Volume 2 Issue 5

 

               

ut Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.’ Can a woman forget her nursing child, and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; YOUR WALLS ARE CONTINUALLY BEFORE ME.” (Isaiah 49:14-16) These words were spoken while the Jews continued in captivity in Babylon. The captivity was to last for seventy years brought about because of their sins and lack of repentance. As the years slowly passed they began to believe that the Lord had completely forgotten about them and that they were doomed to remain in Babylon forever. Yet, the Lord had not forgotten them. Indeed, He made it clear that His love for them was stronger even than that of a nursing mother. Our circumstances, our WALLS, are not hidden from God. He knows exactly where we are, how long we have been there, and how long we are to remain. Whether we feel walled IN or walled OUT, the Lord is aware of the situation.

            Walls can be literal, such as the walls of Jericho. Most cities during Biblical times were walled. They were a means of protection from hostile, invading armies. When the Israelites were spying out the land of Canaan they were dismayed to find the cities well fortified with high walls and thus questioned their ability to drive out the Canaanites that they might possess the land. “The people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are FORTIFIED and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. (Numbers 13:28) This lack of faith was one reason the Israelites were turned back to wander in the Wilderness for forty years. God knew the walls were there before the Israelites ever saw them. Our walls that are continually before the Lord are not just the walls we currently see, but all the walls we will ever face. It is the Lord who has arranged our walls throughout life that we might be overcomers. The walls of Jericho were a NECESSARY obstacle. Had Jericho not had walls and the Israelites were simply able to walk up to it and destroy it they would have taken credit for the victory. This is the pride of fallen mankind and the Lord is well aware of it. “In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, TO DO GOOD FOR YOU IN THE END. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” (Deuteronomy 8:16-18) If we never encountered “walls” we could not overcome. God would be unnecessary. Only when we have to rely on Him and recognize our own inability to save ourselves do we see our need to be redeemed. Salvation comes when we see ourselves as God sees us. The walls of Jericho fell when the Israelites obeyed God’s instructions and shouted to Him on the seventh day. Obedience and praise cause walls to fall.

             Paul and Silas had been whipped and thrown into a Philippian jail for proclaiming Jesus Christ as the Messiah. They were in pain, badly beaten, bloody, and in chains. Yet, they did not lament their situation. Their bodies may have been in jail, but their spirits were free to praise the Lord. “But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of PRAISE to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's chains were unfastened.” (Acts 16:25-26) The Lord saw the walls that hemmed in Paul and Silas; He had not forgotten them, but more important, they had not forgotten the Lord. They could had worried and fretted about their predicament, felt sorry for themselves, focusing on their battered bodies, their chains, the prison walls. Instead, they sang songs of praise. The result was their freedom and the salvation of the jailer and his family.

            Jesus told His disciples, “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Luke 13:24) The word “strive” here is the Greek word we get “agonize” from and the word “narrow” means “constricted by placing OBSTACLES in the way”. Many agonize as they walk the Christian life because they find the path is full of obstacles and they tire of the battle. The problem is they are fighting in their own strength. They are focused upon the obstacles instead of upon the Lord. They cry and whine about how hard and unfair life is, not realizing that freedom comes from submission, obedience, and praise. We never win anyone to Christ my bemoaning our sad lot in life. They come to Christ when they see us rejoicing in all things. “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalms 118:24)

            John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus as the long awaited Messiah, the Savior of Israel. “The next day he (John) saw Jesus coming to him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’ And I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29,34) John knew that as the dove descended upon Jesus that He was the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus was the fulfillment of his message, the One John had boldly proclaimed was coming. He did not fear the Pharisees or religious leaders. Rather he challenged them. “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance’” (Matthew 3:7-8) That is very strong language. Obviously, John was not out to win a popularity contest. His convictions were strong. His belief that Jesus was the Messiah was just as strong. I doubt he ever thought there would come a time when he would question that conviction. But when the walls of Herod’s dungeon became his only surroundings and hope fading that he would ever see the light of day again, his faith in Jesus wavered. The chains, the darkness, the cold, the hunger, the thirst, the stench, the loneliness, the possibility of death at any moment, and Jesus no where to be seen brought John to the point of wondering if Jesus really were the Messiah.

            “Now when John in prison heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples, and said to Him, ‘Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?’” (Matthew 11:2-3) John’s circumstances had focused his attention upon himself. This is natural. He could see the walls of Herod’s dungeon, but did God? Had He forgotten him? Was Jesus whom he had proclaimed to be the Lamb of God that would take away the sin of the world unaware of the walls that imprisoned him? It is difficult to think of others when we are in dire straits, suffering intensely and unjustly. When we have been faithful to the calling the Lord has given us and the only results we see are negative it is very tempting to question whether we heard the Lord correctly. Surely, we think, this can not be what God intended. There must be some mistake. So, we pray for an explanation, wanting to make sure we have not been deceived. This is what John was doing. He wanted to make sure he had not been deceived and that he was not suffering in vain.

            Jesus’ answer to John seems strange at first glance, but it holds within it the key to understanding how to remain faithful to Him, how to recognize that we have not been deceived regardless of outward appearances. “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me.’” (Matthew 11:4-6) What is puzzling about this answer for some is that Jesus does not confirm or deny that He is the Messiah. Nor does he offer a word of encouragement to John or even acknowledge that He knows he is in prison. In fact, He does not address John’s circumstances at all. Instead, He tells John’s disciples to relate what He is doing for others. Why? Because Jesus knows that the only way for John to be assured that He is the Messiah and at the same time be able to endure his imprisonment is to take his eyes off of himself. Jesus gave sight to the blind, but not all the blind; He gave hearing to the deaf, but not all the deaf; He cleansed the lepers, but not all the lepers; He raised the dead, but not all the dead. These were things that only God the Messiah could do and only He had the right to choose who was healed and who was not. Because all were not healed did not invalidate His claim to be God. John would have understood Jesus’ answer to mean. “Take your eyes off of yourself, John and the walls that surround you. I know your circumstances. I have not forgotten you, but look, instead at what I am doing for others. These are the works of God Himself and blessed are you if you can accept your fate and not stumble and lose your faith.” I once heard a preacher give a definition of what it means to die to self, something Jesus said was necessary in order to truly live. He said that when you can see someone else whose needs are not nearly as great as your own, and those needs are being met while yours go unfulfilled and you can rejoice with him because God has blessed him, and at the same time trust God knows what is best for you and has not forgotten you, you have died to self. Amen. There is no prison, no circumstance, no situation, no WALLS that can resist such faith. We may remain physically in prison, or a captive of our surroundings, but be free. “If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36) John died at the hands of Herod, but who was the true prisoner? The walls of Herod’s palace were as a tomb to him; the walls of Herod’s dungeon were as a womb to John for there he found Life.

            Lazarus, Jesus’ friend, was sick and Jesus was asked by his sisters, Mary and Martha to come at once and heal him. The walls of sickness were pressing the life out of their brother, but they knew Jesus had the power to heal him so they waited for Him to come and tear down those walls that Lazarus might live. Instead Jesus delayed. By the time Jesus arrived Lazarus had been dead four days and was now surrounded by the walls of a tomb made of rock. This story is one of my favorites for in it lie many truths of God’s plan of salvation, truths that we cannot at this time go into detail on. It is sufficient now to see that Mary and Martha had no trouble believing Jesus could destroy Lazarus’ walls of sickness, but could not believe the walls of death could be overcome. “When Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, ‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her, also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit, and was troubled, and said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to Him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept.” (John 11:32-35) Jesus did not weep because Lazarus was dead. He knew He was going to raise him from the dead. He wept because of Mary and Martha and the Jew’s unbelief. He had told them, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies.” (John 11:25) Their faith was not capable of fully believing this. They believed Lazarus would be raised later at the Resurrection, but not now, it was too late. The walls of sickness had become the walls of death. Surely, they thought, God had forgotten them in their time of need. They had no doubt heard about Jesus raising the dead, but those people had just died; their bodies had not yet begun to decay and they were not in a tomb sealed with a large rock. Jesus faced a wall of time and death, a wall of rock, a wall they thought was impenetrable. Of course that was not true. Jesus came to Lazarus’ tomb and had them roll the rock away from the entrance. “He cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth.’ He who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings; and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’” (John 11:43-44) The walls of time and death had been breached. Not long after this the walls of time and death would be completely destroyed.

            When Jesus walked the earth He could only be in one place at one time. The physical body He had freely chosen to take upon Himself limited Him. As great as His works were while upon the earth, He had greater works to do, but they could only be accomplished in the Spirit. The walls of time and death surrounded Him like other humans, but just as He had breached those walls by raising Lazarus from the dead, He was about to break free from them completely, pouring His Spirit out upon His creation that we too should be free from time and death. “For the creation was subjected to futility, NOT OF ITS OWN WILL, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8:20-21) All of creation that had been surrounded, imprisoned by the wall of sin was set free when Jesus destroyed the walls of time and death. When Adam and Eve placed themselves, and thus us, within the wall of sin by eating the forbidden fruit the Lord told the SERPENT how He would destroy that wall. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” (Genesis 3:15) This is a prophesy of Jesus Christ, the Seed of the woman. The bruising of the heel was Jesus’ death upon the Cross. The bruising of the head was the death of sin at Jesus’ resurrection. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57) The wall that separated us from the Lord because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience was torn down for all eternity. While many throughout the ages have attempted to destroy the wall of sin by good works, it was the Cross of Christ that became the bridge that allowed man to come home.

            Of course the walls of sin, time, and death are not literal walls. You cannot see them with your physical eyes, nor destroy them with picks or hammers. There was a physical wall, however, that was representative of these walls. After Jesus had been crucified, “Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.” (Mark 15:46) The bruising of the heel was complete. From a human point of view and the limited understanding of the Apostles the walls of the tomb of Jesus separated them from the hope that Jesus was the Messiah. The darkness within the tomb was mirrored by the darkness within their hearts. The women who followed Jesus feared they would not even be able to roll away the stone to care for the body properly. “And they were saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?’ And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.” (Mark 16:3-4) God had called forth His Son from the tomb thus destroying the walls of sin, time, and death. The rolled away stone was the physical picture of this spiritual reality. It is interesting to note that the stone was rolled away for OUR benefit, NOT Jesus’. Jesus could pass through walls, which He proved when He appeared before His disciples in the locked upper room where they had gathered in fear. The stone was rolled away so that we could get in, not so Jesus could get out. The tomb had become the womb of new life. The bruising of the head of Satan was now complete.