Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

Today's passage is very clear.  It is also terrifying.

We find out almost everything we need to know about h-e-l-l. 
Its' comparisons.
Its' control.
Its' permanence.
Its' unpleasantness.
Its' presence.

The good news is that there is a way to avoid it.   There is a path to assessing ourselves and doing some self-surgery:  excision, tearing out and amputating.  That is all pretty horrible but it is nothing in comparison with the above.

Listen and let's learn how we do NOT go to hell.

Belonging to Christ = Belonging to His People Mark 9:38 (Episode #176)
Like many good passages, this one starts with a COMPLAINT:  Hey! these guys don't belong to US! Which of course isn't the point.  The big point is whether they belong to JESUS.  They are tribal, short-sighted and petty.

At the end, Jesus says that eventually, you may actually NEED these guys.  The Christian walk is going to be full of NEEDS, and you are going to have them.  Christians are almost always a bit over their heads.  Christians are at their best when they are a bit over their heads.  A marker of Christian fellowship is one believer meeting the needs of another.  Needs that he himself could not provide.  

Belonging to Christ = Belonging to the people of Christ.  And serving them. And receiving from them.  And celebrating them.  And helping them.  And opening your eyes enough to see that the most important thing is not whether they are exactly following YOU but whether they are following ME (Jesus).  Remember, these are the guys who may be giving you water and providing your needs someday. Listen please.

We've stumbled upon an important concept with the "RANSOM tax" of Exodus 30.  We are going to sit there for a minute (7 actually) and wonder about what are we:

Ransomed FOR
Ransomed FROM
Ransomed WHEN
Ransomed HOW
Ransomed from BEING RANSOMED (permanence)
Ransomed TO 
and finally we'll glimpse into heaven and hear that right now they are doing
Ransomed REMEMBERED

Sounds important.  Listen and get started now!

The Jews called it a "Temple Tax" that everybody paid, every year.  Nice and tidy.  However, this is a bit of a misnomer because Exodus 30: 11-16 tells us that it is an ATONEMENT tax, a JUDGMENT tax, an anti-PLAGUE tax, a LIFE tax or my favorite: a RANSOM tax.  With that weight, I guess we'll just call it a 'temple tax'. 

Without the RANSOM though, there would be no people and no need for a temple, so primarily it is a RANSOM tax.  Secondarily, it is a temple tax.

So TO WHOM IS THE tax owed?  Jesus uses a secular example and says the tax is owed TO the king and it is FROM the people.  Then, TA-Da, He claims that HE is royalty, that HE is family, and that the taxes are to be paid TO HIM, not FROM Him.  Yes, here Jesus is making a claim to DIVINITY, to God-headedness, to equality with God. 

Stay tuned, here we get hints at the Lord's provision, of mercy, of EXCHANGE, of substitution.  There is also the yucky part about us needing to be rescued.  Listen and pay your tax!  Better yet, Listen and have your tax paid for you...

Ransom Your Life but only for a YEAR Matt 17:24
What is a life worth?  What is a YEAR of life worth?  How can I stand before a Holy God?  What will I do about my sin for a year?  What might happen if I don't do something about my sin?

All these questions are addressed with the so called, "TEMPLE TAX."  Get this, it is a tax that has been around and collected for 1300+ YEARS!!!!!! Why? Because it is still addressing a 'need': to atone for sin, to give a RANSOM for my life for a year, to give me a reprieve from the wrath of God for 365 more days.  Then, I'll see you next year for another "covering over".

They step right into OT history of Exodus 30:11-16 when they ask a "simple" question of whether Jesus is going to pay this "temple" (atonement, sin, anti-plague, remembrance before the Lord) tax.  Listen and see WHY it happens.  

Do You See Anything? Mark 8:22
Jesus "double-clutches" on the healing of a blind man for the benefit of the disciples and of course, us.  Is Jesus unable? insufficient? Powerless?  No.  These are not good conclusions.

He wants to have a middle part:  a plateau that He can ask a question He already knows the answer to.  That is, "Do you see anything?"

Therefore, we today will assess our spiritual sight, our love for spiritual seeing, our friends that we see with, our humility in receiving spit in our eyes and our patience with the process of spiritual revelation.  Listen, and SEE.

Not TASTING DEATH because of our DEATH TASTER Matt 16:28

We'll swim in the deepest of pools this morning.

We find out today why Christians never "TASTE DEATH".  It is one of the greatest advertisements to being a Christian that there is.  I wonder what Death tastes like.  It can't be very good.

So there has to be a catch.  If believers don't taste death, then WHO DOES?  

Listen and find out.

DO by being UNDONE Matthew 16:25
Our ACTIONS aren't in the front of the train.  They aren't the "engine"
Our ACTIONS are in the back of the train.  They are the Caboose.  They follow everything.

What I VALUE...Determines and sets in motion...my DECISIONS...which determines my ACTIONS and my DOING...Which then at the end, God determines whether I made the right choice and the right action and I get rewards or not.

He gives us the WRONG answer first:  SAVE my life.  Keep it.  Hold it.
Then He give us the RIGHT answer:  L-O-S-E my life.  This is a metaphor for BELIEF, following Him, denying oneself for Him, having FAITH, and the startling:  Take up your CROSS.

So, if you life is a mess, here you get THE answer about how to fix it.  If you valued your life truly, you'd LOSE it (to Him), You'd give it (to Him).  God's crazy math:  GAIN your life by LOSING it (to Him).  The "do" that He is asking is primarily to be "undone".  Listen, and DO by being UNDONE.

What is the VALUE of a SOUL? Matt 16:26
Today is all about a trade.  What shall a man give in return for a SOUL?  How much is a soul worth?  What about gaining the whole world?  Would that be worth it?

We'll look at some examples of appropriately valuing the worth of sex, freedom, and money.  That is the good news.  Bad news is the mis-valuing the SOUL in trade-off.

This all helps to understand a pesky spiritual question:  Why was the sacrifice so great?  Why did it NEED to be so great? Why was the price of redemption so very high?  Answer:  because of the VALUE of what was being rescued.  Basically, the passage here says it was worth EVERYTHING.

Listen and re-e-VALUE-ate in wonder.

Setting your MIND on Something. Matt 16:21 Ep 168
Whenever Peter is in a Bible story, you know the events are going to be RELATABLE.  Today is no exception.

Peter REBUKES Jesus.  Worse, he takes Jesus ASIDE and REBUKES Jesus.  You just gotta love Peter.  So mostly we throw stones at Peter being the Mayor of the town of Knucklehood until we realize we can be just like him.  We get tricked into the story.  That guy is an idiot!  Wait...I can be JUST LIKE PETER.

So, we aren't to be REBUKING Jesus by setting our minds on the wrong thing.  We are allowed some questioning, some wrestling, some misunderstanding of the revelation of God.  But NOT REBUKING.  

Jesus couldn't be serious.  He calls Peter I think the worst name He was allowed:  S-A-T-A-N.  Like calling Peter Hitler or similar. Why?  Because this is a really important lesson, and Peter gets it wrong.  Listen carefully, so we don't SET OUR MINDS wrongly too.