It was explained to me some time ago by an optician that my eyesight
was legally blind (without correction).
I had 20:4000 vision back then. For
me it was like looking through a microscope to try to see things far away. I could see things you probably couldn’t very
close up. But stuff at a distance, like
the big letter “E” on the eye chart was a pure blur to me. This means what you can see at 4000 feet away,
I have to be 20 feet away to see as well.
So I have worn contacts or glasses pretty much as far back as I can
remember. Each year my vision would get
just a little bit worse. But
fortunately, technology would get a little bit better, and there seems to have
always been a pair of lens that would correct my vision back to normal. But where it comes to hindsight (that is,
looking back at the past and learning from it), most of us think we see that
very clearly and could have avoided past mistakes. But we didn’t. And what’s worse, we seem to repeat those
very same mistakes over and over. If I
were the metaphorical optician, I would have to surmise we may all have
collective 20:4000 vision where it comes to hindsight too.
Applying this cautionary advice to how you live in the real
world seems easy enough. We just begin
to think maybe we don’t know everything, and that perhaps history lessons are
not quite enough to keep us from repeating them. Ok, so I am not as smart as I thought I
was. But applying this idea within the
church has an entirely more upsetting result for most. We all have the Bible, the entire Bible, from
which we can read about what happened a long time ago. We know how the stories end (or at least we
think we do). So when we read about what
Jesus says about Himself, and how He had come to die to save us from our sins
and ourselves. We get it, right? The disciples may not have understood. But that is because they had different
expectations for what God was supposed to do.
Different entirely from what God actually did. A disconnect of epic proportions. And so we determine that “we” get it; while
“they” never did until after the fact.
Well the second part of that may be true. But the first part of that deserves a little
more scrutiny.
To assume “we” get it, just because we are looking back at events
that already occurred, misses the fundamental premise our disciple forefathers
fell victim to. We think we “know” what
God is supposed to do just as much as they did.
We may have different ideas about it than they might have. But we are just as sure today as they were
back in the past. So whose hindsight do
we take as right? If you think this is
silly, how would you feel about it, if it challenged one of the key beliefs you
hold about God. Take as an example the
popular idea of a rapture of the saints near the time of Jesus returning. Many hold that interpretations of scripture
and prophecy describe a bit of this, one taken, the other left, kind of
thing. But the Bible never spells out
the use of the word “rapture”, that is just a modern nomenclature for this
idea. Nor does the Bible spell out in
detail the idea of this event. So while
half the Christian world is walking around believing this kind of event will
“definitely” precede the second coming of Jesus; what if it doesn’t?
What if, instead of a coming rapture, all you got was a
second coming of Jesus. Sounds better
right? But that is not what God is
supposed to do (for those who believe in this idea). Would you be mad at God because He decides
not to hold one? You might. Think about it. The rapture offers those who were not quite
right with Jesus, a second chance to become right with Jesus, before everything
is decided once and for all. I guess
technically it is a third chance for mankind, once at Eden, once at Calvary,
and now once at the rapture. But if the
rapture never occurs, then there is no third chance at all. If you were not right with Jesus, and He just
shows up in the clouds to take home those that are right with Him – that leaves
you going to the bad place. No additional
chances. We cling to ideas like the
rapture because they provide yet another chance to get right with God before it
is too late. But what if now is too
late? What if God does NOT do, what we
fully expect God to do? The disciples
were in this boat the first time. Are we
in it now with them?
It is a real phenomenon to examine. The gospel letter of Luke to his friend
Theophilus outlines it back in chapter nine, picking up in verse 18 saying … “And
it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he
asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? [verse 19] They answering
said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the
old prophets is risen again.” This
question was about how the people of the day identified Jesus (who we know was
the Son of God). We have the benefit of
hindsight. They didn’t. The list includes John the Baptist, Elijah, or
another great prophet back from the dead.
It is the same list of possibilities that caught the ear of king Herod
(the son) and caused him to want to see Jesus for himself to figure out if any
of it was true. Especially the idea that
it could be John the Baptist who Herod beheaded now back from the dead. But Jesus was Jesus, not John as we know, and
as I imagine the disciples already knew as well. After all some of them belonged to John,
before they were sent to belong to Jesus.
So that idea was out, at least in the minds of the disciples.
Luke continues in verse 20 saying … “He said unto them, But
whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. [verse 21] And
he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; [verse 22]
Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders
and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.” And there you go; God does something none of
us expect God to do. But He does it
despite our expectations. First Jesus
expressly asks His own disciples to NOT tell people that He was indeed the Son
of the living God. Think about that for
a minute folks. The whole idea of the
gospel centers around that very idea. To
NOT say it, seems to run against everything we know or would expect God to
do. If getting the word out is the
primary goal, then talking about who Jesus is, would seem to be job number
one. It wasn’t. Spreading the word may not actually be job
one. There may be a question of timing
as well. “When” someone is able or ready
to hear what God knows may be as important as what God knows and longs to share
with us. But that idea runs counter to
nearly every Christian church’s ideas about spreading the word today. We don’t care about when, and ready, we only
care about sharing and spewing our ideas about what scripture says. But Jesus cared about when. Here is a perfect example of God saying or
doing something we think our hindsight gives us better wisdom about. It doesn’t.
Then to continue, Jesus tells His disciples that instead of
being the king David type Messiah everyone is waiting for to throw off Roman
oppression – He is going to die instead.
And by the way, He is going to be rejected by the entire church
leadership before He is put to death by them.
Nobody believed Messiah was going to die. God was not supposed to do that. Everybody knew it. In fact, if you died, you were considered to
be a false Messiah. Church leadership
was longing for the king David type Messiah just like the people were. They would not have rejected that type of
Messiah. Because that type of Messiah
was what they believed God should do.
But God did not do what they expected, so they rejected Him for it. Then they set about figuring out how to kill
God for not doing what they expected Him to do.
De-ja-vu? Should there be no
rapture, those caught on the wrong side of being right with Jesus, will set
about trying to make war with heaven before fire is finally rained down to
consume all of evil, then death itself. These folks will be angry with God that God
did not do what they expected Him to do.
They believed they had a third chance, when the chance we are given
today, may be the only one we ever get.
And frankly the rapture may have nothing even to do with that little
fact of life. Run away buses, cancer,
and falling of cliffs can cut short what you thought was an endless stream of
chances each day, long before the second coming ever occurs. What we choose matters, when we choose it
matters. And we should not rely upon any
belief that offers us a false hope of getting another chance in the
“future”. For anyone alive now, the
future is now.
Yet still, God did what no one expected God to do, with or
without the benefit of hindsight. Then
it went really sideways. Luke continues
in verse 23 as Jesus continues saying … “And he said to them all, If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and
follow me.” OK all you fabulous
hindsighter’s, please explain to me what “taking up your cross daily” means,
and how you accomplish it each day? The
idea of taking up your cross is disconnected from self-denial. Self-denial precedes that idea. So if you have already denied yourself, what
does taking up your cross have to do with anything. Doubt it is a reference to costume jewelry
most Christians are fond of wearing.
Doubt it is advocation to carry literal crosses as they would make
mobility nearly impossible, if not direct our minds fully into the morbid, not
the “good news” of the Gospel. This must
have sounded like Jesus started speaking in a foreign language at this point
for the poor disciples. This message was
so far off track for what they had been taught their entire lives by the one
true religion – now in direct contrast with the Truth incarnate.
Jesus continues in verse 24 saying … “For whosoever will
save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the
same shall save it. [verse 25] For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the
whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” This sounds on the surface as advocation for
Christians to defy death, or the danger of death, without fear – but only for
the sake of Jesus Christ. Indeed it
is. Jesus follows up by asking what is
your life worth, if all you measure your existence by is the life you lead on
earth, are you not losing the eternal life which is of infinitely more
value? Why would you delay coming to
Jesus? Why would you believe that
whatever you are doing now, is for any reason better, or more fun? Its not.
Everything this world has to offer, including your present life, is not
worth as much as the life God has in store for you without end. So live without fear. Don’t let fear hold you back against things
that Jesus would have you do. Love
without fear. Love without limit. Love without pre-conditions. Just like God does. Living that way is dangerous. The world does not like it when you choose to
love others, and never love yourself.
The world hates that kind of thing.
But Jesus asks, what does the world know about it?
Jesus concludes this lesson in verse 26 saying … “For
whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man
be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the
holy angels.” Hindsight begins to
crumble. Take a second look at this
idea. When we are ashamed of Jesus and
to be associated with Jesus; we make our Savior ashamed. Just like Peter would do. Just like Judas would do. Just like you and I have done at one point or
another in our lives. Does that mean we
are no longer saved? Does Peter’s
failure define him? He is remembered for
it, among other things. But he was
directly forgiven by Jesus for it as well.
Do you think that ended the shame of Peter when he remembered his own
failure? I doubt it. Will your memory of your failures make you
ashamed, especially in front of our God.
You bet it will. It makes me
ashamed of what I have done, despite my supposed 20:20 hindsight. It makes me even more miserable when I
consider I have failed far more than once at the same failure. Requiring forgiveness, requiring His blood
for me again and again. But does that
end my ability to be saved? If salvation
was based on what I deserve, I would be lucky to see heaven even at a distance. Salvation is based on His grace which has
nothing to do with what I deserve. This
text however, is a cautionary advice for us.
The more we disconnect from Jesus, or show we have other
priorities than the love of Jesus for others, the more we will have shame for
ourselves when His love is finally fully revealed in saving us. The more we will regret not doing more, not
saying more, not loving more – when love was all that was needed. We, the church, are so sure we “know” what
God will do. We “know” how God will save
us. We “know” how to spread the
word. We “know” how it all ends. And we are pretty sure we still have time to
worry about all this stuff later. It is
based on our certainty of what God will do.
But the disciples and the entire first church was wrong about all of
that. So are we. It is our certainty about what God will do,
and how we should talk about it, that impedes real faith. The only thing I have come to know about my
own hindsight, is that it is just as stunted as my actual vision. It turns out, I will need to have my blinded
eyes opened by Jesus to understand His words, just as much as to read the big
letter “E” on the eye charts. I wonder,
has that been your experience as well? …
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