Every once in a while when I am teasing my wife she let’s me know I’ve gone too far by giving me a stern look and saying “be careful”. I think that’s what Jesus is doing here.
He’s telling the disciples that the children (especially) are very dear to him, and He won’t be kind to whoever is tempting them to sin. We don’t normally think of ourselves as “leading children astray”, right? But if we tell the kids that there are many ways to heaven, or that Jesus is just a figment of our imagination aren’t we tempting them to sin? What if we allow the kids to decide whether or not they want to go to church? That temptation to stay home and not learn about Jesus could be held against us later. What if we tell them that the earth was created by evolutionary processes and God wasn’t the architect of it all? Aren’t we tempting them to disbelief? I can see Jesus saying to us “you’d better be careful” with a stern look on His face. In fact, it was this very idea that I would have to answer for how I was raising my kids that got me going back to church as a young parent.
Verses 3-6 talk about the amount of faith that we should have. I’m not sure if Jesus is saying “if you have faith you will be able to forgive” or “if you forgive in faith, then you will have power to do wonderful things”. Either way, developing faith in ever increasing measure is my personal goal. I think each of us should make our priority to become more and more like Jesus every day. That means that we should desire a more personal and intimate relationship with Him, which leads to hearing Him more clearly, and then obeying what we hear from Him. If we do that, our faith, however small, will begin to grow. Perhaps that’s how small faith leads to great accomplishments….by growing.
As I read once again the account of the 10 men healed of leprosy I saw something new. The man who returned was a Samaritan. That means he wouldn’t have been going to the priests, because they didn’t associate with Samaritans. But that is where Jesus sent him…and he was healed just like everyone else as he headed that direction. The Samaritan is the only one who turns around to thank Jesus. I wonder if it was because he wouldn’t have been welcomed by the priest anyway. Another thing I see today is that once you had leprosy it didn’t matter if you were Jewish or Samaritan. Suddenly that distinction went away, and you all met together. The immediate need became your identity. You were a leper first, and then whatever else, second. Each of us needs to adopt this same concept as we come to Jesus. Whatever else we were when we came to Christ, it is now second place. First, and from now on, our identity is “follower of Jesus”. Everything else pales in comparison. I can sit at the table with Republicans, Democrats and Independents. I can smile and talk with Pittsburgh Steelers fans and Cleveland Browns fans. That’s because we are Christians first, and all of those other things later. When I become a follower of Jesus, my new identity is in Him, not in my political or sports preferences.
One last thought today concerning the “End of Days”. It seems that time is viewed differently by God than it is by us. 2 Peter 3:8 tells us that God doesn’t consider time the same way we do. When Jesus walked the earth He said (paraphrasing) “these are the last days” and yet we still haven’t seen His return. All I can say is that if Jesus considered it to be close 2,000 years ago, how close do you think it is today? Close. In another way of thinking about it…each of us has only our lifetime to make our peace with God, that means within 30 to 50 years for almost everyone reading this…..and much sooner for some, our time will be over, and we will be held accountable for our actions. Even if the second coming hasn’t happened, we will likely be “going about our business” when we are taken from the earth to stand before the King of Kings. I pray that each of us is making serious plans to prepare for that day. The only hope we have to survive that day intact is to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That relationship can only be kept and maintained by living each day in the power of the Holy Spirit. There simply isn’t any other way to remain close to God except through the power of the Holy Spirit. We need Him each and every day. Every minute, every second, really.
If we have that relationship, the idea that the world may quickly expire, and the King will return will bring us waves of excitement, and not apprehension. We should be filled with inexpressible joy as we consider the future instead of wondering in fear if the earth will survive our lifetime. Who cares if it survives? The only reason I hope that Jesus waits one more day before returning is so that those who will accept Him today and tomorrow will be spared the horror of Hell. (My children included). Beyond that, whatever day Jesus chooses to return will be fine with me. (Ha Ha!…as if I have anything to say about it!)
Waiting excitedly,
PR