Isn't it Ironic?

 

As I was doing our Daily Walk Bible reading today in John 18-21 I was reminded of the amazingly-catchy, though atrociously-annoying, song by Canadian-American singer Alanis Morissette called "Ironic." In the song Morissette sings about various things in life that are supposedly ironic. For example, the irony of "10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife" or "rain on a wedding day" or "a free ride when you've already paid." The reality is most of the examples in her song are not ironic, nevertheless the song still pops in my head when I hear or read about something that seems "ironic."

For example, John opens chapter 18 by setting the stage for Jesus's arrest and I found it ironic that it happened in "a grove of olive trees" (18:1). As you know, olives and the olive branch are international symbols of peace. So why does this horde of Roman soldiers and Temple guards "with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons" arrive "at the olive grove" to arrest Jesus? After all, Paul says in Romans 5:1 "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." To me, it seems Jesus is the shining example of peace and yet how ironic it is that these soldiers and guards would come to arrest him in an olive grove!

This is the man, after all, who told his disciples, "I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give" (John 14:27, NLT).

Later, in one of his last teachings, he said to his disciples  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NIV).

And after he was resurrected he said to the disciples two times, "Peace be with you" (John 20:19, 21) and then eight days later to doubting Thomas he made the same comment "Peace be with you" (John 20:26).

My question for us today is this, do we come to Jesus like the Roman soldiers and Temple guards with war and hatred in our hearts? Do we come in the dark, afraid we will be found out and exposed? Do we come with our own agendas and plans, wanting to arrest him to our desires and whims?

Or

Do we come to Him with humble hearts and open minds? Do we come ready to receive, and eagerly desiring, "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding" (Phil. 4:7)? Or do we come seeking "the God of peace" (Phil. 4:9) who is only found through his Son Jesus Christ?

Authority and Amazement

I have to say that I have been blessed to take part in the Daily Walk Bible reading this year! These readings have provided new insights into the majesty, glory and character of God.

Recently, while reading the Gospel of Mark, my eyes were opened to the sovereign authority that Jesus displayed over: Creation, sickness and disease, demons, over people and especially in his calling of the disciples, in his teaching and over sin. But I was also moved by how many people were “amazed” with Christ. They were amazed with: his teachings, with his power to heal, and with his power over Creation. Mark 7:37 says, “They were completely amazed and said again and again, ‘everything he does is wonderful’” (NLT). Clearly, Jesus’ authority precedes the people’s amazement.

Continuing this idea, Michael Card calls the Gospel of Luke “the Gospel of Amazement.” Card says in his commentary, “Luke exhausts the language of amazement…there are five Greek words that can be translated “amazed” and only Luke uses every one of them” (Luke: The Gospel of Amazement, p. 22). Card goes on to ask the rhetorical question, “why am I not amazed?” This is a great question for us to ponder!

As I was reading this morning I was shocked to see that this time it wasn’t the people, the disciples or those who were healed that were amazed. But, rather, it was Jesus himself! In Luke 7 a Roman Centurion had heard of Jesus’ amazing authority and how the people had been amazed at this authority and so he realized that Jesus was the only hope for his slave, who was dear to him, to be healed. But instead of asking Jesus to come and pray for him and anoint him with oil or heal him through the laying on of hands he simply says “just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed” (7:7, NLT). Wow! What faith!! “When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, ‘I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!’” (Luke 7:9)

NT scholar Darrell Bock commented that the combination of the Centurion’s “humility, dependent request, and trusting awareness of God’s power is the essence of faith” (Luke 1:1-9:50, 644). Do I have this type of faith? Do you?

Will Jesus find faith in my life, in my family, or in our church when he returns (Luke 18:8)? I hope so! For if we are building our house on the rock (Lk. 6:46-49) then we will have "concrete faith" like this Centurion (Bock, 630)!

Congratulations! We are starting the NT today!!

If you have been doing the Daily Walk Bible (DWB) reading program with us you know we have spent the last 9 months reading through the Old Testament and that today, October 1st, begins our journey into the New Testament....hooray!

I love the Old Testament, and I need to read and understand the Old Testament to fully grasp the grand meta-narrative of God's redemptive plan and purposes, but I'm also really ready to dive into the New Testament. With that said, yesterday's DWB Quarterly Gathering was a wonderful encouragement and reminder though of just how important reading the OT is to our understanding of God's Word. And then reading Matthew 1-4 today was further confirmation that we have to understand the Old to fully grasp the New!

As you read through Jesus' genealogy think of how those names now come to life because we just read through the OT! Think of how similar John the Baptist's message is to the other Old Testament prophets! Think of how Matthew's 10+ references to the Old Testament (as signaled by the familiar phrase, "this occurred to fulfill the Lord's message through his prophet" (NLT)) jump off the page because we just read them days or weeks ago! Even Satan got into the act of knowing the OT by quoting Psalm 91 to Jesus. This final example is only further proof of how important it is to know God's Word, and to know it fully!

On a different but related note I was amazed again at how God was at work and how he helped people make critical decisions. It was awesome to see how God spoke to Joseph in a dream or via an angel FOUR different times (Mt. 1:20; 2:13, 19 and 22). And with the Wise Men God used the "star from the east" (2:2, 9-10) and then warned them via a dream to go a different direction home (2:12). Man, I wish God would speak to me through dreams and angels and stars...

and then I remembered...

I have the Holy Spirit who dwells within me (John 14:15-18, 26; 1 Cor. 6:19) to help guide me and lead me! I pray that each and every day I might become more like the disciples who heard Jesus' call and so "they left their nets at once and followed him" (Mt. 4:20, 22, italics mine).

To close, and to help us better know how to follow the Holy Spirit's leading, I wanted to recommend a great little book

If you can't read the small print on the cover it says "Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will OR How to make a Decision without Dreams, Visions, Fleeces, Impressions, Open Doors, Random Bible Verses, Casting Lots, Liver Shivers, Writing in the Sky, Etc."

It is a fantastic little read that is packed with scripture, helpful anecdotes and suggestions for how we can obey the plain commands of scripture rather than trying to figure out the supposed "corn maze" or "magic eight ball" that we think of as God's will.

Today, may we all read the NT in light and with the knowledge of the OT so that we might be obedient followers of Christ who joyfully follow where He calls!