John 20: 8-9
Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
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After Jesus telling his disciples on multiple occasions that he must be tortured, killed, buried and resurrected, they didn’t quite get it. They didn’t fully understand. Even after Jesus did rise from the grave, they weren’t camped outside of his grave, waiting expectantly to see their teacher conquer death. They didn’t believe. They didn’t understand.
And really, who can blame them?
There’s a problem that develops after you’ve been a follower of Jesus for a while. Call it pride, call it over-learning, call it whatever you want. At the bottom of it it’s the thoughts and feelings of, “I’ve heard this already,” or, “I learned this a long time ago,” or, “I can’t believe they acted that way,” or, “I can’t believe they didn’t have faith.” Somehow, we come to think if we were in the shoes of Peter or Thomas that we wouldn’t have acted like they did; we would have believed everything Jesus said without question. Somehow, we come to think that if we were in Judas’ shoes, there’s no way we would have betrayed Jesus.
But one of the points of fallen humanity, is that we’re all fallen. Some people look at the Jewish people throughout the Bible and say, “they are the most stiff-necked people on the planet,” but it doesn’t matter who God chose to be his people, anyone would have gone astray and disobeyed God. Also, really think about the resurrection. I mean, really think about it. Prior to Jesus’ resurrection there may have been instances where people consulted the dead through spiritual mediums, or famous stories of people being brought back to life; but when in history has someone ever claimed that they would be arrested, tortured, killed, buried, and then raised again after being dead for two nights? When has someone ever predicted their own resurrection from death? No single person on the planet could make that statement unless they were planning an elaborate false death plot; in which case they wouldn’t truly have been resurrected.
Resurrection from the dead is unheard of. It just doesn’t happen. But somehow, John believes it; even though he doesn’t yet understand that Scripture says Jesus will be raised from death, he believes that it’s happened. So even though he doesn’t quite grasp the concept, he believes. He hasn’t heard a sermon or convincing argument for it, he just believes. But it’s not blind faith. It isn’t believing “just because.” John believes based on who he’s seen and known Jesus to be. At this point, he’s unable to point to any scripture in the Old Testament that says the messiah will be resurrected; but he knows who the messiah is. He’s seen him do miraculous things. He’s heard him say amazing things. He’s had private, personal conversations with him. He’s left everything to follow him because he genuinely believed Jesus was the promised Christ. And now that he sees an empty tomb, where he knows Jesus was buried, he believes.
But I’ll bet that John also had doubt, even though he believed. It’s a funny thing, but faith and doubt exists in us at the same time, at any given time. The reason we only need a little bit of faith (like the size of a mustard seed), is because there is a very big God. If you have a lot of faith and a big God, you’ll see God do big things. But even if you have a little faith, you still have a big God, and you’ll still see God do big things. Everyone has doubt, and it’s okay. God is patient and merciful with doubt (rebellion is a different story). Even if you have doubts, take heart in the faith you do have.
Doubt
Righteousness & The Poor
Jeremiah 22
13 "Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages,
14 who says, 'I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms,' who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar and painting it with vermilion.
15 Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the LORD.
17 But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence."
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Specifically, this is a message for Shallum, the son of king Josiah, who did evil in God's sight, not following the way of his father.
Basically, he accuses Shallum of being selfish and caring only for himself and his matters, when he is born to be a leader and a king. He has riches, yet he does not pay his workers properly. He builds and decorates his house with wealth, but he does not take care of the poor in the land.
His father, Josiah, on the other hand, was wealthy yet was fair to his workers and dealt righteously with the poor of the land. It says that Josiah ate and drank fine food, and then would also do justice and righteousness. And then God says, "Is not this what it means to know me?"
What a statement! We like to think that knowing God is about praying and going to church and reading the Bible (which are certainly necessary), but God makes multiple statements to say that acting in righteousness is what it means to truly know him.
Jesus himself said to his disciples, "You are my friends if you do what I command you." He says this as he teaches them to love one another just as he has loved them; that there is no greater love than someone laying down his life for his friends. He accuses the Pharisees of being righteous on the outside, but inside being full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (Matthew 23:28).
To know God is to live life with his heart. Knowing God is not simply a state of mind, it's action that proceeds from knowledge of him.
What strikes me time and time again is the connection between righteousness and caring for the poor (Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 15:9-11; 1 Samuel 2:8; Psalm 9:18; Psalm 12:5; Psalm 35:10; Psalm 40:17; Psalm 72:2-4; Psalm 112:9 [2 Corinthians 9:9 cites this verse]; Proverbs 31:9; Isaiah 11:4; Ezekiel 22:29; Amos 4:1; Amos 5:12).
Proverbs 29:7 says, "A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge."
We also tend to think that God judged Sodom because of sexual immorality, but Ezekiel 16:49 tells clearly what Sodom was guilty of: "Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy." God is clear that his righteousness is intertwined with caring for the poor and needy.
Not to say that other things aren't a part of God's righteousness. Also, not to say that we should only focus our church efforts on missions, outreach, and the poor; but we simply can't remove the poor from the equation. Also, to be clear, the opposite of upholding the cause of the poor is in verse 17 of Jeremiah 22; to have a life set "only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence."
I'll be honest, I'm not the model for upholding the cause of the poor. But it is something that has been growing in my heart. And I think that's the point. The only way to true righteousness is to have the heart of God, which no one has from birth. It requires God's Spirit to be in you, so your heart can be changed and awakened to his righteousness. If you claim to know God, this should be something within you; or you should at least be open to it.
So, my prayer is that God's people would be much more active in not just caring for the poor, but bringing them close to God. And it all starts with me. I can't just watch the church do it and applaud; I need to be in the game. And I feel the church (in the West) is beginning to realize this more and more, and they're beginning to act on it. I think the global church has this in mind, and it's awesome to see. It's such a bigger picture than I realize and it's an amazing thing to be a part of.
Jesus said that we would always have the poor (Matthew 26:11; also mentioned in Deuteronomy 15:11); so it's important to know that we can't eradicate poverty from earth. Only God's kingdom can make that a reality. And I want to be a part of that reality. But it can't be done apart from knowing God. There are so many organizations that are helping the poor; but the poor don't just need food, water, and shelter, they need God's kingdom. Let's be the people who play our part.
The Way, Truth, Life
In John 14, verse 6, Jesus says that he is "the way, the truth, and the life." It's a verse that's familiar to most Christians. It's also the trump card we often use to prove to non-believers that they need Jesus in their hearts or else they'll go to hell. But as I read the whole chapter, it becomes yet another reminder to me, and for every Christian, that it is unbiblical and unloving and unfair to drop John 14:6 on anyone as a trump card.
Jesus is talking here about ascending into heaven after he is crucified and resurrected. He's saying that where he's going, no one can follow him, not even his closest disciples. But where he's going, he's going to be preparing it to receive his followers; and they will know the way to where he's going. One of Jesus' disciples, Thomas, tells him that they don't know the way; "How can we know the way?" He asks.
Then Jesus answers, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." So Jesus is talking about something very specific here. He's saying there's a way to this place he's going to and preparing. And in essence he says that he himself is the way. It's not a path to be followed or a trail to be walked; it's him, it's Jesus.
He's talking about the way to God. He says that he and the Father are one. If you know Jesus, you know God the Father because they are both one. Then Thomas speaks up again, "Show us the Father, and it is enough for us." He's saying "(my own words) This is hard to understand. Just show us God, show us the Father, show us where he is and then we'll know the way; we'll know how to get there." Jesus reiterates that they have been seeing the Father all along because they have been with him for a long time now. Anyone who sees Jesus has also seen God.
Verses 11 and 12, I think, are key to understanding all of this. It helps to understand what we're actually supposed to do about all of this. Whenever we mention that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, we should always have verses 11 and 12 follow:
11 "Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
12 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father."
Here's what it all means: Jesus is the way to God, because he is God. He was here on earth for a time, but had to go back to heaven. If he indeed is the way to God, but is no longer here, who will show others "the way?"
Since the disciples had been with Jesus, they knew him. Even if they didn't believe that he was God, he tells them to believe that statement based on all the things they had seen Jesus do (heal the sick, forgive sins, cleanse lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons, etc.). He then tells them to go out and do the same things he did. Why? Because some people will not believe in Jesus through words alone. Some people will only believe if they see the works of God happening in their midst.
The next time we are eager to tell someone that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. We should always be eager to pair that with showing them the works of God. If you have no evidence to show the work of God that you have seen with your own eyes, what right have you to tell anyone that Jesus is the only way to God?
I don't think this means you had to have seen anyone raised from the dead, or that you have to have been crippled but now can walk. But it does mean that you should be able to point others to a tangible example of the miraculous work of God in your life. Has he truly changed your life in a way that otherwise would have been impossible? Then tell people about that. Let's not be eager to just point to Jesus without being able to point back at ourselves saying, "here's the proof."
Samaria is in Kailua
This morning I was listening to my devotional reading as I was walking from the office to Starbucks. Since I was feeling pretty sleepy, I figured a nice walk would work well together with a hot latte. After crossing the street I saw one of the resident beggars, Michael, sitting on a bench and instantly knew I was going to have a short conversation with him. He stood up and walked with me for a bit talking about how he needed $1.89 to buy a huge bottle of water because he was thirsty and he’s living on $5 a day. I remembered a while back he told me he was getting a check every week, but he kept blowing it on booze and food. I asked him about the check and he said he doesn’t get it anymore because he’s gone to jail a few times since for trespassing on his sister’s house.
The only cash I had on me was $1 and I had planned on using it for coffee but gave it to Mike instead. The whole time I could smell weed on him. I assume that other people have also felt this way, but I wasn’t confident that the dollar was going to go to a bottle of water. The only thing that really pushed me over was the lostness and despair in his eyes. He seemed more lost than before.
I walked away and continued listening to my audio Bible and bought a latte with my debit card. I thought “Isn’t it funny that I would struggle to give a dollar to someone, but have no problem spending three bucks on myself?”
There was a long line, so the New Testament reading that played while I was waiting was John, chapter 4.
I was listening to how a Samarian woman at a well came to draw water and Jesus initiates a conversation with her. He tells her that anyone who comes to this well to drink water will eventually have to come back again, because they’ll get thirsty again. But if anyone drinks of the “living” water that he himself will give to people, they will never be thirsty again (vv.13-15). It just seemed a little too beyond coincidence that Michael had asked me for money to buy water and that he was so thirsty. He’s never asked me for money to buy water before. It’s always been for juice or soda or food. The best I could muster up was one dollar, and I had a hard time with that. Yet I totally missed an opportunity to speak about living water, just like Jesus had done.
Then as I was leaving Starbucks, I had to walk back to my office, so I would cross paths with him again if he was still there. “Good,” I thought, “If he’s still there I’ll totally do it. I have no idea what the first thing I’ll say is, but I’ll give it a shot.” And then I had this conflicting thought that I didn’t really want to do it. He already kinda knows me and knows that I work at the church and I’ve prayed with him once or twice before, but I still somehow felt uncomfortable talking to him about God. So I considered crossing the street so I could be on the opposite side of the crosswalk from where he originally was. Then I realized that Jesus could have gone around Samaria if he had wanted to. In fact, every other Jew made it a point to cross the Jordan River and walk north, then cross the river again when they made it near Galilee, just so they could avoid having to walk through Samaria and *heaven forbid* speak to any Samaritans.
As you can guess, by this point I’m feeling pretty bad about myself. I felt plain horrible to have considered avoiding Michael again so I wouldn’t have to talk about something weird like living water and Jesus. I decided to just go straight and if he’s there, he’s there. I was pretty convinced that the Lord wanted me to have this conversation with him. He wasn’t there. I assume he went to go buy water.
But I missed it. I missed an opportunity. Jesus also told the woman at the well that God’s worshipers must worship him “in spirit and truth” (vv.23-24). My actions this morning show me that I wasn’t willing to live in the Spirit, and I wasn’t willing to speak the truth. The Christian life goes far beyond believing in Jesus and having him in your heart and reading your Bible and praying before meals; there must be a physical element of truth in our faith. One of Jesus’ brothers, James, later wrote that “faith apart from (good) works is dead” (James 2:26).
Lord, please forgive me and grant me another opportunity to speak to Michael words of truth, but also to show him in a real way that I’m not just interested in preaching to him, but that I’m genuinely concerned for his well-being, and for him to know you. Please burn this into my heart so that I cannot resist but speak what you put on my lips. May I be a faithful servant whenever and wherever I am. Help me in this Lord and change me.
