No MAN I know wants to be weak; nor does any BOY want to be called a weakling. The biblical writers identify this creation characteristic of men, appealing to the desire in men to be strong. At the close of Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth he wrote, Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, ACT LIKE MEN, be STRONG 1 Cor. 16:13. The Apostle, John, addresses subgroups of people in the church, praising the young men for being strong. “I write to you, young men, BECAUSE YOU ARE STRONG, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” The second part of our call to be Christ’s disciples is the Call to BE LIKE CHRIST. This episode looks at Jesus’ strength and how we can become stronger in the Lord—in the strength of his might.
A few years ago, while my 11-year-old son was sitting in my office talking with me and said, “Jesus was a wimp,”
I literally almost fell out of my chair and answered, “What?”
"Well didn’t he say we were supposed to turn the other cheek and back down from a fight, and all that?” To Josh who played middle linebacker and called the defensive signals at age 11, anyone who backed down from a challenge, wasn’t tough enough to deserve his respect.
I said, “Josh, didn’t you ever read the story of Jesus making a whip and clearing out the temple?”
“Jesus never did that,” Josh argued. I thought, “Great! Now, I’ve got 2 problems: My kid thinks Jesus was a wimp and he’s been skipping Sunday School!” The sad truth is that Josh’s mental picture of an effeminate Jesus is more the rule than the exception in today’s world. Josh was having a tough time respecting someone he thought of as a weakling. To him, being like Jesus was “being nice” not being tough. Looking back on it, I think I too struggled with not wanting to follow Jesus when I thought he was a milk toast weakling with girly hair. My Young Life leader had to open my eyes to some of the portraits of Jesus that reveal how tough he really was. Those snapshots drew me to Jesus’ strength. Let’s look at some.
The FEARLESS Jesus
In the temple Jesus found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade” (John 2:14-16).
Can you image this scene—the hucksters and traders falling over each other to escape the fire in Jesus’ eyes, as the money rolls out of their greedy grasp. You can see the animals scurrying and doves fluttering away. You see priests and scribes standing by unable to move, gaping in utter amazement at the scene, shocked by the daring Galilean. You see Jesus with a whip in his hand, gripping it tight with white knuckles; His jaw set, determined. His face aflame with the holiness of God. He is the one who says to us, “Come follow me.”
Don’t think for one minute that those priests and scribes would not get their revenge. It is they who condemned Jesus to death. But that didn’t matter to Jesus. He was fearless in standing for righteousness. This incident reveals the intensity of Jesus’ commitment to the honor of God.
The CONFRONTATIONAL Jesus
In Matthew 23, we hear Jesus saying to the scribes and Pharisees:
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? (Matt 23:15, 25-28,33).
Jesus wasn’t being “nice” here. I love Philip Yancey’s comment, “How could telling people to be nice to one another get a man crucified? What government would crucify Mr. Rogers or Captain Kangaroo?” Wouldn’t you have loved to be with Jesus when he stood up to the hypocrisy of the religious leaders? Do you think you might have said, “Jesus, lighten up; you’re making these guys mad. Don’t you know who they are?”
Jesus fearlessly confronted the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. What do you think would happen in a boy’s heart if his Sunday school used this text in a study of Jesus’ fierce confrontation of evil, entitling the lesson, “The Dangerous Jesus.” Our Commander In Chief stood fearlessly against evil.
The OUTRAGEOUS Jesus
Early in Jesus’ ministry, he returned to his hometown, Nazareth, went into the synagogue, opened the Scripture to Isaiah 61—the prophecy of the coming of the messiah, and said, Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Everything was going great. The next verse says And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. But then Jesus, their “hometown boy,” steps out of line and starts confronting their racism—their proud sense of superiority over the Gentiles. Jesus says:
I tell you, there were many widows IN ISRAEL in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to NONE OF THEM but only to ZAREPHATH, IN THE LAND OF SIDON, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many LEPERS IN ISRAEL in the time of the prophet Elisha, and NONE OF THEM was cleansed, but only Naaman THE SYRIAN.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff (Luke 4:25-29).
Nazareth in Jesus’ Day was a very small town of less than 200 people. It would be like belonging to a church of 200—everyone knew everyone. The town elders were the dads of the friends Jesus grew up with, if not his own uncles or cousins. Some historical facts help us understand why Jesus might have been very aware of his town’s racist attitudes toward gentiles. We now know that a major Roman city, Sepphoris, was located just a few miles from Nazareth. Like our modern cities today, ancient cities needed artisans to build them and the city of Sepphoris was no different, with one critical exception–Joseph and his famous son Jesus probably helped Herod Antipas build it! Jesus is traditionally known as a woodworker (the Greek word used for carpenter is TEKTON, a generic term for “a builder who worked with his hands”), but with wood scarce and stone so prevalent in Israel, he was more likely a stonemason. Sepphoris was a large Roman city built during Jesus’ lifetime. It is all but certain that Jesus had much interaction with Roman gentiles as a TEKTON and numerous occasions to witness the Jewish bigotry towards them. It was outrageous for the young Rabbi, Jesus, to return to his hometown and immediately stick a finger in the eye of his hometown friends, neighbors, and relatives. Jesus had at least six siblings. Think of all the aunts and uncles, sisters, brothers, in-laws that he was provoking. But Jesus’ love for them was GUTSY LOVE THAT SPEAKS THE TRUTH, not sentimental feelings about being nice!
The COMMANDING Jesus
The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him…. On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water...’” Finally, the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “NO ONE EVER SPOKE LIKE THIS MAN!” (John 7)
The chief priests and the Pharisees, hearing what is being whispered about Jesus sent a detachment of fierce temple guards to arrest Jesus. This police force was chosen exclusively from the tribe of Benjamin, which was known as the bravest of the twelve tribes. The battle cry of Israel was “After You O Benjamin” (Michael Card, John the Gospel of Wisdom.) Soldiers are used to obeying orders and would almost never, as a group, disobey a direct order—and this order was from the most powerful man in Israel, the high priest. Their only explanation of their dereliction of duty was to mutter, “No man ever spoke the way he does.” It is not the power of his words, that these soldiers emphasize, but the power of the man. There is something about Jesus’ commanding presence that overwhelms them.
The INDOMITABLE Jesus
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him (Mark 3:1-6).
Jesus loved fearlessly. Being fully human, he wanted to be liked and accepted by others just as much as you and I do. But he loved this man with a withered hand too much to let the Pharisees intimidate him. If you ask me Jesus also exercised tremendous restraint by not just vaporizing these Pharisees! Jesus’ fierce love was indomitable. There was no way that fear of man would stop him from bringing healing to a broken hand.
Two Takeaways from This Trip into Jesus’ Portrait Gallery.
A. Jesus is a leadedrs who is worthy of the best we have to offer him.
B. Strong men glorify God and honor Christ by being like Jesus. It is in his strength that we must find our own. Paul was clear that we face a spiritual battle that rages across the globe. We are to be warriors for the cause of Christ. We are to be strong in Christ. Then, Paul tells us HOW. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm! We began this calendar year 2021 with the podcast series, Winning Spiritual Battles Because We Use Our Spiritual Weapons (Season 2, Episodes 9-21 Jan 3-March 28) Let’s close with a quick review of these weapons—and what it looks like to use them.
1. Fasten the belt of truth. Jesus said that building our lives by applying God’s truth means the storms will never knock them down. Repeat4edly, God links Joshua’s strength to mediating in his Word. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
2. Put on the breastplate of righteousness. This means knowing I am clothed in the beauty of Christ’s robe of righteousness in the eyes of God who will always run to me when I turn to him in repentance. It further means seeking God’s righteousness (Matt 6:33)—his agenda for every sphere of our lives. Finally, it means being protected by having personal integrity. Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless, but wickedness subverts the sinner. (Prov 13:6).
3. Put on readiness to share the gospel. Putting on the shoes of the READINESS of the gospel of peace does not mean preaching, violating your emotional intelligence, or primarily focusing on getting the right content stuffed into your listener’s mind. Jesus tailored the good news of the kingdom to the point of brokenness being felt by his listeners. The best way to be ready when an opportunity arises to share your faith is to have already been praying intentionally for those you want to see come to faith.
4. Take up the shield of faith. The Roman shields were designed to lock together as mutual defense against the rain of enemy arrows. Stu Weber, in his book, Locking Arms, asks men, “Do you see the critical point here? This is the shield of faith, which by design is interlocked with the soldier next to you. This is the shield of faith utilized in community. God will test our faith; so every Christian man needs to be connected to some brothers in Christ, when that happens.
5. Take the helmet of salvation: Putting on the helmet of salvation protects us from DESPAIR, when evil wins. We have been saved from the penalty sin, are being saved from the power of sin and will be saved from the presence of sin. Taking up the helmet of salvation is remembering that sin’s utter defeat will take place one day. The proof of that, argued Paul, was Christ’s resurrection. That is why he closed his chapter on the resurrection (I Corinthians 15) with the words, Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain (vs 58).
6. Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The Greek word for sword, MACHAIRA does not describe the swash buckling kind of sword used by Zoro. Rather, it was quite short, more like a dagger. It was used by the Romans in close hand-to-hand combat. This weapon is for personal attacks. This truth is underscored by the Greek word Paul chooses for Word (of God). It is not LOGOS, which connotes broad, general principles. Rather, Paul chooses RHEMA, which refers to specific “utterings.” In Ephesians 6 the reference is not to the whole Bible as such, but to the individual Scripture passages, which the Spirit brings to our remembrance for use in time of need, a prerequisite being the regular storing of the mind with Scripture.
7. Pray at all times. Just as God left the earth undeveloped because he wanted Adam to exercise dominion over the earth to develop its potential, much of Christ’s redemptive power for the new creation is waiting for us to access. He wants US to engage the weapons of spiritual warfare to advance the kingdom of righteousness over earth. Just as God did not create the world with iphones already invented, God’s new creation does NOT begin with Christ-followers and their world already perfected. During our current period of church history, he has given us spiritual resources to spread the rule of Christ over every sphere of life on planet earth. Prayer is the primary weapon for advancing Christ's kingdom of righteiusness over the kingdom of darkness.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
- Which of the five episodes from Jesus’ life draws you most to Jesus?
- Jesus, who is perfect, was angry with the religious leaders who had no compassion for the man with a withered hand. What do you think is the difference between sinful anger and Jesus’ anger, here?
- In reviewing the weapons of warfare, which one do you need to remember most in your spiritual battles?
