Pastor Marty Wednesday, July 15, 2015 at 12:45PM July 12, 2015--Luke 18:35-43
This sermon was preached by Pastor Nick Hauenstein. Please click the audio link in order to listen to it.
Email Article | Print Article | Share Article | tagged Blindness, Faith, Healing, Jesus, Mercy, Praise Pastor Marty Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at 11:37AM May 31, 2015- Luke 17:11-19
At this point Jesus turns south to head towards Jerusalem by going between Galilee and Samaria. It is here that he enters an unnamed village and encounters 10 lepers. Today’s passage gives us a lesson in gratitude or thankfulness. Neglecting to give thanks where thanks is due is a poor habit that causes our character to deteriorate. In fact, ingratitude tends to spoil the good things that we have. It is very common for a person to care for a new vehicle with great detail. However, as the car gets older our care for it can deteriorate. It is easier to drive it around without washing it etc… This ability to diminish in vigor towards the things we ought to do can affect even those who start out very thankful. Now there are ten people in our story who receive an amazing gift of healing from a horrible disease, and yet only one of them glorifies God and gives thanks to Jesus. Let’s look at that.
In verses 11-14 we see the encounter Jesus has with ten lepers. To be a leper was to be in a very hopeless situation. Though the Law of Moses has very clear instructions on how a leper could be declared clean by the priest, nothing is said on what to do to get clean. The truth is that it was extremely rare for a person who had leprosy to get better. It was practically a death sentence to see its beginning stages on one’s skin. Nothing could be done medically for these people and their body would slowly deteriorate and waste away.
However, that is only the physical side. There was also a social stigma. It was required for lepers to be separated from the rest of the village or city. Thus a leper is one who has had to break off close contact with family and friends and becomes an outcast. This type of social quarantine is a very heavy burden for a person to carry because God has made us with an innate drive to socialize on some level.
Thus lepers would often end up in small groups far enough from cities to be separate, but close enough to be able to receive any gracious help from the righteous. These small “outcast communities” were better than nothing. Yet, the hopeless condition of each person and the approaching doom of death was a constant shadow over it.
In some ways leprosy is a picture of the sin nature that riddles our human nature. In this sense we are all spiritually lepers. It cannot be fixed or healed by anything this world holds. Only God can help us. Yet, it is also a picture of the Church of Christ in its sense of being an outcast society. Yes, from God’s perspective we are the called out ones and that is special. But from the world’s perspective we are the outcast ones to which it says, “Good riddance!” We can look at leprosy as a metaphor for being ostracized for one reason or another and learn a lot here. In Hebrews 13:12-13 it says, “Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.” Jesus presents himself as the rejected one and offers us a place within his community of outcast ones.
So we have a physical problem, a social problem and lastly we have a theological problem. Notice that the lepers stand afar off and lift up their voices to Jesus. That is because they were under requirement by the Law of Moses and the traditions to not come close to a clean person. Now this pictures the condition of all mankind. We are spiritual lepers who dare not come close to a pure God. Legally we are doomed (“the soul who sins will die”). Yet, in Jesus, God not only comes close to the lepers (see Luke 5 where Jesus touches one), but He actually makes himself worse than the lepers and requires them to join Him by faith in an even deeper level of being outcast. Though the Law walls us off from God and we are relegated to crying for mercy from afar off, the grace of God has brought Jesus to our side of the Law as he joins us in our hopeless condition. The marvelous truth is that Jesus is the Lord of life and no condition can remain hopeless when he is there. Yet, the spiritual healing of a believer in Jesus is seen by the world as a social disease more and more in this world. At its core, the gospel calls the world to embrace a difficult situation in order to be healed.
Jesus gives the lepers a strange command and, before we get in to its specifics, I want to show how what he does is so much like how God operates. In the desert there was a time where the children of Israel were harassed by snakes that were biting a lot of the people. God told Moses to make a bronze snake and lift it up on a pole. He was then to instruct those who were bitten to make their way to this thing and simply look upon it in order to be healed. We are not told that anyone refused to do so. However, we must admit it was a strange command. Similarly the Bible tells of a Syrian general named Naaman who happened to be a leper. His skill as a general had spared him a life of poverty, but it could not completely remove the stigma of the disease he had and its destruction on his flesh. A young Israelite tells Naaman that there is a prophet in Israel who could heal him. Thus Naaman travels to Israel and is told to dip 7 times in the Jordan River. Naaman is offended at being told to dip in the muddy Jordan 7 times and heads home. It is then that a servant challenges him to at least do it. Though it didn’t make sense it was actually quite easy to do. Why not? God often gives strange commands to test whether or not we trust Him. What is interesting is that they are often easy to do, but on the other hand they are intellectually and emotionally hard. Now when I call these strange commands, I will point out that God does not give commands that are contrary to His nature. Yet, they are often contrary to our logic and require us to trust Him, i.e. exercise faith.
So here, Jesus tells them to show themselves to the priests even though they are still lepers. Now the only reason for a leper to do this would be because they saw some signs that they were getting better. Yet, these men are being told to do so without any signs they are better. They simply must take the word of Jesus for it. Now His word is pretty heavy because he has proven he can heal. This call for faith or trust balances two outcomes. If I trust Him and He fails then I will be humiliated and crushed. But, if I trust Him and He heals me then I will be free of this cursed condition. Even today the call of Christ is one that calls us to follow Him by faith, believing that he will do the spiritual work of cleansing us from our sins and healing our hearts (that he will make us to be like him). You may feel that it isn’t working and are tempted to quit following him. I would challenge you to listen to this story today and here what the Spirit is saying to you, “Trust me.” If you will continue to walk in the path that Jesus is on and do the things that he has told you to do, you will find that he will give powerful healing to you in every way.
Thus all ten of the lepers decide to go and show themselves to the priest. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We are told that they are healed as they go. Although we are not told how far they went, it was close enough for one to come back and still find Jesus at the village. I like to think that it was close enough to return and far enough away to be an inconvenience. Can you imagine their journey? First is the question, “Are we going to be healed?” Then the doubts would come, “What if we get there and are still lepers? Why did he tell us to do this?” However, when they realize they are healed, I bet it was a Hallelujah moment. Suddenly they know they can go back to their families and perhaps embrace a child they haven’t been able to touch or see for years. Every fiber of their being wants to get back to a normal life and yet, what about Jesus. Can I put my anticipated joys on hold long enough to go back and thank the one who made this possible? Ours is not a geographical journey. However, we are on our way to the celestial city to present ourselves to God. We do this because we have believed what Jesus has told us to do. Along the road of this life the mysterious power of Christ is working to bring healing to us in every way. In fact Christ promises to make us every bit whole and complete. Yet, it doesn’t happen the second we believe. It happens as we go in faith following the command of Christ. The joyful truth is that when we stand before the Father in heaven we will be completely clean! Praise God.
Gratitude, thankfulness, probably all were thankful at some level. Yet, only one took the trouble to come to Jesus and show it. It is not enough to say that we have gratitude in our hearts. True gratitude seeks opportunity to show itself to the One to whom we are grateful.
Now there is a difference between being happy for grace and being thankful to Jesus for giving it. The difference is where our primary focus is. Sometimes we find ourselves being happier for what we have received than we are thankful to God for giving it. In that way we can be guilty of taking God’s gifts without regard for Him as the giver. Which is greater, the giver or the gift? We know the answer, but our life often shows a different answer.
Only one leper took the extra time to glorify God. Maybe some others thought about going back to give thanks, but this man was the only one who actually did it. It is sad how despicable our lust for good things can become when we see just how much we can become like an animal feasting on the carcass of Gods gifts. Instead of taking the time to restrain our flesh and give thanks to God and glorify him for his gifts and then cooking a meal to enjoy, we can leap upon those gifts and suck them dry of any life they have in them. In the passage the man first glorifies God and then thanks Jesus. These two things are coupled together. Thankfulness is between me and God and should be expressed often. But glorification is between me and you. It is our testimony of what God has done for us and how great He is. Take time to Glorify God by declaring what He has done in your life and take time to express thanks to those through whom God has done them. Though it may seem like wasted time, it is not. It is time spent keeping our eyes upon the higher and more important things (relationship with God and his people). It is time delivering our soul from the tyranny of the lust of our flesh for the lower gifts that God can and does give. In fact it is a means of delivering ourselves from the sin of idolatry. The good thing that God gives today can become an idol in my life that comes between me and Him. In the day that we let God’s gifts become idols to us, they also become worthless to us.
A side note to this story is that the thankful leper was a Samaritan, which implies most of the others, if not all, were Judeans. This Samaritan was even further away from God than the Judeans. Of all the lepers this Samaritan would deserve it least and yet he is the one who returns. In Luke 7 Jesus explained this dynamic before Simon the Pharisee, when a woman who was a sinner washed and anointed his feet. He told Simon a story to illustrate this principle: The one who is forgiven much loves much, but the one who is forgiven little loves little. Perhaps the Judeans felt they deserved a healing. Perhaps a part of them was saying, “It’s about time!” Yet the truth is that all of us are equally undeserving of the grace of God. If we truly understood our sin we would know that God has given us far more than we ever deserved and could have hoped for. We would run to him, tossing aside the gifts, in order to wash his feet with our tears and wipe it dry with our head. The things of this world like different races, stations in life, etc. that make us think we are more deserving are a lie. We are all the least deserving. Until we see that we will be ungrateful or at best give it sparingly. It will ruin our gifts like a cancer that goes untreated if we do not turn around and give God the glory with all our heart.
Jesus then tells the thankful ex-leper this, “Your faith has made you well.” Now in the context all of the lepers had faith enough to obey Jesus. Now it is important to remember that the word that is often translated as “heal” can also mean “save,” depending on the context. It literally means to be safe or saved, whether from injury, disease, or sin, character deficiency, and emotional sickness. Clearly Jesus means more than that the man’s faith had physically healed him. Something more would happen in this man’s life than those who were ungrateful. He would find a spiritual healing as well. It is a tragedy to be physically healed and yet not be spiritually healed. Have you settled for lesser things? Let us all be quick to be more thankful that Jesus is in our lives than all the gifts he could ever give.
Email Article | Print Article | Share Article | tagged Commands, Community, Gratitude, Healing, Hopelessness, Leprosy, Thankfulness Pastor Marty Tuesday, March 10, 2015 at 12:21PM Today we will be looking at Luke 14:1-14.
The setting of our passage today is a Sabbath meal to which Jesus has been invited by a high-ranking Pharisee in Israel. This is going to give rise to several teachings by Jesus that we will look at over the next several weeks. This supper will give rise to the wonderful truth that God is inviting us to participate in a marriage supper that He is preparing for His Son. However, in this case, God allows us to participate in our own invitation. He in a sense invites everyone who will believe upon His Son, what he taught, what he foretold, and what he accomplished. Thus only those who properly respond to the open invitation are allowed in to the meal. In fact, we could say that the presence of Jesus within Israel was technically a wedding feast that went horribly awry.
As we look at the passage we are at the meal where Jesus sits with a ruling Pharisee and all the others he has invited. Now the problem with the Pharisees was that they were very legalistic. They focused upon the letter of the law to the exclusion of the spirit of the Law. When we are focused upon the letter of the law we really want to know what we can get away with and what we can’t. It is not about wanting to please God, but rather about wanting to please self without getting in trouble. However, when we ask ourselves why God gave a certain law, we are drawn into His heart and purposes. Legalism tends to bind us to things that actually run counter to the purposes and the heart of God. In fact several are on display at this meal.
First, legalism bound them to looking at each other wrongly. It says in verse one that they watched him closely. Now it is not wrong to watch our brother if we are doing it in a humble way that serves him. We would normally call this “watching out” for our brother. But legalism binds us to watching our brother for the sole purpose of finding fault. God wants us to watch each other’s back rather than become nit-pickers. Most legalists have forgotten that they not only were sinners but are still sinners in need of God’s grace. Yet, there is one caution here. It is common today to believe that anyone who points out a problem in our life is being mean-spirited and a legalist. This is not true. A true brother will not only watch his brother’s back, but also warn him about pitfalls in front of him. The legalist does this because they take joy in putting you down a peg or too (i.e. raising themselves). But the true brother does this because they don’t want to see you killed. Even then, a true brother realizes that they are not their brother’s Lord. They will remain humble and stand beside you not over you.
Legalism also binds us to misunderstandings about God’s purposes. It just happens that a man who has dropsy (a condition where the body is swollen with fluid) is sat across from Jesus on the Sabbath. Now we know why they were watching him like a hawk. This meal was a set-up in order to find fault with Jesus. You see, the Pharisees had developed an interpretation of the Sabbath laws that saw healing as a form of work. I’ve talked about this in greater depth before. They saw the Sabbath primarily as a restriction upon us. Thus it was a bleak and difficult day in which we couldn’t enjoy a lot of good things. However, God did not give the Sabbath to restrict man. The word Sabbath means rest. God wanted his people to quit being driven seven days a week as if they had no hope in God. The Sabbath was supposed to be a day of rest and “smelling the roses.” It was a day to gather with friends and family, and give glory to God for His great benefits. It was about declaring God as our ultimate source rather than our own hand. Thus God’s purpose was not to prevent us or restrict us from helping each other when one was sick or in need. But, the Pharisees couldn’t see this.
Legalism also binds us to treating one another as less than human (in fact, less than animal). After Jesus boldly heals the man of his condition and sends him away, he then challenges them. If they had a donkey or ox fall into a pit on the Sabbath, every one of them would “work” to pull it out. But they wouldn’t do a similar thing for this man. Whenever you see people being treated as animals or especially less than animals, you know that the enemy of mankind has been at work twisting the minds of those involved. Today we have become a people who will obsess over the death of certain animals and yet not blink an eye at the murder of countless unborn babies. This dehumanizing of groups is the mode of operation of the devil and those who listen to him.
They had been watching him like a hawk. However, Jesus had been watching them and gives a parable to point out a fault with those who were seated with him at the table: pride and self-exaltation. He warns those who are invited to a meal not to try and sit in the highest place. No doubt there had been much jockeying going on before the meal. Self-promotion and ambition are powerful traits that enable us to succeed in many things. However, they lead us to promote ourselves beyond what God has given to us. It knows no bounds and will often come in conflict with God. Clearly our attempts to curry favor with the rulers and those with power in this life can reap benefits. But in the end this mentality leads us into gross sin. One more honorable than us may have been invited and we will be asked to move down to a lesser seat. Now that would be a humiliating moment that most of them would seek to avoid at all cost. Jesus is “the one more honorable.” Even though the host of that meal may have not recognized Jesus, God the Father does. Ultimately he is the one having a great supper. Jesus is the groom who has come to the wedding feast of his bride. Yet, the Pharisees and their followers wanted to sit in the seat that belonged to Him. Now that was fine and all before he came. Someone had to lead. Yet, now that he arrived, they should have been stumbling over themselves to give the seat to him. Even worse they seek to put him to death so that their seat will never be threatened again. When you walk in pride you ultimately offend those with greater honor than you. In the end you will receive the fruit of pride, destruction.
There is a day coming when the host, God, is going to manifest to the world that Jesus is the one more honorable- the One to Whom the seat of power belongs. God will render a decision. Sometimes He settles things in this life. But do not be deceived, He will settle it in the Age to come. Our proper place will be established and woe to the person who has kicked against his proper place. Instead, be humble in this life and let God promote you, so that at the judgment you will have nothing to fear.
Jesus then turns to rebuke the ruling Pharisee who was hosting the meal. The previous fault focused on what we shouldn’t do, but this fault is couched in terms that encourage us to what we should do. When you have a meal don’t invite those who can pay you back in some way (social prestige, invite you over to their place, business contacts, etc.). It is spiritually smarter to invite people who cannot help you back in any way. Bless people with a mean who cannot bless you back. Instead of worrying about our position and using our good to increase that position, we should use those good to bless others, period. Which raises a question, who do we tend to bless? Eating with others is a social act which strengthens our bonds together and so we tend to invite friends and family. Jesus warns us to beware this tendency. Now we shouldn’t be legalistic with this statement. Yes, we should obey Jesus. But it is not his purpose to rebuke a family from eating together. Rather, this is a special meal the Pharisee is throwing. Jesus is not making a law that we can never invite friends over. Rather, he is giving us wisdom about how we should live in light of the judgment that is coming. Whom are you seeking to be blessed by? If you seek to be blessed by people then all you do will be corrupted by it. However, if you seek to be blessed by God, then you will learn to be a blessing to others especially when you get nothing out of it in this world.
Jesus mentions that he should invite the poor, maimed, lame and blind. There are two levels to this instruction. Believers are called to help those who are less fortunate in one way or another. In Galatians 2:9-10 Paul recognizes that the “Pillars” of the church instructed him to remember the poor, “the very thing which [Paul] also was eager to do.” In doing so, God becomes our reward. Yet, this also has a spiritual parallel. Jesus has come to heal those who are spiritually poor, maimed, lame, and blind. Too often we are trying to reach the rich and famous of the world to join our church at the expense of those who do not appeal to us. This comes from the spirit of pride and self-ambition. But when we are humble before God and our fellow man, we serve regardless of the station of another.
Ask yourself the question, “Am I seeking to be blessed by men or God?” Men can reward you, but they can also make you pay. But God has a reward for those who live this life in service to Him. To serve Him is to serve one another in His name. The humble person knows that the only sure reward and the only sure position is that which God gives. All else is simply grasping after the wind, here today and gone tomorrow. Are you able to say with Job, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord!”?
Email Article | Print Article | Share Article | tagged Blessing, Healing, Humility, Jesus, Judgment, Legalism, Pharisees, Sabbath Pastor Marty Tuesday, February 10, 2015 at 11:31AM Today we will look at Luke 13:10-17.
In this passage we have a remarkable healing performed by Jesus and yet, we also have a remarkable objection that is made at the same time. Over the last 2,000 years precious little has changed. The Gospel of Christ is still making an impact upon this old world and yet, many make illogical and hypocritical attacks against the work of Christ. As a Christian, we need to be confident in our connection to that man who walked this planet 2 millennia ago. We need to recognize that our faith exists today because of the work and message of Jesus. We are part of the work of God. That said, we also need to remain humble in the realization that we can allow a wayward heart to disconnect us from the work of God and the True Jesus Christ. This very dynamic will be on display in today’s passage.
We see that Jesus was teaching in a synagogue. We are told the location. As Jesus taught he saw a woman who had an obvious physical condition. We will talk about that more in a minute. However, I must state that Jesus knows both the obvious conditions and the conditions that are not obvious; those ones that remain oblivious to others. You need to see that Jesus knows your true condition, he has compassion for you, and he has the answer.
Now the condition of the woman is one in which she was bent over in half and could not straighten her back. It sounds somewhat different than scoliosis, but some debilitating disease had racked her body into a painful shape for the past 18 years. Just pause for a moment and imagine this happening to you and lasting for 18 years.
We are also told that the underlying cause to this condition is a “spirit of infirmity.” Now this is an interesting statement. First, it clearly points out spiritual activity as the source or cause of the problem. It is easy in our modern age to scoff and declare that we know it wasn’t a spirit, but rather a virus of some sort. However, the Bible does not treat sickness as some evil magic by the spirits. It is only in some cases that we are told either demonic possession or spiritual activity was at work. Many other cases do not mention or imply any spiritual activity. If the God of heaven, who is Spirit, could cause matter to come into being at his command, is it not possible that spirits can affect the physical in one way or another? This is the revelation of the Bible; some physical things have an underlying spiritual cause. It is also interesting that it does not say the woman is possessed. There is no interaction with the “spirit” and neither is there an exorcism. She is not told after the healing, “Go and sin no more…or something worse may come upon you.” Is she suffering the same way that Job had suffered? Yes, demonic possession can manifest itself through physical disease. But, Job was not possessed. In his case we are told that Satan caused all the problems, even the physical boils. So some spiritual activity is not so much about possession as it is about oppression. I think that is the case with this woman. For whatever reason, God has allowed a spirit to oppress her for the last 18 years. Now not all sickness is caused by spirits. However, regardless of the cause, believers are instructed to do the same thing. We are to gather together and pray in faith for healing; even to the point of calling together the elders of the church and praying over one another.
Here we see that Jesus calls this woman out of the crowd in order to set her free from this affliction. I have to think that the woman hoped Jesus could heal her that day and yet we see no evidence that she asked. Rather, Jesus initiates this moment. It is a joyous thing to know that we serve a God who is an initiator. In fact, many fail to recognize that He is waiting for a response from them to what He has done in the person of Jesus Christ and the wave of disciples that have come from him. No matter your need Jesus sees your situation and he has taken the initiative to provide for your healing. He can set you free physically, emotionally, relationally, and most important spiritually. Like this woman, we can become bound up by things that we need to be free from; both seen and unseen. God desires freedom for you. He did not create you to be bound up by such things. 2 Corinthians 3:17 states, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.”
Jesus touches the woman and says, “You are loosed.” Her immediate ability to straighten up requires a bit of meditation. This is huge. Eighteen years of pain and suffering came to an end in an instant at the Word and Touch of Jesus. This leads the woman to glorify God. He is the proper object of our rejoicing. Too much glorifying of man is going on among the body of Christ. If God uses someone to help you in one way or another, give Him the glory. Yes, we can give thanks to a person. However, we can fall into idolatry when we give to a person what we really should give to God alone. No man can heal in and of themselves. They can only trust God and become a channel of His power and grace. Our tendency to glorify the person is not good and leads to all manner of evil.
In verse 14 we see that the ruler of the synagogue does not like what he is seeing. It is ironic here that the straightening of a woman who was literally bent, leads to the ruler becoming bent out of shape metaphorically. He becomes indignant over this situation. You can tell a lot about a person by what they get angry over. However, it would behoove us to pay attention to what makes us get mad. Often we get mad about things we shouldn’t and sit complacently by near things we should be mad at. When you get mad over little things, or over things that are actually good, it is a red flag that you need to recognize. Otherwise, our anger will go unchecked and lead us into sin.
The objection he makes is that she is being healed on a Sabbath day in which there was not supposed to be any work done. His argument is that healing is work. Now this is a rather flimsy argument. People could still breathe, speak, and touch one another on the Sabbath. However, because a woman is able to stand straight at the word and touch of Jesus, it suddenly becomes “work.” This is clearly a very strained interpretation of what the Old Testament required for the Sabbath observance. In fact, if we were to call healing work, we might ask ourselves, “Who is really doing the work?” Healing is the work of God by His Spirit. Since He created the Sabbath, He is the one who defines “work” and what it is not. Even then, God is not a slave to the Sabbath. He is able to do what He wants on a day of rest that he made for humans. Notice his argument. There are 6 other days on which you can come and be healed. So don’t come on the Sabbath. It seems incredulous that this is his argument in light of the shocking healing that occurred—as if healing were actually happening on those other 6 days. It is sad that instead of being amazed at the wonder of God’s miracle, he is stretching himself out to make an objection. When our heart is not right we often “stretch” to make ludicrous objections to God and whomever He is working through.
We might also notice the passive-aggressive style the man employs. Instead of rebuking Jesus, he stands up and rebukes the crowd. This underhanded way of slamming Jesus without facing Him is not of God. The passive-aggressive person has developed a bad habit of trying to make others feel like they are the problem. They will throw a fit over things that are innocent or irrelevant simply because it isn’t how they wanted it to be. But Jesus knew exactly how to deal with such a man; he takes him head on and unmasks his sin.
How many years had such leaders ruled over the people of God without a rebuke from Him? Throughout the Old Testament we are told that God had been faithful to send prophets to rebuke leaders and false prophets. This would relieve the oppression that godly people would feel underneath of ungodly leaders. Yet, until John the Baptist, Israel had gone 400 years without a prophet from God to publically check such leaders. As difficult as it may be in such times, we need to learn to trust God and His seasons. He works with groups and even individuals in seasons. Today was a day of freedom for this synagogue. Whether for spiritual things or for the material things of this world, God can be trust to deal with all things in His time. Though I may suffer, I can suffer in a way that brings glory and honor to him. Then I will be ready to participate in the day when he turns my sorrow into joy. Another thing to remember is that it is important for us to be praying for His intervention. This is part of growing to understand our need for God’s pure and yet merciful judgment.
Jesus gives the decision of God against the leadership of this man. He had probably made similar bully statements over the years. And yet, this day, God rebukes him. Jesus tells the man that he is a hypocrite. He and those leaders throughout Israel who thought like him were steeped in hypocrisy. Please remember that objections to what Jesus has done are generally masking hypocrisy in the heart of the objector. Their rejection of Jesus, both his Words and his Deeds, come from a life of pretense. We will either repent of our tendency towards pretense, or we will press on and reject Christ. This man was a part of the people who had said they would follow the God of Moses and do everything that He commanded. This man would say so, and yet here he rejects the very God who he pledged to follow. How does this happen? Is it possible today to reject what Jesus is doing all in the name of standing for Jesus? How many leaders today are teaching people to ignore God’s Word and elevating a modern system of theology over the top of the Truth of God? How many “Christians” will be led to make objections to True Christianity because they have been following a pretend Christ (or pretending to follow the true Christ)? God will not let us remain so forever. He will eventually bring the polarizing truth of His judgment. In that day we will make our last choice of whose side we will be on; his or our own.
Jesus goes on to flesh out the man’s hypocrisy. He points to the reality that animals needed to be and were watered on the Sabbath. If it is permissible to break the Sabbath in order to minister to the physical needs of an animal, how much more is it permissible to minister to the needs of this woman who has been in need for 18 years? More than that Jesus refers to her as a “daughter of Abraham.” She is a believer and has a place in the promise of Abraham, but her brother objects to her being set free? Now it is interesting today that many people have the same heart. They have more compassion for an animal being killed than for a human baby being ripped out of the womb. How insensitive have we become to the gross degree to which our ethical decisions display our hypocrisy? May we wake up before it is too late and repent of such ways of thinking and return to the ways of God.
Now Jesus makes another point. The way that he words the phrase in the original language emphasizes that the Sabbath is exactly the day on which she should be set free, and not on the others. It is the most proper time. This woman, who has had no rest from her suffering, while others around her were able to enjoy the Rest of God, needs rest. Who will give it to her? This life has a certain weariness to it. It is a place of work and toil in the midst of difficulty and suffering. Yet, in the midst of it, God wants to give us rest. In some ways our life is a metaphor for these things. Each day our bodies rest at night in order to be refreshed for the next day. And yet, eventually we all come to the day of death in which our bodies rest forever. Yet, this speaks to an eternal refreshing that God has for us. Similarly, God refreshes us throughout this life in our spiritual walk. Though we be weary we can find rest and refreshment in Him. However, it is in the Resurrection and the Age to come that we will find our ultimate rest and refreshment.
Let us hold fast to these things in faith. Let us not grow weary in doing the good work that God has given us to do. Let us not be bullied by the objections and commands of those who are hypocritical. Rather, let us follow Jesus. It is He who is making all things new. The crowd that day was divided into those who were indignant at Jesus and those who rejoiced. God is doing a good work today. Many in this world are indignant at it. But we can rejoice with Him in all that He is doing. Those who are indignant will be put to shame, but those who rejoice will enter into His rest and be completely restored and healed. The Truth of God will be made evident in That Day and the logic of those who stand against God will be clearly exposed and judged. How respond to Christ and His work reveals much about our heart.
Email Article | Print Article | Share Article | tagged Healing, Hypocrisy, Jesus, Religion, Sabbath, Sickness, Spirits