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Heart
Message
A Sign to be
Spoken Against
From the very beginning of the Gospel story there are elements that can poke at
anyone’s proclivity to quickly judge from a self righteous posture. To get
an emotional feel of this temptation, one has to picture themselves as
perhaps a neighbor, or one hearing the story in a marketplace without the
benefit of the Divine narratives in the New Testament.
The earthly father of Christ, Joseph, needed an angelic visitation to
believe what God had done in his beloved Mary, but not everyone would be
provided such supernatural confirmation. Friends in the
synagogue would have to take any gossip to the Lord and hopefully resist the
temptation to speak against what God had done in humility.
One of the principles found in the incarnation must be that sometimes when
God moves, few are going to understand it at first, and it can ‘appear’ to be something less than holy. Would this not be
a scandal, especially in a small village of religious Israel? If any elder
board today were in authority back then, would they have accepted Mary’s
story? Would any of us?
The Pharisees may have even made a snidely reference to the virgin birth
story when they said,
“We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God." (John 8:41)
At Mary’s purification rite in the temple after the birth of Christ, a man
named Simeon interrupts with a prophetic word extolling God for fulfilling
the personal promise he received from God, to see the Messiah in his
lifetime.
He also adds a word of warning which confirms that this is not going to be
an easy journey for the chosen couple, there would be misunderstanding and judgment.
Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this
Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign
which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul
also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:34,35
One would think that the Messiah would be destined to unify God’s people and
bring us all together! But yet He is destined for controversy which will be
offensive to many, while also lifting up others and revealing the hearts of
all.
The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone.
Psalm 118:22
The irony throughout the Gospels is that the greatest opposition to
Christ came from those who knew the scriptures the best. They were ‘the
builders’ of Psalm 118 quoted by Christ and the Apostle Peter.
(Matt. 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11, 1Peter 2:4, 7)
How stunning! Could it be that the enlightenment which accompanies learning
the word of God can also produce a kind of religious pride if not maintained
in humility? The Apostle Paul did tell us that “Knowledge makes arrogant,
but love edifies.” (1Co 8:1 )
We all need to guard against this kind of over-certainty about what God will
and will not do in our time as we endeavor to “correctly handle the word of
truth.” (1Tim2:15) The religious leaders in the Gospels clearly demonstrated
that you can know the holy ‘text’ thoroughly as the Scribes and Pharisees
did, and yet adamantly reject the living Word Himself.
Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob
that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them. John 7:48,49
Those in spiritual authority at the time of Christ were not roaming the
streets frothing at the mouth uttering hateful speech at children. We may
miss the lesson if we think of them as overtly evil and easily identifiable.
These leaders appeared righteous but underneath concealed a distance from
God and a deep love for public honor. (Matt 23) Had we been alive then, we probably would
have attended their bible studies! They were the men who taught the
scriptures, gave counsel, performed the marriages, copied scripture and
shepherded the people. The priestly class presided over the temple and the
sacrificial system. These were the people whom everyone relied upon for
spiritual insight and responsibility. But they became offended at Christ and
many spoke against Him.
Then the disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees
were offended when they heard this statement?" Matt 15:12
They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when
anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will
do such things because they have not known the Father or me. John 16:2,3
Choosing between Christ and the rabbi
who taught your family from the beginning had to be a dreadful choice. But
if your heart was touched and broken by Christ, you would know what you had
to do. The offenses taken by the spiritual leadership in the days of Christ are
instructional for us. Jesus has not changed. He is the same ‘yesterday, today and forever.’
(Heb. 13:8) We should therefore not assume
that His actions today would never offend us, but to humbly acknowledge that
we are sinners saved by His grace and certainly capable of opposing God’s
mysterious moving. Thankfully God is full of mercy and we do have the
indwelling Spirit to guide us into all truth. (John 16:13)
Conclusion
Those who know God’s word
and shepherd His people must resist the pride that can result from the
esteem and honor of their office. Certainly we should test all
doctrine and actions by God's word, but by God's grace we need Him to help
us maintain a sense of humility
and equality with those who we may view as less informed. Was Mary the
mother of Jesus a bible scholar? Yet this young girl knew more about
the identity of the Messiah than all the scholars in Jerusalem. God is no respecter of
persons. We
must resist the temptation to view ourselves as a final and infallible arbiter of what is and what is not of
God, lest we too become offended at the very God we are seeking to defend.
(Acts 5:39)
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose
the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 1Cor. 1:27
And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me. Matt. 11:6 |
