For less flipping read Mark 1:14-39, Matthew 4:12-25, 8:14-17, Luke 3:23, 4:16-44, John 4:46-54
I love the story of Jesus healing the government official's son in John 4:46-54.
What strikes me the most about this story is the man's faith. "The man took Jesus at his word and departed." John 4:50b (emphasis mine)
What was the evidence of the man's faith? Obedience.
He didn't ask for proof before leaving.
He didn't demand the Jesus act the way he wanted Him to act (he had requested Jesus come with him, but Jesus did not).
He did not question Jesus' decision.
He believed. And his belief was evidenced by his obedience.
We can talk all we want about how we believe in the promises of God, but if we do not act as though we believe them, we prove ourselves faithless.
The way we live, the way we act, is the most accurate reflection of what we truly believe.
In his sermon Go, Your Son Will Live, John Piper has several very interesting observations to make about this passage as well. He first talks about some things that can keep us from seeing Jesus' glory, just like the unbelief of those from His hometown. He mentions three things and it was the third that particularly jumped out at me....
And third... is a sense of over-familiarity with Jesus. This man is one of us. We know his mother and his brothers. He has always been so ordinary. How can he be what he claims to be? That same mindset can be in us: We are so familiar with the Bible, and with Jesus, and with Christianity, that it can’t shock us. He can’t do anything really mind-blowingly powerful. He’s too familiar.
O how we need to guard against these three impulses in our own souls. The first two (the pride of attachment and a sense of entitlement) minimize his grace. And the third (over-familiarity) minimizes his power. (emphasis mine)
That is one thing that I liked about watching the movie, The Passion of the Christ. Growing up in a Christian family, attending church every week, I was too familiar with the story of Jesus' crucifixion - it was like I just didn't get it. This movie jolted the story out of the familiar and helped me to get a glimpse of what Jesus' endured because He loves me.
Tomorrow's passage: Luke 5:1-11, Mark 1:40-45, Matthew 8:1-4, Luke 5:12-16, Mark 2:1-12, Matthew 9:1-8, Luke 5:17-26, Mark 2:13-17, Matthew 9:9-13, Luke 5:27-32, Mark 2:18-22, Matthew 9:14-17, Luke 5:33-39.
For less flipping read Luke 5, Mark 1:40-45, 2:1-22, Matthew 8:1-4, 9:1-17
2 comments:
Is it really that we're too familiar with Christ, or is it, like Blackaby said on ROH on Thursday, that "we have become content to live without the manifest presence of God"? Maybe one is kind of a by-product of the other. I don't know. I feel like they must be related though.
I think you're right. When we do become content to live without the manifest presence of God, He feels familiar in a "take it for granted" kind of way, and a "I believe but it won't affect the way I live" kind of way, in a "He can be my Saviour, but He can't be my Lord" kind of way.
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