Monthly Archives: August 2022

Locusts and Honey, Vol.3, Pt. 2

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LOCUSTS AND HONEY

Vol. 3

Humility the Forgotten Virtue-Part 2

 

 

Last week we talked about how Jesus taught his disciples that they were to serve one another.  He  then demonstrated this principle by washing the feet of the disciples at the Last Supper.  In Part 2 of our study of humility and foot washing, I will be covering a number of different topics and so I apologize in advance for jumping around, but then jumping around is what a grasshopper does and therefore it is perfectly appropriate for a newsletter named “Locusts and Honey.”  Also before we embark upon our journey, you may rest assured that there is a connection between humility and the washing of feet.

 

John the Baptist

 

Since Locusts and Honey were part of the diet of John the Baptist, I will begin with a few comments about John.  John was a cousin of Jesus and had a humble spirit.  Living in the desert he was satisfied with a diet of locusts and honey.  As John saw the ministry of Jesus increase and his own ministry decrease, he did not get mad at Jesus but in a humble spirit acknowledged that it was appropriate that  his ministry must decrease as the ministry of Jesus increased (John 3:30).  Instead of being jealous at the success of Jesus,  John rejoiced at the increase of the ministry of Jesus like the “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29).

 

When John first started talking about Jesus, he said that he (John) was not worthy to loose His (Jesus’) sandal.  Many commentators on this verse comment that the job of washing feet was only an obligation of the lowest servant or slave.  In effect, John was commenting that he (John) was not even worthy to act as a slave and remove the sandal from the foot of Jesus and wash his feet.   (See various commentaries on John 1:27 and Luke 3:16).    The grasshopper now jumps.

 

 

Foot washing in the Roman World

 

Below is a quotation about foot washing in the Greco-Roman world from a write-up by the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rahway, N.J. : 

 

“Footwashing was also a sign of hospitality.  One of the primary forms of footwashing was as a sign of welcome.  According to Thomas, the best documented and most frequent accounts of footwashing are found in contexts where the washing precedes a meal or banquet.  Similar to the Old Testament, footwashing was almost exclusively the duty of slaves or servants.  Not only do servants draw the water, wash the feet, and dispose of the water; but it appears that a slave could not refuse to render this service, no matter how old he or she might be.  Thomas says, “Footwashing could be used as a synonym for slavery.  To wash another’s feet symbolized the subjugation of one person to another.  Those who received footwashing from another were social superiors of those who performed the task. “

 

In many cases, the host instead of having servants wash the feet of the guests simply provided a bowl of water and a towel so that the guest could wash their own feet.  This custom was probably referred to by Jesus when he had gone to a banquet put on by Simon the Pharisee.  Jesus said to Simon at Luke 7:44 “…you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.”  Jump, Grasshopper,  jump.

 

 

Had Jesus ever had his feet washed?

 

Interestingly, Jesus had his feet washed about a week before he instituted the Lord’s Supper.  His feet were washed at a banquet put on by Simon the Pharisee in Bethany.  This event is described in detail in Luke 7:36-50 and John 12: 1-11.  In Luke’s account the woman is described as “a sinner” but in John’s account she is positively identified as Mary the sister of Martha.  In Luke’s account an alabaster jar of fragrant oil is broken and the woman washes the feet of Jesus with her tears, wipes them with the hair of her head and kisses his feet.  In John’s account, the woman is identified as Mary who takes the oil of spikenard and wipes the feet of Jesus with her hair.  According to John 12:1, this occurred in Bethany six days before Passover. 

 

In short, within a week of the Last Supper, a woman had anointed Jesus feet with her tears and precious oil and had wiped his feet with her tears.  In Luke’s account Jesus pointed out that the woman had washed and kissed his feet whereas Simon the Host at the banquet at Bethany had not given Jesus the customary kiss.  (Simon’s son is apparently Judas Iscariot who did give Jesus a kiss of greeting when he betrayed him after the Lord’s Supper a week after the banquet at Bethany).  Jesus also pointed out to Simon that Simon had not given him water for washing his feet (or a towel either) but that the woman (Mary) had washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and anointed them with oil.

 

It is instructive to me that as we consider humility, foot washing and service, the one who showed humility and service to Jesus was not a man but instead was a woman.  As we contemplate service to others and service to Christ we should remember that it was a woman who washed the feet of Jesus not a man.  Likewise, it was Jesus who taught us all that we need to show humility, service and love one to another, by taking on the role of a servant.  Jump, Grasshopper, jump.

 

When was foot washing done?

 

One of the questions that generally is not raised is why foot washing was done at the Last Supper at the time that it was done.  As our earlier discussion pointed out, foot washing was generally something done before the meal.  Why was it done in the middle of the meal (or after the supper portion of the meal) in the instance of the Lord’s Supper.

 

There is no clear answer to this but we can make some conjectures.  We know that the bowl, water and towel were present at the Lord’s Supper because Jesus uses these implements when he gets up to wash the disciples feet.

 

One possible answer is that the bowl, water and towel were present when the disciples came in.  However, there were no servants or slaves to take on this lowly task.  People generally did not wash the feet of people who had the same rank as themselves.  And so, the bowl, towel and water simply sat there during the first part of the Lord’s Supper unused because none of the disciples were going to wash the feet of Jesus or the feet of their co-disciples.  Shortly before coming to Jerusalem, the disciples had been fighting about who was going to sit upon thrones next to Jesus in the Kingdom.  So there the water, bowl and towel sat untouched. Despite the words of Jesus about the greatest being a servant, his disciples were still focused upon thrones not wash bowls and service.

 

Instead of foot washing before the meal, this was skipped altogether until Jesus gave an example and did something unthinkable which his disciples had failed to do.  Jump, Grasshopper, jump.

 

The Greek Word for Humility

 

The Greek word for humility is tapeinoo which means making oneself low to the ground. In Latin the word is humus means ground.  When we discuss people as fitting into classes, we use words like “high”, “middle” and “low”.  Humility indicates being low to the ground or even low class socially.  Jesus, however, said that “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  (Matt. 5:3).  Jump, Grasshopper, but not too high.

 

The Humility of Jesus 

 

Jesus is humble of heart.  In Matthew 11:29, Jesus said:  “Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you shall find rest for your souls.”  The fact that the Creator of the Universe would lower himself to become a man through the incarnation is evidence of great humility.  In fact, it would have been an act of humility even if the Messiah had chosen to become the head of the Roman Empire.  A fleshly king is a gigantic step down for the Creator of the Universes and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  However, becoming man was not enough (nor would it have been particularly appreciated by men and women of the lowest rank and position).  The Messiah chose to be incarnated into a poor family, to be born in a stable, to live and  to be raised in the poorest section of Israel (Can anything good come out of Nazareth?-John 1:46).  The Messiah could have chosen to be born beautiful in form so that he could be loved and admired by others.  He did not.  The Messiah (Jesus) is described in Isaiah 53:2 in this way:  “He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”  There are no physical descriptions of what Jesus looked like in the New Testament and perhaps that is no wonder because there was nothing which made him physically attractive to men and women.  His attractiveness came from within not from weight, coloring, and handsomeness which we so value today.

 

The humility of Jesus is graphically described in Philippians 2: 5,6, 8 where Paul wrote:  “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped…and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

 

For Jesus, humility and humbleness meant not only being born in a stable and being a baby in a manger, it also meant dying a criminal’s death by being stripped and nailed to a cross so that through his blood our sins might be covered and we might have eternal life.  Jump, Grasshopper, jump.

 

Nakedness as a sign of humility.

 

In today’s carnal society “nakedness” sells.  It not only sells in the pornographic area but it also sells in other areas including television where you have shows such as “Naked and Afraid.”  There is even an interesting Christian podcast entitled “The Naked Bible Podcast.”

 

In one sense, Jesus shed his royal robes of being in the form of God to come to earth as a naked little baby.  In a spiritual sense, Jesus shed his royal robes to join us as a human person.  Leaving aside his royal rights, he chose to be incarnated as a person like us.

 

In John 13:4-5 it says that Jesus…”rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.  After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”  As part of the foot washing, Jesus removed his clothing and girded himself with a towel.  The act of humility was not just the act of washing the feet but it was removing of his clothing and girding himself with the towel.

 

Jesus not only did act as the servant or slave in washing the feet but he also dressed the part.

 

Just as Jesus came into the world naked, he probably left it in the same way.  Here is what Wikipedia says about “Crucifixion”:  “ While a crucifixion was an execution, it was also a humiliation, by making the condemned as vulnerable as possible. Although artists have traditionally depicted the figure on a cross with a loin cloth or a covering of the genitals, the person being crucified was usually stripped naked.”

 

John 19:23 says, “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part and also the tunic.”  The soldiers gambled for the tunic and it was not split so that Psalm 22:18 might be fulfilled.

 

The point is that Jesus was stripped and we believe nailed to the cross when he was naked as part of the humiliation of the Roman style of execution.  This was done before his mother, his relatives, his followers and his disciples who were present.

 

We underestimate the shame and humility experienced by the death of Jesus for us.  As Paul said:  “He humbled himself by becoming obedient even to the point of death, even death on the cross”.  Jump, Grasshopper, jump.

 

Concluding Thoughts

 

Love is not proud.  God looks upon the humble heart.  “The bruised reed He does not break”.  Many of us, including myself, have wrestled with the “pride of life.”  However, we are brought to a place of humility.  If we do not come to humbleness through wisdom, we still experience humility through illness, age, loss of material things or loss of those who we love.  Life and death give us the gift of humbleness and humility.  But even if we sometimes experience humility unwillingly, Christ wants us to know that we are blessed and the Kingdom of God is ours.  I am reminded of what Jesus said to Peter in John 21:18 “Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.  Thus He spoke, signifying by which death he would glorify God.”

 

John would grow increasingly old and experience the difficulties and trials of old age; Peter would spread out his hands and die on the cross like Jesus. 

 

It is not fun to be humble.  Nonetheless, we all will at some time or another have the opportunity.  However, we will also have the promise that Christ is with us and bring us through to the Kingdom of God.  Rest, Grasshopper, rest.

Locusts and Honey #1

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Pros & Cons: Filling Pool With Well Water | Pool Calculator

 

“Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.”—Matt. 5:4

 

A dear friend who has recently experienced grief asked me for a few comments upon the above verse.  As many of us know, this verse is one of the “blesseds” that appear in the Sermon on the Mount.  In that sermon, Jesus spoke a number of things to the crowd assembled  that day.  His statements appear to contradict what we normally think.  For instance, we are more likely to think that a more accurate saying would be “Unhappy is the person who mourns….”  Yet, Jesus had a way of turning things on their head and giving us a new and revolutionary view of life.  Jesus added other “blesseds” or “beatitudes” which also seemed to be illogical at first glance such as “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst….”, “Blessed are those who are persecuted…”, and “Blessed are you when people insult you….”

 

The Greek Word

 

The Greek word for “blessed” is makarioi.  It is an adjective which occurs about 26 times in the New Testament.  The word simply means “blessed” or “happy.”

 

Comments

 

Both the person asking the question and my own family have experienced the loss of a loved one during the past year or so.  And so how do we look down at the grave of a husband or a child and identify with Jesus’ words that we are “happy” or “blessed” when our heart is still full of pain and grief.

 

Scripture tells us that Jesus knew grief.  In fact Isaiah 53:4 describes the Messiah (Christ) as being “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”  Likewise, Jesus Christ was sympathetic to those who grieved.  Isaiah 42:3 says:  “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”    When we see the body of a person we love lying in death, our hearts indeed could be described as a “bruised reed” or a “smoldering wick.”  We are hurt and there is no way getting around it.

 

  Jesus Christ  shares the pain of our griefs and sorrows.  Isaiah 53:4 says, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.”  In our mourning, we are not alone, and the presence and activity of Jesus in our life comforts us.

 

The  promise of Christ in Matt. 5:4 is that “…we will be comforted.”  It is part of life to experience pain and eventually to die.  Scripture says that “It is appointed to man once to die…” (Heb. 9:27).  Even Jesus himself was not immune from pain and death.  It is something that we go through.  Even those who experienced the healing power of Jesus or who were resurrected during the life of Jesus eventually died.  People like Jairus’s daughter, the widow of Nain’s son and even Lazarus all experienced death even after their resurrection by Jesus.  Death, and the door way to death which is often suffering, is almost universal (a few exceptions might be people like Enoch or Elijah).  However the vast, vast general rule is that we all suffer and die.  A healing or resurrection in this life is not an exemption from the general rule but only a postponement of the inevitable.

 

But there is hope.  That is what the resurrection of Jesus is all about.  As believers we share in his resurrection and we look forward to a resurrection to come.  That is an extraordinary promise.  Some verses which Paul wrote about this are the following:

 

               The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall  be changed.  So when this corruption has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that which is               written:  “Death is swallowed up in victory”. 

                                                                                                                        1 Cor. 15:52, 54

 

 

               I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have  fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.  For if we believe  that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

                                                                                                                        1 Thes. 4:13-14

 

Death is an enemy.  Yet Jesus pulls back the curtain of life in Matt. 5:4 and proclaims us as “happy.”  We are happy because we know that we will be comforted by God in the future.  We are “happy” and “blessed” because for an instant we see past the illusions of this world and we know that happiness is not found in the material things of life or even in close personal relationships.  The ultimate happiness transcends this life.  It transcends the effects of tragedy and the pain in the here and now.  For an instance, we glimpse eternity and recognize that it is not the things of this life which can make us “happy” or “blessed.”  Our “forever home” is not the dwelling we have here but instead is found in a far country, the Kingdom of God and the New Jerusalem.  The things of earth will never satisfy us again.

 

We are tempted because of our love to wallow in our grief.  However, Scripture warns us not to let grief consume us.  Ecclesiastes 3:4-5 says that “there is a time to weep and a time to laugh and a time to mourn and a time to dance.”  An ancient Christian document, The Shepherd of Hermas (at Mandate 10) reminds us that there is a time to put away sadness because too much grieving and sadness reflects doubt in the goodness and promises of God.  As children of God, we must “cast away sadness” and clothe ourselves in cheerfulness.  We need to remember Isaiah 61: 3 where we are promised to be given “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”  Our ultimate destiny is one of gladness not sadness.

 

We are happy because through Christ we have the promise that death will be defeated.  We have the hope of the resurrection, an eternal life, and seeing those who have followed God.  We have the hope of participating in the Family of God.  We also have the hope of living in a world without sorrow, abuse, disease, pain and suffering.

 

Moreover, instead of the shabby promises of Satan and this world, we are “happy” because we are blessed with the Word of God and the promises of the Living Word.  We are blessed because we are recipients of the everlasting promises of God including the fact that eventually death will be cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:14) and that for the believer there will be an end to pain and death:

 

               God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more  death, or sorrow, nor crying.  There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

                                                                                                                        Rev. 21:4

Fake Credentials

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Solomon once said that there are many evils under the sun (Eccl. 6:1).  One evil that I have observed is fraud perpetrated upon the church.  One of these frauds is the use of paper doctorates to convince the congregation that the pastor is highly educated.  I first encountered this phenomenon when I was a young college professor at a “Christian” college.  One day I heard about one of our co-professors who had resigned.  The Wall Street Journal had run an article about “diploma mills” where you could get a doctorate by paying a hefty fee.  Apparently a professor in our college had such a diploma proudly hanging on his wall and was forced to resign after the article on diploma mills came out.

Since that time, I have known  many cases where pastors and writers have employed the cheap doctorate or other degree in order to exalt themselves and effectively defraud the Body of Christ.  These individuals better fall in the category of the Scribes described in Luke 20: 46 (NIV) where it says: 

“Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.”

It is surprising how often I have seen this situation including with “well-respected” and well-known pastors, religious writers and academicians.    In short, the desire to be esteemed and applauded by the church and the world for being trained and educated have overcome the virtues of being honest and truthful.  These easy doctorates are usually done by mail with institutions that sometimes grant a doctorate with only 30 hours of on-line class work and giving time for “life-experience.”  In short, this is the academic equivalent of credit for “time served.”  The cost of the paper degree is often high and has become a lucrative business for those granting them.

In fact, one extremely well-known writer in the area of end-times studies, proclaimed himself as having a doctorate of divinity (D.D.) but no one has ever been able to substantiate where it came from.  Nonetheless, the gullible have flocked to this individual’s teaching despite his bogus credentials.

Often these cheap but exalted-sounding degrees are given by institutions which have strange-sounding names such as the Southwestern School of South Dakota (a name I made up).  The institutions are bogus and on numerous occasions, the accrediting institution certifying the graduate school granting the doctorate is bogus as well.  In one recent example, I found several well known ministers proud of their doctorates from an upper level theological seminary which had been formed by a person who did not even have a doctorate in theology.  Instead the individual had a degree in Oriental Medicine from another “diploma mill”. 

I am speaking out on these issues because there is a deep dishonesty being perpetrated upon the Church of Christ.  This fraud may be so prevalent in religious circles because we are people of “faith.”  Yet it seems to me that faith should be different from gullibility.  Because most Christians desire to be honest, perhaps they see others as honest especially those who proclaim themselves to be “shepherds” of the sheep.  In the academic area in Christians circles, we apparently have more than one ecclesiastical P.T. Barnum.

Most people are afraid or unwilling to speak out regarding this evil perpetrated upon the people of the church.  Perhaps they are unwilling to be viewed as being “critical” or un-Christian for speaking about this fraud or perhaps they are just uninterested and will leave it to God to judge the dishonest who masquerade as shepherds and leaders.

I, for one, do not believe that you have to give up your intellect or judgment when you follow Christ.  Scripture says that we are be as “harmless as doves and as wise as serpents” (Matt. 10:16).  When you come to Christ, you do not have to leave your brain at home.  False teachers get away with their actions because what they say and do looks good and attractive while no one speaks up.  Often the gullible are simply too busy or too lazy to look carefully at a person’s credentials.

Our Faith has opportunities for those with formal education as those without it.  Paul had formal training as a Pharisee from the great teacher Gamaliel (Acts 22:3).   Jesus, on the other hand, had no formal learning that we know of.  Yet at age 12 he could garner the respect of the teachers in the Jerusalem temple and as an adult could confound the Pharisees and scribes and teachers of his time.  There is ample room for both leaders who are trained and those who are naturally gifted in the Church of Christ.  However, there should be no room for those who fraudulently proclaim themselves as being highly trained and degreed when they are not.  That practice is dishonest.