And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die (Genesis 3:4)
Our fore-parents appeared to have had everything: a home, food, occupation, instruction, all in the presence of God. Often when the blissful state of Adam and Eve is examine, one concludes, “I would have never given up what they had.”
However, a more careful observation of this passage reveals that there is something they did not have. They did not have “knowledge” or “maturity”. No! Adam and Eve were not zygotes wearing fig leaves. They were created with the appearance of age. It was as if they were old when they were in fact brand new. It seemed as if they had been here, when they had actually just arrived. They were fully grown infants. And they wanted what they did not have; they wanted to know.
And we too want to know. Every toddler is on a great exploration from one thing to another. This desire does not cease by one simply coming of age. As teenagers, the longing to know the world away from our parents’ oversight, instructions, and restrictions, seems to overwhelm us. We all want to know: to see, to hear, to feel, to taste, to touch for ourselves. And the Genesis 3 cycle is repeated in the microcosm of our own lives, as we are attracted to Satan’s suggestions, romanced by his reason, and cuddle his alternative, assuming we will be the better having gone his way.
Whatever the variety of our temptation, it all boils down to a type of antinomianism: freedom from restriction, freedom to explore whatever we will, and freedom to eat from our own forbidden tree. Not even one restriction is acceptable. And therein is the serpent's subtle suggestion, “Any restriction is bondage; any limitation is God’s attempt to keep you from your potential.”
Moses warns of the subtlety of Satan’s approach: His craft employs the silky smooth disposition of a serpent. He shocks Eve into opening a door of dialog by making an overtly false statement that all the trees are forbidden. He then suggested to her the need for independent thought; because, God’s word is meant to hinder and not help. Finally he sold her on the idea that they would be better off after eating from the tree in spite of God’s command. And they got what they wanted, only to find their eyes opened to the fact that they did not need it.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Let Us Also Go, That We May Die With Him
John 11:16 Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.
The disciples had been with Jesus in Bethany and had faced tremendous opposition. Now word had come to Jesus that Lazarus was dead. The disciple’s fears caused their ears to dull and fail to hear what Jesus was really communicating in saying, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.” It was not that Jesus was saying something difficult to understand, but that they did not want to hear what Jesus was saying about going back to Bethany.
And that is us; we will embrace the death of our friends, so that we save our own life. We are afraid to embrace Jesus’ view of things; because, it will challenge our cheapened ideas of our true responsibility, to even those we call friend. We are afraid to hear Christ; because, He might be saying something that we really don’t want to hear.
Amid their apparent confusion, their subliminal rationale is clear; the question of their hearts is “Why should we die for going to see a dead man?” Yet Thomas, often characterized as a “doubter”, and maybe so, speaks up, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Even here, he certainly seems to be a bit more pessimistic than optimistic. He is pessimistic about the outcome, but faithful to the journey.
On one hand, we certainly want to be careful to extol the virtues of looking at a difficult journey with a sense of confidence and expectation of the master to do something extraordinary. This is blessed, for it allows one to experience peace, joy, hope, faith, patience, etc. on the journey. Then too, on another occasion, Jesus admonishes Thomas about this unfruitful tendency toward skepticism.
On the other hand, I want to point out in this situation that Thomas’ pessimism does not erect a blockade to his commitment and his encouragement of his fellow disciples to go as well. Maybe it would be helpful to increase the adjectives we employ concerning Thomas. Perhaps we could say “honest” Thomas; because, he did not disguise his fear in dishonest religious rhetoric. Maybe we could call him, “encouraging” Thomas; because he leads by beckoning a like response from his fellow disciples. Most assuredly we may call him “committed” Thomas, for he is willing to follow Jesus even unto death.
Whatever, the case, Thomas was faithful, as faith is not the absence of fear, but courage to overcome fear with unwavering commitment to face deadly opposition with Christ for the salvation of a friend.
The disciples had been with Jesus in Bethany and had faced tremendous opposition. Now word had come to Jesus that Lazarus was dead. The disciple’s fears caused their ears to dull and fail to hear what Jesus was really communicating in saying, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.” It was not that Jesus was saying something difficult to understand, but that they did not want to hear what Jesus was saying about going back to Bethany.
And that is us; we will embrace the death of our friends, so that we save our own life. We are afraid to embrace Jesus’ view of things; because, it will challenge our cheapened ideas of our true responsibility, to even those we call friend. We are afraid to hear Christ; because, He might be saying something that we really don’t want to hear.
Amid their apparent confusion, their subliminal rationale is clear; the question of their hearts is “Why should we die for going to see a dead man?” Yet Thomas, often characterized as a “doubter”, and maybe so, speaks up, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Even here, he certainly seems to be a bit more pessimistic than optimistic. He is pessimistic about the outcome, but faithful to the journey.
On one hand, we certainly want to be careful to extol the virtues of looking at a difficult journey with a sense of confidence and expectation of the master to do something extraordinary. This is blessed, for it allows one to experience peace, joy, hope, faith, patience, etc. on the journey. Then too, on another occasion, Jesus admonishes Thomas about this unfruitful tendency toward skepticism.
On the other hand, I want to point out in this situation that Thomas’ pessimism does not erect a blockade to his commitment and his encouragement of his fellow disciples to go as well. Maybe it would be helpful to increase the adjectives we employ concerning Thomas. Perhaps we could say “honest” Thomas; because, he did not disguise his fear in dishonest religious rhetoric. Maybe we could call him, “encouraging” Thomas; because he leads by beckoning a like response from his fellow disciples. Most assuredly we may call him “committed” Thomas, for he is willing to follow Jesus even unto death.
Whatever, the case, Thomas was faithful, as faith is not the absence of fear, but courage to overcome fear with unwavering commitment to face deadly opposition with Christ for the salvation of a friend.
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