Tag Archives: say

Exposed!

Bible Study, , ,

EXPOSED!

Immediately Jesus knew in His spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and He said to them, ‘Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralysed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take up your mat and walk?’ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’ So He said to the man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’ He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!‘ (Mark 2: 8-12).

What a slap in the face for the religious leaders! Round one; Jesus, one; teachers of the law, nil. They stood on their sterile religious ground, picking Jesus out for doing what He was not supposed to do – forgive sins. He responded by healing a paralysed man. Take that! They were not pleased and happy for the quality of life and dignity that had been restored to the sufferer. They were so angry with Jesus for “blaspheming” that they just did not get the point.

Jesus asked them a question. “Which is easier: to say to this paralysed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take up your mat and walk?’ Of course it was easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven.” Anyone could say that and get away with it. They could say it if they wanted to, but they didn’t dare. But to say, ‘Get up and walk,” to a man who could not move a finger – well, that was a bit more difficult. They could definitely not say that and get away with it. People would think they were crazy.

But Jesus could, and . . . He did, and . . . the man got up and walked! How about that? They had no answer for that. Jesus said that it would prove one thing, His authority. Forgiveness of sins and healing tied together? It was all part of the same thing – someone had this man in his grip who did things to him that were not of God. There was a usurper in charge who had brought God’s people into slavery but someone had arrived on the scene with authority to evict him.

Exactly! At last God was back, after four hundred silent years, to honour His promise. Messiah was actually here in person to set them free from their worst enemy, the devil. But these religious types were too blind to see it. They were too busy picking holes in Jesus to realise that no ordinary man could do what He did. The common people had more discernment than they had. They celebrated this amazing event even though they might not have understood it.

Obviously the teachers of the law – note their title – had missed something. The “Son of Man”? Who was He? Jesus was not just using a euphemism for “me”. There was something far more significant in the title. Where did it appear in the sacred Scriptures that they were supposed to know? It was used in two different contexts in the Old Testament.

God called Ezekiel “son of man”.  Why? The title emphasized Ezekiel’s fallibility and weakness as a member of the human race. Prophet he might be, but he was also just a man. The authority for his office came from God. He was never to forget that it was God who gave him the message and God who empowered him to deliver it. If he failed to obey God’s instructions, he would be as guilty as the people to whom he was to deliver the message.

In a vision, Daniel, on the other hand, saw a powerful figure approaching the throne of the Ancient of Days. He looked like a “son of man” but “he was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him” (Dan. 7: 14a).

How magnificently the title “Son of Man” suited Jesus! Son of man – a weak, ordinary human being, subject to the Father and obedient to Him; Son of Man – God’s appointed Messiah to whom is given authority and sovereign power and who is worshipped by people of all nations.

What a pity they missed it! Their religious bigotry shut their minds to the truth Jesus displayed in the moment. Forgiven! Healed! The kingdom of God had come! But their blindness had exposed their wicked hearts.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Saying Is Believing

Bible Study, , ,

SAYING IS BELIEVING

“Some of them were won over and joined ranks with Paul and Silas, among them a great many God-fearing Greeks and a considerable number of women from the aristocracy. But the hard-line Jews became furious over the conversions. Mad with jealousy, they rounded up a bunch of brawlers off the streets and soon had an ugly mob terrorising the city as they hunted down Paul and Silas.

“They broke into Jason’s house, thinking that Paul and Silas were there. When they couldn’t find them, they collared Jason and his friends instead and dragged them before the city fathers, yelling hysterically, ‘These people are out to destroy the world, and now they’ve shown up on our doorstep, attacking everything we hold dear! And Jason is hiding them, these traitors and turncoats who say Jesus is king and Caesar is nothing!” Acts 17:4-7 (The Message).

They’re at it again! The unbelieving Jews seem to have been tarred with the same brush the world over. Were the Thessalonian Jews infected by those coming from other centres that had already heard and reacted against Paul and Silas, or was this a fresh wave of persecution? These European Jews appear to be just as hard-hearted as the ones in Israel and Asia Minor.

They didn’t want to get their hands dirty, so they hid behind the street hooligans and relied on them to cook up lies and get the city fathers’ backs up against Paul and Silas while they stood watching in the background. There was no truth and no conscience in the accusations and behaviour of the mob. Since Paul and Silas were not available to face the music, they grabbed the first people they could find to victimise with their lying hysteria.

This is the typical modus operandi of the devil — turn up as much heat as possible so that people are not interested in the light. It was through experiences like these that Paul was able to understand and write about Satan’s tactics and teach his beloved converts how to deal with him. He recognised that, behind the trouble he experienced from unbelievers, both Jews and Gentiles, was an unseen, sinister enemy who was out to destroy both him and his work because he was allied to the God whom the devil hates.

The devil’s language is lies and his method is deception. Jesus called him ‘a liar and the father of lies,’ and that was no libellous indictment. Those who are under his influence because they refuse to believe and receive the truth are themselves subject to the lies with which he infiltrates their minds.

The big problem is that those who speak out lies actually believe what they are saying is true because they are saying it. This happens in politics. Representatives of government make grandiose statements and then believe them simply because they have said it. This happens in my country. Anyone with half a brain laughs at some of the claims made, knowing very well that there is no substance to them but, at the same time. knowing that the speaker thinks that, because he or she has made the statement, that makes it true.

How are we to counter these attacks? Paul had learned that it was not his role to fight. The war has already been won. Jesus exposed and defeated the devil on the cross. Our weapon and defence is the truth. Lies have no substance and cannot endure. It is the truth that prevails over lies. As soldiers in the army of God, we have only one instruction, “Stand!” We are to hold our position, standing on and protected by the truth.

By submitting ourselves to God’s word and His authority, we put the devil to flight since he cannot take God on and win. If we stand on and believe the truth we are indestructible because “the word of the Lord endures forever.”