Category: devotional

Sabbath and Faith

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The call of God to have the people of Israel observe the Sabbath is an amazing call to faith and a glorious pointer to Christ. Resting one day out of seven is something that requires discipline and faith. And the Sabbath command for the land is even greater.

Leviticus 25:1-4 – 1 The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.”

God called on the people of Israel not only to rest one day out of seven, he called the nation to let the land rest one year out of seven. God promised a harvest in year 6 that would be so great that it would sustain the people for years to come.

I’m sure you know that many Christians debate with one another as to whether or not we are legally required to keep a Sabbath day. Some folks do. Some others do not, but believe the Sabbath command to be a pointer to the ultimate rest we receive in Christ.

Hebrews 4:9–11 – 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

I am one who believes that the binding ordinance of Sabbath is fulfilled in Christ. But I also know that it is good for the people of God to take a day, focus on the Lord, and rest from their worldly labors. But this is not what I want to write about.

What grabbed my attention in this read through Leviticus and in thinking about the Sabbath commands is just how much faith the Sabbath required. The week-to-week Sabbath required faith. People had to believe God, that he would provide for them if they worked only 6 out of 7 days. If you look at our world, at businesses open 24/7, you know that it requires faith to believe that you can sustain life without constant labor. And if you take that further, if you consider the nation’s call to let the land rest for a full year, you know that would have required incredible faith. In fact, as far as I know, the people of Israel never once obeyed that command.

But, dear friends, that faith, that impossible faith, that stunning faith is what points us so greatly to Jesus. It takes faith to let a day go by without working. It takes faith to let a year go by without farming. And it takes faith, genuine faith, to believe that the holy God of the universe will welcome you without you performing a single religious ritual to earn your way to him. IT takes faith to believe that you can be forgiven without a special gift, a special sacred item, a special sacred incantation, a special object or word of power. But the Lord tells us that such is the case. There is no way for you to be made right with God other than by you letting go of sin and self and fully entrusting your soul to the person and the finished work of Jesus.

The author of Hebrews tells us to enter into the Sabbath rest of Jesus. He tells us to turn from the ideas that we do things to gain God’s favor. He instead tells us to fully rely on Jesus and Jesus alone for salvation. This is not him saying that there is no obedience to God that follows salvation. But it is to say that, as counter-cultural as the Sabbath felt to all who did not understand it, so too does it seem crazy to all other worldviews that a holy and just God would accept us based entirely on God’s own choice and God’s own work in Christ. Salvation by grace through faith requires a faith that is depicted for us in the crazy faith required to keep the Sabbath day and the Sabbath years.

No, I do not believe that the Sabbath regulation is a binding regulation on the modern Christian. Instead, I believe that the Sabbath regulation is a shadow that points to the finished work of Christ and our salvation by grace through faith. But I do believe it is good for Christians to shape our lives with work, with rest, and with worship on a regular cycle in the week so that we can, in our lives, show the world that we are resting in Jesus rather than trusting in our labor.

An Example of Man’s Best Guesses

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We see a fascinating event happen when Paul was shipwrecked on the island of Malta. The people gather wood and build a fire to warm the bedraggled passengers. And a thing happens to Paul that adds some level of insult to injury. And in that happening, we can see a solid example of why we ought not trust human conclusions without divine revelation.

Acts 28:3-6 – 3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

OK, Paul is bitten by a snake. The thing just latched on. Paul shakes it off, and he lives. All things considered, this is a rough day.

But watch the assumptions made by the observers. First, the people draw a conclusion from the evidence they see. They assume that Paul is a criminal getting justice. Even though he survived the wreck of the ship, he is still going to die from the poison of the snake. HE is getting what is coming to him. This is what the natives assume.

Then, after Paul does not die, the people amend their assessment of the situation. He survives a shipwreck and the bite of a viper. Now the people assume that Paul must be a god.

The fact is, the people of Malta were wrong, badly wrong, twice. They used their best guess based on the evidence available to them and their understanding of the world. And what we discover is a simple truth. Mankind, apart from the perfect revelation of God, will misinterpret the world around him time and time again.

Christians, let a passage like this one cause you to give God great thanks for Scripture. After all, without God revealing himself in his holy and inspired word, you too would interpret the world around you wrongly. Either you would have superstition all over you like the people of Malta, or you would be given into the folly of a naturalistic worldview. Either way, you would be very wrong. Thank the Lord for speaking to us in his word. Thank the Lord for speaking to us in the person and work of Jesus. It would be totally just of God to simply destroy us for our sin without ever speaking to us in any way whatsoever. Thank God for choosing to tell us who he is, who we are, and what we must do to be made right with him. Thank God for the Bible.

Love and Hate

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Our society has conditioned us against the word hate. If we hear that word used, it is often used as something nearly criminal. WE hear people speak of hate-crimes or hate-speech. We hear people speak of others being blinded by or motivated by hate.

In truth, we do not want to be marked as a hateful people. This is especially true when you think of hatefulness as a propensity to unjust cruelty. But, the word hate is not a bad word. Neither is it wrong to hate certain things.

Psalm 45:7

you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

In a psalm of praise to a righteous king, notice that hatred in this king is one of his praiseworthy attributes. The king loves righteousness and hates wickedness. And God wants us to know that this is good.

For the most part, among professing Christians, suggesting that it is good to love righteousness is not controversial. There are certainly now some who have grown to despise things that God tells us are righteous. But, for the most part, loving the good is pretty well accepted.

But the alternative, hating wickedness, that is not so broadly embraced. We are called by some to be understanding of wickedness. Some would tell us that, even when wickedness is wicked, we should not have hatred for it. But this denies something of the holiness of God.

Friends, loving righteousness and hating wickedness is what God suggests in this psalm marks a righteous ruler. We want to be led by people who do not suggest, when evil is discussed, that we just need to let it pass. God hates evil, always, in every form. God is righteous, always, in everything.

May we become more godly people. That will mean that we love righteousness. That will mean that we hate wickedness. And that will mean that we do both without shame, guided by Scripture, for the glory of the Almighty.

Desire God Above All

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When Jesus spoke with the rich young man of Matthew 19, the conversation was quite interesting. The young man wanted to know what he needed to do to go to heaven. He claims to have kept all the law from his youth. But we find out that he was lacking.

Jesus gives the man an odd command. And that odd command exposes his heart.

Matthew 19:21-22 – 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Jesus touches the man where it hurts. Jesus shows what is lacking in the man’s quest for heaven. And what Jesus shows is true for us all. But what Jesus shows is not what you might think. You have to read this carefully, in the light of other Scripture, so as not to form a wrong conclusion from the words of the Master.

Jesus tells the man that if he wants to go to heaven, he should go and sell everything he owns, give the money away, and then come and follow Jesus as a disciple. Keep in mind a couple of truths before you let this shock you. First, this is not the same command that Jesus gives to all wealthy folks. He did not say this to Zacchaeus. Nor did he command this of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, a family that seems well-off. We know from other Scriptures that giving away your money will not purchase for you salvation. Paul writes, “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor. 13:3). So, there is clearly more going on here than a call for the selling of goods.

Also consider that, when Jesus cited the Ten Commandments earlier, he did not point to the sin of coveting. But here, we see that Jesus now presses hard against this man’s love of wealth and possessions. It is as if Jesus has saved this particular sin, the one that the man is most consumed by, as the linchpin for his whole heart.

What Jesus is up to is actually shown in the man’s response. This young man, this man eager to know what he must do to earn his way to heaven, comes to a point of crisis. For him, the crisis has to do with his possessions, but it is more. The crisis has to do with his heart. Will this man want Jesus more than things? Will he want Jesus more than status, wealth, security, or whatever it is that ties him so closely to his fortune? And we see that he does not. The man hears what is required, decides the price is too high, and walks away.

What should we learn here? Desire God above all. At the end of the day, the young man was faced with a dilemma. Will he yield himself, all of himself, to the Lord, or will he cling to his possessions, his rights of ownership, and turn from the Lord? Does he want God or things more? And in the end, we see that he chose self above the Lord. The lesson to learn is that, if you want heaven, want God. Want God more than you want your stuff. Want God more than you want your freedom. Want God more than you want status or fleeting pleasures or earthly comforts.

When we look at the issue of salvation or lostness, the question is one of repentance and faith. It has always been so. Faith asks if we believe we are sinners and that Jesus, through his life, death, and resurrection, can and will give us the forgiveness we need. Repentance asks if we are ready to lay down the right of ownership of our lives and give it to Jesus, making him our Master. Are we willing to follow him and treasure him above all else? Are we willing to trust him, to obey his word, to submit to his authority; that is the question of repentance. And all that requires that we want God more than we want other things if we want heaven.

Does this mean that if you want to go to heaven, you have to sell all your stuff? Probably not. But it does mean that you surrender to the Lord and allow him to have the right to tell you to sell all your stuff if he wants. It does mean that you are willing to let go of anything in your life that moves you away from glorifying him.

Even the Skin Disease Chapter is About Jesus

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Scripture points to Christ. That is true in the obvious chapters like Isaiah 53 and the suffering servant. And it is true here, in a way, in the odd parts of Leviticus.

When we read through our Bible-in-a-year plan, hitting Leviticus can be a challenge for some folks. After all, it feels pretty foreign for us to read the chapters about how to sacrifice which animal, where to sprinkle the blood, and what to do with the carcass. Then we get to chapters on things like which critters you can eat and which to avoid.

But if all that is not enough, you open chapter 13 with this paragraph, and many lose heart.

Leviticus 13:1-8 – 1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a case of leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests, 3 and the priest shall examine the diseased area on the skin of his body. And if the hair in the diseased area has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a case of leprous disease. When the priest has examined him, he shall pronounce him unclean. 4 But if the spot is white in the skin of his body and appears no deeper than the skin, and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall shut up the diseased person for seven days. 5 And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the disease is checked and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up for another seven days. 6 And the priest shall examine him again on the seventh day, and if the diseased area has faded and the disease has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean. 7 But if the eruption spreads in the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall appear again before the priest. 8 And the priest shall look, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a leprous disease.

Now we are into skin diseases. We will see stuff about what to do if a person has a boil or eruption. WE will see how to react if a person’s hair falls out. WE will see what to do if a person’s fabric in their garment has something growing and spreading in it. And it’s all sort of icky.

But, stop and think. Don’t let this feel useless and immediately off-putting to you. Instead, consider what the Lord has done here. God is moving a massive amount of people through the wilderness. What happens if this camp, groups of people living in tents that were tightly packed together, is suddenly hit with disease? If these folks get a disease, one that is not merely a nuisance, but something that is deadly or debilitating, there is a big problem. Recall that these folks did not know about bacteria. They had no germ theory. They did not yet have the scientific proof to grasp how disease would spread. So, a person with a sore that could spread disease to the next person, to the next person, to the next family, to the next cluster of tents, to the next swath of the camp would be a bigtime problem.

When God gives in the law instructions to priests about how to identify diseases that spread, and when he tells them to quarantine potential threats until their disease is either confirmed or proved benign, God is loving his people. God is protecting his people by giving them standards to combat the spread of dangerous diseases before they break out. God is showing this nation how to survive in the wilderness wandering.

And, yes, this is about Jesus. How? In the garden, God promised Eve that he was sending a descendant of hers into the world to crush the devil. IN Genesis 12, God promised Abram that a descendant of his would come and bless all nations. The covenant of circumcision was a mark on the descendants of Abraham to point to the fact that God was building a people for himself through whom he would bring this promised one into the world. And time and time again through the Old Testament, threats would arise that would, without God’s protection, potentially destroy this nation and prevent the promised one from coming into the world. And each time we watch God move to preserve his people, we should see an arrow pointing to Jesus. God guarded Israel so as to bring the Savior into the world just as he promised.

And here, in the skin laws, a weird chapter to read, we should see God’s preserving hand. God made sure that no spreading disease would wipe out Israel. God made sure that the nation knew how to prevent the spread of disease so that no plague would threaten the survival of the people. God was sheltering the nation so as to shelter his promise to send the Savior into the world. Leviticus 13 is, to be sure, also about God protecting the promise of Jesus.

Strange Fire and Obedience

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I want you to think back to the Garden of Eden. There, Adam and Eve rebelled against the Lord when they ate the fruit of a particular tree. That act brought the curse of God on the world. That act brought death and destruction. That act introduced sin to humanity.

What was the big problem? Was the fall of man in the garden about the particular fruit? Was God particularly angry at the loss of a fruit that he treasured? I really do not think that is the core issue. Instead, the issue is one of obedience and authority. Adam and Eve knew the command of God, decided their way was better, and rebelled.

We see a similar type of rebellion in Leviticus, a rebellion that caused the death of Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron.

Leviticus 10:1-3 – 1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron held his peace.

On this particular day, the presence of God was noticeable at the tabernacle. It was a glorious sight. The people were awestruck. And Nadab and Abihu got so excited that they offered unauthorized fire, another translation says “strange fire,” before the Lord. And Nadab and Abihu died for their hubris.

What was the problem? Was a particular kind of fire, a particular kind of incense, a particular smell that offensive? Or, as I suggested in the account of the garden, is the issue here one of obedience? Look at the words of God. The Lord does not say, “That kind of fire really offends me.” Instead, God tells the people through Moses, “Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.” God saw that, in this instance, the sons of Aaron did not treat him as holy.

What does it mean that God is holy? In this instance, the issue is one of treating God as far greater, higher, above and beyond us. Nadab and Abihu acted as if God were like them, just another guy. Nadab and Abihu thought that their idea of what fire to offer was just as good as what God had commanded. They assumed that their ideas were equally valid as those of God. They did not glorify God. They did not sanctify God. They did not treat him as holy by meticulously obeying his commands for how he would be worshipped.

Consider now our world. The God we worship is the same God who flashed forth fire to consume Nadab and Abihu because those men did not treat him as holy. Do we? When your church gathers to worship, are you careful to do what the Lord has commanded. Many a church has introduced things to the service of worship that have nothing to do with the commands of God. I’m not here discussing equipment or instrumentation, lighting or visual design. But there are many churches that include practices of things that God has not commanded. Or, even worse, there are many who participate in practices that the Lord has forbidden.

We should be thankful that, because of the grace of the Lord Jesus, we are not experiencing what Nadab and Abihu experienced. We should be grateful to God that many of us have not been consumed by the holy wrath of God for approaching him in a way inconsistent with treating him as holy. And we should be driven to worship the Lord in loving obedience to his word.

With all that said, the New Testament does not tell us exactly how to order the worship service. We see a great deal of instruction about how sacrifices were made in the Old Testament. WE see God setting up things that point to Christ with great detail. But in the New Testament, we have fewer step-by-step directions. WE know that we are to pray, to sing, to read the word, to preach, to participate in ordinances like Lord’s Supper, to give, and to do all this to the glory of God and in a spirit of love and fellowship. WE also know that things are forbidden. God has said who is allowed to teach and who is not allowed to teach. God has warned against the fleshly indulgences of the world and the temptation to bring them into his worship.

So, let me simply call us to be careful. We gather as the family of God. Thus, familial love, joy, kindness, and caring are all part of our gatherings. We gather to worship the Holy One, and thus what we do must be fully in keeping with his commands. WE dare not violate his commands and treat him as less than holy, pretending our ways are superior to his. We dare not hijack the purpose of the service of worship, making it more about connecting to those who do not know the Lord than about honoring the Lord we are supposed to be there to worship.

Nadab and Abihu died because they failed to treat the Lord and his ways as holy. Adam and Eve fell when they refused to treat the simple command of God as holy. Jesus died to pay for the sins of people who have, in their past, refused to treat God as holy. May we, in our services of worship, be sure that we treat the Lord and his commands as holy.

Hope in Eternal Perspective

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Christians, sometimes watching the world around us is frustrating. WE see wrong things happening. Often, we see so many wrong things that we feel powerless to make them stop. While we know God is sovereign and most certainly will ultimately accomplish his will, it is hard to have confidence that we will see good done in our day.

In Psalm 39, we see a man’s frustration as he sees the wickedness of others around him.

Psalm 39:1-3

1 I said, “I will guard my ways,
that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle,
so long as the wicked are in my presence.”
2 I was mute and silent;
I held my peace to no avail,
and my distress grew worse.
3 My heart became hot within me.
As I mused, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:

the frustration of the psalmist as he observes the wicked is clear. There are people around him, nasty folks, and he is not able to speak out against them and make a difference. It is painful. It is frustrating. It is quite similar to many of our own experiences in our world.

What then will the psalmist pray? This is important. If the psalmist faces frustrations like we face, we should look to see how he prays that God will help him deal with his situation. Take a look at the prayer.

Psalm 39:4-5

4 “O Lord, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah

Is that what you expected? You might have expected him to go off on the wicked. You might have expected him to demand that God do justice right now. But the psalmist has a different prayer entirely. He prays that God give him a proper wisdom as to the brevity of human life.

This is a call to wisdom. When we see our world looking too big to handle, when we see the wicked looking too strong to vanquish, it is good for us to grasp that our lives last for but a moment with eternity to follow. WE live for a century if we are strong and healthy. But what is that span in the course of history? A century is a drop in a bucket when compared to something like a millennium. And what is a century in the light of ten thousand years? What is a century in light of a million years? What is a century in light of eternity?

Our God lives. Our God reigns. Our God is eternal. Our God has a kingdom that he will build, that he has won and will win, a kingdom that lasts forever. God’s kingdom will have no end. So the wickedness we see in the here and now, it is significant for sure. But it is a moment. It is a passing breeze. It is a blink of an eye.

AS I said, what we experience matters. A society rebelling against the order of creation and which murders its young is truly a significant evil. But it will not last. Throughout history, we have seen empires that looked unbeatable. They have all crumbled to only be remembered in dusty history books. The great centers of power in many an ancient dynasty are now parts of sight-seeing tours that people go on from cruise ships before they return to hit the buffet, the pool, and the evening’s karaoke contest.

The psalmist prays that, in the face of a hard world, God will remind him of how brief life really is. The psalmist is asking God to help him have a greater, eternal, beyond-this-lifetime perspective. And we would be wise to learn the same thing.

Christians, never use a look toward eternity to keep you from seeking to see justice and kindness done in the here and now. Battle evil in your society. But do not let the evil discourage you. All the greatest powers in our world which oppose the Lord will fall. Our Lord will reign forever. Let this give you hope as you serve the Lord.

The Most Logical Question

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Blaise Pascal is known for positing a simple, logical formula for thinking about the existence of God. It is known as Pascal’s wager. Simply put, the philosopher and mathematician suggests that, if you believe in God, there is a positive outcome if God is while there is no loss if God is not. Yet, if you deny God, there is no gain if you are correct, but there is a tremendous loss if you are wrong. Thus, belief in God can render a positive while disbelief can only render a negative.

While Pascal’s wager will not bring anyone to genuine faith, it does offer a uniquely logical and pragmatic look at the issue of theism vs. atheism. And Pascal is not the only person in history who has used something simple and logical to try to help people be persuaded to surrender to the Lord.

Even in his ministry, the Lord Jesus offers some gloriously logical reasoning for us to consider as we look at what we value and where we stand before God. Consider this logical pair of questions from the Savior.

Matthew 16:26 – For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

Jesus gets right to the heart of our rebellion. What is it worth for us to gain at the cost of our souls? What is worth so much in a temporal existence that one would prefer it over eternity?

The question from Jesus is simple, but powerful. Think about your own life. What might you gain for a short period of time that is worth eternal suffering? What might you gain that is worth giving up eternal joy? The logical answer is that there is nothing that you could gain in the here and now that is worth giving up your soul.

We could illustrate this many ways. Were I to tell you that you have a choice between the following two options, which is better? You can have one dollar today, or one billion dollars tomorrow. Which would you take? You can go the single day without a dollar to gain the fortune.

The problem with sinful humanity is that we so often function on the side of the foolish. An unfaithful spouse will sacrifice his or her family for what amounts to a few minutes of physical pleasure. A foolish employee loses his or her career for the sake of a small financial gain in pilfering from the company.

And, of course, the lost person gives up his or her eternal soul for the pleasures of a few years, perhaps a lifetime. But, consider, even a hundred years of pleasure are not worth a thousand of torment. A lifetime of rebellion is not worth the personal loss of eternity apart from God. And, looking from another angle, a lifetime of the greatest hardship that could come upon a person, if followed by an eternity of joy, is no real sacrifice.

Remember the logical question from the Savior as you consider your faith and your decisions. What temporary pleasure and success in this life is worth giving up your forever? What hardship in the here and now is so great that you would rather be freed from it today than have an eternity of joy?

The promise of the Savior is that, if we repent and believe, we will be saved. Our salvation may prevent us from doing things, often painful and self-destructive things, that the world enjoys. And, yes, following the Savior can bring us persecution in this world. But the reward is worth it. In this life, we gain the Spirit of Almighty God. Many gain the joy of Christian fellowship. WE gain the joy of doing that which honors the Lord, finding our purpose in his glory. And we gain an eternity of infinite reward in the presence of our Creator. No earthly gain is worth giving up our eternity.

Seek Jesus Honestly

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In the Gospel According to Matthew, the Lord Jesus performed some magnificent miracles to help people know his identity and power. As you likely know, the grace that Jesus was bringing was offensive to the religious leadership of his day. Jesus’ authority and his power threatened the comfortable positions that many in the religious establishment had made for themselves. And in this instance, leaders from two very different groups seek Jesus out to confront him.

Matthew 16:1-3 – 1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

Matthew tells us that the Pharisees and the Sadducees came to demand a sign from Jesus as a test. This would be like saying that President Trump and Nancy Pelosi came together to stop you from doing something. Those two do not agree on almost anything. They do not like each other. And for them to do anything together would be a major news event. Similarly, the Pharisees and Sadducees were the opposing factions of Jesus’ day, and they could not stand each other.

But the one thing that the Pharisees and Sadducees could agree on was their dislike of and disbelief in Jesus. They hated him. Jesus threatened their power and influence. So these two opposing factions could agree on their desire to get rid of Jesus.

The religious leadership comes to Jesus and demands that he give them a sign from heaven. We saw them do something very similar to this in Matthew 12:38-ff. And, like back then, this demand for a supernatural sign comes just after Jesus has done a whole set of miracles. Jesus has healed. He has miraculously fed crowds. He has shown all the power they could ever want to see.

But this group seems to be saying to Jesus, “Yes, we know about those miracles, but we want something convincing.”

Jesus, for his part, responds with a rebuke. He says that the religious folks can read some obvious signs quite well. They understand that looking at the sky can forecast a pleasant or unpleasant day. But when it comes to Jesus, the religious leaders simply are not willing to see. They demand evidence. But, in truth, they had already seen more than enough evidence. The simple truth is not that they lack enough evidence to prove that Jesus is who he claims to be, they just refuse to believe it.

That faulty motivation of the religious teachers reminds us to call people to seek Jesus honestly. There is no good to be gained from pretending to want proof from Jesus if you are not at all willing to believe in him or follow him. As a friend of mine has said to me, it is good to ask a skeptic, “What kind of proof would it actually take for you to believe in Jesus and surrender to his Lordship?” If the person says to you that no proof would make them follow Jesus, you know that they are not at all open-minded about their inquiry. They are trying to oppose Jesus. They are trying to oppose you as Jesus’ witness. But they are not being honest with any questions they ask about Jesus. When you discover this in a person’s attitude, perhaps you can help them to see it.

Will We Fashion Golden Calves?

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What happens when people use their best judgment as opposed to the word of God? What happens when they rely on the evidence they have rather than on divine revelation? Disaster happens.

Exodus 32:1 – When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Moses took a long time up on the mountain. That is true. But it still has been less than a month-and-a-half since the people heard the very voice of God speaking his commandments to Moses. They still saw the fire on the mountain. They still knew that God had commanded them not to fashion idols of any kind.

But Moses had been gone for a while. They did not know for sure what had happened to him. So the people go to Aaron, determining that the whole Moses as leader thing did not work out. They demand that Aaron fashion for them gods they can follow. They like following what they can see and understand.

You know the rest. Aaron gives in. The people give their jewelry, some of the very jewelry that the Lord prompted the Egyptians to give them at the exodus from Egypt just a short time ago. And they use that gold to make images of golden calves to worship. And in an even odder practice, they declare the calves to be the Lord, the one who led them out of Egypt.

What happened? The people stopped being led by the word of God and relied on their own best understanding. They stopped obeying the clear command of God—do not make an image to worship—and determined that their particular situation required them to go against that command.

Christians, we have a parallel situation in many ways. WE have the word of God. But, our Lord Jesus, the One who leads us, the One who saves us, he has been physically gone from this world for a long time. Now people say that they do not know about him any longer, as they do not see him with their eyes. And we will have to choose. The world around us says to ignore the command of God and the words of Jesus. The world around us says that the Savior is no longer relevant to our modern thinking and morality. The world around us says that history has moved on to a new standard of right and wrong.

As we see in 2 Peter 3, there are mockers who mock the idea of the return of Jesus and his importance in our day-to-day. But we are not to lose heart. He is not slow in keeping his promises. The Savior will return. So may we not be like the people standing around the mountain. May we not turn our backs on the word of God. May we instead trust the Lord and remain faithful as we await his return.