Jesus The Rabbi

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April 23, 2014

House of New Beginnings

Jesus the Rabbi
Mark 9:5

The Transfiguration
Mark 9:2-10
Delivered 10/01/2006
We have been looking at the account of Jesus' dialogue with His
disciples at Caesarea Philippi. Jesus asks His disciples who they
say He is:
Mark 8:29 (NASB) And He continued by questioning them,
"But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to
Him, "Thou art the Christ."
"Christ" is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew, Messiah. This
title carried overtones of political power. The Psalms of Solomon
was a Jewish writing of the Messiah as the son of David. Their
Messiah was a warrior-prince who would expel the hated Romans
from Israel and bring in a kingdom in which the Jews would be
promoted to world dominion. Jesus, therefore, accepted Peter's
confession and immediately spoke of the sufferings of Messiah to
correct the disciple's idea of what the Messiah would be:
Mark 8:31-32 (NASB) And He began to teach them that the
Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the
elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed,
and after three days rise again. 32 And He was stating the
matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to
rebuke Him.
For Peter, Messiah was a title of a glorious personage both
nationalistic and victorious in battle. They believed that Messiah
would come and rule; they had no idea of Him coming, then
leaving, then coming again. Peter reacts strongly when Christ
talks about His death. His death would be the end of their hopes
and dreams; they couldn't understand Him being put to death.
The Jewish understanding of Messiah is clearly expressed in:
John 12:34 (NASB) The multitude therefore answered Him,
"We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain
forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted
up'? Who is this Son of Man?"
They didn't conceive of Messiah leaving once He had arrived.
They thought He would come and set up His rule.
Micah 5:2 (NASB) "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too
little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go
forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from
long ago, From the days of eternity."
The word "ruler" is the Hebrew word mashal, which means:
"make to have dominion, governor, have power." They viewed
Messiah as a Ruler:
Psalms 8:6 (NASB) Thou dost make him to rule over the
works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet,
Zechariah 6:12-13 (NASB) "Then say to him, 'Thus says the
LORD of hosts, "Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He
will branch out from where He is; and He will build the
temple of the LORD. 13 "Yes, it is He who will build the
temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit
and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His
throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two
offices."'
Branch it is a familiar title for the Messiah (Isaiah 4:2 and 11:1,
Jeremiah 23:5 and 33:15). So you can easily understand that
they were not looking for Jesus to leave, but to set up His
kingdom. Jesus talked to them about His death and going to the
Father, but they did not understand it at all:
John 13:33-36 (NASB) "Little children, I am with you a little
while longer. You shall seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, I
now say to you also, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' 34
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one
another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one
another. 35 "By this all men will know that you are My
disciples, if you have love for one another." 36 Simon Peter
said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered,
"Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you shall follow
later."
John 16:16-17 (NASB) "A little while, and you will no longer
behold Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me." 17
Some of His disciples therefore said to one another, "What is
this thing He is telling us, 'A little while, and you will not
behold Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and,
'because I go to the Father'?"
This account in John takes place after He had given them the
Olivet Discourse, and they still didn't understand that He was
leaving them. Even after the crucifixion, they still didn't
understand that Jesus was going to rise from the dead:
John 20:8-9 (NASB) So the other disciple who had first come
to the tomb entered then also, and he saw and believed. 9
For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He
must rise again from the dead.
We are a collection of what we have read, heard, felt, imagined,
and been taught by those crossing our paths as well as by
tradition. Sometimes that produces blessing, other times a curse!
Inevitably, our concepts of God, His Son, and eternal issues get
confused in the mixture, much like that of the disciples. So when
our concepts of Christ fall short of truth, we must be instructed
by the Word of God to correct our thinking. Wrong thinking
about Christ affects everything about us. We cannot properly
trust One whom we do not know. We certainly cannot face death
with confidence and assurance if we have a fuzzy picture of the
Judge before whom we shall stand. In similar fashion, the
disciples kept hearing Jesus talk about the "kingdom." They
knew what they meant by that term. So when Jesus spoke about
the kingdom, they funneled it through their own paradigm of
kingdom understanding. That's why Peter could react to Christ's
prediction of His impending suffering and death. He was being
true to his own understanding. So through the Transfiguration,
Jesus begins to correct the disciples' thinking, which would
ultimately transform everything about them.
Jesus followed up His teaching of His suffering and death by
teaching that even the way of the disciple must involve self-
denial, taking up his own cross, and then following Christ. Again,
this likely puzzled the disciples who still had visions of earthly
grandeur in their kingdom concepts. So Jesus pointed to the
certainty of future glory in His kingdom, a glory that was not
earthly but heavenly. But how would they be able to grasp this
reality? That's where the Transfiguration comes in:
Mark 9:2 (NASB) And six days later, Jesus took with Him
Peter and James and John, and brought them up to a high
mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before
them;
He opens with the words "Six days later." That's unique in the
fact that Mark almost never gives any kind of a chronological
reference, so to say this happened "six days later" is very
unusual. Matthew and Mark both say six days later, but Luke
says:
Luke 9:28 (NASB) And some eight days after these sayings, it
came about that He took along Peter and John and James,
and went up to the mountain to pray.
Luke says, "about" or "some" eight days after. His source
probably included the day when Jesus spoke (9:1) and the day of
the Transfiguration itself, not just the six days in between.
Luke's time period is only a generalization, which could be
stretched to be a little longer or shorter - in this case, the latter
of these options is necessary.
"Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John" These three
are also the ones chosen who alone accompany Jesus when He
raises the ruler's daughter from the dead (Mark 5:37) and are the
same three that Jesus takes with Him when He goes into
Gethsemane to pray before His arrest (Matthew 26:37) when all
the others are left behind.
"Why did Jesus pour more into Peter, James and John than the
other nine?" I think the answer is fairly easy. It is because they
wanted it more. If you read through the Gospels, it's evident
these three just hungered for Jesus more than the others. And
Jesus was happy to give His time to those who wanted it.
Jesus is taking His inner circle of disciples, Peter, James, and
John, up onto a high mountain for a time of solitude. Luke tells
us they, "...went up to the mountain to pray." This kind of
thing was not unusual for Jesus. He was always stealing away to
a solitary place to pray. But this time, He had brought His inner
circle of disciples.
Why did Jesus take these three disciples to this mountain retreat
to pray? Probably because they needed to be encouraged. Six
days earlier the Lord had revealed to them the inevitability of
His eventual suffering and death. They'd had to grapple with the
reality of the Cross, and they were stunned by it. Peter had
objected and received a devastating rebuke from Jesus. Jesus had
gone on to share that if any would follow Him, they must also
take up their own crosses as well.
What they were about to experience on that mountain would be
the most incredible sight they had ever seen. They wouldn't
understand it. They would be totally blown away by it. There is
no doubt they would replay this event in their minds for the rest
of their lives, seeking to plumb the depths of its meaning and to
understand its true significance. But what they would receive
was encouragement. What was about to happen would be the
most exciting thing they had experienced thus far and they had
seen a lot.
Which mountain were they on? We cannot identify this
mountain with any certainty. Possible locations are Mount
Hermon, near Caesarea Philippi. But it would have been snow-
capped, so not a likely spot for an overnight stay, which Luke
indicates happened (Luke 9:37), though one of Hermon's spurs
could have been the place. We know that Jesus was certainly in
this general region, but in the six days which have transpired
since the last recorded event, there's certainly enough time for
Jesus and the disciples to have been some distance away from
the area.
The presence of scribes in the crowd that formed around the nine
disciples in Mark 9:14 would necessarily have needed to be
Jewish and, therefore, should be considered to be in
predominantly Jewish territory (which Caesarea Philippi is not).
Some have suggested Mount Miron on the way to Capernaum to
be the mountain. Others have said Mount Tabor southwest of the
Sea of Galilee is the place. I would say that Miron or Tabor are
the best guesses.
They were alone on top of some mountain. Evening had fallen,
and they were in prayer. Luke tells us that as the prayer meeting
continued, His disciples were "very sleepy" and that they
eventually dozed off. But then something amazing happened.
"And He was transfigured before them" That word
"transfigured" comes from a Greek word from which we get our
English word "metamorphosis"--to be changed into something
else. The Greek word is a compound word from "morphe"
meaning: "form" and "meta," which implies change. Very simply,
therefore, the underlying meaning of the word has to be "to
change form," though this concept can be applied to relate to
the essential character of something or to its external
appearance and it's not always easy to attempt a definition as to
which is being hinted at by the use of the word. We know from
the following verses that Jesus' physical appearance changed.
Mark 9:3 (NASB) and His garments became radiant and
exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten
them.
Matthew 17:2 (NASB) And He was transfigured before them;
and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as
white as light.
Luke 9:29 (NASB) And while He was praying, the appearance
of His face became different, and His clothing became white
and gleaming.
This vision prefigured what lay beyond the cross. It unveiled for
a brief glimpse what believers shall gaze upon without hindrance
in eternity. It foreshadowed the triumphant splendor of Christ
the King.
Most commentators are quick to jump to the conclusion that
what's being revealed is the intrinsic divine nature of Jesus, that
the veil which was covering His own deity was being drawn back
for the briefest of moments that the hiding of the incarnation
might be temporarily reversed.
One commentator writes, "For a brief moment the veil of His
humanity was lifted and His true essence was allowed to shine
through. The glory which was always in the depths of His being
rose to the surface for that one time in His earthly life."
Most view this as Jesus' divinity being the light which was now
shining from Him that the incarnation had concealed within His
human body and which was now being drawn back like some
curtain to let the light be displayed for a short period of time.
This is incredibly logical and certainly isn't based upon a wrong
concept of the incarnation.
However, it seems to be a wrong conclusion based upon Peter's
own commentary of the event in 2 Peter where the apostle who
was present on the mountain tells us exactly where the light
came from and what it was:
2 Peter 1:16-18 (NASB) For we did not follow cleverly
devised tales when we made known to you the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of
His majesty. 17 For when He received honor and glory from
God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him
by the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I
am well-pleased"-- 18 and we ourselves heard this utterance
made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy
mountain.
Peter tells us "It was the Father who...clothed Him with glory"
Luke 9:32 states that the three disciples, Peter, John, and James
"saw His glory," and it's the same Greek word which is being used
in both verses. Therefore, the connection appears to be fairly
certain that the glory being referred to in both cases came from
the Father Himself rather than as a revealing of what was within
Him.
Peter stated quite plainly that the glory made known to the
disciples as shining from Jesus was that which came not from
within His own nature but from without, a clear bestowal of
glory upon Him from the Father which reflected outwards.
The purpose of the transfiguration is to demonstrate the
conclusion of the obedience of God's Servant when the time of
His suffering is at hand. In this way, the discussion which Jesus
is having with both Moses and Elijah, who appear also in glory,
concerning His imminent death (Luke 9:31) becomes particularly
relevant, and this experience becomes a reassurance to Jesus
Himself that obedience to the demands of God the Father are
vitally necessary for the glorification to be achieved.
I am sure this is what John is referring to in his Gospel when,
though he does not give us an account of the transfiguration, he
does say:
John 1:14 (NASB) And the Word became flesh, and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only
begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Though he does not tell us where, it was undoubtedly this
moment on the mountain that he remembered.
Mark 9:4 (NASB) And Elijah appeared to them along with
Moses; and they were talking with Jesus.
If Jesus' transfiguration were not enough to blow them away, I'm
sure the appearance of Moses and Elijah was. These were two of
the greatest figures in all of Israel's history. They were mighty
men of God. They were also no strangers to mountaintops. Moses
had quite an encounter with God on Mount Sinai; as had Elijah
on Mount Horeb. They had both experienced God's glory on the
top of these two mountains. But in these two figures we see a
symbol of the law and the prophets. And together they were
talking with Jesus.
It's interesting that the disciples seem to have no difficulty at all
in recognizing instantly who these men were? Jesus did not say,
"Now, Peter, James, and John, I'd like to have you meet Moses
and Elijah." No, they knew instantly who they were. This can
only be explained as divine revelation. God made known to them
that this was Elijah and Moses. Often in rabbinic writings, Moses
and Elijah are put together to refer to the Law and the Prophets.
What were they talking about? I know exactly what they were
talking about:
Luke 9:30-31 (NASB) And behold, two men were talking with
Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, 31 who, appearing in
glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to
accomplish at Jerusalem.
The word for "departure" is the Greek word exodos. There was an
exodus that was to begin at the cross and start another forty
year journey. The first exodus period is one familiar to all of us.
Israel, after the flesh, was removed from bondage to Egypt at
Passover, and they were put in the wilderness on a physical
journey to a physical promise land. Now the more important and
the spiritual exodus we are not so familiar with: This exodus runs
from the Cross to A.D. 70. In this exodus, Israel, after the Spirit,
left its bondage to the law of sin and death (Ro. 8:2) and begins
a forty year spiritual journey to a spiritual inheritance, the
Kingdom of God or the New Heavens and New Earth.
Moses, the lawgiver, and Elijah, the consummate prophet,
engaged Christ in conversation centered on His death,
resurrection, and ascension (implied by Luke's term "departure").
Can you imagine being in on that conversation?
As Jesus conversed with the "living dead", Moses and Elijah, it
gave the disciples assurance that His death would not be the end
but only the beginning of eternity for all that believe.
Mark 9:5-6 (NASB) And Peter answered and said to Jesus,
"Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three
tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for
Elijah." 6 For he did not know what to answer; for they
became terrified.
The disciples were overwhelmed. What they were witnessing was
an otherworldly, terrifying experience. They stared in stunned
silence. What was there to say? They had nothing to say, and
Peter said it!
Interestingly, he called Jesus "Rabbi", the word by which he
knew Him. In the circumstance of terror, Peter called Him that
because he always called Him that.
"Jesus, let's build three tents!" It is interesting that Mark says
Peter said this because he was terrified. He didn't know what else
to say! You remember that Mark's source for this Gospel was
Peter himself. You can almost hear Mark sitting down with Peter
and saying, "Peter, why did you say that?" And Peter said, "I
don't know; I was terrified!
"They became terrified" this Greek word is only used here and
in Hebrews where we read of Moses' fear in the presence of God
at Mt. Sinai:
Hebrews 12:21 (NASB) And so terrible was the sight, that
Moses said, "I AM FULL OF FEAR AND TREMBLING."
It is a very strong word for fear. We are so used to the
Transfiguration scene that it may no longer fill us with awe. But
if we pause for a moment and think, perhaps the awe will
overtake us. They had come up unsuspectingly into the mountain
with Jesus and suddenly this immense change took place in Him,
something brighter and more glorious than the sun in its
splendor, and a sense of extreme whiteness, of awful holiness,
and purity. And then the two greatest men ever known, as far as
the Jew was concerned, appeared there with them talking with
the glorified Jesus. No wonder it was all too much and turned
Peter into a babbler.
It may be that Peter said this about building the tabernacles
thinking that the necessity of the cross has passed and that the
glory of God's presence has returned as would have been
expected in the future establishing of the Kingdom of Heaven on
earth.
Jesus has been talking about being rejected and put to death.
They go up on this
mountain, and up on the mountain it's always more pleasant
than it is down in the valley. And Peter is saying: This is more
what I had in mind. Let's just build some tents and stay up here;
let's set up camp on the mountain. Let's not go down again. But
immediately there's this cloud that comes over them,
Mark 9:7 (NASB) Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them,
and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is My beloved Son,
listen to Him!"
A "cloud" is used in the Old Testament as a symbol of God's
presence (Ex 13:21, 19:9, 34:5, 2 Chr 5:13-14) and it's best to
take the mention of such a cloud on the mountain as a
supernatural phenomenon. It was the cloud of Shekinah glory
that appeared on that mountaintop. Shekinah comes from a
Hebrew root, which means "to dwell." The Shekinah glory of God
was the manifestation of the presence of God.
When the Tabernacle was finished, this cloud descended upon it
in such a manifestation of God's glory that Moses himself could
not even enter it. When Solomon's Temple was completed, the
cloud again descended so that the priests could not enter. The
cloud symbolized the dwelling of God among men. And this
shekinah glory of God had not been seen is Israel for six hundred
years. But now, this luminous cloud not only came, but it
enveloped all of them. The entire top of the mountain was
covered by the glory of God.
If we look at all the synoptic gospels we see that the voice from
heaven said: "This is My beloved Son, [My Chosen One (Luke),
with whom I am well-pleased (Matthew)]; listen to Him!" The
voice from the cloud strings together (in reverse order!) a phrase
from the Torah, a phrase from the Prophets and a phrase from
the Writings.
Deuteronomy 18:15 (NASB) "The LORD your God will raise up
for you a prophet like me from among you, from your
countrymen, you shall listen to him.
Isaiah 42:1 (NASB) "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My
chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit
upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.
Psalms 2:7 (NASB) "I will surely tell of the decree of the
LORD: He said to Me, 'Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten
Thee.
The Father himself is saying: Peter, do not put Jesus on a par
with Moses and Elijah. You listen to Him. He is the one of whom
Moses and Elijah spoke. He is the one who fulfilled all the
predictions of the prophets and the sacrifices of the Law. Listen
to him; this is my beloved Son.
Peter was trying to put them on equal footing: "one for You,
and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." They were great men
but still sinners; Christ alone must be worshiped! The writer of
Hebrews express it this way:
Hebrews 1:1-2 (NASB) God, after He spoke long ago to the
fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He
appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the
world.
God has spoken His final word in His Son. The message of the
transfiguration is that Jesus is the one we must listen to.
"Listen to Him." Listen is strong and means: "take notice and
obey." He was greater than Moses, He was greater than Elijah. In
Him came the full truth about God. All other messengers had
been superseded.
What was the point of Moses and Elijah being there with Christ?
It would have been no less spectacular if they weren't there.
What was their purpose? They represent the Law and Prophets
the Old Covenant. Jesus is the minister of the New Covenant:
Hebrews 12:24 (NASB) and to Jesus, the mediator of a new
covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better
than the blood of Abel.
Hebrews 9:15 (NASB) And for this reason He is the mediator
of a new covenant, in order that since a death has taken
place for the redemption of the transgressions that were
committed under the first covenant, those who have been
called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
On this mountain God is saying in picture form, The Old Covenant
is being superseded by the New Covenant. Jesus has been saying
and doing things that go against the Law:
Mark 7:18 (NASB) And He said to them, "Are you so lacking
in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever
goes into the man from outside cannot defile him;
Do you understand how radical this statement is? To the
Pharisees and any Jew this statement went against their dietary
laws. Food was a major consideration under the Old Covenant as
is clear from even a superficial reading of Leviticus 11.
What do we do when there is a conflict between what Jesus
teaches and what the Law taught? God the father said, "Listen to
Jesus." The Old Covenant was to fade away in significance during
the life time of the disciples:
Hebrews 8:13 (NASB) When He said, "A new covenant," He
has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming
obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.
Moses and Elijah were there so God could say it is now time to
listen to my Son.
Mark 9:8 (NASB) And all at once they looked around and saw
no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.
Suddenly, Moses and Elijah were gone. God had spoken. He had
singled out His Son. And now all that filled their vision was
Christ. What God was saying was that His Son, Christ, was of
supreme significance. All the other things were to point to
Him.
What a vision! What an experience! I'm sure they could hardly
wait to relate it to the other disciples. But Jesus forbids them:
Mark 9:9 (NASB) And as they were coming down from the
mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what
they had seen, until the Son of Man should rise from the
dead.
The word "orders" was a military term for placing under orders.
He gave them orders not to say anything until He had risen from
the dead. Jesus did not want the message to be His
transfiguration. He wanted the message to be His Cross and
resurrection. While the transfiguration is an interesting story, it
cannot save anyone. The Cross is Christ's redemptive work. It is
the Cross we preach.
Mark 9:10 (NASB) And they seized upon that statement,
discussing with one another what rising from the dead might
mean.
These same three, Peter, James, and John had been present at
the raising from the dead of Jairus' daughter and the disciples
had been with Jesus in Nain where He raised the widow's son
from the dead. Their questioning and debating did not merely
deal with what was meant by Jesus' statement of rising from the
dead. It dealt more with the prophetic significance of it. What
did it mean in relationship to the future kingdom and the
suffering their friend Jesus was beginning to talk about.
Would you have liked to have been on that mountain to have
seen the transfiguration? Do you think that if you had been
there and had seen this it would have made an impact on your
Christian life? Notice again what Peter says:
2 Peter 1:16-18 (NASB) For we did not follow cleverly
devised tales when we made known to you the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of
His majesty. 17 For when He received honor and glory from
God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him
by the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I
am well-pleased"-- 18 and we ourselves heard this utterance
made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy
mountain.
Peter is saying, I was on the mountain, I saw Him glow with
brilliant light, I heard the voice of God say "This is my beloved
Son." We may think that Peter's confidence was built upon his
presence on that Mt. of Transfiguration, because he was there, he
saw and he heard. But the next verse in 2 Peter shows us were
Peter found his confidence:
2 Peter 1:19-20 (NASB) And so we have the prophetic word
made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to
a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the
morning star arises in your hearts. 20 But know this first of
all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own
interpretation,
Peter is saying that the Word of God, that we have before us this
morning is more sure than that experience on the mountain top,
that the Word is even a greater reality than what was seen and
heard.
Why is the written Word more sure than the transfiguration
experience? Your remembrance of an experience can change we
forget or even embellish. The written word is unchangeable! We
can read it over and over, and it will always say the same thing.
We may marvel at what it would have been like to see the Glory
of the Lord, to hear the voice of the Father and yet every time
we open the Bible, that is exactly what we are privileged to see
and privileged to hear.
And so I would ask you: Have you been listening to Jesus Christ?
He has spoken to us clearly through His Word. He leaves no room
for speculation on what constitutes life and joy and God's
purpose for humanity. Listen to Him!
Media #351a
Delivered 10/8/2006
Last week in our study of Mark we looked at the Transfiguration,
and in that text Peter calls Jesus "Rabbi." This morning I want us
to look at that idea:
Mark 9:5 (NASB) And Peter answered and said to Jesus,
"Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three
tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for
Elijah."
Peter calls Jesus "Rabbi" because He was a Jewish Rabbi. Many
Christians don't understand this. Have you ever seen the bumper
sticker, "My boss is a Jewish Carpenter"? How accurate is that?
Mark 6:3 (NASB) "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? Are
not His sisters here with us?" And they took offense at Him.
The word "carpenter" is the Greek word tekton, which actually
means: "a craftsman who builds." Given that Israel's buildings
were constructed of stones and rocks, Jesus likely worked as a
stonemason rather than a carpenter. He probably spent hours
helping His father shape and cut stones. Knowing that Jesus is a
stonemason, look at what Peter has to say:
1 Peter 2:5 (NASB) you also, as living stones, are being built
up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Peter tells his readers that they are living stones being shaped by
the master stonemason, Jesus Christ.
So Jesus was not a carpenter, but He did work with His father as
a stonemason. But what I want us to understand is that Jesus
was a Jewish Rabbi. He didn't spend His adult life building
houses but building kingdom citizens. Jesus functioned in first
century Israel as a man who was a Jewish Rabbi. If you want to
understand Jesus and His teaching, you need to understand
something of the Jewish Rabbis.
Let me back up a minute. Before we look at Jesus the Rabbi, I
want you to understand that Jesus of Nazareth was God made
man. In theological language, this is called the doctrine of the
Hypostatic Union, which is the doctrine of the personal union of
the two natures, the divine and the human, of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ is 100% God and 100% man. This is where we
get the theological term "theanthropic," which comes from
theos, which means: "God and anthropos," which means: "man."
Jesus Christ is the God-Man. He is One person with two natures.
If you have trouble understanding the doctrine of the Hypostatic
Union, you're not alone. Daniel Webster, the 19
th
-century
statesman, once dined in Boston with several eminent literary
figures. Soon the conversation turned to Christianity. Webster, a
convinced Christian, confessed his belief in Christ and His
atoning work. A Unitarian minister at the table responded, "Mr.
Webster, can you comprehend how Jesus Christ could be both
God and Man?"
"No, sir, I cannot understand it," replied Webster, "and I would
be ashamed to acknowledge Christ as my Saviour if I could
comprehend it. He could be no greater than myself, and such is
my conviction of accountability to God, my sense of sinfulness
before Him, and my knowledge of my own incapacity to recover
myself, that I feel I need a superhuman Saviour."
There is plenty of scriptural evidence that Jesus is God. The Old
Testament taught that the Messiah would be God:
Micah 5:2 (NASB) "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too
little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go
forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from
long ago, From the days of eternity."
This One who is to be born in Bethlehem is eternal. The only
person that is eternal is God. Jesus Christ is eternal God. The New
Testament also affirms this:
John 1:1-3 (NASB) In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the
beginning with God. 3 All things came into being by Him,
and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come
into being.
"The beginning" is before all beginnings, prior to the beginning
of Genesis 1:1. The phrase could be rendered "from all eternity."
John, in this verse, establishes the preexistence of Christ in
eternity past. He already "was" when the beginning took place.
Notice what Jesus said to the Jews of His day:
John 8:58 (NASB) Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to
you, before Abraham was born, I am."
Jesus made this staggering statement using the "Tetragramatin,"
which is the Old Testament sacred name for God. Jesus is saying
that He, a man, pre-existed the patriarch Abraham, who lived
2,000 years earlier.
Exodus 3:14 (NASB) And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I
AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I
AM has sent me to you.'"
This is referring to absolute existence. By doing so, Jesus Christ
claimed an existence that was timeless. There never was a time
when Jesus Christ was not. He knows no past nor future. The
Jews at the feast well knew that Jesus claimed to be eternal God,
look at their response:
John 8:59 (NASB) Therefore they picked up stones to throw
at Him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple.
His enemies knew that He claimed to be God. There are many
today who claim to be Christians who don't even know what
Jesus's enemies knew-- He claimed to be God.
Jesus, who is eternal God, became a man. We call this the
incarnation, which comes from two Latin words, "in" plus
"cargo," meaning: "infleshment, the act of assuming flesh." God
chose to become united to true humanity. Paul teaches this in:
Philippians 2:5-6 (NASB) Have this attitude in yourselves
which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in
the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to
be grasped,
Verse 6 teaches us that Jesus Christ is God. This is where the
incarnation begins, this is the point from which He descends,
God becomes man. The word "form" is morphe. It has nothing to
do with shape or size. Multin and Millagan say that "morphe" is a
form which truly and fully expresses the being which under lies
it. Morphe is the essential character of something. Jesus Christ
pre-existed in the essence of God.
Verse 6 says that Christ, "did not regard equality with God a
thing to be grasped," The word "grasped" is from the Greek word
harpogmos, which means: "to take by force, to seize." It is used
only here in the Scriptures. The noun refers to: "taking an
attitude of seizing something." Our Lord did not consider the
expression of His Divine essence such a treasure that it should be
retained at all costs. He was willing to wave His rights to the
expression of His Deity.
Let me give you a Curtis paraphrase of verse 6: "Who always
being the exact essence of the eternal God, did not consider
equality with God as something that must be demonstrated."
The word "equality" is isos, and it means: "exactly the same, in
size, quality, quantity, character and number." We use it this
way in English, for example: Isomer-- is a chemical molecule
having a slightly different structure from another molecule but
being identical with it in terms of its chemical elements and
weight. Its schema may be different, but its morphe is the same.
Isomorph -- is having the same form. Isometric -- is equal in
number. Isosceles triangle -- is one with two equal sides .
Paul is saying that Jesus Christ is exactly equal with God. Is God
omniscient? Then so is Jesus Christ. Is God omnipresent? Then so
is Jesus Christ. Is God omnipotent? Then so is Jesus Christ. Is God
the creator? Then so is Jesus Christ. Is God the beginning and
end? Then so is Jesus Christ. But He did not consider His equality
with God as a prize that had to be hung on to. He is equal with
God in every way, but while he walked the earth, He didn't look
equal to God, He looked just like a man.
Jesus Christ didn't grasp or clutch or cling to His rights but:
Philippians 2:7 (NASB) but emptied Himself, taking the form
of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
The word "but" here is a contrastive--"not this but this." The
word "emptied" is the Greek word kenoo, it means: "to make
empty." Figuratively, it means: "to abase, naturalize, to make of
none effect, of no reputation."
This is what theologians call the Doctrine of the Kenosis --the
self emptying of Jesus Christ. What did Jesus empty Himself of?
John 17:5 (NASB) "And now, glorify Thou Me together with
Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before
the world was.
He is asking to have His glory restored, because His glory was put
aside when He became man. The Greek noun for "glory" here is
doxa. At first the verb meant: "to appear" or "to seem," and then
in time the noun doxa, that came from it, then meant: "an
opinion." In time the noun was used only for having a good
opinion about some person, and the verb came to mean: "the
praise" or "honor" due to one of whom a good opinion was held.
If a man had a right opinion about God, this meant that he was
able to form a correct opinion of God's attributes. The orthodox
Jew knew God as all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present,
merciful, faithful, holy, just, loving, and so on with all His other
perfections. When he acknowledged this, he was said to give
glory to God. God's glory consisted of His intrinsic worth
embedded in His character, and all that could be known of God
was merely an expression of it.
Our word "worth" is somewhat equal to the word "glory." The
worth refers to intrinsic character. The worth of a man is his
character. Have you ever heard someone say, "That person is
worthless." By this they mean he has no character. The worth of
God is God's glory. When we praise God, we are acknowledging
His worth-ship. We shorten that word and we get worship. That
is what worship is, folks, it's acknowledging God's worth.
There is another and entirely different meaning of the word
"glory," which is: "light or splendor." In Hebrew thought, an
outward manifestation of God's presence involved a display of
light. This brilliant outward manifestation of God's presence was
described by the word shekinah, and in the Greek Old Testament
the word "doxa" is often used to translate it.
Put these two meanings of the word glory together and you have
a clear picture of Christ's oneness with God and of the humbling
of Himself that went with the kenosis. When He became a man,
He laid aside the brilliant manifestation of His glory. Secondly,
he veiled his glory in the sense that He did not demonstrate His
attributes. He did not walk this earth in the power of deity, He
walked this earth in the power of the Holy Spirit, in total
dependence.
From His own will, Jesus Christ did not use His attributes to
benefit Himself. They were not surrendered, but voluntarily
restricted in keeping with the Father's plan. Christ gave up any
independent exercise of certain divine attributes in living among
men with their human limitations that He might become truly
man. dependence is a necessary characteristic or real humanity.
Christ lived in dependence upon the Holy Spirit in all that He did
while He walked this earth.
In Matthew 4, the temptations of Christ were related to His deity
and the kenosis. His humanity longed for what His deity could
have provided. He did not exercise the prerogatives of His deity
but was dependant upon the Father.
Jesus was the God/man, but He lived and functioned as a man.
We must understand that He lived and functioned as a man in
first century Israel. If we are going to understand this, we must
get involved in Isagogics. Isagogics is a word that has all but
disappeared from English-language dictionaries. It is from the
Greek eis, "into," and ago, "to lead." In English, an "isagoge" is
an introduction. "Isogogic," Is defined in the 1955 Oxford English
Dictionary as "introductory studies, especially that part of
theology which is introductory to exegesis."
lsagogics is the study of the historical and cultural background of
Biblical passages. The Bible must be interpreted in light of the
time in which it was written. All Scripture was written for every
believer (2 Tim. 3:16) but not all Scripture was written to every
believer. If our goal is to understand what the writer wanted his
readers to understand, then we have to know something about
history.
Jesus the Jewish Rabbi
From accounts found in Jewish sources, one can form a
reasonably accurate picture of what Jesus was doing in His
childhood and adolescence. He was studying, committing to
memory large amounts of material -- Scripture and commentary
on Scripture -- all the available sacred literature of the day.
This was exactly what most of the other Jewish boys of Jesus'
day were doing. The memorization of written and oral Torah was
such a large part of Jewish education that most contemporaries
of Jesus had large portions of this material -- at the least almost
all of the Scriptures -- firmly committed to memory.
Professor and Rabbi Shmuel Safrai, who was professor emeritus of
Jewish History of the Mishnaic and Talmudic Period at the
Hebrew University, writes this:
The Scriptures were known almost by heart by everyone. From
quite early in the Second Temple period, one could hardly find a
little boy in the street who didn't know the Scriptures. According
to Jerome (342-420 A.D.) who lived in Bethlehem and learned
Hebrew from local Jewish residents in order to translate the
Scriptures into Latin [producing the Vulgate Bible]: "There
doesn't exist any Jewish child who doesn't know by heart the
history from Adam to Zerubbabel [i.e., from the beginning to the
end of the Bible]." Perhaps this was a bit of an exaggeration on
Jerome's part, but in most cases his reports have proved reliable.
("Safrai," lecture on June 5, 1985)
Jesus was born, grew up, and spent His ministry among people
who knew the Scripture by memory, who debated its application
with enthusiasm, and who loved God with all their hearts, all
their souls, and all their might (Deut. 6:5). God prepared this
environment carefully so that Jesus would have exactly the
context He needed to present His message of "the kingdom of
heaven." He fit his world perfectly. Understanding this helps to
understand the great faith and courage of His followers who left
Galilee and went to the whole world to bring the good news.
Their courage, their message, the methods they used, and their
complete devotion to God and his Word were born in the
religious communities in Galilee.
Capernaum was a small village of about 2,500 people. We might
think of it as just some small hick town. This would be wrong. It
was, in its day, Harvard or Yale. If you take the Mishnah - the
record of Jewish thinking from A.D. 0 - 100 - there are more
quotes from Rabbis of Capernaum than all the rest of the Rabbis
of the world put together. The Synagogue school found in
Capernaum is four times larger than any other Synagogue school
found until the 1500's. This is the world where Jesus ministered.
A world highly educated in the Word of God.
By the time Jesus began his public ministry, He had not only
received the thorough religious training typical of the average
Jewish man of His day, He had probably spent years studying
with one of the outstanding rabbis in the Galilee. Jesus thus
appeared on the scene as a respected Rabbi Himself.
The term "rabbi" is derived from the Hebrew word rav, which in
biblical Hebrew meant "much, many, numerous, great." It also
was sometimes used to refer to high government officials or army
officers (e.g., Jeremiah 39:3,13).
In Jesus' day, rav was used to refer to the master of a slave or of
a disciple. Thus rabi literally meant "my master" and was a term
of respect used by slaves in addressing their owners and by
disciples in addressing their teachers.
The term rabbi in the time of Jesus did not necessarily refer to a
specific office or occupation. That would be true only after the
Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed (A.D. 70 ). Rather, it was a
word meaning: "great one; or my master," which was applied to
many kinds of people in everyday speech. It clearly was used as a
term of respect for one's teacher as well, even though the formal
position of rabbi would come later. Calling Jesus "Rabbi" by the
people of His day is a measure of their great respect for Him as a
person and as a teacher and not just a reference to the activity
of teaching He was engaged in.
Many people in Jesus' day referred to Him as Rabbi. His disciples;
John 4:31 (NASB) In the meanwhile the disciples were
requesting Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."
The Pharisees called Him Rabbi:
John 3:1-2 (NASB) Now there was a man of the Pharisees,
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to
Him by night, and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You
have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these
signs that You do unless God is with him."
A Sadducee called Him Rabbi:
Luke 20:27-28 (NASB) Now there came to Him some of the
Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection), 28 and
they questioned Him, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us
that IF A MAN'S BROTHER DIES, having a wife, AND HE IS
CHILDLESS, HIS BROTHER SHOULD TAKE THE WIFE AND RAISE
UP OFFSPRING TO HIS BROTHER.
A lawyer called Him Rabbi:
Matthew 22:35-36 (NASB) And one of them, a lawyer, asked
Him a question, testing Him, 36 "Teacher, which is the great
commandment in the Law?"
The crowds called Him Rabbi:
John 6:25 (NASB) And when they found Him on the other
side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You get
here?"
Note the diversity of those who addressed Jesus as Rabbi: a
lawyer, a rich man, Pharisees, Sadducees, and ordinary people.
Clearly, there was a wide range of Jesus' contemporaries who saw
Him as a rabbi.
What was it like to be a first century Rabbi?
From the Gospel accounts, Jesus clearly appears as a typical first-
century Rabbi, or Jewish teacher. He traveled from place to
place; He depended upon the hospitality of the people; He
taught outdoors, in homes, in villages, in synagogues and in the
Temple; He had disciples who followed Him as He traveled. This
is the very image of a Jewish teacher in the land of Israel at that
time.
Perhaps the most convincing proof that Jesus was a Rabbi was
His style of teaching, for He used the same methods of scripture
interpretation and instruction as other Jewish teachers of His
day. A simple example of this is Jesus' use of parables to convey
His teachings. Parables such as Jesus used were extremely
prevalent among ancient Jewish sages and over 4,000 of them
have survived in rabbinic literature.
In Jesus day there were two types of rabbis. The first were called
Torah teachers. The word Torah is used to speak of the first five
books of the Bible. Torah teachers were people who were
considered to be masters of the Torah, which meant they knew
the first five books of the Bible by memory. Secondly, they were
master teachers, they could use parables and alliteration. They
were recognized by the community as teachers of God's Word. A
Torah teacher could only teach what the community believed was
right. They could not come up with new teachings. A Torah
teacher would teach in three parts like this:
1. It is written he would quote the text by memory.
2. And that means he would explain using parables or stories.
3. According to and then he would quote one of their Rabbis as
authority to the meaning he had given for the text.
These men were brilliant teachers but were limited by the
authority of others. In Jesus world there was also a small group
of what are called Rabbis with semikhah. We know of about a
dozen of them by name that lived from 30 B.C to A.D. 70. They
were not common, and they didn't exist in Judea.
What is a Rabbi with semikhah? They were masters of the
Torah and the Haftorah. Haftorah is a Hebrew word that simply
means: "the rest." They were masters of the whole Old
Testament. The Jews call it the Tanakh, which is an acronym
that identifies the Hebrew Bible. The acronym is based on the
initial Hebrew letters of each of the text's three parts: 1.Torah,
meaning "Instruction" "The five books of Moses," also called the
"Pentateuch". 2. Nevi'im, meaning "Prophets." 3. Ketuvim,
meaning "Writings" or "Hagiographa".
These Rabbis knew the entire Tanakh by memory. How many
verses could you recite right now by memory from the Old
Testament? Think of the time commitment to memorize the
entire Tanakh.
They were also master teachers who were recognized by the
community, and many of them were healers. Most miracles that
Jesus did except for raising the dead, these Rabbis with
semikhah did. They cast out demons, healed the blind and lepers,
fed people, caused storms. So most of the miracles Jesus did were
done by the Rabbis of His day who had semikhah. The Mishnah
records 150-180 miracles done by other Rabbis with semikhah.
Because of their unique ability to teach Torah and heal, they
received what was know as semikhah. Semikhah means:
"authority." They had the authority to teach new ideas. They
were so close to God that He had given them new insight into His
Word. Hillell, Shammai, Gamliel were all Rabbi's that had
semikhah. This was their teaching method:
1. It was written
2. You have heard that that means this.
3. But I tell you it means this.
Do you recognize that form of teaching? This is how Jesus
taught.
Matthew 5:27-28 (NASB) "You have heard that it was said,
'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; 28 but I say to you,
that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has
committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Notice what the people said of Jesus' teaching:
Mark 1:22 (NASB) And they were amazed at His teaching; for
He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as
the scribes.
Jesus was one of this select group that were considered teachers
with authority to make new teaching.
How do you get semikhah? You had to have the Tanakh
memorized, as well as the Mishnah, and be a gifted teacher. You
also had to have two other Rabbis with semikhah who publically
put their hands on your head and declare from God that you had
God's authority. When that happened, you were considered a
Rabbi who could make new teachings. Over and over in the New
Testament people come to Jesus and ask Him where did You get
the authority to say that?
Matthew 21:23 (NASB) And when He had come into the
temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to
Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are
You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?"
What they are saying is: Who gave you semikhah? Who were your
two Rabbis?
There is a Jewish Rabbinic technic, that is commonly used to this
day, where they would begin a debate or dialogue with a
question. And the response from the group comes in the form of
a question. The question that comes is first of all an answer to
the first question, and it also extends it to a deeper level.
Luke 2:46-47 (NASB) And it came about that after three days
they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the
teachers, both listening to them, and asking them questions.
47 And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding
and His answers.
Jesus was asking questions, and they were amazed at His
questions. We see many times in Jesus' teaching ministry that He
will respond to a question with a question. And in His question is
the answer.
Luke 20:1-2 (NASB) And it came about on one of the days
while He was teaching the people in the temple and
preaching the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes
with the elders confronted Him, 2 and they spoke, saying to
Him, "Tell us by what authority You are doing these things,
or who is the one who gave You this authority?"
To this Jesus responds in the typical Rabbinic fashion with a
question:
Luke 20:3-4 (NASB) And He answered and said to them, "I
shall also ask you a question, and you tell Me: 4 "Was the
baptism of John from heaven or from men?"
He is asking, Did John get his authority, his semikhah, from God
or man? Now remember His question answers theirs. Their
question was where did you get semikhah? And His question to
them was, where did John get semikhah? What did He just tell
them? I got semikhah from John. When did John declare God's
authority being in Jesus?
John 1:29-30 (NASB) The next day he saw Jesus coming to
him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world! 30 "This is He on behalf of whom I said,
'After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He
existed before me.'
Who is the second one to declare God's authority on Jesus?
Mark 1:10-11 (NASB) And immediately coming up out of the
water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a
dove descending upon Him; 11 and a voice came out of the
heavens: "Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-
pleased."
Jesus is the only Rabbi in history who got his semikhah directly
from God Himself.
These Rabbis with semikhah had talmid or disciples. Torah
teachers did not have disciples, only Rabbis with semikhah had
talmidim. Jesus was not the only Rabbi who had talmidim. What
made Jesus stand out was His age. He was only in His early
thirties. Apart from Jesus, the youngest Rabbi that we know of
with semikhah was Akiba and he was sixty. Hillell got his when
he was 70, Shammai, when he was 85. How could Jesus have
semikhah at 30? That is part of what blew them away. How could
Jesus know the Tanakh so well in only 30 years?
Each of these Rabbis with semikhah had their own way of coming
up with new teaching. And that method of interpretation was
called their "yoke." The yoke of Torah is the way you take the
burden of keeping Torah on your shoulder. You do it according to
their method. Every Rabbi had a different yoke. Torah teachers
would teach the accepted interpretations, or yoke, of their
community.
If you wanted to know what a Rabbi with semikhah's yoke, was
you would simply ask him, "What is the greatest commandment?"
The greatest commandment will tell you what his yoke is. What
was Jesus' yoke?
Matthew 22:36-40 (NASB) "Teacher, which is the great
commandment in the Law?" 37 And He said to him, "'YOU
SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART,
AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' 38
"This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "The
second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS
YOURSELF.' 40 "On these two commandments depend the
whole Law and the Prophets."
This was Jesus' yoke. Other rabbi's had other yokes. So the talmid
would test the various Rabbi's to find out what their yoke was.
We see this happening often to Jesus in the Bible. Various people
came to Him to test His yoke. They wanted to know if His
interpretation fit the Torah. Now picture that you have these
different Rabbi's with their different yokes all really trying to
understand the Torah. Then along comes Jesus and says:
Matthew 11:28-30 (NASB) "Come to Me, all who are weary
and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke
upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in
heart; and YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 "For
My yoke is easy, and My load is light."
Jesus is saying: Does your yoke tire you out? Come and take my
yoke. He was probably not speaking to unsaved people burdened
with sin but people unsure of the many interpretations they
heard in the dynamic religious debate in Galilee. What is Jesus'
yoke? Love God with everything in you, and love your neighbor
as yourself. Is that an easy yoke? Easy to understand, not
necessarily to do. Yoke gives you the picture of an animal with a
yoke pulling a burden. The burden is keeping the will of God,
which is going to take hard work. Do you think it is easy to obey
God? No, it's difficult and in order to do it, you must have a
yoke. Your yoke is your way of interpreting the Torah.
In Jesus' day the great teachers used a technique today called
remez or hint, in which they used part of a Scripture passage in
discussion, assuming their audience's knowledge of the Bible
would allow them to deduce for themselves fuller meaning.
Apparently, Jesus used this method often.
An example of this is Jesus' comments to Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-
10). Jesus said:
Luke 19:10 (NASB) "For the Son of Man has come to seek and
to save that which was lost."
The background to this statement is probably Ezekiel 34. God,
angry with the leaders of Israel for scattering and harming his
flock (the people of Israel) states the He Himself will become the
Shepherd and will seek the lost ones and deliver (save) them.
Based on this, the people of Jesus' day understood that the
Messiah to come would "seek and save" the lost. By using this
phrase, knowing the people knew the Scripture, Jesus said
several things. To the people He said, "I am the Messiah and God
no less." To the leaders (whose influence kept Zacchaeus out of
the crowd) he said "You have scattered and harmed God's flock."
To Zacchaeus He said, "You are one of God's lost sheep, He still
loves you."
This technique indicated a brilliant understanding of Scripture
and incredible teaching skills on Jesus' part. It also demonstrates
the background knowledge of Scripture the common people had.
Believer, do you want to understand the words of Jesus?
Understand that He was a Jewish Rabbi, He taught using the
methods and techniques of a Rabbi. He taught to people who
knew the word. So if you really want to understand the teaching
of Jesus, learn the scripture! The more you know the Bible, the
more you will understand the words of Jesus. Read it, and re-
read, and re-read it until it comes out of you in all your speech
and actions.
Media #351b
Where's Elijah?
Mark 9:11-29
Peter, James, and John had been with Jesus on the mountain
and had seen Jesus transfigured before them. They had seen Him
glow with the glory of God, and they had heard the Father say,
"This is My beloved Son, [My Chosen One (Luke), with whom I
am well-pleased (Matthew)]; listen to Him!" "Listen" is strong
and means: "take notice and obey." He was greater than Moses,
He was greater than Elijah. In Him came the full truth about God.
He was the long awaited promised Messiah.
On their way down from the mountain they question their Rabbi:
Mark 9:11-13 (NASB) And they asked Him, saying, "Why is it
that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" 12 And He
said to them, "Elijah does first come and restore all things.
And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He should
suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 "But I
say to you, that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him
whatever they wished, just as it is written of him."
The disciples are thinking: You're the Messiah, we get that, but
we've been taught that Elijah will come before the Messiah.
What's up with that? Since you are the Messiah, what happened
to Elijah? What about that prophecy?
The Jewish New Testament translates verse 11 this way:
Mark 9:11 (JNT) They also asked him, "Why do the Torah-
teachers say that Eliyahu has to come first?"
They had been taught by the Torah-teachers that Elijah would
come before the Messiah. Where did this teaching come from:
Malachi 3:1 (NASB) "Behold, I am going to send My
messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the
Lord, whom you seek , will suddenly come to His temple;
and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight,
behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts.
Who is Malachi referring to as the messenger? The coming
messenger that Malachi speaks of is Elijah:
Malachi 4:5-6 (NASB) "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah
the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day
of the LORD. 6 "And he will restore the hearts of the fathers
to their children, and the hearts of the children to their
fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse."
The question that perplexed the Jews of Jesus' day regarding
Malachi 3:1 and 4:5-6 was whether these two Scriptures were
dealing with a literal Elijah who was expected to return to earth
or to one who would be a type of Elijah who was to come before
the Messiah to prepare the way before Him and to draw back the
hearts of the nation towards God.
The Pharisees' interpretation was to presume that the actual
Elijah who had been translated into Heaven (2 Kings 2:11) was
the one who would return to earth and so be the forerunner of
the Messiah. They had no reason to understand the passage in
any other way. Apart from the teaching of Jesus, we wouldn't
know that this prophecy was referring to John.
It is only in the New Testament that we learn that John the
Baptist is the Elijah of Malachi. The disciples knew the prophecy
about Elijah; apparently they thought it would be fulfilled
physically. It was actually, literally fulfilled, but it was not
physically fulfilled. This is an important interpretive principle;
something can be fulfilled literally and spiritually, but not
physically. John came in the spirit of Elijah. Speaking to
Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth about John, the angel said:
Luke 1:17 (NASB) "And it is he who will go as a forerunner
before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE
HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the
disobedient to the attitude of the righteous; so as to make
ready a people prepared for the Lord."
Here the prophecy of Elijah is said to be fulfilled in John. John
will be a forerunner in the spirit and power of Elijah. The Jews
expected the reappearance of the literal Elijah, and John replies
to that mistaken notion in:
John 1:21 (NASB) And they asked him, "What then? Are you
Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And
he answered, "No."
When the priests and Levites asked their question in John 1:21,
they had in mind the actual Elijah, and it's to this question that
John the Baptist answers that he's not the Old Testament
prophet, without detracting from himself being the typification
of Malachi's passage. I think if they would have asked him
whether he was the fulfillment of that Malachi's prophecy, they
would have gotten a different answer!
John is like the prophet in the sense that he moves in the same
spirit and power as he did in his day and that, like Elijah in I
Kings chapters 17-18, his ministry was to restore Israel.
Many commentators and teachers today say that John did not
fulfill the prophecy of Elijah in Malachi 4. This against the clear
teaching of Jesus that he did. Instead of taking Jesus at His
Word, they look for a future fulfillment because they say that
John did not restore all things.
Malachi 4 (NASB) "For behold, the day is coming, burning
like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be
chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze," says
the LORD of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root
nor branch." 2 "But for you who fear My name the sun of
righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will
go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. 3 "And you
will tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the
soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing," says the
LORD of hosts. 4 "Remember the law of Moses My servant,
even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in
Horeb for all Israel. 5 "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah
the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day
of the LORD. 6 "And he will restore the hearts of the fathers
to their children, and the hearts of the children to their
fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse."
Verse 5 is the only prophecy of the coming of Elijah. Notice that
He comes before the great and terrible day of the Lord. We see in
Malachi 4 two groups of people; one being judged and one being
transformed and restored. If you listen to this messenger, you
will enter into the restoration and miss the wrath (4:2).
The majority of Israel did not hear John's message. Because of
this, God was going to strike the land with a curse (4:6b). John
prepared the way. Those who listened to John came into the
kingdom. This message of salvation or restoration came in John.
Many scholars say that John didn't restore anything. But look at
what the scripture says:
Isaiah 40:3 (NASB) A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the
LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a
highway for our God.
Picture this imagery a highway is being prepared in the
wilderness. This is restoration language.
Isaiah 40:4 (NASB) "Let every valley be lifted up, And every
mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground
become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
The valleys are lifted up and the mountains are made low. A way
is being prepared for the Lord, and John is the one preparing it.
These verses from Isaiah are quoted in Luke 3 of John's ministry.
Listen to this passage from Isaiah and see if it sounds familiar to
you:
Isaiah 49:8-10 (NASB) Thus says the LORD, "In a favorable
time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have
helped You; And I will keep You and give You for a covenant
of the people, To restore the land, to make them inherit the
desolate heritages; 9 Saying to those who are bound, 'Go
forth,' To those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves.' Along
the roads they will feed, And their pasture will be on all bare
heights. 10 "They will not hunger or thirst, Neither will the
scorching heat or sun strike them down; For He who has
compassion on them will lead them, And will guide them to
springs of water.
This is restoration language in Isaiah. Notice the end of verse 8.
Do verses 9-10 sound familiar? The One who has compassion will
lead them:
Mark 6:34 (NASB) And when He went ashore, He saw a great
multitude, and He felt compassion for them because they
were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach
them many things.
These verses spoke of Christ, the bound are going forth; the
hungry are being fed. Jesus has compassion on them and feeds
them. Notice the next verses in Isaiah:
Isaiah 49:11-12 (NASB) "And I will make all My mountains a
road, And My highways will be raised up. 12 "Behold, these
shall come from afar; And lo, these will come from the north
and from the west, And these from the land of Sinim."
This is the same as Isaiah 40:3, this was John's function as Elijah.
John prepared the way and then many came from afar; the North
and West. Compare this with:
Mark 3:7-8 (NASB) And Jesus withdrew to the sea with His
disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee (that's North),
followed; and also from Judea, 8 and from Jerusalem, and
from Idumea (that's South), and beyond the Jordan,(that's
West), and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon,(that's East), a great
multitude heard of all that He was doing and came to Him.
Is Jesus fulfilling Isaiah in Mark? Yes, absolutely, but not
everyone is seeing it!
Isaiah 65:8-10 (NASB) Thus says the LORD, "As the new wine
is found in the cluster, And one says, 'Do not destroy it, for
there is benefit in it,' So I will act on behalf of My servants
In order not to destroy all of them. 9 "And I will bring forth
offspring from Jacob, And an heir of My mountains from
Judah; Even My chosen ones shall inherit it, And My servants
shall dwell there. 10 "And Sharon shall be a pasture land for
flocks, And the valley of Achor a resting place for herds, For
My people who seek Me.
This is speaking of the remnant of Israel. They heard and saw
and believed. What happened to those who did not believe?
Isaiah 65:11-13 (NASB) "But you who forsake the LORD, Who
forget My holy mountain, Who set a table for Fortune, And
who fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny, 12 I will destine
you for the sword, And all of you shall bow down to the
slaughter. Because I called, but you did not answer; I spoke,
but you did not hear. And you did evil in My sight, And chose
that in which I did not delight." 13 Therefore, thus says the
Lord GOD, "Behold, My servants shall eat, but you shall be
hungry. Behold, My servants shall drink, but you shall be
thirsty. Behold, My servants shall rejoice, but you shall be
put to shame.
Many in Israel did not see or hear. But some did. Some responded
to John's teaching as the forerunner of Christ.
Mark 9:13 (NASB) "But I say to you, that Elijah has indeed
come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is
written of him."
If Elijah has come, then so has the day of the Lord. John's
message was one of judgement to those who did not heed his
message of the Messiah:
Matthew 3:10-12 (NASB) "And the axe is already laid at the
root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear
good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 "As for
me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is
coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to
remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit
and fire. 12 "And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He
will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather
His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with
unquenchable fire."
John's message is that of Malachi 4, judgment is coming.
Jesus said that John is the fulfillment of the Elijah prophecy, but
most Bible scholars today don't believe Him. Jesus said, "Elijah
has come." Many today say: How could John have been Elijah,
what did he restore? We saw in Isaiah that he leveled mountains,
he prepared the way. Many don't see it because they look for
physical and not spiritual realities. We now have reconciliation
with God, we now have Christ's righteousness. This is far superior
to any physical blessing. These blessings are eternal. John didn't
physically level mountains but he did spiritually. John prepared
the Way, and only those with spiritual eyes can see it.
John was not a partial forerunner of Elijah, he is the fulfillment
of the prophecy, and the day of the Lord was right behind his
coming. This was clearly A.D. 70. Elijah's coming was directly
connected to the day of the Lord.
We should note that if we were to have lived in Jesus' day, we
would probably have taken Malachi's statements with equal
literalism and expected an Old Testament prophet to be
translated back to earth from Heaven and to restore the nation
back into a covenant relationship with God through a return to
obedience to the Law.
So, when we come to passages even in the New Testament that
speak of events which don't appear to have yet taken place, how
are we to know that what is being referred to is to be taken
literally and not figuratively? And even more difficult is that, in
this example, the Old Testament passage couldn't have been
taken as it was written to mean anything other than something
that was literal - it never said that someone in Elijah's power
would come, or someone under a similar anointing, but referred
to the coming one as Elijah himself.
By interpreting the passages in Malachi as being literal, the
scribes missed the coming of the one promised and so did to
John the Baptist whatever they pleased. Therefore, literalism can
be a grave danger to the believer for, in such interpretations, one
can ultimately reject the true fulfillment of prophetic passages.
As Jesus and the three disciples come down from the mountain,
they face a confrontation. Going from the glory on the mountain
to the bickering crowd below presents us with a reality check!
Can you relate to this experience? You've had some indescribable
spiritual experience, and then you walk right into an ugly
confrontation. This is reality! As Christians we must not only
delight in the great experiences of grace but learn how to
maneuver our way through the difficulties of life as well. That's
all part of our Christian walk. And all of it is to be done by faith.
Mark 9:14 (NASB) And when they came back to the disciples,
they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes
arguing with them.
While Jesus and the "inner circle" of disciples were on the
mountain, the other nine weren't sitting around but seeking to
minister to others. A man had brought his son to them hoping to
have him healed. But the demonized boy stumped them. They
couldn't cast out the demon nor heal the boy of his illness, even
though earlier they had ministered mightily in Jesus' name:
Mark 6:7 (NASB) And He summoned the twelve and began to
send them out in pairs; and He was giving them authority
over the unclean spirits;
Mark 6:13 (NASB) And they were casting out many demons
and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing
them.
The Torah-teachers had no compassion for the boy in need or his
father. They just saw this as a time to cast blame on Christ and
His disciples. Finger pointing ensued. Tempers flared. Disciples
defended Christ and His kingdom. Scribes made fun of them and
ridiculed them for doing nothing to relieve the boy. Maybe even
some in the crowd chimed in, thinking that the disciples owed
them an explanation for their inability.
The fact that Torah-teachers (scribes) were there suggests that
they were somewhere in Galilee, from where they would "go
through Galilee" (verse 30) to Capernaum. The Torah-teachers
would have limited authority outside Galilee.
Mark 9:15 (NASB) And immediately, when the entire crowd
saw Him, they were amazed, and began running up to greet
Him.
What question do we need to ask ourselves here? What was this
crowd so amazed about when they saw Jesus? The Amplified New
Testament reads, "And immediately all the crowd, when they saw
Jesus returning from the holy mount, His face and person yet
glistening, were greatly amazed and ran to Him and greeted Him."
The writers of the ANT give a commentary to try to explain
"amazed." There is no scriptural justification for this it is simply
their opinion.
The Greek word translated "amazed" is ekthambeo. It means: "to
throw into terror or amazement; to alarm thoroughly, to terrify."
It is only used four time in the New Testament, all in Mark. What
is the common thread in the three situations: the returned
Rabbi; the agony in the garden; and the appearance of the angel
at the resurrection? It seems to mean a "surprise," whether
sorrowful or joyful, which brings an emotional shock.
Why was the crowd "surprised" at seeing Jesus? It is quite likely
that the disciples had told them that Jesus had gone up into the
mountain and would be there for some time, as had Moses when
he went into a mountain to meet with God. Thus the idea was
settled in their minds that they would not see Jesus for quite a
while, and they were no doubt disappointed by it, while the
failure of the disciples accentuated the fact. Thus they were not
expecting to see Jesus and were quite taken by surprise and
amazed when He arrived at such an opportune time. They clearly
had confidence that He would be able to do something:
Mark 9:16-18 (NASB) And He asked them, "What are you
discussing with them?" 17 And one of the crowd answered
Him, "Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit
which makes him mute; 18 and whenever it seizes him, it
dashes him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and
grinds his teeth, and stiffens out. And I told Your disciples to
cast it out, and they could not do it."
Jesus asks, What's the problem here? What are we arguing about?
So a man from the crowd stepped out. This man had brought his
son who was demon possessed to the disciples. It is interesting
that he equates bringing the son to the disciples as bringing him
to Jesus. He said, "I brought him to You" (meaning to His
disciples). Now just imagine what this father had endured. This
boy from childhood has had this demon that makes his life
absolutely miserable--slams him to the ground; he foams at the
mouth; he grinds his teeth; he stiffens out. Can you imagine a
father watching that in his child? You have to imagine this man
was at the end of his rope. He was at the end of himself. He had
nowhere else to turn. He was desperate.
Mark 9:19 (NASB) And He answered them and said, "O
unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How
long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!"
I think this rebuke, "unbelieving generation," is addressed
specifically to the disciples. He expected more from them. They
had experienced success at casting out demons when they
depended upon God (Mark 6:13). Their failure to help this man
was because of their failure to trust their Rabbi. It was another
instance of what has already been highlighted in every previous
narrative about the disciples, whether of the inner circle or the
rest of them: They do not understand the identity of Jesus and
do not really have trust in Him. Jesus informs them that the
demon could only be exorcised "by prayer," indicating that the
disciples were relying on themselves instead of God.
Disciples were by definition apprentices in training to assume the
role of their Rabbi. Jesus had already sent His disciples out, and
they had healed the sick and driven out demons. Had they not
seen enough to believe?
Matthew 17:17 (NASB) And Jesus answered and said, "O
unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be
with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here
to Me."
Matthew adds the word "perverted." The perfect tense of the verb
"perverted," expresses the condition that exists as long as
unbelief toward Christ and the gospel rules the heart. The
scribes, though extremely knowledgeable, denied the revelation
of God in His Word. The very Scriptures that they studied were
the truths they denied.
Mark 9:20-22 (NASB) And they brought the boy to Him. And
when he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a
convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling about
and foaming at the mouth. 21 And He asked his father, "How
long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From
childhood. 22 "And it has often thrown him both into the
fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do
anything, take pity on us and help us!"
Mark alone records this second conversation which Jesus has
with the father along with the exact circumstances surrounding
the child's deliverance.
"If you can do anything." This father was in torment. He had
come with high hopes to these famed followers of Jesus, a last
desperate chance, but they had been able to do nothing. And his
hopes had faded. Could Jesus do any better? It is sad that this
father's faith in Jesus' power had been weakened from the
powerlessness of His disciples. At this point he doesn't know if
Jesus can do anything--because that's how Jesus' disciples have
represented Him. Of course, Jesus picks up on this. He says,
Excuse me. Did you say if I can do anything?
Mark 9:23 (NASB) And Jesus said to him, "'If You can!' All
things are possible to him who believes."
Jesus was saying, "You have said 'if You can.' To him who
believes (what I can do), all things are possible." The strength of
the argument is not that if the man has sufficient faith the boy
can be healed, but that if the man has sufficient faith in Jesus
Himself then he could be. He must put aside his doubt and have
confidence in Jesus.
Jesus is saying: There's no power shortage here. The problem
here isn't with Me and My power. The problem here is with My
team, and they don't get it yet. You need to understand that
with Me all things are possible. I can do anything!
Now just imagine this. You are a father of this boy and you've
been in agony for years, and absolutely no one has been able to
help. Then up steps this Man who says: I can do anything.
Anything. All things are possible with Me.
The reality is, with Jesus there is no such thing as hopeless.
Some may look at their life and think it's hopeless. Some may
look at their marriage and think it's hopeless. Some may look at
their financial situation and say, "It's hopeless. "There is no
power shortage with Jesus! There is no such thing as hopeless.
The only problem here is a group of men who don't get it. They
don't believe.
This father responds to Jesus with words that have been the
encouragement of many since:
Mark 9:24 (NASB) Immediately the boy's father cried out and
began saying, "I do believe; help my unbelief."
That's a great statement, isn't it? I mean, isn't that where we all
live? Oh God, I believe! Help my unbelief. Out of the honesty of
his weakness, he cast himself on the Lord: Yes, Lord, I do
believe; but I feel my unbelief and I don't know how to handle it.
You make me believe. The moment he said those words, the
moment he cast himself in his weakness back on the Lord, that
was all God wanted.
The reality is when we come together to worship, it's kind of like
being up on the mountain, isn't it? We say, "God, can't we just
set up some tabernacles and stay here? Do we really have to go
back out there?" We see Jesus, and He seems like He glows a
little bit in here. And we say in our hearts with all sincerity, "I
believe that." We sing all these wonderful truths of God in His
greatness and His power. And we believe that, don't we? In our
hearts we say, "Yes, I believe that"!
But then we have to go down the mountain. And by Monday
morning we're starting to feel a little bit of a faith drain. In our
hearts we're saying, "God I believe it; but help my unbelief,
because I'm starting to struggle. I'm starting to run into people
and circumstances, and I'm struggling here to believe."
I believe that this man's request was the same as Jesus' disciples
request in:
Luke 17:5 (NASB) And the apostles said to the Lord,
"Increase our faith!"
They had faith, but it was weak. This father also had faith, but it
too was weak.
Mark 9:25-27 (NASB) And when Jesus saw that a crowd was
rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to
it, "You deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of
him and do not enter him again." 26 And after crying out
and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and
the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said,
"He is dead!" 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and raised
him; and he got up.
This language is very precise. The verb "raised him" is the exact
same one used of Jesus rising from the dead. Jesus did for this
boy what nobody else could do. He appeared to be dead, but out
of that death came life. For the first time in his life he was set
free from bondage. He was alive!
The reality is that Jesus can do for us what nobody else can do.
He alone can give us life. He alone can deliver us. He alone can
set us free. He has the power to give us life.
Jesus setting this boy free was again an evidence that He was the
prophesied Messiah:
Isaiah 61:1 (NASB) The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the
afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To
proclaim liberty to captives, And freedom to prisoners;
Jesus read this verse in the synagogue in Nazareth and then said,
"Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke
4:21).
Mark 9:28-29 (NASB) And when He had come into the house,
His disciples began questioning Him privately, "Why could
we not cast it out?" 29 And He said to them, "This kind
cannot come out by anything but prayer."
It's only Mark who records Jesus' answer to the disciples that this
type of demon could only be cast out by prayer. Some
manuscripts add "and fasting." The majority of manuscripts have
this additional phrase but, because the ones which omit it are
generally considered to be the more reliable, it's normally
accepted by translators that it didn't exist in the original.
"This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer" Don't
misunderstand this. Jesus is not saying: You should have quickly
had a prayer meeting. What is prayer? It is a declaration of our
dependence. When He's talking about prayer, He is talking about
a day-by-day, minute-by-minute dependence upon Him. That's
the essence of prayer. We pray because we know we are fully
dependent upon Jesus to do for us and through us what we
cannot do ourselves.
In their attempt to cast out this demon, the disciples were not
dependent on Jesus; they were dependent on their methodology.
What Jesus is saying is: You have to understand that the only
way you can do this is with Me and My power--your total
dependence upon Me. It's not your programming; it's not your
methodology. It's Me that changes people's lives."
An ongoing lifestyle of faith expresses daily dependence upon
the Lord - looking to Him for daily bread, deliverance from
temptation, and effectiveness in serving Him. When everything
seems to be coming up roses, that's not a problem. But when the
demands of life, the strains of temptation, and pressure of
assorted trials come our way, faith gets a true workout. An
aberrant theology that infiltrated the church over the past few
decades implies that any hardship or trial means a failure of
faith. But the Scripture teaches us just the contrary. The best
lessons on faith are most often learned in times of weakness and
even failure.
Notice Matthew's account of this incident:
Matthew 17:19-20 (NASB) Then the disciples came to Jesus
privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20 And
He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for
truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you
shall say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it
shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you.
Matthew says, "Because of the littleness of your faith." This is
the same word that the Lord uses in:
Matthew 14:31-32 (NASB) And immediately Jesus stretched
out His hand and took hold of him, and said^ to him, "O you
of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 And when they got
into the boat, the wind stopped.
It describes "poverty of faith," a lack of that ability to believe
the Lord and lay hold of His promises. Notice what Jesus says in
verse 20:
Matthew 17:20 (NASB) And He said to them, "Because of the
littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have
faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain,
'Move from here to there,' and it shall move; and nothing
shall be impossible to you.
We all know the importance of faith, but can our faith really
move mountains? Are we to take this literally? Is Jesus saying
that with even a small amount of faith we can change the
landscape? I don't think so. When Jesus spoke about moving
mountains, He was using a phrase which the Jews knew well. A
Rabbi, who could really expound and interpret scripture, and
who could explain and resolve difficulties, was known as an
uprooter, or even a pulverizer, of mountains. To tear up, to
uproot, to pulverize mountains were all regular phrases for
removing difficulties. We see it used this way in:
Zechariah 4:6-7 (NASB) Then he answered and said to me,
"This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by
might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of
hosts. 7 'What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel
you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone
with shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"
The work of rebuilding the temple was so massive it seemed like
a great mountain. Here God promises that by His Spirit, that
great mountain will be leveled into a plain.
He is referring to the mountain of difficulties that would
disappear.
Jesus never meant this to be taken physically and literally. What
good would it do for us to move mountains unless we worked for
a land development firm. What Jesus was saying was: If you have
faith, all difficulties can be solved, and even the hardest tasks
accomplished.
All believers have faith, they have trusted Christ for their
salvation, but most of them are not living in faith, trusting God
in each and every area of their lives. Everyday and in every way
we should be trusting God in our daily lives. But are we? Do we
really trust God? When you are hurting and your life seems to be
coming apart, do you trust God?
Do you understand that there are degrees of faith? We often
think in terms of you either have faith or you don't. But the
Bible talks of various degrees of faith. In Acts 6:8, Stephen was
said to be "full of faith." The Greek word for "full" is pleres,
which means: "complete or mature." In 1 Thessalonians 3:10,
Paul said he wanted to perfect that which was lacking in their
faith. In 2 Thessalonians 1:3, Paul said, "Your faith grows
exceedingly." James talks about "dead" faith in 2:17 and 20, and
he talks about "mature" faith in 2:22.
So the Scriptures speak of: little faith, great faith, weak faith,
strong faith, lacking faith, perfect faith, dead faith, full faith,
growing faith, and increasing faith. There are degrees of faith.
All believers don't have the same amount of faith. Some believers
are weak in faith. Some believers have dead faith.
How can we increase our faith? What is the main factor which
determines the strength of our faith. It is our knowledge of
God. The main explanation of the troubles and difficulties which
most Christians experience in their lives is due to a lack of
knowledge about God. We need to read and re-read the revelation
that God has given of Himself. That is how to develop strong
faith. The more you know God, the more you will trust Him:
Romans 10:17 (NASB) So faith comes from hearing, and
hearing by the word of Christ.
God wants us to trust Him! It pleases God when we trust Him:
Hebrews 11:6 (NASB) And without faith it is impossible to
please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
There is no way we can live a life that is pleasing to God without
trusting Him. God wants us to trust Him. Apart from faith, we
cannot please God. So, apart from faith, it doesn't much matter
what we do.
Media #352a
How To Become Great
Mark 9:30-37
This study will prove irritating for some of you, because the
Gospel of Mark is going to teach us things that are quite contrary
to the way we have been taught. Our culture teaches us that our
interests are the most important, but our text for today is about
dismissing our own interests in favor of others. Our culture
teaches us that we deserve-indeed are entitled to-the best, but
this text is about choosing to be last and servant of all.
In the end of chapter 8 we see the account of Jesus' dialogue
with His disciples at Caesarea Philippi. From Caesarea Philippi
Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up on a high mountain to
pray, and He is transfigured before them. On their way down
from the mountain, they question their Rabbi about Elijah. When
they get down from the mountain a crowd meets them, along
with the rest of the disciples. A man has brought to them his
demon possessed boy, but they could not help him. Jesus
rebukes their unbelief and heals the boy. Mark then tells us that
Jesus passed through Galilee again on his way to Capernaum, and
he stresses the teaching ministry of the Lord to His disciples:
Mark 9:30 (NASB) And from there they went out and began
to go through Galilee, and He was unwilling for anyone to
know about it.
It is evident from the account that our Lord deliberately avoided
the crowds as they went back toward Capernaum. They took the
back roads in order not to be seen; this trip was covert, because
He wanted to spend time with these disciples. This was a time of
private and intense instruction from Jesus to the twelve. This is
the last reference to Galilee in the Gospel of Mark prior to the
Crucifixion.
Jesus had already told the disciples of the passion that would
soon unfold. Just after Peter's triumphant confession of Jesus as
the Christ, our Lord explained the moral necessity of His
suffering, death, and resurrection (Mark 8:31). Now He reiterates
this again.:
Mark 9:31 (NASB) For He was teaching His disciples and
telling them, "The Son of Man is to be delivered into the
hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been
killed, He will rise three days later."
He was always involved in the business of teaching them. Here,
He again brings up the subject of His suffering and death. The
NASB doesn't do justice to the tenses in this text. What He
described was already determined in the mind of God. Young's
Literal Translation does a good job of bringing out the tenses:
Mark 9:31 (YLT) for he was teaching his disciples, and he
said to them, 'The Son of Man is being delivered to the hands
of men, and they shall kill him, and having been killed the
third day he shall rise,'
The Greek text begins with an emphatic term that shows the
necessity of an action as a divine decree, "It is destined that the
Son of Man be delivered over into the hands of men." Jesus did
not want them to miss out on the absolute certainty of what
must take place in Jerusalem. The destiny followed the divine
decree. God had planned all along that His Son suffer on behalf
of sinners.
Some moralize salvation thinking that Jesus' plan was to give us
a good example of how to follow the Golden Rule. His death, for
that reason, was the great tragedy of humanity. It didn't have to
happen since all He wanted to do was to show us how to live and
get along with each other. But the Scriptures clearly teach that
the cross was God's predetermined plan. Peter expressed
something of this in his sermon on the day of Pentecost:
Acts 2:23-24 (NASB) this Man, delivered up by the
predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to
a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24
"And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony
of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its
power.
John also clearly tells us that the death of Christ was in the plan
of God:
Revelation 13:8 (GWT) Everyone living on earth will worship
it, everyone whose name is not written in the Book of Life.
That book belongs to the lamb who was slaughtered before
the creation of the world.
Notice when the Lamb was slaughtered it was in eternity past.
The prophet Isaiah had foretold the suffering and death of
Christ:
Isaiah 53:10 (NASB) But the LORD was pleased To crush Him,
putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt
offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
In eternity past God planned the suffering and death of Jesus
Christ to pay for the sin debt of all God's elect. The disciples
knew the Tanakh; they should have known this!
Mark 9:31 (NASB) For He was teaching His disciples and
telling them, "The Son of Man is to be delivered into the
hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been
killed, He will rise three days later."
"The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of
men." In this announcement of the cross, a new element is
added which has not appeared before. The word translated
"delivered" is the Greek word paradidomi, which means: "turning
over to punishment, imprisonment, or severe judgment." The
verb is used of Judas' betrayal in 3:19. Jesus would be handed
over from one to another; betrayed by Judas, handed over by the
Sanhedrin, passed on to the mocking soldiers by Pilate, and
finally handed over to Pilate to be sentenced to be crucified.
They all had a hand in it. But finally it was God Who delivered
Him up. Without that, no one could have done anything.
"And they will kill Him"; eternal justice stood in the balance at
the cross. The public display of Jesus in His bloody death as the
divine satisfaction (propitiation) fulfilled God's justice so that He
might justly forgive sinners. No kingdom citizenship exists apart
from the cross. No sonship through God adopting us into His
family can take place without the cross. To put it plain and
simple: God could not forgive and save anyone apart from the
satisfaction of His eternal justice that required eternal damnation
for every son of Adam; Christ felt the agony of God's eternal
justice for us at the cross. He had to be killed in such a way; the
Innocent One on behalf of the eternally guilty, so that the guilty
might be declared righteous - and now citizens of God's kingdom
forever.
"He will rise three days later." Disaster will be followed by
triumph. Not for one moment are we to be allowed to
comprehend that God will be defeated. His death would be
followed immediately by resurrection. Death would be defeated,
and God would triumph (Isaiah 53:12). How clearly the disciples
were taught what was to be, and how totally unprepared they
were, because they did not believe Him. Even as they stood at
the empty tomb, they still did not understand the resurrection:
John 20:8-9 (NASB) So the other disciple who had first come
to the tomb entered then also, and he saw and believed. 9
For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He
must rise again from the dead.
The death and resurrection of Christ is "good news," which is the
literal meaning of "gospel." But the disciples didn't see it as good
news. Matthew alone records that the disciples were "deeply
grieved" by this teaching:
Matthew 17:22-23 (NASB) And while they were gathering
together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is
going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23 and they will
kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day." And they
were deeply grieved.
Kittels notes that the Greek word translated here "grieved" is
lupeo, which can mean both "physical pain and mental anguish."
The word implies deep sorrow or distress or what we might term,
"pain in the gut." They just could not get over Jesus being killed.
We know that Christ's promise of resurrection did not make sense
to them, so we find great irony. While Jesus declares the good
news, the disciples can only plunge deeper into sorrow. If the
disciples had their way, no one could have been brought into a
restored relationship with God. We'd all be damned!
The new bit of information that we have here that He's going to
be delivered into the hands of men should cause the disciples to
ask: Who? Who is going to deliver Him? But as we find out in
verse 32, they don't ask any questions:
Mark 9:32 (NASB) But they did not understand this
statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.
They did not understand, because they did not want to. They
were afraid to ask Him, because they did not want what He was
saying to be confirmed. Like a person who might receive bad
news from the doctor and then refuse to ask further questions,
they, too, didn't want to know any more. How often do we reject
what we do not wish to see? How much easier it would have been
for them in the end if they had been willing to believe. But men
do not easily give up their cherished ideas, even if they are
wrong. How often we are like them.
I understand this fear of truth, do you? Often when the truth
goes against what you believe, you don't what to hear it. It may
mean that you have to give up a dearly held belief. I went
through this when I was exposed to preterism. After a brief
conversation on preterism, a friend brought me over two books
on the subject. Those two books sat on my desk for two weeks
before I read them. I'd look at them and think, "If what their
teaching is true, this is going to cost me." I finally read them,
and my deepest fears were confirmed I was convinced that
preterism was true, I was convinced that the Lord Jesus Christ
had returned in the first century just as He said He would. And it
did cost me. I know something of the fear these disciples were
feeling. I in no way want to compare the disciples suffering to
mine. I simply want to say that I understand their fear of a truth
that goes against what we believe.
They did not want to know any more about this subject. They
were expecting a Messiah who would be a political and military
leader. They didn't want to hear about a suffering, dying
Messiah. We all tend to bury our heads in the sand at times, to
think that if we do not look at something, it will go away.
Mark 9:33 (NASB) And they came to Capernaum; and when
He was in the house, He began to question them, "What were
you discussing on the way?"
Capernaum had become the home base for Christ and the
disciples throughout their labors together. This was the last time
they would be together in this house. They didn't respond to
Jesus' question because, I assume, they were ashamed:
Mark 9:34 (NASB) But they kept silent, for on the way they
had discussed with one another which of them was the
greatest.
The disciples had been discussing which one of them was the
greatest. Jesus had just talked to them about His suffering and
death, and they are talking about which of them is the greatest.
We don't really know what precipitated this conversation.
Perhaps it was because Jesus had taken only Peter, James, and
John up to the Mount of Transfiguration with Him. As you recall,
when they descended back down the mountain, Jesus told the
disciples not to relate to anyone what they had seen. Perhaps
the disciples who did not go asked them what happened there, to
which the three replied in a self-righteous way: We can't tell you.
It's privileged knowledge only for those of us who are most
important. If something like that had taken place, it is easy to
see how a debate on who was really important followed.
In our society, and in theirs as well, greatness was measured in
how many served you, how many obeyed your command, how
many catered to your needs. As a matter of fact, in the Jewish
culture itself, great time was spent in deciding the relative rank
of individuals. It was important to know where people fell on the
pecking order. How one dealt with a superior was far different
than how one dealt with an inferior. Status, authority, and titles
were all important in the protocol of the Jewish religious
community. But aren't we like the disciples? We compare
ourselves with others and desire their praise. The appetite for
glory and greatness seems to be inbred in us. Who doesn't
cherish the ambition to be "somebody" whom others admire
rather than a "nobody"?
We all tend to measure success and greatness by criteria which
the world uses and then take those and apply them to the
Church. The leader with the biggest congregation, the greatest
following, the most converts; all these are considerations which
the world forces upon its inhabitants where winning is
everything, but it shouldn't be so in the Church.
Practically everyone in my generation has heard of the Campus
Crusade tract, "The Four Spiritual Laws." The first law in the
popular tract skews the gospel: "God loves you and has a
wonderful plan for your life." One of the most popular beliefs of
our day is that God loves everybody. But the idea that God loves
everybody is a modern belief. The writings of the church fathers,
the Reformers, or the Puritans will be searched in vain for any
such concept. The fact is that the love of God is a truth for the
saints only. With the exception of John 3:16, not once in the
four gospels do we read of the Lord Jesus Christ telling sinners
that God loved them. In the book of Acts, which records the
evangelistic labors and messages of the apostles, God's love is
never referred to at all. Does that seem odd to you? But when we
come to the Epistles, which are addressed to the saints, we have
a full presentation of God's love for His saints.
So what happens when an unbeliever is confronted with this first
law? "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." The
implication is that this whole thing about the gospel and
salvation is all about me. That's where we find the disciples. In
their thinking, the kingdom is about "me."
Jesus has just shared about His upcoming death, and the
disciples are angling for position. They don't seem to care about
what is going to happen to Jesus. Let me tell you something. If I
were Jesus here in this passage, I'd be in the market for some
new disciples. What is a disciple? It is someone who more that
anything else in the world wants to be like the Rabbi. These guys
are not very good disciples. I would be done with these guys. But
that's not Jesus' response. He turns it into a teaching
opportunity. Jesus' attitude is: You want to talk about greatness?
Let's do that. Let's talk about greatness:
Mark 9:35 (NASB) And sitting down, He called the twelve and
said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of
all, and servant of all."
So what Jesus does is He takes human values and dumps them on
their head--He turns them upside down. You see, we think
greatness is about being first. Jesus says, "Greatness is about being
last." We think greatness is about having a position of power and
prestige where we can be served. Jesus says, "Greatness is about
being a servant." From Jesus' perspective, a great person puts
everyone else before himself and takes on the role of a servant.
There is a peculiar bike race that takes place in India. The goal of
the race is to go the shortest amount of distance possible in a set
amount of time. So here's how it works. The contestants line up
and the gun goes off. Ever so slowly they inch their bike
forward--because if they lose their balance and put their foot
down, they are disqualified. So they've got to keep going just as
little as they can to go the shortest distance as possible. And
after a certain amount of time, bang! The gun goes off again and
it's measured which bike went the shortest distance, and that's
the winner.
Now imagine that you're a part of this race, but you don't know
the peculiar rules. So you are programmed to think of a normal
race. The gun goes off, and you start pedaling away, and you
look back to see you are winning big. That only serves to kick in
your adrenaline and give you more energy to just go and go and
go. You look back, and bang! The gun goes off, and you throw
your hands into the air. You've won! But only then do you find
out about the peculiar rules of the race. Not only have you not
won, but you've lost. You actually came in last.
You see, that's what happens when it comes to pursuing
greatness in life. The world tells us it's about getting first place.
We try to get ourselves a position of prestige and power where
we can be served, so we chase after that. And when we get it, it
creates a desire for more, and we think: Man, we are getting
ahead. We are winning, we're winning, we're winning! Then bang!
The gun goes off, and our life comes to an end, and we look back
and realize we lost, because we didn't know the rules.
Jesus' attitude toward the disciples and to us here is: You want
to pursue greatness? By all means, do it! Go for it! The only
thing I ask is that you know the rules--that you know the
criteria. Greatness is determined by the person who puts
everyone before himself and takes on the role of a servant. Once
you get that criteria down, go for it. You pursue greatness with
all your heart.
True greatness is manifested in humble servant-hood. It is not
how many serve me, but how many I serve. And it is through
humble servant-hood that we are exalted. This is a principle that
is found all through the Word of God in precept and example:
Matthew 23:12 (NASB) "And whoever exalts himself shall be
humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
It is one principle with two sides. It is a promise of being
brought low to those who exalt themselves, and it is a promise of
exaltation to those who humble themselves. We see this principle
illustrated and stated in:
Luke 18:10-14 (NASB) "Two men went up into the temple to
pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. 11 "The
Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, 'God, I thank
Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust,
adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. 12 'I fast twice a
week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' 13 "But the tax-gatherer,
standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up
his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God,
be merciful to me, the sinner!' 14 "I tell you, this man went
down to his house justified rather than the other; for
everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who
humbles himself shall be exalted."
James gives us the principle in:
James 4:10 (NASB) Humble yourselves in the presence of the
Lord, and He will exalt you.
Peter gives us the principle also:
1 Peter 5:5-6 (NASB) You younger men, likewise, be subject
to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility
toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT
GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. 6 Humble yourselves,
therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt
you at the proper time,
Jesus, Peter, James, and Paul all said it. It is a biblical law--
exaltation follows humiliation. Just as sure as the law of gravity,
is the law that those who humble themselves will be exalted.
And the one who exalts himself will be humbled.
We see the negative side of this principle in the life of king
Nebuchadnezzar. He exalted himself, and God humbled him.
Nebuchadnezzar sought greatness in the worlds way and found
himself being far from great:
Daniel 4:29-33 (NASB) "Twelve months later he was walking
on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. 30 "The king
reflected and said, 'Is this not Babylon the great, which I
myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my
power and for the glory of my majesty?' 31 "While the word
was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying,
'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has
been removed from you, 32 and you will be driven away from
mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of
the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven
periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that
the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and
bestows it on whomever He wishes.' 33 "Immediately the
word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was
driven away from mankind and began eating grass like
cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven,
until his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails
like birds' claws.
Nebuchadnezzar exalted himself, and God humbled him. Here we
see the mighty king of Babylon wandering around eating grass
like an animal. But when he humbled himself, God exalted him.
Daniel 4:37 (NASB) "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt, and
honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His
ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride."
Joseph is an example on the positive side; he humbled himself
and God exalted him:
Psalms 105:17-21 (NASB) He sent a man before them,
Joseph, who was sold as a slave. 18 They afflicted his feet
with fetters, He himself was laid in irons; 19 Until the time
that his word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested him.
20 The king sent and released him, The ruler of peoples, and
set him free. 21 He made him lord of his house, And ruler
over all his possessions,
Could you give a definition of humility? We can't humble
ourselves if we don't know what humility is. Humility is first a
feeling toward God that He has absolute rights over your life
that he can do with you as He pleases and that He has absolute
authority to tell you what is best for you and that's just fine
with you. It is a spirit of utter yieldedness and submissiveness to
the Lord as master. The humble person sees him self as clay in
the Potter's hands.
Secondly, humility means feeling indebted to all people because
of how graciously God has treated us. It's the opposite of feeling
that everybody owes you something owes you an ear or owes
you strokes or owes you time. The more you are driven by what
others owe you rather than by what you owe them in love and
service, the less humble you are.
Paul defined humility this way:
Philippians 2:3 (NASB) Do nothing from selfishness or empty
conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one
another as more important than himself;
This way of thinking is very much against the grain in our
culture, which is extremely self-centered. We are still a part of
the "me-generation." But, even though many folks claim it is
their right to be selfish, if that is what they want to do, we don't
admire that quality in others. We like people who are interested
in us, not just in themselves. We listen to people who talk about
our concerns, not just their own. Therapists report that inmates
of mental institutions say "I" or "me" twelve times more often
than residents of the outside world. As their conditions improve,
the patients use the personal pronoun less often. It is no surprise
that a Christian who is constantly talking about himself or
herself, doesn't have much interest in serving others.
By becoming last, we become first; by becoming a servant, we
become great:
Mark 9:35 (NASB) And sitting down, He called the twelve and
said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of
all, and servant of all."
Jesus now illustrates His point:
Mark 9:36-37 (NASB) And taking a child, He set him before
them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, 37
"Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives
Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him
who sent Me."
He uses a child to drive home His point. They were probably in
Peter's house. That seemed to be a base in Capernaum from which
Jesus operated. Perhaps this was one of Peter's children. In any
case, the point was it was just a child. Children are among the
"all" of verse 35: "You must be the servant of all . . ." Children
are examples of individuals who cannot do very much for you.
When you receive children, they do not help your social status,
your prestige, your power, or your ego. They cannot confer upon
you a title, nor can they give you success. As a matter of fact,
children require something from you. Children represent the
poor, the needy, the downtrodden, the ordinary just plain
human beings.
Jesus uses the example of a child and immediately turns the
social norms on their head. There have been many
interpretations of the reason that Jesus uses a child at this
point, but if we keep the context in mind - the disciples were
wanting position and status in the Kingdom of Heaven, and it's
this issue which Jesus addresses.
A child was a person of no importance in Jewish society, subject
to the authority of the elders, not taken seriously except as a
responsibility, one to be looked after, not to be looked up to. It
is, then, the status of the child that is the point, rather than any
supposedly characteristic quality of children.
William Barclay's writes this:
Now, a child has no influence at all. A child cannot advance a
man's career, nor enhance a man's prestige. A child cannot give
us things; it's the other way around. A child needs things. A
child must have things done for him. And so Jesus is saying, "If a
man welcomes the poor, ordinary people, the people who have
no influence, and no wealth, and no power, the people who need
things done for them, then he's welcoming me. And more than
that, he's welcoming God."
Thus, to embrace a child publicly was to embrace that which was
insignificant. Jesus was choosing insignificance by association.
The first mark of greatness is that you learn increasingly to have
no respect of persons, to welcome people simply because they are
people, to take no consideration of whether they can do
something for you. We are not to play favorites but to receive
everyone the supposed great and the small, the rich man and
the poor man, without playing favorites. The point Jesus is
trying to make is that when we receive the ordinary person in
His name, we receive Him and His Father. Jesus said:
Matthew 25:40 (NASB) "And the King will answer and say to
them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one
of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it
to Me.'
When we receive people in Jesus' name, we ought to receive
them all, as we would the Lord Himself. Play no favorites - that
is what Jesus is saying.
In the book of James, we receive an exhortation that is much the
same as our Lord's concerning the importance of humble
servanthood:
James 2:1 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious
Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. NASB
The attitude of a humble servant seeks to serve others without
playing favorites. Whether we are rich or poor is no consequence
with God, and it shouldn't be with us. Furthermore, we shouldn't
play favorites based on what people can do for us.
"Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives
Me." The important words there are "in My name." The motive
for receiving such a person, such as a small, unimportant child, is
that it is done as unto the Lord done in His name. It is not done
because something of great value may come to you because of
the child; it is something you do regardless of whether you
receive any benefit in doing it, because it is done in His name.
In this passage Jesus sets before His disciples two options. There
are two definitions or choices for greatness. One is the world's--
which is being lived out by the disciples --and that says
greatness is about being first. It's about getting a position where
you can be served. And then we have what Jesus espoused--
which is putting everyone else in front of yourself and being a
servant.
If you choose the world's way, you come in last, and God will
humble you. If you choose God's way, and make yourself a
servant, God will exalt you, He will make you great!
How can we humble ourselves and become servants of all when
pride is such a controlling factor is our lives? The solution to the
problem of pride is to see yourself in a proper manner. To see
yourself as someone who is saved and sustained by the grace of
God alone. All we are, and all we have is a gift of grace from God;
what do we have to be proud about?
We all differ from one another. Some of us are smarter than
others, some of us are better looking than others, some of us are
more talented than others, some of us are more gifted than
others. We do differ, but who makes us to differ? The answer of
course is God!
Exodus 4:11 (NASB) And the LORD said to him, "Who has
made man's mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or
seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
What do you have that is not a gift from God? Looks?
Intelligence? Popularity? Talents? Possessions? This is true
even of those things that are acquired by great self-denial and
exertion.
1 Corinthians 4:7 (NASB) For who regards you as superior?
And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you
did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
"What do we have that we have not received?" In this single
sentence, Augustine saw the whole doctrine of grace. When we
think of what we have done, and think of what God has done for
us, pride is ruled out, and only humble gratitude remains.
Remember, the greatest in God's kingdom is servant of all.
Media #353a


God Bless Freddi
Jesus is the KING of Kings and LORD of Lords!
God intends us to do everything TOGETHER!!

Jesus The Rabbi

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April 23, 2014

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