Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith (Mark 7:24-30)

Did Jesus reject any Gentile? No, never. The Roman centurion was honored when he asked for mercy to his one of servants who was ill. In the Old Testament, General Naaman was healed from his leprosy. This Syrophoenician woman was honored of her request on behalf of her daughter who was demon-possessed. There is only one God for all people. Jesus loves all kinds of people. He never rejects anyone by race, gender, or wealth. What he sees and searches for is faith in heart. Hebrews Chapter 11 Verse 6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” This passage tells us who is truly honored in the kingdom of heaven and who is acceptable and suitable in his kingdom.

“Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. ‘First let the children eat all they want,’ he told her, ‘for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.’ ‘Lord,’ she replied, ‘even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Then he told her, ‘For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.’ She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.” (Mark 7:24-30)

Trye and Sidon are in Lebanon now. Syrian Phoenicia was a highly civilized and tech culture, largely polluted by the hideous idol worship and perverted sexual practices. The demons were actively ruining and haunting the people’s lives in a greater scale. The queen Jezebel was from Sidon and incited her husband King Ahab to abandon the worship of Yahweh and promote worship of the deities Baal and Asherah on a national scale. The impure spirits are blowing a great punch on the people both young and old in this age, the twenty-first century, just as what had been happening in these regions in the first century. We are in troubles, injustice, greed, conflict everywhere we take turn to. The substance addiction and mental illness are out of control, the doctors are no help at all. Nor families. Nor the government. We call it opioid crisis! 

In the days of our Lord Jesus, no foreign powers like Egypt, Assyria, Rome can help either. In fact, no humans can help others. No tech can help. Only Jesus can help at all! That is the only help available for all human beings. Why so? Because Jesus is a compassionate God who became in the likeness of man. And he obeyed the Father God to the point of death. He shed his blood though which man is saved from this corrupt world caused by sin. The blood of the Son Jesus Christ has rekindled the love of God who gives generously eternal life to those who believe in him. 

How did Jesus treat her? At first, it seems brutal, mean, cruel, and racially biased. But he is not at all. None of those languages fit into what the Scriptures say about the Lord Jesus Christ. “For it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs,” says the Lord. He is simply telling the truth. The children of God are those who obey the commandments of the Lord by the faith in Christ Jesus. The children are not born in the flesh and blood but in the faith. Only the legitimate children who are born of God are allowed to have the great banquet in heaven. We must be born again of God to enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:3).

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12-13)

It is also a test for her faith in the Lord Christ. The one who receives the grace and mercy of God is who knows and believes that they are unworthy and underserving in the sight of God, as it is told in Matthew’s Gospel Chapter 5 Verse 3. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Since they know the truth, they do not demand grace but ask for mercy. Our Lord Jesus never treats anyone harshly but truthfully and lovingly. As the Scripture tells, “He is speaking the truth in love.” (Ephesians 4:15) He is so kindly loving that he did not spare his life but gave up to the point of death as the full ransom price for the sin of the world. The Father God gives eternal life to those who believe in the Son who he sent. This is the test for mankind. Because in man there is nothing for credit, totally bankrupt before God. That is what our father Abraham was rewarded for. 

“Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)

God owes us nothing but hell. But our God is gracious and compassionate that whoever asks him will receive in abundance. The woman answered, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” She humbly admitted that she did not deserve and was unworthy to ask for the grace to the Lord. What she asked for Jesus was the healing of her own daughter through the divine intervention. She asked for Jesus to drive out the impure spirits. Her faith is genuine because she believed only Jesus could do such a healing from the demon-possession.

Our God is looking for those who are humble and meek, asking for his grace and mercy. God will answer their prayers without fail. Because he promises so in the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 5.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3-10)

Furthermore, Jesus also promises that he will give rest if we take his yoke and learn from him. Because he is gentle and humble. 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

In Christ, we have already been made to inherit the treasures in heaven. We have already been made to inherit the eternal life in heaven. The good news is that it does not start when we die but from the beginning when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. As a hymn reads, 

“Eternal life, begun below,

Now fills my heart and soul.

I’ll sing His praise forevermore

Who has redeemed my soul.” 

God honors those who live by faith, not by sight and who obey him, trusting in him. Even now, God honors us when we act lovingly and kindly and truthfully to others just like our Lord Jesus does for us ever and ever. The evidence for the woman was that her daughter was healed and the demon gone, no more, just as she was told by Jesus. “You may go, the demon has left your daughter.” What an authority Jesus has! The demon trembled at the voice of the Son of God and left and no more.

This would not be the end of story. Another challenges and troubles may have come to the woman and her daughter. Every time she faced a trouble, she would have done the same thing, asking for his grace. Maybe through prayers and petitions to him with audible voice or without. And the Lord Jesus answered her prayers sometimes on time and other times with delay. In this process of living together with the Lord she would have grown her faith in Christ stronger and deeper and higher. 

July 27, 2019

© 2018-2019 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.

He Giveth and Giveth and Giveth Again (Mark 7:1-23)

Tradition or freedom? Keeping tradition is honorable and peaceable. For example, paying respect to the elderly is good and desirable. But when it becomes involuntarily or forcefully mandatory it can be deadly and detrimental. The law of God is good, but no one can keep up with no matter how hard bidding. All turns out a mere trying. But there are many who think that they can. The Pharisees are the ones who enforce the people to keep the traditions and regulations of the elders. Thinking of themselves as law-keepers (blinded and being ignorant by the outward appearances), they watch over others vigilantly and guardedly. They are like religious secret police. Catching up anyone in violation, they turn on the people, accusing them sternly and severely and even threatening them to excommunicate. This no doubt shall cause hypocrisy and coverup because they know from deep inside it is not working. The Scriptures warn that it is hardening of the heart of man. It is enslavement to the law. What is the remedy? How can man be free? The truth will set free. How do we know the truth? Jesus says, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) So, we shall hold on to his words because they shed lights for discernment and knowledge. 

“The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.) So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, ‘Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?’ He replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: 

‘”These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

They worship me in vain;

their teachings are merely human rules.”

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.’

And he continued, ‘You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, “Honor your father and mother,” and, “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.” But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)—then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.’ 

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, ‘Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.’

After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. ‘Are you so dull’ he asked. ‘Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.’ (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

He went on: ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.’” (Mark 7:1-23)

In this passage, Jesus reveals what truly defiles man. The religious leaders believe that men and women in the nation of Israel who don’t keep the law externally like washing hands shall be condemned. That is what is going on here where the disciples of Jesus are found eating without washing their hands according to the tradition. It doesn’t mean they are not clean hygienically, but ceremonially. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law hastily jump into conclusion that the disciples of Jesus are defiled according to the traditions of the elders and thus shall receive the due punishment. 

How does our Lord Jesus defend them? Jesus quotes the prophecy of Isaiah, saying:

“These people come near to me with their mouth

and honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship of me

is based on merely human rules they have been taught.” (Isaiah 29:13)

First, Jesus is telling the truth that the religious leaders (the accusers) are merely holding the traditions of men but letting go of the true commands of God. God sees that the Pharisees and the scribes of the law are breaking the law, not the disciples. Jesus gives a particular example of how they are breaking the law of God. They have invented a smart way of letting go of the law in order not to honor their father and mother. The law says, “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.” It is a serious command. 

However, they have implemented a way of avoiding that command. If they declare whatever that might have used to help their father and mother as Corban, they are no longer obligated to do anything for their parents. In this clever and ingenious way, they nullify the word of God by their tradition. This is a hard bid to escape from being guilty of not honoring their father and mother.They do many other things just like that. So, the verdict is that they are guilty as charged by the Lord. Although the poor disciples are accused by the powerful men in the most religious society, Jesus doesn’t say anything for the charge. God accepts them as they are, but rejects the accusers. God knows our heart even before bringing offerings to him. God sees our heart, not the outward appearance. 

“But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’" (1 Samuel 16:7)

Second, all food is clean. The strict food diet was given to teach his people the spiritual principles and laws. Some animals were classified as clean and others unclean. But it doesn’t mean an unclean animal itself is unclean because everything was good when made in the beginning. Ceremonial washing of hands doesn’t make food holy and acceptable. Nor it defiles man. Food is for the body and goes into the stomach and out of the body. The Lord in a vision appeared to Peter and told him not to call at all unclean what God had made. Those animals in the sheet were unclean by the Law of Moses. 

“The voice spoke to him a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’” (Acts 10:15)

Third, what defiles man is not food, but things coming out of man like evil thoughts and sexual immorality. The Lord Jesus says, “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Who can escape from the invasion of evil thoughts within? No one, not even one. In reality, humans are doomed and fallen, being unable to be set free from all these evils. No matter how religiously determined and dedicated in keeping the laws and traditions, it doesn’t work and never will. Even mature Christians cannot live by the law, but only by grace. Apostle Paul so aptly describes this truth in the Epistle to the Romans Chapter 7.

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” (Romans 7:15-20)

Trying and bidding hard inevitably give birth to hypocrisy and coverup. Many a people is duped and fooled by it. Those who enforce the traditions and regulations don’t keep them at all, although they think they are keeping in perfection. Far from the truth! Jesus says, “They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” (Matthew 23:4) 

Because we cannot keep the commandments of God, he sent his Son to bear our sins and transgressions on that cross. Whoever believes in him shall be set free from the law requirements. This is a new and living way to obey God’s commandments. Through the cross of Jesus we obey the Lord. The cross is humiliation, pain, shame, and most of all death, the end of self. It is the only way and the truth and the life. Jesus set the example that he obeyed the Father to the point of death. Because without death, no life. No cross, no resurrection. The flesh of the world is the bundle of evil thoughts and wickedness. It doesn’t obey God, nor can. It must be dead and buried.

It is why we died with Christ by faith, were buried with him by faith, and on the third day raised from the dead with Christ by faith. So, we the flesh no longer live but Christ in spirit does his eternal life (Galatians 2:20). We died to the law, the rigid and unbending requirements of the law in order to live to God. In Christ, instead of trying hard, we submit to the Lord who obeyed the Father to the point of death. We admit ourselves humbly that we are not able to please God with our efforts and contributions, even thousands of offerings. We can please God through faith only (Hebrews 11:6). Our humble acceptance is the same as standing at the cross with Christ. It is painful, humiliating, and shameful to accept the fact that we are not able to stand before God with our flesh educated, trained, experienced, and disciplined through many achievements with toils and sufferings. 

It is not still enough and never will. Only Jesus’ blood can enable us to stand before the throne of grace. We are indeed free in him, through him, by him, and for him. We are free even when we fail over and over again (Romans 8:1). We freely serve the Lord. We voluntarily obey God as our Lord Jesus did on the cross. And we share his resurrection power freely through the faith in Christ. We don’t do always though. Then, simply and faithfully remind of the love of God that he died for us while we were still sinners. Now we are his children, the beloved ones. How much more would he save us from the present troubles! Seven times? Not so, even seven times seven. There is no limit in his love. There is no measure in his grace. He giveth and giveth and giveth again. Forgiveness, forgiveness, and forgiveness again. 

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,

He sendeth more strength when the labors increase,

To added affliction He addeth His mercy,

To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

His love has no limit, His grace has no measure,

His power no boundary known unto men,

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,

He giveth and giveth and giveth again.

May 26, 2019

© 2018-2019 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.

Mary Magdalene (John 20:1-18)

What does the resurrection of the Lord matter to man? What does it matter to a woman named Mary Magdalene? We’re not told much about her except she is a Jewess and demon-possessed for a while and healed later by the Lord (Luke 8:2). She was born and raised in a Jewish family and probably as others raise kids she would have been taught all the traditions and teachings in most Jewish families possibly do. But she was possessed by the demons and everything turned out to be difficult and abnormal because the demons were harassing and haunting her, making her uneasy and unhappy. We don’t know how long and much she had been suffering. The doctors and medications didn’t help at all. Virtually nothing was working out for her. But one day the Healer came and healed her. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Messiah of God who has come down from heaven to the earth to liberate humanity from the imprisonment of evil forces and authorities. Everything in Christ Jesus becomes normal and she dedicates to the messianic ministry of Christ. Out of gratitude and thankfulness, she poured out the expensive perfume on the head and feet of the Lord and washed them with her hair. People at the scene reproved her, accusing that she had wasted so much money instead of helping the poor. But Jesus defended her and made her act of worship as his own burial preparation and the memorable thing wherever the gospel is preached. However, the Good Lord was arrested and died on the cross and much worse like a criminal. She is crushed and in a great loss and sorrow. Nothing could console or comfort her heart and mind. She is completely lost. What can possibly comfort her? The Risen Lord is one and only help and comfort. That is what exactly happened to her. Most unexpectedly, Jesus risen from the dead meets her as the first mankind who sees the Risen Lord face to face. In obedience with great joy and comfort, she tells her story to the disciples, saying “I have seen the Lord!” 

“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!’ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’). Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ And she told them that he had said these things to her.” (John 20:1-18)

First, it is on the first day of the week. It is the resurrection morning of the Lord Jesus Christ. Since the resurrection morning, we start a new week on Sunday as the first day of the week. It means that we refresh anew in Christ on the first day of the week with the power of the resurrection of the Lord. Stresses and pressures in our lives are heavy and weighty that we don’t have what it takes except the resurrection power. That’s why we start the first day of the week with the Lord’s power and continue to live throughout the week. We bump and fail at times miserably and deeply depressed and powerless, wondering what is going on and what is really gone wrong. Daily life pressure is enormous and massive that we wonder how to handle our lives. Deep and groaning cries burst out from the very inner corner, our heart. In fact, we cannot handle our lives on our own. We’re totally inadequate to cope with the daily overload and burden of lives. That’s why God sent his Son to be crucified and buried, and on the third day raised from the dead. It is the mystery of Christ that we also died and were buried with Christ and rose again with him (Galatians 2:20). Now, we have even been seated with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6). With our flesh and blood, we never be adequate and suitable to handle our lives. Only with the divine power of God, we shall be in Christ. Therefore, we start a new week with the power of resurrection through faith in Christ.

Second, what Mary is encountered is the most extraordinary and unexpected thing to her and all mankind. The stone (really heavy and guarded by the Roman soldiers) which had covered the tomb is rolled away. Women who come to the tomb run and inform the disciples that what they have seen of the stone rolled away. Peter and John run to the tomb and enter inside and believe that it is empty. Yet they don’t believe that Jesus is risen from the dead. Still they cannot relate to the Scripture though they see the empty tomb. 

The empty tomb gives nothing but sorrow upon sorrow to Mary because now she even cannot get hold of the body of Christ. (The women on the resurrection morning were heading to the tomb to put spies on the body of Christ.) She believes that someone must have taken the Lord away from the tomb. She herself enters into the tomb and meets two angels who are sitting one on the head and other on the foot side. Out of dismay and shock, she tells the angels that someone has taken away the Lord. Obviously, she is completely lost. She realizes the fact that she is not even allowed to do something she wanted to do so desperately as the least and last thing she could do for the Lord. It is ironic that the empty tomb is supposed to give her hope and joy because it means that the Lord is risen from the dead just as he told his disciples many times while he was alive, but she is overwhelmed with more sorrow and distress. 

The resurrection of the dead is hard and difficult for man to believe. Is it not? It is an unfathomable territory for man, because to our eyes death swallows up everything. It is true though. However, beyond death there is resurrection. No death, no resurrection. It is the way to the Father. Jesus said, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” (Matthew 26:2) Prophet Isaiah said as well, “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.” (Isaiah 53:3) Jesus had no sin and so no punishment was necessary for him. Yet the Son of God was condemned and crucified when the Father made him sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). Death is pain and suffering beyond our comprehension. Nevertheless, it is the way to enter into the different dimension of life, eternal one. That’s what has exactly happened to every Christian when they believe in Christ. Apostle Paul summarizes with this remarkable phrase in the Epistle to the Galatians. 

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” 

Here is another reference for the rebirth in Christ in the Epistle to the Romans.

“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:3-5)

Third, it is a new way of life in Christ Jesus. We may be able to survive in this earth with our old way, but never to fulfill it. The old way eventually leads to death and judgment and condemnation (Hebrews 9:27). We must get away from our old life and enter into the new life in Christ. Mary met the Risen Lord face to face and says to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” We are not told what had happened to her afterwards. We believe that she would have remained in the ministry of the disciples faithfully just like she did while the Lord was in the ministry on the earth. But as usual, she has to face the ordinary routines in her lives like cooking, washing dishes, laundry, grocery shopping, going to worship and prayers, and more. It is obvious that not everyday is dramatic and breathtaking like seeing the Risen Lord. It may be humdrum and routine as time goes by. Politics and worship are as usual. What about disease, sickness, tiredness, accidents, aging, and relationship issues? Most of all, she shall eventually face death as all does.

It is very similar experience for all believers in Christ. Rebirth experience it is. What an exciting and sensational moment! Forgiveness, guilt wiped out, the ecstasy of being untied with God and Christ the Lord. It is the most dramatic and impressive moment of conversion in Christ. We experience so much power inwardly that we are flying like eagle in the sky and swimming like big fish in the sea. For a while, nothing bothers, nothing hinders to live a clean and pure life in Christ. All is sorted out. The power of born again in Christ is protecting and strengthening the inner being, our spirit that is revived and united with God. But soon or later we experience failures and mistakes which we never could repeat again in the Lord. We do. The temptations and passions are too big to handle. I am sure that Mary was in our position as well.

What shall we do when we fail and make mistakes? There are two steps involved to overcome the burden and weight of our lives. Apostle Paul teaches these two steps in the Epistle to the Ephesians. The first is to put off our old self and the second, to put on the new self.

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)

Without doing the first step, jumping into the second never works. The first step is to let down the untruth. When we fail, we are haunted and bombarded by the crafty and cunning devil, the father of lie and the murderer. Satan is ruthlessly rebellious and cruel in planting the lies when we fail like we are no longer loved and cared by God any longer. It is not true. God is forever loving and kind and faithful in keeping his promises. So, we bluntly face the fact that we admit the mistakes and failures we made and we will in the future. Furthermore, we accept the fact there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus because the blood of the Son cleanses and washes away all our sins (Romans 8:1-2). The first is like denouncing and denying all the lies and untruths, being pumped and peddled in our hearts by the devil, not by God. God never condemns his beloved children whom he has purchased through the Son’s blood.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

The second step is to put on the new self in Christ. We have been made new by the power of God. That is what we are and who we are in Christ. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) The Spirit whom God sent to every believer will assure us that we are still loved and cared as God’s dear children. That’s the truth for the Spirit of truth tells. Going through the first step is like being crucified with Christ. Being renewed and revived in Christ can be done by the power of the resurrection. It is the second step. No death, no resurrection. We must die first in order to live eternal life, the resurrection life. That’s we do now and forevermore. That’s what Mary did. 

April 28, 2019

© 2015-2019 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.

A New Way of Life (Mark 6:45-56)

How is Jesus a new way of life for us? How can we experience his presence in our midst, especially in the midst of struggles and challenges? How do we escape from troubles after troubles? Is it preventive? Or, must we go through? Who can rescue us from dangers and difficulties? Physical pains, mental depression, uncertainty in the future, etc., etc. All kinds of relationship issues between husband and wife, among families, with collegues and neighbors. Can we handle the incessable desire and passion of wanting something more in body and soul? We’re under pressure in every way, living in like a time bomb that at any moment can explode, tearing down the peaceable time and space into pieces. Jesus calls this world as an adulterous and wicked generation (Mark 8:38). It is difficult and challenging! But thanks be to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is keeping and protecting us safe and secure no matter what. In love and grace, he cares for us as his dear children. In mercy and compassion, he protects us from the evil one. In love, he disciplines us to be equipped and molded like him. Most of all, he is teaching and revealing us a new way of living in him. Complete and total dependence on him is the goal. In this story of Jesus’ walking on the water tells how to live a new life in Christ. It is a resurrection life, the eternal life. God never wants us to be bound in chains and slavery but to be free indeed in him as Jesus demonstrated the life, walking on the water. No wind nor storm could hinder him at all. He even talked to the wind to quite down and it listened and obeyed him in fear and trembling. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him. 

“Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’ Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened. When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.” (Mark 6:45-56)

Water is hostile to man, especially raging waters with gusty winds. It is hazardous to man when storms rise and the strong winds blow. We can’t stay long in the water, even if no storms around. The disciples are quite used to the waters for they used to be fishermen in the Lake Galilee. However, still the raging waters are scaring them a great deal on the night when they were sent out into the boat ahead of the Lord Jesus. During that day, they had witnessed a great miracle of feeding five thousands with five loaves and two fish. It is an amazing and impressing moment to witness such a wonderful miracle of Jesus. However, the amazement of the miracle is long gone and fizzled because of the windy storm. Now they are straining and struggling a great deal to go through. That’s life. Is it not? 

It seems life is tough and difficult. True. I believe it never meant to be easygoing to all mankind. One challenge after another. One trouble after another. One obstacle after another. Sometimes double or triple storms at the same period of time. It never get easy but tougher get going. The disciples of Jesus aren’t exception. But when they bump into troubles, what help is available? Jesus Christ is the help only. Nothing can help the problem of ours. Humans cannot help others although they say they can. Materials cannot help humans although it seems likely so temptingly. Drugs cannot help at all but make worse. Only God is our help in time of trouble. And he makes the ends meet sufficiently and adequately. Our God is compassionate and merciful and willing to help the poor and the needy. He is no delay to reach out his hands for help. God tells Abraham that he protects and rewards him when he is going through the troublesome time. In fact, only he can to all man.

“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” (Genesis 15:1)

How does Jesus help his disciples? Jesus walks on the water to reach out to them. This is entirely new in history. No one had been walking on the water and will. No wonder the disciples think that it is a ghost. They are even more terrified seeing some moving object in the likeness of man on the water. They had never seen such a thing before. They can never imagine it is Jesus walking on the water. That is how God sends his help. Unexpected, unpresented, unforeseen, unimaginable, unthinkable, unorthodox it is. Our God has eternal different and unimaginable way of helping us out. Walking on the water indicates that Jesus has already reigning and controlling the nature. He is stepping down on it. The raging waters cannot hinder nor harm him. Not a bit. The gushing winds cannot scare nor fright him at all. Instead, they are in fact obeying and submitting him in terror. That is how God led his people out of bondage and slavery from Egypt to the land of promise.

“The waters saw you, God,

the waters saw you and writhed;

the very depths were convulsed.

The clouds poured down water,

the heavens resounded with thunder;

your arrows flashed back and forth.

Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,

your lightning lit up the world;

the earth trembled and quaked.

Your path led through the sea,

your way through the mighty waters,

though your footprints were not seen.” (Psalm 77:16-19)

No one can fathom how deep and high the divine wisdom of God. No Moses nor Joshua could break the iron grip of King Pharaoh. But God demonstrated that he was able to deliver his people just as he had promised to a man of faith, Abraham. God carried them out of the land of chains on eagle’s wings (Exodus 19:4). God unleashes his mighty power and authority to deliver us from storms and winds. No one can resist or fight against the rage waters and gushing winds. Mother nature unbridles its power and mightiness, bringing down much havoc and destruction of homes, lands, and lives of man. However, God restrains the nature and it pays careful attention to and obeys him without any reservations. 

In time of pain and suffering, God defends us for his name’s sake. So, we believe in him, trusting in the promise of deliverance. Let him defend for us. Because we cannot defend ourselves. In vain is our efforts and struggles in time of pain. God is ready to do his work unexpectedly, suddenly, and divinely. His will be done on earth as it is in heaven, we pray. He is invisible yet powerful enough to bind up the opponent, the devil called Satan and rescue his prisoners. “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder. “ (Luke 11:21-22) No power can do that. No authority is able to release the captives in the dungeon. Any organization or institution is far short of doing such an impossible task. No wisdom of man is intelligent enough to find the cause of man’s inability and incapability of helping out humans themselves. It is a mystery, the mystery of man. Only God can reveal the mystery what it is and why it is and how it is. 

Therefore, in time of pain and suffering, we will need a divine intervention to break out the deeply rooted stubbornness and troublesomeness within. Because no human mind, wisdom, experience, nor career and achievements can do that. The sin within attacks brutally and viciously, seizing the opportunity triggered by storms and winds in our midst. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) Such an attack usually causes depression, meaninglessness, powerlessness, emptiness, and inappropriateness. We fail and experience the sense of inadequacy often. We sigh over and over again, desperately wanting to know how to be fit and adequate to all challenges and obstacles of lives. 

Jesus is our help, only hand adequate and appropriate for any and all troubles of man. Walking on the water is the way. It is a new way of life. Reign and cope with the lives of one pain after another. Eternal life it is. The resurrection life it is. Yes, walking on the water indicates the new life after the death of the old self. The old has gone, the new is, Paul says. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) It is a new creation in Christ Jesus the Lord. So, it works entirely different from the old way of living. We used to strive hard pressed to achieve something in life and in church. Sense of inadequacy pops up and haunts us down. Thus, we contend harder to be adequate and sufficient to make the ends meet. It is not working and never will. We know that. 

The old self must die first. Otherwise, no new life comes in and takes charge. Jesus sets the example how it works. He never deserved to die. He is the Judge, only the rightful one. He could have gone back to the Father instantly like he was transfigured on the mountain right before Peter, John and James. Instead, he came down from the mountain and took up the cross of suffering and humiliation in our place. He bled and died for the sin of the world. He was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. On the third day, according to the Scriptures, as he had told his disciples, he has risen from the dead. God made the Son as firstfruits of the resurrection. No death, no resurrection. No disappearance of the old life, no new life. 

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)

March 29, 2019

© 2018-2019 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved. 

Jesus, the Bread of Life (Mark 6:30-44)

How does man live? What is the essential thing for life? How are we going to calm down the incessable desires to have more? Is it a way out of this seemingly boundless covertness hidden deep inside in mankind? Where can we find out the ultimate settlement in body and soul? Where is not found cries and yearnings? Could we pass one day without making a cry of sigh? Here is a passage in the tiny corner of the Scripture which tells of the true bread of life, Jesus Christ. He fed so many people with five loaves and two fish. It just reminds of Moses’ time when the manna fell down from heaven to feed over two million people daily for forty years during the wilderness wandering. Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.” God feeds man and all his creatures in the universe. He provides the needs because he knows exactly what they are in need. Rain falls down and sun shines on the earth to produce grains, vegetables, and fruits. He gives not only in the physical aspect of life, but in the realm of soul which is far more significant and affective. What are we in need? Food and shelter. Of course, but much more than that. How do we subdue things like anxiety, fear, guilt, worries, etc? The burden and pressure of our lives are tremendous and unfathomable. Christ Jesus meets our needs indeed because he is compassionate and merciful that he died for our guilts and sins. Jesus is a way out because he paid the price on our behalf. Whosoever comes and believes in him shall have eternal life. The good news is in our midst because Jesus is available anywhere and whenever in spirit. He is the bread of life for all who believes in him.

“The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. ‘This is a remote place,’ they said, ‘and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’ But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?’ ‘How many loaves do you have?’ he asked. ‘Go and see.’ When they found out, they said, ‘Five—and two fish.’ Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.” (Mark 6:30-44)

First, people are hungry and thirsty. For what? Everything. When the Son of Man was speaking the words and healing the sick, people were astonished and began to follow him everywhere he went. Economically difficult in the first century? Yes. How about politically? Crucially difficult. There were lots of challenges and struggles for the people just like us. As Jews they were, they had Tora, worship, sacrifices, promise, and the patriarchs. They had a lasting legacy which they cherished as the treasured traditions. Those were the pillars and backbones of their society. 

However, something’s missing and lacking severely. They did not recognize the promised Messiah though he was seen plainly everyday before their eyes and minds. What’s the problem? They were busy-minded, being stricken and overwhelmed by day-to-day things which should have been done. Paying the bills, taking care of kids, dealing with health issues, the burden and pressure of lives were crushing them down. The newspaper headlines were all depressing and shockingly despicable. So are these days. No difference at all. Precisely the same. Injustice and immorality are everywhere in our cities and communities. Though church buildings are found in every corner, it seems they do nothing for the community. 

In reality and truth, all people is crying and crying over the misery and sorrow they are experiencing and witnessing. In a word, all is in thirst and hunger. The problem is that we do not know what we are thirsty and hungry for. Virtually everything. How daunting and scary it is to quench the thirst of man! Impossible. The people were thronging to Jesus, hoping to find out something missing and lacking in their lives and thus to quench their thirst and fill their hunger. Likewise, people are dashing to someone or something if they think it may possibly give back for them. It would be career, money, or both. People desire to be rich and successful, thinking that it may give and relieve stress and pressure hanging upon their shoulders. People are weary and tired in the first century and in our days as well. 

Second, Jesus is only the one who meets all thirst and hunger for mankind. Jesus is compassionate on the people in the solitary place, a wilderness where Jesus wanted to have rest with his disciples. Jesus is compassionate because the people are like without a shepherd. Jesus is always compassionate and merciful for all people because they are like without a true shepherd. Shepherd feeds sheep, leading them into green pastures and protecting them from the ferocious wolves. 

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

he refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths

for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:1-3)

How has our Lord Jesus become a true shepherd for man? Jesus fed five thousands with five loaves and two fish. He broke the bread again and again until all the people in the remote place had been filled and satisfied in full. It was out of nowhere in the wilderness. But the food was abundantly supplied to make ends meet. How could it be? The Father in heaven outpoured them in response to the Son’s prayer. It is a picture, showing that God’s blessings is coming down on people through the Son Jesus Christ. 

Why only through Jesus Christ does God’s blessing come down from heaven? Because Jesus paid the price with his own blood. God’s love has been rekindled by the blood of Jesus. God is giving eternal life to those who keep on believing in the Son. In order to give life, Jesus broke his body to the point of death. He is the bread of life. He says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35) What man really hungers and thirsts is not material things in the world, but God alone. Man is made in God’s image and his likeness. That is why. Our food, the real food cannot be something from this world, even the silver and gold. That is why tremendous achievements and success do not quench the thirst of man. 

Things in the world could be glittering and charming and even tempting. Yes, they seem to be like solving the problem of our hunger and thirst. Money is one and powerfully seduces many throughout the centuries. Reputation is another and lures many a great deal for the young and old. Recognition is still another and attracts every man and woman. Sex is yet another. However, those things cannot make the ends meet because man is made in God’s image. It seems so, but fails miserably. It seems offering much, but fails with no reservations. So, only things in heaven can make man satisfy and fulfill in the fullness of life. 

How can we obtain things in heaven? It is a hard problem for man. So, God chose his Son to be the price to redeem man from the fall and the lost. No man can find a way out from darkness, a mystery of darkness to where man has been fallen since in Adam. It is not a simple darkness but the dark forces of evil in heaven. It is a real being, the fallen angel who rebelled against God. This angel masqueraded himself as an angle of light and deceived the woman to fall down to death. We weren’t even born when that happened. So, how could we know a way out of darkness? It is impossible. Man doesn’t understand that they are lost and fallen in the darkness. But the fact is all man is fallen and lost as the victims of the malevolent evil one, the devil according to the Scriptures. 

That is why God sent his only Son for the sin of the world to liberate man from the bondage of the devil. No things in the world can win over the devil who is cunning and crafty. He is a liar and the father of lies. No man can win over the devil. So, the destiny of man is doomed except a divine intervention according to the promise of God in the Scriptures. It is that Jesus broke his body on a cross, paying the full ransom price. It was not an afterthought, but meant to be even before the creation of the world. The Son of Man came and bound the devil and finally delivered the prisoners because he is stronger than the evil one. 

“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.” (Luke 11:21-22)

The old allegiance for the devil has been broken up and the new one for God has just begun through the death of the Son Jesus Christ. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Whatever we need, Jesus is whatever we need. He is the bread of life. In truth, he lives in us, making his eternal resident in us, the hope of glory. Need love? Jesus is love. Need light? He is light. Need strength and conform? He is. Need forgiving someone? Christ is the life and the resurrection. We don’t walk always in line with the truth revealed but fail over and over again. No, we don’t achieve the goal in a day. Rather, it is a lifelong process, learning that we are eternally inadequate how to handle lives. It is the full submission to the Lord Jesus Christ just like he did to the Father in heaven. Because the Son of Man on the earth was in the likeness of man. He was tired and thirsty and hungry as well. He slept at night. He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness forty days and nights. He was poor and broke. So, the Son of Man depended everything on the Father from A to Z. He believed that the Father would feed five thousands. Jesus believed that God the Father would act out of his infinite mercy and compassion as he prayed. Jesus had nothing in the world, but everything in the Father. He remained completely selfless, always being in the Father and he in the Son. He even gave up his life to the Father. “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.” (Mark 8:35)

So do we. We do not have anything dependable, being broke in entirety. The Scripture calls man in Adam the wicked and corrupt, so were we by nature deserving of wrath. “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” (Ephesians 2:1-3) But in his great mercy, God raised us up from the dead, making alive with Christ. We have been saved by grace. Also, God seated us with Christ in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-6). For what? “…in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:7) In Christ, now we have what it takes. It is him who indwells in us by means of the Holy Spirit. 

Therefore, we do not live by sight, but by faith. Because it is not done by works. We had nothing to deserve his grace. Still, we don’t have anything to deserve his grace. We simply trust and believe in him. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) That is it. Keep on believing and we will keep on living his life, the eternal life. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10) We are not here on earth by accident. We are not here to hunger and thirst endlessly. We are here for purpose to do his work which is to love and forgive one another with the resurrection power of Jesus Christ the Lord. We are here to learn how to handle lives in Christ. That is to submit ourselves to the Lord as he did to the Father from A to Z. 

March 8, 2019

© 2018-2019 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.