wavering courage and falling disciples

 

Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”

Matthew 26:33-34

I, like Peter, would like to think of myself with a faith so bold that I would never turn from Jesus under pressure. I'd probably have said something similar as these men did under these circumstances. Jesus rightly predicted all His disciples would hide in fear during His arrest, trials, and crucifixion. And according to Matthew 26:35, Peter was not alone in his insistence that he would never fail his Master. All the disciples said the same.

But they did the opposite of what their bravado vainly boasted. They all fled at His darkest hours. Peter even adamantly denied knowing Jesus three times before the morning of the crucifixion arrived. Being a committed disciple facing death is probably easier said than done. Courage is cheap when it is advertised, costly and very rare when it is called into action. All the disciples would find their faith tested in this horrible time of failure.

I'm glad the gospels present this reality of the disciples falling away to us. It testifies to the veracity of the events. The disciples to a man experienced meltdowns of faith and that makes perfect sense with human nature. It squares with historical accuracy because most assuredly a legendary tale would have presented the future leaders of the church in a better light. They would not have been so frail. But the true events depicted with integrity for us show that Jesus was vulnerable before Pilate and the Jewish courts because His death was a necessary sacrifice at the very center of the drama for human redemption. The disciples were weak and wavering men because they needed to be redeemed! They experienced the trauma of unbelievable events. Their fear is actual because the events are recorded in the gospels with historical integrity. Jesus died for sin... even to forgive the sins of lack of courageous faith among His own followers.

If the men who saw Jesus heal the sick, walk on water, feed the hungry, and raise the dead had a faith that wavered even as they literally walked with Jesus, I am left to conclude that a disciple's faith is very hard. That is why we need Jesus to have done redemption completely for us, because we do not have the capacity. We are weak. We are broken. We need Jesus to have completed our redemption so that faith solely in His work credits us before God. There is no other way for people who fall away.

pursue by faith

 

What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Romans 9:30-33

With this simple exposition of Isaiah 28:16, Paul lays out the clear explanation of just why the Gentile world was turning to the gospel, even as Jews were tending to reject Jesus. Israel had been placed as God's light to the Gentile world. They had been given the Law, the Prophets, and the Savior Jesus Christ to share with the world. Yet they had neglected that faithful responsibility for the most part, caught up in the soul-destroying mess of legalism that instead rejected God's grace that had been poured out to them in Jesus. The gospel in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection was Israel's stumbling stone laid by God in Zion. The resulting works-based religion kept them from embracing the faith necessary to believe the gospel.

Works righteousness is shown to be a serious gospel killer. Paul's teaching was that it kept Israel as an ethnic group largely ineffective in pleasing God. They chose, as a group, to follow works-based righteousness rather than faith-based repentance, belief, and obedience from the heart. They failed at keeping the law by works. They could not accept Jesus by faith as long as they were caught in the trap of their works.

Jesus calls me to repent and believe the saving message of His atoning death for my sins. He calls me to believe that in His resurrection I have new and eternal life. And only after I have done this can I obey God's Word and live in the holiness provided for me in Jesus. I am called then to a life of faith-filled repentance and belief as I keep turning from sin to obey God's truth and be more like Jesus. Even then it is only possible because the Holy Spirit has regenerated me and empowered me to do so. I am a sinner, saved by grace, not by works so that I can only boast in Jesus!

under His banner

 

You have set up a banner for those who fear you,

that they may flee to it from the bow. Selah

That your beloved ones may be delivered,

give salvation by your right hand and answer us!

Psalm 60:4-5

The sixtieth psalm is this unusual mix of defeated pain and trusting strength. It is hard to understand it except to know that it must have been written on the heels of a very difficult episode in David's kingship. We get some clues from the heading. The superscription labels it a "Miktam" which is a song of teaching and it states that it is for "instruction". It appears to have been written around the events of 2 Samuel 8 in which David's general Joab secured a costly and great victory. But apparently before the victory, Israel was at a deep spiritual low according to this psalm.

The opening three verses depict God in His anger against Israel's sin rejecting the nation so that defenses were broken. Imagery of an earthquake is used to describe the demoralized nation. They are compared to dazed, traumatized war victims, staggering from the after effects of some nightmarish loss in battle. This sets the scene for the confident cry of verses four and five.

Though weak and traumatized, demoralized Israel could find help in the fear of the Lord. God's fighting banner still flew over the nation and they could run under its protection again. There, in worship and obedience to the Lord, they would be safe from the reach of the enemy's bow. And there they could rest in God again.

From the security of faith, David instructs the nation to pray for three things: 1) deliverance from the enemy, 2) salvation by God's strong right hand and 3) answers from the Lord for their repeated cries for help. They could only pray this confidently when they were close enough to God and His law to live obediently. In the shelter of His banner, they could find help.

The psalm ends in the confident assurance that God is in control of Gentile lands (Psalm 60:6-8) and while trust in man is futile, God will only lead the victory (Psalm 60:9-12). That is the faith that is rewarded.

Day of Atonement

  

...but you shall offer a burnt offering to the Lord, a pleasing aroma: one bull from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old: see that they are without blemish.

Numbers 29:8

Once a year

in Israel's past days

nine animals died

so sin's guilt could go away

on the day of atonement

On that day

a bull was burned

on the altar of sacrifice

so guilt would be turned

on the day of atonement

A ram was killed

so that guilt would be gone

as the blood ran

down the altar, sin was atoned

on the day of atonement

Seven lambs were slain

without blemish and pure

so that the nation could be

forgiven and holiness restored

on the day of atonement

But it all ended on the day

when the Lamb of God was slain

on Calvary's cross

His blood was spilled to attain

complete salvation: our Day of Atonement

guilty of not being ready

 

Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

Matthew 24:45-56

The one facet of the gospel story that makes the most Christians nervous is the reality of Jesus returning to earth. Even among evangelicals there is so much disagreement doctrinally on the particulars. Seminaries often find it best to teach a spectrum of theology on the subject and let students land on their own personal interpretations and theologies. Yet Jesus Himself gave thorough teaching on the end times and the fact of His Second Coming. He spoke of it lots to His disciples just before His crucifixion and resurrection. The repeated emphasis to the disciples throughout His teaching was that they needed to be faithful and ready for Him at His return.

But two millennia have gone by and the return of Jesus is hardly ever mentioned among Christians and rarely featured in our telling of the gospel story. Why is that? Are we embarrassed of this theological fact? Do we fear that proclaiming the doctrine of Christ's return will somehow make people think we are members of a weird doomsday cult? We don't want to look like Jim Jones or Branch Davidians, so we say nothing, and don't even look like Jesus in our preaching, Who spoke much on the subject factually and clearly. Really, the entirety of the gospel is subject to mockery by unbelievers, so why do we just pick out the Second Coming and only get nervous about the ultimate end of Jesus' salvation to rule the earth and restore the universe to wholeness?

It occurs to me that by neglecting the doctrine of Jesus' return, we forfeit the blessing that Jesus promises in this Matthew 24. To be a faithful servant, one must live as if the Master returns today. This is a wisdom the gospel prepares us to receive and instructs us to live. We need to be about our Master's business. We need to proclaim to the story of His life, His death and resurrection, saving offer of life to sinners, and His soon and imminent return to rule this earth. Jesus says He will be back again. He has kept every one of His promises and has been raised from the dead to give to His people all things. He is the truth. He will return.

Master,

Please forgive Your neglectful servant for being less than watchful for Your return. I will heed Your warning and hope in the promised blessing in my heart, words, and deeds as I seek to faithfully serve because You will be back.

Amen

belonging to another

 

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.

Romans 7:4

Jesus, in His death and resurrection, changed forever how we relate to God's Law. We now belong to Him Who perfectly fulfilled the Law's demands, and through His sacrifice eliminated the condemnation of the Law that demanded our sacrifices for sin. In His resurrection we have new life so that we can have a life in Him that bears fruit pleasing to God. It isn't about my efforts to please God by keeping the Law. Now it is about having died to those demands in Jesus so that I can live in obedience to the Lord by His saving grace.

And the relationship with Christ is about much more than sheer duty to obey. I would fail at that. Paul says instead that we "belong... to him who has been raised from the dead". To belong to Jesus is linked to the marriage analogy Paul has been employing in Romans 7:2-3. When we come by faith to Jesus, the relationship is binding two hearts together like a marriage. We belong to Jesus in this new sense of being joined to Him. We are His, and no longer do our sins condemn us under the Law. We now know a new love perpetuated by repentance, receiving forgiveness, trusting Christ's work for us, and finding in His grace and mercy the capacity to obey and live in holiness through the Spirit's enabling. Jesus saves us and provides the means for us to truly bear good, holy, righteous fruit for God.

Lord Jesus,

Thank You, my loving Lord, for freeing me from the Law's demands so that through Your saving work and the regeneration of the Holy Spirit I may know a life pleasing to God. I am Yours. I am not my own for I was bought with the price of Your life's blood. And I belong to You. You love me. You saved me. You call me to know and follow You. And so I want to live as Yours so that good fruit might be shown in my life.

Amen

Real fear. Real faith.

 

When I am afraid,

I put my trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.

What can flesh do to me?

Psalm 56:3-4

In the confidence of past deliverance David bravely sang out this prayer. He boldly trusted God in the midst of attack from people bent on his destruction. God was His strength even as enemies did their worst to attempt to wipe him out. David's fear was real. But so was his faith.

David does not dodge fear, he acknowledges it. He reports that there are situations where he is really afraid for his life. There is a real threat that this prayer is reporting. He is afraid. But even in that real threat, the choice was made to live beyond that fear and to "put trust" consciously in God. This is a deliberate action to not let the feeling of fear overcome David's faith. Instead, there is this very deliberate faith. Faith is David's chosen commitment to fight off fear and let God fight off those who are seeking his life.

David's faith is deliberate and there are two actions that accompany his choice of faith that help us understand how he could overcome the overwhelming feeling of fear. First, David worshiped God at His Word. He trusted God because of the Word of God. From scripture David learned about the faithfulness and protection God gave His people. From God's Word David drew faith to believe. He praised God for His Word and it gave him the capacity to trust beyond fear.

The second action is found in a rhetorical question: "What can flesh do to me?" David compares the all-powerful God to the limited strength of human foes. And there is no comparison. Man can only do what the Lord wills. And it is this limitation that strengthens faith. Man can only act, even sinfully, within the realm of God's sovereignty. Man cannot take David's soul, for it belongs to God. David's faith could confidently trust God Who rules all things, even the outcomes of human interaction. And so real fear's terror ended in real faith's trust.