March 25, 1992...Ì he Portland Observer...Page 7
Portland Observer
Scripture o f the
RELIGION
Matthew, Chapter 7
Insight on the Word: Reality Check for Christians: Do You Really Know the Christ?
BY M ICHAEL LINDSEY,
N ow Jesus had not taught them this
truth d ire ctly. He had used his w orks, his
teaching m in istry,a n d th e witness o f the
S p irit to reveal this central truth to them
Dean of North Portland Bible College
11:9-14). These casual observers o f
Jesus easily bought into the sensational
The B ib le text f o r next week's Sun­
day S chool lesson is M a rk 8 :2 7 through
“ ta b lo id ” rum or, ih a t John the B aptist
had been resurrected; they o n ly wanted
9:1. Please re a d this c ru c ia l passage
to fo llo w the e x c itin g developm ents.
Others were say ing Jesus was E lija h
(note M att 16:17). B ut since they under­
(E lia s in G reek). These people were
aware o f the S criptures, w h ich pre­
dicted E lija h ’ s return (M a l4 :5 -6 ). Jesus
id e n tifie d M a la c h i’ s prophecy w ith the
m in istry o f John the B a p tis t(M a tt 11:14;
goo n and teach them what it meant to be
the C h rist— and what it meant fo r them,
to fo llo w the C hrist.
several times, and m editate on its im p li­
cations f o r y o u r own life.
W hat does it cost you to be a C h ris ­
tian? W o u ld you be w ilin g to g ive your
life fo r w hat you believe? Y o u r friends?
Y o u r jo b security?
T h a i’ s re a lly w hat our text this
w eek is about. It is re a lly the turning
p o in t o f the entire Gospel o f M a rk , and
one o f the m ost im p o rta n t passages we
can study in the w hole N ew Testament.
It teaches us about the re a lity o f Jesus as
the C h rist, the necessity and pow er o f
his death, and the demands (yes, de­
mands) he makes on his fo llo w e rs. I can
o n ly g ive you some dire ctio n in d ig g in g
in to these awesome truths fo r yo u r­
selves.
T o begin this episode, the L o rd le ft
Bethsaida, by the Sea o f G a lile e (8:22),
and w ent north w ith his disciples to the
v illa g e s around Caesarea P h ilip p i,
where he knew m ore large crow ds o f
curious, co m m itte d , but maybe even
hostile people w o u ld aw ait. In the rela­
tive p riva cy o f th e ir jo u rn e y, Jesus in i­
tiated an all-im portantconversati on w ith
17:10-13), but surely many were un­
aware o f these teachings.
S till others said Jesus was “ one o f
the prophets.” T h a t’ s safe, and yet s till
For the firs t tim e, Jesus “ began to
teach them, that the Son o f man m ust
suffer many th in g s ... and be k ille d , and
after three days rise again.” (M a rk 8:31).
T h is had to be hard fo r the disciples to
lake. Jesus had called h im s e lf “ Son o f
M an” before, but he had not c la rifie d
w hat authority that entailed. B u t w ith
profound. Y ou see, the prophets had
been silent from the tim e o f M a la c h i, as
even the Pharisees w o u ld have a d m it­
ted. R e lig io u s w rite rs, afraid to speak in
the name o f Y ahw eh (the L o rd ), had
the understanding that Jesus is tru ly the
Messiah, the title “ Son o f M an” had to
refer to the vision o f Daniel (D an 7:9-
taken to w ritin g “ a p o ca lyp tic” prophe­
cies o f im pending doom and ju d g m e n t
14) in w hich the Son o f M an received an
eternal kingdom on the earth, ru lin g
and deliverance. These forgeries were
w ritte n in the name o f great O ld Testa­
ment characters, lik e Enoch, Abraham ,
over every nation and people in the
w orld.
the tw elve s o n so f Israel, o r even Isaiah,
and gained c re d ib ility among the g u ll­
ib le by re te llin g histo ry as prophecy.
Some people w h o heard Jesus believed
that real prophecy had returned, and
G od was fin a lly speaking to them in a
the disciples. He asked them to report
on the opin io n s o f the people th e y’ d
met: “ W h o do people say that I am?”
new prophet.
These latter tw o view s (E lija h , o r a
prophet) revealed some insight, but
Jesus wanted his disciples to declare
(8:27).
Three answers are recorded. Some
themselves: “ W h o do you say that I
am?” Peter gave the answer the w hole
said Jesus was John the B aptist. Herod
the K in g was one o f those (6 :1 4 ), w hich
g ro u p was th in k in g : “ Y o u are the
C hrist,” the Messiah, the Anointed K in g ,
the One predicted in the psalms and
prophets, w h o w ill rule over a ll the
earth in the name o f the L ord.
indicates that m any were unaware o f
John’ s witness to Jesus (1 :7 -9 ), and
Jesus’ testim ony concerning John (M a tt
stood that Jesus was the C h rist, he could
Peter and the other disciples were
th in k in g , “ The Son o f M an is bound fo r
g lo ry , not fo r h u m ilia tio n , rejection and
death.” A nd im petuous Peter trie d to
lake authority o ver the situation, ta kin g
Jesus aside to “ rebuke” h im , even as
Jesus had rebuked e v il spirits in other
cases. Peter’ s m ind was b linded fo r the
mom ent to the spiritual dim ension o f
C h ris t’ s kingdom . O f course, he pre­
ferred g lo ry o ver rejection h im se lf.
Jesus knew w ho was confusing the
disciples, and m oving Peter to reject the
a u th o rity o f the One he had ju s t id e n ti­
fied as the C hrist. He turned and rebuked
Peter, c a llin g him Satan, and saying
“ thou savourest not the things that be o f
G o d ,” that is, “ you d o n ’ t have G o d ’ s
business in m in d at a ll.” It w o u ld take
repeated teaching and the very c ru c ifix ­
ion and resurrection itse lf before they
could com prehend the amazing plan o f
salvation. Some people listen to ser­
mons and read the B ib le a ll th e ir lives
and s till miss it.
N ext the L o rd called the cro w d o f
people around him , and spoke to them
all about the p rice o f discipleship. These
words s till apply today, and form a good
re a lity check fo r anyone w ho wants to
be called a C hristian.
N ow d o n ’ t get me w rong. “ W hoso­
ever w ill” may com e to C hrist Jesus, and
receive the free g ift o f eternal life . B u t
in o u r text (M a rk 8:34-38) there are
three other “ whosoever” statements from
the Lo rd h im se lf, w hich we must accept
i f we want to make him the L o rd o f our
lives.
First, the fo llo w e r o f Jesus must
s u rre n d e r. Jesus challenges the w o u ld -
be disciple to “ deny h im s e lf ’— take h im ­
se lf (o r herself) o f f the throne, and put
Jesus in charge o f his life . Then he must
“ take up his cross” — the o n ly person
w ho took up a cross was a convicted,
co n d e m n e d c r im in a l. A s D e itric h
B onhoeffer said, “ W hen Jesus calls a
man, he bids him come and d ie .” The
disciples must a d m it their unworthiness
o f G o d ’ s love and m ercy, and be w illin g
to “ die” to a n yth in g in the o ld life that
co u ld be an id o l. F in a lly the disciple
m ust “ fo llo w m e” — fo r Jesus h im se lf
w o u ld show the w ay to death. M o st o f
the crow d did not know Jesus’ plan to go
and die, but they knew that his demands
were costly and p a in fu l.
So w h y w o u ld anyone choose to
fo llo w Jesus? E specially in our plea-
surc-crazcd society, this surrender to
Jesus seems unrealistic. T h a t’ s w h y we
need a re a lity check! The fo llo w e r o f
Jesus m ust also a d o p t e te rn a l values
fo r his life (8:35-37). Y o u w ant to “ save
your life ” by choosing the things that
make your life seem good? C h ris t says
y o u ’ ll lose e v e ry th in g — in e te rn ity ,
where it counts. A re you w illin g to put
C h rist ahead o f e ve ryth in g , in c lu d in g
life itself? Y o u ’ ,1 have the k in d o f life
that re a lly counts— the jo y o f liv in g
w ith Jesus forever. M a n y o f M a rk ’ s
church fa m ily in Rome had to m ake that
choice, and those w ho d id saw G o d ’ s
pow er in supernatural ways.
A nd this im p lie s that the fo llo w e r
o f Jesus m ust ta ke a p u b lic sta n d fo r his
L o rd (8:38). Jesus called his generation
“ adulterous and s in fu l,” and so is ours!
True C hristians are not surprised when
they are in a m in o rity , when others
rid icu le them in d iv id u a lly o r c o lle c ­
tiv e ly , even when they are persecuted
fo r th e ir beliefs. In countries lik e Saudi
A rabia, Iran, India, o r N epal, persecu­
tio n o f C hristians by adherents o f other
re lig io n s is com m on and state-sanc­
tioned; m eanw hile the M o sle m s, H in ­
dus and Buddhists e n jo y general re li­
gious tolerance in many o ther countries,
in clu d in g ours. B u t fo llo w e rs o f C h rist
shouldn’ t be dism ayed o r discouraged.
Persecution o f o u r fa ith co u ld w e ll come
to A m e rica someday, too.
These somber, heavy truths make
us face the re a lity o f fo llo w in g Jesus.
I t ’ s not easy, and i t ’ s not som ething to
accept lig h tly . B u t i t ’ s w o rth it, both in
the jo y and peace you can have in this
life , and the certainty o f eternal life w ith
(corner of 8th & Skidmore)
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M ALLO RY
Dear Lord
Hear us as we pray!
There are many
who need you this day.
But more than that
our Master and Friend,
Be a shield
around us each day.
Protect us
from the fiery darts
we pray.
In the Holy and
Precious name o f Jesus.
Amen!
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Has moved Sunday services to
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S pring Schedule, 1992
M a rch 30 - June 12
E venings, 6:30 - 9:30
M o n d a y N .T . Survey I I I C ross-cultural M usic and W o rsh ip
Tuesday P.T. S urvey I I I Sermon on the M o u n t
W ednesday In d u c tiv e B ib le S tudy D efending the Faith
T hursday W o rld C h ristia n Outreach I I I M in is try to U rban ch ild re n
fo r the A n n ive rsary A w ards Cerem ony
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clo sin g program and w ill feature the
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4822 N . V ancouver A ve., E n tra n ce on W ygant Street.
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Friday n ig h t A p ril 3rd at 10:00 p.m .,
w ill be the k ic k - o ff late n ig h t M u sica l
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5211 N. W illia m s P o rtla n d , Or. 97217
Rev. A. G. May, Pastor
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