On Religious Disputes and a “Dead Man Named Jesus”

PRAYER OF CONSECRATION

Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. 

Jesus, I belong to you.

I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.

Jesus, we belong to you. 

Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. 

Acts 25:13–19

A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. He said: “There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner. When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned.

“I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and have had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges. When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in. When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.”

CONSIDER THIS

Thank God for “Roman custom.”

Why is it that God’s people crucify each other? I suppose it begs the further question, Why do God’s people crucify God?

Think about it. In the Bible, we see the court systems and process of Rome act far more mercifully and fair and just than do God’s own people. Compare the way Jesus was handled by the high priest to the way he was handled by Pontius Pilate. Pilate would have released him. Compare the way Paul was handled by the Sanhedrin to the way he was handled by Felix and Festus and so forth. Felix and Festus found no apparent fault with Paul, yet the Sanhedrin condemned him to death before the trial even began.

Is it any wonder Paul threw himself on the mercy of the court of Caesar? I restate my thesis: the system of Caesar did not kill Jesus or Paul; the processes of his own people did.

If we are honest, it’s a short, sad step from the Sanhedrin to the church as relates to the nature of people. How can I say this? Because people are people, it is the broken nature of people to believe rumors, spread gossip, presume guilt, cast judgment, and inflict punishment, and to do it all in the name of justice. I don’t think I’m making a stretch when I say that church people can be the absolute worst when it comes to this.

From day one, the Creator God has intended that his created image-bearers do more than bear his name. He intends us to reflect his image, embody his character, and literally become mercy at the molecular level—his holy love for his whole creation. This is why at Seedbed we talk about the “whole gospel for the whole world.”

While salvation may begin with a decision to trust Jesus if it does not lead to a daily decidedness to belong to Jesus, it will mean less than nothing to the world he came to save. In fact, it will actually be worse for the church because when God’s own people do not ever-increasingly reflect the depths of his nature it turns people away from God.

If I’m not doing the gut-wrenching work of actually becoming a Christian, I am among the most dangerous people in any community. I become one of those Christians whose unconverted nature is to believe rumors, spread gossip, presume guilt, cast judgment, and inflict punishment, and do it all over coffee in the name of Jesus. Here’s what happens in the wake of such behavior. The watching world can’t make heads or tails of what we are about. Look how Festus translated it:

“Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.”

This is why unity matters so much. Hear Jesus out: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20–21). 

The converse is also true: Our religious disputes give the watching world the permission to not believe in Jesus. He remains a dead man to them. 

It’s why we’ve focused so much on the Holy Spirit these past months. The Holy Spirit is to the process of actually becoming a Christian as oxygen is to the human body. He’s that critical.

It’s why over and over and over and over we say the prayer.

THE PRAYER OF TRANSFORMATION

Lord Jesus, I am your witness. I long to be like you. 

I receive your righteousness and release my sinfulness.
I receive your wholeness and release my brokenness.
I receive your fullness and release my emptiness.
I receive your peace and release my anxiety.
I receive your joy and release my despair.
I receive your healing and release my sickness.
I receive your love and release my selfishness.

Come, Holy Spirit, transform my heart, mind, soul, and strength so that my consecration becomes your demonstration; that our lives become your sanctuary. For the glory of God our Father, amen.

THE JOURNAL PROMPTS

So why is it that God’s people crucify each other in the name of God? What is the antidote to this? What do you make of this logic: Broken people break people. Healed people heal people. 

THE HYMN

Today we will sing “Make Me a Captive, Lord” (hymn 587) from our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise. Get your copy here. 

For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt

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