I think it’s easy for Christians to forget what the gospel is all about. Even pastors do it, as they seek to make personal applications from the weeks passage to convict all those people sitting in the pews. But this is not the Good News. The Good News is that the God of the Universe remade the world so that we are no longer at odds with him. He repaired the rift created by the fall of Adam. He relived the history of Israel, but he was successful. And as a result we are all his heirs. We inherit the land, we inherit the earth.
It is so true that we become like that which we worship. Our heroes or ideals, are goals, whether we notice it or not. By forgetting the rich stories of the Old Testament the church today has made a sort of ideal out of the New Testament situation. This was the century of the infant Church. This was a specific time and it was not our time. Things were changing and a new thing was beginning. Persecution was rampant and it didn’t look good for the future of the Church. But this was not our goal. Jesus and his apostles acknowledged that these difficult times would come. But the idea he put into our head was one of victory. This was to be our goal. We will move mountains, ever knee will bow. He conquered Rome in such a fundamental way that no one could have conceived of, The Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, British Empire and American Empire. Every wave of pagan tribe was converted, God’s blessings and prosperity flowed.
Kingdom of Heaven, Evelyn de Morgan, c. 1878. Hint: You read it from bottom to top.
Reading the beginning of Mark should just blow us away. God’s prophets have been silent 400 years and then suddenly John and the Jesus burst on to the scene and start conquering. He walks through the familiar history of the Jews. He passes through the seavs. 9-11, but when he comes out there is no golden calf Exodus 32, he remains faithful. He is tempted in the wilderness vs. 12,13, but he does not grumble and complain Exodus 16:2, he does not doubt that his father will provide, he is victorious. Then he enters the land vs. 14. There is no doubt here, there are no lukewarm victories. Every one of his enemies is put to shame. False teacher are left speechless. Disease and illness are cured. Demons are cast out. This isn’t the story that should make you feel bad about your sins. From what I can tell most people feel plenty bad about their sins. We all screw up everything–a lot. But people do commit wrongs against us that we don’t deserve. Despite the fact that we still sin, injustices are done. Evil people do us harm and the ‘authorities’ often look the other way, for one reason or another. But the Gospel tells us that all this will be made right. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness–they shall be satisfied.
I think Christians have almost become comfortable wallowing in their sins. It seems humble and it is about the only thing the world will let us do these days. If we lift our heads up, even a little, they are quick to silence us with the wag of their fingers. “You wouldn’t want us to call you judgemental, would you? Hmmm?” “No mas’a. Please I’ll be a good little slave.” But we have the Gospel people! While we should serve our fellow man, we don’t take our orders from him. The world does not get to set the parameters for our faith. Neither should this idol of the 1st Century. Just because our situation does not meet the exact situation seen in the New Testament does not mean something is wrong. God put his people in all sorts of situations all throughout the Old Testament and he showed them, he showed us, how to behave.
“He taught as one with authority.” Paul tells us in Philippians 2 where he got his authority:
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father
He was exalted by his humility, King over all. But it’s not a wallowing defeatist humility it’s a real throne that really conquered. And not just conquering, but ruling. The connotation of authority in scripture is often one of the righteous judge. He sits before his people like Solomon and decides cases. He judges right from wrong, punishing the wrong and rewarding he who has been wronged. So Jesus clearly has the authority. But do we? I think so, we are the children of the king. We are his inheritance, and we shall inherit the earth, we shall judge the angels. In the early part of Mark the ability of Jesus to cast out demons is a sign of his authority. But Jesus rebukes his disciples for their inability to cast out demons Matthew 17:14-21. They should have had the authority but their faith was week. Verse 21 seems to indicate that the only way to remedy this lack of faith, was for them to fast and pray more. Christ had authority and he used it he judged rightly. Do we? Or do we sit by lazily and wait for things to fall apart so our situation will look more like the 1st Century? Things will fall apart if the Church does not judge rightly I Corinthians 6:1-11, but that is not the plan.
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New Saint Andrews Letter Here
