Whate’re My God Ordains is Right (Luke 22:31-32) July 05, 2010
Posted by preacherwin in Devotions, Devotions on Gethsemane.Tags: Gethsemane, God's Permissive Will, Job 1, Luke 22, Permissive Will of God, Romans 11, Satan's sifting, Strengthening of Christ, Will of God
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“Simon, Simon, Satan has appealed to sift you like grain, but I have interceded regarding you in order that your faith might not fail. And at the point when you return, undergird your brothers.”
(Luke 22:31-32)
“And Satan answered Yahweh and said, ‘Is it not without cause that Job fears God? Have you not put up a hedge of protection around him and around his house and around all that is his—surrounding him? You repeatedly bless the work of his hands and his cattle cover the land. However, I beg you to stretch our your hand and strike all that is his and see if he won’t curse you to your face.”
(Job 1:9-11)
How similar this event is to the account of Job being tested. The Christian walk is not one that is meant to be an easy walk, but one where we will be tried and tested in every way as we walk along life. Yet notice the promise that Jesus makes to Peter. Satan will make his attack, but Jesus is the one interceding for him. How the same may be said for us as well. Yet, so often, we give in willfully to temptation and in doing so betray that we do not really trust Christ’s intercession as much as we say we trust it. How often the temptation to sin seems an overwhelming pull, yet neither Peter nor Job fell away—they stumbled and sinned, that is clear, but never cursed God and gave in to lessen their burden. Judas, on the other hand, took a different route in his grief.
That raises an interesting question. Why was Christ willing to intercede that Peter might return to faith and not willing to intercede in the same way for Judas? He certainly could have had he chosen to, and had Jesus chosen to, what a witness that would have given Judas—it would have been one much like the Apostle Paul, the one who persecuted and murdered believers. Yet, in God’s electing work, that was not the plan for Judas. Why one and not the other? On some level, we are not really fit to ask, for God has not revealed the fullness of his plan of election. On another level, the answer we must give for God’s electing of Peter and not Judas is that it was done for God’s own glory and for his praise. Though we do not always understand the why’s and wherefores of our God, the praise of his glory should ever be on our tongue—it should be the center of our thought, the joy of our heart, and the awe of our being. Who can say that they are a counselor to God (Romans 11:34)? Indeed, what He does is right and for all of the right reasons—some of those reasons he reveals to us, others he does not—and so it is with God.
Oh, the depths of the riches and of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How unfathomable are his decrees and incomprehensible are his ways!
For who is he who knows the mind of the Lord?
Who is he that has become his counselor?
Who is he that first gave to him that he might receive repayment?
For out of him and through him and for him are all things.
For to him is the glory unto eternity, amen!
(Romans 11:33-36)
Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His holy will abideth;
I will be still whate’er He doth;
And follow where He guideth;
He is my God; though dark my road,
He holds me that I shall not fall:
Wherefore to Him I leave it all.
-Samuel Rodigast
Being Humbled (Mark 14:29; Matthew 26:33) July 02, 2010
Posted by preacherwin in Devotions, Devotions on Gethsemane.Tags: Boldly Acting, Christ Humbling Us, Holy Boldness, Peter's Declaration, Pride, Scandal of Christ
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“But answering, Peter said to him, ‘if all of them are scandalized by you, I will not be scandalized!’”
(Matthew 26:33)
“But Peter stated to him, ‘Yet if all are scandalized, even so, I will not.”
(Mark 14:29)
You almost have to wonder what the rest of the disciples are thinking when Peter makes statements like this. Certainly, this is not the first impetuous and thoughtless statement in the three year ministry, not was it the first on this night, for just a short time ago, Peter was telling Jesus what he could or could not do with respect to washing feet at the last supper. Here we find Peter making another such statement. Essentially, Peter is saying, “No, Lord, you are mistaken. Even though all of the other guys are the type that will fall away, I won’t.” What John must have been thinking. What Andrew, Peter’s own brother, must have been thinking. What James, the other “Son of Thunder” must have been thinking at Peter’s statement. What, of course, Jesus must have thought, knowing what would come next. Were I in their shoes, I would have probably wanted to reach out and smack him…or worse.
There is a lesson to be learned by us on two levels. First, are we not all too often like Peter in boldly telling God how wrong he is about our weak and fragile character? Aren’t we also guilty of saying to God, “I will not fail you! I will not fall away! I will not be scandalized by the cross of Christ or by your name!” Yet then, shortly after leaving the prayer closet our children fall into mischief or our wife says something amiss or our neighbor’s dog digs up our garden again, or a coworker confronts us where we have tried to cut a corner, or the militant non-believer at work jeers at us again, or the person in the pew at church bungles what you have asked of them for the hundredth time, or, or, or. How often we read this account of Peter’s proclamation and say, “no, that wouldn’t be me saying things like that” or “no, I would not have denied Jesus as Peter did” and then found ourselves doing just that very same thing within hours of the thought. While you might want to say, “but that is different,” you must come to confess that, no, the denial is not any different at all, just the circumstances are changed. How we need to humble ourselves and repent of this, our weakness.
The second lesson that can be learned is the lesson from the rest of the Apostles. Though, after the fact, there must have been a sinful desire to rub this event into Peter’s face, they did not—or at least we have no record of them doing so and no indication that such a sinful event ever took place. They chose as Christ chose, to reinstate Peter even after his terrible denial of Christ. It was written of as the Holy Spirit instructed, but the record is not a malicious one, it simply records the events first, so we can see the humanity of these, our fellow brothers in Christ, and second so we can draw instruction from their failures and successes. Yet how often are we want to hold onto people’s failings even in the church. A deacon, for example, champions the support of a local family in need only later to find out that they have been using the church’s money for alcohol, gambling, or worse. An elder begins a new program that turns out to be a flop and ends up costing the church a bunch of money. A pastor engages in ministry in the community, bringing homeless folks into the church and they end up stealing from the congregation. The list can go on and on and the point is not that we make mistakes in ministry, but what we do with them. Do we rub the mistakes of others in, do we pick at sore wounds by reminding them over and over again of their failures? Or do we move forward together in ministry affirming Christ’s call on the person? Beloved, such is the model of the Apostles. They affirmed that Jesus had called Peter to be one of them and this call of Christ was enough.
My prayer, as we reflect on this, is that we would not find ourselves guilty of being on either side of this equation of sin. Let us not create ledgers of the failures of other Christians around us, constantly reminding them of their failings and using those failings to discourage them from trying again or others from supporting them. At least the folks that fail have sought to step out in faith and try some things. Also, do not be so afraid of failure or the commentary of nay-sayers that you are unwilling to try. But secondly, do not fall into Peter’s trap, of thinking that you are the most faithful or even only faithful person in the group you happen to be with or in the church you happen to attend. Beloved, such is most likely not the case and a mindset like that is simply asking God to humble you. Just remember, the humbling is not an end in itself, but a means to an end, much as Christ did with Peter, that your life may honor and glorify Christ and not man.
“But the God of all grace, who has called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, and to a little suffering, will restore, support, strengthen, and rebuild the foundation.”
(1 Peter 5:10)
Follow the Leader (Matt. 26:32; Mark 14:28) June 30, 2010
Posted by preacherwin in Devotions, Devotions on Gethsemane.Tags: Christ, Christian obligation to follow, Gethsemane, Jesus leads his people
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“Yet, after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”
(Matthew 26:32; Mark 14:28)
Though most of our English Bibles do not reflect such (even my own translation does not reflect such), there is actually a one word difference between Matthew and Mark’s account. In Matthew’s account, he uses the simple transition, de/ (de), which is a simply transition that binds two statements together; Mark uses the conjunction, ajlla/ (alla), which indicates a contrast between what is being said and what has been said before. The first can either indicate a parallel or a contrasting statement; the second can only indicate a contrast. The value of this is simply that in the variation between Matthew and Mark’s choice of language, clarity is added and we see better what Christ is saying. The scandal will be a bad and depressing thing, but Jesus’ going ahead of the disciples to Galilee is a good and encouraging thing.
Galilee, of course, was home territory for the disciples, and a place for them to be able to regroup away from the influence of the murderous priests and Jewish leaders. It is most likely in Galilee that Jesus would spend 40 days teaching the disciples as we find in Acts 1. Note, too, the language of Jesus going up ahead of his disciples. How significant it is that our Lord leads and does not expect his own to stumble around ahead of him. Such is the language of Hebrews 2:10—Christ, through his suffering and death, led the way for us to follow into salvation. At the same time, note what must come first—the raising up. Before Jesus can gloriously lead us to salvation and toward the celebration of the mighty Kingdom of God in its fullness, a sacrifice must be made to atone for our sins. One must go through the valley before one will appreciate the peaks that surround it.
Of course, along with the idea of Jesus leading implies not only our responsibility to follow (for it is only the most impudent of children that will not follow the road down which their parents lead—and what would we call a soldier that refuses to follow his commander down a given path), but the implication is that we must follow down the path that our Lord has traveled. Often, we act as if we are comfortable with the idea of Jesus facing trial and persecution in his sacrifice and death and then are surprised when we face trial and persecution ourselves. As Isaac Watts said, “Why do we think we will enter heaven on a bed of roses when our Lord entered with a crown of thorns?” Jesus did not simply say, “follow me,” he said, “take up your cross and follow me.” Understanding that life principle (or death principle as we ought die to this world) makes all the difference.
The Scandal (Matthew 26:31; Mark 14:27) June 25, 2010
Posted by preacherwin in Devotions, Devotions on Gethsemane.Tags: Abandoning Christ, God allowing SIn, Mark 14:27, Matthew 26:31, Permissive Will of God, Pride, Scandal, Scandal of Christ, Scandal of the Cross
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“Then Jesus said to them, ‘All of you will be scandalized by me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’’”
(Matthew 26:31)
“And Jesus said to them, ‘All of you will be scandalized, because it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd and the flock will be scattered.’’”
(Mark 14:27)
“Scandalized?” We mean something a little different today when we speak of a scandal than they did two-thousand years ago, but not as different as you might think. The word that Jesus uses here is the Greek word, skandali/zw (skandalizo), which is where we get the English word of the same root. Today, we refer to a scandal as any action that we feel is morally wrong and that gets folks upset. There are political scandals, celebrity scandals, and social scandals. We consider them both shocking and outrageous, though we are often drawn to them out of morbid curiosity, which is why scandals sell so many newspapers and magazines.
In Greek, the term skandali/zw (skandalizo) means either to cause someone to fall into sin or to be shocked and offended by someone or something. In other words, a scandal could be much like we use the term today, but it can also refer to a case where something is so far outside of societal norms that people simply cannot accept what is taking place. Typically, though, in the Greek language, a scandal was a statement or an event that would cause others to fall into sin, and certainly the abandonment of Christ by the disciples was just that: sin. But why would Jesus set his disciples up for such a scandal?
Some, I have heard, have suggested that Jesus permitted this to protect his disciples from arrest or harm, but this view seriously underestimates the power of the Son of God who could call down a host of angels with but a word. Likely a better answer is that Jesus is showing his disciples (and us) the nature of man. In fear, we will flee and fall into sin if left on our own. We do not naturally do what is right thanks to our first parents, Adam and Eve, and these disciples will clearly fall into that pattern. And thus, God permits them their sin to show them their own depravity. After the resurrection, not one of them would be able to say to the other, “I stayed behind, I was faithful while you were not!” No, even the spokesman for the Apostles would have to say, “I denied the Lord not once, but three times.”
There is no room for pride of personal achievement in the service of Christ. We, like the Apostles, would have fled and do flee on a daily basis as it testified to by our actions. When the subject of Christian faith is brought up at the store, at a family gathering, or amongst coworkers, we typically hush up or comment that religion is a personal thing and a decision that everyone has to make on their own. Of course, we do not keep our opinions of politics or economics to ourselves in the same settings. What is the difference? Apart from the fact that one is infinitely more important and objectively more correct than the other, like the apostles, Christ often is a scandal to us. Jesus said, “Confess me before men and I will confess you before my Father” (Matthew 10:32). I wonder sometimes at how often Christ is confessing our names before his Father’s throne.
Beloved, this event would show the Apostles their depravity and would break them and humble them, taking them to the very brink of despair. Judas committed suicide over what he had done (Matthew 27:5). Learn from their failure. Jesus preserved his own through this event, but he permitted their sin nonetheless. If pride is seeping into our lives, God will do the same with us; yet, how blessed is the man who learns from those before him and speaks honestly and boldly about the truth of Christ to the glory of God. May we all strive toward that end.
Singing a Hymn (Matthew 26:30;Mark 14:26) June 22, 2010
Posted by preacherwin in Devotions, Devotions on Gethsemane.Tags: Hymn, hymn singing, hymnody, Mark 14:26, Matthew 26:30, mizmor, ode, Psalm, psalm singing, singing of God, spiritual song
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“And singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”
(Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26)
As we have discussed above, the place to which they were going that dark evening was located on the Mount of Olives, just to the east of Jerusalem. Yet, Matthew and Mark add an important little detail…they went out singing. We are not told exactly what it is that they were singing apart from that it was a hymn of one sort or another. Some have suggested that it was likely Psalm 118, as such would be sung or read at the end of the Passover celebration, and this may very well be the case. The term that is used is uJmne/w (humneo), which is the word from which we get the English term, “hymn.” This is a different term than yalmo/ß (psalmos), which is the term from which we get the English word, “psalm.” The verbal form of this, ya/llw (psallo) is the literal translation of the Hebrew word for psalm, rwømzIm (mizmor), both of which mean to sing a song accompanied by plucking a stringed instrument—the traditional Hebrew musical accompaniment for singing.
The fact that the language distinguishes between psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (the term wjˆdh/—ode) implies the distinction. If indeed it was Psalm 118 that they sung, there is a good chance that rather than singing a metrical form of it (as we might sing today), they sang a hymn based on that psalm (again, as is a common practice today as well).
Regardless of the exact content of the hymn they sang (for the Gospel writers do not give us this), we must take note of two things. First that they were singing and second that they were singing praises to God. It is amazing how valuable hymnody is to the church. We will find that there are hymns that will get us excited and hymns that will comfort us when we are low. There have been a lot of different traditions and aspects of worship that characterize the worship of God’s people, but one thing that ties all of our traditions together is that we sing—in fact, I would argue that one could not call a church service worship unless it did include singing…that is, if we wanted to be Biblical.
Loved ones, do not get anxious about singing. Sing regularly and sing often. Sing in the presence of God’s people and sing in private. Sing in formal worship and extend your private worship as part of all you do. And do not get carried away singing the songs of this world, but sing songs that praise God. Indeed, there may be some songs that are worthy, but none so worthy as the great hymns of the faith. The subjects of which worldly songs speak may honor worthy subjects (although all too often their subjects are base and unremarkable), but who is more worthy of honor and praise than God himself? He is perfect and beautiful and infinitely praiseworthy. The rich man does not take notice of pennies in the street, but he does get excited about a way to add another thousand or million dollars to his portfolio. Believer, you have been given a relationship with one of infinite worth—why sing of the corroded pennies of this world rather than of the God of all creation? To do so is to busy yourself with picking up old pennies and miss the fact that you are walking on streets of pure gold.
Salvation’s joyful song is heard
Where’er the righteous dwell;
For them God’s hand is strong to save
And doeth all things well.
I shall not die, but live to tell
The wonders of the Lord;
He has not giv’n my soul to death,
But chastened and restored.
-William Sherwin
To Gethsemane June 22, 2010
Posted by preacherwin in Devotions, Devotions on Gethsemane.Tags: Gethsemane, Jesus with his Disciples, Kedron Valley, Kidron Valley, Mount of Olives
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“Jesus said these things and went out with his disciples across the brook of Kedron where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered.”
(John 18:1)
After Jesus completes what we typically refer to as his “High Priestly Prayer,” the benediction for the very first observance of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus leads his disciples out of Jerusalem and down through what we call the Kidron Valley (Kedron is a transliteration of the Greek) and then back up the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26:30) to a garden which they regularly frequented (John 18:2). Gethsemane means “Olive Press” in Hebrew, so the implication is that this is more of an olive orchard than it is a garden of flowers or herbs like we might think of in the west. In addition, the implication here in John is that the garden is enclosed in some way, either by a copse or a wall of sorts, given that they are described as “entering” the garden. We are not told who might have owned this place, but whoever did, clearly accepted Jesus and his disciples as a welcome guest as they came and went from this place freely.
Jerusalem would have been fairly cool during this time of the year, probably in the upper 40s or low 50s, so the night air would have felt crisp as the disciples walked with their master in the darkness up to the Mount of Olives. Something was up on this night as everything was different than the past Passover feasts that they had spent together. Little did the disciples understand that things would get far more different even still. This night would be the darkest and most grim night not only of their lives, but the darkest night of human history as the Lord of Creation would be handed over to wicked men who would falsely place him on trial and then execute him on the next day. The disciples would flee the scene, Peter denied Christ three times, and Judas committed the ultimate betrayal. Yet, the trip to the garden was just the beginning of this long, dark night.
My prayer for you, brethren, is that as you reflect on the events of this night, seek to place yourself in the shoes of these disciples. Do not forget that they were real people experiencing all of the emotions, fears, and worries that you or I might experience were we in their place. This is no, “once upon a time” story, but this is real and accurate history of the things that led up to the event that would bring redemption to fallen man. As low as this is a point in history, it is also the place where we realize the Savior’s love for us, as he was willing to endure what this night would bring with it.
“No one has a love greater than this; that someone lays down his life for his friends.”
(John 15:13)
