Today's Lectionary Readings: Zechariah 10:1-12, Galatians 6:1-10, Luke 18:15
This a very interesting group of Scriptures. Quite honestly, the selection from Zechariah has me completely flummoxed. The prophet seems to be offering hope to Judah in a time when hope has long been forgotten. But what is he promising? Perhaps he refers to the coming Messiah when he speaks of the cornerstone from Judah. But the war-like images he employs fit more with John's Revelation of the end time than with what Jesus actually did and said on earth. So Zechariah offers redemption, but to who, and when?
In the passage from Luke, it seems that the disciples are as confused by Jesus teachings as I am by Zechariah's prophesies. If it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven, then how will anyone ever be saved. With God all things are possible. And anyone who leaves behind family, friends, and the familiar for Christ's sake shall receive back what they had lost many times over in this life, and eternal life in the next.
But we as modern Christians know that this is not "true." Aside from John, every man listening to Christ teach here is doomed to die horrible, painful deaths for the kingdom. They did receive eternal life in the next world, but how on earth could Christ say that they would receive anything of value in this world? They gave up everything for a reward that did not come until they were dead. So Jesus was wrong, here, wasn't he?
I know - many of you are marshaling your forces to disagree with me now. To point out that Christ did not speak of the material benefit, nor even of the emotional benefit, but of the spiritual. Yes, they gave up wealth and relationships to follow the Way, but they gained the ultimate relationship with God, and were the tools God used to start His kingdom. Their lives were truly blessed. And the historical record shows that they all counted it gain to give up their lives for the sake of the cross. At least, they did when they got to that point.
But let us not forget that as they are listening to Jesus, they are still harboring zionistic fantasies. They believed that the coming of Messiah would usher in a Jewish kingdom on earth, destroying their oppressors and bringing glory to Yahweh through the might of His arm. Even after Christ sacrificed Himeself, they still couldn't understand that the Messiah they thought they were looking for, and the Savior Who Came were simply not the same Person. That God had other plans. Jesus had to appear to them in person several times before they began to understand the real glory of God's kingdom and what it meant for them on earth. At this point in the narrative, they are still arguing about who will get to sit on Jesus' right and left hand when He reveals His kingdom. At this point, martyrdom and the blessings of knowing God as Abba are just about the farthest thing from their minds. They were so clueless.
So I have to ask this question: What makes modern Christians so certain that we have everything figured out? If the disciples themselves, who walked, talked, ate, slept, prayed, and ministered with Jesus couldn't understand Him, why do we think we can? If they were misinterpreting the Hebrew Scriptures, believing that Messiah would come the first time in power and might and destroy the enemies of Israel, then how do we know that we aren't misinterpreting things still today.
I really have no idea what Zechariah was trying to tell his audience, or what the Spirit was trying to tell us through him, and I'm really not sure what Christ was trying to say about the difficulty of the rich entering heaven. I suppose there are those who have studied these things and would have answers to offer me. But if we can agree to haggle over interpretations of these Scriptures, why not others?
If the disciples were wrong about the Messianic prophesies, who's to say that the Fundamentalists might not be wrong about the Scriptures on homosexuality? If the disciples could believe, after learning at His feet for three years, that Jesus was really just dead, and it had all been for nothing, then how arrogant is it of modern Christendom to think that they know anything about Christ's teaching for certain?
The disciples were wrong. Often. Maybe we have been too.
When I was in college, I met a young woman who caused me to deeply question my faith. I got to know her well, and I could see that the Spirit of Christ was at home in her heart, but she didn't believe everything that I believed. As a matter of fact, according to some teachings I had known, she was going to hell. But I couldn't believe it. And I struggled to understand. At that time, I came to the conclusion that these were "non-salvation" issues. I wasn't sure what the answers were for her particular beliefs, or for mine. But there was one thing I was sure of - "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." One Truth. One Savior. "Only one thing is necessary... and it shall not be taken away from her."
May the Lord add His blessings to the study and honest search for Truth in His Word. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Happy (almost) Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteSo I'm wondering, Leslie, are you questioning the infallibility of scripture? I'm not sure I understood what you were saying about Jesus not telling the disciples the truth? A lot of what Jesus taught the disciples was not revealed to them (scripture actually mentions through the gospels this fact) by God's choice. Many things were not made clear to them until Pentecost.
I will agree with you WHOLEHEARTEDLY that there are many arrogant Christians who would rather cut off their little finger than admit there are things in Scripture that they don't understand.. There are some gray areas in scripture but they are generally points that don't necessarily effect one's salvation... say, for instance, Calvinism versus Arminianism. Chosen versus free will. But, then, on the other hand, there are lots of points in which scripture is pretty clear and to argue them, we don't have a lot to stand on.
We have the Holy Spirit who will give us wisdom and peace. That's in the Bible. It's not a hidden point that is inferred.. God will give us wisdom when we ask for it with a pure heart. The Bible teaches what it teaches. Not what churches teach that it teaches.
As for Zechariah, I love that book. He's writing after the Babylonian exile when Israel has been allowed to go back to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding the temple. It's in the wake of a lot of badness. Zechariah appears to be talking about judgement on Israel's enemies. There's also a lot of talk about staying pure and about God's continuing blessing on them as a nation. The OT prophets really can be convicting because what they reveal is God's heart towards sin (our God is perfect, sin CANNOT be tolerated). I read the Bible in a year, a chronological version and it is AMAZING how God has used it to change my heart. I wanted to use His Grace as a fire repellant, as a band-aid and an excuse to sin.. I now have a better understanding of how much God hates sin, all of it. And I have a deeper picture of how Jesus is better than anything this world can give. (which is exactly what Jesus taught the disciples in the passage you talked in above).
Praise God that he loved the world enough to send his son to those of us who believe in Him. But it doesn't stop there...even the demons believe and tremble. Are we striving to be like Christ? Do we want the things of God? Praise God we don't get what we deserve. That's grace.
In Regard to Zechariah
ReplyDelete"In the time of the latter rain" refers to the end. The "rain" refers to blessings. This is speaking of the time toward the end when God will bring the Jews back to the Promised Land and Ephraim into her new Promised Land to the West, and He will bless them both greatly. And this ends with His gathering them all and separating evil from them and the earth.
As with most prophecy, this is a figurative picture of the future using terms we can understand so we can relate to what He's talking about. But in Daniel, He said that only the people at the time of the end would understand these things, and when Daniel asks what these prophecies mean, He tells Daniel to seal up the prophecies until the end. He says it is not for Him to understand, but rather, for the people of the end to understand.
So goes prophecy--we are the people of the time of the end and we are finally beginning to understand the prophecies. Unfortunately, most of the church, at large, has misinterpreted them.
My confusion is this: if I, a non-scholar, can easily find contradictions with their theories on the events of the end time, why can't they? That has always been beyond me.
About the Luke Verses
ReplyDeleteThe eye of the needle is a tiny passage way on both sides of the city gates. This is used for people to pass through when the gates are closed at night so attacking armies can't just walk right in. It was extremely hard for a camel to crawl through this space, but it was possible.
In Jesus' time, the Jews believed that if a person was rich, God had blessed them with that wealth, and thus, to them, rich people were more spiritual. When Jesus pointed out the rich hardly being able to enter into heaven, the disciples though, "Wow! A rich man is the most godly of us all. If he cannot get into heaven, how can anyone get into heaven??" But what Jesus was saying was, "Rich people have the security of their wealth and pride to go with it, so they don't generally go to God for their security. They instead trust wealth and themselves very pridefully, and the prideful resist God. It is the humble whom seek the Lord. Thus, it is hard for a rich man to enter heaven, but like a camel passing through the eye of the needle, it is possible.
Then, when they ask who can be saved, Jesus basically tells them no man can save you and you cannot save yourself, only God can save you.
Just as April said, the disciples didn't get mass revelation of truth till Pentacost when they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit (i.e. born again). When we are saved, we immediately receive the Holy Spirit, and with that comes this mass revelation of truth--at least that is what happened to me and many others say the same. That's why the disciples did not understand Jesus at first. The Holy Spirit would later reveal truth to them.
Jesus told the disciples the truth. They even heard Him tell it to others. When people came to ask Him if they could follow Him, He told them what they were risking to do so. Also, Jesus told the disciples, "For you will have tribulation in this world, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world." He even told them to buy swords right before He went to be crucified and explained that times were about to get hard for them. He was always up front with them. They knew what they had signed on for, but they just did not fully understand the scope of it all yet. For instance, I wouldn't mind doing missionary work, and I know while most of it is pleasant that there could be some pursecution or martyrdom. Many missionaries have reported that when they are being beaten, they feel only God's love and peace in them and that it is the most exhilarating thing. We often judge what is good and bad by our own viewpoints and preconceived notions, but to be honest... we cannot truly understand till we have experienced it ourselves.
No one has all the answers, but that is why we get to know the One who does. Because no matter whom is reading the Bible, whether today or two-thousand years ago, it will not be understood unless we know the One by whom it was written and He reveals to us the truth about it. That is why so many know misinterpret the Bible both in past and present times. Everyone should be on a path to learning more from Him, but most are on a path to work and pay bills and live their life for themselves and their families rather than including God in the family and all of the facets of their lives.