Seeing and Believing

Isaiah 53:1-12                      John 12:37-50

Seeing and Believing

Lucy Edwards lost her vision at the age of just 17. As you can imagine, at first, she struggled to come to terms with her profound loss, but that did not stop her from pursuing a career in the media world. And then, at the age of 27, she did something rather remarkable. She embarked on what she described as a life-changing Safari in Kenya, where she used her remaining senses to rebuild her memories of what she was hearing, smelling, and touching. The conservationists helped her by describing in detail what the animals looked like, how they moved, what they were eating, and how they were reacting to her presence. 

Now the reason I just told you her story is that while Lucy is a person who is blind, she is also a person who is determined not to allow this disability to stop her from ‘seeing’ the beauty all around her. While it is true that she is unable to see with her physical eyes, she resolved not to resign herself to a life in darkness, believing that she could make herself see again and, in so many ways, she did and does.

In stark contrast to a woman committed to overcoming the impossible, we have those who saw Jesus do so many signs and yet they still did not believe in him. Despite the logical and the obvious, they persistently refused to believe that Jesus was who he claimed to be. You need to remember, that these people had witnessed first-hand, amongst other things, the healing of a man born blind, the raising of a decomposing corpse, as well as the fulfilment of numerous biblical prophecies. They had also heard the teaching of Jesus and could easily have compared what he taught with what they knew the Scriptures said, just like Lucy compared what she heard, smelt, and felt with what she could remember when she did have sight. But they did not do that, did they? They had eyes but did not see…they had ears but did not hear. 

Now, this was not a new concept in biblical history. Remember the Pharoah in the Exodus? We are told repeatedly that his heart was hardened…the agency of the hardening seemingly both God and Pharoah himself. In Exodus 10:7 Pharoah’s servants are driven to despair by their king’s refusal to listen to reason. “How long shall this man be a snare to us?” they cry out in exasperation. “Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” They were amazed by the Pharoah’s stubborn resistance to the obvious. Jesus likewise was often driven to distraction by the blindness of his listeners. “O faithless and twisted generation! How long am I to be with you?” he once asked his disciples. “How long am I to bear with you?”

And then there are similar statements made about God’s people in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and other prophets. Rebellious people, blind people, deaf people. Having said that, I cannot help but wonder how many times he has made similar statements about us. We have the truth as they had the truth. We have his Word and they had his Word. But do we believe it? Really believe it? Or more importantly, do we do it? 

It is interesting to note that John tells us here that this rejection of the truth was a fulfilment of what had been foretold by the prophet Isaiah. In chapter 53:1 the prophet wrote: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” And then John added another quotation from Isaiah 6:10 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn and be healed.”

With these two quotations, John seemingly draws back the curtain to reveal the real reason behind the illogical blindness of these unbelieving Jews. The first passage John used here is considered by many to be the messianic passage. Isaiah 53. As one reads through that passage one cannot help but ask how anyone could read it and miss the vivid description of Jesus’ life and ministry. But John gives us the answer. They could not see or hear because God had blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts to prevent them from seeing and understanding. 

In Matthew 13:10-17 the disciples asked Jesus why he spoke to the crowds in parables. In his answer, Jesus quoted the very same verse John used here, prefacing the quotation with this statement: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” It appears that access to heaven is not a matter of human choice, but rather a matter of divine decree. 

You see, God controls all things, including the hearts and minds of human beings. As Proverbs 21:1 says: “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.” Even our words are subject to God’s order. An interesting and, in many ways, a humorous example is Balaam who on numerous occasions in Numbers 23 admits his inability to say anything not ordained by God. “How can I curse whom God has not cursed,” he said in verse 8. “And how can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?” 

Think about what that means concerning anyone or anything trying to curse you. 

Again, in verse 19, Balaam said, “God is not a man that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfil it? Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.”

So, it would appear that the unbelieving Jews rejected Jesus because it was preordained by God for the purpose of his glory. The same can be said about the plagues in Egypt. The hardening of Pharoah’s heart led to the Egyptians knowing that there was but one true God and that was the God of the Hebrews. (Exodus 9:15-16; Romans 9:16-18) If God had not repeatedly hardened Pharaoh, there would have been no lengthy series of plagues, nor the Red Sea crossing, and consequently, there would have been no proof of God’s supremacy. Likewise, if the Jewish leaders had not rejected Jesus, he would never have been crucified…but the crucifixion of the Lamb of God was preordained before the foundation of the world which includes those who would be guilty of his murder. (Revelation 13:8)

But there is another side to this coin that we must acknowledge if we are to be true to Scripture and that is while it does say that God hardened Pharoah’s heart it also says that Pharoah hardened his own heart. Paul also flips the coin over when he says in 2 Thessalonians 2:10&12 concerning those who are perishing “…they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” If we place these passages, and others, side by side, it seems that divine hardening and self-hardening are intertwined. Is God’s action primary and initiatory or is his action based on the refusal of a human being to love the truth and so be saved? 

Clearly, Christianity is the most reasonable faith and should be understood by all reasonable people, but without the discerning ability given by the Holy Spirit, no one can truly find God and respond to his revelation purely employing human reason. Jesus said that there was only one sin that could never be forgiven and that was the sin against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:22–30; Matthew 12:22–32) because it is only through the Holy Spirit that we can understand and respond to truth. Reject him, quench him, grieve him, and you are rendered unable to see what is plainly true. It is the wilful blindness of some that is unpardonable.

So, the answer to the question of who hardens the heart, God or people, seems to be both, but who is primary and who is secondary ought to be left well alone in the realm of mystery. Like the end of time, this is something our Father alone knows for certain.

But John reveals in verses 42-43 that there is another level to blindness than outright rejection…this is a blindness that acknowledges sight and yet succumbs to blindness because of fear. These men, despite concluding that Jesus matched the biblical criteria for messiahship, refused to confess him for fear of losing face, because “they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God”. Peer pressure can render some people blind if they value their position, their power, their popularity, or even their traditions more than they love the truth.

In “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus”, Nabeel Qureshi recounts his struggle to accept Jesus due to the strong ties he had with his devout Muslim family. He felt torn between his love and loyalty to his family’s belief and his growing conviction about Jesus. This internal conflict was a significant part of his journey towards embracing Christianity. In many cultures, there is a strong expectation to always look, act, and be like everyone else. For instance, to be Japanese means one is a Buddhist and a Shintoist; it's an inseparable part of the culture.

So, once again we see the interaction between revelation and reason. A person may be able to correctly deduce that what Scripture says is true, but unless the Holy Spirit makes it possible for that person to respond, they will not because they cannot. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:14, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

Also in this passage, John reveals to us the acceptable measure of surrender to the Lord. It is either all or nothing at all. Jesus said that a man cannot serve two masters. (Matthew 6:24). If we are not with him, we are against him. (Matthew 12:30) This competitor for our allegiance can be either love for praise or self-love or a love of material things…whatever this love is it is a rival, and the Lord God will not tolerate any rival. (Nahum 1:2) There can be no compromise. He is either Lord of your life or something else is…

One of the major stumbling blocks for the unbelieving Jews was that they could not comprehend that Jesus and the Father were one. In verse 44 Jesus made it clear that to believe in him was the exact same thing as to believe in the Father. Stated the other way around, to not believe in one is to not believe in the other. Then in verse 45, Jesus said that to see him was to see the Father. This was the same message he would deliver to Philip a day later when Philip asked him to reveal the Father to them. “Have I been with you so long,” Jesus said, “and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” In other words, Jesus is the full revelation of the Father…if you want to see God, look at Jesus.

Then in verse 50, he said that to hear him was to hear the Father. “What I say,” Jesus said, “I say as the Father told me.” There is no division in the Word. Jesus is the final revelation of the Father. As the author to the Hebrews said in his opening chapter, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” (Hebrews 1:1-3a) Jesus was the revealing light of the Old Testament…the images and prophecies all come to life in him. Obviously, the patriarchs and prophets who foretold his coming did not see him with the same clarity with which he was now revealed, but there is no argument between the testaments. Jesus emphatically stated that he had not come to abrogate the Law and the prophets but to confirm and fulfil it. There is only one God, one word, one truth…

The fourth and final thing Jesus touched on here was rejection. To reject him was to reject God the Father. If they are one, then it goes without saying that to deny the one is to deny the other. The mystery of the Trinity has been a stumbling block to many, not just to these unbelieving Jews, and will, no doubt, continue to be a source of discomfort, but Scripture neither defends nor seeks to prove the doctrine…it simply presents it as truth.

But what is interesting here is that Jesus does not present himself as the judge here, but rather his words. It is the words Jesus spoke that will judge those who have chosen to reject him. The words of Jesus were the words of the Father and therefore what he said did not contradict what had been written…even some of the leaders saw that although they would never admit it for fear of embarrassment on one level or another. 

And therein lies the tragedy in this passage. Before them stood the God they thought they believed in. Before them stood the Word they studied and strove to observe. And yet, when they met him face to face and when they heard his voice, they could not see him nor hear him. They were blind and deaf. They would not recognise him because they could not. 

What does this mean for us as we seek to make Jesus known to those who do not yet know him? It means that we should not feel poorly about our evangelism strategy if people do not respond positively to our message. After all Jesus said and did they still did not believe, not because Jesus presented the message deficiently, but because they were blind and deaf. They could not believe because their hearts were hard. Nothing has changed. People still don’t hear because they don’t want to hear. But you are still to sow the seed of truth, regardless of the ground that it falls on. You may sow, another may water, and yet another may reap, but it is God who grants the growth. 

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2024

February Newsletter 2024

Johann and Louise: Training Disciples to Make Disciples in the Netherlands People have often asked me why I write books. My answer is usually very simple. Ever since I came to know Jesus in 1980, I have sought to make him known in any and every way I can.  Up until the publishing of Breakfast on the Beach, my ministry had followed more conventional avenues…preaching, teaching evangelising, and discipling. But when the J-Life Africa leaders began to urge me to make my stories about Simon Peter’s development as a disciple more accessible in areas I could not visit, I decided to write. This was during the first lockdown so I had time to do all the research necessary and to write a story about Simon Peter using a chronological approach to the Gospels. Since then, I have received letters from places I did not know existed, telling me how the books have touched and changed lives. The rest is, as they say, history. While the books are available for sale on several bookseller platforms, we often give them away to our parishioners and other missionaries.  This March, my third book, but the first in a series on the life and letters of Paul, will be published once again, by Langham Publishing. This series will explore Paul’s life through what was recorded in Acts and elsewhere as well as in his letters in story form. This narrative commentary style is designed to help especially oral preference learners concretise concepts that would otherwise be too abstract. But if “Breakfast on the Beach” and “For the Life of the World” have taught me anything, it is everyone enjoys a good story.     The past few months have been very busy. Louise flew down to South Africa after her mum had a rather serious fall and seemed to be deteriorating rapidly. However, even though she is still quite frail, she has recovered enough to sit up in a chair for a while. While Louise was at her mum’s bedside, we had a death in the parish. As you can imagine, emotions were rather raw for a while.  I have made good headway with the next book on 1&2 Thessalonians. Langham has given me a June deadline, so I need to get cracking. The research that goes into these books is huge. I must read so many books and articles about customs and practices etc before I write anything. For instance, it took me a whole morning to figure out how Lydia could invite four men to stay in her home without compromising her position in the community. But thankfully, I am back in Corinth and the letter writing has begun! Christ Church, Heiloo is doing well. We are working through the Gospel of John on Sundays. You can find my sermons here: https://missionsbloging.blogspot.com/ On New Year's Eve, we baptised three candidates, two of whom came to Church as a result of watching The Chosen. Never limit our God! Our three women’s bible study groups and our men’s group will be studying 1&2 Thessalonians this Spring and Summer. Please pray for our several informal get-togethers where members invite their non-Christian friends and colleagues to attend, our Good Friday Stations of the Cross service, and our Children’s Easter Egg Hunt luncheon outreach (1 April).  Our annual Men’s Day (6 April) is open to believers and non-believers and the invitation is extended to other Anglican churches nearby. Attendance is free so we must raise funds for all expenses. View our invitation here: https://christchurchheiloo.wixsite.com/mens-day?fbclid=IwAR2rYxtmxN2VpYDQhHhieDzB-fImJJngQhsbxg_kCHTRBIA13bGLQ-GN2hs  We also have a small outreach to missionaries and other Christian workers either by Zoom chats or by hosting them in a small flat at the back of the church house. Most missionaries cannot afford to go on a holiday away, so we do this service free of charge.  Our monthly support goes up and down, but the Lord is faithful as are you and so we reach our goals each month. Some supporters have donated generously to our special project fund that helps to pay for all our outreaches. We are investigating new sound equipment as the current equipment is acting up – it was all second-hand to begin with – and we want to continue with our online ministry as folks watch our services from all over the world. If you sense the Lord leading you to help with this urgent need, please earmark your gifts for our special project account, but label them “For Sound Equipment” so we may use the funds correctly.  As always, we are ever so thankful for your support in this multifaceted ministry of ours. We consider you as essential workers with us. While we may have different callings, we all work together for the upbuilding of our Lord’s kingdom. We are grateful. Blessings Johann and Louise Support Us Johann and Louise spent two years helping to develop the St. Frumentius Seminary in Gambella, Ethiopia. They then worked in Southern Africa, serving in seven southern African countries, while continuing to work with the Diocese of Egypt, North Africa through engaging in a disciple making movement in order to grow the body of Christ. They are now serving in Heiloo, the Netherlands. We are sent  through the Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders, a missionary sending community, engaging in building relationships with the worldwide church to experience the broken restored, the wounded healed, the hungry fed, and the lost found through the love and power of Jesus Christ.  Support SAMS Copyright © 2016 Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders, All rights reserved. www.sams-usa.org      Our mailing address is: PO Box 399 Ambridge PA 15003 Attention to: Johann and Louise van der Bijl Want to change how you receive these emails? 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Talk for the Funeral Service of one of our parishioners at Christ Church, Heiloo.

Talk for the Funeral Service of one of our parishioners at Christ Church, Heiloo.

Reading: John 14:1-3

Physical contact is such an important part of our lives as human beings, isn’t it? We are physical beings, and we know and are known through our senses. When this physical contact is broken in any way, we find ourselves in a state of crisis. But when death is the cause of this broken contact, the crisis is severe. We use words like mourning, sorrow, and grief to describe the sensation of emotional upheaval, but nothing can describe that feeling of utter helplessness, loneliness, and emptiness that we experience when a loved one dies. In one way, it can be depicted as having some unseen torturer ripping you open and tearing you apart.

But it is this human need for contact that presents us with one of our biggest difficulties when it comes to dealing with death, and that is our own physical mindedness. We think mostly in terms of what we can experience with our senses. But death forces us to acknowledge another aspect to life that transcends the physical, and that is the spiritual. Death compels us to exercise another usually untrained sense….our spiritual sense.

As Jesus tried to prepare his disciples for what would most certainly be one of the most distressing days of their lives, he spoke about this need for contact. He told them that they should not be unsettled, because in God’s house (and please note that this word is singular) there are many rooms (and this word is plural). One house, with many rooms. A vast house, to be sure, but still only one house that can accommodate many. 

Then he added that what he was about to do for them on the cross would secure for them a place in this house so that where he would be they would be also. True, the contact would take on another form, especially after he was removed from them at the ascension, but it would not be broken. 

Many years after these events, Paul attempted to describe this unbroken contact by saying that when God made us alive together with Christ, he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Jesus. In other words, all believers from the moment they put their faith and trust in Jesus move into God’s one singular house. 

As followers of Jesus, we believe that he died for us so that whether we are in this physical body or not, we will always remain in him. There is only one Body of Christ. There is only one Church. There is only one sheepfold. There is only one house. Once we are in that house, we may shift from one room to another or one side of the house to the other…we may discard the physical to be clothed with the spiritual…we may change from what is visible to what is not visible…but we always remain in Jesus. 

Yes, physical contact may be broken, but an eternal contact that can never be broken was already irreversibly established when XXXX gained admittance to that one house. To quote the words of the angels to the women when they stood weeping at the empty tomb…do not seek the living among the dead. While we may mourn the loss of what is physical, we find our hope in embracing what is immortal. In one sense, XXXX has not left. If you are in God’s house, you are never closer to XXXX than when you are worshipping at the feet of Jesus. 

 Jesus said: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” John 6:37

Let us pray:

Almighty God, grant us, with all who have died in the hope of the resurrection, the fullness of life in your eternal and everlasting glory, and, with all your beloved children, to receive the crown of life promised to all who share in the victory of your Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

The Price for Life

Psalm 89:1-2, 14-18                  Hebrews 2:14-18                      John 12:20-36

The Price for Life

A lot of people, at least in the West, have a tendency to take life for granted. We face few significant threats, and, for the most part, that which we consider catastrophic could be more accurately labelled an inconvenience. Only a small number of us genuinely grasp and appreciate the value of life. 

Unfortunately, this tendency is also present in our expression of Christianity. How many of us truly appreciate the full reality of what it cost to grant us this gracious and free salvation that is ours in Jesus?

In our Gospel passage for today, Jesus spoke straightforwardly about the cost of redemption. And yet, even as he contemplated the horror that lay before him, he was more concerned that those around him understood enough to be able to respond appropriately. The central theme of his teaching here is the main purpose of his incarnation, namely that he took upon himself the form of a human so that he might give us life through his death.

In verses 20-26, Jesus laid down the principle of substitutionary atonement…one dying instead of or on behalf of others. Using a kernel of wheat as an illustration, he parabolically revealed what he was about to do. 

Jesus told this parable because “some Greeks” requested an audience with him. Now, the word John used here indicates that these people were most likely proselytes of pure Greek extraction. Strangely, they approached Philip first possibly because his name was Greek. But, if you recall, when Jesus sent the disciples out, he instructed them not to go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:5), which is probably why Philip first went to Andrew before approaching Jesus. He needed some “backup”. 

This request from the Greeks seemed to have been a signal for Jesus that the climax of his ministry or, as he called it, “his hour” had finally come. Why? Well, I think it is because his atoning death would benefit all nations and the fact that the group seeking an audience with him were Greeks and not Jews of Judea, Galilee, or the Diaspora heralded the beginning of the new era in which both Jew and Gentile alike would worship God side by side in spirit and in truth. In a certain sense, this confirmed what the Pharisees had said in verse 19: “Look, the whole world has gone after him!”

Now as we have already observed, these Greeks were hesitant if not uncertain in their approach. They first came to Philip and not directly to Jesus. This may indicate a respect for the Jewish social custom of not associating with non-Jews. If you recall, the Roman Centurion also showed this kind of thoughtfulness when he considered himself unworthy of having Jesus enter his “unclean” house to heal his servant. (Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10) 

However, the synoptic Gospels insert a second cleansing of the temple at this point. This is significant because the selling of the sacrificial animals and the exchanging of currency took place in the Court of the Gentiles. And so, these Greek “God-fearers” would have been prevented from entering the space for prayer. So, it may be that they sought an audience with Jesus because he was the one who had cleared the designated area so that they might enter freely to worship. 

Why John did not include the second cleansing of the Temple is anyone’s guess but if we insert that dramatic confrontation at this point it explains this sudden request for a meeting between Gentiles and this whip-wielding Jewish Messiah. His action opened the way for them to worship God, and his words recalled the prophetic utterance of Isaiah (56:7): “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

Nevertheless, as I said earlier, their approach signified to Jesus that his hour to be glorified had come, and so he responded to this request with a parable concerning the immense cost of securing an entrance, not just into the Court of the Gentiles or even into the Temple itself, but into the Kingdom of God. Portraying himself as a kernel of wheat, Jesus said that as long as he remained alive in his present incarnate state, the new creation could not be launched. Just as one single seed remains a single seed until it is buried in the ground, sacrificing itself in a sense so that it might be transformed into a plant that would produce many more seeds, so Jesus indicated that his death was purposefully designed to bring to life “seeds” (re)born from him.

This sacrificial act of Jesus is a principle we are urged to imitate. As John said in his first Epistle, “By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. AND we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 John 3:16) Imagine if all who call themselves followers of Jesus were to live according to this principle? Laying down our lives for others just as Jesus laid down his life for us.

In the book of Revelation, John described the first followers of Jesus as those who conquered the accuser of the brethren “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (Revelation 12:11 ESV) Like their Lord, they laid down their lives so that others might share in the salvation given to them through Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross. 

But does this sacrificial living, encouraged and demonstrated in the New Testament, accurately describe our behaviour in the modern Church? Does it cost us something…anything at all…to follow Jesus or are we more like the world, doing a good job of looking out for number one? Me, myself, and I.

Do we perhaps love our life on this earth a little too much? Jesus lived to give…do we live to get? If I were to stand next to Jesus right now, how would I measure up? Am I like him in any way at all? 

But even though self-sacrifice seems to be a high price to pay, it also offers a great blessing. While we may be called upon to serve Jesus by following in his footsteps so that we might quite literally be wherever he may be, we are told here that if we do this we will be honoured and valued by the Father. Perhaps this is what Paul meant when he said in Ephesians 2:4-6, “God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…and raised us up together, and made us sit in the heavenly place in Christ Jesus.” Being raised together with him means being honoured together with him too. 

A price was paid so that we might live in and through Jesus, and we too ought to be prepared to pay an equal price so that others might share in this sacrificial yet free gift of life. But surely the benefits far outweigh the cost.

True, it wasn’t easy for Jesus to face the cross. As he realised that his hour had arrived, the full force of the horrors that awaited him hit him like a freight train. The betrayal, desertion, and denial of his closest friends…an unjust trial…the mocking, the brutal beatings, the scourging, and then finally, the excruciating pain of death by crucifixion while he absorbed and annulled the weight of the curse for sin…it is possible that all these things came flooding into his mind at this moment, and he was deeply disturbed. 

The next few sentences seem to be a short form of verbal self-deliberation followed by a public declaration. “I am overwhelmed by terrifying thoughts,” Jesus seemed to say to himself. “How then should I respond to this debilitating fear? Should I pray for the Father to deliver me from this? No, I can’t do that because I came into this world to die for it…it would negate the entire reason for the incarnation. I would be like a kernel of wheat preserved but not sown. So no, I will rather say, Father, glorify your name!” 

Jesus’ deliberation here would be repeated once more in the Garden of Gethsemane. “Father, if it is your will, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) In both instances, there was a desperate cry of anguish before a bold declaration of obedient surrender.

Here the purpose of his life overrides his terror-filled agony. Jesus demonstrated the principle he had just revealed. He did not love his life above all else…rather he willingly gave it up as a ransom for many. And it is this self-sacrificial act that brings glory to God.

The voice from heaven, mistaken by some in the crowd for thunder or the voice of an angel, assured him that his sacrifice would achieve the divine design…that his death would fulfil the promise made by God to overturn the effects of the Fall (Genesis 3:15). However, Jesus indicated that this voice was in reality, not for his benefit, but for theirs. 

In many ways, even today his struggles here may help us when we are deliberating difficult decisions in our lives. As Jesus had previously warned his disciples if he was persecuted, they too would be persecuted, and we are told by Early Church historians and traditions that all but one of the disciples were martyred for their faith. The suffering of Jesus addresses our own.

In his first Epistle, Peter tells us that it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. And then he compared our suffering with the suffering of Jesus who also suffered as a just man so that he might bring us to God. (1 Peter 3:17-18) 

Now, in one sense, of course, we can never compare our suffering to the suffering of Jesus. Nevertheless, one of the goals of suffering does create a favourable comparison. Jesus’ goal was the glory of God. Suffering because of our faith in Jesus also glorifies God as it is a declaration to both the visible and the invisible world that our love for God is greater than our love for what this world has to offer. 

It has often been said that it was the bravely borne suffering of the First Century Christians that brought many spectators in the Colosseum to faith in Jesus. In his Apologeticus, Tertullian wrote: “We multiply when you reap us. The blood of Christians is seed,” perhaps an allusion to our Lord’s use of a wheat kernel as an illustration.

Nevertheless, it is a good question for us to ponder. What is primary in my life? Is God glorified in everything I say and do?

Now, because this voice from heaven sanctioned not only the teaching ministry of Jesus but also his ministry of reconciliation through his vicarious substitutionary death, his disciples especially needed to understand that the sudden and unexpected transition from the enthronement anticipated the day before in the triumphal entry, to his actual enthronement on an instrument of execution a few days later, was not a defeat or a mistake, but a fulfilment of the divine purpose and plan. “Now,” Jesus said, “is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 

What would soon take place on the cross was nothing less than the restoration of the world to its rightful state. The ruler of this world, Satan the usurper, would be overthrown, publicly disgraced, and disarmed at the cross. (Colossians 2:15) The death of Jesus on the cross signifies not a judgement, but the judgement of all time as the consequence is a total takeover. 

As John wrote in his first epistle, “For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8) The author to the Hebrews took it a step further when he said in 2:14-15, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

As far as I can see, according to the testimony of Scripture, Satan was defeated and cast out at the cross. Now, this victory holds both a blessing and a curse. Because the cross itself was at once the decisive moment in which judgment was rendered on sin and on Satan, as well as the deciding moment of judgment in which subjects would be drawn to Jesus, it follows that the one who absorbed the curse thus voiding it of its power, becomes the judge of all. Again, as the author of Hebrews says in 1:3, “…when he had by himself purged our sins, (he) sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Not only was Satan defeated at the cross…not only did the expunging of our sins take place at the very same time…but also, because of the cross, Jesus was enthroned as King and as Judge over all. 

And so, it is because of this overwhelming victory that all humanity indeed is drawn to stand before Jesus the righteous Judge. As he said in Matthew 25:31-46, it is as he sits on his glorious throne that all nations will be gathered to him for judgement. It is the cross that separates the sheep from the goats. 

That Jesus meant that this would take place through his death on the cross is confirmed not only by John’s comment in verse 33, but also by the misguided statements of the Jews. They could not understand the concept of a dying deliverer because they had been led to believe that the Messiah would be a warrior king who would remain forever. Of course, this is true as ultimately Jesus does reign for all eternity, but his ascension to the throne was to take place through the cross.

Ignoring their questions, Jesus responded rather with a promise that contained both a warning as well as a reward. “You are going to have the light just a little while longer,” he said. “Walk while you have the light before darkness overtakes you.” 

Now, the image of a light that is different to that which radiates from the sun and other planets originates in Genesis 1:3 where light is created before the creation of the cosmic luminaries. This light appears to be something other than what we would consider “natural” because in Exodus 10:21 and following, during the 9th plague in Egypt, God provided light to the Israelites while the rest of the land languished in a supernaturally thick darkness. Again, in Exodus 14:19-20 the presence of God depicted in a Pillar of Cloud by day and Fire by night came between the fleeing Israelites and the pursuing Egyptians and throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side. 

Then the prophets also spoke of a coming deliverer in terms of a light that would ultimately overcome the darkness and thereby bring salvation to the Gentiles. John applied this directly to Jesus in the opening chapters of both his Gospel as well as his first Epistle. 

So, we can safely say that ‘walking in the light’ is not a New Testament concept. Often the Old Testament prophets exhorted and encouraged God’s people to walk in the light of the Lord so that they might not be engulfed by the darkness which would come because of the Lord’s withdrawal of his presence due to their sins. And this is precisely the same picture Jesus sketched here for his listeners. The light stood before them and (if I may borrow Exodus terminology here) if they refused to follow him out of bondage, they would remain enslaved in the darkness. That was the warning.

But the reward was for those who put their trust in the light and followed him. They would become “children of light”. Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun, those who walk in the light of Jesus reflect him. Those who follow him become like him. In Matthew 5:14, the one who referred to himself as the light of the world applied the very same imagery to his disciples. “You,” he said, “are the light of the world.” In other words, people ought to see Jesus reflected in and through us. 

But this wonderful reward is a result of selflessly giving up what we will for what God wills, just as Jesus gave up his will so that he might fulfil the Father’s will. Jesus purchased this reward for us at the cost of his precious life…and we are called upon to follow in his footsteps. So, we ought to love God more than our lives. 

Jesus’ purpose was to lay down his life for us…our purpose is similar and yet different. While we cannot provide atonement for sin, we can “sacrifice” our lives or give up what we want for our lives, so that others might embrace the atonement we have received through Jesus. This was not easy for Jesus, and it will not be easy for us either. 

He openly asked God to save him from that very thing that would secure our salvation if it were possible. But even as he faced horrors we cannot begin to imagine with our finite minds, he obediently accepted and surrendered to the task and, as Hebrews 12:2 tells us, “for the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame”. And because of his obedience even unto death on the cross, he subsequently was elevated to the right hand of the throne of God, drawing his children up with him.

As those who both walk in the light and are children of the light, we too have a responsibility to take his light into the darkness of this world, regardless of what it might cost us. We are not only called to repent and believe in Jesus…we are not only called to trust and love him…we are also called to follow him, to be like him, to reflect him, and to be conformed to his image.

And so, dearest beloved brethren, let us put our absolute trust in the light so that we might be children of light.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2024

Dealing with Personal Contradictions

 Jeremiah 2:1-13                                       John 12:9-19

Dealing with Personal Contradictions

In his book, The God Who is There, Dr Francis Schaefer told a story about the late contemporary American Composer by the name of John Cage.  Mr Cage evidently believed that the universe is impersonal by nature and that it originated only through pure chance. In an attempt to live consistently with his personal philosophy, Cage pioneered a form of composition called “indeterminacy” in which some parts of the work are left open to chance or to the interpreter's individual imagination.  He used, among other things, the tossing of coins and the rolling of dice to ensure that no personal element entered into the final product. The result is music that has little to no form or structure and, for the most part, no appeal. (https://youtu.be/XlBo7_3EXqk?si=0cf-_iQ0RAqiAkG2  https://youtu.be/Rlyf9_gkP1A?si=urfKzbRj5mqErXDb).

Now what is interesting about this gentleman is that although his professional life accurately reflected his philosophy, his personal life did not. One of his favourite pastime activities was mycology, the study of fungi and mushrooms. But because of the potentially lethal results of ingesting the wrong sort of mushroom, he could not approach this activity on a purely by-chance basis. Concerning this personal contradiction, he apparently said that he became aware that if he approached mushrooms in the spirit of chance operations, he would die.

John Cage believed one thing but practised another. Faced with the certainty of creation, he chose to ignore the obvious signs of ordered design in the universe and stubbornly clung to his own novel theory. You may well ask, how was he able to live with such a glaring personal contradiction? Surely, if he had seriously reflected on this incongruity, he would have had to admit his inconsistency and change his theory. But well-entrenched presuppositions tend to override any attempt at serious reflection because the alternative has already been rejected outright without any form of proper investigation. 

True, most people live with contradictions in their personal lives, some major, some minor. So, it is not a question of whether or not we have them in our lives, but rather what we do with them when they are discovered. In our Gospel passage for today, we have three main responses to having our contradictions exposed by the truth: the removal or the avoidance of truth, the recognition and re-evaluation of truth, and the rejection of truth.

As we have already seen, the Chief Priests and Pharisees had decided Jesus was dangerous and that he was leading the people in a direction that was potentially harmful to them. Consequently, they began to plot against him, to eliminate him. But while they entertained thoughts of murder in their heart, Jesus did something that brought them face to face with a question that demanded an answer. If Jesus was a liar or a deluded lunatic or yet another megalomanic revolutionary, then how could they explain the raising of Lazarus? Anyone in their right mind would think that this incomprehensible miracle would have brought them to their senses…that they would have been forced to reconsider their position and admit that they were wrong concerning their conclusions about Jesus. 

But they didn’t do that, did they? Instead, when confronted with the truth, they simply ignored it by seeking to remove it…and so, even though it boggles the mind, they considered murdering Lazarus because his mere existence testified against them. Now we marvel at such a ludicrous decision, but how often haven’t we done something similar? We dogmatically defend our position in an argument, only to find that we are wrong…and then we either admit our mistake and change our opinion, or we attempt to avoid the person and/or the subject, which can be problematic depending on the level of the relationship. That’s how church hopping, and church splits happen. 

 Yet the strangest thing is that if we were able to question the Chief Priests about this conflict in their thinking, they would more than likely have denied that there was an inconsistency. No one likes to admit the discrepancies in their philosophy of life…no one enjoys admitting they are wrong, especially if they have really made an issue about it or hold a position of authority. Pride is one of the most difficult things for humans to deal with. But if we are ever to benefit from the truth, we will have to learn to eat humble pie often, because none of us are exempt from flaws and errors. 

Think of how the lives of the Chief Priests would have changed had they confessed that their conclusions about Jesus were incorrect. If they had faced the truth with humility, they would have changed their opinions concerning him and would have come to a saving knowledge of his person. But sadly, they determined to remove whatever challenged them and to eliminate whoever exposed their ignorance and hardness of heart. 

You can stop your ears all you like…you can run and hide…you can attempt to ignore or eradicate the truth…but truth will not be obliterated. Truth will come to light, as the Bard said.  It will confront you again and again throughout your life and in the end, as you stand before the Throne of Judgement, truth will have to be acknowledged even if only through clenched teeth. And as John wrote in the Revelation,  those who rejected the Way, the Truth, and the Life…"those who pierced him", to use his words, witnessed with their eyes his universal sovereignty when that which they endeavoured to protect and preserve was destroyed by the Roman forces in AD 70.

A better way to deal with truth is to recognise it for what it is and to re-evaluate your own present position in the light of that truth. When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a young donkey, the crowds recalled the many great things he had said and done and concluded that he was the long-awaited Messiah, the King of Israel. But truth not put into practice soon becomes a stumbling block. It’s easy to believe something when it's simple and obvious and when you are in the majority. But the test of whether truth has been understood and integrated into your belief system is whether it will continue to govern your way of life when the going gets tough and you find that you are in the minority. 

Many in this same crowd of enthusiastic participants turned quite nasty a few days later, didn’t they? Yes, some may still have clung to what they believed to be true, but if the reaction of the disciples at the arrest, trial, and crucifixion is any indication of the general response of the people, then that number was not very large.

However, it is possible to recognise and accept the truth, to lose that truth in a moment of strife or intense pressure, and yet to regain that truth after some recollection and reflection. This was true of the disciples, at least. Triumphantly, they marched by the side of the Master as he rode into Jerusalem. Confidently they openly acknowledged him and fearlessly supported him. Little did they know that they would be cowering behind locked doors only a few days later, having abandoned him or even denied him either by word or deed.

Yet, after the resurrection, when Jesus took them through the Scriptures, showing them the many things written about him from Genesis through to Malachi, they returned to the truth. For the first time after those awful three days, the confusing events surrounding what was surely the most stressful time of their lives, all made sense and they could once more embrace the truth and overcome their momentary unbelief. 

Often, throughout the New Testament, we read that the authors remembered what had been written about Jesus and then they would quote the relevant passages to substantiate or validate the truth of what they were writing. By recalling the things written about Jesus as well as the things said by Jesus, and by reflecting on what he had done, they concluded that this man they had followed for three years was, in fact, God incarnate. 

And this called for radical change in their thinking and their way of living…a hundred-and-eighty-degree turn in their philosophy of life. They had to discard all that they had learned and believed before to accept what they now knew to be true. To many Jews, a suffering and dying messiah was ludicrous…even though it is all over the Scriptures…so they invented their own ideas about who this messiah would be. 

Most believed that he would be a warrior-king who would free them from the tyranny of Rome and re-establish the Davidic kingdom once more. Right up until the ascension, we see that even the disciples thought this was what he was going to do. Remember their question in Acts 1:6? “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 

I don’t think we realise how difficult it must have been for them to recognise the truth, let alone accept it! But that is why they needed the Holy Spirit to help them comprehend the truth and also have the wisdom and ability to articulate that truth in such a way as to make it understandable to those to whom they spoke and wrote. 

That is why we too need the Holy Spirit. He substantiates and validates our testimony to the truth. His internal work turns even the most stubborn and wicked persons into humble believers…we see this in the Scriptures, but also in our lives and in the lives of other followers of Jesus. He convicts us of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He takes out the heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh. He upholds us with a new and willing spirit. He gives us the power to be obedient. 

Only God can change the hearts of people. If the Gospels teach us anything it is that no sign, no wonder, no miracle, no argument, or logic will ever turn a corrupt and wicked heart…only God can do that. So, when confronted with truth, it is only those who have been prepared or regenerated by the Holy Spirit who will believe. According to Paul, “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) And so even when faced with the impossible, these Chief Priests could not see the truth because the truth had no part in them. 

And this leads to the final way folks deal with truth and that is rejection. One of the most tragic kinds of people in the Church are the lone crusaders. That’s where many splinter groups have come from. These folks somehow convince themselves that they alone are right in spite of the overwhelming historical and biblical evidence against them. Think of people like Joseph Smith, Jim Jones, or David Koresh. 

But sadder still is the fact that these people always succeed in attracting followers because most of them tend to be rather persuasive and dynamic or they tend to be forceful, violent, unpredictable, and irrational and their followers fear them. The latter was certainly true of the Pharisees as those who disagreed with them were threatened with excommunication. As we saw in the case of the man born blind, there was no reasoning with them…you were either in or out. 

And we have the same thing here…even though they saw that many of the people were persuaded by the raising of Lazarus, they dug in their heels and rejected the obvious. Same with the resurrection of Jesus. They chose to bribe the soldiers to lie about what they had witnessed rather than confess and change.

Throughout the book of Acts, these same men were confronted with the truth as taught by a growing body of believers. They were confronted with bold and determined witnessing. They were confronted with signs and wonders done by those who believed in the name of the one they had crucified. But what did they do? While some did believe, most of them rejected the truth. 

Could they explain the healing of the man born blind? No. Could they explain the resurrection of Lazarus?  No. Could they explain the resurrection of Jesus? No. Could they explain the changed lives of the disciples? No.  On multiple occasions, they were faced with a contradiction in their philosophy of life, and they only had three options…removal or avoidance of the truth…removing the messenger of truth or moving themselves out of the way, which we would call ignoring the elephant in the room…re-evaluation of what they thought was the truth…or the outright deliberate rejection of the truth…facing it, acknowledging it, but consciously denying it anyway.

We also have the same three choices. The first and the last, removal and rejection, are relatively easy because they conform to our sinful and proud fallen nature, but they exact a very high price tag. The second is the more difficult path to follow as it demands great humility and self-discipline, but its rewards are peace and love and true joy. God’s ways are never easy for fallen humanity because they are contrary to what we want in life, but they are always the best.   

You can live with contradiction if you suppress the truth as John Cage and many others have done. But who really wants to risk living a lie?

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2024

Acceptable Service

Isaiah 1:11-17                        Revelation 2:1-7                           John 11:55-12:11

Acceptable Service

There are many stories of hypocrisy, treachery, and betrayal in the history of the world. From Genesis three onwards we are confronted by humanity’s uncanny ability to lie, cheat, and steal while maintaining an appearance of innocence…in this respect, we resemble the father of lies who can appear to be a messenger of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) more than we do the Father of truth in whom there is no darkness (1 John 1:5). 

Sadly, this flaw can be found even in those who claim to be followers of the Way, the Truth, and the Life. From Cain’s feigned surprise when confronted by God for the murder of his brother…to Kings who were expected to live by the Law of God and who yet resisted and persecuted and executed Prophets…to Prophets who quite happily prophesied falsely in exchange for fame and fortune…to Priests who perverted God’s Law to suit their lucrative grip on political power…to many throughout the ages who chose to challenge, contradict, twist, or void God’s Word for the sake of personal gain. 

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus often confronted the political and religious powers of his day exposing their practices by citing Scripture. Worship devoid of truth is meaningless because God is truth. The basic message to the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7 was that although they possessed many virtues and it appeared that they had their act together doctrinally, they had lost their first love and consequently they were exhorted to repent and to do the works they did at first…in this case, it seems John was alluding to Jesus’ statement that if we truly loved Jesus we would keep his commandments (John 14:15)…love and obedience always go together. 

So, the conflict between Jesus and the church in Ephesus then concerned their bizarre inconsistency.  For all their religious purity and rigorous rules, they were in actuality not obeying God’s Word. Subsequently, as a church that claimed to be something they were not, their witness to Jesus was not faithful…in fact, they were nothing less than bold-faced liars and Jesus threatened to remove them as light-bearers because the light in them was no longer light, but darkness (Luke 11:35).

Unfortunately, people such as these often believe themselves to be right, and they will defend their position even to the point of duplicity and deception, defamation and betrayal, or when all else fails, murder. But surely the saddest part of it all is that this is not confined to those outside the Fellowship of Christ. While it was the Sanhedrin who plotted to kill Jesus, it was Judas who betrayed him to them. 

Now, in our Gospel passage today, we have several contrasts between those who are light and those who are posing as light. 

John informs us that many went up from the countryside to Jerusalem to be purified before the Passover. Timewise quite a lot had happened since Jesus left Jerusalem to go to Ephraim, but you will have to read the other Gospels to fill in these blanks. For instance, we know from the other Gospels that Jesus came to Bethany via Jericho where he had brought Zacchaeus back into the fold. Now obviously, the excitement concerning the resurrection of a decomposing corpse had not abated…if anything it had probably increased by word of mouth and the Chief Priests were contemplating the assassination of Lazarus as well as Jesus because his very existence preserved the problem of an unexplainable miracle by an unwanted messianic figure.

So, here comes the first contrast. The pilgrims, whom we are told were excitedly looking for Jesus, arrived early to be purified in the many pools for ritual cleansing located at the foot of the southern steps on the Temple Mount so that they might observe the holy festival. But at least some of those administering these rites of purification were themselves impure as they carried in their hearts thoughts and plans of hatred and murder. 

Now, John tells us that Jesus arrived in Bethany six days before the Passover. That year Passover fell on the Sabbath, making it a special High Day (John 19:31). According to Judean reckoning (remember the Galileans counted days from sunrise to sunrise, while the people from Judea counted days from sunset to sunset) , this would have been the first day of the week, or Sunday as we call the day now. I believe this is significant because Jesus was arrested and tried on Thursday night (and early Friday morning) but he was crucified on the Friday, or the day of preparation, the day before the Passover when the lambs were being slaughtered. 

He was then hurriedly bundled up in cloth and spices before sunset that Friday and he “rested” in the tomb that Saturday. Then shortly before sunrise on Sunday, the women, who had come to complete what had not been completed on Friday, were told by angels that he had risen from the dead. In other words, this feast recorded in our Gospel lesson for today, occurred exactly one week before the resurrection. 

Is it possible that John was trying to draw our attention to the imagery of creation and the Exodus? Mankind had been created on the sixth day. God had “rested” from his creative labours on the seventh day. If we believe that the cross began the reversal of the effects of the Fall, it may be that John was following a recreation timetable here…a sort of final countdown, if you will. As humans were created on the sixth day, so they were recreated on the sixth day, at the same time when the people were remembering the night when the angel of death passed over all those who had the blood of the lamb daubed on the lintels of their doorways. 

Once more, on the Sabbath God “rested” from his labours, but this time from the labour of recreation. Remember Jesus’ words on the cross, “it is finished”…words that may echo what was said of creation at its completion in Genesis 2:2. Jesus then rose again on the first day of the week to usher in this new beginning. The raising of Lazarus had served as a picture promise of this glorious reality. And, of course, one cannot miss the obvious table fellowship imagery. In six days’ time, Jesus would quite literally give his body and his blood to sustain the spiritual life of all his people. Together, they would then shortly feast again at the table of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

But as important as the timeline and the recreation imagery may be, I think the main point of the immediate passage is to contrast those whose religion is purely external with those whose devotion wells up from an inward reality. Whereas the Sadducees and Pharisees went about their meaningless duties, harbouring hatred and murderous thoughts in their dark hearts, the followers of Jesus gathered around him to savour every moment and every word and to honour him as best they could.

It is interesting to note that John tells us how each one of our famous family from Bethany honoured their Lord and friend in different ways using their obvious gifts. God gives every one of us specific but different gifts. 

Gifts such as cooking and cleaning and gardening can be every bit as spiritual as preaching and teaching – remember the craftsmen Bezalel and Oholiab who were filled with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. (Exodus 31:3-6) Their artistic craftmanship was a gift from God. And we are well pleasing to God when we use our gifts to honour him. 

Martha, as we would expect, was serving. That was her gift. Lazarus, John tells us, was among those who were reclining with the Lord at the table, which, when we understand that this feast took place at the home of Simon the Leper according to Matthew 26:6-7 and Mark 14:3-9, means that he was as much a guest as Jesus. However, itinerant Rabbis were often invited to lecture at meals and so one would expect Lazarus to be there as a student or a disciple.

And then there was Mary. We know from Luke 10:38-42 that there was some friction between the sisters as Mary did not share the same practical homebuilding skills with Martha. That in itself is a lesson we would do well to learn. Just because someone does not possess the same gift as you, does not make their gift any less. But, as we learned from their respective responses to the Lord following the death of their brother, Mary was certainly the more sensitive and openly emotionally expressive of the two sisters. 

Be that as it may, Mary’s form of devotion here is startingly sacrificial. Spikenard, which is also known as nard, muskroot, and nardin, has a woody, spicy, earthy fragrance. It is derived from a plant known as “Nardostachys Jatamansi”, a flowering plant of the Valerian family that grows in the Himalayas. It is mentioned in Mark 14:3-9 as an oil used by an unnamed woman to anoint Jesus before the crucifixion. It is also mentioned in the Song of Songs 4:14. It was used as incense in the Temple and in the preparation of bodies for burial. A pound or pint is about 473 millilitres or 324 grams or 12 ounces. A jar would normally contain no more than an ounce, so Mary would have been enormously extravagant here. 

John tells us that this ointment was worth a year’s wages for an average worker so one is not surprised when Judas (as well as the other disciples according to the synoptic Gospels) criticises her apparent wastefulness. Many scholars believe that this jar of expensive perfume was a form of “life savings”. Assuming that she was not married as no husband is ever mentioned and the siblings appear to have been living together, should anything happen to Lazarus, the sisters would be left with nothing but their personal possessions. So, this jar of spikenard would then offer a form of security against poverty. 

When you think about this it seems that the anointing was more than just devotion. It was a statement of faith. What she was pouring out on his feet was her insurance, if you will…her pension, as it were…her future. Like the widow in the temple treasury who gave all she had.

The contrast then with Judas (and the other disciples) is certainly a glaring one! On the one hand, we have Mary who gives all and then on the other hand we have Judas who is portrayed as one who habitually steals and who will ultimately betray his Lord. Another contrast will come four days later during another meal…an embarrassing scene where it seems none of the male disciples were willing to demean themselves by performing the task of a servant in washing the feet of the travellers. 

Now this is quite a challenge for us who often only remember the great things people achieve. It seems that it is the apparent insignificant things…like the giving of a cup of cold water or performing the tasks considered beneath our dignity…it is the insignificant things that are remembered and valued by our Lord.

John mentions that the fragrance of the spikenard filled the whole house. Knowing John, we should not skip over this as a mere trivial observation. It may be that he was indicating that her sacrificial giving was a well-pleasing aroma to the Lord, like the burnt offerings in the Old Testament and the frequent use of this term by Paul referring to sacrificial giving and sacrificial living. Through Isaiah God made it clear to the preexilic community in Judea that the multitude of their sacrifices were meaningless and gave him no pleasure…the sweet-smelling incense was detestable to him…because their deeds were evil. Gifts given with incorrect motives are better not given at all. 

But then comes the sad contrast. One of the many reasons I believe the Gospels are genuine is because of the inclusion of such embarrassing moments as these. The pseudo or apocryphal Gospels and letters never make the heroes look bad. But this event casts such a poor light on the male followers of Jesus that one marvels that they included it at all. 

Remember, these men were disciples…they had walked with Jesus for three-plus years, and they had learned at his feet. It is amazing to think that they were just six days away from the crucifixion of the Lord…and what were they arguing about? Perfumed oil. But it is always the so-called little things that break up friendships and fellowship, isn’t it? That’s why Solomon warned us to catch “the little foxes” that destroy the vineyard (Song of Songs 2:15). If only we could major on the many important doctrinally central things we agree on, we would not tend to trip over the fewer or more peripheral things we disagree about! 

But what is even more startling here is that they (Judas and the other disciples) condemned what their Lord had already accepted. Surely by now, they ought to have learned that their Master would have objected if he deemed the action inappropriate! But sadly, all too often the followers of Jesus think themselves more righteous than him! And so, they begrudged him this act of devotion with a pious reference to the poor, perhaps referring to the custom of giving to the poor on the evening of Passover.

But John reveals the true reason behind the objection…Judas was a thief and had been for some time. He had apparently, been given charge over the communal purse but he was lining his own pocket all along. When compared to Mary we see a man who had little faith in God’s provision. While she abandoned any thought of future security, quite literally pouring it out at Jesus’ feet, he was feathering his nest and we know exactly where that took him. 

Now, Jesus’ reply to this objection is interesting. Firstly, he referred to what would be his hasty burial six days later, when there would not be time for such an anointing with oil, something none of them could have predicted…but somehow Mary’s action became prophetic. Did she have some sort of intuition? Had she discerned something the others did not? 

It is quite possible that while Martha was bustling around in the kitchen, and while the men were arguing about position and authority in the kingdom, sometimes even callously in the context of Jesus’ statements regarding his betrayal, trial, execution, death, burial, and resurrection, Mary was listening at a deeper level and somehow perceived that something monumental was about to happen. 

But then secondly, Jesus appeared to quote from Deuteronomy 15. Concerning giving generously to the poor, Jesus said “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” Jesus was not saying that they should not give to the poor…but rather that they needed to balance priority and timing. 

What Mary had done was more than a simple act of devotion…she had anointed Jesus for his burial…the only proper anointing he would get because of later haste. But I think there’s more to this than that. There are images of sacrifice here for sure, for both Mary and Jesus, but perhaps there is also a hint as to what would happen after his sacrificial death as the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. Unknown to her and everyone else in that room, Mary was anointing the future universal king. Her anointing pointed forward to his priestly royalty…to the fact that he was a sacrifice destined for exaltation via the suffering of his substitutionary death. 

Everyone seemed to have missed all this…they all seemed to have missed the significance of this sacrificial act of devotion because their focus was elsewhere. The number of times the disciples were yet to stumble over the concept of servanthood rather than arrogance and swaggering remains to be examined in future sermons. 

But to bring this home, one would have thought that by this time, with two centuries of church history behind us, we would have learned to be more like Jesus. But even today, pride seems to be more prevalent in the Church than humility. We just love to lord it over each other, don’t we? 

In our Gospel passage for today, we have two sad examples…on the one hand, we have those who are reprobate despite their elaborate religious observances and then on the other hand, we have those who are followers of Jesus and yet are blinded by their own values and ambitions. Perhaps if we allowed the love of God, which he has poured out abundantly in our hearts, to direct us as it did Paul who viewed it as the supreme virtue, we would be more like Mary and less like the Sadducees, Pharisees, and, in this case, the disciples…especially Judas. Paul teaches us that if we do not love, our lives are as jarring as a clanging cymbal. Perhaps if we were less concerned with ourselves – if we were less concerned with always being right – crossing all our t’s and dotting all our i’s, we would be able to love each other as God has commanded us to love.

Giving up our pride may be as difficult and as risky as Mary’s sacrifice of her future investment. It will certainly render us more vulnerable to each other as Mary’s act made her vulnerable and exposed her to severe criticism and censure. But ultimately, we must ask ourselves a rather uncomfortable question: whom do I wish to impress? God or humanity? 

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2024