Matthew 21:28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ 29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.
The above scripture is an interesting lesson from which Jesus draws. He describes the religious rulers of Israel as the son who says, “Yes, yes, yes Lord, I am yours to command and I will do as you say.” However, they break their code of righteousness by not doing what God asks. On the other hand, the prostitutes and swindlers who rejected God’s laws but eventually turned their lives around to repent, are pleasing to our Heavenly Father and have been accepted by Him because of a repentant heart. Luke 15:7 I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.
There is a bit of the two sons within each of us. There are times when we say, “Yes God, I will do as you say,” but do not follow through. Sometimes we say, “No, I don’t want to do that, Lord,” but then a change comes to our heart and we repent and do as God asks of us. God might ask us to do something difficult like forgiving a person who has betrayed us, and we say, “I cannot do that Lord,” but as the strength of the Holy Spirit flows within us, we begin to find the compassion and fortitude to rise and change our minds while saying, “Yes Lord, I forgive completely!” Matt. 5:44 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.
When we obey the Lord, we are making Jesus real in our hearts which will show up in the way we live and follow Christ. Through obedience, we acknowledge that Jesus is our Lord and Majesty sitting on our hearts’ throne. Without a doubt, Jesus Christ is more than real and is the Lord of all eternity past, present, and future whether we believe in Him or not. Phil. 2:10 So that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW in submission, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The Word of God declares that Jesus is Lord and of the Godhead, which is an eternal truth, but we make Jesus manifestly real in our lives when we obey Him and act upon His living Word. Job 23:12 I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.
The dialogue that Gideon had with the Lord, was from a position of fear and discouragement that Gideon was living in. He did ask God a good question when the Lord had addressed him as a man of valour who God was with. Gideon said, “Oh my Lord if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us?” In other words, “Who are you kidding Lord? If You are with me, then why am I in this mess?” God’s answer is so revealing and prophetic as to how He saw Gideon and how He sees us. Judg. 6:14 And the LORD looked at him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” Go in the strength of yours! Go in the strength that is already in you, and be strong enough to do the impossible. The strength that we need was created in us, but that strength will only come out if we obey the Lord and make Him real to our souls.
The strength that was in Gideon seen from God’s point of view, was so profound that Gideon was able to defeat an army that could not be numbered because there were so many. Judg. 7:12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. Gideon and three hundred men who also had that anointed, Go in the strength of yours, coming out of their hearts, was a force that was more than enough to conquer the overwhelming odds that had come to devour Israel and all that Israel owned. God had become real to Gideon and his men because they had obeyed the word that had come forth to deliver a nation.
Jesus becomes real to our soul, mind, and body when we live through the resurrection power of His cross. We are washed. cleansed, and renewed by His blood that washes away all sin that we confess and repent of. The reality of this infinite and eternal miracle gets lost in the mundane events of daily life. The modern-day Midianites and Amalekites which represent all the worldliness that drains our strength, can obstruct our view of the graciousness of our Christ, and cause us to start seeing our limitations as the reality of the day. When in fact, the Lord God Almighty has sown within our spirits His revelation of who we are in Him. Making Jesus real, can be as uncomplicated as confessing Him before our Heavenly Father. Rom. 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Lord Jesus, thank you for making Yourself real to my heart. I bless Your mighty name!
Thanks Norm,
You said ” Jesus becomes real in our soul, mind, and body when we
live through the resurrection power of His cross.”
Well, this is what that statement means to me.
Romans 4:25 says, ” Who (Jesus Christ) was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”
Had Christ failed, in any way, to satisfy the demands of the broken law, He would not have been resurrected and we all would still be dead in our sins.
The covenant was cut on Calvary and the ratification was established by the resurrection. God the Father had accepted Christ’s sacrifice to atone for all sin and raised Him from the dead for our justification.
If Christians do not understand the fundamentals of their faith and the
terms and conditions of the Sacrifice of Christ, they cannot comprehend what it means to LIVE through the resurrection power of the cross.
If we, like Gideon, keep asking for a sign that God is with us, just look to the cross of Calvary and read all the witness reports of people who saw Him after the resurrection and that is The Sign.
The message of the Cross is foundational for our faith. Keeping the faith requires all our strength and singleness of mind, body and soul.
One God, one faith, one Spirit, one body, one Saviour, one cross, one resurrection as our focus and not looking around for some other sign.
Gideon destroyed the altar of Baal. That was the first step back to the power of God. Then the sacrifice on the ‘ordered place’ on the prescribed altar.
Getting right with God requires the destruction of all the little ‘g’ gods and their altars and having no other god but the one true God Jehovah.
After Gideon died, Israel went backwards again and resumed the Baal worship, the sure recipe for disaster and their enemies to attack and rule over them. It’s always going to happen if we take our eyes off Jesus and what He achieved for us at the cross.
As Paul says in 1 Cor, chapter 2 verse 2…’For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.’
Without the cross, there would never have been a resurrection.
Thank God that Jesus satisfied all God’s requirements and He raised Him from the dead.
When this understanding becomes our personal reality in life, then the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2) takes over through faith and we are free from the law of sin and death.
He is alive and living in our hearts, minds, souls and bodies. We are alive in His resurrected body through faith.
And that Norm is my reality.
Thank you! Much needed and appreciated.
Thanks for this inspiring perspective on this passage. Reviewing the account of Gideon always inspires but in this short read, I found you’ve perfectly captured the essence of the power of change in the reality of Jesus and it is refreshing!
Thank you, Clayton, for your kind words.