Revelations Begin ...

Mary Magdalene had fulfilled her gospel commission to take the message of hope to the new Christian church (the eleven remaining disciples).  Her message given to her directly by the Savior “should” have engendered hope, given courage, and inspired faith.  This was the first revelation Christ made to us of the completion of His work to save us from ourselves and our sins.  The first revelation of His love to us after rising from His grave; was to pause His own work and take time to comfort the grieving Mary with His words of profound love.  We were to see His Father as our Father.  We were to see His God as our God.  Jesus was alive, not dead in a tomb.  His work to pay our penalty for the sins we embrace was completed and He was on His way to His Father to see our salvation confirmed.  Mary had done as Christ had asked.  But her message bore no fruit.  She had done what Jesus Himself had told her, her new life had begun, because of the gift of Christ, but even though she had done what she was commissioned to do, her words were not heeded.  Such is the arrogance of those who are determined to pre-judge the messenger as unworthy or unreliable, rather than to hear the word of God thru whom it was given.  Mary should not have been judged by her former life, for now through the light of Christ’s gifts, her former life was passed away, and her new life had begun.  The words Mary brought from the mouth of Christ Himself should have been judged on their own merit.  For His words were a fulfillment of the mission of the Messiah, and everything He had taught them could have been brought to mind, if they had simply been willing to hear it.  But they were not.

The closest men to Christ, His most ardent followers; were not immune to chauvinism, prejudice, and despair from what they saw with their eyes, and believed to be the only “facts” that could exist.  They had seen Christ crucified.  They had seen Christ, nailed and pierced.  They had seen Christ, laid dead in a tomb.  These things they had witnessed or been told, and these things they believed.  They knew them to be certain.  Their hopes in the rabbinical view of an anti-Roman kingdom had been shattered.  Their faith had been shaken.  Their despair in their own actions taken during the killing of the One they claimed to love more than life, were now only a source of tremendous guilt.  They had accepted the idea that His body was gone from the grave, for they had witnessed that themselves.  But they only believed this was simply yet another act of Roman or Priestly cruelty, not anything more.  Despite the personal testimony of Mary Magdalene, they remained unconvinced.  They had a scriptural understanding, and personal witness, that formed a set of “facts” that could not be undone by the faith that lay within them.  Like us, they needed, their preconceptions wiped away.   Like us, they needed a revelation of Christ, that would change “how” they think, and “how” they “see” the world and the reality of the Truth of Christ.  And Christ would offer them exactly that.

It was the same day as the report of Mary.  It was the evening.  They had gathered again on this Sunday night in the upper room, for fear of the Jewish leadership.  They believed the Jews would persecute and kill them for their former association with Jesus.  But in truth, the Priests who had already heard the testimony of the 100 Roman soldiers; were not looking to silence them for what they “used” to know, but for what they might now discover.  Now that the Sabbath had ended and soon the people who had gathered at Jerusalem would be returning home from the worship of atonement, the Priests would have more time to focus on these last remaining loose ends.  But the disciples feared from their entanglement with the past.  They assumed it was because of their association with the slain Lord that they would be sought out next.  They had no idea, it was because He was arisen, that they had now become even more dangerous to the legacy of control the priests wished to maintain over the people.  Had the priests known that His own disciples did not believe He was alive; they would not have killed them.  They would instead have put them all on public display and made them testify as to their certainty that He was dead and gone.  This would have boosted the credibility of the Priests, and destroyed any hope of an early Christian church.  Their certainty despite the word of Mary, and the witness of 100 other Roman soldiers, would have been welcomed by those who oppose the gospel.  The irony was thick.

But Christ had a revelation in mind, to wipe away the misplaced fears of His disciples.  He would change their thinking in an instant.  He would alter their future in a moment.  And He would restore in them the hope for an early Christian Church meant to shake the very foundations of power in the world around them.  John records in His gospel in chapter 20 beginning in verse 19 … “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.”  Notice first, John specifically points out that the doors were shut, likely locked, possibly barricaded.  The idea there was to keep the angry folks out, and keep the folks inside safe.  They had gathered there for fear after all.  Jesus does not knock on the door from the outside of this situation.  Christ is no longer to be confined or limited by the structures of men.  Christ is now freely able to show to us His divinity.  As such He appears in the midst of the secured room.  And His first words are the same ones they know, and have heard Him say on similar occasions when miraculous events had occurred – “Peace be unto you”.  The very first personal revelation of Christ to those men there is to relieve their fears.  Once again Christ addresses our most pressing needs.  Once again Christ demonstrates what it means to love another and not Himself.

Christ does not enter this room with the righteous judgment He is equipped to condemn them with.  They have all failed miserably during His trial and murder.  None of them stood with Him.  None of them offered Him comfort.  All of them did nothing, though all of them had claimed devotion to the point of sacrificing their own lives for Him.  He does not begin His conversation with them, by demanding that they acknowledge their failures, and seek forgiveness before He “allows” them to join in His ministry of saving the lost.  As with Mary, He does not hold them accountable for their very acts of failure committed only a short while ago.  Instead He does not even address these failures.  For their sins, like Mary’s, and like ours, have ALREADY been forgiven.  He does not seek perfection in His servants before they are allowed to serve.  Instead He offers perfection as a gift that will come to them over time as they learn to submit their will to His own.  In this regard, John continues in verse 20 … “And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.”  He is the Life.  He changes fear into joy.  He reveals that death is no boundary with which He will be contained, and that instead He is master over the grave and beyond it.  He shows them Himself, His wounds that prove He is no ghost or aberration, but the physical Man they know and love.  He reveals again to men the Truth of Himself.  Truth is found in Christ alone, not in the failed interpretations of scriptures the disciples had clung to only moments before.  The Truth had made them free.  Scripture could now be interpreted in the Light and the Truth of Jesus Christ, never again outside of Him.

John continues in verse 21 … “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”  Jesus was calling them to be sent into the world.  Notice the goal of the follower of Christ is NOT to seek isolation from those in corruption who need to be saved.  Instead He sends His own into the world, like His Father had sent Him.  These men were not to be evangelists by profession, but by example.  They were to be living ambassadors of Love.  They were to demonstrate what it means to Love others to a world who was in such desperate need of Love.  Christ did the will of His Father, as we are to do His will.  These men were to heal the sick because it is the will of Christ, as Christ healed because it was the will of His Father.  Christ held back love from no man or woman or child or senior citizen.  He gave Love to all who He encountered.  He sought out those in the MOST need of Him, He did not make them come to Him first.  Christ took the initiative and went to them.  Christ was sent to the world.  He came to bring Life.  He did not sit still and make those who might have an interest in Life, come figure out where He was and find Him.  Instead He brought Life openly into the world and imparted it everywhere He went.  He did not allow prejudice to keep Him away from Samaritans, Romans, or the most grievous sinners.  Instead He welcomed them all like the precious children of His that they are.

Jesus does not ask them to become preachers and teachers by trade.  He does not tell them to collect money so that their ministries have the finances to be successful.  He does not tell them to worry about money at all.  For Christ did not rely on finances to do the will of His Father.  Money was not a concern at all where Christ was involved.  But people were, and people are.  To bring Love to those in need was the commission He was enrolling His erring disciples into.  It would be the sharing of love that would bring perfection into the world, and into His own followers.  It would be Love that alone which would offer the motivation to change, and the power of Christ to effect it.  John continues in verse 22 … “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: [verse 23] Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.”  Notice that the power of Christ, in His Spirit, was not something they inherently had within them, but was instead a gift to them and to us, like everything else that has to do with our salvation.  It does not come from within us, but as a gift.  The receiving of the Holy Spirit was done here, not at Pentecost.  That later day was a manifestation of a gift that had ALREADY been given.  This is an important realization and revelation – salvation had already been accomplished – these gifts and revelations were a publication of an event that has ALREADY transpired.

Verse 23 is an echo of this sequence of events.  For those who accept the message and love of the good news of Christ; they have ALREADY been forgiven.  It is time to tell them this incredibly good news.  The disciples themselves had not asked for forgiveness for their own failures as yet, but Christ had already forgiven them, and was now inviting them to join Him in ministry to the world.  He was not giving them bags of gold to finance their ministry or end poverty, but instead was breathing into them His Spirit to perfect the Love of others within them.  Love would be enough to make their living examples a ministry that could not be contained.  Those who accepted what they said about salvation being the gift Christ had ALREADY given; their sins were ALREADY forgiven.  Those however, who like them, only moments before had rejected the good news of Christ, retained the lack of hope that comes with refusing the forgiveness Christ ALREADY offers, would retain that hopelessness.  We choose to retain our own sins, not because we are forced to by our own weakness, but because we choose to by pushing away the freedom He so longs for us to accept.  Those who will not hear, or accept the gift and revelation of the Truth of Christ, are dooming themselves to the slavery of their own beliefs.  Their sins are retained by their refusal to let go, and accept the gift of His salvation and freedom.  Christ had changed the minds and perceptions of His disciples in that room that evening because they did not continue to reject the idea of His divinity after they had seen His revelation to them.  They let go their fears of the past, and were made free from the Truth of His presence.

Only God could forgive sins.  Christ could forgive us, because He is God.  He was not telling His disciples they had the power of forgiveness, He was telling them they had the honor of revealing the forgiveness of Christ to the world.  Those who would hear the gospel would find forgiveness of Christ already active in their minds and hearts.  Those who would reject the gospel of Christ would leave themselves with no hope of forgiveness, for none was left who could grant it.  This was His most powerful revelation to those men in the upper room – that He was the sole source of our salvation – it would be His gift to us, and nothing we could do for ourselves.  For self is always the enemy of our own salvation.  For the ten men, and Mary, who were there, faith was once again renewed and affirmed and put into action.  Thomas however, was missing at this event.  Perhaps he had been out to find food.  Perhaps he had an errand to run.  But Thomas was not present to personally witness this revelation of Christ to the others.  And Thomas was not able to accept this testimony based on the word of others alone.  He needed a personal revelation as well.  John chronicles the response of Thomas beginning in verse 24 … “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. [verse 25] The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Thomas had heard the message of Jesus being alive now twice; first from Mary, now from the other ten.  But Thomas could not take the good news of the gospel just on the testimony of others, he needed more.  He too needed a personal revelation in order to be sure.  He wanted to believe.  He wanted like the others to be so sure.  But he was not.  So even though the ninety and nine had been assured, the needs of the one still searching sheep aroused the attention of the One who meets every need, and loves every soul.  John continues in verse 26 … “And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.”  Notice first, there was nothing significant about the day of the week in which Christ appeared.  The first time was on Sunday to affirm the testimony of Mary to his followers.  This time it was on Monday a little more than week later to meet the needs of Thomas.  This time, just like the first, the doors were secured again, and Christ enters the room anyway appearing the midst of them.  Once again, He offers His greeting of peace to them all.  This time Thomas was there to hear it for himself.

Now it was time to give Thomas the faith he would need, now it was time to give Thomas the revelation he had required.  John continues in verse 27 … “Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.”  Christ wanted to insure that Thomas too, would be certain.  Christ wanted to blow away every doubt, and every remaining shred about “how” Thomas thought.  Thomas needed to “know” and Christ was there to insure that he did.  Thomas responds in verse 28 … “And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.”  No more doubts lingered in Thomas.  He now addresses Christ not as his friend, but as his Lord, and his God.  The divinity of Christ is no longer even a question in the mind of Thomas.  He is convinced with a faith no one will ever be able to take from him in the future.  But there is a greater Truth that must be revealed to them all.  John continues in verse 29 … “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”  The revelations of Christ are not all to be seen.  The most important revelations of Christ will be experienced in the lives of those who believe.  It will be the freedom from the slavery to self and sin, that is the experience of revelation we will still be able to witness for ourselves.  This gift of salvation is not theoretical, but experiential.  It is personal to each of us.  It does not come in a corporate block, but in a one-on-one method.

The men in that room all needed to hear from Christ that His revelations were not limited to those who could “see” Him, but to those who would choose to believe in Him.  That message was recorded not only for the Greeks of his day, but for us who would read these words, never having seen the person of Jesus Christ, but would be able to discern His revelation to us in the form of the salvation He brings us as His gift.  Now to see Christ, we need only look at the acts of love and benevolence offered unselfishly to those in need.  It is there that we see Christ reflected to the world.  It is in the Love we show to others that we find Him today.  When it is we who show this kind of unconditional love to others, it is we who reflect Him.  When we Love without judgment or condemnation, instead loving alone to the point of redemption, it is we who join with Him, we are sent, as He was sent. 

It is not our former lives that dictate our worthiness to share in His ministry.  It is not our financial acumen or wealth that enables us to minister for Christ.  It is our willingness to submit our own will to His, and our willingness to reflect His so great love to others through us.  John seems to recognize that there are too many miracles to contain in His gospel, or perhaps any gospel.  He pens this epilogue in verse 30 … “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: [verse 31] But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”  John offers us His insights into the proof of the divinity of Christ.  But more, he offers us the revelations of God who walked our earth, and lived a life of perfect love.  God is love.  His kingdom is comprised of those who love.  It was for love that He saved us.  It was for love that He wishes to take us home with Him.  It was for love that He was given to the world.  It will be only love that sees the world redeemed, and us with it.  Love is the only answer that can finally and fully defeat evil.

 

Interpreted to Death (witness number twenty) ...

Time passes, but people are not changed in a positive way by the passage of time, without a reliance on Christ.  It was winter, during a feast of dedication, and Jesus was in Jerusalem again walking and teaching in the porch of Solomon’s temple.  John’s gospel account continues in chapter 10 and verse 24 when Christ is confronted by the Jewish religious leadership who again ask Him to state plainly whether He was the long awaited Messiah or not.  This question however, was not designed to illicit a spiritual response, it was designed to illicit a political one.  The popular conception about the primary job of the coming Messiah was that He would liberate the people from Roman oppression.  The Pharisees and religious leaders had applied the texts in their scriptures regarding the final kingship of Christ and the overthrow of all evil in the universe to His first appearance by mistake.  They ignored all the references to the sacrifice the Messiah must make of His own life for our redemption, and applied only those that referenced worldwide dominion of His kingdom.  This was a popular view because it offered the people hope to live outside of oppression, with the possibility of power that would never reach an end.  The Pharisees, being the leaders of the people at the time, considered themselves to be the “first” to enjoy the privileges of world-wide dominion.  This was the idea of the Messiah they were invested in.  That the true Messiah might be the sacrificial Lamb of God, and never declare His own power, was inconceivable in their minds.

The Pharisees hoped that if Christ would simply declare Himself openly as the Messiah, the pressure of the people to liberate themselves from Rome would be so great, that He would either have to capitulate to their demands, or to lose them as followers.  In either case the Pharisees stood to gain the advantage.  Most of the traps the Pharisees laid for Christ were designed to be no-win situations, where either answer could be exploited for their purposes.  The fundamental they were relying on is the choice between two evils.  The truth they missed was that with God, we are never forced to make a choice where both outcomes are evil; there is always another choice through the power of God that can confound evil entirely.

So in verse 25 Jesus begins His response saying … “Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: …”  This question had been asked and answered, just not in the way the Pharisees had desired.  The work of the Messiah was NOT to be what they were looking for.  Jesus continues … “the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.”  The mission of the Messiah was to LOVE.  His sacrifice for our redemption was the epitome of Love.  Every encounter of Christ with our brokenness was to heal and restore us.  Every encounter of Christ with us sinful men, was not to condemn us, but to love us to redemption, restore us to His intentions, and focus us on what is truly important.  Christ freed no slaves from their owners.  But he offered each of us freedom from slavery to self, that whether bound or free, we are all subject to without His gift.  Christ did not nothing to overturn the power of Rome by force or by conflict.  But by meeting evil with love he started a movement that would turn the largest heathen power in the world into a different creature who would attempt to carry His name.  Christ knew that only Love can defeat evil.  Matching force with superior force does nothing to eliminate evil.  But matching evil with superior love, destroys and eliminates evil once and for all.  The deeds of Christ attest to the response of our God to us.  The deeds of Christ show the heart and motive of God.  Jesus did nothing for Himself, but everything for us.  Our God literally served us first.

But the idea that the most powerful being in the universe would stoop to serve others with no thought to Himself, was more than the Priests could take in.  It was baffling that one with so much potential power would use none of it to exalt Himself, and all of it in simple service of love to others, particularly to those who did not “deserve” these displays of love.  The priests, like Satan, reasoned that if “they” had that kind of power, “they” would rule the world (you know, in a good way).  But this is the contrast between God and Satan – God uses His power to show love to all.  Satan would use his power only on himself at the expense of others.  So the Pharisees did not believe in Christ, because Christ did not follow their logic or wisdom, or make sense to them.  All of their study of scripture had done nothing to melt their hearts from thinking first of serving only self.  Scriptural leadership had offered them power, and superiority over other people.  The concepts of service were replaced with self-aggrandizement.  And now this humble teacher showed a stark contrast between where they were, and where they should have been.

Jesus continues in verse 26 … “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. [verse 27] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”  A sheep is a humble creature because they recognize their own need.  A sheep looks to his shepherd to meet his needs.  Therefore a sheep is happy to follow and trust instead of attempt to lead and teach.  Christ would gladly have accepted these very men as His followers, but they would refuse to follow.  They did not look to Christ as their shepherd, or leader.  Instead they expected Christ to submit to their own leadership and ideas about scripture and what it meant.  This conflict was not one brought on by Christ, it was one brought on by their own pride.  Are we any different?  Do we presume to teach others to listen to our own ideas about what scripture means and ignore the influence of anyone else?  Do we do this instead of teaching all believers to seek Christ first, even if that journey travels along a different road we do not understand?  Do we trust Christ to save the lost, or believe the lost can only be saved if they listen strictly to ourselves … like our Pharisee forefathers perhaps.

Jesus continues in verse 28 … “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”  Life is a gift of Christ.  Eternal life is a GIFT of Christ.  It is not inherent within us, nor something we achieve of our own.  We are saved by Christ.  We are not just saved for a moment, and then subject to the power of Satan once again.  Instead we are saved by Christ, and taken beyond the reach of Satan.  Our lives are transformed by the power of Christ so that temptation is no longer the temptation it once was.  When we look to Christ to be remade, we are remade.  Our problems come, because we look away from Christ.  We begin to think our transformation was something attributable to ourselves.  And as we focus on the mirror again, we find ourselves failing again.  Victories are given away to relapse because we let go of our cure, and look again to self for healing.  But when we focus on Christ, when we humble ourselves as sheep who long for a restorative shepherd, we FIND one in Christ.  And the wolves of this world, are powerless against the Shepherd we have put our faith in.  Once in the hand of Christ, we are beyond the power of those who would destroy us.  For our temporal life means nothing, our eternal one begins immediately.  While we may experience the sleep of death before His return, our sleep will be unperceivably brief, and carry no lasting sting.  Our lives, both now as He removes our pain, and then as His work is finally completed, will be lives of service to others for all eternity that are truly worth living.  This is His gift to us.

Jesus continues in verse 29 … “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.”  Lest you think Christ is alone in His mission to redeem and protect us from evil, think again.  His Father gives us to Him.  And even if you must choose to doubt the strength of the Son, no one can deny the strength of the Father.  The Father is greater than ALL.  No man can remove us from the hand of His Father.  We are not just in the hands of Christ, though that is plenty for me, we are also in the hands of His Father.  They are completely in sync in this effort.  They are completely of one mind on the topic of our redemption and restoration.  We are loved every bit as much by the Father as by His Son.  Every action of service Christ takes is the will of His Father on our behalf.  Every act of mercy and restoration, and healing, comes from the source of all Love who exists in heaven.  Christ was the physical revelation of the mind and heart of God, both Father and Son.  This level of unity cannot be ignored or undone.  And He states it plainly as He declares in verse 30 … “I and my Father are one.”  Not only do Christ and His Father share divinity, but they share Love for us, and the mission to redeem and restore us.  This is the true nature of God which Christ revealed in His visit to our world.  The life of Christ stands in rebuke to the imagery the devil would like to associate with the motives and desires of the Father.  The words of the devil are undone by the actions of Christ.  For love is fully defined in the life of Christ, and He states all throughout His ministry, that these actions are the specific will of His Father.

Predictably the Jewish leadership had only one response to the idea that Jesus was divine, they must stone Him.  Here again, were the learned men of the law, ready to kill someone who did not conform to their own ideas or leadership.  Here were men who believed themselves to be the leaders of the religion established by the most high God, ready to kill the most high God, because He would not agree with them.  What is more, they intended to kill Christ, in order to protect the honor of their God.  But in reality their “god” had become themselves.  Their religions had devolved into their debates about what they thought scripture meant.  Their interpretation of scripture allowed for the idea that they should kill others who did not accept their leadership.  In effect, Christ was about to be “interpreted” to death.

So Jesus asks a simple question of them in verse 32 … “Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?”  This question contains more than what might first meet the eye.  First; Jesus is not asking them if He is being stoned for what He says, but for what He does.  This is not just an ideological debate about the mind and heart of God.  Christ puts His argument in what He has done to make His case.  Second; Christ links the actions He has performed to the power and will of His Father.  He makes no personal claim for these great deeds, instead deferring all glory to His Father.  In effect, He is plainly stating that these miracles require the stamp of divine approval or they could not have been conducted.  Those picking up the stones at the moment, are not just rejecting Christ, they are rejecting His Father God, for Satan has never done such acts of mercy to any here on earth.   Lastly; Jesus is asking them to pause for a moment and consider the reasoning that would allow them to kill someone under the guise of a religion that was intended to be one where love to others was first and foremost.  The Ten Commandments after all, which is something they purport to most revere, state plainly “thou shalt not kill”.  It does not grant exceptions for those who do not agree with the law.  It does not grant exceptions for those who believe they know the law better than others.  It does not even grant exceptions for self-defense.  Yet all there this day, were willing to pick up stones and kill the author of their law, because they believed their interpretations of scripture allowed for it.

The Jews respond in verse 33 … “The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”  The Jews have interpreted the scriptures to allow for them to kill anyone who commits the sin of blasphemy.  Notice that they do not leave the act of judgment or condemnation up to God on a matter like this, they presume instead to take these actions into their ‘well-qualified’ hands.  Notice too, they do not allow for repentance to occur if it had been warranted, instead choosing to take immediate action to remedy the situation.  They are going to ignore the argument that proves the miracles of Christ come from God the Father, this is something they have no answer for; and they are going to kill Christ rather than accept that what He is saying may in fact be true.  Their interpretation of scripture allows for an on the spot murder conducted in anger, absent a trial, or opportunity for repentance, or even a discussion as to the merits of this claim.  Had Christ been a mere mortal who was making false claims of divinity, He could have easily been proven a liar and blasphemer.  But because of “who” He was, irrational anger was to rule the day.  If they could not prove Him a liar, they would kill Him to shut Him up.

The response of Christ was to cut right to the heart of their motives.  If they were to kill Him based on their interpretations of scripture, then Christ would call them to interpret something they would have no answer for.   Jesus responds in verse 34 … “Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? [verse 35] If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; [verse 36] Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?”  Jesus refers here to a Psalm, a poem, included in the Old Testament whose themes were ones of justice for those in need, and refers to a counsel of the mighty where judgment was undertaken.  But in the poem is the exact reference Jesus quotes, the saying “ye are gods”.  If He is to be killed based on their interpretations, then what do they have to say about this text?  Jesus is making the point that not all scripture is so easily understood, or singular in its purpose.  This poem may well have been using imagery to make a point, not attempting to be literal in its interpretation.  And the fact that the men there have no answer for this reference is designed to teach them that their interpretations have room for growth.  They are not the end-all, be-all of scripture interpretation.

Again Christ turns the argument to focus on deeds over words and their interpretations.   Again he says look at the facts, the actions that He has taken and evaluate the reality of who He is, by the reality of what He has done.  Jesus continues in verse 37 … “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. [verse 38] But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.”  Miracles are not possible outside of the divine.  None of us by sheer will can undo the physics of disease.  But God can.  God can do what we believe is impossible.  God can restore what we are unable to restore, both physically and spiritually.  Jesus is saying to His listeners, if I can do these things, and they are not humanly possible, then I MUST have a connection with God.  And if I am the Son of God, and my actions prove it, why are you willing to kill me because I do not conform to your understandings and ideas.  Salvation is on the table, and to prove it, Jesus has done what no one else has ever done.  He has performed the miraculous.  Our reality has been altered by the deeds of Christ, not just by His words.

But simple logic, and yet another offer of proof that cannot be disputed, is not enough to change the mind of one who WILL NOT believe.  This is the problem atheist’s face in our world today.  They ask for proof, but were it given, they would find a “logical” reason to discard the miraculous even if it were done right in front of them.  This is because they have made a choice about what to believe in or not.  This choice will not be undone by that which cannot be explained.  And so the response to love and logic that cannot be undone recorded in verse 39 was … “Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,”.  Even after all this, they would have killed Him.  Nothing He could say would deter them.  Nothing He had done deserved this response.  But evil has only one response to love, and that is to kill it, or be conquered by it.

So Jesus left Jerusalem.  His effort to reach the spiritual leaders of His day had little success; a poignant lesson for the religious leaders of our day.  Christ then returned to the Jordan river area where John the Baptist used to minister, and John footnotes that a great many believed on Him there.  For what John the Baptist had said about Christ had been fulfilled completely in the sight of the people.  Those who were not blinded by the arrogance of their own ideas, were able to see the truth in the actions that Christ had done.  So they found salvation where the Pharisees would have killed it.  Are we ready to be led to truth, or do we believe it our job to lead others there?  Are we humble enough to be led by the child in our midst, or do we believe we have transcended from sheep to shepherd in some way?  The truth of Christ remains.  I wonder, would we too join our Pharisee forefathers and attempt to interpret Him to death as well?

 

Killing the Critics ...

There are many who have a horrible picture of God, and even worse of the Bible.  It would be easy to assume they are all outside of the church, but such is not always the case.  Critics are alive and well and ever present in online forums, social gatherings, and even inside church business meetings or board meetings.  Those who criticize from outside the church are taught to do so, by the encounters they have had with those who profess the name of Christ.  The critics within do an excellent job of training the critics without.  How do those who bear the name of Christ undo the damage that has been done by those who believe it is their duty to point out the flaws - in everything?

When one examines the ministry of Christ, we always find Him focused on the redemption of all He encounters.  Christ does not center his conversations on what is wrong with His listener, only how His listener could escape the pain they carry.  Mary Magdalene was guilty of far more than adultery when she was cast at the Savior’s feet.  Christ could have enumerated all the sins He knew she had committed over her lifetime.  He did not.  Nor did He call attention to each of the sins in the lives of those who were picking up the stones to end her life.  With a simple but piercing gaze into the eyes of the angry mob, He gently reminded them that they too were equally guilty and deserving of death, or more importantly of the mercy He was extending to Mary.  Christ was not trying to excuse Mary, or proclaim her innocence.  He was trying to free her from the pain she had chosen to embrace.  This is the very nature of redemption, not provide an excuse for evil, but an escape from evil.  And in this work, Christ was decidedly NOT a critic.  Instead He uses the power of positive reinforcement, blessing her, freeing her, and saying … “go, and sin no more.”  Forget what you have done and embrace the freedom from pain He offers to her.  Do not focus on your sins or your past or the hundred other things she had done wrong – instead be free, and focus on the freedom only Christ could bring.

Criticism does not bring reform.  But the hope and love Christ offered brought about change.  When Christ encounters the Samaritan woman at the well, he again gets her excited about what He has to offer her – a living water, a freedom she has never known.  He does not focus on all the woman’s sins or faults.  He mentions her social history only to reveal to her that He knows her as a person, cares about her as a person, is interested in freeing this particular woman from the pain she has known in her own life.  She becomes so excited she is compelled to go back to her town, and bring with her everyone who knows her to hear “this prophet who revealed the secrets of her life”.  She is not content to hear His message of freedom alone, but rather wants the entire town to come to Him.  Had Christ been a critic with divine knowledge about her life and sins and focused only on her faults, she would have wanted to hide herself from Him, and never let Him speak of her long list of evils in front of the entire village.  Instead, Christ does not center His encounter with her on what she may have done wrong, but on how she can be freed from the pain of evil.  This freedom, this hope, this love is what she is compelled to share with everyone she knew.  Christ brings reform, criticism accomplishes nothing.

Yet somehow over the years “Christian” has become synonymous more with “critic” than with “Christ”.  Too often Christians focus on what is wrong with the world around them, and more specifically with the people they encounter, than on the hope the Christ brings to escape the pain of evil that plagues our souls.  When an outsider looks at a Christian for the first time, they mark whether they see a person who loves them unconditionally, much like our Lord – or someone who seems to think their sole mission is to point out every flaw, every shortcoming, every sin that might be preventing them from “finding God”. 

As when Christ encountered Mary, there was no question that the crowd was right, she was guilty.  But the lesson is not about judging the guilty, it is about reforming a life from guilty to one that is not slave to the pain that evil brings.  So too, when we encounter the sinners that surround us in the world, it is not our mission to focus and call attention to the obvious evils they commit – but to point them to a God who loves them SO much He was willing to die to heal them.  People avoid criticism, but are drawn to love.  If we are to represent Christ, we must be a picture of unconditional love.  Proving that we actually do love the sinner, despite his sin; for our Lord loves us despite the evil we continue to cling to.  Our mission is not to “fix” people, we are incapable of that.  Our mission is to point people to the source of all love and let Him “fix” them, as He does with us.

Christ does not discriminate against “some” of His children, choosing not to love them because of a particular evil they commit.  Instead He loves ALL of His children, despite the condition they find themselves in, despite the sin and pain they have chosen to embrace.  He longs to free ALL of those He loves from the pain in their lives.  He wants ALL to come to Him; age is no barrier, sex is no barrier, race is no barrier, even our sin is no barrier to come to the Lord of Lords.  He did not ask anyone He encountered to go become blameless and give up certain vices before they could be with Him.  He knows that is not something humans can do.  Instead He bids us all to come to Him.  He knows when we do we find rest.  Only when we come to Him can we find the peace, the hope, and the change we ALL so desperately need.  In this He presents an infallible picture of unconditional love.  How can Christians then, those who bear His name, love others any less?  How can we claim the name of Christ and then totally reverse His ministry from one of hope, to one of condemnation and fear.

Notice that Christ never once threatened any of His listeners with eternal Hellfire and damnation if they did not choose to believe in Him.  His ministry was not one based on … “you better or else”.  The Beatitudes are not followed by ten curses to those who refuse to embrace Him.  Yes, on occasion Christ warned His listeners about the dangers of disobedience (mostly to those who thought themselves the religious leaders of the day); but even then it was always couched in an appeal of love.  Christ’s evangelism was not based on the soon coming end of the world, the last plagues, persecution, torment, and the evils of going to hell for our sins.  He did not preach long sermons designed to scare people into submission to an all-powerful vengeful God.  That is not who He was.  That is not who His Father is.  Instead, He presents the perfect picture of love, acceptance, and freedom from the pain of evil.  The Bible is not written to show the justice of God in condemning the evil ones, it is written to show the mercy of God to those who do not deserve it.  We are the beneficiaries of His love, His mercy, and His sacrifice.  We receive it as a gift, unearned.  He needs no fear to motivate us.  He has something considerably better to offer than merely an escape from fear.  He has a real alternative to the pain of slavery in serving only one’s self.

Christ does not need fear to transform His listeners.  He does not criticize to reform.  He loves.  He genuinely loves, each person, each encounter is one designed to redeem.  Christ knew the mind of Judas.  He knew that Judas was skimming from the collection plates.  He knew that Judas would betray Him.  He knew what would become of Judas.  So why not reveal him?  Wouldn’t you?  Why tolerate a known traitor in your midst?  But Christ did.  Not just to fulfill some prophecy written centuries earlier, or not because He intended to provide Judas with false intel to give the Pharisees.  He allowed Judas to be one of the twelve, because He desperately wanted to save Judas from himself.  He hoped that close-up, constant exposure to love might reach into the heart of Judas and reform him. 

But to do this, Judas must be willing.  Judas thought he knew better what the mission of Christ should be, and while he believed in the divinity of Christ, he never imagined that one who had such power would not use it to free himself from certain death.  Judas never accepted the freedom Christ offered, yet that did not ever give Christ an occasion to criticize Judas, and point out his every fault.  Christ did not try to frighten Judas into reform.  He did not tell Judas that what he was doing, and how he was thinking, might lead him to the very gates of hell.  Instead, He was patient and loving with Judas.  He accepted Judas as one of His own.  Judas was a member of the 12.  He could have had his name written on one of the gates of Heaven itself.  He could have been a mighty leader of the early Christian church.  But Judas would not have it.  And Christ never changed his approach with Judas, no matter what Judas did or said.  Christ only ever showed him love and acceptance.

If criticism is to end within the Christian church it must first end inside of me.  I must look in the mirror and confess to my Lord that my heart is one full of critique and empty of love.  I must ask the Lord to change how I speak, how I love, and how I communicate with others.   I must find a way to focus on what is good, and allow Christ to fix what is not.  I must become an encourager of the faith, and an unfailing reflection of His love through me to those I encounter.  I must love those who are hard to love.  I must remember not to respond to criticism with barbs of my own.  Instead I must return love for insults, love for hate, love for dislike, love for apathy, love for greed.  Whatever is thrown at me by those I meet, whether inside or outside the church walls, I must only ever return love. 

This is what my Savior did.  This is how Christ ministered.  He was not obsessed with a list of woes.  He was laser focused on how to redeem people with love.  He wanted to reconcile ALL of us to His Father, not just the ones struggling with “certain pre-approved sins”, but everyone, no matter what their particular sin was.  He did not care about the belief systems a person held to be valid, He knew He would have to help them see truth.  But we can only see truth AFTER we come to Christ, not before it.  He knew it might take years to help us believers find the truth we ignore thinking we know better – like Judas.  But He does not give up on us.  Therefore let us not give up on each other, and let us find His strength in our hearts, to destroy any shred of criticism that might remain.  And perhaps then redefine “Christian” to be synonymous with “unconditional acceptance” rather than “critic”.