Thought for the Month - December 2018

"Jesus Cares or Jesus Scares?" by Barry Adair

I was trying to remember what I thought of Jesus prior to coming to faith. As this was many years ago, my memories are a little vague. I think, from Sunday School, that I saw Him as caring, good and peace loving. After being saved, I still think this but now have a better understanding of His holiness, hatred of evil, divine power and mercy. After all these years knowing about Him and then really knowing Him, I'm convinced that Jesus truly cares.

It does seem, however, that for some people, "Jesus scares" is closer to the mark than "Jesus cares" when describing Jesus Christ. As I read further into what they thought, much of this was influenced in childhood. I guess we are all products of our upbringing, education and environment. I was fortunate to be brought up in a loving home and in one which thought it important to have a balanced view on religion i.e. open to personal choice.

In the Bible, we can also see those to whom "Jesus scares" was the case rather than "Jesus cares". I wonder if you remember the Bible story of the demon possessed man in the Gadarene tombs. Mark Chapter 5 tells the story of how Jesus cast out an unclean spirit (called Legion) from a demon possessed man in the country of the Gerasenes (present day Jordan). He had been living within the tombs and such was the man's anguish that… "no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones."

What a truly awful existence this poor man suffered! Then Jesus miraculously returned the man to full sanity. He literally went from mad-man to as normal as you and me instantaneously! If you recall, the unclean spirit knew who Jesus was and asked to be sent from the tormented man into a herd of pigs nearby. The pigs then careered down the slope and around 2,000 of them were drowned.

Now when the people of the area heard of this miracle from the local herdsmen, wouldn't you think they would have been amazed and overjoyed? And yet, no! The loss of so many pigs would have been an issue, obviously, but we are told that this wasn't the reason why the community asked Jesus to leave. No, it was because of fear that they implored Jesus to leave (Mark 5:15-17).

Like I have said before, with Jesus comes divine power and mercy. The people of that area only really saw the power - and it frightened them! I will let one of the great Reformers, John Calvin, explain this better than I can… "We learn how wide is the difference between the knowledge of the goodness, and the knowledge of the power, of God. Power strikes men with terror, makes them fly from the presence of God, and drives them to a distance from Him: but goodness draws them gently, and makes them feel that nothing is more desirable than to be united to God."

And Dr R.C. Sproul says this in his commentary on Mark…

"When the Holy One is manifest in the midst of unholy people, the only appropriate human response is dread."

If you are one who "Jesus scares" is closer to the mark in your life than "Jesus cares", could I implore you to read the Bible. Take one of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) and read through it to discover who Jesus really is. There you will discover His divine mercy, as well as His divine power. And I pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal His individual mercy and goodness to you.

Only those forgiven through Jesus' shed blood can stand before God without dread. We can't stand in our own merits obviously, but only through the mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who paid the price for our sins on Calvary's cross.

To finish, I also wanted to add that this story in Mark 5 is the story where we get the English proverbial adjective 'Gadarene' i.e. engaged in a headlong or potentially disastrous rush to do something. Without Christ we are all on a 'broad path' to hell and disaster.

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7: 13,14)

Do not follow the Gadarene rush towards hell and destruction. Seek the narrow way to Jesus, discover His mercy and ask Him to gloriously save you.

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Saviour,
And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

 

Until next month (DV)…

Are you SURE that you have your place booked in Heaven? Read this if you're not!