Life of Christ 79
We left Jesus, last
time, west of Galilee along the Mediterranean coast line. We find Jesus, this
time, east of Galilee, again in Gentile country, this time around the area called
Decapolis. This region took its name as an association of ten cities, under
Roman control of course. There were Jews in it but it was largely another
Gentile area. Along the way on this trip we find the story of the feeding of
the four thousand, and more miracles of compassionate healing.
I highly doubt that
Jesus took the direct route between Tyre and Sidon and Decapolis, as that would
have involved traveling straight through Galilee. Instead, I believe He
followed the northern arch above Galilee, through the Tetrarchy of Philip, and
then down into Decapolis along the Jordan River.
We can see that Jesus is
making a conscious effort to avoid both Judea and Galilee. I will discuss some
of the particulars behind this fierce opposition in my next post, but for the
moment let us just realize that He is being attacked on all sides. Farrar, the
19th century Anglican divine, whose theology is suspect but whose
abilities as a religious historian and scholar are not, said it this way:
Every section of the ruling class - the
Pharisees, formidable from their religious weight among the people; the
Sadducess, few in number, but powerful from wealth and position; the Herodians,
representing the influence of the
Romans, and their nominees the tetrarchs; the scribes and lawyers, bringing to
bear the authority of their orthodoxy and their learning - were all united
against Him in one firm phalanx of conspiracy and opposition, and were
determined above all things to hinder His preaching, and to alienate from Him,
as far as was practicable, the affections of the people among whom most of His
mighty works were done.
Following this continual
circuit of mini-exile around the circumference of Galilee, Jesus and His
Apostles take shipping back east across the Sea of Galilee, and touch briefly,
for reasons known only to them, the little known town of Magdala. It is so little
known that no one seems to know exactly where it was, although many have
speculated that Mary Magdalene was from there.
I find it fascinating
that when He arrives in Magdala the Pharisees and Sadducees are waiting for Him
(Matthew15.39-16.4). This indicates either that they have been following Him
all along, dogging His footsteps as He travels completely around the
circumference of Galilee, or else that the Pharisees and Sadducees have put
their adherents on notice to watch for Him in every little hamlet of Israel. In
either case, it shows the ferocity of their dedication to attack Jesus at every
opportunity wherever He was to be found.
When they arrive in
Magdala, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, yoked into an unlikely alliance by
their mutual hatred of Jesus, approach Him and ask Him to do a miracle.
Jesus knew there was no valid reason to do one. He had just done a bunch of
them on the circuit of His trip around the border of Galilee, but there was no
need for His compassion here. There was nothing of a struggling faith that
needed strengthened in spite of its doubt. And He is done, now, doing miracles
of display to authenticate His claims as Israel has already clearly rejected
those claims. Instead, there was only the presence of an active rebellion
against Him and a virulent hostility. Remember, the Pharisees are the group
that propagated the theory that He did His miracles because He was possessed of
Satan. In a sense, then, what they are really doing is seeking to throw His
miraculous ability smack into His face.
His response, in this
situation, is to give the folks in this little seaport community a weather
illustration that they would all understand. When you are on land knowing the
weather is largely a matter of convenience, but when you are on the volatile
Sea of Galilee it was largely a matter of life and death. Due to its geography,
which finds the Sea of Galilee hundreds of feet below sea level, cold air would
often times flow from the year round snowcapped Mount Hermon down the ravines that
fed the Jordan River, and stir up sudden ferocious storms on the relatively
shallow Sea of Galilee. We see this illustrated in the Gospels repeatedly when
the experienced fishermen that made up some of the Apostles were caught in
flash storms on the lake.
'He answered and said
unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is
red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day; for the sky is red and
lowring' (Matthew 16.2-3).
What He is saying is
this: you can look at the sky and see how that points to the weather because it
is important to you, but you refuse to look at what is happening around Me
spiritually, the fact that I can clearly do miracles, and what that points to
about Me, and this is actually much more important to you than the weather. 'O
ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the
signs of the times?' (Matthew 16.3).
Jesus came looking for
belief. Increasingly, He is find a rebellious hostility that mockingly asks Him
for a miracle that, even if He did it, would not soften hearts a whit. So He
points them to the one miracle that will be completely unanswerable – the
Resurrection. 'A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and
there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas'
(Matthew 16.4).
What is interesting
about this is that we see in Jesus a pattern here, and when we notice Him
repeating something it behooves all of us to sit up and take notice. Not long
before He had done the exact same thing.
Matthew 12. 38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
Matthew 12. 38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil
and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be
given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights
in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in
the heart of the earth.
Why does He do the exact
same thing again? In my opinion, He is beginning to establish the absolute
primacy of the doctrine of the Resurrection. As we move forward into the last
year of His life we will find Him referencing it again and again and again, and
what we see here is the beginning, or infancy, of the establishment of its
importance as a doctrine.
We must remember that at
this time in His ministry He is primarily focused on preparing the Apostles to
run the Church in His absence. Well, they clearly got the idea that the
Resurrection was important for it runs from one of their writings to the other.
Peter's sermon at Pentecost, fifty days after the Passover of Jesus' death,
refers to it twice in Acts 2. Peter's next sermon, in the Temple days later,
refers to it twice in Acts 3. Peter's next interaction, this time before the
Sanhedrin, refers to it in Acts 4. Peter's next interaction, again with the
Sanhedrin, refers to it in Acts 5. It is also found in Acts 10, 12, 13, 17, 23,
and 24. It is found in Romans 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10. It is found in I Corinthians
6 and 15, and in II Corinthians 4. It is found in Galatians, Ephesians,
Philippians, Colossians, I and II Thessalonians, II Timothy, and I Peter.
The Resurrection is one
of the two primary doctrines that mark Christianity as being different from the
way in which every other religion in the history of humanity is the same.
Christianity offers salvation by grace through faith while every other religion
demands some semblance of good works, and Christianity is the only religion in
the world with a founder who walked away from His own tomb.
One of the wonderful
things about spending so much time looking at the life of Christ in one year is
that you get to see the themes of His ministry take shape, the things that are
emphasized again and again. Jesus came looking for belief. His ministry was
marked by compassion. He is after our heart. His outstanding characteristic was
His obedience to His Heavenly Father. And one of those things that gets
repeatedly emphasized is the Resurrection.
Let us give it a place
of primacy. Let us thank God for it. Let us look to see Christ live out His
life in ours.
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