The day Jesus was surprised

Jesus was “astonished” at the faith of the Roman centurion who came to Him seeking healing for his sick servant (Matthew 8:10). The same word is used in Mark 6:6 to describe how Jesus was "astonished" at the unbelief of the people in his home town. These are the only times this verb occurs in the entire New Testament with reference to Jesus. Jesus was rarely surprised by anything, but those two situations caught him off guard. It astonished Jesus that, in spite of all the miracles, his townsfolk could see no further than the boy they had grown up with. It equally astonished Him that this centurion, entirely foreign to Israel and the covenant promises of God, could so easily grasp hold of who Jesus was in relation to his Father. The townsfolk of Nazareth saw only Jesus’ earthly father, the centurion saw only his heavenly Father. The townsfolk limited Jesus to what his earthly father could give him, the centurion saw that Jesus could have anything his heavenly Father gave him. In one sense, therefore, the two stories are all about how different people understood Jesus and how they received him.

The centurion, by receiving Jesus as the Son of God and giving him due honour, placed himself in the middle of God’s chain of authority. The centurion was the link in the chain between Jesus and the sick servant. The centurion, by placing himself under Jesus’ authority, tapped into that authority and became the channel by which that authority flowed to the servant. Even though the centurion himself had no direct physical role in the healing, he was the human channel by which it occurred. It was by his faith that the servant was healed (Matt. 8:13). If he had not come to Jesus, if he had not recognized Jesus’ authority, if he had not come under that authority, the power of God would not have been released to heal the servant.

Jesus said that he had not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. The centurion’s faith was not great because he believed that Jesus could heal by long distance. The centurion’s faith was great because, as a Gentile raised completely outside the knowledge of God, he had, in a way even the disciples had not yet seen, penetrated into the secret of Jesus’ authority. He had seen that Jesus himself was the Son of God, and because he stood directly under his Father’s authority, he had power even over sickness. The centurion understood exactly where Jesus’ authority came from and how it operated. And he did all this without being raised in the Scriptures or in the knowledge of God. But he did possess one thing, and that one thing was enough: an understanding of authority which was so acute it led him to the one with authority over all.

Moving by faith to enter into God's chain of authority does not give us the ability to do anything outside of God's will. But failure to exercise faith is equally failure to recognize Jesus for who he truly is, and that failure will mean God will not use us to do what he otherwise could have done through us. God being God, he will find another way of bringing his kingdom on earth, but what a tragedy when we fail to understand who Jesus is, fail to understand the nature of his authority, fail to enter into a totally submitted relationship with him which releases that authority, and in the end fail to enter into the destiny for which God created us.

I doubt Jesus is astonished at anything from his seat beside the Father's throne, but if he is, I would rather he be astonished at my faith than at my unbelief. How about you?

"Just say the word..."

“‘Just say the word’”, the Roman centurion said to Jesus, “‘and my servant will be healed, for I am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, “Go!” and he goes, and to another, “Come” and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this!” and he does it’”   (Matthew 13:9). This is the kind of man Jesus described in the first of the Beatitudes as being poor in spirit.  He knew that he had nothing to commend himself to God, and could only throw himself on God’s mercy.  He was a man of power, yet had no power in the thing that really mattered – the life of his beloved servant.  Yet he knew that there was a greater power he could access if he came to it the right way, in the acknowledgment of his total powerlessness and worthlessness.

The reward given to those poor in spirit, according to Jesus, is this: “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3).  Those who know they are nothing in themselves are those to whom the power of the kingdom will be given. Centurions were the backbone of the Roman army and the Roman empire. All authority in the empire was vested in one man, Caesar. Although centurions carried no authority in their own right, they did carry the delegated authority of Caesar himself. If you disobeyed them, you disobeyed Caesar - and you received the consequences. The centurion understood by instinct and training the profound Biblical truth that a person will only exercise as much authority as they are submitted to. He saw Jesus as the carrier of a power greater than Caesar's, and he determined to plug into it.

Someone pointed out that there is a critical connection between each of the Beatitudes and the promises attached to them – and the connection is Jesus. Without Jesus, none of the promises will come. But with him, those who are poor in spirit will surely receive the kingdom of heaven.  Those who mourn will be comforted.  Those who are meek will inherit the earth.  Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled.  With a right attitude and heart, we can go to Jesus and receive the promises.

The centurion met the connecting point that day in the person of Jesus.  He plugged his empty battery into the greatest power source in the universe.  Because of Jesus, this man who was poor in spirit received the power of God’s kingdom.  The centurion believed that Jesus’ word alone was sufficient to heal his servant, and through his faith – the child-like trust of one poor in spirit – the miracle occurred: “And Jesus said to the centurion, “‘Go your way; let it be done to you as you believed.’  And the servant was healed that very hour” (verse 13).

Notice the words, “Let it be done to you as you believed” (or “according to your faith”). These words are significant. Jesus held all the power in the universe, yet he enlisted the centurion as a critical co-labourer. It was the centurion’s faith which released the power of Jesus to heal, and if the centurion had not exercised that faith, the servant would not have been made well.

In actual fact, we don't need a lot of faith to see miracles happen - faith the size of a mustard seed is enough, Jesus said (Luke 17:6). But we do need some faith. Why? Because Jesus requires something to work with for the miracle to happen. He does not need us because he is less than God, but because in his divinity he has chosen to work alongside us, his brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, in expanding the family business, the kingdom of God.

Today we need an army of centurions to carry on this work, and see God glorified on earth. You can be one of them!

At war!

We are at war!  Jesus warned us about it: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10a). The question is not whether the attack will come, but when and how. The answer, when the attack does come, is to focus not on the attack or on the enemy, but on the Lord. Isn’t it encouraging that Jesus brought his statement to a triumphant conclusion: “But I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10b)? A while ago a merchant in Toronto got so tired of shoplifters he took the law into his own hands, apprehended a thief and held him until the police arrived -- then got charged for assault! Fortunately the judge saw things differently and acquitted him. The enemy comes continually into our lives to shoplift -- and worse. We don’t have to wait until the police arrive. We have a hotline to the Lord. This does not mean that everything will always run smoothly for us, but it does mean that we can avoid a lot of unnecessary grief if we learn to follow God’s directions for conducting this war.

We need to learn two things: what the tactics of the enemy are, and how to counteract them. In any warfare, this two-pronged approach is critical to success on the battlefield. It is no different on the spiritual battlefield. And let me underline this: these are not strategies to put in place the moment the attack comes. A successful army has discerned the strategies of the enemy long before any attack and put measures into place to counteract them. What coach goes into a game against an opposing team without studying that team’s strengths and weaknesses and devising a strategy to beat them? We can turn and cry out to God at the last minute, and he will hear us, but we will be much more effective in overcoming the enemy’s attacks if we have prepared our defence -- and our offence -- first.

Let me give you a useful tip how to do this. Paul begins his famous exhortation on spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6 with the word "finally." This is very significant. The advice on how to conduct spiritual warfare in the following verses is only the last part of a much longer section.  Beginning at Ephesians 4:1, Paul gives a total (on my count) of 31 commands on how to live our life for God. Those 31 commands are the foundation for the successful warfare he describes in 6:10-17. If we have put our lives in order, we can be confident of success when the time of battle comes.

And don't be discouraged by the fact you're at war. The enemy only targets those who are a threat to his authority. The thief comes to rob, kill and destroy, but in the midst of the attack Jesus comes with his gift of abundant life.

The Word of God works!

Hebrews 10:19 states an incredible truth: "Therefore, brothers... we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus". The word "therefore" points us back to the entire discussion from Heb. 8:1 through 10:18 concerning the old and new covenants and the old and new priesthoods. In particular, it emphasizes the main statement made in 8:1-2: “Now the point of what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, One who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man."  The word "therefore" points us toward the application of what has previously been said.  On the basis of the truth stated in the previous chapters, we are now exhorted to do something, and something very important: to enter the very presence of God.

Every theological affirmation in Scripture has a practical application. There is no such thing as the purely theoretical in the kingdom of God. Every statement of Scripture is meant to work in real life. And the flip side is equally true: there is no such thing as merely practical. Every practical application must have a theological foundation to it. The kingdom of God will not advance with people who have a lot of Bible knowledge but have not put it into practice. If that is the case, they don’t have real Bible knowledge! And equally, the kingdom of God will not move forward with people who are out there doing a lot of things only because they had some bright idea, attended the latest church growth conference or read the seven secrets of some spiritual guru. The kingdom of God only moves forward when Biblically minded men and women put their Biblical ideas into practice.

Now let's retrace our steps and go back for a minute to the passage in front of us.  Two things are of incredible significance.  First, the truth that Jesus, as our High Priest, has entered the presence of God, sat down at God's right hand, and begun to reign. Second, the fact that as a result of this every one of us can now enter God's presence. Jesus has opened the door to the throne room of God. It cost him everything to do that. For us to turn aside from spending time with God and developing our relationship with him is in practicality to waste what Jesus did for us.

The Word of God works. It is designed for real life - your real life to be exact. It works better than anything else in this world. Watch the "therefores" in the Bible. Put them to work in your life and see what happens.

The spirit and freedom

So much misunderstanding has revolved around the word "charismatic."  The phrase itself represents the Greek word charisma or "gift."  The problem is we spend so much time arguing over "gifts of the Spirit" we forget the far more important issue, which is the gift by the Father of the Holy Spirit to us. You cannot be a Christian without having received the Holy Spirit: "Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him" (Rom. 8:9). The Holy Spirit is God. He is the way in which God is present among us from the day of Pentecost until the day the Lord returns. Without the Holy Spirit we have neither God nor Christ. It is about time Christians learned to remember that the Holy Spirit is God as much as the Father and the Son are! Some Christians have relegated the Holy Spirit to nothing more than a doctrine, and their churches show it! But other Christians have seen the Holy Spirit as nothing more than a purveyor of gifts, and their churches show it!

Why then does God give his Spirit? The answer is clear. The Holy Spirit is given to us so that we can enter into relationship with God as his sons and daughters. The person who understands what it means to be a son or daughter of God and has entered into that freedom is a truly charismatic person. Whatever else God does in our lives by way of the activity of his Spirit flows out of that central reality. What divides believers in actuality, at least in my experience, is not whether or not we believe or operate in spiritual gifts. The difference is whether or not we really know God as our Father and are living in true freedom, or whether we still have the attitude or identity of a slave, of one looking in from the outside, never sure of whether God really loves us or not and trying in our insecurity to earn his favour. After all, Paul says if we don't know the love of God, what is the point of prophesying, good works or anything else (1 Cor. 13:1-3)?

But there is good news for us!  Paul begins his letter to the Galatians with a stern warning and an appeal (chapter 1). He takes chapters 2-4 to explain what the gospel really is, then returns to his theme of freedom in 5:1. And he does so with a shout: “For freedom Christ has set us free!” What he means is this: freedom is our destiny. We are no longer slaves. He was speaking into a Greek culture steeped in pagan thinking that all men are controlled by fate, are slaves of fate. Even the gods are not free.  All we can do is accept our lot in life. We can do nothing to change it.  The Greeks even believed that if you tried to change your life for the better or tried to be a better person morally than you were fated to be, you would be committing transgression.  Transgression (the same Greek word Paul uses for sin in Romans) had nothing to do with good or evil or any moral values.  In pagan thinking, transgression was the violation or the crossing  of the lines of fate.  An evil man who prospered was fated to prosper, while a good man who suffered was fated to suffer.

Christ died to set us free from a world in which our fate was determined either by ourselves, the gods or anything else.  We don't believe in fate, we believe in destiny.  And our destiny is in God's hands alone.  We are no longer slaves, we are free. The way God conveyed that freedom to us is through the gift of his Spirit. The Spirit makes real in our lives the result of what Christ did for us on the cross. He literally regenerates us -- which means he brings us to life!  So the cry of the gospel that we are set free in Christ was a radical message for those who heard it. And it is as true today as it was then.  God paid a high price for your freedom and mine.  There's only one way to take hold of it: through the gift of his Spirit.

If we seek his Spirit, we will find everything else he wants for us.  That should be our focus.  "The one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life" (Gal. 6:8).