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Jesus has come to protect his disciples, so have confidence in him alone (Mark 13:14–23)
Last week, we read that Jesus doesn’t want us to be Chicken Littles who panic whenever some cataclysm happens, convinced that the world is coming to an end—that “the sky is falling!”
But what if the sky actually is falling?
- Read Mark 13:14–23
After Jesus announces that the Jewish temple will be destroyed (13:1–2), his disciples have asked him, “When will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” (13:4). In addition the destruction of the temple, they seem to want to know when he will set up his kingdom on earth. Because these two events are interrelated but separated in time, Jesus’ answer will include elements from both. But first of all, he warns them not to be easily alarmed by cataclysms or by false announcements of his coming; in fact, they should expect persecution since his coming will be delayed (13:5–13).
However, the time will come when the temple will be destroyed, and it won’t be pleasant. We know from history that in 37 years, a Roman army will overrun Judea in response to a rebellion. Jerusalem will be destroyed, and the temple will be razed to the ground, just as Jesus is prophesying. The Jews will be massacred. Jesus wants to protect his vulnerable disciples from this act of judgment, so he tells them to watch for “the abomination of desolation standing where it ought not to be.” When they see this, they are to drop everything and run! The suffering will be so terrible that “if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved.” Everyone in Judea would be killed.
We know that the Christians in Jerusalem obeyed Jesus’ warning and evacuated to the town of Pella to the north and across the Jordan River. By following Jesus’ warning, they escaped with their lives.
“But wait!” you ask. “What is this ‘abomination of desolation’ that they were supposed to look out for?” Well, we know that Jesus was quoting from the book of Daniel, in which it was prophesied that a vicious tyrant would desecrate the temple with some sort of “abomination” (Daniel 8:9–14; 9:26–27; 11:31; 12:11). This prophecy was initially fulfilled when Antiochus IV Epiphanes outlawed the worship of the Lord and set up swine sacrifices in the temple about 200 years before Jesus’ words. Apparently history is about to repeat itself, and another “abomination of desolation” is yet to come before the temple is destroyed.
And if you’re wondering whether I know what this “abomination” turned out to be, the answer is no. There are plenty of theories out there, but no one knows for sure. Ultimately, it’s not terribly important what it was exactly. What’s important is that Jesus is warning his disciples to protect them from death.
Not only is he protecting them from death with these warnings, but he’s also protecting them from deception. He tells them, “If anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. False christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.” In times of great suffering, people will latch on to any charismatic figure who offers them hope, especially one who can (supposedly?) perform miracles. “Be on guard,” Jesus says. “I have told you all things beforehand.” This prophecy is meant to protect his disciples so that they can survive the dangerous times that are coming.
Here’s what this passage tells us about Jesus: he wants to protect those who are his own. Twice he calls them the elect—people who have been chosen by God. He won’t abandon the people whom God has chosen to be called by his name. He will preserve them even when the world around them comes apart at the seams. They can say with confidence, “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress!” (Psalm 46:11).
So how should this affect our thinking and our behavior? First, we must be confident no matter how severe the danger surrounding us. Our confidence does not come because we have enough influence or financial security or government protection to avoid suffering. As though these things will protect us when “the earth gives way…the nations rage, the kingdoms totter” (Psalm 46:2, 6)! Neither can we be confident in our own intelligence, thinking that false teaching won’t deceive us. No, it is God who is “our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear” (Psalm 46:1–2).
Second, watch out! It’s dangerous to have too much confidence in the institutions of man, whether it’s the Jerusalem temple or the national government or the stability of your employer. And as we just observed, it’s dangerous to have confidence in your own ability to discern false teaching. So watch carefully to make sure that you trust only in your Lord, Jesus Christ, to save you when the world falls apart around you.
Jesus has authority to rescue captives (Mark 7:31–37)
Everyone likes a good prison break. But what if the prison is your own body?
Jesus has been traveling through Gentile territory, and he’s become just as popular here as he has among his fellow Jews. Remember how the demon-possessed man of Mark 5 had been proclaiming that Jesus had freed him from the influence of unclean spirits? Apparently, he was a successful herald of Jesus’ return to the Decapolis, because now a crowd of people want to listen to him and ask for his help.
Mark focuses on one particular healing event during this time. A with a serious condition is brought to Jesus. This man is deaf and also has a speech impediment. Of course, these two problems tend to go together; if you’re deaf, it’s hard to know how to properly control your voice. As is often the case, the man’s friends are desperate when they come to Jesus, begging him for help. That’s just the sort of attitude that Jesus likes, so he pulls the man aside from the crowd.
It’s interesting that Jesus shows so much private attention to this man. No doubt most people would feel awkward and try to avoid him, but Jesus takes him aside and gets a little bit invasive. He pokes his fingers into the man’s ears, spits on him, touches his tongue. It’s sort of a personalized healing ritual for the man. Now, Jesus could have healed him any way he wanted, but Mark seems to be emphasizing the degree of personal attention Jesus is showing him.
Then Jesus looks up to heaven and sighs deeply. He sympathizes with this man. He feels in his heart the loneliness and suffering of a man isolated from communicating with his friends and family. This is a man who has been imprisoned in his own malfunctioning body. Jesus brings this tragic situation before God the Father, then turns to the man and utters one word: “ephphatha.” This word remained vivid in the minds of his disciples years later, when Mark heard it from them. Mark explains to his readers that it means “be opened.” It’s the first word this man has heard, perhaps for years.
Instantly, like the doors of a dungeon swinging open at Jesus’ words, the man’s ears allow waves of sound to wash over him. His tongue is released from the chains that bound it, and he is able to speak plainly. From now on, the real trouble is going to be to get him to shut up!
Jesus orders the man and his friends to tell no one what has happened. Of course, they don’t listen. In fact, Mark writes, “The more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.” Jesus wants his name to be known, but he doesn’t want to be known merely as a miracle worker. Can you blame these people, though? This is great news! Even the Gentiles are saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
These words would have reminded Mark’s readers of Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the coming Messiah:
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. (Isaiah 35:5–6)
It’s clear that Jesus has fulfilled the promise that was given through Isaiah. Another piece has been added to the puzzle of who Jesus is. He is a man whose authority and power are so great that he can release people who have been imprisoned in their own malfunctioning bodies. He can unstop deaf ears and make mute tongues sing for joy.
Now, here’s what Isaiah says our response to Jesus should be:
Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.” (Isaiah 35:3–4)
You and I are captives—prisoners of Satan, prisoners of sin, prisoners of weak and decaying bodies. If we are careful and rational thinkers, we won’t have much faith in our own abilities and our own wisdom. We can’t rescue ourselves.
If we believe this, you and I will become desperate. If that’s you, you’re just the kind of person Jesus likes to help. Come to him; he will pull you aside from the crowd and respond to you personally. He’ll invade your life and make you uncomfortable. But he will give you the freedom and joy you never thought possible.
So if you are weak and worried—“Be strong; fear not!” Jesus will come and save you. Put your faith in the One who has authority to rescue captives like you.
Jesus wants worthless people (Mark 7:24–30)
To be healed, first you must be sick. To be set free, first you must be a slave. To be rescued, first you must be in peril. To be saved, first you must be a sinner. To be resurrected, first you must be dead.
And to be a child of God, first you must be a dog.
For the second time in Mark’s account, Jesus travels outside of Jewish territory into a Gentile region. He’s apparently taking a sort of “vacation” with his disciples, trying to get away from the chaos and crowds so he can devote his time to his immediate followers. However, as a result of his spectacular ministry, his reputation precedes him. He can’t stay hidden even in the region of Tyre and Sidon, two cities to the north of Galilee. Before long, he is approached by a woman whose daughter is possessed by an unclean spirit. She falls down at his feet and begs him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
Now, this story comes right on the heels of Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees, a group of nationalistic Jewish religious leaders. They are very concerned about the national identity of Israel, and they devote themselves to staying ceremonially clean, even inventing their own laws to stay safe. If they were in Jesus’ shoes, they would shrink back from this helpless wretch: she is an unclean Gentile, a woman, and her daughter is possessed by an unclean spirit. She is not a part of God’s chosen people, the people of Israel. She has no claim to the kindness of God. That’s what a “good Jew” would have thought about this woman.
So Jesus responds to her request with a proverb. He says to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Yes, he is referring to the Jews as God’s “children” and to the Gentiles as mere “dogs.” If your concept of Jesus is limited to Flannelgraph Jesus from Sunday School or Hippie Jesus from American culture, this statement seems appalling. But a Jew of the time wouldn’t have blinked an eye. That’s how they thought about their pagan Gentile neighbors. Jesus is asking the woman, “My priority is to minister to the people of Israel. You’re not a part of God’s chosen nation; why should I help you?” He’s challenging her the way a Pharisee would; he’s playing “devil’s advocate.”
It becomes clear right away that this woman understands the meaning of grace. The Pharisees thought of themselves as earning God’s favor through their merits, but she admits that she has no merits to speak of. “Yes, Lord,” she says, “yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
There are a lot of ways she could have responded. If it were me, I might complain that I am a valuable person created in the image of God. I might plead my self-worth. I probably wouldn’t say out loud that I deserve Jesus’ help because I’m a good guy, but I would probably think it. This Gentile woman, though, doesn’t miss a beat. She embraces her status as a “dog.” She doesn’t think there is anything special about her that should convince Jesus to help her. Instead, she finds an opening in Jesus’ proverb and seizes it. He had said, “Let the children be fed first.” She admits that the power of God is “to the Jew first” (Romans 1:16). But she believes that Jesus’ power is more than enough, that it can overflow to her as well. Jesus had fed 5,000 men with five loaves of bread, and there had been twelve baskets of leftovers; she is convinced that there will be leftovers for her as well.
In other words, this woman does not plead her own merit. She pleads the unlimited power of Jesus. She pleads his compassion that overflows from his love for Israel and splashes down on wretched Gentiles like herself. She has nothing to offer him, but she believes that he has the authority, power, and compassion to rescue her daughter.
Jesus is delighted with her answer. She has wrestled with him and prevailed. “For this statement you may go your way,” he tells her. “The demon has left your daughter.” Sure enough, when she gets home, her daughter is lying asleep in bed, and the demon is gone.
The contrast is sharp between this woman and the Jewish religious leaders. They are clean; she is unclean. They are “good people”; she is not. They are in a position of privilege; she has no rights to claim. She is a loser, and she knows it. That’s what makes her an insider and the religious leaders outsiders. She doesn’t plead her own goodness. She pleads only the goodness of Jesus.
If you and I want to see the power of Jesus at work, in us and around us, we must abandon our merits and our rights. We are morally bankrupt, powerless, helpless. We don’t deserve to be rescued by God. All we can plead is the compassion of Jesus and his superabundant power to save. So don’t try to be accepted by God on the basis of your performance. Come to him, filthy and broken, and plead Jesus Christ, because Jesus wants worthless people.
Nothing in my hand I bring
Simply to the cross I cling
Naked, come to thee for dress
Helpless, look to thee for grace
Foul, I to the fountain fly
Wash me, Savior, or I die!
—Augustus Toplady
Are some non-Christians saved? (Part 2)
Okay, here’s Part 2, as promised. In Part 1, I looked at the main argument of Josh’s post—that many non-Christians may be saved because their loving character proves that they know God (1 John 4:7-8). My goal was to demonstrate that the apostle John’s use of “love” requires someone to obey the biblical commandments of God (1 John 5:2-3); no one who is from another religion or who is an atheist displays this sort of love. Rather, such a person is unrepentant and thus does not know God (1 John 3:6).
Now, I’d like to address three other questions raised by Josh’s two posts:
- First, what is the means through which we are saved?
Biblically, we are saved through faith in the Lord Jesus (Ephesians 1:15, 2:8). This is more than just some sort of odd subconscious knowledge of His character; it involves a belief in the historical truth of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Josh quoted Romans 10:13 in His post, declaring that we simply had to call on the name or character of Jesus Christ to be saved, since the divine attributes of God are apparent in general revelation. I wish he had read the verses around it. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” We must believe in the historical truth of the Resurrection—which most non-Christians deny—in order to be saved.
Furthermore, Paul explains in the very next verse what this “calling on the name of the Lord” is: “But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:14-15). Paul hear declares that non-Christians have not called on Christ and have not believed Him because they have never heard of Him. Josh argues that it is possible to be saved without a “mental belief” in Christ; Paul knows nothing of this schizophrenic “faith.” I don’t see how one can more explicitly deny Josh’s position than Paul does in Romans 10.
Sure, God is powerful enough to save people even if they don’t believe in Him. But He has chosen not to. Faith itself doesn’t save us; rather, it is appointed as the one and only means of salvation by God Himself (Romans 3:25, Ephesians 2:8-9). If you reject the historical Jesus, you reject Jesus. The gospel Josh presents is a false gospel.
(Note: the Old Testament saints were saved by believing in the promises foreshadowing Christ (Hebrews 11:13). Now that Christ has come, we are to believe in Him as the fulfillment of these promises.)
- Second, is it possible to understand anything about death, resurrection, and eternal life?
Josh says no—that all we have are “dim symbols” and that “the only thing we know is that we do not know.” This is false. We don’t have anywhere near a full understanding of these things. However, we do know some truths about them—that in death, the soul is separated from the body and, in the case of the Christian, dwells with Christ in Paradise (Luke 23:43). We know that in the resurrection, we will be given a new, immortal, spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:35-58). We know very little of what this means, but we do know that it will be imperishable, far more glorious and powerful than our present, natural body (1 Corinthians 15:42-43). And we know that right now, we Christians are experiencing eternal life (John 3:36).
Josh’s belief that our knowledge of God is inherently warped is wrong. We can know many true things about God; it’s just that our knowledge is partial (1 Corinthians 13:12). This belief is not based on the Bible but on human wisdom. Whereas human wisdom will never lead to an undistorted understanding of God, He has revealed Himself truthfully through His Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-16). We can know things about death, resurrection, eternal life, and the character of God because His Spirit has been given to us.
- Third, is Christianity wrong in places?
Josh believes Christianity is more truthful than other religions, but nonetheless, it is merely a religion, which he labels as “man’s attempts to reach God (whatever they may call him), including all theologies, traditions, and formulas.” This is true of other religions, but it is not true of Christianity.
Christianity is based on the revelation of God from the Bible. It is not “man’s attempts to reach God” but rather what God demands from man. The Bible reveals to us what God requires of us; we respond by doing what He has commanded by the power of the Spirit which dwells within us.
One final note I would like to make begins with Josh’s use of Romans 3:22-23. Since “there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” he says, there is no real difference between Christians and non-Christians; all can call on the name of the Lord. Once again, the surrounding verses blow holes in this argument, for they make it clear that “all” refers to “all who believe,” who “have faith in Jesus Christ”; their propitiation being “received by faith,” they are justified for having “faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:22-26). This does not refer to every last person on earth, but only to believers (Christians). Misuse of scripture runs rampant through both of Josh’s posts. In each case, the context of each of the verses he cites has not been allowed to explain what each verse means. It is clear that these arguments are buttressed by poor exegesis of scripture, as are all false doctrines.
Finally, I do want to make it clear that I have a lot of respect and love for Josh; any harshness present in my posts is not an attempt to tear him down but rather to correct him. I apologize if there is any way I could have said these things just as plainly with kinder words; I am still learning how to speak the truth in love.
Are some non-Christians saved? (Part 1)
Josh has put up a couple of posts arguing that people of other religions—and even atheists—may still be saved. If you’ve read Josh’s blog before, you know that he is a very interesting and expressive writer; these posts are no exception to his ability. And because Josh is a friend of mine, it’s not fun for me to say that his view of salvation is unbiblical, false, and dangerous. But it is all three of these.
In this post, I’m responding to his main argument. In a follow-up article that I plan to write tomorrow, I’d like to address several other serious problems found in his two posts. So let’s get started. In a nutshell, this seems to be Josh’s line of reasoning:
- Loving character demonstrates personal knowledge of God (1 John 4:7-8).
- Personal knowledge of God indicates that its possessor is saved.
- Many non-Christians display loving character.
- Conclusion: Thus, these non-Christians are saved.
First, I have a couple of observations about this argument:
- It’s very appealing. It implies that virtuous people all over the world who are not Christians—including some from our friends and family—are not going to hell for eternity. Thus, it removes much of the offense of the orthodox understanding of the gospel. It seems to exalt love and good deeds while saying that such good works are an evidence of salvation, not a means to salvation. It puts a personal relationship with God before mere external religious activity.
- It makes sense. The argument seems airtight, agreeing with reason and experience.
However, there are a couple of areas of concern:
- This line of reasoning is not found in the Bible. The biblical authors of both the Old and New Testaments had a great deal to say about God’s salvation. However, the above argument is assembled piecemeal from several verses scattered across the Bible. This doesn’t mean it’s false, but it’s a serious problem when an argument with such serious, life-and-death implications, is foreign to the scriptures, “which are able to make you wise for salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15).
- This teaching is rejected by orthodox, biblical churches. Josh admits this at the end of his first post. Once again, this doesn’t mean he’s wrong. However, when our theological views fly in the face of centuries of teaching by true spiritual giants, we need to tread with caution.
Obviously, I believe that Josh’s argument is wrong. Can you guess at which step it falls apart?
If you guessed step 1, you’re wrong. It’s actually step 3. Sorry!
So what’s so wrong with step 3? Aren’t there many non-Christians who seem to behave more lovingly than professed Christians?
Let’s take a look at what the apostle John had to say. Ironically, the very author Josh quotes is the one, who, a chapter later, drives a stake into the heart of his argument by explaining what love really involves. (We will see more of this tomorrow; most of the verses Josh cites are surrounded by passages which directly contradict him.)
The verses cited in line 1 above are 1 John 4:7-8: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” First, I’d like to note that, in this book, John is not dealing with the behavior of people of other religions; rather, he is dealing with the difference between those who are genuine children of God and those who are not—all of whom claim to be Christians. Josh is probably using this verse outside of the scope which the author intended it to have.
Second, John explains that love is more expansive than we often think. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:2-3). True love, as the apostle sees it, involves a total obedience to the commandments of God. This includes the first two commandments of the Ten: that we should have no other gods but our God, and that we should not make for ourselves idols. John condemns those who unrepentantly persist in these sins: “No one who abides in [God] keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him” (1 John 3:6). People of other religions and atheists who deny that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who worship idols, who refuse to repent of their denial of and opposition to biblical teaching, and who refuse to do many of the things which are pleasing to God (as taught in the Bible) are not born of God. They neither see Him nor know Him. They have rejected God’s truth—biblical revelation—and love “does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6).
We hold a very small, cheap view of love if we believe that those who deny the God of the Bible can truly display the love of God. This is the message of John, who no doubt would have been appalled at the argument presented in the beginning of this post. Genuine love, flowing from biblical truth, will cause a believer to be zealous for this truth and urge all those around him to “believe in the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13).
Stay tuned for part 2, coming tomorrow.
