Sunday News 6 April 2025

What life is this?

Some of the worst things ever, on the surface of it, don’t seem that bad.

Among the stories of Elisha in the Old Testament we find the account of the healing of Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings chapter 5). Elisha refused any reward for relaying to Naaman the message by which he was healed of leprosy – but Elisha’s servant Gehazi had other ideas. Gehazi pursued Naaman and, stating falsely that Elisha had sent him, belatedly obtained a gift from Naaman for himself. All this he denied to Elisha when questioned about it.

The sentence pronounced by Elisha on Gehazi for this crime was horrific:

‘The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.’

Wow. How bad Gehazi must have been to deserve that. But does it seem that bad, what Gehazi did?

Naaman had offered, insisted even that Elisha receive the gift, yet Elisha refused. Likewise, when Gehazi made his request (albeit on false pretences) Naaman ‘urged him’ to take it. There was an element of fraud there – but it was not outright stealing? Naaman was pleased to have the opportunity to give as he had wanted to do (though perhaps he smelled a rat, he asked no questions). Everyone was happy?

Could Elisha not have simply taken Gehazi aside and corrected him, explaining why this was not an appropriate circumstance to receive a gift? ‘Please show a better example of behaviour next time’? And don’t pass on messages I haven’t sent.

But the explanation given by Elisha is telling:

‘Is it a time to receive money, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?’

Gehazi might have been a bit miffed by this statement – the gift was two talents of silver in two bags, and two changes of garments. A fine present I am sure. But in the first instance at least, no vineyards, oliveyards, and certainly no menservants or maidservants were involved.

But Elisha was speaking more generally. Gehazi had come face to face with the miracle working power of God in the healing of Naaman – yet he remained focused on benefits to be had for this mortal life. Gehazi’s actions showed a profound disregard for God revealed.

And I believe Elisha’s words are for us all – that when we see the Kingdom of God revealed, we can no longer have eyes for the world. That time for us is past.

Jesus also was at odds with some of the perspectives of his servants, the twelve. Jesus’ rebuke of Peter – ‘Get thee behind me, Satan’ – is the sharpest I can think of given by Jesus to anyone. Yet what had Peter done?

Hearing from Jesus the prediction of his suffering, and death, and resurrection, ‘Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.’ (Matthew 16:21-22)

Well, at the very least one might say, Peter was well intentioned? Given he had no comprehension whatsoever of the necessity or significance of Jesus’ forthcoming sufferings and death – what person hearing those words of Jesus could sit by and just say, oh well, I guess that’s how it will be? That must be OK? And Peter generally was not one to sit by in any circumstance.  

But Peter’s crime was of the same genre as Gehazi’s, though his punishment was not, at least not in any direct sense (though all the disciples did ultimately suffer I understand).

‘Thou art an offence to me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men’, said Jesus to Peter.

What was Peter thinking?

We have a sure winner here with Jesus – there’s nothing he can’t do. He can feed people out of nowhere, he can heal the sick – wait, raise the dead – and no one can get a hand on him. When they try to kill him, he just slips straight though the net. He even commands the weather! So he’s headed for great things, no doubt about that. Greater things than the world has seen! He’s the Messiah! And here we are, right in the box seat next to him! This is going to be some ride, but I’m looking forward to it.

Is that what Peter thought?

Not quite menservants and maidservants, vineyards and oliveyards – but a lot of good stuff nonetheless. Things people want. Life would be great. Peter would be great!

I don’t at all suggest that Peter sought to usurp Jesus’ position as Master – but I think perhaps he quite fancied the role of a second-in-command, bathing in the light of Jesus’ glory – and his ‘rebuke’ of Jesus in the above scripture shows he thought himself to have some standing at least.

What does all that really add up to? Fame. Power. Popularity. An unlimited supply of every good thing (not to deny the disciples no doubt would have seen their share of deprivation in the path Jesus led them on). And from the nicest possible person! Not to mention the smartest, the wisest. Jesus is the greatest!

Yet Jesus was headed for greater things than Peter could possibly imagine. And worse things than he or any of us can imagine, as well.

So how do you or I view the Christian life? What do we aspire to?

Another of the twelve made a similar mistake to Peter, but his fate was far worse.

What was Judas thinking?

Judas didn’t hate Jesus I suspect, though he had been deeply hurt and offended by him (as Peter might have been also, called ‘Satan’ by the Lord). But I suspect in some ways Judas thought much the same as Peter. Jesus is unbeatable, he’s going to rule everything, and here we are right at his side – his main supporters! This is going to be good for us (and good for everyone).

When Judas saw Jesus was condemned, the Bible tells us, he threw down the money before the chief priests which he had been given as payment for betraying Jesus, and went and hanged himself (Matthew 27:3-5). So, evidently things had not turned out as Judas expected. He was devastated by regret. What then did he think would happen? What had been Judas’ plan?

As with Peter, I think Judas felt Jesus just needed a little prodding onto the right path. All those miracles and fine words were well and good – but the time was well past when Jesus should have put all that to good effect, and taken over. In any showdown, Jesus was bound to win. He was unbeatable. So bring it on! The sooner the better. (This lingering on the fringes of power was a game of life or death every day – better to get it over with and get this ‘kingdom’ established.)

The thing to do, Judas decided, was to put Jesus in a position where he would have to make a play. Then the gamble Judas had taken by following Jesus would pay off. Jesus would defeat his enemies (Judas’ enemies too), take the reigns of power, and Judas would be riding along with him in glorious ascendency, vindicated, honoured, and on top of the world. That is what I imagine was Judas’ plan.

After all, Jesus couldn’t let himself be beaten? Who then would stand up for the poor, heal the sick, put down injustice (not that Jesus appeared to give much attention to the latter – but certainly he could turn his hand to it, as with all else – and it did seem to matter to him , the victims at least).

Judas and Peter – not so different. And not so bad really, either of them. (But if you want to know what God thinks about it, read Psalm 109, quoted by Peter in Acts 1 as a reference to Judas.)

Gehazi, Peter, Judas – thought they knew better. After all, it was obvious wasn’t it? Common sense. Power and popularity are what you need – if you have it, use it. Wealth and security – with that comes everything else. And why not?

You and I – what do we imagine the path of Jesus’ calling holds for us?

Do we envisage a few ‘oxen and vineyards’ along the way? A bit of fame and fortune? Popularity – surely no-one could begrudge us that? A good name. And of course a few trials and temptations, as befitting those who would be recognized for great achievements?

‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.’ (Matthew 16:24-27)

The Christian doctrine I was raised on (since the time I came to faith) is: Jesus suffered for our sins, so we are rewarded for his righteousness – he was cursed, so we can be blessed – he took all the bad stuff, so we can have all the good stuff. Amen to that! Far be it from me to say any of that is not true.

Jesus did all that, and more than we can possibly imagine. We can never thank him enough.

But how does all that look in practice, for us, here and now?

Looking at Jesus’ calling to us above in Matthew 16:24-27, there is a clear direction that ‘all the good stuff’ is primarily to be inherited by God’s children at the future coming of Jesus in glory. That’s not my idea, I would have been happy to enjoy the full inheritance right here and now – but that’s what Jesus said. Read it again if you need to. But I for one am not complaining, seeing that is eternity, and here and now is the blink of an eye! And as Paul put it, ‘I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.’ (And Paul knew a thing or two about suffering.)

Not that the inheritance remains to be secured, or that anything we need cannot be provided in Jesus’ name for us here and now. But if that is the principle – what does it look like in practice? In Jesus words: a cross.

A cross: shame, humiliation, public condemnation, betrayal, abandonment, cast out of the city, placed among criminals, pain, pain, pain. Then death. That is the cross.

It seems to me, by contrast, popularity has been pursued by the contemporary church, and in some cases at least, a very great amount of popularity has been gained, for a time at least. And all this is justified on the grounds that, the more popular we are, the more people come to Jesus!

Is that how we see our individual lives and callings also? That success, popularity, recognition – ultimately all that is recognition for Jesus? The last thing we want to do is to give Jesus a bad name? If we are misunderstood or thought to be criminals – who will come to Jesus then?

Also, my own experience of popular, contemporary churches I have attended is: people follow leaders who represent what they themselves want, and want to be like. People want leaders who are likeable, who have happy, secure families and material circumstances, who have successful children, friends, good health, and who are recognized by the church and community and generally thought to be fine people.

Did anyone ever think of Jesus in that way?

‘He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.’ Isaiah 53:2-3.

But we are comforted that Isaiah goes on to say, ‘he has borne our griefs’, and so our favoured doctrine comes to our rescue – all that was for Jesus – so we can have an entirely different deal. And amen!

So what message are we sending on behalf of our Lord, who is willing that all men might come to the knowledge of the truth, and be saved? What message have we ourselves believed?

That Jesus unlocks every benefit we have sought in this life – health, wealth happiness, strong relationships, success, recognition, celebrated achievement? Popularity and attractiveness? After all, isn’t someone who has all these blessings bound to be attractive? And if we are popular and attractive, will we not attract people to Jesus so they too can be blessed? So they can be saved?

Yes. But why then do they come? Are they – or we – coming to lay down our lives? Is that not the calling of the cross?

The worst mistakes of history and some of the greatest crimes have been committed by people who mistook the ways of God for a means to worldly success (which for religious people is quite possibly a success in which God appears to feature) and unknowingly prioritized the latter over the former. People who used ‘common sense’ to ‘help God get done what he obviously needs to do’ – in order to get people saved, to get the church established and in a ‘good place’.

And the more we have known of the ways of the Spirit, and the Word of God – the more we are accountable to live according to his heart. Gehazi, Peter, Judas – these were people at the epicentre of God’s work – they should have known better. So should we.

Jesus showed concern not when his followers were few, but when they were many and he questioned their motives. He perceived that his message, properly understood, would not be a popular one, and that great crowds were unlikely to be there for the right reason. As with the throng who welcomed him to Jerusalem, then days later cried, ‘Crucify him!’ when they realized the tide had turned and they themselves were in danger by association. They had not changed their minds – they just realized Jesus was not going to deliver what they came for in the first place – not in this lifetime, which is what they had in mind – and they might get the opposite instead.

Similarly, great churches of recent times have come crashing down in controversy and conflict, their popularity having drawn in great numbers of people for all kinds of reasons, following a glittering image of ‘success’, beautiful people, beautiful gatherings, answering a message for this world – that everything good is for now, and then the ages to come – and who would not wish it? But they could not sustain it, because our calling is more than that – it is the calling to follow in the steps of Jesus himself. Steps that lead to the cross.

Amen.