Going All Gangster

The Chicago Overcoat

If you’re a fan of gangster movies, you know what it means to go swimming in cement shoes. There’s also the infamous Chicago overcoat. No, these aren’t the latest in men’s fashion. Instead, they’re mafia methods to make someone disappear forever.

It goes a little something like this. Criminals attach some form of concrete to their enemies and chuck them into a body of water. Oh, and did I forget? They would do this while you still alive.

Going All Gangster

Not even Michael Phelps is a strong enough swimmer to survive. The massive weight drags you to the bottom, never to be seen again. Pretty gruesome, don’t you think?

Did you realize that Jesus actually threatens to do something even worse? In a conversation with His crew, Christ warns against getting in the way of someone’s trust in Him. When God gets done with the offending party, he’ll wish he’d gone swimming in cement shoes (Mk 9:42).

Yup. That’s right. I guess we can say the Son of God is prepared to go all gangster.

A Conversation with Christ

This threat comes as our Savior and His personal posse are meeting in Capernaum, the quiet fishing village on the northern shore of Lake Galilee (Mk 9:33). He starts the discussion by setting the boys straight on how God sees greatness. First is last. The lowest servant is the greatest leader (Mk 9:34-35).

Jesus then hugs a small child in front of His team and tells them anytime we open our lives to those who can’t do anything for us, we’re throwing out the welcome mat to both the Son of God and His Dad as well (Mk 9:36-37).

Competition in the Kingdom

That leads to a VERY awkward moment in the conversation. John brags to the Lord about the time the disciples shut down some dude who had the gall to drive out demons in Jesus’ name while not being on the active roster of the Twelve (Mk 9:38).

But Christ tells the guys there’s no competition in God’s kingdom. Anytime we see someone loving people and pointing them to Him, we should never stop never stopping them (Mk 9:39-41).

Dead Weight and Deep Sea Diving

Which leads us to Jesus’ rather menacing comment about dead weight and deep sea diving. “But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in Me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck” (v42).

A Very Big Point

First of all, we need to know just who are “these little ones” He’s talking about. This is actually the Greek word μικρος/mikros. It’s actually where we get our term “micro.” You know, like microscope and microprocessor.

You don’t have to have a PhD in biblical languages to know this word means tiny or small. In other words, just like the kiddo He’s just wrapped His loving arms around (Mk 9:36-37). He’s about to make a very big point about “these little ones” (v42).

A Vulnerable Faith

Just like in that passage, it’s easy to think Christ is simply talking about small children. He is…but WAY more than just them. According to Heinrich Meyer, this is Jesus’ way of describing anyone who has a modest, simple, and vulnerable faith.

David Garland puts it like this. These are the people on the fringe. The ones no one misses when they’re not there. The ones who are tolerated but not embraced. You may heard people describe some folks as “EGR.” You know, Extra Grace Required.

Jesus wants us to know there are no insignificant believers in His eyes. Every single one has unspeakable value. Nobody cares more for them more than He does. How we treat “these little ones” (v42) is a BIG deal!

You. Me. Us. Them.

Our Savior gets a little more specific when He describes these particular spiritual kids as those “who trusts in Me” (v42). He’s talking about those who have a tender or simple faith in Him, just like a small child who readily and willingly trusts in Jesus to take care of them and do what’s best for them.

The Lord encourages children of all ages to have a childlike faith in Him (Mt 18:3, 14; Mk 10:15; Lk 18:17). The old Sunday school song is right. Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. You. Me. Us. Them.

Believing in Jesus

So just what does it mean to trust in Christ? We throw that idea around a lot without much explanation. This is probably a good spot to pull over and unpack the concept of believing in Jesus.

First of all, it’s NOT about the strength of our faith. I mean, how strong is a small child anyway? It’s pretty easy to bully them into giving away what they have. But this is way more than stealing their lunch money. Since that’s the point of Jesus’ warning here, we’ll get back to that in just a moment.

The Object of Our Faith

It’s all about the object of our faith, not the amount of faith we can scrounge up. For instance, I can have all the faith in the world that I can start at center for Lakers. But that’s NEVER happening for this 5-foot-10, 60-year-old with the vertical leap of a hippo.

It’s about WHOM we trust. And there’s no better WHOM than Jesus. I trust that He lived the perfect life of obedience to God’s law that I’ve failed to live. I trust He died the brutal death for my sin that I should have died. I trust that He rose to the glorious new life that I don’t deserve.

The Great Exchange

My trust in Him doesn’t stop there. I place my complete confidence in Christ as the Lord of my life. That means doing what He says, knowing that He’s leading me with love and wants what’s best for me.

A guy named Paul makes the point that when place our total trust in God’s sinless Son, He exchanges our disobedience and rebellion for His goodness and perfection (2Cor 5:21). It’s been called the Great Exchange. Sure seems like a massive understatement.

God Never Lets Go

And get this, Jesus knows my own trust in Him will wobble and fail. That’s why Paul reassures fellow followers about our not-so-steady walk of faith. “If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny who He is” (2Tim 2:13). God NEVER let’s go of me, no matter how many times I fail.

Tossing Away Our Trust

Now that we have a handle on who the children are and what it means to believe in Jesus, the Lord warns us against causing them “to fall into sin” (v42). This isn’t the usual word we see in the NT for sinning or falling short of God’s standard.

The Greek verb here is σκανδαλιζω/skandalizo, which means to cause another person to stumble or lead someone into something wrong. And not just a little oopsie. This is enticing them to do something that causes them to keel over and toss away their trust in Christ once and for all.

A Spiritual Landmine

It comes from a root word (Gr. σκανδαλον/skandalon) which describes the trigger or trip wire of a booby trap or a stumbling block. This isn’t just stubbing your toe. It’s a hidden object like rock that you causes you to face plant. Think of it as a spiritual landmine hidden to do eternal harm.

And if you’ve been following along in the story, causing someone young in their faith to self-destruct is exactly the opposite of receiving them with open arms (Mk 9:37). Jesus will also use σκανδαλιζω/skandalizo in His rather gory description of spiritual amputation (Mk 9:42, 44, 47). So we might want to keep this handy.

A Tender Trust

 

So there you have it. Jesus warns anyone who tempts and terrorizes those with a tender trust in Him. The Message version cuts to the chase. “If you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t” (v42 The Message).

Whoa. Can’t say we haven’t been warned. I don’t know about you but it makes me slam the brakes and wonder if and when I may have bulldozed folks with a fragile faith in Jesus. How ‘bout you?

It Would Be Better for You…

If so, the Lord lays it all out for us. “It would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck” (v42 emphasis mine). Gulp. Trust me. It’s right there IN THE BIBLE!

It can’t mean that, right? Shouldn’t this be one of those times when digging into the original language actually reveals our Savior’s softer, gentler side? Yeah, good luck with that. Sure, I’ll bite. Let’s see what it says.

A Donkey Stone

We probably should start with that whole millstone thing, don’t you think? This is actually a pair of Greek words. The first is μυλος/mulos and describes the large, flat, EXTREMELY heavy stone you’d find in a mill to grind the grain.

The second word (Gr. οινικος/onikos) just reinforces the massive size and weight of this stone. It literally means “of a donkey.” The mill actually has two stones. There’s a smaller one on the bottom. On top, is one that’s such a monster that you need livestock in order to turn it. That’s the one that does the pulverizing.

Jesus is talking about that upper, bigger millstone. How big? There’s archeological evidence that these were as large as four to five feet in diameter. “Millstone of a donkey” is right. That’s a big ass stone!! (Oops, did I actually type that?!?)

A Two-Ton Necklace

But before we try to find a spotter and lift that bad boy, this won’t be a traditional workout with free weights. So put down the bar. This sucker will be “hung around your neck” (v42).

I’m not sure if your head goes through some hole in the center or if they may tie it to a rope or chain like a two-ton necklace. The phrasing here simply paints a ponderous picture of wearing something all the way around your neck. It puts the sink in synchronized swimming.

A Limestone Life Preserver

If you’re a baseball fan, you know how a player who goes hitless wears the collar. Let’s just say you’ll wish you had a bad day at the plate compared to this!

Once they fit you with your new neckwear, you’ll be “thrown into the sea” (v42). This is where that whole idea of swimming in cement shoes comes in. It’s basically like someone handcuffing you to a limestone life preserver and tossing you into the deep end from the high dive.

A Common Form of Capital Punishment

So where in the world did Jesus get whole millstone-man-overboard idea? Apparently this is form of capital punishment is all the rage back in the First Century. While there’s no evidence the Jews used it, the Greeks, Romans, and Syrians sure did.

As a matter of fact, some historians believe that’s exactly what happened to a rebel leader named Judas of Galilee. Gamaliel mentions how Rome snuffed him out in Acts 5:37. He would have gone deep sea diving against his will around 6 AD, so other Galileans like Jesus and the Twelve would know all about it.

The Better Option

Even if that’s not what Christ is talking about, the boys certainly get the picture. Remember, they’re in the fishing village of Capernaum when this conversation takes place. Most of them make their living on the water. The huge freshwater lake known as the Sea of Galilee is right outside the window.

They have no doubt that it won’t be pretty if someone makes the mistake of coming between God and His relationship with one of His more vulnerable followers. I don’t know about you but drowning seems like one of the most terrifying ways to go.

But here’s the deal. This is the better option than letting God get His hands on you. Think about that for just a minute. When we realize what our Creator is going to do, we’ll actually slip on the millstone choker and take a long run off a short pier without any encouragement.

The Best Big Brother

That’s exactly how much the Almighty cares about the not-so-mighty. It’s just how He rolls. He loves going against conventional wisdom by working through weak (1Cor 1:26-27). At His coming out party, Jesus says His Dad sent Him for the express purpose of rescuing the poor, the prisoners, the disabled, and downtrodden (Lk 6:18-19).

If that’s you, how great is it to know the Son of God has got your back! The best Big Brother in the history of the universe promises to handle any bully who pushes you around on this playground we call Planet Earth.

Caring for Our Kids

So if our Savior promises to protect “these little ones” (v42), shouldn’t we do the same? Darn tootin’. First of all, let’s start with the children He’s placed into our care, both in the family and in the local church.

As parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, we need to keep a watchful eye on our kids. That doesn’t mean duct-taping them in bubblewrap but only exposing them age appropriate activities. And all along the way, let’s be incredibly intentional in telling them all about the One who loves them even more than we do.

For the children God has entrusted to us in our churches, let’s go out of our way to make sure they are safe. What security measures do we have in place so that parents have peace of mind? Do we screen our leaders?

Spraying Spiritual Roundup

Beyond that, how do you respond to those who have a tender trust in Jesus? Are you protective of their faith? Do you simply ignore their vulnerability and do what you want?

In a letter to new believers at a church in Corinth, Paul warns we should not do anything could potentially trip up those who are newer in their journey with Jesus (1Cor 8:9-13). Too many times we spray spiritual Roundup when we should provide them protection like a greenhouse so they can grow and flourish.

God’s Got This

Let me be VERY clear about one thing. Jesus is NOT telling us to make sure we have a handy dandy supply of millstones and a few bags of Quikrete in the storage closet. When it comes to the punishment, He’s got this.

In the lyrics of one scriptural tune, the songwriter asks God to protect those who can't protect themselves. “Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people” (Ps 82:3-4).

When the Lord comes to their rescue, He promises to punish those cause them pain. If you think going swimming with cement shoes sounds awful, think again. It’s the better choice compared to what God will do when He goes all gangster.

©2019

Jay Jennings

The Eternal Standing O

“The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (2Tim 4:18).

And the Crowd Goes Wild!

A spectacular performance results in an enormous ovation. Like the packed house at a concert jumping to its feet when the band rocks their encore. Like the standing-room-only crowd at a stadium celebrating a score. The better the show, the longer the cheers.

You might think this would be the last thing a prisoner on Death Row would be writing about. There’s not much to celebrate when you’re in your final days of walking the Green Mile. Prison? Cheers? Ovations? Celebrations? Unless you’re the Apostle Paul.

A Letter from Death Row

It’s late in the year 67 AD. The place is Rome, specifically a nasty dungeon known as the Mamertine Prison. Paul is a condemned man (2Tim 4:6-7). He’s writing one last letter to his spiritual son, a young preacher named Timothy (2Tim 1:2).

While he’s desperate for one last chance to see him (2Tim 4:9, 21), the apostle knows his situation is about to change. Drastically change. Radically change. “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen” (v18).

Busting out of the Joint

Paul knows he’s getting out of the joint soon. Very soon. But not because the emperor will grant him a pardon. Not because a judge will overturn his conviction. Not because of some plot to bust him out of the joint. No, he’s not walking through the prison doors to freedom. He’s walking through the door of death and into the gates of Heaven.

Jesus is coming to his rescue as He’s done so many times before. But this time it’s different. This time it’s permanent. This time it’s paradise. And when Christ carries him home, the apostle is going to cheer like never before. He’s going to celebrate God with the rest of creation.

The applause will be loud and long because the performance has been unmatched. Great big cheers for our great big God. It’s going to be the Eternal Standing O. And nobody deserves it like Jesus.

Double Deliverance

Maybe you’re wondering the reason behind all the raving applause. Specifically, Paul says it’s because “the Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom” (v18). This is double deliverance. Out of evil. Into joy. Talk about going from worst to first!

First of all, the apostle tells Tim how Jesus is the ultimate Lifeguard who “will rescue me” (v18). He uses a Greek verb here (Gr. ρυομαι/ruomai) which means to bring someone out of severe danger, deliver, draw out of desperation. 

It actually comes from a root word which describes a fast-moving current, rip tide, or raging river. Picture a lifeguard jumping down out of the tower and sprinting into the surf.

The Gospel according to Baywatch?

Okay, I realize this conjures up images of David Hasselhoff and the Baywatch gang running in slo-mo down the wearing red swimming suits. But seriously, have you ever seen a highly trained lifeguard risk their own life to save someone who’s struggling to survive in the surf? Maybe you’ve been the one they’ve brought back and rescued.

When your lungs are filling with water, a lifeguard doesn’t stand up in his chair and shout swimming instructions to you over a bullhorn. This is no time to learn the backstroke or butterfly. You don’t need an education. You need a rescuer who will get personally involved and come to you!

Jesus to the Rescue

That’s exactly what Jesus has done for Paul, for you, and for me. When we were drowning in the sea of our own sin, He didn’t yell for us to swim harder. Christ jumped up from lap of Heaven’s luxury and dove headlong into the mess we made in order to save us.

We can’t save ourselves. None of us can. Not you. Not me. Not them. We can give it everything to get out of this rip tide of rebellion but it won’t happen.  We don’t earn our rescue. We can’t obey our way to safety. The only way we’re going to make it is when our Lord does what He does best. Save. That is, after all, why we call Him our Savior!

The Great Exchange

Our salvation is all part of a crazy swap that some folks refer to as the Great Exchange. In one of his letters to Corinthian Christ followers, Paul talks about how Father God had His sinless Son grab our utter rebellion and give us His absolute obedience (2Cor 5:21). 

He does for us what we could never do for ourselves. Christ doesn’t teach us how to swim. He dives in to take our sin. But He doesn’t stop there. Jesus graciously exchanges our badness for His goodness. I told you it was a crazy swap.

But there’s a bit of problem. Too many of us don’t think we need to be saved. We don’t realize we’re being carried away by the current. When Jesus comes to our rescue, we tell Him to leave us alone. We’re fine. We fight against Him like so many drowning victims struggle against the lifeguard. Relax. He’s got you.

Dirty Deeds

Paul points out that he’s counting our Savior to pull his sorry carcass out of danger from “every evil deed” (v18). Not just some evil deeds. We’re talking all of them. Every. Single. One. If you’ve been following the apostle’s current situation, that would include anything thrown at him by guys like Alexander who’s been a real pain (2Tim 4:14).

When we serve the Lord and start spreading His message, we’re going to face opposition. Moments before He’s betrayed and murdered, Jesus warns His team how they can expect to be hated since the world hates Him (Jn 15:18-20). 

Christ also tips us off to our supernatural enemy known as Satan. The devil is out to steal, kill, and destroy anything and everything that has to do with God’s kingdom and Jesus’ followers (Jn 10:10).

Self-Inflicted Wounds

But there’s a massive pile of “evil deeds” (v18) from which the Lord saves us as well. Those self-inflicted wounds. Those dirty deeds I’ve done to myself. Paul tells believers in Rome of his own struggle with sin after Jesus saved him (Rom 7:14-20). He desperately wants to do the right thing but all too often he is his own worst enemy.

Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt. Taken the t-shirt to Goodwill. Too often my biggest enemy is the goofball looking back at me in the morning mirror. As if I don’t have enough problems dealing with a culture which opposes Christ and the devil, I’m also in a cage fight with my own flesh.

The apostle reassures Tim that Jesus will eventually rescue us from all of them. Sound familiar? Paul seems to echo the words of Christ when He coaches up His crew on prayer. The Lord closes His model prayer by saying, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver (Gr. ρυομαι/ruomai) us from evil” (Mt 6:13).

From the Outhouse to the Penthouse

The man from Tarsus goes on to say that the Lord won’t just pull him out of trouble and leave him there. Picture an accident scene on the shoulder of a busy interstate. A good samaritan pulls an unconscious person out of a burning car. But instead of calling 9-1-1 and waiting for an ambulance, the dude drives away, leaving the victim in his rearview mirror.

Paul knows our Savior won’t just save his eternal bacon but promises to “bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom” (v18). This is double deliverance we talked about earlier. From the outhouse of evil. To the penthouse of paradise. Just like we can’t imagine what the Son of God left to come to our rescue, there’s no way we can wrap our minds around what it will be like to spend eternity with Him.

Draw Us out to Draw Us in

The phrase in the ESV “bring me safely” is actually one single word in the original language. And it’s a very familiar word: σωζω/sozo. The writers of the NT drop this little jewel a grand total of 118 times. So yeah, it’s kind of a big deal.

This is the word we normally translate as “save,” as in Jesus “will save (Gr. σωζω/sozo) His people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). It’s Peter’s cry for help when his own attempt at water walking doesn’t go so well. “Lord, save (Gr. σωζω/sozo) me!” (Mt 14:30). There goes Jesus being a lifeguard again!

Christ pulls us out of our own sin in order to pull us close to Himself. As Matt Chandler says, He draws us out in order to draw us in. That’s because Jesus wants to give us Himself. Forget all the other bennies you’ve heard about Heaven. Gates made of massive pearls. Golden pavement. Crystal rivers. The most awesome thing about eternity is God. Being with Him is THE Blessing! Nothing else comes close.

Death as the Doorway

So instead of freaking out about his certain execution date, Paul explodes in praise to his Savior! “To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen” (v18). The closer he gets to it, the more he realizes his death is simply a doorway to eternity with the Son of God. It’s that same thought that’s behind the tough he mentions to his Philippian friends. “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21).

Because of who Jesus is, all He’s done and all He’s going to do, Paul says the resurrected Rabbi/Carpenter deserves an unlimited ovation. When we give God glory He so rightly deserves, we do everything we can to make Him famous. We raise up His name higher than any other. We shine the light on His righteous rep. We use our lives as a magnifying glass so that others can get a good look at the Lord.

Glory Words

We celebrate our Savior “forever and ever” (v18). The apostle actually repeats the same word (Gr. αιων/aion). You can easily translate this as “eternity and eternity.” In other words, we’re to join the unending, everlasting cheers for Jesus. It’s been going on longer than anyone can remember. And it’s not stopping anytime soon. This is the Eternal Standing O that only Jesus deserves.

Paul busts loose with this little ditty which theologians like to call a doxology. That’s a two-dollar word that simply means “glory words.” You bump into doxologies all throughout the Bible. Sudden explosions of praise which detonate whenever one of the writers of Scripture can no longer contain themselves when considering who God is and what He has done.

They’re littered all over the Old Testament (Ex 15:18; 1Chr 29:10-13; Ps 41:13; 72:18-19; 89:52; 106:48; 146:10; 150:1-6; Is 6:3). The words of glory keep on keeping on when you flip over to the New Testament. In the Gospels (Mt 21:9; Mk 11:9-10; Lk 2:14; 19:38). In the letters (Heb 13:20-21; 1Pet 4:11; 2Pet 3:18; Rev 4:8-11; 5:9-14; 7:12; 19:1). The apostle is personally responsible for this and four more (Rom 11:36; 16:25-27; Eph 3:20-21; Phil 4:20; 1Tim 1:17).

Never Stop Never Stopping

Long before Andy Samberg’s mockumentary, the inspired biblical writers were all about never stop never stopping when it comes to giving God the glory. It’s the never-ending applause for the only One who really rates. It’s the everlasting cheers for the only One who is truly entitled. It’s the Eternal Standing O that only Jesus deserves.

It’s amazing what happens when I get my eyes off my pathetic little pity party and look up to my awesome Savior. Can we be honest? Whatever you and I are facing probably finishes a distant second to Paul’s situation as he writes this letter. 

If he can spontaneously combust in worship of Jesus while walking the Green Mile, what’s stopping you and me?

©2017 Jay Jennings