Three Beggars

Mark 5:19

And he did not permit him but said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

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I'd like to point out three instances of begging within the story of the demon-possessed man. Then, I'd like to think about how this man's response to Jesus is relevant for me today.

1. The Demons Beg. An ostracized maniac was living naked in the caves outside of the city. A whole battalion of demons were oppressing him, demons who even gave themselves a name - "Legion." And, while the townspeople kept their distance, Jesus approached him in his spiritually destitute state and threatened these demons with banishment. So, they begged. They begged Jesus to not send them away. They begged Jesus to send them into a herd of pigs nearby. "So he gave them permission" (5:13). Think about that little sentence for a moment. It says a lot about Christ's power and the impotency of the demonic world.

2. The Townspeople Beg. When the pig herdsmen saw that Jesus had sent these 100's of demons into their precious herd, they went into the town to tell what had happened. In turn, the townspeople proceeded to come and see for themselves. Amazingly, when they saw that Jesus had shown compassion and set the maniac free from his oppression, they begged Jesus to leave. They begged! When confronted by powerful compassion, their whole way of life was threatened: their personal peace, their comfortable segregation from this maniac, and probably their financial interest in the pigs!

3. The Demoniac Begs. In a very different way, the former demoniac does his own begging of Jesus, but he is begging Jesus for permission to "be with him." Sounds like a good request right? But, Jesus does not permit it! Instead, it was more imperative that this man tell his friends what the Lord has done and about the mercy he has received. Now, this was probably the very thing that the townspeople did NOT want to hear about, for the sake of their comfortable way of life. But, Jesus makes this the priority: Make it known that there is a man who has power over demons, who transformed your life completely, and is worth our allegiance and trust.

This is our message too. We were oppressed by our sinful desires, enslaved to our love for the world and its empty promises. But, Jesus pursued us and demonstrated his love for us right when we had the least to offer, with nothing to commend ourselves (see Rom. 5:8). When we were naked, alone, and ashamed, our Savior came to us and clothed us in the precious jewels of his love and freedom and righteousness (see Ezekiel 16). Jesus has given his almighty "permission" to free our souls from sin and oppression and we too have a message to spread. Will we tell our friends about what the Lord has done and what mercy he has shown? Will our friends beg us to leave too? Or, like verse 20 suggests, might our friends marvel at this message of transformation and begin to investigate it for themselves?

We'll only find out if we go and share the mercy that has forever changed who we are.

Whose Prayers Does God Hear?

Psalm 17:1-2

Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry!
Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
From your presence let my vindication come!
Let your eyes behold the right!

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Talk about getting bold in the face of God! David had a pattern of boldness in prayer that is hard to find today. And, it's not just his tone that is bold, but also what motivates his prayer and his expectation for being heard - namely, his own righteousness!

Isn't this the same David who just described the universal depravity of mankind in Psalms 5 & 15, not to mention many other verses? Isn't this the same David who committed adultery and then murdered an innocent man to cover it up? How can he approach a holy God with this kind of boldness and apparent pride? He may have once been called "a man after God's own heart," but surely there is something amiss in the way he is praying in this passage, right?

Well, as you might have guessed, I'm going to argue that David is completely justified in praying this way. Why? Because he understood that his righteousness did not ultimately come from himself, but was a gift of God through faith. I can say this confidently because of how the New Testament describes David's faith. Romans 4 quotes David's words in Psalm 32 as part of Paul's explanation of the "righteousness that comes by faith." And, David is listed in Hebrews 11:32 as one of the many Old Testament saints who lived by faith in God, looking to Him for the promised Savior who would make them right with Him. While not explicit, this kind of dependent faith really is fleshed out in the words of Psalm 17. David is crying out for salvation to the only hope he has: the strong and loving God whom he calls "Savior" (verse 7).

Now, I have admitted that this psalm does not make that point very explicitly on its own; it really does sound at times like David is claiming to supply his own righteousness. But, the reason David seems to claim this righteousness as his own is that, in one sense, it really is! When we look to God and completely bank on the work of Christ to make us right with him, then he really makes us right, both in our position and in our practice. He sees us as righteous through the blood of Christ; and he sees us as righteous because our actual thoughts, desires, and behavior are becoming more and more righteous, albeit by the power and grace of His Spirit.

All of this assumes that you understand one simple fact: God only hears and answers the prayers of the righteous. You then have to ask yourself: Am I righteous? Am I right with God? On what basis can I claim such holiness? Well, you can try to manage perfection on your own. Or, you can bank on the sacrificial death of the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus.

For further reflection on what the Bible says about prayer, consider linking here: The Locks and Keys of Effective Prayer. While I would urge you not to think about your conversation with the personal God as the same thing as locking or unlocking an impersonal padlock, I can vouch for the Scripture references used and think they are a good summary of how to think about our communication with God. You can start here, but there's much more to discover about the blessings and benefits of prayer.

The Kingdom of Heaven, Part 2

Mark 4:21-23

And he said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

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I call this post "Part 2" because we have already discussed some of the characteristics of the Kingdom Parables in a previous post. These parables reveal to us the surpassing value, the progressive growth, the final judgment, and the hidden quality of God's kingdom. Mark's gospel provides one kingdom parable that is not found in Matthew or Luke: The Lamp under a Basket. Because of this distinction, it seems appropriate to further address the "hiddenness" of the kingdom.

We have countered the popular gnostic claim that Christianity is a secret religion which makes God a mysterious transcendent being, only knowable through ecstatic experience. Gnosticism is repeatedly denounced in the New Testament, both implicitly (in the reality of the Incarnation) and explicitly (in the teaching of Christ and his apostles). We see this in Christ's affirmation of marriage, of eating and drinking, and his overarching interest in physical healing and financial responsibility. The ordinary material matters of life are of immense significance to God, since our obedience to Him in these matters is essentially what being a citizen of the kingdom is all about, albeit by means of faith in Him and a motivation to glorify Him.

Despite this affirmation of the material world, we have readily admitted that God's kingdom has a hidden quality, rooted in Adam's rebellion and mankind's fallen nature. We "suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Rom. 1) and literally blind ourselves to God's glory, revealed in creation and in His Word. Strangely enough, even Jesus' closest followers were often blind to the truth of His identity and His message. Mark is also distinctive in his emphasis on the slowness of the disciples to grasp who Jesus was and what His ministry would look like (see Mark 4:38ff).

Fortunately, the parable of the Lamp Under a Basket reminds us that this hidden quality of the kingdom is only temporary. In fact, Jesus tells us that "nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light." In other words, secrets are not meant to be hidden forever. Jesus' teaching was part of undoing this hidden quality; and his cross and resurrection even moreso. That is why the authors of Colossians and Hebrews can both say with confidence that Jesus himself is the glory of God, in whom "all the fullness of deity was pleased to dwell" and in whom we behold "the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature" (Col. 1:19 and Heb. 1:3). What is recorded in Mark's gospel is the record of this Incarnate God and what He has provided as a solution to our deepest need. Rather than some fleeting experience, it is our faith in Jesus Himself and the historical space-time sacrifice for our sins that gives us an objectively right relationship to God. Because of who He is and what He has done, we can stand in His righteousness and know with complete certainty that we are forgiven and accepted and renewed by His Spirit. This is the kingdom to which we belong - a lamp once hidden, but now placed on a stand for all to see.