Lessons From Rahab's Faith

Reading Joshua this morning I was struck by a thought about the story of Rahab hiding the spies in her home in Joshua 2 and began contemplating what significance might be here.

The Holy Spirit quickly revealed to me some thoughts I would like to share.

1. Rahab, a prostitute, realized the source of the Israelite's success in leaving Egypt and the conquest of neighboring kingdoms. So well known was their success to the inhabitants of Jericho that their hearts  "melted" in fear. Why is it a prostitute could figure this out and no one else? I immediately saw a correlation between this story and Noah's ark where a handful of people were saved because of their faith.

2. She lied to her king. While we know lying is a sinful act, see here a new believer who lied to protect the spies she was hiding. It might also have been out of fear to protect her family from the king's wrath given her new walk, but I feel comfortable giving her the benefit of the doubt. Particularly when we realize why God was pleased with her act in that it must have been her heart was about fulfilling God's will.

4. God uses us in His works for our benefit. I saw another reminder of how God uses us to further His Kingdom as Jesus did with the wedding miracle (John 2:1-12). I love this story because it is of no doubt that Jesus could easily have spoken the water to become wine but he used the servants in the miracle to further demonstrate his power and because of this the servants could share their story of the encounter. Coincidentally, that is what each of us is to do; share our story or testimony as a tool to witness to others.

3. The red cord placed in the window. The color red symbolizes a couple things in the Bible. First, scarlett represents sin ("The great harlot dressed in scarlet and purple (Revelation 17:1-6) and the need for atonement which of course is effected through a blood sacrifice. I was struck by the similarity of the scarlet cord in a window and the lamb's blood, also scarlet, spread over the door of the Jews' doors in Egypt to protect the occupants of the household therein from the angels' death touch. As in Genesis   we see Rahab's family protected by this simple act.

4. I saw a parallel between the angels sweeping down on the occupants of Egypt and the Israelites doing the same bringing death and destruction to those not in a protected household. Symbolic also of the coming judgment with the angels sounding the Seven Trumpets (Revelation 8 & 9)

5. I see our faith perfectly illustrated here: First, the promise of the spies to Rahab in that if she were to complete one simple act of faith they would honor their agreement. The second being the promise of salvation which they gave her. Third, we see the fulfillment of that promise at the appropriate time which was unknown to the woman and her family, just as God's promise to us we will not know the hour of His return.

Lessons From Mary's Anointing of Jesus

Most everyone familiar with the Bible knows the story of John 12:3-8 in which Judas chastises Mary for using expensive oil to anoint Jesus' head. Reading that passage again this morning gave me new insight to a few things we might have missed in the past.

THE SCRIPTURE:

 3Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar12:3 Greek took 1 litra [327 grams]. of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

4But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, 5“That perfume was worth a year’s wages.12:5 Greek worth 300 denarii. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” 6Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.  7Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”(NLT)

We all know of course Judas' motivation here because John explains he was a thief and his love of money is later exposed when he betrays Jesus for 30 silver pieces and we see Mary's pure love. What was revealed to me were just a couple simple thoughts:

1. Jesus knows our hearts and our true intentions, and He will reveal them to us or publicly as recognition or for correction.
2. Judas relied on worldly wisdom which would indeed seem to make sense of his comments but with true wisdom we see Jesus destroy the thought in 1 simple sentence. Simple as this verse is, "you will always have the poor, but you will not always have me" it is so profoundly deep in symbolism, prophecy, hope and truth.
3. This reinforces Luke 12:34 in which we are reminded where our treasures are, also is our heart. Be cautious of what you hold dear and pursue.
4. Mary's motivations were out of love and adoration so Jesus receives it and acknowledges her service and devotion. Judas, as Jesus knows, is all about how he can enrich himself riding on the coat tails of this upstart religious movement. For this reason, Jesus gently rebukes him in public and I suggest this shames him because he does not open his mouth again. Perhaps this pushed him to betray Jesus because he did not get to steal anything from the sale of the perfume. That could be an interesting topic of conversation. 

The lessons Jesus give us here spoke to me about Cain and Abel's offerings to the LORD in which Abel held back nothing and gave his best while Cain foolishly held back the best for himself. He then has the pride and audacity to be up set with his brother when he himself failed to be obedient. That's weird; just like his dad who failed to obey the LORD and protect his wife and to not eat of the tree. The nut does not fall far from the tree.

The takeaway should be for each of us to pray to the Lord to reveal what we hold dear in our heart and if it is not pure to please help me remove it. Just because we go to church does not mean we are a believer or are right with God any more than my hanging out in a garage makes me a mechanic. YOUR walk is between you and God. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?

Is There Significance That 2 Men Were Crucified with Jesus?

When it comes to reading the Bible there are some things to bear in mind. First, if it is IN the Bible it is there for a reason. Second, sometimes what is NOT said or written is equally as important.

Recently our pastor delivered a profoundly deep message on the first Easter Sunday with Mary's encounter of the angels in the tomb and with a newly resurrected Jesus outside the tomb.  We have all heard sermons in which we receive a powerful message with an in-depth analysis of the word, or, the exigy of the Bible; That is, the extracting of information from the Bible.

The crucifixion then came to my mind and I wondered WHAT the significance was of there having been 3 men crucified on Calvary that Good Friday.
Certainly we all understand the import and seemingly innumerable instances in which the Word gives us a reference to 3, but I felt there was more to this than that.  I reached out to my friend a Baptist minister and in a few brief messages attempted to expound on what I felt was significance to get his insight. Failing miserably, I then turned to the Holy Spirit and the good book.

Jesus demonstrates perfect love
The greatest commandment is to love our Lord with our whole heart. IF we could do that then we would also love all his children as we love ourselves, but alas, our sinful nature leaves us short every time. We see a couple instances in the story of the crucifixion in which Jesus provides a model of how we are to love others.

First, John 19:11 we see Jesus telling Pilate the power He claims to have is from above (so he is NOT challenging an earthly position of power) but also tells him his sin is not as  egregious as Judas': “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.” (NLT) In other words, you are being used by the Almighty- this is not on you.

The next instance is from Luke 23:28-31  28But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ 30People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’ 31For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?

I take this as a word to the people- this? this is fleeting. My physical death will be over quickly but you are going to be left here to your own devices, relying on pastors not using the Gospel but rather a worldly spin on the Word.

Perhaps the most obvious and significant example is John 23:34  where Jesus is pleading for our mercy (the crowd jeering him) at the foot of the cross saying: “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”  Though I am not always successful, I try to remember this when I feel I have been "wronged" and hang on to anger or hurt feelings longer than I should.

He took my place on the cross
While many of us may have heard the analogy that Jesus took our place on the cross, there may not be a more obvious example other than his sentencing in front of Pilate and the crowd. Pilate, caught between his misgivings, a premonition from his wife and a precarious position between what he knows and the Roman emperor, is clearly looking for a way out. In fact, as we see in Luke 23:7, he gives Herod jurisdiction on this matter since Herod is over Galilee.

He is not convinced Jesus is what the Pharisees are portraying him to be and matter of factly proclaims "I have found no fault in this man." (Luke 23:14)  It was customary to release one of the accused during a feast for mercy's sake apparently, so again, Pilate attempting to extricate himself by admonishing Jesus and releasing him to his people, but the crowd demanded the release of Barabbas (a robber, not a thief so this is a really bad guy) and for Jesus to be crucified with the other criminals. As we now know the Pharisees got the crowd riled up to demand Jesus' blood instead.

Pilate asks a third time what wrong this man had done and then washes his hands of the situation, effectively and almost prophetically, putting the blood of Jesus on the Jewish people. So here is, what I believe, the first demonstration of Jesus laying down his life for our sins. If that is not enough to give you goosebumps or get you choked up a bit...

He preceded us in death
Then his time of the cross seems to be a bit of a conundrum. He was crucified in the auspices he was an enemy of the state. Romans were expert merchants of death and routinely used crucifixion as a warning to all non-Romans who broke the law, and in the case of insurgents would ensure their existence on the cross would not only last for days of indescribable agony, but then left the bodies on display. Perhaps one of the greatest examples of this was the final disposition of Spartacus's revolt  and his fellow gladiators in France in 73 B.C. Once Crassus had defeated the revolting gladiator-slaves, he lined the road to Damascus with 6,000 crosses and put one of the insurgents on each cross. This was a grisly and clear reminder to all who travelled the road between Rome and Damascus what penalty they would face if they chose not to live under Roman rule.

So here we see an accused protagonist of the state hung on a cross to die an insurgent's death but he does not linger there like those who preceded him. It was almost as if the scourging he received inflicted enough harm to hasten his death. Centurions would routinely break the legs of the condemned if they were not enemies of the state. Again, we see a misstep in tradition of the Roman army when the guards approached Jesus' cross and found he was already dead and were instructed to thrust a spear into his thorax, rather than desecrate the body. If he were not already dead a hasty end was imminent.

However, as we know from the Gospels, He had already given his last breath and gave up the spirit.  The criminals on either side had not yet succumbed and consequently, had their tibias broken by an iron rod to speed their death.

Salvation is yours for the asking

During the crucifixion, we are given the details of a conversation between the 3 men on the cross when one thief challenges Jesus to rescue them all "If you are the Christ save Yourself and us." (Luke 23:39) while the other, with a repentant heart, asks Jesus to remember him when Jesus comes into his Kingdom. Jesus so lovingly and warmly consoles him with the assurance that "... today you will be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43) This also shows the two human hearts: the repentant heart and the heart that is not truly repentant but instead is asking for grace to get out of his situation because he is only sorry he has been caught. But the real power of this example is nothing more needed be done on the thief's part!  Too often today we rationalize how salvation can't be that easy. It has to be. We are called "sheep" more than once and that is not because they are cute but because they are defenseless and rather dumb. Remember, we only had ONE rule in the Garden and we screwed that up. How is it we think, through our works, we can please a God who offered his only Son to forgive us?

Besides, if there is something on my end to do I could brag about, as Paul points out, it and it would be a direct contradiction with Jesus' last statement before death.

One will be taken, one will be left
As we read of Jesus' warnings of the future after He is gone, we realize He is talking about a time in the future in which the green wood (indicative of a living tree with water- Psalm 1:3 a tree planted by a river) dries up, what then? It seems to me He may be referring to the end times and how we will rely on our own knowledge from a worldly church. While the tree symbolizes a church, it is clear the "green wood" is one with the Living Water we can only get from Jesus, while the dry wood is one where we no longer get sustaining life-giving water from the LORD. I feel his example here, between the two criminals, one who received him as Lord and the other defiant in his sin to the end, are so powerfully symbolic of what Jesus shared in Matthew 24:40-42 “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. 41Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. 42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. 

Being called may be risky and uncomfortable
Finally we close the scene with Joseph of Arimethea in the uncomfortable situation of having to jeopardize his position and approach Pilate for the body of a man executed for treason. As a Sanhedrin, he had spent his life building a reputation so the potentiality of him losing it all for a momentary calling out of his norm must have been daunting. Unlike the wealthy young man from Mark 10:17 Joseph undertakes the calling of the Lord and gets Jesus' body from the Roman authority for burial.

Time was of the essence since Jewish law stipulated a body be cared for before sundown and to not work on the Sabbath which commenced at sundown that evening. His request was granted, seemingly without much to-do and apparently some grace, thus setting the stage for the greatest come-back ever recorded.