ClearWords

On one occasion, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say I am”. Perhaps not surprisingly, he got several answers. More surprisingly, one was that “one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life” (Luke 9: 19). Clearly this group of people were more inclined to believe in the resurrection of a Merlin-like figure from long ago than the appearance of a new prophet in and for their own time. That might seem odd, but Israel in Jesus’ time was at something of a nadir. The nation had been a vassal state of five different empires across seven centuries. One century of independence under the Hasmonean dynasty had brought renewed hope, but this was crushed with the Roman conquest of 63 BC. Since then, Israel had been subject to Roman laws and Roman taxation and garrisoned by Roman legions. There was little sign of God intervening on their behalf. Clearly some of the Jews became used to this status quo and had little expectation of anything different. Their focus was not on future...

Recently I was made to stop and think when I read again the story of Legion, the tormented man (Luke chapter 8). It really is a strange one. This notorious, violent madman, living half naked among the tombs and out of his mind, is miraculously and instantaneously restored to normality by Jesus. For a long time the whole neighbourhood had lived in fear of him. So you would expect them to react to his healing with joy and relief. Instead, they simply tranferred their fear to the one who brought about his deliverance, and begged Jesus to leave the region. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9: 10). But there is also a fear of God that's unhealthy and inappropriate.  And I came to the conclusion that I'm guilty of it, too. My walk with Jesus has not been a straight one, and at times I've been guilty of misapplying faith. Sometimes through simple of errors of judgement. Sometimes when I've attempted to use it as a tool to try to get what I w...