THE JESUS I DIDN’T KNOW: THE KING WHO WOULDN’T BE KING

February 3, 2012 at 8:20 AM (Life of Christ, The Jesus I Didn't Know)
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How well do you know Jesus? We all like to think we know Jesus pretty well. I’ve had close to fifty years of wonderful, sweet communion with Jesus. I’ve devoted over forty years of my life to studying and teaching His Word. I’m talking about going back to the original languages and learning as much as I can about Jewish culture, institutions, and beliefs. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a Know-It-All. And you can ask my kids: I’m not inerrant or infallible. But still, knowing what I know, I’d like to think I know Jesus pretty good. To my pleasant surprise, however, I don’t know Jesus as good as I think I do. To this day, He still shows me more about Himself. Here, let me give you some snippets of the Jesus I never knew.

THE KING WHO WOULDN’T BE KING

Placing myself in James’ sandals, Hello everyone. My name is James and I’m one of Jesus’ twelve apostles. I hate to shove that in your face, but I make no bones about being one of the privileged few to be in Jesus’ inner circle of followers. I’m proud, I speak my mind, and I’m pretty loud about what I want and believe. They don’t call me the Son of Thunder for nothing, you know. I’ve got spiritual ambitions. I’m going straight to the top. One of these days I’ll be sitting on a throne at Jesus’ right side. I even got my ma going to bat for me; she’s gonna ask Jesus to let me and my brother John sit on either side of Him in glory. Yes sirree bub, I’m all about power and glory. And I’m gonna get there one day, just you wait and see.

Anyways, speaking about thrones, I’d like to tell you about a time in Jesus’ life that took me years to understand and accept. I’d been following Jesus from day one and, ever since that first time we met and talked, I just knew that the Guy was our long-prophesied King. Many of you know Him by Messiah, but I prefer to call Him King because that’s what Messiah really is—the King of Israel. A bunch of our prophets from years past prophesied that He’d come one day and reign on David’s throne. He’d rule—not only over Israel, but over all the world. Imagine that! A Jewish King of the whole world! Hey, I’m all for that. I live for that. I breathe for that. Naturally, when Jesus came along, you bet your bloomers I was happier than a hound dog. We Jews have been trampled under foot long enough by these no-good Romans. We’re ready for freedom. We want our independence. With Jesus at the Head of the army, we’re gonna rule the world! Gosh, I get the goose bumps just talking about it!

Well, we were at the outskirts of Bethsaida one day. Gobs and gobs of people were gathered there to hear Jesus preach and watch Him work miracles. We guesstimated about 5,000 men. Factoring in the women and kids, there was at least 10,000 folks there, no joshing. What a sight that was! It’s soooo cool being popular!

Anyways, Jesus came to us and asked us where we could get enough food to feed this humongous crowd. You’ve got to be kidding!, we all said in sheer disbelief. There was no way we had this kind of dough to buy the food. Besides that, there aren’t any restaurants or super Walmarts in Bethsaida that would have enough food to feed this starving mass. No way, Jesus!, we all chimed in.

Well, it just so happened that Andrew, a good buddy of mine, spotted a kid with 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fishes. He told Jesus about it and, to make a long story short, Jesus had us set all the people down. The kid gave his food to the Lord. Jesus prayed over it. Then He started passing out chunks of bread and fish for us to put in baskets, like offering plates, and pass around to all the people. We were dumbfounded! I mean to tell you, I kid you not, I saw it with my own two eyes, the Guy kept tearing off chunks of bread and fish without ever running out of the stuff! It was unreal! We couldn’t believe it. We’d never seen anything like it. We kept passing out baskets of food. And as soon as we’d empty a basket, Jesus had another basket ready and full. When it was all said and done, those 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fishes fed everyone to the gill! In fact, there was a bunch left over and Jesus had us collect them so that we could send food home with the people.

Well, everybody knew what Jesus had done. He’d miraculously multiplied the bread and fishes just so that He could feed them. He really cared about them. He didn’t want to see them go home starved. So He fed them, even if it took a miracle to do it. The people were so thankful and excited by the miracle that they got out of hand. From a distance, someone shouted King Jesus! King Jesus! And before we knew it, everyone picked up the chant. It was so loud that I bet you we were heard clear down to Jerusalem! Gobs of folks went up to Jesus, grabbed ahold of Him, and were going to make Him King (John 6:15). Of course, all of us disciples got caught up in the mood and the move. Everyone was hooting and hollering. This was the hour we’d all waited for. Jesus would be King! I stood proud and tall, knowing that we were on the verge of an historic independence and world-wide rule. My dreams of power and glory were finally coming to pass! Golly, how excited I was!

What happened next is what took me years to understand and accept. The King brushed the mob aside, He pulled a disappearing act, and, in a flash, He was gone! What’s happening?, we all asked. What’s going on? Where’s the King?  It was a really embarrassing moment for us disciples as the mob pressed us for an explanation. Jesus’ conduct was not what we’d expected from a King. I don’t remember what we told them. We just came up with something nice, something to calm them down. Then the twelve of us disciples went off in search for Him.

When we finally found Him and questioned Him, we weren’t quite ready for what we heard. We were mad! I mean, really volcanic! Turned out, Jesus didn’t want to be King! Why in Heaven not? Here was the King. He even told us many times that He was the King. Then, when it came time to be King, He turned it down and ran off like a possum about to be treed by a pack of hyenas. We were all shaken. We were in disbelief. And we were really ticked off. All along we believed that Jesus was the King. Now here He was, refusing to be King. Was He the King or not? Was He lying to us all along? If He was the King, then be the King and rule over the world. Jesus, you were meant to rule! That was the awfulest night we’d ever had. We couldn’t understand nothing. All our dreams of independence, power, and glory went up in the smoke of our campfire that night. And we were all too hurt to say anything, much less be nice. We just went to bed without saying a word.

Years later, after Jesus was killed and rose from the dead, we finally understood. Jesus was the King. He’d be coming back to earth to reign and rule as King. But first, He had to be the Lamb of God. A lamb dies so that a sinner can be saved and be forgiven. That’s what Jesus did at Calvary. He was the Lamb. He was the King too, but He was the Lamb first. He told me that many many times. But being the fool head that I was, I wouldn’t have any of this talk about dying. I was all wrapped up in ruling. That’s why I didn’t understand Him at Bethsaida. I thought I knew the King. I guess I was wrong. But I ain’t making that mistake again! Glory to God, I know Him now.

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THE JESUS I DIDN’T KNOW: THE HEALER WHO WOULDN’T HEAL

January 21, 2012 at 8:35 AM (Life of Christ, The Jesus I Didn't Know)

How well do you know Jesus? We all like to think we know Jesus pretty well. I’ve had close to fifty years of wonderful, sweet communion with Jesus. I’ve devoted over forty years of my life to studying and teaching His Word. I’m talking about going back to the original languages and learning as much as I can about Jewish culture, institutions, and beliefs. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a Know-It-All. And you can ask my kids: I’m not inerrant or infallible. But still, knowing what I know, I’d like to think I know Jesus pretty good. To my pleasant surprise, however, I don’t know Jesus as good as I think I do. To this day, He still shows me more about Himself. Here, let me give you some snippets of the Jesus I never knew.

THE HEALER WHO WOULDN’T HEAL

Stepping into Peter’s sandals, I remember our first Sabbath in Capernaum. What a day that was! Jesus moved to Capernaum and, naturally, being His first disciples, we followed Him there. It was Andrew my brother, James, his brother John, and me. When Sabbath came, Jesus got invited to preach. I stood proud and tall that morning as the Rabbi preached like only He can.

Then, suddenly, the reverence and awe of the moment were shattered when a guy stood up and yelled churlishly, Leave us alone, Jesus of Nazareth. Have you come to torment us before our time? We know who you are. You are the Holy One of God (Mark 1:24). I immediately turned around and looked into his eyes and, man, I mean to tell you, a devil was written all over this guy. It didn’t take rocket science to know that this guy was definitely demonic. I’d never seen anything like it. And I’m not ashamed to admit it: the guy scared the livin’ daylights out of me.

I’ll never forget what happened next. Jesus calmly looked at the hapless chap, full of compassion, and told the demon in him, Shut up and come out of him. In an instant, no joke, the guy went limp like a baby, he slid back in his chair, and didn’t say a peep for the rest of the service. We all knew a miracle of exorcism had just taken place. Jesus had the whole place rip roaring with amazement: we had never before seen this kind of power used over the devil. All of us knew right then and there that Jesus was no ordinary Man.

After service, we went over to my place for lunch. It just so happened that my mother-in-law was sick of the fever that day. When Jesus saw her lying there, He went over to her, rebuked the fever, and the woman actually rose up right then and there and started helping my wife with the lunch (Luke 4:38-39). Wow! I liked having this Guy around! And to think that He was in my house, having lunch with me: I was so proud, I couldn’t hardly stand it.

We talked right thru the afternoon and, before long, nightfall came. A knock on the door was heard. Strange. We weren’t expecting any company. When I opened the door I was completely dumbfounded. There was a huge group of people outside—the sick and oppressed—wondering if Jesus would heal them. Well, there was no need asking. Jesus went right to work healing the people with a touch of His hand or a word from His mouth (Luke 4:40-41). I rightly don’t recollect how many people were healed that night, but I can tell you that it was like an old time revival service. There was so much hooting and hollering as the healing power of God came down and flowed through people’s bodies, setting them free from a lifetime of demonic oppression. There wasn’t a dry eye or quiet soul in the house that evening.

By this time it was completely dark, we were all getting pretty wore out. So we decided to shut things down and get to bed. There were still more people needing help, but we sent them away with the promise that, come morning, Jesus would be here to pick up where He off. That seemed to settle them down, so they sauntered off into the night and left us to our peace and sleep.

I got up bright and early the next morning. I wanted to make sure we had a big breakfast to see us through what was certainly going to be a busy day. I was puzzled, however, when I couldn’t find Jesus. I looked in every room, I even looked outdoors, and He was no where to be found. I started to panic. Did someone break in and kidnap Him? I yelled for the others and we four went out looking for Him. We combed all over town with no luck. Finally, we decided to check the outskirts of town.  You can imagine how relieved we were when I finally spotted Him, on His knees, praying His heart out (Mark 1:35).

“There You are, Jesus,” I said. “We’ve been looking all over for You. The whole town’s looking for You. Are You ready to get on with the healing service?”

“There isn’t going to be a service today,” Jesus said. I couldn’t believe my ears. None of us could. Maybe we heard Him wrong. So we asked Him to repeat Himself and, sure enough, the dreaded words came out. “We aren’t hanging around here today. We’re taking a trip throughout the province. There are lots of other folks out there who need My help” (Mark 1:37-38). And, with that, He headed back towards home and left us frozen in our tracks.

Jesus didn’t get very far, however. It seemed like the whole town came out to where we were. The people had come out for their miracle and, when they heard that Jesus was skipping town, they got downright nasty and belligerent! “O no, You’re not leaving! We need You to finish what You started last night. We’ve got a lot of hurting folks here needing Your healing power.” But nothing doing. Jesus wasn’t budging on His resolve. He was skipping town. There wouldn’t be any healing miracles today.

Well, the Capernaumites didn’t take too kindly to that, so they surrounded us. I mean, they completely surrounded us—you know, like in the movies. It definitely didn’t look very good. For a moment there, I thought we were going to get lynched (Luke 4:42). The angry townsfolk let us know in no uncertain terms that we weren’t leaving until they got their miracles.

Needless to say, I was definitely baffled by Jesus’ refusal to help these poor folks. I even asked Him to reconsider. We could spend the morning here, helping these people, getting them off our backs. Then come lunch time, we could quietly slip out the back door and head out on our trip. “I mean, look at these sick people here, Jesus. They need You. Can’t You just take a few moments and heal them? It shouldn’t take too long.” But even I couldn’t convince Him otherwise. I tell you, when the Guy has His mind made up, it’s made up and no one’s going to change it. Miraculously, Jesus found a way through the maddening crowd and He made it out of there without a scratch.

All eyes were turned to us when Jesus left. We felt as small as ticks on a possum. We were so embarrassed, I bet we were red as beets. Here were all these sick folk and the Healer wouldn’t heal them. He left them high and dry. He walked out on them. I was stunned. I’d always thought the Miracle Worker was a really kind, compassionate sort of Fellow. He really had a heart to heal. But, evidently, I was wrong. This morning I got another picture of the Healer that I hadn’t seen before.

Well, before I lead you wrong, we grumbled all the way back home and, to make a long story short, we found out what the Healer was doing out there on the dirt. He’d been praying to His Father and, evidently, the Father gave Him His marching orders for the day and for the next several days. The Father wanted Him to go throughout Galilee and help other people. I know Jesus told us that when we were out there with Him. But for some reason, it just didn’t click. We were just too wound up with disbelief and frustration—okay, you got me; we were angry with the Guy—that we just couldn’t get what He was saying. The Healer was obeying His Father and His level of commitment and obedience was such that not even a whole mess of sick and angry folks was going to stop Him from obeying His Father.

Jesus is all about obeying the Father. He didn’t heal the people that day—not because He didn’t want to, not because He didn’t care about them. But rather, because it wasn’t the Father’s will for that day. Their time of healing will come some other day. The important thing was for the Healer to obey the Father and head out right away to the other villages and towns where He was needed too. For a moment there, I really thought that the Healer didn’t always want to heal. He didn’t always care about everyone who was sick. In hindsight, I was wrong. I just seen a side of Jesus that I hadn’t seen before. But now I know.

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ONLY BELIEVE PART 2

January 14, 2012 at 10:39 AM (Endurance, Faith, Life of Christ, Miracles)

The exciting conclusion of last week’s blog on Jairus.

Mark 5:25-34,  And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,  (26)  And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,  (27)  When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.  (28)  For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.  (29)  And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.  (30)  And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?  (31)  And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?  (32)  And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.  (33)  But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.  (34)  And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

As they’re walking along, a woman pushes and fights her way through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. With great effort and difficulty, she succeeds and, in an instant of time, her twelve years of suffering were ended. She knew, she felt, that she’d been healed.

Well, Jesus knew that healing power had gone out of Him. So He stops dead in His tracks, looks around, and, above all the din and noise of the crowd, He asks who touched Him. “What do you mean who touched You?,” His disciples asked incredulously. “We’re surrounded by people. We’re crammed like sardines. A lot of people are touching You.”

Jesus doesn’t pay His disciples any mind. He stands still, turns around, and looks for the woman who touched the hem of His garment. The clock’s ticking. The people are asking, and looking for, the person who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment.

Caught and discovered, the woman instantly goes into fear and panic mode. She’s shaking like a leaf. Jesus is looking for her. He’s waiting for her to step up. So with trembling footsteps, she makes her way to Jesus and fesses up to what she’d done. She gives Him her story; she’s taking a huge chunk of Jesus’ time.

Now all the while this is happening, Jairus is standing by forlornly, impatiently, perhaps even angrily. “Jesus, we’ve got to hurry. My daughter’s life’s on the line. We ain’t got time to mess with this woman. We’ll look for her another time. I’ll make an announcement in synagogue next Sabbath. I’ll even help you look. But please, don’t just stand there. We’ve got to hurry.”

Things go from bad to worse as Jairus gets the bad news that he’s dreaded. Mark 5:35,  While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?

Brethren, what do you do when bad news come? When you come face to face with your worst nightmare, your biggest fear; what do you do? Give up? Get mad at God? Turn away from God and blame Him for letting the disease go this far?

When you’re in a trial, you need to get alone with God and ask Him what His will is. What you should do. If you ask Him, and wait, and listen; God will speak to you and tell you what He wants you to do next. Look at it with me in Mark 5:36,  As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.

Notice Jesus’ words here because they’re significant. The first thing He does, the first thing He says, is Don’t be afraid. WHEN YOU’VE GOTTEN YOUR BAD NEWS AND YOU’RE AFRAID, JESUS CALMS YOUR FEAR. No matter how bad it looks, God doesn’t want you to be afraid.

Notice, in the second place, Jesus’ words. Only believe. He’s telling Jairus what to do. Even though the girl’s dead, Jesus wants Jairus to continue believing for healing and life.

Brethren, unless God tells you otherwise, unless God shows you that it’s your time to die; the promise of healing is still yours. It’s still God’s will to heal you. And no matter what’s happened, God doesn’t want you to give up what you were praying and believing Him for. He wants you to keep on believing. Stick with what you originally asked God for. Hold fast. Expect God to answer your prayer.

I want you to look carefully at Jesus’ words in the parallel account in Luke 8:50, But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole. While it was God’s will to heal the girl, Jesus wasn’t going to heal her unless Jairus believed. She wasn’t going to get healed without Jairus’ faith.

Do you see what Jesus did here? He laid the burden of responsibility for the child’s welfare squarely on Jairus’ shoulders. Now that’s a pretty heavy responsibility to bear. It makes us nervous and scared to know that the trial’s outcome depends on us.

But I want you to note a couple of things here. First, note what Jesus said: Believe only, and she shall be made whole. Jesus told Jairus how it would end. Death’s not the end. The girl will live again. Do you see what He’s doing here? He’s encouraging Jairus to believe. He’s showing Jairus what could happen if he only believed.

Brethren, WHEN THINGS LOOK BAD, JESUS KNOWS WHAT TO SAY, HE KNOWS WHAT TO DO, TO ENCOURAGE, STRENGTHEN, AND REVIVE YOUR FAITH. That’s why it’s so important for you to get alone with God when you get your bad news. Instead of letting your mind and emotions run wild with fear and despair, you need to look at your God and listen because God knows exactly what to say to you to calm your fear and resurrect your faith.

Note, in the second place, what Jesus did after He spoke these words to Jairus: He kept on walking to Jairus’ house. You see, Jesus wasn’t standing there, waiting for Jairus’ reply. He kept on walking to Jairus’ house! And that, my friends, can only mean it’s still Jesus’ will to heal, He still intends to heal, and death isn’t going to stop Him from healing!

You see, brethren, Jesus placed the burden of responsibility on Jairus’ shoulders. But Jesus helped him believe!  He kept on walking and He gave Jairus reason to keep on believing.

Jesus also gave Jairus reason and hope to keep on believing by stopping to perform this miracle for the lady with the issue of blood. Now that was a time-consuming incident. And if we were in the flesh, when time is of the utmost essence, we haven’t got time to mess around. “We can’t wait any longer! We need a miracle now! God, you’ve got to act now!” We can get mad at God for the obstacles, the hindrances, setbacks, and delays.

Do you wonder sometimes why God takes His time and lets things get worse? He takes His time—not because He wants you to lose your faith, but rather, because He wants to boost and encourage your faith!

Unbeknownst to Jairus at the time, this clock-ticking, time-consuming miracle was Jesus’ encouragement to Jairus to keep on believing.  “Look, Jairus. A woman suffered from an incurable bleeding condition for twelve long years. But when she touched the hem of My garment she was instantly healed!” Jairus, Jesus healed an incurable disease! There’s nothing too hard for Him to heal! There isn’t a sickness He can’t heal! What Jesus did for a hopeless case woman He could do for your hopeless case daughter! Be not afraid. Only believe!

Well, you know how the story ends. Jesus gets to Jairus’ house, He sends everybody out of the room, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. {55} And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat (Mark 5:54-55).  Wow! There really is nothing too hard for God to do!

Brethren, when God comes to you, or speaks to you, and says Only Believe, Keep On Believing; it’s because He’s got a promise to keep. He’s got a prayer to answer. He gave you His Word and He intends to make good on His Word. Why is that? Because He loves you and He wants to help you. He’s not a liar. He’s faithful. And He will not fail.

So when you get your bad news and the outlook doesn’t look very good, go to God and listen. Whatever He tells you is going to be good. You get to either go home and be with Him where you’ll never get sick and hurt again. Or you’ll live and see the day when you get up out of that sick bed and walk again. God knows exactly what to say to you to calm, encourage, and lift up you. May God grant us the courage and faith to only believe.

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ONLY BELIEVE PART 1

January 9, 2012 at 9:13 AM (Endurance, Faith, Life of Christ, Miracles)

Many of us face health and physical issues. The trials of life have assailed us and we find ourselves disheartened, fearful, and doubtful about what’s going to happen to us.

Here’s the situation. You’re praying and believing God to heal you. But things have gotten worse. You’ve gotten sicker. The symptoms and circumstances don’t look good. The prognosis is bleak. And you’re faced with the very real possibility of dying. What do you do? Do you quit praying and believing for healing, resign yourself to the disease and get ready to die? Or do you stick to your original prayer and continue believing God for healing and life?

I’d like for you to think about the answer to the question. And I’d like for you to compare your answer with the answer that God gives us in the Scriptures today.

Jesus is in Gadara. He has cast the demons out of the Gadarene demoniacs. About 2,000 pigs perished in the Sea during the exorcism. As a result of Jesus’ fearsome power, and the significant economic loss of the pigs, the Gadarenes asked Jesus to leave their country. Jesus complies with their request. He sails back across the Sea of Galilee with His disciples in tow and He lands in His adopted hometown of Capernaum. We pick the story up in MARK 5:21-24.

And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea.  (22)  And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,  (23)  And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.  (24)  And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.

Jairus was a synagogue ruler in Capernaum. He was in charge of the building and everything that went on in the building. Some of his duties included appointing a person to read the Scriptures and pray, choosing someone to preach, and making sure that the service was conducted in an orderly fashion without interruption or interference.

Jesus grew up in Nazareth, but He lived in Capernaum during His public ministry. He went to synagogue services in Capernaum. He was invited one time to preach. And it just so happened that during His sermon, He was interrupted by a demon-possessed fellow who was yelling and screaming: Let us alone. Let us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art. Thou art the Holy One of God (Mark 1:24).

Well, Jesus promptly rebuked the demon and set the man free. Mark 1:27 tells us, And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.

Well, it’s quite likely that Jesus was in Jairus’ synagogue and the only way He could have preached His sermon was because Jairus asked Him to preach. Jairus, I’m saying, isn’t ignorant about Jesus. He’s heard Jesus. He’s seen Him in action. He’s seen firsthand, and heard about, Jesus’ many miracles.

Now Jairus had a daughter. She was about twelve years old. Well, one day, the daughter fell sick. And over the course of the next few days the girl got worse and worse. Just like what’s happened to some of us. Before long, it became painfully obvious that she was dying. Finally, it came to a point where she was only minutes away from dying. This was her last day. In a matter of moments, she’d be dead.

But Jairus refuses to sit there and watch his daughter die! He loves his daughter a whole lot and he’s not willing, or ready, to let her die. He doesn’t give up faith or abandon hope. Suddenly, in a moment of Divine genius or inspiration, Jairus remembers Jesus. You know, the miracle worker. The one with power and authority over sickness and demons. The healer. Jesus can help! Why didn’t he think of it before? Jesus is his last hope!

Can you believe God for healing even in the face of imminent, pending death? Can you believe God to heal you even when the doctors give up on you and give you no hope? Jairus believed. WHEN YOU’VE GOT JESUS YOU’VE GOT HOPE.

Here’s the principle of faith that I go by. Unless God’s showed you that it’s your time to die, it’s still God’s will to heal you. You can believe him for life in a life-and-death situation. God wants you to believe.

Rising from his daughter’s bedside, Jairus runs quickly out of the house in search of Jesus. Jesus is not hard to find. There’s always people around Him. And it just so happened, on this particular day, Jesus was in town. In fact, He just sailed in from Gadara. Talk about Divine timing. JESUS IS THERE WHEN YOU NEED HIM! Hallelujah!

Unfortunately, it’s not always easy getting to Jesus. There are roadblocks, obstacles, and detours that Satan puts in your way to discourage you and get you to turn around, go back home, and die. The roadblocks are called fear. Doubt. Unbelief. Frightful, hopeless circumstances. The doctor’s sad report. The disease’s fearful prognosis.

In Jairus’ case, the trouble was people. Jesus was surrounded by a whole lot of people on Galilee’s shore. Jairus is running. He’s yelling and asking people to make way. People aren’t paying any attention to him. They’ve come to see Jesus. They’ve come to hear Him preach. They’ve come to get their miracle. They ain’t budging. So Jairus pushes and fights his way through the crowd.

Finally, with some difficulty, he stands before Jesus. Jairus promptly falls to the ground in an act of obeisance and worship. “Jesus, my daughter is dying. Who knows, she might even be dead by now. But come with me, lay hands on her, and I know she’ll live. You can heal her. Please come quickly and save her.”

At that very instant, Jesus dropped what He was doing and He followed Jairus. Do you think Jesus doesn’t want to help you? Think He isn’t keen on healing when death’s around the corner? Think again and, this time, let the Scriptures show you what to think.

Jesus follows Jairus. His disciples followed behind Him and, of course, the whole multitude of people tagged along. Here was a miracle in the making and the people weren’t about ready to go home without seeing Jesus perform a mighty miracle.

The only thing about it was, they weren’t all following behind Jesus. Rather, the crowd was all around Jesus. The word thronged in Mark 5:24 means they were all around Him, they were on every side. It was like a huge circle of people with Jesus, Jairus, and the disciples right smack in the middle of this humongous crowd. Naturally, when you’re stuck in the middle of a huge crowd, forward progress is going to be slow and difficult. It’s hard to get anywhere when everybody’s around you.

The trip to Jairus’ house is taking time—exactly what Jairus’ daughter doesn’t have. Jairus is probably crying and pleading with the people, if not angry, to please make way. “We’re in a hurry! My daughter’s dying! Please get out of the way! Move it! Clear out! Out of the way!”

Suddenly and unexpectedly, to Jairus’ dismay, Jesus stops. “What now? What’s happening? God, we’re in a hurry here. Please don’t stop!!!” But Jesus doesn’t listen. He stands still and looks around.

To Be Continued Next Time, Part 2 of this very exciting story. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to have your faith strengthened and encouraged!

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HUNGRY TO HEAR

January 2, 2012 at 11:53 AM (Incidents/Events, Life of Christ)

Luke 5:1 tells us of a time in Jesus’ life when He was at the seaside in Capernaum. Gobs of people were pressing upon Him. The word press means  to crowd. When people saw Jesus at the seaside a whole mess of them converged on the spot. They kept coming from all over the city. And as people kept coming, Jesus kept getting pushed to the water’s edge. Finally, Jesus got in Peter’s boat and, after paddling out a little way, Jesus taught the people from the boat. Can you imagine the scene? Get the picture. Gobs and gobs of people converging on Jesus with very little elbow room. Doubtless, the people were crammed like sardines around Jesus.

What were they there for? Why did they come? Luke tells us that they came to hear the word of God. They came because they were hungry to hear God’s Word. They didn’t come for miracles. They came for a sermon! They came to hear and learn what God had to say to them. They had a hunger for the Word. A hunger for the truth. A hunger to learn.

Spiritual hunger is something that is largely lacking or missing in the church today. It’s reflected in the attendance at our adult Sunday School classes, our Sunday evening services, our Wednesday night Bible studies, our small group meetings, or our Bible study groups. It’s like a lot of us don’t want to hear, study or learn. We don’t want to take the time to listen, think, or learn. We despise Bible study. We hate it. We don’t do it. A lot of us aren’t as scholastically-inclined as others. We’re not students. We don’t like learning. Bible study is boring. We don’t get anything out of it. It isn’t fun. But, truth be told, we really don’t have a hunger to hear. We don’t have an appetite for God or the Scriptures. How these Capernaumites in Luke 5 shame us!

I’m a minister and I love to teach the Bible. Whenever I teach, I tend to get animated. I try to bring the congregation into the historical scene so that they’re right in the middle of what went on in the Biblical text. The Scriptures come alive. And, all of a sudden, the people like the Bible lesson or study. They’re on the edge of their seats. They want more. It gets to them. And they go home remembering the lesson for a long time…because they feel as if they were there in the Biblical scene.

Bible study can be that way. It’s not just an educational routine where you sit down, open the Bible, and read mindlessly until you’ve read enough to satisfy your guilty conscience, then you close the book and give no further thought to what you read. If you view Bible study this way, then it’s no wonder you don’t enjoy it or get anything out of it.

Let’s change things a bit. Bible study is, first and foremost, a personal relationship with God. It’s an interactive type of thing. In school you have a teacher and a classroom, with lots of other students around. Let’s cut the other students out. Now it’s just you and the teacher in class. Whenever you read your Bible, that’s your classroom. The teacher is the invisible God. God is standing over you, or sitting beside you. And, as your Teacher, He’s teaching you something. He’s speaking to you through the written text. And the Holy Spirit helps you understand what you’re reading. If you see Bible study in this interactive way—just you and God together, all alone in this classroom—you’ll get a different perspective of what Bible study is all about. It’s all about giving God the time and opportunity to speak to you through His Word and teach you a few things.

Like the Capernaumites, are you pressing about Jesus in the classroom, hungry and eager to hear? If not, ask God to give you a hunger for His Word. You ought to have a hunger for God and His Word. If you aren’t hungry you don’t eat. And if you don’t eat over time, you know what will happen to you. It’s the same way with your soul. If you don’t feed your soul with the milk and meat of God’s Word, you’ll famish and die spiritually. It isn’t normal, or right, for a Christian not to have an appetite for God and the Bible! If this is you, then ask God to make you hungry. Ask Him to give you an appetite for learning. Ask Him to change your attitude about Bible study. He will.

Then every time you open the Bible to read and study it, ask God to make the Word come alive. Ask Him to show you what it means. What He wants you to know. He will. When the townspeople pressed about Jesus to hear God’s Word, what did Jesus do? He taught them. He satisfied their craving or hunger. God will do the same for you. When you ask God to help you learn, He’ll teach you and you’ll get something out of it.

There are so many different approaches or tools to learn God’s Word. Dictionaries and commentaries are one such tool. Here’s another simple tool that doesn’t cost you a dime. Place yourself in the Biblical text or scene. Step into the sandals of the Biblical characters. They were human just like you. If you put yourself in the Biblical scene you’ll get so much more out of the Bible study. Try it. And the more you try it the more you’ll learn. And the more you’ll have an even bigger appetite for God and learning. May God bless you with a hefty appetite for Him and His Word!

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LEAVE IT AND LOSE IT?

December 27, 2011 at 8:39 AM (Incidents/Events, Life of Christ)

Luke 5:27-28, And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. {28} And he left all, rose up, and followed him.

Levi was a tax collector. Back in the day, tax collectors were not paid to do their job. In fact, many of them actually paid to get that non-paying job. Huh? I know it doesn’t make any sense at first sight, but let me explain it to you.

Tax collectors made their living by charging more tax than what Rome actually required. Let’s say that Rome charged 40% tax on produce. So if a produce merchant had a $100 worth of produce, the tax would be $40. But tax collectors always charged more because they had to make a living. Remember. Rome didn’t pay them a dime to do the job. They got their money by charging more tax than what was actually owed or due. To make matters worse, the tax collectors had to pay the higher-up tax officials, called chief publicans, a portion of the tax money because chief publicans weren’t paid either: they made their money by charging the tax collectors beneath them a certain portion of the tax. So the tax collectors would charge the produce merchant 80% and collect $80 tax money: they’d give $40 to Rome, $20 to the chief publican, and the other $20 was theirs to keep. That’s how tax collectors made their money.

The only thing about it was, there were no set rates on how much extra tax should be charged. The greedier the collector, the more tax was charged. Unfortunately, people didn’t have any choice but to pay up. It was either that or else have your goods confiscated and get hauled off to prison. So people paid whatever the tax collector demanded and that’s how the tax collectors got rich. It was quite a lucrative business. And that’s why these tax collectors paid the higher tax officials to become tax collectors.

Anyways, not all tax collectors were dirty crooks and greedy. But, the fact of the matter still remains: Matthew was in all likelihood well off. How else could he throw a big party for Jesus and his publican friends (Luke 5:29)? Matthew has a gravy job and he’s got dough.

Then Jesus comes along one day, calls him to be a disciple, and what does Matthew do? He gets up right away from his tax booth, walks away from it, and follows Jesus. At that moment, he quits his job to become a disciple.

Matthew makes it look easy. So easy that we’re thoughtless about what he really did. He makes a decision on the spot to quit his job and follow Jesus. So he’s got no job. No income. No money coming in. He’s either going to live on his savings, or else he’s going to count on Jesus to take care of his needs. In any case, he’s not getting the piles of dough that he’s accustomed to getting on a daily basis. It’s like money no longer matters to him. He wants Jesus more than wealth. Wow!

How many of us would give up our job to follow Jesus full time as a minister or missionary? I know we’d all say we’d give it up to follow Jesus. But, really, would we? Some of us can’t seem to tithe or give an offering to the Lord on a weekly basis. When we do give, our offerings are a pittance compared to the money we spend on ourselves and our luxuries. Some of us are so tight with money that we don’t support missions, don’t give to the building fund, don’t give to disaster relief. Golly, there’s always someone asking for money, there’s always a need, that we get tired of it and we just don’t give anymore. We’ve got money coming it and we give so little to the Lord. And we say we’ll quit our job, lose it all, to follow our Lord? I find that hard to believe. If we can’t give up a little more of our paycheck to give to the Lord, how in the world are we going to give up the entire paycheck, along with the income and job to boot?

What am I getting at? Definitely no criticism or put-down intended because I’m as guilty as anyone around. All I’m saying is we sometimes say things—we make glowing promises—that we really aren’t in a mindset to follow through on. Matthew made it look easy because, for him, it was easy. He’d already left his dough in his heart and that’s how he didn’t bat an eyelash when he left his job and toll booth behind. I guess if we say we’d leave our job to follow the Lord, we’d better start proving it by giving the Lord more than what we’re already giving. Just saying.

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THE JESUS I DIDN’T KNOW: THE WALL WRECKER AT THE WELL

December 19, 2011 at 9:31 AM (Life of Christ, The Jesus I Didn't Know)

How well do you know Jesus? We all like to think we know Jesus pretty well. I’ve had close to fifty years of wonderful, sweet communion with Jesus. I’ve devoted over forty years of my life to studying and teaching His Word. I’m talking about going back to the original languages and learning as much as I can about Jewish culture, institutions, and beliefs. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a Know-It-All. And you can ask my kids: I’m not inerrant or infallible. But still, knowing what I know, I’d like to think I know Jesus pretty good. To my pleasant surprise, however, I don’t know Jesus as good as I think I do. To this day, He still shows me more about Himself. Here, let me give you some snippets of the Jesus I never knew.

THE WALL WRECKER AT THE WELL

Placing myself in the apostle Andrew’s sandals, Hi guys. My name is Andrew and I’m a follower of Jesus. I met Jesus a few short days ago and, from the time I met Him, I’ve been hooked on Him. He’s the Messiah, there’s no doubt about that. There’s something about Him that reaches out to me—to all people really—and beckons me to Himself. It’s His heart. The Guy really loves people. He has a heart for people. Not just for certain kinds of likeable folks like myself. But all people. Even those I really don’t care to hang around with.

I remember the first time I learned how really big Jesus’ heart was. Me and my brother Peter had been traipsing all over Judea and Galilee with Jesus. Our two buddies, James and John, was also with us. We was in Jerusalem to attend Passover, but now that the holiday was over, we headed back to Galilee where we’re from. As always, we let Jesus call all the shots. He decided to take the direct route thru Samaria, so we got up bright and early the next morning and we hit the dirt towards Sychar. It was a good five hour walk and, by the time we got there, we was plump wore out. We didn’t have anything to eat, so we left Jesus at Jacob’s well where we caught our breath, then we decided to head into town to buy some grub (John 4).

When we come back we was all blown away by what we seen. There was Jesus at the well, sitting, and talking to a Samaritan chick. Seemed to us like they were carrying on pretty good and we just couldn’t understand why Jesus would give the Sammy time of day. We’re Jews. We don’t talk to Sammies—not like that. We don’t carry no conversations with them. They’re half-breeds and we don’t like them. We don’t want nothing to do with them. Call me prejudiced if you will, but we’s God’s people. We’s the chosen race. And we don’t take a liking to these half-breed Jews.

Later, we found out that the woman was a no-good wench. Jesus told us so. She’d been married five times and, at the moment, she was shacking up with a stud she wasn’t even married to. What a loser! We got even madder at the Master for talking with the whore. Why would He even want to be caught alone with her? It definitely didn’t look good. And, meaning no disrespect, it had all the makings of an appearance of evil. Made no sense to us at all! They’s some folks we don’t hang out with, or talk to, just cuz they’s bad folks. They ain’t no good.

When the wench seen us, she got right up and ran back into the city. We were kinda riled up with the Lord, but we wasn’t about to say anything to Him about it. We just got out the vittles and offered Him some, but the Guy wouldn’t have any of it. Had He eaten already? Hey, did the Sammy give Him some of her grub?

Jesus must have known what we was thinking. He said, My grub is to do My Father’s will. Look at the fields, guys. It’s harvest time (John 4:34-38). None of us knew what He meant. Everything He said just went over our heads. We just sat there and ate, acting like we knew what He was saying.

When we was done, we looked yonder and, I mean to tell you, a whole mess of Sammies was coming towards us. I thought we was done for. They must have been madder dan a skunk that Jesus was friendly with one of their own. Now they was coming to get us. Well, we ain’t no fools. We beat it out of there. Jesus wasn’t coming along. He wanted to stay there. So we left Him and wondered if we’d ever see Him again.

Wouldn’t you know it, we seen the Guy about four days after that and He told us what happened. Turned out, the Sammies wasn’t coming to get us after all. They was coming to hear more about Jesus. Long story short, that whole town became believers! These Sammies actually believed what we believed—that Jesus really was the Messiah!

For a moment there at the well, I really thought that Jesus had lost it. He’d gone out of His mind. He was carrying on like none of us ever would. When it was all said and done, Jesus got results that none of us ever got. He got the whole town saved—all because He was man enough to talk to someone we would never be caught dead talking to. He hung out with folks that we thought was no good and beyond redemption. That day at the well, He tore down the wall that kept us Jews and the Sammies separated and alienated. He taught us to get past our fears, our hatred, our prejudices, and love the unlovely. Touch the untouchable. Speak to the unspeakable. Save what we always thought was the unsavable. That day at the well I seen the heart of God loving all those I thought was unlovable. The whores. The druggies. The drunkards. The homos. The convicts. The Black men. The haoles. The Muslim. And every other lost soul. These are who Jesus loves. These are who He died for. These are our mission field. And the walls that kept us from them have now crumbled because of what Jesus done at the well and the cross. This was the Jesus I’d never seen. But, thank God Almighty, now I see.

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SCRIPTURALLY WRONG EVEN WHEN YOU’RE RIGHT

December 13, 2011 at 9:22 AM (Incidents/Events, Life of Christ)

Jesus was preaching a fine sermon one day, crammed tight in a house full of folks, when everybody’s attention was suddenly turned upwards to a commotion on the roof. There were these four guys up on the roof, tearing it apart! Apparently, no one stopped them—not even the home owner. So for the next several minutes, they made this humongous hole in the roof, then proceeded to lower a paralyzed chap lying on a stretcher. These guys wanted Jesus to heal their buddy. When they couldn’t get in the house because of the crowd, they got creative and found a way to get to Jesus by lowering their paralyzed friend through the roof.

When Jesus saw what was happening He looked at the hapless chap on the stretcher and said, My son, your sins are forgiven (Mark 2:5). Well, it just so happened that there were scribes in the room. These were the guys who really knew the Word. It was their job to painstakingly and accurately copy the Scriptures by hand. They knew every jot and tittle of the Scriptures. And they knew it better than anyone else around. So, they’re the foremost authorities on the Word. When they heard Jesus forgiving this guy’s sins, they instantly went through the roof and said quietly to themselves, This is blasphemous! Who can forgive sins but God alone?

Do you know what? They were absolutely right! Only God can forgive sins. It’s blasphemous for a man to pretend he has the right, or the power, to forgive sins. So the scribes were right. They had Scriptures on their side.

To our shocked surprise, however, the incident is a lamentable reminder to us that we can be scripturally right and still be wrong! Now that definitely sounds like an oxymoron. How in the world can you be right on with the Scriptures and be wrong?

Well, the scribes were right as far as God being the only One who can forgive sins. But these learned men, in the passion of the moment, forgot all about Isaiah 7:14. The prophet foretold that a virgin shall conceive, and have a son, and shall call him Immanuel (which, by interpretation, is God with us). In other words, the prophet foretold of a time when God would one day come into their midst in the form of a man. He’d be born as a baby and grow up looking just like any other Jewish man. The only difference is, He’d be God in the flesh (see also Isaiah 9:6-7). This Man would be God. And, being God, this Man would have the power and right to forgive sins.

Of course, these Scripture scholars didn’t believe that Jesus was God incarnate. To them, Jesus wasn’t the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14. Jesus wasn’t God. He’s just a man. And because He’s just a man, they felt He committed blasphemy by pretending to forgive this paralytic’s sins.

You see, these learned men were Scripturally right about God alone forgiving sins. But, they were nonetheless Scripturally wrong because Jesus was God. God said so Himself (see Matthew 3:17). The Scriptures they knew and stood on made them right. It was the Scriptures they didn’t know or believe that made them wrong. Their not believing Jesus, that is, their unbelief, made them wrong.

Brethren, you can be Scripturally right in a sense and still be wrong. The Word you know and believe makes you right. But it’s the Word you don’t know or believe that makes you wrong. IF YOU WANT TO BE FULLY, ENTIRELY RIGHT YOU’VE GOT TO STAND ON THE WHOLE OF SCRIPTURE AND NOT JUST A PART.YOU’VE GOT TO BELIEVE JESUS IN ORDER TO BE RIGHT. Disbelieving Him, like the scribes, will make you wrong.

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THE JESUS I DIDN’T KNOW: THE MAD MAN IN THE TEMPLE

December 3, 2011 at 11:02 AM (Life of Christ, The Jesus I Didn't Know)

How well do you know Jesus? We all like to think we know Jesus pretty well. I’ve had close to fifty years of wonderful, sweet communion with Jesus. I’ve devoted over forty years of my life to studying and teaching His Word. I’m talking about going back to the original languages and learning as much as I can about Jewish culture, institutions, and beliefs. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a Know-It-All. And you can ask my kids: I’m not inerrant or infallible. But still, knowing what I know, I’d like to think I know Jesus pretty good. To my pleasant surprise, however, I don’t know Jesus as good as I think I do. To this day, He still shows me more about Himself. Here, let me give you some snippets of the Jesus I never knew.

THE MAD MAN IN THE TEMPLE

Placing myself in the apostle John’s sandals, I’d recently met the Lord. For a long time now, my master, John the Baptizer, had been telling all of us disciples that the Messiah was coming very soon. In fact, on good authority—actually, from the Baptizer’s mom—the Messiah was already born! He’s alive and living somewhere in Israel right this very moment! Imagine how excited we were to hear that the long-prophesied Messiah was about ready to step onto the stage of world history. Life is never going to be same again!

Well, Andrew and I were standing by the river bank one day when our master directed our attention to a Man walking along. Behold the Lamb of God!, he said (John 1:35-36). Well, you bet our curiosity had been aroused. So Andrew and I started tagging along behind this Stranger and, wouldn’t you know it, the Guy turned around, looked at us, and asked, What are you looking for? Caught off guard and dumbfounded, we asked, rather sheepishly, where He was staying. “Come and see,” He said. And with that summary invitation, He took us to His hangout and, for the next several hours, we pumped Him full of questions. We wanted to know all about Him. Well, to make a long story short, by the time the Guy was done talking, we were absolutely convinced that this Jesus really was the Messiah. Just like master John had said.

We were so excited about Jesus that, for a moment, we acted like it was Black Friday. We dashed off in search of our brothers to let them know that we’d found the Messiah. Next day, Jesus invited us to go with Him to Galilee. You didn’t have to ask us twice. Along the way, we picked up Peter, James, Philip, and Nathanael.  I’ll never forget that trip. We were like silly women gossiping at the well: we gabbed and gabbed all the way to Galilee.

We went to a little town called Cana. There was a wedding there and, being invited, we jumped at the chance for free food. There was so much people there that, wouldn’t you know it, they ran out of wine. Jesus’ mama came and got Him and, of course, us disciples tagged along. Jesus told the servants to fill up the water jars with water. I mean to tell you, I kid you not, when the servants poured out the water that they’d put into the water jars, it was pure wine! It was the best tasting stuff ever! It was a miracle! The Guy we were following was, on top of being the Messiah, a Miracle Worker too! We were so excited, we couldn’t hardly sleep that night.

Well, Passover was coming up. So all of us made our way back down to Jerusalem. It was wall-to-wall people, just like usual. But we managed to all stay together. Jesus made a bee line to the Temple. Then He did something inexplicable. He just stood there to Himself and started making Himself a whip. What in the world for?, you ask. Believe me, that’s what we all wanted to know. It took some time. Then when He was all done, we stood there aghast as the Guy started tearing the place up. It’s like He just went berserk. He upended the vendors’ tables. Coins went everywhere and people started lunging to get ahold of some free money. Bird cages were knocked over. Birds went flying everywhere. Jesus used the whip and drove the oxen and sheep out of the Temple. We’re not talking about a dozen animals here. During Passover there were over 250,000 animals slaughtered and sacrificed. So we’re talking about an insane number of livestock penned up and tied right here in the Temple. Jesus let them go. Then He told all the animal merchants to scram. Of course, they beat it out of there. They ran off to get their animals. I mean to tell you it was sheer pandemonium! Absolutely insane! Everyone was shocked! And speechless! We’d never seen anything like it!

Between all the people shouting and scurrying, and all the animals stampeding out of there, I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. We’d been following the Messiah and Miracle Worker for the last few days. We were all pumped up because we were following the Messiah. We were the first ones to follow Him! Our names were going down in the record books. For the rest of time and history, we’d be known as Jesus’ first followers. Do you know how incredibly good that makes me feel? Now, here He was, in the House of God, violent and angry, making a huge scene. I thought He’d gone mad! He definitely wasn’t the Man I thought He was. He seemed like a perfectly good Fellow at first. Easy to talk to and get along. Definitely nice. Peace loving. And gentle. You’ve never met a kinder, gentler Soul. I expected Him to be reverent in the House of God. You’re supposed to be reverent in God’s House! Man, when I saw Him tearing up the place, my eyes and mouth popped wide open. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!

After it was all done and Jesus settled back down, we realized what had just happened. The zeal of God’s House had eaten Him up. Jesus loved God’s House and wanted to keep it holy: He couldn’t just stand there and watch His Father’s House be turned into a marketplace. So He cleaned House.

In hindsight, I understand now why He did it. But for a few moments there, I was really scared. I thought I was following a mad man. A psycho. Definitely bipolar, if not schizo. Turned out I was wrong. I just seen a side of Jesus that I never seen before. This was the Jesus I didn’t know. But now I know.

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WHEN YOU’RE TEMPTED TO FEAR, DON’T – PART 1

April 26, 2011 at 10:44 AM (Faith, Fear, Life of Christ, Miracles)

Synopsis: We all wrestle with fear. We’ve got good reason to fear. But in spite of our reasons and circumstances, God doesn’t want us to be afraid. As Christians, we’re supposed to be a people of faith. God wants us to believe, not fear. Here’s a post that will help us do just that.

Scripture Text: Mark 4:35-40, And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. {36} And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. {37} And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. {38} And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? {39} And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. {40} And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

SO YOU’VE GOT GOOD REASON TO FEAR

One day, Jesus decided to go with His disciples to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. In the process of sailing, there arose a fierce storm. The storm was so bad that the disciples started fearing for their lives.

The one thing that I want you to note here is the disciples had good reason to be afraid. In Matthew’s account, the ship was covered by the waves (Matthew 8:24). That is, the waves were so tall and tempestuous that water was rapidly pouring in over the sides of the ship. The disciples couldn’t work fast enough to bail the water out. By all accounts, the ship was rapidly filling with water and starting to sink. Their lives really were in jeopardy just as Luke said in his account of this same incident (Luke 8:23). The disciples, I’m saying, had good reason to be afraid. Their lives were imperiled. The threat of death was imminent. If the Lord didn’t come through with a miracle for them, the winds, waves, and waters would take their very lives this dark and stormy night.

We all have had our storms at sea. There’ve been times when death came calling and we really felt that we could die at any moment. We’ve had our times of fear. And we’d just as soon prefer not to meet up with fear or death for a very long time.

EVEN WHEN YOU’VE GOT GOOD REASON TO FEAR, DON’T

Now whenever Jesus’ disciples were afraid He responded to them in one of two ways: (1) He either comforted them, assuaged their fear, and told them to fear not (Matthew 14:27); or, as in the case at hand, (2) He rebuked them for their fear and faithlessness and asked them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?

Do you know what Jesus’ rebuke tells me? In the first place, it tells me that NO MATTER HOW GOOD A REASON WE HAVE TO BE TERRIBLY AFRAID, JESUS DOESN’T WANT US TO BE AFRAID! Yes, the circumstances are quite dire and severe. The threat of death is very real and imminent. Jesus doesn’t deny any of that. But He still doesn’t want us to be afraid!

There were at least four experienced fishermen on that boat. And they, doubtless, weathered many storms at sea. But even these experienced fishermen were afraid. They knew what they were up against. They knew they could all be dead.

But from Jesus’ standpoint, THE THREAT OF DEATH DOESN’T JUSTIFY OR LEGITIMIZE OUR FEAR. No matter how real the circumstances, symptoms, or threat; no matter how severe the suffering or pain; Jesus doesn’t want us to be afraid. HE WANTS US TO BELIEVE EVEN WHEN BELIEVING IS A VERY DIFFICULT THING TO DO. HE WANTS US TO BELIEVE EVEN IN THE MIDST OF THE THREAT OF DEATH.

Jesus’ rebuke, in the second place, tells me that IT’S POSSIBLE TO GO THROUGH, AND GET THROUGH, A FEARFUL, DEATH-THREATENING, ORDEAL WITHOUT BEING AFRAID.

O, I’ll be the first one to say that I’ve been tempted to fear in the face of death. In fact, I have been afraid at death’s doors. I’ve gone through my severe storms at sea with respect to my lungs, heart, brain, and a number of other internal organs. My storms have raged on for months and years. I’ve known weariness. And in my darkest nights, I’ve kept company with despair and resignation. Yes, I’ve faced death many times. And, yes, I’ve been tempted to fear.

But I’ve found through all these storms that it’s possible to believe instead of fear if you just put your mind to it and choose to believe instead of fear or doubt. It’s not easy. It’s never been easy. It takes concentrated effort. It takes ceaseless work to stay in faith and keep on believing when there doesn’t seem to be any hope left. Believe me, you can stare death in the face and not be afraid—if you choose to believe.

And last, Jesus’ rebuke in this terrifying incident tells me that, no matter how hard it might be, IT’S POSSIBLE TO GO THROUGH THIS TRIAL AND ORDEAL WITHOUT SUFFERING HARM, LOSS OF LIFE, OR DEATH. Death may be knocking. But the faith that God wants us to have is the faith that we can go through the trial without getting killed in the process.

Now before any of you knock me, I know we all have a time to die. God allows some of His children to perish in the storm. I’m not going to question His sovereignty or His goodness. You’ve got to get quiet before the Lord, seek His face, and see if it’s His will to take you home on this particular storm-tossed night.

I’ve done my seeking and God, in one way or another, always lets me know what He wants me to do in the storms I’m facing. In every one thus far, He’s let me know that it’s not my time to die. Instead, He wants me to believe for preservation, healing, and life. That’s what I’ve done—with great effort and solely by His grace. And He’s always proven Himself true and faithful. Brethren, IT’S POSSIBLE TO GO THROUGH THE TRIAL AND ORDEAL WITHOUT SUFFERING HARM, LOSS OF LIFE, OR DEATH.

LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD, BELIEVE IT, AND IT’LL KEEP YOU FROM FEAR

Now I’ve said that you’ve got to get still before God and see what His will is in any given storm of life. God told these fearful disciples what His will was. They forgot it. They looked at their circumstances. And that’s why they were afraid. It works the same way with us. When we get our eyes off of the Lord and His promises, when our eyes and mind are glued to the dire circumstances that confront us; we, like the disciples, will get fearful.

But, wait a minute, you say. Where did God tell these disciples what His will was? Brethren, it’s so easy to pass over, forget, or not listen at all, to some of the things God says to us. The storm at sea is a case in point. Go back to the start of this incident in Mark 4:35and read what Jesus said. He said, Let us pass over unto the other side. Do you know what this means, brethren? It means Jesus wants to get to the other side of the Sea. He’s going to get to the other side. And nothing’s going to keep Him from getting there. Friends, that ship can’t sink as long as Jesus is on it! His will was to get to the other side. And not even the severest of storms can stop Him from doing His will.

In much the same way, brethren, when the ship of your life is beginning to sink with death’s waters, you’ve got to remember God’s Word, hold fast to it, and believe. God promised to heal you, not kill you: He said the prayer of faith shall heal the sick and the Lord shall raise him up (James 5:15). He promised you deliverance and escape, not death: He redeemeth thy life from destruction (Psalm 103:3). Yes, there are times when destruction threatens you. He never said you wouldn’t have trials or go through the valley of the shadow of death. But God promised to save you from destruction and you’ve got to believe that no matter how bad or convincing the circumstances look.

If, and when, it’s your time to die; then, and only then, do you relinquish the promise of healing and life and redirect your faith to God’s providential care and presence as you go through death’s portal.

Whatever the case may be, in every circumstance of life, God, dear brethren, wants you to be faithful, not fearful. If God has not told you otherwise, stay with the promises of God’s Word because HIS PROMISES ARE A REVELATION OF HIS WILL. They’re indicative of what His will is in the present storm: He wants to save you, not kill you. And He’ll do that very thing if you believe. All things are possible to him that believeth (Mark 9:23). All things, brethren, means all things. That includes your present encounter with death.

Stand resolutely on God’s Word, my friend. Believe it. Expect God to keep and honor it. And you’ll have the courage and strength to go through the storm knowing that you’ll be alright in the end. You’re in good hands. And remember above all that you’ve got Jesus with you at the back of the boat. That boat of yours ain’t gonna sink. God bless you and help you to believe.

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