Month: April 2021

Jesus has traveled by boat to a solitary place. The only reason someone would do that   would be to find some peace and quiet. John’s Gospel tells us that when He got there, He went to a mountainside and spent the day with His disciples. Yet the crowd of people who He had taught earlier have sought Him out. They arrive, expecting Jesus to minister to them. Astonishingly, the Scripture does not say that Jesus was disappointed or discouraged with that outcome, even though He had moved to get some time away. Instead it says, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Jesus sees their faith and effort to get or stay close to Him and lets His compassion rule His heart. He acts, ministering in the power of the Spirit and healing the sick. 

Time passes and the day grows long. Jesus’ disciples recognize that in that place there was no kitchen, no pantry and no store. Many hours had passed, and the people (especially the sick), would need food to make it back to where they lived. “As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.””

Jesus’ response to the common sense suggestion of His disciples is telling. One commentator notes, “To send the crowds away, as suggested by the disciples, would achieve the isolation which had been sought [earlier]. But instead Jesus challenges the disciples themselves to show compassion to the crowds, as Jesus has been doing.”

It likely never even occurred to the disciples that feeding the crowd would become their responsibility. After all, it was clear to them that Jesus was in charge. He was the one who told them to take a boat. He was the one who told them where to land the boat. He was the one who began to minister to the crowd. Subsequently, He was the one they asked to dismiss the crowd. It is clear from their actions (or lack thereof) that they were merely following. But Jesus’ terse response to them gives the reader the impression that He expected His followers to be more than mere groupies. 

Following Jesus involves participation in what God is doing. That participation is not limited to what seems possible. No doubt Jesus would’ve expected His disciples to be praying while He was ministering, and no doubt that if they had done that, they would’ve heard the Father tell them what to do just as the Father was speaking to Jesus about what to do. For Jesus Himself testified, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” 

Christ followers are supposed to hear God direct them, and they are supposed to act on that direction in the power of the Spirit, just as Jesus did. This is what it means to be a disciple. This is what Jesus expects of us. 

All true Christian spiritual formation is for the glory of God, for the abundance of our own lives and for the sake of others, or it is not Christian spiritual formation. For this we toil and struggle with all the energy that God so powerfully inspires within us.

Ruth Haley Barton

APPLICATION: Intentionality

Today the Spirit of God will speak to you. How is your listening? 

The Lord always has compassion on those who truly need Him. He always responds to   the extraordinary measures we take to follow Him. We can count on this fact. He meets us when we chase after Him, because He plans to meet us even before we start ourselves, and He knows where we are going. 

Matthew writes, “Jesus […] withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

We cannot read the above statement and fail to realize that Jesus healed the sick among the crowd on account of two things: His compassion, and their willingness to chase hard after Him. Whenever these two realities meet, we see a work of God. 

The good news is that God is always compassionate. He exists apart from time, so His compassion is upon those He made even when His anger is aroused on account of their foolishness. The result is that no matter what our state before Him, God’s compassion is one hundred percent reliable. Likewise, His power is also completely reliable. We constantly witness His power at work all around us – we see the sun rise and the seasons change, and we know that He sustains all He created, moment by moment. So we can bank on the fact that God is powerful all the time, and that God is compassionate all the time. This means that God is always able and always open to ministering to us.

But what is not at all reliable is our own effort to chase hard after Him. We do that in seasons, but the effort to get up early and seek His face in prayer is easily set aside by the need for sleep or the laziness of the morning hours. The effort to open the Scriptures and really look for Him in studying its treasure is easily misplaced by the urgency of the day’s activity. The effort to worship Him with passion is often offset by the want to have a day of family sport. The effort to call on Him at the close of the day is easily replaced by the mindlessness of television. Even the smallest effort to remember Him – at the start of every meal – is easily lost to the aroma of the food in the face of our hunger. 

Chasing hard after God takes real intentionality. It takes willfulness and self-determination. In this respect, it is a lot like physical exercise; difficult to establish as a routine, easy to let slip. It is entirely our responsibility, and it is the one thing about our relationship with God that is not reliable at all. 

The really good news is that we can change that at will. We can make a decision to look for God with more determination. We can intentionally get back into the habits of communing with Him in the morning, talking to Him throughout the day, worshipping Him with passion every week and remembering His grace at every meal. 

That we can do, and when we do that, we absolutely can count on God to respond. PTL.

In the words of Hans Küng: God’s immutability “must be understood as essential fidelity to himself in all his active vitality.” God’s being is indestructible, his plan and purpose are unalterable. His love is unfailing and inexorable. His grace is irreversible and persevering. This is the biblical picture of God’s unchangeableness.

Donald G. Bloesch

APPLICATION: Thankfulness

Thank God that He is unchangeable in His determination to be found by His people!

The Lord did not make most shorelines straight and square. Nor did He  make most lakes  totally round – most lakes and shorelines are quite convoluted. Depending on the shape of the shoreline and number of bays and inlets, getting to the other side can be a long and arduous journey even if the straight-line distance between the two points is relatively short. Unless of course you have a boat! So when we read Matthew’s account of how the people responded to Jesus’ travel by boat, we are taken aback by their determination, “When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.” 

Jesus goes to a solitary place. Peter will later remark that it is ‘remote’. The crowd therefore had to undertake considerable effort to get to where Jesus was. The astonishing thing is that Matthew is talking about the crowd. He wasn’t speaking of the disciples or even Jesus’ inner circle. We might have suspected those groups to work so hard to follow Him, but the crowd? The crowd was fickle. The crowd was those not fit to hear direct teaching. In fact, Jesus had been using parables on account of that very point. The crowd was those who Matthew obviously felt could not yet be called disciples. Yet they are so enraptured with what Jesus has been teaching that they take the extraordinary measure of walking for most of a day – if not longer – to a remote shoreline so they can get more of Jesus 

It ought not to surprise us that people would do such things. In every town and village are people who God is making into disciples for His Name. They will naturally be drawn to Jesus by His Word, and they will actively work to hear His Word. As Jesus Himself would teach later, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” They follow Jesus. They cannot help but to follow Jesus, no matter where Jesus goes. 

The numbers of people who come to your church may not be a true indicator of how many belong to Christ in your town. They may not come to church because they do not know they will get Jesus’ truth there, or they do not trust that they will get His truth there. But they will respond to Jesus’ truth all the same. We just need to first go to where they are. After they have heard the truth, they will follow. They will even go to extraordinary measure to follow. In fact, this particular crowd goes to such extraordinary measure they actually find their way to the other side before Jesus gets there in the boat, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd…”

The kingdom of God is a very attractive place, because it holds the love, peace, health, blessing, fellowship and joy that we all so desperately want. Likewise, the workers of the kingdom are highly attractive to lost people, because they bring the blessing of God’s kingdom wherever they are. So if our ministry is not drawing lost people, we have to ask if we are doing the work of the kingdom, or if we are doing something else. 

Whatever your thoughts and feelings, seize the moment. Come up, yourself, in the crowd. Come close enough to Jesus so that you can talk together. He will have enough time to listen to you, too. Perhaps he will ask you what you most want him to do for you.

Tom Wright

APPLICATION: Thankfulness

Thank Jesus that He is always close enough to hear us and close enough to touch us, even when we are in the largest crowd or the most remote place. 

Jesus has heard some bad news. Not only that His cousin John was dead – beheaded by   Herod – but that Herod was now convinced Jesus Himself was John, resurrected. In modern vernacular, things in Jesus’ world were getting messed up. The enemy has made some inroads and the threat is obvious. Fortunately, Jesus has a strategy for when things get messed up, “When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.”  

Jesus interrupts His ministry to make a change in scenery. He hits pause on His own activity so that He can process what is happening and readjust His strategy as may be needed. A solitary place allows that Jesus can cry out to the Father. Uninterrupted, He can pour out his grief, anger and frustration, knowing that the Father patiently accepts all our emotion, and graciously speaks to our souls in our distress. The Father’s arms are open, and Jesus runs right into them. It should not surprise us that He does that. Just as John’s disciples could run to Jesus after John was killed, Jesus can run to the Father. When we experience those sudden and unexpected turns, turning to God is our best and only true option.

The Psalms model this for us. As a man after God’s own heart, David cried out to God every time he was in distress. In Psalm 31 we read, “Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.” 

In Psalm 10 we read, “But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.”

In Psalm 6 David wrote, “I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow;”  And in Psalm 119 he cried out, “My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.”

When sorrow or trouble threaten to overwhelm us, we must quickly find a place where we can pray without interruption. A place we can unload our emotional scars and seek God’s face wholeheartedly. Where we can shout if we need to, cry if we need to, kneel or stand or lie prostrate if we need to. A place we can truly be ourselves in all our messiness. God is still God, no matter our emotional state. No matter our hurt or grief or sorrow. God is unfazed by sudden changes in our plans. He is still sovereign. He is able to comfort, to console and to direct and inform us appropriately. If we make Him our priority, He will provide exactly the kind of help we need. The hurting soul is always best to remember Jesus’ words, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness!” Amen. 

It is characteristic of human nature to turn to God only after every other avenue of help has been explored and been found useless. This is one of the many evils which sin has visited upon us—the bent to look everywhere for aid but in the right place, and if we do look in the right place, to look there last.

A.W. Tozer

APPLICATION: Intentionality

God is here, available and welcoming, no matter our state of mind. Let us cry out to Him in prayer. 

John the Baptist has been executed by Herod’s command. It was a  command born of  impulsiveness. A sentence of beheading, handed out after a period of confinement on charge of sedition. And though Herod himself knows that John did not deserve such, he and his government do not even see fit to give John a burial. Rather, the Word meekly records, “John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.”

John’s disciples would’ve been the first to hear of John’s demise, as they likely attended to him daily while he was in prison. In those days prisoners only ate what family and friends provided. But that day they found that John was not in his cell. He had been summarily executed. There was no trial, no opportunity for John to face a court of his peers. No opportunity for John’s disciples to bear witness of his character. The tetrarch had spoken, and he had the authority of Rome to back him up. His word was final. 

John’s disciples are given the body, and in accordance with Jewish custom, they bury it straight away. They cannot wait until they tell Jesus, because it was (and is) considered a great dishonor to keep a dead person from burial. But once they can honor John the Baptist by means of proper burial, they immediately go and tell Jesus. 

Of course, Jesus was John’s cousin, so that makes sense just from the perspective of family. But Jesus was also the man John the Baptist had identified as Messiah. 

You cannot keep following someone you hold in high esteem if they are dead, but you can move forward in your own life by pursuing what that relationship meant. John’s entire ministry was about getting ready for the kingdom of God, and now John was gone but the king was here. Jesus was the One that John’s disciples knew to follow, because John had told them so. The apostle John makes that clear in his Gospel, “The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.” One of those disciples was Andrew (brother to Simon Peter), so we can also know that Jesus’ group would have some lines of communication with John’s group by means of the friendships Andrew and the other disciple had forged. Therefore, it is possible and even logical that all of John’s disciples knew they would become Jesus’ disciples at some point. John’s untimely death is simply the obvious turning point. From here on they would follow Jesus the Messiah.

Dealing with the loss of a leader is never easy. Dealing with the loss of a family member is never easy, either. But that time of loss is made much more bearable by focusing on Christ. As Christ conquered death, we can morn our loss knowing that the separation will not be permanent. We can allow our grief to sharpen our focus on Christ, drawing near to Him and speaking to Him so His Spirit can comfort our soul. Best of all, we can know that doing so honors the one we’ve lost, because they too depend on Christ in the next life just as much as we depend on Christ in this one.

Death is not the end of the road; it is only a bend in the road. The road winds only through those paths through which Christ Himself has gone. This Travel Agent does not expect us to discover the trail for ourselves. Often we say that Christ will meet us on the other side. That is true, of course, but misleading. Let us never forget that He walks with us on this side of the curtain and then guides us through the opening. We will meet Him there, because we have met Him here

Erwin Lutzer

APPLICATION: Worship

Just as God was with Israel on both sides of the Jordan, our Lord is here with us, on the way with us as we move between worlds and there with us on the other side. 

There are a number of instances in the Word of God that specifically warn us  against  making impromptu grand promises. The account of Jephthah’s foolish vow in Judges 11 is one of them. The grisly account of John (the Baptist)’s death at Herod’s command is another: “On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother.”

Proverbs tells us, “It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider his vows.” Herod should have thought twice before making such a foolish oath. Perhaps Herod made that promise when he was abiding in too much wine. Perhaps he thought she would only ask something he could afford her in due time – a position of power or a financial sum. But to Herod’s distress, she asks her mother (Herod’s new wife) what she should get. To this point the story is doubled in impact, because it is not only Herod who makes a foolhardy decision he’ll regret, but the daughter also. In turning to her mother she looses out on her own choice. She could’ve asked for autonomy so she wouldn’t get married off to someone she despises. Or for land ownership so she wouldn’t be risking poverty in later life. She forfeits the opportunity of a lifetime when her mother seizes the opportunity to get revenge at cost of a prophet’s life. 

Proverbs counsels us that being caught by our own foolish promise is like being ensnared – we must do all we can to appeal for forgiveness of the bond we’ve pledged, “My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another, if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor! Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.” 

Unfortunately for Herod, to follow such advice would’ve mandated a rather significant amount of humility. In full sight of all his guests, he would’ve had to appeal for mercy to his step-daughter. That would be most unbecoming of a political leader – a man that Matthew suddenly refers to as “the king” even though he’s just told us Herod is a tetrarch and not a king. The reader can know that Matthew’s use of the term is meant as sarcasm, given that “the king” is in distress at needing to back out of his foolhardy promise. But like Jephthah, Herod’s foolishness is cemented into public record when he refuses to humble himself and seek forgiveness for saying such a stupid thing. Such is the trap of foolish promises coupled with pride! 

We can’t help being struck by the care and love Jesus had for his friends as they blunder and bluster around, making grand promises they can’t keep while failing to understand the great promises Jesus is making. Just like us, really.

Tom Wright

APPLICATION: Intentionality

God makes grand promises because He can and does keep them. We should not, because we cannot. 

In Leviticus 18, the Lord had instructed Moses to write, “Do not have sexual relations   with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother.” Yet Herod the tetrarch had divorced his own wife and married Herodias, who was originally married to his brother Philip. John the Baptist saw that Herod’s actions were both immoral (divorce) and incestuous (against God’s specific command not to do that in Lev 18). Subsequently, John and had spoken out, infuriating Herodias and angering Herod. Matthew tells the rest of the story;

“Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet. 

On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother.”

Writing from a political point of view, the historian Josephus would later write that Herod had executed John for sedition. “However, Josephus reports Herod’s execution of John the Baptist immediately after dealing with the aftermath of Antipas’s plans to oust his existing wife in favour of Herodias and bridges between the accounts with the idea that the massive defeat of Herod’s army at the hands of his spurned wife’s father was divine retribution for his treatment of John. The Gospel account of John’s criticism of the marriage offers a natural explanation for the close linking in Josephus: persuading too many people that Herod’s marriage was incestuous would have seemed quite seditious to Herod; and divine retribution for the treatment of John would at the same time be retribution in relation to what John had been complaining about. The imperfect [tense of the Greek word used in Matthew] suggests that John had been maintaining a steady pressure of protest.”

Every mature disciple of God’s Word is exposed to both the Word of God and the obvious public behaviour of political leaders. When the behaviour of our political leaders is inappropriate and sinful, we know it brings judgment upon the nation as well as them – so to speak against it is appropriate. 

But speaking out in any fashion is also dangerous. It can and usually will result in our own suffering, as the story of John’s end testifies. Nevertheless, disciples of Christ should not be afraid to do as John did. God will yet vindicate those who faithfully stand up for truth and preach His Word. Besides, in so doing we forewarn the whole nation that God is still judge over all the earth. Amen.

God’s people [must not] engage in riotous behaviour, violence or damage to property.  Biblically acceptable methods of protest include: writing, delegations, public prayer, preaching, teaching, even dramas and artistic depictions in the market place.

Dr. Peter Hammond

APPLICATION: Intentionality

In as much as we are subjects of a political system, we must faithfully act in that system for God’s purposes. 

The political backroom dealings during Christ’s day easily rival the political  backroom  dealings in ours. Then as now, fallen people in political leadership make very complex webs of the deceit and ungodly alliances they weave in attempts to make their lives and jobs easier. Somehow it seems that political leadership rarely recognizes that unless they are living to honor God Most High, it never works out well for either them or the people they lead. 

Herod the tetrarch knew that John was a righteous man, so he had a level of curiosity about the things John was saying. As Mark puts it, “When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.” But when John began speaking directly against what Herod had done in divorcing his wife of many years so he could take his own brother’s wife, Herod acted against John. As the great historian Josephus put it, “Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion (for they seemed ready to do anything he should advise), thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it should be too late.”

Yet while Herod imprisoned John, he still didn’t have mind to put him to death entirely on his own. That was actually Herodias’ idea. She had agreed to leave Herod’s brother and marry Herod – likely because that afforded her a better lifestyle and more power. The Gospel of Mark makes it clear, “Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man.”  

As Herod and Herodias were already together, the Word of God can rightly say that it was Herod who wanted to kill John just as it says Herodias wanted to, for in God’s sight the two becoming one flesh had tied their spiritual as well as physical fortunes together. So Matthew records, “Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet.” 

We all readily see that we suffer for the sins of our political leaders. But do we understand that the sins of our spouse are our sins, and the righteousness of our spouse is our righteousness? Just as we are tied to the political dealings of those over us in power, so we are tied to the spiritual life of the one we’ve bound ourselves to in marriage. We must therefore pray all the more for both our spouse and those over us in government, because we will live with the consequences of their sins as well as our own!  Amen.

People are unique in the inner life of the mind—what they are in their thought-world determines how they act. This is true of their value systems and it is true of their creativity. It is true of their corporate actions, such as political decisions, and it is true of their personal lives. The results of their thought-world flow through their fingers or from their tongues into the external world. This is true of Michelangelo’s chisel, and it is true of a dictator’s sword.

Francis A. Schaeffer

APPLICATION: Intentionality

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone…”  – the apostle Paul, writing in 1 Ti 2:1

From the disorder of nothing, God created all things. From the disorder of   light and darkness, God created the order of day and night. From the disorder of earth and water, God created the dry land and the sea. We know these things from the opening lines of Scripture. Yet there is much profit in being reminded of this truth. In fact, years after Matthew’s account of Jesus’ life and ministry, Paul would encourage the Corinthian church with this truth, “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” 

Sometimes the darkness and chaos of our circumstance and/or sin can appear to overwhelm us. We wonder if God will ever be able to bring clarity to the mess that we’re in, or bring holiness out of our messed up lives. But He is well able to do that, and He is always working to that end. He is constantly winding the threads of circumstance to bring about the conclusion He predestined, even as Satan and his hordes (and all sinners in their sin) are trying to unwind those threads into disorder and confusion. We can trust that He is able, because God knows “the rest of the story,” and His Word is full of accounts that tell us so!

Having told the reader that Herod the tetrarch believed Jesus to be John the Baptist resurrected, Matthew now breaks into the Gospel narrative to give the reader some background information: “Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet. On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.”  

Herod would’ve known that John was dead – he ordered that execution and personally saw the grisly result. Herod also would’ve known that he didn’t really want to kill John because he believed John to be known as a prophet. If John was now resurrected and alive, it would be a minor vindication of Herod’s internal thinking. It would also allow that Herod could propagate that idea in the public sphere. That would not only shine a confusing spotlight on John – it would also spread many seeds of confusion about Jesus (and even about Herod). But by including “the rest of the story” in the Gospel narrative, God informs us of the full truth. Any mistruths the reader might have had about who John or Jesus were (or even who Herod was) are washed away by that revelation. 

This is a powerful spiritual principle; As He did in the beginning, and as He and did again in Jesus’ day, God is still in the business of separating light from darkness! 

The work of the Spirit can and will do the same in our lives!

The web became an almost omnipotent—and omnipresent—tool for cruising the information highway. The Internet, however, has not helped people discern truth

Kendall H. Easley

APPLICATION: Thankfulness

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”  – Jesus, speaking in John 16:13