New Thoughts (5/1/05-5/6/05)
The proverb that Jesus brings forth may not make a great deal of sense to us until we recognize that there was more of magic than of medicine to the physician in that day. With that in mind, it would be a wise patient who sought for the purported doctor to prove himself before he did any work. That was clearly the underlying thought behind the proverb, as we can see from Jesus’ exposition.
With the claim that prophecy had been fulfilled as He stood amongst them, He had declared Himself a mouthpiece of God, a prophet in His own right. It is quite apparent that His reputation had preceded Him. They had heard of His teaching and of His miracles already. Still, it was only hearsay until they heard and saw for themselves. They wanted more from Him than these simple words He had spoken. They wanted proofs of His prophetic office. More than that, they wanted to be entertained. Had they simply wanted proof of His claim I doubt there would have been any cause for offense in that. Indeed, though we are not to despise the prophet, we are also not expected to take every claimant to the office at his word. Every prophet of which we read in the Old Testament offered proof of his office before moving on to larger prophecies. After all, the price to be paid by the false prophet was high.
But there was more than a desire for proof underneath their reaction. There was that desire for novelty. They had been infected by the ways of those who ruled in this regard. In many ways they saw in Jesus nothing more than a source of amusement. That is where things moved from proper caution into offense. “Show us that Your words are true” is one thing. “Show us Your tricks” is quite another.
As always, it is important to take this situation we are witnessing and move it into our own present day. It is worthwhile to ask what it is we come to church looking for. Are we looking for truth, a word from God, or are we looking to be entertained for a while? Do we walk away if the music isn’t to our taste? Do we walk away if the sermon doesn’t please us? Watch the reaction of these people in Nazareth and see the church in America today. While the message was good and comfortable, everybody was ready to applaud. Yes, we’ll give the amen to that message! My! What a gifted speaker. But, let the message turn to our true condition, let it begin to touch on our weaknesses, on our sins, and how quickly the picture changes. No, he’s no longer gifted, he’s a lunatic. He’s no longer speaking for God, just venting his own spite. If it were socially acceptable, we’d be right there with the folks in Nazareth looking to throw such a one to his death, rather than suffer his accusations. We simply don’t want to see the truth about ourselves.
The way they watched Jesus as He took His seat shows that they were expectant. They were waiting to see what came next. The problem is that they were waiting for a show. They wanted to see Him in action, doing miracles, doing His magic. We must be careful of this, especially in the Charismatic church. Signs and wonders are never the point. Indeed, we are warned repeatedly that even the enemy of our souls will come with signs and wonders, and that in the very hope of deceiving God’s elect. He knows our tendencies. He’s had millennia to watch and learn what we are like.
We in America find it somehow amusing when we consider the story of how New York was purchased from the original inhabitants of the land. A few trinkets, shiny beads that caught the eye but had no real value, were taken in trade for land that would become one of the major ports of the emerging nation. We laugh at the simplicity of the natives who would sell their own land for such a small price, but we fail to see ourselves in that picture. When we settle for the signs and wonders, when we are taken in by the ‘spirit-filled’ antics, we are in danger of trading our house in the heavenly kingdom for a few moments’ entertainment. Like Esau, we are ready to throw away our inheritance for fleeting pleasures. God preserve us!
I see that same message in the episode Jesus brings up from Elisha’s life, among the many lessons that can be taken from that brief account. Naaman’s offense at Elisha came in part from the fact that he wanted to see Elisha perform his doings personally. Look at his reaction, “I thought he would come out, call on the LORD, and wave his hands about” (2Ki 5:11). Where was the show? Where was the star of that show? No, all he got was the announcer coming out with a message. He was disappointed.
He was disappointed in large part because he had already determined in his own mind what a work of God must look like. It must be impressive. It must be filled with mystical motions and spiritually charged speeches. He wanted a magic show, not a prophet. Take care lest your own expectations of what the prophetic is supposed to look like prevent you from seeing the prophetic fulfilled! Wow! If there is one message to take away from this whole thing, that has got to be it!
We live in a day that abounds in ‘the prophetic.’ It’s become so prevalent that people no longer feel a need to provide a noun for that adjectival phrase. It has become a noun in its own right, but that is in danger of making it a prophecy without a purpose. It is in danger of becoming nothing more to us than an incantation. What is the prophetic nature of these things that are labeled as ‘the prophetic’? If the label is at all accurate, it must be that these things, be they words or actions, be they spiritual or carnal in appearance, are making God’s purposes clear. That is the only thing that makes anything prophetic. Some will watch a particular movie and see nothing but an entertainment. Others will see that same movie and find in it a declaration of God’s glory. That declaration is likely as not there by ‘accident,’ not by any intention of the movie’s makers. The prophetic aspect of things is, as often as not, more to be found in the one who sees than in the one who declares. Caiaphas prophesied as he declared his thoughts about this Jesus. That was not his intent, yet the words he spoke bore God’s truth to those with ears to hear.
The point I see in all this is simply that the prophetic nature of things is quite often something completely other than what we think it to be. The message of God’s glory is as likely to be found in the mundane things of this world as in the sacred. It’s really a question of whether we’re paying attention or not. If we’re looking for the show, though, if we’re looking for the trappings of rite and incantation, the show is all we’ll get. We will utterly miss what God is doing, because we will have tuned Him out.
Of course, there are any number of other lessons to be drawn from the story of Naaman. See in it the dangers of pride. This was another reason for his offense. He was, after all, a powerful man, important enough that kings had arranged this meeting with Elisha. Yet, Elisha would not come out to him personally. Did he not realize that this could mean war? No, but Naaman did not realize that his authority, being delegated from above, was as nothing when it stood beside the God of all creation! Do you know, this is probably the greatest reason we get offended with God? We stand before Him in great need, desperate need, and yet, instead of falling before Him in supplication, we stand there insisting that He do as we ask. We as much as say to Him, “Don’t You know who I am? Don’t You realize how important I am?” The Lord in heaven laughs at such display!
Now, here is a hard word. Naaman didn’t like the instructions because they weren’t impressive. This was the word his servant bore to him. Had there been a call to great feats of courage and endurance, he would have been pleased to comply, but instead he was called to do something utterly foolish, meaningless in his own sight. How often do I reject God’s instructions on that very same basis? How many altar calls do I reject with the thought that He can reach me just as well right where I am? Are not the rivers here as good, nay, better, than that river I am told to dip into (2Ki 5:12)?
Lord, what is it in me that rejects all these instructions? I know the answer in part, or at least the answer I give myself, but is it Your answer or my own? Is it really a matter of rejecting the show for the reality, or is it simply insisting on my own way, on preserving my pride? One thing ought be clear: that You require obedience. You will not bless the rebel heart. God, if it has been mere pride and supposition that holds me, forgive me, and free me from that nonsense. Yet, I beg You for clear discernment of when it is Your leading, and when it is merely empty habit and custom. I do not wish to be drawn away from Your truth by show, but neither do I dare to miss Your presence by my skepticism. Oh! Don’t let me become too wise in my own eyes, Holy One!
One final lesson to take from that account is that God’s work is never to be done in hope of reward. If we enter into His service simply as a means of profit, we have utterly corrupted our best efforts before we even begin! God’s work is done for God’s reward, and for His gain. We labor in a field not our own. We invest with a capital not our own. Now, the worker is worthy of his wages, but those wages are given us by God, not by those we serve on His behalf. Elisha’s servant went one step lower. He would seek reward not for his own services, but for those of his master! He had done no more than deliver the message, yet he would go to Naaman and request the reward that Elisha had refused. Because he sought to reward himself, the very thing that had been taken off from Naaman was put on him, and he went on from that moment as leper.
In contrast, consider Elisha’s purpose in taking on this assignment. Indeed, Israel’s king was not willing to require this healing of Elisha. He understood that it was not his to command the man of God. Elisha himself accepted the task, sending word to the king that he would see to it. Why? Because it was important that Naaman understand that there is indeed a prophet in Israel (2Ki 5:8). Now, Elisha was not advertising for himself in that. The point was much greater. For, there could be no prophet, no mouthpiece of God, except there were a God to be the mouthpiece of. There can be no such thing as a godless prophet. The upshot of the whole record is that Naaman came to recognize that very thing: “that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel” (2Ki 5:15). Elisha’s purpose and his reward were one: to see God glorified. If we have any other purpose in our own ministry, then we minister not to God, but to some other deceptive spirit.
Elisha made it known that there was a prophet in Israel by cleaning the flesh of a man. Now there was once more a prophet in Israel, come in the same spirit in which Elisha came, bearing the mantle of Elijah. He had come to clean men up as well. He washed them in that same river that Naaman had bathed in, that they might seek the cleansing that the only God, the God of Israel, might cleanse them as well. The parallels are striking and intentional. The outward cleaning in both cases served as a precursor for the inward. The purpose was one: to make clear that God is. Jesus continued that same ministry, that same purpose: to make God known. Consider His response when John sent his disciples to question Jesus. He listed off the things that had been done, things unheard of yet known as indicative of Messiah. But, when He sought to top off the list, what was the thing that was foremost in His mind? “Tell him that the poor have heard the good news” (Mt 11:5). What, after all, was the good news except that there remained a God in Israel, and that He had provided a means of real, spiritual cleansing for His people!
What had been made available to a few through the hands of Elijah and Elisha was now available to all who would hear and come to Him. In fairness, the offer remained to but a few among the many who were in Israel, a remnant as always. Still, far more were invited to be clean in His sight than had ever been before, and far more would accept that invitation.
With that thought, let me turn to the things this Nazareth congregation heard. They received a message in two parts. The first, they only heard as they wanted to hear. Jesus, in reading the Scripture, declared several things. He declared that He was preaching good news to the poor. He declared that He was proclaiming liberty to the captives. He declared that He was restoring the blind to sight. He declared that He was freeing the downtrodden. Finally, He declared that He was announcing the year of the Lord’s favor. Now, it seems to me that the reaction of those who were listening says much about what they heard. For, when He declared that Scripture fulfilled in their presence in that moment, they were pleased to hear it.
At what, then, were they pleased? Certainly, they were happy to learn that God’s favor was upon them. Who will reject such a message? As well complain because spring has come! But, He said that the Scripture was fulfilled, completed, wholly accomplished in that moment. Thus, they must also constitute the poor who heard the gospel. Were they pleased to be pointed up as poor? Why some of them may have been reasonably well to do. Did they not have servants in their households? Did they not have houses and livestock and all manner of things proclaiming their success? How then could He call them poor?
They must also accept that they are the slaves He has given liberty. Oh! How that thought rankled the Jew! Consider how they would react in later days. “We have never been slaves” (Jn 8:33)! They had heard the gospel, but they hadn’t understood how good the news was, because they did not count themselves enslaved. They didn’t yet understand sin well enough to know what it had done to them. It was to this end that they were also being declared blind by this message. They could not even see the bonds that sin had put upon them, could not see what the real problem was. Oh, they could see the Romans well enough, could understand the indignity of being ruled by this Arab wastrel. The truth, however, was that the Roman occupation was largely a distraction from their real problems, the problems of irreligion and sin in their own lives. They were perfectly happy to look upon the Romans and recount their sinful ways, but they were blind when their eyes fell on themselves. Jesus’ ministry would force those eyes to see the real situation, but that would not necessarily be a happy moment for the one who saw. Many would show a marked preference for their blinders.
The last part of this that they must accept as applying to themselves was the position of being downtrodden. This was perhaps the easiest of these declarations to take, for they could see the Roman oppressors around them. Yes, and He was saying they were being freed from that oppression! Surely that was what He meant, wasn’t that what God’s favor was about? Making Israel a great nation again? Again, their reaction to His declaration of fulfillment seems to indicate that that last category eclipsed all others in their thinking. He was, so far as they were concerned, saying that the promised Messiah had come as a great military leader to kick the Romans out of Israel and restore the monarchy. Israel was about to reenter its glory, and all were exceedingly happy to hear of that!
Their own preconceptions served to block their ears to the rest of the message, so Jesus must make it a bit more plain to them. Thus, with a few brief comments, He would point out their blindness, their captivity to sin, the poorness of their spiritual state. The joy at hearing of God’s favor was about to turn to anger. Even this pair of examples that Jesus placed before them could only force them to hear, not to understand properly. God would pour His favors out on whom He willed. He was not contained in Israel alone. He was God of the whole earth. Furthermore, the examples Jesus uses have that undertone of Israel being found wanting. Why had God sent His laborers outside the borders? It was not for lack of need within. What made the difference? It wasn’t faith. Naaman had no faith in this God. He had to be cajoled into doing what was asked of him. The widow had no particular faith in God. She was as ready to blame Him for her son’s death as bless Him for the oil poured out. Faith was not the issue here. Obedience was the issue. However weak their faith may have been, they did what God commanded, and in that was their blessing found.
Jesus, in His message, delivered both good news and bad news. The Gospel was preached – God was willing to forgive the sins of His people if they would but ask in repentance. He declared that this was the year of God’s favor. He had not forgotten His people. At the same time, He spoke of the price that would be paid by those who failed to repent. God had put forth an incredible offer, but it was a limited time offer. If His own would not accept it, He would give it to those would. It was not enough to be born into the land of Israel, into the tribe of Israel. That was not assurance of God’s blessing. He would bless those who put their trust in Him, those who obeyed His command.
In this message, Israel ought to have heard cause for repentance. Having been reminded of the stories of the widow and of Naaman, they ought to have cried out for forgiveness, that they had so neglected the counsel of their God. There ought to have been tears and weeping at the enormity of their loss. Instead, there was only anger and indignation. The word was no longer pleasant to them, so they were ready to lash out at Him who bore the word to them.
How are we when we hear the hard parts of what God has to say? How are we when He insists on pointing out to us what we are really like? These are not things we like to hear. They were no more pleasant for the ears of those in Ninevah when Jonah came. Oh! But, how different was the reaction in that city! There, a stranger, and one none too wholesome to look upon at that, came with a message of repentance, a warning of the consequences, and the whole city was shaken. To a man, they cried out in earnest repentance and the forgiveness of the Lord was theirs. Here in Nazareth, though, spiritual pride prevented such an appropriate response. We are His people. What need have we for repentance? He will never abandon us.
Here in the Christian church, God cries out “Repent!” What is the reaction? Some are immediate in their response. Some have never gotten over how utterly unworthy they are to be standing in His house. Repentance comes naturally to such as these. They can hardly help but repent. Others are reminded by the call that as far as they have come, there remains a long road ahead. These will come and fall before Him at the call, trusting Him utterly to complete what He has begun.
Then there are those who will come, like the Pharisees to John’s baptism, to be seen bowing down. But, they are not concerned with being seen by God. Religious pride has been combined with the deceit of the heart, and they wish to put on a show of repentance, a repentance they don’t truly feel necessary. These leaves those who remain standing, stiff and proud, in the pews. They have heard the call to repent, but have been blinded to their need. They have been shown their sins, but are deaf to the command of Him who could wash them clean. Oh, they may spend long hours in His house. They may labor hard in His fields. Yet, they remain far from Him, deaf to His commands, blind to His loving desire to raise them up above where they are. They have become so pleased by their own efforts out tilling the ground that the dirt that clings to them in all their works has become to them a badge of pride, rather than something to be washed away. They have put their confidence in their own labors, rather than in the One who can truly transform them, who can truly bring them peace with God.
They will continue to work, and they will work hard, but it will be because of guilt. Their work is no labor of love, it is a vain hope that they might yet be shown good enough. The problem is the same with us as it was with those listening to Jesus that day. Many among us have come to that place where we only hear the message of comfort and joy. We either ignore or reject outright the message that involves rebuke. If the word is harsh it is clearly not meant for us but rather for somebody else in the congregation.
The truth of the matter is that those things that sound like bad news to our ears of flesh are indeed good news for the spirit. However much our spirit may be renewed, the word still comes to us through ears of flesh. Thus, the word is in danger of bad reception in those times that our spirit is not in control. The ears, hearing that there is need to kill off fleshly desires, hears only the threat to itself and its kind. That death means no more gossip to listen to, no more juicy tales to entertain the hearing. The flesh cannot hear of its own demise and be pleased. Yet, it is precisely that death of the flesh that is great good news to the spirit. It is not that physical reality is bad and spiritual reality is good. Not at all. It is simply that the desires and amusements of the flesh, apart from the renewing and guidance of the spirit, are corrupt and corrupting entertainments.
When I say that the good news of the spirit is bad news for the flesh, I say nothing different than to have said that salvation and repentance must go hand in hand. It is the same fundamental truth. The whole opening message of the Gospel consists of that truth: Repent that you may be forgiven. Repent of your wicked ways that you may be saved. We’re willing enough to have salvation, but are we willing to accept the necessary price of salvation? Are we willing to repent of our sins, to truly turn away from them and set our face towards heaven? I am reminded in this moment of that classic blues song, “Everybody wants to go to heaven, nobody wants to die.” That’s the battle of spirit and flesh in a nutshell. But it’s an incredibly dangerous place to be. For, if we give in to the thing we don’t want to do, we will find that we have rejected the thing we wanted.
This was the core of Jesus’ message to His townsmen. What was the point He was making in bringing up the case of the Sidonian widow and the Aramian leper? Was He really saying that Israel was abandoned? Of course not! How could He be saying that in light of what He had just finished saying? If this is the year of the Lord’s favor, how can it also be the time of Israel’s outright rejection? No, the point He was making was that there was a price to be paid for God’s favor. That price had nothing to do with the temple tax, nothing to do even with tithes and offerings. It was not a price that could be paid from out of our worldly goods. It was a spiritual price to be paid for spiritual favor. The price was repentance. Repent that you might be forgiven. Repent that God’s favor may be upon you. But the flesh would not hear of it.
In more recent centuries, the debate has raged as to whether there is a limited atonement applying only to those whom God has chosen, or whether that atonement is applied to all. That debate is an attempt to explain how it is that an all powerful God whose desire is to see all men saved can fail of that goal. One camp will explain that it is as Paul has said: some vessels are made for honor, others for shame. The vessel, having been fashioned for its purpose, is unable to serve any other purpose. The chosen are fashioned for salvation, and could no more avoid it than the sun could avoid rising. The other camp puts the whole matter in the hands of man. God has made His position clear. He has put His offer on the table. In their view, everything depends on us to accept or reject that offer He has made.
I’m not here to resolve that debate. Indeed, I rather doubt we will ever see it resolved. I have this suspicion that we will find, when we stand before Him, that both views had it partly right and partly wrong. What I think we can say with certainty is this: If so few find forgiveness in Messiah, it is because they refuse to ask forgiveness in Messiah, not because He is unwilling to forgive. This is what was seen in Nazareth that day. The offer was out there. God’s favor is being poured out. Repent and receive. But they would have none of that. They would require God to bless them simply for being born to the line of Abraham. They would tell God what He must do, but they were not about to have God telling them what they must do. Israel was rejected for one simple reason: They would not accept the terms of God’s offer.
It is the same offer that comes down to us today. His offer has never changed, nor has it been withdrawn. Forgiveness remains possible. Salvation: all our fines paid, all our bonds broken off, all our dulled senses restored to fullness, is still ours if we will but repent and return to our creator. If we find repentance too high a price, then salvation and forgiveness will remain but a vain hope for us, never a reality.
