Is life fair?

I have often heard my children cry out, “That’s not fair!” This declaration usually comes in response to some perceived injustice — especially when they feel one of their siblings is getting something they are not.  I have usually responded with, “Life is not fair.”  I may not get a “parent of the year” award for this response but I am trying to help them realize that in a fallen world, life really isn’t fair. How do I know this?  I have lived awhile.  And I have read the bible.  The bible does not support the notion that life is fair.

Take Zachariah and Elizabeth, for instance.  They were both from the priestly lineage of Aaron, which meant within the Jewish community they were highly regarded.  Of the right stock, you might say. In Luke 1:6 we read, “Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly.”   They were righteous people; that is, they were in right standing with God.  God, who sees all things, especially the hidden things that no one else sees (the thoughts of the mind and the actions of the heart), considered them upright.  This doesn’t mean they were without sin. No one (but Jesus) is sinless. It means that their lives were lived consciously God-ward. The desire of their hearts was to love and serve God in all things. To be sure, they were fairly unusual people.

But they were also people who were suffering. In a culture that supremely valued children as a blessing of the Lord and the means by which the family carried on, they were childless.  Many Jews of their time thought that immortality was more about living on through progeny than it was about an actual spiritual afterlife. So even though righteous, Zachariah and Elizabeth were suffering the supreme indignity, disappointment and humiliation.  Like I said, the bible does not say that life is fair — even for the godly.  However, and this is a profound truth for the heart to grasp, the unfairness of life doesn’t mean God is unfair or against us.  No, just as Zachariah and Elizabeth discovered, so also, many others have discovered; hardship, sorrow, humiliation, and disappointment are not sent by God to hurt us, but are instead the result of living in a fallen world; a world that was intended to be fair and good and upright in all ways, but which has come under the influence of evil, sin and death. But the Good News is that God is a God who intervenes.  As the angels will say in Luke 2, “Behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord!”

The exalted King and his messengers

We conclude the gospel of Mark. Having given his life as a ransom for sin, Jesus was raised from the dead and exalted to the highest place.  Mark 16:19, “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.”  This is the Ascension of Jesus to the place of kingship. He who had taken upon himself the form of a servant is now highly exalted (Philippians 2:7-9). He is now in the place of power (the right hand of God), ever making intercession for us. He is our Advocate in heaven.  What better Advocate could we have?  The king himself gave his life for us.  The king himself gives his Spirit to us. The king himself Advocates before the Almighty on our behalf.  When that great Day of Appearing before the throne of God comes (“it is given a man once to die and then to face judgment”) what a relief it will be to appear with the only One who can stand righteous before the throne of God…the exalted King, Jesus.

Also in Mark 16 we have a version of the Great Commission.  Whereas in Matthew, the King declares, “All authority in heaven and earth are mine, therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them…. and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded… and lo, I am with you always,” in Mark we are command to “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”  Jesus tells us who are his disciples to take his place in the world… to do that which he has been doing.  Signs of his presence will accompany us — we will have authority to cast out demons and to heal, we will be protected from various dangers, and we will have supernatural gifts given by the Spirit. Jesus will serve in and through his people by his Spirit. We partner with him; he does the work through us. We go out to proclaim and demonstrate his kingdom; he endorses the message as kingdom realities occur through us. Not a corner of the world is to be left unvisited; not a soul is to be left out from hearing! Those who receive the message will be saved… and the King will be exalted forevermore!

The Rejected King

Six times in Mark 15, Jesus is called “the king” (vv. 2, 9, 12, 18, 26, 32). This is who he is and what he has come to reveal — the kingdom of God.  In Mark 1 Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the good news… and come follow me.”  He then went about doing the works of God’s kingdom — healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, restoring hearing to the deaf, mending broken hearts, setting the sin-captive free, and announcing the favor of God.  Remember Blind Bartimaeus called Jesus the “Son of David” in Mark 10.  Son of David was another way of saying king, or more specifically Messiah.  God promised David that the Messiah would come through his line (would be one of his sons) and this heir would been an everlasting king — the greatest king, above all rulers who ever lived. In Mark 11, Jesus out right claimed the kingdom by presenting himself at Jerusalem as the Heir of David, according to the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 (“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey,”).

And what is the response of the people. Did they accept this King?  Well, at first they welcomed him because they hoped he might deliver them from the oppression of Rome and free them from their poverty. But when he entered the temple that final week (Mark 14) and showed that his mission was primarily spiritual in nature (not political or military), they hated him.  His kingdom is not of this world — it is an eternal kingdom — the in-breaking of God’s realm and rule. The religious leaders, who claimed to know and serve God, particularly hated and rejected him (just as Jesus said they would (Mark 10).

Know this, the world’s greatest sin, the greatest sin of this age and every age, is the rejection of Jesus Christ (the King). Every person who has ever heard the gospel (rightly declared) must either accept the Lord as Savior or trample him underfoot. The people who lived in Jesus’ day made their choice and the people of our day must make theirs also. Do you reject or receive this King?

 

Idolatry…control… sigh…ugh!

There’s no way around how awful Exodus 32 is. It’s like a spiritual train wreck between the giving of the Law and the setting up of the Tabernacle.  It is proof that sinful people will not worship the true God rightly without his grace and intervention.  Exodus 32 is so bad because idolatry is that evil in God’s sight. Essentially, idolatry is making a god that you can control and it expresses defiant disloyalty to the God who actually is.

In making the calf, the Hebrews showed that they were unwilling to wait for Moses (really it was God for whom they would not wait). They decided to conjure up something easy, tangible, visible — controllable. People still do this — they will look for signs or hold seances (idolatry has multiple forms) — but waiting on God and releasing control to Him and trusting that He is faithful and will act in his good time and plan — for most that is simply too much to ask.  And why is this so?  Again we get back to the need to feel in control…and the prevalence of unbelief.

What would it look like in your life, right now, in the day-in and day-out reality in which you live, to let go of control to the God who is?  To let go of “Santa-God” or the “Great Butler in the Sky” whom you expect to satisfy all of your whims and to actually surrender to the God who is holy and mighty — and who also loves you?  Is it too much to ask? It is exactly what HE asks of each of us.

Jesus and Fig Newtons

So Mark 11 — Jesus cursing the fig tree seems a bit strange, don’t you think?  It isn’t that he hates fig newtons.  There’s actually more going on here than that.  Remember that usually, when you come across something in scripture that is hard to figure out or seems really odd, you are likely running into a cultural issue.

The thing about fig trees in Palestine is that the fruit begins to appear before the leaves do and then ripens alongside the growing leaves. This tree Jesus has approached has lots of full leaves and so he expects to find much fruit.  The tree looked good and useful but it was really a useless tree. In a sense, it was a deceptive tree. It led the passerby to believe it was a good and productive tree when in reality it had no value. Likewise, the statement that it wasn’t the time for figs doesn’t let the tree off the hook. If it wasn’t time for figs, it wasn’t time for leaves either.  Figs precede leaves.  A show of leaves should mean a crop of fruit.

The tree served as a parable to the disciples (and to us). The tree represented a kind of profession of faith but without any productiveness.  There was no fruit in its life but it made a show that there was fruit.  In essence, it is a warning against hypocrisy — one of the chief sins that Jesus condemned.  By a show of leaves, it was like many people, pretending to have fruit which is not there. It was like the Pharisees who professed to be very religious, but whose lives were fruitless. Therefore, Christ cursed this tree as an object lesson to all of us not to be hypocritical.

The next question might be: How do I produce spiritual “fruit” in my life? Jesus’ answer comes from John 15 — “Abide (remain/live) in me and I will abide (remain/live) in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear bear figs by itself but only by being joined to the tree, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined to me.”(My slight paraphrase). You want spiritual fig newtons? Be joined to the only one who can produce them in you and through you – Jesus!

Let’s talk furniture…

Let’s talk furniture… or how do we enter into true worship? Or can you see Jesus in it all?  Last year I taught this material in Exodus over the course of many weeks, but here’s a “lightning round” – a way too fast run through the approach to God in the tabernacle…and how it points to Jesus. (Warning: it’s longer than most of my posts.)

The OUTERSKIN – The outer screens (skin) shielded the tabernacle from view to the passerby. Just as the badger skin veiled the glory in the tabernacle; so also, Jesus was (is) also veiled to the mere passerby. He looked like everyone else – Isaiah said he had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him; there was nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. Many miss him (for now). One day, all shall see him and marvel. Under the OUTERSKIN (ramskin) is blood; so also, the blood of God flowed underneath the outer shell of Jesus’ body.

The DOOR — You enter the tabernacle through the one and only door (there is no other way into the presence of God); so also, Jesus said, “I am the door,” “I am the way,” “ I am the gate;” whoever enters through me will be saved.

The ALTAR –After entering through the door, the first piece of furniture is the altar.  Sacrifice is first.  This points to the cross of Jesus.  The only way we come into the presence of God is by first coming through the sacrifice – Jesus  is the lamb of God who offered himself on the cross, once for all, for the forgiveness of sins.  He is the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.

The WASH BASIN – After the sacrifice comes washing. Jesus said, “Unless I wash you, you have no part in me.” (John 13)  So we see a sign of baptism – Jesus is the one who cleanses us.  Likewise, the water points to the Holy Spirit – “If anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink and the water I give will rise up in him to everlasting life.”  So also, Titus 3:5-7 – “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” Likewise, we are washed by the Word – Jesus is the word – He also said, “My word is truth. I only say what the Father tells me.” Jesus washes us. The Scripture washes us.

The TABLE OF SHOWBREAD – Having entered the outer chamber of the tent (The Holy Place), we receive of his body.  Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”  He also said, “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part in me.”

The GOLDEN LAMPSTAND – Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Likewise Jesus tells his followers, “You are the light of the world…let your light shine before men so they might see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

The ALTER OF INCENSE – Jesus is our intercessor before the throne. There is no trial, testing or temptation that we cannot bear for His intercession sustains us and shows us the way of escape. Likewise our prayers come before God as sweet smelling incense.  Because the incense on the altar burned perpetually, so also we are never to cease praying, continually offering up a sweet-smelling aroma of the incense of our prayers.

The VEIL – The veil separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.  The veil was so woven together that two pairs of oxen attached to either side and driven in opposite directions could not tear it apart. It was called the Shielding curtain because it shielded the Ark and the Presence of God from sinful man. It served as the barrier. Only the high priest could enter through the veil, once a year on the Day of Atonement.   Hebrews 10:20 tells us that Jesus’ body was a new and living way. His bodily death opened the way to God.  When he died on the cross, the veil of the temple in Jerusalem was torn in two from top to bottom, symbolizing that God had opened the way for access to his presence.

The HIGH PRIEST – He could only enter the Most Holy Place once a year and he did so to make atonement for sin by offering blood.  Hebrews 2 tells us that in Jesus, “We have “a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, who makes atonement for the sins of the people.” Likewise, this great high priest has gone, not into the earthly tabernacle but into the heavenly tabernacle. Unlike the other high priests, Jesus does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for all sins once for all when he offered himself (Heb7).  Jesus said, “I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.” John 8:24

The ARK OF THE COVENANT/THE MERCY SEAT – The Ark was a small chest and on it’s lid was the Mercy Seat.  The Hebrew word for Mercy Seat is translated into Greek by the word Hilasterion. The English translation for the Greek is propitiation. Propitiation means to turn away God’s wrath by satisfying His violated justice. It was the blood of a spotless lamb (representing or substituting for the life of the sinner) that was sprinkled on the mercy seat. Inside the Ark was the 10 commandments and this represents what we are judged by (our failure to keep the whole law).   Later, a Pot of Manna would be added to the Ark – Jesus said, “ I am the bread that came down from heaven (MANNA).” “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”  The bread represents our unwillingness to trust God’s provision for us. Also, later Aaron’s staff  which budded would be added to the Ark.  This represents our unwillingness to follow God’sleadership and our failure to exercise true worship.

What is the good news? Hebrews 9 tells us: “For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself,”(Heb 9:24-26).

And Hebrews 10 says, “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool,  because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:  “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”^[Then he adds:“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful,” (Heb 10:11-23).

The tabernacle

Worship… In Greek the word is PROSKUNEO and it means to kiss the hand, to fall on the knees, to prostrate on the ground.  To worship is to express respect for God. It is to honor and love and revere him as he rightly deserves because he is King of kings and Lord of all.  Exodus 25-40 lays out the worship that God has prescribed.  He actually told the Hebrews how to approach him and he expected that they would do so.  Exodus 25:8, “And let them make a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. You shall make it EXACTLY AS I SHOW YOU concerning the pattern of the tabernacle.”  Why so specific?  Does it matter how God is worshiped? Does it matter how he is approached?

The answer is yes.  In the book of Hebrews we’re told that the sanctuary was an exact replica of the sanctuary in heaven itself (Hebrews 9:24-26).  And so God, concerned that people approach him in a way that would not destroy them, graciously told them how to do it. Each of the pieces of furniture he described had specific purposes to enable sinful humans to approach the holy God. And each of the parts of the tabernacle and its furnishings served as types pointing to Jesus himself.

Essentially, the tabernacle was a two chambered tent surrounded by a courtyard and enclosed by screens.  The tabernacle was the place where God promised to meet with his people in the cloud of his presence. It was the place where God and man would commune. God would come down in this specific place and SPEAK to man. What a God! We could not go to Him so he came down to us.  Incidentally, the New Testament says that Jesus came and tabernacled among us (John 1). The fullness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily. (Col 1:19).  God’s glory once dwelt in the Holy of Holies in the earthly tabernacle and then later in the temple made with hands – but eventually the Glory of God dwelt in Jesus Christ – the heavenly tabernacle made without hands – he was the only begotten Son of God.  Hebrews 1:1-3 states, “ In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son….”  How wonderful it is that God is a God who dwells with his people and who cares enough to speak to us! When once we have been born anew through faith in Jesus Christ, God’s Spirit dwells within us — we become his tabernacle/temple!

On the mountain

Sorry for the delay in posting this morning. I have been on a 4 day, 25 mile hike with 16 men from the church since last thursday.  Frankly I am beyond tired, but supremely satisfied and grateful.  Our God is a God who rescues the lost, heals the broken and delivers the captives.  I watched him do this again this weekend among a group of his sons.  We certainly met with God on the mountain and He met with us in remarkable ways… So it is gratifying to come home to the reading in Mark 9. It is a new testament theophany — a revelation of God — who he really is.  “Jesus took Peter, James and John with him to the top of a high mountain where they were alone.  There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.”  In Luke’s account (chap 9 also), we’re told that “his face changed and his clothes became brighter than lightning.”  It’s a glimpse of Jesus in his glory. As we will see him one day when we are face to face with him, marveling in the wonder of his beauty and majesty.  For now, we get glimpses…like when he heals someone’s broken heart, when a sinner is forgiven, when shame is broken off a life, when a marriage is restored, when forgiveness is given to someone who doesn’t deserve it, when bitterness is melted, when peace and  joy pour out….when the wonder of grace sets in.  That’s what I saw Jesus do this weekend on a mountain. May you be blessed today…

Jesus’ Compassion

Mark 8:2 — Jesus said, “I have compassion for these people…”  Whenever Jesus saw the needy multitudes, He was moved with compassion and helped them.  By definition, to have compassion is to be moved in the core of one’s being by another person’s plight such that it causes you to take action on their behalf.  The Hebrew word for compassion really gets at the meaning and gives us a beautiful word picture.  Compassion, in Hebrew, has as its root the word for womb.  Think about it… a womb is a place of safety that moves powerfully at just the right time to bring forth life. To say that Jesus had compassion is to say that his gut wrenched and he birthed life.

All or nothing

In Exodus 19 and 20, we have the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai. First a word about the law…The law demands perfection. Nothing less. No provision was made in the law for failure. It is all or nothing — keep the whole law, every point, every moment of the entirety of your life; or the whole thing is broken. One hole in the bowl, one crack in the pitcher unfits it for its purpose. One flaw in your character mars the perfection God requires under the law.

So why was it given? In order for us to know our exceeding sinfulness. The did not make us sin. It shows us that we sin (and that we do so because we are sinners at heart). The law is God’s mirror to show our exceeding sinfulness. Only one Man since it was given has kept the law perfectly: Jesus Christ. Christ not only kept the law, but he also paid the complete penalty for the broken law. Christ suffered that we might be spared!

Now about the Mt. Sinai…. It has been said that there are two mountain peaks that stand in contrast to each other in the bible. The first is Mt. Sinai.  Mt Sinai, with all of its horror thundered forth the law and none could approach it lest they die.  Opposite this, God places Mt. Calvary. Calvary took away all the fire and thunder (in that the fire was poured out upon the sacrificial Lamb of God) and made possible a meeting place between God and the sinner.  We each have a choice about how we shall approach God, either by law or by blood.  As for me, I choose His blood.