Many believe the story of Jonah is a tale of fiction designed to reveal God’s position on obedience. Yet they do not believe the story is historically accurate as no man could fit inside a whale because the throat is too small. The simple fact is at no time was the sea creature described as a whale. The Hebrew word merely means sea monster describing a very large creature. Because the story is miraculous in its content one can only see it the same way we see all the other stories in the bible. That is, from God’s perspective we have to see it as real even if difficult to imagine.
Lets face it when we look at the New Testament we see a redeemer born from a virgin teen who is then raised in poverty and eventually suffers a hideous punishment He neither deserved, nor desired. Who can reason with God when it comes to man? Still in all, I want to examine the story of Jonah in several parts. The story is real because Jesus made several references about himself to it in Matthew 12:39-41; 16; 4, and Luke 11:29,30,32. It would be incomprehensible that Jesus would compare himself to a fictitious person especially since He refers to the story of Jonah when He is comparing it to His resurrection. I will tell the story of Jonah in my own words.
Once upon a time there was this dude named Jonah who was a well-respected prophet and everybody thought he was cool and everything. His wife was a favorite at the local chamber of commerce meetings and PTA and so forth and was a pretty good Bridge player. Jonah had a couple of kids and one, the youngest, was very good at playing pin the tail on the donkey. Back then they used real donkeys so you had to know what you were doin.
Well anyway as the story goes Jonah gets a phone call from God which usually happens when you are a prophet and God tells him to go over the Nineveh and tell everybody there that they are ‘toast’ because God is really steamed and He ain’t gonna take it anymore. Now for those of you who don’t know the history of the region very well I will tell you the people of Nineveh and the people of Israel do not get along. Back then, Nineveh was a bed of wickedness and had a very powerful army and they would war against Israel and they used to take some Jews and make them slaves and such so there was no love loss between the two peoples.
Jonah is a genuine prophet and he knows that God is a compassionate God and if the Ninevites repent God will forgive them. If that happens then Jonah will have to explain to all his Jewish friends why he would tell Nineveh about their Hebrew God. Nineveh was headed for hell and every Jew wanted them to get there ASAP. The only way that was not gonna happen is if some yahoo begins telling them about God’s mercy and they repent. Obviously, no sane Jew was gonna do that so all the people of Nineveh were as good as gone. When you see things from that perspective you can see why Jonah had a real problem because he does not want to go over to Nineveh and cause them to repent and then have to go back to Hebrew land and tell all of his soon to be former friends what happened.
So what does Jonah do? Simple, first he decided to call on the local prophet and get some good council. Only problem is he happens to be that prophet and he doesn’t have the foggiest idea what to do. So he contemplates all his options and they don’t look good. No matter what Jonah does he is gonna get into trouble. There is no way he will ever get his passport stamped to go to Nineveh without everybody finding out what he is planning on doing and if he does go to Nineveh then he has to come back and that won’t be easy as everybody will hate him for what he just did. You see bein a prophet ain’t such an easy job after all.
So Jonah decides to bon voyage to a place called Tarshish, which happens to be in the opposite direction of Nineveh. In other words he was running away. Maybe not the most mature thing to do but desperate men make desperate decisions and he was desperate. He boards a ship and goes down into the hold of the ship because he knows God is gonna be steamed about what he is doin and Jonah doesn’t want to talk to anybody anyway. He figures he could hang out here until he reached Tarshish and then find some bed and breakfast place to get a little break until the Lord changes him mind or better yet appoints someone else to accomplish this task. Better them then Jonah he figures.
Jonah goes to the hold of the ship and falls asleep. But the Lord, who has contacts everywhere, finds out what Jonah is up to and hits the roof. He hurls a great storm with really powerful winds that were so strong the ship was even starting to break up. The captain of the ship orders everyone to pray to their god so that they don’t die. Funny how ‘religious’ people can get when they think they are gonna die. Anyway the captain goes below and sees Jonah sawin logs. The captain says, “Are you outta your tree? “How can you sleep at a time like this? “Get up and call on your god. “Who knows maybe your god will feel some pity on us since we all may be seein him real soon.” The other sailors want to know why this storm has occurred so fast and they figure someone on board knows something so they cast lots to see who it is. The lots fall on Jonah. Then one of the sailors, a pirate, looks at Jonah and says, “Busted.”
Then the others gather around and give Jonah the once over look. They ask him what is going on because this is the worst storm they have ever seen and Jonah comes clean about what the Lord told him and then they become even more afraid. So they say to Jonah, “What should we do to you that the sea will settle down because we are all gonna die and soon if this doesn’t stop. Then Jonah tells them to toss his keester overboard and the sea will get calm. But the sailors said, “No way dude you are not gonna have your blood on our hands after all we didn’t do anything to deserve this.” Then they all looked at the pirate and said, “Well maybe not all of us but most of us did not do anything to deserve this.
To be continued.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Jesus' Authority Questioned
Matthew 21:23-32 tells the story of the chief priests and scribes and elders confronting Jesus about His ministry. They are trying to get the everyday people (Joe six pack types) to see that Jesus is not from God because He is taking all the wind out of their sails. The people are now beginning to see Jesus as a man of authority and power and they are beginning to see through the shallowness of the religious leaders of the day. I will tell the story in my own words.
One day as Jesus was teaching in the temple some of the high falutin muckity mucks confronted Him and demanded to know where Jesus got the chutzpah to talk to everybody like this. They said, “Yo dude, where do you get off telling everybody what to do? “Who died and made you God?” Jesus said, “I will tell you the answer to that question if you would be so kind as to answer a question of mine.” They said, “Fire away.” Then Jesus said, “You remember John the Baptist right?” They all shake their heads yes. Jesus says, “Well tell me now was that ministry from God, or from man?” What Jesus meant was did God call John to baptize everybody, or did John decide to do that on his own without any call from heaven.
The religious leaders start to confer with one another and reason with the question. They said to each other, “If we say John’s ministry was from man then the people here will be really steamed because they all believed John was called of God to do what he did. “If we say that John’s ministry was from God the people will be happy we said that but, then Jesus will ask us why we didn’t get baptized and we won’t have an answer.” So they told Jesus that they didn’t know the answer. Now Jesus was no fool and He was well aware of why they wouldn’t answer the question, so He said to them that He wouldn’t answer their question either.
Then Jesus told them a parable. “A man had two sons and he came to the first and said, “I need you to work in the field today. The son answered, ‘I will sir’; but he did not go. “Then the man said to the second son the same thing. That son said, ‘I will not go’ but later regretted that he was disobedient and went out and worked in the field.” Which one did what the father had asked?” The leaders said, “The second one because he actually went and did the work.” Jesus said, “You are correct and that is why the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into heaven before you.”
“John’s ministry was honored by the people you look down upon, but you had no interest in that ministry.”Now I come telling everyone about God’s love and once again the tax collectors and prostitutes are willing to listen and repent, but you are not. “How is it that you see God working in their lives and yet do not understand His compassion toward them?”
Once again Jesus was trying to get the leaders of that day to understand that God loved everybody not just the ones with long robes. Yet, it was the ones in long robes who rejected that thinking and saw themselves as Godly and everybody else as unrighteous.
How many of us wear long robes?
One day as Jesus was teaching in the temple some of the high falutin muckity mucks confronted Him and demanded to know where Jesus got the chutzpah to talk to everybody like this. They said, “Yo dude, where do you get off telling everybody what to do? “Who died and made you God?” Jesus said, “I will tell you the answer to that question if you would be so kind as to answer a question of mine.” They said, “Fire away.” Then Jesus said, “You remember John the Baptist right?” They all shake their heads yes. Jesus says, “Well tell me now was that ministry from God, or from man?” What Jesus meant was did God call John to baptize everybody, or did John decide to do that on his own without any call from heaven.
The religious leaders start to confer with one another and reason with the question. They said to each other, “If we say John’s ministry was from man then the people here will be really steamed because they all believed John was called of God to do what he did. “If we say that John’s ministry was from God the people will be happy we said that but, then Jesus will ask us why we didn’t get baptized and we won’t have an answer.” So they told Jesus that they didn’t know the answer. Now Jesus was no fool and He was well aware of why they wouldn’t answer the question, so He said to them that He wouldn’t answer their question either.
Then Jesus told them a parable. “A man had two sons and he came to the first and said, “I need you to work in the field today. The son answered, ‘I will sir’; but he did not go. “Then the man said to the second son the same thing. That son said, ‘I will not go’ but later regretted that he was disobedient and went out and worked in the field.” Which one did what the father had asked?” The leaders said, “The second one because he actually went and did the work.” Jesus said, “You are correct and that is why the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into heaven before you.”
“John’s ministry was honored by the people you look down upon, but you had no interest in that ministry.”Now I come telling everyone about God’s love and once again the tax collectors and prostitutes are willing to listen and repent, but you are not. “How is it that you see God working in their lives and yet do not understand His compassion toward them?”
Once again Jesus was trying to get the leaders of that day to understand that God loved everybody not just the ones with long robes. Yet, it was the ones in long robes who rejected that thinking and saw themselves as Godly and everybody else as unrighteous.
How many of us wear long robes?
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Jesus Heals Peter's Mother in Law
Mark 1:29-31 tells a short, but intriguing story of the healing of Peter’s mother in law. The story is only two verses long but tells a story that any married man can understand. In order to understand fully what was happening with Peter’s mother in law you have to read verse 16. Peter, along with all the other apostles left everything they had and followed Jesus (Matthew 19:27) so one had to wonder how the family was faring during Peter’s unemployment. Then, of course, one has to wonder how Peter’s mother in law commented on his absence when the subject came up with Peter’s wife. I will tell the story in my own words.
One day Jesus went over to Peter’s house to see how the other half lived. As soon as Jesus got into the house He was told of Peter’s mother in law’s sickness. She had a high fever and could not get out of bed. She was lying there on the bed frothing at the mouth. Peter had seen this before, but that was when they were arguing about something. Jesus walked over to the sick woman and told her to get up. She immediately felt better and began waiting on them.
She said, “Thank you so much Jesus for healing me. “I was so sick I thought I was going to die. “You are a wonderful man.” Then Peter’s wife said to her mother, “That’s not what you said yesterday. “Yesterday, you said you didn’t understand how Peter could leave his family and follow after this religious kook.” Then Peter’s mother in law said, “Oh that’s not what I meant dearie I was just wondering who the gentlemen was that peter was associating with.” “Gentlemen,” Peter’s wife blurts out, “You didn’t call Him a gentlemen you called Him a vagabond.”
“Now, Now dearie we don’t need to go into all that.” I think this Jesus fellow is just misunderstood.” Then Peter’s wife really let loose with all cannons. “Misunderstood. “Yesterday you said he was a low life who stole Peter’s mind. “The you said, “You were surprised that He would be interested in something that small.” With that Peter gave his mother in law a dirty look. Then Jesus began commenting on the stuffed flounder and successfully changed the subject.
It is interesting to consider the sacrifices made by the apostles in the early days of Jesus ministry. Before He became well known, Jesus ministry would have puzzled the relatives of the apostles. For anyone to leave their homes and loved ones merely to follow someone who told them they were going to be “fishers of men” seems crazy. The apostles must have seen something in Jesus to take the chance they were taking. Otherwise leaving their livelihood and their families only to follow a vagabond makes no sense at all.
Too bad many of us don’t see what they saw. What an impact we would have on those around us.
One day Jesus went over to Peter’s house to see how the other half lived. As soon as Jesus got into the house He was told of Peter’s mother in law’s sickness. She had a high fever and could not get out of bed. She was lying there on the bed frothing at the mouth. Peter had seen this before, but that was when they were arguing about something. Jesus walked over to the sick woman and told her to get up. She immediately felt better and began waiting on them.
She said, “Thank you so much Jesus for healing me. “I was so sick I thought I was going to die. “You are a wonderful man.” Then Peter’s wife said to her mother, “That’s not what you said yesterday. “Yesterday, you said you didn’t understand how Peter could leave his family and follow after this religious kook.” Then Peter’s mother in law said, “Oh that’s not what I meant dearie I was just wondering who the gentlemen was that peter was associating with.” “Gentlemen,” Peter’s wife blurts out, “You didn’t call Him a gentlemen you called Him a vagabond.”
“Now, Now dearie we don’t need to go into all that.” I think this Jesus fellow is just misunderstood.” Then Peter’s wife really let loose with all cannons. “Misunderstood. “Yesterday you said he was a low life who stole Peter’s mind. “The you said, “You were surprised that He would be interested in something that small.” With that Peter gave his mother in law a dirty look. Then Jesus began commenting on the stuffed flounder and successfully changed the subject.
It is interesting to consider the sacrifices made by the apostles in the early days of Jesus ministry. Before He became well known, Jesus ministry would have puzzled the relatives of the apostles. For anyone to leave their homes and loved ones merely to follow someone who told them they were going to be “fishers of men” seems crazy. The apostles must have seen something in Jesus to take the chance they were taking. Otherwise leaving their livelihood and their families only to follow a vagabond makes no sense at all.
Too bad many of us don’t see what they saw. What an impact we would have on those around us.
Friday, May 30, 2008
How often should we forgive others?
The ministry of Jesus could be summed up in one word, Forgiveness. Peter asks the Lord about the issue in Matthew 18:21-35. For those of us who like to hold grudges the answer is disappointing to say the least. I will tell the story in my own words.
One day Peter walks up to Jesus and asked Him a serious question. Peter said, “How many times should I let someone sin against me and still forgive him? “Up to seven times?” “I think seven is a nice round number.” “What do you say Jesus?” Jesus raised his eyebrows and said, “Not seven times, but seventy times seven.” Then Peter raised his eyebrows. Peter said, “Seventy times seven, are you crazy?” “Everybody will be gettin away with murder.”
So Jesus called His disciple chums together and told them a story. The disciples knew the story was made up, but it was Jesus’ way of setting the record straight about how God sees things.
“Once upon a time there was this king and he had lots of servants and people who worked for him and he told them all to appear before him and come clean on their debts. The first servant owed hundreds of millions of dollars and had no way of repaying the debt. So the king said that he should be tossed into Debtors Prison and his wife and children were to be sold in order to pay back the debt. But the servant fell down on his knees and begged the king for mercy claiming he would pay it back to the last penny. The king felt compassion on the servant and dismissed the debt, allowing the man to go free.
“Lo and behold that servant found a fellow servant and grabbed him and said ‘Pay me the fifty dollars you owe me.’ Then that servant begged for mercy and said he would pay it all back when he could. But he would not hear of it and tossed the slave in prison until he paid the fifty dollars. Some of the king’s servants saw what had happened and went and reported it to the king, who immediately summoned the slave to his throne room.
“The king said to the slave ‘You low life, I forgave you all you owed me even though it was more than you could have made in many lifetimes and yet you would not forgive a fellow slave who only owed you fifty dollars.’ Then the king ordered the slave thrown into prison and tortured until he repaid everything.”
Then Jesus finished by saying, “This is what my heavenly father will do to all of you if you do not forgive each other.”
Then one of the apostles said to Jesus, “The other day Peter told everybody that I had bad breath. I was steamed, I’m still steamed about it.” Hey, you want to say something bad about my wife go right ahead, you can even say something bad about my dog but when you start talking about my breath now that’s where I draw the line. “Besides Peter’s feet sink.” Then Peter said, “What, why I aught to knock you block off.”
Then Jesus separated the two and told them and told them that if they couldn’t forgive each other over a small matter such as bad breath and stinky feet how could they expect the Lord God almighty to forgive them of their sins against Him.
The story dramatizes God’s perspective on the issue of human interaction. In God’s eyes forgiveness is the most important issue on the table. Period. Understand that is easy, the hard part is accomplishing it everyday.
One day Peter walks up to Jesus and asked Him a serious question. Peter said, “How many times should I let someone sin against me and still forgive him? “Up to seven times?” “I think seven is a nice round number.” “What do you say Jesus?” Jesus raised his eyebrows and said, “Not seven times, but seventy times seven.” Then Peter raised his eyebrows. Peter said, “Seventy times seven, are you crazy?” “Everybody will be gettin away with murder.”
So Jesus called His disciple chums together and told them a story. The disciples knew the story was made up, but it was Jesus’ way of setting the record straight about how God sees things.
“Once upon a time there was this king and he had lots of servants and people who worked for him and he told them all to appear before him and come clean on their debts. The first servant owed hundreds of millions of dollars and had no way of repaying the debt. So the king said that he should be tossed into Debtors Prison and his wife and children were to be sold in order to pay back the debt. But the servant fell down on his knees and begged the king for mercy claiming he would pay it back to the last penny. The king felt compassion on the servant and dismissed the debt, allowing the man to go free.
“Lo and behold that servant found a fellow servant and grabbed him and said ‘Pay me the fifty dollars you owe me.’ Then that servant begged for mercy and said he would pay it all back when he could. But he would not hear of it and tossed the slave in prison until he paid the fifty dollars. Some of the king’s servants saw what had happened and went and reported it to the king, who immediately summoned the slave to his throne room.
“The king said to the slave ‘You low life, I forgave you all you owed me even though it was more than you could have made in many lifetimes and yet you would not forgive a fellow slave who only owed you fifty dollars.’ Then the king ordered the slave thrown into prison and tortured until he repaid everything.”
Then Jesus finished by saying, “This is what my heavenly father will do to all of you if you do not forgive each other.”
Then one of the apostles said to Jesus, “The other day Peter told everybody that I had bad breath. I was steamed, I’m still steamed about it.” Hey, you want to say something bad about my wife go right ahead, you can even say something bad about my dog but when you start talking about my breath now that’s where I draw the line. “Besides Peter’s feet sink.” Then Peter said, “What, why I aught to knock you block off.”
Then Jesus separated the two and told them and told them that if they couldn’t forgive each other over a small matter such as bad breath and stinky feet how could they expect the Lord God almighty to forgive them of their sins against Him.
The story dramatizes God’s perspective on the issue of human interaction. In God’s eyes forgiveness is the most important issue on the table. Period. Understand that is easy, the hard part is accomplishing it everyday.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Jesus' Family think He's Nuts.
Matthew 12:46-50, Mark 3:28-30, Luke 8:19-21 tells the story of Jesus’ difficulties with His family while He was trying to perform His ministry. Mark 3:21 reveals the true nature of those feelings. I will tell the troubling reaction of Jesus’ family to His ministry in my own words.
When Jesus and His disciple chums returned home the people of the village mobbed them. It was a madhouse, the dudes could hardly get to chow down on the Chinese take out they bought. The scribes who followed Jesus from Jerusalem were really jealous and started telling the crowd that Jesus was doin all these miracles by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons. The crowd wasn’t very bright (they were democrats) so they started belivin the scribes.
Then Jesus had to call the crowd over to Him and straighten them out. Jesus said, “How can Satan cast out Satan?” “A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.” Then Jesus looked at the scribes and said, “I am telling you the truth all sins are forgivable except one, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit is guilty of an eternal sin.” Jesus meant that the scribes had equated Him with Satan and that was something that would not stand in the eyes of God.
But when Jesus made this statement he really steamed the scribes because he had placed Himself in a very distinct category (claiming He had the Holy Spirit). Even Jesus’ mother and his brothers were thinking He was coo coo. So they went over to see Jesus when He was speaking to a bunch of people in a house. They asked if someone could tell Jesus to come out because they wanted to speak with Him. So the crowd told Jesus that His family was outside wishing to speak with Him. But Jesus was no fool and knew what was happening. He knew the scribes had put pressure on His family to shut Him up and that’s why they wanted to speak with Him. They were gonna take Him home so He could rest and return to His senses.
Then Jesus said to the crowd, “Who are my mother and my brothers? “Whoever does the will of God is my mother and my brothers and my sisters.”
At face value the story ends there. However, the mere fact the his mother and brothers have come to take him away to the funny farm serves as a reminder as to how much resistance there was to Jesus’ ministry. More than likely the scribes put pressure on Jesus’ family to the point of threatening them with expulsion from the synagogue if they did not quiet Jesus down. Since His brothers did not believe He was the messiah (John 7:5) they would have had grave concerns over these threats by the religious leaders. Jesus’ brothers probably had families of their own and did not want their own children mocked by other children for being expelled from synagogue worship.
When Jesus and His disciple chums returned home the people of the village mobbed them. It was a madhouse, the dudes could hardly get to chow down on the Chinese take out they bought. The scribes who followed Jesus from Jerusalem were really jealous and started telling the crowd that Jesus was doin all these miracles by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons. The crowd wasn’t very bright (they were democrats) so they started belivin the scribes.
Then Jesus had to call the crowd over to Him and straighten them out. Jesus said, “How can Satan cast out Satan?” “A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.” Then Jesus looked at the scribes and said, “I am telling you the truth all sins are forgivable except one, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit is guilty of an eternal sin.” Jesus meant that the scribes had equated Him with Satan and that was something that would not stand in the eyes of God.
But when Jesus made this statement he really steamed the scribes because he had placed Himself in a very distinct category (claiming He had the Holy Spirit). Even Jesus’ mother and his brothers were thinking He was coo coo. So they went over to see Jesus when He was speaking to a bunch of people in a house. They asked if someone could tell Jesus to come out because they wanted to speak with Him. So the crowd told Jesus that His family was outside wishing to speak with Him. But Jesus was no fool and knew what was happening. He knew the scribes had put pressure on His family to shut Him up and that’s why they wanted to speak with Him. They were gonna take Him home so He could rest and return to His senses.
Then Jesus said to the crowd, “Who are my mother and my brothers? “Whoever does the will of God is my mother and my brothers and my sisters.”
At face value the story ends there. However, the mere fact the his mother and brothers have come to take him away to the funny farm serves as a reminder as to how much resistance there was to Jesus’ ministry. More than likely the scribes put pressure on Jesus’ family to the point of threatening them with expulsion from the synagogue if they did not quiet Jesus down. Since His brothers did not believe He was the messiah (John 7:5) they would have had grave concerns over these threats by the religious leaders. Jesus’ brothers probably had families of their own and did not want their own children mocked by other children for being expelled from synagogue worship.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Peter's Testamony
Matthew 16:13-23 reveals something fascinating about how each of us hears what we think is God’s voice yet may not be so. Matthew writes that the Lord was with his disciples and asks them a question about His authenticity. Peter is the only one who chimes in with an answer and is verbally rewarded for his insight. Yet only a short time later Peter has another opinion about the Lord’s future and he is quickly put in his place. I will tell the story in my own words.
One day when the Lord and His disciple chums were hangin out in Caesarea He asked them a question. He says, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The disciples start looking at each other waitin for someone to say something. You see up until now Jesus has asked them a lot of questions about things and they usually get them wrong but, this was different this question was about Him specifically. They certainly don’t want to get this one wrong.
So some of the disciples start sayin things like “Well some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and to a lesser extent Jeremiah.” “Yes” another disciple says, “To a lesser extent Jeremiah, I think that’s true.” Then they stop talking and wait to see what Jesus says. Then Jesus looks at them and says, “But who do you say I am?” Now the disciples completely clam up and don’t say anything because they were afraid of getting the answer wrong. Then Peter steps up to the plate and says what some were thinking but, none had the chutzpah to say publicly.
Peter says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” For a moment the apostles are stymied. They don’t know if a lightning bolt is gonna come out of the sky or what. Sure some of them have thought this about Jesus but, none were gonna open their trap and say it out loud. I mean after all Jesus is flesh and blood like everybody else so they gotta be careful here when we start comparing Him to divinity.
Then Jesus says, “Blessed are you Simon because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father who is in heaven.” I tell you the truth you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” Simon, who is now Peter (from the Greek word petros meaning rock) is standing with the other apostles but his feet are not on the ground. He starts looking at the other apostles and begins pullin his suspenders and say’s, “Yah, I am the man!”
But a short time later Jesus and his disciple chums are hangin out and Jesus says to them that He is gonna be turned over to the scribes and Pharisees and be killed and raised on the third day. Peter didn’t like the sound of this at all and pulled Jesus aside and said, “Look dude this aint gonna happen to you. You are the messiah and messiah’s don’t get into trouble and killed or anything like that. Instead they get lots of friends and have successful blog sites and groupies and everything.
Then Jesus turns to Peter and says, “Get behind my Satan for you are not setting your sights on God’s interest, but man’s. Peter went shooooooooop and was only about a foot tall. It was hard to see his suspenders but it was obvious Peter wasn’t pullin on them that’s for sure. Then Jesus said to the apostles that God sees things differently than man. And God has His own plans for mankind, and in this case that means obedience to the point of death.
Peter did not want to see Jesus arrested by the religious leaders of the day because that would remove His status in the eyes of many people. Peter believed that anyone who was disdained by the religious leaders of that day was someone that God did not approve of and worse may be an unbeliever. This writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John clearly point to the presumption that the rich and the religious leaders of the day were considered close to God and the sick and poor were God’s least favorite. Once again Jesus is trying to dispel that notion in the minds of His disciples.
One final note it is interesting to see that Peter had difficulty understanding the difference between what God was saying to him and what his own ambitions were saying. In a very short period of time Peter was given great praise from Jesus for hearing something God was saying, and condemnation for listening to his own desires.
This is a lesson for us all.
One day when the Lord and His disciple chums were hangin out in Caesarea He asked them a question. He says, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The disciples start looking at each other waitin for someone to say something. You see up until now Jesus has asked them a lot of questions about things and they usually get them wrong but, this was different this question was about Him specifically. They certainly don’t want to get this one wrong.
So some of the disciples start sayin things like “Well some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and to a lesser extent Jeremiah.” “Yes” another disciple says, “To a lesser extent Jeremiah, I think that’s true.” Then they stop talking and wait to see what Jesus says. Then Jesus looks at them and says, “But who do you say I am?” Now the disciples completely clam up and don’t say anything because they were afraid of getting the answer wrong. Then Peter steps up to the plate and says what some were thinking but, none had the chutzpah to say publicly.
Peter says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” For a moment the apostles are stymied. They don’t know if a lightning bolt is gonna come out of the sky or what. Sure some of them have thought this about Jesus but, none were gonna open their trap and say it out loud. I mean after all Jesus is flesh and blood like everybody else so they gotta be careful here when we start comparing Him to divinity.
Then Jesus says, “Blessed are you Simon because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father who is in heaven.” I tell you the truth you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” Simon, who is now Peter (from the Greek word petros meaning rock) is standing with the other apostles but his feet are not on the ground. He starts looking at the other apostles and begins pullin his suspenders and say’s, “Yah, I am the man!”
But a short time later Jesus and his disciple chums are hangin out and Jesus says to them that He is gonna be turned over to the scribes and Pharisees and be killed and raised on the third day. Peter didn’t like the sound of this at all and pulled Jesus aside and said, “Look dude this aint gonna happen to you. You are the messiah and messiah’s don’t get into trouble and killed or anything like that. Instead they get lots of friends and have successful blog sites and groupies and everything.
Then Jesus turns to Peter and says, “Get behind my Satan for you are not setting your sights on God’s interest, but man’s. Peter went shooooooooop and was only about a foot tall. It was hard to see his suspenders but it was obvious Peter wasn’t pullin on them that’s for sure. Then Jesus said to the apostles that God sees things differently than man. And God has His own plans for mankind, and in this case that means obedience to the point of death.
Peter did not want to see Jesus arrested by the religious leaders of the day because that would remove His status in the eyes of many people. Peter believed that anyone who was disdained by the religious leaders of that day was someone that God did not approve of and worse may be an unbeliever. This writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John clearly point to the presumption that the rich and the religious leaders of the day were considered close to God and the sick and poor were God’s least favorite. Once again Jesus is trying to dispel that notion in the minds of His disciples.
One final note it is interesting to see that Peter had difficulty understanding the difference between what God was saying to him and what his own ambitions were saying. In a very short period of time Peter was given great praise from Jesus for hearing something God was saying, and condemnation for listening to his own desires.
This is a lesson for us all.
Friday, May 9, 2008
The Man Healed by the Sheep Gate
My very first blog on featured the story in John chapter 5. That blog gave more of a philosophical approach to the question of why do things happen to some people, but not others. This blog will focus on the story of the man lying by the pool when Jesus approached him. You can read the story in John 5:1-16. I will tell the story in my own words.
During the feast of the Jews Jesus and His disciple chums decided to go back to Jerusalem. While they were on their way they approached the sheep gate. The sheep gate is on the backside of Jerusalem and is where all the shepherds bring in their sheep from the fields where they were grazing. Because so many animals traverse through there, the place is pretty stinky. There is also a pool of water that is surrounded by five porticoes where a bunch of sick people were laying around waiting for the water to be stirred. You see, at certain times of the year an angel of the Lord would go down and stir the water and whoever went into the water first would be healed of whatever ailed them.
Now one dude who was lying there was sufferin from paralysis, when I say sufferin I mean sufferin because he was like this for thirty-eight years. Then Jesus walks up to the dude and says, “Do you want to get well?” The paralysis dude thinks to himself, no I’m just lyin here for my health; er come to think of it I am just lyin here for my health. But because Jesus is the only one who has spoken to the man for a long time the paralyzed guy figures he better speak nice to Him or he may not get put in the water when it gets stirred.
So the paralyzed guy says to Jesus, “Sir, I have no one to help me get into the water when it is stirred, and worse then that when I’m strugglin to get in the water somebody else beats me to the pool. “I tell you I am really gettin steamed about the whole state of affairs and everything here because the ones who get in the pool first usually don’t have the ailments that I have. “That’s why they can get into the pool faster then me. “Why last month an old geezer lady who just wanted a face-lift jumped in the pool when the water was stirred and she came out looking like Carrie Underwood. “I tell you it ain’t fair.”
Then Jesus said, “Arise, take you pallet and walk.” So the paralyzed man immediately becomes well and stands up. Then he picks up his pallet and starts walkin off with it. He’s walkin around Jerusalem and it was the Sabbath so he wasn’t supposed to be carrying his pallet or nothin. Then some religious types (a k a Pharisees) see him and say, “What in the tarnation are you doin? “You ain't supposed to be walkin around with a pallet. It’s the Sabbath for cryin out loud.” Then the used to be paralyzed guy says, “The guy who healed me told me to pick up my pallet and walk. “ Then the Pharisees look at each other and say to the used to be paralyzed guy, “Who healed you?” Then the newly healed guy scratches his head and realizes that he doesn’t even know who healed him.
Meanwhile Jesus is in the temple talking to the folks and he notices the newly healed guy walks in. Then Jesus says to the guy, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you. So the used to be paralyzed guy says to himself, “How can I be sinnin I was lyin in my own poop for thirty eight years and now I can finally move around and the first thing I’m told is stop sinnin. Gimme a break.” Then Jesus says to the used to be paralyzed guy, “The sin I am referring to is the sin that exists in your heart.” Then the used to be paralyzed guy suddenly realized that Jesus was referring to envy, jealousy and coveting. The things the used to be paralyzed guy had in his heart everyday.
Then the used to be paralyzed guy went back to the Pharisees and told them it was Jesus. The Pharisees were steamed because Jesus was always breakin the Sabbath rules by healing people and feeding them and helping them out when he was supposed to be ignoring them like the other religious leaders were doin.
The main philosophical question here is why did Jesus heal this particular man. There were many invalids lying around the pool and some of them may have actually heard of Jesus. Yet Jesus heals a man that does not know him and worse one that does not thank him. This story reveals a very mysterious side to Jesus and causes us to see Him in a capricious light. The fact that Jesus selected a man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years shows Jesus as sympathetic yet selecting this particular man raises questions. This man expresses no gratitude for the work the Lord has done for him. After thirty-eight years in this condition one would expect the man to show deep gratitude, instead he merely walked away when Jesus healed him.
Surely there would have been others at the pool that would have been more appreciative. Who can reason with the mind of God? Who indeed.
During the feast of the Jews Jesus and His disciple chums decided to go back to Jerusalem. While they were on their way they approached the sheep gate. The sheep gate is on the backside of Jerusalem and is where all the shepherds bring in their sheep from the fields where they were grazing. Because so many animals traverse through there, the place is pretty stinky. There is also a pool of water that is surrounded by five porticoes where a bunch of sick people were laying around waiting for the water to be stirred. You see, at certain times of the year an angel of the Lord would go down and stir the water and whoever went into the water first would be healed of whatever ailed them.
Now one dude who was lying there was sufferin from paralysis, when I say sufferin I mean sufferin because he was like this for thirty-eight years. Then Jesus walks up to the dude and says, “Do you want to get well?” The paralysis dude thinks to himself, no I’m just lyin here for my health; er come to think of it I am just lyin here for my health. But because Jesus is the only one who has spoken to the man for a long time the paralyzed guy figures he better speak nice to Him or he may not get put in the water when it gets stirred.
So the paralyzed guy says to Jesus, “Sir, I have no one to help me get into the water when it is stirred, and worse then that when I’m strugglin to get in the water somebody else beats me to the pool. “I tell you I am really gettin steamed about the whole state of affairs and everything here because the ones who get in the pool first usually don’t have the ailments that I have. “That’s why they can get into the pool faster then me. “Why last month an old geezer lady who just wanted a face-lift jumped in the pool when the water was stirred and she came out looking like Carrie Underwood. “I tell you it ain’t fair.”
Then Jesus said, “Arise, take you pallet and walk.” So the paralyzed man immediately becomes well and stands up. Then he picks up his pallet and starts walkin off with it. He’s walkin around Jerusalem and it was the Sabbath so he wasn’t supposed to be carrying his pallet or nothin. Then some religious types (a k a Pharisees) see him and say, “What in the tarnation are you doin? “You ain't supposed to be walkin around with a pallet. It’s the Sabbath for cryin out loud.” Then the used to be paralyzed guy says, “The guy who healed me told me to pick up my pallet and walk. “ Then the Pharisees look at each other and say to the used to be paralyzed guy, “Who healed you?” Then the newly healed guy scratches his head and realizes that he doesn’t even know who healed him.
Meanwhile Jesus is in the temple talking to the folks and he notices the newly healed guy walks in. Then Jesus says to the guy, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you. So the used to be paralyzed guy says to himself, “How can I be sinnin I was lyin in my own poop for thirty eight years and now I can finally move around and the first thing I’m told is stop sinnin. Gimme a break.” Then Jesus says to the used to be paralyzed guy, “The sin I am referring to is the sin that exists in your heart.” Then the used to be paralyzed guy suddenly realized that Jesus was referring to envy, jealousy and coveting. The things the used to be paralyzed guy had in his heart everyday.
Then the used to be paralyzed guy went back to the Pharisees and told them it was Jesus. The Pharisees were steamed because Jesus was always breakin the Sabbath rules by healing people and feeding them and helping them out when he was supposed to be ignoring them like the other religious leaders were doin.
The main philosophical question here is why did Jesus heal this particular man. There were many invalids lying around the pool and some of them may have actually heard of Jesus. Yet Jesus heals a man that does not know him and worse one that does not thank him. This story reveals a very mysterious side to Jesus and causes us to see Him in a capricious light. The fact that Jesus selected a man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years shows Jesus as sympathetic yet selecting this particular man raises questions. This man expresses no gratitude for the work the Lord has done for him. After thirty-eight years in this condition one would expect the man to show deep gratitude, instead he merely walked away when Jesus healed him.
Surely there would have been others at the pool that would have been more appreciative. Who can reason with the mind of God? Who indeed.
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