Tony Khalil
Midland SDA Church
October 24, 2020
We believe that the entirety of the Bible is inspired by God but there is something special about the actual words of Jesus as recorded by his disciples in the gospels. Lately, I have made a study of these words. You know Jesus had a lot to say. His ministry was one of healing, teaching, and calling his people to repentance. He often spoke through parables, which have become the theme of many a sermon, including ones I have presented. Sometimes he spoke plainly, usually among his closest disciples, imparting truth and knowledge directly, requiring no interpretation. Jesus also spoke love and acceptance to the broken, weak, and downtrodden.
Desiring repentance, Jesus was a master of saying the right thing, in the right way, at the right time to bring those with whom he spoke to a decision point. Most of us do not posses this level of discernment. In fact, many of us have found ourselves in the midst of an awkward silence after saying the wrong thing, in the wrong way, at the wrong time. Like the young man who, meeting his girlfriend’s mother for the first time, wanted to compliment her with something like, ‘I can see where Jane got her good looks!’ But instead it came out, “Wow, I’ll bet when you were Jane’s age you used to be good-looking, too!”
Jesus didn’t have this problem, but that is not to suggest he only spoke niceties. If you are a student of the Word you know Jesus also spoke rebukes, strong rebukes! Although we only have the recorded word, and were not eyewitness, it is obvious there was some energy behind these rebukes, that is to say, He was angry. I know, this is not an aspect of Jesus that we sing songs about. We don’t make it a focus of our children’s stories. We hardly even talk about it, because it seems incongruent with the image of Jesus that we have come to like so much. You know, the loving, compassionate, forgiving Jesus that makes us feel good. Jesus is all of those things and we should feel good about Him, but without also considering the things that warranted His rebukes, I believe we have an incomplete picture of who He is and what he desires of us.
I have heard many sermons where the preacher declares something like “the word Sabbath is found 155 time in the scriptures” or “some number or percentage of texts in the new testament are direct quotes from the old”. When I hear something like that, I start to think to myself “is that true?” “how does he know? did he count them?” and I feel tempted to do some of my own fact checking. Do a word search in my e-Bible, type it into Snoops or something. You probably aren’t as skeptical as I am, but I’m going to resist putting a number on the quantity of the rebukes of Jesus found in the four gospels and just say there are a lot, probably more than you think. There were more than I thought, and there was nothing overly scientific about my method of identifying them. I simply read though the gospels and highlighted everything that sounded like a rebuke. That might sound laborious, but I didn’t do it all at one sitting, and using a red-letter edition made it somewhat efficient.
Once identified, I tried to categorize them. Again, nothing too complicated, and if you were to do the same exercise, I’m sure our results would differ to some degree, but what I started to discover is there is a correlation between things that trigger rebukes from Jesus. You see Jesus doesn’t arbitrarily lash out in anger because He’s had a bad day. It’s not because He has repressed little annoyances so long and he finally breaks, and He blurts out a something He’ll later regret. No, Jesus’ anger is not like mine, it’s not like yours, it’s a reaction to an offence so flagrant and repulsive that I cannot go unchided. His indignation is not self-centered, however, but in defense of assaults against His people and this mischaracterization of God.
We don’t tend to think of Jesus as a name-caller but a close look at his reproofs reveals one particular name He used frequently against the object of his correction. Do you know what it was? Hypocrite! Right. He often leads with this slur. Maybe it’s unfair to say He is name calling, after all, Hypocrite is not just a deprecating insult. It has a definite meaning. The word hypocrite, derived in the Greek word hypokrites, means “stage actor, pretender, or dissembler.” So, calling one a hypocrite is to say they act in such a way, or pretend to be a certain way, the opposite of who they really are.
One of the more prevalent reproaches of Jesus was in regard to the Sabbath day, aimed at those making it burdensome. One illustration of this we find in Luke 13: 10-17
10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way [d]raise herself up. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”
15 The Lord then answered him and said, [e]“Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” 17 And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.
Many, but not all of the rebukes Jesus gives regarding the Sabbath, have to do with Him healing on it, and if you read these accounts carefully, you start to get the idea that he did it intentionally. It is as if He did something that he knew would be controversial to instigate a response, opening the door allowing Him the opportunity to address an error in their theology. Jesus is not teaching against keeping the Sabbath. That would make no sense, He was the creator of the Sabbath. What He was doing is pointing out their misrepresentation of the intention of the Sabbath.
If you were to count them, you would find there are seven recorded times He performs a healing on the Sabbath. It’s interesting to me that there would be exactly seven, representing the completeness of this rebuke regarding His seventh day Sabbath. They are as follows: first, the invalid at Bethesda, second, the demoniac in the synagogue, third, Peter’s mother-in-law, fourth, the man with the withered hand, fifth the man born blind, sixth this crippled woman, and seventh the man with dropsy. While performing this final one, He is really obvious. Before he heals the man, he asks point blank “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” as is often the case they evade his question, so he answers it Himself with His action.
But getting back to our crippled woman, she had been like this for 18 years, this was clearly not an emergency case. It wasn’t a life or death situation. Waiting an additional day would not have been burdensome, which is precisely what the ruler of the synagogue implies when he says “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” Jesus however, makes it abundantly clear here that there is no criterion of emergency as it relates to relieving the suffering of Gods people. In fact, He points out the hypocrisy of their oppressive manmade laws that allowed the watering of their animals on the Sabbath day, thus relieving their suffering, but prohibited relieving the suffering of man. Not to digress too much but this reminds me of how our government in November passed a law to make animal cruelty a federal felony, yet still sanctions the murder of unborn human children. Jesus is not endorsing the mistreatment of animals in this passage, rather He is pointing out the backwardness of their thinking as it related to human suffering.
I can’t say I was surprised by the quantity of rebukes Jesus gave regarding the Sabbath but another area that seems to have been a regular target of Jesus’ rebukes was lack of faith. This I did not expect but the sheer quantity of these rebukes testifies to the importance Jesus places on faith. One marked difference between these rebukes and His Sabbath rebukes was the offender. The rebukes regarding the Sabbath were directed at Those who chose to be His enemies, the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders, but his rebukes regarding lack of faith often included his closest friends. There are many to pick from, but we’ll begin by looking at Matthew 8:23-27
23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, [b]“Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” Matthew 8:23-27
We’re all familiar with this story, Jesus and His disciples are crossing the sea in a boat when a great storm arose while Jesus slept, they wake Him, He rebukes the storm and it subsides. But before He rebukes the storm, He rebukes them His disciples for their lack of faith. This response to their plea for help seems a bit harsh does it not? They were panicked, tired from fighting the storm, and from all appearances were headed to their grave when they finally wake Jesus and ask for his help. And that is just the point of His rebuke. He is saying why did you try fighting on your own? Why are you panicking? Didn’t you know going it alone will bring certain death? Often times, as this story represents, going to Jesus is our last resort. After we have tried everything within our arsenal to solve the problem ourselves, in exhaustion and desperation we turn to Jesus and say “Lord help us”. And he does, but if we are listening, we will also hear him say “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?”. You see, by not relying completely upon Him, we are demonstrating our lack of faith.
Another interesting story where Jesus addresses this lack of Faith is the story of the centurion’s servant. You remember, the servant was on his death bed so the centurion sends men to ask Jesus to heal his servant, but when Jesus get’s close to his home the centurion says not to bother coming all the way, but just to say the word and his servant would be healed. Jesus response to this is directed toward his followers when he says in Luke 7:9 “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” In other words, He is saying this Gentile has greater faith than you Israelis. If that does not qualify as a rebuke, I don’t know what would. Jesus is not saying this to insult them, He is trying to get them to recognize their deficiency in the area of faith so they can grow. But why is this faith business so important that Jesus devotes such a large portion of his time addressing it? It is only through faith that He can work any good in our life.
Does anyone here today like chocolate chip cookies? Recently I have removed deserts from my personal menu, but I love chocolate chip cookies. Many of you have probably baked your own. It’s not hard, the recipe is usually on the back of the bag of chocolate chips. When you follow the instructions, the cookies will usually come out of the oven looking and tasting like you would expect. For those of you that have never actually made them yourself, let me tell you something that may surprise you. One of the ingredients in every known recipe for chocolate chip cookies is salt. That’s right, salt. Several years ago, I was making a batch of chocolate chip cookies, carefully following the recipe on the back of the chip bag, when to my surprise I came to the line that directed me to add salt to my cookie batter. I said to myself, “Salt, I don’t want salt in my cookies”. So, I left it out. Do you know what? That was the most disgusting batch of cookies I ever tasted. Who would have thought that fraction of a teaspoon of salt would make such a difference in the taste of the cookies? I leave the walnuts out every time, and that just makes them taste better, but now I know, salt is that one ingredient that must be in there if you are to have tasty chocolate chip cookies. Similarly, faith is that one component that must be present for Jesus to unleash His power in us, making us into what he wants us to be. Without it we are useless, just like that batch of saltless cookies that went into my trash can. Even His healings were enabled only by the faith of the receiver. Here are a few examples of that.
Matthew 9:29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”
Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
Luke 7:50 Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
Faith is also a required component of Salvation. That’s right without faith, salvation is unobtainable. We are all familiar with Ephesians 2:8,9
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
We have a tendency to focus on the grace component of this passage, and rightly so, it is only by the grace of God that salvation is available to us, but our part in the whole matter is possessing the faith. Another passage that puts it perhaps a little more clearly is Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
We find salvation metaphorically linked to faith in the recounting of the event where Jesus and Peter walk on the water. You remember when the disciples were all in the boat and they are afraid because they see a figure coming toward them walking on the water. At first, they presume it to be a ghost, but Jesus identifies himself and puts them at ease. Apparently, Peter thinks it would be pretty cool to walk on the water himself, so he asks Jesus if he can come out and meet Him. Jesus grants his request and Peter begins walking on the water toward Jesus. Mathew 14: 30, 31 says…
30 But when he saw [e]that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
This story is interesting to me because when Peter steps out on the water, he has faith. The very act of him stepping out of the boat on to the rough seas is evidence of his faith, but somewhere between the boat and Jesus, the absurdity of what he is doing overtakes him. He looks at the waves, then down at his feet, recognizing there is nothing solid beneath him he loses his faith and begins to sink. Then, in an instant, something amazing happens, he actually regains his faith, exhibited by his cry, “Lord save me!” And with the essential component of faith restored salvation is obtainable.
So, if faith is such an important component that Christ can do nothing in our lives without it, including saving us, how do we obtain, retain and build our faith? Romans 12:3 tells us “…God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” So, faith comes from God. That is good news, the responsibility of imparting faith lies squarely on Him. Our only responsibility lies in what we do with the faith he has given us. Scripture gives us three steps we can take to retain and grow our faith. They are as follows:
Step #1 Hearing God’s word, Romans 10:17
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Step #2 Believing God’s word, Romans 10:9,10
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Step #3 Doing God’s word, James 2:19,20
19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is [h]dead?
A third category I have identified as being a favorite target of Jesus rebukes is that of esteeming the things of man above the things of God and misleading His people. Originally, I had this as two separate categories, esteeming the things of man separate from misleading Gods people, but they seemed so closely tied together, for most often when Gods people are being misled, it has to do with choosing things of man over things of God. So in the end I felt they it was better to consider them together.
A good example of this type of rebuke is when Jesus confronted the Scribes and Pharisees on all of their man-made contrived rules that they imposed upon Gods people. Turn with me to Mark 7: 5-9 and we’ll read together an instance where this occurred.
5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This
people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they
worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments
of men.’
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—[d]the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”
9 He said to them, “All too well you [e]reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. Mark 7: 5-9
So, here is the scenario. The religious leaders of the day were bent on finding fault with Jesus because his teachings were a direct threat to their authority and strong-hold on the people. As with Daniel, you can imagine it would be difficult to find fault with Jesus, so they turn their focus to His disciples, questioning why they ate without first going through the prescribed washing of hands. I found it interesting that Jesus answers them in the same manner with which He answered Satan while being tempted in the wilderness. He answers with scripture. He doesn’t always do this, which causes me to question why he did it this time. By answering them scripturally was he shrewdly linking them with Satan. Or was He hoping to win them over by using the words of the prophet Isaiah, which He knew they held in high esteem. Either way the result is consistent with other such exchanges by silencing their questioning. The point however is Jesus reacted strongly to their placing man-made rules over God ordained doctrine, and more importantly teaching others this false doctrine.
He did not reserve this type of rebuke simply for His opponents. We also find Peter in the crosshairs of one of these rebukes one chapter later in Mark 8:31-33. It reads…
31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not [e]mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Here we find Jesus finally speaking plainly to His disciples about His mission and purpose, exposing to them the future events that are about to take place, and Peter has the audacity to pull Jesus aside and begin to rebuke Him. Don’t you wonder exactly what Peter said? I know it doesn’t really matter what words he used but can you imagine? I presume he said something like “Have you lost your mind Jesus, this is not the way it’s going to go down.” Whatever he said it is evident he didn’t have much time to say it, because Jesus quickly returns the favor and rebukes Peter publicly with perhaps the strongest verbal rebuke we find in scripture. “Get behind Me Satan.” Ouch! Then he follows up with the reason for his rebuke. “… you are not [e]mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Peter, stop listening to the words of man and start listening to God.
We find another instance of this classification of rebuke in Mathew 23. Turn with me to verses 13-15.
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 [g]Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of [h]hell as yourselves
This is a strong reproof. He is accusing them not only of shunning the things of God for themselves, but keeping others from experiencing God as well. He reveals that they are witnessing for Satan while they pretend to witness for God. This rebuke also contains a consequence. He states that they will receive greater condemnation. Simply put, it infuriates Jesus when someone leads another away from God.
There is not time enough to consider all the occurrences that instigated a corrective response from Jesus but some of the some of the other categories I found where Jesus could not keep silent were…Thinking Evil in Heart…Being Unrepentant…Undervaluing Children…and Profaning The Things of God.
So, was this just a somewhat interesting academic exercise, or is there something of value we can draw from taking a closer look at the things that were upsetting to Jesus. It seems to me a close examination of these confrontations helps us to know Jesus better, who He is, and what he desires for us. We see in His passion as he calls out the offender His love for the offended. Every rebuke is in defense of the Father, the weak, or the innocent. He is exclaiming, “That is not who the Father is” and “Those are my people, you cannot treat them that way”. Even amidst the harshness of His words we see His love for the offender as he openly reveals their error and sin, providing an opportunity for repentance.
As with everything in scripture there is a personal application. As we study the things that demanded His correction, we may find ourselves in the stories. We may recognize instances in our own lives where we identify with the offended that Jesus is standing up for, and that might bring us great comfort know He loves us and will protect us. We may also recognize the times we are more united with the offender and feel the chastening of Jesus. This recognition brings us to a crossroad where we have a decision to make. We can respond in one of three ways that we see played out in the stories we have considered. We can become angry and harden our hearts, we can feel the sting of conviction and turn away unable to give our wills over to Him, or we can repent and be changed into His likeness. His desire is the latter. Revelation 3:19 reads…
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.[l] Therefore be [m]zealous and repent.
The word zealous comes from the Latin root zelus or jealousy. So, we are being told here to be jealous of the things of God. Don’t allow your offended feelings from the rebuke to separate you from Him, but desire what God offers so much that you lay aside your pride and seek his forgiveness. His rebukes are an invitation to come home, do not resist them.