day no. 15,294: hot take on Mark 11:27-12:44

The Chief priests, scribes and elders want to know, "why should we listen to you? whose authority are you acting on?"

So Jesus turns the question back on them in order to show them that they do not honor authority the way they think they do (11:27-33). They know the answer to Jesus' question. They aren't confused about what they think. But they are confused about where authority comes from, what keeps it and how to hold it. They are scared that the people might revolt if they knew what they really thought about John the Baptist and his message. But if they say John was sent under Heaven's authority, Jesus' natural next question will be, "then why didn't you obey him?" So they lie and say that they don't know. So Jesus concludes, there is no point in telling you whose authority I operate under because you don't respect authority. What the priest, scribes and elders are trying to do is get the best of both worlds: they want to look like the kind of people who honor and respect authority "by what authority are you doing these?" (because we care about authority and it matters to us) WITHOUT the obligation and responsibilities of actually being under authority. So they get to look like they would honor it if they knew what it was and simultaneously don't have to obey it. They want to look good without being good in other words.

To punctuate the point, Jesus tells a parable about authority (12:1-12). In the story, the tenants, who are under the authority of the landowner, act as though it is their land. They don't act like managers, but owners. They kill the heir of the land in order to complete their takeover of it. With the heir dead, it's only a matter of waiting for the owner to die and then it is theirs. Jesus says this is what many try to do. Many act like they are their own authority and that they can kill or reject or deny whatever outside authority attempts to make claim on them.  The scribes and elders pick up that this was a veiled reference to them.

Another altercation around authority comes to light around money. (13-17) Caesar is a clear authority, and if you doubt it, just look at your money. His face is on it. And that is how Jesus answers the question. Caesar is the author of this currency, he has put his image on it. Give him back what has his image on it. But you are God's. He has put His image on you. You owe Him what has His image on it. In other words, you are currency printed off in His treasury and have value backed up by His image and value. If all Caesar wants is some of your money, let him have it. No biggie. God doesn't need your money, He wants ALL of you. Everything that bears His image is His and He isn't exacting taxes in the form of percentages, He is asking for it ALL.

Another altercation  around authority erupts around authority of Scripture. (18-27) The Sadducees think parts of the Bible don't apply --> resurrection, angels, etc... They are not Bible literalists (those are the Pharisees). The Sadducees feel free to play fast and lose with the Bible, taking what they like, and explaining away as metaphor what they don't care much for. They have an example which they believe highlights the absurdity of believing the Bible teaches resurrection. Jesus confronts this directly and proves the authority of the Bible and the reality of resurrection.

Another altercation concerning the authority of God's Word busts out around importance. Ok, the Bible is important, but which part if MOST important (28-34) Jesus boils the Bible down to its core orienting principles of love God, love people. Now, it is worth pointing out that He is summarizing the LAW here. That is what He was asked for and that is what He gives. The LAW is good and godly, but it is bad news for sinners. Love God and love people may be easier to remember than 39 books of the OT, but it isn't easy to pull off. IT highlights how far off base we are. JUST love God and others. As though that were something easier to accomplish? Exactly! If you feel the weight of the Law or the poke of the Law once it is at that fine of a point, you are ready for good news to rush in through the hole produced by its pierce.

Another altercation concerning the authority God's Word focuses now on the Messiah specifically (35-37) How could David call his son, Lord? How could the Lord be flesh and how could David, the High King, submit to his descendant's authority? Well, the Christ would be flesh and God, that's how. He would be really human (a son of David) and really God (a son from Heaven).

Jesus summarizes these lessons on authority by telling his followers NOT to follow the example of the scribes (38-40). Their take on authority is off and if you walk in their footsteps you will only end up achieving more condemnation for yourself, not more commendation. 

Lastly, Jesus sits down after a busy day of defending the authority of God and decides to watch people gives offerings, ya know the way people hang out and just watch the offering box? :) (41-44) Being under authority is about giving all that you have, not how much you give. If some have more, they are responsible to give more. Whatever you have and in whatever place you are in, give ALL of yourself to God. The poor widow gave all of herself. The rich people put in only part. The rich gave quantitatively more, but the poor widow gave qualitatively more. They gave some, she gave it ALL. This leads us back to the point from Caesar and the coin. when it comes to money, remember whose image you bear and that you are His currency printed on His paper and you owe all of it back to Him, your value comes from Him and should be spent on Him and for Him.

day no. 15,293: saved or haunted?

"The believing world is saved by the gospel, and the unbelieving world is haunted by it. The story that hovers over everyone and everything now is the story of the Victim-King, Christ and Him crucified." - Douglas Wilson, A Justice Primer

The Gospel defines the world. There is not a single inch over which Jesus does not declare, "Mine!" As Wilson points out, the world is either saved by it or haunted by it, but there is no escaping it. Rushdoony's inescapable concept is here revealed. You will have a Gospel. The question isn't IF, but HOW? Will it be part of your active belief and integrate your life according to it as your head or will it be part of your active unbelief and do your best to resist it all the while sensing it's presence hovering near you when the lights are off.

day no. 15,292: surrounded by an anonymous cloud of witnesses

"When the charges are framed contrary to these biblical standards, they should simply be round-filed. For example: 1. The Bible prohibits anonymous accusation (Deut. 19), and because “John Smith” is not his real name, he does not have real biblical accountability in making his charges. A “male” in the “United States” needs to be narrowed down a bit further. 2. The Bible prohibits solitary accusation against elders (1 Tim. 5:19); this means that two or three (accountable) witnesses are required for each specification. 3. If anonymous accusers are allowed (see #1), then the requirement on #2 can be easily bypassed by a sole accuser (via multiple screen names of “George,” “Stan,” and “Melody,” not to mention the always reliable “numerous sources have informed me”). This nameless cloud of witnesses all crossed their hearts and hoped to die." - Douglas Wilson, A Justice Primer

When you are surrounded by an anonymous cloud of witnesses, kindly request they come back with credentials or don't come back at all. 

Hebrews 12:1-3
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

God calls His own cloud of witnesses to the stand, those named and numbered, with faith credentials and all, to be your encouragers. Do not succumb to a nebulous cloud of criticism. It wants to lay weight upon you until you cannot move. It wants to cling close and keep you down. It wants to block your path and stifle your progress. It wants you to look at them and their envy and inwardly at your imperfection, anything other than looking at Jesus. It wants you to endure shame and to consider them, who hover above in judgmental authority over your particular situation. They want you to wear out and faint so that they may tread upon your corpse.

Jude 1:12
They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. 

In every way, they desire the antithesis of what God sent Jesus to accomplish and our duty in response to His active reign, but they are mists evaporating in the heat of the sun. They cannot produce rain. They have nothing life-giving in what they do. They hover only to darken, but part ways when the Son rises and come to nothing.

day no. 15,291: we fight on the path, for the path

"The great Puritan writer Jeremiah Burroughs put it this way: 'Truth is the bond that keeps unity, but error is wild.' Because error is wild, the best thing for truth to do is stay on the path, not turning aside to the right or the left. Truth should do what truth does the best, which is to move on straight ahead. Truth fights when it has to, but it fights in the path, in order to stay on the path. Bunyan’s pilgrim was not chasing over the meadows in order to go Apollyon-hunting. He fought, but he fought because Apollyon was in the path. We have our tasks assigned to us, and it is most important that we remain faithful in those tasks, whatever liars may say." - Douglas Wilson, A Justice Primer

Truth fights on the path or it doesn't fight. It doesn't go looking for altercations elsewhere, it is not belligerent. But it is willing to battle when the fight comes to it. Christian was outfitted by those at the Palace Beautiful in order to find him a monster to slay. He was armored to fight in the event that a monster came a looking for him. We fight for the path. We fight on the path. We fight what attempts to barricade the path. But we do not leave the path. We cannot win if we go off course. We cannot be suckered into veering off in order to win a victory for the path. Our task is the path and to fight whatever may or may not be on it.

day no. 15,291 continued... beard no contest

This morning, Laurelai looked up at me and said,

"Daddy, if there was a beard contest... and like there were no wizards... I think maybe you could win."

Keen observation, little darling. Wizards are the obvious front runners in such affairs. But if they all got stuck in traffic or called in sick, I just might have a chance.

Thanks for keeping the dream alive.

day no. 15,290: fighting by the rules, not with them

"Those who love a lie are not constrained by facts and can fight dirty, or not, as it pleases them. They can twist a how-do-you-do into something sinister. They craft their accusations in such a way that any and every response is more proof of their claim. Truth, on the other hand, is constrained by its own nature and the bounds of Scripture. Truth fights by the rules, and lies fight lawlessly. This might seem like an insuperable disadvantage, but there is something else to consider: Truth fights under the covenant blessing of the triune God, while lies are in the service of the devil." - Douglas Wilson, A Justice Primer

Truth and justice appear to be at a disadvantage when it is pointed out that in order for them to remain true and just, they must keep to the narrow paths appointed to them. It stands to reason that this would hamstring their selection of weapons and methods. This, however, fails to take into account that they have access to some weapons lies and injustice can't or refuse to handle. It also fails to consider the exponential strength and power of certain weapons when wielded by truth and justice. While lies and injustice have access to unique weapons, so do truth and justice. While deceit and corruption are powerful, goodness is indomitable. 

Only Truth and Justice can be entrusted with certain weapons since they alone are qualified to wield something so deadly with discretion and discernment.

day no. 15,289: change-o-ful

Ecclesiastes 1:9

What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done

and there is nothing new under the sun.

As we often hear, "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Or in more modern verse, "Nothing is changing, so everything's changing."

There are two extreme reactions to change: phobia or philia.

CHANGE-O-PHOBIA

This understanding of change is that it is bad and to be avoided at any and all costs. Whatever is changing, is changing for the worse. Thus the strategy is to resist it and to hold on for dear life to whatever was before.

CHANGE-O-PHILIA

This understanding of change is that is good and to be embraced without question. Whatever is changing, is changing for the better. Thus the strategy is to accelerate change and increase the number of changes thereby increasing everything for the better as quickly as possible.

But both of these ignore the way that God made the world. There are principles in play, set into the DNA of things which cannot be changed. Some things are, in other words, what they are. These principles produce certain changes. These changes then require commitment in order to retain the principles that produced them. In retaining those inaugural principles, more change is produced, which again requires diligence to keep from abandoning the principles that got you here, etc...

Doing things the same, godly way will produce godly change. These changes will require godly commitment to the core values that produced the changes in order for those changes to be for the better and in order to keep change going forward by adhering to the first principles the entire time.

This is a position of CHANGE-O-FUL. This is embracing first principles and the changes they produce. This is delighting in God's set ways and the variety and abundance in produce these ways bring about. If we fear change, we will suppress the principles in order to maintain them, which does violence to the very principle we propose to protect. If we fall in love with change, we abandon the principles in order to see more change, which separates us from all first principles.

We go forward by remaining committed to where we were. We trust where we've been to propel us to where we'd like to go. We move ahead by looking back, but we must do both.