New Thoughts (11/27/10-12/3/10)
Well! The simple fact that we have all four Evangelists presenting their perspectives upon this scene should give us some indication of its importance. Granted, the excitement of the day was bound to engrave the events on the mind of every man there. But, this is something more even than the many other occasions they have experienced, the events of greater power and significance than even that miraculous resurrection of Lazarus. This was big! There was no great miracle to stir up the people this day. The people stirred was miracle enough in itself, and spoke more than every miracle that had led to this moment. The King is here!
I have already sought, both in my efforts at blending the four accounts into a single narrative, and in trying to get inside the scene, to explore some of the powerful ways this march must have impressed itself on the crowds that were part of it. However, as I was gathering together my notes this morning, considering those things I would comment upon, something occurred to me that simply had not registered before. As I pointed out elsewhere in my preparations, the fact that they who were with Him out at Bethany were spreading their garments in the road suggests that it was far more than just the twelve who were there. Twelve guys laying their cloaks on the road won’t cover much distance. They’d be exhausted in short order, running their cloaks forward over and over again like some human conveyer belt. No, it seems pretty clear there were far more people involved.
But, notice this: It’s not just a multitude anymore. What do I mean by that? Well, throughout the coverage of the ministry, there have pretty much always been crowds. Almost from the start those crowds were so big that Jesus couldn’t even go into town without pretty much sneaking in. He couldn’t preach in town, because the town wouldn’t be able to handle the crowds that were bound to come. They were unavoidable. They were a standard feature of His landscape, wherever He went. But, they weren’t disciples. They were people come for a healing. They were people come to see the latest celebrity: Religious paparazzi. They might get some excitement in their lives. They might get healed of some disease, or of some demonic influence. But, it seems that by and large, the message wasn’t capturing their attention, only the show.
Here, though, on the verge of completing His mission, things have become much more difficult for those who would hang around with Jesus. We’ve heard some of the things He was teaching as time progressed, and they were hard to take. Even His closest companions were challenged to hang on. But, “where else would we go?” That almost despondent feeling was evidence of the struggle even the twelve were having. Yeah, we don’t much care for the shift in Your teaching, Jesus, but what’s left? If You’re not the real deal, there is no real deal. We might just as well hang it all up right now. Well, if they were having difficulties, what of the rest? I tell you, they were rapidly being weeded out. Those who were along for the ride were not finding that ride so very interesting any more. When Jesus starts speaking of how He’s going to be killed, how He’s knowingly heading towards His own destruction, only the real disciple is going to continue after Him. Even there, it’s only going to be those real disciples that are disciples by His choosing. It’s going to take much more than human devotion to keep on this road now.
This, I think, explains the shift in the crowds. Those who are out there at Bethany are the true believers, the real disciples, wholly committed to what Jesus has presented to them. The makeup of that crowd coming out from Jerusalem might be more questionable, but those who are following Him are followers indeed. Am I reading too much into the wording here? It’s possible, certainly. But, I note that Matthew and Mark both specify two groups: those following after and those going before. Luke, if I read him aright, is focused almost exclusively on that former group, those out on the Mount with Jesus. John, by contrast, seems to be more concerned with those coming out from Jerusalem, perhaps because he was still working through the confusion he felt for the fickleness of that crowd. How could it be that one day they were praising the King, and but a few days later were calling for His death? It just didn’t make sense to a disciple.
The sum of what I am looking to express here is that, so far as that crowd on the hill is concerned, the wind of hard doctrine and Truth had already blown away the chaff. These were the disciples, not just a multitude of the curious. There is something that the word we have translated as ‘followed after’ admits of. It is, after all, the same term that is used to speak of the followers of Jesus. It is a word that has application to disciples, those who have so committed themselves to their teacher as to willingly ‘conform wholly’ to the teacher’s example, even unto death. They have found something in this Teacher that is so compelling that however hard an example He sets, they will do their utmost to follow that example faithfully.
This is who is with Him out on the hill. In our own day and age, how many are there who could say that they are with Him with that degree of devotion? Can I? I’m not sure I care to answer that just now. I’d love to say I am, but really, I don’t know that I could say that with the conviction I ought. I will, I suspect, consider that more fully in a short while, but there are other points – points of perhaps less significance – that I should like to get out of the way before I go deep.
It is from this selection of passages that we take the word Hosanna which, if one attempts to search things out by Concordance, one will not find used anywhere else in Scripture. This rather bothered me, given how prevalent the term is in our worship. Then, of course, there’s the meaning of it, which comes roughly as “Lord, save!” To my ears, this sounds like the cry of a desperate man, not the joyful shout of triumph. Yet, how is it that we use it in worship? It’s in the songs of rejoicing, the joyful praises, not in any sort of retrospective material, or songs of repentance. What gives?
Well, as to the problem with the Concordance, it’s actually pretty simple. The word we have in these passages is a transliteration from the natural language of those who are shouting, which is Aramaic. But, it is a transliteration of a two word phrase, which is indeed found elsewhere. At least one such instance is found in Psalms 118:25, which I must note is a psalm of thanksgiving, both opening and closing with the command to give thanks to God for He is good and His lovingkindness everlasting (Ps 118:1). And there, having been admonished to rejoice in the day, knowing He has made it, immediately follows this interjection: “O Lord, save, we pray Thee! Lord, we beg Thee, do send prosperity!” (Ps 118:24-25).
And what should we find following on the heels of that? “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; We have blessed you from the house of the Lord” (Ps 118:26). Why, it’s the very passage that we have people shouting out! This also gives us, perhaps, a better means of understanding how they have arrived at “Hosanna in the highest!” Honestly, how does one make sense of that? “Lord, save us in the highest”? What does that even mean? But, lay it alongside this Psalm: From the house of the Lord. Where, then, is the house of the Lord? Yes, there is the Temple, but there is really no house that the hands of man will build for Him (Isa 66:1). We must look beyond the Temple, above the Cherubim, and recall that the throne of God, in His home, is in heaven itself.
Thus, we have the highest as a description applied to God Himself, of whom it is often written, “God Most High”, or “Most High God”. He is above all things, the Highest, the Supreme Authority, Sovereign in His rule over all Creation. In similar fashion, when we see that term applied as a neuter plural (which is the case in these verses), it speaks of the highest of places, that heaven in which the Most High dwells. Granted, that Psalm I have been considering speaks of God’s representatives blessing His people from the house of the Lord. But, this they can only do (being His representatives) if He Himself blesses from heaven. Thus, it is not so great a leap to go from blessings delivered from the house of the Lord to salvation coming from heaven.
I must confess, though, that something in me almost takes offense at that Psalm. “We beg Thee send prosperity!” Oh! It’s that whole prosperity message! Danger! Danger! I must wonder, though, if that’s really the best translation. Would that I had the scholarship to make such determination, and perhaps in the absence of that scholarship I ought to trust more to the many who have labored on the translations we have. After all, there seems to be a pretty solid consensus that this is the meaning to apply. Yet, there is this other meaning to the word – indeed, Strong’s doesn’t even arrive at thoughts of prosperity at all in defining it. The primary sense of the term, tsalach [OT:6743]: is given as to rush, which would seem to connect for more effectively with the sense of saving us. Save us and quickly!
That said, the term is given (according to my tools) in the Hiphil sense, which is consistently provided as meaning to make prosperous. Let me, though, draw from the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. “The root means to accomplish satisfactorily what is intended.” Then, there is this thought which must surely be borne in mind: “Real prosperity results from the work of God in the life of one who seeks God with all his heart” Indeed. If I can have prosperity that accords with such a definition as that, O Lord! Send it!
Returning, though, to this hosanna business, there are a couple of explanatory notes in the NET that help to provide a bit of insight into the use of this phrase here. First, there is the factor that Psalm 118 had taken on a particular significance to the people of Israel. It was used as looking for the deliverance of the nation promised as part of the end times, the last day. This, the note points out, is why the Pharisees had such an alarmed reaction to the shouting. They knew what the people were thinking, what they were proclaiming. And, they feared where it would lead.
It is also noted that the phrase itself had become almost liturgical in use, taking on a sense akin to, “Hail to the king”. This, too, speaks to the Messianic hope that people were investing in Jesus, which is, of course, as He intended it should be. But, consider that meaning, and we might swiftly arise at the British variant of that cry, “God save the queen”, or, as it would have been in earlier times, “God save the King!”
Now, maybe the whole thing starts to make some sense, and it is a sense that the Weymouth translation brings forward. It’s not “save us”, it’s “save Him!” Let me take the cries from Matthew 21:9, as that translation provides them. “God save the Son of David! Blessings on Him who comes in the Lord's name! God in the highest Heavens save Him!” This is of a piece with the sense of Psalm 118 as well. “Prosper His ways.” Let our Great and Glorious Champion come to victory this day, and defend Him always against His every enemy! Is all of this to be found wrapped neatly in that little word, “Hosanna!” It would seem that it should be. Having sifted through all of this, perhaps I can sing it the next time it is sung with more than just the happy excitement of the song, but with the excitement of understanding that I cry out to my Warrior King, and for His victory. When I add to that the knowledge that His victory is already achieved, what greater cause for joy could I have this side of my own homecoming?
Lord, knowing that battle awaits me today, let me also remain vitally and vibrantly mindful that You are in that battle with me, with my beloved, and You have already brought the victory. Indeed, You do ever come swiftly to save us, even before we have thought to ask, You are there, Your lovingkindness eternally set upon us. Yet, Lord, You know even better than I the trials that lay ahead. They have come so often, Jesus. So often. It seems they never change, never improve, and it becomes harder each time to cling to hope, even knowing with certainty that hope founded in You never disappoints. So, Lord, why are we disappointed? How can this be? Why is it that my beloved lies agonized by her own body? Why is it that she is left to suffer fear and trepidation at the most basic functions of daily living? How could I hope to celebrate, today, when You have called me to mourn with those who mourn? Shall I dance, then? I think not. Shall I shout in victory when all about me is defeat? It’s crazy, but yes, I just might. It would surely be cause for confusion in those enemy ranks, would it not? Lord, as You will. You know my heart, You know my tears, even if they remain locked within. I am not hidden from You. Come swiftly, then, my Savior! Lord save, and soon! This is my hosanna cry this morning. May it become the cry of victory seen, victory in the now, and that right quickly! Amen and amen.
[11/29/10] Before moving on, I must recognize that, while I may not have received the answer I would have so much preferred, yet I know my prayers were heard and that my God responded out of heaven. While the physical struggles were much the same yesterday, there was a new peace upon us as we battled. I don’t recall seeing Jan so calm in the midst before, nor myself so calm in the place of nursemaid. For once, it seems we were both able to keep our eyes upon our Lord and King, trusting Him for the outcome, praising Him for the progress, and abiding His timing with as much patience as we can.
For this, my Lord, You assuredly have my thanks. I continue to lay this daughter of Yours before You, and I continue to beg that You would have such mercy upon her as would leave her hale and whole. I have noted before, but it bears the repeating: You have seen how she takes opportunity to glorify You in so simple a blessing as a coat. I can but imagine what she would do with the gift of a body restored to proper function after so many years! Is there room in Your purpose for this? Please, Lord, if there is, let it be Your gift to her, and that right swiftly! But, in the meantime, thank You for all You are working both in her and in me. And, thank You as well, that You have never let go of us, nor shall You ever let go of our daughter. You are faithful, my God, this my eyes have seen and my heart has known. That truly is enough, but it does not keep me from asking for more. Yet, as ever, Your will and not my own.
OK, Now, I shall start to probe a bit, as Scripture is given its proper application to expose our failings to the light that healing may begin in earnest. At the end of the section of John’s Gospel that I have under the scope, there is this comment attributed to the Pharisees. It is a truly sad comment in a number of ways. “All we have done is to no avail. Look! The whole world is gone after Him.” Of first note is the air of defeat that is expressed in that thought. We’ve been trying so hard. We’ve done everything we know to preserve the true faith, but look! It’s no use. Mixed in with that, and indeed lying at its base, is an even sadder reality: The Pharisees, though I am not convinced they completely recognized it, are all about themselves. Though they talk a good religious game, it stopped being about piety a long time ago. Now it’s all about me. Look at me. See how marvelously I express the very best of what the ancient faith is all about. Consider and repent, all you inferior folk. To borrow from an old Steve Taylor bit, “You wanna be humble, you look at me! I took a long time learning how to be humble, and I’ve got it!”
This is the very same spirit that plagued the Pharisees. Now, relax while the Surgeon works. This is the very same spirit that continues to plague us today. I have to confess to this in myself. There are too many times when I am so certain that I’ve got it right and everybody around me has it wrong. Well, guess what? That might even be true, but it really doesn’t matter that much. It’s the attitude that belies the “I’ve got it.” I ain’t got it. Whatever my head may know, my soul has clearly not yet put it into practice. I may have achieved knowledge, but I’ve got some work to do in the realm of wisdom, which is far more critical.
In this period of transition, moving from a Charismatic to a conservative Evangelical congregation, I must needs keep my spirit-eyes open for just such behaviors. Admittedly, this change comes by and large at my prompting (as opposed to my wife’s). I say that not as one who has preempted the Lord and just decided to do as he pleases, but within the decision process of the married. I say this as pointing out that this new situation is a much more comfortable fit for me than for her. Yet, she acclimatizes well, which is yet another great cause for thankfulness to my Lord and Savior, as He thus confirms to me that I have not followed my nose, but His heart.
Yet, there is this: If I allow this to become some sort of, “I won”, attitude, then in that moment I have ceased to follow His heart and returned to my nose. If I allow this to be a hard, knee-jerk rejection of anything with the slightest hint of the Charismatic to it, I have in that moment begun to play the Pharisee. And, truth be told, when I see her continuing to chase after some of these Charismatic para-ministries, there does rise up in me something of that pathetic whine. “After all I’ve tried, it’s to no avail. Look! She’s still chasing after that stuff.” Oy! I may even be right about some of these. I know that some of them just make my flesh crawl to hear them, not in a scary movie sort of way, but in a that’s just so off point, so determined to focus in the wrong direction way. My concern is that some of these fall into that category of men Paul warned Timothy about, “who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down by their sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2Ti 3:6-7).
How many of these folks are preying on the women in this way? I dare say a goodly portion do just that. They doubtless know that this is the lion’s share of their audience: not only women home alone, but women who are particularly hurting and therefore particularly vulnerable to the message they choose to deliver. The desperate are ever in danger of seeking rescue in a false hope, and many there are, I would suspect, who wind up absolutely crushed when that hope is found to ring hollow. Empty talk. Silly words. Fables fit only for old women. Yet, in a moment of deep need, they can entrap and mislead, bringing only sorrow. They are the very essence of temptation to sin, promising good but delivering only evil.
All this being as may be, I am not permitted by the God of Truth Whom I seek to serve to simply issue a blanket statement against every such para-ministry without given them due consideration. If, indeed, there be one such ministry which is teaching a true Gospel, and if, indeed, they have somehow stumbled upon a tenet of true faith that has been lost to the Church for a long season, how foolish of me to reject it out of hand. I will say that the burden of proof, in my mind, is much greater when somebody seeks to proclaim a new thing as true to this ancient faith. But, I would not wish to be like the Pharisees we see here, and reject the proof that makes the case beyond all doubt.
Let me bring it forward in time, just a bit, and consider that whole Liberal movement that has so plagued the Church in recent decades. If you begin your approach to religion with a concrete opposition to anything that smacks of the miraculous, of course you’re not going to find any miracles, are you? If your immediate response to any passage – however undeniable – which would seem to indicate a miraculous occurrence must be written off as either an accretion to the original text which must be scraped away to get at the truth, or an allegory, or some other sort of fabulous, poetic presentation, then you will never find anything to prove that miracles happen. If you insist on refusing to see God in the equation, how can it surprise that you never find Him there?
So, at present, while I consider this one particular ministry that Jan has invested so much hope in, I must needs guard myself against my natural, fleshly response, and seek to ascertain the spiritual response, seek to assess the message from God’s perspective and not my own. It is a difficult task, but I know my God will honor my intentions, and I know I have the prayers of certain of my brothers joined to my own as I proceed. I can only pray additionally that I will have the strength to accept and express my findings, whatever they may be, when the time comes.
[11/30/10] Another day, another challenge. Whatever one might think of the earnestness of those coming out from Jerusalem, there is this to be said for them: They saw their Messiah coming and they were excited. And, let’s be honest here. These are the ones who weren’t even all that sure. They saw the rumored Messiah, the alleged Messiah coming toward Jerusalem and they weren’t about to take a chance on being left out. They ran to meet Him, to see Him, to be part of His entry into the Capitol. Sure, a few days later, and most of them would have decided He wasn’t it after all, and would turn against Him. But, stay in this moment with me for now.
Let’s consider, as well, those disciples who were with Him out on the Mount. These were not necessarily ones who had been with Him from the start, but they had likely been with Him through the most difficult stretch, through those lessons of His that had begun weeding out the uncommitted in the crowds. They were not likely to turn with the city folk, when things got hard. They might run. They might hide away in sorrow that things had not turned out as they had hoped for so long. But, they were not, I think, out there shouting for His crucifixion. For one thing, He had pretty well laid out what was going to happen. He knew. I can imagine a great deal of confusion on their part as they realized this. He knew, yet He came. What does it all mean?
But, for now, there is this excitement. There is the thrill of accompanying the King as He enters His city. Let me insert a bit of an aside here. As I was reading through the material for Sunday’s class last night, I read over the account of Solomon’s ascent to the throne. What do you know? David had Solomon taken off some distance from the city, and set upon David’s donkey, then to be marched in procession to the city, trumpets blaring and the people shouting to proclaim the arrival of a new king. Sound familiar? There may not be trumpets on this occasion, but the message of what is happening must be clear to anybody with a sense of their history. And Israel has had no true king for such a very long time, as long, perhaps, as they have had no real prophet. Behold, He comes!
So, I get this sense of excitement. You can feel what’s in the air that day. But, it needs to be brought forward. We live in a time when it seems that surely His return must be soon. Of course, this has been the sense of His people throughout the centuries, each generation looking at its own day and supposing it could hardly get worse than this. How dark can darkness grow? And yet, each succeeding generation has found itself continuing. But, we know with certainty that we are closer to His return now than ever before. Let me ask, then. Does that excite you? Does it thrill you to suppose that He might really be coming back tomorrow, or even today? If a brother were to quote the “Even so, come Lord Jesus” (Rev 22:20), you would doubtless give it your amen. But, from the heart? Or are we too attached to this present life to truly relish the thought of departing?
This is not just a question for you. It’s a question for me. And, honestly, it’s not just a question with regards to the final curtain. It’s an every day question. Every day we are given to experience the imminence of His Eminence. Every day, God is right here with me, and am I excited at prospect, or am I busy trying to hide my many imperfections? OK, let’s be real. It’s not even so much that I seek to hide my imperfections. It’s really much more the case that I rather like my imperfections and seek to keep them. Yes. Sad isn’t it? But, it’s true. The flesh remains weak but in control to large degree. And in the flesh, Jeff really does want his imperfections more than God’s perfections. How can that be? What manner of Pharisee am I?
Listen! I ought to thrill at the thought that my King is coming. Presidents I could by and large care less about. They may have fame, but their presence in my corner of the world presents more bane than boon. Traffic is snarled and life disrupted to accommodate this terribly important personage, and what does it do for me? I could shake his hand? Wow. And what will that profit me? Oh, yes. Nothing. But, the King! The King comes and you want to talk about disrupting your day! It is the end of days! Or, it is the beginning of eternity. It’s a question of perspective and that perspective is a question of preparation. Am I ready? No!
Am I excited? Do I even remember how to be excited? I don’t know. You can blame it on New England conditioning, or on any number of other factors, but I am not one who tends toward expressing excitement all that much. But, I’m less concerned with the expression than with the experiencing of excitement. Can I feel it? Jeff, your King is coming! He’s there over the next rise, and approaching fast, and lo! His retinue is such assures you that He comes in peace! Tell us, how are you feeling right now?
Can I just tell you something? Even as I was writing that last paragraph, I could feel a little thrill of excitement rising up my spine, and I don’t think it’s just the coffee.
So, thank You, Lord! I’ve really been a tad concerned by that question, because I sometimes feel like I don’t have a sense of excitement at the prospect of Your return. But, that reminder, that very real excitement, which may not penetrate to my face, but is definitely there in my inmost being! Yes, I needed that reassurance, and You are most kind to allow me to have it.
No, I am in no wise ready to run out in greeting to my King. I am in too many ways very much unfit to be in His presence. And, were it not for that one key factor, I should feel nothing but trepidation at the thought that He might be on final approach right now. But, there is that absolutely essential part of the picture: the donkey, the mark of a conqueror come in peace. He comes in peace, and this is enough to turn my fearful concern into joyful celebration. You see, for all my failings, my King yet loves me. Indeed, He has already said that He is not satisfied to have me as a citizen. No, but He insists I must be family. It may make me uncomfortable to think in terms of being a bride, even to my God – it’s just not a natural role for a man to consider himself in. But, let me accept even the image of the adopted brother. This is maybe a bit easier to deal with, and it’s already more than enough, isn’t it?
Listen! There is every reason for excitement in that simple thought. I look to God in heaven, the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth, Ruler over all creation, and do you know? We are family! He’s my Father, that one! Jesus, my Savior – He Who paid out His own life’s blood as ransom for my waywardness: He’s my Brother! My Bro. You know, I’m not generally given to cavalier attitudes towards my Lord and King, and as I give thought to Him on His throne, I think such attitudes would be utterly inappropriate. But, we are family, He and I. There are times away from the throne room, times around the table for dinner, times in the den, if you will. OK, I don’t know that God has a den, but I would were I in His place. The point is there are times when – even though He is ever and always King – we are just family. There are times when all the necessary trappings of royalty can be set aside for a few moments of simple, loving enjoyment one for another.
With all due respect, as great as is my concern to uphold His Holiness, I must be mindful that I not neglect His familial love and fellowship. I had commented last Sunday on the Jewish understanding that when God chooses to bless us in our simple material understanding of things, it would border on the criminal to reject what He has blessed us with. Yes, it would be equally criminal to cling to such things when He has chosen a different course for our days, but if He chooses to enrich, who are we to refuse Him?
I want to bring that same thought to bear on what I have been contemplating here. If God has called me His child, brother to my Jesus, who am I to refuse the joyful intimacy of such familial fellowship? Who am I to insist on courtly protocols when He has invited me to join Him in the den?
Your King is coming! Yes, that’s more than sufficient cause for excitement to mount. But, then there’s this: Daddy’s coming! I’ve been out here on my own, as it were, flailing about and making rather a mess of things, but Daddy’s coming! It’s going to be OK. He’ll know what to do, how to fix it. Excitement? Oh, yes. Relief? Absolutely! Joy? How could I not be joyful at the thought of such a reunion? No, have no fear, Jeff. Your flesh may be rather poor at showing it, but your heart knows. Your heart thrills at the thought. Sometimes, you really ought to listen more closely to that organ.
I think what I have been experiencing here this morning is a reflection of something I had written elsewhere in preparations for this study. Terrible form, I suppose, to quote oneself, but it’s nothing I haven’t done before. “Yet, there is something in us (because God has thus designed us) that cannot help but respond to His presence.” I have written on previous occasions of that almost electrical sensation that comes when God is not only prompting one to act, but being downright insistent on the matter. It’s the same thing, applied to a different end. There is that within us, and ‘that’ we must understand to be the Holy Spirit – God Himself, which cannot help but respond to Him. How could God fail to respond to God, after all?
Listen, this Triune God we serve: Why do you suppose He is of Triune nature? He has enjoyed an eternal fellowship such as we late enterers are only beginning to understand. Throughout the ages and since before time began, He has had Himself for company, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There is a reason why He speaks to Himself as ‘We’. We get a sense of that fellowship in the depth of anguish that Jesus experienced for those brief moments when Father turned away from Him as He took the weight of humanity’s sin upon Himself. Measured against the span of eternity, those moments were nothing, and yet, for One Who has known that fellowship through all the span of eternity, those few moments loomed larger than all that came before or after. It was unbearable for God to be thus parted from Himself. No, that will make no sense to our human experience, yet it is the reality of the situation.
So, now, we are blessed to be His in a time when the Holy Spirit, God Himself, has been sent forth into the world, into our world (how He can stand it, I don’t know), into our very being (and again: how He can stand it, I don’t know). He is with us, within us, abiding in us, wherever we are and whatever we’re doing. That is assuredly cause to pause and think about the things we drag Him through. But, set that aside for just a moment and stay on this thought. He Who is in us: it is He Who cannot help but respond to the presence of Himself. When the person of the Son is nigh, the person of the Spirit cannot but rejoice and seek to draw nearer still. When the awesome presence of the person of the Father is on the move in our vicinity, the person of the Spirit cannot help but stand to attention and give forth a mighty roar of victory!
And how unbelievably blessed are we to not only serve as vessels for this cheering, rejoicing person of the Holy Spirit, but to be so infected by His own great joy that we are joyful in ourselves! How blessed are we that God has sovereignly determined that we shall know Him well enough to become willing and even conscientious abettors of His purpose! That is truly something to savor. Daddy loves us enough that as much as we have often sought to make ourselves totally repugnant to Him, rejecting all that He stands for and actively seeking to act in ways we know must surely offend Him; even so, His love has remained steadfast. Even so, He has repeatedly – REPEATEDLY! – picked us up from the midst of our mess, cleaned us off and set us back on the right course. Even so, He has not only lovingly corrected us in our errors, He has allowed us an active and conscious part in His plans. We may not be privy to His counsels, but we are blessed beyond all reasonable expectation to be allowed our part in the working out of those counsels.
God blesses by interfering, as Zhodiates comments in defining what it is to be blessed. God blesses by interfering, by not leaving us to our own devices. This is something we must understand when it comes to the question of our own salvation. Had God not interfered, there would be not the least possibility that we would willingly choose to love Him. Those who insist that man must give God permission to save them, or must by their own power appropriate what God has accomplished fail to recognize the depth of their own corruption. One who cannot even see the good or imagine the good can hardly be expected to choose the good of his own accord. How will you choose that of which you have no knowledge? If you don’t even know there is an option B, you will choose option A every time because it’s the only option you know about. Until God interferes, that’s where we’re stuck. We’ll choose the evil every time because it’s the only thing we know.
Sure, we may have heard the Gospel preached, but it didn’t penetrate. The earplugs were still firmly in place, and the blinders well fastened to our eyes. No information could get in for all the noise and effort. What little we heard seemed to us to be just so much stuff and nonsense, having no bearing on reality and therefore little more than an amusing anachronism that our elders perhaps still found value in, but really, it’s nothing more than traditional stories. No reality. No power. Until God interferes, that’s where our thinking is stuck.
I praise God that He brought me to Himself in such a fashion that I could not fail to recognize this as true. Me choosing Him? Hardly! Wasn’t interested in the least, and saw around me no particular reason to pursue anything like religion. It would have interfered too heavily with my preferred lifestyle. God, on the other hand, had other ideas about me. He interfered. He so moved upon me that I was agreeing to be part of things I had no interest in being part of. Why had I agreed to go on that first men’s retreat? I didn’t know these guys from Adam. I was a relative newlywed. I had better things to do than hang out in the woods with thirty or forty men with whom I had little to nothing in common. Nope. No interest at all. And yet, the yes was out of my mouth before I’d had opportunity to even think about it.
Then, of course, there was that business in the Chinese restaurant just before we got there. How do I, engineer that I am, explain to anybody why I would respond to some voice I was hearing in my head? How do I even explain that to myself? What possible reason did I have to even give thought to that strange thought? Sure, Jeff. Some disembodied voice in your head speaks to you in terms of some approach to belief akin to a geometric proof problem, and you found it reasonable to say, “Sure. I’ll give it a go”? Look. I can’t explain it. I have to agree. There was nothing in me that had any possible reason to think that proposition anything more than maybe a flashback episode of some sort. My mindset was far more able to accept thoughts of hallucination than thoughts of holy intervention. But, my mindset, quite frankly didn’t matter at the time. God was interfering. And, because God was interfering, I am a far different, and infinitely better man than I would have been else.
I admit this is somewhat of an interjection into the study at hand, but there are other materials I am perusing, if not totally by a choice founded on desire. And there, as is so often the case in materials from the more ‘spirit-led’ corners of the faith, the emphasis is on “You’ve got to.” Oh, no. It’s not works. You know, most of the folks over there are escapees from the Roman Catholic church, at least in their own minds, so they are quick to assure you that they’re not speaking of any sort of works righteousness. No, no. Nothing of the sort. But, it’s all on you. You’ve got to do. You’ve got to take. God can’t move without you! What sort of God do they have, there, that He’s subject to me? I’ll tell you what sort of god they have. It’s the god of ego, the god of self. You can dress it up in as much finery as you care to, but in the end, if I have the final say, I am god, and God is not, which really should be so plain an argument as to reveal as errant nonsense this idea that so many believers are spouting. And, yes, they are believers, even believers in the One True God, although they would seem to misunderstand some very basic principles.
But, my God is in control. He reigns supreme over all Creation and every created being; every angel, every devil, every man and woman, every animal and bug. He it is Who sets the stars in their courses, and keeps them there. He it is Who determines the life cycle of the star, even as He has determined the life cycle of man. He it is Who determines the outcomes of every election, Who has appointed such rulers as we have (woe unto us in this present time, and may we swiftly repent that He might send better!) and He has determined the very moment at which they shall be shorn of authority. God interferes. His will is done, willingly or not, it matters not at all. His will is done, and we, if we have a choice in the matter, can choose to work with Him or leave Him to work in spite of us. It won’t change much of anything on the cosmic scale, whichever way we might choose, but the Lord God Almighty is so kind as to so will and work upon us that we are able to choose what is best for our own outcome, and come along side Him in His purpose. What a marvelously wonderful God we serve! And what a joyful service it is, though oft times difficult in the extreme. God interfered, and here we are, in His presence, lifting holy hands to Him. How can this be? These hands holy? But, Lord! I know where they’ve been. Yes, son, but I AM knows where they’ll wind up. He sees the end from the beginning, and He has seen to the end. This is all your confidence, that He has seen it because He has done it, and it is finished!
This same matter of God interfering is at play with the crowds shown in the passage at hand. They rush out from Jerusalem, and for what reason? Well, a crowd of such size, we can be pretty certain, had more than one motivation. Some, we are told, came because they had heard about this Man and what He had done with Lazarus. Curiosity seekers or hungry for the real God, who can say? Probably a bit of both. Likewise, those simply in town for the Passover. You know, they were probably here last year, too, and the year before, and on both those occasions, there’d been quite a stir about this Jesus fellow. What was the news? Was He still around? Yes? And due back in the city any time now? Well! What with all that is said of Him, all that has been seen of His doings, surely it’s clear. Surely, it’s the One we’ve been waiting for, and if He’s shy to make His claim, let us help Him along!
Others, no doubt, just wanted to be seen with the ‘in’ crowd. This was all the latest rage, this Jesus business, and they wouldn’t want folks to think their faith ran cold, or something. Yes, there were myriad motives in what led the crowds to grab those palm branches and cover the road with their cloaks as they celebrated the arrival of their true King. And yet, there was only one motivation, and that motivation, regardless of the thoughts running through the heads of those who ran, was that God was interfering. He had something He wanted done here and now. His layout of all history required it, and He would see to it that what He required was done.
So, they went out. Whether they were fully aware of the significance of their actions, they went out. Oh, I suspect they pulled off those palm branches with a clear sense of proclaiming a King. But, what set them in motion, if not God? What prompted those first disciples to act, out on the hillside? John makes clear that they didn’t really get the significance. They were moved. Something irresistible rose up within them, and like the rocks of which Jesus spoke at the Pharisees’ rebuke, they could not possibly not have acted as they did. Nothing in earth nor in the heavens could have stopped it. No power of this age could have caused things to unfold any differently. God was in control. He always has been, and He always will be.
And now, I am brought back round to the marvelous good news of this scene. He comes to announce peace! “For this I was sent.” “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose” (Lk 4:43). “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth” (Jn 18:37). The message of the kingdom is the message of the kingdom’s King. And the King comes riding on a donkey, proclaiming peaceful intent to the conquered kingdoms of the earth. Oh, but only for a season; only for those who believe and lay hold of the great gift of God’s atoning redemption. Yes, I know. Smacks of free will, doesn’t it? But, those who lay hold are those whose hands He Himself has placed upon the gift, closed their fingers around it, and seen the light of joy dawning on their features before sending them forth again.
He comes to announce peace with the kingdom of heaven, but the sad, heart breaking reality is that having come to His own, those who were His own did not receive Him (Jn 1:11). Oh! But, what joy for those who did receive Him! To them He gave the right of not only citizenship, but membership in the very family, the very household of God! He called them His own children, though not born of blood, nor – let us be exceedingly and abundantly clear – by the will of any flesh, not by any power of man. They are called His own children, adopted as His own children, made His own children by the power of God and nothing else (Jn 1:12-13).
Yet, as Minister Patton recalled to our minds last night, there remains the return, and when He returns, it shall not be astride a donkey, but mounted upon a white steed, upon a weapon for war. He shall reign in all the earth, whether those upon the earth would have it so or not. He is the Conquering King. He is so now, and He shall come to reclaim all His rightful realm. The usurper will not sit on a stolen throne forever, no! Indeed, he holds sway over many of the petty tyrants that plague the world in our own day, from the dictatorial rulers over impoverished banana republics to the movers and shakers in the remnants of democracy, right on down through the ranks of every bureaucracy, where perceived power seems to lead to inevitable abuse. But his hold is not so tight has he would have us think. The dictators are not as certain in their realms as they would like to think. He Who numbers the hairs upon our heads also numbers their days in the halls of power. He numbers the days of their invisible overlord, and those days are dwindling fast.
Oh, yes! It seems the darkness thickens. I doubt not, though, that believers in every age have seen it thus. Surely, no previous time was so wicked as our own! And yet, yes, I suppose they were. But, let us even accept that our perceptions are accurate. Well, beloved! The darkness is always thickest before the dawn! Has it not always been said that this is the case? And what a glorious dawn awaits! What a glorious dawn must surely be drawing nigh in this gathering gloom! Behold, Church! Your King is coming, and He is no longer seated on a donkey. He comes to finish the business. The long years of your struggle are concluded, for He shall reign over all the earth.
He comes on a warrior’s steed, but His love for His own is no less. Indeed, if I recall aright, one could almost count that His third entry into the world, for He comes prior to call His children home to prepare for that final battle. Yes, when He comes upon that steed, we shall, I think, no longer be awaiting His return with great patience, but we shall instead be riding at His side, at His back, with great rejoicing, for the long, desperate struggle is come to an end, and the victory we have always known is no longer a matter of already but not yet, it is now a matter of settled and established forevermore.
[12/2/10] The direction my thoughts turn towards now really has no immediate connection to the verses under study at present. But, as there are themes and parallels from here that touch on other matters of faith which I have need to give attention to, it behooves me to look upon what has been set before my eyes and grapple somewhat with the implications. To that end, one verse that comes up in the parallels to those of this study is John 5:43. Therein is a somewhat famous statement from Jesus as He considers those who reject the message of His ministry. “I have come in My Father’s name and you don’t receive Me. If another comes with no authority but his own, him you will receive.”
I am admittedly put off a bit by the many authors who are forever disparaging the state of the American Church, although I must recognize that I have done a fair amount of that sort of thing myself. Is there room for some honest criticism when it comes to the state of faith in this country. Oh, absolutely! Indeed, this verse puts me in mind of the situation in many corners of the American Church. That Church is by no means so monolithic as to suppose that any criticism leveled could apply to more than the corners. Honestly, I suspect the great central core of that Church is just fine. It’s just that the nonsense in the corners is noisier and gets more attention.
That said, there are those parts where the attention is so much upon the new thing, the latest ‘move of God’, that really, if somebody came with nothing but the pure message of Christ, they’d get no reception whatsoever. They’d be perceived as a threat to the attendance numbers, damaging to the bottom line. But, that’s only half of the issue there. Look at the latter half of that message from John’s Gospel. “If another comes with no authority but his own, him you will receive.” Well, sure! He’s saying what we want to hear. He’s plowing past the hard stuff and promising all the bennies. What’s not to like? Authority? Well, he tossed out some verses, and he repeated them a lot to make sure we remembered them. Isn’t that pretty authoritative? Bah! You folks who get so worked up about context and original intent of the text. You’re just quenching the Spirit. You’re trying to keep God in your own little box, but He’s not having it.
That’s really pretty standard fair when it comes to the defenses set out by those who choose this path. Doctrine bad. Theology evil. It’s all about feeling, all pure relationship with no restraint. Based upon what? By whose authority? Where is the foundation for this, other than that it sure is fun. Do you know, I find nowhere at all in Scripture that God promises us that time spent in pursuit of His ways is going to be fun. I don’t even find a promise that it will be exciting. Indeed, what I see more often is that it’s going to be very difficult. It’s a narrow way, and very few find it. It’s a path that leads through the very midst of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and quite a few folks see the signs for that attraction up ahead and decide to hop off the ride before they get there. It is a path of which our tour guide says, “You will have many trials.”
You see, we’re not left here to play in an amusement park. We are positioned here to stand as soldiers of the Most High God. We are set in place, arrayed with purposeful intent, just as the legions of Rome were sent into battle. And, yes, I have been reading Ephesians 6 as well, of late. The point, though, is that a soldier, while he may have some room for personal initiative in the battle, has very little of it. The soldier does not decide where he shall put himself in the ranks, when he shall go to the front and when he shall pull back; not in the sort of battle that is taken as the model in Scripture. No way! The Commander is stationed above the battle scene, where He can command a view of the whole battle. The soldier out there on the front line is unlikely to see much beyond the combatants immediately around him. Somebody needs the big picture, and that’s not his job. It’s the Commander’s job, and the Commander has His position because He is a proven, capable Warrior. He knows where best to place his men. He knows the specific capabilities of each of his men. He knows, too, when they are becoming tired and need to back off that front line and regroup a bit. It would be one mighty foolish soldier who shut his ears to the trumpet calls relaying that Commander’s orders. It would be one mighty foolish soldier who just decided that he had a better idea and went into a battle by himself, without any support and without any path of retreat.
But, this is what happens in those places that are determined to follow some fine speaker with no authority in his words. They have gone off without the Commander, shut their ears to Him, and chosen to listen to some cowboy who in reality is just making it up as he goes along. Hey! He’s making a living, and it’s not a bad way to do so. Look at it! He just talks a fine game and they pay him for the entertainment. And, sadly, that’s all it turns out to be: entertainment. People have come to a place in which they ought to be finding the Word of Life, and they’re being ripped off – handed a watery, worthless batch of spiritual snake-oil.
“I have come in My Father’s name and you don’t receive Me. If another comes with no authority but his own, him you will receive.” Honestly, if we are not careful and diligent students of the whole counsel of Scripture, such as come with no authority are easily able to get our ears, and having got our ears, to capture our imaginations. But, we are to be a people who have taken their own imaginations captive, and caged them round about with the very Word of God. We are called to be a people serious about our desire to know the God Who Is, and to find the God Who Is to be the God of our desiring.
Understand that this is nothing we are ever going to achieve by our own power. At one and the same time, it is nothing we are ever going to achieve apart from using our own power. It is said too often how little regard God has for the sluggard, the lazy believer who can’t be bothered to put effort into knowing this One he claims to love. How long would your marriage last, were you to put so little effort into knowing your spouse? How long would your friendships last, if you showed so little interest in getting to know your friend? And yet, you suppose you can treat the God of Heaven so lightly and get a pass on it? How dare you!
It is a serious business we are called to when we are called to God’s side. It is a battle, pure and simple. Part of a good warrior’s training is to learn tactics, and not only those tactics he will be called to employ and be part of, but also those tactics known to be deployed by the enemy he must face. Tactics are not matters of simple practice and experience. You don’t go after tactics by taking the field and just seeing what works whilst hoping to survive. You study them. To examine them. You not only memorize the moves, but you learn the reasons for them, that you may know when they apply and when other tactics are better employed.
Isn’t it something that God calls us to love Him with all our heart, all our mind, all our strength and all our soul? The physical efforts of going out in His name aren’t sufficient in themselves. Alone, or with only heart to accompany, they become zeal without knowledge. Yet, mind alone is equally insufficient. Knowing every right move to make is of little use without strength to move. That knowledge needs the motivational powers of the heart to grow into wisdom, and wisdom needs the strength of arms to take action upon what heart and mind advise. And soul! Oh, yes, you gotta have soul!
I think, as I play with this analogy, I would place soul in the position of the radio man, maintaining our communications with the Chief. Yes, in Ephesians, we have that position given in prayer – prayer the means of relaying news to our Commander and of hearing His commands in response. Prayer, I think it could be reasonably put forth, is the realm of the soul. The mind cannot pray of itself. It spouts only its own limited knowledge or, worse yet, vain imaginations. The heart cannot pray of itself. It’s too emotional to consider God’s will. It sees no farther than that there’s a hurt and it insists the hurt must be dealt with. Strength certainly cannot pray. Strength doesn’t even see the need. It’s strong! No. It takes the soul to pray, for the soul is our connection to the heavenly, our mainline back to God. There, He speaks without interference. There, the deep groanings that we may utter even though they defy our own capacity to understand are able to find transmission straight to the throne room of God. Deep calls to deep. Spirit speaks to spirit, and the communication thus established is more intense, more immediate, than heart or mind can accommodate. And thus is the soldier of God equipped to be ever alert, ever vigilant, standing fast in the face of the most horrendous odds, knowing, feeling and receiving in most immediate fashion the play by play directions from Omniscient God.
[12/3/10] So, once more I turn my thoughts to that crowd that began this last journey with Jesus; that ‘whole multitude of disciples’. Considering what we know some, such as Thomas, were feeling about this idea of going to Jerusalem, it should seem a little odd that they are rejoicing now that it’s happening. And yet, there they are, praising God loudly and with great joy. Why? Because of all the miracles they had seen. They had been witness to so much, and this last business with Lazarus just sealed it! There was no room left for doubt now. I dare say that in their minds there was no doubt whatsoever that this King Jesus was come to establish His throne right here, right now, and nothing could possibly stand in His way. The Man commanded life and death! What was some piddling Roman army going to do against that kind of power? Yes, they were rejoicing all right, but the understanding was not yet complete.
At one and the same time, there remains the fact that what they are doing in this act is done not so much in obedience to God as it is done because they are being moved by His hand. It is not as though they had found some mandate for their actions in Scripture. In the excitement of this moment, I’m not sure how clearly anybody’s thoughts were on Scripture anyway. But, God was determined to see His Son glorified, and so He determined that this procession would not only happen, but would happen as it should.
Consider that Jesus had spoken nothing of His particular intentions for this donkey, and again, John specifically points out that they really didn’t grasp the significance of what they were doing until much later. From the human perspective, this was a spontaneous celebration. The words all but burst from their lungs, an unstoppable shout that passed the lips before mind had even formulated thought. God was in control! God is always in control, but for the most part we don’t find it a noticeable thing. We go about our lives, making our decisions and doing our deeds, and may not really give Him all that much thought for much of any given day. But, this does not change Him nor does it have any least impact on His sovereignty. It is as the proverb says: “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Pr 16:9). What a powerful, humbling truth!
These people, then, were under the influence. They were under the influence of a Holy, Sovereign God determined to see His Son glorified properly, recognized properly, proclaimed properly. Not only this, but He wanted to be absolutely clear to His chosen people that the message from heaven was that of peace. The significance of the donkey would not be lost on them as it might be on us. As we look upon this scene in our thoughts there can be little doubt that the greater part of the population then in Jerusalem got the message. They saw the procession, and they knew full well why folks were waving those palm branches. Who would not know and yet call himself a Jew? They would hear the shouting and, once the noise became discernable words, they would recognize the passages and know what was being proclaimed. More than just some upstart claimant to being king was coming. This was the One, the Messiah! Or at least, that’s what those who were shouting held to be the case. And, with all the stories in town about that resurrection – and, hmm… it was right in that town from which this procession started – there would be reason enough to give this king the benefit of the doubt, if not full credence.
Many would already be fully convinced. For three years now, the stories about this Man have been circulating. Even if one is inclined to discount some portion of what has been said as hyperbole, what remains is enough to convince. And now, here in Jerusalem with Passover fast approaching, there is word of this victory over death. Things must be coming to some sort of a head here, and those who have been convinced are ready to rush out at the first signs of that procession. You know, they’ve likely been waiting to see if He’d be coming into the city today, anyway. They may not be looking for the scene before them, but they’re expectantly waiting for Him to make His entrance all the same.
Those others, who have been perhaps a bit curious but a bit skeptical, when they get wind of that processional coming down the mountain, on top of the latest miracle that’s been reported, well, they’re ready to see this Man for themselves, if not to proclaim Him king. And, look! There’s that one everybody’s been talking about, that Lazarus guy who’d been dead how long? Three days, four was it? And there he is, in that crowd following Jesus! And, he, too, is shouting, preparing the way, proclaiming the King! OK, that’s too much. Skepticism has had its day, but this is more than enough proof to set feet in motion.
How blessed are the feet of Him Who brings good news, He Who pronounces peace and salvation, and proclaims that God reigns in Zion (Isa 52:7)! Behold! He comes, and it becomes impossible that the sons of Zion can be silent at His coming. Again, they were moved by the hand of God Himself. It truly was impossible that they might be silent, might hold back, or even ignore the scene. And so, we are told that the city was shaken at His entrance (Mt 21:10). Anybody left who hadn’t noticed what was going on certainly knew about it now! The Son was glorified, and no man, woman or child present in the city that day was allowed to miss it.
This brings us to an understanding of the miraculous events that swirled around Jesus. They were not merely for show. They were not even primarily for the benefit of those to whom the miracle occurred. Healing is wonderful, and I’m frankly all for it. If God is so inclined to move upon my beloved and restore full functionality to her inner organs, I’ll be the first to cheer Him on in doing so. Yet, there is this that curbs my excitements just a bit: God is not purposeless. If the whole point of healing was the healing, then it would be a vain and futile gesture on His part, given that those healed inevitably went the way of all flesh anyway. Lazarus may have escaped the grave, but only for a time. His days upon the earth came to an end in spite of the magnitude of the miracle done in his body.
What I am getting at is that when God chooses to do miracles, it is to further His own agenda, to promote His own purposes and to serve His own goals. Those goals, that agenda, they are on a far grander scale than can be compassed by the earthly life of a man. They are matters eternal. The flesh may pass, but He is concerned that the soul which endures is prepared to endure in blessing and not cursing. Yes, this tends to work itself out to some extent in the course of earthly existence, but not always as we might expect. Again, there is no promise whatsoever to be found in the Scriptures that should lead us to suppose our life here on earth ought to be nothing but happiness and joy, nothing but health, wealth, and party times. If such times come, then God be praised, and by all means, enjoy all His blessing! But, the promise is, ‘you will have trials’. If all you’re experiencing is this shower of easy living, then I have to wonder, did Jesus lie, or are you fooling yourself?
You know as well as I that not every voice that was out there on the street that day shouting Hosannas at Jesus was truly being called into His kingdom. They were moved by the hand of God but that did not necessarily mean that they were His children. God’s hand had moved Balaam against his will. God’s hand had moved Nebuchadnezzar and Sennecherib to serve His purpose, but that didn’t make them His children. But, when God’s hand stirs the scene, the scene changes. When God’s hand is upon the man, the man will do as God desires. He most often will not be doing so with any thought to being thus moved, or of seeking to please his Creator. From his perspective, he is but doing as he pleases, and so it is. But, there is simultaneously the touch of God upon his actions.
Let me get back to that purposefulness of the miracle. Considering that scene where Lazarus was raised back to life, there is this wonderful thing Jesus does. He prays out loud for what He knows is already so certain as to be thought of as accomplished. “I know You always hear Me. I don’t need to shout. I don’t even need to speak, for You know My heart. But, for the sake of these people around Me, I’m going to speak to You out loud, so that they may believe” (Jn 11:42). That right there is the purpose of everything Jesus has done and ever does do: So that they may believe.
Why were people healed? So that they may believe. Why were the masses fed? So that they may believe. Recall that on the occasion of that meal, many followed Him as He returned back toward Capernaum, and what did He have to say to them? “You’re only here hoping for another free meal. You missed the point.” The feeding was not for the sake of food. It was for the sake of eternity. You can eat as well or as poorly as you care to in this life, and it really won’t matter in the least. You will still go to your grave having filled the number of your days, that number which God has determined for you. Why sweat it? Why are you putting so much of your energy into trying to lengthen your days? Seek first the kingdom! He knows what you need and He is your Provider.
Because He had made clear that God was moving when Lazarus arose, because He insisted that those watching get beyond their expectations that maybe Jesus was some sort of exorcist, or magician such as were not so uncommon to the time, they were left no room to mistake the significance of Lazarus arising. Nor did they! They returned, some realizing the point but still determined to oppose Jesus as best they could, others though: What they had seen removed all doubt. This was He Who Is to Come! Gotta tell the neighbors! Gotta tell the strangers! If the Pharisees and the Sadducees don’t want to hear it, then who needs them? They may have fancy words and picturesque practices, but here is the Reality! And so, as John informs us, because of Lazarus many were believing (Jn 12:11). His purpose was fulfilled.
One last thought remains which I would like to explore before stopping, and that concerns the matter of ‘spiritual instinct’. As I have noted already, John makes clear that the disciples didn’t take these actions thinking, “Hey, let’s make this day fulfill a prophecy!” It wouldn’t work, anyway, and they didn’t even realize what they were doing until much later. That’s rather the way it was with them on many occasions. In spite of having the Teacher live and in person not only teaching them but explaining what they didn’t grasp for themselves, still they didn’t get it until later.
At the Last Supper, we’ll see it again. “You don’t understand what I’m doing now, but you will” (Jn 13:7). We don’t always understand what God is doing in a particular situation. Arguably, the occasions when we do understand are pretty rare. But, we can know this: God is doing the doing. And, we can know this: If it is His doing, then it is good. It is to our good, for we are those who are walking in His purpose (Ro 8:28). We can respond to the circumstance as children of God, confident of His hand upon the situation and upon us. We may be given those occasions where the ‘spiritual instinct’ kicks in.
I have written of it several times in recent weeks. Those times when I notice it, it is truly as though some current of electricity were running through me. There is this irresistible prodding to action. There is this thing I must do, or this message that I must tell somebody, or I’ll simply burst! In those moments, when God is determined that I shall play out my role in this part of His purpose, and shall do so knowing that it is He moving my doing, there is simply not the possibility of stopping the action. Shyness may have me saying, “No, Lord, not now,” but it doesn’t matter. Lord God is saying, “Yes, child. Now,” and He is fully willing and able to overcome my resistance, my shyness, my every excuse. He has something He needs done, and He created me to do that thing. He’s not going be stopped by me, certainly! He is the Irresistible. He is Sovereign! His will shall be done. It shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. It shall be done just as it is in heaven – with immediacy and without question. The electricity mounts until I cannot but do as He pleases.
This current ran through the crowds that day, believer and unbeliever alike. It really didn’t matter in that moment. Every tongue would confess! Behold, your King! Blessed is He! Save and protect Him from highest heaven, O God! Thy hand be ever upon the Son of David! And, of course, He did, but never as man expected. No, the King must first see to some other matters before He comes to take up His earthly throne, adding it once for all to His heavenly kingdom. But, the day is coming! It draws nearer, and the time man has to make his peace with that Coming King runs fast away.
If you can pardon a Talking Heads quote in such a context: “Don’t you miss it! Don’t you miss it! Some of you just about missed it.” The King remains thus far upon His donkey, coming in peace. But, the day comes swiftly when He shall ride upon His steed of war, the time for treaties over, and the time for conquest and dominion at hand. And, He shall reign over all the earth, and over all the heavens, for all time! Glory to His name!
