Exploring Dependence – Rich Young Ruler – Part 2

As we resume the story of the Rich Young Ruler, we recall that the main character came to Jesus with a strong confidence in man’s ability to merit eternal life. And we saw Jesus repudiate that very notion. If the young man wanted to find Life, he would have to completely abandon everything on which that confidence was founded, renouncing it all to follow Jesus. That was the path to eternal life.

Unfortunately, this young man owned a lot of property, and was unwilling to let go of it, and the confidence that it gave him. So, instead of finding Life, he went away sad and grieving.

But the episode doesn’t end there. As we pick up the story, we find Jesus using the encounter to drive the point home to the disciples.

He turns around, and speaking to the disciples now, says, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:23)

Now, place yourself in the disciples’ shoes. How would you respond to that statement?

If you are like me, and have been influenced by teaching from the rest of the New Testament, this statement may seem like a given – somethings so obvious, it almost seems needless to say it.

But note the disciples’ response. It wasn’t obvious to them. They were amazed (Mark 10:24). See they still had some of the same world-view as the rich, young ruler. The prevailing assumption of the religious community was that riches were a sign of God’s blessing, and evidence that your righteousness was pleasing to Him.  Read more

Exploring Dependence – The Rich Young Ruler, Part 1

So, as we began to look at the story of the Rich Young Ruler last week, we noted that, at first glance, he appears to be asking Jesus how to go to heaven when he dies. And it appears that Jesus tells him that there are certain things he must do, as if going to heaven is dependent on our works.

But we also recognized that we need to place this episode in the context of The Story to understand it. So, we went back to the beginning of The Story. There we found two realms of existence. God placed man and woman in the Garden, where there was Life. Yet, Death loomed as an imminent possibility.

They faced a choice. They could trust God for Life, or take matters into their own hands, decide for themselves what was good, and pursue Life independently of God.

Of course, they chose control and independence over trust, but instead of finding Life, they entered the realm of Death.

Every character in The Story since, has faced the prospects of Life and Death, and has had to choose the path they hope will bring them Life.

Will they opt for control and independence, or will they choose to trust in God?

Each decision is influenced by the assumptions they hold — by their the worldview.

Which brings us to the story of The Rich Young Ruler. We call it that because Matthew identifies him as a young man, and Luke identifies him as a ruler. However, we will be focusing on Mark’s account of the encounter. Mark identifies him simply as a man.

So, which worldview does this man bring to his encounter with Jesus?  Read more

Exploring Dependence – Life & Death

As we have followed Jesus’ teaching and the training of the Twelve through the Gospels, we have seen Him emphasize this issue of dependence. Having taught the concept in the Sermon on the Mount, He sent the disciples out in pairs to proclaim the Kingdom, and to experience God’s daily provision for their personal needs. In feeding the multitudes, He stretched them further, putting them in positions where they had to trust Him, not only for themselves, but also for the needs of those they were ministering to.

Now, let’s look at His interaction with the Rich Young Ruler (Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30), where He will stretch the disciples further yet. Read more

Exploring Dependence – Feeding the Multitudes

Last week, we saw Jesus send out the 12 to announce the nearness of The Kingdom, and to learn to depend completely and absolutely on the Father’s provision for their needs.

This week, we want to return to the middle of Jesus’ ministry, to the time when the disciples returned from their mission.

Picking up the story there, we find them with Jesus, recounting their experiences (Mark 6:30; Luke 9:10). Jesus had sent them with the authority to cast out demons and heal, as a means to validate their message of the Kingdom. Undoubtedly, they would have been telling stories about those encounters, the messages they preached, and the responses of the various cities.

This had to have been quite an experience. Being sent out to announce that Messiah was near. And then, being able to validate that message with the same kind of miracles that Jesus had been doing … wow. Not to mention that through it all, they got to watch the Father provide for their needs as they moved from town to town. No doubt, the disciples returned feeling fulfilled, yet exhausted. Read more

Exploring Dependence – Sending of The Twelve

So, how seriously should we take Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount?

When He said not to worry about food, drink, or covering (Matthew 6:25, 31), was He speaking of worry as distinct from concern? Is it ok to be concerned about these things, as long as we are not worried?

When He said to seek His Kingdom instead of worrying about food, drink and clothing (Matthew 6:32-33), did He really expect us to reorient our attention away from our basic needs in order to focus completely on His Kingdom and the righteousness that we need to participate? Or is it ok to pursue basic provisions as long as they don’t keep us from serving Him?

And when He said not to worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34), did He literally expect us to focus only on the current 24 hour period of our existence, or is “tomorrow” a reference to an unspecified, more distant future?

Well, let’s look at His expectations for the disciples the Story progresses. Read more

Exploring Dependence – Sermon On The Mount

So, throughout the Old Testament, Israel struggles to grasp that the core of her relationship with Yahweh was her dependence on Him as her Provider and Protector.

With the completion of the book of Nehemiah, the Story disappears into 450 years of silence. The next character to appear is John the Baptist, around 30 AD.

By the time John shows up, the Pharisees have become the dominant face of Israel’s worship. They were technicians of the Law who focused on the tiniest of details, but missed the heart. While they tithed off their herb gardens – mint and dill and cumin – they missed the essential elements of the faith – justice, mercy, and  faithfulness (Matthew 23:23-24; cf. Micah 6:8). Jesus did not view it as either/or. He says they should have done both.

This tension between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees is present from the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry. It underlies the message of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus first public discourse.

Jesus begins the sermon with a description of spiritually hungry people and promises them the Kingdom and it’s attendant rewards (Matthew 5:1-12). Their character is distinctive and must not be hidden (5:13-16). Implicit in this description is the question of what is necessary for a person to enter the Kingdom.

The answer? Read more

Exploring Dependence – After the Exile

The Old Testament is the story of Israel’s relationship with God. As we have surveyed this story, the following highlights stand out:

• As God brought Israel out of Egypt, and began to form them into a nation, He used the manna to teach them that their continued, daily existence was absolutely dependent on His active decree. They were kept alive, not by the food they ate, but by the words that proceeded out of His mouth (Deuteronomy 8:3). He was preparing them for life in the Promised Land, where He would bless them abundantly. In the midst of that blessing, they must not become confused and forget that He, not their own effort, was the source of that wealth. Such confusion would lead to the worship other gods (Deuteronomy 8:5-19).
• While the manna only lasted for 40 years, the lesson was perpetuated in the system of the Sabbaths (Leviticus 23-25).
• The Sabbath system included a Sabbath year as well as a Sabbath Day. Every 7^th year, they were to let the land lay fallow and trust that God would cause it to produce enough in the 6^th year to last them through the 8^th year. In this, they would be reminded of their dependence, and experience His provision.
• However, there is no biblical record of them ever celebrating a Sabbath Year. By the time we get to 2 Chronicles 36:20-21, they owed 70 Sabbath Years, and Yahweh sends them into captivity for those 70 years. For 490 years, the people of Israel refused to trust God as their Provider. Thus, they became proud, and chased after other gods, just as Yahweh said they would. But that was the effect, not the cause.
• The cause was that they lost the core of their relationship with God. The did not recognize Him as their Provider and Protector.

So, the Exile was God’s discipline to reinforce His message to them from the very beginning – He was their Provider and Protector, and was to be the sole object of their affection.

Which raises the question, “Did Israel learn their lesson from the Exile?”

Let’s see. Read more

Exploring Dependence – Israel Misses the Point

So, God used the manna to teach Israel that their continued, daily existence was absolutely dependent on His active decree. They were kept alive, not by the food they ate, but by the words that proceeded out of His mouth (Deuteronomy 8:3). He was preparing them for life in the Promised Land, where He would bless them abundantly. In the midst of that blessing, He didn’t want them to become confused and forget that He, not their own effort, was the source of that wealth. Such confusion would manifest itself in the worship other gods (Deuteronomy 8:5-19).

While the manna only lasted 40 years, the lesson was perpetuated in the system of the Sabbaths, laid out in the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 23-25). Israel was to rest in God’s provision and protection. That was the core of their relationship with Him.

Unfortunately, Israel’s history through the Old Testament is, for the most part, the history of a people who repeatedly failed to grasp this very basic aspect of their relationship with Yahweh.

This failure is so offensive to God that He depicts it as whoredom (Exodus 34:15-16; Leviticus 17:7; Hosea 1:2). We can track this whoredom from the time of the Exodus all the way up to the Exile, almost 1000 years later.  Read more

Exploring Dependence – The Lesson of The Sabbath

As we have begun to track our dependence on God through The Story, we have made the following observations:

• As Christians, we tend to be ok with the idea of dependence in theory, but practically manifest an ongoing desire to live independently of God. This is most evident in the area of provision and protection. The fact that we see money as the most immediate path to provision and protection suggests that it, not God, may be the true source of our confidence.
• In the stories of Adam and Noah, we see God revealed as the One who Provides for and Protects those He has chosen.
• In Israel’s wilderness wanderings, God used manna to teach Israel that man is not kept alive by food, but by the active and intentional will of God. The manna was for testing and humbling Israel, so that when He brought them into the land where they would prosper, they would remember that it was God who gave them the power to make wealth. Israel’s ongoing recognition of this was to be expressed in their continued worship of, and obedience to, Yahweh. The worship of other gods would be proof that they forgot this lesson. Thus, their entire relationship with God rested in the recognition that their minute-by-minute existence was a result of His active provision and protection.

But the lesson doesn’t end with the 40 years in the wilderness. How were the succeeding generations to remember this truth?

To answer this, let’s take another look at Exodus 16:22-30 and the lesson of the manna.

“Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, then he said to them, “This is what the LORD meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.” So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it. Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. “Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.” 

It came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions? “See, the LORD has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day.”

(Exodus 16:22–30 NAS95)

To review, God gave manna to Israel to vividly demonstrate that He was their Provider. In order to teach them to rely on Him, not the manna, He caused any left-over manna to spoil overnight, so that they would have to trust Him each day for the provision for that day. However, on Friday, they were to gather enough for two days – Friday and Saturday. On Fridays, what they gathered would not spoil overnight. It would last through Saturday. Note the reason for this – Saturday was to be a Sabbath – a day of rest.

If you have been around church much, the concept of the Sabbath is probably something that you have been very accustomed to, without really understanding where and how it came into the story.  It is easy to just assume that it was always there, and that God somehow took pleasure in our practice of it, although many of us fear that maybe we should still be keeping the Sabbath today.   Read more

Exploring Dependence – The Lesson of the Manna

As we began to explore the issue of our dependence on God in the last article, we set out the notion that, as Christians, we tend to be ok with the idea of this dependence in theory, but practically manifest an ongoing desire to live independently of God. Perhaps this is most evident in the area of provision and protection. The fact that we see money as the most immediate path to provision and protection suggests that it, not God, may be the true source of our confidence.

We looked at some of the highlights of this theme, as The Story unfolded through Genesis. Through these events, God is revealed as the One who Provides for and Protects those He has chosen.

This week, we want to pick up with the next major event in the Story – The Exodus.

Abraham had Isaac, who had Jacob, who had sons that became the 12 Tribes of Israel. Because of a famine, they went down into Egypt, where they spent 400 years growing into a nation. Now God is ready to bring them out of Egypt and back into the land that He first promised to Abraham. After He magnifies himself through the plagues, Pharaoh finally lets Israel go, only to change his mind and chase them down as they are trapped against the Red Sea (Exodus 14-15). Here Yahweh manifests Himself as their Protector, parting the Red Sea to allow them to escape, and then destroying the Egyptian army as they pursue Israel through the Sea. With this, their deliverance from the threat of the Egyptians is final, at least for this stage of their history.

Now, the focus of the story turns to Yahweh’s as Provider – His provision of the Land He has promised, and more fundamentally, His provision in their day-to-day existence, even as they are traveling to the Land.  Read more

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