Love On John's Terms (part 20)

Jesus, apparently uninterested in the background of the blind man that He understands Himself as charged to heal, and concerning Himself only with the fact that He must “perform the deeds of the one who sent me as long as it is daytime” (John 9:4a), took steps to deliver sight to this previously blind individual.  The result of Jesus’ action seems to have generated confusion along with a bit of anger, while also demonstrating that this man was well-known to the community and that his condition was common knowledge.  Questions were asked:  “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” (9:9a)  Some confidently answered “yes,” while others said “no.” 

Undoubtedly, a natural incredulity was at work here, in that even if a person may have been reasonably certain that this was indeed the beggar with which they were familiar, the fact of his now being able to see was something of a confusing matter, as people simply did not go from being blind for an entire life to seeing---such was entirely unexpected and contrary to human experience (this then is not unlike the Resurrection).  Eventually, the matter and the man was brought to the attention of the Pharisees, who offered up their own line of questioning, while the author take the opportunity to insert the previously unknown fact that Jesus had performed this act of healing on the Sabbath. 

Presumably, for the author, until those concerned with the important matter of covenant markers (Sabbath-keeping, circumcision, and dietary/purity laws) were involved, healing on the Sabbath was not an issue.  This, of course, becomes the primary concern for the Pharisees, as they say “This man, “ meaning Jesus, “is not from God, because He does not observe the Sabbath” (9:16b).  Others disagreed.  The formerly blind man, when queried, offers his own assessment, which was “He is a prophet” (9:17b).  This, just as was the case with mentions of “Samaritan” in the eighth chapter, provides another connection with what has been previously heard.  This use of “prophet” again links Jesus to Moses, which is an ongoing theme of this Gospel.

The man’s parents become involved in the matter, and as it appears that they wanted nothing to do with this controversy because it will risk their standing in the synagogue (9:22), they insist that their son is more than capable of answering for himself.  Accordingly, yet another inquiry is made.  The formerly blind man is told “Promise before God to tell the truth.  We know that this man is a sinner” (9:24b --- a sinner understood as somebody who does not possess right covenant standing, rather than somebody who performs or fails to perform acts according to a subjective standard or morality and perceived righteousness). 

The man who was blind, but who now has sight, responds to this assertion by saying “I do not know whether he is a sinner.  I do know one thing---that although I was blind, now I can see” (9:25).  When asked to again recount the story of what happened, he again proceeds, perhaps unwittingly, to stir a pot of underlying anger directed towards Jesus by saying “I told you already and you didn’t listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  You people don’t want to become His disciples too, do you?” (9:27). 

This produced an inflamed response of “You are His disciple!  We are disciples of Moses!  We know that God has spoken to Moses!” (9:28b-29a)  Of note, Moses comes into play again, which the audience (reader or hearer) should take as a rather ironic statement, as it has clearly been an ongoing point of the author to explicitly connect Jesus to Moses.  It also serves as an indication that a part of the stories that had been circulating about Jesus in His day, as well as being an indication that part of the ongoing means, in the author’s day, by which Jesus was either being discredited or by which adherents to His cause were being won, was whether or not He fulfilled the role of the prophet to come that would be like Moses.  This fits well within the overall sense that the Gospel of John serves in an apologetic function concerning Jesus’ role as the physical revelation and incarnation of the Creator God, while also doing a form of historical rendering. 

Paul's Customary Preaching

Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue, as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead, saying, “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” – Acts 17:2-3  (NET)

As the preaching of the Apostle Paul is examined, as it is presented by the book of Acts, it becomes fairly clear that his preaching of the crucifixion and Resurrection was the most important aspect of his message.  In this verse referenced above, the word “customarily” is used.  It probably has a four-fold application, in that it was Paul’s custom to go to the synagogue, as he did here in Thessalonica; that he addressed them from the Scriptures; that the purpose of his addressing them from the Scriptures was to explain and demonstrate that the Christ had to suffer and also rise from the dead; and that Jesus of Nazareth, the Man whose death had been ordered by Pilate, was the Christ. 

Paul preached the Gospel (Jesus is Lord).  It is the witness of the New Testament that it is the preaching of this message that changes hearts and minds.  The writings of the earliest believers and followers of Jesus seem to make it clear that in the preaching of the message that Jesus is the crucified and resurrected Messiah of Israel and Lord of all, the power of the Creator God goes forth for salvation (deliverance, forgiveness of sin, exodus, new creation, etc…).  It is insisted that it is in the preaching of this message that faith (allegiance to Jesus) is stirred and belief is established.  That is why the specific message of the Gospel is foundational.  That is why, echoing the statement from Acts, this message can be seen to be the single most important theme in all of Paul’s writing (the written version of his preaching), and why it ultimately forms the basis for one’s ability to understand the message of the entire Bible. 

For some reason (Paul insists that it is the power of God), preaching Christ crucified and resurrected, regardless of how ridiculous this may seem, is the message that persuades people.  This can be seen when one goes on to read that, following Paul’s proclamations concerning the Christ, “Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women” (17:4).  This, of course, is deemed to be the work of the Holy Spirit, as it is the Holy Spirit that moves one to a confession of Jesus as Lord (which is part of what the declaration of Him as Messiah entailed), as well as to a place of believing something so absurdly foolish (especially for the Greeks) as a man rising from the dead after being subjected to a Roman crucifixion.  Nevertheless, the believer is forced to realize that it is the preaching of this Gospel message, owing to the power  that lies trangely therein, that persuades and inspires this cherished, all-important belief.

Naturally, not all were persuaded, as one immediately discovers that “the Jews became jealous…and set the city in an uproar” (17:5).  After the meeting in the synagogue had disbanded, because of their purported jealousy, they went looking for Paul and Silas, but were unable to find them.  Not being able to locate those dangerous preachers, the mob instead dragged Paul and Silas’ host (a man named Jason) “before the city officials, screaming, ‘These people who have stirred up trouble throughout the world have come here too…  They are all acting against Caesar’s decrees, saying there is another king names Jesus!’” (17:6b-7) 

This serves well to point out the nature of the message of Jesus as Messiah.  This was not just a spiritual proclamation in which Jesus reigns in heaven and in somebody’s heart.  This message of Jesus as the Christ included the proclamation that Jesus was indeed King --- the King of Kings.  The Jews said this to the city officials, not because they believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but because they were well aware of everything that was implied by the title of Messiah, which included his being the ruler of all the earth.  Those that preached Jesus as King were presenting Him as the King of God’s kingdom that had been ushered into existence at the Resurrection, with that kingdom composed of all those that believed the message of Jesus.  Furthermore, the message was not that there was “another king,” but that Jesus was “the King,” and that all kings were now subject to Him.

Because of the uproar, and quite understandably, “The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea at once, during the night” (17:10a).  Not surprisingly, “When they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue” (17:10b), as that was Paul’s custom.  What did he do at the synagogue?  It is most likely, again because this was his custom and his call, “he addressed them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead, saying, ‘This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ’.” (17:2b-3)  We are told that “These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they eagerly received the message, examining the Scriptures every day to see if these things were so” (17:11). 

This hearkens back to the foundational message, demonstrating the supreme importance of the preaching and understanding of the pure Gospel message of Jesus crucified and resurrected and shown forth to be the Son of God (a kingly term, then applied to the Caesar) in power.  The Bereans are said to have searched the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said about the Christ, and therefore about Jesus, was true.  It appears that nothing was more important than understanding Who Jesus was, along with the fact of, and what was implied by His being raised from the dead.  Together with this, one must be sure to note the power of God that is once again on display through the singular preaching of this message, together with the searching of Scripture, as it is said that “many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men” (17:12).          

Immediately (part 2 of 4)

As we move to the second chapter, Jesus addresses a paralyzed man, and declares to him that his sins are forgiven.  Some scribes, upon hearing that, thought to themselves, “He is blaspheming!” (2:7b)  The author informs us that Jesus perceived what was being thought about Him, “And immediately…said to them, ‘Why do you question these things in your hearts?’” (2:8)  Having said that to the doubters, Jesus turned to the already forgiven man and said, “rise, pick up your bed, and go home” (2:11b).  What was the response?  “And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out” (2:12a).  It seems that the one to be called “Lord” had instilled in him a sense of urgency as well. 

As we continue to trek through Mark, we find Jesus healing a man, in the synagogue, on the Sabbath.  With Jesus having done this, “The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against Him, how to destroy Him” (3:6).  As was already said, the forces that were arraying themselves against Jesus had a clear sense of urgency as well.  Jesus would go on to deliver the parable of the sower, speaking about the seed that would be scattered as the “sower went out to sow” (4:3).  Some of that seed, Jesus said, “fell on rocky ground, and immediately it sprang up” (4:5), but because “it had no root, it withered away” (4:6b).  That is an immediacy to be avoided, which we find out as Jesus explains the parable to His disciples. 

In the explanation, Jesus likens the seed to the preaching of the word of the Gospel.  When some hear the word, “Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them” (4:15).  For others, “they immediately receive it with joy” (4:16b), but because the word has no substance, because it is shallow, ambiguous, vague, filled with platitudes, lacking in a variety of necessary contexts, or offered with no sense of narrative flow so that it has no roots to penetrate deep, “immediately they fall away” (4:17) when persecution and trials arise.  The immediateness of the message of the Gospel cuts both ways.  However, when that seed takes root, it “sprouts and grows” (4:27).  This seed produces the fruit that Jesus desires, which first and foremost is the preaching of Him as Lord and its correspondent bent of action towards the establishment of God’s kingdom along the lines preferred by the Jesus of the Gospels, and “at once He puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come” (4:29b).  The proclamation in word and deed of the unadorned Gospel message is what brings forth a harvest.     

Then we find Jesus arriving in the country of the Gerasenes.  “Immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit” (5:2b).  This unclean spirit called himself “Legion” (5:9), indicating that it was a large number.  Jesus responded by casting the “legion” of demons into a herd of pigs, which subsequently ran into the sea and were drowned.  This is full of a great deal of imagery, as the symbol of the Roman legion that was responsible for that territory was the pig.  Having been freed from his captivity, the man begged Jesus to let him become one of His followers.  Jesus said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you” (5:19b).  The man responded by preaching the Gospel, essentially proclaiming Jesus as Lord (in contradistinction to the Roman legionnaires that represented Caesar who was at that time recognized and hailed as the lord of all), as “he began to proclaim…how much Jesus had done for him” (5:20b).  A harvest was reaped, as “everyone marveled” (5:20b).   

We then come upon the familiar story of the woman with the issue of blood.  We find that as she touched Jesus garments, “immediately the flow of blood dried up” (5:29a), as she was healed of her disease.  Having felt a surge of His healing power, Jesus “immediately turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched My garments?’” (5:30b)  This had occurred while Jesus was on his way to the house of a man named Jairus, whose daughter was “at the point of death” (5:23b).  When He finally reached the young girl, Jesus touched her and spoke to her, “And immediately the girl got up and began walking” (5:42a).  All who witnessed this “were immediately overcome with amazement” (5:42b). 

In the twenty-fifth verse of chapter six, Herodias’ daughter, having pleased King Herod with a dance, “came in immediately with haste to the king” and asked to be given the head of John the Baptist.  Though the king was vexed by this request, “immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head” (6:27a).  With this, it seems possible that Mark points us to the fact that the immediate nature of Satan’s kingdom of darkness stands in stark contrast to the kingdom of our God.  That which we are charged to do and to preach is a serious charge because it is serious business.  The Gospel must be preached, quickly and boldly, because lives are always and immediately at stake.    

Immediately (part 1 of 4)

And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. – Mark 1:18  (ESV)

The Gospel of Mark presents a fast-paced story.  At sixteen chapters, it is the shortest of the four Gospels.  Mark is concerned with presenting the facts and the acts of the life of Jesus, and does not allow itself to get slowed down in the least.  In the first chapter we read, “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the Gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel’.” (1:14-15)  From the first, this was Jesus’ message.  Mark gets to it quickly.  Where Matthew and Luke don’t have Jesus speaking until the third chapter of their writing, Mark spends very little time building a foundation for Jesus’ ministry.  There is a sense of urgency to Mark.  We see that urgency in the verses we just quoted, as we read things like “The time is fulfilled,” “the kingdom of God is at hand,” and “repent and believe.”  Mark calls this the Gospel of God and Jesus says that it is to be believed.  This Gospel, of course, is that Jesus is Lord. 

As we contemplate that sense of urgency in Mark, we’ll notice a word that is used on a regular basis.  Though it is used in the other Gospels (five times in Matthew, once in Luke, and three times in John), the stunning frequency of its usage is peculiar to Mark.  That word, in the Greek, is “euthus,” and it is best translated as “immediately.”  Placed alongside and in the context of the message that Mark says Jesus came preaching ,which is that of the Gospel of the time of the kingdom of God being at hand, what this message implies for God’s covenant people Israel, and the need for repentance and belief (getting on the side of the mission of the Creator God via a loyalty to Jesus and the way of His mission), this word should take on an even greater significance than that which it already possesses. 

The first time that we see this word used is in the tenth verse of chapter one, in the context of Jesus’ baptism by John.  We read “And when He came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove” (1:10).  Following this, “The Spirit immediately drove Him out into the wilderness” (1:12). 

The third time we see it in Mark is in the text with which we began.  Jesus saw Simon and Andrew and said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men” (1:17).  As an aside, we’ll notice that Jesus puts the onus on Himself to make them become fishers of men, rather than telling them that they should become fishers of men.  He promises to be involved.  He is not going to be a distant monarch.  The response of these two men is that “immediately they left their nets and followed Him” (1:18).  A little further on, Jesus sees John and James, and “immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed Him” (1:20).  There, the immediacy is not placed on the following (though it is also immediate), but on the call, as Mark gives us an insight into how Jesus felt about the urgency of His message.  We read that “immediately, He called them.”

Moving along, we find that “they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching” (1:21).  Jesus wastes no time.  He taught “as One Who had authority” (1:22b), which we would expect, considering the nature of His message, which was the Gospel of the kingdom of God, presumably with Himself as its King.  With that authority on display, “immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit” (1:23a).  As we can see, the powers of darkness understood the urgency as well.  As Lord, Jesus rebukes this unclean spirit, and “at once,” which is kind of like “immediately” (euthus) “His fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee” (1:28). 

In the twenty-ninth verse of the first chapter, we read “And immediately He left the synagogue” (1:29a).  We are told that Simon Peter’s mother-in-law was sick.  What happens?  “Immediately they told Him about her” (1:30b).  As we go forward, we find a leper coming to Jesus, kneeling before Him and begging to cleansed.  Jesus touches the leper, “and immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean” (1:42).  After his healing, Jesus “sent him away at once” (1:43b).  Eleven times in the first chapter of this fast-moving Gospel of Mark alone, we find him using the word “euthus.”  If we take the Gospel stories as a guide to our own kingdom activity, this fact should gain our attention.   

This Jesus Is The Christ (part 1 of 2)

And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, Whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” – Acts 17:2-3  (ESV)

The setting here is Thessalonica, and the place into which the Apostle Paul went for the reasoning, explaining, and proving was a “synagogue of the Jews” (17:1b).  This was the heart of Paul’s mission.  This is what concerned Paul, himself a Jew, who had been, along with nearly every other Jew in his day, awaiting the Messiah---awaiting God’s entering into history to vindicate and redeem His covenant people.  Having come to terms with the fact that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, what else could he do, especially considering that, owing to the experience of the Damascus road, he had been specifically appointed to this task by Jesus Himself.      

So Paul is in the synagogue, reasoning with the Jews about Jesus.  Most would have been quite skeptical of his claims.  It was not that Jesus was not liked and appreciated, the problem was that the story that was being told about Jesus did not fit with Jewish expectations concerning the expected Messiah (the Christ).  Among many other things, the Messiah was to be a king in the mold of David and of Solomon.  The Messiah was to have overthrown the oppressors of their nation, returning control of the land to the people of Israel.  Contrary to all Messianic expectations, this Jesus fellow had been crucified, just like so many potential and failed messiahs that had come before Him. 

The fact that Jesus had been crucified, regardless of all that He had said and done, was all the proof that the Jews of the day needed to establish the fact that, no, he was not the Messiah.  He had not overthrown the enemies of Israel.  He had been overthrown and cut down by those enemies in the way that they dealt with all challengers to the power of Rome and Caesar, by death at their hands on the cross.  He had engaged the hope of the people but been cut down.  Big deal.  Nothing to see here.  Time to move on.  Owing to these things, Jesus could not possibly have been the Messiah, so what more did they need to know?

This is the mindset that was faced by Paul.  It was not that the Jews were opposed to the message of Jesus.  Some were, but this would not have been true for the vast majority.  As far as they would have been concerned, this Jesus, while His ministry had been noble, had let them down like all the others, by not being a new Moses, leading a new exodus of sorts, resulting in the re-establishment of Israel as sovereign, autonomous, and independent in their land of promise. 

Based on all that they had been taught, had seen, or was relatively fresh in the collective memory of the Jewish people, Jesus did not meet the requirements of Messiah-ship, especially since He had been killed at the hands of the Romans, which would have been the most important point in the argument against the fact that the disciples of Jesus, Paul himself, and the other followers of “the Way” were proposing.  This is why Paul’s main task was to reason with them, from the Scriptures, and in doing so, show them, explain to them, prove to them, that it must be understood that Jesus’ death on the cross did not preclude Him from being the Messiah, but that His suffering and death (and therefore the Messiah’s death) was necessary according to the Scriptures. 

Parallel Stories

The fourteenth chapter of Acts begins as a continuation of the thirteenth chapter of Acts.  Rather than repeating what would come to be a fairly standard occurrence, Luke writes “The same thing happened in Iconium when Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue” (14:1a).  That “same thing,” of necessity and due to the rapid movement of the narrative from one story to the next, must include the idea that “the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (13:52).  The Holy Spirit was being poured out in Iconium, as Paul “spoke in such a way that a large group of both Jews and Greeks believed” (14:1b).  With more and more people being embraced by the arms of covenant due to their believing, “they stayed there for a considerable time, speaking out courageously for the Lord” (14:3a). 

In association with this speaking out on His behalf, Luke insists that the Lord, “testified to the message of His grace” (14:3b), with that message and grace being the Gospel (Jesus is Lord) and the extension of the covenant implied by that message of God becoming King in and through and as His Christ (Messiah/King), and confirmed by the “granting of miraculous signs and wonders to be performed through their hands” (14:3c).  This is an obvious, conscientious adaptation of the words from Joel that had been on the lips of Peter at Pentecost, as recorded in the second chapter, which was “I will pour out My Spirit in those days and they will prophesy.  And I will perform wonders in the sky above and miraculous signs on the earth below” (2:18b-19a).  To this Peter had added talk of “Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed among you through Him” (2:22b). 

Later on in that same chapter, we find another point of allusion, in that “Reverential awe came over everyone, and many wonders and miraculous signs came about by the apostles” (2:43), not the least of which was “All who believed were together and held everything in common, and they began to sell their property and possessions and distributing the proceeds to everyone, as anyone had need” (2:44-45).  By this, they accomplished what Caesar could not (which is the subject of another study), while proclaiming the Gospel in their very actions, gaining “the good will of all the people” (2:47a), with the result that “the Lord was adding to their number every day those who were being saved” (2:47b).  This took place as more and more came to the confession of Jesus as Lord, thereby joining the covenant people of God based on their allegiance to and belief in that claim. 

What were the miraculous signs and wonders performed by Paul and Barnabas in Iconium?  Though there is no specific, immediate mention, and though even in chapter two Luke passes over this statement without making what we would think of as any immediate, substantiating claims, chapter three contains the record of a man that had been lame from birth being healed, at the command of Peter, in the name of Jesus.  This healing in Jesus’ name, as was the point of other healing stories that would have been a component of the oral (pre-written) Jesus tradition in Paul’s day, made the point that Jesus did indeed rule over all things.  We can imagine the same types of things are in mind when Luke will later write about the performance of signs and wonders in connection with speaking out courageously for the Lord Jesus (as did Peter and John).

Though they met with opposition, with this opposition eventually forcing the need to flee from Iconium to other cities, Paul was never dissuaded from his message, as Luke records that he “continued to proclaim the good news” (14:7).  Let us never fail to equate “good news” with “Gospel.”  Concurrently, let us never fail to equate “Gospel” with “announcements about the ruler of the world.”  We shall not fail in this because neither the audiences of Luke or Paul or any of the earliest believers in Jesus would have failed in this.

Not only do we imagine that Luke intends to draw out the similarities between the preaching of the Gospel at Pentecost and Paul’s preaching of the Gospel in other cities, which serves as an indication that Pentecost (the pouring out of the Holy Spirit so as to create belief in Jesus as the means by which God would place people in right standing with Him---make righteous, justify, save, etc…), in a way, was an event that was repeated whenever and wherever the Gospel was being preached, but the report of miraculous signs and wonders in chapter fourteen (though the setting has changed from Iconium to Lystra) is followed by an event that almost precisely parallels the mention of signs and wonders in chapter and two and the event that opens chapter three.  As we hear about “a man… lame from birth” (14:8) that is healed at the command of Paul, we consider the idea that the preaching of the Gospel message (the good news) has the same impact and effect in Gentile cities, and on and for Gentiles, as it did in Jerusalem, and on and for Jews. 

In an almost comical twist, the healing in chapter fourteen results in “the priest of the temple of Zeus” bringing “bulls and garlands to the city gates,” as “he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices to them” (14:13).  When a lame man is healed in chapter three, at the Temple in Jerusalem, “the priests and the commander of the Temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, angry because they were teaching in Jesus the Resurrection of the dead.  So they seized them and put them in jail until the next day” (4:1b-3a).  Divergent responses indeed.  This, of course, followed the people “being filled with astonishment and amazement at what had happened” (3:10b), as the people were “completely astounded” and “ran together to” (3:11) Peter and John.  In the parallel story in Lystra, it just so happened that “when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they should in the Lycaonian language, ‘The gods have come down to us in human form!’” (14:11b)  Following the healing (though before the arrival of the priests from the Temple), Peter and John took the opportunity to preach Jesus, in whom “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers” (3:13a), had taken human form.  Paul, after the arrival of the priest from the temple, took the opportunity to proclaim the power of the same Creator God, who was the ultimate subject of the good news that he had been preaching.  Peter and John had to argue for their lives, were threatened, and eventually released.  Paul, preaching the same Jesus and the same God, with the same, subversive subtext, “scarcely persuaded the crowds not to offer sacrifice” (14:18b) to he and Barnabas.