The One Who Could

The one who could gather large crowds
  with his teaching and healing
  also leaves them behind.
The one who could explain everything to his disciples
  when they were alone
  also lets them alone as he slept in the middle of their storm.
The one who could speak only in parables to the crowds
  so they might not hear, but only understand,
  also quiets howling winds with his words.
The one who could speak only in parables to the crowds
  so they might not see, but only perceive,
  also stills the furious waves with his words.
The one who could say "He who has ears, let him hear!"
  also makes the winds and waves obey him.
The one who could command our trust and love
  also allows us to ask, "Who is this?"
The one who could hear us say, "Don't you care if we drown?"
  also says, "Do you still lack my faith?"

(Meditation on Mark 4:35-41, Jesus Calms the Storm)

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Jesus Mediates Biblical Truth

“Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21)

When I train students in my laboratory, I often have them read about things before they try them out.  I have them read through a procedure and tell them that they may not understand all of it, but just to read it to get an idea of what we will be doing together.  After they see and practice the procedure, reading it makes much more sense.  The “fulfillment” of a procedure is in its execution.

So it is with the Bible.  Many things were heard from God and some of it was understood.  But fulfillment did not occur before Jesus.  Perhaps there was an inkling of what “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” meant through Moses, the Law, Wisdom, and the Prophets.  When Jesus came, though, then the true execution of that phrase was made plain.  Not only did he illuminate the entire Bible, he refashioned history according to its true fulfillment and showed the future in his being and in his teaching.

Everyone in Jesus’ hometown hoped that he was talking about how Israel would come out on top and all the pagan nations would be punished and destroyed.  They hoped for a ruler to make a merely earthly kingdom.  While Jesus pointed to himself, he dashed their hopes of Messiah, even speaking blasphemy to their ears.  He explained that although he fulfilled the scriptures, the people of his hometown would be the first to reject this fulfillment: a kingdom beyond Israel embracing the pagan nations.

So when I come to the Bible and when I speak about it, the true understanding and execution of the scriptures can only be found in Jesus.  He is more than an example.  He is more than a sacrifice.  He is more than a victor.  Fulfillment comes “today.”  He is my ever-living, ever-present guide and friend.  It is Jesus opening my mind to the scriptures and their meaning through an encounter with him.

Lord, you have brought such joy and simplicity to obeying you!  Jesus is the mediator of all truth.  The Bible is now his book to teach me with so that I too might fulfill the scriptures even as I hear from him.  Let my ears hear the one who is the way, the truth, and the life.  Amen.

Like the people long ago, I am tempted to see Jesus’ fulfillment of the scriptures as the fulfillment of my personal earthly happiness.  I do not want him to fulfill all the scriptures, but just the ones that might make my life easier and more pleasurable.  I need to take seriously the parts of the Bible that I might not want to see fulfilled.  In these places I may discover places in my life that need healing and redeeming as Jesus shows leads me into all truth through his Spirit.

The Good Thing, the Bad Thing

Good deeds do not always lead to God.  There are good deeds that can take us away from God.  This is a tragedy in life.  One of the main reasons that Jesus died was because he pointed this out repeatedly and severely.  He pointed out the difference between the "good" deeds of the Pharisees and the good deeds of many of the sinners.  In one of his teachings he said,

Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven.  Many will come to me one that day and say, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons and perform many miracles?"  Then I will tell them plainly, "I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!"  (Matthew 7:21-23)

It is possible to do "good" things, but not the good thing.  As a matter of fact, many "good" things keep people out of the kingdom of heaven and away from God.  What keeps us out of the kingdom is the idea that there are some things that are good in themselves apart from being with God.  Jesus came to say, "Only God is good."  There are no actions or intentions performed by people on their own that oblige God to allow their entry into his kingdom or his life.

Since no "good" deeds can oblige God to bring us into his family and into his life, we can only enter by grace, God's strength and undeserved favor.  Grace is opposed to earning.  "Good" deeds that do not lead or contribute to a personal relationship with God are efforts to earn.  This is why Jesus constantly pointed out that the "sinners" of his day were entering his rule before the "good" people.  They were not doing "good" things to earn (demand) God's approval, but instead were seeking to be near to Jesus and follow him.

From this we also learn that there is no bad deed that can exclude us from God's kingdom.  If bad deeds lead to regret, sorrow, rethinking how we think (repentance), and seeking Jesus, then they become good.  Bad deeds become bad when they separate us from God (which they do), but can become good if they lead us to confession and repentance and doing truly good things.  "Bad" people can find God sooner than "good" people because of repentance.  For most of us, we find it easier to repent of the bad things we have done rather than repent of the "good" things we have done.

Really, there is only one good deed:  Jesus' death on the cross.  Anything good must come out of this goodness.  Any "good" thing done outside of this goodness as competition to it, as evidence that I don't need it, or in willful ignorance of its necessity end up taking me away from God and his plans for me and all people.  When my good deeds come from gratitude for the cross, praise to the God who planned such a deed for my sake, and desire to imitate the cross in my life by putting to death the things that come "naturally" but lead me away from God, then they are truly good because they come from the good of the cross.

Perhaps there is also only one bad thing.  Perhaps that is what Original Sin is about.  All bad things come from that first willful act of disobedience and distrust of God.  There is nothing new under the sun.  Bad things can look surprisingly "good," but when they lead us from the loving arms of God they are bad.  Such bad things can be unrepentant actions of self-service that hurt ourselves and others, or they may be acts of self-righteousness that ignore our daily need of God in our life.  Either way they come from a lie that is told: "You don't need God; you can be your own god."  They come from a world living out that lie to its fullest.  They come from an inward propensity to "make it on my own" and "do what I want to do."

Certainly, God is merciful.  He will not turn away people who want to be with him, even at the last moment.  The thief on the cross stands as an icon of hope.  Our good deed may not be much, but when it is turned toward Jesus as our hope and deliverance, it is enough because of the grace poured out on all of us through the cross.  There have been people reported in the Bible who have been delivered by God without knowing much about him: Rahab the whore, a Syrophoenician idol-worshiper, and a thief on a cross.  This shows the kind of God we might serve.  One who is "compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love."  (Psalm 103:8)

However, we must be honest about each of these people.  Rahab was one of an entire city.  The thief was one of a great crowd who gathered to see Jesus die.  Many will not come to grace.  The gospel is God's power exerted to save people, his last, best word of mercy and grace, his effort to open up his kingdom to everyone and anyone.  God's mercy to people who do not know Jesus is not the good news primarily, but a loophole of his kindness.  The good news is that we need not guess nor do we have to wait until we are at death's door to draw near to God.  We can see his mercy and live in it through Jesus.  The good news is that the good deed is done and that we merely need to live with it and live by it and live in it.  The kingdom of God has always been, since God has always been king, but now we see that his rule is one of grace and mercy and those who can accept this through Jesus can enter.

The reason we know we are delivered is that we can live with God's voice in our hearts and God's presence at our side daily.  He will not abandon us to death any more than he abandons us in this present age.  The life we begin with him will continue and grow, just as existence without him will also continue and degrade.  The gospel, the good news is that we can start living with Jesus and like Jesus now.

So not all "good" things lead to God and not all bad things lead away from him.  What is needed is a will set on choosing Jesus and his way rather than our own.

Lord, may I learn to see and live in your goodness rather than my own.  May I allow my sins to lead me to your feet.  May I live by the cross so I might be raised with you in every aspect of my life.  Amen.