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Life in Himself

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THE TEXT

“…24 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have )life in Himself, 27 and )has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 30I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me…” (John 5:17–47)

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Psalm 123: Obedience and Vindication

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INTRODUCTION

This psalm contains a marked contrast between the eyes of faith, which look to the Lord, the God of heaven, and the blind eyes of insolent unbelief, which see nothing as they ought to. Unbelief and pride are the chains that anchor the soul to this earth, such that the entire globe becomes the great ball in their ball and chain. From this benighted position, they heap abuse on the faithful, who feel it acutely.

The Text

“A Song of degrees. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; So our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud” (Psalm 123).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

In the previous psalm, David lifted up his eyes to the hills, with this serving as a metaphor for lifting his eyes to God. Here the psalmist lifts his eyes again, but does so directly to the one who dwells in the heavens (v. 1). Just like servants looked closely to the hands of their masters or mistresses, for any slight indication that they might want something, so our eyes are fixed on the Lord our God (v. 2). Now this looking is two-fold. The servants do it so that they might be prepared to obey at an instant’s notice. But the desire here expressed also is so that the Lord might have “mercy upon us” (v. 2). In the next verse, the need for mercy comes pouring out. Why do we need God to show mercy? Because we are “exceedingly filled with contempt” (v. 3). We are despised. Our souls are filled to overflowing with scorn from those who are fat and sassy, from those who are haughty and proud (v. 4). God, please vindicate your servants now.

DIRECTED BY A MERE FINGER

The picture comes from male and female servants both. In the ancient near East, it was customary to have servants on constant stand-by, and to have them available to respond instantly to whatever the master or mistress desired, with that desire expressed with something as slight as the merest movement of a finger.

There is obviously eagerness to obey that is being expressed here. An additional possibility is that the servant is in disfavor for having done something wrong, and the servant is looking for the slightest indication that he is forgiven. This fits with the petition that follows—“have mercy on us.” But in any case, the desire to obey and the desire to experience God’s vindication in the face of our adversaries’ contempt are two desires that are woven closely together. It is not possible to earnestly yearn for God to deal with their disobedience toward us while continuing to be indulgent toward our disobedience toward Him. It doesn’t work that way.

EXCEEDINGLY FILLED

The ungodly, who have no eyes, look on us with contempt. We, who have eyes, look to the God who dwells in heaven. Our eyes look to the heavens (v. 1). A servant’s eyes look to his master’s hand (v. 2). A maiden’s eyes do the same (v. 2). Our eyes wait on the Lord our God, desperate for mercy. Our eyes see, but they do not yet see deliverance. We can see what is actually going on, and one of the things that appears to not be going on is a divine intervention on behalf of those who see what is going on.

And one of the things we can see is that the people who can see nothing nevertheless look down on us with disdain, contempt, arrogance, and an invincible ignorance. But they are at ease. They are content with their cosmic stupidity, and in their better moments they sometimes feel sorry for us.

CHRIST OUR ONLY WISDOM

The Lord Jesus was entirely obedient throughout the course of His entire life. When He was tempted in the wilderness, the new Israel suffering for forty days there, He stood firm, unlike the older Israel (Matt. 4). He learned obedience through the things that He suffered (Heb. 5:8). Throughout the course of His ministry, He did nothing but what He saw His Father doing. “Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” (John 5:19). So the Son had His gaze fixed on His Father’s fingers. He was, always and everywhere, poised for obedience.

And He also looked to God for mercy—for just this sort of mercy. He, whose name is Wonderful, was born into a race of moral idiots. He was the Wisdom that spoke the galaxies into existence, and He was harangued by Pharisees, who called him a glutton and a drunkard, and demon-possessed, and these were men whose ethical obtuseness was oceanic. He walked the earth as a model of heavenly perfection, and in response they spit in His face (Matt. 26:67), pulled out his beard (Is. 50:6), jammed a crown of thorns on His head (Jn. 19:5), and yelled taunts at Him, on the level of neener neener, while He was on the cross (Matt. 27:42). Jesus modeled this perfectly for us—He, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross and despised the shame (Heb. 12:2).

We find it tedious when we have to put up with someone whose IQ is five points lower than ours, or if we are driving behind someone who is driving five mph slower than he ought to be. How long, O Lord? is our lament. We believe that we are monuments of towering charity whenever we cut anyone two degrees of slack.

And so what we need is this. As believers, we are exceedingly filled with contempt. We need to pray the way this psalm prays, and we must do it without becoming the kind of people the psalmist is praying about.

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The Law of Unsolved Murder (Christendom 2.0)

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THE TEXT

“If anyone is found slain, lying in the field in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, 2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance from the slain man to the surrounding cities. 3 And it shall be that the elders of the city nearest to the slain man will take a heifer which has not been worked and which has not pulled with a yoke. 4 The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with flowing water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. 5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; by their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled. 6 And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. 7 Then they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it. 8 Provide atonement, O Lord, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.’ And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood. 9 So you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord (Deuteronomy 21:1–9).

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The Pool of Bethesda

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THE TEXT

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic[a] called Bethesda,[b] which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.[c] 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

Now that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews[d] said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath (John 5:1-16).

 

 

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Psalm 122: Christ our Jerusalem

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INTRODUCTION

This psalm is not exactly a pilgrimage psalm, but is more like a psalm that anticipates great rejoicing upon arriving at the destination of the pilgrimage. “Our feet shall stand within thy gates . . .” (v. 2). Whether or not the pilgrimage has already occurred, the focus of the psalm is on arrival.

THE TEXT

“A Song of degrees of David. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand Within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded As a city that is compact together: Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, Unto the testimony of Israel, To give thanks unto the name of the Lord. For there are set thrones of judgment, The thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: They shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, And prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good” (Psalm 122:1-9).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

David’s heart rejoices at the prospect of true worship. When someone invited him to go up to the house of the Lord, he was glad (v. 1). The pilgrimage is to Jerusalem, and he anticipates the moment when their feet are within the gates (v. 2). That is the moment when the pilgrim band would assemble themselves together to make their ascent up to the Temple. But remember that David is here speaking with the eye of faith. David was the one who had just recently captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites (2 Sam. 5:6-7), and the Temple would not be built until the time of Solomon, David’s great son. And yet, David can speak of Jerusalem as already built, and as compact together (v. 3). There are the distinctions of the various tribes (v. 4), and yet the testimony offered is that of all Israel (v. 4). The two things mentioned that they offer up to God are testimony and thanks (v. 4). They can rejoice because true judgment is found in the thrones of the house of David (v. 5). The reference to thrones in the plural might be a plural of majesty or dignity, or it is also possible that members of the royal family (2 Chron. 19:8). In the phrase “the house of David” is teaching his people to remember him. So then, pray for the peace of Jerusalem—because those who love Jerusalem will be prospered (v. 6). Peace and prosperity are mentioned together, within Jerusalem’s walls and palaces (v. 7). For the sake of those on pilgrimage with him, David will pronounce the benediction of peace (v. 8). He seeks the good of Jerusalem because the house of the Lord is there (v. 9).

TESTIMONY AND THANKSGIVING

Martin Luther pointed out that when these pilgrims arrived at their destination, their intention was to offer up their prayers and their thanksgivings. They would give a testimony to the goodness of God, and they would render their thanksgiving to Him. Sacrifices are not mentioned here. It is not that there is anything wrong with sacrifices, but that is not the emphasis here.

PROSPERITY AND PEACE

The key note is always the truth. This is what Israel testifies to. We give thanks to God for the certainty of His judgments, and this is the express reason given (v. 5). We render thanks because of the presence of the thrones of judgment. Then, right after this, the pairing of peace and prosperity comes in for mention twice (vv. 6, 7). Peace and prosperity are therefore not ends to be pursued, but are rather are the result of caring about something else much more than peace and prosperity. Pursuing peace for its own sake breeds wars, and pursuing prosperity for its own sake breeds mammon-grubbing idolatry, and then poverty.

THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL

The people of God are one great ocean, and our individual communions, or denominations, or churches, or . . . tribesare simply distinct waves on the surface of that great ocean. All who trust in Christ alone for their salvation are our brothers and sisters, and the unity beneath all of us is immense. Different Christian churches are not isolated from one another, as though we could be collected in different buckets. You can easily distinguish one wave from another one, just as you can tell one bucket from another. But the unity shared by the former is what we are dealing with.

All the different tribes give a united testimony, and it is the testimony of all Israel (v. 4).

The presence of tribes does not mean the absence of unity. That only happens if you define unity as “no tribes.” If you have had much interaction with Roman Catholic apologists, they will often point out the fact that Protestantism is inherently fractious, and has something like 25K denominations. That misleading figure likely comes from a book called World Christian Encyclopedia, but if you drill down to identify actual tribes, you will find that the Orthodox have 19 traditions, the Roman Catholics have 16, and the Protestants have 21. If we tossed in the Anglicans, we have another 6. And among Protestants, we have a lot more inter-tribal unity than they do elsewhere.

CHRIST OUR JERUSALEM

When we are invited to come to the house of the Lord, our response should be one of gladness. When we are invited to come to the house of the Lord, we have been invited to come to Christ. When we come to Christ, He brings us to the Father, and He brings us to the Father in the power of the Spirit. Not only so, but He brings us to Himself together with all the rest of His people.

The metaphors of Scripture do not displace one another, like they were billiard balls. Rather, they can be layered, one on top of the other. Christ is the road to Jerusalem. Christ is the house of the Lord we come to in Jerusalem. Christ is married to His bride, the new Jerusalem. Christ is always all, and in all, and through all.

If we have Him, then we have a true testimony, and we can give thanks. If we have Him, then we are given the gift of true peace and true prosperity.  And only there.

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