Stephen
Terry, Director
Doing the Unthinkable
Commentary
for the March 6, 2021 Sabbath School Lesson
"He grew up before him
like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or
majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should
desire him.
He was despised and
rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom
people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low
esteem.
Surely he took up our
pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him
punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for
our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that
brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep,
have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid
on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and
afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb
to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is
silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and
judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off
from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was
punished.
He was assigned a
grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no
violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Isaiah 53:2-9, NIV
Who has not seen the
television commercials by the televangelist, Peter Popoff? He offers to send
small packets of "miracle water" for free to anyone who calls in and asks. In
the commercials, individuals testify that they received the miracle water and
soon received thousands of dollars, the implication being that you can become wealthy
by simply using the miracle water. This con game is simply a Popoff twist on
the prosperity theology being hawked by many charismatic preachers who have their
eyes on this world's goods instead of heaven. Perhaps impatient at waiting for
heavenly rewards, they have decided to have it all now. Mansions, private jets,
rivers of money, they want to live like the rich. They have become skilled at
tapping into that same vein of desire in others. They promise wealth and
prosperity to others, and as their own wealth increases, they point to their
own prosperity as the proof of what they are preaching. They do not mention
that the wealth is the result of the many people they have duped into sending
them money. They cite Bible texts like "Beloved, I wish above all things that
thou mayest prosper and be in health" (3 John 1:2) and Isaiah's promise "to
give unto them beauty for ashes" (Isaiah 61:3) as proof that God wants everyone
to be wealthy and blessed. But they cite these texts in a distorted manner that
negates the actual words of Jesus, who said, "It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of
God." (Mark 10:25)
Because of the pointedness of Jesus words on this matter of pursuing riches,
many have tried to deflect their implications. Some have claimed that Jesus did
not really mean it was impossible, even though the disciples apparently understood
it that way.[i]
They offer up that Jesus was referring to a gate in Jerusalem called the "Needle
Gate" that was so narrow that camels had to remove their burdens to go through.
Therefore, while riches obviously could not be taken to heaven, they were to be
wished for on this side of that narrow gate. The problem with this explanation
is that there never was such a gate in Jerusalem, and in the Koine Greek, the
needle Jesus mentioned was literally a sewing needle. Lest we become tempted to
see it as a metaphor, not only did the disciples take it as literal, but Jesus
also responded to their concern based on it being literal. This is also
bolstered by Jesus' life and preaching about deferral of reward in the present.
He even went as far as to state that seeking reward now can mean loss of future
heavenly reward.[ii]
The message is why should we settle for an earthly reward that is far less
desirable than a heavenly one? But so many do, eschewing a life of service and
self-denial. This is far from the example of Christ.
Jesus began his ministry by first going out into the wilderness to face
temptation over appetite, presumption, and an easy path to wealth and power.
The entire account may be found in Matthew, chapter 4.[iii] He was hungry and had the power
to end his hunger so why not sate that hunger? Every dieter knows the power of
this temptation. Judging by the current epidemic of obesity, most of us are not
doing well in this area. Next was the temptation to presume that because he was
fulfilling God's purpose, anything he did would be blessed by God. This is a temptation
that many also fail. Prosperity preachers are among those who are tripped up
here. One simply does not call themselves a preacher and then presume that
everything they say or do comes from the Father's will. Such an attitude would
be a powerful temptation to God to set you straight. The end of that might not
be very desirable. The final temptation is the one directly relevant to the
matter at hand.
We are told that the
Devil, who seemed to like multi-media presentations, showed Jesus all the
kingdoms of this world and offered them to him if he would only fall down and
worship him. Some might ask how he could give what already belonged to God? But
God had given dominion over the Earth to mankind.[iv] Man was the ruler of this
world until, at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, he transferred his allegiance
to Satan, allowing the Devil to have the dominion that mankind did not value.
Jesus recognized this claim that Satan made upon the earth as valid.[v] He knew that the Devil did
have the power to give him the Earth, but it would only be by doing as Adam and
Eve had done, accepting Satan as his master. Fortunately, he did not accept
such a bargain, even though it was offered as an easy way out, a way to regain
ownership of the world without the path of suffering he was surely facing.
We are so easily
distracted by the gleam of prosperity and power. We do not see the wizard
behind the curtain offering to fulfil those dreams. He will promise everything we
want if we will only support him in continuing his charade. He has many already
enthralled to his service. Politicians, wealthy businessmen, celebrities, and yes,
even preachers have given him their oath of loyalty. As Paul wrote to the
church at Corinth, "For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers,
masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself
masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also
masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions
deserve." (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)
Satan is aware of our
desires. Although, he cannot read our minds, he can hear. We tend to talk
constantly about those things we care about the most. This gives him all he
needs to promise to make it easy for us to do those things if we only follow
him. We might be tempted to take that
easy path, the one without struggle and hardship, but eventually God will come
walking, looking for us and calling us to him like he did with Adam and Eve in
the Garden of Eden. Will we come running, happy to see him, or will we hide in
shame like Adam and Eve because of our devil's bargain that cut him out of the
picture?
The Devil has a
special ability to use our most worthy aspirations to draw us into a morass of
degradation and immorality. He will even use the Bible to do so, just as he
used the Bible to tempt Christ. Is there a sin we feel very strongly about and
want to end? The Devil will tell us he wants that, too. He will even lead us to
others who want the same thing, and because the cause is so noble, he will
convince us to look the other way when we discover that those with us in this cause
are guilty of other things as bad as or worse than the one we are all fighting.
He may even make sure we do not notice that for all our fighting against the
immoral activity we oppose, nothing changes. Laws may be proposed. Some activities
may be curtailed. But the problem never goes away to any significant degree.
This is not for lack of trying on our part. It is simply because change must
arise from the heart, not outwardly. The Devil has no power to do that. Neither
do we. Only God can give us a new heart.[vi]
For thousands of
years, mankind has struggled to remove evil from the face of the Earth. But
today, we have just as much evil as ever, often ironically multiplied by our
efforts to eradicate it. We push against the tide of evil in our own strength,
not realizing that our coercive methods say more about what party we are part
of than our noble sounding goals do. Jesus came to show us that service and not
coercion is the path to human hearts, and he invites us to be part of that
effort, to join him as he walks through the garden of the earth calling to see
who will come running. He will not stop searching until he is able to offer
everyone a fair chance to come back. That is what love does.