I Like My Jesus to Be (Part 3)…

In the last post, a Greek woman had asked Jesus to heal her demon possessed daughter, but in the way she approached Him, we saw that she didn’t really understand who He was.

Jesus tells His disciples, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Alfred Edersheim writes, “This was absolutely true, as regarded His Work while upon earth; and true, in every sense, as we keep in view the world-wide bearing of the Davidic reign and promises, and the real relation between Israel and the world.”

The woman then says, “Lord help me”, no longer using the Davidic title. The following dialogue appears cryptic at first glance. Jesus responds:
“It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

From our viewpoint, Jesus’ words seem nothing but offensive. But He is compassionately teaching her by merely following “the heathen woman’s” lead in the context of the original “Son of David” title that she called to Him under. We can read into His response knowing that as the non-Hebrew woman invoked her wishes upon Him with a distinctly Hebrew title (Son of David), He followed suit and responded in a distinctly Hebrew way. Jews saw heathens as dogs, and so what right did she have to ask for blessing from the house of David? Jesus was getting her to think about the implications of who she thought Jesus was.

The woman replies:
“Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

In this, we see that she has come to understand that in the context of Judaism, she may be considered a dog compared to the children sitting at the master’s table. But the master is still the master of the dogs as well, and in her response, she has understood the context of what she originally requested. Jesus was no longer strictly a Jewish figure to her whose Work was just for the Jews, but a Messiah who’s Person and Work was more than enough for everyone, including the dogs under the table. In this, the Lord recognizes the faith that He has led her into, and she is no longer a dog under the table, but a daughter of Abraham. Christ heals her daughter.

There are some interesting implications from this text:

1) We see that Christ will not let us make Him into something He is not. And yet, we see that He continues to have great compassion even when we do. In view of the woman’s faith, we must understand that Jesus healing her daughter was not contingent on the Syro-Phoenician woman’s correct response or display of faith. If this were true, then Jesus would have been stirring up her emotions and trying a woman already tormented by her daughter’s demonization. The girl being healed was based on Jesus’ own compassion and power.

2) I am humbled to remember that I, as a non-Jew, have been included in the family of God. Christ is not just for “all nations and conditions..” but “[for people] in all states of heart and mind…in the very lowest depths of conscious guilt and alienation from God…” ‘Children’ and ‘dogs’ stand before God without merit, except that which is Christ’s. In recognizing that our sin is overwhelming and pervasive, we are lead to cry out, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table”, and in such we taste of the children’s bread, which is Christ Himself.

*Historical information and quotes taken from Alfred Edersheim’s “The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah”, pages 500-503

I like my Jesus to be (part 2)…

Who do we want Jesus to be?

In the last post, I wrote about the “moose Messiah”, who come into our lives, uncontrollable and untamable. Today, we’ll look at a passage where a woman tries to make Jesus into something He’s not. It’ll be a “to be continued”…

In Mark 7:24-30 and Matthew 15:21-28, a Greek Syro-Phoenician woman follows around Jesus begging Him to cast a demon out of her daughter. Greeks were considered heathens, viewed as outsiders of the covenant promises to Israel. This woman cried out for Christ to help her as she followed Him and His disciples around. It is interesting that she calls Jesus the “Son of David”, a distinctly Jewish title. David had never been king of her people. Used with knowledge of the promises to David, this title would have been a covenantal call. Used without that knowledge, it was an appeal to Christ as an “Israelitish Messiah” (not to THE Messiah as we would preach in our pulpits today) to perform the magical miracle of healing her daughter…but nothing more.

Christ’s miracles were a sign pointing to something greater, not an end in and of themselves. If Christ had granted her request, He would have been overturning His own teachings and denying who He was. Put in today’s terms, this woman wanted Jesus to be her rabbit’s foot.

We’ll look at Jesus’ response in the next post. Below, a painting that obviously portays Jesus as something he’s not … or maybe its actually Charlton Heston???

*Historical information taken from Alfred Edersheim’s “The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah”, pages 500-503

I like my Jesus to be…

I like to picture Jesus as a little plush doll who answers my prayer requests via e-mail on his Mac while sipping chai tea and watching daytime drama on TV.
Jesus doll owned by the son of one of my friend’s in England.

Will Ferrell’s prayer from the Talladega Nights film made me laugh. It also made me think how we make Jesus into what we want Him to be. Usually, we want Him to be comfortable and safe. Jesus promised us the Comforter, but He never said we’d be comfortable.

I heard a guy talk once about how he was staying in a lodge out in the Rockies, and while he was in the shower, a moose wandered through an open sliding glass door and into his living room. He walked out and had no idea what to do, totally overwhelmed by the presence of this moose with his large rack. In his talk, the guy said Jesus is a lot like this moose. Jesus just comes, a ‘moose Messiah’, into our lives, and we’re not sure what to do with him. We try to dumb him down, sometimes by ignoring Him, sometimes by trying to cage him in with theology, and yet He is who He is. He says things that we’re not comfortable with. He remains undefinable, untamable, and as CS Lewis said in his Narnia books, “He’s not safe…but he’s good.”

In light of hearing the truths of the Gospel, its good to remember that these comforting truths never mean we can make Jesus into who we want Him to be. And yet, as we’ll see in the next posting, Jesus, while not allowing people to make Him into something He’s not, continues to have compassion on them.

I’m forgiven, because….

“I’m forgiven, because I straight up earned it
I’m accepted, because I am the bomb…”

A friend of mine who was also an intern in London with me used to jokingly sing these lyrics with a healthy dose of collegiate cynicism. He had changed the words of this popular praise song to express the attitudes we often take in our hearts….the attitude of an orphan. When we live in and act out of the orphan mentality, we are fending for ourselves and trying to validate ourselves apart from the cross. We are forgetting that we have a loving Father who accepts us in our worst moments because He rejected Jesus for us. Our Father cares so much more deeply about our lives, our hopes, our hurts, and our desires than we ever will. How does this affect the way you think and live today?

I’m forgiven because You were forsaken
I’m accepted, You were condemned
I’m alive and well, Your Spirit is within me
Because You died and rose again

Spurgeon’s "Come Hither"

I did a paper this semester about Charles Spurgeon. I read his writings of Gospel truths for about a week, so in his honor, I thought I’d quote him:

“Come hither, soul; put on the robe of Jesus’ righteousness, and thine own fears too: put on the fair white linen for it was meant to wear.”
-Spurgeon from Morning and Evening devotion. pg. 249

One of my prayers over the past few years has been that God would give me “Gospel lenses” to see the world. I don’t naturally think about things in light of the Gospel. My normal way of thinking about things is usually hedonistic (”I’m okay. You’re okay. We’re all just livin’.”) or legalistic (”I got to get my act together and so do you.”).

It grieves me and excites me to know I’m missing out on thinking about things in line with the truth of the Gospel (Galatians 2:14). I’m realizing that for the things I let define me, the way I respond to people, or for a trial I face there is always a way to filter it through the Gospel:

Am I crushed by a friend’s disloyalty/betrayal/rejection of me? …there is a rejection I will never face…the rejection of the Almighty God, because He rejected Jesus (”My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”) for me so that I will always be accepted and protected.

Have I just performed a great act of Christian work and am allowing it to puff up my pride? …there was One who performed a perfect work by living a perfect life…and He credited such a work to my account.

Do I feel like I’m alone in the world? …because the Father sent the Son and the Son sent the Spirit, I will never be alone and I look forward to the day when my loneliness will be no more when I see my Father face to face.

Am I struggling with knowing that people have labeled me as a “gossip”? … the Righteous One became a gossip for me and credited me with His record of always speaking appropriately and honestly about people (2 Corinthians 5:21).

We can either take these as trite sayings, or as the legitimate truth about who we are in Christ. There is always a Gospel reality to each situation that I normally miss. This is very different from the Buddhist notion that what we see is not really real. Gospel thinking does not deny what happens here in our lives and who we really are. It does not ignore our sin, encourage a stoic face about our brokenness, or psychologize our skewed thinking. On the contrary, it acknowledges it as true, but points us to a “truer true” and a “realer real”. This doesn’t take away the pain, the reality of our sin, or the grind of everyday life and human relationship, but puts it in perspective of Jesus and His finished work.

Come hither, soul!

Romans 8:1 … but don’t forget about Romans 7!!

I’ve been thinking about Romans 8:1 this week:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
(ESV)

As I was thinking about this today, I remembered that this verse is said in light of Romans 7. As some have said, “you need to see what the ‘therefore’ is there for”.

For a long time, I felt like there wasn’t a place for me in the faith. I knew I was a messed up guy and sinful, but never saw that as part of being the Biblical narrative (what was I smoking?). I just thought I was NOT “doing” the Christian life right. But now, I am so encouraged by Paul’s words in the former chapter:

“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”
vs. 15

Paul, the “super apostle”, isn’t just speaking theoretically. He is being honest about his brokeness. As I think about the way I’ve hurt people, I struggle with the calling to minister the Gospel. How can someone like me, who isn’t just sinful in theory, but in real interactions and relationships with people, be one who serves others in light of Jesus? Paul shows me how as he comes to the end of himself and his wrestling in chapter 7:

“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
vs. 24

Then he takes his eyes off of himself and casts himself on the Savior:

25 “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! “

What hope is there?

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

I bear the image of God, and yet I can bring harm and hurt if I minister in light of myself. But in Christ, I find that there is a place for me as one who is broken. And not only so, but as we let His light shine into the cobwebs and dark corners of our hearts, we find the real power of His grace, increased communion with the fellowship of repenting sinners, and cleansing from our sin (1 John 1:7). May Jesus be honored as I learn that I don’t minister out of my righteousness, but His. May we be made more like Him.

Romans 7
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Romans 8
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Identity in light of the Gospel

Sometimes (all the time) I struggle with defining myself in light of the Gospel. Let me explain. At times, I really feel like i’m resting in Jesus’ imputation of righteousness on me and the forgiveness of sins provided by His death…but, I feel like I go up and down with things that come into my life. On one hand, I feel stable. On the other, I’m all over the place. Part of this is just being human, and we must allow ourselves that. But part of that is that my identity is very tied to my circumstances.

So how do I let the Gospel infiltrate my identity daily? Part of that is to realize that the Gospel is true whether we’re believing/feelin’ it or not. I find it actually helps me to believe the Gospel and its implications when I realize it doesn’t depend on me to believe it to make it true.

Another aspect of Gospel infiltrating identity is to cognitively, volitionally, and emotionally order the importance of things. Our circumstances will go up and down, and our circumstances are very important, because God has ordered them. And yet, there is a truer true and a realer real that doesn’t depend on our circumstances. Life goes up and down. There will be successes and failures, but it is out into context for us when we remember that we are redeemed sons and daughters of the Sovereign Lord. Its not that life’s successes and failures aren’t important. They’re really important. Its just that its in light of the GOSPEL! This gives us a humble confidence as our emotions go up and down during through life.

We can give ourselves the freedom to feel bummed/elated at the results of our life, and yet, let the fact that Jesus lived, died and rose again and is now our Advocate before the Father run deeper in our hearts.

II Corinthians 5:21

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The Great Exchange - I tend to define myself by my sin. But simply put, we’re not defined by our sin. When I see my sin, I literally have to think about this verse and say to myself:

“Jesus became the _______ (insert your sin: liar, people-user, luster, gossipper, coveter, idolater, prideful one, etc), so that in him, I (and we collectively!) might be seen before God as _________ (insert the corresponding righteousness: always speaking truthfully, sacrificial people lover, always thinking appropriate thoughts, worshipping God alone, walking humbly with God, etc).

Its not just that our specific sin is forgiven, but we’re also credited with Jesus’ perfect Law-keeping. I find its really helps me believe it if I put in the specific sin and specific righteousness. The Gospel becomes scandalous to me as I am reminded that Jesus really did become sin so that we really could become the very righteousness of God. This completely changes my posture before God and the way I seek Jesus in repentance.

Purpose of the blog

So I think there is already too much electronic dialogue in the world compared to human conversation, and I am definately guilty. But I love talking about “gossipping the Gospel”. (aka the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and its implications). For me, I find that I know the Gospel in my head, but not in my heart. To put in another way, I would say I believe the Gospel, but “functionally” my life can be lacking proof.

I was talking to someone today about how my heart doesn’t start to get inflamed with the Gospel until I people remind me of its truths, or I can remind others. So I thought I’d start a little email forum and call it “Gospel Biscuits” after the words that are now legendary in my mind spoken by a certain Southern gentleman and scholar. The purpose of the forum is simply to help my heart soak in a truth of the Gospel and to encourage others in fellowship with Christ. If you’re not someone who would say you want to follow Christ as part of your spiritual journey, then consider this a sneak peak into the mind of those that do.