Now this is what I call a nice B-day. Happy birthday dad! We spent all day together in the woods. This, ladies and gentlemen is the picture of hunting. Nothing could say it better than this picture.
12 October 2009
Birthday Scouting
Now this is what I call a nice B-day. Happy birthday dad! We spent all day together in the woods. This, ladies and gentlemen is the picture of hunting. Nothing could say it better than this picture.
25 June 2009
Signs and Miracles
Sorry about the absence...been busy with work and school and family...worthy excuses if you ask me. Not that anyone did, but it's my blog and I can say that...so there. Here is a paper I have recently turned in for your reading enjoyment. It was a 6 page paper so please bear with me, it really is worth it.
Signs and Miracles of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of John
Jesus is God. He was the active participant in creation and the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit that came down to dwell amongst men. In His supreme authority over all of creation He magnificently displayed His glory by way of signs and miracles. One who claims oneness with God would have to back up that claim with some pretty astonishing evidence that is not subject to prejudice or interpretation. Evidence that would make others take notice and ask themselves, “how did He do that?” Even we are skeptical when we see magic tricks. We see someone or something disappear and we are wondering where the secret passage or compartment is. We know better than to take something at face value and instantly believe that this man has some sort of power over nature so as to make someone disappear. So how do we know when to believe and when to dismiss? If we forget that the Bible offers clear guidance on what to do when people try to deceive us and simply look at the signs and miracles Jesus performed, I believe our instructions become spelled out for us.
In Cana Jesus attended a wedding with His mother and disciples. As they feasted and drank, the wine ran out. Jesus’ mother (who is not yet named and remains nameless until later in the scripture), as though she had some responsibility in the feast, approached Jesus to tell Him. Running out of wine would have meant great dishonor for the family and perhaps the end of the marriage ceremony even before it had begun. Jesus replied with a firm but respectful “My hour has not yet come.” Adam Clark puts it quite humorously in His own words as if speaking as Jesus to Mary, “we are not employed to provide the necessaries for this feast: this matter belongs to others, who should have made a proper and sufficient provision for the persons they had invited.” Though sufficiently rebuked Jesus’ mother seemed to have enough trust and faith in her son to know He would not disappoint, for the next thing she said was to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” The scriptures do not say “some time had passed” or “later”, it merely goes on to Jesus telling the servants to fill up the six stone water jars that were there to properly observe Jewish cleansing rituals. When Jesus commanded “Fill the jars with water” the servants obeyed and filled each one to the brim. Tasting the wine the master of the feast proclaimed “Everyone serves the good wine first…But you have kept the good wine until now.” To those busily eating and drinking this was a statement of the glory of the hosts. To those who had witnessed this sign, the feast master’s announcement was no less than an invitation to worship. Jesus had given a glimpse to His disciples of who He really was and even though the scriptures say “his disciples believed in him” I am doubtful they fully knew whom they had believed in. Even though their mouths cried Lord, Lord, and their hearts ached, I still wonder if they believed because they saw a sign or if they truly knew Him as God.
It is here in this biblical record of the wedding at Cana that we see a first glimpse of Jesus as God by His authority over mere inanimate objects. The Bible doesn’t say that Jesus touched the jars or even said a prayer. He spoke to the servants and just as Dr. Towns suggests, I believe it is in their obedience that the water turned into wine. No, God does not need our obedience to exercise His power but He does desire it. In fact that is the entire reason Jesus was there and ultimately did what He did: to emphasize God’s desire for our worship and fellowship and to provide a way for the sinful to even approach a Holy God. Jesus provides that cleansing and turns what is inside the clay jars (us) from what is common into something truly extraordinary.
Jesus had gone other places and done other things that lead Him back to Cana in Galilee via Sychar in Samaria where he talked with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. There in Cana once again He revealed His glory in much the same way. John 4:46b says “And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.” This high official, full of pride and nobility, humbled himself before Jesus on behalf of his son. How did he know Jesus could help? Did he hear gossip of Jesus’ miraculous healing power and if so, what did most people say about that? We are not given the answers to these questions. There are no answers because the questions don’t matter. The fact is that this official went to the God of the universe (the source) to solve his problem; scripture says he begged. Matthew Henry says in his commentary, “The greatest men, when they come to God, must become beggars.” In response we can see something perhaps surprising. Jesus seems frustrated. It seems that for a moment Jesus allows His flesh to influence Him ever so slightly. He says "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe." Even so, He heals the official’s son displaying His authority over even His own fleshly tendencies. The official asks Jesus to “come before my son dies,” you see he believed that Jesus could only heal his son in person. Jesus tells him “Go; your son will live.” I can imagine the conflict that must have taken place in his head. Sometimes the limits we put on Christ stand in the way of the greater reward. Although this man had underestimated Him, Jesus used this opportunity to show His glory once again. I am unsure whether it was the utterance of his son’s healing or the mere thought in Jesus’ mind that healed the boy, but the boy was healed that very moment by Jesus without physical contact.
This entire situation tells tremendous things about the character and deity of Jesus. He is not only Lord of His own feelings and flesh but He is Lord and has authority over each and every body. He gives healing to those who, like the rich official, seek and have faith. Though he doubted, Jesus knew the official had faith that He could at least help the child, if not heal him. Jesus’ character was revealed here as well. The very character of God was revealed. In His long-suffering Jesus still showed compassion, mercy, and grace. The official and his son never deserved to be healed. They certainly didn’t earn it. It was a free gift from God given to tear down the hearts of the proud and turn them to Jesus.
From one who was rich and proud we now see a man who is outcast and destitute. Some time had passed and in His travels, at the pool of Bethesda Jesus came across a man who had been cripple for thirty-eight years. When asked if he would like to get well the invalid told how he could not get into the pool when the water was stirred (a superstitious belief that the first in would be healed). In this man’s answer was an attitude of hopelessness and defeat. To contrast the rich official who had hope and prosperity in his high position, it is plain to see that this man did not even have his health. This man had such little hope that he was no longer looking to be healed. From the hopeful yet needy, to the hopelessly lost and downtrodden, all are made equal in Christ. With all power Jesus commands this man “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” The inflection is wonderfully spelled out for us in the use of an exclamation point. Jesus gave this man a command in quite the same manner as an Officer would command his troops. There was no question what was expected and Jesus gave no room for interpretation. Once more we see no physical contact in the exercise of Jesus’ mission. The words of life spoken by Jesus have all that is needed to heal by virtue of the one speaking them, for by those same words He gave birth to all that is.
Now this healing was done on a Sabbath and it is here that we see yet another quality of Jesus’ Lordship over all. The Jewish leaders wanted to stop the man from carrying his mat through the temple. It is easy to miss the miraculous here. When this “unclean” man was confronted by the Jewish authorities to not carry his mat he responded with “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’” When asked, the man couldn’t tell them the name of who it was that healed him. He didn’t know. The miraculous thing is that even though this man was confronted by the Jews in authority over him, he knew he had just been healed by one with even more authority though he did not even know His name. The Bible does not say that he put down his mat and continued on. It seems to be that he kept it and continued walking, not in defiance of the Jewish authorities but in obedience to Jesus who had commanded him. The Jews would have it that nothing is done on the Sabbath, that according to the law the Sabbath day is kept Holy, for they are in subjection to the law. Jesus shows us by this miraculous healing that He is Lord of even the Sabbath day and in-fact all time. Jesus claims this authority by insisting, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
Later we find Jesus at the Sea of Galilee. It was Passover and a large crowd had been following Jesus when he sat down with His disciples. Seeing how many had come to follow Him Jesus’ asked Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” With a simple question Jesus’ initiates an opportunity to show His followers more about who He really is. He knew that doubt was still in their hearts and that they did not fully understand who it was they were following. Though the Bible says this was a test for Philip, Jesus never does anything that merely has first order effects, so I believe this was intended for a greater purpose then to merely test Philip. We see the second and third order effects start to align when Andrew brings to Jesus a boy with “five barley loaves and two fish.” Jesus tells everyone to sit down, and after the giving of thanks Jesus has His disciples serve the bread and fish to all who are seated. Once everyone had enough, Jesus commands “Gather up the left over fragments, that nothing may be lost.” What started out probably in one or two baskets now fully occupied twelve. Through a simple test of Philips faith Andrew was given an opportunity to put his faith into action, and all were fed. Even more importantly, Jesus displayed who He was for all to see, so that God might be glorified.
Feeding the entire crowd Jesus spoke to the heart of Philip, Andrew, the other disciples, and the entire crowd. He tore down the doubt of Philip by showing Himself to be enough for even the crowd. He encouraged Andrew by honoring his faith. He so thoroughly tore down the hard hearts of the crowd that they wanted to make Him king right then and there, but Jesus slipped away to be alone. You see His time still had not yet come and He would not be robbed of, or forced into the task He came to perform. By feeding the crowd Jesus proclaimed His authority over creation. He was telling Philip and all who were there to see that even though they might need money, He needs nothing. From Him come all things, and nothing that is seen exists without Him. I think that after He gave thanks He created the bread, fish and baskets in much the same way He created everything else in this world: by speaking it into existence. Even Peter testified, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Peter knew that Jesus’ words gave life.
After Jesus had gone to be alone, the disciples continued on their way crossing the Sea of Galilee. In the dark, a storm had risen on the water and His disciples were busily fighting to keep the boat together. Jesus had not yet joined them. Walking on water Jesus came to them in what must have been the most dramatic experience of their time with Jesus so far. Jesus came walking on water and the scriptures say they were terrified, but Jesus reassured them saying "It is I; don't be afraid." When they heard this they let Him in the boat and immediately set out once again for where they were headed. In the storm the disciples only saw trouble and perhaps destruction as they fought to survive. Without Jesus our troubles and situations seem so much worse than they would if we would just let Jesus in the boat with us. Once the disciples let Him in the boat they were then able to continue on. The Bible doesn’t say if the storm ceased but given the slow progress of the boat before Jesus boarded I would think that it had. If it hadn’t stopped then it would follow that the mere presence of Jesus in the vessel gave them new vitality, either way it seems they made much more than “three or three and a half miles” progress. Once again showing His glory in spectacular splendor, walking on water showed in no uncertain terms His Lordship over nature.
The next miracle Jesus performed was the healing of a man who had been blind from birth. As He and His disciples came across this man some of the disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Obviously they lacked the perspective Jesus had and still needed guidance, for Jesus corrected their thinking by explaining to them that neither this man’s sin nor his parents caused his blindness. John 9:3 says, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” What a statement! This man was created blind at the beginning of time, purpose built as a conduit for the manifestation of God’s glory. I am certain the blind man didn’t know this. He didn’t need to. His existence was all that was required for Jesus to reveal his magnificence. This passage has always spoken to me because of the beautiful relationship represented here between God, Jesus, and the blind man. We are not told of this blind man’s faith or even if he had faith but Jesus “saved” him anyway. There was no act of belief or telling situations revealing this man’s heart. All we are told about is his affliction; in-fact the most acute attribute of this person. I think this was the one thing keeping him from believing. Jesus took away all that defined him as a person. He was not known as so-and-so’s son, or the man who did such-and-such; he was merely the blind beggar. Jesus did not care. It is not the world which determines your identity, but God. The world knew the blind man as nobody, but Jesus knew him as one who would call attention His glory to the world. This is how Jesus revealed Himself to be Lord of everyone’s life. Though this man may have had plans, or an idea of what he might do with the future Jesus had other plans because He was Lord over the blind man’s life. He was the one who created him and made him for this purpose, and despite all that was going on Jesus took control of the blind man’s life as only one with authority can. In His weakness the blind man did not resist, but even if he was perfectly healthy, how could he. Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.”
Though I said that walking on water was Jesus’ most dramatic miracle since calling His disciples, this next miracle arguably holds to be a close second. Jesus was given word that the brother of the one who poured oil on his feet and dried them with her hair was sick. Though Lazarus was sick Jesus decided to stay where He was for two more days, saying “This sickness will not end in death.” In what seems to be a contradiction Jesus then tells them in plain words that Lazarus is dead, but also that He will go and “wake him up.” Upon Jesus’ arrival there were many who were still mourning Lazarus’ death. Deeply moved, Jesus cried alongside those He loved, as if to say, “I wish I had been here with you;” He had other things in mind though because earlier He said to His disciples, “…for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe…” We tend to think that death is the end of everything and we mourn just as Lazarus’ friends and family. Jesus had already said that death was not the end and He did not disappoint. Faced with minor doubt from Martha, Jesus rebuked her and had His command to remove the stone carried out. Just as Jesus exercised His authority over life and after giving thanks to God, Jesus gives another command saying, "Lazarus, come out!" Just like His command to the cripple to “pick up your bed and walk,” Jesus gives no room for mistakes or confusion. He was telling the dead to rise and live; at the same time His words called the spiritually dead witnessing this miracle to believe what they were seeing and live by the words of Christ. Jesus: Lord of even death. Everyone there had very few clues that Jesus was in fact preparing them for what they were about to see. Next to come was the willing sacrifice of no less than Jesus, Himself. By this time they had seen so much and come to understand Jesus’ claims to be indeed God. He had shown them so much, even raising the dead in the hopes that they would understand what He was sent for and about to do. Now He would complete His work and fulfill His purpose in obedience to His Father.
After Jesus had been crucified and resurrected we find Him waiting to catch the attention of His disciples at the shores of the Sea of Tiberias (The Sea of Galilee) where He had filled the baskets and fed the crowd earlier in His ministry. It is fitting that the disciples had gone back to fishing, for even when they were with Jesus they were told they would be fishers of men. Now they had returned back to the only thing they knew, as though nothing had happened and Jesus was hopelessly still in the tomb. Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee and two other disciples were in the boat all night and had caught nothing when we see Jesus enter the scene. Jesus calls to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” Remember that it was the small boy who brought Him the bread and fish at that very same spot years before. Jesus tells these experienced fishermen who had been fishing for hours to cast their net on the other side of the boat. You could imagine the annoyance Simon Peter must have felt as this person told them to just cast on the other side of the boat to find the fish that had eluded them all night. Once again I believe it is in their obedience that the fish appeared, or swarmed in that area. The Bible says their catch was so abundant that they could not haul it up onto the boat and had to resort to dragging it behind until they made land. At the sight of the astonishing catch and the affirmation of another disciple, Simon Peter leapt into the water and swam to shore even before the boat. When they found Peter and Jesus on the beach there was a fire with some bread and fish already cooking. They ate there on the beach with Jesus where He gave Peter his commission to feed and tend his sheep. This one and final miracle has characteristics of other miracles Jesus had performed. I suppose this is how the disciples recognized it was Him. Just as He had for the crowd, Jesus had provided for them, being their portion when there was none. He called them Children maybe as a reminder that He would give them the gift of being called sons of God. He spoke to their still nagging doubts when He advised them to throw their nets on the other side. Jesus had risen. He had conquered death as He did by raising Lazarus but this time He had died and raised Himself from death into life.
Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Indeed He is the way to be near to a Holy, and entirely set apart God. Indeed He is the truth of all creation, shedding light upon all His hands have touched. Indeed He is the life that infects my soul and causes me to be completely other than I would on my own. Better. Complete. Purpose built to Glorify God in all the earth. We can now see the instructions so clearly spelled out for us when we are faced with the question of when to believe and when to dismiss. If Jesus said it, it’s true. If Jesus did it, it’s real. “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Deuteronomy 8:3. All else may be dismissed.
Signs and Miracles of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of John
Jesus is God. He was the active participant in creation and the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit that came down to dwell amongst men. In His supreme authority over all of creation He magnificently displayed His glory by way of signs and miracles. One who claims oneness with God would have to back up that claim with some pretty astonishing evidence that is not subject to prejudice or interpretation. Evidence that would make others take notice and ask themselves, “how did He do that?” Even we are skeptical when we see magic tricks. We see someone or something disappear and we are wondering where the secret passage or compartment is. We know better than to take something at face value and instantly believe that this man has some sort of power over nature so as to make someone disappear. So how do we know when to believe and when to dismiss? If we forget that the Bible offers clear guidance on what to do when people try to deceive us and simply look at the signs and miracles Jesus performed, I believe our instructions become spelled out for us.
In Cana Jesus attended a wedding with His mother and disciples. As they feasted and drank, the wine ran out. Jesus’ mother (who is not yet named and remains nameless until later in the scripture), as though she had some responsibility in the feast, approached Jesus to tell Him. Running out of wine would have meant great dishonor for the family and perhaps the end of the marriage ceremony even before it had begun. Jesus replied with a firm but respectful “My hour has not yet come.” Adam Clark puts it quite humorously in His own words as if speaking as Jesus to Mary, “we are not employed to provide the necessaries for this feast: this matter belongs to others, who should have made a proper and sufficient provision for the persons they had invited.” Though sufficiently rebuked Jesus’ mother seemed to have enough trust and faith in her son to know He would not disappoint, for the next thing she said was to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” The scriptures do not say “some time had passed” or “later”, it merely goes on to Jesus telling the servants to fill up the six stone water jars that were there to properly observe Jewish cleansing rituals. When Jesus commanded “Fill the jars with water” the servants obeyed and filled each one to the brim. Tasting the wine the master of the feast proclaimed “Everyone serves the good wine first…But you have kept the good wine until now.” To those busily eating and drinking this was a statement of the glory of the hosts. To those who had witnessed this sign, the feast master’s announcement was no less than an invitation to worship. Jesus had given a glimpse to His disciples of who He really was and even though the scriptures say “his disciples believed in him” I am doubtful they fully knew whom they had believed in. Even though their mouths cried Lord, Lord, and their hearts ached, I still wonder if they believed because they saw a sign or if they truly knew Him as God.
It is here in this biblical record of the wedding at Cana that we see a first glimpse of Jesus as God by His authority over mere inanimate objects. The Bible doesn’t say that Jesus touched the jars or even said a prayer. He spoke to the servants and just as Dr. Towns suggests, I believe it is in their obedience that the water turned into wine. No, God does not need our obedience to exercise His power but He does desire it. In fact that is the entire reason Jesus was there and ultimately did what He did: to emphasize God’s desire for our worship and fellowship and to provide a way for the sinful to even approach a Holy God. Jesus provides that cleansing and turns what is inside the clay jars (us) from what is common into something truly extraordinary.
Jesus had gone other places and done other things that lead Him back to Cana in Galilee via Sychar in Samaria where he talked with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. There in Cana once again He revealed His glory in much the same way. John 4:46b says “And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.” This high official, full of pride and nobility, humbled himself before Jesus on behalf of his son. How did he know Jesus could help? Did he hear gossip of Jesus’ miraculous healing power and if so, what did most people say about that? We are not given the answers to these questions. There are no answers because the questions don’t matter. The fact is that this official went to the God of the universe (the source) to solve his problem; scripture says he begged. Matthew Henry says in his commentary, “The greatest men, when they come to God, must become beggars.” In response we can see something perhaps surprising. Jesus seems frustrated. It seems that for a moment Jesus allows His flesh to influence Him ever so slightly. He says "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe." Even so, He heals the official’s son displaying His authority over even His own fleshly tendencies. The official asks Jesus to “come before my son dies,” you see he believed that Jesus could only heal his son in person. Jesus tells him “Go; your son will live.” I can imagine the conflict that must have taken place in his head. Sometimes the limits we put on Christ stand in the way of the greater reward. Although this man had underestimated Him, Jesus used this opportunity to show His glory once again. I am unsure whether it was the utterance of his son’s healing or the mere thought in Jesus’ mind that healed the boy, but the boy was healed that very moment by Jesus without physical contact.
This entire situation tells tremendous things about the character and deity of Jesus. He is not only Lord of His own feelings and flesh but He is Lord and has authority over each and every body. He gives healing to those who, like the rich official, seek and have faith. Though he doubted, Jesus knew the official had faith that He could at least help the child, if not heal him. Jesus’ character was revealed here as well. The very character of God was revealed. In His long-suffering Jesus still showed compassion, mercy, and grace. The official and his son never deserved to be healed. They certainly didn’t earn it. It was a free gift from God given to tear down the hearts of the proud and turn them to Jesus.
From one who was rich and proud we now see a man who is outcast and destitute. Some time had passed and in His travels, at the pool of Bethesda Jesus came across a man who had been cripple for thirty-eight years. When asked if he would like to get well the invalid told how he could not get into the pool when the water was stirred (a superstitious belief that the first in would be healed). In this man’s answer was an attitude of hopelessness and defeat. To contrast the rich official who had hope and prosperity in his high position, it is plain to see that this man did not even have his health. This man had such little hope that he was no longer looking to be healed. From the hopeful yet needy, to the hopelessly lost and downtrodden, all are made equal in Christ. With all power Jesus commands this man “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” The inflection is wonderfully spelled out for us in the use of an exclamation point. Jesus gave this man a command in quite the same manner as an Officer would command his troops. There was no question what was expected and Jesus gave no room for interpretation. Once more we see no physical contact in the exercise of Jesus’ mission. The words of life spoken by Jesus have all that is needed to heal by virtue of the one speaking them, for by those same words He gave birth to all that is.
Now this healing was done on a Sabbath and it is here that we see yet another quality of Jesus’ Lordship over all. The Jewish leaders wanted to stop the man from carrying his mat through the temple. It is easy to miss the miraculous here. When this “unclean” man was confronted by the Jewish authorities to not carry his mat he responded with “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’” When asked, the man couldn’t tell them the name of who it was that healed him. He didn’t know. The miraculous thing is that even though this man was confronted by the Jews in authority over him, he knew he had just been healed by one with even more authority though he did not even know His name. The Bible does not say that he put down his mat and continued on. It seems to be that he kept it and continued walking, not in defiance of the Jewish authorities but in obedience to Jesus who had commanded him. The Jews would have it that nothing is done on the Sabbath, that according to the law the Sabbath day is kept Holy, for they are in subjection to the law. Jesus shows us by this miraculous healing that He is Lord of even the Sabbath day and in-fact all time. Jesus claims this authority by insisting, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
Later we find Jesus at the Sea of Galilee. It was Passover and a large crowd had been following Jesus when he sat down with His disciples. Seeing how many had come to follow Him Jesus’ asked Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” With a simple question Jesus’ initiates an opportunity to show His followers more about who He really is. He knew that doubt was still in their hearts and that they did not fully understand who it was they were following. Though the Bible says this was a test for Philip, Jesus never does anything that merely has first order effects, so I believe this was intended for a greater purpose then to merely test Philip. We see the second and third order effects start to align when Andrew brings to Jesus a boy with “five barley loaves and two fish.” Jesus tells everyone to sit down, and after the giving of thanks Jesus has His disciples serve the bread and fish to all who are seated. Once everyone had enough, Jesus commands “Gather up the left over fragments, that nothing may be lost.” What started out probably in one or two baskets now fully occupied twelve. Through a simple test of Philips faith Andrew was given an opportunity to put his faith into action, and all were fed. Even more importantly, Jesus displayed who He was for all to see, so that God might be glorified.
Feeding the entire crowd Jesus spoke to the heart of Philip, Andrew, the other disciples, and the entire crowd. He tore down the doubt of Philip by showing Himself to be enough for even the crowd. He encouraged Andrew by honoring his faith. He so thoroughly tore down the hard hearts of the crowd that they wanted to make Him king right then and there, but Jesus slipped away to be alone. You see His time still had not yet come and He would not be robbed of, or forced into the task He came to perform. By feeding the crowd Jesus proclaimed His authority over creation. He was telling Philip and all who were there to see that even though they might need money, He needs nothing. From Him come all things, and nothing that is seen exists without Him. I think that after He gave thanks He created the bread, fish and baskets in much the same way He created everything else in this world: by speaking it into existence. Even Peter testified, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Peter knew that Jesus’ words gave life.
After Jesus had gone to be alone, the disciples continued on their way crossing the Sea of Galilee. In the dark, a storm had risen on the water and His disciples were busily fighting to keep the boat together. Jesus had not yet joined them. Walking on water Jesus came to them in what must have been the most dramatic experience of their time with Jesus so far. Jesus came walking on water and the scriptures say they were terrified, but Jesus reassured them saying "It is I; don't be afraid." When they heard this they let Him in the boat and immediately set out once again for where they were headed. In the storm the disciples only saw trouble and perhaps destruction as they fought to survive. Without Jesus our troubles and situations seem so much worse than they would if we would just let Jesus in the boat with us. Once the disciples let Him in the boat they were then able to continue on. The Bible doesn’t say if the storm ceased but given the slow progress of the boat before Jesus boarded I would think that it had. If it hadn’t stopped then it would follow that the mere presence of Jesus in the vessel gave them new vitality, either way it seems they made much more than “three or three and a half miles” progress. Once again showing His glory in spectacular splendor, walking on water showed in no uncertain terms His Lordship over nature.
The next miracle Jesus performed was the healing of a man who had been blind from birth. As He and His disciples came across this man some of the disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Obviously they lacked the perspective Jesus had and still needed guidance, for Jesus corrected their thinking by explaining to them that neither this man’s sin nor his parents caused his blindness. John 9:3 says, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” What a statement! This man was created blind at the beginning of time, purpose built as a conduit for the manifestation of God’s glory. I am certain the blind man didn’t know this. He didn’t need to. His existence was all that was required for Jesus to reveal his magnificence. This passage has always spoken to me because of the beautiful relationship represented here between God, Jesus, and the blind man. We are not told of this blind man’s faith or even if he had faith but Jesus “saved” him anyway. There was no act of belief or telling situations revealing this man’s heart. All we are told about is his affliction; in-fact the most acute attribute of this person. I think this was the one thing keeping him from believing. Jesus took away all that defined him as a person. He was not known as so-and-so’s son, or the man who did such-and-such; he was merely the blind beggar. Jesus did not care. It is not the world which determines your identity, but God. The world knew the blind man as nobody, but Jesus knew him as one who would call attention His glory to the world. This is how Jesus revealed Himself to be Lord of everyone’s life. Though this man may have had plans, or an idea of what he might do with the future Jesus had other plans because He was Lord over the blind man’s life. He was the one who created him and made him for this purpose, and despite all that was going on Jesus took control of the blind man’s life as only one with authority can. In His weakness the blind man did not resist, but even if he was perfectly healthy, how could he. Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.”
Though I said that walking on water was Jesus’ most dramatic miracle since calling His disciples, this next miracle arguably holds to be a close second. Jesus was given word that the brother of the one who poured oil on his feet and dried them with her hair was sick. Though Lazarus was sick Jesus decided to stay where He was for two more days, saying “This sickness will not end in death.” In what seems to be a contradiction Jesus then tells them in plain words that Lazarus is dead, but also that He will go and “wake him up.” Upon Jesus’ arrival there were many who were still mourning Lazarus’ death. Deeply moved, Jesus cried alongside those He loved, as if to say, “I wish I had been here with you;” He had other things in mind though because earlier He said to His disciples, “…for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe…” We tend to think that death is the end of everything and we mourn just as Lazarus’ friends and family. Jesus had already said that death was not the end and He did not disappoint. Faced with minor doubt from Martha, Jesus rebuked her and had His command to remove the stone carried out. Just as Jesus exercised His authority over life and after giving thanks to God, Jesus gives another command saying, "Lazarus, come out!" Just like His command to the cripple to “pick up your bed and walk,” Jesus gives no room for mistakes or confusion. He was telling the dead to rise and live; at the same time His words called the spiritually dead witnessing this miracle to believe what they were seeing and live by the words of Christ. Jesus: Lord of even death. Everyone there had very few clues that Jesus was in fact preparing them for what they were about to see. Next to come was the willing sacrifice of no less than Jesus, Himself. By this time they had seen so much and come to understand Jesus’ claims to be indeed God. He had shown them so much, even raising the dead in the hopes that they would understand what He was sent for and about to do. Now He would complete His work and fulfill His purpose in obedience to His Father.
After Jesus had been crucified and resurrected we find Him waiting to catch the attention of His disciples at the shores of the Sea of Tiberias (The Sea of Galilee) where He had filled the baskets and fed the crowd earlier in His ministry. It is fitting that the disciples had gone back to fishing, for even when they were with Jesus they were told they would be fishers of men. Now they had returned back to the only thing they knew, as though nothing had happened and Jesus was hopelessly still in the tomb. Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee and two other disciples were in the boat all night and had caught nothing when we see Jesus enter the scene. Jesus calls to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” Remember that it was the small boy who brought Him the bread and fish at that very same spot years before. Jesus tells these experienced fishermen who had been fishing for hours to cast their net on the other side of the boat. You could imagine the annoyance Simon Peter must have felt as this person told them to just cast on the other side of the boat to find the fish that had eluded them all night. Once again I believe it is in their obedience that the fish appeared, or swarmed in that area. The Bible says their catch was so abundant that they could not haul it up onto the boat and had to resort to dragging it behind until they made land. At the sight of the astonishing catch and the affirmation of another disciple, Simon Peter leapt into the water and swam to shore even before the boat. When they found Peter and Jesus on the beach there was a fire with some bread and fish already cooking. They ate there on the beach with Jesus where He gave Peter his commission to feed and tend his sheep. This one and final miracle has characteristics of other miracles Jesus had performed. I suppose this is how the disciples recognized it was Him. Just as He had for the crowd, Jesus had provided for them, being their portion when there was none. He called them Children maybe as a reminder that He would give them the gift of being called sons of God. He spoke to their still nagging doubts when He advised them to throw their nets on the other side. Jesus had risen. He had conquered death as He did by raising Lazarus but this time He had died and raised Himself from death into life.
Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Indeed He is the way to be near to a Holy, and entirely set apart God. Indeed He is the truth of all creation, shedding light upon all His hands have touched. Indeed He is the life that infects my soul and causes me to be completely other than I would on my own. Better. Complete. Purpose built to Glorify God in all the earth. We can now see the instructions so clearly spelled out for us when we are faced with the question of when to believe and when to dismiss. If Jesus said it, it’s true. If Jesus did it, it’s real. “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Deuteronomy 8:3. All else may be dismissed.
25 November 2008
Humanism
I had to write this paper for Psychology a.k.a. Apologetics...thought I would share it here.
Humanism presents arguably the most dangerous worldview prevalent today; away from any form of faith other than self. Such a belief brings in its wake a reliance on intellect, science, and most of all a corporate and sort of cosmic human nature as a new universal way of living in peace. Those who would pledge allegiance to “old beliefs” are met with a call to abandon doctrines that are said to have “lost their significance and which are powerless to solve the problems of humans living in the Twentieth Century.” Mans’ “increased understanding, his scientific achievements, and deeper appreciation of brotherhood” are called as evidences of the need to redefine religion into a more functional system. Humanists, in all their realized wisdom make reference to that which they know not, for they don’t know the creator of the brotherhood of which they speak. Walk with me as I present Christ as the answer to that which all Humanists, in their own intellect, seek answers. Appropriately, we will use the Humanist Manifesto I to illustrate the err of a great many doctrine they hold as Humanists.
We begin thick in the intellectual jargon of self-existence. The Humanist holds that the universe is self-existent and not created. Plato and Aristotle both knew it foolish to even imply that the universe was self-existent. This quickly gets out of control when you start contemplating the implications of self-existence, considering that even if the universe has always existed, it still owes its existence to something – some uncaused cause. It is entirely illogical to say, or think for that matter that the universe is because of itself, and for itself. That is to say “I exist because I am, because I can.” This reasoning sounds contemplative and “deep” but proves to be confusing and circular and leaves no explanation or purpose for existence. No reason for existence yields no purpose and leaves chance as both. To exist merely per chance leaves no point to the other issues discussed in the Humanist Manifesto I, because there is no reason to value life, let alone others if we are all chance occurrences. Without purpose we find ourselves back at the beginning, which is ironic because purpose is what Humanists are trying to realize.
Did you see what happened there? We have stumbled across the truth. The truth of the Humanist situation is one of a lonely existence, self-caused, with no value except that ascribed by chance. For the sake of continuing this talk let’s give the Humanist worldview the benefit of the doubt and assume that morality enters into the picture at all. Bound by a belief in continuous natural processes which resulted in Human life, a completely organic view of all life to include people, and assertion that God is merely a side effect of individuals reacting with their native culture, Humanists put themselves in a tight spot; a spot that holds no moral certainties, where acceptable conduct and behavior are determined by their situation. That is to say morality is based on and determined by human nature. The problem is that this is simply not true. In cultures throughout the world we see evidence of a universal standard: don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, help those less fortunate, etc. What seems to be different is the application. By saying that all life is organic, the result of situation, it is an attempt to explain existence. What it does is destroys purpose, which destroys value, which makes us merely organisms as children of mere chance. If chance be our parent then all have the same value: none. The only inherent value would be to that individual, but that is only internal. Where does morality come in? Morality could be defined as right human conduct. In a situational morality nothing is right, nothing is wrong; all is acceptable if the situation permits.
“Is it wrong to kill?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t been put in that situation before.”
Wrong!
“Should I steal this food?”
“I have stolen food before but I was hungry and out of work.”
“I’m not out of work, but I am hungry.”
“Don’t look at me. I don’t know your situation.”
Strike two.
“Should I break into this house? I am cold and it is warm in there.”
Strike three. What do we have for our contestant? A 5 year stay in one of our lovely state penitentiaries; give our contestant a round of applause. Yeah, not so much. I admit that these are extreme examples but they represent the logical end of the Humanist system of morality.
There in their ideals of morality and social affluence comes the religion of the individual humanist: self. “In the place of the old attitudes involved in worship and prayer the humanist finds his religious emotions expressed in a heightened sense of personal life and in a cooperative effort to promote social well-being.” By stating such things as this, one is allowed and encouraged to engage in only those activities which directly concern oneself. The humanist sees himself as tolerant and accepting, yet fails to consider that which brings even a moment’s discomfort. If you believe in the humanist doctrines why would you subject yourself to others’ needs at the expense of your own? The answer is simply that you wouldn’t unless you had a vested interest in the needs of said person. Sound familiar? This is the mantra of our society as a whole. Principles taught to us since we were barely school aged. The Golden rule is no longer “Do unto others,” instead we say “take care of number one.” Instead of “turn the other cheek” we say “strike first.” The humanist truth is that there is nothing beyond self, yet somehow they profess a commitment to “a shared life in a shared world.” In light of this contradiction we can see why humanists have revised their manifesto twice already since 1933. You see, they knew that human nature is not a nature of kindness and tolerance. In fact, if given the free reign to act according to self and for self, as the Humanist Manifesto I asserts, people have been historically observed to degenerate towards violent and destructive acts. People naturally gravitate toward self-centeredness. We need no incentive toward this, rather one in the opposite direction, toward community and fellowship. Perhaps an example based on selfless love, undeserved forgiveness, and undeniable purpose and value?
I say to the lonely, uncaused, valueless, morally conflicted humanist, there is one who has given you value, companionship, purpose, and who has once and for all defined right and wrong. What would the humanist say to the invitation of one who offers purpose outside of self, outside of others, outside of chance? Set aside the commitment to scientific myths of evolution and natural selection for only a moment to consider with no presuppositions what your own manifesto says you are open to, “humanism does not deny the possibility of realities as yet undiscovered.” Consider a reality wherein one of ultimate importance and worth dies to save your life. What purpose would your life hold then? Knowing that even the lowliest of person would give up their life, dying in your place, would you pay attention? Consider a reality where God exists. Even knowing that He took time to create you, as evidenced by your existence in that reality, what value would that give to your life? Now consider what purpose your life would inherently hold if that same God sent His son, but more than that, Himself, to die in your place just so that He could have a relationship with you. Talk to you. Care for you in all matters. What if He valued your relationship enough to want to keep you close for all eternity? What then? You see it takes value to have value. Money does not have value by its mere existence. It’s assigned value through many different means but certainly not based on itself. Likewise, a tool is created for a purpose by a smith or toolmaker. The creator gives it a purpose for existing and a reason for being – to turn a bolt, or tighten a screw, or drive a nail. There is indeed a creator who assigns to all of us the utmost value in that He gave of Himself, out of His own value, to give us life. We have value because the only powerful and perfect God saw it wise and acceptable that we exist. So He created us, placing in us a reason for existing. Not chance put purpose.
By God’s purpose we can look at that reality and see that all would be valuable because all would be creations of God. Therein is the source of the brotherhood humanists speak of. If God values me enough to have created me, then the same value is placed in you merely by your existence. This relationship of inherited value is the active ingredient in our fellowship. I can value you equal to myself because of our existence, and I am only now opening my mind to your point of view as equal to mine. Only through God’s value placed in each of us can we begin to truly act selflessly, with less premeditation towards self. Only then can we consider others as ourselves. In considering this world of divine value, and mutual consideration based on that value we still are without purpose; without direction. The very same One who dies for you in this reality is the One who provides a meaning for life, a direction, an ultimate and divine purpose. By knowing that He died for you He gives you the purpose of telling others what He did. He tells you that because He is indeed God, His death was not just for you but for all those who would believe what you tell them when you speak of His death. He not only says to tell them but to love them as much as He did when He was willing to, and did, lay His life down in place of theirs.
I am telling the humanist of a reality that is the truth of human existence. I am telling the humanist of the truth of the world and of all time. The one who died in place of you, me, truly all, is Jesus Christ. He gives to all the value given Him by God, as God. He is God, and as God Jesus nailed Himself to a piece of wood and died because He valued us so much that it was worth His death.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16.
We were so valuable to Him that He was willing to die to have a relationship with us. It is in this seeming contradiction that we have the very definition of brotherhood: love. It took unspeakable love for Christ to do that. Because he loved us, even to death, we are compelled to love each other if we accept that He did in-fact die. A wonderful gift comes if we are willing to accept that truth.
“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
Saved from what? Saved from eternity apart from the one who gives value and purpose.
So the Humanist is left with a decision between solitude and brotherhood, between pointlessness and divine purpose, between selfishness and love. The humanist must truly choose between life and death.
Just my thoughts on the relativistic crap people are spouting today. Hope you enjoyed.
Humanism presents arguably the most dangerous worldview prevalent today; away from any form of faith other than self. Such a belief brings in its wake a reliance on intellect, science, and most of all a corporate and sort of cosmic human nature as a new universal way of living in peace. Those who would pledge allegiance to “old beliefs” are met with a call to abandon doctrines that are said to have “lost their significance and which are powerless to solve the problems of humans living in the Twentieth Century.” Mans’ “increased understanding, his scientific achievements, and deeper appreciation of brotherhood” are called as evidences of the need to redefine religion into a more functional system. Humanists, in all their realized wisdom make reference to that which they know not, for they don’t know the creator of the brotherhood of which they speak. Walk with me as I present Christ as the answer to that which all Humanists, in their own intellect, seek answers. Appropriately, we will use the Humanist Manifesto I to illustrate the err of a great many doctrine they hold as Humanists.
We begin thick in the intellectual jargon of self-existence. The Humanist holds that the universe is self-existent and not created. Plato and Aristotle both knew it foolish to even imply that the universe was self-existent. This quickly gets out of control when you start contemplating the implications of self-existence, considering that even if the universe has always existed, it still owes its existence to something – some uncaused cause. It is entirely illogical to say, or think for that matter that the universe is because of itself, and for itself. That is to say “I exist because I am, because I can.” This reasoning sounds contemplative and “deep” but proves to be confusing and circular and leaves no explanation or purpose for existence. No reason for existence yields no purpose and leaves chance as both. To exist merely per chance leaves no point to the other issues discussed in the Humanist Manifesto I, because there is no reason to value life, let alone others if we are all chance occurrences. Without purpose we find ourselves back at the beginning, which is ironic because purpose is what Humanists are trying to realize.
Did you see what happened there? We have stumbled across the truth. The truth of the Humanist situation is one of a lonely existence, self-caused, with no value except that ascribed by chance. For the sake of continuing this talk let’s give the Humanist worldview the benefit of the doubt and assume that morality enters into the picture at all. Bound by a belief in continuous natural processes which resulted in Human life, a completely organic view of all life to include people, and assertion that God is merely a side effect of individuals reacting with their native culture, Humanists put themselves in a tight spot; a spot that holds no moral certainties, where acceptable conduct and behavior are determined by their situation. That is to say morality is based on and determined by human nature. The problem is that this is simply not true. In cultures throughout the world we see evidence of a universal standard: don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, help those less fortunate, etc. What seems to be different is the application. By saying that all life is organic, the result of situation, it is an attempt to explain existence. What it does is destroys purpose, which destroys value, which makes us merely organisms as children of mere chance. If chance be our parent then all have the same value: none. The only inherent value would be to that individual, but that is only internal. Where does morality come in? Morality could be defined as right human conduct. In a situational morality nothing is right, nothing is wrong; all is acceptable if the situation permits.
“Is it wrong to kill?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t been put in that situation before.”
Wrong!
“Should I steal this food?”
“I have stolen food before but I was hungry and out of work.”
“I’m not out of work, but I am hungry.”
“Don’t look at me. I don’t know your situation.”
Strike two.
“Should I break into this house? I am cold and it is warm in there.”
Strike three. What do we have for our contestant? A 5 year stay in one of our lovely state penitentiaries; give our contestant a round of applause. Yeah, not so much. I admit that these are extreme examples but they represent the logical end of the Humanist system of morality.
There in their ideals of morality and social affluence comes the religion of the individual humanist: self. “In the place of the old attitudes involved in worship and prayer the humanist finds his religious emotions expressed in a heightened sense of personal life and in a cooperative effort to promote social well-being.” By stating such things as this, one is allowed and encouraged to engage in only those activities which directly concern oneself. The humanist sees himself as tolerant and accepting, yet fails to consider that which brings even a moment’s discomfort. If you believe in the humanist doctrines why would you subject yourself to others’ needs at the expense of your own? The answer is simply that you wouldn’t unless you had a vested interest in the needs of said person. Sound familiar? This is the mantra of our society as a whole. Principles taught to us since we were barely school aged. The Golden rule is no longer “Do unto others,” instead we say “take care of number one.” Instead of “turn the other cheek” we say “strike first.” The humanist truth is that there is nothing beyond self, yet somehow they profess a commitment to “a shared life in a shared world.” In light of this contradiction we can see why humanists have revised their manifesto twice already since 1933. You see, they knew that human nature is not a nature of kindness and tolerance. In fact, if given the free reign to act according to self and for self, as the Humanist Manifesto I asserts, people have been historically observed to degenerate towards violent and destructive acts. People naturally gravitate toward self-centeredness. We need no incentive toward this, rather one in the opposite direction, toward community and fellowship. Perhaps an example based on selfless love, undeserved forgiveness, and undeniable purpose and value?
I say to the lonely, uncaused, valueless, morally conflicted humanist, there is one who has given you value, companionship, purpose, and who has once and for all defined right and wrong. What would the humanist say to the invitation of one who offers purpose outside of self, outside of others, outside of chance? Set aside the commitment to scientific myths of evolution and natural selection for only a moment to consider with no presuppositions what your own manifesto says you are open to, “humanism does not deny the possibility of realities as yet undiscovered.” Consider a reality wherein one of ultimate importance and worth dies to save your life. What purpose would your life hold then? Knowing that even the lowliest of person would give up their life, dying in your place, would you pay attention? Consider a reality where God exists. Even knowing that He took time to create you, as evidenced by your existence in that reality, what value would that give to your life? Now consider what purpose your life would inherently hold if that same God sent His son, but more than that, Himself, to die in your place just so that He could have a relationship with you. Talk to you. Care for you in all matters. What if He valued your relationship enough to want to keep you close for all eternity? What then? You see it takes value to have value. Money does not have value by its mere existence. It’s assigned value through many different means but certainly not based on itself. Likewise, a tool is created for a purpose by a smith or toolmaker. The creator gives it a purpose for existing and a reason for being – to turn a bolt, or tighten a screw, or drive a nail. There is indeed a creator who assigns to all of us the utmost value in that He gave of Himself, out of His own value, to give us life. We have value because the only powerful and perfect God saw it wise and acceptable that we exist. So He created us, placing in us a reason for existing. Not chance put purpose.
By God’s purpose we can look at that reality and see that all would be valuable because all would be creations of God. Therein is the source of the brotherhood humanists speak of. If God values me enough to have created me, then the same value is placed in you merely by your existence. This relationship of inherited value is the active ingredient in our fellowship. I can value you equal to myself because of our existence, and I am only now opening my mind to your point of view as equal to mine. Only through God’s value placed in each of us can we begin to truly act selflessly, with less premeditation towards self. Only then can we consider others as ourselves. In considering this world of divine value, and mutual consideration based on that value we still are without purpose; without direction. The very same One who dies for you in this reality is the One who provides a meaning for life, a direction, an ultimate and divine purpose. By knowing that He died for you He gives you the purpose of telling others what He did. He tells you that because He is indeed God, His death was not just for you but for all those who would believe what you tell them when you speak of His death. He not only says to tell them but to love them as much as He did when He was willing to, and did, lay His life down in place of theirs.
I am telling the humanist of a reality that is the truth of human existence. I am telling the humanist of the truth of the world and of all time. The one who died in place of you, me, truly all, is Jesus Christ. He gives to all the value given Him by God, as God. He is God, and as God Jesus nailed Himself to a piece of wood and died because He valued us so much that it was worth His death.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16.
We were so valuable to Him that He was willing to die to have a relationship with us. It is in this seeming contradiction that we have the very definition of brotherhood: love. It took unspeakable love for Christ to do that. Because he loved us, even to death, we are compelled to love each other if we accept that He did in-fact die. A wonderful gift comes if we are willing to accept that truth.
“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
Saved from what? Saved from eternity apart from the one who gives value and purpose.
So the Humanist is left with a decision between solitude and brotherhood, between pointlessness and divine purpose, between selfishness and love. The humanist must truly choose between life and death.
Just my thoughts on the relativistic crap people are spouting today. Hope you enjoyed.
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