You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April 2011.
Mark 2:1-12 contains a relatively well-known parable: The healing of a paralytic.
In the parable, we see several men bringing their friend to Jesus to be healed.
This individual was a paralytic and could not walk – his friends had to carry him on a mat to the house where Jesus was.
However, Jesus was inside the house, and the crowd that had gathered to see Jesus prevented the four men from bringing their friend inside the house. What happens next is quite remarkable.
Rather than be dismayed, the four friends determine Jesus is the one chance for their friend to walk again and do the only thing they can think of: They climb on top of the house, dig a hole in the roof, and lower their friend through it.
____
The faith of the friends is incredibly simple and there isn’t the slightest hint of hesitation.
Without even bothering to consider the ramifications of their actions or how ridiculous they may look, they do whatever it takes to make sure their friend has the opportunity to be healed by Jesus.
____
While the faith of the four friends is simple, it is also extraordinary. This parable takes place early in the ministry of Jesus, He was probably still relatively unknown. But these four friends, they had faith. They had faith Jesus was the only hope for their friend. They had faith that if they could bring their friend to the feet of Jesus no matter the cost, he would be healed.
In response, not only does Jesus heal the paralytic and enable him to pick up his mat and walk out of the house, He cleanses him of his sins as well. “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven,’” (Mark 2:5).
Jesus heals the individual physically and spiritually, meeting both his temporal and his eternal needs.
____
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
– Ephesians 3:20-21
“Don’t bother reading the Old Testament, you don’t need that. Stop worrying about making sense of Lamentations or Leviticus and go read something important, like Galatians or Ephesians.”
These words, spoken by a pastor I once knew, horrify me each time I think back to them.
This pastor certainly had good intentions – he was trying to get a group of college kids to read the Word of God, and he was trying to convey how important the New Testament is to our spiritual journey and our relationship with God.
___
At a certain level I can understand why he said what he did: The Old Testament can be daunting and overwhelming, its books long, confusing, and seemingly nonsensical.
The New Testament, however, is certainly “easier” to understand when compared to the Old Testament; it is a clear record of who Jesus Christ was (and is) and what that means for us as believers in the family of God.
But what this pastor failed to communicate is that without the Old Testament, the New Testament has no basis – no foundation. Without the Old Testament, the New Testament is meaningless.
___
It is said that the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.
As such, we see in the New Testament not something that is relevant and important while the Old Testament is purposeless and meaningless; rather, we see the New Testament as a record of the continuing faithfulness and revelation of our mighty and sovereign God, a fulfilling of the work He began at creation, continued through Israel, and continues still to this day through us, His church.
___
As the 105 wears on, don’t forget the truths of the Old Testament, for they form the very foundation upon which the New Testament rests. Don’t be relieved that the 105 has finally moved on from the Old Testament – rather, remember that the New Testament is a fulfilling of the Old Testament, a revelation of God, and rejoice.
“How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave. She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.” (1:1-2)
These are the opening words of the book of Lamentations, and what follows is one of the most horrifying and tragic accounts ever recorded. Penned by the prophet Jeremiah, Lamentations is a firsthand account of Babylon laying Jerusalem to waist.
“Look, O LORD, and see! With whom have you dealt thus? Should women eat the fruit of their womb, the children of their tender care? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? In the dust of the streets lie the young and the old; my young women and my young men have fallen by the sword; you have killed them in the day of your anger, slaughtering without pity.” (2:20-21)
_____
Jeremiah mourned the fall of Jerusalem and was wearied by the devastation - the city had fallen because of the sin of Israel:
“This was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous.” (4:13)
Jeremiah was confident, however, that the Lord would not forsake Israel forever. He cried out to the Lord, and beseeched Him to return.
“Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old—unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us.” (5:21-22)
______
While the situation certainly was dire, all hope was not lost.
Just prior to the fall of Jerusalem, we find an event in the life of Jeremiah that symbolizes his hope in the faithfulness of the Lord; Jeremiah is confident the Lord will raise up a remnant to return to Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 32 records a transaction in which the prophet buys a field from his cousin Hanamel (32: 8-12), a field it only makes sense for Jeremiah to own if one day, the Lord will allow a remnant to return to Jerusalem.
“For thus says the LORD: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them.” (32:43)
These words may seem insignificant to us, but to a people fearful of the impending doom facing Jerusalem, they would have inspired hope and confidence in the faithfulness of the Lord.
The book of Jeremiah is a remarkable collection of prophetic oracles concerning the impending judgment of Jerusalem.
While Jeremiah is often regarded as confusing – it is a collection of Jeremiah’s anthologies and is not assembled in chronological order – we do take note of the prophet himself.
_____
The Lord sovereignly calls Jeremiah, choosing him even before he had been formed in the womb:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (1:5)
However, Jeremiah is hesitant and unwilling to respond to the call of the Lord:
Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” (1:6)
The Lord’s response to Jeremiah contains some of the most comforting words in all of Scripture:
But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.” (1:7-8)
_____
These were powerful words spoken by the Lord - the message Jeremiah preached to Jerusalem was not a popular one, and Jeremiah surely would have failed had it not been for the strength of the Lord.
Throughout Jeremiah’s life, he was criticized, castigated, and ignored. He never married, was viewed as an outcast by his family, and was largely considered an enemy by the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah, however, was faithful, and could not keep from speaking the Word of the Lord:
If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. (20:9)
Even after the deportation of a majority of the Israelite community to Babylon, Jeremiah chose to remain in Jerusalem with the haphazard collection left behind to make sense of the devastation that had come upon the city. Ultimately, Jeremiah was carried off to Egypt, and it was there He died.
Home is where the heart is, or so the cliche goes. And as much as I hate cliches, this one certainly holds true.
A home isn’t just a house or a town or a job.
Whatever we treasure in our hearts or whatever we hold dear, that’s home.
___
It seems fitting, then, that the Word of the Lord is so explicit as to what things we should treasure in our hearts:
“How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.
With all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
Your word I have treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.
Blessed are You, O LORD;
Teach me Your statutes.
With my lips I have told of
All the ordinances of Your mouth.
I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
I will meditate on Your precepts
And regard Your ways.
I shall delight in Your statutes;
I shall not forget Your word.”
– Psalm 119:9-16
___
I pray that no matter what afflicts us in this life, we steadfastly treasure the Word of the Lord in our hearts, and come to regard His Word as our foundation – our home.
No matter the trouble and turmoil of this life, we will always have a home in the Word of God, a refuge that encourages us, supports us, and gives us strength.
God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.
– Psalm 46: 1-3
