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Sparks flyWednesday, December 16, 2009
Luke 7:23 As usual, Jesus does not directly answer the question. Instead he describes what has been happening. The lame, blind, and deaf are healed. Leprosy disappears. Demons are driven away. Even the dead are raised. Television ministries compete with each other, evangelists do too. Powerful workers within a church often go after the same helpers. Is Jesus raiding John's cadre of loyalists? Does John think he is? No wonder Jesus calls out the offended and asks them to surrender their pride. He can't help himself. He only does what the Father does, what the Father tells him to do. He is incapable of modesty and does not value decorum. He tends to disregard hierarchy and hence the elders sometimes feel disrespected. By his miracles and his preaching Jesus draws men to his Father. In the process many are drawn to him. Who does he think he is? Others may ask that question, but Jesus doesn't. He just does the work. In all our lives there are times when the power of God surges through our words, our bodies, our minds, our touch. We too can't help ourselves. At those moments God uses every fiber of the being he created. I have no business holding on to those moments, and even less business resenting them in others' lives. We compete for nothing. Like Jesus as he walked on earth, I wait for God's power to do what it's going to do. In me, in you. Let's just see what will happen next. When you walk in our lives, Lord, then kindness and truth meet, justice and peace kiss, and goodness springs from earth and heaven. When you pour out your benefits on us, our land shall yield its fruit. Let us eat those grapes and oranges and apples and figs with gladness. (Psalm 85) |
John's disciples (and John himself) don't know what to do. Should they follow Jesus or stay apart? Are John and Jesus competing somehow? John announced himself as a forerunner; is Jesus the one he has been announcing?