The Great Physician VI: Why Smoke Grass When You Can Eat It?

The symptoms are varied and different as are the diseases. The underlying spiritual diagnosis is always the same. We're all products of the Fall or Man. Therefore, we all succumb inevitably to sin. The Bible paints a graphic image of this indeed.

As one would expect, disease and illness are very much a part of the Old Testament narrative. God is the Great Physician. It is not surprising that a whole chapter is devoted to a wide range of skin problems. Leviticus 13 possibly mentions vitiligo or Michael Jackson’s disorder which turns the skin white along with the hair. It also sounds an awful lot like ringworm in the same chapter. The child of a Shunammite woman can die of some form of cerebral dysfunction then be resuscitated through some form of spiritual CPR (2 Kings 4:18-37).

There is then the account of Nabal of Carmel in 1 Samuel 25:36-38 who appears to have some form of coronary event and then reportedly expires nine days later without gaining consciousness. It was likely due to some form of apoplectic seizure.

Then we have the Philistines of 1 Samuel 5-6 afflicted with hemorrhoids or might have possibly been buboes. A plague apparently brought on by rats or mice 1 Samuel 6:5, 11, 18. Likewise, the Assyrians descend on Jerusalem and lay siege to the city. During the siege, Hezekiah dressed in sackcloth (a sign of mourning), but the prophet Isaiah assured him that the city would be delivered. Isaiah 10:16 anticipates the sending of “a wasting sickness” among Assyria’s otherwise healthy and stout warriors, and extra-canonical sources unequivocally claim an infestation of “field mice” as the means for the decimation of Sennacherib’s army. Herodotus wrote that the Assyrian army was overrun by mice when attacking Egypt. Some scholars believe this to an allusion that the Assyrian army being decimated by the rodent borne disease Bubonic plague. A death toll to the tune of 185,000 dead.

Morbidly the book of Chronicles feels compelled to share with us the fate of numerous Judean kings who proved unfaithful to God. Underlying all these illnesses again? Sin and unrighteousness of course.

Asa succumbed to “diseased feet”. Possible gangrene or diabetic or gout complications. Gout in particular afflicts mostly males that consume a lot of protein and alcohol…the calling card of bad Jewish kings (2 Chronicles 16:12-13)

Uzziah succumbs to “leprosy” (2 Chronicles 26:21)

Jehoram succumbs to some “intestinal” malady where his bowels literally fell out. This certainly sounds like cancer which left untreated would cause oozing sores and severe agony. (2 Chronicles 21:18-19).

We should also note mental illness and instability, such as Saul’s possible paranoia, schizophrenia, dementia or depression. (1 Samuel 16:14-23; 18:10-11; 19:9-10; 20:20-34; 24:16-22; 26:21-25)

Nebuchadnezzar was afflicted with an amusing case of lycanthropy a form of madness involving the delusion of being an animal with correspondingly altered behavior. In Neb's case a rather docile bovine eating grass (Daniel 4). Lol

Lastly, I mention David’s own feigned madness before Achish, the king of Gath (1 Samuel 21:12-15). Mental illness made all the more believable because of psychosis’ prolific presence in the ancient world due to disease, parasites, age and other causes.

The Great Physician V: Completely Out of Sync With The Times

All of the Israelite Mosaic Laws stand in marked contrast to the medicine of Egyptians out of which Moses and the Israelites emerged. It seems to me that the real proof and evidence in God’s divine intervention into Jewish life lies right at this crossroad within the Law.  The Egyptian-raised author of the Pentateuch would have absorbed and been greatly influenced by the beliefs about medicine and healthcare held by the Egyptians. Ironically, this is clearly not the case. The archaeologist Dr. William F. Albright, late professor of Semitic Languages at Johns Hopkins University and former Director of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem, pointed out:

“It is clear that the religion of Israel revolted against virtually every external aspect of Egyptian religion, including the complex and grotesque iconography, [and] the dominion of daily life in the Nineteenth Dynasty by magic.” (1)

Professor Neufeld from my previous post similarly noted that the Pentateuch’s laws on purification and disease prevention do not reflect the beliefs of surrounding cultures:

“They presuppose a fairly well-developed system of hygiene. None of the known rituals of the ancient Near East, as illustrated in mythological texts, incantations, and descriptions of festivals, can be compared to the vast scope of detailed topics, extent of knowledge, systematic elaboration, and clear identification of spiritual “purity” with community responsibility, as exemplified in the textual materials of the Bible.” (2)

Dr. M. R. DeHaan, who received his M.D. from the University of Illinois Medical School and was a practicing physician for many years before becoming an evangelical preacher, expands on this central point:

“We ask the question, since Moses was educated in all these [Egyptian] superstitions and primitive practices, how does it happen that he does not teach or recommend these remedies in his writings? Although he deals in detail and great length with diseases, the treatment of infections, leprosy, and running sores, yet the illusions, deceptions, gross errors, and superstitions concerning anatomy, physiology, pathology, and treatment of diseases as taught in the highest schools of learning in Egypt from which Moses was a graduate [Acts 7:22], are never taught or even suggested in the books of Moses. But instead the instructions Moses laid down for Israel were utterly at variance with the accepted practices of that day, and fully in harmony with modern-day scientific facts.” (3)

To me it is extremely surprising that such a small isolated nation like the Israelites/Hebrews, appearing out of the desert after forty years of obscurity, would have any better ideas of health and disease than the current settled civilizations like that of Egypt. It is even more amazing to find the Old Testament loaded with medical observations of disease so accurate that even by modern medical and sanitary standards it stands out as exceptional. The cleanliness / purity laws of the Old Testament stand out like a mountain jutting from a plain of ignorance. Ignorance that would be revisited in the Middle Ages/Dark Ages on the Jews themselves adhering to age old Mosaic law. They would again avoid death and disease during the The Black Death and Bubonic Plague and even be blamed for it via the accusations of 'poisoning the wells'. (4)

These facts go a long way in demonstrating that the Bible is not of human origin. If it were, the commands regarding health and hygiene found in the Mosaic Law would have been tainted by the biases, prejudices, and presuppositions of its author, who was born and raised in a superstitious pagan land. The Pentateuch contains scientific facts it concerning health/medicine so advanced and so completely out of sync with the times that Moses lived that only a single conclusion can be reached about its origin… that origin was and is Divine.

One last quote from a titan in the medical field. The late Dr. Howard A. Kelly who received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and served as associate professor of obstetrics at that same institution. Later he became chairman of gynecological surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Medical School. and served as Emeritus Professor of Gynecological Surgery at that same institution. He once wrote that:

“I am sure that the Bible is the Word of God… The Bible appeals to me strongly as a physician, because it is such excellent medicine; it has never yet failed to cure a single patient if only he took his prescription honestly. Whatever there is in civilization that is worthwhile rests on the Bible’s precepts. … Everywhere and in all its teachings the Bible claims to be the authoritative Word of God, and as such I accept it. (5)

(1) William F. Albright, From the Stone Age to Christianity, 2nd ed. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1957), 270.

(2) Neufeld, op. cit., 172. [See previous post citation]

(3) M. R. DeHaan, M.D., Genesis and Evolution (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1962), 61.

(4) Walter Laqueur (2006) The Changing Face of Antisemitism: From Ancient Times to the Present Day, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-530429-2. p.62

(5) Howard A. Kelly, M.D., A Scientific Man and the Bible (Philadelphia: Sunday School Times Co., 1925), pp. 41, 54, 61.

The Great Physician IV: Clean Food & Water

The late physician A. Rendle-Short, saw modern medical science in the Law of Moses. He was and M.D., professor of surgery and lecturer in physiology at the University of Bristol in England, as well as Examiner and Hunterian Professor of the Royal College of Surgeons. While commenting on Deuteronomy 14:21, which prohibits eating the meat of an animal which has died of disease, Dr. Short stated the following:

Today, if a butcher exposed an animal which had died of disease for sale in his shop he would be prosecuted under the Food and Drugs Act, because there is the possibility of conveying some germ infection or parasite. The law is the more noteworthy because thereby a considerable source of food supply is cast away as useless. Whence had the Biblical writer this insight, two or three thousand years in advance of his day? When reading and commentating on Leviticus 11:32–38, which underscores the necessity of clean water for hygienic purposes, he noted:

The importance of a clean water supply is one of the major discoveries of the modern public health services. It was only about fifty years ago [Dr. Short wrote this in 1949] that it became recognized that typhoid fever in this country [Great Britain], cholera in India, bilharziasis in Egypt, and many other diseases, were spread principally by polluted water. (2)

The late physician further wrote:

Closely connected with the protection of the wells and springs is the safe disposal of sewage. Water-borne and fly-borne diseases, such as dysentery and enteric fever, have been the scourge of armies in the field even more than of stationary populations. In the South African [Boer] War the loss of life from these diseases was greater than from wounds. It was not till the Great War of 1914–1918 that effectual precautions were put into practice. Yet all through the centuries the remedy was ready to hand, if the generals had troubled to read their Bibles, and to observe the directions given for the disposal of excreta by burial (Deuteronomy 23:12–14). (3)

The Mosaic Law not only stressed protection of water from contamination, but food as well. Commenting on Numbers 19:15, which declares unclean any food container not sealed with a tight lid, Professor Neufeld stated that:

“…some care was taken to protect the food being prepared from surrounding contamination. Textual references to “open vessels” with no lids fastened down clearly indicate that pots with fastened-down lids were used during preparation and storage to protect food from insects and various contamination. In fact, an ingeniously constructed lid of the middle 8th century B.C. was unearthed by [Yigael] Yadin at Hazor.” (4)

The bottomline is this...no one can survive without food and water. No one can survive well without clean food and water.

(1) A. Rendle Short, M.D., Modern Discovery and the Bible, 2nd ed., rev. (London: Inter-varsity Fellowship, 1949), 120.

(2) Ibid.

(3) Ibid., 121.

(4) Edward Neufeld, “Hygiene Conditions in Ancient Israel (Iron Age),” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 25 (1970); 171-172

The Great Physician III: Cleanliness is Next To Godliness

I'm going to be blunt here. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize that the Mosaic Law given to Moses by God improved individual and communal health. While the cultures around them were awash in superstition, Moses and the Jewish people left a legacy of unparalleled medical advancement. William R. Vis, M.D., a member of the American Medical Association and the American College of Physicians, stated:

"As a scientist [physician], Moses rises above all other Biblical characters because of his stupendous knowledge of public health and hygiene. The safeguarding of the people Israel under the difficulties encountered should, perhaps, rank as the greatest achievement in all medical history."

Undergirding all of the Jewish people's health advancements was God's law which not only protected the Jews from disease and disorders, it protected them from spiritual death by pointing them towards a Holy God who would send His only begotten Son Jesus.

In Dr. Vis book he uses leprosy as an example of God’s use of obedience to the Mosaic law to prevent the spread of disease in ancient times, pointing out that the Great Lawgiver used techniques unknown to the medical profession until modern times:

"To show how far Moses was ahead of modern society we need only to remind ourselves that the word quarantine originated in the fourteenth century when the Italian ports of Venice and Genoa first refused admission to immigrants who might be harboring [bubonic] plague and required them to stay on board for forty days—hence the word quarantine. Even in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries leprosy spread over southern Europe until the principles of Moses were re-enacted successfully. Moses disinfected the patient’s clothing [Leviticus 13:47], bed, and even the house itself [Leviticus 14:34]. The leper was required to wear a covering (mask) upon his upper lip [Leviticus 13:45]. On occasion the priest was requested to go outside of the camp to examine the suspect [Leviticus 13:46]—further to protect the populace." (2)

Another medical scientist noticed the Pentateuch’s astoundingly modern outlook on health and hygiene also. D. H. Trapnell, M.D., Consultant Radiologist at Westminster Hospital in London, observed:

One respect in which Jewish medicine was better than that of contemporary peoples was the remarkable sanitary code of the Israelites in Moses’ time. … The Jews, as a nation, might not have survived their time in the wilderness, or the many other vicissitudes through which they passed, without their sanitary “code.” It deals with public hygiene, water supply, sewage disposal, inspection and selection of food, and control of infectious disease. The most interesting thing about it is that it implies a knowledge which in the circumstances of the Exodus and the wilderness wanderings they could scarcely have discovered for themselves, e.g. the prohibition, as food, of pigs and of animals which had died natural deaths [Leviticus 7:24], the burial or burning of excreta [Deuteronomy 23:13, Exodus 29:14], etc., and the contagious nature of some diseases. … In a number of respects the biblical outlook on the sick, and on health in general, has a bearing on modern medical practice, and is perhaps more up-to-date than is generally realized. (3)

(1) William R. Vis, M.D., “Medical Science and the Bible,” in Modern Science and Christian Faith, 2nd ed. (Wheaton, IL: Van Kampen Press, 1950), 238. 

(2) Ibid., 244

(3) New Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1996), s.v. “Health, Disease and Healing.”

The Great Physician II: Therapeuo / θεραπεύω

In the last few months I’ve slowly resuscitated this blog (God did) after a three-year hiatus. I have continued to study during this time I just haven’t written about it. For me it's all been praxis or what Westminster calls Practical Theology. Rubber meets the road stuff. There was no time. That is changing. My recent studies have centered around how the Mosaic Law and modern medicine relate. A superficial modern-day analysis would say they’re totally unrelated but examine just below the surface, dissecting it and there are much more intricate nuances. So much so that I have found the rabbit hole is ridiculously wide and deep. Under every stone I lifted was yet another stone...it was 'turtles all the way down'.

My original intent was to just do a study of the Greek word θεραπεύω or therapeuo. A word that means healer, to heal or restore health. It can also mean to give or do a service for someone or something. So, as is typical, like everything else that started out simple when it involved God and I, it mushroomed into a mountain instantly...my intent now is to hit on some of the mentions of disease, medicine, healing and of course, sin. Pray that I don't burnout like I did three years ago.

People of Old Testament times faced tremendous health issues. Health was at risk daily at in the midst of blowing dust, dirt, contaminated food, impure water, city and town sewage, refuse, and garbage. Not to mention pestilence like rats, flies, biting insects, parasites and varieties of microorganisms that could cause epidemics, infection, and death to many closely-huddled families, especially to those most vulnerable of all, infants.

Personal hygiene habits, the kinds of clothing worn, the patterns of cooking and preparing food, the table customs employed, and the methods used to clean cooking/eating utensils and implements often invited disease.

Although the time and place millennia ago render a diagnosis nearly impossible, undoubtedly afflictions such as typhoid, dysentery, malaria, leprosy, tuberculosis, smallpox, and bubonic plague made their appearance in biblical times.

The most common during and prior to the 1st century Middle East were probably diseases of the eye and ear like conjunctivitis. Senile blindness, or the result either of cataract, glaucoma or retinal/macular degeneration, is mentioned in the cases of Isaac (Genesis 27:1), Jacob (Genesis 48:10) and Eli (1 Samuel 4:15). There were also the many physical disabilities that were either congenital, the result of war or accident, and not infrequently as the outcome of polio/poliomyelitis.

A review of the healings of Christ exhibit them all. Matthew 9:27–30; Mark 8:22–25; John 9:1–7, Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Mark 7:31-37, Luke 5:17-26, John 5:1-16. It is then Jesus' miraculous healing of a blind man that we see the root of his infirmity (and all others). Jesus instructs him in the spiritual principle of overcoming sin in John 5:13-14. He instructs on sin because sin is the true root of his and everyone else's flawed condition. Jesus used the healing as an object lesson on sin.

The Great Physician I: Origins

I’m actually excited to begin posting original material to my blog again. A new beginning. Reborn if you will. As is often the case when I write, I find digressions that just cannot fit into the topic I’m working on. My ideas and sources essentially find their origins or fountainheads in other reference materials. They in turn find their origin in the fountainhead of true knowledge: Scripture.

This was one of them.

One of my sources this time was an pretty old book: Modern Science and Christian Faith (1950). It was not solely pigeonholed to medicine. Some of its non-medical topics are fascinating and worthy of singular mention. Additionally, I should note that every single author in this book has passed on to be with their Maker which makes their essays ever more powerful.

Alton Everest wrote the Preface to this 1948 book (2nd edition 1950). In it he stated the following:

“This volume has been written to demonstrate two things: 1. Between the observations of science and a simple, direct interpretation of the Bible narrative there exists a harmony such as would be expected of a Book having the same Author as the physical world. 2. There is an appreciable group of reputable men of science who are convinced of the inspired origin of the Bible and who find in it a stimulating, satisfying, and irreplaceable contribution to their scientific picture of the universe. “This [book] represents the concerted effort of several score men of science over a period of more than six years. This group of Christian professional scientists is composed largely of college professors and industrial researchers representing the various branches of scientific specialization... It is hoped that in the diversity of authors and in the symposium form of presentation those pitfalls may be avoided into which scores of books treating the delicate no man’s land between science and religion have fallen."

It has been my experience that one of the pitfalls of modern scientists and science is an all-too-ready acceptance of anything in the name of science and forcing of scriptural interpretation to fit. The proverbial jamming of the square peg into the round hole. On the other side is clinging to dubious biblical exegesis by Christians (incorrect presupposition brought the Bible) which distorts the entirety of the Bible. It is the age old argument of Biblical Inerrancy. If you allow one mistake to exist in the Bible it puts the whole Bible in question.

The diamonds I mined from this book were as follows.

Peter Stoner makes statements in Chapter II that speak to beginnings, cosmology, origins and the Big Bang. [Remember this is after Edwin Hubble, the Big Bang Theory and expanding universe (Hubble’s Constant) which all agree with the Bible.]

“Thirty years ago [1920] there were serious discrepancies between Genesis and Astronomy. Today there is striking agreement which has been brought about by the development of science. Further developments are certain to come. They will, no doubt, show still more emphatically that the Genesis account is in accord with the universe which was and which is. Although Genesis was written thousands of years ago, every reference to astronomy in this first chapter is corroborated by the best of our present scientific information. And yet we note that books of astronomy, written 25 [1925, prior to Big Bang Theory, Hubble's Constant] years ago or more, are full of serious errors… Only the Creator of the universe, the earth, and the life upon it could have told thousands of years ago the nature and process of that creation.”

Edwin Gedney notes the use of the Hebrew word י֔וֹם “yom” spelled exactly the same way in multiple places in the Old Testament but meaning different amounts of chronological time.

“When it is translated by out word ‘day,’ as it usually is, it may have a number of implications. It is used to designate: 1. That twenty-four-hour period from evening to evening. 2. That portion of the above period which is light (Gen 1:14, 16, 18) 3. A prophetic year (Ezekiel 4:6) 4. A day set apart with a distinctive purpose as the Day of Atonement, or the Sabbath Day (Genesis 2:3). 5. A period of time in indefinite duration during which God begins and ends some specific work (Genesis 2:4, Isaiah 2;12, 22:5) All but the third of these usages will be found in the first chapters of Genesis.” (Pg. 51) He also provided a chart correlating “Events Noted In Scripture” with the “Geological Timetable”; e.g., “the sea brings forth” = the Paleozoic Era, “Beasts of the earth” = Cenozoic Era, etc. (Pg. 52-53). In other words the word ‘day’ or ‘yom’

William Smalley and Marie Fetzer suggests the following. By suggesting the following they are essentially saying that the fossil record was and still is extremely scant to draw definitive conclusions on. Its like trying to make Christian dogma from one verse in the Bible. Additionally, it also begs the question. Where is the line between men and apes drawn when we have NO scientific evidence of said specimens?

“Many Christians have … been taught that the morphological features of the fossil men presented only slight deviations from the morphological features of many today… Often it has been said jokingly that Neanderthal man is a frequent patron of the New York subways! However, a careful study of comparative morphology shows that there are large difference between the structure of man today and the structure of many of the fossil men… The evidence seems to indicate that man is much older than most evangelical Christians have suggested… These data do not mean that the Scriptures are in error… Christians should be interested in all the documented evidence anthropology can offer on fossil men. If substantial evidence conflicts with certain traditional interpretations of Scripture, such interpretations may require some modifications. The task, therefore, is to evaluate and make available to the thinking Christian public the pertinent information available from human paleontology.” (Pg. 161-162) Later, they conclude, “There is strong evidence, which is constantly increasing, for the antiquity of fossil man.” (Pg. 183)

Allen MacRae hits on the idea of intellectual presupposition or what I’ve referred to as a persons interpretive grid. We all come to certain topics with past bias that color our view of data and/or reality.

“When a noted Egyptologist thus believes the Biblical statements to be out of touch with reality, what is the correct attitude to take? …. The attitude of one who truly believes in Christ as Savior and Lord must be that of suspended judgment on the particular point involved, while seeking for more evidence… Christians may have been in error in their interpretation of the meaning of the Biblical statement, and second, that further scientific evidence may come to light, either from archaeology, or from some other source…” (Pg. 217-218) Later, he adds, “It is vital that the Christian clearly understand the nature of his attitude toward the Bible. It is not because archaeological facts have been discovered which throw light upon it that he accepts it as true. He accepts it because of his belief in Jesus Christ of whom it speaks and who set the seal of His authority upon it.” (Pg. 222)

Lastly, I mention the chapter, “Psychology and the Christian Faith”. This chapter drove home an extremely powerful point to me. A man who suffered through depression and sadly sees mental illness in a lot of people as I am in contact with multitudes of people in my work and ministry. The author observed:

“But although spiritual regeneration is the primary factor in the total integration of reorientation of the individual, there may be other problems present for which the Christian may need psychological or psychiatric help. There is no promise in the Scriptures of immunity from mental or bodily illness for the believer. Furthermore, it is not to be assumed that bringing the person into a right relationship with God through Christ will necessarily solve all the problems of the psychopath immediately without further effort and cooperation on his part. Problems of maladjustment may be found to exist, even in the lives of Christians. But the fact remains that an active faith in Christ is the most powerful dynamic and central factor in the integration and stabilization of the whole personality.” (Pg. 266-267).

In other words, the author is saying simply this: You’re forgiven of your sin but sin has consequences that can continue or ripple down through time the rest of your life. Being a Christian and accepting the truth of what Christ did on the cross doesn’t make you prefect. It makes you a sinner saved by grace.

This book was largely been forgotten. A diamond reburied in the detritus of a godless society. It took me doing internet research and buying it from Alibris in poor condition to reclaim the knowledge but I found it still well worth reading even nearly 70 years after its publication.

A Streaking Frat Boy In the Bible

"...And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. ~Mark 14:51-52

Although I always viewed this passage with quirky amusement it is not to be taken too lightly. It deals with the seriousness of salvation, human nature. Its Jesus' arrest. This incident would have actually been very funny in just about any other context but because it portended the most horrific miscarriage of justice in history the imagery must be tempered with solemnity. So why does it appear to be almost a comical aside placed directly in the middle of Jesus' arrest?

I pondered this for a couple of days. The placement of this passage itself is impulsive in its usage...just like the incident itself. Regardless, we know from reading the rest of the Bible that nothing is an accident in God's world. God is not impulsive. Impulsivity is a human trait. Everything has its reason and is part of God's plan even man's impetuousness and lack of forethought. God knew this dude was going to sprint au naturel into the cover of twilight.

We are never told who he is. Likely because the personal identity isn’t relevant to the theology or the story. It is his associated identity that is important. He was associated to Jesus Christ and other disciples at the time of His arrest. This naked dude was the same as all the others that had followed Jesus. They either betrayed, denied or deserted Him. Judas, Peter, and…a dude in his birthday suit in a garden in the middle of the night. You’d think this was the end of a frat party being busted by the cops. 

This unidentified man henceforth referred to as Streaking Frat Boy (SFB) is interesting because he had no identity and comically, no clothes. He was representative of all that followed Jesus though. Flawed, sinful, broken and naked to sin in this world. If it wasn't for fancy footwork and physical dexterity, he would've been nabbed by the authorities. If Christ didn't come to die for his sin he would've been nailed by his sin. Picture if you will...a streaker running from security at a baseball game. What was it that made SFB hotfoot it into the night at Gethsemane? 

Fear. Pure unadulterated terror.

The Way, The Truth and The Life had been apprehended and was being arrested by the world. It made no sense to any of them. It defied their understandings of who & what they thought Jesus was and what he was on Earth for. It so bamboozled Peter that he denied Jesus three times. It is clear from SFB's wardrobe malfunction that he was not expecting to be accosted or assailed for said association to Jesus and what any perplexed frightened man would do... he sprinted into the darkness naked as a jaybird.

Sadly, this mindset was in all the followers of Jesus at this point. All of them, in spite of the fact that Jesus had told them explicitly and explained to them thoroughly what was going to happen next. They didn’t listen. They didn’t believe. They relied on their own judgment. Their own understanding. 

Peter's denial was told to Peter. Jesus predicted Judas' betrayal in front of Judas. Jesus foretold his own persecution and death. They didn’t see it coming. They had believed everything else Jesus had said in his ministry but why not this? 

Simple. 

They didn’t want to. They were incapable because of their sin. 

What this reveals is how completely sin can blind us to truth. They didn't/couldn't accept what The Truth said was the truth. They doubted and were incapable of comprehending it. Even after the Crucifixion and Resurrection had taken place they remained confused (Road to Emmaus ring any bells?). Even after all the prophecies had been fulfilled. The very prophecies they had been raised with since childhood as Jews and learned as believer's of the Old Testament. 

Do you really suppose SFB wanted to be immortalized in the Bible as the "naked guy" sprinting through Gethsemane? To be remembered forever in  Christian history as "that guy". I don't think so. Like other examples of believers and followers we see an unflattering image in our minds of human failing to the point of absurdity and stupidity. 

The only thing unique and fantastic about SFB is his inherent failings and inabilities. His and our most startling feature is just how common an archetype of human fallibility we are. The only good thing about us is our association with Jesus. In SFB we see humanity, warts and all. 

We see us.

What else stands out in this context? Jesus does. Specifically, His foreknowledge and foretelling of these events. The other startling attribute is His unflappability. He exudes an unshakable composure as the world disintegrates around Him. He doesn't run. As a matter of fact, by his demeanor He controls the anxiety and disruption leading to His arrest (Peter, Malchus’ ear being healed). By His outward behavior He controls the "tone" of His own arrest. He is distinguished by His remarkable poise. He is the measure of resoluteness and the image of calm during the storm of events. This is in stark contrast to the scatterbrain behavior and disarray all around Him. His presence even holds sway over His captors.

"Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?" They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am he." Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground. So he asked them again, "Whom do you seek?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus answered, "I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go." This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: "Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one." ~John 18:4-9

Alone Jesus is left to face His enemies just like he would bear the weight of the world's sin.

What do we learn from this?

We need to trust in the Lord and what He says is true. What the Lord lays on our hearts is to be taken deeply, reviewed and understood to the best of our ability. If we ignore His commandments we do so at our peril. Left to our own devices to try and extract ourselves from what is often a dilemma of our own making we become a comedy of errors like SFB. Inevitably, the means of escape and path we need to take to extricate ourselves may get quite embarrassing at times. In the case of Peter it dealt a catastrophic blow to his psyche. In the case of Judas it ended in death. Fortunately for SFB he was relegated to being mortified.

Turning our backs on God will lead to chaos and disarray. The light he gives us for our lives illuminates our path. When we walk away from this light we head down an unclear path, tripping and groping….forced to stumble around the darkness like a drunken frat boy bereft of clothes.

Cedars Will Fall In The Whirlwind

I know there are those who are suffering today. This one's for you.

There is that of God to be seen in such a day as cannot be seen in another. His power in holding up some, his wrath in leaving of others; his making of shrubs to stand, and his suffering of cedars to fall; his infatuating of the counsels of men, and his making of the devil to outwit himself; his giving of his presence to his people, and his leaving of his foes in the dark; his discovering/disclosing the uprightness of the hearts of his sanctified ones, and laying open the hypocrisy of others, is a working of spiritual wonders in the day of his wrath, and of the whirlwind and storm. We are apt to overshoot, in the days that are calm, and to think ourselves far higher, and more strong than we find we be, when the trying day is upon us. . . . We could not live without such turnings of the hand of God upon us. We should be overgrown with flesh, if we had not our seasonable winters. It is said that in some countries trees will grow, but will bear no fruit, because there is no winter there.  

~ John Bunyan: Seasonable Counsel; or Advice To Sufferers

We must understand that there is more to learn and more of God to be gained in our times of suffering. John Bunyan understood this. A person needs only read his biography. Believe it or not, God is usually closest to us in these times but because of our pain...we don't or can't see Him there. We must try to see Him during these times and what He has to teach us. It builds a faith that is capable of enduring death and will not fold up under the first sign of pressure and misery. We sorely lack this in feel-good preaching and applications sermons that are more interested in people's feelings. Teachers teaching content to people....where they are at rather than where they need to be.

What's more is, if their faith is the way it should be it will be able to endure hardship and struggling with a wry sense of grace that can only come from God. It is in these struggles...when we are walking through the valley of death struggling to keep not only our faith but our lives also...that we pick up the supplies and resources we need to scale the mountains of faith and reach their pinnacle.

If the world forced Christ to struggle with life...how much more will we struggle and suffer if we willingly choose to follow His footsteps. He was tempted, we will be tempted. He suffered, we will suffer. He died, we will die. Christians that do not suffer are not Christian. Christians that do not die to self will not rise again as a new creation. The two principles are inseparably linked. To live is to die and to die is to live. The Christian must be consoled with the fact that there is always the glorious culmination of the suffering in the eternal reward. One must never lose sight of this fact. That is why we are repeatedly called to persevere in the faith until the bitter end.

It is in the suffering and pressure that the diamond of faith is born. It is in the unrelenting pressure of suffering and struggle that the ugly coal and carbon of sin is best squeezed until no more darkness is in it. What emerges is beauty personified in the glorified believer, the diamond in God's crown who is the image or impression of the glorified Christ. This is why Jesus prayed the prayer for all believers in John 17...

John 17:20-24 “My prayer [disciples] is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

Cedars will fall in the storm. In life there are casualties. Not all fall simultaneously, just some. Some remain standing to help others. Eventually all will fall. If you're reading this you are still standing. If you are still standing be thankful. Then help others. The fallen will give new life to those left behind or those yet to come. They will give reasons to carry on. Don't just live your life, be life. Some no longer have that opportunity.