Three Witnesses and You ...

Your ideas, your perspective influenced by your own history, give you a unique take on any story you may become familiar with.  The core elements of the story may be the same.  But what you pay attention to, the things that are important to you, or that you zero-in-on during the revelation of the story – well those come from who you are, and what matters to you.  You notice subtle things that might have gone un-noticed by others.  Again, the core elements of the story being the same for everyone.  Your unique perspective of the story is something to cherish.  It does not belittle the story, it rather amplifies it.  And sharing your perspective with others, you are bound to pick up new things, that they paid more attention to, that may have slipped by you.  A sharing of perspectives then, adds to the wealth of the story, without tearing down the core elements of it.  This is what is meant by the phrase “the body of Christ” as it refers to His church.  We all have different strengths and weaknesses.  We all have different perspectives.  Jesus is the same.  But what we see in Jesus, is often a function of what we are looking for, and how Jesus uniquely helps each of us.  Jesus is still True.  But how we see Jesus may differ widely, because the difference between you and me may also be a wide one.

Unbelievers will sometimes take our differences in perspective as reason to say Jesus is not true at all.  But that is like saying that a story reported by CNN, MSNBC, and FOX must also not be true at all because those networks come from different perspectives and often report widely different conclusions based on the same set of facts (the story itself).  That is ridiculous.  We all know there is a story out there.  And in the case of our news networks, we tend to have one we prefer, and one we do not.  We tend to side with the network we prefer more, and take the one we don’t with a grain of salt.  The story is there, the set of facts is out there, but how it is reported, and how it is received is more a function of who we listen to, and what we believe to be true.  I would bet, that if you personally were exposed to the entire core set of facts about a given story, you would see some elements of it reported by CNN, different ones by MSNBC, and still others reported by FOX.  None of the networks are lying per se, but their perspectives will certainly alter what conclusions they draw; and therefore what they would like you to draw with them.  But the Truth is bigger than CNN, bigger than MSNBC, and bigger than FOX.  And in the case of Jesus Christ, way bigger than all our news networks, and way bigger than us.

So given this, I would like to focus on a story recorded in three gospels.  You will hear it from three different authors, that is three different witnesses.  The core elements of the story are the same.  But how it is reported is different.  Perspectives of the authors were different.  And to be fair, what you or I pay attention to is likely to be different still.  These differences in scripture are not proof that the Bible cannot be true.  Far from it.  Instead they prove the reality of the Bible in reporting a story where the core elements are true, but the three authors were not copying each other, or lying, that any story like this took place in the first place.  They simply come at it from three different perspectives.  And you or I, the readers, are likely to gain different insights because what Jesus means to us, will likely cause us to focus on a unique insight from the same story in the first place.

The core elements are these.  A person who is mighty, and valued, and important has a need.  The influential person is not a Jew.  This person knows someone he loves who is sick and he needs Jesus to heal him.  The influential person does not feel worthy enough to have Jesus come under his roof.  So he asks Jesus to simply speak the words and the one he loves is healed and made whole.  This example of faith in Jesus by someone who is NOT a Jew, is an example of faith in peoples like ourselves of a future much different than the past.  If you have been a Christian for some length of time, you will likely recognize some version of this story from the New Testament.  Some folks call this a “Centurion’s Great Faith”.  Others might call this “Jesus Heals an Official’s Son”.  But even these titles are examples of perspectives.  While we take a second look at this story try to keep an open mind to absorb an even greater understanding of the story from 3 different witnesses.  The scriptures can be found in Luke 7:1-10 … Matthew 8:5-13 … and John 4:43-54.

Backstory:  

o   Matthew - records this incident right after a healing of a leper.  He then puts Jesus simply entering Capernaum. 

o   Luke - records this incident right after the greatest sermon ever preached.  He then puts Jesus simply entering Capernaum. 

o   John - records this incident right after an unpleasant greeting in His home country.  But John adds that Jesus attended a feast in Jerusalem, then travels to Cana (where Jesus had previously turned water into wine).

 

Protagonist: 

o   Matthew - identifies the influential person as a Roman Centurion and offers no more than that.  Matthew records the encounter as a one-on-one with Jesus.

o   Luke - identifies the influential person as a Roman Centurion.  Luke differs from a one-on-one encounter, saying that the Centurion sought out the elders of the Jews to go to Jesus to ask Him for the healing.  Luke adds that the Jews did this, because the Roman was responsible for building a Synagogue in their area for them to worship in, and they believed the Roman loved their nation.  Luke continues that on hearing this Jesus begins to make His way towards the Roman Centurion’s home. 

o   John - identifies the influential person as only a Nobleman.  John does not seem to see anything noticeably Roman about this person at all, and he too records a one-on-one encounter between himself and Jesus.

 

Victim: 

o   Matthew – identifies the victim as a servant of the Centurion who is sick of the palsy and grievously tormented. 

o   Luke – identifies the victim as a servant who was dear to him, but sick and ready to die. 

o   John – identifies the victim as a son of the Nobleman who was sick and at the point of death.

 

The Request: 

o   Matthew – records the interaction by the Roman stating his own unworthiness for Jesus to enter under his roof.  The Roman states that he has men under his own command, that obey his orders and do what he says.  He asks Jesus to merely give orders for his servant to be healed and he will be.

o   Luke – records that since Jesus was traveling to the Centurions house after the elder’s first encounter, the Centurion sends friends out next to tell Jesus not to trouble Himself.  For the Roman is not worthy to have Jesus enter under his roof, nor was the Roman worthy of coming to Jesus himself to ask this.  It is at this point that like Matthew’s version, the Roman’s message through his friends is the same about giving orders and they will be obeyed.

o   John – records the Nobleman coming to Jesus in person asking Him to heal his son.  However in John’s version the Nobleman is requesting for Jesus to come heal his son in person.

 

The Response: 

o   Matthew – records Jesus marveling at the Roman’s faith.  Jesus says about it “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great a faith, no, not in Israel.  And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.  But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  Then Jesus tells the Centurion to go his way, as he has believed, so be it done unto thee.

o   Luke – records Jesus marveling at the Roman’s faith.  Jesus says to the people following …”I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” 

o   John – records the incident differently, he has Jesus saying “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.”  But Jesus tells the Nobleman to go his way. For his son liveth.

 

The Results: 

o   Matthew – records the servant was healed in the self-same hour. 

o   Luke – records the friends of the Centurion returning to find the servant whole who had been sick. 

o   John – records the Nobleman returning to a healed son.  He then asks the servants about what time did the son begin to heal (what hour).  They tell him it was about the seventh hour of the day.  This act converts not only the Nobleman, but his entire household.  And John records it as the second Miracle that Jesus did in Galilee.

 

There are some subtle and some distinct differences in these 3 versions of the same story in the life of Jesus and the life of this influential person.  First it is possible that a Roman Centurion was also a Nobleman with some degree of wealth and influence so perhaps that is less of a difference than first thought.  Luke adds the context of having this Roman building a Synagogue for the people.  Next it is possible that the victim was either a son, or a servant loved as much as a son might be.  So again, perhaps less of a difference.  Whether the Roman personally interacted with Jesus as Matthew and John state, or whether he sent emissaries to interact with Jesus on his behalf; what is common is a great feeling of unworthiness on his part.  Luke extends this unworthiness not to even encounter Jesus personally.  In all three cases, this man of influence realized his wealth did not make him a saint.  Perhaps it only added to his own unworthiness.   What is also common among all three stories is that Jesus need only speak the words to have the servant/son healed and he was.   

Matthew reminds his audience (the Hebrews) that they will not be alone in the kingdom of heaven.  There will be many of us there from the east and west as well.  Jesus reminds his audience in both Matthew and Luke that this faith was very great, and it did not come from a Hebrew.  John uses this incident to remind his audience (the Greeks) that entire households were converted from a single encounter with Jesus.  Not just the poor and desperate, but the wealthy and influential as well.  The core elements of the story remain largely the same.  You have heard the story from the perspective of three different witnesses.  But what about you?  What does this story say to you?  What do you get out of it?

For me, it tells me of faith coming from unexpected places, from a people or person, I might have otherwise thought would never be even interested in Jesus, let alone have so much faith in Him.  Keep in mind Romans were hated in their day, with reason.  Yet here is one in perfect submission to Jesus Christ.  This story also tells me that birthright (that is, being raised in the church) is not the same thing as a living faith that grows everyday.  This was a Centurion who had this faith, not a Rabbi, not even a disciple.  This story reminds me that as close as we get to Jesus, the more unworthy our assessment of ourselves becomes.  As we see His perfection, we begin to see our own unworthiness more clearly.  It is easy for me to generalize and think of myself as a good person.  But when I see through the mirror of Jesus, I realize I am not worthy of His forgiveness or His love.  Yet He offers me both anyway.  I realize too, there are too many things in my home that might keep a perfect God out, and worse, too many things in my heart that do the same.  This Roman Centurion seemed to understand this truth better than I do.

I so appreciate having the perspectives of these three witnesses on this incident.  I love the additional context each of them offer.  It renews my faith in scripture, and adds to the beauty of my Lord.  I hope when you read your Bible, you always do it through the lens of Jesus Christ, and through that lens find the love God offers you, and me, everyday.

  

By Far, the Stronger Sex ...

Remember those “He man” bubble gum comics back in the day?  For those of you asking what is bubble gum, just try to humor an old man.  Way back in the 1950’s version of America, when men were men, and women were … let’s just be kind and say the object of men’s affection.  Yes, we all know they were considerably more than that, I’ll get there.  The comic strip of the day pictures a 90lb weakling, who goes to the beach and gets sand thrown in his face, by the big muscular strapping “He” man of the day.  Should you identify with the 90lb weakling, all you needed to do, was respond through correspondence (yes, snail mail, it was a thing), and the company who created this awesome advertisement, would send you a gallon of it’s patented muscle growth formula which you could presumably add to your diet.  The results, as also pictured in the comic strip, would be that you would now be bigger than the other guy, get the girl, and live happily ever after.  And yes, all this was packaged with huge chunks of bubble gum with certainly enough sugar to cause an elephant really nasty weight gain.  Just about everything you need to know about the perfect vision of America in the 50’s can be summarized through this ad.  Easy to see, it was wrong about nearly everything.

For starters, my wife married me for my brains.  I had hoped it was for my sense of humor, but she has none, so that makes sense.  If it had been for my body, she got “JIPPED” (another ancient word meaning she suffered a huge disappointment in expectations, it was a thing.)  My body went from bone skinny, eat 3 large pan pizza’s at Pizza Hut and not gain an ounce, literally – to – eat water, gain 20 pounds.  Look at a candy bar, gain 20 more.  You get the idea.  Right now I am proud to say I maintain my weight within a 10 pound range, I am considerably less proud to let you know the baseline of my scale before we start talking about the 10 pounds.  So why does she continue to stay with me after three plus decades and counting?  You could be cynical and say it is for my money.  To which, I would fall on the floor laughing, asking what money?  Yes I have been a millionaire before, and yes, I have been bankrupt before too.  I have had long stints of executive work, and few fairly long stints trying to create my own business that just never got anywhere (turns out I am not a sales man).  So if my wife expected me to be rich, or to be a “He” man, she never came close to getting either.  So much for why women choose men, and even more a mystery, why they stay with them.

Given how much I love my wife today, you could say that is the reason.  You would be right … today.  But for as much as I love her now, I have wounded her far greater in those three decades.  She swallows her pain, forgives me, moves on, finds herself on her knees with Jesus – and is now living with those answered prayers.  Who has the strength to do that?  Not men.  We throw in the towel the minute the going gets rough.  We don’t have the stamina to deal with pain that lasts for years, let alone months, or days.  Sure men can gut it out, man up, and face a lot of mess.  But most of the mess we face, is the mess we make.  To have the iron will to forgive, to choose to forgive, to live without the past clogging your every day of the present – that takes strength.  Inner core strength.  Not the kind that nets you a six-pack abs, but the kind that nets you answers to prayers you pray for as long as the pain lasts.  That is nothing like a “He” man at all.

One part of that ad that was so mistaken, is that the girl does not go home with you because you are bigger than the next guy.  If she does, brace yourself, she will be moving on inevitably, because there is always another guy bigger than you.  She might just as willingly have gone home with you, when you were the 90lb weakling who put his faith in God, and bases his commitments in the concrete of faith, rather than the strength of will that is defeated in the moment.  That kind of strength in commitment, to follow Jesus, not to try to lead Him, is a strength we all need.  But I find women have it.  Men are still looking for it.  Here is a case in point.  Matthew records the aftermath of the death of Christ in his gospel in chapter 27.  There are almost no men mentioned, one or two at most.  Keep in mind Jesus had 12 male followers at the time.  One hung himself, so down to eleven.  One in extreme grief for letting faith go, when challenged by a mere servant girl, who accused him of nothing more than association with Jesus.  Three times he denied that.  He is now consumed by shame, not showing an ounce of strength.  And he was supposed to be the little rock.

Matthew does not record it, but John the beloved was there through all of this.  And Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin would play a role.  But the ones with cast iron faith, were the women.  These women risked their own lives, and virtue, just by being at this scene facing all of these cruel men who raped women without even a second thought.  It was part of their training, and expected of them when they conquered a people.  There was no respect of women.  Women were objects at best.  They could be bought or sold, raped or forced into marriage, no choices left to them of any kind.  This was their lives at the time.  Yet their faith in Jesus was so strong, their love for Him so unmutable, that they refused to be anywhere else.  Now I ask you, who is the stronger sex?  The one who can defeat you at arm wrestling, or the one who can love you when everything else in your life fails, and fails again.  These women remained in place with Jesus AFTER He has died.  He was dead.  No arguing it.

Matthew picks up in verse 55 saying … “And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: [verse 56] Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.”  Notice Matthews carefully chosen wording, he states, “many” women were there watching from afar.  Many, is a whole lot more than you can say for the men, down to John, possibly Matthew as he is writing this.  How many women does it take to outnumber the 12 minus one?  And if they did outnumber the men, are we certain we give the fairer sex its due for being the stronger sex?  And look at what Matthew casually weaves into his description of these “many” women.  That they ALL ministered unto Jesus, and you can imagine the rest of His followers as well.  These women, the many, were all silent disciples already playing a ministering role, that is a supportive role, to the best of their abilities while all the events of Jesus’ life played out.  They followed Him.  They believed in Him.  They were forgiven and set free by Him.

Mary Magdalene probably was forgiven the most by Jesus.  Jesus removed demons from her seven times.  She was the known prostitute who was prostitute no longer.  Mary the mother of James and John, had once asked Jesus for primary positions for her sons.  Jesus had to defer those positions to the will of His Father.  But she felt comfortable enough with Jesus to make the ask.  And Jesus loved her enough to share the Truth with her in His answer.  Jesus’ mother was also there.  Likely His sisters as well.  Then there was Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus who of the women there, likely had the most hope in what would take place.  For they had seen the words I am the Resurrection and the Life, play out in the raising of their dead brother Lazarus.  Probably also in that crowd was the woman at the well in Samaria, who became the first notable evangelist, converting nearly her entire region by pointing them to Jesus.  By contrast was the woman who had hemophilia and merely touched the hem of His garment.  No one had ever tried that kind of crazy thing before but it worked.  And from then on, everyone lined the roads, doing it as well, and finding the same positive results.  These were women of cast iron faith.

They were there because of the Day of Atonement.  They had traveled to Jerusalem in part for tradition and in part to see Jesus be crowned king as everyone was sure would happen.  But alas, a twist of events brought on by the betrayal of Judas, and the hatred of the men who were religious leaders, and now they were there to witness the object of their divine love up on a Roman cross.  And now dead.  But these women had what men do not.  They were not alone.  They drew strength and encouragement from each other, even though their hearts were breaking.  Tears flowed, yet strength remained.  Jesus was dead, yet still they persisted.  Men did not.  Men were logical, once death sets in, the story was over.  But women were strong enough to peer through the tears and wonder with hope “if” the story was truly over.  Mary and Martha had seen it keep going.  It is certain they shared that hope with the others.

But to avoid being eaten by dogs, which is what happens to bodies after their crucifixion, logistics must now be made most important.  Matthew continues in verse 57 saying … “When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: [verse 58] He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.”  Christ would not be eaten by dogs in a mass grave.  He would be buried because of the humility and courage of Joseph, who would make no profit from this.  Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin.  His money would buy him a certain degree of favor with greedy men.  But to align himself with Jesus would make him an immediate outcast with them.  Further, Joseph’s act of kindness, would continue to fulfill prophecy, so Joseph would be even less popular with religious leadership now.  And Pilate, who could not wash the guilt from his mind and soul, consented knowing it would anger the priests.  Pilate being blissfully unaware he too was helping to fulfill prophecy about the burial of Jesus.

Matthew continues in verse 59 saying … “And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, [verse 60] And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. [verse 61] And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.”  Matthew talks about Joseph wrapping the body of Jesus in a clean linen cloth.  But to do that, the body would have to be wiped away of all the blood first.  The crown of thorns would have to be removed.  The cross taken down, and spikes removed from His hands and feet.  Any ropes untied.  And hardest of all, His back which had so many chunks of meat removed from it by the cat-of-nine-tails whip with the glass shards tied in the ends would have to be carefully wrapped to try to keep what was left of Jesus in place.  Joseph was one man.  He likely had servants to help.  But the other hands that helped in this horrific process were the hands of the “many” women who were there with tears flowing.

Cast iron faith that can prepare the body of Jesus for burial.  They were burying their Messiah.  There would be NO Roman overthrow, as all this blood was witness to.  Their own persecution was to continue throughout the days of their lives.  Lost hope.  Lost dreams.  Yet still, love demanded they be here, and do what must be done, to give honor and love to their Lord.  If you ask me, it is these women who have earned the place on the right and left hands of Jesus in His Kingdom when it comes.  They did the hardest work anyone will ever have to do.  They did it with broken hearts.  And they did it with love, because of love, because love can make cast iron faith in a woman, if she lets it.  The body is then carried to a new tomb that has never been used before.  Another detail of the prophecy.  Jesus is carefully laid inside, and then a large stone is rolled in front as the door.  The women are there the entire time.  They have seen and helped with every detail.

By contrast, witness the groveling of men at the time.  Matthew continues in verse 62 saying … “Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, [verse 63] Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. [verse 64] Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. [verse 65] Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. [verse 66] So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.”  First, Friday the day is over, and Sabbath is here, it will continue until sundown.  Priests had made a ton of rules about what can and cannot be done on Sabbath.  They include rules about how many steps can be taken, as well as million other harsh and stupid regulations none of them based in any kind of love for God, or man.

Yet against their own statutes the Priests go to Pilate and beg for a Roman seal, and a Roman guard to watch over the dead body of Jesus.  Only now do they fear the disciples might regain enough courage to steal the dead body of Jesus and try to make up a lie about it.  So Pilate grants them a Centurion, likely the same one who was there at the moment of Christ’s death.  But there is more here than may at first meet the eye.  Centurion is not just a rank, it is an indicator of how many men are under his command.  Chances are good there were a hundred men assigned to this grave guarding duty.  After all, it would be a good break from all the other ugly things Roman soldiers are assigned to do.  There would be only as many as 12 men in opposition, unarmed men, who generally were fishermen and tax collectors, so the odds would be highly in the Romans favor.  Romans would not just send 5 or 6 guys to face 12.  They would send 100 to overwhelm 12 should a skirmish take place.  And with that many, it would be a cake walk.  You could effectively relax for a Saturday and Sunday (the weekend as we know it).  Not likely to be fighting.  Not likely to be facing anything unusual.  Even if Jesus was the Son of God, He was dead now.

But who was there intermingled with these wicked soldiers?  Mary Magdelene and the other Mary, sitting against the grave.  Mary Magdelene was likely not afraid of men like this.  She had seen and serviced her fair share in the past.  She may even know some of these men personally.  Romans did have coin after all.  But neither she nor the other Mary who had always minded her virtue were inclined to forfeit any of it now.  They remained heart broken.  But somehow unable to leave the scene of the continuing crime.  Women with cast iron faith, who even now, had the courage and strength to be in a place long abandoned by male disciples.  Those male disciples would not risk getting anywhere near a Roman soldier as they were paranoid and sure they would be arrested and killed just like their Master, maybe even worse.  Yet the women who faced the same risk, made entirely different choices.  Choices steeped in love.  Love that built a cast iron faith, that could not be shaken by Roman cruelty, or Roman steel.

Who then, by far, is the stronger sex?  And if we can recognize this, it does not diminish our masculinity.  It informs and educates it.  We can cloak our masculinity in the same love, that builds the same faith it does in women.  Our strength can be measured in our commitments made in the concrete of faith, rather than the quicksand of our will.  Our love can be measured as the only yardstick worthy to be used, never again to use the number of pounds we benchpress in a gym.  Our bodies to be given in service of others, not the vanity of self.  And what will emerge is not a confusion of the sexes, or the roles of our sex, but the unity in which both of us come to the cross, do what must be done, in spite of broken hearts and lost dreams.  Yet still in the back of our minds, a nagging hope, of knowing what the words “I am the Resurrection and the Life” mean.

 

A PhD in Cruelty ...

How hard is it for you to be “nice”?  Does your significant other (or perhaps a close family member) seem to enjoy sharing “painful” truth about you, to you?  Or is it you, who cloaks pain with truth, when you speak to others.  Often folks who do this, are not even aware they do it.  But the ones on the receiving end are acutely aware.  Everyone wants the truth.  And nobody wants pain.  So how you reconcile those two things may be a matter of sensitivity if you care about how someone else feels.  Blatant truth, that is, truth told without the slightest regard for how it will be received, or how much pain it can cause – is the mark of a student aiming for their PhD in Cruelty, whether they know it or not.  And for those who enjoy cruelty; to see tears well up, to see dreams dashed with reality, to break the spirit of the young.  For these folks, cruelty is something beyond the boundaries of education, it is a high art form.  But for Christians, the only blanket for truth is love.  You can share painful truth with me, when I know it breaks your heart harder than it breaks mine.  When your tears flow faster than my own, then whatever pain there is in my truth is couched in a love that cannot be denied.  At that point, painful truth, is constructive at best, and commiserated at least.

Cruelty however, is something that can be taught.  Victims become proficient perpetrators.  And long-time exposure to inflicting cruelty causes dullness in recognizing it, and lack of motivation to treat it.  It is a tool of Satan to stamp out the love-response-mechanism in us all.  And what you do for a living can greatly impact how much cruelty you learn to tolerate, and perhaps inflict.  For example, its harder for a cop.  Imagine how much horror and cruelty a policeman is exposed to over the years of their career.  Their job is to jump right in to man-hurting-man and try to stop it.  They see us at our worst.  Either inflicting great pain on others, or falling victim to the pain another inflicts.  Most of us don’t seek out cops to form friendships, have dinner parties, and generally be a support system for them.  Instead we sit behind our televisions or computer screens quick to judge the failures of a few; attributing those failures to everyone; and all the while decry racisms of all “other” forms as being rampant in those who chose to protect and serve us.  None-the-less they continue to serve.  Everyday a battle to remain human, while exposed to the worst of humanity seen in crisis nearly all the time.  But at least cops understand the hope to make society better.

Try being a front-line soldier for a living.  That career requires you to kill others.  Kill, or be killed.  It is hard to kill others without finding a reason to dislike them, perhaps to hate them.  So we try to walk the tight rope of teaching our soldiers to protect each other, while hating the enemy, enough to kill the enemy, but not enough to become barbarians in the process.  Let’s face it, America rarely enters a war with another nation, unless the deeds of that nation rank in our barbarism scale.  Then we fight back.  But history has a long habit of pointing out that war makes barbarians of us all, blurring the lines between the good side and the bad side if all we do is examine the worst of what each of us has done.  My grandfather was a full-bird colonel coming out of World War Two, I believe he served in the army aircorp at that time.  He is buried in Arlington National cemetery with his wife now.  He saw combat in the Pacific.  Survived an enemy bomb that killed every other officer in the tent, was promoted, and continued to fight.  My grandfather was a gentle man, at least what I knew of him.  But he brought home a visceral hatred for anything Japanese.  And he did not want to talk about it.  He saw something.  Something so horrible, he could not get it out of his mind.  Even decades later it was just as raw as ever.  The cruelty he witnessed was so bad he could never forget it, or ever stop blaming for it.  But he was blessed enough not to let it completely take him over.

The military has always had it hard, trying to walk that balancing act between horrifically efficient killer, and common man able to enter a peace-loving society when hostilities come to a close.  Now we have a myriad of psychological conditions we diagnose our vets with, and think because we have cute names and accurate symptoms, we have solved the problem.  But the problem is a fundamental one.  We train our men to kill, proficiently kill, then at some point, tell them killing is done.  And today’s suicide rates of our vets are way too high.  It is hard to take life, then deal with it.  Some men just never try to come back from it.  Look back through history, this is not a new problem, and its hard to say whether it is better now, or worse now.  We kill from farther away, but we kill many more people with our advanced weapons.  In Roman times, you killed pretty much only people you could reach at arms length.  Archery may give you distance but lowers the body count surety.  A sword in the chest, pretty much guarantees the job is done.  Is it any wonder the soldiers in the days of Christ seem so proficient in cruelty?

The Executive of the state washed his hands and passed the buck as much as he could.  But he still ordered Jesus to be crucified.  Jesus would hardly be unique in that death.  Rows of crosses lined the roads throughout all of Israel.  Where we have light posts, they had crosses.  It was designed as a warning to rebellious thinking people.  Act out, find yourself decorating the highways of Judea in blood, your blood.  It was abomination to have this much death, or partial death, going on all the time, nearly everywhere.  But there were many would-be Messiah’s who promised freedom from Rome, only to find themselves, and their followers, and their follower’s families, up on Roman crosses, marking the roads in and out of every city.  Hatred of Rome was visual, and earned, and mutual.  Soldiers did all the dirty work.  Pilate was not going to do “anything” to Jesus himself, he would order the military to do it.  Men bathed in cruelty, who were taught hatred of the enemy is the only thing that kept them alive.  Doctrines of Satan spread then and now, in furrows of the blood of our enemies, that we feel OK about shedding.

Mercy, while steeped in the heart of Jesus for his Roman military escort, was totally void in their hearts for Him.  Matthew picks up the story in chapter 27 of his gospel to his contemporaries, beginning in verse 27 it says … “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. [verse 28] And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.”  Modesty has left the building.  The circumcision of Jesus is now clearly visible to all.  What is left of his back is bare, but blood falls from its 39 chuncks of missing meat, taken by the shards of glass tied in to the tips of the whip (cat of nine-tails) used in his flogging.  He drops blood fast enough to bleed out, but no one tends to His already horrific wounds.  Jesus was a Jew.  He was bound to die.  The people hated Him (or so it looked).  So anything these Romans did to Jesus, would bring with it, not even a shred of accountability.  The only anger they would inspire in the priests, is from making them wait longer for the inevitable death of Jesus.  And let’s face it, that was part of the Roman “fun” of any crucifixion.

Once naked, they find likely in the dirty clothes hamper of Pilate, a scarlet purple robe of royalty.  How much fun it might be to put this robe on Jesus (dirty as it was) to make fun of Him.  The maids will wash the blood out of it before Pilate gets it back anyway, so why not.  Matthew continues in verse 29 saying … “And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!”  And Satan grants each of them an honorary PhD in Cruetly for following his lead in this matter.  What is a king without a crown.  So they make one, weaving together a thorn bush with 2 inch long thorns, long enough to push deep into the head of Jesus, causing new rivers of blood to emerge.  At this rate Jesus may not survive even the walk to the cross.  They give him a scepter made of a reed.  Then they mock Him, kneeling and hailing Him as the King of the Jews.  And this is where they believed anyone who dared to take that name belonged.  Here, bleeding out, being mocked.  Hate has no bounds, nor has it a high threshold.  Like love, when you think you have discovered all there is, more will be found in you.  Satan tries through all this cruelty to convince Jesus, that we, humanity, are not worth it.  He is right.  This is the painful truth, though it causes Satan no pain, only glee.

None of us are worth this.  At least none of us, would go through this for each other, yet Jesus is undeterred.  Now it is time to get physical.  Matthew continues in verse 30 saying … “And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.”  None of us are too crazy about the idea of having someone else hawk-a-loogie right in our face.  To have the indignity of a spit bukaki in the face of your precious Savior should cause you to cringe in horror.  But it occurred.  Jesus did not react.  Not just because His arms were so tired He would not be able to lift them to wipe away the indignity.  But He just kept looking at these men as if He loved each of them, and knew each of them personally.  This was making it lose the buzz.  So they up’ed the game.  They take back the reed, and begin to beat Him on the head, pushing the crown of thorns even deeper into his flesh every time they made contact.  Producing a new squirt of blood as if from the pump of an artery every time they made contact.  They are laughing at Him.  He is crying for them.  They are why He is here.  To save each of them.

The fun is wearing off.  Cruelty cannot sustain a high, only get one started.  To sustain the high, one must find new ways to raise the game, make it worse.  There is never enough cruelty, to keep a high going.  Besides, Jesus has dumped so much blood on the ground in front of them, they are beginning to slip.  If they stay He will bleed out, avoid a crucifixion, and get them in trouble for not following orders.  Matthew continues in verse 31 saying … “And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.”  They put His own homespun on Him again.  But they leave the crown of thorns on Him, if they pulled it out surely He would have died from blood loss.  The clothing, such as it is, is now holding His back together after the flogging.  Not much skin left, so His clothing acts as a large sack holding His body together soaking with blood throughout.  But in this condition, He is completely unable to carry the cross as was the custom.  You can bet these cruel men had ZERO intentions of helping this Jew out, or any after Him.

Matthew continues in verse 32 saying … “And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.  [verse 33] And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,  [verse 34] They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.”  They made it to the place designated for this execution.  Lucky them.  Had Jesus died en route there would have been no end to the anger.  The Romans could care less who they made help them out.  When they get there, they offered Jesus a pain-dulling stimulant, to give Him some chance to live longer.  This was not a mercy.  It was a continued act of cruelty.  The point was to see Jesus suffer as long as humanly possible.  If Jesus died right away, it kills the fun of it.  But when Jesus tasted what it was, He refused to drink.  In his depleted condition, you could not force Him, or you may just kill Him on the spot. 

Matthew continues in verse 35 saying … “And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. [verse 36] And sitting down they watched him there; [verse 37] And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”  The doctors of cruelty who have no idea about ancient Jewish prophecies now fulfill another of them without the slightest knowledge they do so.  They threw dice for the homespun of Jesus.  Once you wash His robes, they might be awefully nice to add to a wardrobe.  Further cruelty, He will die naked and exposed now for all the world to see.  What would be our shame is now His shame.  No modesty, no compassion, only cruelty.  They choose to nail His hands and feet to the cross.  They could have tied Him up there with ropes, but ropes are less painful.  Nails, or rather spikes, will pearce Him clean through and increase the pain by an order of magnitude.

But while the sound of spike through bone is heard by all, what is not heard, is even a whisper of condemnation for those who are in the middle of inflicting all this cruelty upon Him.  Jesus had to die.  But this level of cruelty was our choice, not His will.  Yet still he does not call out any who sin against Him personally, to condemn them for what they do, even though their cruelty would have surely gotten any one of us to hate them in response.  The horror of sledge hammer through bone is heard.  Continual planking and squirting of blood, yet not a word of condemnation.  This was the most evident public sin of all time, yet nothing from Jesus who knew their every thought.  And somehow still, modern Christians believe it is “their job” to point out sin.  Leave the sin diagnosis with Jesus, and frankly focus on getting the repair there as well.    The sign they erect over His head proclaims Him King.  None of these men probably read; they are not even sure what they posted.  But orders from Pilate so, so be it.

It is convenient for us to think we would never stoop to this level of cruelty to anyone, especially to Jesus.  So instead of pounding in a crown of thorns, or planking spikes through bone, we offer death by a thousand cuts instead.  We speak our blatant truth with no regard, and let the chips fall where they may.  But they are not our chips.  They are the pieces of hope and faith we shatter in another because we demonstrate to them that our version of what love means, is devoid of any caring for what another thinks and feels.  We believe it is “our duty” to call sin by its name, and speak the “will of God” as if “we” knew that will.  Our Pharisee forefathers had equal arrogance.  They too recited scripture and clung to their singular interpretations and were now killing Jesus because they too believed they knew the will of God. 

We call ourselves Christian, and then proceed to dismember others with our speech, ironically thinking we do them a favor.  We do not.  If we loved them, so much that it broke our hearts to even consider sharing with them a truth that might hurt them as well, we would find another way to say it.  We might even follow the example of Jesus during this entire event and keep our peace, keep silent.  Or we would stand there with our brothers & sisters sheltering them throughout, so that they knew we were with them forever.  If tears are to flow, let them be our tears first.  Love that cares, cares.  It is not blind to the heart of others, even in matters of truth.  Let us burn our degrees in cruelty, and study love in its place.  Let us wrap truth in a hand-stitched blanket of love, never more in a platted crown-of-thorns, before we even consider delivering it.  Let us elevate love to a high art form, ever pursuing a mastery we may never fully attain.  And in so doing, speak or see cruelty never again.

 

How Lust for Power makes us Deaf to The Truth ...

Have you ever wanted something so bad you could taste it (presuming it wasn’t food of course)?  Perhaps back when you were a child just prior to Christmas, you had your heart set on something you just “had” to have or you would die.  Or maybe it was something in your career; perhaps a new job, or a promotion that comes with a substantial pay raise.  You “need” something like this, as it will benefit you, your family, even the church as offerings will likely go up, now that you could “afford” them.  Or maybe you have an active imagination, and you are the type of person who dreams of finding a genie in a bottle who would grant you three wishes of your heart.  Don’t laugh.  How many of us treat God like that mythical genie, asking Him for something we still just “have” to have, something we desperately “need”, bargaining with Him that if He gives it to us, we will take some action we should have been doing all along, but now, for real, we will do it faithfully.  If only our God ([ahem] genie), gives us the thing our hearts desire the most.

It begs the question; what do you want?  Are you sure what you want is the right thing to want?  And in a perfect world for you, could you get what you want, if you only just a little more power over someone else?  Power is something the President has.  He uses it as he sees fit.  Ideally for what is best for our country.  The President is responsible for protecting the country, and he must from time to time, exercise power over others, particularly those bent on hurting you and I.  Do you suppose then, a President wishes for more power, or less of it?  With more power, would come more control, or at least the illusion of control.  With enough power, others would be afraid to take actions against you, lest you use your power in a response to what they did.  But if behavior is only moderated by fear, it cannot represent real change, or a real difference in motives.  Even when it comes to how we respond to God.  If we only fear His power, we do not really change, we just look to avoid getting caught, or rather, getting punished.

It is Satan who looks to rule his empire by power over others, and fear of reprisal.  What Satan wanted was to be like the Most High.  It was God’s power Satan craved, not His love.  Power is a strong aphrodisiac.  It is intoxicating.  It is corrupting for those who would crave it; or use what they believe they have of it.  And most of all, it can blind you to the truth, particularly to The Truth.  Lest you think otherwise, Matthew records for us a case of blinding truth, followed by a complete deafness to the truth no one wanted to hear.  It picks up in chapter twenty of his gospel to the Hebrews.  Keep in mind the common belief about the Messiah was that He was to overthrow Roman oppression and setup a kingdom that would never end.  This was a doctrine both the Pharisees and the Disciples of Christ shared.  It was so common, it was a “known” truth, something that could not be wrong, or false.  If you spoke against this basic doctrine, you were the heretic, not what everyone else believed.

But Jesus knew a truth we did not.  The kingdom He would begin, begins in the heart.  And it will have no end, as the heart begins to transform here, and continues its journey past perfection in Heaven.  The overthrow of the Roman Oppression would end, as when all evil ends, and how it ends.  Evil ends only when we choose to submit to Jesus and allow Him to transform us, putting an end to the evil within.  So Jesus had a perspective on the common belief of His day, that would never meet the expectations of either His followers, or the Sanhedrin that rules the nation.  It turns out, it is not the exercise of Jesus’ power that ends evil, it is the outpouring of His transformative love that ends it.  Love is the kind of power our God praises.  Love that opens eyes and ears to hear and see The Truth, and learn that what we thought we “knew”, was not so common after all.  Scripture through the lens of Jesus, instead of the certainty of our own hearts and minds about our particular interpretation, is a truth we have been deaf to, for quite some time.

Case in point Matthew picks up in verse 17 saying … “And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, [verse 18] Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, [verse 19] And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.”  You and I know that the plain words of Jesus, would come to pass exactly as He said they would.  We have the benefit of hindsight.  At this point in time, the disciples did not.  They were still looking forward to an earthly kingdom with Jesus as King of Kings.  But a kingdom of power that begins in the here and now.  Power that exerts control over others.  Power they believed they would share by reason of their service and closeness to Jesus.  This is what every other kingdom in history had looked like before, why not the one the Messiah was destined to setup?  Yet what Jesus just said, in plain words, without metaphor, or symbolism, just the facts – was that what they expected was not going to come to pass.  Instead something entirely different would take place.  Something that would crush their earthly hopes, and establish their eternal ones forever and ever.  But they refused to hear.  They chose to be deaf to The Truth, because power looked more enticing.

Matthew continues the story in verse 20 saying … “Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. [verse 21] And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.”  James who would one day become the head of the new church in Jerusalem; and John the beloved, who would one day become the most significant prophet of any age – were looking for a different kind of power from Jesus at this moment.  They had their mom make a request of Jesus, to place one son on the right, and one on the left, the two most powerful positions in any earthly kingdom as they were the two closest to the king.  One would be considered the second most powerful person in the new kingdom.  The other would be considered the third most powerful.  Ages ago, Lucifer saw himself as equal to Christ by sitting on the other side of the Father God.  When He realized Jesus was actually second, and he would never have “that” kind of relationship with the Father, he became jealous, and over time enraged.  Why not him?  He served God since the day of his creation.  But this is what he failed to see, Lucifer despite his age, was in fact a created being.  Jesus was not – He was God – infinite and without end.  And in all likelihood, the creator of Lucifer and all the other angels.  But Lucifer hated this idea, to know that his power was not as great as Jesus, was more than he would ever want to admit.  A lust for power made him blind and deaf to the truth.  And nothing has changed.

Jesus had just told his disciples what was to come to pass.  They ignored it.  They made themselves blind to it, deaf to His words, and chose to pursue a path to power, based on a doctrine they held, that the church affirmed, that was completely wrong.  What we “know” is true, through the lens of Jesus, may not be true at all.  Scriptures were correct.  Isaiah was correct.  It was the interpretation of Isaiah, by the church of His day, that was in error.  This was not a problem in the Word, as there is no problem with the Word today.  The problem is not in Scripture.  It is in our arrogance of what we “know”, of how we interpret the Word, that so often is absent the lens of Jesus, and therefore in error now, as it was in error then.  And just like the first disciples of Christ, we pursue positions of power, even if they are in the church.  We reason that positions of great responsibility come with “power” over the church itself.  We have decision making authority having been put “in charge” of something.  Like James and John, we seek to put ourselves over our brethren, based on our proximity to Jesus.  But Jesus has other ideas about power, service, and authority.

Jesus responds to mom’s request picking back up in verse 22 saying … “But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.”  The cup Jesus refers to is not a royal goblet.  It is not a golden chalice filled with the best grape juice (wine) that could be pressed by delicate hands.  Instead it is a cup of woe, of pain, and eventually of death for a mission of redemption.  This would be forever the cause of Christ, to see the world redeemed, and evil ended because we ask Him to end it, in us.  The baptism Jesus refers to is not a simple immersion in the river Jordan as how He once began His own ministry.  It is a baptism in blood, His own.  His entire body would be drenched in His own blood.  Bathed in it from relentless torture, and sadistic cruelty.  The world has no tolerance for the Love of Jesus.  The world run by Satan hates His love.  For His love can redeem, cleanse, and remove evil from the hearts of men.  The disciples having no idea what they are agreeing to, seeing only this question as a stepping stone to the power they seek, agree to it blindly.

Jesus continues in verse 23 saying … “And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.”  So Jesus tells them, they are to follow His path, though they have no understanding what that means at the moment.  In reality it is good news.  They are to join His cause, and no matter what it may cost them, or do to their bodies, or end their lives – it is worth it.  But the prize they seek, is not for Jesus to hand out.  It is for His Father to decide who is to sit closest to Jesus in the kingdom to come.  In this, as in ALL things, Jesus submits His will to that of His Father.  Jesus has learned to trust His Father in ALL things.  Even if this is a disappointment to mom and her two sons, it is a truth they must contend with.  And deafness persists, as even still they harbor hope the Father will still pick the two of them.

Now things get tense.  When a co-worker stabs you in the back, you are likely not to take too kindly to it.  The remaining disciples were not too happy either.  Matthew continues in verse 24 saying … “And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. [verse 25] But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. [verse 26] But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; [verse 27] And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: [verse 28] Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”  The other ten want power too.  Having two brothers try to propel themselves to the front of the line and take power that might otherwise belong to one of them, makes them all mad.  Notice, it was not just Judas who was mad.  Nor was it Judas scheming here to be number one in the new regime.  Scripture never says Judas tries this.  This was James and John scheming.  And ALL the other ten mad about it – Peter as much as Judas.

Then Jesus begins to explain that great positions in His kingdom begin with great service.  The most important position, is a position that is able to “serve” all the others.  Jesus uses His own life, as a key example of this fact.  Nothing in His church will be built on traditional ideas of power, or authority, but on service and dependence upon Him.  That lesson lays in the same plain words Jesus has a habit of using.  And still our modern day lust for power, even in matters of religion and church authority, keeps us deaf to The Truth.  While none of us are the President of the United States, many would be content to be the President of our denomination, or conference, or group of churches, or even our local church.  Sure we may not refer to that role with the term President, instead we call it pastor, or bishop, or priest, or elder.  But at the core of our titles is an assumption of power, not power based in service to all, but power based on the prowess of our spiritual growth.  And it keeps us deaf to His truth, to The Truth.

We lust for power and shun humility and the service that might accompany it.  We find ourselves following the same path as James and John before they really understood the mission of Jesus.  But we still have the benefit of hindsight.  We already know the end of this story, the reasons for the story.  And yet still we seek the aphrodisiac of power, instead of the simple humble service we might perform upon our neighbor, our family, our co-workers, or more profoundly upon the one who would call themselves our enemy.  It begs the question; what do you want?  Do you trust what you want?  Jesus didn’t.  Jesus deferred to the will of His Father in ALL things.  The total absence of self, and the absolute ability to serve everyone else, even if it cost Him His life; in fact, knowing it would.  Let us pray for the transformation of our character’s, of who we are, of what we want, of how we think and what we believe, until we are in full harmony with our God, His laws burned into the fabric of who we are, and His love echoing through us without reservation, or limit, for the world who remain in such desperate need …