New Thoughts (7/26/06-7/29/06)
Much of what I have been covering in recent weeks concerns authority. The Father gives authority to the Son. The Son gives authority to the Twelve. Here, once again, Jesus gives authority, in this case a specific authority over demons. It is to be noted that only in the Father is authority inherent. Only God has authority in His own right. For man, authority is always a matter of receiving, always something delegated from a higher authority. What can be seen in the way authority reached the Apostles is that there is a chain of command in the heavenly order of things. First, there is the Father, then His Son, then those Apostles whom the Son has appointed on the Father’s consent. Later, we learn that the Apostles also delegated a portion of their authority to those they appointed as deacons – again on the Father’s consent.
The key here is ‘delegated.’ All authority known to man is delegated authority. I suppose that, in the interest of completeness, I should say that Jesus, as God, required no such delegation of authority to Himself. He is wholly God, and as God has inherent authority. However, in the Incarnation, we are primarily looking upon Jesus as Man. Coming amongst us as a Man among men, He willingly set aside the prerogatives of the Godhead. This necessarily included that inherent authority. For the course of His earthly days He would, as we must, have only such authority as the Father deigned to delegate to Him. His was surely done as an example for us, that we might understand the source of whatever authority we might claim.
So, we understand the path by which authority arrives at us. However, we have not yet come to an understanding of what that authority is. When I think of authority, I find myself generally thinking in terms of the power to command and the right to punish disobedience to that command. It is a rather militaristic view of the matter, I suppose. That view arises, perhaps, from years spent in a society that considers it wisdom to question authority. What did we mean by that? We meant we ought to question whether the one issuing the commands has any real right to command us or any real power to coerce us into obedience. Now, looking at what Strong has to say in regards to the Greek word that is used in the text, I find this wonderfully different view of the meaning. He speaks of authority as ‘delegated influence.’ Understand, then, that authority can look like either of these definitions; the coercive authority of the tyrant or the paternal authority that seeks to guide. Which of these two do you suppose better reflects the authority that flows from the Father?
“Delegated Influence.” This is such a powerful concept! I see the example of this nature of the matter in my current work situation. In this current assignment, I came on as a second to a man of greater experience in the particulars of the task at hand. I came expecting to operate as a contributor with this one leading and largely architecting the course of our work. To my surprise, I have found myself more or less in charge of the bulk of the job. I have been left to architect large parts of the effort as I see fit, and have had several men, all more experienced than myself, put more or less under my direction. Am I really going to play tyrant in this situation? I have much to learn from any one of these guys! However, I am in position to advise and shape the direction of their efforts based on what I had in mind as I put together the framework for this effort. I cannot and will not force them to do things my way. I can and do point out how I have surmounted particular difficulties as a possible solution for their own. I cannot look at these men and say, “I have willed it so. Therefore you shall do it or perish for your insolence.” I can, however, seek to influence their efforts in the direction that seems wisest to me. That has become, really, a large part of my job. Why? Because the one I am working for has delegated this influence to me. At the same time, I still function under his influence. He is able to impart his wisdom into the way I do my part, which is then passed down in turn. It’s a chain of command by which the ways of the one in charge are imparted in orderly fashion down to every member of the team.
So it is in the kingdom: Father to Son to Apostle to deacon to preacher to believer, the same Wisdom is dispensed, the same influence is passed on. We each have our portion of that delegated influence.
What is truly amazing is to consider the extent of this influence that God has chosen to pass down to us. Mark tells us that the Apostles were given this influence over the demons of hell. Clearly, it’s going to take something more than simple wisdom, something more than an authorizing note from God, to cause such as these to heed our influence. That is why Luke makes it clear that it was not only the authority that was given, but also the power. Here, Zhodiates offers the definition that gets to the point. The power that Luke writes of is an inherent power, an inherent ability. Now we can see the might and the right combined. The right has been delegated to us. The might has, as well, but in such a way that it is now inherent. That power is not something we must go begging for in every moment of need. It is in us, part of us, to be used in accord with Him who is yet in authority over us.
It occurs to me that we are able to say this for the very simple reason that God is in us. For He is our strength, and He abides in us; ever there, present with us even to the end of the age. Well, let me tell you. Those demons we are called to influence in such a fashion that they will find it in their interest to depart? They know that He is in us. They know that there is inherent power to enforce the advisories we issue. It is the power that backs up our commands that gives authority to the command. It is the power of God in us that makes our influence influential!
This is the very definition of word and power combining in ministry. By the authority vested in us, we speak the command and by the very power of God indwelling us we cause that command to be obeyed. In its way, the Gospel of the kingdom is that we have this authority and power vested in us. What great good news to know that we can speak to our former oppressors with the voice of command; that those oppressors, upon hearing our command to leave off, must do precisely that. When authority and power combine, there is no question or concern as to whether the one commanded accepts that authority. There is only compliance to the command. Whether or not the authority is accepted, the power must be acknowledged. Is this at least a part of why Jesus would not allow those spirits He was kicking out of the area to acknowledge His real position? They had no respect for the office that they admitted was His. They spoke only from fear of the power they could not oppose. There is no honor in that sort of acknowledgment.
Jesus, then, sends out His representatives with the authoritative word joined with the power of heaven, from whence authority flows. Those whom He sends out in this way, He further instructs to give no thought to themselves. He instructs them to make no material preparation for their mission, just to go with that authority and power as their only provision. Of course, that sort of provision must surely be enough! When we are moving in one accord with the God of all Provision, what shall we lack? When we are doing as He has authorized and empowered us to do, shall He not also see to the needs of His officers? Of course He will! How could God the Provider send an ambassador of need to represent Himself? So, the instruction given here is not given so that these men can appear needy, and thereby convince their hearers to give them sustenance. It is given so that they will experience His Provision in undeniable fashion. For, to know His Provision is to know His faithfulness with a certainty that nothing can shake. It is a matter of training, not of appearance. His messengers must learn that they need not concern themselves with their upkeep, only with their mission.
It should be clear, as well, that to be entrusted with such authority and power is an honor, a great privilege. Over and over again, I am simply amazed by this fact. God has entrusted such as me with this message of hope! God has entrusted such as me with the authority and the power to change lives. God has entrusted me with His own authority – if not in whole. Even to be allowed the exercise of the least portion of His authority is such an honor! But, this was not enough by His way of thinking. He has entrusted me with His power, as well – again, not in whole but in part. It is an honor beyond anything else I shall ever experience. The honor paid to presidents and kings is nothing when compared to this. Fame and riches cannot bring anything close. Let me boil it down to a single, most amazing factor: He trusts me! Wow! I don’t even trust me, but He does! If ever there was an evidence of the change He has wrought in me, it’s right there. He has so changed who I am that He can trust me. Because He has done as He has done in me, He can trust that I will not take that power and abuse it for my own good pleasure. He can trust that I will not abuse the authority He has given me to lord it over others.
Lord, I thank You for the change. What You have made of me is such a vast improvement over what I had made of myself as to be incomparable. Yet, not as though I had arrived at Your perfect destiny for me. There remain those things in me that must still be commanded out. There remains the pride that so quickly poisons the best of my efforts. There remains the easy frustration, the anger at being opposed. This is not something I have learned from You. It is something I must yet unlearn, must take authority over. Let it begin in me even today. Nay! Let it be done in me even today. It is time. It is time to take my authority in hand and declare that these things are not a part of who I am. Pride must depart. Ungodly anger must flee from my domain. There shall be the grace and the mercy of God displayed in this servant of heaven. This ambassador will, by the power of God, represent You as he ought. So it is commanded and so it shall be.
I must return to these instructions Jesus gave the Apostles, the instructions for the missionary. It boils down to making no preparation. Trust the Lord your Provider. There is, however, that one preparation that must precede the labor: Draw near to God that He may draw near to you. Learn from the Master. If you have watched Him as He went to the mission fields, you will have seen that He spent long hours in prayer with the Father. This was not just a way to get away from the pressures of office. This was the source of that authority and power by which He held office. It is no different for you. The student does not surpass his teacher. If it was needful for the Son of God to draw near to the Father and be strengthened, how much more do I need that nearness, that strengthening? Will I really be so foolish as to go out in His name yet without Him? No. Let me be found drawing near to the One who draws me near. Let me spend the time to become intimate with Him, to know His nearness with me even as I go out. This is the preparation that matters. Do not take money or food. Don’t even bother with spare clothes. But, don’t leave without Him!
On a more practical level, it occurs to me to wonder if these instructions weren’t also given in part to make sure His messengers weren’t mistaken for simple beggars, or other wanderers upon the land. All of this lack of preparation seems to be a way in which they are set apart, made to look different than others. Some of the instructions given may well be revealing to us what other so-called ministers of God were doing. “Don’t go gathering up money for your purse. In fact, don’t even provide yourself the means to carry that money.” How many were in the land, then, using God’s name to make a quick buck? How many are doing the same today, getting rich at the expense of those in need? How many are just making a living in their ministry, not really ministering? I tell you, it happens more often than one might suspect. Entire denominations are given over in large part to ministers whose sole interest is making a living for themselves. This is nothing new, to be sure, but that does not make it any more acceptable in our time.
Jesus calls His real messengers to be different. Don’t look for profit from being a prophet. Then, notice the behavior He requires in the place of service. Don’t keep switching hosts until you find meals that you deem worthy of your august person. Wherever you arrive, stay there. Eat what they give you and be thankful. There is no place for pride and self-aggrandizing ways in the ambassadors of heaven.
What of the issue with a second tunic? Why does He take exception to this? Perhaps this was another way that these false workers had of gaining the sympathy of the people. One who carries extra provisions is clearly far from home, far from his own place of supply. This would perhaps be a way in which people were cajoled into providing for the journey by a sense of duty and honor. So, don’t do that! Don’t play on the emotions of those you go to serve. Remember that you go to serve, not to be served. You are certainly worthy of your support as you labor, and you will certainly have that support. God Provides. You are not, however, to seek after more honor than is yours.
Furthermore, if the carrying of such provisions is a sign that you are far from your source of supply, then how can you display such signs? For, your Source is with you, lo! Even to the end of the age! God long ago declared Himself YHWH Jireh, the Provider – your Provider. He has told you that He is with you, in you, abiding in you. So, how can you ever think yourself too far from your supply? Your supply is ever present. If those you minister to choose to bless you, by all means accept it. It is ordained by your Provider. But, don’t you go seeking after such things. You do your job, and He’ll do His.
As a minister of the kingdom, do not concern yourself with fund-raising. That is not your job. Your job is to minister. Your job is to proclaim the kingdom, and the kingdom you proclaim has infinite resources. He will provide. If you are proclaiming Him, how dare you proclaim need and want? If you represent the Provider, how dare you so much as suggest that your provision is lacking? Again I say, you do your job, and He’ll do His. How can you preach a faith you don’t have? How can you disciple a discipline you have not learned? If this is where you are, then you must once more seek out the Father in prayer. Prepare you your way. Prepare in the way that He has taught. Let your own faith in Him be certain. Then, perhaps, you can be fit to proclaim the Truth.
Well, yesterday was certain proof, if I needed such, that I am still in need of the work of my Father. Having prayed in regard to anger, it was a day fit to squeeze anger seemingly from every pore of my being. Where, then, I ask myself, is that victory which I prayed? Where, then, is that certain faith of which I wrote? Ouch! Yet, I come to study this morning, and see the note I have left for myself as the next point to pursue: The Lord surely knows how to rescue the godly from temptation (2Pe 2:9). Yes, and I acknowledge the truth of that. He surely knows how. The biggest problem, as I have experienced it, anyway, is that we are equally adept at refusing the rescue. In the midst of anger and frustration, the sad fact is my flesh is rather enjoying itself. Oh, I’m vindicated in feeling this way. I have been wronged, abused, ignored, whatever. It’s all wrong, and quite frankly, I know that even as I am busily exploring every nuance of this vengeful feeling. There remains the voice of rescue asking when I shall prove willing to be pulled out of this mire. To my sorrow and shame, I was a long time waiting.
But, the Lord does know how to rescue us. It took time, but the time came. It took effort to recall – repeatedly – that rescue was simply waiting for me to snap out of it. It took reminding myself of the very lessons I had been teaching at home group. Stop looking at the temptation and convincing yourself that nothing can be done. Look to understand the test, so that you can see the right way through and go in that way. Ouch. Some teacher I am, that I must seat so long to learn my own lessons! Well, the other half of the lesson was surely the reminder that it is never in my own strength that I shall face the trials victoriously, only in His.
Well, Lord, the determination remains today. Though it seems every effort was expended to convince me that no victory could be had over my anger, I return to You and ask that You would bring the victory I cannot achieve in myself. It is in You to change me for the better, to know Your victory over these things, and You, my God, will surely do it. For it is Your desire that Your ambassadors would represent You as You are. Yes, there is a godly wrath, but that is certainly not what was on display yesterday. Lord, just make me like You that I may serve You better. Forgive me the abject failure that was my yesterday and breathe into me certain hope for today.
I turn now to the fundamental purpose of the sending of the twelve. Our tendency is to get caught up in the healing and the deliverance aspects of what the twelve were doing, and this is certainly an eye-catching aspect of their ministry. Yet, the primary, underlying purpose was to proclaim the kingdom. It’s all through the instructions. “As you go, preach that the kingdom of heaven is here.” He sent them to proclaim the kingdom, and then to heal. Elsewhere, Luke writes that even in the instructions to shake the dust of those places that would not accept the message from their feet, they were told to declare that the kingdom of God had been near (Lk 10:11). The kingdom, as Pastor Najem has been teaching us, is the message. The Good News of the Gospel is precisely that the kingdom is here. It is being established even now, and has been since Jesus began to minister in that tiny, Middle Eastern nation.
It is interesting that on this occasion, Jesus did not send them to teach. They were sent to preach and to heal. The teaching could wait, in this case. It was enough that they declare the presence of the kingdom, and prove its presence by the healings and deliverances that pursued them. “The kingdom is here, so repent.” That was the message. It still is. The healings come with the message, but they come for the purpose of confirming the truth of the message. If we fall into making the healing and the deliverance the point, then we have missed the point. The point is the kingdom and its King. The point is how we, as citizens of that kingdom must respond to His presence. Repent of your rebellion for the King is here, and he will not long tolerate your insolence. He is patient beyond our ability to measure, yet His patience will surely come to an end. Repent while there remains time and a hope. Turn from your ways and return to His. Set aside your wickedness and pursue the purpose He has assigned to you. For, why should you perish when He knows how to rescue you from your trial?
We are heralds of the kingdom of God. Yet, we proclaim His presence to a land that no longer understands kings and kingdoms in human terms, let alone in heavenly perfection. What is absolute authority to a people who question every bit of authority? How shall we submit and obey, who have been trained to self-sufficiency and pride in achievement? We hear it in the news constantly. The leaders of the nation can no longer be trusted to pursue the interests of the nation. The people of the nation are so divided in their sense of what those interests are that nobody really holds out hope for an agreed-upon course for the nation. There is no supreme authority in the thoughts of mankind, and it shows. We are once again in an age where every man does what seems good in his own eyes, with no particular concern for anybody else.
Into this setting, Jesus sends His family to declare that there is indeed a kingdom and there is truly a King. It is He who holds supreme authority. He has allowed us our rein for many long years, but He is still in command. In spite of the rather sordid conditions in what we see here on the fringes of His kingdom, the kingdom in its fullness is a much different thing. The kingdom of God is a kingdom – the only kingdom – in which everything is in perfect order. He is, after all, the Prince of Peace, and that peace of God is the state in which everything is as it should be, as it was intended to be. Everything is in perfect order under His rule.
There is something else about His kingdom. It is unified. There is no home for divisiveness in His domain. Society, being in perfect order, is unified in its ways and in its pursuits. This can be so because of the King of that kingdom. Because He is perfect in wisdom and in knowledge, and because He has established perfect order in His lands, each citizen of that heavenly kingdom is set upon his perfect purpose, a purpose created for him and for which he was created. And the Creator of both the man and his purpose is that King of perfect knowledge and peace. All is created to serve the kingdom, so all is unified.
This is not the same as saying heaven is a place where, when one man is called upon to clap everybody must clap to show unity. It is not a place where everybody shouts, ‘Amen!’ on command. That’s not the point at all. The point is that each member of the kingdom, with his own personal assignment in the kingdom, is working toward the common goals of the kingdom. Like any work that we may see as beautiful, whether in the arts of man or the ways of nature, what attracts us is not that every part is doing exactly the same thing, but that every part is in harmony with every other part. Though the component parts of the orchestra may be sounding very different notes in very different patterns, yet they are clearly fit into the whole of what the orchestra is doing. Though the separate clouds in the sky change and move in unique fashion, yet we see a pattern to the movement.
So it is in the society of the heavenly kingdom. It is not a kingdom of zombified, mindless people responding after the fashion of Pavlov’s dogs. It is a kingdom of purposeful people, each with his task and each pursuing his task. Yet, looking upon the big picture of that kingdom, could we do so, we would see that each man at his task is part of one grand movement.
I recall the dance festival where I first met my wife. Here was a large gymnasium filled pretty much wall-to-wall with lines of couples dancing. As one of those couples, our attention tends to focus solely on our own part in the dance. Being as these were called dances, one is concerned with making certain that his or her own steps are the correct move with the correct timing. If there is any attention given to what is beyond the couple, it is given to that next couple down the line with whom we must interact. Each couple, and each member of a couple, is focused only on that little microcosm of their part in the dance. Each is pursuing his own purpose. Yet, step back. Come up into the stands that surround the dance floor, and one sees a completely different picture of what is going on. Yes, each individual is pursuing his own individual path through the dance, but from this higher perspective, there is such a beautiful harmony and pattern to the entire room! All is in motion, yet all is in harmony. Every path is unique, yet all are woven together. The contributions of each individual dancer may seem small in such a crowd, yet every one becomes an integral part of the picture, a part without which the picture could not be what it is. Beauty has been achieved in the harmony of individual contributions.
In terms of the kingdom of God, there is an even greater reason for this harmony of a unified society. It lies in this matter which Thayer writes of. It is a society “dedicated and intimately united to God.” This is the thing that makes the church of many members function like a body. We are all unique members, each with a unique role to play. But, we are all operating under the command of our Head, Jesus the Christ of God. This is the thing that makes it possible for the Church to transcend the boundaries of denomination. As the members of a single church are part of the united body of that church, so the bodies of each church are designed to be members of the Church at large. Each denomination may pursue a unique path, but insofar as each denomination is a truly Christian denomination, truly pursuing the purpose the Lord has for it, it is a member of that unified whole, a Church representative of the kingdom it proclaims, dedicated to God alone, and intimately united with God in practice. In the end, it is that intimate unity with God that produces the perfect order, the unity and harmony, that characterize the kingdom.
At the stage of Jesus’ ministry we see in this current portion of Scripture, there is a bit of disunity on display which has not yet healed. Jesus instructs His disciples to leave off the Gentiles and the Samaritans for the time being, and focus on the Jews. The evidence of His ministry should suffice to inform us that this was not some prejudicial attitude He had picked up. It is also clear that this was no permanent injunction, but an instruction fit to the time at hand. It was in God’s plan that the Jews should have the offer of God’s salvation first, but it was never His plan that they should have it exclusively.
I bring this up because in considering the relationship of the Samaritans and the Jews, we are given a glimpse of what happens when unity is destroyed. Consider the roots of the Samaritans. Israel had been dragged from her lands by the Assyrians. The Assyrians, as was their habit, moved captives from other lands into the newly conquered regions of Israel. At the same time, there remained some Israelis in the land. Now, Assyria did this as a way of weakening any sort of national bonds amongst its subjected peoples, thereby reducing their interest in cooperating in any sort of resistance.
In the case of those that Assyria settled in Israel, God saw fit to record a very interesting occurrence. It is written that He sent lions amongst them. Why would He do such a thing? They had not invaded His lands by choice. They had been forcibly settled in that place. Their reaction explains His action. Because of this trial, they came to understand that God was here, and they did not know how to honor Him as they ought. So, they sent word to Assyria – we perish for lack of knowledge. So, that king sent back some of the priests of Israel to teach these settlers. Those priests settled in Bethel and from there they taught the foreigners the proper fear of the Lord (2Ki 17:24-28).
Just look at that! God was going out of His way to make certain these people had the opportunity to know Him as their own God! Now, He could have simply wiped them out of the land. He could have prevented them from coming in the first place. Instead, He does what He must to get their attention, and then causes them to be instructed in His ways. What mercy there is in that! Yes, the lions might seem a bit much to us, but if we have come to understand our own stubbornness, we shouldn’t be overly surprised that such stringent measures were required to wake them up. I would suppose that there had been many prior urgings on God’s part, of much lesser danger to them. But, like us, they did not respond until sufficiently threatened.
So, these foreigners were brought into the worship of God by God. Now, move forward some seventy years or so, when exiled Israel returns to her lands. They have come to rebuild the temple of God, and these strangers, who have come to know God and honor Him in their own lives are, of course, anxious to help. They come to the returning people and offer their services, but the proud pure-bloods refuse their offer. Here was an opportunity for beauty. Here was an opportunity for two peoples to come together in their purpose, and achieve the greater purpose of the kingdom, but the flesh got in the way. The returned exiles could not see past the skin of these locals, could not see what God had accomplished in them, so they chased them off as unworthy. Rejection worked its poison upon the locals, and – having been refused their place in the work of rebuilding, they sought to destroy.
The harmony which should have been displayed amongst God’s children was destroyed by their pettiness, and the rebuilding of God’s house was delayed long years by their competition. By the time we come to Jesus sending out the twelve, these events are hundreds of years in the past, and still the discord remains. The Jews will not so much as speak to the Samaritans, and the Samaritans are so wrapped up in the affront that they cannot get past the wall of anger either. Look at the summary that Thayer gives us of their situation. “It came to pass that the Samaritans and Jews entertained inveterate and unappeasable enmity toward each other.”
How did it happen that the people of God should come to such a pass? It was because they had lost intimacy with their head. It was even as Paul would describe the problems of the church later. The hand was convinced that only hands were important. The feet could find no use for noses. The mouth was unconcerned with the ministry of the ears. The focus was off of the kingdom of heaven and onto the petty kingdoms of man, and unity and harmony got lost in the shuffle.
God, forgive us if we have raised up our own rituals, our own denominations, above Your kingdom. I praise You, Holy Father, for the cooperation I do see breaking out between the churches which are Your body. Truly, the kingdom of heaven is breaking through here and now, and I bless Your Name for allowing me to live in such times. Oh, Lord, teach us. Teach us how to function in the harmony of intimate communion. Let us never reject, my God, those others You have sent out in ways different than our own. Let us recognize that those whom You have sent, who labor in Your Name, are to be supported whatever our differences in purpose and style may be. Let Your unity reign visibly in Your Church, my God, that all may see and know that You truly are God.
