New Thoughts (12/27/08-01/03/09)
Before I turn to this passage directly, there are a few things that I feel a need to consider which lie elsewhere, but in some ways relate to what is before me. So, I come to Matthew 5:20, brought up amongst the parallel verses to this passage. Since that is a portion of Scripture I covered quite awhile ago, and this question arises as I look at it again, I am going to take this opportunity to pursue the question just a bit. Now, that verse relates another teaching by Jesus on what it takes to obtain to the kingdom of heaven. In this case, He tells His disciples that their righteousness is going to have to exceed what the scribes and Pharisees have achieved in that regard.
I have, in the past, always heard this as assigning at least a kernel of praise or respect of the Pharisees on the part of Jesus. Yes, they’ve gotten a lot wrong, but they’ve gotten something right, too. Don’t throw that out because I have accused them of their wrongs. There is something to be said for such a hearing of the message. We must be careful not to discard Truth when we hear it just because we find the messenger who delivered that Truth suspect. In our day, we have so many denominations with particular beliefs that might not quite jibe with our own. There are these fine points of theology that divide us, and in many cases, we have made heavy blunt objects of those fine points and clubbed each other with them. We have made such a big deal of these little items that we no longer hear anything of faith in what those others may have to say. We have decided that they, being wrong in little, must be just as wrong in much.
This is foolishness, and we certainly ought to recognize that! God is perfectly capable of speaking His Truth through whatever voice may be at hand. He has spoken Truth from the mouth of an ass. Surely, we ought to recognize in this that our ears ought to be open to hearing Him speak from any source! Paul was able to hear Truth in the words of a pagan poet, to draw Truth from the very idols those pagans raised up. No, he was not endorsing the poet, nor was he condoning idolatry. But, even the blindest of the blind has some sense of the flickering light, when it comes to matters spiritual. Even the Pharisees, for all their pride and misguided labors, had it partially right. Even the Greek philosophers, for all their odd moral meanderings, had a glimpse of the Truth.
Yes, this is a lesson for us to draw from that message. However, think about the setting in which those words were delivered. Jesus had been raising the bar, raising the standard. You have been taught this, but the reality is much more difficult. Love your neighbor? Not enough! You must love your enemies, too. Avoid murder? Not enough! Avoid even so much as a negative comment. Adultery? That is but the visible tip of an iceberg of sin. No, you must avoid so much as the thought, the very consideration of any such sexual conduct. The act is not the point. It is the thought process that leads to the act. In short, Jesus has so clarified the Law as to make clear that our attempts to obey in full are doomed to failure. The whole point of the Law, rightly understood, is that you cannot truly obey, however hard you may try. You will always have need of a Redeemer.
So, then, is Jesus really telling us to work harder than the scribes and Pharisees? Is He really suggesting that we must focus that much more on righteous deeds? But, all our righteousness is as filthy rags! Our every effort to do what is right before God is forever tarnished by our sinful natures. We really cannot help ourselves. However hard we try to do the right thing, even when we manage to do the right thing, we somehow make it wrong. Our attitude is off. Our heart isn’t 100% in it. There’s always something. There’s always that little shadow within us that blocks some of the light. That’s our reality, folks. I’m really not expressing fatalism, here, just realism. I am not offering us all an excuse to stop trying, only making clear that our trying is never going to be enough in itself. Works aren’t going to cut it. Not ours. Our reliance shall ever be upon the One Who truly obeyed, the One whose works alone were counted truly righteous. For the rest of us, there is only faith.
In that light, I come back to what Jesus said on that occasion, about a righteousness exceeding the Pharisees, and I begin to recognize that He is not really telling us to work harder. Tithe more fastidiously? Give more alms? Pray longer? What? No, it is none of this. There is, to be sure, the deeper recognition of what righteousness is, that it is an internal matter of character and motivation, not an outward appearance and display. More to the point is the recognition that Scripture is accurate in declaring our best acts no better than filthy rags. If we are to attain to a righteousness that exceeds the Pharisees, don’t you see, it will have to come from outside of ourselves. We cannot do it. We cannot so control our thoughts that every least hint of lust or of envy or of negativity has been erased. It’s not going to happen! Face it! If we were able to attain to such a state, then there would have been no cause for Jesus to come. If we could do it, we would not have needed Him to do it. If there had been any other possible means of redeeming a man, God would not have sacrificed His Son, Himself, to get the job done. If ever our dependence upon the Redeeming work of Christ is able to be set aside, then the whole history of Redemption, the whole Scarlet Thread of Scripture becomes an obscenity, and the God who would do such things becomes most devilish.
But, Jesus says, “I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds theirs, you’re out. You’re just as out as they shall find themselves to be.” But, how, Jesus? How can we hope to do better? How can we even begin to imagine an obedience such as You are demanding? It cannot be but that He is pointing to that righteousness we obtain by faith alone. It is His righteousness, and His righteousness only that can pass such a muster. It is His righteousness and His righteousness alone which shall be found clothing the saints as they are brought before the throne of heaven. It is in this righteousness, the righteousness that He imparts to us, a free gift to accompany that of forgiveness, which has merit in the sight of God. It is that righteousness which shall give us entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Any man so foolish as to present any purported righteousness from any other source will find himself sadly surprised. It shall be as if such a one had presented a poorly forged passport at the border, and he shall most surely be turned away.
The other item that I shall want to look into in light of the present passage is the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus (Jn 3:1-12). I am convinced that there is something in that conversation which will be found to have bearing on what Jesus is telling His disciples on this occasion. But, let me look at that account and we shall see. The main point Jesus makes in their conversation is to do with this matter of being born again. There, Jesus makes the born again state a requirement for seeing the kingdom of God. He clarifies by saying that one must be born of both water and the Spirit, and that this second birth He is speaking of is no longer a matter of flesh, but a matter of spirit. And yet, in John 3:12, Jesus says that He has been speaking of earthly things with all of this discussion.
What appears if I allow these two passages to comment upon one another? There, Jesus speaks of this need to be born of the Spirit. Here in Matthew 18:3-4, there is the matter of changing one’s thinking to become more childlike: humble in one’s own view, and trusting as regards God. Now, I must grant that the focus in both Mark and Luke is more on what counts for leadership qualities amongst the faithful. But, that first point from Matthew about a new perspective: Is that total restructuring of the thought process in some way akin to the rebirth by the Spirit of which He speaks? If I construe the message to Nicodemus as commentary on the message before us, I might suppose that this change of thinking that Jesus places as a requirement is only possible given the rebirthing that occurs by the Holy Spirit. In other words, unless and until He has acted in causing you to be born (and let’s face it, nobody is born by choice – it is always an outside act imposed upon us) you cannot even see the kingdom. You can’t recognize it. You have no least understanding of it, nor any particular desire for that which you cannot perceive.
But, come the Spirit and the rebirth He has caused: Now we can see the kingdom. And yet, there remains this matter of mindset. We still think along the old channels. We have etched certain patterns into our mental processes and these must be rewritten, rearranged. Indeed, the rearrangement that we are in need of is most thoroughgoing and complete. It’s going to take a total restructuring of our thinking, and therefore our lifestyle – everything! – to fit us for entrance into the heaven we have begun to perceive. This is utterly beyond us to accomplish. It seems as though it should be patently obvious to us that it is beyond us. How shall a man, by his own thinking, change his way of thinking? It seems to me that’s rather like asking a train to guide itself off the tracks and lay new tracks for itself. There may be some train out there, specially designed for the task, that can indeed lay tracks before itself as it goes, but I would quickly point out that the train still does not act of its own volition. It requires something outside itself to guide the work it does.
So it is with us in this business of preparing for heaven. The change of thinking that is absolutely necessary for our eventual salvation is a matter that we most certainly have a hand in, yet it remains an effort that must be guided by something or someone outside of ourselves. Thus, that same Holy Spirit by Whom we were reborn in such fashion as to be able to see the kingdom unfolding about us is at work in us yet, renewing our minds day by day as He opens the significance of the Word to our understanding. He is gently but persistently rearranging those neurological patterns we have established to our detriment, such that we, though still men of fallen flesh, begin to operate and exist as more than fallen flesh. We begin to become attuned to the fuller life of the kingdom.
Unless a man be born of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom, nor can he have any hope of being converted in his ways of thinking so as to become like the child that rebirth has made him. What easier way to become childlike, after all, than to be born? A child cannot help but be childlike. We call it innocence, though that overstates the case rather severely. But, there is something of innocence to it at least, in that there is that lack of experience or lack of established habits. We are a clean slate, as it were, ready to be written upon. Only now, there is the Holy Spirit present, chalk in hand, to do the writing.
What happens, though, if I reverse this process, and contemplate Matthew as commenting upon John? After all, the concepts that Jesus lays out for Nicodemus are indeed difficult to wrap oneself around. It is only easy for us (if indeed it is easy for us) because we have the benefit of hindsight. So, with Nicodemus, we might well ask, “What do you mean, ‘born again’? It’s not physically possible!” And yet, we must become like children. It’s not a matter of physical size. It’s not even a matter of the way we think about things, really. I’ll touch on this more later, I think, but for now, just be mindful of Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “Don’t think like children, only be like babes when it comes to knowing the how-to of evil. But, think like mature men” (1Co 14:20). It’s not the thought processes that are in sight. It’s the faith. It’s the trust. It’s the humble self-awareness. A child (at least up to a certain age) is clear on the concept that he is no adult, nor able to compete with an adult. He is a child, and he must submit to what the adults in his life tell him to do. He can do so because his trust in the goodwill of those adults in his life is complete and undamaged by any untoward experience.
This is a big challenge for us adults when it comes to having faith in God. This is what Jesus is seeking to establish there in Matthew’s account. We find it nearly impossible to submit because we’ve been burned too many times. We’ve known too many bosses, parents, elders, politicians, what have you, to whom we knew we were supposed to submit but who proved by their actions that they were not motivated by loving concern for us in their commands. It is hard enough to reestablish trust between two who have once known a breach of that trust. It is hard enough when both parties are determined that trust ought to be restored. But, when there is a history of such breaches; when one party is uninterested in making things right again; when the authorities who have destroyed trust are too remote and impersonal in relationship for trust to be restored: then it becomes nearly impossible that trust should ever arise again.
This is our life experience, by and large. This is what we have in us as we are brought to Christ. He calls us to Himself and says, “Trust Me”. How are we to do that, Jesus? We have been burned so many times. We have been let down and double crossed by just about everyone we ever knew. Were that not enough, we have been trained to be skeptical. We are the sons of the age of reason, don’t you know! If there’s not hard science behind it, how can You expect us to trust and believe? It’s a heckuva handicap, you must admit. And it is exactly because of that terrible handicap that we are powerless in ourselves to effect the necessary change. The Spirit must rebirth in us a spiritual innocence, a spiritual ‘newness of life’ untarnished by negative feedback, that is then capable of thinking as it ought, of believing as it ought, and of choosing as it ought.
With that in mind, let me turn more fully to the text of this present study. And again, I would focus first upon that message we find in Matthew 18:3. Here, I find it helpful to consider Wuest’s translation: “Unless you reverse your present trend of thought…” “Change your thinking to the point of becoming like a child,” as I have paraphrased it. And yet, we must bear in mind the admonishment to the Corinthians. It’s not so much the thinking as the basis upon which we make decisions, choose actions, and so on. We must adopt change. We must alter course, when it comes to our current moral structures. We must thoroughly change our minds when it comes to questions of what matters and what is right. It is not an invitation to foolishness and wishful thinking such as we were all too happy to entertain as children. But, it’s an invitation to trust again, to start afresh. It’s an invitation to unlearn those first incorrect lessons of life, and learn instead the way we were created to be.
You need a change of heart, a course correction. What you thought to be the way to survive in this world, what you thought made you a good man and successful, these things will need rethinking. They are based on faulty data. The very fact that so much of your focus is upon dealing with this world, impressing this world, making a difference in this world: these are warning signs. Your looking to matter in things that don’t matter. Look, there’s nothing so terribly wrong with wanting to make a difference in this world. What’s wrong is that your concern stops with this world. You give little or no thought to the greater picture, the true kingdom, the reality of life that surpasses what we experience in this lifetime only. It surpasses this present life not only in duration, but in quality. This is what matters. Yes, it’s a fine thing to alleviate the sufferings of others on this planet. Yes, it is absolutely laudable to do what one may to assist the poor, to aide those with no support system. But, if this is where we stop, if our concern ends with meeting their physical needs, or even their emotional needs, then our love has come up short against its true measure.
To provide those around us with a more comfortable existence and yet neglect the more precious matter of the soul, the eternal; how is this love? What profits it a man to gain the whole world but lose his own soul? Or, what shall he give for its restoration (Mk 8:36-37)? Don’t you see? It’s a devil’s bargain that we offer. That is the great shortcoming of the so called ‘social gospel’. It’s all social and no gospel. It looks to the needs of today, but at the cost of utterly neglecting the needs of eternity. It looks to the work of worldly care, but in a near total absence of any true kingdom perspective.
Consider, by way of contrast, that famous story of Peter and John en route to the temple. These two are confronted by a beggar, hardly an uncommon event for that time and place. This one was, however, a known quantity, and known to be a truly needy case. Lame from birth, and everybody knew it. As beggars are wont to do, he solicits some monetary support from those two, but what is their response? “We’re as broke as you, friend, but we have something better to offer! Rise up and walk!” (Ac 3:6). In the name of Jesus, be restored!
Now, when you read that story, what immediately catches your attention as being the gift these two gave the beggar? Healing, right? Look! They restored his ability to walk. If you’re a bit more thoughtful, you probably jump to the point that yes, now this man can go get a job, support himself. You know, it’s like the adage we all hear, “give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.” That’s fine, but it still ends at the grave, doesn’t it? Indeed, having noticed that this man is now able to support himself, we might even reach the point in our thinking at which we happily note that this man’s dignity has been restored to him. No longer need he experience the shame of begging.
But, if this is the best we can see in that story, we have been corrupted by the worldview that surrounds us! We are not thinking as children of the kingdom. Yes, this man was healed. That’s great in so far as it goes. More to the point, though, He is praising God (Ac 3:8-9), and not only that, people are noticing! He has become something of an instant evangelist. He is bearing fruit for the kingdom, and note this well: He’s not even trying!
Now, I must grant that we are not given the privilege of knowing the end of this man’s story, but let us suppose. Let us suppose that this first response to the incredible grace of God is not his last. Let us suppose that what God has begun in healing his body God is faithful to complete, that his soul has been caused to prosper, the wounds of suffering and deprivation healed, and his perspective once and for all turned towards heaven’s reward.
This would make of him exactly the sort of candidate for citizenship that Jesus has just described. He has surely experienced a thoroughgoing change of mind and heart. And, he is already in that position of humility that is the companion of this change. Again, it is not the relative foolishness of childlike thinking that we are advised to adopt, nor is it some cutesy conception of innocence. Not at all! It is the humility of the child, the very modest opinion of self that is present in at least the younger child. He knows he is no equal to the adults around him, nor is he fool enough to try and prove otherwise. It is painfully obvious to him that there are things the adults are capable of that are entirely beyond his capacity. It may be simple things like walking, or reaching some upper cabinet. But, whatever the case, he is rather forcibly made aware of his own limitations, and given no particular opportunity to convince himself that things are otherwise with him.
Here is where we run into trouble. At least, it’s certainly where I personally tend to run into trouble. Bringing down one’s pride – it seems like a lifelong effort. It probably is. It becomes that much more difficult when all that the world around us trains us up for is prideful. We are taught from an early age to compete. That’s fine, but with competition comes the pride of the victorious. We enter into jobs which are, by and large, an extension of that playground experience we grew up with. We compete with our coworkers. Even when we are team players, even when we are working together towards some common goal, there is still that competition. There is that need to show oneself at least as sharp as everybody else, and probably a good deal sharper.
Sadly, we are likely to bring this same attitude into the sanctuary. We compete in ministry and in works. It may be a subconscious thing. It may be more overt. But, unless we are constantly brought back to ourselves, constantly reminded that however fine our works may look by comparison to our friend over there, they are still nothing but filthy rags when measured against the true measure of heaven’s rule: then pride once more rears its head. And, where pride has reared its head, whatever sliver of merit may have remained to our deeds is done away with.
A greater sin remains for us, though: That same pride, that same drive to achieve that so defines us creates in us a terrible tendency to ignore our true condition of utter dependence. We quite frankly don’t want to recognize our dependence on the grace and providence of God – certainly not while things are going good. When accounts are fat and the table well laid with food, it’s all cool, and it’s all about us. Look how well we have provided. Look how well we are caring for our families. Oh, we may remember to give God some grudging thanks for His blessings, but in our thinking it remains our own doing.
How quickly we lose sight of the reality of things! How quickly we forget the greater Truth, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). But, with Him! With Him all things are made possible. With Him, everything is caused to work out for our good. If, then, things have been going well with us, we are proven wise only in recognizing that this is not really anything of our own doing, but wholly by the grace of God. If we have prospered in our way, it is because our way has been blessed of God. We have, perhaps, been more fully of one accord with His will and His purpose, and this has led to the blessings we have received.
Alternatively, it may be but a test. Will you hold to a true faith and a true self-assessment in the midst of blessing? Will you hold to your humility when the riches are poured out? Will you remain faithful? You would not be the first to undergo such a test, not by any means. Since the days when Israel was first rescued from Egypt, that test has been given repeatedly. By and large, even with the bluntest of warnings, man has proven particularly adept at failing the test. “When everything’s rosy, there in the Promised Land, and you’re rich and fat and surrounded by the pleasures of the good life, you will forget Me.” I mean, how much more clear could He have made the situation? Watch out! Yet, you know that everybody, upon hearing that, thought immediately of some other acquaintance of theirs, and figured the message was for that one, not himself. You know it fell out that way, because you do the same thing of a Sunday. When the message hurts, it’s a message somebody else really needed to hear. Anything to keep it from striking home.
How do I know you do this? Because I know I do this. I could write it off as human nature. Of course, that doesn’t do any good. It doesn’t change the sinfulness. It doesn’t remove the need for repentance. Change your thinking! Stop allowing this absurdly over-neat sense of self to cloud your view! Instead of fearing to be ashamed, learn to be ashamed of fearing! Your shame should be in your pride. Your shame should be in your unwillingness to face yourself. And, until you overcome that shame, your self can never be truly healed. Oh, you may not be endangering your entrance into heaven, you say. After all, if He has paid, then the bill is paid in full, isn’t it? But, what has He just said here? That cannot be set aside! Unless you become like children, you ain’t getting in!
Hey! If we’re going to peg ourselves to the reality of that claim of exclusivity that Jesus pronounced in saying, “Nobody gets to the Father except through Me”, then we’d better take Him at His word on this one, too! He’s either the Way, the Truth and the Life or He isn’t! He either speaks as the Incarnate Revealed Word of God or He doesn’t! We can’t pick and choose which parts of His message we feel inclined to hold onto. It’s a package deal, and unless we embrace the whole of it, we shall find ourselves embracing none of it.
If you doubt the propensity of man to sin, just consider the thinking that follows upon hearing this message that the one who humbles himself is going to be the greatest. Immediately, we turn our attention to finding ways to prove our humility. It is something of a standing joke to portray the televangelist shouting, “Look at me! I’m so humble!” Yes, we are all prone to wearing our humility like a badge of honor. That is clear evidence that our humility is as baseless as our pride.
It is not the one who performs the acts that attains to heaven, but the one who attains to heaven assuredly performs the acts. It is not the fact of service which marks the child of the kingdom, it is the way such acts of service come naturally to the child. Or, let me say it this way. The child is not of the kingdom because he serves. The child serves because he is of the kingdom. He is a true son of God, more than merely a child. He has grown to have a character akin to that of God. His ways have come to resemble God’s ways. His perspectives are shaped by God’s perspectives. His habits are established upon the ways of God Himself. In all of this, he finds no cause for pride, knowing that inasmuch as he has progressed, it has been by God’s Providential assistance alone, else he would be his old fallen self. In all of this, he does not seek to prove himself humble. He has no need to do so, because he is not trying to work his way into heaven. He is working out the reality of his heavenly citizenship.
We who are nearer the beginning of that change of character are inclined to try and manufacture the requisite about face when we hear that we are to give no place to pride. When we hear how the real leader among God’s people is going to serve all others, we set ourselves immediately to finding ways to be of service. But, it’s not the act it’s the motive. Why are we doing it? We are doing it so that we can be first. We are humbling ourselves so that we can be proud of ourselves. In other words, we are just doing what it takes. We’re still completely focused on getting ahead, getting one up on our fellow believers. Indeed, so competitive do we become in this matter of serving that it becomes an offense to us when somebody tries to serve us! Why? Oh, we chalk it up to the fact that it’s so humbling to be served by another. Sounds good, but is that really what’s got us bothered? If it’s humbling, we ought to welcome it! We are being given a leg up on entrance to the kingdom. But my suspicion is that this is just pride disguising itself lest we recognize it and flee. Pride lies to us, for our hearts are indeed wickedly deceitful. And, we receive those lies willingly because our hearts are indeed wickedly deceitful. By and large, we’d as soon stay deceived. It’s more comfortable that way.
But, the reality is that our aversion to being served is all about pride. It’s all about that fleshly desire to get ahead. Hey! He served us. That means he’s ahead of me on the roles. Why, that sneaky so and so! Now, I’m going to have to serve that many more to regain my position. And so, once more, the righteous works of man are shown to be no more than filthy rags. So long as our primary motivation for doing the right thing is found in the reward for doing so, then all our righteous acts shall remain utterly worthless display. They profit us nothing and we shall come to the end of our days in tears, crying, “vanity, vanity! All of this has been chasing after wind.” Our motives are all wrong. Our heart is all wrong, and still in need of that renewing power of the Holy Spirit. When we start giving because giving is the right thing to do, serving because serving comes naturally to us (or at least for the simple reason that we see the need and decide to fill it), when we do for no greater reason than that the doing needs doing; then we are approaching a better perspective. When we do what is right with no eye to reward, indeed with little thought given even to the fact that it is right, then we are progressing.
What do I mean? Should we not meditate on the way of the Lord? Should we not keep ourselves mindful of His Law, of His clear definitions of righteousness? Of course we should, because we are a forgetful people by nature. But, as we mature in this new life in Christ, as the Holy Spirit’s working within us progresses, our reactions to events, our responses to needs and questions that we encounter in others, these things should begin not to require any great deliberation in us. We shouldn’t still need the pastors and elders chiding us about what behavior befits a child of God. We shouldn’t need to be shamed into serving in the house of God. We shouldn’t need to be constantly reminded to pick up after our slovenly selves, and then pick up after others, too, that God’s house might be respected. We shouldn’t need the constant nagging to let go of our sins and press on towards the fullness of our sanctification. But, we do.
We are all of us matured in different degrees. We all of us have our own collection of flaws that are still being worked upon. We have all of us made progress, and we all of us have a long ways yet to go. We can fully empathize with Paul when he says, “I have not yet arrived. I haven’t attained to the perfect walk.” How thankful we are to hear that from him! Now, we don’t feel so bad about our own shortcomings. We feel bad about them, but eventually we realize that the very fact that they bother us is proof that we are still making progress. We are still on the road that leads to home. God is still with us and has not given up on us, not forsaken us. He is still faithful, and in this we have an exceedingly great cause to rejoice.
Now I come to a thought which likely strikes me in large part due to the nature of the work I do for a living. In pursuit of verifying the digital electronic devices, we create these testbenches driven by random stimulus. We seek to poke into all those corners of coincidental behaviors that might have been overlooked, never expected. However, some of the combinations that might come up in a strictly and truly random set of stimuli are clearly nonsensical and precluded from occurrence in ‘nature’. So, we constrain the values that can be taken on by certain variables. One thing that becomes perplexing in applying such constraints is that the language makes constraint equations bi-directional, and such a concept is rather at odds with the natural order of logic. When we look at a logical equation, we are inclined to see a cause and effect. In other words, if we look at a typical if / then statement, we think of it in such a way as to say that if the events and conditions specified are completely satisfied, then the result will follow. But, when we come to these constraints, the reverse is also allowed to apply. If the result is true, it can force the conditions. This has all manner of implications and often leads to some particularly unexpected results.
I bring all this up because I see that constraint-like quality in the ‘equation’ that Jesus speaks here. If you receive such a child you receive Me. If you receive Me you receive Him who sent Me. This is not the only place that Jesus speaks of this sort of relationship. If they receive you, they receive Me, therefore they receive Him Who sent Me. If they reject you, they reject Me, therefore the reject Him Who sent Me. It’s something of a common motif for Jesus. Were I to write that in something of the form of an equation, I might have it thusly: you => Me => Him who sent Me. We might read that, ‘you implies Me implies Him who sent Me.’ But, we can reverse the implications as well: you <= Me <= Him who sent Me. He who sends implies Me, the sent, implies you to whom I was sent. The relationship is bidirectional.
Why do I care about this? Well, in what Jesus is saying here and elsewhere, He is noting a certain aspect of the relationship. It is something in the way of the relationship of authority, particularly in that matter of hearing or rejecting the disciples. There, it is the relationship of you having authority because He has authority because the Father is Authority. It’s a chain of delegation, if you will. If I reverse that equation, I can see that you and I are here to point the way to Jesus, Who in turn points ever and always to the Father. All things are constrained to lead the observer heavenward. If we allow ourselves to behave in any fashion that shifts the focus from Him, then we fail in the proper application of that authority we have received.
But the most marvelous aspect of that equation which I see is that which one might observe in this present example, with that child who has been set next to Jesus. Here, the equation becomes something like this: your significance <= His significance <= the Father’s significance. Apart from Him, we are as nothing. We can do nothing. We have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. We are just one more fallen sinner enslaved to sin amongst a sea of fellows. But, just as the Father chose Jesus, sending Him into this life to redeem us, and making Him the singularly significant amongst men, even so, Jesus’ choice of me makes me significant.
Now, be clear: The Father choosing Jesus is not to imply that Jesus was less than God prior to that choosing. Indeed, we ought to understand well enough that He was chosen from before the beginning. Nor is this sequencing of choice and authority to be found as evidence that Jesus is less than God. I suppose, lest we allow pride to rise up, I should also clarify that the fact of our delegated authority and our being counted amongst those Jesus has chosen is no evidence that we are now equal with God ourselves. If anything, it ought to further humble us to consider that even such as we are, He has chosen to do this thing.
You see, it is only the fact of His choosing that has given us significance. This child standing next to Jesus, the very image, in that cultural milieu, of insignificance and total lack of standing, has suddenly become significant. His significance is for one reason and one reason only. His significance is found in the choice of Jesus. Now, he might well have been the only child at hand at the time. That doesn’t matter. Jesus has chosen him, and that suffices. He is significant. We are not given to know what becomes of this child after these events. He is one of the many nameless, faceless contacts that Jesus made in His brief tour of ministry here. But, I have no doubt that this child felt the impact of becoming significant.
What child doesn’t enjoy finding himself the center of attention? What child doesn’t thrill to see himself stood up as important, stood up as the exemplar? Oh! And to enjoy such notoriety in a company of adults! Wow! How could this not lodge itself in the memory of this child? It’s moments like these that we find ourselves reviewing in thought decades later. It may well be that this moment shaped the child. It may very well be that more than being chosen to provide a type for this lesson, this child was truly chosen, and yet, like that which he was set forth to model for the disciples, such service as he rendered to the kingdom hereafter remains unrecorded, unsung. Of course, recalling this scene to mind as he grew, what reason would he have to pursue legacy? It’s not about legacy amongst man. It’s about what’s stored up in heaven. No, it’s not even about that so much. It’s about living a life that recognizes that magnitude of the grace that chose you. It’s about living in a fashion worthy of the adoption that you have already received. It’s about manifesting gratitude.
What applies to this child, if I assume correctly that he became a true believer, applies to each of us individual believers. We are made significant by His choosing. I have to make this personal. I am made significant by His choosing. Yes, and let me be clear. I am made significant only by His choosing. Because He has made the choice to draw me to Himself, because He has so called that I could not help but answer, because I am now His; this is my significance. If I find wisdom in the pages of His Word, it is because of Him. If I am able to impart what I have found in some small way, it is because of Him. If I am able to live as He requires of me, it is because of Him. If I am not what I once was, it is solely because He has brought the change, and that is significant indeed!
Oh, my, how we search for something that will give us significance in life! We strive to make a name for ourselves in some way. We labor in the pursuit of establishing some sort of reputation for ourselves. We want so much to reach that point where we can point to our accomplishments and shout out that we’ve arrived. It seems like every fiber of our being is wrapped up in this grand display that says, “look at me!” From birth, we have known this urge. From birth we have wanted to be the center of attention, the king of the hill. When we used to play at follow the leader, how much competition was there for the follower role? Not much. Everybody was looking to lead. I tell you that these are things we have never truly outgrown. It is with us yet, that need to be out front and in charge.
This is part of what brings strain to our relationships, for in any relationship, however equal, there are going to be times when one in particular must take charge. God has established the order that ought to be pursued in the closest relationship we are given to experience in marriage. But, we often try out our own schemes at running the marriage show. But, what happens? We who are in pursuit of God’s ways, though we try these other arrangements, know somewhere inside that the order we have established isn’t quite right. The man who was supposed to lead finds himself frustrated when he is no longer in position to lead. He has, let’s be honest, willingly given up that position. He didn’t want the responsibility and the bother. The woman wants it? Let her have it. But this doesn’t prevent resentment from building. And woe to that couple when they try to reverse course! The woman, she has grown used to this business of being the decision maker, of being in charge. Though her soul may crave for her man to take up his position as he ought, yet her flesh will find it hard to relinquish the power she has had. The man, uncertain in his lack of experience, may well try and give back what he has called for. The mess they have created by experimentation will not quickly be resolved.
But, I can say this: If this couple is counted amongst the chosen of Christ, their victory over this earlier foolishness will be significant, for they have been made significant. By their rebirth through the power of the Holy Spirit, they have become a new creation. By their victorious efforts to establish the order of heaven in their own homes they make manifest the new creation they are. By their capacity to live by what have become all but forgotten standards, they appear to do the impossible. Indeed, they are doing the impossible! They are living for Christ. For man, this is absolutely and utterly impossible. But, with God…
With God, they have become significant; significant for their devotion to the pursuit of His ways and His goals. With God, they will have made a name for themselves – a good name, a lasting name. Oh, it may well be that, like this child before Jesus, none in succeeding generations will ever know their name proper. Yet, their story will stand.
Just think of those we read about throughout the Gospel record. Think, even, of the Apostles. What cause would history find to remember them apart from God’s intervention? A bunch of fishermen on some distant inland waterway? Who cares about them? These are not movers and shakers! A tax-collector in some forsaken backwater of a country out on the boundaries of empire? A gnat has more meaning in the story of mankind! These are bit players, extras walking onto the scenes of history and right back off again, without so much as a speaking part. Even Paul, for all his education and his place in Gamaliel’s school, was on a path to anonymity until God met him on the road and proclaimed him significant.
Oh, our history books are full of the stories of the famous. But, we need to ask ourselves, what sort of men became famous and why? It may be too great a generalization, but I think we could divide them into two categories: There are those who set out to be famous. These, it seems, almost to the man become rather more notorious than famous. What distinction am I making here? Well, they certainly made themselves a name, but not a good one. They are remembered, but not fondly. The Caesars of that period in which Jesus lived: They certainly made themselves well known, and they are certainly remembered in the histories even yet. But, with fondness? As good men? Not so much. The best of the Caesars are counted a mixed bag at most. By and large, they are remembered as brutal and immoral power seekers. They are recalled for the intrigues by which they attained their thrones, and the forcefulness and ruthlessness by which they clung to the thrones they attained.
The other class of the well-known are those who had no eye for fame whatsoever. They were not seeking to be known. They were seeking to get something done, to see some problem fixed. It may be that they saw ignorance in themselves and those around them, and sought out wisdom. It may be that they saw disease and sought a cure. It may be that they saw oppression and sought to end it. But, the general theme that unites this class is that they saw the right thing to do and they did it. This, whether they had the light of Christ revealed in them or not, is certainly in keeping with what He teaches.
I recall, when I was single, a period when I was really looking to end that status. Oh, how I wanted some steady date. How I wanted to be an item, or half an item! But, it wasn’t happening. Wiser heads sought to explain that if I was ever to obtain my desire, I would have to stop looking for it so hard. “Just be yourself”, they would counsel. “Stop trying so hard to impress, and just be.” Better advice has rarely been given. Yet, such good advice is just as rarely received. I bring this up because it is a weak echo of the advice Jesus is giving His own in this passage. If you are seeking greatness, stop. You will never be counted great for what you have done in pursuit of greatness. If you are ever counted great at all, it will be because you quietly went about doing the right thing. Doing right was your being, and you learned to simply be.
I tell you plainly: The one who is willing to just be in this fashion, the one who just quietly goes about doing the right thing, he is the one the world will count significant in the end. In a world that is so caught up in self-importance and self-image, that one who pays no heed to such things, but simply pursues the course of righteousness? He is going to stand out. He is going to make an impression on those who encounter him. He will not be lauded in song. Books will not be written about his exploits. He will never be found on the front page of any newspaper or magazine. But his impact will be greater than those who are so lauded and written of. “If you wish to be great, stop trying. Just serve. Stop thinking about yourself and your reputation entirely. Just be. Be as you were created to be. For, that is the greatest thing any man can hope after.”
Just be what I AM made you to be. Don’t seek to change it. We have been conditioned to be dissatisfied. Oh, my nose is too big, my features too plain, my hair too thin. Oh, my clothes are out of date. I bought them last week, and now, they say this other style is in. Whatever shall I do? Oh, my car is no longer shiny and new. It’s not the cool car to be in anymore. My, but how much of our effort goes into changing our appearances! We were told to be dissatisfied, and we are just that: dissatisfied. We are dissatisfied with what God has wrought in us. Not good enough, God! See me on this, and I’ll give You a chance to make it right. The arrogance! The audacity!
We would be far better served to recall that He made us as we are. Whatever we may think of that, He thinks we are fearfully and wonderfully made. He thinks we are perfectly fitted for the purpose He had in mind. He thinks – nay! He KNOWS – that we are ideally suited to pursue the course He has planned for us. He knows that we, each one of us, have been individually designed and outfitted for our own specific, individual part in His purpose. Oh! That we would rejoice in our designer status! Oh! That we would spend our energies on discerning the purpose for which we were made rather than trying so hard to improve on our design! Shall we really improve on the work of the Master? When He has proclaimed us very good, shall we, the clay, truly spin ourselves better upon the wheel?
It’s all about significance. We want it so much. I look at my daughter, in that painful period of the teens. She wants to be significant. She wants to stand out, and yet she wants to blend in. She wants to be what things around her are telling her to be, but she wants to be better at it. She wants to be stood up as best of breed, if you’ll pardon the analogy, there. I am the same as you, but in a most excellent way! It’s such a hard thing. But, it’s a striving for significance. It’s that awful trap of looking for a partner in life, and by looking so hard, pushing away every potential partner encountered. You won’t find love until you stop looking for it so actively. You won’t find significance until you stop trying to force the point. Indeed, you’ll find neither until you find them in the one place they are truly found: In Jesus, the Christ of God.
By this you shall know love: That He has loved you. Until that has become a reality in you, you may well experience things you call love, but they shall not truly be love as it is most wonderfully defined. By this you will know your significance: That He has given you purpose and you have pursued it. Apart from that, you may indeed make a name for yourself, but being a self-made name, it is as subject to rust and ruin as anything else man has constructed. It will be forgotten, or it will be remembered for reasons you’d rather it weren’t. Indeed, even if you should break the trend and establish a name for yourself with good cause and good service rendered to the benefit of mankind, what shall it profit you in death? Though the living in subsequent centuries be ever so familiar with your achievements, though they sing of you down through the ages, what will it serve you beyond the grave? For, what profit is it to a man to gain the world at the cost of losing his own soul? And what can that man ever think to offer up as the price of his soul’s redemption? All that fame, all that acclaim, it will not purchase anything of worth in the economy of heaven. The wealth of heaven is found in greater things.
When it comes to me and heaven, what I hear Jesus saying is that I must have the perspective of this child in the company of adults. That child is no adult, and he’s quite aware of that. He knows that there is absolutely nothing he can do that would make him an adult. All he can do is wait for the outside agents of change to so work upon him that he has become an adult. This is my relationship to heavenly citizenship. Were I standing amidst the citizens of heaven just now, I could not be recognize that I am not like them at all. I could not be recognize that whatever I might do, however good it might be, it’s not going to make me one of them. It will require that outside agent of change, just as growing into adulthood did. And, just like growing into adulthood, it’s going to take growth. Growth takes time. Growth is not always a comfortable process, but it is inevitable. Neither does it submit to our timetables and preferences. It sets its own schedule and we have little choice but to abide by it.
This is part of what I see Jesus pointing to in the child. He is forced by the reality around him to mark his limitations and to accept the process that he is in. Now, I would have to say that there is much about the child that we are not advised to model. We must be careful to recognize the point Jesus is making and not stretch His illustration beyond His intent. The child is not there to be seen as the model of submission. Any parent knows that they ought count their blessings if they happen to have a submissive child. Every child knows the near futility of trying to convince the strong-willed child to submit. Children are variable in this. Neither is this child lifted up as the model of servitude. He might serve well and he might not. A child taken at random could hardly be counted on to model those characteristics.
Neither are we to look at the child as the picture of purity and innocence. That’s not it at all. That’s our sappy romantic view of childhood and in our saner moments we recognize that this view has no foundation in reality. Innocent child? Hardly. Yes, I’m aware such an opinion sounds harsh to our sensitive ears. But, David certainly recognized that! Nor is he alone in that recognition. The nature of the Fall has made his self-assessment applicable to us all. “In sin I was conceived.” Were we to fully open our eyes to the truth about ourselves, we would be forced to confess that indeed, we have been sinning ever since. The biggest lie I have ever told I told to myself for years: “I’m a good guy.” Only if I’m allowed to set the standard for ‘good’, and then, only if I have sufficiently dumbed down that standard!
Indeed, if the mission was to become as pure and innocent as we would like to believe the child is (as we strenuously seek to convince ourselves our own are), then is all the work of Christ made null and void. We cannot. We would have no least hope of entering the kingdom of heaven to which He is ever pointing. We could come no further than the gates and then be left standing, forlorn, in utter hopelessness. This can hardly be the purpose He has in mind!
No, the child is there to model trust and belief. Certainly, we must have that child-like recognition of our inability to change our situation for ourselves. But, far more important is that child-like trust in the One who can. Barring countervailing aberrations in a child’s father, that child has a nearly unbreakable trust in his father. He is certain beyond any least shadow of doubt that his father will care for him, protect him and love him. Honestly, the child will not so much as consider that possibility that something might happen that would overwhelm his father and prevent his father from doing what he would. Dad is that child’s superman, invincible in his devotion to his family. That is trust with no shadow of doubt! That is faith that has no questions, that doesn’t even consider the possibility that there could be questions.
Sadly, we have this tendency to read about becoming childlike and we make it into a command to be foolish. After all, didn’t Jesus commend foolishness? Doesn’t He choose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise? Oh! But, consider from whose pen that message came: Paul, the Pharisee’s Pharisee, the finely honed legal mind, the master of rhetorical argument, a man both wise and intelligent in every way.
Never, never, never does Scripture suggest that we cease thinking. Never does it discourage us from applying the brains God gave us to understanding Him. Indeed, when Jesus answers the question as which of the commandments is most critical, He rephrases the original somewhat, telling us to love the Lord our God not just with strength, soul and heart, but also with mind. Faith is not a matter of never questioning at all, although it may start there. Faith has heard its questions answered enough times that the questions which remain are more curiosities than crises. Yes, there will be those things which God does not deign to explain Himself on. There are mysteries in faith, to be sure. But, it’s not all mystery all the time. It is a most reasonable faith. It was bound to be, for the God in Whom we are called to have faith is the same One Who created us with brains in our heads and the power of reason. The One Who comes to us as the manifest, living, breathing, Intelligence, the Word of God, the Wisdom of God, has made us in His image. We have brains with which to think because He thinks. Can we really suppose He gave us this organ just to test us? Do we really suppose that He created us in such a way that we should need to excise the very thing which (as science measures it) makes us human? That makes us His image-bearers? I think not.
Hear, then, the boundary proclaimed: “Don’t think like children. Let your thinking be mature” (1Co 14:20). What, Paul? Do you dare to speak counter to the Christ you proclaim? Not in the least. “When it comes to evil, by all means be just like babies: uncomprehending of its ways and disinterested in its uses.” But, think! Use what the grace of God gave you for your benefit. Don’t shut it off. Don’t try to empty your mind. What is that all about anyway? That’s just eastern mysticism. That’s just making room for every lying spirit in the neighborhood to come party. God is the God of reason, just as He is God of all. The foolishness He chooses to use is not that sort of foolishness. God does not suffer fools. Go read the Proverbs. Fools are rejected in no uncertain terms. The all-Wise God has been pleased to bestow wisdom upon His children, and He has done so in full expectation that His children will be wise enough to use it.
As a counter-balance to this, though, I must consider the implications of Luke 9:46, if indeed those implications are real. In the NASB, Luke’s introduction of the scene is benign: ‘an argument arose’. However, as one looks back to some of the older literal translations, another perspective comes out. Douay-Rheims has this as, ‘there entered a thought into them’, and Darby puts it: ‘a reasoning came in amongst them’. Now, it may just be the effect of so many years in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles, but that phrasing rings like an alarm bell in my thoughts. This argument which arose was something that had to first ‘enter into’ them. It had to ‘come in’. Well, if it came in, then at some point, it would seem that this thought, this argument must have been outside. I am made more comfortable with this line of reasoning, as I see that Thayer’s Lexicon also reaches something of the same understanding. The debate was something that first entered and then succeeded in establishing itself in their midst.
Now, my normal perspective would be to say that this is exactly what comes of following the advice to empty one’s mind. If it is empty, then there is certainly space made ready and available for whatever any roving spirit in the neighborhood might wish to implant. However, I am not assured that the disciples were in any such empty-headed state at the time. They were quite likely pondering the implications of what Jesus had been teaching them on the way. They were, after all, students; students of a particularly challenging Teacher, and students who had already paid in very significant ways for the privilege of sitting under His tutelage. Nor is there much in either Jewish religious training or that particular brand of it which Jesus was teaching that would have advised the mind-emptying approach that we find in some of the eastern religions. The meditation which Scripture advises is of a much different sort. Scripture advises us to fill our thoughts with the Law and the Prophets, not to empty it in hope of some sort of instant-karma enlightenment.
So, let it suffice that whatever their immediate level of intellectual pursuit, this point of argument which took seed in them was planted. It entered in. The same could doubtless be said of the destructive line of reasoning which Judas later pursued. For that matter, it applies to the Sanhedrin in their deliberations over this Jesus, and to Pilate in his willingness to nullify the law in pacifying the Sanhedrin. Were I to state the general case, it would be thus: The seeds of our sinful perspectives, our sinful thoughts and our sinful actions are ever and always planted by some outside source.
But, let’s be clear on this much: That does not in any way absolve us of our guilt. You see, like the disciples, we establish our guilt in that we do not immediately reject the seed of sin, but rather nurture it, water it, tend it more carefully than ever we tend the Word of God. As my pastor has said on numerous occasions, we cannot stop the bird from flying over our heads, but we can assuredly prevent it’s droppings from lodging there. In like fashion, we cannot expect to put up some sort of spiritual barricade that prevents every least hint of sinful thinking from entering. God could, no doubt, but He has found it wiser and more to our benefit that He not do so. The question, then, is not why we thought the thought. The question is what we do with it. Do we recognize the voice of another at the root of that thought and reject it most forcefully, or do we choose to relish that thought? Do we determine to dwell on it?
Part of the problem is that we are trained to rationality. We have learned from the psychiatric profession that the idea of somebody else’s thoughts being in our heads is a sign of mental illness. So, we are naturally disinclined to accept such a concept. I understand this. Most assuredly, I do. And yet, there are those occasions I can pull up from my own experience that all but demand that I recognize that there was indeed a ‘voice’ not my own informing my thoughts. I say a voice, but not such as one would call audible. I know those who have experienced this audible voice from heaven, but not I. It is a thought. A voice would frankly be easier. That at least has the sense of coming from the outside. But a thought? Our thoughts are private, certainly! Or so we like to believe. But, this limited view is a reflection of fleshly life. As we return to an acknowledging of the reality of spiritual life, life that is more than this fleshly shell, those limitations must lift, else we endanger ourselves.
It has also been said (and sad that it needs saying in the Church today) that if we are going to accept the reality of God and of angels, then we must perforce accept the reality of Satan and of devils. More bluntly put, there is absolutely no ‘if’ to concern yourself with. It is quite simply, ‘we must accept the reality’. Many do not, and the results of this failure to accept the spiritual reality as well as the physical often lies at the root of the great evils that explode into our physical realm. Others, to their eternal damnation, have actually recognized the reality of the spiritual but chosen to knowingly ally themselves with the hordes of hell. But, even this choice has at its root the seed planted by another.
I ought to note at this point, that the same might well be said of our salvation. The choice to accept the atoning work of Christ, the choice to make Him (in such extent as we are able) Lord of our life, has at its root a seed planted by another. Indeed, is that not there for us to see in the Parable of the Sower and the Seed? And yet, the soil knows its guilt or its reward based on how it receives the seed. The rocky soil may not blame the rocks, nor the Maker of the rocks. The weedy soil may not blame the weeds for choking out the good seed. The soil remains, in spite of all these outside influences working upon it, responsible for itself. While it certainly pushes the image beyond natural experience, we must understand that the soil, having noticed the rocks within, ought rightly to have ejected them from itself. The soil, noting the weeds germinating, ought to have surrounded them with some sort of barrier to prevent them from finding their nourishment in itself. We, having recognized the thought that has entered in, ought to reject it hard and swiftly, if it has not come in the voice of our Shepherd.
Do you understand that we have this promise from our Lord? Do you remember that this is meant to describe us? “The stranger’s voice they will not heed” (Jn 10:4-5). But, the promise is that we shall follow Him because we know His voice. It is more, so much more, than just the tone of voice or any such thing as that. Were that the case, the deceitful spirit would have an easy time of it. No, it’s the message that leaves the telltale mark of the Master. What He speaks internally, be it in person, by the Spirit, or through whatever means He may choose, is ever and always of one accord with what has been more generally revealed of the King of heaven. There is no contradiction in Him, no shadow of changeableness (Jas 1:17). As He has been, He forever shall be. His lovingkindness never ceases. His compassion never fails (Lam 3:22-24). Therefore I have hope in Him.
Oh! Thanks be to God! Therefore I have hope in You. Yes, my soul knows that what Jeremiah spoke in that passage is the real and absolute Truth. You are ever compassionate. You are ever loving. Your mercies, they fail not! Your faithfulness to Your promises and Your character, they are absolutely established – absolutely trustworthy! No, You indeed have never changed and never shall. You remain. You, Lord God, alone in all Creation can make that claim. You alone are free of all double-mindedness, free of all pragmatism, perfect in Your planning and perfect in Your execution. What You have declared, that is what shall stand. If Your declaration has been that I am Yours, than Yours I am. If Your declaration is that You have never failed to provide for Your children, then what cause have I to fear? Though a thousand fall to the left, ten thousand to the right, this I know right well: Thou art with me. Yea, indeed! Though I walk through the valley of death, Thou art with me, guiding me, guarding me. My Sword! My Shield! My Comfort! Oh, my Jesus! Tend to the garden of this soul. Teach me Thy ways and strengthen me to walk in them. Yes, and let me no longer accept the foreign thought within, no longer give place to anger, to fear and doubt. Let this sheep arise to Your voice and Your voice alone. This, my heart cries to You, Lord God. Though indeed I know my weakness of flesh, though indeed I know the weakness of my spirit, yet I know even more certainly that Thou art with me, and You are faithful to complete this work You have begun in me.
I want also to consider the nature of this argument or discussion that transpired. The word being translated is dialogismos, which clearly has roots in the far more familiar logos. It is, however, a step or two removed from that root. Logos, of course, has very positive connotations, as it would have to, being one of the names given God’s Son. It is the expression of reason, the speech that proclaims what has been thoroughly thought out. Surely, we are all raised to recognize the value of thinking before we speak! Otherwise, though we use words, we are in danger of expressing no more than animals.
However, when we come to logizomai, the intermediate step to our final word, we are moving into deliberation and debate. Deliberation has its place. Debate can serve to sharpen one’s understanding of the truth. There comes a time, though, when deliberations ought to cease, when debate is seeking only to cast doubt. I would suspect that there is no man (or woman) alive who has not experienced that sense of the mind racing. It is that point where one is thinking in circles, as it were, just rehashing the same incomplete set of data over and over again and never managing to do anything more than to convince oneself that he just, simply has no idea, no answers. Given enough time, such thinking will lead one to a conclusion of hopelessness. Not only do I have no answers for this problem, but the very thought of there being an answer seems absurd, impossible.
It is this negative sense that must be recognized in the final usage here in regard to the disciples. Sure, and they’re having a ‘discussion’. But, anybody that’s ever seen the male species in discussion of this sort knows well how it develops. It’s not that far different than the contests we see between a pair of bull moose, or between lions ‘discussing’ possession of the pride. The only real distinction is in the level of physicality involved. In this case, things doubtless devolve rather quickly into a very childish (if not child-like) “No, I will be.” “You? You must be kidding. Of course it will be me.”
When I come to the sense Thayer’s Lexicon has given this word, I read that this inward, deliberative reasoning of man tends toward a questioning of the truth. It’s fruits are hesitation and doubtfulness, and so, in words quoted from Lightfoot, the arguer finds himself in ‘intellectual rebellion against God’. Does that sound harsh? I mean, after all, this is just guys being guys, right? Well, yes, but in this case it is guys being guys about a matter entirely too important for this game. Indeed, it’s a game that is no longer fitting for those who have been made children of God. I’m not talking about the competition so much as I am talking about the pride that underlies that competition. I’m talking about the general focus of these gentlemen as they argue.
You know as well as I do that not one of them was laying out arguments as to why somebody else in their number might be a better choice. And there’s not even a chance that they would think to recommend anybody outside their circle. They were the Twelve, after all, the elect of the elect. Clearly, as they would think, if Jesus chose them, they must be something to reckon with! They had not yet reached that clear-headed perspective that would allow them to recognize that while He does not tolerate fools, yet He has a tendency to choose the foolish, the weak and inconsequential, to accomplish His works of greatest consequence. He will indeed have no man boasting of himself. And, that is exactly what this ‘discussion’ has become – twelve men boasting each of himself.
If you have any doubts as to the truth of that, just consider the scene Mark presents. Jesus asked them what they had been discussing. He uses a marginally different form of the word, but in so doing, has dropped the negative connotations implied in Luke’s choice. He allows that the discussion is just that – a case of His students talking together in pursuit of greater understanding. Of course, He is quite aware of what they had been discussing. It’s not as though He had been so far ahead of them on the road that He could not even hear their words. Even had He missed the bulk of what they were saying, the nature of their competitiveness would have led to occasional outbursts of higher volume, doubtless followed by the shushing of the others.
It is clear enough, in the way these guys respond to Jesus’ question that they knew full well they were way off track in arguing as they had. They would not even answer Him, but just stood there with hangdog expressions. They knew they were wrong, and they knew Jesus well enough to know that if He was asking them this question, He already had the answer. If Jesus had any doubt at all about the nature of their conversations, their looks told Him all He needed to know. And what He needed to know was what lesson would best serve His charges.
You see, through all their arguments, the focus had been on ‘me, me, me’. They had allowed themselves to express the self-centered pride that is such a common trait of our fallen condition. The flesh was rising up in them, seeking to reassert control over the course of their existence. Pride: that most deadly and most deceptive of sins known to man, that disease of spirit which dwells at the root of every other sin – or if not every sin, close to it. That is what Jesus saw in His disciples, and that is what He immediately sets out to counter.
Consider this: when we happen upon somebody in the depths of this ‘me, me, me’ syndrome, what’s our usual reaction? If we are in a position of responsibility for that one, we are likely to day, “Don’t be childish”. Otherwise, we are probably thinking something quite similar, and wishing we could issue that command. It is the nature of immaturity to care for nothing but self. Here in the good ole’ USA, we have an entire culture whose roots lie in self reliant looking out for number one. It’s bred into us almost from conception. Yes, that culture is eroding, and not in such a way as makes room for something better. But, where that sign of good breeding remains, God has to work on us. We think we are mature. We think this is what adults are supposed to do. And God looks down on us and sees nothing but perpetual adolescents.
Were He a man such as ourselves, He would be shouting at us to grow up! Being God, though, He speaks more gently. You wish to have something to be proud of? Learn to serve. You want greatness in My eyes? Then give yourselves not the least thought. Forget all about self-preservation and throw yourself wholesale into this business of saving souls. Look upon every fellow man not even as your equals, but as your betters. Look upon the lost as infinitely more important than the found. The found, after all, are taken care of. Their future has been secured, and they will grow into the mature image of the God who both created and secured them. The lost, now. They are just that: lost.
It is right there in Romans 10:13-17. Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved, but they can hardly be expected to call upon Him if they don’t believe in Him. And, what hope do they have in believing in One of Whom they haven’t even heard? How, then, shall they hear of Him, except one goes to preach the Gospel to them, and no man can preach except he be sent! Oh, indeed, that one who bears this great good news brings cause for rejoicing wherever he goes, but not all who hear his message will heed it. Indeed, Isaiah warns the preacher: “Who has believed our report, Lord?” You see, as important as all of this is, faith comes from hearing, but hearing comes solely by the word of Christ.
How we have misunderstood this, methinks! By all means, Paul is saying, there must be those who preach. But, the preacher is not marked so much by his message as by the one who authorized his preaching. How can one preach of the name of the Lord, the office and authority which is vested in Him alone, unless He has first delegated a portion of that authority to the preacher? Apart from that official mark upon the preacher, his words will be of no avail, his preaching but vanity. Even with such authorization, the preacher is not promised unmitigated success. It is not, after all, his works that bring salvation, but the work of God. Hearing comes by His word – at His command. Where He has commanded an opening of the ears, a softening of the heart, the least eloquent of preachers finds a rich field to harvest, and is made most fruitful. Where He has not so commanded, the greatest of orators, the most wise in the Truth of God, can speak until he has no more breath by which to speak and yet fail to make so much as one true convert.
We must surely serve God as He calls us to, but we must ever and always be mindful that our service is nothing in itself. It’s all about Him or it’s all about nothing at all. We are not called bondservants of Christ for no reason. If this was Paul’s most prized title, and he the wise intellectual of the bunch, then surely it ought also to be our own greatest possession. To be His, to be forever attached to His household and to be forever ready to respond to His least desire; these are things infinitely to be longed for and infinitely to be thankful for when obtained.
So, our Teacher teaches as He lives: “If you would be first in heaven’s sight, serve. Serve everybody. Think nothing of self, except that you are insignificant in comparison to the work of heaven.” No, you are not belittled by this. You are, after all, the work of heaven yourself. But, the work that remains to be done, and the shortness of the time provided in which to do it is of far greater import now. There will be, after all, an eternity in which to enjoy the fruits of your own salvation. That same eternity awaits those that remain unreached, but for them, it shall be an eternity of sorrow beyond measure.
This is exactly the relationship Jesus displays for us throughout His ministry. This is how He has chosen to view Himself in regards to the Father, His Father – our Father. This is the point that Paul makes in explaining how Jesus humbled Himself, willingly chose to set aside the power, the infinitude of wisdom and knowledge that were His by the fact of His being. It is not that He counted those things as meaningless. It is not that He was a lesser being than the Father. Father and Son, after all, are one Being. How could Jesus be a lesser being than Himself? Not at all. But, being God, for Whom all things are possible, and the very concept of impossibility is made ‘not applicable’, is able to set aside, for the benefit of His plans and purposes, what is His privilege and right. He is able, having so chosen, to take upon Himself the limits of fleshly existence and yet to maintain unsullied His essence, the inherent character of God.
Jesus, then, the Manifest Word and Intelligence of God, Wisdom Incarnate, has chosen to make Himself the bondservant of His Father. He has done so to one purpose, and solely as required to achieve that one purpose. That purpose, of course, is the salvation of the mankind He created. That purpose is to put an end to sin once and for all. Oh, yes, we are quite aware that sin continues in this life. It occurs most personally on a daily basis. But, it is finished nonetheless. It’s reign over man has been bounded, the date of its being deposed from the throne of men’s hearts writ in the annals of heaven, cast in concrete as we should say. When that purpose had been wholly accomplished, every last necessity of the mission completed to perfection, Jesus once more took upon Himself His full birthright. Never was He truly less than coequal with the person of the Father. Nor is the Holy Spirit in any way less than coequal with both Father and Son. The very concept is absurd to consider in looking upon the God Who is One.
Surely, He is One, for He has made Himself known as such. Surely, He is simultaneously infinite, for infinity is found in Him. We tend to measure that by time (as if infinity could be measured). But, we must recognize that this same infinity applies in other ways. There is a reason God speaks of Himself in plural form, even as He proclaims His essential uniqueness. “We are One.” Contrast that with the demons that possessed the Gaderene: “We are legion.” Indeed, in the latter case, there are many spirits in a momentary unity of action, yet each remains his own spirit, if you will. Each remains more devoted to his own purposes than the larger interests of the group. Each has only joined the action of the moment as it serves its own interests, and no sooner is their interest found elsewhere than so shall they be found elsewhere.
For God, it is not so. God is in many ways the polar opposite of this. He is One being, but He is three in Persons. Oh, this is more than I care to explore just now, more than I am likely to truly grasp in my lifetime, I suspect, but understand this much: God is One. He is One in purpose. We see it again and again throughout Scripture. There at the very beginning it is evident. Father issues a command of being. The Holy Spirit is there in place, hovering over the matter of Creation. The Son, Wisdom, is there at His side, directing the commanded work. One purpose. This infinite God of ours can and does send His distinct persons on distinct missions to accomplish distinct aspects of that one purpose. Yet, He remains truly and essentially One.
When He feels He must give oath to assure His creation, He swears by Himself, and in so doing has already the two or three witnesses His own Law requires. When He sees that the man He has created, having once fallen, is incapable of lifting himself back up, He has already set in motion all that shall be needed to restore the man. The death (however temporary) of the Son was already a set and determined outcome before even the first Adam fell. God was not taken by surprise when Adam fell. He is not taken by surprise when other servants fall so hard. Neither has the greatest scheme of the devil ever managed to take Him unawares. He is infinite. Past, present and future as we know them are all one to Him. There is no place we can go that He hasn’t been there first, preparing the way. There is no place He can go that His chosen have not been there first, preparing His way.
And so, for this one purpose, the Son willingly assigns Himself the role of Servant. The Son takes up the task of being the Shepherd of a most unruly flock. In so doing, He sets Himself the example for His sheep. Live as I do, He says. Yes, you have something of infinite worth in being a child of heaven. Yes, your citizenship in My kingdom is a most magnificent treasure. But, you, count yourself and your privilege as nothing. Even as you see that I have set my privilege and right aside to serve you, so set yourself about serving those who have not yet made their way home.
Be not childish, but child-like. Nor, reject the childish, but rather care for them. Raise them. Bring them to maturity as you, yourselves mature. How marvelously this paraphrase captures the true sentiment of this lesson: “Your care for others is the measure of your greatness” [TLB]. Marvelous! Just marvelous!
Jesus, I pray as earnestly as I know how to: let this be my measure, that I care for others. No, in as much as I am able, I set aside any concern for greatness. It is not the point. Let me be found caring. I know that if I look at myself today, I am yet found wanting in this. So, Lord, I am found wanting Your help, Your work upon me, that the measure of my care for others might increase, and my care for my own hopes and dreams might diminish. You shall, after all, bring to pass what is to my good, and that is surely enough.
Other translations, seeking to paraphrase this message, seem to wander a bit far afield, in my view. The BBE speaks of giving honor to the child. While there is certainly a sense of honor inherent in receiving and welcoming, the choice of wording seems to obscure the real sense. Then, Wuest takes it to great extremes and has us taking the child into our family so as to bring it up and educate it. How that arises from this passage, I am not sure. I suppose one might consider the Church family in this light. Yes, there is the Great Commandment to consider: make disciples. That would certainly involve raising the disciple up in the fear and admonition of the Lord, training the disciple in the ways of the Lord. But, that is not this passage. Here, the focus is upon receive and serve. The focus is upon making yourself of no importance in your own thinking, not in raising yourself up as a teacher. The focus is upon dealing with your own prideful opinion. There will be enough other places in Scripture to make clear the work that is assigned this poor servant. For now, though, the proper focus is upon acknowledging and willingly taking upon oneself the role of servant of God.
Let pride be done away with. Let there be no competition for place amongst those whom God has made family. If we must boast, let us boast in Him alone, Who has given us whatever worth we may possess. As for everything else, count it loss. Indeed, even our salvation we ought consider loss, if it does not serve the kingdom. Oh, salvation shall be secure in those whom Jesus has called His own, yet we are told that there shall be those who reach the streets of heaven with the smoke of hell’s fires still upon them; saved by the skin of their teeth, as the saying goes. But is this the way we would hope to arrive? Let it not be so! Work out your salvation, Paul tells us. Not that your works will earn your way, no. But, there is a reward that awaits the faithful servant. There is a prize that awaits the one who seeks actively to cooperate in what his Lord is doing. Serve not for the pay, but serve for the pleasure of being given a part to play. And yet, know that there is indeed that reward. This is the walk of the disciple of Christ: to live in a manner worthy, to serve in whatever fashion He calls us to, to run so as to win while knowing the most important prize already yours, to earn without being caught up in the earning, if you will. May we be found faithful in living this life we are called to!
