That You May Marvel

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Pete

They wanted to kill Him. He had healed a blind man on the Sabbath and was unrepentant, and so the Jews started to harass Him. He replied that just as “My Father is working until now, I am working.” Now they wanted to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was also making Himself equal with God. Oh, but they hadn’t seen anything yet!

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He Himself is doing. And greater works than these will He show Him, so that you may marvel.”
(John 5:19-20 ESV)

John 5:19-29 is a fascinating and mind-stretching description of the dynamics between the First and Second Persons of the Trinity. Equality in essence, unity in purpose, variety in role. And, though they be one, the Son is under the Father’s authority. That you may marvel.

That you may marvel. That’s the phrase that caught my attention this morning as I hovered over this passage of Scripture. Early in His ministry Jesus has turned water into wine . . . He has cleansed the temple of unscrupulous profiteers . . . He has educated a scholar on what it means to be born again . . . He has had a discussion with an adulteress Samaritan woman on the source of living water and the meaning of worship . . . he has healed an officials son merely by saying, “Go, your son lives” . . . and He has made to walk a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

And greater works than these will He show Him, so that you may marvel.

Greater works like taking men and women who are dead in trespasses and iniquity and making them alive to the things of the kingdom of heaven. Greater works like taking men and women defiled by sin and who have no place in the presence of a holy God, and clothing them in the righteous robes of Another and welcoming them into the holy of holies. Greater works like taking men and women born after the nature of Adam and transforming them, and conforming them, into the very nature of Christ. So that you may marvel.

I’m thinking that some from among this pharisaical group of antagonists did eventually marvel as Jesus continued to reveal Himself as God in flesh. But I also know that many didn’t. How sad that some among the followers of Christ have ceased to marvel. They’ve lost the wonder of their salvation . . . which, when compared to anything else that has, or hasn’t happened, in their lives, is the greatest of all works.

That the Son of Man would lay His life down in my place in order to satisfy the wrath of God which was justly deserved because of my sin. That the One who has made all things would shed His blood that my sins might be atoned for and my soul redeemed from the bondage of sin. That He, who is loved for eternity by the Father, would be forsaken by the Father for three dark hours, that I might one day be received into glory. All, so that I might marvel.

That I might marvel and seek the Kingdom. That I might marvel and follow the King. That I might marvel and worship the Savior.

May I never lose the wonder
O the wonder of Your mercy
May I sing Your hallelujah
Hallelujah, Amen       (Mercy by Matt Redman.  Check it out by clicking here)

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What Is It About Egypt?

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Pete

Jeremiah 40 through 43 makes for a pretty intriguing and suspenseful epilogue to the “Fall of Jerusalem” story. Jerusalem has fallen . . . the temple is destroyed. The Chaldeans have taken the best of the people and of the treasures back with them to Babylon. They have left in the land “some of the poor people who owned nothing” and given them vineyards and fields to tend . . . should make them happy. Others from Judah who had been scattered during the Babylonian invasion, return and start to work and benefit from the land . . . they’re happy. Babylon has established a governor in the land, Gedaliah . . . he’s happy. And, they have released Jeremiah from incarceration and have given him a choice . . . go to Babylon with the other exiles? . . . remain in the land with the remnant? . . . or, go wherever you want? Jeremiah chooses to stay in Judah . . . I’m guessing he’s happy too.

Sweet! Maybe things can settle done a bit. Uh, not so much.

It’s still a land that hasn’t yet learned to heed the voice of God. There’s a kind of coup . . . led by a guy named Ishmael son of Nethaniah who is apparently in the pocket of the Ammonite king (yes Virginia, the enemies of God’s people, like vultures, wait to move into the post exile scene). Gedaliah is killed . . . Ishmael goes out of control . . . Johanan the son of Kareah leads an ad hoc army in a counter-offensive against Ishmael. And though Johanan has some success in fighting back Ishmael’s band of mercenaries, Ishamel’s still alive . . . and the Babylonians are gonna be ticked that their governor has been murdered. So what are they to do? Their plan? Go to Egypt (Jer. 41:17-18).

They think it’s a great idea. And, if they think it’s a great idea, God must too. So they go to Jeremiah and ask him to pray to God for them . . . to intercede on behalf of the remnant . . . “that the LORD your God may show us the way we should go, and the things we should do” (42:3). Jeremiah agrees to lift the remnant before the throne of heaven and to relay, in full, the word He receives from God . . . “I will keep nothing back from you” (42:4). And the people respond with something that just makes me cringe . . . not because it’s not the right thing to say . . . but because it’s the wrong thing to fake.

Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us. Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.” (Jeremiah 42:5-6 ESV)

They are so sure that God will see the obvious solution as they do. But what happens? Jeremiah prays. God answers. And Jeremiah relays God’s word, Don’t go to Egypt . . . don’t fear the king of Babylon . . . “for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand” (42:11). And the people say, “No way!”

That’s not the word of the Lord, they respond. We know better. We’re going to Egypt!

O’ brother! What is it about Egypt?

What is it about the world that presents itself as the safe place . . . the prosperous place . . . the place to be trusted above God? Not saying their situation was an easy one. But they had the word of the LORD. They had the promises of God. And still they went to Egypt. The place they had once been exodus’d from . . . the place that was once bondage and slavery . . . the place that, time and time again, failed them as they sought it’s protection. There is an allure to Egypt . . . there is a siren’s voice coercing the people of God back to the world when the going get’s tough.

And these things were written for my instruction (Rom. 15:4) . . . written as “examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1Cor. 10:6).

Stay away from Egypt . . . trust in the LORD. Look not to the world for protection and prosperity, but find refuge and reward under the rule of the King of Heaven.

By His grace . . . for His glory. Amen?

 

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The City Doesn’t Need to Burn

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Pete

It didn’t have to burn. I guess I never realized it before, but Jerusalem didn’t have to burn. Though, because of its people, it had stepped WAY over the line and deserved to burn, it didn’t have to. Though it was polluted from corner to corner, and from the inside out, with the refuse of gross spiritual infidelity . . . though fake gods and high places were evident everywhere . . . though a good torching would go a long way to removing the idolatrous stubble . . . it didn’t need to be. Even at the fifty-ninth minute of the eleventh hour God was prepared to show mercy.

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live.” (Jeremiah 38:17 ESV)

That the people of God were in need of a “timeout” had already been ordained. That they needed to catch up on their Sabbaths and let the land rest from their adultery was a done deal. That they needed 70 years in a foreign land in order to ponder the fruit they had reaped from sowing their seeds of stiff-necked rebellion, was gonna happen. They were going to Babylon. The only question being, would they now hear the word of the LORD and obey. Would they, even in their chastisement, believe that God was disciplining them as children He loved that they might be brought back into relationship with Himself. Or, would they continue to trample the word of God underfoot and determine to go into captivity kicking and fighting and shaking their fist at God.

King Zedekiah was desperate. Desperate enough to buck popular opinion among his officials and spare Jeremiah’s life (38:1-13) . . . desperate enough to have a secret closed door meeting with Jeremiah (38:14-28). And he was given the words of grace and of life, “Obey now the voice of the LORD in what I say to you, and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared” (38:20). All Zedekiah needed to do was surrender to the army of the north . . . but that would only happen as he humbled himself and submitted first to the God of heaven. But let the record show that Zedekiah refused the way of God . . .

He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. (2Chronicles 36:12b-13 ESV)

. . . and so, the city burned.

And I marvel at the hardness of men’s heart . . . even men who say they know the Savior. The walls of their world can be crumbling before their feet and yet they still refuse to go to the knee and confess Him as LORD. Though they have suffered loss, a little humility would go a long way to stemming the tide of God’s determination to call them back to Himself. God’s purifying fire wants to do its work of removing dross and leaving only the gold and silver . . . His is a refiner’s fire . . . but the city doesn’t need to burn.

And I marvel at the love and grace of God. At His patience in not writing-off those who refuse Him time and time again . . . or those who stumble time and time again. But, funded by the precious blood of Christ shed for sinners, He pays in full the debt of sin owed for all those who receive His Word . . . He covers the on-gong transgression of His people who humbly come to Him in confession asking for forgiveness. Though there may be consequences, in His infinite grace He pleads for our return.

The city doesn’t need to burn. O’ that we might be kept from hard hearts and stiff necks. By His grace . . . and for His glory.

 

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Ready, Obey, Pray!

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Pete

I have a buddy. He’s a guy of action. In fact, sometimes he can be so quick to get off the blocks at the starting line, he’s not even sure exactly what the race is. It could be a 100 meter dash . . . could be a half-marathon . . . either way he’s pedal-to-the-medal . . . figure out the details later. Kinda’ not like me. I kid him that he’s a “Ready, Fire, Aim!” guy . . . while I’m more “Ready . . . Ready . . . Aim . . . Aim . . . Aim some more . . . ” This morning, as I continued reading in Jeremiah, my buddy came to mind. I’m thinking Jeremiah would be more like him. My heart was stirred as I noticed Jeremiah’s approach to following God . . . Ready, Obey, Pray!

Jeremiah 32 recounts the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah “in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah” (32:1-2).

So the beginning of the end for Jerusalem, and for the land of Judah, is well underway. The dreaded army of the north, the Chaldeans from Babylon, are taking apart the land once promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God has ordained them to be His rod of judgment upon a rebellious and adulterous people. They have laid siege to Jerusalem. It being only be a matter of time before the walls fall. And, to make matters worse for Jeremiah, he is in the stockade for proclaiming God’s words of judgment against King Zedekiah and the people. Though the Babylonians are breathing down their necks, literally, Jeremiah’s being beat up for predicting that the Babylonians will win the day. Go figure!.

Anyway, the word that comes to Jeremiah in this situation is that he is to buy a field in his home town of Anathoth, which his cousin wants to sell. Ya’ think his cousin wants to sell? If his cousin’s going to Babylon on an extended “exile vacation” better some cash than a piece of land which is being trampled and razed by a murderous hoard. What good will the land do him? If he can find some sucker to buy it, then he’s in! And, in fact, Jeremiah does buy it. He exercises his right of redemption and purchases it. God told him to . . . and he did. It’s only after the deal is closed and the papers are signed that Jeremiah, still in the stockade, goes to the Lord in prayer about this seemingly insane act of buying occupied land just before going into exile.

In effect he says, “God, I bow to You as the Sovereign King of heaven and earth . . . I know You are a just God . . . I know You are judging this land of promise because of the disobedience of Your people . . . I know You are giving this land and this city into the hands of the Chaldeans . . . “Yet You, O Lord GOD, have said to me, ‘Buy the field for money and get witnesses’–though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans” (32:16-25). What? I’m not sure I get it, LORD.

And the LORD responds that He will one day restore the land to His people . . . and His people to the land.  By His mercy, and according to His promise, the field Jeremiah has just bought will again have value when the people return.

So . . . how different is Jeremiah than many of us . . . or at least me? He hears the word of the Lord . . . knows what God wants . . . and rather than pray about it for awhile . . . he just does it. And afterward he prays for greater understanding.  Later, after doing what God wants Him to do, he brings his confusion to the LORD.  Ready . . . Obey . . . Pray!  Shouldn’t I be more like Jeremiah?

Sure, there are any number of matters in which we may not be exactly sure of the Lord’s will or leading.  In those times, we should pray.  If we lack wisdom, we should ask . . . if we are not sure of direction, we should seek the mind of God. But what about those things where we know what the will of God is . . . either because it is explicitly laid out in Scripture or it has been undeniably impressed upon our hearts by the Spirit? Shouldn’t we just respond with obedience and then pray afterwards about any misgivings or struggles we’re having with what God’s asked of us? Sometimes I wonder if we pray, in order to delay. If we “wait on the Lord” because we really don’t want to submit to the Lord. Sometimes we can be Ready . . . Pray . . . Pray . . . Pray . . . and never get to Obey.

O’ to be more like Jeremiah . . . Ready, Obey, Pray.

By God’s grace . . . for God’s glory.

 

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The Prototype

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Pete

I might not be saying this quite right . . . I may be overstating it or over emphasizing it . . . but I’m thinking that, in a sense, the church is the prototype for how the promises of God to His ancient people will play out.

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah . . .   (Jeremiah 31:31 ESV)

Though the perfect fulfillment of that new covenant is yet to be seen, since Pentecost God has been demonstrating the dynamic He has promised through the church. On that day when the church was born, Peter cited the utterance of the prophet Joel as explanation for what was happening. Though the full extent of Joel’s prophecy is yet to be fulfilled, it began on that day. So too, the dynamics associated with a new covenant, declared by God through the prophet Jeremiah, is at play today within all those who, by faith, have owned Jesus as Savior and Lord.

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.   (Jeremiah 31:33-34 ESV)

That I, as part of the church, am, in a sense, a proving ground for the dynamics of God’s promises has captured my heart afresh this morning.

He has put His law within me . . . having written it on my heart. Spiritual DNA that was once dead to the God of all creation has been resurrected and made alive to the things of heaven. Having been made alive in Christ, I am now able to interact with God through the Holy Spirit. He who has been given as a seal . . . sent as a teacher . . . ever present as a guide . . . tasked with inscribing on my heart the written word, and the Living Word, of God. Not something I could do on my own . . . but solely a work of divine grace. Not something that could be done under the old covenant of law and my best efforts, but a dynamic unleashed through the new covenant of grace and God’s all sufficient provision.

I am part of a “proof of concept” that mere humans can know the Divine. That, through God’s perfect provision, any can know the LORD. And that all can grow in grace and truth because, in and through Christ, I have been given the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation, having the eyes of my heart enlightened (Eph. 1:17-18). The people of God are the demonstration of the reality of what it looks like for men and women, boys and girls, to have a living and personal relationship with the God of eternity. That’s a bit mind-stretching!

All made possible because God determined to satisfy the claim against men and women resulting from sin.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 ESV)

God the Son paid the price fully on Calvary’s cross for sin and rebellion so that God the Father could justly fulfill His promise to “forgive their iniquity” and “remember their sin no more.”

And so, sinners saved by grace are privileged to model the dynamics of the new covenant. Hearts inscribed with the law of freedom . . . brought into the dynamics of relationship with the living God . . . given the mind of Christ that we might know Him. How amazing is that? Pretty!

To Him be all praise! Amen?

 

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The Friend of the Bridegroom (re-run)

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Pete

Running behind schedule this morning . . . so, after finishing up my readings, rather than write I went back over some of my previous musings on these passages.  Given the number of weddings I’ve attended this summer, thought re-posting this one from 2011 might be appropriate . . .

You gotta love John the Baptizer. Sure, maybe his dress was a little unorthodox . . . not sure I would run out and buy a new breakfast cereal that he created with his very own “secret ingredients” . . . but spend just a little bit of time considering him, and he’s pretty inspirational. And maybe the reason I don’t often take note of him is because that was his whole purpose . . . not to draw attention to himself but to Someone else . . . not to be in the limelight but to shine the spotlight on Another. But I think there’s some value to noodling on this guy a bit . . . after all, Jesus said of him, ” I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John” (Luke 7:28). Here’s what caught my attention this morning . . .

John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegrooms voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”    (John 3:27-30 ESV)

Context? Some of John’s disciples come to him with a problem they’re picking up on. John’s losing his following as they go to Jesus to be baptized and follow Him. The ministry’s coming to an end . . . the flash mobs have stopped centering around John . . . they are going to another. “What are we going to do about that?” they ask. John’s response? In essence, “Rejoice!”

When it came to Christ becoming the focus, John was more than content to step to the side. After all, he says, the wedding isn’t about the wedding party, it’s about the bride and groom. The wedding attendants stand aside as witnesses of “those two crazy kids” coming together to unite their lives . . . the friends are on the sidelines . . . lost to themselves . . . completely focused on the union about to be formed. The friend of the bridegroom knows that he’s not really the “best man” . . . but that the guy next to him offering the ring to his blushing bride is really the best man. The friend doesn’t want to do anything to attract attention to himself but instead do everything he can to ensure that the focus is duly placed on the one whose voice people need to hear.

John was thrilled to be part of the wedding party . . . to be able to get close enough to stand next to the Bridegroom. He rejoiced just to be near enough to hear the Bridegroom’s voice . . . and seeing people flock to Jesus, even if it meant that John’s “day job” was drying up, made John’s joy complete.

How often do I fall into thinking that the wedding is about me? Oh, maybe it is to some degree if I consider myself as the bride . . . but even then, my blessed place “at the altar” is all about the price He paid for my sin as the Lamb of God and about His persistent pursuit of me, a wayward sheep, as the Great Shepherd who came to seek and save the lost. I might do well from time to time to think of myself more as the friend of the bridegroom . . . there because of Him . . . there for Him . . . fully prepared to fade into the background . . . not desiring to draw attention to myself but asking only to be a magnifying glass through which Jesus is brought into clearer view by those who need to “come.”

Instead of my joy being dependent on how much recognition I get . . . or the amount of blessing I perceive to receive by being at the wedding . . . my joy, instead, should be made complete when Jesus is exalted . . . when Jesus becomes the object of attention . . . when people, as it were, turn their back on me because they instead see the glorious Bridegroom.

Truly, He must increase . . . I must decrease . . . if only in my own eyes . . . if only as part of my own agenda. It should be enough to just be standing there with Him . . . my eyes fixed on Him alone . . . doing nothing that would distract others from setting their gaze upon Him . . . a friend of the Bridegroom . . . by His grace . . . and for His glory. Amen.

 

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The Right Umbrella

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Pete

It’s a good reminder. Every time I come across it when reading James, it causes me to pause and reflect, and remember, and relive the truth that we “do not know what tomorrow will bring.” And so, says James, it’s so important to put our plans under the right umbrella.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”   (James 4:13-15 ESV)

The problem isn’t that we have plans . . . it’s that we lose perspective. We set our course but forget that God establishes our steps (Prov. 16:9). And so we’re surprised when things don’t turn out as we thought they would . . . or they take a turn we never anticipated . . . or we find ourselves out-of-balance because “our will be done” has become our de factor operating mode.

But if we were to heed . . . if I were to heed James’ exhortation more consistently, how much would that help in putting the right things in their right place?

If all my plans . . . all my ambitions . . . all my desires were under the umbrella of “If the Lord wills” . . . how much freedom and balance would that create?

First, I’m recognizing that, when all is said and done, it’s all about the Lord’s will. It’s about His plans . . . His purposes . . . what He seeks to accomplish . . . all about His glory. My plans are placed within the context of all that I know He has purposed. I don’t want anything on my “to do” list that isn’t on His. I don’t want any of my priorities to trump that which He has already let me know are on His “top ten.” And then, when my plans play out . . . because it was in His will . . . He gets all the glory and praise.

Second, my life is lived under the great “IF.” I don’t know what tomorrow will bring . . . I am but a mist that appears for a little time . . . thus I am to hold things loosely . . . and live, by His grace, in such a way that at the end of the day, if there be no tomorrow, there is a contentment and a confidence (not an arrogance) that I have done my day under the umbrella of His will.

Four simple words that I would do well to add to the end of more of my sentences. Four single-syllable words that place my life on earth within the grander scheme of His work in heaven.

“If the Lord wills.” That’s the right umbrella.

Living under His grace . . . living for His glory.

Time to get ready and go to work . . . if the Lord wills.

 

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The Side Roads

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Pete

I’m reading in James this morning and it’s kind of stopped me in my tracks. I’ve read these verses before. I’ve received teaching on this passage a number of times. But as I paused after reading the first ten verses of chapter four, I asked myself the most fundamental of questions, “Is James writing to Christians or to non-Christians?” I’m pretty sure he’s talking to blood-bought, born again, believers. But good night! What went wrong?

Looking back on my reading from yesterday in chapter three, within this body of believers “bitter jealousy and selfish ambition” were at play with disastrous results (3:14-16). Chapter four continues describing the climate amongst these brothers and sisters . . . quarrels . . . fights among themselves . . . driven by covetousness, the level of animosity in their midst rising to murderous levels. It’s so bad that James is moved by the Spirit to exclaim, “You adulterous people!”

“You adulterous people” . . . sounds like language I’ve been reading in the prophets. So how does this happen? I can’t imagine it being a conscious decision among a group of God’s people to one day pass a resolution that “in our family we are going to tear at one another’s throats.” No . . . you know that getting to this point has to happen gradually. Something I read in Jeremiah this morning I think gets to the heart of such a dynamic.

But My people have forgotten Me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway . . . (Jeremiah 18:15 ESV)

God’s covenant people of the Old Testament had drifted off into spiritual adultery because they had ceased to care for the things of God . . . and had set up for themselves other objects of worship.  And so, they staggered onto other paths . . . straying from the ancient roads of God’s leading . . . wandering from the highway of God’s perfect will . . . choosing instead to trudge down the muddy paths of fleshly pursuit. They chose the side roads.

Just as ancient Israel had drifted off course down the side roads, I’m thinking these New Testament believers had fallen into the same waywardness.

James says it starts with ceding the battle to our passions and pleasures which war within us (4:1). Rather than pursue the things of heaven, we instead pursue the things of having. We covet and so we avert our gaze to a lesser prize. We desire and so determine to acquire . . . whatever the cost . . . be it relationships with God . . . be it relationships with friends and family. That’s the entrance to the side road.

And the side road doesn’t eventually lead us back to God. In fact it only leads us further away. Once on the road, our pursuit of the worldly things then draws our affection to the ways of this world. That which we were saved out of, now becomes our friend. And, says James, “friendship with the world is enmity with God” and “whoever wishes to a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (4:4).

Ouch! Maybe that’s why it sounds like James is talking to unbelievers. Loved the world . . . forgotten their God. Pursuing “the dream” . . . replacing the prize of heaven with idols. Wandering from the narrow way . . . sucked into the mire of the side roads.

How I need to beware of the side roads. Those rabbit trails that turn the affections of my heart from seeking Him to seeking other stuff . . . and draw me into a love relationship with the world that severely impacts my relationship with my God and with His people.

And when I do find myself going down such side roads, I need to remember that God’s grace is sufficient to restore me to the highway. That He gives grace to the humble (4:6). That, if I will draw near to God, He will draw near to me (4:8). That, if I humble myself before the LORD, He will lift me up (4:10). His grace is sufficient even for wanderers down the side roads.

Beware the side roads . . . by His grace . . . for His glory.

 

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A Cameo Appearance

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Pete

Reading in the latter part of John 2 this morning. And I encountered a phrase that caught my eye the first time I read it and then really jumped off the page when it occurred again only a couple of verses later. And the impression it’s leaving on me is that of a cameo appearance. The sort of thing you might encounter in a movie or play where, unexpectedly, the author of the story appears briefly in some non-speaking bit part. They might show up in the background cast of people walking down a street . . . or, as the camera pans a crowd of people in a room, there they are . . . or, they quickly walk into the scene from the left, perform some minor action like serving a tray of hors d’oeuvres and then exit, stage left. As I was reading John this morning, I think the Holy Spirit might have made a cameo appearance . . .

The stage is the temple in Jerusalem. The backdrop is the making ready for Passover. And the scene? Well, Jesus is making a scene! He finds an unholy commerce occurring within the temple walls and is moved to action. Making a whip of cords, he drives out those turning a profit by selling animals for sacrifice. In addition, turning over their tables, He puts a stop to the money-changers charging exorbitant mark-up rates to exchange foreign currency brought by pilgrims wanting to pay the temple tax. “Take these things away,” Jesus says, “do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” Cue cameo appearance one . . .

His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume Me.” (John 2:17 ESV)

The Jews, referring to the Jewish leaders I think, don’t take well to this and challenge Jesus’ outlandish actions. They demand some sign from Jesus as to His credentials to exercise such authority over the temple court. Jesus replies, “Destroy the temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” They thought he was talking about the physical temple they stood in . . . ludicrous! But Jesus was talking about “the temple of His body.” Cue cameo appearance number two . . .

When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. (John 2:22 ESV)

Did you see Him? The Author of God’s inspired Word briefly, almost imperceptibly, showing up in His own work? I think He’s there in the repeated phrase, “His disciples remembered.”

Sure the disciples were trained in the Scriptures, as were all Jewish young men. But at that moment when Jesus is literally turning the place upside down, a light bulb goes on connecting His actions and His words with the words of a king recorded in Psalm 69. Later, after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, these same disciples would have another “aha moment” as they recalled Jesus’ promise that day to raise up the temple of His body three days after it was destroyed and left lifeless. And though it was they who heard the words, I’m thinking it was Another who again connected the dots. Isn’t that the ministry of God through His manifestation in the Person of the Holy Spirit?

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14:26 ESV)

That’s why we continue to take in the Word. That’s why we ask for ears to hear and eyes to see. So that, perhaps when least expected, we have a encounter of the divine kind. The Spirit of God bringing to remembrance something concerning the Son so that we might glorify the Father. Not “aha moments” of our own making, nor dependent on our own intellect, but of His gracious determination, visitation, and illumination.

O’ that I might notice Him more in the background. By His grace . . . for His glory.

Amen?

 

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He Manifested His Glory

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Pete

Jesus was pretty selective about His audience. I think if I was going on the “Know that I Am Messiah” road tour, I’d go big, I’d go often, and I’d go in front of as many people as possible. But not the Son of Man. He seemed to be cautious of the “going big” approach to getting people to believe. And He certainly wasn’t compelled to “perform” in the biggest venues. And, even when He was given a natural platform to impress a lot of people, He often didn’t take advantage of it the way I might have. Rather, He purposefully did what He did, before those He did it, in order that they might know that He manifested His glory.

Case in point, the wedding at Cana. Large crowd . . . early in His ministry . . . and His mother provides an excellent “natural” opening for Him to show His stuff. I don’t know what it was that brought Mary to bring the wine issue to Jesus, but she knew something that others had not yet discovered about her son. So, perfect set up. Walk to the front of the feasting hall . . . dramatically line up the six stone water jars . . . with great suspense, have the servants fill them up with somewhere between 120 and 180 gallons of water . . . maybe pray a bit . . . wave his hands over the jars . . . and, “Voila!” . . . serve up the best tasting wine in the land! Go big . . . go often . . . go in front of as many people as you can. That’s how I might manifest the glory.

Not Jesus. Instead His focus seems to be on some no-name servants and on some “still kicking the tires” disciples. In the back room He gets the servants to bring the jars, fill them with water, and then serve the wine. And the only ones who knew what was going on, other than the servants and Mary, were His closest followers. This first sign was done for them.

This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him. (John 2:11 ESV)

There’s something about hanging close to Jesus . . . you see His glory manifest in behind the scenes ways that most people don’t notice. It’s one of the benefits of abiding . . . one of the “perks” of going to Him with the mundane issues of everyday life . . . sometimes He turns water into wine and you, and perhaps a few close friends, are the only ones who see it. But you know in those moments, He manifested His glory.

The glory of the Son of God is made known often in the small and unspectacular ways so that it is less about the event, and all about the Event Planner. Less about everyone knowing that Jesus came through for you, and more about the gracious way of our loving King who reveals Himself in secret . . . often for our eyes of faith only . . . that we might know His glory manifested.

O’ that, as followers of Jesus, we would never be far from Him. That we would desire to know His presence at all times. That we might, perhaps when least expected and in ways unanticipated, know that He has manifested His glory . . . so that believing, we too might increase in belief.

That’s the privilege of being His disciple.

By His grace . . . for His glory.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14 ESV)

 

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