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Phillip Hopwood - August 8, 2021

The Weariness of Life

Like Elijah we can find life overwhelming and withdraw, feeling we are all done in. God fed and encouraged Elijah and got him back on his feet to finish his service to God and help with the next generation.

Related Topics: bread, calling, discouragement, Elijah, encouragement, God is with us | More Messages from Phillip Hopwood

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Breaking Religious Patterns

Matthew 9:9-17

 “On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners’” (Matthew 9:12-13).

 

Jesus calling Matthew
The call of Matthew
illustration by Alexandre Bida

Jesus’ purpose and mission is centered on his redemptive work of bringing salvation to sinners. This upsets the status quo and often calls for a radical break from traditional religious norms.

The passage before us (Matthew 9:9-13) describes Jesus’ call to Matthew, a despised tax collector. Matthew worked in Capernaum, where Jesus lived (4:13; 9:1). He would have undoubtedly seen Jesus or at least heard of him before their encounter.

Matthew was probably a customs officer working on Capernaum’s trade route. He was hated and despised by his own people for being a collaborator with imperial Rome. Jewish tax collectors were not allowed in the synagogues. They were an unscrupulous class that had bought or bribed to get their appointments to become very wealthy. They burdened their own people with excess tax, while bribing the wealthy and declaring less tax for them.

It is easy to see why the Pharisees were furious with Jesus’ apparent lax attitude in sharing a meal with Matthew and his kind (sinners). After all, Scripture says that righteous people should not sit with deceitful people or with the wicked (e.g. Psalm 26:4-5). Jesus responds in the opposite of traditional norms. What the self-righteous Pharisees did not understand, and what many churched people today do not grasp, is that Jesus’ redemptive activity must be thrust into center stage. The Pharisees have no reason to accuse. It is like telling a doctor not to get close to the patient because he might get contaminated with the same condition as the patient or get blood on his hands!

The next passage is linked to the previous controversy, but this time it deals with the disciples of John the Baptist (Matthew 9:14-17). It seems that not all of John’s disciples were fully convinced that Jesus was the Christ. Yet they were sincere, and this is probably why Jesus takes time to explain to them new changes already on the horizon of his redemptive mission. The disciples of John and the disciples of Moses (Pharisees) fasted on a regular basis. The Pharisees fasted on Mondays and Thursdays, and the disciples of John apparently did, too. The Pharisees were religious fundamentalists who sought to separate themselves from everything they deemed “worldly.” John’s disciples were probably gloom and doom last-days prophets.

But Jesus’ disciples were radically different, because they were filled with the presence of their Master’s joy! Who can fast when sinners are being saved? Who can separate themselves from the world when salvation is laid at its front door? Who can preach gloom and doom when the message of salvation is good news? The old religious patterns of yesterday will not hold the new wine of today’s new covenant gospel of Jesus.

In both the above passages, Jesus is not concerned with maintaining past shadows for ritual’s sake alone as much as he is concerned with the reality of showing mercy by sharing the good news of God’s saving grace (9:35-38).

Questions to Ponder:

1. As committed followers of Christ, what can we learn from Jesus’ availability and approach in sharing the good news to Matthew and Zacchaeus?

2. What kind of negative response can we expect from some within our own church community? Can you give a discrete example?

3. How did Jesus follow up his call in each of the above cases? What can we learn from this in integrating new believers into the community?

4. Is Jesus’ message to sinners one of condemnation, or one of acceptance? Why can’t old traditions hold the new wine of the gospel? Give examples.

5. What is Jesus’ motive for seeking the lost, and what challenge does he lay at his disciples’ front door and to every generation? See Matthew 9:35-38.

Conclusion

Jesus’ purpose and mission is the salvation of the lost. His encounters with despised sinners and society’s outcasts are centered on sharing the joy of his presence. He wants to live with us; he does not want to exclude us.   We are disciples of this good news!

Lorenzo Arroyo

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Dated, Joseph Tkach, UncategorizedBy phil

Jesus: Double Agent

Christmas, the traditional day for celebrating the birth of Jesus, provides the church its focal point for gratefully acknowledging the Incarnation of the Son of God. In response to this historic event, the angels joyfully praised God (Luke 2:13) as they watched God’s master plan unfold. I believe this is significant to notice. The angels rejoiced because they knew it was God’s desire to be reconciled to his children, and that in Jesus, the children would be reconciled to their Father. The Incarnation is not only for humanity and our reconciliation to God; it is also for the Father whose purpose has always been to be reconciled to his children.

Angels Announcing Christ's Bith to the Shepherds by Govert Flinck

 Angels Announcing Christ’s Birth to the Shepherds by Govert Flinck

As fully God, Jesus acts in the role of the reconciler, and as fully human, he acts in the role of the one reconciled. Because he worked for both God and humanity, I fondly refer to Jesus as a “double agent.” But unlike other double agents, Jesus was loyal to both parties. One of my favourite secret agents, James Bond, temporarily saved the UK and the world from terror and ruin as he awaited his next assignment. But Jesus, through his one assignment, redeems and saves the whole world for eternity.

Whether or not the birth of Jesus occurred on December 25 is not important; what is important is that it did occur and is a real event to be celebrated. In Christmas celebrations, Christians honour the reality of the one plan of redemption throughout history—a plan brought about by Jesus Christ, who fulfils the promise to Abraham: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:27-29 ESV). As the one true son of Israel, Jesus is the answer to and fulfilment of all of God’s promises. “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory” (2 Corinthians 1:20 ESV).

As you know, God made a covenant with Israel: “If you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6). Unfortunately, Israel as a nation was not faithful to the covenant as the prophets repeatedly warned: “They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers” (Jeremiah 11:10 ESV).

It is only in Jesus’ total obedience as a human son of Israel that the covenant is fulfilled. He is the true Israel of God. He inherits the Abrahamic promises on behalf of of all Israel. And that’s good news for all people because the eternal Son of God, through his Incarnation, became the second Adam—the representative for all humanity. Therefore we rest on his perfect obedience. As our great High Priest Jesus acts in our place and on our behalf. In this way, all who “belong to him” are included in God’s “Yes.” “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed’” (Galatians 3:7-8 ESV).

In his book, Incarnation, T. F. Torrance makes the point that Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecies:

If it is the historical factuality of Jesus that is of controlling importance, then that Jesus must be presented as really embedded in history, embedded therefore in the hard stubborn history of Israel. That is precisely the case with Jesus (p. 16).

Jesus is God in the flesh. He is Israel in his humanity so that in him God and humanity are brought together in flesh and blood, in time and space, in person.

As I said before, Jesus is a true double agent—always for us, always on our side, the only one who has redeemed and saved all. And also like a double agent, not everything is transparent. Jesus’ mortal humanity concealed his divine identity. In commenting on Paul’s thoughts to the Philippians, Karl Barth says the following:

[Jesus] puts himself in a position where only he himself knows himself in the way that the Father knows him. In the unknowability into which he enters, it is now certainly the Father’s part to reveal him. But the step that brings him into that unrecognizable condition, into the incognito, is grounded entirely in himself alone… He exists in such a way that to any direct, immediate way of regarding him—e.g. to the historical and psychological approach—he does not present the picture of his proper, original, divine Being, but solely the picture of a human being (The Epistle to the Philippians, p. 63).

What becomes revealed in Jesus is that the Triune God cannot be known in a true and saving way by mere mortals. So God the Father in the person of Jesus, reveals the divinity of his Son by the Spirit. And that revelation can only come about by grace which, at the same time, reconciles and redeems us. Knowing God in Jesus the incarnate Son transforms us in every way. That is why Jesus said, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27). The early church put it this way: “Only God knows God and only God reveals God.”

Here’s a related quote I much enjoy from N. K. Gupta:

Christ by becoming a mortal, accepted slavery to those cosmological forces that lord over humanity. But, like a true “double agent” of popular espionage, he never forsook his true allegiance to God or his status as Son of God… Christ is ingeniously able to nullify their own power through the ultimate act of eschatological reversal: his own death and resurrection that is capable of being shared by others” (Horizons in Biblical Theology, 32.1, pp. 1-16).

At Christmas we rejoice along with the angels in this great reversal. We celebrate Jesus’ perfect obedience, which fulfilled the covenant on our behalf. We celebrate that Jesus is the one true son of Israel, and because we are in him, by faith we share with him in the covenant promises. We celebrate that Jesus never forsook his allegiance to God nor his allegiance to humanity. We celebrate the redemption we have in Christ our Savior. We celebrate the Incarnation.

Merry Christmas!
Joseph Tkach

PS: For a parody of the rock anthem “Bohemian Rhapsody” that powerfully recounts the Nativity story, watch the video at http://youtu.be/pW1pbuyGlQ0.

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Joseph Tkach, PermanentBy phil

Unanswered Prayer?

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Joe and TammyWe believe that prayer is vital to a life of faith. Skeptics may view it as merely talking aloud to an imagined deity, but that is not our problem. The problem we face with prayer is when it seems to go unanswered. When I think of biblical examples, two come immediately to mind. The first is found in the prophet’s prayer in Habakkuk 1:1-4. Perhaps you’ve prayed using similar words:

How long, Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.

hab-prayerGod answered Habakkuk’s prayer, but not in the way he expected.

Having prayed for the injustice in Judean society to be corrected, Habakkuk was stunned when God’s answer was that the nation would be invaded by the Babylonians and carried into captivity. Instead of hearing what he hoped would amount to divine justice, Habakkuk was told that he would have to endure even more injustice. He didn’t complain nor did he deny God’s existence for not answering in the way he expected. Instead, Habakkuk received God’s answer and carried on—he was changed by prayer.

gethsemaneThe second example of seemingly unanswered prayer is that of Jesus praying in Gethsemane. There, in agony, anticipating the painful sacrifice that lay ahead, Jesus pleaded with God the Father: “Is there no other way?”

Jesus returned to this prayer after checking on his disciples, his closest friends on earth. They were asleep and after waking them, he returned to entreat God with the same question: “Is there no other way?”

Jesus then went again to seek the comfort of his friends, but they were still asleep. Then the cycle repeated itself once more.

Copyright 2013, Tim Davis. Reprinted from Leadership Journal.

My perspective is that when Jesus saw his disciples sleeping the third time, he realized the answer to his seemingly unanswered prayer. That his closest friends could not comply with his request to merely stay awake, showed Jesus that all humanity ultimately fails due to its brokenness. Thus the answer to his prayer was clear—there was no other way. Though his coming death, resurrection and ascension were not the answer that Jesus sought at that moment, he willingly submitted and carried on. He did so even with joy, anticipating what would be accomplished for his disciples and for all humanity (Hebrews 12:2).

As you know, Jesus added a supplemental clause to his prayer. To borrow from the world of insurance terminology, he added “a rider.” He begins with the words, “If there be any way that this cup can pass from me…” and then the rider: “…yet not what I will but what you will.” Jesus’ prayer was not simply a request, much less a demand. Rather it showed his complete trust in his heavenly Father. His prayer demonstrated faith lived out in action.

Though we tend to see prayer as what we say with our voices, God views it as what we do with our  whole lives—all that we say, think, hope, love, believe and desire. God’s answer to our prayer thus addresses all that we (and, ultimately, all humanity) are and need to become in relationship to him. Wouldn’t any answer from God less than that be superficial? I’m sure we’re all thankful that God has not said “Yes” to all of our requests!

the-greatest-gifts

Certainly, we can verbalize our prayers to God. But since God’s relationship with us extends far beyond just listening to our words, his answers to our prayers involve more than just a snap judgment of “Yes,” “No,” or “Wait.” In prayer, we not only talk to God but also seek to discern how God is responding to us—trusting that his every response is one of loving us towards maturity in Christ. So while God may say “No” to one of our particular requests, that “No” always comes out of his wisdom and compassion for us as whole persons and so should not be regarded as a rejection of us, but as an affirmation of us as his children. Our heavenly Father is wiser and more loving than we are and so are his answers to our prayers.

I’m not suggesting here that God’s answers to our prayers only involve what he does to change us spiritually and never involve changing our circumstances, relationships and physical conditions or those of others. God is omnipresent and sees and knows the needs of everyone before we observe them. He already has his plan of redemption in motion that includes everyone, even the whole of creation. Prayer is our way of joining him in what he is doing in us, in others and in our world. However, we must be the first to understand that we do not always know what is best for all concerned, or just how he is going to accomplish all that he is doing to bring about his redemptive purposes. God’s answer to prayer takes into consideration all of time, all of space and all of creation. So we entrust all our prayers to him, trusting him to exercise his loving wisdom in his every answer. We can count on his answers to always exhibit the same wisdom and compassion we see lived out in Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate, crucified, resurrected, ascended and coming again in the glory of his kingdom.

Rather than becoming weary in prayer and well-doing, we can carry on as did Habakkuk and Jesus. A life of prayer offered to the living, redeeming God will always remind us that our own efforts will not bring the ultimate solutions to humanity’s problems. We need God’s saving, redeeming and transforming power. We acknowledge that we lack the wisdom and all-encompassing compassion that God exercises in deciding just how he will realize his saving purposes. Incorporating our prayers into his loving and wise purposes, God will use them to help us become the Christ-like person he intends for us to be. With that perspective, we will pray more and more like Jesus—from the depths of our hearts, gladly echoing his rider, “Yet not my will, but yours be done.”

Yours in Christ’s service,

Joseph Tkach

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