Behold the Man

Haman

The king’s aid, Haman, was annoyed that the Jew, Mordecai, would not bow down before him. In his self-importance he plotted the destruction of all the Jews in the kingdom. Learning of the plot, Queen Esther invites the king and Haman to two banquets. Pleased, the king offers Esther whatever she wants, whereupon she tells him that she is a Jew and that her people are in danger because of the actions of one man. Who? “This wicked Haman!” (Esther 7:6). Haman is hanged and arrangements are made for the deliverance of the Jews from those who would annihilate them. Haman thought only of his own honor and it turned into defeat and destruction for him, his household, and his ten sons.

David

King David stayed home instead of going out with his troops to war. He sees Bathsheba, takes advantage of her, and gets her pregnant. He tries to cover up his sin by plotting the death of her husband and marrying her himself. The prophet Nathan comes to David and tells a story of a rich man who took a poor man’s pet lamb to feed a guest. David, not yet realizing the story was about him, says the man deserved to die. Nathan’s response was “You are the man!” (2 Sam. 12:7). David repented, “I have sinned against the Lord” (12:13), though because of his sin the child Bathsheba had borne became sick and died. David’s heart turned back to God, but there were still consequences for his family.

Jesus

John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan river when he saw Jesus coming toward him. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, 36). John knew that his job of preparing for the Messiah was nearly at its end as Jesus’s years of ministry were beginning. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (3:30).

Roughly three years later, Jesus prepared to enter Jerusalem for Passover. Jesus asks His disciples to go get a donkey. Matthew writes that this took place to fulfill prophecy: “Behold, your King is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden” (Matt. 21:5).

Following the Passover meal, Jesus is arrested. Pilate tries to release Jesus and brings Him before the crowd— “Behold the man! …Behold your King!’” (John 19:5, 14), but the Jews demanded crucifixion. A centurion keeping watch over the crucifixion rightly proclaimed, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54).

Our Response

We have a choice set before us. We can, like Haman, pretend we are the center of the universe, seeking attention and approval, but to do so will lead to our ultimate destruction. Or we can, like David, recognize our sinfulness and repent and turn to God for forgiveness. Our sin may still have consequences, but we will find salvation. Like John the Baptist, we should realize that we are just bit players in the drama of God’s plan for the world. Jesus must be lifted up, and we must bow down before Him. We all deserve death because of our selfish and sinful choices, but through Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, we can be forgiven and reconciled to God. Jesus alone can take away the sin of the world.

One day we will all behold His glory. “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him” (Rev. 1:7a). Let us not wait till it is too late to come to Him in humility, submission, and worship.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20).

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Self-Care or Self-ish?

There are conflicting opinions even among Christians on where self should fall in our order of priorities. When I was young, the popular saying was “Jesus-Others-You.” Now we hear phrases like self-love, self-care, or soul-care. There are elements of truth in many of these ideas.

God provided for Elijah’s physical needs of food, water, and sleep before sending him back to work (1 Kings 19).

“For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it…” (Eph. 5:29).

“If someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” (1 Tim. 3:5).

Jesus said, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Matt. 16:24).

“Whoever loves father or more more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matt. 10:37).

The Apostle Paul warned against idleness and said, “With toil and labor we worked night and day… If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thess. 3:6-12).

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3-4).

We should be good stewards of all God has given us, including our physical bodies, our mental and emotional health, and our relationships. But self-care can quickly turn into selfishness if we aren’t seeking God’s guidance in prayer and through His Word. We need adequate sleep, but we also need to join with the church body in worship and fellowship on a regular basis. We need to pay our bills, but we also need to contribute to the work of the church. We need to spend time with family, but we also need to make sure they are receiving the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

There aren’t black and white guidelines for what is right for every person in every possible circumstance. However, Scripture does place more emphasis on sacrifice, suffering, and self-denial than many in the Western church are willing to accept.

Would the church have emerged if the apostles had been more concerned with protecting their houses, families, and personal well being than with spreading the good news? Would the church have spread around the world if missionaries decided to stay in the comfort and safety of their home country? Would the church be able to function if every member did only what felt convenient and fulfilling?

That’s not to say that every Christian needs to be involved in every church activity ever planned. I sometimes wrestle with the false guilt of legalism. “I should go … But I don’t feel like going … But I want to show my support for my pastor … But attendance figures aren’t everything … And it’s not all about what I might get out of it … But what can I give to others when I know I’m not likely to add anything to the discussion? … Am I being hypocritical to show up when I don’t want to? … And are people going to be respectful of social distancing and masks?” All those thoughts and more go tumbling through my mind, so I know firsthand that decisions about priorities aren’t always easy. But for many people the debate never goes further than “I don’t feel like it, so I won’t.”

God intends for us to enjoy His good gifts of rest, food, and relationships, but we must remember that He is the source of all good things so we can keep them in proper perspective. If we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, the other things will fall into place where they belong.

“Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!” (Psalm 119:36).

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Here are a few articles that give different perspectives:

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/self-care-soul-care/

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/self-care-and-self-denial/

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-insanity-of-self-care

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/denying-yourself-is-loving-yourself


© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Me Me Me

I read this the other day and found it to be quite true:

“To most people the greatest persons in the universe are themselves. Their lives are made up of endless variations on the word ‘me.’ What do people think of ME? How will thing affect ME? Will this make ME happy? Do people value ME as they should? …Have we not all, in our own experience, discovered that every endeavor that has ME as its center has no profit in it? You have set your heart, perhaps, on procuring something for the benefit or pleasure of your own great big ME, but when you have secured it, this ungrateful ME has refused to be satisfied and has turned away in weariness and disgust from what it has cost you so much to procure. Or you have labored to have the claims of this ME recognized by those around you and have reared with great pains and effort a high pinnacle on which you have seated yourself to be admired by all beholders. And right at the critical moment, the pinnacle has tottered over, and your glorious ME has fallen into the dust, and contempt instead of honor, has become its portion. Never, under any circumstances has it in the end paid you to try and exalt your great exacting ME, for always, sooner or later, it has all proved to be nothing but ‘vanity and vexation of spirit’ (Eccl. 2:11)” (God Is Enough, Hannah Whitall Smith, 132-133).

ME is an exacting taskmaster, never pleased for more than a few seconds. If your employer treated you the same way, would you not soon quit? Why try to please someone who just sneers and knocks you down every time? Why subject yourself to repeated frustration? And yet we do. “Maybe this time I’ll get everything just right and can enjoy success.” On the other hand:

“Jesus challenges us to forgive everyone we know and even those we don’t know and to be very careful not to forget even one against whom we harbor ill will. Right now someone exists who has disappointed and offended us, someone with whom we are continually displeased and with whom we are more impatient, irritated, unforgiving, and spiteful than we would dare be with anyone else. That person is ourselves. We are so often fed up with ourselves. We’re sick of our own mediocrity, revolted by our own inconsistency, bored by our own monotony. We would never judge any other of God’s children with the savage self-condemnation with which we crush ourselves. We must be patient, gentle, and compassionate with ourselves in the same way we try to love our neighbor” (The Signature of Jesus, Brennan Manning, 174).

We can either keep trying to perfect ourselves and build ourselves up despite constant failure, or we can accept God’s love and forgiveness and trust Him to do what only He can do. I find it interesting that the Apostle Paul’s list of the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) all have self at the center: “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these” (ESV). But it could reasonably be argued that the Fruit of the Spirit (vv. 22-23) is all focused on God and others: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” If we attempt to produce that fruit while focusing on self, it will be imitation fruit at best, quick to fall to the ground. Even self-control has to come from the work of the Spirit, not from self-effort. Only when we stop trying to grow our own fruit can the Spirit grow His Fruit in us. When we take our eyes off ourselves and our accomplishments and failures, then we can watch and see what God will do.

It’s time to dethrone ME and recognize that God is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and He is making all things new.

“Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:2-3).

  

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.