Praying For Others

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"

Romans 8:31

While it is among the shorter words in this verse, the conditional "if" written here has some of the largest implications.  Reading the passage in context, Paul already established God is for those who are for Him, having provided His only begotten Son to save sinners.  Paul taught there was now no condemnation to those who are in Christ and walk according to the Holy Spirit.  Those who are born again by faith in Christ have the Holy Spirit within them and are children of God.  Paul was so confident of God being for His people, having made us joint-heirs with Christ with whom we will be glorified, he declared in Romans 8:18, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

If God is for some people, it follows He can be against them too.  This can be observed throughout the Bible, that God is against those who do wickedly--like prophets who prophesied out of their own hearts rather than the word of God.  God said through the prophet in Ezekiel 13:8-9:  "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you," says the Lord GOD. ⁹ My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD."  The LORD said concerning Babylon in Jeremiah 50:31:  "Behold, I am against you, O most haughty one!" says the Lord GOD of hosts; "for your day has come, the time that I will punish you."  This is entirely consistent with the character of God in the Scripture, that He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).

God is not one of those human fathers who us deluded to imagine his child can do no wrong, one who shows nepotism by willing blindness to our faults and folly:  every one of His adopted children by the Gospel is a sinner who does wrong.  That is why Jesus came to provide forgiveness, pardon, salvation and guidance out of His goodness.  While we were still sinners, God demonstrated His love for all by Jesus laying down His life on Calvary.  What wondrous grace, that when we were against God He was for us.  His longsuffering is salvation, for He is not willing that any should perish but all come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).  Self-righteousness can lead God's children to feel entitled to God's grace and condemn others, to set ourselves against those who live contrary to God--and assume a posture that is not Christlike.

I have lately been encouraged by Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5:43-45:  "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' ⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."  Notice Jesus commanded His disciples to pray for their enemies, not against them.  God is clearly against those who do wickedly, yet as recipients of His grace, mercy and love we are to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute us.  This is God's intended path of our sanctification, for Jesus concluded in Matthew 5:48:  "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."  Better than praying against those who oppose God, we can pray for what we know is God's will revealed in His word.  God's people walk in wisdom to pray in alignment with His word rather than against others.

Avoiding Offence

When people are convinced they are right about something and other are mistaken, they can be brash, aloof or dismissive of others and their opinions.  For a great deal of my life I wrongfully valued being right over being meek and gentle like Jesus is.  I was more satisfied in having my facts straight than helping others who could be spiritually likened to lost people in the dark.  By God's grace, He made me aware of my sinful tendency and has worked in my life to transform my perspective, to care more about others and to direct them to Jesus Christ the Saviour than trying to prove my point.

In our Bible study last night, we discussed Matthew 17 and I was intrigued by an interaction Jesus had with Peter in Capernaum.  After they arrived in the city where Peter dwelt on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, Peter was approached by Jews who collected tribute money for the temple tax from those 20 years old and above who were numbered according to the Law of Moses.  Nehemiah 10:32 also speaks of an ordinance made by the people to give 1/3rd of a shekel yearly to support the service of the temple.  They asked Peter, "Doesn't your master pay tribute?"  Peter affirmed He did.  When Peter entered the house, Jesus asked him preemptively:  "What do you think, Simon?  Who do kings of the earth charge tribute?  From their own children or strangers?"  Peter correctly answered king tax strangers, for their own house is exempt from paying tribute.

Jesus affirmed, "Then the children are free."  He continued speaking in Matthew 17:27:  "Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you."  From a spiritual perspective, Jesus and Peter were justified not to pay the tribute demanded of them.  Yet Jesus did not make this a point of contention, lest they offend those who came to collect the tax.  It was not a point Jesus belaboured with the men, going into an involved discourse to demonstrate He was exempt from paying the tax.  Instead, Jesus directed Peter to go the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that came up first.  The fish would have a piece of money that would cover the expense of the tax for them both.

I am impressed at the effort Jesus went through, not only to avoid unnecessary offence, but to instruct Peter of spiritual matters and increase his faith by obedience.  As a fisherman, Peter had caught countless fish--and likely not one of them had a coin in its mouth!  Thus faith in Christ was required to do as Jesus said, believing it would be as Jesus said.  This is the only passage in the Gospels and New Testament which speaks of fishing with a line and a hook because fisherman primarily used nets.  Speaking as someone who has never fished with a net and only used a line and hook, it is interesting Jesus made no mention of what bait to use.  By Peter's faith in Jesus and obedience to His command, it is implied all happened as Jesus said and the tax was paid.  When we are compelled to pay an unexpected tax we can complain, let our annoyance and inconvenience be known, or scold others for just doing their jobs.  Jesus meekly avoided offending the tax collectors and used it as a teachable moment for Peter that resulted in great gain of understanding and faith for him and also for us today.  Jesus showed being correct is no excuse for causing unnecessary offence.

The Glorious Gate

In my daily readings I observed various psalms that spoke of gates, and this reminded me of the 80's Terry Clark praise song, "These are the Gates."  The first verse goes, "These are the gates to the Kingdom.  These are the courts of the everlasting King and we enter in with praise and thanksgiving.  We enter in with praise and thanksgiving with praises on our lips, thanksgiving in our hearts, in loving worship of our Lord."  The song captures well the attitude of God's people who enter His kingdom, thanking God with gratitude for the grace He has extended to all people through the Gospel.

In the Old City of Jerusalem today there are many gates with different names with long, storied histories.  The Gate through whom people enter the kingdom of God is distinct and unique because it is a Person sinners enter by faith.  Jesus said concerning the sheep of His pasture as the Good Shepherd in John 10:9:  "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."  Since Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, He is the exclusive path to God the Father and eternal life (John 14:6).  This righteous Way of salvation was spoken of in Psalm 118, a song filled with Messianic allusions.  Psalm 118:19-21 reads, "Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, and I will praise the LORD. ²⁰ This is the gate of the LORD, through which the righteous shall enter. ²¹ I will praise You, for You have answered me, and have become my salvation."  We could never find or open a gate of righteousness, but God has graciously opened it for us by the Gospel.

When I read this, my mind goes to Psalm 22 that begins with the words Jesus famously uttered from the cross in Psalm 22:1:  "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?"  David prophetically sang of what would take place when Jesus was crucified.  His song contains lyrics the Jewish religious rulers hurled verbatim at Christ with scorn (Matthew 27:43; Luke 23:35).  Psalm 22:16-18 continued from David's perspective:  "For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; ¹⁷ I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. ¹⁸ They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."  David may have been singing figuratively concerning himself, but by the power of the Holy Spirit he sang literally of what Jesus endured on Calvary.  Psalm 22:21 marks a major shift in the psalm from supplication to praise when God answers:  "Save Me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered Me."

For all those who believe in the LORD Jesus Christ, our prayers for forgiveness and salvation have been answered with a resounding yes according to the Gospel.  By faith in Jesus we have spiritually entered the Kingdom of God, the narrow way that leads to eternal life.  Our hearts have received Jesus gladly even as subjects rejoiced to open the gates of the city for their returning king to enter.  As many as have received Him, to them Jesus gives the power to become children of God, born again by faith in Him.  Psalm 24:7-10 sings from the page with joy for all God's people:  "Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. ⁸ Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. ⁹ Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. ¹⁰ Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah."  Let us give God praise and thanksgiving, for the victorious King of glory has come in.

God's Word Fulfilled

When Jesus prayed audibly to the Father before the tomb of Lazarus, He acknowledged God always heard Him.  Jesus did not speak aloud so He would be heard but for the benefit of everyone who stood by as He said in John 11:42:  "And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me."  He made a clear correlation between what He said and accomplished because of who He was, is and will always be:  the Son of God sent to seek and save the lost, the promised Messiah.  Raising Lazarus from death to life was powerful evidence that affirmed who Jesus was and is.

A similar thing occurred as Jesus enjoyed the Passover feast with His disciples.  All these men had been called personally by Jesus and served Him for several years.  Jesus surprised them by revealing one of His apostles would betray Him in fulfillment of scripture.  To show the emphasis of what Jesus said, here is the passage without italicising John 13:18-19 as it appears in the NKJV:  "I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.' ¹⁹ Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He."  The first italics are a quote from Psalm 41:9 that would literally come to pass in a matter of hours.  Under the cover of darkness Judas would leave the Passover feast, go to the chief priests to betray Jesus, and then lead them to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane where He would be arrested.

Jesus told His disciples about His soon and unthinkable betrayal by one of His disciples beforehand so they would "believe that I am He."  Note that when italicised words are written in some Bible translations they indicate a word included by translators that does not appear in the original manuscripts to improve the translation.  In this case, removing the "He" helps us understand who Jesus claimed to be:  the I AM, the almighty God who made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The NIV spells this out plainly in its rendering of John 13:19:  "I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am."  In the presence of Judas and all His disciples, Jesus foretold His betrayal by a disciple--the one He literally handed a piece of bread to--so they would all know He was God in the flesh.  When Jesus was crucified the next day, it seems this fulfilled prophecy was forgotten in their grief.  Jesus again affirmed His authority to cleanse the temple, His divinity and power by His fulfilled prophecies, and His victory over sin and death by His resurrection.

God revealed His identity to His people in Exodus 3:14:  "And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"   This name enshrined in the Hebrew scriptures was remembered well by the Jews to whom Jesus addressed in John 8:58:  "Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  They picked up stones to kill Him because of what they believed to be blasphemy when Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  Previously Jesus drew the ire of religious Jews because He referred to God as His Father in John 5:18:  "Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God."  Jesus was not a Sabbath breaker but the Sabbath Giver.  While they revered their Sabbath traditions, Jesus is the substance of our Sabbath rest that endures forever (Col. 2:16-17).

The fulfillment of Psalm 41:9 and Jesus' words to His disciples in the upper room have been recorded so all might know He is God.  The betrayal of Judas followed the plan and purpose God had from the beginning:  to provide atonement, forgiveness and salvation for all lost sinners who trust in Jesus.  All that Jesus has said will come to pass in God's time, and may our faith in Him grow every time His word is confirmed.  The words of Elisabeth spoken to Mary are true concerning all God's people in Luke 1:45:  "Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord."  Praise the LORD Jesus Christ!