YOU ARE MY BELOVED SON

Mrk. 1:11 ... "And a Voice came from heaven, 'You are My beloved Son; with You I am well pleased'."

      For several months John the Baptist had been preaching, and baptizing in the Jordan River, when Jesus appeared in the crowds one day and came forward to be baptized Himself.  John's entire ministry had the coming of Christ as its object, so that Jesus' appearance was the climax of John's work.  He had been proclaiming to the multitudes, "After me comes He who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.  I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit," (vs. 7-8).  When Jesus presented Himself for baptism, John immediately protested his unworthiness to perform such an honored task.  Matthew then reports that "John would have prevented Him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?'  But Jesus answered him, 'Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness'," (Mat. 3:14-15).  When it was accomplished, there came the Voice from heaven, "You are My beloved Son; with You I am well pleased."

      The phrase, "to fulfill all righteousness,' means to do entirely what God has decreed that one should do.  It was God's will that Jesus should submit to John's baptism.  Jesus complied with His Father's will and even insisted that John baptize Him when John protested.  The only reason that Jesus was baptized was to do His Father's will.  It is otherwise with us today.  It is still God's will that people should be baptized.  Those who deny this are perverting a number of very clear statements in the New Testament.  Jesus Himself, to cite just one passage, commanded His disciples, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," (Mat. 28:19).  Our purpose in baptism, however, goes beyond the singular objective "to fulfill all righteousness."  That purpose is "for the forgiveness of your sins," (Acts 2:38).  Saul of Tarsus was ordered to "rise and be baptized and wash away your sins," (Acts 22:16).  One wonders why so many people today object to baptism "to fulfill all righteousness" and to receive "the forgiveness of sins," since these are clearly stated Biblical reasons for it.  Moreover, there is the moving example of Jesus that calls for emulation by every prospective disciple.

      God the Father put His stamp of approval upon Jesus' compliance with the proclamation from heaven, "You are My beloved Son; with You I am well pleased."  Jesus is THE SON OF GOD in a way that is unique and unparalleled.  By virtue of His exclusive relation to God as THE SON and His supreme sacrifice for sin, Jesus enables all who obey Him to become sons of God in a way that is essentially important.  It is written that "it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the Founder of their salvation perfect through suffering," (Heb. 2:10).  It is also written, "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called 'children of God'; and so we are.  The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.  Beloved, we are God's children now," (I Jno. 3:1-2).

      When a person today is led by faith, planted in his heart by the word of God (see I Pet. 1:22-23), to obey Jesus' commandment to receive baptism "for the forgiveness of sin," that person is indeed born again.  It is only by this birth that one enters the family of God as a son of God.  It is therefore conceivable that on His throne in heaven God then proclaims, "you are My beloved son; with you I am well pleased."  (Notice the small case, highlighted, underlined letter!)  This day of that person's birth into God's family immediately becomes the greatest day of his life.

THE OMNIPOTENCE OF JESUS

Mat. 28:18 ... "And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.'"

      Jesus made a claim in this statement that could be made by no one less than the Son of God.  Many people obtain power and exercise it in various spheres of life.  Some wield great power in politics, or in finance, or in professional skill, or in wisdom, or perhaps in combinations of these.  A few people become so powerful that their decisions and actions greatly affect the lives of millions of people and many nations.  But there is a difference between any power that men might possess and the power of Jesus.  His power is total, but human power is always limited.  Jesus declared that "all authority (or power) is given to Me."  No one among men has held that kind of power; in fact, no aggregation of men, such as a government or economic cartel, has ever been able to seize and hold all power.

      There is a second significant difference between Jesus' power and that of men.  The power which comes into human hands is acquired through skill, sagacity, or perhaps sheer fate.  But Jesus' power was given to Him by His Father, who created everything.  It is power, therefore, to which He is entitled and which cannot be taken from Him by any earthly force.  It is power that He shall hold and exercise until the end of time, when He shall hand it over back into the hands of His Father.  As he was inspired to look into the future, Paul wrote that "then comes the end, when He (Jesus) delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. ... When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to Him who put all things in subjection under Him, that God may be all in all," (I Cor. 15:24,28).  

      The New Testament contain numerous references to Jesus' total power and demonstrations thereof.  For example, when Jesus was on trial before Pilate and did not reply to the governor's question, Pilate said to Him, "Will You not speak to me?  Do You not know that I have authority to release You and authority to crucify You?"  Pilates's claim, "I have authority (power)," provoked Jesus to break silence and speak.  He was not about to let these words from a representative of Rome pass.  He quickly exclaimed, "You would have no authority over Me at all unless it had been given you from above," (Jno. 19:10-11).  Pilate's power was derived from the Roman government and its military machine that had been gradually developed for several centuries.  Little did Pilate, or the Emperor, know that God had given them license to have such power to accomplish His own objectives.  Neither did they realize that when they had served their purpose in God's plan, He would remove that power and permit the Roman Empire to fall.  Pilate had no idea that the seemingly impotent prisoner before him actually had the power of the universe in His hands but was restraining Himself from using it in compliance with God's will.

      Because Jesus our Lord has all power, as His disciples we should have complete confidence that we stand on unshakeable ground in our allegiance to Him.  He Himself assures us, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand," (Jno. 11:27-28).  Jesus' power extends from heaven, and with it He cordons off an area of security for His disciples.  As long as we are wise and faithful enough to keep ourselves within that perimeter, nothing can harm us.  It is only when a disciple strays outside the sanctuary of Jesus' power to face life on his own that he exposes himself to the power of evil.  Nevertheless, Jesus' power can penetrate even there.  When a wandering disciple becomes mired in the morass of sin, Jesus will rescue him if he will repent and appeal to Jesus for help.

THE VALUE OF LOYALTY TO JESUS

Mat. 27:21 ... "The governor again said to them, 'Which of the two do you want me to release for you?'  And they said, 'Barabbas.'"

      How much is Jesus Christ worth to you?  For what price or for what advantage would you be willing to exchange your discipleship to Him?  This is a very realistic question, for people are often confronted with it.  The depth and sincerity of their relationship with Jesus are tested severely as they weigh the alternatives and come to their decision.  Blessed is the one who rejects wealth and privilege for the sake of his commitment to Jesus.  But everyone is not so blessed.  There are those who find that Jesus is not worth as much as material gain, or the favor of peers, or the higher rung on the ladder of professional or social success.

      Would anyone deny that the twelve men Jesus called to be His apostles occupied the highest positions attainable to men in the kingdom of God?  And yet, one of them (Judas Iscariot) reached the conclusion that thirty pieces of silver was a fair price for which to sell his discipleship to Jesus.  For well nigh twenty centuries people have condemned Judas for such meanness of spirit.  Nevertheless, there are a great many individuals among us who once answered Jesus' call to be His disciples who have done virtually what Judas did.  They ignore the service of their Savior to make a few dollars more with which to indulge themselves in the possessions and pleasures of the world.  They will easily sacrifice the time they should give to Jesus in worship, evangelizing, and doing benevolent deeds to devote it rather to the effort to claim a larger slice of "the good life."

      The crowds of Jerusalem valued the leadership and will of their clergy more than they did Jesus.  Matthew reports that "the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus, (27:20).  These spiritual "guides" of Israel moved in an aura of public esteem, if not awe; and their decisions were highly respected, even feared, by the common people.  John states that they "feared the Jews"*, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue," (Jno. 9:22).  To have the support, approval, and favor of these powerful men was of more value to the crowds than the Son of God.  And so it is today!  There are many of Jesus' disciples who will sell their loyalty to Him to gain the favor of those who are influential but hold views inimical to Jesus, His doctrine, and His church.

      Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, valued his political career more than he did Jesus.  He had concluded that Jesus was a "righteous man" (Mat. 27:24) since he could "find no guilt in Him," (Jno. 19:6).  He wanted to let Jesus go, but the crowds retorted, "If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend!" (Jno. 19:12).  Though morally corrupt, Pilate was politically very astute.  He knew that provincial governors had been recalled by Caesar because of the outcry of the native population over some emotional issue.  Therefore the reply of the populace was for Pilate the near miss of a deadly projectile, the successor to which might find its mark.  He immediately sold whatever value he had found in Jesus for the good will of the multitude in order to secure his political position.  In like fashion many of Jesus' disciples today will readily surrender their commitment to His high and holy standard in order to secure their place in some position in life desirable to them.  If maintaining their bond to Jesus threatens to bring them into opprobrium in their community, they will sever that bond to eliminate the threat.  Their career and what it takes to develop it is of more value than allegiance to Jesus.

*In the Fourth Gospel, the term, "the Jews," often (as here) refers to the theocratic hierarchy of Judaism rather than the mass of Jewish commoners.

NOT AS I WILL, BUT AS YOU WILL

Mat. 26:39 ... "And going a little further He fell on His face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.'"

      When Jesus reached the end of His earthly mission, He had fully delivered the message God had sent Him to preach.  He had also confirmed its veracity by the miraculous deeds that had caused people to marvel.  There remained, however, one colossal task without which all His teaching would have been meaningless.  He was left with the duty to suffer death in the place of all men to pay the penalty for their sins.  Now that horrible ordeal awaited Him on the morrow.

      It was well into Thursday night, and He had finished the Passover meal with His apostles in the upper room of someone's house in Jerusalem.  Leaving the city and heading east, they descended into a valley, crossed the Kedron Brook, and began to ascend the Mount of Olives.  Somewhere up its slopes they went into a garden called Gethsemane.  At the entrance Jesus left eight of the men to watch while He went further with Peter, James, and John.  Then He left them behind and found Himself a private place to pray.

      His prayer actually defies human analysis and explanation.  We know the words He spoke, which are simple and easy to understand.  But their poignancy and extreme depth of meaning transcend comprehension and expression.  And yet, what His prayer does convey that we are able to grasp is so utterly important to us that it is essential we make the effort to investigate it and meditate upon it.

      Why Jesus recoiled at the prospect of suffering and death, we do not know.  Yet, it is certain that He knew He had been appointed to experience it.  An eyewitness reports that a few months before, 'Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed," (Mat. 16:21).  Neither do we know why Jesus prayed, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me," when it is certain that He knew He must drink it.  He had once asked a couple of His disciples, James and John, "Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" (Mat. 20:22).  We are left to speculate on these two unknowns.

      Jesus' resolution to submit to the terrible prospect of suffering and death is, however, very clear.  It presents to us the greatest lesson we can ever learn.  In fact, it is the lesson we must learn for eternal survival.  After Jesus asked God to spare Him the cup of suffering and deliver Him from the torture of crucifixion, He concluded, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."  Being now resigned to the will of His Father, His inner conflict was totally resolved.  Rising from the ground with absolute composure, and holding His emotions in check with a spiritual grip like steel, He went forth to meet His foes, suffer the worst they could give Him, and then rise in utter triumph from the grave into which their cruelty had put Him.  Complete surrender to God's will was the key to mastering every conflict and winning total victory.

      This is the lesson that Jesus teaches us from the Garden of Gethsemane.  As long as we cling to our own will and try to shape our future, we will always be torn by inner strife and find life an endless confusion of trouble and misery.  But when we conquer our spirit and yield to God's will in the real way that Jesus did, we will discover new strength and peace that cannot be overwhelmed by the vicissitudes of life.  The afflictions will still come, as they did upon our Lord on that frightful Friday, but we will have the power to endure them, even unto death if need be, (Rev. 2:10), and then emerge beyond it as a victor in eternity.

WATCHING FOR JESUS' RETURN

Mat. 25:13 ... "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

      The more a person hears something, the less attention he pays to it.  The more familiar a thing becomes, the less consideration it receives.  This is quite unfortunate in some cases, because there are things that need attention no matter how often they are heard or how familiar they become.  One of the most important things in this category is the second coming of Jesus.  Attention is constantly called to this event in church and occasionally in society.  The idea is entirely familiar, for practically no one is unaware of the Biblical prophecies that Jesus will come again.  Consequently, few people are easily moved by the announcement that before tomorrow's light Jesus might appear in the zenith of the sky and terminate all earthly affairs.  People routinely file this subject in the back of their minds under the heading of IRRELEVANT and go on their way as though it does not matter.  God foresaw this attitude and inspired Peter to write, "Scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.  They will say, 'Where is the promise of His coming?  For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation,'" (II Pet. 3:3-4).  

      Christians must train themselves to respond more appropriately  than this.  No matter how often the subject of Jesus' return is announced, we must pay the more earnest attention to it.  The more familiar the idea becomes, the greater should we give it our strictest attention.  It is toward this goal of avid attention and grave consideration that the Lord commanded us to "watch therefore."  The prospect of Christians should always be forward and upward, forward to Jesus' return and upward to the place from which He shall come.  This vigilance in earnest expectation will influence us to keep our lives in order by the rules of righteousness given in the New Testament.  Responsive Christians want to be found prepared to meet their Lord and Savior.  In the twelves verses of Matthew 25 previous to the text of this article, Jesus told the Parable of the Virgins to draw a contrast between those who prepare for His return and those who do not.  The five wise virgins took enough oil for their lamps, so that when the bridegroom came they were admitted to the marriage supper.  But the five foolish virgins did not take enough oil and were excluded while they went away to buy more.  Frequently in the Bible, oil is a symbol of preparation, just as it is here.  The wise virgins prepared to meet the bridegroom and were admitted into his company upon his arrival.  The five foolish virgins did not prepare and were shut out from his company.  The bridegroom here is a figure for Jesus, and the supper a figure for the fellowship of heaven.

      The time to prepare for Jesus' return is ... NOW!  When He is descending from the sky with myriads of angels, it is already too late.  The foolish virgins were not allowed to replenish their oil (i.e., complete their preparation) when the bridegroom appeared.  With each new day the wise Christian will remind himself that the second advent of Jesus is one day nearer than yesterday and will then feel a greater urgency to prepare for Him.  Of course, he will carry on with the usual business of daily life --- eating, working, relaxing, building his career, etc.  But he will be careful to give priority to his relation with God.  He will be diligent to keep his behavior clean and his mind and speech pure.  He will be kind to people about him and give assistance in Jesus' name to those in need. He will devote some time each day to Bible study and prayer.  When the church meets for worship and fellowship, he will faithfully be found there in their midst.  He will interpret life by the teaching of Jesus and the inspired apostolic writings.  He will establish the meaning of his life in relation to God's will for his place in the scheme of things.  And when Jesus does come, he will definitely be found watching.

SAVED AT THE END

Mat. 24:12-13 ... "Because lawlessness shall be increased, the love of many will grow cold.  But the one who endures to the end will be saved."

      In Matthew 24 Jesus looked forward through the long scope of human history toward the time when He would come again and end all things.  His special emphasis was upon His own disciples and their state of affairs in the world.  He foretold that the way would often be very difficult for them, since they would be hindered by war, famine, pestilence, persecution, false messiahs, and false prophets.  He  expressed the hope, however, that they would endure all these opposing forces unto the end, for then He would reward them with the incomparable gift of salvation.  The hardships that await Christians are too formidable for many, who turn back into infidelity to escape them.  When one compares the suffering of loyal disciples with the rewards God will return for it, he must conclude that the suffering is more than worth it.  This conclusion has already been drawn for us in the declaration, "The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us," (Rom. 8:18).  

      As Jesus previewed the future with respect to Christians, He stated that "because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold."  We wonder what aspect of love He meant -- love of God?  love of brethren?  love of truth and righteousness?  Probably all of these are included in Jesus' meaning.  Christians are to be devoted in their love for God, for His children, for lost mankind, for truth and righteousness, and for all things good and virtuous.  God is love, and God's people should be filled with that same divine quality as it flows from the Father through them out into the world.  But the tragic thing Jesus foresaw is that "the love of many will grow cold."  Many of His disciples will gradually cease to be a channel through which His love will enter the world with all its positive benefits.  Something will occupy the lives of Christians that will constrict their spiritual output and make them ineffective in God's vital ministry.

      The agent that will cause this disastrous constriction is identified by Jesus as lawlessness.  The word in the original is anomos, which contains the word for "law" (nomos) and the negating prefix a-.  It expresses the idea of having contempt for law, so that one sets it aside and proceeds in life with no further consideration for it.  People commit themselves to lives of lawlessness when they decide to do as they wish without caring what the law of God says to them.

      With this observation we must conclude that Jesus' forecast has already come to pass.  Our society has now reached the point where there is obvious public contempt for the law of God with its high standard of purity, justice, and personal accountability.  Immediate ridicule is directed toward the individual who counsels his community to desist from some activity or enterprise that violates the law of God.  Great pressure is exerted upon Christians either to remain silent or join the public in the thing that is beyond the limits of God's law.  Many Christians are intimidated by this pressure so that they refrain from speaking out and fail to act as the conscience of society as they should.  Some Christians respond to the appeal to accept the forbidden thing and abandon their subjection to God as they indulge in the pleasure.  If these people could only see (or care) that they are trading their soul's salvation for something which is restricted to this earth and shall perish with it when Christ returns.

THE HOUSE LEFT DESOLATE

Mat. 23:38 ... "See, your house is left to you desolate."

      In a conversation with a Canaanite woman somewhere near Tyre and Sidon, Jesus said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," (Mat. 15:24).  His mission was to go to the nation of Israel, preach the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, and perform miracles to confirm His message.  This was in accordance with God's covenant with Israel to be their God and them to be His people.  It was also a colossal and monumental honor to that nation.  It therefore became a tragedy of the greatest order when Israel, for the most part, turned its back on Jesus as the Messiah and rejected Him as the Son of David who would sit upon the royal throne forever.  This rejection is summarized in the report that "He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him," (Jno. 1:11).  He came to Israel with favors and blessings incomparable, but by belief and stubbornness the Jewish people rejected them all.  Their blindness of heart denied them gifts that would have been to their eternal glory.  In the statement preceding the text above Jesus had explained, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!  How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!" 

      Because Israel was persistent in her rejection of Jesus, He at last turned His face away from her.  This is what He meant when He said, "See, your house is left to you desolate."  It should be no surprise that within forty years the country of Israel had been destroyed, the temple lay in ruins, and the people disenfranchised of their homeland.  

      There is a profound lesson here for all people today.  Through the gospel and the church the Lord calls men to come unto Him for salvation, for membership in His family, and for a life of useful service in His cause.  Some people wisely take note of this call  and respond to it.  As a result they reap the glorious rewards of salvation, sonship, and identity in Christian activity.  But most people go through life with a deaf ear to the divine invitation.  They pursue their own interests, satisfy their own desires, and follow their own will.  Many of them think, "Well, God is always there.  When I get ready, His invitation will be extended to me and I can accept it then."  But the flaw in this attitude is that sin hardens the heart and makes it increasingly more difficult for the individual to want to answer the Lord.  At last the time comes in one's life when "[his] house is left to [him] desolate."  He is then a reprobate who is unlikely to turn to God, who will then turn away from him.

      In describing the degenerate downslide of the Gentiles in the centuries before the advent of Christ, Paul in the first chapter of Romans stated three times that they turned away from God, (vs. 21-23, 25, 28).  And likewise, three times the apostle stated that God in response turned away from them, (vs. 24, 26, 28).  The withdrawal of God's influence from them for good left them without a conscience sensitive to discern moral difference.  Consequently, they plunged headlong into the practice of every evil imaginable, (vs. 29-31).  When one excludes God from his life, he abandons himself to the same downward course into moral blindness and gross unrighteousness.  A large segment of contemporary society takes pride that it has slipped the harness of Christian discipline to live as "liberated" people.  They look with pity or contempt at those who are still bound as "fundamentalists" and "conservatives" in their submission to religion.  But the warning stands in the Scripture from the lips of Jesus and the pen of the inspired Paul that those who reject God will be rejected by God.  We appeal to everyone, therefore, to turn to the Lord in faith and serve Him zealously while His call can still be heard.