Watchmen… 1 Co16.13-14

 

Guys don’t be fooled by the culture. Men have a huge responsibility that no one else can take on. The role you play as a man is important for the safety and well-being of the people you care about.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 talks about five roles that men need to take on for the good of their families and churches (well, not just men, but we men can learn from it). These roles are things only men can do in the way that God designed men, because we are different than women. No one else can fill these roles like you can, in the place God has you. So, step up proudly, knowing that the job is meant for you and that the people you love are depending on you.

Here’s the five things no one else can do like men but men…

1.      Watch out for enemies!

2.      Stand up strong!

3.      Be brave, play the man!

4.      Have heart! (strong in mind and spirit)

5.      Have a will to love!

Let me focus on the first one…

Let me tell you a story. When I was younger, a friend of mine owned a punk clothing store and asked me to help out. My job was to make sure the displays were neat, run the register, and just keep an eye on things. It was a second job for me, and at that time, I wasn’t getting enough sleep because I stayed out late.

A couple of months later, my friend called me to come to the store to talk. I didn’t think much of it at first. But when I got there, she was upset and through her tears asked, “Are you in on it?” I was completely confused. Then she showed me a video of me sleeping behind the register while two people were stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of stuff. I couldn’t believe it!

My friend didn’t turn me in to the police, but I still lost the job and, sadly, that friendship. It was a painful lesson in responsibility. I learned the hard way how important it is to pay attention, duty, and how my laziness can affect others.

In military service, if you are on watch, you are expected to devote 100% of your attention to the guard you have been assigned. Whatever the watch, whether security, communications, operations, etc. you need to be alert. If you fail, the consequences are serious, not just for you, but for your teammates if you’ve left them exposed to an enemy threat. Lives are at stake, potentially even national security.

1 Corinthians talks about threats to the church and to our lives. In 1 Peter 5:8, it says, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” There are all kinds of threats around us—bad influences, harmful habits, and ways of thinking that can confuse the Gospel and what matters most. Just like a lion stalking its prey, the enemy looks for a way to separate someone from the group, to make them vulnerable. That’s when they attack.

So, what keeps us awake as we stand watch for the enemy of our, and our loved ones, souls?

The answer is simple: the gospel. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Paul writes, "For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." The most important thing to remember is that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again. Everything in life should be measured by this truth. What in your life or the lives of those you love is working as a distraction from that truth? The enemy wants to separate you or those you care about from the love and truth of Jesus. Are you watching out for them, or are you asleep behind a cash register just as I was years ago?

To stay focused, we need to follow Paul’s advice. We need to stand strong in faith and confront the things in ourselves and our loved ones that make us weak. We will need courage to speak up, to call out the things the set themselves against Jesus and truth, and we need the strength to fight for what is right. And all of this for a decision to love. A firm decision that we want the best for those under our watch. If we don’t, who will? The enemy is looking for the weak and unprotected, take your place as a man, even when it’s unwanted, and be a good watchman.

A Man of Christmas

 

A "Man of Christmas" shows God's character because of a deep appreciation for God's love and patience. This doesn’t take away from the Jesus Christ as the true “Christmas Man.” Instead, it highlights the kind of person God wants to shape us into through the Holy Spirit, by making us right with God (justification), making us grow spiritually (sanctification), and preparing us for eternal life (glorification). We can see this character in Joseph’s actions in the Christmas story. He shows us how to reject revenge when wronged, obey God even when it doesn’t make sense, and put God’s plans ahead of our own desires.

So how does Joseph demonstrate this for us? Take a minute to review Matthew 1:18-25. Here Joseph learns of Mary’s pregnancy, has a dream about the pregnancy, and responds to those two revelations.

First, Joseph doesn’t seek revenge for what seems like a betrayal. 1 Peter 3:9 tells us not repay evil for evil. Joseph, being a righteous man, does not act on his “right” to seek revenge for what Mary has done to him. Mary is betrothed to him, which in their time meant they were legally married but hadn’t yet lived together or consummated their marriage.

Today, it’s common for couples to live together before marriage and even have sex before making a formal commitment. But Joseph, as a righteous man, is following God’s standards. Mary, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have the same commitment to God and Joseph. She has obviously fooled around with another guy, gotten knocked up, and betrayed Joseph’s faithfulness. As icing on the cake she’s got a fantastic story to cover her unfaithfulness. Imagine the heartbreak, the humiliation, and the rage you would feel in that moment. What would you do?

It would be hard not to defend your honor publicly, to expose the truth and make sure everyone knew what she had done. But Joseph, even though hurt and confused, chooses not to disgrace Mary. In that time, a scandal like this would make her untouchable to another guy at best and subject to Levitical law at worst, which means death. But Joseph doesn’t think first of his honor, his revenge, his heartbreak, or his anger, he looks to protect her reputation all he can. “Not wanting to disgrace her publicly, (Joseph) decided to divorce her secretly.” Matthew 1:19

But this heartbreak isn't the end of the story. Joseph obeys God even when it doesn’t make sense.

Contrary to popular belief, humans 2,000 years ago didn’t easily believe in supernatural conception. It doesn’t take much of an understanding of biological science to know how babies are made. Mary’s story doesn’t fit with reality, but then, Joseph has a dream. In the dream an angel confirms Mary’s fantastic story, tells Joseph to marry the girl, and to name the boy Jesus. Even modern science can’t predict the sex of a baby without an ultrasound.

Imagine how you would react in the morning? Would you assume the pizza you ate the night before was bad? Maybe someone slipped you a micky? Maybe you were exposed to some foreign chemical that caused some imbalance in your psyche? But Joseph obeys God even against reason. This is the kind of faith Abraham had when God told him to pick up everything and take off on a grand adventure to a promised land and future that was beyond imagination. This kind of faith is considered righteousness.

But even as Joseph sets out into the great unknown, he doesn’t stop there. He also chooses to put God’s glory above his own desires.

Joseph doesn’t sleep with Mary until after Jesus is born. Even though everyone would assume Mary had cheated on him it was more important to Joseph to preserve the integrity of God’s glory in supernaturally bringing Jesus into the world. He values God’s glory more than his own personal pleasure. That’s real strength and self-control.

True manhood is about putting God’s glory above our own desires. Just like Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, giving ourselves for others, turning our backs on personal glory, personal fulfillment, personal pleasure, for God’s glory. This is only possible when we seek God’s heart before our own, it’s only possible through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit birthing in us a desire to honor Him over ourselves. Where is your heart this Christmas?

A Man of Christmas doesn’t repay evil for evil, obeys God even when it doesn’t make sense, and values God’s glory over personal desires. This kind of man can only be made possible through the power of the Holy Spirit in a man’s inner being made new through the revelation of God’s love in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus, who became human to live the perfect life we could not, so He could die the death we deserve, so we can have His eternal life which we don’t deserve.

Believe and follow Jesus and become a Man of Christmas.

Threatening Dreams, Genesis 50:19-21

Sometimes it’s those who are closest to us that are the most threatened by our dreams. Sometimes the dreams that we hold on to and share with our loved ones really challenge their own ambitions.

What do I mean? Well, sometimes when we have a dream of what God may do with us, or what we’d like to happen with us, maybe an ambition that would afford us some level of success, it’s those closest to us who may be challenged to view your dream as a threat to their own dreams or ambitions. When this happens those closest to us can seem to become the greatest hindrance to our dreams and ambitions.

Let’s take Joseph for instance, he gets a lot of airtime in Genesis, the first of the five books of Moses, the same book that introduces us to the Judeo-Christian God Who reveals Himself as the cause and source of all purpose, existence, and life. Joseph seems to be an important figure, and of course he is. It’s his story that fulfills part of God’s promise to Abraham. In Genesis 15:13 God told Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a foreign land for 400 years. This 400 years begins because of what God does with Joseph’s life.

But what about threatening dreams? You remember in Genesis 37 where Joseph begins to hear God speak to him in his dreams? Joseph’s got 11 brothers, and he seems to be a bit of a sniveling twit to me, if I’m perfectly honest, but we shouldn’t be surprised. He’s the son of a manipulative swindler, Jacob, who cheated his brother out of both his birthright and his father’s blessing. Joseph tattletales on his brothers to get on dad’s good side (Genesis 37:2), he struts and flaunts the fact that his dad favors him over his brothers (Genesis 37:3-4). So, Joseph doesn’t start out as the kind of guy we want to emulate. Really, he’s kind of a jerk. 

But it gets worse…

He has these dreams, one that symbolizes all his brothers bowing down to him, the second that symbolizes his entire family bowing down to him. As we find out, these dreams truly are from God, because that is eventually what happens! But, we get this picture of Joseph kind of throwing everything out there like it’s all about him! This is where things get threatening. Not because of what God said, not because God has a plan, but because he uses it to glorify Himself.

We can easily get the attitude that God’s plan makes you more important or significant than another. That’s threatening. We run around quoting Jeremiah to ourselves, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope,” (Jeremiah 29:11, ESV) forgetting that when Jeremiah said that, it was to encourage Israel as God was sending them into exile in Babylon.

When Jeremiah was prophesying to Israel he was a prophet with bad news! He was telling them that they were going to be exiled from their land for 70 years! And the point was so that they would return to God and “call upon Him and come and pray to Him” so that they would “seek Him with all their heart.” (Jeremiah 29:12-13, ESV) Only then, when it was all about God, would they know His blessing again, which is the “plan and purpose” part. The trouble is when we have a dream, we think it’s all about us…

Fast forward to the end of Joseph’s story... His brothers sell him into slavery, he ends up thrown in jail because his master's wife sets him up, finally he gets the opportunity of a lifetime to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams and God answers his prayer. Joseph ends up running Egypt and consolidating all the political power in the area under Pharaoh. After all that is when Joseph’s dream comes true. That’s when his brothers end up on their knees in front of him looking for food. But this is a very different Joseph. This Joseph has been through exile, he’s changed, now instead of being all about himself and thinking he’s special because he’s got a dream, he’s all about God.

Joseph had every reason to rub it in their faces! Like, “Look at me guys! Now who’s laughing! I’m in charge of the known world and you’re hungry, Ha!” Instead of gloating to his brothers when they’re on their knees and his dream’s come true he says, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” (Genesis 50:19-21, ESV)

Joseph’s dream wasn’t about him. Joseph’s dream was about God’s plan for the good of God’s people. But it took years for Joseph to get his head wrapped around that. It took slavery, prison, and years alone in an Egyptian world before Joseph realized it just wasn’t about him. For the good plan God had for Israel, in Jeremiah, it took 70 years, and the exile, slavery, prison time was all so that Israel and Joseph could figure out that it wasn’t about them.

Do you have a dream? It’s not about you! How long will it take for you to really know that? The Christian life is never about us, it’s always for God’s glory. He will use us, for His glory, for the good of His people. Do you want to be something special? Take the posture of a servant, take the place of the least, of a slave, then your dreams will really mean something. (Matthew 20:26-28) Because if it’s all about you and how God’s going to make you great, then it’s just irritating and threatening to those close to you.

The Omnipresence of God, Genesis 28:16

Did you know that the doctrine of God's omnipresence is a source of peace! Yeah, you heard me! This foundational teaching gives us peace!

I was reading the story of Jacob's ladder and something he said struck me...“Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” (Genesis 28:16, ESV)

I was caught by this passage as I considered what might have been for Jacob a developing understanding of God’s omnipresence in correlation to our, at least, basic belief of God being everywhere always.

So, quickly, let’s define the doctrine of God’s omnipresence.

1^st it is what theology calls an imcommunicable attribute, meaning it’s an attribute that only He has and doesn’t share with anyone. Nothing and no one else in all creation can claim omnipresence. This is part of what makes God magnificent, especially when we consider the fact that makes Himself known at specific times in specific ways, most significant of which is Jesus coming in the flesh. See, now my head hurts… Jesus is omnipresent, but at the same time seated at the right hand of God as the firstfruits back from the dead in a glorified body. (1 Cor. 15:20; Eph. 1:20)

2^nd There is no one place that can contain or hold God. Psalm 147 :5 says, “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.” The adjective “great” refers to something immense in size, power, and number, in a sense it is undisclosed in its greatness. This is greatness beyond measure.

The word translated “abundant” comes from an old Aramaic word that originally referred to high military rank, like a general ranking higher than a lieutenant. So, to say that God’s power is “abundant” is to say that His power outranks any other power. When the word translated “beyond” is used certain ways, like it is here, it means nonexistence. Meaning, there is no measure for God’s understanding, or limitations to God’s understanding are nonexistent.

I had a professor who would always speak of God’s omnipresence in terms of His understanding, because omnipresence reaches beyond specific terms like “here” or “there”; it extends beyond the confines of both space and time. God’s understanding has no limit because He experiences everything throughout all time consistently at the same time.

Ugh!… again, my head hurts!

I said "briefly" so we’ll just leave defining God’s omnipresence there… “His experience of everything and all time consistently at the same time.” Now, back to Jacob…

What's going on with Him? Why is he surprised by God’s presence in this place, and why didn’t He recognize it before?

There is a level of fear in his voice like when you open your daily calendar and notice that you are supposed to be somewhere important right now, but you're still in your pj’s! He experiences shock and awe because of the dream he just had and the realization of God’s presence. He says in verse 17 that the place is “awesome!” This comes from a word that usually expresses a sense of smallness in comparison to the unimaginable, undefinable greatness of God.

In short Jacob’s mind is blown!

He names the place Bethel or “House of God.” This, for Jacob, is a way of recognizing God’s sovereign participation in his life. For Jacob it's an important moment of realization as God's  transcendence (beyond, greater than, and surrounding all creation) and imminence (in, through, and present) in creation becomes real for him.

In verses 20 and 21 we see Jacob make a vow to God that basically verbalizes God’s promise to him in the dream, presence and provision that results in a return to the land of his fathers. Jacob accepts his role in the covenant by submitting to God’s sovereignty in commitment to God, the sanctity of the place Bethel, and a tithe.

But by now you must be thinking, “What does this mean for me?”

It is true for us as it was for Jacob… You never can know God in the moment until you know God in and over everything. Until you truly come to terms with our God who is omnipresent, you will never know the peace of trusting God in the most exhilarating moments in life or the most heart wrenching moments. When we know God as omnipresent, we are reminded that in times of plenty we live out our days before Him who is the sovereign judge of all creation. There is a level of healthy fear in that, and that's a good thing! Knowing God’s omnipresence keeps us on the “road to everlasting life.” As David prayed, “God, examine me and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any bad thing in me. Lead me on the road to everlasting life.” (Psalm 139:23-24, NCV)

A knowledge and faith in God’s omnipresence “keeps” us even in the most heart wrenching moments. Because no matter how bad it gets, God is over it, above it, right there in it with us, and it has not taken Him by surprise. He is with us and provides for us even when the baby dies, the boss calls on your day off and sends you on an indefinite vacation, or the bank changes the locks on your door. He is greater than any situation, and He holds you in His hand, doesn’t let go, and doesn’t let you fall out. He knew it was coming and before the foundation of time He knew how He would carry you through.

Rest in His omnipresence.

Mark 6:45-52, Not Quite what We Expected

Tradition holds that the Gospel of Mark was written by John Mark (who Paul and Barnabus argued and parted ways over in Acts 15:36-41). If Mark wrote the Gospel, it’s likely that He was going off much of what the Apostle Peter taught. If this is the case, then I think it’s interesting that verses 45-52 unfold the way they do.

In Matthew 14:22-32, Matthew tells the story with Peter getting out and walking with Jesus until he becomes more focused on the wind and the waves and begins to sink. If Mark’s gospel is based on Peter’s teaching than why is this part left out? Especially since it ends with one of Peter’s “A-Ha!” moments as the Holy Spirit opens his eyes to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah?

John talks of Jesus walking on the water as well. His account is in John 6:16-21, and he leaves out Peter walking on the water too! Why?

In all three accounts it comes after Jesus feeding the 5000, which is another impossible event! To the rationalistic mind, the answer is easy, “It didn’t happen, there must be a reasonable explanation for what the disciples saw and for what Matthew says Peter experienced.” And though many of us are okay with excepting that God incarnate had the ability to do miraculous things that backed up His claims of being God, we’re still left with questions that need answers if we are going to understand what God is trying to communicate through these authors.

Let’s take a closer look at what Mark writes… first he says, in the beginning of verse 45, “Immediately.” So, there is some level of urgency, “Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat.” Jesus rushed the disciples off, why?

To answer that question, we might get a little insight from John’s perspective of this event. John writes in 6:14-15, “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ‘This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!’ Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” Jesus ministry in this “desolate place” (Mark 6:32) created such a stir the people were ready to grab Jesus, make Him king, and take over the world! But it wasn’t time, so Jesus sends the disciples off ahead and withdraws to the mountain to pray.

We don’t see Jesus off alone praying mentioned a lot. In Mark it only happens three times (1:35; 6:45; 14:35–39). James Edwards observes that “in each Jesus faces a formative decision or crisis. Following the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus reaffirms by prayer his calling to express his divine Sonship as a servant rather than as a freedom fighter against Rome.” (Edwards, 2002)

The people, likely including the disciples, want to set Jesus up to overthrow the government. Jesus shoo them across the sea and sends the crown away (Mark 6:45). Then He goes to pray and wrestles with the direction of His ministry. Then He catches up with the disciples in the middle of the lake, but they’re in a boat and He’s on foot!

The disciples are out in the middle of the lake, without Jesus, and there “making headway painfully.” In the Greek this literally means that it was tormenting to get the boat to move in the direction they wanted. This was a rough night for the disciples. They just saw their Lord feed probably about 12,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish with way more left over than they started with. They were ready to set Jesus up and take Israel back from the Romans, but Jesus turned it all down. Now they’re stuck in the middle of the lake in a storm.

To the believer Jesus is everything, we praise Him as Lord and Savior, but rarely is He what we expected. And this too is the case with the disciples. They had imagined an outcome to their day that was way better than where they find themselves, and we’ve all been there. But this is when Jesus walks by doing something only God can do. He’s walking on the water.

No matter what the disappointment is that you are facing, God wants to show Himself to you as God. He doesn’t have any interest in living up to your expectations, but He has every intention of showing Himself to you. When everything doesn’t go our way, we’re afraid and don’t see a way out. Jesus walks by and says, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” (Mark 6:50) He may not live up to our expectations, but He wants to show you something more, something bigger than what you expect.

Jesus steps into the boat with His disciples, the storm becomes calm, and verse 51 ends with “And they were astounded.” Verse 52 tells us that they were astounded because they didn’t understand about the loaves. So, what’s that all about?!

They didn’t understand that Jesus wasn’t there to take over the government as they expected the Messiah to. He wasn’t there to make their lives what they always wanted. Like the loaves and fishes, He was there to be what seems like could never be enough, but when it’s broken it becomes far more than was ever needed. He didn’t come to be exalted; He came to be broken and die. And because He was faithful to stay His course He was exalted by the Father far above all authority and power and now is seated on the throne of power sovereignly ruling all creation and bringing it to it promised end… complete restoration!

It’s not always what we think we want or expect, but the outcome is way more than sufficient! Praise God for His faithfulness!

Works Cited

Edwards, J. R. (2002). The Gospel according to Mark (p. 197). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos.

Genesis 3, the serpent, sin, and the Scriptures

Did you ever think that the serpent that tempted Eve in the garden could encourage us to read and know our Bibles better! Well, here you go! The worst event in human history, and how it encourages us to read the Bible.

The serpent in Genesis 3 has always intrigued me. Given there’s been some discussion within our little group around the identity of the serpent in Genesis 3, I thought I’d dig into it a bit more to see what we might learn from this character in the Bible’s origin narrative.

First, tradition recognizes the tempter as a serpent, though not directly Satan. There’s good reason to think that it is not a direct reference to Satan himself, though I don’t think there is any harm in seeing Satan himself in this story line.

One of the descriptions we’re given that introduce us to this tempter/serpent are that He was more crafty, or cunning. This is the Hebrew word ʿārûm. We see this word used again in Proverbs 12:16; 12:23; 13:16; 14:8; 14:15, 18; 22:3; 27:12. In Proverbs, the crafty are contrasted with the “fool” or the “simple.” ʿārûm is also used in Job 5:12; 15:5. All of these uses of ʿārûm lead us to believe that the word crafty is not to be understood as either a negative or positive trait, meaning it becomes negative or positive based on how it is used.

Another description we’re given is that the serpent is an animal in the field. This is clearly a created being that is subject to the sovereign authority of the one Creator God, which eliminates any possibility of a balance in the power struggle between good and evil. Evil is in every way shown to be subservient to God’s divine authority.

In the text the verbal exchange is between the serpent and the woman. But all of the “you” pronouns are plural which shows that both the man and the woman were involved in the exchange, which is later confirmed in verse 6 where it clarifies that the “man was with her.” I find this interesting as I was always taught that the woman was somehow inherently flawed or somehow downgraded because of her part in humanities fall. There is something to be recognized in her being “deceived” as Paul highlights in 1 Timothy 2:14, which in my understanding is Paul putting the feminist women in Ephesus back into equal footing with the rest of the body rather than trying to dominate the men in their church community, as the Greek word translated “authority” in 1 Timothy 2:14 suggests. So, our thinking about Eve in the fall of humanity needs to be tempered with Adam being judged based on his part in listening to her rather than to God’s instructions, and the subsequent cursing of the ground as a result. The point being that both genders have a part in the fall and both share in the consequence.

But to the point of the passage, not so much which gender is to blame, but the subversivness of sin and how sinful choices become “good options” in our minds. Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls this “the first conversation about God,” and it is extremely significant! Notice the serpents 1^st question! “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” We see God presented in chapters 1 and 2 as a benevolent creator/provider, who introduces His crown jewels of creation to the wondrous world that He’s created for them and their pleasure, but the serpent turns God into a maniacal oppressor. As if God is holding His creation back from something good!

The woman responds by clarifying that God’s directive was to eat from all the trees excluding the one in the middle, but she overstates God’s claim a bit falling into the pattern of framing God as a bit of a stickler. Now, since there’s a twist in God’s suggested character both presented and accepted by the woman’s words, this provides the serpent with the opportunity he wants. He comes back with a clear assertion that mischaracterizes God as selfish and self-interested. This sets the stage for the first sin to be a “good idea!” The choice to sin, for the man and woman, wasn’t because they got confused and made a “oopsy!” They accepted a mischaracterization of God and His character and chose to liberate themselves from their false image of God. Their sin, in the moment, was justified in their minds because they were believing in a false and oppressive god.

This illustrates very clearly the way sin works in our hearts, and it highlights the importance of having an accurate view of God and His character. Sin becomes a “good idea,” because we begin to view God as keeping us from something good rather than protecting us for the good He’s already given.

I’ve said before that faith is trusting that God is good in all situations. Keeping our eyes fixed on God, as He’s revealed Himself, by faith, keeps us from veering off the path we’re called to walk with Him in the cool of the evening. The place where we are completely exposed and ashamed of nothing, because we’re innocent and have nothing to fear. But when we allow our view of God to be twisted we “suppress the truth” as Paul writes in Romans 1:18. And in suppressing the truth in our twisted view of God we do “not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but become futile in our thinking, and our foolish hearts become darkened.” (Romans 1:21)

This is the benefit of disciplined Scripture reading. When we are discipline in reading and knowing the Scripture, through which God speaks to our hearts through the Holy Spirit in us, are view of God is consistently realigned with how God has revealed Himself. This continues to renew our minds from its fallen state. As our minds are renewed we are filled with awe and wonder at the magnificence of our God and creator who created us to share in His goodness, saves us for His glory, and continues to express His love for us in renewing us and the creation we distorted through our choices.

The is great benefit in reading and knowing the Scriptures! Through it we fill our view, minds, and hearts with God as He’s revealed Himself, which strengthens our faith and further prepares us for our promised future in the fullness of His presence for all eternity. 

The Suffering Servant, Reflections

Isaiah 52:13-15

13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;[b]
    he shall be high and lifted up,
    and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
    his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
    and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle[c] many nations;
    kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which has not been told them they see,
    and that which they have not heard they understand.

The prophet speaks as the mouth piece of God and commands our attention with “Behold, my servant!” As if to say, “Look everyone I want to introduce you to the vehicle of your salvation. Let me introduce to you, here, tonight only, the one, the only savior, messiah, the one who you have been waiting for! The Suffering Servant!”

He knows everything that needs to be done to exact a complete and total salvation for you and for the whole world. He has the foresight to know the impact and the outcome of each of his decisions, and he will do everything that is necessary for completing the mission he has been sent to accomplish. Nothing can stop him because he knows already what and how everything needs to be done, and will do everything perfectly.

He is “high” and “lifted up!” These are titles only ever applied to God himself. This means that the servant  himself is God, He is the sovereign creator, and He is above all things and through whom all things were made and sustained. He is “exulted!” Yes, His very nature is high above everything! He is the highest of the high and mighty. He is God!

As the “many” in verse 14 indicates, everyone will be completely shocked and devastated by what happens to God’s servant, who is God, sent to carry out God’s will and purpose for the “many.” What will cause this level of devastation? Devastation to the extent that to see it, just the visual experience will cause a complete and total emotional overload that the “many” will be unable to react… 

They will only be able to stare in utter disbelief of what has come upon the servant of God. His appearance will be so incredibly disfigured that he will not even be recognizable as human. It’s the stuff of crime scenes that are only discernible through extensive forensic investigation and DNA testing.

In the pure horror of the servants suffering he will sprinkle his blood on the nations, cleansing them of their sin, and kings will stand watching unable to make a sound. 

Kings who understand the burden of sending men into battle

to defend a cherished way of life, kings who know that many of those men will end up leaving behind widows, these kings will be silenced as they see what they never could have imagined, as they comprehend what they never could have been prepared for. God has subjected his servant to complete physical, emotional, and spiritual devastation beyond anyone’s ability to stomach.

Jesus Christ did this as he carried our burdens, our guilt, and our shame to Calvary. How is it that God suffered to this extent for mere mortals? Mortals who have turned away in rejection of His sovereignty and grace. 

This is love, this is mercy, this is the character of our God.