Help Us To "See"

Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” [John 9.39]

This is an intriguing passage. And, it's even more intriguing when we consider that Jesus sent His followers into the world as He was sent into the world (John 20.21).

The intrigue of Jesus' statement here is found in both the natural and physical elements of it. Jesus physically healed the blind man. However, Jesus' life and ministry spiritually blinded the elite religious leaders.

Regarding what one believes today about physical healing, is not this same confrontation contemporary to our times as well? There is an elite religious element that refutes physical healing in ministry. Oh, they will say, "God can heal," but then a plethora of religious justification for why God doesn't heal usually follows. We all know this is true.

Why, in Christendom, would anyone want to discourage healing?

The answer is simple: Pride.

The very idea of healing puts the would-be believer's faith on trial (whether a novice believer or a seasoned elite minister). And, because of prevailing faithlessness among "believers" in general today, pride demands that some explanation must be devised to cover the insufficiency. Instead of repenting for lack of faith (God forbid that they could be wrong), many elite religious people proudly defend their faithlessness (whether to heal or be healed) with powerless religion.

The religious leaders confirmed the miracle of the blind man made to see in today's story and all they could do was bash the healed man because he was a sinner and discredit Jesus because He healed on the sacred Sabbath. Rather than rejoicing in the wonders of miraculous healing, the religious leaders of this story became "blind" at their own 'religious' hands in the same way as those who oppose healing do today.

And yet, Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13.8). Healing still today causes great division between those who "see" and those who do not "see." Pride, as it was then, and remains today, is the dividing line.

Brothers and sisters, let us repent of our pride!

Father, help us to "see." Forgive me - forgive us - for defending our faithlessness. Forgive us for proudly refusing to see...

Here's The Key...

“What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.” [Luke 11.52]

According to this passage from Luke's Gospel, the key to knowledge for other people is to see believers enter the Kingdom.

What does this mean?

It means that for us to be effective in our presentation of God's Word to others, they must see God's Word at work in our lives.

And, what does that look like?

It looks like Jesus. And, it is summed up in Jesus' own words in Luke 4:

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.” [Luke 4.18-19]

Until people see us bring Good News to the poor, they are locked out of the Kingdom. Until people see us proclaim that captives will be released, they are locked out of the Kingdom. Until the blind see, they are locked out of the Kingdom. Until the oppressed are set free, they are locked out of the Kingdom. Until they are told the time of the Lord's favor has come, they are locked out of the Kingdom.

But wait! There's more! Jesus also said:

And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” [John 12.32]

Jesus was lifted up on His cross. That cross is the bridge between heaven and earth for all mankind. Jesus illuminated that bridge when He died on His cross establishing the model for us to do likewise:

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. [Luke 9.23]

As fantastic and necessary as miracles are, nothing shows the world Jesus more than when we embrace our cross as Jesus embraced His. Think of it like this: we don't enter the Kingdom ourselves until we have embraced our own cross - until we have died to ourselves and yielded to the life of God found only in Jesus Christ. 

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. [Galatians 2.20]

The Gospel is hidden from those who see us until we embrace our own cross - they are locked out, without a key, to the knowledge and salvation of God's Kingdom in Jesus Christ.

Suddenly, just "going to church" is meaningless, and may do more harm than good, if people do not see Jesus as described in Luke 4.18-19, Luke 9.23 and Galatians 2.20.

Father, forgive us for Jesus-less (which is Kingdom-less) living, therefore removing the key to knowledge of the Kingdom from the people of the world. May our lives be surrendered to the life (Luke 4.18-19) and death (Luke 9.23) of Jesus Christ so that His resurrection in us (Galatians 2.20) might unlock His Kingdom for others to enter in.

Shameless Persistence

Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. [Luke 11.5-10]

There is no question about what Jesus was saying here: Keep on praying! Be persistent! Don't stop!

There are a couple things worth pointing out in this story Jesus gave.

First, the person requesting help was doing so for the benefit of another person. While this does not necessarily teach us not to make requests to God for ourselves, it does makes intercession for others the basis for this story. However, while doing good for others first is the basis of this story, it is not the lesson of the story...

And so, the lesson is this: Jesus was very clear that the person meeting the need (the requestee) did not do so based on relationship, but purely resultant to the persistence of the one asking help (the requester). In the New Living Translation, it is described as "shameless persistence" and it looks like this:

“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. [Luke 11.9-10]

Let's look a little deeper though... There is a reason the requester would remain persistent. What is that reason? The reason is: the requester was fully convinced that the requestee could meet the need. In fact, the requester had to persist past the requestee's initial refusal to help! So the story is less about the will of the requestee as much as it is about the confident albeit shameless persistence of the requester! But, why is this important?

The importance of persistence in prayer is spiritual growth. The more a person grows in his knowledge of God, the more he or she understands God's character as that of a loving Father. A person cannot know the fullness of God's character (what He can do) apart from spiritual growth. And, although spiritual growth is not measured in knowledge of God's Word alone, the knowledge of God's character as revealed in His Word is the foundation of a relationship with Him. Actually, in the context of our subject passage above, Jesus expounded upon this:

“You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” [Luke 11.11-13]

Obviously, the requester in Jesus' story knew full well the requestee could meet his need. There was no doubt about the requestee's character even though the issue of timing was an obstacle. The requester's shameless persistence proved the known character of the requestee, albeit by imposition.

So, while Jesus' story is very much about "shameless persistence" in prayer, it must not be overlooked that God's character must be known. Otherwise, no amount of shameless persistence matters. "You cannot get blood from a turnip" (see the explanation of this phrase at U.S. Dictionary).

Father, the more I read and understand Your Word, the more I know that You desire to heal and save. May I be found shamelessly persistent requesting that You meet these needs for myself and others!

Show Us A Sign!

After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He wanted to stay out of Judea, where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death. But soon it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters, and Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles! You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!” For even his brothers didn’t believe in him. [John 7.1-5]

As it would appear, seeking a sign from Jesus is the telltale sign of unbelief. The Pharisees did it. Herod did it. And now, Jesus' own brothers were demanding that Jesus prove Himself with signs. Jesus compared this unbelief to "yeast" which, in the smallest amount, would leaven an entire loaf. Unbelief is infectious.

Unbelief requires Jesus to perform a sign. Faith, on the other hand, performs miracles with or without Jesus. Let me clarify...

Jesus left the presence of the Father and came to earth. He did not require God to be present at all His miracles! Instead, knowing God's will (in fact by God's very presence in Him), Jesus simply acted upon the authority He had been commissioned with by healing the sick and raising the dead. He didn't have to "pray about" doing what He already knew He had come to do (all that communication with God had already been settled). In fact, Jesus was entirely confident of God's presence within Him and so He worked accordingly.

Are you ready for where this is going?

Jesus commissioned His followers in the same manner in which He was sent. In fact, two profound references to this are included in the Gospels. 

First, in His prayer to God for His followers in John 17, Jesus stated clearly:

Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. [John 17.18]

Then, in some of His final instructions Jesus gave this commission to His followers:

Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” [John 20.21]

The Apostle Paul had a revelation of this as is revealed in His letter to the Church at Colosse:

Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. [Colossians 3.10-11]

The foundation Jesus laid was for us to understand our position in Him and His residence in us. When we comprehend our mission, we don't need constant and repeated signs from our Commission-er. Instead, we simply need to do what we KNOW His will to be without hesitation or need for further justification. We simply need to do what Jesus modeled for us to do:

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. [John 14.12]

And here is where our ignorance of God's Living Word, Jesus, as recorded in the entire Bible, betrays us. If we do not know the Bible, we do not know Jesus. Consequently, in our ignorance of Jesus, it is impossible to do the same works He did and exponentially more impossible to do even greater works than He did.

Bottom line: people indeed need to see Jesus. But, if they don't see Jesus in us, all our pleading for Jesus to perform a sign is in vain - at best, it is powerless, infectious unbelief.

Father, may I be found increasingly more confident in the presence of Jesus in me and my place in Him. Instead of longingly wishing for Jesus to show me or others a sign, may I faithfully perform every manner of miracle I am commissioned (commanded) to do as needed in real time in whatever circumstance I find myself. So be it. Christ in me!

Idolatry And Children

“But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’ “For everyone will be tested with fire. Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.” [Mark 9.42-50]

Believe it or not, I see a lesson here about idolatry.

If, with our idols of debt, insurance, medicine and technology (or any other idol for that matter), we cause a child or young believer to stop trusting God, the outcome for us is not so good.

The question has been argued in response to all my ranting about debt, insurance, medicine and technology, "What are we supposed to do, get rid of everything?"

Jesus must have known the question above would be coming... but His answer is not what anyone really wants to hear: If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.

So, there is not much "saltiness" unless there is some salt - some flavor! If we wish to have any preserving value at all in our lives, we must get rid of some things that, to the world, seem absolutely necessary. It will seem that we place ourselves at a great disadvantage in so doing. But, unless we have this testimony, we risk grooming children in idolatry without them having much of a chance to believe in Jesus alone.

Imagine a world where people have a revelation that their society is indeed given over entirely to debt, insurance, medicine and technology as idols. Imagine that in their revelation, they reject and methodically remove debt, insurance, medicine and technology from their lives. In spite of the societal ridicule and rejection they would experience, imagine the "salty" testimony of faith in God alone that would be conveyed!

On the other hand, imagine the eternal damage inflicted on a young believer's faith when they are told, "Trust God for everything," but then they are told that debt, insurance, medicine and technology are "just the way it is - God uses these things..." while the Bible contradicts this notion with every single miracle cited therein.

Suddenly, doing everything one can to rid himself or herself of every possible idol, even at the expense of great inconvenience if not even death, seems plausible if it means the difference between heaven or hell as their eternal destiny.

It is one thing to hold onto idols. It is another thing altogether to reproduce idolatry in unsuspecting children or infantile believers essentially giving them no other choice but to "bow" to these idols!

Our great societal problem then is our unwillingness to do without for the sake of the Kingdom. In fact, many churches today are as much about "living it up" as is the world. When faith is taught as a way to "get" instead of a way to "give," then the likelihood for the students of that teaching to comprehend the meaning of Jesus' discussion about offending children (Mark 9.42-50) is minimal.

Unsurprisingly, the text of Mark 9.42-50 is in context of the disciples arguing among themselves about which of them was the greatest (Mark 9.33-37): the epitome of self-centeredness and consequent carelessness about what matters eternally.

So, before we "shoot the messenger," we might do well to consider the "message of preserving salt" he brings to the rotting condition of idolatry that has become the flavorless norm of society.

Father, I would just as soon move on to another topic... But Your Word is compelling me to unmask the idolatry that has become "the way it is" in today's world (even if only in this unknown blog). Forgive me for confusing Your message with my words, but may The Message shine through miraculously anyway. Forgive us not only for our own personal idolatry, but more importantly, forgive us for our reproduction of idolatry by our inadvertent testimony of faithlessness and hypocrisy on display before children and young believers as we ourselves cling to idols.

Human Point Of View?

From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead. But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!” Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” [Matthew 16.21-23]

It is so easy to look at Peter in a condescending way over this situation. Even the least spiritual among us oftentimes get a little proudly pious when we think about Peter's rebuke here. What we fail to see however, is that Peter's rebuke is really our rebuke...

First, why was the rebuke from Jesus so stern? It almost seems like it came from nowhere! Besides, Peter was just expressing concern for Jesus, right?

Jesus' rebuke of Peter was necessarily brutal because Peter's well-intentioned concern was everything bad that God's people had faced up to that point and would face for all time to follow. Peter was only seeing what Jesus said from a human point of view, not God's.

I am telling you, the idols of debt, insurance, medicine and technology are products of highly-evolved human point of view! As soon as I read this passage today, I knew exactly why Jesus blasted Peter like He did! The idolatry of man's solutions masks or even eliminates any chance of seeing life from God's point of view. So gravely erroneous is this that it requires the words, Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me.

Almost every single problem that debt, insurance, medicine and technology "make better" are all problems (curses) that people in days gone by saw as clear indicators from God that something was wrong and they needed to make it right with Him! In other words, they understood that they needed to repent and return to God's ways...

The danger of debt, insurance, medicine and technology is that they slyly draw man to human thinking instead of God thinking. It is not good enough to get all "spiritual" and say, "Well, God gave us these things..." as if that makes it alright to trust them instead of God. You realize, God gave Peter the emotion to love and the desire to protect Jesus, right? And yet, Jesus slapped a rebuke on Peter of epic proportion! Where did that come from? It came from Jesus' clear realization that human thinking - human perspective - human point of view - is not only worthless, but dangerously counter-productive to the eternal things of God!

Our "microwave" society takes no time to meditate on the meaning of life's blessings and hardships! Consequently, there is little to no repentance. And, without repentance, there is no salvation - no deliverance - no hope... only man's point of view with its solutions that dangerously prevent any God-thought at all when times get tough. And for this reason, Jesus' harsh rebuke of Peter reveals the stark reality of just how damnable human solutions really are!

I am not promoting that we resort to living in caves. However, I am very much declaring that our human solutions must be treated as harshly as Jesus spoke to Peter above. I am adamant that we should know the Bible and understand our circumstances from Its point of view and respond accordingly. In other words, a curse is a curse and should be treated accordingly with repentance and humility instead of with human solutions like debt, insurance, medicine and technology that are a dangerous trap to us!

Besides all that has been said up to this point, Jesus demanded that His followers walk in the miraculous as He demonstrated. Regardless how futilely man defends his solutions of debt, insurance, medicine and technology, they add a human element to solutions God intended from us to look to Him alone for. When Jesus told the disciples, "You feed them," regarding the crowds, He had no intention of the disciples resorting to a human solution but instead to resort to the miraculous. In fact, He later rebuked them for their embrace of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees - human understanding that always wants Jesus to do something instead of launching out and performing miracles themselves.

Just a thought here: to want Jesus to perform a miracle (a sign) is no different than Him being a puppet on a stick for us. Think this through... If Jesus performs at our bidding, then He becomes a product of our will, doesn't He? If, instead we follow His example and start "speaking to mountains" ourselves, we operate at His bidding... See the difference?

I will concede that debt, insurance, medicine and technology are gifts from God if everyone else will concede that they allow us to command Jesus to perform at our will! Fair enough?

Father, help us to see that Jesus' stern rebuke of Peter contains insight that goes much deeper than we have previously thought. Help us to literally push away and rebuke any inclination to human point of view so that we might have Your point of view alone!

Waiting For A Sign

Later, after they crossed to the other side of the lake, the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any bread. “Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “You have so little faith! Why are you arguing with each other about having no bread? Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember the 5,000 I fed with five loaves, and the baskets of leftovers you picked up? Or the 4,000 I fed with seven loaves, and the large baskets of leftovers you picked up? Why can’t you understand that I’m not talking about bread? So again I say, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’” Then at last they understood that he wasn’t speaking about the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. [Matthew 16.5-12]

Never for a moment did the Pharisees and Sadducees think they were deceiving anyone. The source of their disposition against Jesus was that they weren't entirely convinced He was Who He said He was. They wanted a sign. In Mark's Gospel about this same event, the yeast is described as that of "the Pharisees and Herod," no doubt because Herod too wanted a sign from Jesus - regardless how many miracles had already been performed.

As seen in the Matthew chapter 4 account of Jesus' temptation, Satan seemed set on getting Jesus to perform a sign too...

And yet, Jesus performed miracle after miracle to help people, encouraging them to believe and oftentimes scolding them for their lack of faith.

Fast forward to today. I attend a "full gospel" church where the power of God not only to save, but to heal and deliver, is actively taught and preached. There are those who embrace the "full gospel" however there are also those who excuse themselves from active pursuit of such "faith" and are content to participate in the meetings and simply observe as if waiting a sign before engaging for themselves. According to today's OYCB reading, this "waiting for a sign" - waiting for Jesus to do something - is not passive as those "waiting" presume, but instead, it is an active (teaching by doing) work of deception.

The deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees (and Herod too, for that matter) is teaching that "waits for a sign." Jesus' conclusion of this error can be summed up as follows: If you aren't obediently believing, you are wickedly deceiving - there is no innocent middle ground. Whether they realize it or not, those waiting for a sign are engaged in active and wicked deception just like the tiniest bit of yeast permeates an entire lump of dough.

As it was when Jesus walked the earth, so it is today: "waiting for a sign" - waiting for Jesus to do something we've been told to do - is a highly infectious disease that is, in fact, deceptive, and therefore damnable unbelief.

The cure for this disease of unbelief is simply this: Believe in Jesus Christ.

Jesus' life, death and resurrection tell us everything we need to know to obediently live God-pleasing lives of faith ourselves.

If, however, we are ignorant of Jesus' life, death and resurrection - if we are ignorant of God's Incarnate Word - if we don't remember - we too, will likely comfort ourselves in the deceptive practice of waiting for a sign - waiting for Jesus to do something. Not only do we suffer ourselves when waiting for a sign, but we actively and deceptively teach unbelief to others.

While it seems innocent enough to wait for Jesus to do something, we must remember that in the context of the first hungry crowd of 5000 men, Jesus told His disciples, "You feed them." In the next crowd of 4000, Jesus dropped a hint giving the disciples the opportunity to step up, but they missed it again thus leading to the warning Jesus declared about waiting for a sign (oh yeah, because food was an issue) - waiting around for Jesus to do something (the yeast of the Pharisee and Sadducees).

How serious did this subject just become?

Father, thank You, I have all the signs I need in Jesus' life, death and resurrection. May I be found in faith in every situation - actively believing that I am in Christ and He is in me. May I look at every "mountain" as nothing more than a grain of sand! May I be delivered from the poison yeast of waiting for a sign - waiting for Jesus to do something. May I be busy about the works of Jesus not waiting around for Him to do it ...AGAIN! So be it.