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Well, Is He or Isn’t He?
Well, Is He or Isn’t He?
A funny thought struck me—now when people call me, “Pastor John,” I don’t have to correct them and say, “well, I’m not really a pastor…”
But, that’s a dodge. It’s technically true, but it still shows people’s misunderstanding of the role of pastor (one guy who speaks and leads) when the Biblical model is one of several pastors shepherding a congregation. A better response would be, “well, I’m one of the six pastors here.”
Jesus faced situations like that in His ministry, and it’s eye-opening to see how He handled them.
Our Judge?
In Luke 12:13-15, someone said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?”
Wait a minute … I thought Jesus is a judge! He certainly is, but that wasn’t the concept this man had. This man wanted Jesus, the popular rabbi, to talk sense into his brother. Jesus didn’t even ask about the details. People will ask preachers to get involved in fights over silly things like money, cars, and property, and not-so-silly things like marital strife. And a pastor or brother in Christ will always be ready to offer Scripture to help save and strengthen relationships (James 5:13-16, Titus 2:4-5). But there’s a difference between, “Hey, my wife and I are having a real issue over child-rearing, could you come give us some Biblical wisdom” (Yes!) and “Preacher, come tell my wife she should let me buy that new truck” (No!)
Jesus is Judge, not just over these men, but over every family on earth (John 5:22, Acts 10:42, 17:30-31, 2 Cor. 5:10, Rev. 22:12). Jesus will determine the eternal fate of every human soul. That’s why Jesus told these men He would not intervene, but instead warned them about greed—a more incisive judgment for sure!
In John 6:15, just after feeding the 5,000, Jesus was so popular, many in the crowd, “were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king.” Jesus refused and departed.
Wait a minute … I thought Jesus is a king! He certainly is, in fact, He is King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 17:14). But the crowd had the wrong concept of a physical ruler giving them political victory. Not many months later, Jesus would ride intoJerusalem as its King, but seated humbly on a donkey. Only on God’s predetermined terms, through His death and resurrection, did He take His place at the right hand of God, reigning over all things, granting His followers a reign that will never end (Eph. 1:22).
Our God?
In Mark 10:17, a rich young ruler asked, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus retorted, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.”
Wait a minute … I thought Jesus is good! At first reading, it seems like Jesus is making himself out to be less than good, or even worse, less than God. Jesus really is the preexistent Son of God (John 1:1-2, 8:58, Col. 2:9). Jesus is inviting this young man to deeply consider the full implication of the words he too casually spoke. They are true, but in a much more profound way than he meant it! Hopefully the young ruler was forced to see that Jesus truly is good, the very embodiment of good, because in fact He is God. Confessing Jesus is more than empty platitudes (Matthew 7:21).
In conclusion, Jesus will not allow us to misunderstand His nature. He’s not going to be a little j judge—He is the capital J Judge. He’s not going to be a little k king—He is the capital K King. He’s not going to be little g good, but capital G Good, the very source of life and Light, God Himself.
--John Guzzetta
