Category Archives: Books
Good Friday, day of sacrifice
Copyright 2012 by Bob Rogers
On Friday of Holy Week, Jesus was crucified for our sins. The crowd cried “Crucify Him!” and so Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, did exactly that. They flogged Him, mocked Him, beat Him, and crucified Him. Mark records six times that Jesus was mocked: once by the Sanhedrin (14:65), twice by the Roman soldiers (15:18, 20), by those who passed by (15:29), by the religious leaders (15:31), and by the criminals crucified with Him (15:32). Six is the number of evil in the Bible. But Jesus overcame evil by his sacrifice on the cross. Luke records that Jesus asked the Father to forgive them, and one of the criminals was apparently so moved by Christ’s forgiveness that he became repentant (Luke 23:39-43). John records that as He died, Jesus said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30) Jesus paid the price for sin and won the victory over evil. When he saw how Jesus died, the Roman centurion declared, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39)
While Good Friday inspires us to live sacrificial lives, our primary response is one of faith. By sacrificing Himself for our sin, Jesus did what none of us can do for ourselves, and no religion can do for us. It’s no longer about religion; it’s about a relationship based on faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for our sin. We can’t pay for our sins; we must trust in the payment already made by Jesus upon the cross.
British preacher Dick Lucas recounted an imaginary conversation between an early Christian and her neighbor in Rome.
“Ah,” the neighbor says. “I hear you are religious! Great! Religion is a good thing. Where is your temple?”
“We don’t have a temple,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our temple.”
“No temple? But where do your priests work and do their rituals?”
“We don’t have priests to mediate the presence of God,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our priest.”
“No priests? But where do you offer your sacrifices to acquire the favor of your God?”
“We don’t need a sacrifice,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our sacrifice.”
“What kind of religion is this?” sputters the pagan neighbor.
And the answer is, it’s no kind of religion at all. (Timothy Keller, King’s Cross, p. 45-46)
Friday, the day of sacrifice, teaches us to believe in Jesus to find forgiveness and eternal life.
Thursday, day of covenant
Copyright 2012 by Bob Rogers
Many things happened on Thursday of Holy Week. It is often called “Maundy Thursday” because John 13:1-17 records Him washing the disciples’ feet and giving them a command (Latin mandatum, French mande’) to follow His example. The other three Gospels, including Mark, tell how Jesus and His disciples observed the Passover, during which Jesus instituted the new ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. Then they went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus agonized in prayer over His coming cross. While in Gethsemane, Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot and handed over the the Jewish temple police, who took Him before the Jewish Sanhedrin for an illegal night trial.
Many valuable lessons can be learned from Thursday, such as the example of humility and service in washing feet and the example of praying in God’s will in the Garden of Gethsemane. But let’s focus on the lesson about covenant and commitment.
In Mark 14:24 Jesus says, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”
We who follow Christ are called to enter into a covenant with Him. That means we make a commitment to follow Him. It is a divine transaction. Jesus pours out His blood; we receive Him by faith and commit ourselves to follow Him the rest of our lives.
While in college, Jim Denison was a summer missionary in East Malaysia. During one of the worship services, a teenage girl shared her testimony and was baptized in the simple bathtub baptistery of the church, which met in a warehouse. Denison noticed some worn-out luggage leaning against the wall, and asked a church member why it was there. The member pointed to the girl who was baptized and said, “Her father said that if she was baptized as a Christian she could never go home again. So she brought her luggage.” (The Book of Acts, BaptistWay Bible Study for Texas, 2000, p. 46). Now that, my friends, is entering into a covenant with Christ.
Thursday, the day of covenant, teaches us to commit to Christ.
Wednesday, the day of rest and anointing
Copyright 2012 by Bob Rogers
At first glance, it seems that nothing is recorded between Jesus’ day of confrontation on Tuesday, and Jesus’ celebration of the Passover on Thursday night. If so, it would mean that on the most important week of His life, Jesus took a day off! Jesus knew the importance of getting rest. In Mark 6:31, Jesus says, “Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Do you have a regular time when you turn off the TV, cell phone and computer, and just spend time resting, praying, reading God’s Word, and listening to God?
While it is possible that Jesus rested on Wednesday, a closer look at the text indicates that a couple of things did happen that day. Mark 14:1 says it was “two days” before the Passover. Passover would begin at sundown on Thursday night, so this means the events in Mark 14:1-11 were between sundown Tuesday and sundown Wednesday. Perhaps these things took place on Tuesday night, and Jesus really did do nothing on Wednesday. Or perhaps the events took place on Wednesday. Either way, what happened next foreshadowed the ominous death of Christ on the cross. Mark 14:1-2 says that the Jewish religious leaders were looking for a way to arrest and kill Jesus, and then verses 10-11 say that one of Jesus’ disciples, Judas Iscariot, went to the religious leaders and agreed to betray Jesus. What happened in between shows that Jesus knew exactly what was coming, and that it was all in God’s purpose.
Mark 14:3-9 tells the touching story of how a woman (often thought to be Mary Magdalene), anointed Jesus with an expensive perfume. To show how expensive it was, it was worth 300 denarii, and Mark 6:37 said that just 200 denarii would be enough to feed 5,000 people. Some of the people there expressed indignation that the perfume was “wasted,” but Jesus said to leave her alone. It was after this that Judas went to betray Jesus. But Jesus knew exactly what was coming. That’s why Jesus said, “She has anointed My body in advance for burial.”
This should remind us that nothing spent on Jesus is ever wasted. We can never give to Jesus more than He has given to us. Isaac Watts said it well in his hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”:
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Tuesday, day of confrontation
Copyright 2012 by Bob Rogers
Tuesday of the final week of Christ was a long and active day of Jesus teaching in the temple. On that day he had constant confrontations with the Jewish religious leaders. Everything recorded from Mark 11:20 through Mark 14:11 happened on Tuesday: the fig tree that Jesus cursed is found withered, the Jewish religious leaders demand to know what authority Jesus has to cleanse the temple and do all that he does, Jesus tells a parable about tenants in a vineyard that implies that the Jewish religious leaders have rejected God’s Son, making them so angry they wanted to arrest Him. They try to trap Him with a question about paying taxes to Caesar and about marriage in the resurrection. Jesus turns the questions around on them, and then proclaims to the disciples that every stone in the temple will be thrown down and warns them to be on guard against persecution, false prophets and false Messiahs. Do you notice a pattern here? Jesus and the religious leaders are in constant confrontation. Finally, at the end of the day, we read that as the religious leaders were continuing to look for a way to arrest Jesus and kill Him, a woman anointed Jesus’ body with a very expensive perfume. Jesus knew where this was all heading, which is why He said that she was anointing His body for burial.
What an exhausting day of confrontation Tuesday was! From the beginning to the end of the day, it was full of conflict. Mark 11:28 records at the beginning of Tuesday the confrontational question of the religious leaders who were enraged by Jesus cleansing the temple: “By what authority are you doing these things?… And who gave you authority to do this?” Mark 14:10-11 records at the end of Tuesday how enraged Judas Iscariot was, who apparently was so disappointed in Jesus for being a humble, peaceful, sacrificial Messiah, that Judas went to the religious leaders to betray Jesus to them.
The problem they all had, from the beginning to the end of the day, was an unwillingness to submit to the Lordship of Jesus. We may not like to think of ourselves as in conflict with Christ, but whenever we say to Him, ‘No, Lord,” we aren’t really making Him Lord. Are we willing to submit ourselves to Him, or do we continue to argue with Him?
Tuesday, the day of confrontation, teaches us to make Christ Lord of our lives.
Monday, the day of cleansing
Copyright 2012 by Bob Rogers
Mark 11:12-19 says that Jesus returned to the temple on Monday of Holy Week, and when he found the money changers and people selling animals in the temple complex, he overturned their tables, and ran them out, cleansing the temple.
When you read Matthew and Luke’s gospel, it sounds like the temple cleansing happened on Palm Sunday, since those gospels simply tell about the triumphal entry and then say that Jesus cleansed the temple. However, Mark seems to be more precise about the time, while Matthew and Luke are not as concerned to give that detail. However, the way Jesus cleansed the temple is more important than the day He cleansed the temple. He does it with authority, demanding that the house of prayer should not be turned into a hiding place for thieves. All of this buying and selling was going on in the court of the Gentiles, the only place that Gentiles were allowed to worship near the temple. So their merchandise was a distraction from others being able to pray.
Just as Jesus cleansed the temple that day, He wants to cleanse our lives today.
Psalm 24:3 asks, “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?” The answer comes in the next verse: “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol, or swear by what is false.”
Do my actions prevent others from worshiping God? Am I a distraction? Then I must repent and change my ways.
Monday, the day of cleansing, teaches us to cleanse our lives.
Palm Sunday, day of worship
Copyright 2012 by Bob Rogers
In ancient times, a victorious king would ride into a city on horseback. But Jesus was a different kind of king; He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The horse was a symbol of war. The donkey was a symbol of peace.
Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
The people spread their cloaks on the road in front of Him, and waved branches. John’s gospel says they were palm branches (John 12:13). Mark 11:9-10 records their words of praise and worship as Jesus made His entry into Jerusalem: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
“Hosanna” is Hebrew for “save us.” They were quoting Psalm 118 as they called on Jesus as Savior. They were worshiping with their whole hearts.
Unfortunately, a lot of people come to worship at church and act as if it is a Mardi Gras parade. In New Orleans, people line the streets during Mardi Gras, with bags open and umbrellas turned upside down to catch the trinkets and candy thrown from each float. They shout, “Throw me something, mister!” Do we come to worship for what we can get out of it, or do we come to give our whole hearts to a worthy God? Isn’t our God worthy of our worship, even if we receive absolutely nothing in return? As Jesus paraded through the streets of Jerusalem, the crowds didn’t cry “Throw me something,” they shouted “Hosanna.” Do we come to worship with the same attitude?
Palm Sunday, the day of triumph, teaches us to worship.
The Holy Ways of the Holy Days
The Gospel of Mark spends six chapters, one–third of the entire book, describing what happened in just one week. The fact that the gospel gives so much attention to the final week of Christ should tell us how very important that Holy Week was. There must be important lessons for us to learn from these days. So let’s review the entire week, and learn from God the holy ways from the holy days of Holy Week. Each day, starting with tonight’s post on Palm Sunday, I will share some thoughts on lessons we can learn from the events of Holy Week, from the Gospel of Mark.
Questions for Mormons to consider
(This is the fourth and final installment in a series of posts about Mormonism, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scroll down to earlier posts to read about Mormon history, sources of authority, and beliefs.)
Do you believe that God was once a man?
Lorenzo Snow, fifth president of the Mormon Church, said, “As man is, God once was.”
Do you believe that you can become a god?
Lorenzo Snow went on to say, “As God is, man may become.” And it says in Doctrine and Covenants 132:19-20 that if a good Mormon gets married in the temple and dies, he will be exalted and then shall they be gods.”
Do you believe that our Heavenly Father has a body of flesh and bones like you and me?
Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 says, “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as a man’s.”
Do you believe that the Heavenly Father had a sexual relationship with a heavenly mother to give birth to Jesus and to our pre-existent spirits?
Gospel Principles (1995 edition, p. 11), says, “All men and women are literally the sons and daughters of Deity . . . The first spirit born of our heavenly parents was Jesus Christ, so he is literally our elder brother.”
Do you believe that dark skin is a curse of God?
The Book of Mormon says in 2 Nephi 5:21 and Alma 3:6 that the Lamanites, the ancestors of the American Indians, were cursed with dark skin because of their wickedness. Although the Mormon church now allows Indians and Negroes into their priesthood, this curse on dark skinned people in the Book of Mormon has never been denied or rejected.
If you do not believe these things, why do you remain in an organization that teaches so many things that you do not believe?
If you do believe these things,why does the Book of Mormon not teach these things? The Book of Mormon teaches the existence of one God (Alma 11:22, 27-29; Mosiah 15:1-5). The Book of Mormon teaches God is unchanging, not an exalted man (Mormon 9:9-11; Moroni 8:18). The Book of Mormon teaches that God is a Spirit, not a body of flesh and bones (Alma 18:24-28; 22:9-11).
Something is wrong! Mormonism and the Book of Mormon do not agree.
The way to truth is by Jesus Christ (John 14:6), who died on the cross for our sins (Romans 5:8). and rose from the grave to to give us eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:1-11). This is the “gospel,” the truths about Jesus, not any particular church. If we trust in Jesus’ sacrificial death, we can be declared “not guilty” before God the Judge by His gift of grace (Romans 3:24). Salvation by grace is not a resurrection, it is a life-changing experience of spiritual renewal (2 Corinthians 5:17). When we truly receive salvation by grace, that grace gives us the motivation to live godly lives (Titus 2:11-14). Then our bodies will be raised at the end of time, and we will live forever with God in heaven (1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18). The Bible says that if even an angel (like Moroni) brings a latter-day gospel different from this gospel, he is to be accursed (Galatians 1:8).
If you wish to know more about a relationship with Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, email me at brogers@fbcrincon.com.
If you still believe these things taught by the LDS church, then please explain this: Mormonism says all gods were once men. So where did the first man come from?
Question about divorce
Copyright 2012 by Bob Rogers
I received the following question by email from someone from another church who has granted permission for me to post the question and my reply:
“I have consulted my pastor and other pastors concerning our Baptist teachings about divorce and remain confused. I am divorced. I made an oath at my wedding of “til death do us part” and finished with “so help me God.” Even though adultery entered my spouse’s life, do I remain bound by my oath? Did you do a blog on this topic? Or, better yet … will you do one and let me know.”
Dear Friend,
I understand that you are already divorced, apparently because of your spouse’s adultery, and your question is, “do I remain bound by my oath?”
It appears there are two parts to your question. First, the question of whether your divorce was permissable, and second, the question of whether you are free to remarry. So let’s take the two issues separately:
1. The question of permissable divorce. According to Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:32, adultery is a permissable reason for divorce. Thus if your spouse committed adultery, you did have biblical grounds for divorce. The other biblical ground for divorce is found in 1 Corinthians 7:15, when one spouse is an unbeliever and leaves.
(I would caution readers, however, that just because your spouse commits adultery or leaves you for a time does not mean that you should rush into a divorce. If at all possible, you should seek a counselor and seek restoration in your marriage. I have known couples who suffered adultery and other problems in their relationship who were able to experience repentance, forgiveness and restoration.
The second caution I would give to readers is that if you are suffering physical abuse or severe verbal abuse, you may need to remove yourself from your home to an undisclosed location for your own safety.)
2. The question of remarriage after divorce. You mentioned “our Baptist teachings about divorce.” While I am glad to be a Baptist, we must make certain that our teachings come from the Bible, not Baptist tradition or any other tradition that contradicts scripture.
Jesus recognized the fact that the woman at the well had five husbands, although she was cohabitating with the man she was with at the time she met Jesus, and that man was not her husband (John 4:17-18). By this statement, Jesus recognized each of these five marriages as true marriages.
A common “Baptist teaching” about Matthew 5:32 is that it bans remarriage after divorce, because it says that anyone who divorces his wife causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.
However, the New Testament Greek verb used in the original text used the passive voice, which means the subject receives the action, rather than causing the action. In other words, divorce is a stigma that the husband puts on his wife by divorcing her. It is something the first husband does to the woman and the man she remarries. The stigma is being divorced and being married to a divorced person. Notice in the verse that the stigma occurs whether or not there is ever a remarriage, because it says “anyone who divorces his wife… causes her to become an adulteress.” Notice he causes the adultery before any remarriage. It could be translated, that he adulterizes her. This is referring to the stigma of divorce. It is interesting that the 2011 revision of the New International Version translates Matthew 5:32, “But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery…”
I recognize that this is a controversial passage, and there are differences of opinion about it, but I do not think the scripture teaches that remarriage after divorce is automatically a sin.
Gethsemane teaches us how to express our emotions
Copyright 2012 by Bob Rogers
There was an event in the life of Jesus Christ that can show us how to express our emotions. After His last supper with His disciples, just before Jesus went to the cross, the Gospels record that He went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Mark 14:33 records that Jesus was “deeply distressed and troubled.” Verse 34 records that He said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” When He went to pray, He staggered to the ground. Luke 22:44 says as He prayed, He sweat great drops like blood. He was in incredible agony as He faced dying on the cross for the sins of the world. Jesus expresses extreme emotion in this passage, and He also models for us how to express our own emotion.
Jesus does not hide His emotion. Some people, especially men, try to suppress their emotions. We are told that “big boys don’t cry” and so when we get upset, we try to keep it under control. Especially when we experience the death of a loved one, witness something traumatic, and get very bad news, we often try to cope with it by containing our emotions. Some people suppress emotions by avoiding the subject, others joke around and watch happy movies and comedies on TV, while others turn to alcohol or narcotics. The problem is, that the emotion is still there. If you push it down when it tries to rise to the top, guess what? Your emotion stays deep inside you, and continues to do damage to you. You may develop depression, or physical sickness, and you may suddenly erupt with anger at the slightest thing.
So what should we do? We cannot ignore our emotions. We need to find healthy ways to express them. You will notice that Jesus went to a Gethsemane with only three of His disciples. It was there, in a quiet place with a small group of friends, that He told them of His emotional pain. Then, He went farther from them to pour out His heart in prayer to God.
This is a healthy pattern for us to follow. Find a quiet place, and at the right time, open yourself up to trusted friends, and let them know about your pain. Then you may need to weep over the matter alone. Crying can be an incredibly helpful release, particularly when it is done in private, where we have no inhibitions about who is watching us.
Don’t bottle up your emotions. Jesus was a man’s man, a carpenter who not only nailed nails but was able to take the nails for you and me. Yet He expressed His emotions when He was overwhelmed with sorrow. So can we.
How to hear angel prayers
Copyright 2012 by Bob Rogers
“The Spirit then lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me– praise the glory of the LORD in His place!– with the sound of the living creatures’ wings brushing against each other…” – Ezekiel 3:12-13, HCSB
Ezekiel heard the prayers of angels. How did this happen? How can we experience such things?
1) Be in the Spirit. Ezekiel 3:12 says, “The Spirit then lifted me up.” John the Revelator also heard angels in Revelation 15:3 and 16:5, and he also was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” (Revelation 1:10). How can we be “in the Spirit”? First, we have to be believers in Jesus Christ. Only a believer can be in the Spirit: “But the unbeliever does not welcome what comes from God’s spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually” (1 Corinthians 2:14, HCSB). Second, the believer must be “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18), which comes by filling our minds with the Word of God and filling our hearts with prayer.
2) Pay attention. Ezekiel 3:12 says, “I heard a rumbling sound.” He paid attention to what he was hearing. The shepherds on the hillside near Bethlehem paid attention when the angel of the Lord appeared to them (Luke 2:8-15). Interestingly, the shepherds heard of prayer of “Glory to God in the highest heaven” (Luke 2:13), just as Ezekiel heard “praise the glory of the LORD in His place” (Ezekiel 3:12). Too often we fail to hear because we fail to listen.
3) Be willing to obey. Ezekiel felt the bitterness of God’s anger at sin (Ezekiel 3:14), and he sat stunned for seven days (Ezekiel 3:15). It was only after he had that desire to obey that he received a word from the Lord in Ezekiel 3:16-17. Paul experienced what may have been angel prayers when he was caught up into paradise and “heard inexpressible words” (2 Corinthians 12:4). And just as Ezekiel, Paul was also willing to obey God when God would not remove the thorn from his flesh, but said His grace is sufficient. Pauls’ response was to accept God’s grace, “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).
And maybe, just maybe, when we are listening that closely to God, we might even hear the prayers of angels!
“Prayer” by Philip Yancey is honest and inspiring
Philip Yancey did it again with his book on prayer. His book The Jesus I Never Knew is the best book I have read on Jesus. His book, What’s So Amazing About Grace? is the best book I have read about grace. His book, Prayer: Does it make any difference? (Zondervan, 2006) is the best book I have read on prayer. That is a strong statement for me to make, even as a person who loves the writings of Philip Yancey. I have read dozens of great books on prayer, including great books by people like Richard Foster, Ole Hallesby, Bill Hybels and Oswald Chambers.
What sets Yancey’s book apart is his brutal honesty about the struggles people have with prayer, balanced with inspiring stories of how prayer has changed people’s lives. Yancey is particularly self-effacing about his own struggles with prayer and his feelings of inadequacy in failing to pray. Yet by the end of the book, it is apparent that Yancey is much more of a prayer warrior than he admits at first.
The books’ 22 chapters are divided into five parts. Part One, “Keeping Company with God,” explores what prayer is. He points out that Jesus “virtually invented private prayer” (p. 63).
Part Two, “Unraveling the Mysteries,” discusses frustrations and questions that people have about the effectiveness of prayer. He gives a disarmingly profound answer to those who ask why we should bother to pray when some prayers seem unanswered: “Why pray? Because Jesus did” (p. 78). Later in the book he gives another simple but true answer: “Why pray? God likes to be asked” (p. 143).
Part Three, “The Language of Prayer,” discusses how to pray. He gives great practical advice on handling distractions to prayer, and reminds the reader that there is no right way to pray, because different styles of prayer fit different personalities. “Keep it simple, keep it honest, and keep it up” he advises (p. 191).
Part Four, “Prayer Dilemmas,” returns to questions people have about prayer, especially unanswered prayer. I would disagree slightly with his defintion of “unanswered prayer,” as he includes in that definition prayers that receive a “no” answer. Yancey’s approach to prayer for physical healing is balanced and insightful, as he reveals scientific research showing healing that cannot be explained, while recognizing the importance of using medicine and how God usually works through natural processes.
Part Five, “The Practice of Prayer,” provides motivation for faithful praying.
Yancey’s writing includes frequent illustrations from a variety of sources, from popular culture to literature to world history. Being a famous author and editor for Christianity Today magazine, Yancey has received many letters about prayer, and he shares this correspondence throughout the book. One unique quality about this book is that each chapter includes a couple of sidebars written by others, sharing personal experiences in prayer. For example, on p. 224-225 a prostitute whose prayer for deliverence resulted in her miraculous salvation. Although each sidebar story can be read alone, they relate to the chapters where they are inserted.
I disagree with Yancey in chapter 7, when he discusses Abraham’s prayer that “changed” God’s mind. Yancey does not notice that Genesis 18:33 says that it is God who ended the conversation with Abraham, not Abraham with God, so God did not change His mind.
Also, I believe that Yancey misinterprets Job 21:15 on p. 95. There he says that Job asks “What would we gain by praying to him?” However, the context of the chapter implies that Job quotes the wicked in this passage; Job does not say that he himself questions prayer.
It is remarkable that these were the only two places that I disagreed with Yancey, because he makes bold and strong statements throughout the book. I am sure many people will be offended or disagree with some things he said, just because he asserts so many strong opinions. But this is one of the values of the book: Yancey stimulates you to think deeply about prayer, and challenges your preconceived notions. Yet he does so while remaining fiercely loyal to the Bible’s teachings on prayer.
In summary, this book is destined to be a classic book on prayer, useful for group study or personal review and study over and over again.
How to Deal with Difficult People
Copyright 2012 by Bob Rogers
Your child is wronged by another child, and when you try to talk to her parents, they tell you off.
A fellow church member gets angry with you and refuses to talk to you.
A friend always interrupts you, and you want to be friends but you always get frustrated with the conversation.
A fellow worker never shows you respect, always going over your head.
How do you deal with difficult people?
Whenever there was a disagreement in church business meetings or family squabbles, my Grandfather Rogers loved to quote Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
This verse is the pivotal verse in the passage, Romans 12:14-21. It recognizes two important facts about dealing with difficult people: 1) we should live at peace with people, and 2) it’s not always possible. In fact, the passage leading up to verse 18 talk about when it is possible, and then with verse 18, the subject switches to what to do when it is not possible to live at peace with others. So let’s look at it this way.
I. When peace is possible
Most of the time, we can live at peace with others. Whenever it is possible, we should. But how? Verses 14-16 gives us some practical ways to live at peace with difficult people.
A. Be a blessing (v. 14)
We’ve all heard of family members who refuse to speak to one another for years. How sad! Most of the time, peace is possible between two people, if you are willing to make the first move toward reconciliation. So choose to be a blessing.
Paul says, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” This statement, like several others here, refer back to Jesus’ word in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus told us, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).
Paul must have remembered his own past with this statement, for many years before, Paul was the young Pharisee named Saul who held the coats of those who stoned to death the first Christian martyr, Stephen. Acts 7:60 records that as he died, Stephen said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Perhaps it was the impact of Stephen’s refusal to curse his persecutors that caused Saul to be so troubled in spirit and respond to the call of God on the road to Damascus, as is recorded two chapters later, in Acts 9.
B. Be empathetic (v. 15)
In verse 15 he adds, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” This is more than sympathy; it is empathy. It is identifying with those who hurt. It’s like the little 8-year-old boy who went over to see an elderly man next door whose wife had just died. When he came back, the boy’s mother asked, “What did you say?” The boy said, “Oh, nothing, we just sat on the porch and I helped him cry.” This is an extremely important response to a difficult person, because when we can identify with them and understand why they act the way they do, then we will be much better at relating to them.
C. Be agreeable (v. 16a)
Verse 16 begins, “Live in harmony with one another.” Literally, the Greek means to “have the same mind toward one another.” We can disagree in substance and still be agreeable in spirit.
D. Be humble (v. 16b)
Sometimes the reason that the other person is so difficult to deal with us because the problem is within ourselves! Thus Paul reminds us, “Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position (this can be translated, ‘be willing to do menial work.’) Do not be conceited.” As Proverbs 3:7 says, “Do not be wise in your own eyes.”
You never know how if you would just be kind to people in low position, how you may benefit from your kindness one day.
II. When peace is impossible
Paul said in verse 18 to live at peace “if it is possible” and if “it depends on you.” He was recognizing that there are times when it is impossible for us to bring about peace in our own power. So what do you do when there is no peace? What do you do when it’s out of your hands?
A. Do not seek personal revenge (v. 17a, 19a)
Although I have listed this under the category of “when peace is impossible,” it probably fits under both categories. This is a principle that goes both ways.
Verse 17 says, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil…” Verse 19 says, “Do not take revenge, my friends…” Jesus also taught the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount. He said, “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also…If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles” (Matthew 5:39, 41). Jesus was not talking about social injustice; He was making reference to personal insults. This sounds strange to Americans who are used to demanding our rights, but the Christian is to be willing to give up his or her rights for the greater good of bringing peace.
However, even if peace is impossible, it is still the right response to the evil person. As Proverbs 12:16 says, it is wise to ignore an insult.
B. Do what is right (v. 17b)
You see, we do not need to let the meanness of another person drag us down to their level. Thus verse 17 continues, “Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.” It would be very easy respond to the ugly text message with an ugly reply. It would be easy when a person blesses you out in front of others, to let them have it with a few choice words of your own. It would be easy when the competition cheats to get ahead, for you to cut corners and cheat, as well. We must decide that even when the other person refuses to do what is right, that we will do what is right. Even when we cannot keep the peace, we can keep our integrity.
C. Let God avenge (v. 19b)
What about a terrorist like Osama bin Laden? Is it wrong to seek revenge against somebody like that?
Verse 19 begins by saying, “Do not take revenge” but the verse goes on to say, “leave room for God’s wrath.” That is, we do not take revenge for personal insults and injuries, but we do make room for God to work his vengeance, particularly against social injustice like a terrorist.
There was a great German pastor in World War II named Dietrich Bonhoeffer who opposed Hitler. Bonhoeffer even participated in a plot to assassinate Hitler, and he was a Christian pastor! Why would he do that? Bonhoeffer did it because he knew that it would stop a greater evil. In the Old Testament, Moses was sent to Pharaoh and told to demand justice for the Hebrew slaves. God even sent a “death angel” as a final plague upon the Egyptians to set the people free. When the Hebrews fled across the Red Sea and Pharaoh chased them, God allowed the Egyptians to drown in the sea, and Exodus 15 records the song of rejoicing that Moses sang at their defeat.
How do we reconcile this with Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount about turning the other cheek and loving our enemies? We need to make a distinction between personal offenses and social justice. Proverbs 24:17 says, “Do not gloat when your enemy falls.” Yet Proverbs 11:10 says that “when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.” Both of these statements are in the same book of the Bible, and both are true. While it is a virtue to overlook a personal insult, it is not a virtue to overlook a social injustice. The former is gracious; the latter is gross negligence.
D. Overcome evil with good (v. 20-21)
Finally, we deal with the most difficult of people, the evil person, by overcoming evil with good. The statement in verse 20 has an application both ways, like verse 17, to personal insults and difficult people with whom we might reconcile, but it also applies to the more difficult and devilish people and situations from which we can expect no reconciliation.
Paul quotes Proverbs 25:21-22, saying, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
This can be interpreted two different ways. The popular way to understand it, is to mean “Kill them with kindness” and thus shame them into repentance. It reminds me of the church sign that said, “Love your enemies—it messes with their heads.” It is true many times that we overcome evil by refusing to respond with evil. By showing kindness, we can often change a heart.
Most Christians are familiar with this statement, “heap burning coals on their head,” and we’ve come to use it in the sense of shaming them by killing them with kindness. But there is a second way to understand this—a way that applies to times when it is not possible to find peace. In ancient times, Egyptians had a ritual of punishment for those who repented, where they had to walk on fiery hot coals, and in scripture, fire and hot coals were often used of punishment. Psalm 140:10 says, “Let burning coals fall upon them; may they be thrown into the fire.” How is this overcoming evil with good? Well, in the next chapter of Romans, chapter 13, Paul talks about how God has placed the government over us for our good. He says in Romans 13:4 that the government is God’s servant for God, the avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. President Barack Obama and former president George W. Bush are opposites in their political views, but one thing they both agree on was the government action is removing the terrorist, Osama bin Laden. They both said that while they took no personal pleasure in the death of Osama bin Laden, nevertheless, “Justice was done.”
Thus we could read verses 20-21 this way: On a personal level, respond to evil with kindness. If your enemy is hungry, feed him. Let his evil thus be so obvious and so exposed, in such contrast to your goodness, that evil will be conquered by good. God will bring about the vengeance, often by using the government law enforcement and military to bring about justice. In this way, you will heap burning coals of punishment on his head, but leaving room for God’s wrath. We need to be like the preacher who said, “I’m not going to get even. I’m going to tell God on you!” (Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, p. 495.)
How do you deal with difficult people? If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with them. If possible, be a blessing, be empathetic, be agreeable, be humble. And if none of those things are possible, you may just need to walk away and “tell God on them.”
How does God want you to deal with your difficult person?
Why Jesus Is Dangerous
Copyright 2012 by Bob Rogers
Jesus is dangerous.
He is so dangerous that we read in Mark 3:6 that the Pharisees and the Herodians, who were total opposites and enemies of one another, plotted together to get rid of Him.
Of course, that a long time ago. Jesus is pretty harmless today, isn’t He? No, He’s not! Not the real Jesus. The real Jesus is more dangerous today than He was two thousand years ago.
As the Gospel of Mark tells his stories of Jesus in chapters 2-4, we see exactly why Jesus is dangerous.
I. Because He upsets our social status (Mark 2:17)
One of the most popular movies in 2011 was The Help. It is historical fiction, based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett. Set in Jackson, Mississippi, in the early 1960’s, it tells about life when black women worked as maids for white women all over the South, and were often treated as less than human. The help were never allowed to sit at the same table or even use the same restrooms as their employers. Yet the maids were the ones who actually brought up the white children. One of the maids repeatedly tells a little white girl who is neglected by her mother, “You is kind, you is smart, and you is important.” Even though the maid was being treated as unimportant herself, she reminds the little girl that she has value.
Jesus upset the social taboos of His own day when he went to eat dinner at the house of a tax collector named Levi. We read in Mark 3:15: “While He was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also guests with Jesus and His disciples… When the scribes and Pharisees saw that He was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked His disciples, ‘Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?’”
Notice that the same phrase is repeated three times: “tax collectors and sinners.” When they used the word “sinners,” they were using it as a technical term. This was a category of people. “Sinners” were people who failed to follow the religious law. Pharisees said the word with disgust in their voices. And nobody liked tax collectors, because they cheated people and worked for a foreign government.
Yet Jesus was eating with “those people.” The Pharisees tried to pressure Him to stop. The Old Testament law said to keep oneself pure. How could Jesus associate with such people?
Jesus said in verse 17: “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do need one. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Today, that would be like saying, “I came to call prostitutes, not Sunday School teachers.”
Do you see why Jesus is dangerous? Why, if we acted like Him, we might have to go down to Savannah and love on homeless people. If we acted like Him, we might have to go out in the streets of Rincon and hand out food to people, and tell them, “You is important—to God.” This gets way outside our comfort zone. Dangerous stuff.
II. Because He replaces our religion (Mark 2:27-28)
Later in chapter two, Mark says that Jesus makes a shocking statement about the Sabbath, showing Jesus replaces our religion.
The Fourth Commandment says to keep the Sabbath Day holy (Exodus 20:8-11), because God rested on the seventh day of creation. The word Sabbath means “rest.” The Sabbath was very unique to Jews. No other religion had a day of rest like the Jews, and keeping the Sabbath set them apart from all other people. We need Sabbath rest today. With the craziness of our busy lives, we could all benefit from times of rest, worship, and reflection. But over the years, the Jewish rabbis had made up hundreds of rules about how to not work on the Sabbath. The rabbis had rules about how far you could walk before it was considered work, and how much you could harvest or cook before it was considered work. Their rules went to ridiculous extremes. So Mark 2:23 says that Jesus disciples picked some heads of grain on the Sabbath and ate it, and the Pharisees cried foul. “You can’t do that! That’s working on the Sabbath! You harvested wheat!”
Jesus replied, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” This statement in verse 27 is only found in the Gospel of Mark. The Sabbath was supposed to help people rest, not to be a burden to them. But it had become a rat race. Lily Tomlin said the trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you are still a rat. (David E. Garland, The NIV Application Commentary: Mark, p. 124)
Unfortunately, religion often becomes an end in itself. People think if they keep all the religious rules, they are right with God. Jesus upsets the apple cart, and says it’s not about religion. Then He goes even farther, and claims that He Himself has authority to change it all, as He says in v. 28, “So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Remember, “Son of Man” is Jesus’ term for Himself. So Jesus is saying, “It’s not about religious rules. It’s about a relationship with Me.”
Do you see why Jesus is dangerous? If this kind of teaching gets out, people will think they don’t have to keep the religious rules. They might run wild! They might think they can work on Sunday and who knows what else they might do.
III. Because He passes over our politics (Mark 3:6)
We are in the middle of a presidential election. Later this fall, the Republicans and Democrats will be fighting it out. In Jesus’ day, they had political parties, as well. The Pharisees were the defenders of traditional values. They stood for the nation of Israel, independent from Rome. The Herodians were the supports of Herod the Great and his family who ruled after him. King Herod were under the authority of the Romans and supported the empire.
In Mark 3:1-5, what Jesus said about religion turned political. It was against their rules to heal on the Sabbath, but Jesus asked whether it was lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath, and then He went ahead and healed the man. That was more than the Pharisees could take. So they went out and made an alliance with their political arch-enemies, the Herodians. Read it in Mark 3:6: “Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.”
Wow! Jesus was considered so dangerous, that it could bring the Republicans and the Democrats together for a joint session and a unanimous vote. Kill Him!
No political party has a monopoly on Jesus Christ. Politicians should not think they can press a certain hot button and have the evangelical vote. Christianity cannot be contained as a wing of a certain party and told to behave and sit down. When the Republicans are wrong on an issue, Christians must speak out, and when the Democrats are wrong on an issue, we must speak out. We must pray for our president, but our ultimate loyalty is not to him. Our ultimate loyalty is to Jesus Christ, not a government. Jesus is Lord over the Sabbath, and He is also Lord over all political alliances. Christ passes over politics.
That’s dangerous talk. People might think they don’t have to obey the government if we keep talking like that. Didn’t the early disciples say to their government, “We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29). Jesus is dangerous.
IV. Because He scares us about our sin (Mark 3:28-30)
Jesus said something in Mark 3:28 that may be the most dangerous thing we have read yet. He said, “I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”
Wow! The unpardonable sin. That is a frightening thought, that we could commit an eternal sin that could never be forgiven. We read about it again in 1 John 5:16: “There is a sin that leads to death.”
There have been all kinds of speculation about what is the unpardonable sin. Many people think it is murder or rape or child molestation. Some churches teach that suicide is unpardonable, since it is self-murder and there is no opportunity to repent afterwards. But according to Mark 3, none of these are the unpardonable sin.
Look at the context of Jesus’ words. The Jewish religious leaders took another pot-shot at Jesus in Mark 3:22. They said the reason he had driven out demons was that Jesus was demon-possessed Himself. “By the prince of demons he is driving out demons,” they said. It was in response to being accused of being a demon that Jesus said that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven. Then just to make it clear this applied to the words of the religious leaders, read Mark’s comment in verse 30: “He said this because they were saying, ‘He has an evil spirit.’”
Thus, they committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit because they said Jesus had an evil spirit. Clearly, the unpardonable sin is rejection of Jesus Christ.
That scares us. This goes completely against politically correct thinking. This means murderers and rapists and child molesters can be forgiven. It means a person can be forgiven of suicide. It also means that a law-abiding citizen who rejects Jesus Christ will not be forgiven and will go straight to hell. How narrow-minded is that? The world thinks we’re crazy with that kind of thinking, but that’s what Jesus says.
We would like to think that we can handle our own sin. We think as long as we’re not murders or something we don’t need to worry about our sin. But Jesus says we can’t handle it without Him. Without Him we’re hopelessly lost. Dangerous stuff.
V. Because He petrifies us with His power (Mark 4:41)
Yet there is one more reason that Jesus is dangerous. In Mark 4:36 we read that Jesus and his disciples got in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is 700 feet below sea level, and is surrounded by mountains. Mt. Hermon, located only 30 miles north of the sea, is 9,200 feet high. The cold air rushing down from the mountains hitting the warm air coming up from the water can turn into a sudden storm, and that is what happened to Jesus and His disciples that day.
Mark 4:37 calls it a “furious squall” that nearly swamped their boat. But verse 38 says Jesus was at the stern, sleeping on a cushion.
But what happened next was even more amazing. Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and waves, and said, “’Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.”
You know what most Sunday School classes do with this story? They spiritualize it. The teacher says, “Jesus calmed the storm.” Then the teacher looks around the room and says, “What storm are you going through?” Then people talk about Jesus helping them through their problems. But this is not a story about Jesus making us comfortable when our problems make us uncomfortable. This is a story that says with Jesus, we’ve got an even bigger problem.
When the storm started, the disciples were afraid. Jesus even asked them in verse 40, “Why are you so afraid?” But when Jesus showed His power to still the storm, verse 41 says they were “terrified.”
There is a story of King Canute, the King of Denmark in the eleventh century. His courtiers were flattering him excessively, and he said, “Am I divine?” He walked to the seashore and said, “Stop,” but the ocean waves kept coming in. What he was saying was, “Only God can stop the sea, and I’m not God.” (Timothy Keller, King’s Cross, p. 50).
If Jesus is Lord over the storm, He’s Lord over everything. We can’t tuck Him away during the week and pull Him out on Sunday. He won’t stay tucked away. He is Lord over our social relationships and Lord over our religious rules and Lord over our politics. But He is much more! He is Lord over our eternal destiny and able to pardon us forever to Heaven or sentence us forever to an eternity in Hell for rejecting Him, because He is Lord over all.
The storm had a power they could not control, and Jesus had infinitely more power, and they had less control over Him. That’s dangerous. No wonder they were terrified. But here’s the difference. A storm doesn’t love you, but Jesus does.
A storm is indifferent; if you are in the path of the wind, you get blown away. But if you are in the path of the untamed love of Jesus, you are filled with His protection and care. A storm doesn’t love you, but Jesus does.
Likewise, social rules and social taboos don’t care about you. If you don’t fit in with the right crowd, then tough luck. But Jesus cares about you and accepts you; He will break the social barriers to get to you and love you.
Religion doesn’t care about you. If you don’t fit into the rules, you’re out. Religion doesn’t love you, but Jesus does. He didn’t design the Sabbath to burden you; He designed it to give you rest in His grace. He said, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.”
Political parties and political machines don’t care about you. When they don’t need you, they will discard you. Political parties don’t love you, but Jesus does. Make Jesus your resident president and you will never have to fear the unpardonable sin. In fact, you will be pardoned, forever.
Timothy Keller says that if the disciples had really understood that Jesus was both powerful and loving, they would not have been scared. They thought if Jesus loved them He wouldn’t let bad things happen to them. They were wrong. He can love somebody and still let bad things happen to them, because He is God, and He knows better than they do.
Keller says, “If you have a God great enough and powerful enough to be mad at because he doesn’t stop your suffering, you also have a God who’s great enough and powerful enough to be have reasons that you can’t understand…. If you’re at the mercy of the storm, its power is unmanageable and it doesn’t love you. The only place you’re safe is in the will of God.” (Timothy Keller, King’s Cross, p. 52)
Yes, Jesus is dangerous; you cannot control Him. But in the storm, there’s no safer place to be than in His arms. He’s dangerous, but because He’s so powerful, He is able to take care of you. Will you trust your life to Him?
Preached at First Baptist Church, Rincon, GA January 15, 2012 A.M.
Dr. Bob Rogers, pastor.
Questions about Heaven
Melissa C. recently wrote to ask the following about Heaven, and gave me permission to post her question and my response. She wrote:
“It bothers me that heaven is described as having mansions, gold, etc. and that those type of items should be such an incentive (for lack of a better term). I know that Jesus often preached that there would be a reward in heaven but as he focused not on material things it is inconsistent that heaven is described in a materialistic manner. If the focus in heaven is praising God, why the promise of what I describe as “earthly” treasures? As I believe that we leave behind our earthly shell when we die, what is the significance of the saveds’ bodies rising from their graves when Christ returns to earth?”
My answer was:
Melissa,
You ask some good questions that others have wondered.
1. John Piper addresses the first question very well in his book, Desiring God. He points out that there is nothing wrong with the motivation of rewards and pleasure for following God. The Old Testament psalmists often spoke of the “delight” of God’s law and delight of knowing God Himself (Psalm 1:2; 37:4; 119:77). Jesus often spoke of rewards in heaven. The Sermon on the Mount is full of such references (Matthew 5:12, 19; 6:1, 4, 6, 18, 20-21; 7:11). While Jesus told us not to focus on earthly treasures, there is no reason to think that we will not receive heavenly treasures. In fact, Jesus says this very thing in Mark 10:29-30. After telling a rich young man to give away his possessions to the poor and follow Him, Jesus then assures the disciples that anyone who has left behind family or possessions for the gospel will receive a hundred times as much in reward as well as eternal life. So it’s not that there is anything wrong with having a desire for reward or for good things; the problem is when material things because our first priority before the Lord Himself. As Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, seek FIRST His kingdom, and then these things will be given to you, as well!
2. We leave behind our earthly shell when we die, and our spirits and souls go immediately to be with the Lord. But the Bible also teaches that just as Jesus’ body was literally raised to life and glorified, so our own bodies will be raised and we will have new, perfectly renewed bodies. Philippians 3:20-21 says Jesus will transform our lowly bodies so they will be like His glorious body. We read in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 explicitly states that our corrupt, perishable bodies will be changed to incorrupt, imperishable bodies at the resurrection. This resurrection will happen at the return of Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). So the teaching of scripture is that at death our souls go to heaven, but at the Second Coming of Christ, our bodies are raised and reunited with our souls in heaven, the “new heaven” of Revelation 21:1.
A great book on this subject is Heaven by Randy Alcorn.
Bob Rogers 