The Record Scratch

Back before Spotify

SKRRRRRRRRP!

That’s the sudden and unexpected sound of a record scratch. Let’s go back before iTunes or Spotify. Before CDs. Before cassettes. Rewind even further. Even before eight-track tapes, everyone listened to vinyl. We ALL listened to vinyl. Not just the nerdiest audiophiles.

Back in the day, folks knew firsthand all about the irritating screech made by dragging the needle across an LP or 45. Fast forward to the 21st Century, the record scratch has become a kitschy sound effect. Or as Merriam-Webster puts it, the noise associated with “surprise or change…an abrupt interruption.”

Leader of the Revolution

Way back even before turntables, Jesus drops such unexpected news on His closest followers that it’s deserving of one of the loudest record scratches in history. He’s just confirmed to the disciples that He is indeed the Messiah, the long-awaited Hero from heaven. Just NOT the kind of Messiah they’re expecting.

The anticipation of the Hebrew nation for the Messiah is a revolutionary political and military leader. He would command the rebellion, throw their Roman oppressors out on their ear, and lead the Jews to become a world superpower like never before.

Instead Jesus reveals He’s come as a very different kind of Messiah. Don’t expect Him to rise up against Rome. No, He’s come to be the suffering Servant who will lead the rebellion against sin and death.

The Messiah Will Suffer?!?

We pick up the story in the eighth chapter of Mark’s Gospel. “Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the religious law. He would be killed, but three days later He would rise from the dead” (v31).

The Messiah will suffer?!? Be rejected?!? And be KILLED?!?!? What in the wide world of sports is going on here?!?!? That is NOT how this is supposed to go down!! Cue the earsplitting sound of a record scratch.

SKRRRRRRRRP!

Who Is Jesus?

Mark’s bio of Christ takes a hairpin turn here in the middle of chapter 8. Till this point, the second Gospel asks one question over and over and over. Who is Jesus? Could He possibly be Messiah? Is He the One God has promised to send that we’ve all been waiting for?

His weird, bug eating cousin John knew exactly who He was (Mk 1:7-11). So do the devil and his toadies (Mk 1:12). But until now, Jesus keeps everybody else guessing.

Off His Rocker or Straight from Satan?

Is He crazy? His own family thinks so (Mk 3:20, 31-32). Folks in His hometown certainly aren’t impressed (Mk 6:1-6). Religious leaders even suspect He’s on assignment straight from Satan (Mk 3:22).

But as He continues to teach the people, heal the sick and diseased, as well as drive out demons, Jesus’ popularity surges to an all-time high. Is is possible that He’s one of the great prophets of the OT who’s come back for an encore (Mk 6:14-15; 8:28)?

A Hike into the Mountains

All along the way, the Lord starts dropping clues that He could actually be the Christ. Here on this hike from Bethsaida up into the mountains near Caesarea Philippi, Jesus connects the divine dots for the disciples (Mk 8:27-30). Yes, He IS the Messiah!

Not That Long Ago

Strap yourself in their sandals and let that sink in for a moment. This radical Rabbi/Carpenter from Nazareth really is the Christ. 

Picture yourself as James or John. It wasn’t that long ago that you were working at your dad’s fishing business when this Man invited you to be part of His posse (Mk 1:16-20).

Or maybe you're Matthew.  You were busy putting the squeeze on your own people and taxing them on behalf of the evil Roman Empire. Then one day, Jesus stops by the office to chat when everyone else avoids you like the plague. Meeting Him is so life changing that you throw a party for your friends so they can meet Him too (Mk 2:13-17).

Blowing Their Messianic Minds

In the months that follow, it becomes even more clear that something is very different about Him. His teaching. His miracles. His compassion. You have those whispered side conversations with the other guys. Could He be the One? Is it really possible?

Here in the shadow of massive Mount Hermon, Jesus confirms He’s the Christ. There’s just one problem. He’s not THAT kind of Christ. Not the one they’re expecting, anyway. As a matter of fact, He’s about to blow their messianic minds.

Jesus’ Personal Favorite Nickname

First of all, Jesus confirms He’s Messiah by calling Himself the “Son of Man” (v31). This is our Savior’s favorite nickname for Himself. This phrase shows up a total of 14 times in Mark. And the only person who calls Jesus the Son of Man is none other than Jesus.

What exactly does the name mean? It comes from a passage in the OT where God pulls back the curtains of the heavenly throne room for a dude named Daniel. What the prophet sees is a divine coronation, a passing of the baton from Father to Son.

Messiah’s Coming out Party

“As my vision continued that night, I saw Someone like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into His presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey Him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed” (Dan 7:13-14).

All Bible scholars agree on the identity whom Daniel sees. The Ancient One is the First Person of the Trinity, God the Father. The Son of Man is the Second Person of Godhead, God the Son.

Dan’s vision is actually the Messiah’s coming out party. So when the Son of God uses the Son of Man as His personal label, it’s His not-so-subtle way of revealing He’s the One the Father has promised to send.

Dripping with Meaning

Jesus reaches deep into the OT and selects a name that drips with messianic meaning. Jews know full well what the Son of Man signifies. It’s another way of saying the Christ or the Anointed One. But it’s a title that probably doesn’t trigger any alarms for the Romans.

This. Must. Happen.

At this point, you can bet the boys are all in. Our Lord is Messiah! Sweet!! We’ve hitched our wagon to the right Rabbi, fellas!!! Suddenly our Savior says that He “must suffer many terrible things” (v31).

What the WHAT?!?!? Messiah is supposed to rule and reign. Who said He “must suffer many terrible things” (v31)? Jesus makes it clear that what’s about to happen isn’t a possibility. There’s no getting around it. This. Must. Happen.

It’s a Lock

“Must” is the Greek verb δει/dei, which means to be necessary and inevitable. It comes from a root word meaning to chain things together or put someone in handcuffs. We’re talking about something that is a lock. It’s not “if” but “when.” 

A little later, the Lord tells the Twelve all about how God will pull all the strings just before His Second Coming. “These things must (Gr. δει/dei) take place” (Mk 13:7). It’s ALL part of the plan. It’s all part of HIS plan!

God’s Gonna Do What God’s Gonna Do

We may think we know what God has to do. There’s just one little problem. God’s gonna do what God’s gonna do. Period. Just ask Job. Here’s what he said to the LORD after his ordeal, “I know that You can do anything, and no one can stop You” (Job 42:2).

When God wants to do something, there’s no getting around it. It’s a lock. This. Must. Happen.

A Prediction of Pain

And Jesus says what’s about to go down is going to be nasty. Well, at least three out of the four. First, He’s going to “suffer many terrible things” (v31). “Suffer” (Gr. πασχω/pascho) is a word in the original language which means to experience physical or psychological pain, if not both.

You might be interested to know that this term is the source for both Passover as well as what we’ve come to call Jesus’ passion describing His crucifixion, death, and burial. This suffering reminds me of when they ask Clubber Lang’s prediction for his fight with Rocky Balboa. “Prediction? Pain.”

Our Savior is predicting His own pain on what we’ve come to call Good Friday. He’ll undergo not just the physical torture of 

scourging and one of the most excruciating forms of capital punishment the world has ever seen, but the psychological torment of rejection by His heavenly Dad.

No Ticker Tape Parade

Second, Jesus breaks it to the boys that He’ll “be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the religious law” (v31). Imagine the disciples shock at hearing these words. Of all the people on the planet, shouldn’t these guys be the ones who organize the ticker tape parade for God’s Messiah?

The Roster of Religious Big Wigs

Let’s take a snapshot of the roster of religious big wigs the Lord lists here. Leading off are the elders. These are older members of the ruling council who’ve orbited the sun for several decades. They don’t necessarily hold a professional position like a priest or scribe.

Next are the leading priests. These men are in charge of worship at the temple in Jerusalem. It wasn’t that long ago that the chief priest had to be a descendant of Aaron and served for life. But once the Romans rolled in, they threw that out the window and handpicked the high priest.

So the leading priests includes also includes those who had previously served in that role. Apparently, once a chief priest, always a chief priest. The term could also include other important priestly power players at the time.

The So-Called Experts

Last and certainly not least in this who’s who of the Jews are “teachers of the religious law” (v31). A lot of the other translations call them “scribes.” These are the so-called Bible experts who should know the finer points of interpreting and applying Scripture. Notice how I said “should.”

Despite their incredibly impressive resumes, the Lord says these big dogs from the Hebrew home office will reject Him as Messiah. The idea behind this kind of rejection is to kick something to the curb after determining it is counterfeit.

A Brutal Murder

Which brings us to the third part of this terrible triple play. Don’t think this is simply the Jewish leaders telling Jesus “thanks but no thanks.” The Son of God tells the Twelve that “He will be killed” (v31).

That translation of the Greek verb αποκτεινω/apokteino actually soft sells it just a bit. This word describes a brutal murder or dying a violent death. What ultimately awaits Jesus in Jerusalem will be gruesome and gory.

Just to review. Christ says it won’t be pretty. Pain. Rejection. Violent death.

The Suffering Servant

While His closet followers can’t figure out what all this has to do with God’s Anointed One, the prophet Isaiah wrote extensively about how Messiah would actually be what he calls the suffering Servant (Is 52:13-53:12).

This prophetic passage checks all the same boxes that Jesus teaches His team. One, it must happen. “It was the LORD’s good plan to crush Him and cause Him grief” (Is 53:10). In other words, what’s about to happen is right down the center of the Father’s plan.

Suffering, Rejected, Murdered

The Servant Messiah will suffer terribly. “His face was so disfigured He seemed hardly human, and from His appearance, one would scarcely know He was a man” (Is 52:14). The Christ will be “treated harshly” (Is 53:7).

Isaiah describes in detail how the Messiah will be a target of rejection and scorn. “He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief…He was despised, and we did not care” (Is 53:3).

And just as Jesus tells the Twelve, He will be brutally murdered. “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter…No one cared that He died without descendants, that His life was cut short in midstream” (Is 53:7, 8). When it’s over, “He was put in a rich man’s grave” (Is 53:9).

The Reason for the Bloody Scene

Believe it or not, Isaiah wrote these words 700 years BEFORE Jesus was born! The prophet also reveals the reason behind this bloody scene. It’s all for you and me. Yeah, you read that right. For you. For me.

“We thought His troubles were a punishment from God…but He was pierced for OUR rebellion, crushed for OUR sins. He was beaten so WE could be whole. He was whipped so WE could be healed” (Is 53:4-5, emphasis added).

SKRRRRRRRRP!

It’s God’s Idea

Yeah, you read that right. This is all God’s idea. It’s the Father’s plan. He gave His one and only Son so that we could have a relationship with Him. It’s the only way to bridge the mammoth chasm between Him and us.

A guy named Paul says it this way AFTER it happened. “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2Cor 5:21).

Jesus Does for Us What We Can’t

Through the lens of 2,000 years of history, we can see what the disciples can’t. We know that Jesus lives the perfect life that we failed to live. He suffers excruciating pain and is totally rejected so that we never have to be. He dies the death for our sin that we should have died.

But thank heavens that it doesn’t stop there. He rises to a glorious new life that we totally do not deserve.

A Sudden Realization

Zoom back to the scene in Mark. If we could only see the looks on the faces of His disciples at His words. This is certainly not the reception Messiah is supposed to receive. Suddenly they must realize they’ll soon face something very similar. Pain. Rejection. Violent death. Cue the record scratch.

SKRRRRRRRRP!

Drowning out the Best Part

The ear-piercing sound apparently drowns out what Jesus says next. “But three days later He would rise from the dead” (v31). All His talk of agony, denial, and murder is so loud that they never hear the best part.

Two more times, Jesus will look His team straight in the eyes and tell them about His upcoming betrayal, murder, and resurrection (Mk 9:30-31; 10:32-34). And just like the first time, they just don’t understand (Mk 9:32; 10:35-45).

They just don’t get it. And before we get too cocky, you and I wouldn’t either. But it won’t be long before they do. One day soon, the resurrected Christ will come strolling out of the cemetery on a quiet Sunday morning.

A New Mega-Theme

What they don’t understand now is that before the Son of Man can rule and reign forever, He must first suffer and die on our behalf. And so begins the new mega-theme in Mark’s Gospel. Jesus has a date with death in Jerusalem on our behalf.

Later that Friday, an even more deafening scrape will resonate throughout all eternity. When our Savior dies in our place, rocks will split, curtains are torn, and dead will rise. Talk about a record scratch!

SKRRRRRRRRP!

©2018

Jay Jennings

Prehistoric Grace

“who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2Tim 1:9).

Let’s turn back the clock. Back before there were laptops and smartphones. Back before America was a twinkle in our founding fathers’ eye. Back before the cross. Back before the dinosaurs. Back before Adam and Eve snuck their sinful snack. Let’s turn back the clock before there was even a clock. 

Did you realize that’s when God saved you? According to Paul, it was God “who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (v9). Maybe you thought he saved you during Vacation Bible School when you were seven. Or maybe during the altar call at the bonfire on the last night of Christian youth camp. I’ve got news for you, it was WAY before that. So long before that you and I had absolutely nothing to do with it.  

Forget Jurassic Park. God rescued me with prehistoric grace.

Here in 2nd Timothy, Paul writes to his protege as the clock ticks down on the apostle’s life. The apostle sits on Death Row at the notorious Mamertine Prison in Rome. He fires off one final note as he walks the Green Mile (2Tim 4:6-7). Paul begs Tim to hit the road and come see him one final time before it’s too late (2Tim 1:4; 4:9, 21). In this last minute call for help, he reminds us of how God came to our rescue and called us long before we could ever answer. 

The prisoner/apostle tells Tim how it is God “who saved us and called us to a holy calling” (v9). “Saved” has become such a part of the Christianese lingo that we’ve lost so much of it’s original meaning. It’s the Greek verb sozo, which describes a rescue from danger or bringing someone out from certain death. When Peter tried waterskiing without a boat and began to sink, he yelled to our Savior, “Lord save (Gr. sozo) me!” (Mt 14:30). We desperately needed saving after our first parents believed the lie of a satanic snake and thought God was holding out on us (Gen 3:1-7). The result? God’s perfect creation is broken and we’re the ones who did it. The universe needs fixing and we need to be rescued. One look at the internet every morning reminds of that horrible truth.

While the crime scene tape was still up in Eden, God promised to send a Hero to help us. He would send One who would eventually crush Satan’s skull (Gen 3:15). The rest of Scripture tells the Big Story of our Big Savior. That’s entire point of Bible. God the Father would eventually send His very own Son to save our bacon. The Second Person of the Trinity would leave the luxury of the heavenly palace and make the ultimate dumpster dive into the deep end of our sin. It’s the greatest search and rescue mission the universe has ever seen. Who saved us? God saved us.

Our Creator didn’t just drag us onto the bank and walk away. He wasn’t done with us. He also “called us to a holy calling” (v9). Seems straight from the Department of Redundancy Department, doesn’t it? A closer look at what Paul has to say reveals a very powerful and personal invitation to a very important assignment. God has “called” you and me. The original text uses a word (Gr. kaleo) which means to invite, summon individually, or select for a specific task or new relationship. God’s call isn’t some random invitation. This is no piece of metaphysical junk mail randomly addressed to “occupant.” 

Jesus personally asks us to join Him in His one-of-a-kind work. “A holy calling” (v8). You might think Paul is just talking about priests, nuns, bishops, preachers, and pastors. You know, professional Christ followers. Did you realize there’s really no secular/sacred divide when it comes to work? As believers, you and I are just as much on the receiving end of God’s holy calling as anyone wearing a collar, habit, pointy hat, or blow-dried mullet.

In other words, God has a job for us to do no matter what kind of job we have. We’re to be shiners of His light and spreaders of His salt whatever we do and wherever we go. We’re ALL called. Every single follower of Christ. You. Me. Us. Them. We’re all ministers. Paul’s buddy Pete likes to tell every believer, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called (Gr. kaleo) you out of darkness and into His marvelous light” (1Pet 2:9). No seminary degree required. Kinda changes your approach to work, doesn’t it?

While every follower of Jesus actually works for God, He doesn’t save us “because of our works” (v9). Think you’re up to saving yourself? All you have to do is follow everyone of God’s rules, laws, and commands. If you’re keeping score at home, there are 613 in the Old Testament. Add to those another 1,050 commandments in the New. And make sure you maintain 100% obedience. According to Jesus’ kid brother James, whoever “fails in one point has become accountable for all of it” (James 2:10). Raise your hand if you’ve got a perfect score. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? I didn’t think so.

So what’s the point of God’s commands if they’re not a to-do list for self-salvation? Think of His law as a diagnostic tool like an MRI or X-Ray. These amazing medical machines can’t cure you, but they certainly can tell the doctor what’s wrong. Paul tells believers in Rome, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:20). The law of God diagnoses our sin sickness. Our prognosis is terminal. 

There’s only one cure. What God’s law diagnoses, God’s Gospel heals. Or in Paul’s words, we’re only saved “because of His own purpose and grace” (v9). The word we translate as “purpose” (Gr. prothesis) literally describes something put in place prior or set down before everything else. It’s the idea of a publicly announced plan or something placed in full view for everyone to see. Think of a mission statement you see on a lobby wall in a business. God saves us because it’s His publicly announced mission. It’s His purpose. It’s His plan. You gotta love it when a plan comes together!

He comes to our rescue as a result of His “grace” (v9). Here’s yet another word we throw around the church that it loses it’s oomph. Grace is God’s totally undeserved and overflowing goodness to us. Remember, we’re rebels against His kingdom who deserve punishment (Eph 2:1-2, 12; Col 1:21). But while we were still shaking our fists in rebellion, Jesus came to save us (Rom 5:6, 8, 10). God isn’t some Scrooge when it to His grace. He loves to “show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:7-9). I need to stop bragging about what I’ve done and start celebrating at what He’s done!

God cooked up this crazy plan of saving us by His grace a long time ago. So long ago that there was even any time. This happened when “He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (v9). Just in case you missed His jaw-dropping generosity the first time, here it is again. The Great Giver lavishes it on us (v9). He gives us His Son (Jn 3:16). His Son gives us His life (1Jn 3:16). The Father and Son give us the Spirit (Jn 14:15-31). And because He gives, we’re to give. Stop being so stingy. With your time. With your talents. With your treasures. He gave them to us so we could give them away. We’re blessed to be a blessing.

Jesus did for us what we could never ever do for ourselves. While we’re complete failures at God’s rule-following, He’s a total Rock Star. In His most famous sermon of all-time, Christ announced He didn’t come as some sort of cosmic loophole to the law, but to do what we couldn’t. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Mt 5:17). Paul says it this way. God is BOTH the “Just and the Justifier” (Rom 3:26).

What does this mean? I can’t save myself. I would have a better chance of trying to jump to the moon (and I’ve got the vertical leap of a hippo!). But when I place my trust in Jesus, everything changes. He lives the perfect life I can’t. He dies the death for my sin I should have died. He rises to the new life I don’t deserve. That’s what God “gave us in Christ Jesus” (v9).

This all went down “before the ages began” (v9). Paul’s original phrase here (Gr. pro chronon aionion) gets translated several different ways:

“Before the world began” (KJV, NKJV).

“Long before the world began” (NLT).

“Before the beginning of time” (NIV).

“From all eternity” (NASB).

“Before times eternal” (BBE).

“Before the times of the ages” (YLT).

In other words, this all happened before God invented the measurement of time and started the clock. If you’re wondering, that’s a long time ago. A VERY long time ago! This is prehistoric grace!!

This isn’t the only place where the Bible talks about how God got to work saving us before the clock starting ticking. A few years back, Paul wrote to his Ephesian friends about God’s prehistoric grace. “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him” (Eph 1:4, emphasis added). He didn’t just choose us B.C. but B.T. And by B.T., I mean “before time.” You see, when your the Eternal Creator and the Inventor of time, you can do this kind of thing.

What He started before He started the clock, He promises to finish before time runs out. “God knew what He was doing from the beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love Him along the same lines as the life of His Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity He restored. We see the original intended shape of our lives there in Him. After God made that decision of what His children should be like, He followed it up by calling people by name. After He called them by name, He set them on a basis with Himself. And then, after getting them established, He stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what He had begun” (Rom 8:29-30 The Message).

Forget Jurassic Park. God rescued me with prehistoric grace.

The Original Night Rider

Timing is everything. What happens is often made important by when it happens. A joke is only funny when you deliver the punchline at the right time. Traders in the stock market must know when to buy and when to sell. You need to know when to take that steak off the grill. In sports, they call it being clutch. One of those amazing athletes that consistently comes through when his or her team needs it the most. In the words of Meg Rosoff, “Ask any comedian, tennis player, chef. Timing is everything.” As our man Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem, he doesn’t immediately hold a press conference announcing the plan to rebuild the broken walls and burned gates (Neh 2:11-16). No, instead he takes a break. He takes a breath. He takes a midnight ride. He knows it’s just as important in timing the breaking the news of his strategy as it is the strategy itself. The reason Nehemiah waits is that this is not his plan. God personally dropped this on him back in Persia. Nehemiah not only trusts God but in His divine timing. And God’s timing is everything.

Just a few months ago, Nehemiah was working as the cupbearer to King Artaxerxes 1,000 miles away in Persia (Neh 1:1, 11). But God turns his life upside down when his brother and his posse rolled into town fresh back from their trip to the Promised Land (Neh 1:2). They had a disturbing report about the crisis in Jerusalem (Neh 1:3). What was God’s glorious city on a hill is now a local joke. The walls are in rubble. The gates are in ashes. This breaking news about the broken walls breaks his heart (Neh 1:4). After Nehemiah spends days and days weeping, mourning, fasting, and praying (Neh 1:5-11), God opens the door for this lowly servant to pitch his plan to the most powerful man on the planet (Neh 2:1-4). That’s because timing is everything. Artaxerxes signs off on Nehemiah’s extended leave of absence but provides all the necessary paperwork for the project as well. As appreciative as he is of this pagan dictator’s overwhelming support, he knows who’s really behind not only the plan but the timing. “For the good hand of my God was upon me” (Neh 1:8). When Nehemiah hits the land called Beyond the Border, local officials immediately get worried (Neh 1:9-11). Political thugs like Sanballat and Tobiah have made a hobby out of their oppression of the Israelites. They weren’t exactly sure what Nehemiah was up to but it’s obvious that he was on some sort of mission to help the Hebrews. To say they were ticked off is a bit of an understatement. But Artaxerxes’ personal wine steward had his papers in order and something up his sleeve. He’s not putting all of his cards on the table just yet. That’s because Nehemiah not only trusts God but in His divine timing. And God’s timing is everything.

After his three-month caravan from Persia, Nehemiah eventually hits Jerusalem. “So I went up to Jerusalem and was there for three days” (v11). He goes “up to Jerusalem” because this ancient city sits on a couple of small mountains about 2,500 feet above sea level. He would be coming up from the Jordan River Valley which is actually 1,312 feet BELOW sea level at its lowest point. When you go to Jerusalem, you always go UP to Jerusalem. Nehemiah kicks back and chills out for three days once he arrives. First of all, that’s a VERY long trip from Susa. Flip back over to the prequel to this book and you’ll see that Ezra did the very same thing (Ez 8:32). He doesn’t hold a news conference. He doesn’t go on CNN or Fox News. God has given him a plan. We read that he hasn’t told a soul other than Artaxerxes what he’s up to. “And I had told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem” (v12). For three months and 1,000 miles, Nehemiah kept the specifics on a need-to-know basis only. And he was the only one who needed to know. He’ll get busy when the timing is right. 

Don’t blow past Nehemiah’s own description of his plan to rebuild the walls. This wasn’t his idea. He makes it clear that this was something “my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem” (v12). This isn’t his plan. This isn’t his idea. If it were up to him, he’d probably be pulling his regular shift as the king’s wine steward back at the royal palace in Persia. God put this grand plan in his heart. God is the One who’s behind it all! And His timing is perfect. We see it all throughout the Bible. “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son” (Gal 4:4). Once He was on His miraculous rescue mission, Jesus stayed focused on timing. He tells His mom, “My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:4). He tells his brothers, “My time has not yet come” (Jn 7:6). His best buddy John talks about the importance of Jesus’ timing (Jn 7:30; 8:20). And Jesus waits to make His spectacular encore because He wants to give everyone a chance to turn from their sin and turn to Him (2Pet 3:9). God put this plan in Nehemiah’s heart. And He probably also put the timing of his overnight inspection on his heart too. God’s timing is everything. 

Once Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem, he needs to do a little night recon. Remember, he’s never been here before. Long before David Hasselhoff and his super car Kit hit the TV screen, our man Nehemiah was the original Night Rider. “Then I arose in the night, I and few men with me…There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode” (v12). His posse sneaks out what’s left of the Valley Gate. That’s on the southwest corner of the city. They make a left and begin making a counterclockwise trip around broken walls. It becomes immediately obvious in the moonlight that things were bad. Very bad. “I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire” (v13). It was exactly how his brother Hanani had described (Neh 1:3). 

The Night Rider rolls on. Around the Dragon Spring. Past the Dung Gate (my guess is that he was moving pretty fast through here!). By the Fountain Gate. Near the King’s Pool. If the condition of the wall isn’t bad enough already, it gets even worse at this point. “There was no room for the animal that was under me to pass” (v14). At this point, Nehemiah dismounts and continues on foot to take a look at the section of the wall along the Kidron Valley. It’s apparently in such horrible condition that he wraps up his recon. “I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate” (v15). The Night Rider has seen enough. He knows what he needs to know. 

Nehemiah hasn’t told a soul what he’s up to or where he’s been. “And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were there to do the work” (v16). He apparently hasn’t told anyone who made the trip from Susa about his ultimate goal. He hasn’t told local officials why he’s in town. And he undoubtedly doesn’t want the Israelite enemies to find out exactly what he was up to. He’ll make his announcement very soon. He’ll meet with city leaders before too long. While there’s nothing specific mentioned here, I have a pretty good idea that Nehemiah did a boatload of praying at this point. He’s certainly done it before (Neh 1:4-11; 2:4). There’s every reason to think he’s doing it again. God is about to use Nehemiah to bring some serious hope and change to His people in Jerusalem. That’s because the original Night Rider not only trusts God but in His divine timing. And God’s timing is everything.