The Pariah and the Messiah

Searching for a Cure

Nobody has to tell you that need help. There’s just little problem. You don’t want to bother anybody. You’ve resigned yourself that your life is simply going to be miserable. Awful as it is, this is just how it’s going to be. You hate to even entertain the idea but this is probably how you’re going to die.

I mean, it’s not like you haven’t reached out for help since getting sick. You’ve searched the web for a cure, for a doctor, for a miracle. You’ve seen primary care physicians, specialists, homeopaths, and plenty of a few quacks along the way.

Out of Options

You’ve exhausted all of your options. You’ve drained your bank account and maxed out your credit card. And you’re still miserable. What’s even worse, you’ve gotten worse!

You’re not just suffering physical pain, but also the pain of loneliness. You’re an outcast in the community. You can’t even go to church. You haven’t been there in over a decade.

Maybe, Just Maybe

That’s basically sums up the situation one woman is facing in Mark’s bio of Jesus (Mk 5:25-34). But things are about to change. I mean REALLY change! She gets wind that the Miracle Worker from Nazareth is back in town. Maybe, just maybe, He’s her ticket to health.

Previously on the Gospel of Mark…

If you were binge-watching this on Netflix (and if there’s ANY story worth binging, it would be the story of Jesus…am I right?!?), this is where some golden throated big voice would say, “Previously on the Gospel of Mark…”

It all begins with Jesus’ crazy, bug eating cousin baptizing Him in the Jordan River. Suddenly the other two Members of the Trinity show up to celebrate the coming out party of the Son of God (Mk 1:1-9).

The Hot New Thing

Christ immediately beats feet into the desert where He stares down the devil for forty days (Mk 1:12-13). As He begins spreading His message about the arriving of God’s Kingdom (Mk 1:14-15; 4:1-33), our Savior assembles His ragtag team of misfits and knuckleheads (Mk 1:16-20; 2:13-14; 3:13-20).

Jesus suddenly becomes the hot new thing in Galilee (Mk 1:29, 37, 45; 2:1-2, 13; 3:7-9, 32; 4:1; 5:21, 24). He’s the teacher everybody wants to hear (Mk 1:21; 2:2). Christ heals the sick, diseased, and disabled (Mk 1:30-31, 34, 40-42; 2:3-12; 3:1-5, 10).

Upsetting the Status Quo

The Lord upsets the status quo wherever He goes. He sends demonic spirits packing every time you turn around (Mk 1:23-27, 34; 3:11; 5:1-16). He even freaks out His closest followers by shutting down a nasty, late night storm on the Sea of Galilee (Mk 5:35-40).

Because He didn’t check in with the home office in Jerusalem, all the religious muckety-mucks get their undies in a bundle. He breaks their rules by working on the Sabbath (Mk 2:23-24; 3:1-2), forgiving sin (Mk 2:5-8), feasting instead of fasting (Mk 2:18) and basically just hanging out with all the wrong crowd (Mk 2:16-17).

What’s worse, His own family thinks Jesus has lost His ever lovin’ mind (Mk 2:21; 3:31-32). Mary and the rest of the fam go so far as attempting an intervention.

A Big Crowd on the Beach

We pick things up with Jesus and His crew returning from their trip to the far side of Lake Galilee (Mk 5:21). A big crowd greets them as they arrive on the shore just outside Capernaum.

A Desperate Dad

The cheers are interrupted by a desperate dad. One of the leaders of the local synagogue, a guy named Jairus, pleads with Jesus to make a house call (Mk 5:22-24). His baby girl is at death’s door.

As Jesus, Jairus, and the rest of the mob head over to help the young lady, Mark wants us to notice someone weaseling her way to get close to Christ. The author also tells us why. “A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding” (v25).

It’s Gonna Get Messy

This part of our discussion comes with a warning label. What we’re about to talk about is very personal and extremely gross. Her bleeding is way more than just her regular menstrual cycle. She’s suffered with the so-called “time of the month” for twelve long and miserable years. Yeah, this is gonna get messy.

She’s not simply spotting. She’s bleeding BADLY. The NLT calls it “constant bleeding” (v25). You can literally translate that as “river of blood.” “Constant” is the Greek noun ρυσις/rusis. It means a steady flow of liquid in a certain direction, like the course of a river or strong current.

That’s the reason other translations refer to her problem as a severe “hemorrhage” (NASB, NRS, NET). For the past dozen years, she’s suffered from horrible menstrual bleeding. While we don’t know her exact condition, it could be anything from a chronic infection to cancer.

Religious Contamination

If her health problems aren’t enough, there’s also the religious implications. According to the Jewish scriptures (Lev 15:19-27), not only is a woman impure during her period, she remains unclean as long as she continues bleeding.

And that’s not all. She contaminates anything and anyone she touches. Her clothes. A mattress. A chair. Her husband. And she can’t go to the priest and have him ceremonially purify her until she’s stopped bleeding for seven days.

A Twelve Year Hemorrhage

This lady has lived as an outcast for twelve years. No friends. No family. No church. No physical touch. Just blood. Lots and lots of blood. Interestingly, we’ll see that she’s been hemorrhaging the same number of years that Jairus’ dying daughter has been alive (Mk 5:42).

From Bad to Worse

It’s not like this woman hasn’t tried to get help. “She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse” (v26).

And you think the American healthcare system is jacked up! She’s tried everything! Not only could doctors not heal her but they actually made her worse!! Dr. Luke diagnoses her condition as incurable and she was out of hope (Lk 8:43).

One Last Shot

As a result, she’s broken physically, financially, relationally, emotionally, and psychologically. But maybe just maybe, this radical new Rabbi/Carpenter can do something. Sure, it’s a long shot…but at least it’s a shot. One last shot.

“She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind Him through the crowd and touched His robe. For she thought to herself, ‘If I can just touch His robe, I will be healed’” (v27-28).

What If He Says “No”

All she’s really hoping for is a drive-by healing. She’s so broken and humiliated that she doesn’t need Jesus’ full attention. Maybe she doesn’t even want His attention. I mean, what if He says “no”?!? Most likely, she wants to keep it on the down low because she believes her touch will make Him unclean too.

Time and time again, we see people in the NT who hope for healing if they can only get their hands on the Lord (Mk 3:10; Lk 6:19). And they don’t even need to touch Him, only His clothes (Mk 6:56). That’s exactly this lady’s desperate plan. “If I can just touch His robe…” (v28).

A Supernatural Vending Machine

When we’re desperate, we can resort to the same sort of thing. Okay, maybe we’re not trying to grab Christ’s clothes. But I need to remember that the Lord isn’t some lucky rabbit’s foot. His blessing isn’t tied to whether I touch His robe, wear a cross around my neck, or light a candle at the cathedral.

We don’t rub Him like some sort of Jesus genie in a bottle who will give us three wishes. When that happens, we reduce the sovereign God of the universe into supernatural vending machine who gives us what we want, when we want, and where we want. Yeah, He doesn’t work that way.

In the Blink of an Eye

In the middle of the mob, the woman stretches her fingers out and snags the hem of Jesus’ robe. And something miraculous happens. “Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition” (v29).

In the blink of an eye and the touch of a robe, everything changes! No prescription. No “take two and call me in the morning.” IMMEDIATELY the flow of blood stopped!!

An End to the Gushing Gore

Once again, Mark describes just how gory her blood loss really was. This time he uses a word (Gr. πηγη/pege) translated “bleeding” which is normally used when talking about a spring, a fountain, or gushing liquid (Jn 4:6, 14; James 3:11-12; 2Pet 2:17; Rev 7:17; 8:10; 14:7; 16:4; 21:6).

Somehow, someway, her wound clots in a heartbeat. She could literally feel the difference. Could it be true? REALLY true?!?

Running Low on Healing Power?

At the same moment the woman can feel the change in her body, our Savior feels something too. “Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from Him, so He turned around in the the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched My robe?’” (v30).

Is the Lord worried He might be running low on supernatural power? Is He stressed that whatever just happened might drain His healing tank? Absolutely not. Christ doesn’t have a limited supply of ability. He’s not a finite power budget. His tank is always full to overflowing!

Doesn’t Jesus Know?

Anybody else scratching their head over His question, “Who touched My robe?” (v30)? As the Son of God, doesn’t Jesus know it was? I mean this IS the same Messiah who knows what people are thinking (Mt 12:25; 22:18; Mk 2:8; Lk 6:8; 11:17; Jn 2:25).

John MacArthur believes Jesus asked this question, not out of ignorance, but so that He might draw the woman out of the crowd and allow her to praise God for what had happened. In other words, the Lord knows it’s important for her to identify herself.

Think about it this way. Have you ever been embarrassed by what Jesus has done for you? Don’t be! It’s His story! Give Him the praise He deserves. Give Him the credit that rightfully belongs to HIm. It’s NOT about you! It’s ALL about HIM!!! You never know. God may use your story to convince someone else to seek His help.

They’ve ALL Touched You!

When nobody fesses up to touching Jesus’ robe, His closest followers think He should just drop it. “His disciples said to Him, ‘Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can You ask, ‘Who touched Me?’” (v31).

According to Luke, Peter is the one telling the Lord not to worry about it (Lk 9:45). You’ve GOT to be kidding, Jesus. Look at this crowd! Who touched You? They’ve ALL touched You!

Jesus won’t let it go. “But He kept on looking around to see who had done it” (v32). He just isn’t throwing in the towel. He desperately wants to meet whoever it is. Apparently Jairus’ dying daughter will just have to wait.

Shaking Like a Leaf

Suddenly, a terrified female nervously steps forward. “Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of Him and told Him what she had done” (v33).

She’s shaking like a leaf, figuring she’s in big trouble. How dare this lady barge in on Jairus and Jesus! Her hopes of an inconspicuous drive-by healing go down the toilet. Quivering with fear and embarrassment, she collapses in the dust at the feet of Christ.

The Whole Truth

At this point, she tells the Lord her story. You can just as easily translate how she “told Him what she had done” as she “told Him the whole truth” (v33 NIV, NASB, NRS, NKJV).

The woman holds nothing back and spills her guts. And you think Elsa is famous for letting it go. She tells Jesus everything. When the bleeding started. How gross and gory it got. How she’s struggled. Even her desperate dream to get a quiet cure without bothering Him. The whole truth.

Declaring Spiritual Bankruptcy

She’s a walking example of our Savior’s opening line of His most famous message. “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs” (Mt 5:3). We open ourselves up to God’s blessing when we declare spiritual bankruptcy.

This is exactly why the Lord wouldn’t just give it up and get going? He didn’t just want to heal her physically but wants the woman to experience spiritual healing as well. A key component of her cure is telling others what Christ has done for her.

Sharing Our Story Is Sharing His Story

We often hear how we are to share our story. Absolutely. But it seems to me it’s not so much mine. It’s actually His story. Once Jesus rescues me and makes me part of His spectacular narrative, I have no right keep quiet.

The story isn’t about me. It isn’t about you. Oh, it most certainly includes us, you can bet your life on that. But it’s HIS story. Pete puts it this way. “If someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way” (1Pet 3:15).

It Wasn’t His Wardrobe

When she’s done sharing all that God has done for her, Jesus responds. “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over” (v34). Christ wants her to know that it wasn’t His wardrobe that made her well. It wasn’t that at all.

It’s her faith. In other words, she trusted deep down that Jesus is the very source of God’s goodness and divine healing. She had a very simple and incredibly desperate trust in Him.

Faith That’s Legit

Jesus wants her to understand that it wasn’t the touch of His robe that stopped the bleeding. It was her faith in the Son of God. Somehow, someway, she believed whatever He chose to do would be for the best. She trusted that He wouldn’t hold back.

As goofy, incorrect, and immature as her faith in Jesus was, it was genuine. It was legit. It was the real deal. What a relief! Isn’t it good to know we don’t have to know the Four Spiritual Laws, memorize the Sermon on the Mount, and possess a seminary degree before Christ will hear our cry?!?!?

Our Faith Grows

Maybe you think you don’t measure up for a meeting with the Messiah. Sorry, you need to check a few more boxes, have a better LinkedIn profile, a better religious resume first. Check back later. Don’t call us. We’ll call you.

What He wants is a relationship. He wants us to know Him as well as He knows us. As we grow in knowing Him, He grows our faith in Him.

Peace, Out

Christ gives her one very powerful command. “Go in peace” (v34). Peace. There’s something she’s not experienced for the last twelve years. The struggle has been very real. But now the struggle is over.

She can now live her life in the peace that only God can provide. It “exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7). Yeah, THAT peace! Peace out!!

Your Call Is Important to Us

This lady knows that Jesus is NO take-a-number-and-I-will-get-to-you-when-I-have-a-moment God. Calling on Christ is NOT like calling customer service and getting stuck in telephone hell. “Your call is very important to us. We’re currently experiencing high call volume. We’ll connect you with the first available operator as soon as possible.”

Jesus is available NOW. I mean RIGHT NOW! THE Operator is standing by…just waiting to hear from you. He WANTS you to bother Him! He HOPES you’ll bother Him!!

If the Messiah can do it for this pariah, what do you think He can do for you?

Under Pressure

The Breaking Point

Pressure reveals flaws.  A multi-billion dollar nuclear submarine will eventually crack at its weakest point and implode under the incredible pressure of the ocean's depths.  

On a dark Thursday night, Jesus undergoes the greatest pressure ever known to man (Lk 22:39-46).  His Father pushes Him to the breaking point.

In these verses, Luke describes a pivotal night in human history.  What would happen Friday on a Roman cross could not have happened without Thursday night in a garden called Gethsemane.  

Jesus was perfectly obedient to His Dad's will throughout His entire life.  At no point did that obedience hang in the balance as it did that dark night.

After Dinner

At the end of His Last Passover seder, Jesus and the Twelve head to the Mount of Olives (v39).  This wasn't unusual.  As a matter of fact, Luke says this was His routine.  

Back in Luke 21:37, the good doctor describes how Christ and His companions slept there.  

The Mount of Olives sits just past the brook of the Kidron Valley opposite the temple mount.  On its upward slope is an olive grove that contains trees that today are estimated to be more than 1,000 years old.  

Tradition holds this to be the place where Jesus and His men went that Thursday night.

Prayer Takes Center Stage

When He arrived at "the place" (Gethsemane is not named in Luke), Christ gives them clear instructions.  "Pray that you may not enter into temptation” (v40).  They are to pray.  

He had already warned them at dinner that this was going to be a dreadful few hours.  

He told them that one of them would betray Him (Lk 22:21-22) and that Peter would deny Him, not once, but three times (Lk 22:31-34).  

Note that Jesus gives that very same warning again after He finishes His night of agony (v46).

Once again, prayer takes center stage in Luke's biography of Christ.  Over and over again, we see Jesus' prayer life on vivid display.  

There are important moments of prayer throughout the third Gospel, but none more agonizing and painful as the events in the garden.  Dr. Luke's description is so raw that at times we're almost embarrassed to be there.

Caution: Temptation Ahead

What exactly does Jesus mean when He encourages them to pray that they "might not enter into temptation?"  

The Greek word for “temptation” is πειρασμος/peirasmos.  It can mean either a period of trial or testing as well as temptation or enticement.  

We may be able to understand entering into temptation as succumbing to its power.  We don't fall until we give in to it.

However you slice it, prayer and the reliance on the strength of God is exactly what these men will need in the coming hours, days, and weeks.  That's exactly what the Twelve would need, God's power through prayer.

Let’s Get Physical

After Jesus gives the boys His instruction, "He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed" (v41).  He didn't go far.  

The disciples (probably just Peter, James and John according to the other Gospels), could hear exactly what He was saying and praying.  It's interesting that Jesus was not only praying out loud but VERY loud!  

And His posture was one of submission.  Kneeling is not required to pray, but it is one of the biblical descriptions of how prayer is physical.  Don't forget to involve your body in prayer.

The Cruel Cup

Jesus then Himself prays, or should we say, pleads with His Dad.  He begs Him to "remove this cup" if there is any other way (v42).  

Throughout the OT, the cup symbolizes God's wrath.  The prophets often speak of Israel or one of God's enemies suffering punishment as chugging His cup of righteous wrath (Ezek 23:31-34; Hab 2:16).

This time, the Father has placed this awful cup before His one and only Son.  In order to die a substitutionary death for the sin of all mankind, He must face the full brunt of God's horrific wrath.  

That includes the bloody torture at the hands of the Romans.  He must become sin.  He must face the rejection of His Father.  He must taste death in the dregs of that cup.  This is the cruel cup that Jesus must drink.

The Cosmic Cage Match

At this point, we must ask ourselves, what will Jesus choose?  Our eternity and salvation hangs in the balance on His decision.  

Some will say that there was never any doubt in what would happen.  But Jesus was both fully God and fully man.  A little something something theologians call the Hypostatic Union.  

This was cosmic cage match and our eternities hung in the balance.  What happened here in Gethsemane seems to be a renewal of Jesus' temptation by Satan in the desert.  

Remember how that one ended?  The devil "departed from Him until an opportune time" (Lk 4:13).  That time had come.  The evil one was back.  Big time.

How difficult is this moment?  Luke says that an angel shows up to help Him (just as in the desert!).  Jesus was in utter agony during this prayer (v44).  

Dr. Luke describes how Christ literally sweated blood. This is a very rare medical condition called hematosis which occurs during times unbelievable stress.  This was a prayer like no other.

Doing What Dad Says

Jesus willingly agrees to do what His Father has for Him.  It was His entire mission.  

Throughout His entire three-and-a-half year ministry, the Son of God continually pointed out that He was here to do His Dad's business.

I’m pretty sure this is exactly the moment the writer of Hebrews describes when when he says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Heb 4:15).  

And I think he confirmed that just a few verses later.  "In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death...Although He was was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered..." (Heb 5:7-8).

When God Squeezed Christ

Jesus was not only perfect, He was perfectly obedient.  His perfect obedience is a HUGE part of our imputed righteousness.  Without it, we have nothing.

It’s interesting that this all happened in Gethsemane.  This is an Aramaic word that means “olive press.”  It’s where they squeezed the olives to make oil.  

On Passion Week Thursday, it’s here that God squeezed Christ. When He did, what came out?  Our Lord poured out love for His Dad and love for us expressed as total obedience.

When We’re under Pressure

Squeeze an olive, out comes the oil.  Squeeze an orange, out comes the juice.  

What about you and me?  When we’re under pressure, what comes out?  The goal is that when you and I get squeezed, out comes Christ.

But that’s not always the case, is it?  Too often stress releases my anger, my fear, and my frustration.  That’s where His grace comes rushing in.  

When I place my faith in Jesus, I’m trusting in His total and perfect obedience.  As Paul tells Timothy, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful” (2Tim 2:13).

Our Savior lived the perfect life that I’ve failed to live.  He died the death for my sin that I should have died.  He rose to a glorious new life that I certainly don’t deserve.  

In what folks call the Great Exchange, God had His sinless Son take our sin and disobedience so that we would receive His perfection (2Cor 5:21).

The Ultimate Stress Test

When engineers want to test something, they put it under pressure.  They stress things in order to see what they will do in the most adverse conditions.  They want to know the breaking point.  

When the Father put His Son under unbelievable pressure late Thursday night of Passion Week, Jesus was obedient.  He has no breaking point.  And that is certainly Good News.

©2017 

Jay Jennings

Human Root Rot

“For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1Tim 6:10).

Anyone with a green thumb (Confession time: I am NOT one of them!) will tell you about the dangers of root rot. It’s a condition found in both indoor and outdoor plants. Rotten roots affect and infect the entire plant. Trunk. Branches. Leaves. Fruit. Root rot is both untreatable and fatal. Curiously, it’s caused by overwatering. Think about that. What kills the plant is actually something that should be good for it. 

Did you know that you and I can suffer from a form of root rot? It doesn’t come from standing out in the rain or taking long showers. If you’re like me, your parents were loud and clear that both of these are bad. No, human root rot is caused by a passion for cash. An obsession for possession. Greed. Or in the words of Paul, “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (v10). Just like in plants, rotten roots affect our entire being. It causes all sorts of problems. It leads me further and further away from Jesus. What kills us is actually something that can be good for us. The sad part is, we do it to ourselves. It’s a self-obsession that results in a self-inflected wound. The love of money is human root rot.

Paul’s words in this verse are often misquoted. Well, not so much misquoted and incompletely quoted. You’ve heard folks say, “Money is the root of all evil.” Money by itself isn’t evil. According to Moses, wealth is a gift from God (Dt 8:18). He blesses us to be a blessing to others. It’s the LOVE of it that gets us in big trouble. Things get WAY out of whack when we use people to love money. We’re to use our money to love people. Jesus went out of His way to say we’re not worship wealth. “You cannot serve both God and money” (Mt 6:24). Gold makes a terrible god. 

What you and I see in English as “the love of money” (v10) is actually just one word in the original language (Gr. philarguria). This compound term literally means “brother (phil-) of the shiny (-arguria)” or “lover of the silver.” It describes greed and avarice. If it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that bling, that’s a sure sign that you’ve got a bad case of human root rot. 

We see a slightly different form of the word a few other times in the NT. Jesus tells His crew that it’s impossible to serve both God and money, “the Pharisees, who were lovers of money (Gr. philarguros)” made fun of Him (Lk 16:13-14). In his followup letter to Tim, the apostle warns that just before Jesus returns for His encore, folks will become “lovers of self, lovers of money (Gr. philarguros), proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy” (2Tim 3:2). Looks like Christ will make His second coming during an election year. But I digress. Earlier in this letter, Paul uses a negative form of the word to tell Tim how an overseer must not be greedy and “not a lover of money (Gr. aphilarguros)” (1Tim 3:3).

Did you know there’s something MUCH more valuable out there than straight cash, homey. Relax, this isn’t an infomercial pitching precious metals like gold or silver. The apostle Christ called Rocky says our Savior paid something much more costly for our sin. “You were not ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1Pet 1:18-19). When it comes to currency, there’s nothing more costly. Our salvation may be a free gift we could never earn or buy (Eph 2:8-9) but it is ridiculously expensive. It cost Jesus everything.

Just as too much water causes serious problems for a plant, greed is the “root of all kinds of evils” for you and me (v10). Paul puts on his horticultural hat and uses the Greek word rhiza, which describes the underground part of a plant. It’s the structure of vegetation we can’t see that is its lifeline. The roots suck up water and nutrients from the soil to interact with the sunlight captured by the leaves. Don’t worry. This won’t be on the final. When Jesus cursed a fruitless tree, the disciples couldn’t believe their own eyes when they saw later how “the fig tree withered away to its roots (Gr. rhiza)” (Mk 11:20).

But the term also symbolically describes the cause, reason, origin, or source of a something. It’s the problem behind the problem. The disease causing the symptoms. The writer of Hebrews says anytime we fail to appreciate God’s descending one-way love, we provide just the right kind of soil where a “root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble” (Heb 12:15). When my heart turns greedy and ungrateful, it results in “all kinds of evil” in my life (v10). I can either treat the symptoms or pull the real problem out by the root.

If I don’t deal with the real cause, this bad root causes bad fruit. Paul tells the Galatians all about what the putrid produce of root rot. “Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these” (Gal 5:19-21). But when God’s Spirit goes to work, He produces a bumper crop of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Gal 5:22-23). The grace of Jesus and His Holy Spirit are the remedy for human root rot.

How bad will this root rot? According to Paul, “It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (v10). Some folks become so fixated on cash that they lose their way. Their chase of money leads them a long way from the Lord. Does that mean people can actually lose their salvation? Say it ain’t so! Well, this obsession with money reveals that God had never saved them in the first place. Or they could be followers of Jesus who get so distracted by the dollars that they take a long and painful detour in their journey. Don’t believe that’s possible? You may want to have a little chat with someone who’s earned the nickname of the prodigal son (Lk 15:11-32).

Not only have some people “wandered away from the faith” (v10), but they suffer from self-inflicted wounds. They have “pierced themselves with many pangs” (v10). Today we worry about people who harm themselves through cutting, picking, and suicide. The love of money results in self-mutilation. When we worship our bank account over Christ, our biggest enemy is the person in the bathroom mirror. Nobody else. I’m not saying the Evil One won’t bait the hook. But he can’t make you take the bait.

A couple of thousand years later, a group called The O’Jays sang a little ditty about human root rot called “For the Love of Money.” It’s an incredibly catchy tune about a terribly terminal condition. Get your groove on and sing along with them…

Money, money, money, money, money. 

Some people got to have it. 

Some people really need it.

Listen to me y’all, do things, 

do things, do bad things with it. 

You wanna do things, do things, 

do things, good things with it.

For the love of money, 

people will lie, Lord, they will cheat. 

For the love of money, 

people don’t care who they hurt or beat. 

For the love of money, 

a woman will sell her precious body 

for a small piece of paper. 

It carries a lot of weight. 

Call it lean, mean, mean green almighty dollar.

"For the Love of Money" by the O'Jays

Listen to Paul. Listen to The O’Jays. Avoid human root rot. 

Playing the Grace Card

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace (Eph 1:7).

There are few things more embarrassing that making a big purchase and the person behind the register tells you that your credit card's been denied.  

The conversation usually goes something like this:

You:  "Run it again.  I know it's still good."  

After a second swipe, the machine responds with an annoying beep.  

Clerk:  "Sorry, sir.  You're card's no good.  You're over your limit."

You:  "There must be some mistake.  Try it again."

Clerk:  "I'm very sorry, sir.  You're over your limit."

You scramble through your wallet for another card because you know you don't have the cash.  Nothing.  You're cooked.  You've been denied.  Insufficient funds.  You make the walk of shame away from the register and out the front door of the store.

Don't go all Dave Ramsey on me.  My wife and I cut up our last credit card several years ago.  

But here Paul lets us know that Jesus never comes up short when it comes to paying our sin debt.  He's got plenty in His account.  Gracious plenty.  

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace" (v7).  

Christ never gets denied when He plays the Grace Card. 

This verse is all part of the Tsunami of Blessings in Ephesians 1:3-14.  In one, long run-on Greek sentence, Paul can't contain himself in describing all of the many ways God has blessed us in Jesus.  

There's talk of predestination, our eventual holiness, His pre-love toward us, His adoption of us into His divine family.  

Once the apostle gets started, he just can't stop.  He's just washed away by the tidal wave of Jesus' goodness.  Can you really blame him?

The apostle begins the little phrase "In Him" (v7).  Tiny phrase.  Massive meaning.  In this letter alone, Paul uses this idea 28 times in one form or another.  He's talking about our union with Christ.  

Once we place our trust in the Person and work of the risen Rabbi/Carpenter from Nazareth, we're forever joined with Him.  So much so that when our heavenly Dad sees us, He doesn't see me.  He sees His sinless, spotless Son.  

"In Him" speaks to what smart dudes call our justification.  This is a legal term that describes a judge's verdict.  When we place our faith in Jesus, God pounds the gavel to announce our innocence.  

But this pronouncement means more than "not guilty."  To be justified also means that we've been perfectly obedient and good.  "In Him" (v7).  That's why these two words are a VERY big deal.

So what do we gain by being "in Him?"  Well, I'm glad you asked.  "We have redemption through His blood" (v7).  

Here Paul uses the Greek word απολυτωσις/apolutrosis.  It means the freedom gained through the payment of a ransom, the purchase of a slave for the purpose of setting them free, liberation and deliverance.  

Just as Lincoln was willing to make a great sacrifice of political capital to free the slaves in the American South, Jesus willingly paid the ultimate sacrifice to free us from our slavery to sin.

Here's the deal.  We're all slaves.  Every last one of us.  Slaves to sin (Rom 6:6, 20).  

There's absolutely nothing we can do gain our own freedom.  There's no hope for escape.  We need help from the outside.  

We need a liberator.  We need a redeemer.  And that person just happens to be Jesus, "in Whom we have redemption (Gr. απολυτροσις/apolutrosis), the forgiveness of sins" (Col 1:14).  

The old hymn is absolutely right.  Jesus paid it all.  He spilled His precious blood on a Roman cross to pay my sin debt.  That's what it means to play the Grace Card.  

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption (Gr. απολυτροσις/apolutrosis) that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom 3:23-24).  

Jesus truly paid it all.  For you.  For me.

The cost of our redemption is the very blood of Jesus.  It's only through His sacrificial death in our place that we have "the forgiveness of our trespasses" (v7).  

The reason Jesus purchases our freedom from sin is to forgive our sins.  Forgiveness.  

This is the Greek term αφεσις/aphesis.  Remission.  Pardon.  Release from bondage or imprisonment.  Cancellation of guilt.  All paid for by our Savior.  

He lived the life we should have lived.  He died the death we should have died.  But did He really have to die?  Wasn't there some other way to pay this debt?  

For God to forgive sin, something or Someone must die.  He makes it clear in the Old Testament.  "It is the blood that makes atonement for life" (Lev 17:11).  

He leaves little doubt in the New.  "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Heb 9:22).  Somebody's gonna pay for my sin.  

I can either accept what Jesus did in my place.  Or I can open my own wallet.  I think you can see how this is gonna go down.

But when Jesus dies for us, what kind of forgiveness does the Lord give us?  God uses the prophet Micah to describe the scope of His forgiveness of our sin in Jesus.  "You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea" (Mic 7:19).  

Sin overboard!  I don't see anyone running to grab a life preserver, do you?  Didn't think so.  

The psalmist uses geography to paint a picture of God's forgiveness.  "As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us" (Ps 103:12).  I don't need Google Maps to tell me that's a REALLY long way!  

The forgiveness Jesus grants me has no expiration date.  "He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption" (Heb 9:12).  

And Jesus' work of sacrifice for our sins will be the theme of songs in heaven, "for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God" (Rev 5:8).

You might be worried that you've done a lot of sinning in your life.  Some folks think they are beyond Jesus' reach of salvation.  

Forget that.  He saves us "according to the riches of His grace" (v7).  

Here's the deal.  Jesus doesn't worry about running out of grace.  He's not working on a grace budget.  He doesn't need to save some for a rainy day.  

When it comes to grace, He's filthy, stinking rich.  What's the result?  We can't out-sin Him.  There's nothing we can do that's makes us unsavable.  

He never checks His grace account before making the payment.  His grace card won't be denied at the register.  

That means that Jesus is a better Savior that you are a sinner.  He's always able to save.  ALWAYS!

Later in this note to the folks in Ephesus, Paul lets us know that Jesus' Grace Card has no limit.  When Christ returns He will "show the immeasurable riches of His grace" (Eph 2:7).  

God can't max out His grace account.  It has so much in it that you can't measure it.  Don't worry your little head about your sin being too much for His grace.  Not possible.

That's what happens when Jesus plays the Grace Card.

©2013

Jay Jennings