The Stone of Stumbling 2

Last week we began to consider some of the harder things that Jesus said - things that threaten our carnal nature and our self-centredeness, and thus become offensive to us. We saw that these sayings of Jesus caused many to turn away from being His followers, and increased the opposition to His ministry

Most of these hard sayings are a challenge to deeper discipleship. Jesus in effect is saying:
“I’m not interested in being just a figure in a holy book. I’m not satisfied in being someone around whom people gather for a theological discussion. I am not content to be seen merely as a moral example or a great teacher. I want you to be so taken up with Me, so indwelt by Me, so captivated by Me, that you will be willing to die for Me. I want your life to be intertwined with Mine. I want you to be drenched by My love, saturated by My energy, to live in such a close relationship with Me that nothing shall be able ever to pull us apart. I want there to be no rival in your life. You are all in all to Me, and I want to be all in all to you.”

The entire message of the NT is dedication to the living Lord. It is a symphony built around one single word – commitment. If we are not prepared to commit ourselves 100% to Christ, we have no right to call ourselves disciples. Last week we looked at the passage where Jesus said that unless we eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, we have no life in us, but those who do have eternal life. Now we look at another hard saying of Jesus that must have deeply shocked His hearers: Luke 14: 25-27: Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them He said: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be My disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.”

Now, how about that? On the face of it, these words seem to contradict the whole of the teaching of Jesus. They seem to go against the law of love towards one’s neighbour which Jesus emphasized and promoted. What could Jesus have meant when He asks us to hate our families in pursuit of discipleship? To find the answer to this seeming contradiction we need to move carefully and step by step.

Jesus is concerned that His disciples allow nothing to come between Him and them – particularly family ties. The interests of the Kingdom of God must come first, and everything else, including one’s family, must take second place to them. But there are other passages in Scripture that make it clear that our families and loved ones are a priority in our lives:
1 Tim 5:8: If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

In order to try to understand this paradox, let’s look at another Scripture, this time from the OT:

Deut 21:15: If a man has two wives, one beloved and another hated…

In the Biblia de las Americas, the text says the following: Deut 21:15: Si un hombre tiene dos mujeres, una amada y otra aborrecida…

Having seen these two versions, now let’s look at the way the text is translated in the NIV:
Deut 21:15: If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other…

Or in the NASB: Deut 21:15: If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved…

It seems pretty clear by looking at the different versions, that the word “hate” in the context used does not mean hatred in the literal sense – it means “to love less” .

On another occasion Jesus presents the same issue in a way that might be clearer to us
Matt 10:37-38: Anyone who loves his father or mother more then Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.

Which begs the question: Why did Jesus say the same thing in such a shocking manner? It was meant to be shocking. Although Jesus commends those who have a deep concern and interest in their families, He is against them being so preoccupied with family matters and interests that they have no time for things related to the Kingdom of God. Luke 9:59-60: (Jesus) said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
Jesus said to him “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” By using this strong language, Jesus is making a point: He is emphatic in saying that the Kingdom of God is to be Number 1 priority in our lives – nothing less than that is acceptable. The way He said it was designed to shock His hearers into a sense of the imperious demands of the Kingdom of God.

Our Lord knew full well the natural resistance to what He was emphasizing. So He made His point in the most surprising and challenging way possible. The comforting Christ can also be the shocking Christ. But His shocks are not just for effect; they are meant to challenge and change.

Let us look at another hard saying in Matt 11:11-12: I tell you the truth: among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist…From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”The NKJ version puts it this way: “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it b y force.”

Again, what Jesus is saying here seems to run counter to his general teaching. Christ clearly rejected brute force and violence as a means of advancement of the Kingdom. He talks about humility, about turning the other cheek, about returning good for evil, about being servants, about going the second mile, about being like little children, etc. What can He mean when He talks about the Kingdom of God being taking violently - by force?

Some people (Liberation Theology) have argued that Christ actually advocated physical violence in the cause of His Kingdom. They say that Jesus was a violent revolutionary and that the early Christians refrained from talking about this side of His ministry in order to not threaten the Roman authorities. They also point out to other Scriptures that seem to point to violence:
· He instructed His disciples to sell their clothing and buy swords (Luke 22:36)
· With a whip He drove the moneychangers out of the temple (John 2:15)
· He said He came not to bring peace, but a sword (Matt 10:34)

Of course, the Scriptures show that Jesus was a revolutionary – of sorts. He defied the ruling religious, political and economic powers. His clear teaching that the law of love superseded the dictates of human institutions was revolutionary, but he was hardly a violent one:
· Purging the temple of money changers was a measured response to the profiteering that was going on, and a reminder to what the temple was all about.
· Jesus severely rebuked Peter for cutting off the guard’s ear at the time He was arrested in Gethsemane.
· Jesus dealt with the despised tax collectors instead treating them of as traitors who swindled Jews under Roman oppression and therefore worthy of death.

Jesus was a revolutionary of an upside-down revolution which replaced force with suffering, and violence with assertive love. And the paramount example of His non-violent attitude was the way he handled His death on the cross. Though violated, he refused to retaliate. In terrible pain, he chose not to hate. Instead He asked for the forgiveness of those who crucified Him. Having said all of this, we now need to come to grips with what Jesus meant when He said that the Kingdom of God is taken b y violence or by force.

Going back to the context of Matt 11:12, we can see that the passage is to do with John the Baptist. John the Baptist was in fact the last OT prophet. He died before the New Covenant was established with Christ’s crucifixion. When John’s public ministry was forcibly ended by his imprisonment, that was the signal for Jesus to set out on His ministry in Galilee and proclaim the Kingdom of God. The words of Jesus have to be seen in the context of this statement:
And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence.
Since the ministry of John the Baptist had ended, the Kingdom of God was on the march in a way that had never been seen before.
· Devils were being cast out in a way that had never been seen before
· And within the kingdom of Satan (darkness) a beachhead was being established by the Lord, which would grow and expand until one day nothing of that kingdom would be left.

Clearly, Jesus was using the word violence in the sense of forcefulness and aggressiveness. What he was saying in effect, was this: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been advancing with great power, and those who are determined and filled with courage are the ones who are laying hold of it.”

It takes determined people to make good disciples. Tough issues face those who decide to come over to the side of Jesus Christ. Discipleship demands determination, courage, conviction and perseverance. The agenda of the Kingdom of God contains issues that only the truly committed can handle. When we are able to believe without seeing, trust without needing to know all the why’s and wherefore’s, Have an unshakeable confidence in what God says simply because it is He who says it, we are on the way to real discipleship. The Good News is still being made known throughout the world. Now, as then, it calls for determination and courage to be a disciple of God.

Discussion question: Inasmuch as it is clear by these sayings of Jesus that the interests of the Kingdom of God are to be first, what challenge does this present to us today?