The Revealer of Hearts

Nearly all of us will pass through life unheralded. Our sojourn, while important to those with whom we have shared life, will likely not make it into the pages of history books. But there are those few who come into the world who go on to play a kind of super-human role in the destiny of their fellow human beings. And among such people there are those whose influence is so significant that they define categories by which we judge not only them but those who agree or disagree with them.  For instance, if Martin Luther King, Jr., is mentioned in a discussion one would likely discover what people think about him and, in turn, a lot about those involved in the discussion. The same could be said about Marx, Hitler, or Mandela. Such people become a benchmark, for good or evil, and their existence demands an opinion. As such, these oversized people have the power to reveal hearts.

To whatever extent this might be said of any particular person, it takes on eternal significance when it comes to Jesus. Simeon prophesied (Luke 2:25) that Jesus “was appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed” so that “thoughts from many hearts maybe revealed”. This is clearly demonstrated in an encounter at the house of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-50). Jesus had been invited to dine and from the moment he arrived and took his place at the table a woman, described as “a sinner” (a prostitute?), wiped, kissed, and anointed his feet. This extraordinary display of love and gratitude for Jesus laid bare, as Simeon had prophesied, the hard heart of Simon: “[W]hen the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.’”

Jesus is on a mission to save people. For those who receive him he gives “the right to become children of God” (John 1:12), for those who reject him he becomes “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense” (1 Peter 2:8). The sinful woman was grateful, the Pharisee, scornful. As a result they were an eternity apart in their understanding of what his presence meant. That staggering consequence is still in play when Jesus is made known to people today.

Advent 2014: And He Shall Be Called . . . Christ

The angel Gabriel announced to Mary that the child that was to be conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit, would be given by the Lord “the throne of his father David,” and he would “reign over the house of Jacob forever,” and “of his kingdom there [would] be no end.” The pronouncement signaled the fulfillment of a covenant that God had made with David some thousand years before (2 Samuel 7:12-13). What’s remarkable is that Mary didn’t need any explanation as to what the angel’s announcement meant. Neither did Simeon, or Anna, or Zechariah, or even the lowly shepherds who learned of the Christ’s birth from an angelic messenger. Despite the fact that the promise was a millennium old, the people of Israel had imbedded in their collective conscience that a Messiah, an anointed one, the anointed one, was going to come.

What would keep such a promise alive in the minds of the descendants of Abraham? Two things to suggest: the first is that it was stated by Yahweh, the one, true, and living God, whose word does not fail; the second is that with the Messiah’s arrival would come to pass all the wonderful things that had been prophesied about him, and chief among those promises was that his reign would be one marked by peace, prosperity, justice and righteousness (among the many passages see Psalm 72; Isaiah 11:1-12:6). Who wouldn't want to live under the reign of such a perfect king? Who wouldn't continue to hold fast to God’s promise no matter how long it took to fulfill?

We have even greater reason to hope than those who received Jesus into the world. He himself announced that his reign had begun (see Luke 4:14-21) and Scripture testifies that it will continue until all his enemies are subdued (Hebrews 1:1-13). The envisioned “peaceable kingdom” will come. 

What are we to do in this “already, not yet” state? Knowing what the consummation of history looks like we must help others to see it and experience it even now. If we faithfully follow our king and allow him to use us as ambassadors of his kingdom we can offer people a picture of what it’s like to live under his gracious rule. 

Whose in Charge?

The late Leon Morris, the respected New Testament scholar, offers this observation in his commentary on Revelation: “We feel ourselves caught up in the world’s evil and misery and we cannot break free . . . we all, at times, feel a sense of hopelessness and helplessness in the grip of forces stronger than we. The world’s agony is real. And the world's inability to break free from the consequences of its guilt is real.” (Tyndale NT Commentaries, IVP, 1987, p. 91). When we hear of a powerful politician flexing his muscles, daring others to stop his incursion into a neighboring country, or read of a yet another sect of religious zealots murderously seeking to establish a crushing theocracy, we sense the kind of helplessness to which Morris refers seeping into our souls. For the believers in the first couple of centuries after the resurrection of Christ, when ambitious Rome, invincible Rome, pagan Rome, had control over more than 25% of the world’s population, the future must have seemed even more precarious. How was it all going to end?

A powerful antidote for such fears is found in the vision granted to us through John (see Revelation 5). The heavenly scene that we are introduced to leaves no doubt about who is in charge of history and the goings on of the world. The victorious Lamb is the one who breaks the seals on the scroll of God’s purposes, setting all in motion. What transpires involves divine justice and gracious redemption. Evil, all evil, will be overcome, and those who the Lamb ransomed for God “from every tribe and language and people and nation,” bask in the glory of his triumph.

We need to be reminded of this super-reality when the closer reality closes in. The knowledge that the exalted status of our Savior was gained by his redemptive obedience, coupled with the truth that our prayers in the midst of such troubling times will not go unanswered, must shape our responses. Tyrants and terrorists do not have the final word. That is reserved for the one to whom the multitude in heaven declares, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals.”