Life of Christ 138
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| The miracle berry |
Jesus and His Apostles
are traveling through the remote rural region along the Galilee Samaria border
in the weeks before His death. In just a few days they will travel east, and
join the caravans of Jews flowing out of Galilee along the Jordan River route
to Jerusalem for Passover.
Jesus is discussing the
case of a rich man who would not be convinced of his sin. I wrote about a
similar occasion in Life of Christ 107. Flowing from this conversation Peter
mentions that they, as Apostles, have given up everything to follow Christ.
'Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and
followed thee; what shall we have therefore?' (Matthew 19.27).
Jesus' response is that
the Apostles would receive great rewards in Heaven (Matthew 19.28), but also
here on Earth in this life. 'And every one that hath forsaken houses, or
brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for
my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold' (Matthew 19.28). A twin passage
in Luke 18 makes plain that Jesus meant prior to Heaven, 'manifold more in this
present time.'
There is, with many
people, a fear that if they commit their lives fully to the Lord He is going to
ask them to do something incredibly difficult. In essence, many people are
afraid that God will ask them to be miserable for Him. Now, it is true that God
has the right to ask me to be miserable. He created me, and thus owns me. In
addition, He redeemed me, and thus owns me twice over. But the idea that God
will spend my life in a way that makes me miserably, lonely, sad, and unhappy
is not fair to God.
It is in this context,
that of God being good to His servants both in the next life and in this one,
that the infamous story of Matthew 20.1-15 is set. This passage troubles many a
saint for it appears to make of God an unfair taskmaster. After all, the boss
pays the guy who worked one hour the same as the guy who worked twelve hours.
In other words, God will spend my life in service for Him, and reward me with parsimonious
stinginess in this life.
Does God have the right
to do that? Without equivocation, yes. But to view God that way is to view Him
unfairly. He does not withhold from us rich blessings; He bestows on us rich
blessings. It is not that God will unfairly pour out a wonderful blessing on
some guy who does not deserve it at all, since he has not served Him much.
Rather, it is that God will be so good to all of us, those who have served Him
for a long time and those who have not.
We do not serve a harsh,
unkind, unfair, cruel, stingy, taskmaster of a God. We serve a loving, kind,
gracious, generous, thoughtful, warm, giving God who loves to pour out
blessings on us – both now and later.
If you do not believe this just sit down and count your blessings. Go ahead; I dare you. It will not be
long before the grateful Christian is singing, through tears, 'God is so good,
God is so good, God is so good, He's so good to me.' Do not look in fear at
God, afraid that He will ask you to spend your life in some terribly
uncomfortable, unhappy, torturous way. 'O taste and see that the Lord is good:
blessed is the man who trusteth in him' (Psalm 34.8). Beloved, let us fix
firmly in our mind, as a permanent truth, that God is good – all the time.
In West Africa you will
find a berry that is sometimes called the miracle fruit. It is small and red,
and when eaten it changes the taste buds on your tongue for a time. Every
bitter or sour thing you eat tastes sweet instead. The New York Times said,
'The berry rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors for an hour or so,
rendering lemons as sweet as candy.'
So it is with us. When
we fix in our minds a permanent view of the goodness of God even the bad things
that happen become palatable. As we dwell upon the goodness of God we need not
fear that He will make us miserable in our service for Him. Instead, that
service becomes sweet indeed, no matter where it takes us or what it asks.
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| Matthew Henry, 1662-1714 |
Matthew Henry, the
seventeenth century Welsh preacher who is quoted in sermons more than any other
man probably, was robbed of all he possessed once. He wrote the following
reaction in his journal: 'Let me be thankful first, because I was never robbed
before; second, because, although they took my purse, they did not take my
life; third, because, although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth,
because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.'
God does not ask His
servants to give up everything, endure a life of misery, and then walk on
golden streets. That is the devil's lie. God asks His servants to give up
everything, yes, and He offers us Heaven at the end. But in the meantime, He
pours out His goodness upon us with a prodigal liberality.
Taste, and see.
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