Faithfulness to the Lord can be tested.

You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.
Deuteronomy 13:4

This is a call to faithfulness to the Lord. It is a command surrounded by a warning to not drift into any kind of idolatry. There are three ways in which the worship of other gods might drift into Israeli society. These were to be guarded against.

The first warning (Deuteronomy 13:1-5) is to guard against false prophecy. It was likely that someone might initially seem to speak words from God. They might twist His words to their own agenda. That kind of thing might even be accompanied by some display of unusual spiritual power. But if the prophet leads people away from the worship of the Lord, he is to be rejected by the people and executed. He is an idolater.

The second source to guard against was close association of family or friends (Deuteronomy 13:6-11). If anyone wants to advocate the worship of anyone by the Lord God of Israel, they are leading people into idolatry. The temptation might come from close associations and thus be socially complicated, but it is still to be dealt with severely.

The third influence in this chapter (Deuteronomy 13:12-18) was from cultural forces outside immediate personal contact. These cultural forces were never to be allowed to twist thinking towards the acceptance of idolatry. Fierce loyalty to God was to mark all the relationships with family, with friends, and even with the culture in Israel. And they serve as reminders to watch these relationships in ourselves today.

- Posted with my iPad. The Apple Kool-Aide tastes fine.

Love & Keep

You shall therefore love the LORD your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always.
Deuteronomy 11:1

God did not want to make of His people Israel a nation of blind adherents to the Law. The key to the relationship was love. God loved and cared for them. They loved and kept His commands. The reciprocal nature of the relationship was meant to build the nation into a powerful witness to the world of God's great and unfailing love.

God enters into relationship with us and we should act on our end of that relationship. We should love God. He is always the initiator because we are unable to truly come to Him as dead sinners. But when we feel the call, we must respond! That way that love is expressed is by living for Him, keeping His commands from our hearts. Living as a Christian is all about making our heart's passion that of pleasing our Lord. It is surrender and love in being all consumed in Jesus! It is like what a married person knows in finding joy in the things that delight and please their spouse.

The challenge for me today will be to love God by doing what He loves and commands. It means practicing the right choices, loving people around me even while they are imperfect and even hurtful, just like God loves every sinner while they were still sinners. It means expecting righteous living in my own heart, thoughts, and actions just as God expects that those who love Him would truly love Him from the heart!

- Posted with my iPad. The Apple Kool-Aide tastes fine.

Truth & Love: a beautiful balance

And now I ask you, dear lady - not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning - that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.
2 John 5-6

Love is a dominant theme in all of the apostle John's writings. And this little postcard is no exception. But it isn't about gushy emotions. There is a necessary relationship between love for fellow believers and love for the Lord shown by obedience to the truth of His commands. John says that walking in obedience to the Lord is the first step in real love among Christians.

This is important because the very next section (2 John 7-11) - what is really the heart of the epistle - warns against associating with false teachers. False doctrine is wrong because it does not walk in Christ's commands. It cannot be love. It must be avoided and confronted.

The necessary relationship between truth and love is vital to the church. It makes us unique. Truth cannot exist without love or it is just stale fact that is void of life. Love cannot exist without truth or it is just sappy emotionalism. Both must exist in commitment to each other as evidenced in the lives of Christians who together walk in love according to Christ's commands.

- Posted with my iPad. The Apple Kool-Aide tastes fine.

Peace & Pain

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. ”
John 16:33




There is a two-fold contrast of promises that Jesus makes to His disciples here. It is not particularly enjoyable to contemplate, but it is ultimately comforting. Jesus announces that He came into the world to bring peace to them through relationship with Him. That is well and good, but there is more to it. He could not guarantee that peace meant a conflict life in this world. It meant that pain would come from the world even while they were receiving peace in Jesus.

Christianity runs counterculture to the way things generally are in the world. We hold to absolute truth; the world runs from truth. We say sin brings judgment; the system says being bade is fun and a personal pleasure, even a right in some instances. We decry injustice and evil for what they are; the system perpetuates personal wealth and pleasure at expense of other people. All of that brings "tribulation" to those who swim against these currents.

Jesus' final words provide the perspective and encouragement we need: "...take heart; I have overcome the world." He would do so by dying on a cross at the hands of the powers of this world. He would then carry the sin of that world and later rise from the dead to offer victory over sin and death in this world to all who would change and be changed by trusting in Him.


- Posted with my iPad. The Apple Kool-Aide tastes fine.

Jesus… on following Jesus

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

John 10:27-29

 

These are comforting and encouraging words for one who has chosen to follow Jesus. But what is remarkable is the context and the audience to which Jesus spoke them. The context was one of confrontation by the enemies of the Lord. And Jesus spoke these words, not to His disciples, but rather to His distracters. These people were actively opposing Him… the text says they did not believe (John 1:25-26). So I gather that these comforting words were actually meant to convict and discomfort those who do not believe in Jesus.

 

Why do I want to invest the earliest moments of my day in hearing from Jesus? It is because of the promises of these words in John 10. I want to hear His voice… and I do when I read His Word. I have never had the mystical need for anything else because I have found so much “mystery” and “clarity” in the pages of scripture, particularly in passages like this one where Jesus says stuff like this!

 

And the security of being one of HIS sheep is superb. Nothing can take me from Him. Nothing can steal me away from the grasp of my God and Savior! I listen to God, I know Him and I follow Him. He gives me eternal life and nothing can separate me from that, or from Him!

 

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Stop eating candy!

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

John 6:35

 

Jesus is my soul’s satisfaction. What He offers is complete and full life in exchange for believing and following Him. He is what my soul longs for at all times. But so many times I have sought to satisfy soul hunger with lesser things. I settled for a handful of candy when I could have had a gourmet feast!

 

Many things promise to satisfy soul hunger, but never really do. Money can’t by happiness. Material things just always deteriorate in need of life-sapping maintenance. Position in life does not deal with the deeper questions of the soul. It just postpones them, only to have them return in great, fearful intensity at the hardest moments. Relationships can be fickle. Lusts and longings still remain.

 

But Jesus satisfies as the relationship that orders and strengthens all the others. He is the strong anchor for the soul so that my heart does not drift from the place of satisfying joy.  He provides what I need, so that I am not enslaved by passions, possessions, power, prestige, or position. I am truly and fully aware of how Jesus alone truly gives me what I long for… a satisfied heart!

 

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The inadequacy of public devotion

These you shall offer to the LORD at your appointed feasts, in addition to your vow offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your grain offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.

Numbers 29:39

 

This is the final footnote summarizing two chapters of details about public sacrifices. It serves to clarify that in no way would these public displays of national devotion during feasts supplant the need for individuals to practice the offering of personal sacrifices. Both were necessary for true obedience to God and His Word.

 

God has always wanted individual devotion from the heart to mark His people. It is no different today. Although I am thankful for “high attendance” at Easter services in churches around the world, I do not see those attend one or two public services a year as truly Christian. And I don’t think it is good for the culture in the long run. Here is why… these people have a nominal interest in spiritual things. They may uphold a tradition of public worship. But privately other things are much more important to them than God, and they may be deceived into thinking that they are doing just enough to make Him happy and get into heaven. And the church is encouraging the practice by giving away free cars… really!

 

Jesus said to truly follow Him and be His disciple, one has to practice a significant self-denital and take up a cross daily. That is private, personal and sacrificial. And that is the practice of Christianity at its core. It is about trusting Christ, following Christ, and living for Him in every dimension of our existence. It is a significant personal commitment to a substantial powerful Savior!

 

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leaders building leaders

And Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the LORD directed through Moses.

Numbers 27:22-23

 

Every good leader finds other people to continue leadership. In the case of Moses, God provided Joshua. But Moses had a strong desire for assurance that the leadership of Israel would pass into capable hands (Numbers 27:15-17). I think Moses knew God’s choice would be Joshua. But he waited to hear from God, and then followed God’s desires completely in the choice and manner of appointment.

 

I am looking at this account with a little more humility these days. I have had 21 years of ministry, and I might get to enjoy another fifteen or twenty more. Best case: I am at the halfway point of my ministry service. Mill Creek has been blessed recently with a fine crop of motivated and gifted people in their 20’s and 30’s. It is time to spend a big chunk of my ministry investing myself in these new leaders so that the next godly generation will follow Jesus.

 

As I look at Moses’ life from this point in Numbers until the end of Deuteronomy, I will look for principles from him that will assist me in developing these leaders. God… give me a Joshua! It is what God has called me to do at this stage of my life. I am excited about it.

 

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joy in making disciples

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

3 John 4

A disciplemaker’s heart is filled with a nearly inexpressible joy at the witness of a life that is walking the walk of a follower of Jesus. This is an ancient joy and a reward of the faith. It grips John the Apostle as he wrote these words in the shortest and most personal of his epistles.

He writes to a disciple named Gaius. We know nothing of him except what can be discerned from this text. He was loved by John and he was a faithful follower of Jesus. His Christian testimony was one of faithful commitment that expressed itself visibly. He may have been a church leader, but not necessarily a pastor or elder, given the situation that John addresses in 3 John 9-10.  It appears that this letter to Gaius was meant to address an issue in a local church that existed back then. And I believe it led to a successful outcome, which is way it survives for us to read it today.

The testimony of this faithful saint was known to John. And it brought him joy. That sort of joy is known by those who help others grow and mature in Christian commitment. It is known by Christian parents as they witness the work of God in their kids. Then there is a joy as ther children literally learn to walk in the truth.

I have the unique privilege of sharing in this joy in an entire church. As a pastor, I work in the spiritual experiences of dozens of people at any one time. I honestly have to keep notes so as to not get the details of one life mixed up with another! But that administrative detail is not the point of ministry and it is worth it, mixed as it is with both the sorrows and pleasures of life. Most Sundays I can look out across a large congregation and feel this surge of joy in my heart at what God is doing in lives. I know more than a lot of people do about the details, and the details are amazing.

There is nothing else in life quite like this. It is hard for me even now to put it into words this morning. It is, as I have written, an ancient joy. And it does not compare to the joy that most be in God’s heart!

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Heart Witnesses: The Emmaus Effect

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They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?"

Luke 24:32

This post-resurrection encounter with Jesus, unique to the gospel of Luke, is the one I find most compelling. There are several reasons why it appeals to me. It is popular in many circles to point out evidential statements for the resurrection of Jesus. It gets argued like a case before the court. The hundreds of eyewitnesses recorded in the pages of the New Testament make a strong case. It is fascinating to have the evidence argued this way.

But the two Emmaus disciples are more than eyewitnesses to Jesus. They are heart witnesses to His resurrection. There is a powerful personal effect that Jesus has on them that is convincing for them. The encounter begins with Jesus literally walking into the conversation of these two as they walk along the road. The text explicitly says that they are KEPT from recognizing him, a sort of supernatural recognitional fogginess is put over them at the time. They are travelers and He joins them in their journey. And the topic of their conversation is the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. They are trying to make sense of what is the talk of all Israel. Jesus obliges them by walking through the entire Old Testament to clarify the mission of the Messiah. It must have been a magnificent teaching time. It certainly left an undeniable mark on their thinking.

The day drags on and the two invite their traveling companion to overnight with them. He does so, and at their simple dinner, He breaks the bread, blesses it, and gives it to them and instantly the fog lifts and they recognize Jesus Who then vanished from their sight. It is then that they turn to one another, suddenly putting it all together. Jesus gave them that heart-stirring walk along the road!

Although I am not a highly emotional person, I still say this: God’s Word stirs me strongly… I’d say it is the most profound influence on me. I, too, now that feeling of my heart burning intensely as the Scriptures are opened to me. And that work of the Spirit accompanies the work of my risen Savior.

Rewards for the cost of discipleship

And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life."

Luke 18:29-30

The life spent committed to following Jesus has its cost. But Jesus assures those who have given up the most that it is well worth it. We must keep this statement in context. A very wealthy young man of influence has just approached Jesus wanting to settle his eternal destiny (Luke 18:18-27). He has come to the right place with the most important question of all. And Jesus invites him to leave everything behind and join the band of disciples (Luke 18:22). But though this rich young man was interested in spirituality, he would not pull away from his interest in materialism as well. He wanted both. And you cannot hold on to two affections. Jesus demands our full attention.

Peter comments on this sad state and outcome, reminding Jesus that the have indeed abandoned everything to follow Him (Luke 18:28). Jesus recognizes their commitment and sacrifice with this statement. He also reminds them of two levels of reward found in relationship with Him.

The first reward is in rich present relationships. This is not to be understood as some sort of promise of tremendous monetary wealth. I find most of what Jesus says here to be tied to the relationships newly discovered by a disciple within the family of God. There is no guarantee that physical family will turn to God for salvation. But there is a new family in Christ. And Christians share their lives and homes together like family should.

The second reward is the eternal life that the rich young man sought. What we find in Jesus is new life that is always fresh and new and amazingly good FOREVER! That is a really, really, really long time. Life eternal is found in Him and I don’t have to wait to enjoy it. Eternal life is lived right now. It started when I came to Him for salvation. It exists for me right now as I follow Him. It lasts forever when death is not an end of anything, but a bridge to a brighter, richer, fuller life in Christ.

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No Turning Back

Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell -to those at my home."
Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

Luke 9:61-62

I stand with hand to the plow

the work ahead

needs focus on You, Lord

I am not sure how

I’ll earn my bread

but You will supply, Lord

You warned against looking back

I’d be unfit to enter into

Your kingdom of holiness

So fixed on You and on the attack

I move forward looking through

distractions to Your infinite worthiness

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Family Resemblance

But he answered them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."

Luke 8:21

Jesus came to bring God followers into His family. He was so motivated by this vision for reconciliation of mankind with the Father that He was compelled to describe these people as the real family to whom He belonged. This lesson should not get lost as some hard saying of Jesus. He did not feel contempt for His earthly mother and brothers. But He knew the real relationship existed with His heavenly Father. And those who obeyed the Word of God and lived it were God’s children’s. That made them real family.

It is faith in Christ that creates real kinship in the kingdom. If this was true for Jesus, it is also true for us… disciples live by the Word of God and evidence it in obedience. That change makes a fundamental difference and is the spiritual DNA that binds together the family of God in Christ. If I want to be close to Jesus, I need to be an obedient disciple. Following Christ by following the Word is the key to showing the family resemblance.

Sometimes the American evangelical church has misunderstood the role of the family. We have at times fostered a “family-olatry” that is disturbing to observe. It excludes single people from the body life of the church when all they hear are messages on parenting, marriage, or the home. After all, Jesus was single. How many marriage conferences did He attend? And He is the one who draws us all together.

I know why we have done this. American culture is ravaging the family as God designed it. But making the human family all that the church concentrates upon is not the answer. It starts with people as messed up as they are, but who are redeemed by the transforming grace of God. Then it teaches them what God says in His Word so that they can personally grow close to Jesus. The answer is to build individual disciples who are part of a bigger family… people about whom Jesus would unashamedly proclaim: “These are my mother and my sisters and my brothers.”

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The Standard for Discipleship.

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

Luke 6:40

When planning the goals and high points of a ministry that is charged with making disciples of all nations, the clear goal of the task is given for us by Jesus Himself. Jesus shows us the maturity process in a simple explanation: “everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.”

Paul knew this. This is why He said simply to those he trained in ministry: “imitate me as I imitate Christ.” Disciples grow to the level of maturity of those who disciple them. And disciples learn by doing what their teacher does. Nothing too complicated about that.

There are a couple of implicit requirements. The first (re-iterated to me recently by reading “The Trellis and The Vine”) is that disciples are not fully disciples until they are disciple-making disciples. The second requirement is that the disciple-maker was guard, build, and grow in his own spiritual walk above all else, since the goal is imitation of the teacher and hence THE TEACHER, Jesus Christ.

Again, this week has been consumed with thinking through advance planning thoughts for the coming year. And as I have done so, God has blessed me with particularly timely episodes from Jesus on the process of ministry and discipleship. Mill Creek can build a great discipleship map filled with programs, curriculum and experiences for the disciple. But we must not lose sight of the goal: to grow people to be like Jesus. And we must not bury the process in administrivia: keep disciples focused on imitating the spiritual maturity of those discipling them,

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Inconsistent faith.

And Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away, for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'”

Mark 14:27

Jesus spoke these words to the twelve people who had invested their entire lives to be with Him. He knew that after His arrest, trial, and crucifixion, not one of them would stand by Him. They would all run and hide in fear. He knew this. He told them this ahead of time, despite their insistence that they would be His followers. Peter is told specifically about his denial and he denies that he will deny! (Mark 14:31). These men have strong words but weak hearts (Mark 14:40-42). Jesus understood this about them.

Following Jesus always has this element of battle against my own desires. The result is that I don’t always follow Him like I should. I don’t love Him like I should. I don’t obey Him like I should. I am thus a lot like these men. I talk a good talk. But my feet don’t always match up with my statements.

I am sure that Jesus was disappointed with the inconsistency of these men. But He let them know that He would restore the relationship they had run from. They might run away, but He would go in front of them to Galilee, and there make His post-resurrection appearances in the strongest ways. These men would remember their failures, but only in the light of Jesus’ remarkable work and victory. And they would never be the same men again. Inconsistent faith is challenged by God. Our failures are forgiven when we return to Him. He knows us and He loves us and He reaches us despite ourselves. Leaning on God’s grace gives us the resources to know that it is all up to Him. We simply believe and follow… even after we fail.

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the man who couldn’t stop following

And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

Mark 10:52

The story of Bartimaeus is a story of persistence. He was a blind man who knew Jesus could heal him. And he begged for Jesus to do so, even as the crowd kept him from Jesus. And Jesus heard his cries. Jesus heard him above the din of the crowd and called the blind man to himself. Bartimaeus quickly sprang to his feet from his beggar’s corner of the road. He came to Jesus and made his request face to face. Jesus answers him right to the point of the need this man had. And Jesus gave him the freedom to do what he wanted with his new gift of sight. He chose to stay with Jesus.

What I find in this passage is a spiritual persistence. I think that if I was suddenly blinded, I’d be desperate to have my sight back. I would pursue all options. I’d give all my energies to receiving healing. Persistence would be driven by physical need. But Bartimaeus had a spiritual persistence. Even after Jesus gave him what he so desperately wanted, he returned to follow Jesus. This time it wasn’t about sight or healing. It was about relationship with the man who had given him sight. He would not stop following.

Persistence is vital to Christian growth, so I find encouragement from good ol’ blind Bart. Many times I want to follow Jesus when I get something good from Him. But after the fact… well, it is easy to go my own way. But real faith makes following Jesus the way I want to go at all times. It is enough to know and follow Him. He is all I need.

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A Disciple’s Commitment & Passion

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?”

Mark 8:34-47

Jesus made the case for all to enter into a discipleship relationship with Him. And He clearly made known what this meant. He invited the crowd to bump up the commitment. He explained the details of the relationship by redesigning the relationship of rabbi and disciple.

In Jesus’ day, if a person wanted to become a follower of a rabbi or a certain rabbinical tradition, generally the parents of the young man would seek out the rabbi and make admission to have him accepted as a disciple. There would be requirements. They had to first seek the teacher, then be approved, then follow. But Jesus changed the procedure. He went after disciples. He invited them to come and to follow Him. He initiated the relationship.

And His call to the crowds here is to let those who wanted to change their level of commitment to do so. He invited each one to “come after me… take up his cross and follow me.” This was an appeal for discipleship. It was a concept that Jesus took hold of and re-engineered for the purposes of setting the standards for the lives of His followers. And Christians have been challenged by Jesus with these statements ever since.

What makes it challenging? These statements get to our heart, our passions, and our deepest desires. We are called to self-denial for the sake of Jesus. I do not commit to following Christ for the advancement of my own agenda, but for saving and life-changing commitment to the King. We are called to public humbling by “taking up” a cross. Jesus uses the spectacle of public execution to let His disciples in on the results of discipleship. It is not just self-denial. It is an attitude of self-death. And of course we are to follow after Jesus. The end result of the self-denial and self-death is a new relationship where Jesus sets the agenda for the course of our lives. I no longer dictate the direction or the deeds of my life… Jesus does.

And life and death hang in the balance. We are told that salvation is worth the sacrifice… that our souls are of more value than all the world. That giving up our own agenda for His will be more valuable than we can possibly imagine. And millions of believers have come to know this as true, even as they waited for eternity to bear fruit in their lives by this commitment.

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Comfort takes a back seat.

And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.
Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

Mark 6:32-34

I live in a culture where comfort is king. Last year, while shopping for furniture for our family room, I was amazed at the wide variety of easy chairs that are available. It isn’t about a simple recliner any more. Now you can purchase them large enough to sleep in. No joke. And you can get a matched set built together as a sofa or loveseat. And in the ultimate coach potato experience, there are electric recliners (you push a button to recline or sit up, even raise yourself out of the chair) that are equipped with drink holders AND a mini-fridge. We Americans like to take our ease.

Now there is nothing wrong with taking a break. Jesus models that for us in this passage where He encourages His disciples to come with him on a boat to get away from the press of ministry. But the idea did not last. As soon as they got in the boat, the crowds figured out the plan and ran around the lake to greet them at their destination. They wanted a short vacation. They got a boat ride. This seemed unfair, like booking a Caribbean cruise and only getting to the airport.

I find Jesus’ response to this situation interesting. I know if someone had blown my vacation plans, I’d be upset. I’d be tempted to unload on them like a celebrity at a papparazzi photographer! But Jesus responded with compassion. He saw their spiritual need and immediately responded to it. Comfort was a secondary concern, and somehow, just getting the boat ride was going to be enough.

I find this instructive. I had a busy week last week between pastoral ministry and teaching at Calvary Seminary. And this coming week has a full ministry slate as well. For a two week period I will be working on my days off. And by the time the calendar shows me a break it will be three weeks until one full day off arrives. I will need a few boat rides with Jesus to get me through! And I know He will provide them.

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Following from afar.

As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but 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." And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Mark 5:18-20

This account of the healing of the man in the tombs is really the first description of a new kind of disciple… one with whom we can readily identify. I have often entertained the fantasy of being a First Century follower. After all, what Christian would not trade sandals with one of Jesus’ original twelve disciples? It would be a dream come true to literally walk with Jesus.

The dramatic story of this suffering demoniac draws us in. He went from being a man whose demons begged Jesus to leave them alone to being a man whom Jesus set in his right mind. In this healed condition he now begged to become one of Jesus’ inner band, to travel with this Rabbi and learn from Him. He obviously believed in Jesus. But Jesus had other plans for this man. He wanted him to follow… from a distance.

This disciple was commissioned to do something very specific: “Go home and tell your friends.” And he was given a powerful message to proclaim: “….tell them how much the Lord has done for you.” He was also living testimony to a powerful fact about God: “…and how He has had mercy on you.” This disciple was given a relationship with Jesus much like the one we have today. He was to proclaim his testimony to the saving work of Christ to all those around him, even as Jesus was not physically present.

The results were blessed by God. Jesus knew what He was doing when He commissioned this man. All over the ten city region of the Decapolis (a Galilean region primarily Gentile in its ethnic composition) this man preached the gospel and impressed people by what Jesus had done for him. If this man could do this, we can do the same… I can do the same.

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Searchable Truth

With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

Mark 4:33-34

By teaching in parables. Jesus made truth searchable and knowable by anyone interested in honest investigation of His claims. That was the purpose of the parables (see Mark 4:10-12). And Jesus was a master at teaching in this way. He taught with many parables on many occasions. I believe it is entirely possible that much of what He told in parables is not recorded in the gospels. But we have all the important ones that explain the mission of salvation and the person of Jesus.

The interesting factor in this was the attitude of the crowd. This text says that Jesus taught in parables “as they were able to hear it”. This indicates that some may have been in attendance in the crowd, but may have not gotten to the point of the parables. The parables, however, provided two important things that made Jesus’ teaching “stick” in the minds of His hearers. First, as stories, they became memorable. Since we are not an aural society, we don’t appreciate this fact as much. But those who heard the stories in a society of story-tellers, remembered them. It is why we have them now. The second benefit of teaching the parables was that it created a follow-up opportunity. Anyone who wanted to ask for further clarification could do so. Those who investigated were the ones who “heard it”. They could take it further. That was Jesus’ intention all along.

Christian truth is knowable. It is not based on hunches or feelings or pragmatic mysticism. It is real knowledge and truth. Just like I can investigate and understand the periodic table of the elements in chemistry, I can investigate and explore the teachings and person of Jesus. And I can rest assured that the body of knowledge about Him is spiritual truth that is as real as any other body of knowledge. His own words, in His own parables, to His own disciples show me the way to such conviction.

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