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THE GOSPEL OF MARK – ARE YOU BRINGING “UP THERE, DOWN HERE?”

Bible Study, ,

ARE YOU BRINGING “UP THERE, DOWN HERE?”

38 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
39 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us. 41 Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward. Mark 9:38-41

Although discipleship is exclusive, Jesus made it clear that it is open to everyone. No-one is excluded provided they fulfil the conditions. On the other hand, the disciples were still competitive in their attitude and unwilling, at this stage, to open ranks and include “outsiders” with the same big-hearted generosity as their Master. They saw a potential disciple as competition and stopped him from driving out demons in the name of Jesus.

Who was this person? The Bible does not say. It was obviously someone who had been in the crowd, had witnessed Jesus’ miracles, heard His teaching, acknowledged who He was and understood His authority. He may not have grasped everything about Jesus, but enough to imitate Him with astonishing results – and the disciples didn’t like it so they squashed the beginnings of his discipleship.

Isn’t that exactly what Jesus had been illustrating by embracing a little child? There was potential in that man because he had “got” something of what Jesus was modelling and put it into practice. Jesus was annoyed with His disciples for trying to extinguish the small flame of faith in the man’s heart. If someone is not an enemy, he is an ally. If he acted in the disposition and yoke of Messiah, he should be encouraged and nurtured, not squashed and discarded like an unwelcome bug.

Jesus added a tender touch that is so like Him and reflects the heart of God. On another occasion He commented that the Father notices when a sparrow falls. Here He reveals God’s heart again – the Father notices and rewards the simple act of giving someone a cup of cold water in His name. The key is “in my name”. Acting out of the disposition of Jesus, authorised by His command, connects us with the source of energy that empowered Jesus to bring “up there down here”. Jesus brought the other world with Him when He came. He showed it to His generation and now He wants us to show it to ours in the same spirit as He did.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – SELECTIVE DEAFNESS

Apologetics, , ,

SELECTIVE DEAFNESS

“John spoke up, ‘Master, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped Him because he wasn’t of our group.’  Jesus said, ‘Don’t stop him. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally.’

“When it came close to the time for His Ascension, He gathered up His courage and steeled Himself for the journey to Jerusalem. He sent messengers on ahead. They came to a Samaritan village to make arrangements for His hospitality. But when the Samaritans learned that His destination was Jerusalem, they refused hospitality.

“When the disciples James and John learned of it, they said, ‘Master, do you want us to call a bolt of lightning down out of the sky and incinerate them?’ Jesus turned on them: ‘Of course not!’ And they travelled on to another village.”  Luke 9:49-55.

Talk about selective hearing! James and John’s attitude was proof that they had not taken in a word Jesus had said about true greatness.

What had these men learned from their association with Jesus? From non-religious guys who were part of the “out” group as far as their religious leaders were concerned, they had developed the idea that they were now part of a new “in” group!

They were very protective of their status as followers of Jesus – disciples of the newest and most popular rabbi in Israel. Although He had many followers on the fringe, Jesus had not invited anyone else to be part of the “in” group and they wanted to be sure that no one gate-crashed their party.

Anyone of the “them” group who happened to “get” what Jesus had been teaching and act on it was frowned on, not encouraged, because he was not one of “us”. They proudly announced to Jesus that they had put a stop to a man’s enthusiastic participation in doing the “kingdom stuff” by casting out demons, thinking that He would applaud them for their loyalty to Him. They were not anticipating the surprising rebuke they received for their trouble! ‘Don’t stop him,’ Jesus said. ‘If he’s not an enemy, then he’s a friend.’

James and John were such fiery characters that they had earned the nickname, “sons of thunder”. To protect their inner circle they were prepared to use their new-found authority to incinerate people who dared to oppose them, especially the hated Samaritans! Thinking that Jesus would applaud their outrage for the snub they had received, they wanted His approval for their plan to wipe out the village.

What did Jesus think of these goings-on from His disciples? For all their response to His teaching and demonstrating His yoke, they were still thinking and acting in exactly the same way as they did before they met Him. It seems that everything He taught them bounced off them like a ball off a wall. In fact, an “outsider” had caught on to what they, the “insiders” had missed. To cast out demons “in His name” meant that the unknown man, who was not a disciple, was doing what their rabbi did, in the disposition of their rabbi.

How sad that many of Jesus’ self-proclaimed “followers” today have just as much of a “we – they” mentality as the disciples had. Being a Christian is being part of an exclusive “club” and to be a Christian minister is to have an elevated position in this club.

To get the real picture, let’s go back to Jesus’ visual aid on greatness. He insisted that to be truly great, one must use one’s position to elevate others, not to put them down or lord it over them. Get down to the level of the lowest and treat them with dignity and respect.

Jesus was the greatest and truest model of what He taught, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:6-8 (NIV).

Are you as selectively deaf as the disciples were?

From Hothead To Beloved

Bible Study, , , ,

FROM HOTHEAD TO BELOVED

‘Teacher,’ said John, ‘we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop because he was not one of us.’

‘Do not stop him,’ Jesus said. ‘For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah, will not lose his reward (Mark 9: 38-41).  

John – Boanerges. Son of thunder! Hothead! Together with his brother James, John certainly earned the nickname. Without consulting the Master he, together with the other disciples, poured cold water on a would-be disciple of Jesus who was casting out demons in His name. John was not going to have any Tom, Dick or Harry do what they, the disciples exclusively were appointed to do! After all, they were the chosen ones. They were “in” and everyone else was “out” and they were not about to let any outsider in on their privileges.

How one earth did John change from being a hothead to calling himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved”? Did Jesus love him more than the other disciples? Was he the favourite out of all the others? That’s not what he claimed. By using this description of himself, he did not say that Jesus loved him more than the others. All he knew was that Jesus loved him.

What was even more amazing was that not only did John’s nickname change but also his disposition. From hothead, he became the disciple of love. One only has to read his letters to realise that this was no hothead speaking. In his years with Jesus something profound happened inside him. The Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sent on the Day of Pentecost to be His own presence in His people, radically changed John. How is it possible that a person’s character and disposition, inborn and formed during his childhood, could be so transformed the he was no longer the same person?

There is only one answer – the power of God working within. People can change for a little while if they have a mind to, but it is usually only cosmetic. They will revert to their old disposition when the pressure is on. But not John. And not anyone who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and is determined to follow Jesus.

God created the first man in His image. He put His stamp of ownership on him by making him like Himself. Humans are the only creatures who have the capacity to be one with Him by choice because that’s how He made them to be. The rest of creation was also created to be one. However, unlike man, it functions by instinct, not by choice. Natural creation was also affected by the Fall and is out of harmony because of sin.

God has promised that all of creation will be restored to its original purpose when Jesus returns. In the meantime, He is at work in those who believe in Him, who have His Spirit in them and who are submitted to Him.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters (Rom. 8: 28-29).

How does this happen? It will happen to us as it happened to John and to the other disciples.

And we all who, with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3: 18).

John could not watch, listen to and follow Jesus for three years and be loved by Him, and then be invaded by the Holy Spirit without being changed by His love. Neither can we. The secret of transformation lies in our contemplation of the Master. That is the purpose of worship. We become like the thing we worship. Gaze at the world and what the world says and does and we will embrace the world’s standards and behave like the world. Keep gazing at Jesus and we will become like Him.

John was transformed from Boanerges to “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” When we realise in the depth of our hearts how great is the love of God for us, we will be transformed, just as he was into those who know that we are deeply loved by God. .

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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