How strange it must sound to the post-modern Christian reading the words of Jesus. I suppose that some might try to rearrange His word to fit our Western culture. For instance, when the people said, “Behold, thy mother and thy brethren,” Jesus answered Matthew 12:48-50 Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
When a disciple asked if he could first “go and bury my father.” Jesus replied, “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead” (Matthew. 8:22). This discourse does not mesh well with modern thought. The Lord often spoke in riddles and parables. It was confusing for most of the people. Matthew 13:10-13 The disciples asked, “Why do you speak to in parables?” Jesus replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’” Jesus held back the knowledge of the Kingdom so that the people would have to search in earnest to find the answers. He did not make it plain. How different He was than our current commentators. Obviously, Jesus was not an American. He did not hail from the land of the free and home of the brave. He was the incarnate God Who did not conform to His society and He will not conform to ours.
Incredibly enough, Jesus told us whom to fear. Luke 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. For all the biblical scholars, please note that the word “fear” comes from the Greek word phobeo, meaning to frighten; to be alarmed. This leads us to the inevitable conclusion: Jesus cares about our eternal destination so much that He advocates a healthy fear to awaken our senses. He’s more interested in our eternal soul than our temporal life. If you can see it, then know that the miracles were not His reason for coming. He came to seek and save that which was lost. Miracles and healings are simply the byproducts of His compassionate nature. He came as a ransom to pay the debt of sin because eternity is the primary. Everything else is secondary.
Pastor Jeffrey Harpole