Thursday, February
28, 2013, 6:26 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Not Be Silent” playing in my mind.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 17:14-23 (NIV 1984):
When they came to the
crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my
son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into
the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not
heal him.”
“O unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus
replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long
shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the
demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
Then the disciples
came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if
you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move
from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
When they came
together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man
is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the
third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with
grief.
The father was
grieved
When the disciples, and Jesus, too, it appears, came to the
crowd, a man approached Jesus regarding his son who had seizures. The man knelt
before Jesus, and he asked the Lord Jesus to have mercy on his son, for his son
would often fall into fire or water when he had these seizures. The man had
brought the boy to Jesus’ disciples, but they could not heal him. The man was
first of all grieved over the physical condition of his son, and the dangers
that often brought upon him, and then he was grieved over the fact that those
he thought could help him were unable to help. The Lord Jesus had compassion on
the man and he healed his son.
The Lord Jesus is giving me a picture here, not only of
physical healing, but of the parallels to our salvation and to our need to call
upon Jesus in our times of need, and to not put our hope and trust in mankind,
but to make Jesus our only Savior and Lord.
As humans, we often look to humans for our salvation and
healing, i.e. we look to politicians and governments to protect us, to lead us,
to provide for us, to do right by us, to make laws for our good, and to keep
the economy from sinking, etc. Yet, they are human, and they will fail, just
like the disciples failed that father. We look to lawyers to help us solve our
legal issues, and to doctors to heal our diseases, and to employers to keep us
hired and to keep our pay checks coming, etc. We look to spouses to remain
faithful, and to children to always love and honor us, and to parents to always
be there for us and to take care of us. But, we are all human, and thus we are
subject to failure. We also look to preachers to tell us the truth, and to
church groups to give us love and support and to provide us with fellowship.
But, even they are human, and even the godliest among us is still bound to fail
us.
The man took the correct approach. He humbled himself before
Jesus, recognizing that man was not able to help and that Jesus/God was his
only hope for his son. And, he called out to Jesus/God for mercy.
Nothing of this life - no man or woman, politician or
preacher, husband or wife, parent or child - will be able to meet our deepest
needs and the longings of our souls. They are all bound to disappoint us at
some time or another. So, that is why we must humble ourselves before God, call
on Jesus to be our only hope and our only salvation, repent of our sins,
especially those of putting our hope and trust in human beings, and then surrender
our lives into Jesus’ capable hands for him to do with our lives what he
chooses for us. He chooses that we not perish, but that we all come to repentance.
Jesus was grieved
Jesus was grieved, I believe, for this hurting father and
for this child who was possessed by a demon which threw him into these
convulsions. He had compassion on the father and son, and he healed the boy. He
was also grieved that his disciples still were weak in faith, and they still
were not getting it. They, evidently, were trying to heal this boy in their own
power and strength, and they found out just how unreliable that was. This was
not the first time Jesus had chided them for their lack of faith or their
dullness of hearing. They did believe in Jesus some or they would not have been
following him, though I don’t know if Judas ever truly believed. Yet, even
after they would see Jesus’ miracles, they would ask such questions as to
indicate that they still weren’t getting it.
Yet, Jesus’ chastisement here was not to them alone, for he
included the whole generation of those who were on this earth when he lived upon
the earth. Many were truly completely unbelieving and (headstrongly and
stubbornly) refused to accept that Jesus Christ was who he said he was. Others
believed, but their faith (daily) was lacking and was in need of strengthening
and maturity. In other words, we can have faith to accept Jesus Christ’s
invitation to salvation by grace, through faith, and we can demonstrate our
faith through repentance and choosing to walk in obedience to our Lord, and we
can be in genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, but yet daily struggle to
truly understand and to demonstrate that we believe he is who he says he is and
that he will do all that he said he would do.
I believe with all my heart that Jesus is speaking these
same words to our generation of people on this earth today, i.e. to all people
on this earth who either are stubbornly refusing to believe in him at all, or
who have believed in him as Savior and Lord but who, by their actions and
reactions, demonstrate a level of unbelief in who Jesus says he is and in the
fact that he will do all that he said he would do. Many who are lacking in
faith in Jesus/God are looking to humans, jobs, bank accounts, politicians,
preachers, church congregations, marketing schemes, man-made religion, and
human relationships to meet needs within them meant to be met totally by God
alone. And, Jesus is grieved because they are struggling through life, worried,
depressed, feeling lonely and without purpose and direction, even though they
have made a commitment to Jesus or perhaps they only did so in form. He longs
to have us come underneath his wings and to trust him with our lives.
The disciples were
grieved
Jesus prepared his disciples ahead of time for his coming
death, which he knew must take place for the salvation of souls. He told them
that he was going to be betrayed, that men would kill him, but that on the
third day he would rise again. The disciples were filled with grief at this
news.
I love how Jesus/God, even in warning us of coming judgments
because of our stubbornness and unrepentant hearts, will so often follow up his
warnings with promises of restoration, revival and salvations (resurrection)
and healing. Yet, a lot of people will skip over that part of scripture,
because it grieves them to hear about anything negative. They don’t want to
hear bad news. They only want to hear the happy stuff that makes them feel
good. They want the resurrection without the cross; life without death first.
Peter even told Jesus, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen
to you!” We as humans resist so strongly what we don’t want to accept. So,
Jesus rebuked Peter by saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block
to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Isn’t that true of all of us at times? Or, have you ever been convinced of
something in scripture through which God is speaking, and you know it is the
Holy Spirit’s voice, and yet someone will come along and be (knowingly or
unknowingly) Satan’s voice to you telling you that God did not really say that?
Yet, the reality is that Jesus Christ had to die on the
cross for our sins so that we could be free from bondage (slavery) to sin, so
we could be free from eternity in hell, and so we could have restored
fellowship with the Father and could walk with him in holiness and in
righteousness. And, the reality is that we must die to our lives of sin and
self, we must be transformed into new creatures in Christ Jesus via the working
of the Holy Spirit within us, and we must put on our new lives in Christ Jesus,
“created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness,” for this is how we
come to Christ (see Eph. 4:17-24; Luke 9:23-25). There is no other way. The
reality may grieve us, and we may want to avoid that reality, but that will
never change it from being true.
As well, the reality is that one day Jesus Christ is coming as
judge of this earth, and he is going to bring upon mankind a time of
tribulation like the world has never known before. Evil will reign supreme for
a short period of time. Satan, the beast and the false prophet will control the
world’s natural resources, the banks, the grocery stores, the housing market,
etc. This is already happening. And, there isn’t anything we can do to stop it
from happening, for the Bible has prophesied that these things will take place.
We can grieve over that reality, and we can run from it and say “It ain’t so!”
but that will not change it. All of us one day will have to give an account to
God for what we did with Jesus. Many will think they knew Jesus and he will say
he never knew them, “Depart from me.”
Yet, when we repent of our sins, and we turn to faith in
Jesus Christ, and we choose to follow (obey) Jesus, our grief will be turned to
joy. When Jesus visits us in judgment in order to bring his rebellious church
back to him and to bring the people of the earth to saving grace, our wailing
will be turned into dancing when we see so many lives transformed by the power
and working of the Holy Spirit of God in regeneration. And, we will forever
praise the name of the Lord.
Not Be Silent /
An Original Work / December 3, 2012
Based off Psalm 30
O Lord my God, I’ll
exalt You.
I called for help, and
You healed me.
O Lord my God,
You brought me from
the grave.
You spared me from
hell.
Sing to the Lord, you
saints of His;
Praise His holy name
today.
Weeping may remain for
a night;
Joy at break of day. Our
debt He did pay!
O Lord my God, I said,
“I will ne’er be
shaken.”
Secure, I felt. O Lord
my God,
You forgave me. Confident
I stand in You.
When I could not see your
face
I was dismayed. I
called to You.
O Lord, You are my
help.
You were merciful to
me;
By Your grace set
free!
O Lord my God, I’m so
thankful
For salvation through
my Jesus.
You turned wailing into
dancing;
Clothed me with your
joy today,
That my heart may sing
To You and not be
silent.
Praise Your name. O
Lord my God,
I will give you thanks
forevermore.
My Lord, I adore!
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