What Kind of King is This?

As morning broke for us the events at Dinner with Lazarus, and the electrifying story John told of Christ’s raising him from the dead, were all we could think of. It was no wonder to us when, leaving Bethany, we met up with thousands of people waving palm branches and cheering, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in God’s name! Yes! The King of Israel!” Our hearts swelled with joy! Their cheers were so right! This is the “One,” who “comes in the Name of the Lord!” Blessed by the “Great ‘I AM’” with power over death itself! Surely He is “the King of Israel!”

Ohhhhh!

What is Jesus doing?

Somehow He’s gotten a “young donkey.” It’s so young, in fact, that it’s probably never borne a a burden. But Jesus has mounted it. He’s riding on it!

What a paradox!

This is no triumph! For all our resentment of them and their oppression of us we have to say that the Romans knew how to do “Triumphs!”

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Triumphus.html

And this was no “Triumph.”

It was only after His Resurrection and return to His Father; to the Glory He’d relinquished to rescue us, that we would understand His completely self-effacing behavior.

His Followers would notice the “fulfillment of Scripture;” that “what was written about Him matched what was done to Him.” Then we’d remember the prophesy of Zechariah. “Shout and

cheer, Daughter Zion!
Raise the roof, Daughter Jerusalem!
Your king is coming!
a good king who makes all things right,
a humble king riding a donkey,
a mere colt of a donkey.
I've had it with war—no more chariots in Ephraim,
no more war horses in Jerusalem,
no more swords and spears, bows and arrows.
He will offer peace to the nations,
a peaceful rule worldwide,
from the four winds to the seven seas.”

He had deliberately played out the truth about His Kingdom. His power was the Father’s power. He would not wield it as “godless rulers,” throwing His “weight around; allowing a little power to “quickly,” go “to His head.”

No!

He told us at the outset of this Pilgrimage that He “the Son of Man, … came to serve, not to be served – and then to give away His life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.”

His Kingdom is an “upside down” Kingdom. Well, to tell the truth, it’s the only “right side up,” Kingdom.

Here is the “Ultimate Triumph!” “A crescendo of voices in Heaven sang out,

The kingdom of the world is now
the Kingdom of our God and his Messiah!
He will rule forever and ever!”

New Grounds for Believing

They came to the site of the tomb where Lazarus was buried. A swelling procession of mourners; Friends of Lazarus and his Sisters Martha and Mary. As they approached the tomb the Master was again “deeply troubled, angry,” seemingly enraged. The “God/Man,” Creator and Lord of the Universe, felt again that remorse wrenching the heart of God in the days of Noah. Here, now, by the tomb of a Friend, He saw it as only the Creator could. The dust, from which He formed our Race, compressed by the winds and shifting sands of time, now made up the rocky cave and stone imprisoning this Man whom He loved.

“Remove the stone!!” He commanded. Ringing across all time, with cosmic resonance, echoing in the eternal hallways of the Kingdom of the Heavens, the command could be heard from “before time began.” The removal of that stone was to be the greatest stroke of the “finger of God,” since Creation. He forever, through this “Son of God,” become “Son of Man,’ was turning back the tyranny of evil, sin, and death.

But!

The voice of doubt protests yet again. It was Martha’s voice. “Master by this time there’s a stench. He’s been dead four days.”

This time, though, the doubt would be dispelled. “Jesus looked her in the eye. ‘Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’” “You’re about to be given new grounds for believing.” There’d be no protests this time about resuscitation. Lazarus was dead … dead to the point of decomposition. If this stone were to be removed something supernatural would take place and only those unwilling to face the indisputable truth would be able to deny it. Jesus delayed His coming to Bethany for that very reason.

“Go ahead! Take away the stone.”

As Friends “removed the stone, Jesus raised His eyes to heaven and prayed, ‘Father, I’m grateful that You have listened to me. I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I’ve spoken so that they might believe that You have sent me.”

What happened next would be God’s doing. Jesus repeatedly insisted that His work was the “Father’s” work. He gave credit to the Father for all He did. “If I, by the finger of God, cast out devils then the Kingdom of God is here.” “If, today, I raise a man from the dead, all of you who witness it up close and personal, or those who witness it through your later reports, will know I am here and doing what I do by Divine Decree!

“Lazarus! Come out!”

The shout heard beyond the reach of death startled a decomposing consciousness; shocked alive a lifeless heart; raised a prostrate form erect, and “he came out … wrapped from head to toe, with a kerchief over his face.”

This is the Lazarus we’re eating Dinner with, in Bethany. We, along with many eyewitnesses, John, the Storyteller included, are celebrating these unparalleled, unimaginable “new grounds for believing.”

We’ll resume the Lenten pilgrimage tomorrow. But the Man we follow will be different to us then. We will know that “He is,” without question, “the Christ, the Son of the Living – Most High – God.”

WE WILL FOLLOW HIM WHEREVER HE LEADS US; FOR WHATEVER PURPOSES HE INTENDS TO USE US!

When Anger Cares

Here comes Mary!

Her grieving Friends are following her.

When she sees Jesus she runs to Him and falls at His feet. “If only you’d come right away my Brother would not have died,” she cried, sobbing uncontrollably.

When Jesus saw her weeping and the heartbreak in her Friends, “a gut wrenching anger welled up in Him and He was deeply troubled; to the point of rage.” Certainly anger is a part of grief. But rage? Especially when you’ve come to show compassion and comfort a Friend? Why such extreme reaction? Especially from this man who’d shown such deep compassion, throughout His life, even to the outcasts of His society.

Here, in the rage of “Messiah … Son of the living God,” is “new ground for believing.” Jesus is more than a mere Man. He is the “God Man,” John would later introduce Him to the world as “the Word,” God’s ultimate “reveal” of Himself. He is the “One,” who would live out, in real Life, what God had in mind when He created Humankind, the “Why” of our existence. He, John said, “made all things;” “without Him nothing was made.”

Standing with a sobbing Friend, whom He loved dearly, clinging to His feet, the Creator of all things sees His Friend ravaged by what has become of His handiwork. The “good” world He created has been turned completely upside down. Evil is everywhere! His anger is the Creator’s “rage” at the desecration of his “good” work; especially the noblest of His creatures. This is the “One,” the demons called the “Son of the Most High God.” When they saw Him coming they begged Him to spare them from the doom they dreaded. They’d seduced and destroyed His Creation. They knew it. They knew the full release of His rage had been restrained in Him for all time, kept in check until the Day of Vengeance. The momentary trace of it, in this moment, must have shaken them to the core. Heaven was preparing for battle and there were no more questions. Death, evils greatest weapon, was about to be vanquished.

This is something all observers will need to contemplate long and deeply before they’ll understand it. “New ground for believing,” startling revelation of who this “Jesus” really is.

Just as the Divine in Him, the “Judge of all the Earth,” shows itself His humanity grips Him.”

“Jesus wept.”

Lazarus, Martha, Mary, like many who were acquainted with Him, knew Him to be deeply compassionate. They’d watched Him deal tenderly with the hurting and grieving. Many times they’d seen the depth of His caring. He, truly, cared for humanity. He did not call Himself the “Son of God” except on one occasion. No. He called Himself the “Son of Man.” He knew He was the Hope of our Race. But He’d not champion our cause by His strong arm. He’d rescue, redeem, refine, and restore fallen humanity by His tender love; a love whose authenticity would be demonstrated by the greatest of sacrifices; the breaking of the very heart of God.

Of course He “wept.” His heart, like Mary’s, was breaking.

Do you believe? Do you believe Jesus weeps when you weep? Does a “gut wrenching anger well up in Him” when you are hurt? As He restrains His anger in that moment do you sense something greater; more powerful; more far-reaching? Are you conscious of an attention deeper than any you’ve experienced before? Do you feel valued; loved; as though discouragement has gone and strength is restored?

This is “the Way of the Cross.” Altogether “new ground for believing.”

This Man, Jesus of Nazareth, is the “Son of God/Son of Man;” come to conquer evil and death; to “salvage” His broken Sons and Daughters.

What Did Martha Believe?

What did Martha believe?

Jesus asked her that.

Well, actually, He was more specific. He asked her if she believed, “everyone who lives believing in (Him) does not ultimately die at all.” Her reply? “Yes Master.” But she continued, almost as if to qualify her answer. “All along I have believed that You are the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world.”

Christ’s question appears to expect a simple “No,” or “Yes” answer. Why the qualification? Was she struggling with His claim that He could insure immortality to anyone? Her Brother believed in Him and he died. A person could understand her hesitation. Was she confused? Could she be wondering what the difference is between dying and dying “ultimately?” Was this claim bewildering to her; raising real questions of Jesus right to be saying such things? Believing that Jesus is “Messiah – Christ – the Son of God who comes into the world,” does not always fully answer the question, “Who is this Jesus?” Could her more than “yes” “yes” be the kind of emphasis she, herself, needed more than anyone else?

Not long before this Jesus followers affirmed their belief that He is “the Christ the Son of the living God.” Jesus praised Peter, their spokesman. “My Father has shown you this, Peter!” Still, when He told them He was going to Bethany to be with Martha and her Sister now, they were afraid. Thomas said, cynically, “Come along. We might as well die with Him.” They, like Martha, weren’t able to make the connection. They’d not, yet, seen how the true “Christ,” the authentic “Son of the living God,” present in their lives, could, and ought to be expected to take death’s fearsome power from it.

To be fair Jesus had told them His final trip to Jerusalem would end in crucifixion. Who wouldn’t be afraid to go to Jerusalem with Him now? He had also said that, “on the third day He would be raised up.” Did Thomas remember that? Was he thinking, "OK, if this is what it takes to experience the eternal life He’s been telling us about for the past three years let’s die with Him.” The cynicism evident as he voiced his resignation suggests his thinking was nowhere near such depths.

Our beliefs are often disconnected from what might be expected of someone who is a “True Believer.” James, Jesus Brother, wrote, “You believe there’s one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.” Obviously their belief makes no difference in the way they behave.

Martha, and Thomas, and most of Jesus Followers, at the time, saw “Messiah” as the “Hope of Israel.” The next, final, Supreme David. They assumed material benefits. Secular outcomes would follow His triumphs. If immortality was a factor in any of their thinking it didn’t seem to have influenced their understanding of His Kingdom. Their deep attachments to things tangible, and familiar, the hopes and dreams they’d allowed to form around their sense of privilege as “The Chosen,” rendered them incapable of understanding how death could be anything but “ultimate.”

So now, Jesus has deliberately delayed going to heal Lazarus. He has let the illness take its fatal course. Now He’s about to give Martha, and Thomas, and many others, “new ground for believing;”greater knowledge of “Who” this Man, “Jesus,” really is.