another reason for controversy

The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.

John 7:7

 

Jesus was controversial because He showed that the natural ends to all the work of a collective of fallen, depraved sinners was evil. He was not about reinforcing some spark of goodness in depressed humanity. He was about confronting sin all around Him. Not arrogantly, for sinners were drawn to Him, but truthfully, so that people could repent and follow Him. The worst sins were done by those who disguised sinful motivations and selfish pride in beautiful religious clothing.

 

The context of this statement shows tragic human depravity at two extremes. The first is personal depravity represented in the brothers of Jesus. They sinned in refusing to believe in Jesus (John 7:5). And they were pressuring Him to go to the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem to make a huge public spectacle of Himself. They were motivated by pride.

 

The second extreme, also characterized by pride, was found in the Jewish leaders who challenged Jesus all throughout John 7. They did not believe in Him either… but their reasons for rejection were viewed as “good” even “religious” reasons. They rejected Him as well. His teaching had the unnerving affect of eliminating their profitable market share and destroying their religious livelihood.

 

So there are two evils to guard against in my heart. The first is my own tendency toward prideful lack of faith, wanting to take all actions, even decisions of faith, into my own hands. The second is my tendency to look “holy” by public religious spectacle, rather than to let God make me holy through private obedience and submission to Jesus. Both of these are evils that Jesus exposes in the world and in me. Only by faith, trust, and obedience to Him can I find that Jesus will heal me of them.

 

Technorati Tags: Christianity,Discipleship,Religion

The powers that be

But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart.

Exodus 7:22-23

The great lesson from Exodus is that God is in control. And the last person to learn this the hardest way possible was Pharaoh. I have always found it odd that the magicians of Egypt would duplicate the water being turned to blood. It seems that Egyptian could dig wells as a new source of water. The magicians immediately showed Pharaoh they could do the same thing. However, what is telling is that they were absolutely powerless to undo the plague. They weren’t much help were they?

The power that confronted Moses was the power of a corrupt human heart. And human hearts will naturally defy God. They will deny Him outlandishly. This is as defiant as Richard Dawkins asserting that there “probably is no god, so get on with your life and stop worrying.” This does not offer much perspective. And it offers no solution to the plague of sin or the devastation of the inevitable judgment of conscience that all humans feel.

When the powers that be deny God, the reality is that God becomes more clearly in control. That is what we see in Exodus. Pharaoh holds on to his kingly authority only as long as God lets him. Eventually God will move so decisively that not even the most powerful human on earth can resist him.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Providence,Sin,Unbelief