eternal kingdom.’ (“What Is The Coming Of The Son Of Man? https://www.mercyonall.org/posts/what-is-the-coming-of-the-son-of-man)

[13] I like David Bentley Hart’s translation: “For sin’s wages are death, but God’s bestowal of grace is the life of the Age in Anointed, Jesus Christ.”

[14] “Sometimes a reference is supposed to the eagle-standards of Rome. (Comp. Deuteronomy 28:49-52; John 11:48.) This is very possible especially as the Jews were very familiar with the Roman eagle, and so strongly detested it that the mere erection of the symbol in Jerusalem was sufficient to lash them into insurrection (Jos. Antt. xvii. 6, § 3).” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)

[15] We find this phrase in Matthew 24 also, which concludes by saying “this generation will not pass away” before seeing the signs of the Messiah. As the Good News translation puts it, “Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died.” 

[16] See notes from that sermon here: https://www.clgonline.org/sermonblog/2023/12/10/harmony-53-who-is-the-greatest-mark-933-50-matthew-181-14-luke-946-50-171-3?rq=salted%20with%20fire

[17] Isaiah 66

[18] Revelation 6:9-11

[19] “In James 5:7 it is applied to the husbandman waiting for harvest. Here it is applied to God’s…coming to the help of tried saints.” (Expositor’s Greek Testament)

[20] Habakkuk 2:3 “For the vision points ahead to a time I have appointed; it testifies regarding the end, and it will not lie. Even if there is a delay, wait for it. It is coming and will come without delay.”

[21] “This probably refers to the approaching destruction of Jerusalem - the coming of the Messiah, by his mighty power, to abolish the ancient dispensation and to set up the new.” (Barnes’ Notes On The Bible)

[22] “The discussion had particular reference to their trials and persecutions in that land. This question implies that "in" those trials many professed disciples might faint and turn back.” (Barnes’ Notes On The Bible) 

[23] Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide To The Parables of Jesus, by Klyne Snodgrass

Harmony #35: Faith, Frailty And Miracles

As Jesus traveled to Cana (the village in Galilee where He transformed the water into fine wine), he was met by a government official, a Gentile, from Herod’s court. This man had heard a rumor that Jesus had left Judea and was heading to Galilee, and he came in desperation begging for Jesus’ help because his young son was near death.

 He was fearful that unless Jesus would go with him to Capernaum (20 miles away), his son would have no hope.

 Jesus said, ”My word is not enough; you people only believe when you see miraculous signs and wonder.”[1]

The official replied, “Sir, this is my son; please come with me before he dies.”

 Jesus said, “Go home. Your son will live.”

He believed the word of Jesus and returned to his home. Before he reached his village, his servants met him on the road celebrating his son’s miraculous recovery.

The official asked, “What time did this happen?”

His servants replied, “Yesterday about one o’clock in the afternoon.”

At that moment, it dawned on the father the exact time that Jesus spoke the words, “He will live.” After that, he believed; and when he told his family about his amazing encounter with this Jesus, they believed too. This was the second sign Jesus performed when He came back to Galilee from Judea.

Jesus led His followers to Jerusalem where they would celebrate a Jewish feast together. In Jerusalem they came upon a pool by the sheep gate surrounded by five covered porches. In Hebrew this place is called Bethesda. Crowds of people lined the area, lying around the porches.

All of these people were disabled in some way; some were blind, lame, paralyzed, or plagued by diseases; and they were waiting for the waters to move.[2] They believed a heavenly messenger came to stir the water in the pool. Whoever reached the water first and got in would be healed of his or her disease.”[3]

In the crowd, Jesus noticed one particular man who had been living with his disability for 38 years. He knew this man had been waiting here a long time.

Jesus said to the disabled man,  “Do you want to be healed?”[4]

The man replied, “Kind Sir, I wait, like all of these people, for the waters to stir. But I cannot walk. If I am to be healed in the waters, someone must carry me into the pool. Without a helping hand, someone else beats me to the water’s edge each time it is stirred.”

 Jesus replied, “Stand up, carry your mat, and walk. ”At the moment Jesus uttered these words, the man was healed—he stood and walked for the first time in 38 years. But this was the Sabbath Day; and any work, including carrying a mat, was prohibited on this day.

The Jewish Leaders said to the man who had been healed, “Must you be reminded that it is the Sabbath? You are not allowed to carry your mat today!”

The formerly disabled man replied, “The man who healed me gave me specific instructions to carry my mat and go.”

 “Who is the man who gave you these instructions?” The Jewish leaders asked,  “How can we identify Him?” The man genuinely did not know who it was that healed him. In the midst of the crowd and the excitement of his renewed health, Jesus had slipped away. Some time later, Jesus found him in the temple and again spoke to him.

”Take a look at your body; it has been made whole and strong. So avoid a life of sin, so that nothing worse will happen to you.” The man went immediately to tell the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the mysterious healer. So they began pursuing and attacking Jesus because He performed these miracles on the Sabbath.

But Jesus said to them, “My Father is at work. So I, too, am working.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 

As I said last week, I think the main purpose of these miracles is to show the deity of Jesus. In the verses that follow this passage, Jesus and the Pharisees have it out about this issue. Today I am going to use these miracles to look at four topics embedded in these miracle stories. I think you will find that I’m only scratching the surface, and I encourage you to read, pray, and meditate on this passage on your own.

God’s good law was never meant to hinder or obscure grace.

The Pharisees completely ignore the lame man’s comments about his healing. All they see is that Jesus broke the law – specifically, their traditions added to the laws that defined how to use God’s law on their terms rather than God’s terms.[1] Jesus heals a man who had been sick for apparently decades, and they don’t realize they are in the presence of the Lord of both the Sabbath and of sickness. All they can say is, “How dare you help him on God’s day. You are working!”

We must be careful. Like the Pharisees, we can create our own set of laws that add to the Bible’s teaching and then use our standard as a measure of not just our righteousness, but the righteousness of those around us. If we begin to so value our additional moral definitions and constraints that we can’t see the goodness of God at work, we are in trouble.

I don't mean we should discard God’s good Law as it applies to us today. Jesus came to fulfill or perfect the moral heart of the Law (Matthew 5:17). The Law is a good thing when rightly understood and followed (it’s a schoolmaster, says Paul[5]), but it’s not the ultimate thing. It is meant to guide us toward a Savior.

So the Law is for our good and God’s glory. If we use it to undermine our good or obscure God’s glory, we have misunderstood the Law. We have to be really careful that we don’t add to it and by so doing make it something it was not meant to be. There’s a point where Jesus says of the Sabbath, “You thought you were made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for you.”[6] As in, you missed the point of this Law.

In the situation with the lame man, Jesus did not break the law of God. He revealed the heart of God. In so doing, he broke an add-on that should not have been added on. The Pharisees heard “work on the Sabbath” rather than “lame man made whole.” Norma McCorvey (of Roe v Wade) came to Jesus while smoking with a pro-life dude in a parking lot. The Pharisee hears “smoking”; grace hears “came to Christ.”

Jesus responds to both our faith and our frailty.

I know we talked about this last Sunday. It’s not my fault that the next stories just keep making the same point. I had a list of six different incidents last week in which faith and frailty were both on display. Here’s two more.

The royal official sought Jesus and asked for his help. When Jesus told him that his son would be okay, it seems that the best translation would be to say the official trusted his word. He had faith in Jesus’ power, which was at least a start. After he found out about his son’s healing, he ‘believed’ again, but this time he and his entire household appear to believe Jesus was Lord. He went from believing in Jesus as healer to believing in Jesus as Lord. 

The lame man didn’t even know who Jesus was. This man made no cry for help.[7] He didn't grab Jesus and say, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" like the blind men did. When Jesus asked if he wanted to be healed, he basically dodged the question (more on that later). The text doesn't record that he ever worshipped Jesus as a result of being healed, yet Jesus healed him, encouraged him, and equipped him to give a testimony.

If you wonder if you have enough faith for God to act on your behalf, take heart. Don’t assume that God has given up on you, even if other people have – or if you have. Pray; ask God to move and work in you to build your faith, follow the disciplines that the Bible says will strengthen the faith you have been given (prayer, scripture reading, obedience, fellowship with God and others), but don’t forget - God moves in in our faith and in our frailty. He brings us life and hope not because we are strong enough and good enough, but because He is.

“Do you want to get well?” is a question we must all answer.

The Bible does not unpack the lame man’s personality or life story, but that has not stopped commentators from speculating for 2,000 years J Many have offered the following observations, and my thoughts will build on this.

·      The rabbis said, "The sick arises not from sickness, until his sins be forgiven."[8] Clearly Jesus didn’t think that was always the case, as this is the first time we see Jesus mention sickness in connection with sin. When Jesus told the lame man to avoid sin so that nothing worse would happen to him – something he doesn’t say to anyone else he healed - it makes me wonder if this man chose to do something sinful that made him lame. If so, that’s a stigma that will follow you.

·      Interestingly, he was probably taken care of decently by the Jewish community. A story in the Talmud gives us some insight[9]:

"A beggar once came to Rava who asked him 'What do your meals usually consist of?' 'Plump chicken and matured wine' answered the beggar. 'Do you not consider this a burden on the community?' asked Rava. The beggar retorted: 'I do not take from them – I take what God provides.' At that moment Rava's sister, who had not seen him for 13 years, appeared bringing him a fat chicken and matured wine. 'Just what I told you!' said the beggar."

That story is one of many in Jewish literature that captures some of the tension in the Jewish community, God commanded them to take care of the poor and lame; sometimes they did a bad job (read the Old Testament prophets), but sometimes they took care of them so well that it was advantageous to be poor or lame, and the broader community became resentful.

·      When Jesus asked if he wanted to be healed, many commentators note that the lame man dodged the question.[10] He didn’t say ‘yes’.  He basically responded, “I don’t have any friends.” Perhaps he has given up hope; perhaps he’s actually not ready to be healed. Either way, after decades of being lame, he’s at a public site used by Jews and Gentiles as they await an event more based on superstition than anything else. He has no family or friends who care enough to get him to the front of the line. That’s not a good sign.  

James Baldwin wrote, “Nothing is more desirable than to be released from an affliction, but nothing is more frightening than to be divested of a crutch.”  Why? Because with great healing comes great responsibility (sorry, Spider-Man.).

·      If he became well, the community provision would go away.

·      He couldn’t complain about his circumstances.

·      He couldn’t resent those who didn’t care enough to help him into the water.

·      He may need to address sin in his life (if that’s what’s going on here).[11]

·      Perhaps the pity of others mattered more to him than he cared to admit.

Jesus’ question is loaded with insight into human nature. It reminds me a bit of God’s question to Adam and Eve:  “Where are you?”[12] I can envision Adam thinking, “Where am I!?!? Hiding from… oh. I’m hiding from you. What have I done?” If my reading of the lame man is correct, I suspect this question was meant to take the man into the rabbit hole of his own heart and mind. “Do I want to be healed?!?! Of course I…well…? How on earth is that not an easy answer?”

 If we aren’t careful, we can begin to want to keep our sickness.

·      Have you ever avoided doing something you didn’t want to by stretching that cold or flu out one more day?

·      Have you ever used a stressful day at work to get out of some chore at home that you could have done?

·      I found pretty quickly that “I had a heart attack” was a really easy way to not do something I could do because everybody will give me the space. 

·      Have you ever used something from your past as a crutch, a way to justify something you are doing now that you know you should change? (“I know I’m really fixated on money and things, but I grew up poor!” ) And you like being able to justify, so you avoid prayer, counseling – you know, the things that might help.

·      Have you found that the attention and care you get when life is not going well has started to translate into life never going well because you’re afraid that you won’t get the same attention and care?

If we are not careful, our physical, spiritual, or emotional illnesses can become such a core part of our identity that we can’t imagine life without it – and aren’t sure we want to imagine life without it. I am not saying we will automatically do that, or there’s not times that life is relentlessly hard. I’m saying we have to be careful.

Sometimes, we don’t really want to get well because where or who we are feels like home, or we have learned how to leverage our inability or brokenness or weakness to our favor. Being healed will involve an upsetting of the status quo. It may even mean we have to take ownership of some things in our life that had been out of our control.

A practical example: I have dealt with tiredness for years since my heart attack. At times, it was significant enough that my productive time of day was over by noon. I had to nap for hours, and my concentration when I was awake wasn’t good. If I avoided napping, it didn’t help, because I was miserably tired. So, the rhythm of my life changed. It had to. I didn’t like that rhythm, but I learned to be comfortable in it.

A couple months ago, I began to have trouble napping. I just wasn’t as tired as I used to be. Then I got some new meds for a different issue, and my sleepiness went away even more. You’d think this was good news, but it was unsettling. I had my schedule figured out. Now, suddenly, there might be hours more per day where I was not sleepy, and what would I do with my time? And I had started to like a couple hours of downtime. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be less sleepy. It took a while to adjust.

A more serious example: I want to be free of self-righteousness. I can get into the habit of seeing the headlines of the scandalous things that happen to other pastors, and I can adopt the attitude of the Pharisee: “Thank God I’m not like that.”[13] I want to be free of that. But…..I deal with a fair amount of self-doubt and self-criticism. And it’s in those moments of self-righteousness that I feel good about myself comparatively. It’s my time to pat myself on the back. Do I want to be healed? Yes? No? (Just so you know, this issue has been added to my prayers. “Help me be free of self-righteousness. Help me want to be free.”)

Jesus is offering an observation that is of eternal importance then and now: some people love their sin so much that they would rather remain spiritually sick than be made well. “Do you want to get well?” is a question that must be answered honestly.

·      Do you want your marriage to be better even if that means when Jesus begins to heal the sinful dysfunction that you bring to it, you might have to do the hard work of repentance, and counseling, and accountability?

·      Do you want Jesus to heal you of your addictions even if the means he uses include rehab and accountability?

·      Do you want Jesus to fix your relationship with your kids (or parents, or family, or friends) even if that means owning the damage you cause with your sinful words and attitude and doing the hard work of character development?

·      Do you want Jesus to free you of that anger, that lust, that pride, that bitterness that has been such a close friend for so long?

·      Do you want Jesus to free you from constantly living in fear that the sky is falling because of whatever the current culture war is in the headlines?

If you go to Jesus and he heals you, you are surrendering the right to always and relentlessly blame your kids, your parents, your spouse, your family of origin, the economy, your friends and use them as excuses for what you give yourself permission to do.[14] You may need to address the fallout from sins others have committed against you and/or the fallout from the sin you have done to others. It will be disruptive and unsettling. Do you want to be healed?

What I love about Jesus is that he healed the man even though Jesus got a somewhat evasive answer. I wonder if the question was meant to challenge something in the mindset of the lame man.  Almost as if Jesus was going to not only heal his lameness, but he was going to begin a process in the lame man to confront his heart. In my imagination, I can see this man leaving healed (yay!) while also hearing Jesus’ question in his mind. “Do I want to be healed?” He has to challenge himself. Maybe he didn’t. And if that ‘s the case, and he’s honest, there is healing on the other side of that of a different kind.

God intends for our past to point others to Jesus.

Jesus told the lame man to pick up his bed and walk. What better conversation starter was there to point toward Jesus?  I can see people who knew him saying, “What on earth happened? How is this possible?” It’s a guaranteed way for this formerly lame man to point to Jesus. That now unnecessary bed was meant to be a sign pointing to Jesus, an opportunity for others to hear about what Jesus can do – and so point to the Jesus as Lord.

We don’t carry our beds, but we have equivalent opportunities. One of the best ways to point toward the awesome majesty of Jesus is to let people see what God has done in our lives. It’s one thing to say that Jesus saves and heals; it’s quite another to show that Jesus does these things.

·      People need to know that God can deliver from pornography – which means people like you have to tell them how he delivered you.

·      People need to know that God can heal and transform people with destructive personalities and habits– which means people like you have to tell them how God has healed or is healing you from your destructive personality and habits.

·      People need to know that arrogant, judgmental fools can be refined and matured – which means people like you have to tell them how he has turned or is turning the arrogant, judgmental fool that you were into a humble, grace-filled ambassador for Jesus.

·      People need to know that those who are spiritually dead in their sins - hurting those around them, imploding through bad choices, ignoring or shaking their fist at God – can be forgiven, restored, and transformed into the likeness of Christ. And that means people like you have to tell them about you.

An author named Asia Mouzone said, "Never silence your testimony. It's meant for someone else; not you." God’s plan is for even the most broken parts of our past to point toward Jesus. ‘Believing’ and ‘trusting’ includes surrendering our shame, our guilt, our pride to the only one who can heal us.

The Father is at work. We are meant to take up the beds to which our brokenness had condemned us and carry it with us to a world that needs to see that Jesus saves.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

[1] “Jesus detects in the royal official a faith that desires a miraculous cure but that does not truly trust him.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible) 

[2] “The temple authorities undoubtedly did not approve—after all, sacred pools at healing shrines characterized Greek cults like that of Asclepius—but popular religion often ignores religious contradictions that seem clearer to official religious leaders.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary of the New Testament)

[3] I changed the order of this verse for our reading to make it more clear that this is what the people believed; this does not mean it was true. “The material about an angel of the Lord stirring the water and bringing healing appears in some early manuscripts, but not the earliest. Thus v. 4 should not be considered part of Scripture. Still, v. 7 (which is in all manuscripts) shows that people believed something like what v. 4 reports.” (ESV Global Study Bible) “See NIV text note, which includes text that does not appear in the oldest and best manuscripts; but v. 7 shows that it matches a popular belief at the time. Intermittent springs that fed the pools may have stirred the water. But how the pool worked is not essential to the story.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[4] “Sadly, some may prefer to remain infirm in order to have license to complain, to avoid responsibility for their lives, or to continue exciting the pity of others.” (Orthodox Study Bible)

[5] Galatians 3:24-27.

[6] Mark 2:27

[7] “It is not stated that faith in Jesus was required of the man, as was the case in many of Jesus’ miracles (Matt. 9:22; 13:58; Mark 6:5, 6). The focus here is on Jesus’ power.”( ESV Reformation Study Bible)

[8] Barclay’s Bible Commentary

[9] “Begging and Beggars,” http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0003_0_02291.html

[10] Other commentators see his response as one of faith, but he had no idea who he was talking to, so that doesn’t make sense to me.

[11] Commentators have different opinions on this. That seems to be implied by the text. However, Jesus may be telling him that if he thought being physically sick was bad, it was nothing compared to the sickness and result of sin. Or both J

[12] Genesis 3:9

[13] Luke 8:9-14

[14] I am NOT saying these things have no influence on us. They absolutely do. I’m talking about settling into a place where we avoid asking God for healing, and then using our agency to follow the Holy Spirit’s lead to get the help we need. 

Harmony #34: No Faith So Feeble (Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56; Matthew 9:18-26)

When Jesus had crossed again in a boat and returned to the other side, a large crowd gathered around and welcomed him because they were all waiting for him by the sea. Then one of the synagogue rulers named Jairus came up because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying.

When he saw Jesus, he respectfully bowed low before him and fell at his feet. He asked him urgently, “My little daughter is near death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be healed and live.” Jesus went with him, and a large crowd followed and pressed around him.

Now a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years but could not be healed by anyone. She had endured a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all that she had.

("Take of the gum of Alexandria the weight of a silver coin; of alum the same; of crocus the same. Let them be bruised together, and given in wine to the woman that has an issue of blood. If this does not benefit, take of Persian onions three pints; boil them in wine, and give her to drink, and say, 'Arise from thy flux.'

If this does not cure her, set her in a place where two ways meet, and let her hold a cup of wine in her right hand, and let some one come behind and frighten her, and say, ' Arise from thy flux.' If these do no good, other doses, over ten in number, are prescribed, among them this:

Let them dig seven ditches, in which let them burn some cuttings of vines, not yet four years old. Let her take in her hand a cup of wine, and let them lead her away from this ditch, and make her sit down over that. And let them remove her from that, and make her sit down over another, saying to her at each remove, 'Arise from thy flux!'"[1])

Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. (In addition, Leviticus 15:25-27 indicates that the woman would have been ceremonially unclean because of her illness. She wasn’t supposed to be around people. She was isolated, alone, and desperate.)

When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched the edge of his cloak, for she kept saying, “If only I touch his clothes, I will be healed.” (She likely shared the superstition, common in her day, that the power of a person was transmitted through his clothing.[2])

(“She dimly believes that, somehow or other, this miracle-working Rabbi will heal her, but the cure is to be a piece of magic, secured by material contact of her finger with His robe. She has no idea that Christ’s will, or His knowledge, much less His love, has anything to do with it.”[3])

But at once the bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.[4]  Jesus knew at once that power to heal proceeding from him had gone forth. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” (He did it that the woman might confess, so that the power of her faith and the greatness of the miracle might be seen to the praise of God.[5])

When they all denied it, Peter and the disciples said to him, “Master, the crowds are surrounding you and pressing against you and you say, ‘Who touched me?’ “ But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I know that power to heal has gone forth from me.” He looked around to see who had done it.

 (Jesus wanted to find her, not to rebuke her, but because she needed to know that it was not her superstitious belief that brought about her healing.[6]) Then the woman approached, with dread and trembling, knowing what had happened to her.

 (She may have dreaded His anger, for according to the Law (Leviticus 15:19) the touch of one, afflicted as she was, caused ceremonial defilement until the evening.[7] But Jesus makes the woman clean by his power instead of becoming unclean himself.)

She came and fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed. Jesus said to her, (using a title he uses nowhere else in Scripture), “Have courage, daughter! Your faith and trust have made you well. Go, enter into peace,[8] and be healed of your disease.”

(“He put an end to her fear and gives no cause for her conscience to be harmed, as if she had stolen the gift. He corrects her assumption that she has no right to be seen, and he shows her faith and trust to all to encourage others to emulate her faith.”)[9]

 (“He does not say, ‘Understand Me, put away you false notion of healing power residing in My garment’s hem, or I will not heal you.’ He says, ‘Do you think that it is through your finger on My robe? Then, through your finger on My robe it shall be. According to your faith, be it unto you.’[10])

And the woman was healed from that hour. (Since Jesus, a rabbi, has publicly declared to all that she is healed and cleansed, she can truly be part of the community again.) While Jesus was still speaking, someone from the synagogue ruler’s house came and said to Jairus, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.”

But when Jesus overheard this, he told him, “Do not be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” Now when he came to the house of the synagogue ruler, Jesus did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James, and the child’s father and mother.

When Jesus entered the ruler’s house he saw the flute players and the disorderly crowd. There was noisy confusion and (professional mourners, who were paid to attend funerals and express grief over the loss of a loved one). They were mourning for her, weeping and wailing loudly. Jesus said to them, “Why are you distressed and weeping?

Stop your weeping and go away, for the girl is not dead but asleep.” (“Just like he asked ‘Who touched me,’ so the woman could profess her healing before everyone, he said ‘She is sleeping’ so the spectators might testify that she was dead.’”[11] Clever.)

They began making fun of him, (insisting she was indeed dead), because they knew that she was dead. (Then Jesus, who was not interested in a grand spectacle of healing), put them all outside and he took the child’s father and mother and his own companions and went into the room where the child was.

 Then, gently taking the child by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Child, arise.” Her spirit returned, and she got up immediately and  began to walk around. They were completely astonished at this.

But Jesus strictly ordered that no one should know about this, and told them to give her something to eat (as is recorded happening after Lazarus and Jesus were raised, as if eating proved they were really back[12] and not an apparition[13]). And the news of this spread throughout that region.

Healing Two Blind Men & a Mute Demon-Possessed Man (Mt 9:27-34)

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, shouting, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” (They remembered the prophets talked about the descendent of Jesse, David’s father( Isaiah 11:1) who would bring healing (Isaiah 42:6-7).)[14] When he went into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.”[15]And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly warned them, on pain of his deep displeasure if they did not obey,[16]“See that no one knows about this.” (But the men whose faith brought them to Christ for healing did not stay with him to learn obedience.)[17] 

So they went out and spread the news about him throughout that entire region. As they were going away, a man who could not talk and was demon-possessed was brought to him. After the demon was cast out, the man who had been mute spoke.[18] The crowds were amazed and said, “Never has anything like this been seen in Israel!”  

(The Pharisees could not deny the reality of the miraculous works Jesus had done, so they attributed his powers to Satan.)[19] They said, “By the ruler of demons he casts out demons.” 

(It’s a foolish and shallow accusation. “Not only did he cast out demons, he also purified lepers, raised dead people, reined in the sea, canceled sins, proclaimed the Kingdom and approached the Father. Demons would never choose to do these things and would not ever be able to accomplish them.”[20])

There’s a lot that could be addressed in these incidents. I’m going to have to pick and choose.

I have often noted that I believe many of the physical stories in the Old Testament (Old Covenant with Moses) are meant to point us toward spiritual realities in the New Testament (New Covenant in Jesus). So, the Promised Land is now the Kingdom of Heaven, etc. Many of the early church fathers saw in the actions of Jesus a similar dynamic. Real things happened to real people, but Jesus was making a spiritually significant point (which to them explains who, why, and how he healed).

• Hilary: “The ruler is understood to be the law.”

• Augustine: “The daughter signifies the Jewish people”

• Cromatius: The entire mystery of our faith is prefigured in the girl: raised from spiritual death to life and immediately begin taking communion.

• Chromatius: The mourners are the synagogue rulers.

In other words, this miracle was to show that the law was not strong enough to bring life to God’s people. They needed Jesus. Thus, the faith referenced is faith that Jesus brings salvation. When this happens, the spiritually dead come back to life.

• Jerome and Ambrose: the bleeding woman is the assembly of God gathered from the nations.

• Augustine: the bleeding woman “signifies the church of the Gentiles.”

In their reading, the Gentiles have been spiritually unclean for a long time. The Jewish people had kept themselves separate and pushed the Gentiles away from their temple and community. Now, Jesus is blessing the presence of Gentiles in his Kingdom. He has healed them and saved them. They may enter into his peace.

There may be something to this approach in that there’s no reason to believe Jesus wasn’t doing things that were more significant than just what happened in the moment. Having said that, I’m not convinced that’s the primary reason he did them, and I think it’s possible to read into these events in a way that makes points that are not wrong – the Gentiles were invited into the Kingdom – but goes beyond Jesus’ intention.

So, file the symbolic approach under “Interesting” as we approach it more literally and compare the record of all the miraculous things we are seeing to see what we learn about Jesus and our faith.

First, the miracles the Gospel writers record tend to be times that make it clear that Jesus is the Messiah the Old Testament prophets predicted. Jesus doesn’t just wave a magic wand for fun when He is doing miracles. He’s making a point by establishing his credentials. I’ve mentioned this quite a few times in our series so far. Jesus is doing things that hyperlink to the Old Testament prophets and their prophecies of a coming Messiah.

Second, the Gospel writers make it really, really hard to create a template for how, when and why Jesus did miracles. The more miracles we see Jesus do, the more I will probably come back to this.

• Disciples in the boat: Faith/trust full of fear and doubt. The disciples were amazed when what Jesus did actually worked. It reminds me of the man who said, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”[21]

• Demoniac: The demons inside of him had knowledge of who Jesus was, but certainly not faith/trust. The Bible does not record what the possessed man thought about Jesus.

• Bleeding woman: Her (apparently) superstitious faith focused on her healing, not the healer. She thought he could do it, but the text does not record that she had faith because she thought he was the Messiah.

• Jairus: He had faith/trust in Jesus’ power or miracle-working ability; there is no record that he though of him as the Messiah or followed him. Jesus tells him to have faith, but unlike the blind men, Jairus does not respond that he actually does. Like the disciples, he was also completely astonished when it worked.

• Little girl: She was dead, so…

• Blind men: They had faith/trust that the prophesied Son of David could heal them. They are the closest in all of these incidents of people who believed Jesus was the prophesied Messiah.

• Mute man: We don’t know the status of his faith/trust. Other people had to bring him, and we don’t know if they thought of Jesus as the Messiah or just a healer. Nevertheless, Jesus freed him from demonic possession.

Jesus does not use a template. You can’t magic or manipulate Jesus. Please, be free of the shame and legalism that comes from believing that if you scrunched your face and believed harder, God would do more for you. If that’s where you are coming from, everything that goes wrong is because you or others are weak, and everything that goes well is because you or others are strong. As if God will only work if you earn his attention/care or you’ve reached enough spiritual maturity to deserve his blessing.

The Bible is clear, again and again, that the faith we have is a gift; it’s not something we’ve grown on our own power.

1 Corinthians 12:4,9 “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them…to another faith[22]by the same Spirit… All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” 

Hebrews 12:2 “…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”

John 6:29 “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe[23] in Him whom He sent.’"

 Romans 12:3 tells us that God has given every person "a measure of faith." 

You don’t need to have a greater measure of faith than God has given to you. You can’t. I suspect that the faith Jesus commends in the passages today has to do with how people acted on the faith/belief they had been given. It has something to do with doing in response to believing with whatever measure had been given to them. I appreciate this summary from a commentator named Mclaren:

“There can be no faith so feeble that Christ does not respond to it. The most ignorant, self-regarding, timid trust may unite the soul to Jesus Christ. To desire is to have; and ‘whosoever will, may take of the water of life freely.’ If you only come to Him, though He have passed, He will stop.

If you come trusting and yet doubting, He will forgive the doubt and answer the trust. If you come to Him, knowing but that your heart is full of evil which none save He can cure, and putting out a lame hand-or even a tremulous finger-tip-to touch His garment, be sure that anything is possible rather than that He should turn away your prayer, or His mercy from you.”[24]

Let me mess up the template even more. The apostles did miracles, but we know of no instances in scripture where apostles used healing for each other. Paul didn't heal a fellow traveler (“I have left in Miletus sick”)[25], and rather than heal Timothy he tells him to take a little wine for his stomach (1 Timothy 5:23). Paul talks about an infirmity he had that he asked God to heal, and it was not healed. Paul did not beat himself up for a lack of faith; he saw in this a reminder from God that God’s grace was sufficient.[26]  

Perhaps the early church fathers were on to something important in their symbolic readings. In addition to establishing Jesus as the Messiah, perhaps Jesus did physical healings as a way of pointing to power he had to heal people sick and dead in their sin and bring them back to spiritual life. Maybe that was always the point; “by grace are you saved through faith.”[27]This was always the primary message of the apostles, whose miracles established their credentials as ambassadors for a spiritual Kingdom on behalf of Jesus.

 Bottom line: I wonder if the faith/trust Jesus is affirming here has a lot to do with running to God and not away from Him in the midst of the storms of life.[28] The disciples themselves will learn that not every storm in life ends calmly on this side of heaven; all but one were martyred. John the Baptist is about to find that out for himself. And when John asks, “Are you sure you’re the one?” Jesus simply points to his resume. Yes, he is.

An important aspect of faith is believing that, perhaps in this world but surely in the next, God will calm any storm that comes our way. Jesus has shown that all things are under His feet. To quote Tim Keller, there will come a day when all the bad that has been done to us will be undone.

Third, the compassion of Jesus should inform us: “Daughter.” “Child.” This is emotional and relational language. Jesus cares. I believe these miracles were intended primarily to establish that Jesus was, in fact, the long awaited Messiah that the prophets had foretold. In his tenderness, you see the compassion, the gentleness, the love of God on display through Jesus.

Yes, there are other times (particularly with the religious hypocrites) when he was blunt and confrontational. We will get to those incidents. But here is gentle Jesus on full display. People aren’t tools or stepping stones or inconveniences or pawns in his chess game or chemicals running around in a bag.[29] People are profoundly important. He addressed a woman he had never met as his daughter. The young girl is treated as equally important as the temple leader. The individuals in the kingdom matter to the King.

Fourth, notice that what begins with new life culminates in new testimony. For the disciples, it was their mission and lives. For the demoniac, the bleeding woman, the little girl, the blind and the mute, it was telling their neighbors.

It’s the time of year when graduates are pondering or panicking about what they are going to do with their life. What’s their purpose? Why are they hear? How can they live a life with meaning?

I can tell you right now the purpose of your life. Well, a purpose, but it’s more important than all the others. Tell the people around you who Jesus is, and what Jesus has done or you. You can do that with a degree or without, in any vocation, married or single, rich or poor.

You can fail on all the lofty earthly goals you had when you were young and still live a rich, profoundly meaningful life that ripples into eternity. Tell people who Jesus is and what he has done for you.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Quoted from Lightfoot by Geikie, "Life and Words of Christ." Vincent’s Word Studies

[2] Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[3] MacLaren’s Exposotion

[4] Like the demoniac, both stories deal with restoring peace and wholeness to those afflicted in ways that made them ceremonially unclean social outcasts.

[5] Barnes' Notes on the Bible

[6] Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[7] Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

[8] This is not merely “go with a blessing,” but enter into peace, “as the future element in which thy life shall move.” Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

[9] An edited-for-brevity quote from the early church father Chrysostom.

[10] MacLaren’s Expositions

[11] Ephrem the Syrian (306-373)

[12] So noted the early church father Jerome.

[13] Ambrose (339-397)

[14] CBS Tony Evans Study Bible

[15] “According to Isaiah, the messianic age is signified when ‘the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear (Is 35:5). These healings are a sign that Jesus is the awaited Messiah, as is the use of the title Son of David by the blind men, which expresses their faith in this truth.” (Orthodox Study Bible)

[16] Adam Clarke: “He charged them severely… to roar or storm with anger… on pain of his displeasure, not to make it as yet public.”

[17] Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[18]  “Since the same ailment… appears elsewhere without suggestion of demonic activity (Mark 7:32-33), the connection presupposes a real ability Jesus had to distinguish between natural and demonic causes.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

[19] ESV Global Study Bible

[20] Chrysostom (347-407)

[21] Mark 9:24

[22] “Faith (4102/pistis) is always a gift from God, and never something that can be produced by people. In short, 4102/pistis ("faith") for the believer is "God's divine persuasion" – and therefore distinct from human belief (confidence), yet involving it. The Lord continuously births faith in the yielded believer so they can know what He prefers, i.e. the persuasion of His will (1 Jn 5:4).” (HELPS Word Studies)

[23] Vincent's Word Studies   “Faith is put as a moral act or work. The work of God is to believe. Faith includes all the works which God requires.”

[24] MacLaren’s Exposition

[25] 2 Timothy 4:20

[26] 2 Corinthians 12:9

[27] Ephesians 2:8-9

[28] https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/explore-the-bible/why-doesn-t-god-heal-every-sickness-disease-and-illness.html

[29] The view of Anthon Cashmore. https://www.informationphilosopher.com/solutions/scientists/cashmore/

Harmony #14: Mercy and Sacrifice (Mark 2:1-17; Luke 5:17-32; Matthew 9:1-13)

Healing & Forgiving a Paralytic – (Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26; Matthew 9:1-8)
Now after some days, Jesus got into a boat and crossed to the other side and came to his own town. When he returned to Capernaum, the news spread that he was at home. 

 On one of those days, while he was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem), and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 

So many gathered that there was no longer any room, not even by the door, and Jesus preached the word to them. Some men came bringing to him a paralytic, carried on a stretcher by four of them. They were trying to bring him in and place him before Jesus.  

But when they were not able to bring him in because of the crowd, they removed the roof tiles above Jesus. Then, after tearing them out, they lowered the stretcher the paralytic was lying on, right in front of Jesus. 

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Have courage son[1], your sins are forgiven.”

Time out. This guy’s friends didn’t knock a hole in the roof for him to get his sins forgiven. He was there so this miracle worker could make him walk again. Yet Jesus offers the best miracle: the forgiveness of sins.[2]

Now some of the experts in the law and the Pharisees were sitting there, turning these things over in their minds: “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 

When Jesus saw their reaction, he immediately realized in his spirit that they were contemplating such hostile thoughts, he said to them, “Why are you raising objections within yourselves and thinking such evil things in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up, take your stretcher, and walk’? 

But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—he said to the paralytic— “I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.”

I’ve noted this before, but it’s worth noting again: Physical miracles serve a greater purpose than simply the healing of the physical infirmity (though that’s also a gift of grace). Ultimately, forgiving sins is a greater act than a healing miracle (“Only God can forgive sins.”) The miracles are meant to reveal the power of God to do the greatest miracles of all in the realms we cannot see: the salvation and restoration of our hearts. Miracles confirm or affirm the Jesus is God, the Messiah, the long-awaited King and Redeemer.[3]

Immediately he stood up before them, picked up the stretcher he had been lying on, and went home in front of them all, glorifying God. Then astonishment seized them all, and they glorified God who had given such authority to men. They were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen incredible things today. We have never seen anything like this!”

No, they haven’t, but wait until they see what comes next. 

Notice their awe, though. It wasn’t that a man’s sins were forgiven. It was that he could walk again. And they glorified God “who had given such authority to men.” Glorifying God is good, but they still didn’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah. And they seem far more fascinated by the potential to have physical diseases cured than to have their sins forgiven.

So Jesus is going to make the point really clear. He’s about to transform a man whose occupation made him a social pariah—a known sinner and an associate of publicly known sinners.[4]

Calling Matthew/Levi, Eating with Sinners (Mark 2:13-17; Luke 5:27-32; Matthew 9:9-13)
Jesus went out again by the sea. The whole crowd came to him, and he taught them.  As he went along, he saw Levi, or Matthew, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth. “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him, leaving everything behind. 

Jewish people viewed tax collectors as traitors. When harvests were bad, it was not unheard of for the population of an entire village to leave town and start a village somewhere else when they heard that a tax collector was coming. Later rabbis sometimes contrasted Pharisees, as the godliest Judeans one would normally meet, with tax collectors, as the most ungodly one would normally meet.[5]

Then Levi gave a great banquet in his house for Jesus, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table eating with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 

When the experts in the law and the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they complained to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 

When Jesus heard this he said, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

So Jesus said to Matthew/Levi – while he was sitting in his tax collecting booth – “Follow me.” And Matthew did. And then threw him a banquet and invited all of his sketchy friends.

THE BANQUET

Table fellowship was an important social and even religious event. Eating with someone established a covenant of friendship, which normally also signified approval.[6] Boundaries designated who was included and excluded and outlined religious and ethical obligations toward the participants.

Within Judaism, the Pharisees were well known for the role that table fellowship played in defining their group identities. They consumed food made sacred through various ritual practices such as ceremonial washings or tithing. Participants needed a prior initiation.[7]

In Judaism a scrupulous Pharisee would not eat at the home of a common Israelite (am ha’aretz, “people of the land”), since he could not be sure that the food was ceremonially clean or that it had been properly tithed. To avoid ceremonial defilement, a guest at the home of a Pharisee would be required to wear a ritually clean garment provided by the host.[8]

THE GUESTS

"Sinners" could have just been those who did not share all the observances of the Pharisees, but it seems to be prostitutes, tax collectors, and other people with publicly bad reputations. The term “sinner” (hamartōlos) was often used by the Pharisees to point to an identifiable segment of the people who were opposed to God’s will, but “sinner” is normally used more generally to designate the person who commits acts of sin defined by the law.[9]

The derision that many felt generally for tax collectors was aggravated because they were regarded as ceremonially unclean due to their contact with Gentiles and their compromise of the Sabbath.[10]

Though eating with them entailed dangers of ceremonial defilement, Jesus and his disciples did so. He became known as "a friend of tax collectors and `sinners" (Matthew 11:19).[11] In the minds of the Pharisees, for Jesus to share a meal with these types of persons indicated that he not only included them within his own fellowship, but also that he condoned their behavior.

But that’s in the mind of the Pharisees. Jesus will clarify what’s actually going on.[12]

THE PHARISEES’ BLIND SPOT

I don’t want to completely throw the Pharisees under the bus. They were trying. If Nicodemus is any indication, there were certainly Pharisees who were sincerely dedicated to pursuing the Kingdom of Heaven. As they understood it, getting all 600+ laws right and following all the details added by tradition were the key. But…they couldn’t see the forest for all the trees.

They had lost a key aspect of the heart of God for the world as expressed in Jesus: mercy.

THE PROVERBS JESUS QUOTES

“Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do.”

Jesus' quotes about the doctor connected his healing ministry with his "healing" of sinners. The physically sick need physical healing; the sinfully sick need the spiritual healing of mercy and forgiveness.

“I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”

This is a quote from Hos. 6:6.  In the context of Hosea, God’s people were keeping up on their sacrificial duties but living terrible lives.

• Mercy here means benevolence or kindness toward others.

• Sacrifices were offerings made to God on account of sin or as an expression of thanksgiving.They were always costly, usually crops or animals. You couldn’t offer a sacrifice without being reminded of what kind of penalty sin deserved.[13]

“I desire mercy and not sacrifice” is a Hebrew way of speaking in which an order of priorities was contrasted with really stark language (like saying you have to hate your family to love God).[14] It means:

"I am more pleased with acts of benevolence and kindness than with a mere external compliance with the duties of religion."

The sense in which Jesus applies it is this:

"You Pharisees are exceedingly tenacious of the "external" duties of religion; but God has declared that he prefers benevolence or mercy to those external duties.” [15]

There is a danger revealed in this story: even those most dedicated to religious observance will fail to see their own need for healing, and thus fail to understand the mercy God has shown them and expects them to pay forward.

The Pharisees were not only in need of the Great Physician, they were nowhere near as healthy as they thought. They had missed the importance of mercy. They didn’t understand how much they themselves still needed it. Jesus was doing more than telling them to be more sympathetic to outcasts; by quoting Hosea, Jesus was connecting them with the apostates of ancient Israel whose worship God rejected.[16]This us why Jesus challenged the Pharisees to "go and learn" what it means to live out what they claim to believe about what kind of people God calls his children to be.

They were baffled that someone demonstrated mercy and compassion to such blatantly obvious sinners while dismissing the "righteous" as hypocrites because they didn't understand that how showing mercy is more important than going through the motions of ritual worship. Your hands can be the most ceremonially clean hands in the history of the world while your heart is desperately unclean.

And what ‘furniture of the heart’ do the Gospel writers spotlight in this incident? The merciful heart of Jesus for sinners that motivates him to go to them. The Pharisees were concerned about righteousness (right living) and holiness (being separate as those called out by God), but they misunderstood what that meant.

Righteousness is not just withdrawal from; it’s active engagement to.

Righteousness is not just walking from sin; it’s walking to sinners.

Holiness isn’t meant to isolate us from the world; it’s meant to preserve us as we go in to the world.

The righteous should be known for modeling Jesus-inspired mercy to the despised, the unclean, the rejected. There is something about that posture that reflects the priority of the heart. Who is today’s tax collector? Who is the person or group of people you think so unclean, so unsavory, so wrong that the best thing to do is isolate them, avoid them, and paint them in the worst light possible when we talk about them? Who are the ones we think don’t deserve the dignity of being treated as image bearers of God?

The Pharisees were known for all the outward conformity that kept them clean through avoidance and distance. They were also known for their haughtiness, isolation, and hardness. They did not understand how God intended all the ceremonial rituals they loved to remind them of their sinfulness, their need, their inability to generate their own righteousness. They were supposed to see the deep and ongoing mercy of a God who continued to offer grace and forgiveness to them. Read Galatians 3. The Law was there to identify sin and constrain its impact. The Law was inspired behavior modification in a world that desperately needed it: it told God’s people what not to do and what to do. They were saved fromand to.

Simultaneously, there had to be a system for forgiveness of sins because nobody has the power to keep the law as God intends for it to be kept. Nobody. Unfortunately, the Jewish leaders thought the solution was to just keep adding details to the Law. And over time, keeping the Law became what we now call “virtue signaling”  - publicly displaying how their personal behavior and opinions deserved the praise of people while totally missing the heart of God for all the people they were throwing under the bus.

 These distortions of what God intended for the Law are tragic, because neither Hosea nor Jesus were saying God desired mercy and NOT sacrifice. The sacrificial system was put in place by God. The Law was from God. They were good things. It was just that if doing the rituals and sacrifices did not lead to a righteous heart of mercy that guided holy hands of mercy, the sacrifices were wasted.

 There are times when the prophets told the Israelites that their sacrifices were a stench in the nostrils of God because their hypocrisy was so bad. They thought going through the motions in the areas that impressed their community would appease God.

 Nope. He wasn’t a pagan God to be bribed, and he wasn’t impressed by the pious holiness that impressed people. He was a holy God to be worshipped with heart, soul, mind and strength.[i] Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 to them. Here are some excerpts about what’s going on with God’s people from Hosea 5:

There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground… There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain… 

For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts… 

I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. 

Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream… 

Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

 God is serious about religious hypocrisy. He doesn’t want us to go through the motions of worship to Him if they are not accompanied by merciful actions to others. Both are good; both are deeply intertwined.

And then notice… Did you see how tax collectors were called out in Hosea 5? And then Jesus quotes Hosea 6 to defend feasting with a tax collector whom he had just called to be a disciple? That, friends, is called “making a point.” The God who demanded justice on oppressive taxation demonstrates through Jesus that God extends mercy toward those on whom justice was going to roll over like a river.

Sacrifice without mercy is no acceptable sacrifice. To love sinners is a better fulfilling of the law than to stand aloof from them.[17]

So, let’s note what Jesus did and didn't do by eating with sinners and scandalizing the Pharisees.

He feasted with them without fraternizing in their sins. Interesting: Jesus was without honor in his hometown, but sat in a place of honor with the despised and unclean. He didn’t help Matthew collect unjust taxes; he didn’t enable whatever it was he and the other guests were doing. He wasn’t there to tell them their lives were just fine. But he did eat a meal of friendship. They were, after all, created in God’s image, and he was there not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.[18] All of Matthew’s sinner friends were introduced to Jesus’ mercy over a good meal.

He invested relational time without compromising His integrity. Jesus wasn't worried about being made impure by being around impure people, as if sin were spiritual Covid. Granted, we have to be more careful about how easily impressionable we are because we are not God in the Flesh. Wise boundaries matter. But there is a principal here” We are not called to withdraw and circle the wagons in the face of an impure culture full of impure people. We either believe God has the power to preserve and protect the sanctity of our souls when we are on mission, or we don’t. And if we do, then we should have the boldness and peace to be sitting around tables, building friendships, investing time with those both near and far from Christ.

He affirmed people’s value as people while calling them to repentance. It is possible to simultaneously validate the worth of people as people without that meaning we have somehow affirmed everything about that person. I have had so many friends who have affirmed me as a human being - and called me to repentance in areas of my life. They love me at my worst - and hold up a mirror (uuuggghhh). We do this all the time with our friends, our family, with each other inside the church. We know what this tension is like. Surely it is possible to do that with those outside the church.  Surely we are not called to be less Christ-like when people are far from Christ.

His message of mercy was effective with those who knew they needed it. I suspect he didn’t have to tell the sinners at the banquet about their sin. I’m pretty sure they knew their reputation. If they were Jewish people living in a Jewish community, they knew. Jesus was there not to condemn them – the Law had done that part already - but to demonstrate that ‘the world through him might be saved.’[19]  

No wonder Matthew was so excited that he threw a feast (with all his ill-gotten gain, I might add). He knew what kind of guy he was. Jesus didn’t need to tell him that he needed help. But who in his adult life had shown him this kind of mercy? Who had treated him like a human being with worth? What rabbi in history had called a tax collector actively collecting taxes to be a disciple? History is not destiny when Jesus is involved.

No wonder Matthew threw a feast and invited all his sketchy friends. People long to be known and loved, and that love is felt strongest when that which is known is the worst.

What has lingered with me this week is the kindness and mercy of Jesus to those who did not expect it. Paul – who also new something about the kindness and mercy of Jesus - wrote about it later:

Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)

If we plan to call others to follow Jesus, I suspect this model ought to be formative in our plans. If God’s kindness, forbearance and patience is intended to lead people to repentance, our kindness, forbearance and patience should be on full display when we lift up Jesus to others.

 ___________________________________________________________________________________

[1] “ In the N. T., pupils or disciples are called children of their teachers, because the latter by their instruction nourish the minds of their pupils and mold their characters.” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)

[2]  “Jesus was illustrating an OT claim that human suffering rests in separation from God. Thus forgiveness is our deepest need.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[3] It’s also possible that Jesus was making a point that would have established his Messianic claims to his Jewish audience. “In the Talmud, we find a tradition that “a sick man does not recover from his sickness until all his sins are forgiven him, as it is written, ʻWho forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases” (Ps. 103:3).’ ” In another place, the rabbis appealed to Psalm 103:3–4 to explain why the prayer for forgiveness precedes the prayer for healing: “Redemption and healing come after forgiveness.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament)

[4] Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[5]  NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

[6] NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

[7] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament

[8] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament

[9]  Luke 7:36–50; Matt. 26:45

[10] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament

[11] Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[12] Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament

[13] Having something that could pay the penalty for them pointed to the great sacrifice or offering which Christ was to make for the sins of the world.

[14] Luke 14:26

[15] Barnes’ Notes On The Bible

[16] Expositor’s Bible Commentary

[17]  Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges

[18] John 3:17

[19] The Holy Spirit will do Holy Spirit work in people’s lives. Part of the mission of the Spirit is to convict the world of sin. See John 16:8.

* * * *

[i]Here are a couple other times in the Old Testament where the prophets beat the same drum about the foolishness of sacrifice when the heart and hands are compromised.

Jeremiah 6:20: “What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.”

Isaiah 1:11–15: “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations. I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.”