Not Come to Destroy, But to Save

Life of Christ 96

          We find ourselves, today, just about halfway through our study of the life of Christ. We are substantially more than halfway through Jesus' earthly career, but this is because the Gospels devote about half of their space to the first two and half years of Jesus' ministry, and about half of their space to the last six months. Thus, the second half of this blog series will focus on the last six months of Jesus' life, plus the Resurrection and then Ascension.

          This six month period is noticeably divided by Jesus' attendance at three separate feasts in Jerusalem. The first, which usually takes place in October, was the Feast of Tabernacles. It celebrates the successful Jewish exodus from Egypt, and involved the Jews building and living in temporary booths. It lasted a week. The second, what we know of as Hanukkah, is called in the Bible the Feast of Dedication. It takes place, as you know, over an eight day period in December, and commemorates the cleansing and restoring of the Temple under the Maccabees. This feast was not called for in the Torah, as the other two were, but was widely observed in Jesus' own lifetime and that has continued down to ours. The third feast, commonly called Passover, commemorates the Jews deliverance from the death angel sent to punish Pharaoh and the Egyptians. This takes place over seven days sometime around April.

          We have seen, recently, that Jesus has avoided Judea and Galilee so as not to provoke an early confrontation with Israel's political and religious leadership. Thus, He spent large portions of His last summer traveling outside of Israel, and training the Apostles to lead the infant Church after He was gone. Over these last six months, though, He will reverse course, and insert Himself directly and repeatedly and openly into the very center of Jewish religious life. He will give His last witness to His own claims, and this will result inevitably in His own death.

          Leaving Galilee, Jesus and His Apostles now head toward Jerusalem in October for the Feast of Tabernacles. Most of the time, out of ethnic prejudice, the Jews in Galilee traveled the long way around Samaria on their way to Jerusalem, but Jesus had delayed His departure (John 7.2-10), and now He needed to take the direct route through Samaria. Wisely, He sent someone on ahead of the group to prepare for the night's lodgings (Luke 9.51-52). Unfortunately, the Samaritans in this particular village refused to extend their hospitality (Luke 9.53), rudely leaving Him and His entourage literally out in the cold.

        James and John, the fiery brothers that Jesus had previously nicknamed the Sons of Thunder, respond to this slight with the nuclear option. 'And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?' (Luke 9.54). Maybe they were in a bad mood. Maybe they were mad that Jesus was being disrespected. Maybe they were fired up after seeing Elijah himself in the flesh on the Mount of Transfiguration recently. Who knows? But Jesus' reaction to this awful idea is, of course, to completely shoot it down. 'But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village' (Luke 9.55-56).

          There is lurking in this little known story some wonderful truths about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. First, I see that a spirit which delights in judgment is not a Christ like spirit. Judgment follows sin as surely as night follows day (Psalm 9.16), but the fact of and the coming of this judgment is a sobering thing. It isn't to be one in which we take delight, or are eager to see come to pass. The classic example of this, in our day, is the Westboro Baptist Church. They take great delight in hurling epithets of hatred and in calling for more death and destruction. The truth is that my God, even my Old Testament God, delighted in mercy (Micah 7.18).

          The streets of my city are filled with tens of thousands of gang members. These thuggish punks think nothing of meting out violence to all and sundry in their pursuit of money, respect, and fame. Judgment will come on such violent men, but when it does, and they die in a hail of bullets from a passing car, we as God's people are to take no delight in that. That tatted up Latin King or Black Gangsta Disciple, who now lays prostrate on the pavement and soaked in his own blood, was somebody's son. Somewhere, a mother weeps tonight. Somewhere, another soul has been deeply stained with murder. And, even more tragically, 'in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments' (Luke 16.23). We ought to long for, pray for, work for, and look for repentance and mercy, not condemnation and judgment.

          Secondly, when Jesus comes, He doesn't destroy your life; He rescues it.

          One of the reasons that people reject Jesus Christ is they are afraid that He will change their life. And they like their life. They like their bar hopping, pub crawling, liquor drinking, dope smoking, porn watching, partying, fornicating, me-first live how I want to live lifestyle. They like their rock concerts on Friday night, and their weekends at the beach. They like their Mardi Gras parades and the French Quarter in New Orleans. They like their quick trips to Vegas, their blackjack at Harrah's, and the floor shows with the naked ladies. They like their Sunday's on the golf course, and a round of beers in the club house afterwards while the dirty jokes fly. They like their sports leagues, their bowling leagues, their impeccably groomed lawns, and their book clubs discussing Fifty Shades of Grey. They like their season tickets, their booze-soaked tailgates, and gawking at the Dallas Cowgirls. They like their happy hours, their wine tastings, and their night caps. They like their big cigars, their hard lemonade, and their Saturday nights with pay-per-view. They like their karaoke, their pretzel nuts, and their hail-hail-the-gangs-all-here. They like their conspicuous consumption, their walk in closets, and their personal shopping assistants. In short, they like their sin-infested, decadent lifestyle and they think Jesus is going to destroy their life if they yield to His claims.

          The truth is that Jesus doesn't destroy anybody's life. He saves it. 'The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly' (John 10.10).

       

        Yes, when Jesus comes in, you find yourself trading in your tobacco, your alcohol, your gambling, your hedonism, your foul language, your dope, your fornication, your country, rock, and hip hop, your ungodly friends, and your selfish, pleasure mad, money wasting existence for a King James Bible, a fistful of tracts, thirty minutes a day with God, saying Amen during the preaching, modest dress, tithes and offerings, Bible studies, pot luck dinners, tears at the altar, hours of volunteer work, and a church family full of old ladies, crying babies, and snot nosed kids - and you'll love it.

          You will look at your old life and see not fun, but heartache; not laughter, but sorrow; not real friends, but false ones; not the good life, but a living death. You will see wasted time, wasted opportunities, wasted treasure, and a wasted life. You will see a desperate loneliness, a suicidal sadness, an aimless existence, and a bitter resentment badly covered up by a lust for wine, women, and song. You will look at that, and shake your head in disbelief that you ever thought that was where true happiness was.

          You will look at your new life, filled to the brim with the abundant blessings of joy, peace, gratitude, love, companionship, family, forgiveness, comfort, happiness, purpose, care, faith, friendship, gentleness, goodness, meekness, grace, mercy, and meaning and marvel at just how wonderfully Jesus saved your life.

          'He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it' (Matthew 10.39). Jesus didn't come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.

          Did the father destroy the prodigal son's life when he welcomed him back home? No, he saved him, in every wonderful sense of the word. Don't run from Him into a selfish pleasure-mad existence. You can't get no satisfaction there. Turn toward Him, yield to Him, and let His eternal life bring to you the abundant life. 

If Thy Brother Shall Trespass Against Thee

Life of Christ 95

          Jesus and His Apostles, after spending a week north of Galilee in the mountains, return to Capernaum. Immediately upon their return they are confronted by a Temple taxman, and Jesus ends up paying a tax He doesn't owe because He doesn't want to unnecessarily offend. Following that, Jesus confronts the Apostles about their argument in relation to who is the greatest in the Kingdom, and teaches them, through a little child, the importance of humility. The conversation then flows around John's question about other Christian groups, and Jesus teaches them to focus on keeping themselves holy, and to live at peace with other genuine Christian churches.

          In each of these three aspects, taking place basically in one extended conversation, we see Jesus emphasizing to the Apostles how to build good relationships with other people. Most of this has a direct application to the infant Church, and we are going to see, in the last part of the conversation, that Jesus makes that even more explicit (Matthew 18.15-35).

          We are to seek not to cause offense. Living in humility, we will find that ambition doesn't breed arguments between us. Focusing on ourselves, primarily, we seek to live at peace with one another. All of these are focused on me, on keeping me right and sweet, but what happens if the other guy isn't? What happens if the other guy in our Christian relationship does something to injure me, or to injure our relationship? How do I handle that?

       Initially, I am to approach him privately (Matthew 18.15). If that doesn't resolve the situation, and it is important enough, I am to go back to him with another brother or two in Christ (Matthew 18.16). If that, in turn, doesn't resolve the 

situation, I am to explain it to the entire church, and let the church formally ask the brother to resolve the situation. If the brother still, in spite of all of this, refuses to resolve the situation then the entire church must at this point stop treating him like a brother (Matthew 18.17).

          We can see, from the intended context that this deals with relationships, not between churches, but inside a church. As Baptists we believe in the local church, and since our church cannot discipline a member of another church we must conclude that this passage is pointed at how we are to get along with each other in our own church.

          Then, following another emphasis on the importance of prayer in the Church yet again, He closes off this entire conversation by emphasizing forgiveness. 'Then Peter came to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven' (Matthew 18.21-22). He illustrates that with the wonderful story of a man forgiven and yet unforgiving. What is the conclusion of the entire conversation? We are to forgive one another (Matthew 18.35).

          In this story I see three lessons. First, let us be patient in resolving trespasses with each other. The major point, as I understand, in church discipline, is restoration of the erring brother (Galatians 6.1). This is why we are to give them repeated chances. This is why we are to give them time. The scriptural word for this patience and time is 'space', as in, 'I gave her space to repent of her fornication' (Revelation 2.21). When my brother trespasses against me my initial response is not to hit him upside the head with my spiritual 2x4, rather it is to give him space to repent.

          Secondly, and probably more controversially, egregious offenses that refuse to be resolved must not be allowed to fester. Paul condemned the Corinthian church for refusing to deal with a man who was having a sexual relationship with his own step-mother (I Corinthians 5). John condemned the church at Thyatira because it allowed a woman prophetess to continue to seduce men in the church unchecked (Revelation 2.20).

          When a church member is being stubbornly rebellious about widely known sexual sin the only solution is to cast them out. Even this casting out is designed to bring them to the place of restoration by allowing the devil to wreak havoc in their lives, and force them back to Christ (I Corinthians 5.5).

          Both of these scriptural cases I've used for illustration, in Corinth and in Thyatira, are similar in structure to the church discipline process discussed in Matthew 18. Both involve known sexual immorality, refusal to repent, and a congregation that was instructed to cast them out. This is because there are some wounds that are so deep and so infected that the only possible way to prevent the entire body from being consumed is to amputate the afflicted member.

          You can see aspects of this in Proverbs in relation to someone who is soundly committed to their wrong course of action, and who refuses to be dealt with. 'Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease' (Proverbs 22.10). 'Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth' (Proverbs 26.20).

          You cannot allow these kinds of people, committed and firm in their rebellion, to remain in your church. They will corrupt it and damage it badly. 'Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?' (I Corinthians 5.6). 'Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person' (I Corinthians 5.13).

          One of the harder lessons I've had to learn as a pastor is that I must, occasionally, make a judgment call that a particular person is a wolf in sheep's clothing, or, alternatively, that they are a member living in open and rebellious sin. If I allow them to remain in our church they will damage, not only its external reputation and thus God's name, but the very spiritual health and condition of our church. I do not make that decision quickly, lightly, or easily. Indeed, in seventeen years in the pastorate I've made it only three times, but I must make it, and the church must, then, if it agrees, send them packing.

          Martin Luther, that most feisty of saints, was reported to have said once that since he couldn't reason with a rebel he punched him in the nose until his face bled. When you try to reason with a rebel you waste your breath. They cannot be reasoned with. They must be expelled. For their sake, and for the church's sake.

          Thirdly, and most importantly, Jesus' big emphasis here was not on kicking people out of the church, but rather in simply forgiving each other when trespasses occur. The vast majority of sins, mistakes, errors, and trespasses that church people do, even toward one another, do not rise close to the level of meriting the church discipline process. They can and should simply be forgiven.

          I believe Jesus started the first church (see Life of Christ 82). As a member of that first church was He ever trespassed against? Absolutely. Yet how many did He kick out, for lack of a better term. Only one , Judas Iscariot.

          The devil is always after the genuine church, but thankfully, the genuine church has God's divine protection and promise of preservation (Matthew 16.18). We see this illustrated, time and time again in Church history, by the spiritual results when external persecution is brought to bear. Tertullian well said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed, not the death, of the Church. Persecution purges a church, blowing away the chaff, and leaving behind the dedicated and committed genuine believers. This, in turn, promotes holiness, draws the power of God, and impacts the world around that church. (There are so many parallels here to the condition of the current American Church that it isn't even funny, but I do not have space to draw them.)

          Well, if this is true, that God has given the genuine church a writ of protection then why is it that genuine churches die? Two Baptist churches within a mile of our church, here in Chicago, have closed their doors in the last ten years. How does this happen if we have this guarantee of protection from the devil's attack?

          Churches die for a variety of reasons, in my opinion. They die due to doctrinal impurity, and though the congregation may continue to meet the actual truth is that they have had their charter or their franchise agreement removed. This is what John is speaking about in Revelation 2 and 3 when he alludes to a candlestick being removed. Churches also die from lack of evangelism. A church that gives up going after people with gospel invariably becomes way too inwardly focused, and navel gazing and a long, slow, agonizing decline eventually follows. Churches also die as an indirect result of rampant sexual immorality. This hypocrisy breeds, in the younger generation of members, distrust and deceit, and the result, again, is often a long, slow, agonizing death. But the biggest reason churches die, at least as I see it, is this matter of trespasses. A brother offends another brother, and fuss develops. It morphs into a feud, people take sides, the church splits, and a long, slow, agonizing decline ends in a whimpering death.

          This last one could be prevented if we would just forgive one another, as Jesus so clearly called for here in Matthew 18. You can see now, can't you, how important it is to Jesus that His children get along with each other, and live in peace? This is the major thrust of this entire day's worth of conversation between Jesus and His Apostles.

          Give up your rights so as not to offend. Be humble, not ambitious. Have salt in yourselves. Be at peace one with another. Clean house, if you must. And, above all, forgive one another.

Salt and Peace

Life of Christ 94

         In Life of Christ 93 we saw that Jesus was greatly desirous that His children get along with each other, regardless of which particular group they were in (Mark 9.38-50). Today I want to give you two applications from this story.

          First, if the other group is God's people, and they are genuinely preaching Christ, then let us endeavor to live at peace with them (Mark 9.50). Paul phrased it this way in a prison epistle, 'What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice; yea, and will rejoice' (Philippians 1.18).

          I am an independent, fundamental Baptist, and each of those three main words is very important to me. I'm conservative, traditional, and what many label as old-fashioned in what I believe about music, dress standards, and church philosophy. I'm premillennial in doctrine. I only use the King James Version of the Bible. I've endeavored to carefully study out these issues, and to explain to both my church and my friends why I hold these positions. I do not apologize for doing this, and I plan to keep doing it. But – that doesn't mean that I'm to view my brother in Christ who disagrees with me about any or all of those as the enemy. He isn't. He's still my brother in Christ. This doesn't mean that our church is going to yoke up with the new evangelical churches in town, or that I'm going to run out and join the local pastor's fellowship. It does mean I don't view those who hold contrary positions with enmity, and it does mean that I seek to live at peace with them.

          Many years ago my wife sought out a group of young mothers with which to fellowship. This group, which went by the acronym MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers) met at a local new evangelical church on Friday mornings. In the process of attending she became good friends with the pastor's wife in that church. As the years have passed she has remained good friends with this sweet lady, and, indeed, our families have also enjoyed fellowship together. The truth is that they probably disagree with most of what I described about myself in the paragraph above. But the other truth is that, while I keep the boundaries of my doctrine and church intact, we still enjoy the occasional family meal together. We don't discuss where we disagree. We don't minister together. But we do live at peace one with another.

          This ought to be true, as well, not just about those brethren in Christ with whom we have doctrinal disagreements, but also with those with whom we have personality conflicts. There are other IFB pastors in this city who have, to one extent or another, personally disappointed me, not with their doctrine or morals, but with the way they have handled things in relation to me or to my church. There are men who have gone out of their way to ruin special meetings in our church, or proselyte my members, or refuse the simple courtesy of returning a phone call. But I have forgiven them in my heart, and I hope they have likewise forgiven the mistakes I have made, perhaps, toward them. As far as I know, our church is at peace with all of the other area churches that preach Christ. God is my witness that I take this seriously, and that I work hard at it.

          Beloved, we can stand for what is important to us without doing it in a mean spirit, or without turning our brethren in Christ who disagree with us into the enemy. They aren't the enemy. The devil is.

          Secondly, we are to be more focused on preserving the purity of our doctrinal, practical, and spiritual position then we are focused on pounding the other guy where he's wrong. 'Have salt in yourselves' (Mark 9.50) our Saviour said.

          I think the majority of the churches that preach Christ in my city are going about it the wrong way, and I've sought to teach our church why they are wrong so that our church doesn't go in the wrong direction itself. But having said that, my church ought to be more concerned with how it is doing in relation to God than we are concerned with how the ethnic Baptist church plant four blocks away from us is doing. Are we real? Are we holy? Are we pure? How is our heart? How is our faith? How is our compassion? How is our doctrine? How is our relationship with the Lord? What is the spiritual temperature and condition of our young people, or our witnessing, or our generosity, or our missions support, of our praising, of our Sunday School teachers, of our deacons, of our pastor, of our choir, of our fathers, of our marriages, of our senior citizens, of our classes, and yes, even of our nursery?

          Jesus put His finger smack dab on the best way to keep peace one with another, between brethren in Christ, and between different churches.

Matthew 7.3  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

4  Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

5  Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

          If your church isn't at peace with some other area church, fix it. If your heart isn't filled with love for all of God's people, fix it. If you are guilty of picking out the faults of every other church in your city, but you haven't examined your own heart since 1963, fix it.

          Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

Peace One With Another

Life of Christ 93

          Late in the last summer of His life, Jesus and His Apostles have recently returned from a weeklong trip north of Galilee. On arriving back in Capernaum, Peter shot his mouth off about Jesus paying the Temple tax so Jesus had to bail him out of that one. Immediately after that, Jesus confronts the Apostles about a private argument they were having over who would be the greatest in the Kingdom. Our story today is the next portion of the same continuing conversation (Mark 9.38-50).

          This passage tend to be confusing, and so I want to take the time to carefully establish the context and content of what Jesus is saying here, and then in the next post I will give you two very important applications.

          We must remember that, at this point, Jesus is spending the majority of His time and focus on preparing the Apostles to lead the infant Church after He is gone. In the past few posts, during the week up north in the mountains, we've seen Him seek to teach them the importance of prayer, strengthen their faith in Himself via the Transfiguration, teach them in the first sermon in the Church that spiritual maturity is the crucified life, and that the Church should be established on the doctrinal basis of a belief in Himself.

          Now, with His arrival back in Capernaum, He begins a different set of emphases, largely dealing with how people should relate to each other in the Church. In doing so, earlier in the day, He has emphasized that we shouldn't give offense, and that we ought not strive, in ambition, for greatness, but that we ought to be humble, like little children. He does this, yet again, now later in the same conversation, albeit from a different angle. Because of this context, I think the entire point of the whole conversation is found in the last verse. 'Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another' (Mark 9.50).

          If I can paraphrase, Jesus is saying here, 'I want you to keep the peace between yourselves. Do not make it a priority to stand on your rights. Instead, be careful not to give offense. Don't jockey for position; be humble. Be at peace one with another.'

          The specific issue that causes this part of the conversation was John bringing up another group of Christians. This group was not part of the crowd around the Apostles, (they were perhaps the remnant of the now martyred John the Baptist's group), but at the same time they did believe in Christ and were doing good things in His name (Mark 9.38). John told them to stop doing those good works since they weren't part of the 'official' group directly around Christ, and he then wanted Jesus' approval of his actions.

          Jesus, of course, tells John the complete opposite. 'But Jesus said, Forbid him not' (Mark 9.39). Jesus tells John that even if all the other group could do was give away a cup of cold water in His own name then that was ok (Mark 9.39-41). The main point was not what this group did or didn't do exactly like Jesus' group, but that they genuinely believed in and preached Jesus.

          He then speaks, again, about the importance of not offending (Mark 9.42), and follows that by urging on them the importance of this issue, telling them to do whatever they needed to do in order to keep from offending (Mark 9.43-48). This section of the passage is often used, and not inappropriately, in sermons about hell, but that is not His primary point in context here. Rather He is instructing His Church to be as quick to stop an offense from spreading as you would be to amputate a diseased limb that threatens your life.

          Then follows what seems, at first glance, to be a total non sequitur. 'For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt' (Mark 9.49). In actuality, it flows very well from the previous thoughts and emphases. The Talmud tells us that every Jewish sacrifice offered at the Temple was salted prior to being offered, and that actually the wood with which the sacrifice was offered was also salted. Scripture confirms this in Leviticus 2.13 and Ezekiel 43.24. Now this, obviously, wasn't for taste reasons. No, this was because salt represented the incorruptible, the pure.

          Several years ago I read a lengthy, yet fascinating book on the history of salt use around the world. Refrigeration, canning, and freezing as methods of preserving food are of relatively recent invention, and prior to that, for millennia, the chief method of preserving food without corruption involved salt. Salt thus came to signify something that was pure, perfectly preserved. This is illustrated in the Old Testament concept of a covenant of salt, thus signifying that the agreement would be kept continually in its original condition. Jesus Himself used this concept in the greatest of all sermons, The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5.13).

          What He is telling the Apostles, in the context of the conversation, at the very end, was that if they wanted to keep the purity of the Church intact, and if they wanted to preserve it over the long term, they needed to focus on their own flaws instead of others' flaws, and thus keep the peace among the brethren. 'For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost its saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another' (Mark 9.49-50). 

Still Humble, As This Little Child

Life of Christ 92

          We saw, in Life of Christ 91, that Jesus dealt with the proud Apostles, desirous of the chief place in the Kingdom, by placing a little child on His lap and calling on them to be humble, like that child (Matthew 18.1-6, Mark 9.33-37). The humility of little children is seen in that they eagerly serve, are naturally free from prejudice, and unashamedly dependent. In this post we will look at three additional evidences of the humility of little children, and examine how this may be applied to us.

          Fourthly, their humility is seen in their willingness to receive instruction. As a teacher, perhaps the most frustrating phrase you can hear from a student is not 'I don't understand', but rather, 'I know.' The only person you can't teach, in the final analysis, is the one who already knows everything. Little children combine, very wonderfully, a humility that is willing to learn with a literal childlike faith that just trusts what the teacher says.

          I can remember how well this was driven home to me, years ago, as a teacher, when once a week I was assigned to monitor a kindergarten class for an hour each week. It became my custom to gather them around me on the floor of their classroom, and tell them a story. I soon learned I didn't need to plan my stories ahead of time for whatever I told them they eagerly accepted as the gospel truth. Yes, I confess I had great fun with that, happily explaining many of life's mysteries with completely bogus explanations. To this day I am afraid that some of them may still think root beer was discovered when a tree root on a cave roof fell into a little boy's glass of drinking water. But even in this silliness we see a sweet humility and faith.

          One of the identifying characteristics of a fool in the book of Proverbs is his refusal to receive instruction (Proverbs 1.7). Conversely, one who has enough humility to embrace instruction Solomon labeled as a wise man (Proverbs 9.9). Are you and I as teachable as a little child?

          Fifthly, their humility is seen in their sweet obedience to authority. There is a large difference between not understanding how to obey, and just blatantly refusing to do what you are told. The former can be taught; the latter can only be disciplined until his will yields. But what is the root of such willful disobedience? I believe it is pride. 'Only by pride cometh contention' (Proverbs 13.10). The willful spirit that sets itself against the commands of its authority, and fights with them comes only by a pride that says, 'A person like you can't tell a person like me what to do.'

          We've all seen this illustrated in the grocery store, as some willful screaming child turns the checkout line into a torture chamber for the rest of us. Contrast that with the yielded, obedient child, waiting quietly and still beside his mother as the line crawls forward and you see my point. Do we obey God like that good little child, or do we, in pride, insist we know better than He does, and insist on getting our own way as we refuse to obey?

          Sixthly, their humility is seen in their worship of God. Little children kneel easily. Their lisping voices sweetly and instantly ask God to protect them. Their willingness to pray about things, to ask God to intervene, puts us to shame. Because they are humble they believe you when you teach them that God loves them, is always with them, and wants to help them, so they just naturally turn to Him.

          Humility is so intrinsic to the worship of God that it is found in the very definitional concept of the word. 'I am not worthy. You are.' Humility is so intrinsic to the worship of God that it is found in the posture. If you study the Bible you will see that every person who met God responded the same way: they fell down prostrate at His feet.

          Do we worship God with the same instinctive trust? Do we approach Him, in prayer, with the same childlike faith? Do we view Him as so big and us as so small? Do we revel in His love and care for us?

          So you want to be great in God's kingdom. Okay. Here's what you do. Humble yourself, as a little child. There is no other path.    

Humble, As This Little Child

Life of Christ 91

         Jesus and His Apostles have just returned to Capernaum after a weeklong trip into the mountains north of Galilee. On that trip we saw Peter's sublime confession of faith, much discussion about the Kingdom, and the Transfiguration. At the same time, three of the Apostles, Peter, James, and John, had been noticeably brought into a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. At the same time, the other nine Apostles were humiliated in their inability to cast a devil out a boy.    With all of this, and some human nature thrown in, it is to be expected that an argument arose amongst the Apostles over which one of them was to be the greatest in the Kingdom (Matthew 18.1-6, Mark 9.33-37). They thought they had kept this argument private until Jesus questioned them about it, and, even then, they refused to answer, probably realizing how petty their bickering must have sounded to Him.

          What a weariness this must have been to our Lord. He is heading into the final six months of His life. He is facing intense earthly pressure from His family, Israel's religious leadership, and Israel's political leadership. He is facing intense spiritual pressure from the devil. He is preparing Himself, setting His face like a flint, for the horrors of Calvary. He is giving everything He's got to train and prepare the Apostles to lead an infant Church without Him. These Apostles have just had some spectacular failures, with Peter's constant impetuosity and the other Apostles inability to cast out a devil, and now, to top it all off, they are fussing with themselves about who is going to be the greatest in the coming Kingdom when the Kingdom isn't even coming anytime soon.

          Edersheim says, in relation to the grief this all must have been to Jesus:

Surely the contrast between Christ and His disciples seems at times almost as great as between Him and the other Jews. If we would measure His stature, or comprehend the infinite distance between His aims and teaching and those of His contemporaries, let it be by comparison with even the best of His disciples. It must have been part of His humiliation and self-exinanition to bear with them. And is it not, in a sense, still so as regards us all?

          Jesus, instead of chewing them out, uses an illustration to get His point across to them. He calls a little child to come to Him, and, sweetly setting the child on His lap, He points out that this child has something which is sorely lacking in the supposedly more mature Apostles. This something is the lesson for us: Jesus calls for us to be humble, as little children. 'Whosoever therefore shall humble himself, as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven' (Matthew 18.4).

          Now, I freely confess, I've met a fair number of children in my life that seemed entirely unacquainted with the concept of humility. But these are obviously not the type of children of which Jesus was speaking. No, take those spoiled, bratty, selfish, whining, demanding, aggressive, disobedient children and put them out of your mind. That is most definitely not who Jesus was taking about. Instead, I want you to picture a child you know that is obedient, cheerful, sharing, and of a sweet disposition.

          First, their humility is seen in their servant's heart. For 12 years now I've had a pre-schooler in my home, and it never ceases to amaze me, when they are having a good day, how happy they are to help you to do anything. They will step and fetch it at the slightest request. They will hold tools patiently, and carry dishes carefully. They will, with a smile, hand you a book or prop open a door. There is in them very little of the pride that demands a higher position or more recognition, or views a certain kind of work as beneath them.

          So often those that desire greatness want that greatness to be in the form of being noticed and served, of being in authority, calling the shots. And yet our Saviour consistently emphasized a different ethic, one in which greatness was defined as serving rather than being served. 'If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all' (Mark 9.35).

          Secondly, their humility is seen in their acceptance of all kinds of people. Did you ever notice that children are naturally un-prejudiced? They have to be taught to dislike classes and groups of people. Why? Because they do not think they are better than anybody. They don't care about ethnicity, zip codes of origin, languages, clothes, or who is in the in crowd. Yes, as they grow up they learn to care about those things, but as little children they just gather together and play with whoever shows up in the McDonald's Playland.

          We've discussed before the endemic racism that was so deeply inbred in the Jews of Jesus' day. But those little Jewish children weren't born with that. They were taught it as they humanly matured. Racism, classism, prejudice, and bigotry are learned, not instinctive. Little children are too humble to have them.

          Not coincidentally, mature Christianity is supposed to be the same way. 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus' (Galatians 3.28).    

          Thirdly, their humility is seen in their dependence. No kid comes out of the womb and says, 'Ok, Mom, I'll take it from here.' What is the first thing they do? Cry. Because they need something, even if they don't know what that something is or how to say it. As they mature they learn to verbalize their dependence, and 'help me' becomes a significant feature of their vocabulary. They readily request help in getting dressed, brushing their teeth, tying their shoes, or using a fork. It is rare, in little children, to see a spirit of independence.

          Of course, it is only right that this spirit of independence come naturally with human maturity, but spiritual maturity takes the exact opposite tack from human maturity. Humanly speaking, we are birthed small, and gradually grow larger, stronger, smarter, and independent. Spiritually speaking, we are birthed large, and gradually grow smaller, weaker, and less knowledgeable in our own sight. We move, in the human life, at birth, from being completely dependent upon our parents for everything to being completely independent of them for everything. We move, in the Christian life, at birth, from being dependent on God for only our eternal salvation to becoming dependent upon Him for absolutely everything.

          The truth is that in the spiritual realm my flesh doesn't like this. I don't want to be dependent on anybody but myself. I want to handle everything myself. I want to be secure in myself. But as long as I am then I'm not dependent on God, I'm not letting Him handle things, and I'm not finding my security in Him rather than myself.

          David was undeniably a great man, the kind of man that the Apostles desired, in their argument, to be. He was a world class empire builder, a tremendous tactician, a matchless leader of men, and an author whose works have lasted for millennia. Yet he wasn't great because of his great literary ability, administrative talents, or military capacity. No, he was great, at least in part, because of his constant reliance on God for protection, encouragement, direction, provision, and timing.

          We, like the Apostles, so often harbor a desire to be lifted up. David was humble and great. The Apostles were proud and insignificant at this point. Why? 'Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up' (James 4.10).

Lest We Should Offend Them

Life of Christ 90

          In the last summer of His life Jesus is going out of His way, literally, to avoid Judea and Galilee. He keeps making side trips outside of these territories to avoid provoking a premature confrontation with Israel's political and religious leadership. In our story today (Matthew 17.24-27) we find that He and His Apostles have just returned to Capernaum after a weeklong trip north of Galilee into the mountains.

         As they enter Capernaum, the Temple taxmen approach Peter and ask him if Jesus pays the annual tribute due to the Temple. This was used to maintain the priesthood, support the flocks that provided the sacrifices, etc. and was required of all Jews. Peter, as was his custom, gives an answer without thinking it through, and his answer was, 'Yes' (Matthew 17.25). Later, in private, Jesus remonstrates with Peter, and explains to him that since He is Who He is He doesn't owe any tax. After all, a tax that was taken to support the worship of God didn't need to be paid by that God Himself, did it? Yet even though Jesus was well within His rights to refuse to pay it He chose to anyway, sending Peter out to catch a fish with a coin in its mouth. He did, and the tax was paid.

          I find several lessons in this story. I see that Jesus and His Apostles were basically broke, financially. It is curious how that the prosperity gospel types never bring that up. I also see that God always provides for the genuine needs of His own. But the largest lesson I see here, and the one that I think is the point of the whole story, is that Jesus gave up His rights in order not to cause offense. 'Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them' (Matthew 17.27).

          We live in an age in which we hear a lot of chatter about rights. Some of these claimed rights are valid, and some are not. Regardless, Jesus chose giving in over asserting His rights, and He did it explicitly in order not to offend someone. It wasn't that Jesus was afraid of offending people, for He was willing to do so, if it was an important issue (Matthew 13.57). However, unless it was a matter of vital truth Jesus chose to act as inoffensively as possible.

          This is the clear scriptural position. 'It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby they brother stumbleth, or is offended' (Romans 14.21). 'Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth' (I Corinthians 8.13). 'Give none offence' (I Corinthians 10.32). 'That ye may be sincere and without offence' (Philippians 1.10).

          I can hear it already, the response forming on your lips.

          'Well, if they're offended, that's their problem. After all, great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them.'

          Yes, that is true. They shouldn't be offended, and it is their problem. But in asserting this you've clearly missed the point. We are to seek to be inoffensive, not because they are close to the Lord and in love with Him, but because they aren't. We are to seek to be inoffensive precisely because of the fact that if we do offend it will be their problem. And they don't know how to handle problems very well. Yes, if they were stronger they wouldn't be offended. So, since they are weak, don't blame them for being offended, rather don't offend them. I know you have rights, but weak people take offense easily. We ought to try not to give them the opportunity. If it is an issue of right and wrong, of truth and error, of a clear scriptural mandate, then we ought to have a backbone of steel and not give an inch. But if it's a matter of preference or rights, and they will be offended, then we ought to seek to structure things in such a way so as to be as inoffensive as possible.

          There is a segment of Christianity that embraces persecution as evidence that they are holy. The practical result is that they go about seeking to be attacked, or behaving in such a way so as to provoke virulent opposition. Then, when that opposition comes, they wrap themselves in their sanctimonious spirituality and feel superior because someone is mad at them. The simple truth is that people are often not mad at us because of the truth but rather because we did something that frightened or provoked them.

          Consider Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas, for instance. They are notorious for traveling all around the country to picket the funerals of soldiers killed in the line of duty, asserting that each death is a direct evidence of God's judgment on America because of her position supporting homosexuality. They are correct that homosexuality is wrong, and that God will judge America in some way at some time as a result. However, they are incorrect in saying that each individual death is attributable to this, and further, they are even more incorrect in seeking to go about their stand in as purposely an offensive way as possible. There may come a day when we, as God's people, will have to be willing to endure persecution because of our beliefs about homosexuality, but we don't need to provoke it by having a Hunt-a-Homo Sunday during the Spring Program.

          Three thousand years ago Solomon wisely said, 'A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle' (Proverbs 18.19). If I want to bring people to see my side on an issue I will come nearer and faster getting it done if I don't have to first besiege the castle I unknowingly built when I offended them. There are rights, and then there is right. And right is more important than rights. If I must offend in order to be right, then so be it. If the truth offends, then so be it. But if it is just a matter of my rights then let me learn to give in, graciously, lest I should offend them.

This Kind

Life of Christ 89

          Yesterday, Peter, James, and John walked up Mount Hermon toward a date with destiny. They got to see Jesus, unveiled of His flesh, transfigured in glory before them. Today, as they come back down the mountain they see a crowd of people gathered around the other nine Apostles (Mark 9.14-29). It turns out that a man in the area was father to a son possessed of a devil. This man brought his son to Jesus for healing, but He was away up on the mountain. The remaining Apostles took it upon themselves to cast out the devil, and they failed miserably.

          The Jews of Jesus' day had a wide variety of quack cures for demonism. Josephus says that Solomon advised placing a certain root in the nose of the afflicted and that the demon leaving was proven when a pot of water placed nearby overturned. In a sense, the Jews viewed the casting out of a demon as a kind of magic. Most magic was forbidden them, though they believed some people practiced it, having learned it in Egypt. In fact, the Talmud written post-Jesus would credit His miraculous powers to a magic He had learned in Egypt as a young boy. Apparently He had written the formulas for it underneath His skin so as to be able to smuggle it back out of Egypt safely. So it was, that in Jesus' day, magical amulets and incantations were believed capable of controlling demons, such as this particular gem quoted by Edersheim, supposedly said in order to protect yourself when dealing with a witch:

Hot filth into your mouths from baskets with holes, ye witching women! Let your head become bald, and the wind scatter your breadcrumbs. Let it carry away your spices, let the fresh saffron which you carry in your hands be scattered. Ye witches, so long as I had grace and was careful, I did not come among you, and now I have come, and you are not favorable to me.

          I can imagine that the young man's father had tried all of these, and more, and viewed Jesus and His group as just another in a long line of desperate attempts. Thus it is that Jesus so carefully sought to establish the facts of the father's genuine faith in Himself before healing the boy. Remember, He isn't doing miracles to authenticate Himself anymore, but He is still doing miracles of compassion – but He must needs find belief. 'Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth' (Mark 9.23). The father gives a completely honest answer, and one which has comforted my heart more times than I can count, since I have shared its sentiments so completely, 'And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief' (Mark 9.24).

       Jesus, of course, heals the young man, and later, when things quiet down, the nine Apostles who had been working at doing the same thing, and failing miserably, asked Jesus why they couldn't but He could. Jesus' answer is wonderful, convicting, and enlightening all at the same time. 'And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting' (Mark 9.29). To me, Jesus' main point here is this: there are certain things that you can only get from God by combining fasting with prayer.

          Fasting is a lost art in American Christianity. For some reason, either through laziness, lack of self-discipline, or a misplaced sense that it belongs in the Old Testament we have largely placed it on the shelf. But to Jesus, fasting was normal and expected. He said, in the greatest of all sermons, 'when ye fast' (Matthew 6.16), not 'if ye fast'. He said that His own disciples didn't fast because He was still with them but after He left His disciples would fast (Matthew 9.15). Fasting was modeled by the early Church (Acts 14.23).

          I'm not of the opinion that fasting gets you any more of God's attention. His attention, after all, isn't wandering. But it does give you more time to pray, and it does get your own attention. I am one of those guys who just likes to eat, and I freely admit it. Because of that, when I fast, every time I notice food, or feel a hunger pang, which both happen frequently, I am reminded again to ask the Lord for the request on my heart.

          I think the best passage in the Bible about fasting is Isaiah 58. In it, Isaiah goes through a lengthy list of blessings and benefits that come to us when we fast. I would encourage you to spend some time studying it while preparing to fast, or during a fast.

          I don't believe that God is up in Heaven laughing at your feeble prayers, and demanding that you pray harder, but I do believe in satanic opposition, and I do believe that God doesn't give away big things lightly. Hence, when you want to get one of those big things, and your requests don't seem to be getting anywhere, perhaps you ought to come back to Mark 9 and ask, with the Apostles, 'Why could not we cast him out?' The answer will still be the same. 'This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.'  

The Atonement Wasn't Plan B

Life of Christ 88

The Transfiguration, Gustave Dore, 1885

          I wrote, last time, of that signal event in the life of our Lord known as the Transfiguration. Peter, James, and John were taken by Jesus to the top of Mount Hermon and there, as He prayed, the veil of His flesh that covered His essential deity and majesty dimmed, and Who He really was shone forth in glory. Jesus had allowed them to see this so that they might remember it, and be strengthened by that memory in the dark days to come. Our story this time takes place as they walk back off of Mount Hermon, literally coming down from a mountain top experience (Mark 9.9-13).

          Jesus was accompanied in His Transfiguration by the Heaven sent pair of Moses and Elijah. The conversation amongst the three of them had been about Jesus' soon coming atoning death. This subject has now come up repeatedly on this week long trip into the mountains north of Galilee, and Peter, James, and John are discussing this whole idea as they walk back down the mountain. 'And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean' (Mark 9.10).

          To us, reading this story from the perspective of 2000 years of church history, the concept of Jesus' resurrection is both precious and patently obvious. It was necessary in order for Him to defeat sin and death. It was necessary in order for a Second Coming to make sense. A belief in it is absolutely essential for salvation. From our vantage point, we can even see hints of it in the Old Testament. 'For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption' (Psalm 16.10).

          Though obvious to us, the fact of the Messiah's resurrection was certainly not obvious to the Jews of Jesus' day. In fact, it hadn't even occurred to anybody then. The Jews of His day believed, for the most, in a resurrection, yes, but it was a general resurrection of all dead people at the Last Day. In other words, the concept of a messiah who died, and then was personally and physically resurrected from the dead was a completely new idea. It was also one they were having great trouble understanding, and this is what they were discussing amongst themselves as they walked down the mountain after the Transfiguration.

          One of the puzzling aspects to this, for these three Apostles, was that they knew the Old Testament prophecies which predicted the coming of Elijah prior to the Messiah being revealed in the glory of His kingdom (Malachi 3.1, 4.5). Elijah appears, and then the Messiah is King. We must keep in mind that Peter, James, and John had, literally, just seen Elijah up there on top of that mountain. And yet, just as emphatically as that literal appearance of Elijah, Jesus keeps pointing them, not to a rosy end with a coronation, but to a depressing disaster of an execution. 'And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come?' (Mark 9.11).

          Jesus' answer was to tell them that Elijah had indeed come first, in type, in the form of John the Baptist, whom Scripture tells us clearly was Jesus' forerunner sent to prepare the people of Israel for her coming messiah (Matthew 17.10-13). And even in His own answer He points them, not only to John the Baptist, but also yet again to His own death. Elijah, in the form of the Baptist, had come. They killed him. 'Likewise shall the Son of man suffer of them'.

          One of the things I pre-determined before starting this series on the life of Christ was that I was just going to let it take me wherever it would. Consequently, I've felt a few times like I'm repeating myself, and saying the same thing over and over again. The truth is that I have been, but the other truth is that I have been because Jesus did. I believe that when God repeats Himself in the Scripture He does so in order to emphasize something, and in that light there are certain things that Jesus must have meant to emphasize for they come up again and again. One of these is the necessity of His atoning death and the primacy of the resurrection.

Agnus Dei, Francisco de Zurbaran, 1650

        Those closest to Christ during His lifetime completely failed to grasp this. They insisted on looking for a coronation and a kingdom when He would have them transition to look instead at a cross and a resurrection. They failed to grasp that there was not just one coming or arrival of their Messiah, but actually two. Thus, they failed to grasp that the sacrificial atoning death of the Messiah as the necessary requirement for our redemption and salvation had been the plan of God from the very beginning (Psalm 22.15-16, Daniel 9.26, Isaiah 53.5-8, Zechariah 12.10). This idea was no new development. It wasn't some radical turn in the plan necessary because Israel wouldn't receive Christ. It had been the plan all along. Jesus was 'the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world' (Revelation 13.8).

          Would the Apostles ever come to realize this? To that I answer a resounding yes. Peter, preaching 50 days after Jesus' death, 47 days after His resurrection, and a week after His ascension, said it this way in his great sermon at Pentecost:

Acts 2.22  Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

23  Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

24  Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

25  For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:

26  Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:

27  Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

          The atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross as our substitute was absolutely necessary. Furthermore, it was planned from the very beginning. Not only that, but the fact that He would then rise from the dead, ascend to Heaven, and return at some future date to claim the kingdom denied to Him in His first advent was likewise planned from the very beginning.

          Our salvation isn't the result of an accident. It isn't Plan B. It was the gracious design of a merciful and loving God from the very dawn of time.

Transfigured Before Them

Life of Christ 87

 

Mount Hermon

         The highest spot, and the only snow-capped mountain in all of Palestine is Mount Hermon. It was in this vicinity, north of Galilee, that Jesus has been traveling for the last week or so. In that week we have seen Peter's sublime confession of faith, the founding of the Church on that confession, Jesus' announcement about His coming death and resurrection, as well as the very first church service. Jesus and His Apostles continued for the rest of the week in the same general area winding up somewhere along the top of the mountain. It was here that the signal event known as the Transfiguration would take place (Mark 9.1-8).

          The Transfiguration was an unveiling or an uncovering of Jesus' flesh (Hebrews 10.20), and a revelation of Jesus as He really was, Almighty God and King of Kings (Matthew 16.28). The Transfiguration allowed Peter, James, and John, the only three of the Apostles allowed to come along for this event, a peak behind that veil. In the process Jesus shone. There is no other word for it. In this it reminds me of Moses' time on Mount Sinai when his face shone with the reflected glory of being with God for a month. It reminds me of the presence of God that hovered like a shining cloud above the Tabernacle, that which we commonly call the Shekinah Glory. In this it especially reminds me of Heaven, and of the fact that there is 'no need of the sun' for 'the Lamb is the light thereof' (Revelation 21.23).

W. Graham Scroggie
1877-1958

          Accompanying Jesus in this majestic Transfiguration were Moses and Elijah. The three stood together and talked. Their conversation revolved around the soon coming atoning death of Christ (Luke 9.30-31). I have a wonderful old book in my office called 'The Unfolding Drama of Redemption' by W. Graham Scroggie, a graduate of Spurgeon's college who would later pastor that great church during World War Two. In it, Scroggie takes the reader from one end of the Bible to the other, watching, as acts in a play, the events unfold that point toward Christ. I believe that the Old Testament saints in Heaven did exactly that, and Moses and Elijah had a wonderful opportunity to leave the audience and actually converse with the starring actor in the play just prior to the key scene. No wonder they spoke of the atonement!

          Peter, the mouth of the Apostles, seems driven to always speak his mind. 'Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias' (Mark 9.5). In my opinion, Peter was here referencing the temporary booths the Jews built each year during the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast pictured Israel's past exodus out of Egypt, and her future exodus in triumph into the millennial kingdom. Peter, perhaps, grasped that what he was witnessing in the Transfiguration was a revealing of Christ's glory such as will be seen in the Kingdom, and with Moses and Elijah returned from Heaven I think that he thought the Kingdom had come. Whether he understood that or not, he clearly and instinctively still wanted the Jesus on a throne rather than the Jesus on a cross. In fact, he had made that exact argument earlier in the week when Jesus spoke of His atoning death.

          So much of the Christianity of today is precisely the same. They say, 'it is good for us to be here', in the brightness and glory of the kingdom, but when the valley of the shadow of death comes all too often the response is, 'not so, Lord'. But the truth is that you don't get the blessing of the former until you first go through the agony of the latter. It is now cross bearing time. Later, we'll exchange our cross for a crown.

          As this scene in the drama of redemption draws to a close a cloud arrived, and a voice out of the cloud announced 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him' (Matthew 17.5). This is, of course, similar to Jesus' baptism. The first direct announcement was at the conclusion of Jesus' private life and at His entrance into public ministry. The second announcement was at the conclusion of Jesus' offering of Himself to Israel, and comes in conjunction with the rejection that happens in Matthew 12, the transition of the kingdom and the parables in Matthew 13, the founding of the Church in Matthew 16, and the direct turn toward the atonement. Additionally, this announcement marks not only a hinge pivot point in the life of Christ, but it also marks His Deity and His moral perfection as well, and it calls us, most of all, to listen to Him.

       While we have already seen some applications along the way there is one in particular I wish to emphasize here. 'And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them' (Mark 9.2). Jesus' Transfiguration, unlike His Baptism, wasn't for the public. It was for the inner circle of His Apostles.

          We are at the point of Jesus' ministry in which He is primarily spending His time ministering to the Apostles, and preparing them for His absence and to be the human foundation of the Church. In the next few months they will face the pressure and sadness of Israel's ultimate rejection of Christ, the horror of His crucifixion, and the loss of His physical presence permanently. With the Transfiguration He was able to get across to His three key men such a deep rooted sense of His own glory and divinity as to stay with them for the rest of their lives.

          For instance, John mentioned it years later. 'And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth' (John 1.14). Peter refers to it as well, and even more explicitly in the context of a strengthened faith. 'For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount' (II Peter 1.16-18).

          In other words, via the Transfiguration, Jesus was carefully storing up what they would need for the days ahead. Here is the lesson: He is careful to do the same for us.

          He does this in two ways. First, He does it by providing us with the Word of God. After specifically mentioning the Transfiguration as a faith strengthener, Peter goes on to reference the Scriptures themselves in the next verse. 'We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well to take heed' (II Peter 1.19). What a sweetly precious truth Peter give us here. What could possibly be a more sure foundation for our faith than to see Jesus, Moses, and Elijah in one spot, with Jesus' essentially divine glory shining through? Yes, you guessed it; the Bible we sling onto the dashboard of our car so carelessly on the way back and forth to church. The Word of God contains sufficient provision for our soul and spirit this side of Heaven. Contrary to what our charismatic friends would have us believe, we don't need extra-biblical dreams and visions and words of knowledge. We have all we need in the Scriptures.

          The second way God so graciously stores up for us what we need is by providing encouragement for the future. God is already in our future. He is, after all, El Olam, the everlasting God. He never began and He will never end. He lives outside of time. Thus, He knows that in the tough times to come we will need memories of His previous goodness. We see this well-illustrated in the 77^th and 42^nd Psalms:

Psalm 77.7  Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?

8  Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?

9  Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.

10  And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.

11  I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.

Psalm 42.6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.

          When I find myself, for instance, in need of God's provision, and it looks like nothing good is happening, I remind myself of God's goodness to me in the past. I remind myself of the time God gave me a good job at a steel mill at the last possible moment as a freshman in Bible college. I remind myself of how often, as a struggling young pastor with a new wife and a baby son, I found a bag of groceries on the front seat of my car after church. I remind myself of the time I had just enough gas to get to church for soul winning one Saturday and no money to buy any more, and somebody handed me an envelope with $200 inside. 'I will remember.'

          James and Peter would, years later, die martyrs' deaths. John would, as an old man, undergo an attempt on his life. In between the mountain top experience of the Transfiguration and these martyrdoms would come a veritable plethora of persecution, pressure, loneliness, burden, and rejection that comes with ministry to the lost and the saved. They would need the memory of a singularly bright shining day in the past, on top of the world, where they saw Jesus for Who He really was.

          God knows what you need for what you face in the future. And so He's given you the Word of God and the memories of tremendous evidences of Himself in your past to succor you in that time of need.

          He's a good God, isn't He?