"Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word. Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, you ministers of His who do His pleasure. Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!" Psalm 103:20-22
The angelic realm is poorly understood because, for the most part, it is hidden from our direct gaze and we can only catch glimpses of it when God allows. Because of this our imaginations are free to work on very limited information and we are content to conjure up all sorts of pictures of these spiritual beings that are not in keeping with the revelation of scripture. One only needs to look at what the new age society has turned angels into to recognize where this practice leads. Our short excerpt from Psalm 103 actually provides us a summary of all that we need to know. There are six things. First, angels were created by God to give him pure worship. The Seraphim seen by Isaiah around the throne of the Lord in Isaiah 6:1-3 exist only to pronounce His holiness and glory. We see that same image described by John in Revelation 4:6-11 in which he describes these creatures as giving glory, honor and thanksgiving to Him who sits on the throne. Second, the angels belong to God, they are His creation and although they are powerful beings in their own right, they do not exist apart from God and His purposes. That is why their appearance in the Old Testament is often called the coming of "the Angel of the Lord." Because they belong totally to God and His work, they are often referred to as "the holy angels" (Matthew 25:31), they have a share in His holiness and reflect His glory. Third, they are powerful. Paul describes them in II Thessalonians 1:7 as "mighty angels" and Peter refers to them in II Peter 2:11 as being "greater in power and might" as compared to the men of the earth. They are pure spirit, not confined to the material realm as we are, but able to travel the length and breadth of God's universe. Fourth, they do His word, heeding all that properly belongs to it. That is precisely what separates the holy angels from the fallen angels, obedience to the word of God. Some commentators believe that after God created the angels, they assisted Him in the rest of creation and were assigned oversight over portions of His creation. That is why when Job describes the creation of the world by the hand of God in Job 38 he says that the "morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy (see also Job 1:6). Fifth, they are His ministers, bringing to pass His pleasure, His will and counsel. We know that in addition to overseeing the creation of God, the holy angels have been assigned a special place as ministers to the heirs of salvation, God's elect people. Hebrews 1:14 calls them "ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who will inherit salvation." and Psalm 104:4 refers to them as "spirits, His ministers a flame of fire." We know that they take a particular delight in seeing the grace of God work in the human soul for salvation, for we read of their rejoicing over such a soul in the parable of Jesus in Luke 15:10. Lastly, they extend the dominion of the Lord, the very real presence of His power and majesty, throughout the universe. It is from this last task that many have said that God rules over creation through His angels. They are called His angels (messengers), His hosts (army), His works (the stewards of His dominion). His glory is their joy, to accomplish His will is their delight.
On this day the Church remembers all of the holy angels who minister to the heirs of salvation, and in particular Michael the archangel who is the patron and protector of the people of God. His name means "who is like God" and from this we can draw the conclusion of how accurately and clearly this servant of God must mirror the glory and majesty of His Lord. He is mentioned by name only four times in scripture. In Daniel 10:13 he is referred to as one of the chief princes and in verse 21 as the upholder or support of the other angels in their work upon earth. In Daniel 12:1-3 he is said to be the "great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people." In Jude 9-10 he is said to have contended over the body of Moses with Satan (apocryphal writings declared this was necessary since Satan intended to make the remains of Moses an object of reverence to the people of God thereby distracting them from the true service of God). Finally, he is portrayed in Revelation 12:7-12 as being the champion of God, leading the holy angels in open warfare against Satan and his host of rebellious angels to cast them down from heaven. From these scriptures and others, the Church has ascribed four offices to Michael the archangel and those angels who serve under his command. First, they are the host of God which fight against Satan. They cast Satan down from the presence of God at the first struggle, and they continue to stand against his evil upon the earth until the triumph on the final day of judgement (Revelation 20:7-10). Second, they rescue the souls of the faithful from the power of the evil ones. The Church has believed from the earliest times that God appoints these angels as guardians over his elect. The teaching of Jesus in Matthew 18:10-11 seems to hint at this. Thirdly, Michael is the champion of God's people. As he was the protector of Israel as described in Daniel, so now Michael and his angels are the champions (they actively take up the cause) of His elect wherever they may be upon the earth. Psalm 34:7 declares that the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear the name of the Lord, and we can see this more vividly portrayed in the account found in II Kings 6:15-17. Finally, they are the instrument which God has chosen to bring the souls of men to judgement. They gather the elect of God (Mark 13:26-27) so that not one soul is lost (see the promise in Matthew 3:12) and they gather up those things which are offensive to God unto judgement (Matthew 13:37-43).
There are many, many more things written in both the Old and New Testament about angels, the messengers and ministers of God. But let us close with only this one last thing. For all that they are in the sight of God, glorious in His power and holiness, they are a part of the communion of saints which will some day share eternity with us in the presence of God. They are, therefore, not to be reverenced beyond what their official capacity in God's service requires. Paul describes the worship of angels as an entanglement which can defraud us of our true reward in God's kingdom (Colossians 2:18) and the angel who spoke to John at the giving of the book of Revelation was clear to state (as John fell at his feet to worship him) "See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!" Fellow servants who have the testimony of Jesus, a fitting description for the God-ordained relationship between angels and the Church of God. They should ever give us example of what that means. To return to our opening psalm excerpt, we find in the example of the holy angels an exhortation to truly worship God proclaiming his glory, honor and worthiness; to do His word, giving it careful heed and striving to understand it and bring it to pass in all its fullness; to ever be His ministers of salvation, delighting to do His will in every part of our own life; and to walk in faithfulness extending His dominion to the ends of our earth and to the depths of the hearts of men. Such is the true testimony of Jesus Christ in the hearts and lives of His servants.
Monday, November 8, 2010
St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Remembrance Day September 21)
"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means `I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Matthew 9:12-13
We often upbraid the world for neglecting the gracious gift of God's Son. The world's systems are devoid of real life, morally bankrupt, and yet the charade of life goes on as if everything were under control. James puts it rather succinctly in James 4:2 "You do not have because you do not ask." When we do detect any turning of those in the world to Jesus Christ, we are quick to applaud it. Yet James cautions us further in verse 3. "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." There are times when it suits the unregenerate of the world to court the favor of Jesus Christ, to quote from the Word of God, to put on the outer trappings of acceptable religion. It may be political expediency, it may be inner turmoil, it may be acute practical need that forces them to do so. In such cases we must not be too quick to declare a conversion, because the coming to Jesus Christ must, at first, be for one purpose only, to have one's sins forgiven. As the Apostle John declared at the manifestation of Jesus Christ, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29). Or as Paul wrote concerning the gospel in I Corinthians 15:3 "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures..." Jesus Christ can be many things - healer, friend, comforter, confidant - but first He must be Savior. And it is the man who is willing to bow his head and mourn for his own sinfulness, whose only prayer is "God be merciful to me a sinner" who will possess the kingdom of God. Such a man was Matthew, the tax collector.
The New Testament only mentions Matthew seven times with four of the references being to list him with the chosen apostles. This much we can glean. He names himself Matthew, the "gift of Yahweh" in the gospel which bears his name. The gospels of Mark and Luke refer to him as Levi, the name of one of the twelve sons of Jacob. Mark identifies him as the son of Alphaeus. His calling is recorded for us in Matthew 9:9, Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27. Matthew records that Jesus crossed over [the lake] and came to His own city (Matthew 9:1) which Mark identifies as Capernaum (Mark 2:1). It was in Capernaum of Galilee that Matthew collected taxes for the Romans under Herod Antipas' rule. He was therefore by residence a Galilean, although the historian Eusebius, declares that he was Syrian by birth. And it is here in Capernaum that the gospels record that Jesus went out, took notice of one sitting at the receipt of custom, and said "Follow Me." The record is consistent. Matthew stood and followed at the Lord's command, Luke adding that he left everything behind. The gospel accounts then state that Matthew gave a great feast (Luke calling it a reception) at which Jesus and His disciples were honored guests. Matthew is honest in his account, recording that the feast was filled with other tax-gatherers and sinners. He does not exempt himself from these categories. It is an honest evaluation from an open heart.
And at this feast, the Lord is first challenged by the Pharisees for eating with sinners, to which He replies that it is the sick, not the righteous who need healing. He is then challenged by the disciples of John who ask why both they and the Pharisees fast while the Lord's disciples do not. To this He answered that the marriage attendants cannot mourn and fast while the bridegroom is among them. How much in conflict was the message of Jesus Christ to the status quo of religion and self discipline. Their conceptions of the Messiah-Savior were so shallow that Jesus likened it to trying to put new wine into old wine skins. The old wine skins of Phariseeism could not contain the fullness of the Kingdom which He was proclaiming. He stood ready to give not only the new wine of the kingdom, but also a new vessel to contain it. All this Matthew took in and by the end of the feast we must judge that his heart was that new vessel.
Matthew has been called the evangelist to the Hebrews. When he looked upon Jesus Christ he saw the true Messiah, the one in Whom all the promises of God were both revealed and fulfilled. For him the question asked later by John the Baptist "Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?" was never an issue. His entire gospel reflects his conviction from its first sentence which proclaims it as the "book of the generations of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." Matthew exalted Jesus Christ from the very beginning as the holy seed promised to Abraham in which all the nations of the earth would be blessed, and also as the one who would sit upon the throne of his father David, whose kingdom would have no end. This was the Lord who made covenant. Matthew undergirded this theme by making generous use of the Old Testament, and he was especially fond of quoting the prophets making it clear that what was spoken by them was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. His gospel was the first written, probably about 40 to 50 A.D. The Church Fathers of the first three centuries claim that the gospel was written in Hebrew specifically for the Jewish nation, and Pantaneus in 180 AD claims to have seen a copy of this Hebrew gospel in southern Arabia, borne there by Bartholomew in his missionary journeys. Regardless of which language it was first written in, Matthew's only purpose was to "preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children..." (Acts 13:32).
Why does the good news not grab at the hearts of our generation? Perhaps it is because this generation has lost the dread of sin and its effects. Perhaps we are so sin-deadened that we have grown somewhat tolerant of our condition. How can there be any good news after all, if there is not first a recognition of bad news? I think it is interesting that in all of the lists of the apostles (there are four, Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13), Matthew alone chooses to list himself as "Matthew, the tax-gatherer". This was not a title to be proud of. Matthew recorded the Lord's rebuke for the unrepentant brother in Matthew 18:17 "Let him be to you as a heathen and a tax-gatherer." He understood the title to be a curse upon his soul. But to Matthew this was only one more testimony of how mighty the grace of God was, in that it could restore even such a one as he to righteousness. Perhaps it is Matthew's life we find mirrored for us in a story, more than a parable, which the Lord told and which is recorded in Luke 18:10. We are left to ask how powerful is the grace of God in cleansing sin? How far down is it able to reach to restore a human soul? Consider the transformation. "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." In that moment a publican and notorious sinner was made an apostle and evangelist. May Matthew's life be ever an example for us that it is only the sinner, not the self righteous which can be healed, and it is to such that the promise of the Kingdom is ever given.
We often upbraid the world for neglecting the gracious gift of God's Son. The world's systems are devoid of real life, morally bankrupt, and yet the charade of life goes on as if everything were under control. James puts it rather succinctly in James 4:2 "You do not have because you do not ask." When we do detect any turning of those in the world to Jesus Christ, we are quick to applaud it. Yet James cautions us further in verse 3. "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." There are times when it suits the unregenerate of the world to court the favor of Jesus Christ, to quote from the Word of God, to put on the outer trappings of acceptable religion. It may be political expediency, it may be inner turmoil, it may be acute practical need that forces them to do so. In such cases we must not be too quick to declare a conversion, because the coming to Jesus Christ must, at first, be for one purpose only, to have one's sins forgiven. As the Apostle John declared at the manifestation of Jesus Christ, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29). Or as Paul wrote concerning the gospel in I Corinthians 15:3 "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures..." Jesus Christ can be many things - healer, friend, comforter, confidant - but first He must be Savior. And it is the man who is willing to bow his head and mourn for his own sinfulness, whose only prayer is "God be merciful to me a sinner" who will possess the kingdom of God. Such a man was Matthew, the tax collector.
The New Testament only mentions Matthew seven times with four of the references being to list him with the chosen apostles. This much we can glean. He names himself Matthew, the "gift of Yahweh" in the gospel which bears his name. The gospels of Mark and Luke refer to him as Levi, the name of one of the twelve sons of Jacob. Mark identifies him as the son of Alphaeus. His calling is recorded for us in Matthew 9:9, Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27. Matthew records that Jesus crossed over [the lake] and came to His own city (Matthew 9:1) which Mark identifies as Capernaum (Mark 2:1). It was in Capernaum of Galilee that Matthew collected taxes for the Romans under Herod Antipas' rule. He was therefore by residence a Galilean, although the historian Eusebius, declares that he was Syrian by birth. And it is here in Capernaum that the gospels record that Jesus went out, took notice of one sitting at the receipt of custom, and said "Follow Me." The record is consistent. Matthew stood and followed at the Lord's command, Luke adding that he left everything behind. The gospel accounts then state that Matthew gave a great feast (Luke calling it a reception) at which Jesus and His disciples were honored guests. Matthew is honest in his account, recording that the feast was filled with other tax-gatherers and sinners. He does not exempt himself from these categories. It is an honest evaluation from an open heart.
And at this feast, the Lord is first challenged by the Pharisees for eating with sinners, to which He replies that it is the sick, not the righteous who need healing. He is then challenged by the disciples of John who ask why both they and the Pharisees fast while the Lord's disciples do not. To this He answered that the marriage attendants cannot mourn and fast while the bridegroom is among them. How much in conflict was the message of Jesus Christ to the status quo of religion and self discipline. Their conceptions of the Messiah-Savior were so shallow that Jesus likened it to trying to put new wine into old wine skins. The old wine skins of Phariseeism could not contain the fullness of the Kingdom which He was proclaiming. He stood ready to give not only the new wine of the kingdom, but also a new vessel to contain it. All this Matthew took in and by the end of the feast we must judge that his heart was that new vessel.
Matthew has been called the evangelist to the Hebrews. When he looked upon Jesus Christ he saw the true Messiah, the one in Whom all the promises of God were both revealed and fulfilled. For him the question asked later by John the Baptist "Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?" was never an issue. His entire gospel reflects his conviction from its first sentence which proclaims it as the "book of the generations of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." Matthew exalted Jesus Christ from the very beginning as the holy seed promised to Abraham in which all the nations of the earth would be blessed, and also as the one who would sit upon the throne of his father David, whose kingdom would have no end. This was the Lord who made covenant. Matthew undergirded this theme by making generous use of the Old Testament, and he was especially fond of quoting the prophets making it clear that what was spoken by them was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. His gospel was the first written, probably about 40 to 50 A.D. The Church Fathers of the first three centuries claim that the gospel was written in Hebrew specifically for the Jewish nation, and Pantaneus in 180 AD claims to have seen a copy of this Hebrew gospel in southern Arabia, borne there by Bartholomew in his missionary journeys. Regardless of which language it was first written in, Matthew's only purpose was to "preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children..." (Acts 13:32).
Why does the good news not grab at the hearts of our generation? Perhaps it is because this generation has lost the dread of sin and its effects. Perhaps we are so sin-deadened that we have grown somewhat tolerant of our condition. How can there be any good news after all, if there is not first a recognition of bad news? I think it is interesting that in all of the lists of the apostles (there are four, Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13), Matthew alone chooses to list himself as "Matthew, the tax-gatherer". This was not a title to be proud of. Matthew recorded the Lord's rebuke for the unrepentant brother in Matthew 18:17 "Let him be to you as a heathen and a tax-gatherer." He understood the title to be a curse upon his soul. But to Matthew this was only one more testimony of how mighty the grace of God was, in that it could restore even such a one as he to righteousness. Perhaps it is Matthew's life we find mirrored for us in a story, more than a parable, which the Lord told and which is recorded in Luke 18:10. We are left to ask how powerful is the grace of God in cleansing sin? How far down is it able to reach to restore a human soul? Consider the transformation. "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." In that moment a publican and notorious sinner was made an apostle and evangelist. May Matthew's life be ever an example for us that it is only the sinner, not the self righteous which can be healed, and it is to such that the promise of the Kingdom is ever given.
Monday, September 20, 2010
The Willingness of Jesus
Kathy and I are in transition regarding our participation in an established Christian fellowship and so, as is our current custom, we seek out churches to visit and worship with on occassion. This past Sunday we attended the First Baptist Church of Lebanon, NH where the pastor chose to speak on Jesus' encounter with a leper in Mark 1:40-45. I found one verse transition especially vivid, moving from verse 40 to 41. The leper falls on his knees before Jesus and says"If you are willing, you can make me clean." The next verse is instructive, most bibles translate it as "moved with compassion", Jesus reached out, touched him, and said "I am willing, be cleansed." The pew bible was Today's New International Version which interestly enough chose a variant translation used in only a few translations. It basically said that Jesus was indignant, which to me implies miffed, mildly angry, upset, irritated. Now this is not intended to be a bible exegesis post, it is simply to point out how nuances of meaning can be aduced from variant readings. The leper says, "If you are willing....", and the fact that Jesus may have been upset by this statement that implies that maybe Jesus would rather have the leper remain blemished and diseased, speaks to me that willingness is one of his prevalent attiributes, with availability being closely aligned. Perhaps the combination of those two attributes forms a working definition for true compassion, the preferred translation.
One more point. Let's not confuse will with willingness. While we might pray "if it be Your will" where we are uncertain of the outcome or direction, let us never doubt that Jesus is willing to make us clean whenever we seek him out and ask. His answer is to the point, "I am willing, be cleansed."
One more point. Let's not confuse will with willingness. While we might pray "if it be Your will" where we are uncertain of the outcome or direction, let us never doubt that Jesus is willing to make us clean whenever we seek him out and ask. His answer is to the point, "I am willing, be cleansed."
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ (Celebration Day August 6)
"...He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11
Often times our Christianity becomes so familiar to us that we begin to sin presumptuously in the sight of God. We presume, for instance, to proclaim what His will is without seeking it fervently with prayer and fasting. We presume upon His grace to forgive our sins even as we have allowed ourselves to grow feeble or apathetic in our struggle against unrighteousness. We presume to constrain Him to bless or to heal us by quoting the word of God to the One Who was God the Word incarnate. In countless ways we have become all too familiar with the God that we serve and it is then that the prophet fittingly rebukes us and reminds us of our place. "With whom did He take counsel and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge and showed Him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket and are counted as the small dust on the balance.....Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers....." Isaiah 40:12-24. Or in the words of Solomon which begin our meditation, God restores His people by putting again a measure of eternity in our hearts. For just such a reason was the Lord Jesus Christ transfigured before His closest disciples.
Consider the setting for this miraculous event. It records in Matthew 17:1 "Now after six days...." and we must ask ourselves, six days after what? There are many candidates in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew for the starting point that we seek, but one which stands out is Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ. It was undoubtedly the high point of the disciples' growth in faith, but the scripture well exhorts us "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." ( I Corinthians 10:12) For shortly after this mighty confession, the Lord rebukes Peter for taking a heavenly vision and turning it so easily into an earthly viewpoint. "You are an offense to Me for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." (Matthew 16:23) And it is just here that He once more sets eternity in their hearts as He proclaims "Assuredly I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." Now this prophetic word has been applied to many events, but certainly there is no conflict in ascribing it in the most present sense to the Transfiguration which took place almost immediately afterwards.
The actual events of the Transfiguration are recorded for us in the synoptic gospels (Matthew 17:1-8a, Mark 9:2-10 and Luke 9:28-36). It would do us good to read all three accounts to get a fuller picture of what occurred that day. Matthew tells us that Jesus took Peter, James and John up on a high mountain by themselves. The early Church Fathers believed that this was Mount Tabor, other commentators have identified it as Mount Hermon. Regardless of the location, Luke adds the note that Jesus chose this location in order to pray. To pray about what? Certainly about the future, for only a week before this Jesus "began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer...and be killed and be raised again the third day." And as He prayed He was transfigured before them, His clothes becoming white as light, His countenance changing with glory shining out as the sun. This word transfigure is the Greek word "metamorphuo" from which we easily recognize our English word metamorphosis. It was a change not just in appearance, but in type and substance. One moment the Son of Man stood before them praying, the next the Son of God was clearly revealed. And as He stood there resplendent in glory, Moses and Elijah, representing the law and the prophets, or to use Jesus' words the truth and the spirit, conversed with Him. Luke tells us that they spoke of His "decease", His death, resurrection and ascension which was to take place in Jerusalem. The Apostle Peter responded to the vision before Him, and each of the three gospel writers records a different title which formed upon his lips as he beheld His glory...."Lord....Rabbi....Master...it is good for us to be here". Jesus was all those titles in that moment and more beside. Peter's is a classic understatement, perhaps because, as Mark records, they were greatly afraid; or as Luke concludes simply, because he did not know (to which we add, could not know) what he was saying. Upon them, then, came the cloud of Yahweh's presence, even as it had descended upon Sinai at the giving of the law. And as Moses and Elijah parted from Jesus Christ, from that cloud came the declaration of eternity that pierced their hearts, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear Him." We can gain an appreciation for the significance of this proclamation in light of what we read in Hebrews 1:1-3 "God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past ....by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son."
And as suddenly as it began, so it ended, and they were alone with Jesus and He was speaking words of comfort to their fearful hearts. As they came down from the mountain, the Lord commanded them to tell the vision to no man until He had risen from the dead, thus securing the work of salvation for all time. And when they finally had leave to speak, what was it that they said? In John 1:14, John declares "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Or in I John 1:2 "...the life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us...." Peter is even more straightforward in II Peter 1:16-19 "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [in the glory of His kingdom], but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain..."
God puts eternity in the hearts of His people that they might have, as Peter says, the prophetic word made more sure. It is a light that truly shines in a dark place until, as Paul says, "the veil is taken away...[and] we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed [transfigured] into the same image from glory to glory..." (II Corinthians 3:17-18). Such a dramatic change in our character comes to pass as "the day dawns and the morning star [Jesus Christ] rises in our hearts.”
Often times our Christianity becomes so familiar to us that we begin to sin presumptuously in the sight of God. We presume, for instance, to proclaim what His will is without seeking it fervently with prayer and fasting. We presume upon His grace to forgive our sins even as we have allowed ourselves to grow feeble or apathetic in our struggle against unrighteousness. We presume to constrain Him to bless or to heal us by quoting the word of God to the One Who was God the Word incarnate. In countless ways we have become all too familiar with the God that we serve and it is then that the prophet fittingly rebukes us and reminds us of our place. "With whom did He take counsel and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge and showed Him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket and are counted as the small dust on the balance.....Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers....." Isaiah 40:12-24. Or in the words of Solomon which begin our meditation, God restores His people by putting again a measure of eternity in our hearts. For just such a reason was the Lord Jesus Christ transfigured before His closest disciples.
Consider the setting for this miraculous event. It records in Matthew 17:1 "Now after six days...." and we must ask ourselves, six days after what? There are many candidates in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew for the starting point that we seek, but one which stands out is Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ. It was undoubtedly the high point of the disciples' growth in faith, but the scripture well exhorts us "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." ( I Corinthians 10:12) For shortly after this mighty confession, the Lord rebukes Peter for taking a heavenly vision and turning it so easily into an earthly viewpoint. "You are an offense to Me for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." (Matthew 16:23) And it is just here that He once more sets eternity in their hearts as He proclaims "Assuredly I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." Now this prophetic word has been applied to many events, but certainly there is no conflict in ascribing it in the most present sense to the Transfiguration which took place almost immediately afterwards.
The actual events of the Transfiguration are recorded for us in the synoptic gospels (Matthew 17:1-8a, Mark 9:2-10 and Luke 9:28-36). It would do us good to read all three accounts to get a fuller picture of what occurred that day. Matthew tells us that Jesus took Peter, James and John up on a high mountain by themselves. The early Church Fathers believed that this was Mount Tabor, other commentators have identified it as Mount Hermon. Regardless of the location, Luke adds the note that Jesus chose this location in order to pray. To pray about what? Certainly about the future, for only a week before this Jesus "began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer...and be killed and be raised again the third day." And as He prayed He was transfigured before them, His clothes becoming white as light, His countenance changing with glory shining out as the sun. This word transfigure is the Greek word "metamorphuo" from which we easily recognize our English word metamorphosis. It was a change not just in appearance, but in type and substance. One moment the Son of Man stood before them praying, the next the Son of God was clearly revealed. And as He stood there resplendent in glory, Moses and Elijah, representing the law and the prophets, or to use Jesus' words the truth and the spirit, conversed with Him. Luke tells us that they spoke of His "decease", His death, resurrection and ascension which was to take place in Jerusalem. The Apostle Peter responded to the vision before Him, and each of the three gospel writers records a different title which formed upon his lips as he beheld His glory...."Lord....Rabbi....Master...it is good for us to be here". Jesus was all those titles in that moment and more beside. Peter's is a classic understatement, perhaps because, as Mark records, they were greatly afraid; or as Luke concludes simply, because he did not know (to which we add, could not know) what he was saying. Upon them, then, came the cloud of Yahweh's presence, even as it had descended upon Sinai at the giving of the law. And as Moses and Elijah parted from Jesus Christ, from that cloud came the declaration of eternity that pierced their hearts, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear Him." We can gain an appreciation for the significance of this proclamation in light of what we read in Hebrews 1:1-3 "God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past ....by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son."
And as suddenly as it began, so it ended, and they were alone with Jesus and He was speaking words of comfort to their fearful hearts. As they came down from the mountain, the Lord commanded them to tell the vision to no man until He had risen from the dead, thus securing the work of salvation for all time. And when they finally had leave to speak, what was it that they said? In John 1:14, John declares "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Or in I John 1:2 "...the life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us...." Peter is even more straightforward in II Peter 1:16-19 "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [in the glory of His kingdom], but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain..."
God puts eternity in the hearts of His people that they might have, as Peter says, the prophetic word made more sure. It is a light that truly shines in a dark place until, as Paul says, "the veil is taken away...[and] we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed [transfigured] into the same image from glory to glory..." (II Corinthians 3:17-18). Such a dramatic change in our character comes to pass as "the day dawns and the morning star [Jesus Christ] rises in our hearts.”
St. Bartholomew, Apostle (Remembrance Day August 24)
"And at the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico...and all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number....." Acts 5:12-14
Christianity is a religion of power. If it were not so, then it could in no way contend with sin, Satan and death for dominion over the human soul. Truly the weapons of Christ's warfare are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses, as Paul says in II Corinthians 10:3-5. So true is this that Jesus proclaimed that the Church had been founded upon the rock, and the gates of hell would not prevail against her. But power of this sort can deceive the unregenerate heart. Thus we read of Simon Magus (known to the common people as the Great Power of God) , a practitioner of earth magic, who, when confronted with the true power of God the Holy Spirit, thought that such power was available for purchase and was pronounced by Peter to be "in the bondage of iniquity." (Acts 8:9-24) Even to the regenerate heart, such power is a temptation. For power focuses attention, and attention sows the seed of pride, and pride brings forth ambition, and ambition seeks to turn the things of God into that which can be bartered (we get the word "simony", the buying or selling of sacred things from Simon Magus). We can see such abuses in the circus atmosphere which sometimes surrounds charismatic-type gatherings. You almost feel as if you were watching a performer rather than a minister of Jesus Christ. And the popularity of so many television ministers that seem more intent on building up an earthly empire rather than the kingdom of God seems a perversion of the gospel. But the ministry of divine power does not always have to focus upon the one presuming to hold it. If a soul is transparent enough it is incapable of taking to itself any honor or benefit, and the divine power associated with the preaching of the gospel becomes only the glory of God shining forth unto salvation. We see that trait of transparency recorded of the apostles in our opening scripture. And in that circle of apostles was one man surnamed Bartholomew.
So transparent was this apostle that we can scarcely find anything recorded of his life in either the New Testament or Church tradition. We know simply that he is named in the lists of those called apostles by Jesus Christ in Matthew 10:1-5, Mark 3:16-19 and Luke 6:12-16 as Bartholomew, a surname which is literally Bar Tolmai, or son of Tolmai. His proper name is never clearly given, but many biblical commentators feel that he is one and the same with Nathanael whom we read about only in the gospel of John (John 1:43-51). The evidence for this is compelling, but not conclusive. Three main points can be made for this identification. First, the calling of Nathanael as recorded in John 1:43-51 is certainly of the type which is recorded of other of the apostles. Second, it was the apostle Philip who sought out Nathanael to bring him to Jesus, and in each of the three apostolic lists mentioned above, Philip and Bartholomew are always paired together. Finally, the second mention of Nathanael is at the end of the gospel of John (John 21:2) where he is present with other of the named apostles on the Sea of Galilee after the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In the account of John 1 noted above, we get the impression of a man who studied the scriptures and earnestly sought for the manifestation of the Kingdom of God as promised within its pages. He was of the same genre as Simeon in the account of Luke 2:25, a man who was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel. To such a one came Philip with a startling declaration "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote, Jesus of Nazareth...." It was not unbelief which tempered his response, but a knowledge of God's word. Could the Messiah come forth from Nazareth? The invitation of Philip laid aside any speculation at that point, "Come and see." And it is at this point that we hear the Lord's assessment of this man's heart. "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile." Here was a Jew indeed circumcised in the heart, as Paul teaches in Romans 2:28-29, whose praise is not from men, but from God. And hear what praise comes from the Son of God! Here is one in whom there is no guile, no hidden traps, no deception, no subtlety. In a word, here was one who was transparent. Nathanael Bar Tolmai's response is forthright "You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel." Jesus acknowledges his response of faith and notes that it was based on the smallest of signs. Then He promises that he would see even greater signs than those, and He implies in such a promise that Bartholomew's faith will also thus be increased to the glory of the Son of Man.
Here the scriptural record stops, and we must turn to what little Church tradition we can gain from the historian Eusebius. In his History of the Church (Book 5, Chapter 10) it is recorded that Bartholomew preached in the barbarian east, traveling as far as India in his preaching (for in the third century another missionary traveled to India and found a copy of the gospel of Matthew in use in that region, supposedly having been carried there by Bartholomew in his evangelistic travels). He is credited with spreading the gospel in Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, Armenia, Lyaconia, Phrygia, and along the shores of the Black Sea. Tradition tells us that he died at Albanopolis in Armenia being flayed alive and crucified by a nobleman related to the king. His crime worthy of death?.... being persuasive enough in his witness for the Lord to bring the king of Armenia into the fold of Christ.
The gospel reading for St. Bartholomew's day in Luke 22:24-30 reminds us that even the apostles of the Lord were subject to wrongly place ambitions. They argued amongst themselves as to who was to be accounted the greatest. I believe it was one argument in which Bartholomew took no part, for his heart could hide no such inclinations in the presence of His Lord. He coveted no honor, he desired no titles save one, apostle, one sent out at the hand of and to the work of a greater Lord. He will always be to us an example of that man of God who has no veil over his heart, but beholds, as Paul says in II Corinthians 3:18 the glory of the Lord, and is thus transformed into the same image from glory to glory....in a word, he becomes transparent. May we also resolve to leave behind any false ambitions which we may have picked up concerning our own spiritual worth to the kingdom of God and pray only as the psalmist does in Psalm 51 "Create in me a clean heart, O God...", that is, a heart which can hold no guile. Once that is true of our life, then we, with Bartholomew can continue on in the declaration of that Psalm "then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You." (Psalm 51:10-13)
Christianity is a religion of power. If it were not so, then it could in no way contend with sin, Satan and death for dominion over the human soul. Truly the weapons of Christ's warfare are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses, as Paul says in II Corinthians 10:3-5. So true is this that Jesus proclaimed that the Church had been founded upon the rock, and the gates of hell would not prevail against her. But power of this sort can deceive the unregenerate heart. Thus we read of Simon Magus (known to the common people as the Great Power of God) , a practitioner of earth magic, who, when confronted with the true power of God the Holy Spirit, thought that such power was available for purchase and was pronounced by Peter to be "in the bondage of iniquity." (Acts 8:9-24) Even to the regenerate heart, such power is a temptation. For power focuses attention, and attention sows the seed of pride, and pride brings forth ambition, and ambition seeks to turn the things of God into that which can be bartered (we get the word "simony", the buying or selling of sacred things from Simon Magus). We can see such abuses in the circus atmosphere which sometimes surrounds charismatic-type gatherings. You almost feel as if you were watching a performer rather than a minister of Jesus Christ. And the popularity of so many television ministers that seem more intent on building up an earthly empire rather than the kingdom of God seems a perversion of the gospel. But the ministry of divine power does not always have to focus upon the one presuming to hold it. If a soul is transparent enough it is incapable of taking to itself any honor or benefit, and the divine power associated with the preaching of the gospel becomes only the glory of God shining forth unto salvation. We see that trait of transparency recorded of the apostles in our opening scripture. And in that circle of apostles was one man surnamed Bartholomew.
So transparent was this apostle that we can scarcely find anything recorded of his life in either the New Testament or Church tradition. We know simply that he is named in the lists of those called apostles by Jesus Christ in Matthew 10:1-5, Mark 3:16-19 and Luke 6:12-16 as Bartholomew, a surname which is literally Bar Tolmai, or son of Tolmai. His proper name is never clearly given, but many biblical commentators feel that he is one and the same with Nathanael whom we read about only in the gospel of John (John 1:43-51). The evidence for this is compelling, but not conclusive. Three main points can be made for this identification. First, the calling of Nathanael as recorded in John 1:43-51 is certainly of the type which is recorded of other of the apostles. Second, it was the apostle Philip who sought out Nathanael to bring him to Jesus, and in each of the three apostolic lists mentioned above, Philip and Bartholomew are always paired together. Finally, the second mention of Nathanael is at the end of the gospel of John (John 21:2) where he is present with other of the named apostles on the Sea of Galilee after the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In the account of John 1 noted above, we get the impression of a man who studied the scriptures and earnestly sought for the manifestation of the Kingdom of God as promised within its pages. He was of the same genre as Simeon in the account of Luke 2:25, a man who was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel. To such a one came Philip with a startling declaration "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote, Jesus of Nazareth...." It was not unbelief which tempered his response, but a knowledge of God's word. Could the Messiah come forth from Nazareth? The invitation of Philip laid aside any speculation at that point, "Come and see." And it is at this point that we hear the Lord's assessment of this man's heart. "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile." Here was a Jew indeed circumcised in the heart, as Paul teaches in Romans 2:28-29, whose praise is not from men, but from God. And hear what praise comes from the Son of God! Here is one in whom there is no guile, no hidden traps, no deception, no subtlety. In a word, here was one who was transparent. Nathanael Bar Tolmai's response is forthright "You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel." Jesus acknowledges his response of faith and notes that it was based on the smallest of signs. Then He promises that he would see even greater signs than those, and He implies in such a promise that Bartholomew's faith will also thus be increased to the glory of the Son of Man.
Here the scriptural record stops, and we must turn to what little Church tradition we can gain from the historian Eusebius. In his History of the Church (Book 5, Chapter 10) it is recorded that Bartholomew preached in the barbarian east, traveling as far as India in his preaching (for in the third century another missionary traveled to India and found a copy of the gospel of Matthew in use in that region, supposedly having been carried there by Bartholomew in his evangelistic travels). He is credited with spreading the gospel in Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, Armenia, Lyaconia, Phrygia, and along the shores of the Black Sea. Tradition tells us that he died at Albanopolis in Armenia being flayed alive and crucified by a nobleman related to the king. His crime worthy of death?.... being persuasive enough in his witness for the Lord to bring the king of Armenia into the fold of Christ.
The gospel reading for St. Bartholomew's day in Luke 22:24-30 reminds us that even the apostles of the Lord were subject to wrongly place ambitions. They argued amongst themselves as to who was to be accounted the greatest. I believe it was one argument in which Bartholomew took no part, for his heart could hide no such inclinations in the presence of His Lord. He coveted no honor, he desired no titles save one, apostle, one sent out at the hand of and to the work of a greater Lord. He will always be to us an example of that man of God who has no veil over his heart, but beholds, as Paul says in II Corinthians 3:18 the glory of the Lord, and is thus transformed into the same image from glory to glory....in a word, he becomes transparent. May we also resolve to leave behind any false ambitions which we may have picked up concerning our own spiritual worth to the kingdom of God and pray only as the psalmist does in Psalm 51 "Create in me a clean heart, O God...", that is, a heart which can hold no guile. Once that is true of our life, then we, with Bartholomew can continue on in the declaration of that Psalm "then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You." (Psalm 51:10-13)
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
St. James, the Greater, Apostle and a Son of Thunder (Remembrance Day July 25)
"For which of you intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost whether he has enough to finish it, lest after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all who see it begin to mock him, saying 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'...So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:28-33
There is a weakness in the Church of America because the strong calling of the gospel has been watered down to become palatable to our self-centered society. It has been remade in the image of man's interests and ambitions in order to attract people to it. It has been toned down so as not to offend, it has been updated to include the latest trends, it has been packaged and marketed along side of a dozen other self-improvement fads whose only aim is to make people feel good about their self image. And in so doing it has become a sword without an edge, no longer able to cut and divide righteousness from wickedness, the sacred from the secular. The calling of the gospel, just as the sword without an edge, has become a museum piece, a memento of Christianity, which has lost its effectiveness to separate. We have tried to "become all things to all men" (I Corinthians 9:19-23) in order to make the gospel big enough for everyone. But here we have erred. The gospel has always been big enough for everyone, for Christ died for the sins of the world. It is the entrance into the gospel, its calling, that we have really objected to. We judge it much too narrow a way for it requires us to come to the gospel on the Lord's terms, not ours. The Lord is clear in John 10:1 "he who does not enter...by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." Those that have entered by another door do not possess true Christianity. But in every age, in every people, there have been those that have heard the calling of the gospel as a sword that pierced their heart, and have not been ashamed by it; those who have purposed in their hearts to enter by the Lord's door, and who have never once held back having once crossed the threshold. Such a man was James, the son of Zebedee.
He is called "the Greater" by the Church to distinguish him from James, the son of Alphaeus, another of the Apostles. We know that he was the son of Zebedee and brother of John the Apostle as it records in Matthew 4:21-22 (it is believed that he was the elder brother since he is always named first in any mention of the two brothers together). Salome, one of those women who ministered to the Lord until the end, is named as his mother by a comparison of Matthew 27:55-56 with Mark 15:40-41. We also know that he was one of the first disciples called while he sat mending the fishing nets with his family. The scripture simply states that when "He (Jesus) called them (James and John, his brother) ... immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him." There is little doubt that James embraced without hesitation the calling of Lord when it came. But what of counting the cost to see if he was able to finish what he had begun, as our opening scripture exhorts us? For the answer to that we must glean from other accounts in the pages of scripture.
Scripture records that Jesus called James and his brother Boanerges, a Hebrew word which when translated means "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17). As the thunder is the herald for the approaching storm, so perhaps this name characterized the zealous and impetuous nature which the Lord saw at a glance within James. In Luke 9:49 it records that John (perhaps in consort with his brother for he uses the word "we") forbade one casting out demons in Jesus name because he did not "follow with us". And in Luke 9:54 we see the brothers rebuked for wanting to call down the fire of judgment upon the Samaritans that refused to show Jesus hospitality on the road to Jerusalem. Surely we see a burning evangelical zeal for the Lord, one severe in temperament at any perceived sleight of the Master. Had he counted the cost while listening to the demands of Jesus' teachings and judged himself to possess what he had heard? The Lord's words in Luke 9:55-56 indicate that there was still more to count "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of." Scripture also relates that both the brothers and their mother made bold to request from Jesus the honor that one would be seated at His right hand, and the other at His left when He entered into His kingdom (Matthew 20:-28 and Mark 10:35-45). Once more the son of thunder was called to account. "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" With all his heart he replied "I am able" although he could not yet know fully the bitter dregs that the cup contained. The Lord's answer to him was prophetic "You will indeed drink My cup...."; and we later read in Acts 12:1-3 that "about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the Church. Then he killed James, the brother of John with the sword..."
Was this man of God able to finish what he had begun so many years earlier on the Sea of Galilee? History judges for us. Eusebius, writing in his history of the Church (Book II; 9:2-3) around 325 AD, quoted from Clement of Rome concerning the death of James. So profound was the testimony and demeanor of James before his accusers, that the one who had led him to judgment became a Christian in that very court of Herod and the two were beheaded together. Before the sword fell, the accuser asked James to forgive him, and at that moment when all earthly accounts had come due for the Apostle, James, no longer filled with a spirit of unguided and restless zeal, but now filled up with the Spirit of Jesus, His Master, answered "I wish you peace", and kissed him in brotherly charity. The first of the Apostles to be martyred, James, the Son of Thunder, counted the cost of following Jesus and was not found lacking at the end. In his life and death he showed the words of Jesus Christ to be true...."what you hear in the ear, preach (or perhaps thunder?) from the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body...." (Matthew 10:27)
So, what of us? What call does the blood of James spilled out before the heathen king place upon us? Have we counted the cost? Are we even now striving forward with all of our heart to uphold Jesus Christ and His Kingdom? Of such men of the gospel the Scripture proclaims "they overcame him (Satan, the great dragon) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and that they did not love their lives to the death." ( Revelation 12:11) Such is the cost that the gospel call demands of us. When the Lord bids us follow, may we unhesitatingly spring up, leaving all behind that would hinder us. And when He asks us, "are ye able?" may we with James be not ashamed to say with all the faith our heart can muster "I am able", or, if lacking that, let us as least proclaim, "I am willing Lord, make me able."
There is a weakness in the Church of America because the strong calling of the gospel has been watered down to become palatable to our self-centered society. It has been remade in the image of man's interests and ambitions in order to attract people to it. It has been toned down so as not to offend, it has been updated to include the latest trends, it has been packaged and marketed along side of a dozen other self-improvement fads whose only aim is to make people feel good about their self image. And in so doing it has become a sword without an edge, no longer able to cut and divide righteousness from wickedness, the sacred from the secular. The calling of the gospel, just as the sword without an edge, has become a museum piece, a memento of Christianity, which has lost its effectiveness to separate. We have tried to "become all things to all men" (I Corinthians 9:19-23) in order to make the gospel big enough for everyone. But here we have erred. The gospel has always been big enough for everyone, for Christ died for the sins of the world. It is the entrance into the gospel, its calling, that we have really objected to. We judge it much too narrow a way for it requires us to come to the gospel on the Lord's terms, not ours. The Lord is clear in John 10:1 "he who does not enter...by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." Those that have entered by another door do not possess true Christianity. But in every age, in every people, there have been those that have heard the calling of the gospel as a sword that pierced their heart, and have not been ashamed by it; those who have purposed in their hearts to enter by the Lord's door, and who have never once held back having once crossed the threshold. Such a man was James, the son of Zebedee.
He is called "the Greater" by the Church to distinguish him from James, the son of Alphaeus, another of the Apostles. We know that he was the son of Zebedee and brother of John the Apostle as it records in Matthew 4:21-22 (it is believed that he was the elder brother since he is always named first in any mention of the two brothers together). Salome, one of those women who ministered to the Lord until the end, is named as his mother by a comparison of Matthew 27:55-56 with Mark 15:40-41. We also know that he was one of the first disciples called while he sat mending the fishing nets with his family. The scripture simply states that when "He (Jesus) called them (James and John, his brother) ... immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him." There is little doubt that James embraced without hesitation the calling of Lord when it came. But what of counting the cost to see if he was able to finish what he had begun, as our opening scripture exhorts us? For the answer to that we must glean from other accounts in the pages of scripture.
Scripture records that Jesus called James and his brother Boanerges, a Hebrew word which when translated means "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17). As the thunder is the herald for the approaching storm, so perhaps this name characterized the zealous and impetuous nature which the Lord saw at a glance within James. In Luke 9:49 it records that John (perhaps in consort with his brother for he uses the word "we") forbade one casting out demons in Jesus name because he did not "follow with us". And in Luke 9:54 we see the brothers rebuked for wanting to call down the fire of judgment upon the Samaritans that refused to show Jesus hospitality on the road to Jerusalem. Surely we see a burning evangelical zeal for the Lord, one severe in temperament at any perceived sleight of the Master. Had he counted the cost while listening to the demands of Jesus' teachings and judged himself to possess what he had heard? The Lord's words in Luke 9:55-56 indicate that there was still more to count "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of." Scripture also relates that both the brothers and their mother made bold to request from Jesus the honor that one would be seated at His right hand, and the other at His left when He entered into His kingdom (Matthew 20:-28 and Mark 10:35-45). Once more the son of thunder was called to account. "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" With all his heart he replied "I am able" although he could not yet know fully the bitter dregs that the cup contained. The Lord's answer to him was prophetic "You will indeed drink My cup...."; and we later read in Acts 12:1-3 that "about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the Church. Then he killed James, the brother of John with the sword..."
Was this man of God able to finish what he had begun so many years earlier on the Sea of Galilee? History judges for us. Eusebius, writing in his history of the Church (Book II; 9:2-3) around 325 AD, quoted from Clement of Rome concerning the death of James. So profound was the testimony and demeanor of James before his accusers, that the one who had led him to judgment became a Christian in that very court of Herod and the two were beheaded together. Before the sword fell, the accuser asked James to forgive him, and at that moment when all earthly accounts had come due for the Apostle, James, no longer filled with a spirit of unguided and restless zeal, but now filled up with the Spirit of Jesus, His Master, answered "I wish you peace", and kissed him in brotherly charity. The first of the Apostles to be martyred, James, the Son of Thunder, counted the cost of following Jesus and was not found lacking at the end. In his life and death he showed the words of Jesus Christ to be true...."what you hear in the ear, preach (or perhaps thunder?) from the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body...." (Matthew 10:27)
So, what of us? What call does the blood of James spilled out before the heathen king place upon us? Have we counted the cost? Are we even now striving forward with all of our heart to uphold Jesus Christ and His Kingdom? Of such men of the gospel the Scripture proclaims "they overcame him (Satan, the great dragon) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and that they did not love their lives to the death." ( Revelation 12:11) Such is the cost that the gospel call demands of us. When the Lord bids us follow, may we unhesitatingly spring up, leaving all behind that would hinder us. And when He asks us, "are ye able?" may we with James be not ashamed to say with all the faith our heart can muster "I am able", or, if lacking that, let us as least proclaim, "I am willing Lord, make me able."
Thursday, July 8, 2010
St. Peter, the Rock, Apostle (Remembrance Day June 29)
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Resist him steadfast in the faith....may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you." I Peter 5:8-11
There are two tendencies at work in any person -- the image of God, however disfigured by sin, which tugs the human heart heavenward; and the power of indwelling sin which drags the human soul into the fires of hell. That is what Paul meant in Romans 7:21 "I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good." It is not a popular concept in our "enlightened" age. Man is a product of his environment, his financial opportunities, his education, his ethnic background, and so on. Given the right set of conditions, given the strength of determination, given the ambition to succeed a man can raise himself up and become the master of his fate. Or so the popular notions go. But we know differently. "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24). Only the saving grace of God can break the power of sin and restore His image within our hearts, not so that we can escape our circumstances, but rather that we can know that He is Master in every circumstance to bring forth good from them. This purposeful preaching of God as Savior is sometimes missing in our gospel message today. But remove it, and what "good news" is really left for us to proclaim? The scriptures say that the preaching of the true gospel is foolishness to the world, but is the power of God to us who are saved by it (I Corinthians 3:18). Such foolishness can only be received by those in need of a Savior, those who have come to the end of their own strength and purpose of will and have fallen short, those who have been tried in the balances by sin and found wanting, those who have hit bottom with no where to go. Such a man was Simon the son of Jonah, surnamed Peter.
What we know of Peter we primarily read in the scriptures, for the gospels speak more of him than of any other of the disciples of Jesus Christ. We know that he was a fisherman (Matthew 4:18), that he was a Galilean of the city of Bethsaida (John 1:44), that he was married (Matthew 8:14-15) and that he was bold and impulsive in his behavior. All of the tendencies of self-reliance and strength of will which sin cultivates to the destruction of the soul were there within him. But we also know that there was a spiritual hunger in his soul. For in Mark 10:28-30, when Peter said "See, we have left all and followed You", he spoke truly. And the Lord enumerated those things which he and the other disciples had left behind....house, brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, lands.....all for the Lord's sake and the gospel's. And these two tendencies, one of pride in strength, and one of reliance on God's grace, struggled for pre-eminence in Peter. That is why he was able to have deep mysteries revealed to him by the Father in heaven (see his confession of Christ in Matthew 16:13-20) and then shortly after be rebuked by the Lord as Satan's tool and an offense to Christ because "you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." (Matthew 16:22-23) The Lord saw this all in a glance at Peter's heart, he saw the potential for failure ("Simon, Simon! Indeed Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.....I tell you Peter, the rooster will not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me." Luke 22:31-34), but he also knew the potential for God's glory ("I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.")
The Lord had once said in Luke 12:48 "everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required." And much was given to Peter! He was named first in all of the gospel's listings of the chosen apostles (Matthew 10:1-4), he walked on the water to the Lord (Matthew 14:22-33), he was present at the transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:1-9), he was asked to be one of the intimate companions of the Lord in prayer on the night in which He was betrayed (Matthew 26:26-38). And when much was required of him, what then was the result? "But he (Peter) began to curse and swear, 'I do not know this Man (Jesus) of whom you speak!' And...the rooster crowed. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said." (Mark 14:66-72). We would call that "the bottom". Utter failure, total unfaithfulness!
That night two of the Lord's men hit bottom. Judas, the betrayer of Jesus, overcome with remorse went out and hung himself. Peter, the denier of Jesus, overcome with remorse wept, and being sifted in sorrow found true faith when nothing of himself remained. It was then that he claimed truly for the first time Christ's own surname for him, Cephas, the Rock; and against such bedrock of faith the gates of hell could not prevail.
We haven't even scratched the surface of the record of this new Peter found in the book of Acts, the Peter who struggled with the two tendencies in his heart and by the grace of God was perfected, established, strengthened and settled, as our opening scripture declares. Read a few of the accounts in Acts 1:15-26, Acts 2:14-39, Acts 3:1-10, Acts 4:8-12, Acts 5:1-11, Acts 12:5-19 and see the difference which the recognition of the need of a Savior can make in a man's heart, his words, his actions. Tradition tells us that Peter eventually travelled to Rome where he was instrumental in establishing the Church within the very city which was the source of three centuries of vicious persecution. It was there, in the last year of the emperor Nero's reign, that he was put to death by crucifixtion. His last request was that he be crucified upside down, for he was not worthy to die in the same manner in which His Lord and Savior had. One thing is shown so clearly in the life of Peter for our example and exhortation. The greatness of God's glory and power being manifested in him was directly related to how deeply he had allowed God to enter into his heart and cleanse him of his sinful tendencies. Peter had discovered the truth of the Lord's words in Luke 7:47 which I paraphrase and adapt here. His sins, which were many and grievous, were forgiven, for he loved Jesus Christ dearly. May we take the lesson to heart and allow the love of Jesus Christ to constrain us. When we are sifted by sin, even if we sin so directly against His Name that we feel that there no longer remains a covering for our sins, let us shed our tears of grief and return to Him and let Him once more plumb the depths of our hearts with the question He asked Peter in John 21:15-19 "Do you love Me?". With Peter may our heart's answer be "Lord, you know all things, You know that I love You." Only then can we with confidence once more boldly step out when He answers "Then Follow Me."
There are two tendencies at work in any person -- the image of God, however disfigured by sin, which tugs the human heart heavenward; and the power of indwelling sin which drags the human soul into the fires of hell. That is what Paul meant in Romans 7:21 "I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good." It is not a popular concept in our "enlightened" age. Man is a product of his environment, his financial opportunities, his education, his ethnic background, and so on. Given the right set of conditions, given the strength of determination, given the ambition to succeed a man can raise himself up and become the master of his fate. Or so the popular notions go. But we know differently. "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24). Only the saving grace of God can break the power of sin and restore His image within our hearts, not so that we can escape our circumstances, but rather that we can know that He is Master in every circumstance to bring forth good from them. This purposeful preaching of God as Savior is sometimes missing in our gospel message today. But remove it, and what "good news" is really left for us to proclaim? The scriptures say that the preaching of the true gospel is foolishness to the world, but is the power of God to us who are saved by it (I Corinthians 3:18). Such foolishness can only be received by those in need of a Savior, those who have come to the end of their own strength and purpose of will and have fallen short, those who have been tried in the balances by sin and found wanting, those who have hit bottom with no where to go. Such a man was Simon the son of Jonah, surnamed Peter.
What we know of Peter we primarily read in the scriptures, for the gospels speak more of him than of any other of the disciples of Jesus Christ. We know that he was a fisherman (Matthew 4:18), that he was a Galilean of the city of Bethsaida (John 1:44), that he was married (Matthew 8:14-15) and that he was bold and impulsive in his behavior. All of the tendencies of self-reliance and strength of will which sin cultivates to the destruction of the soul were there within him. But we also know that there was a spiritual hunger in his soul. For in Mark 10:28-30, when Peter said "See, we have left all and followed You", he spoke truly. And the Lord enumerated those things which he and the other disciples had left behind....house, brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, lands.....all for the Lord's sake and the gospel's. And these two tendencies, one of pride in strength, and one of reliance on God's grace, struggled for pre-eminence in Peter. That is why he was able to have deep mysteries revealed to him by the Father in heaven (see his confession of Christ in Matthew 16:13-20) and then shortly after be rebuked by the Lord as Satan's tool and an offense to Christ because "you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." (Matthew 16:22-23) The Lord saw this all in a glance at Peter's heart, he saw the potential for failure ("Simon, Simon! Indeed Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.....I tell you Peter, the rooster will not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me." Luke 22:31-34), but he also knew the potential for God's glory ("I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.")
The Lord had once said in Luke 12:48 "everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required." And much was given to Peter! He was named first in all of the gospel's listings of the chosen apostles (Matthew 10:1-4), he walked on the water to the Lord (Matthew 14:22-33), he was present at the transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:1-9), he was asked to be one of the intimate companions of the Lord in prayer on the night in which He was betrayed (Matthew 26:26-38). And when much was required of him, what then was the result? "But he (Peter) began to curse and swear, 'I do not know this Man (Jesus) of whom you speak!' And...the rooster crowed. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said." (Mark 14:66-72). We would call that "the bottom". Utter failure, total unfaithfulness!
That night two of the Lord's men hit bottom. Judas, the betrayer of Jesus, overcome with remorse went out and hung himself. Peter, the denier of Jesus, overcome with remorse wept, and being sifted in sorrow found true faith when nothing of himself remained. It was then that he claimed truly for the first time Christ's own surname for him, Cephas, the Rock; and against such bedrock of faith the gates of hell could not prevail.
We haven't even scratched the surface of the record of this new Peter found in the book of Acts, the Peter who struggled with the two tendencies in his heart and by the grace of God was perfected, established, strengthened and settled, as our opening scripture declares. Read a few of the accounts in Acts 1:15-26, Acts 2:14-39, Acts 3:1-10, Acts 4:8-12, Acts 5:1-11, Acts 12:5-19 and see the difference which the recognition of the need of a Savior can make in a man's heart, his words, his actions. Tradition tells us that Peter eventually travelled to Rome where he was instrumental in establishing the Church within the very city which was the source of three centuries of vicious persecution. It was there, in the last year of the emperor Nero's reign, that he was put to death by crucifixtion. His last request was that he be crucified upside down, for he was not worthy to die in the same manner in which His Lord and Savior had. One thing is shown so clearly in the life of Peter for our example and exhortation. The greatness of God's glory and power being manifested in him was directly related to how deeply he had allowed God to enter into his heart and cleanse him of his sinful tendencies. Peter had discovered the truth of the Lord's words in Luke 7:47 which I paraphrase and adapt here. His sins, which were many and grievous, were forgiven, for he loved Jesus Christ dearly. May we take the lesson to heart and allow the love of Jesus Christ to constrain us. When we are sifted by sin, even if we sin so directly against His Name that we feel that there no longer remains a covering for our sins, let us shed our tears of grief and return to Him and let Him once more plumb the depths of our hearts with the question He asked Peter in John 21:15-19 "Do you love Me?". With Peter may our heart's answer be "Lord, you know all things, You know that I love You." Only then can we with confidence once more boldly step out when He answers "Then Follow Me."
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