From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead. But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!” [Matthew 16:21-22 (NLT)]
While talking with a friend, I mentioned how many people of our generation seem unprepared for the challenges of widowhood. Having relinquished certain responsibilities to their spouses during the decades of marriage, they’re ill-equipped when they lose that spouse. There are men who have no idea how to do laundry, grocery shop, clean the bathroom or use the microwave. On the other hand, many of my women friends have never done minor repairs, paid bills, made an investment or purchased a car. “That was me!” replied my friend whose husband died of cancer. His death, while unwelcome, was not unexpected so I asked why they hadn’t prepared her for widowhood. “He tried to,” she said, “but I wouldn’t listen.” As long as they didn’t talk about his imminent passing and her future life without him, she still could deny its reality.
While thinking of her experience, I thought of the disciples’ behavior when Jesus spoke of his death. At first, He spoke metaphorically: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” At least three times, however, He spoke quite plainly about what the future held: he would be killed and raised from the dead. He didn’t mince any words when he described his death but the disciples didn’t understand. Jesus forewarned them but they were confused and frightened when He died, hid in a room instead of waiting expectantly at the tomb, and didn’t believe the women who said the tomb was empty.
Jesus spoke of fulfilling the prophecies and the disciples knew those prophecies. They preferred the ones about the messiah’s glory, however, to those of the suffering servant. Still thinking about an earthly king, Jesus’s words were contrary to their expectations and the disciples couldn’t reconcile what Jesus said to what they wanted. How could suffering and death accomplish anything? Like my widowed friend, they didn’t want to face the truth of what the future held. Perhaps, like her, they thought their denial would keep the horror from happening.
We aren’t all that different when it comes to seeing and hearing only what we want. In his Bible commentary, Matthew Henry cautions that we’re like the disciples when we read the Bible “by halves” – only the half we like. Consistently, the top three searched-for Bible verses are John 3:16, Jeremiah 29:11, and Philippians 4:13; the rest of the top twenty are other reassuring verses of comfort. If the Bible was a buffet, we’d find those feel-good verses on the dessert table. Dessert is great and so are those verses; nevertheless, they only tell part of the story. The other half of the Bible, while just as nourishing, isn’t quite as sweet; it’s the meaty stuff on the main dish table that tells us we’re going to have trials, temptation, affliction, and persecution. It tells us of mankind’s failures, God’s warnings, and why He had to redeem the world He created. It speaks of sin and God’s wrath and uses words like sacrifice, suffering, judgment and tribulation.
Let us never turn away from God’s word because we don’t like what it says. Ignoring the prophecies didn’t keep Jesus from being crucified and ignoring the still unfulfilled ones will not keep them from coming true! As for me, I want to be prepared for what the future brings (both in this world and the next).
Seasoned travelers know the worst place to exchange their money is at the airport. With no easy option to get local currency, the unsuspecting tourist gets the worst exchange rates at the highest fees. Seasoned travelers also don’t buy suntan lotion or Dramamine onboard the cruise ship or a face mask and goggles at the ski shop on top of the mountain. Knowing their customers are desperate for their products, those shops tend to gouge them with inflated prices.
In a recent Doonesbury comic (written by Garry Trudeau), a pastor is explaining to the congregation what constitutes sin in the eyes of their church. The elders now will condone conduct such as, “lewdness, vulgarity, profanity, adultery, and sexual assault,” and exemptions from Christian values include, “greed, bullying, conspiring, boasting, lying, cheating, sloth, envy, wrath, gluttony and pride.” In addition, the church will overlook such things as, ”Biblical illiteracy, church non-attendance, and no credible sign of faith.” After the service, one church member says, “Lovin’ the lower bar, Pastor!” while another adds, “I feel like a freakin’ saint now!” Trudeau’s comic may be satire but it is closer to the truth than I care to admit.
Upon retirement, many people consider their productive years over. Having been a CEO in a major corporation, a friend’s father felt worthless without his corporate identity. Prior to retirement, he could call any number of powerful people and get a meeting simply because of his position but, without his title, he felt like a nonentity. His previous business triumphs couldn’t sustain him and he saw no victories in the future. Unfortunately, many seniors who found their identity in their career, corporate title or paycheck are at loose ends when retirement comes along. Some of my friends who were homemakers aren’t much different from those in the business world. It’s just that they found their identity in motherhood and their self-esteem in their children’s achievements. Now, with an empty nest and adult children living their own lives far away, they feel unnecessary. Like my friend’s father, they are looking back at who and what they’ve been rather than forward to who and what they can be.
In C.S. Lewis’ fantasy The Horse and His Boy, Aravis, a young noblewoman, is attacked by a lion. After her wounds are cleaned and dressed, she’s told that the cuts on her back are neither deep nor dangerous and no more serious than the cuts of a whip. Aravis later learns from Aslan, the lion who attacked her, that the gashes on her back, stripe for stripe, equal the stripes laid on the back of the maidservant she’d caused to be punished. At first, this seems more like the Old Testament retribution of “an eye for an eye” than something Lewis’ Christ-like character of Aslan would do. What if the maidservant had been hung or beheaded? What then?
Hurricane Irma did quite a number on our southwest Florida bird sanctuary. Unfortunately, much of the boardwalk was damaged (some of it beyond repair) and there were several casualties among the trees, including two 100-foot cypress trees that proudly stood for over 400 years. Like them, many smaller trees were uprooted and now lie dead on the forest floor. Irma’s high winds did some violent and cruel pruning as it stripped bark, tore off branches, and splintered mature trees as if they were mere matchsticks. Cypress trees that were over 40-feet tall are now little more than stumps. Nevertheless, trees I thought were goners are recovering and greening up; new foliage is emerging out of their fractured tops and sides. In spite of the incredible damage they suffered, their roots still support and feed them with life giving water and they’re surviving. They may be down but they’re certainly not out.
