John the Baptist had been dead for over two years, the crucifixion was only three months away and Jesus, “. . .went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained” (John 10:40).

While He was there, Jesus did what Jesus did: He lived, He taught, He performed miracles, to such an extent that, “. . .many came to him” (John 10:41a).

I wonder if any of John’s disciples were still in the area. I wonder if there were any who recognized Jesus as being that One who was “. . .baptizing, and all are going to him” (John 3:26). John’s disciples had been jealous for him because the One who had “come up through the ministry of John” was drawing larger crowds than John. That did not seem “fair” to them, but John understood.

“A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.

. . . I said, ‘I am not the Christ,. . .’

. . . this joy of mine is now complete.

He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:27-30).

John knew who he was and for what purpose he had been sent: it was to point people to Jesus, the One, “. . .who comes after me. . .” (John 1:27).

So now, long after the revival meetings at the river have ended, long after John is buried and, by many, forgotten, Jesus returns to the place where the Father first spoke and, “. . . many believed in him there” (John 10:42b).

But why did they believe? What first arrested their attention to cause them to listen to the message of Jesus?

It is an old statistic which states, it takes seven positive contacts with Christians to bring someone from a place of no faith, to faith in Jesus. Seven POSITIVE contacts. (A Jesus fish on your car while flipping people off in traffic is not considered “positive.”)

In Utah that number is closer to sevenTEEN positive contacts!

Most of the work I do is closer to number 50, or 90, or 325. Most of my time is spent with people who have known Jesus for years or decades. BUT THIS DOES NOT EXEMPT ME FROM BEING A REALLY GOOD NUMBER 12!!

A lot of people feel if they are not number 17, they are just not that significant: but friends, we will never get to number 17 if there have not been faithful 6’s, who took the baton from a really good number five, and handed it well to a number seven.

The final tally is not ours to worry about. Our responsibility is faithfulness in the place God has set us.

Why did those people in Perea believe in Jesus? It is because, when they heard, when they saw, when they experienced Jesus, they remembered, “. . .everything that John said about this man was true” (John 10:42a).

John had been dead for over 2 years, but his message still had effect.

John had been dead for over 2 years, but people still remembered.

John had been dead for over 2 years, but people’s lives were still impacted by their contact with him to such an extent that, “. . . many believed in him there” (John 10:42b).

We have no clue the long term impact of our faithfulness today, and, frankly, that is none of our business. Our calling is to be faithful today, and leave the consequences of tomorrow in the hands of Jesus.

A great ship rarely sees its own wake, and tomorrow’s impact of our lives is not ours to worry about today.

Faithfulness is the call.

Faithfulness is the standard.

And John’s faithfulness made it so that, even after he was dead, after his radio program was canceled, after his church had closed down, “. . . many believed in him there” (John 10:42b).

The Psalmist speaks of God’s engagement in the works of creation, punishment, and salvation.

Of creation we read:

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, (Ps 8:3).

Everything in the universe, visible and invisible, came into existence, certainly by the spoken Word of God, but in this verse God’s effort is compared to nothing more than the twitch of His finger. So simple, so slight, so effortless, it required no more energy than that needed to move a finger.

But punishment requires more.

Punishment is not the desire of God. God does not derive some perverse enjoyment from the discipline He sends.

In Ezekiel 18:23 God asks the rhetorical question, which demands an answer of a resounding, “NO!,” “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” and assures us in Lamentations 3:33 (NIV) that “. . . He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.” Isaiah 28:21 goes so far as to refer to judgement as God’s “Strange” and “Alien work.”

In fact, it is revealed, “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him” (Ps 103:10-11).

But discipline flows from love as certainly as warmth radiates from flame, because:

“. . . the Lord disciplines the one he loves, . . . For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, . . . then you are illegitimate children and not sons” (Heb 12:6-8).

“Discipline,” as used here, is not limited to the punishment of wrong, but includes anything which tends toward holiness in God’s people.

While creation required nothing more than the quiver of God’s fingers, punishment involves the greater expenditure of energy by the use of His hand:

I am spent by the hostility of your hand (Ps 39:10).

But salvation: salvation required even more. In the analogy of the Psalmist, our salvation required the activity of God’s entire arm:

You with your arm redeemed your people, (Ps 77:15).

The energy God expended to save us was, metaphorically speaking, greater than the energy required to create us. And He did both, and everything in between, with His love being no more diminished than the light of a candle when it kindles another flame.

How true the Psalmist’s words when he wrote:

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,

and his greatness is unsearchable (Ps 145:3)

And

Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;

his understanding is beyond measure (Ps 147:5).

Of those 37 miracles, three of them are directed, specifically, toward the disciples:

1) The first great catch of fish in Luke 5.

2) The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. (I know the argument! I get it! But it does say Jesus healed her when, “. . . they appealed to Him on her behalf” (Luke 4:38), so it was in response to a request).

3) The second great catch of fish in John 21.

So, less than 10% of the miracles Jesus performed directly impacted the disciples.

However: with the first great catch of fish we are told, “. . . they left everything and followed Him,” so they did not, ultimately, benefit from that miracle. Additionally, it wasn’t Peter, it wasn’t Mrs. Peter and it wasn’t any of the children who were “. . . ill with a high fever. . .,” it was Peter’s mother-in-law who was, apparently, living with Peter, but still not impacting him directly.

With the third miracle, the second great catch of fish, we are not told what was done with the fish and whether or not the disciples sold them and kept the money, or, as with the first great catch, they abandoned them to whoever they might have been in business with. Let’s say they sold them and kept the money.

What that means is that, out of 37 miracles performed by Jesus, exactly one, 1, “uno,” “eins,” ONE, had a (potential) direct impact on those who were closest to Him. Thirty-four (and arguably, 36) of the miracles of Jesus were for the benefit of those who were not His followers.

And yet, who is it, today, who requests the most miracles? Who flocks to the altars for healing, or provision, or for some other perceived need to be met?

The widow at Nain was not a follower of Jesus, and she did not even ask for a miracle, but her son was raised from the dead and returned to her when Jesus encountered the funeral cortege. Why were the lepers who never even said “thank you” healed while we all know plenty who would be extremely thankful if Jesus were to, finally, hear their cries for healing? Why was the ingrate at the Pool of Bethesda healed and Peter was not rescued from an inverted crucifixion? Why did Jesus perform miracles for so many outside His following and so few miracles for His closest friends?

I think a more interesting question might be, why are so many of His followers, today, begging for miracles for themselves and walking right past the “man at the temple gate Beautiful?” Why are those who claim to be closest to Him, today, asking for the 36 miracles, traveling cross-country to attend this miracle crusade or have that person lay hands on them, when the percentages were not in the first disciples favor for personal miracles?

How many more miracles might we see if for every great catch of fish He freely bestows on us (they did not even ask for it), we sought the blessing for 36 who do not, yet, know Jesus?

I find it interesting how much of the power of God we ask to be displayed in our own lives, to soothe our pains, ease our discomforts, and deepen our pockets, and how few blessings we seek for those who genuinely need to know there is a God who knows, who sees, who cares, and who acts.

Abraham: gave his wife away to save himself. . . Twice, but was called “the friend of God.”

Moses: broke the tablets, struck the rock, killed the Egyptian, and his wife left him, but he appeared on the Mt. of Transfiguration.

David: numbered who he was not supposed to, abandoned his responsibilities of battle, raped Bathsheba, murdered Uriah, and was still called a man “after God’s own heart”.

Lot: chose out of greed, wormed his way into leadership, offered his daughters to the mob, married a woman who couldn’t follow simple instructions, had some pretty messed up daughters who produced the enemies of Israel, and was still called “righteous Lot” who was vexed by those around him.

Peter: said, “What will we get out of it?,” “I will never fall away,” “You will never wash my feet,” “Lord, you know that I love you,” “This shall never happen to you!,” “I will make three tabernacles here,” “I do not know the man,” and, “Lord, what about him?”

But he also said: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord,” “Lord, to whom would we go?, ” and “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

And these are just some of the people God used.

. . . He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus . . . and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. (Mark 2:14).

. . . He saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, . . . And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him (Mark 1:16-18).

. . . He saw James . . . and John his brother, . . . And immediately he called them, and they left their father . . . and followed him (Mark 1:19-20).

How charismatic and compelling must Jesus have been?!? Was He actually able to draw men away from their occupations by His mere presence? Did His eyes go psychedelic like “Kaa” the snake in “Jungle Book?” Was He able to out mesmerize Mesmer? What is going on in these passages?!?

I encourage every Christian to take a simple course in “Harmony of the Gospels” so they can get a general overview of how these four accounts fit together and augment one another.

An art student is not encouraged to study the brush strokes of the masters in the bottom left-hand corner of their great works until they have, first, stepped back and absorbed the entire piece. The same is true for the Bible. It is always wise to get a general understanding of the whole, before trying to dissect the parts. This approach to learning is called “Deductive Reasoning;” moving from the general to the specific.

What we learn in reading the four gospels in their “harmonized” version is that John deals with a first year in the ministry of Jesus the other three gospels (the “synoptics,” “similar view”) do not deal with. That first year is called “The Year of Beginnings” (can you guess why?).

When Jesus called these disciples in Mark He was calling them to learn how to do ministry from Him; to change their occupations; to become, “fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). The call He extended to those in John 1 was the call to follow Him as their personal teacher, their rabbi, their “mentor.”

The “call to ministry” we have just seen in Mark is NOT at the beginning of the 3 ½ year ministry of Jesus. These calls to ministry occurred at the beginning of the SECOND of those 3 ½ years. Jesus had already spent a year with His disciples. They had traveled with Him; learned from Him; observed Him; witnessed miracles; and been amazed at His willingness to confront the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.

This is the reason there are two “Cleansings of the Temple.” One occurred in the first year of His ministry, which is recorded only by John, and the other occurred at the very end of His ministry, recorded by others.

The faith the disciples possessed at the end of those 3 ½ years was NOT the same faith they began their journey with. Their faith progressed in its foundation, and the Gospel of John gives us three stages in the development of their faith.

To quote that great “theologian of the faith,” Julie Andrews, “Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.”

The first miracle performed by Jesus was the miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana and is recorded only in John. This miracle occurred at the very beginning of “The Year of Beginning,” after Jesus had invited some men to follow and learn from Him.

We know the story: the wine ran out, Mary came to Jesus, and He turned (polluted) water into the best wine of the wedding (John 2:1-11).

This event, to say the least, arrested the attention of those who knew the circumstances, including the disciples. And what was the result of this miracle in the hearts of His disciples?

John 2:11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed His glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

Miracles were flashes of glory which burst through the casing of flesh which revealed the true Christ of Jesus. He was the complete fullness of the Godhead, in bodily form (Col 2:9), and miracles were explosions of His divinity past the confines of His humanity: and there is a level of faith based, in earliest forms, in what Jesus does for us.

Wasn’t it great at the very beginning of your relationship with Him, when His presence was so obvious, His involvement in our lives so apparent, His provision so clear and generous? Wasn’t it easy to believe when He gave us everything we asked for?

And the disciples were not the only ones who saw the miracles of Jesus as reason to put their trust in Him.

Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?” (John 7:31).

Then, in John 11 we have the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead which was so self-evidently by the power of God that:

. . . many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him (John 11:45).

I think most of us would be willing to admit that raising someone from the dead is a pretty amazing thing! The people who saw the miracle certainly thought it was amazing, to such an extent, in fact, that:

So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him (John 12:10-11).

The religious leaders wanted to kill Lazarus because his life was a (literal) living testimony to the miraculous power Jesus possessed.

Faith built on Jesus doing everything for us is a wonderful playground to spend our time in, just like the highchair we all once sat in. It’s nice to have the food cooked, prepared, brought and then spoon-fed to us; but no parent looks forward to a child who still needs everything done for them at 6 years of age. At 6 months it might be cute. At 6 years, there is a problem.

But faith at the level of the miraculous is a legitimate level of faith,. . . we all need to progress through.

The disciples began with a foundation of faith based on what Jesus did for them. They did not, however, remain there.

The first level of faith spoken of in John is:

1) Faith in what Jesus did.

The second level of faith is:

2) Faith in what Jesus said.

In John 4 Jesus had the encounter with the woman at the well. We remember the story. He told her “. . . all that I ever did” (John 4:29). In fact, one proof for her of who Messiah would be was that, “. . . When he comes, he will tell us all things.” (John 4:25). On the power of her testimony, the people of nearby Sychar convinced Jesus to stay with them for 2 days, at the end of which time they told the woman:

“It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves,

and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” (John 4:42).

For the Samaritans, it was the words of Jesus which convinced them He was the Christ.

As Jesus debated with the religious leaders in John 8, He ended His discussion on being the light of the world by saying,

“. . . When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am and that I do

nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.

The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him” (John 8:28-30).

And what was the result in the hearts of the people?

Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him (John 8:30 1984 NIV).

There is a level of faith founded on the words of Jesus. The demand for signs has passed, and we have found such truth in His words, that what He says is sufficient.

The Proconsul on Paphos shows us both of these steps when it says:

Acts 13:12: When the proconsul saw what had happened, HE BELIEVED,

for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

Notice what it says. The miracles did not cause him to believe: but they DID arrest his attention so he could hear the life-changing teaching about Jesus.

Miracles are a wonder to behold, but the Word of God is what instructs, and changes, our lives.

The Bible declares that God is,

“. . . good and does good; teach me your statutes (Ps 119:68).

That is a wonderful statement concerning the eternal goodness of God: but there comes a day for every follower of Jesus when we will be presented with the opportunity to question if He truly is good. The difficulty will come, the sickness will land, the “sure thing” will fail, the “BFF” won’t be “B,” “F,” or “F,” and we will be tempted to question God’s goodness. It is in the dark time when His Word so captivates us we are compelled to believe, not because of what someone else has said, not even because of what He has done, but we are finally able to say, “. . . This I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

The foundation of His goodness is the prelude to our understanding His Word: and we find ourselves at a deeper level of faith in Him.

So now we come to the third level of faith in John’s gospel.

The first two are:

1) Faith in what Jesus did.

2) Faith in what Jesus said.

And now we have:

3) Faith in who He is.

Lazarus had died. Word had been sent to Jesus in time for Him to come and heal His friend, but He chose to delay His hospital visit for two more days so that, by the time He arrived, Lazarus was already dead and had been buried for four days. The sisters of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, were not happy with Jesus’ delay and let their disappointment be known.

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ...

. . . Mary . . . (said) to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:21, 32).

These sisters had supported the ministry of Jesus for quite some time and now, when their brother was dying, Jesus let two more days pass before even heading to the ICU. What kind of friend is that?!?!? “If you had only been here!!”

But when talking with Martha, Jesus used two extremely charged words.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me,

though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).

The two loaded words were, “I am.” Martha knew what those words meant, and Jesus knew that she knew. They hearkened back to the revelation of God to Moses through the burning bush when He said:

. . . “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (Exod 3:14).

It was (another) profession of His deity, and Martha’s answer to “Do you believe this?” was extremely clear:

She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,

who is coming into the world” (John 11:27).

Jesus could have healed, but He didn’t.

Jesus could have spoken and prevented all of this from happening, but He didn’t.

But still, in the face of Her loss and sadness, Martha believed in Jesus, not because of His works, and not because of His words. She believed in Him because of who He was:

“. . . I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God . . .”

I love the verse which says:

But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother;

like a weaned child is my soul within me (Ps 131:2).

A weaned child comes to sit with their mother, not for what they can get out of her, but simply to be with her. To believe in Jesus when the miraculous seems to have ceased, and the flow of words seems to have been shut off at its source, requires a “calmed and quieted” soul, but this is the faith which believes, simply, because of who He is.

As Jesus stood on the Mt. of Transfiguration talking with Moses and Elijah, He was at His farthest North in His entire ministry. And the topic of conversation was not something people like to talk about.

Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:30-31)

They spoke of His death which was still 6 months out, preparing Him, strengthening Him, for the ultimate expression of submission to the will of the Godhead.

And this is what He had come for. He had already declared in another place, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38)

And now the reality of that will is pressing in on Him so He . . . resolutely set out for Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51)

I wonder if He thought about bolting for the North! Hiding in a foreign country! He was tempted, just like we are, soHe knew how it felt to be tempted to run away from the will of the Father, but instead . . . resolutely set out for Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51)

And over the next 6 months there were plenty of distractions along the way. Plenty of opportunities to run away again. Plenty of opportunities to do His own will, but He had not come to do His own will. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. (John 6:38)

And in spite of all the distractions over the next 6 months, He still, . . . resolutely set out for Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51)

That Samaritan town which ran Him and His disciples off because, “We don’t want your kind around here!!” And so He continued on to Jerusalem to die for the very ones who ran Him off.

The 72 who were sent out.
The parables of the Lost Coin, the Lost Sheep and the Lost Son.
He spent some time in the place of His early ministry on the East side of the Jordan.
He taught the disciples to pray, at their request, because He knew He would soon be gone and they would need to know how to talk with the Father.

He told His disciples not to worry or be troubled, and yet He Himself was, “Troubled in Spirit.” (John 13:21)

“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.'“ (Isa 53:4)

And He continued on resolutely toward Jerusalem because, do my own will but the will of him who sent me. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38)

He took His disciples aside, the ones with whom He had lived for 3 ½ years, the ones He loved, the ones who might understand, and He told them AGAIN, He was going to Jerusalem where, “They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.” (Luke 18:31-34)

But they did not get it. They had no clue. “. . . Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.”

And on the way from the East side of the Jordan to His crucifixion He heard the cries of a blind man. He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

His friends told him to be quiet, but the man cried all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

And Jesus heard him, and healed him, all the while, carrying the burden of His own death just a few days away. And the blind man followed Jesus, and worshiped Him, and had he listened to his friends when they said “be quiet” he would never have SEEN Jesus with his own eyes.

And Jesus approached Jericho and wanted to just, “Pass through” (Luke 19:1) because He is RESOLUTE! He is heading to Jerusalem. To Calvary. To the cross.

But there was a man up in a tree named Zacchaeus and since, “. . .this man, too, is a son of Abraham” Jesus stopped, ate dinner with Zacchaeus and “Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, . . .”. (Luke 19:9)

He made it to the home of His friends, Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and we are just days away now, but there was still the Triumphal Entry.

The barren fig tree, which portrayed the fruitlessness of the people from the day before.

There were nights of rest at the home of His friends, but there was also the exchange with the money changers in the temple.

When He was in Bethany visiting with His friends, why didn’t He head to the East? Why didn’t He run for the hills?!?

Because He had “ . . . resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And it was because He had . . . John 6:38 . . . not (come) to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (Luke 9:51)

And so He went to the upper room to share the most sacred meal of the Jewish calendar with the one who would betray Him.

He washed the feet of the very ones who would deny Him, forsake Him, abandon Him.

And with hours left, in light of a lifetime dedicated to John 6:38 “. . . not (come) to do my own will but the will of him who sent me”, He finds Himself abandoned, already, in the Garden of prayer where He cries out, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42)

He KNEW what that will was. From the very foundations of the earth He KNEW He was the appointed Lamb. He had lived an entire life of complete submission to that will. AND NOW FOR THE TEST!!

Does He use the sword which Peter swung, or does He submit?
Does He call, as the old hymn said, 10,000 angels, or does He submit?

When the soldiers arrive in the garden and man-handle Him away, He prayed, “. . . not my will, but yours, be done.”

When they try Him in mockery with lies, He prayed, “. . . not my will, but yours, be done.”

When His friends left Him and He heard that rooster crow that third time, He prayed, “. . . not my will, but yours, be done.”

When they apply brutality to His back and leave Him in ribbons, He prayed, “. . . not my will, but yours, be done.”

He was totally absorbed in the Will of the Father, even to the point of complete obedience to a death He did not deserve.

And how are YOU doing with the will of the Father?
What is YOUR prayer concerning the Father’s will?
And what is His will? What is His will for YOUR life?

“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:40)

Have YOU believed? Have YOU trusted?
In the hard times is it YOUR prayer, “. . . not my will, but yours, be done.”

And as they brought Him to the hill and He looked to the place where He would die for sins He had NEVER committed, how did He do it?!? How could He see it through?!?

How could He, knowing the HELL of what was to come, the HELL of, “My GOD!!! Why have you forsaken me?!?” how could He, looking at that approaching scene, go through with it.

It was because when we looked AT Calvary, He looked BEYOND Calvary and saw what was on the other side.

He saw what was BEYOND the cross. He saw the JOY of the other side. The JOY of the Father’s pleasure. The JOY of submission to the Divine Will.

It was because of: the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12:2)

And so He prayed, “. . . not my will, but yours, be done.”

And He went to the cross. And when they thought they would have to FIGHT Him to lay down, He laid down of His own accord because when it came to the sacrifice of HIS life, No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” ( John 10:18)

And He prayed, “. . . not my will, but yours, be done.”

And as one soldier put his foot on the hand of our Lord, and another soldier held Him so He could not move, Jesus saw another soldier raise the hammer above his head,

And He prayed, “. . . not my will, but yours, be done.”

Didn’t He — by Randy Matthews

“And the hammer fell, On the cruel nail.

Through His flesh into the tree And they laughed at Him.

While He cried for them. There He hung, The faultless One.

Now didn’t He live, oh, didn’t He? And didn’t He give, oh, didn’t He?

And didn’t He die for you and me

Spilled His precious blood, Sacrifice of love.

We didn’t take His life from Him, He gave it willingly:

Oh, complete the prophecy. He broke death’s chains, The Lamb is slain.

Now didn’t He live, oh, didn’t He? And didn’t He give, oh, didn’t He?

And didn’t He die for you and me

Bugler, blow your horn, Now the curtain’s torn.

Now the battle’s done I know the victory’s won.

Drummer, you drum your drum. What’s black is white; And this wrong is right.

Now didn’t He live, oh, didn’t He? And didn’t He give, oh, didn’t He?

And didn’t He die for you and me

Now doesn’t He live, oh, doesn’t He? And doesn’t He give, oh, doesn’t He?

But didn’t He die, oh, for you and me.”

When Adam and Eve’s eyes were blinded-open by the eating of the fruit, they saw their own nakedness and set about to remedy their exposure. Long before Singer and his treadle sewing machine, Adam and Eve stitched clothing out of the leaves from a nearby fig tree. But their best efforts were not adequate to the task of covering sin, so God demonstrated the only adequate covering: sacrifice.

He could have fashioned clothing from the wool of a sheep, but, “. . . without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb 9:22) so, “the LORD God made . . . garments of skins and clothed them (Gen 3:21), and, in this act, foreshadowed the only sacrifice capable of addressing the sin of humanity: Jesus on the cross.

“Fig-leaf fashion” might have been humanities best effort at covering our condition, but, truly, “. . . all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, . . . (Isa 64:6). Only God could provide the sacrifice which would endure.

In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.(Gen 4:3-5).

“Well maybe Cain did not know about the ‘garments of skins’!!” I doubt that was the case since Abel, the younger brother, knew about them, and made an offering in line with God’s expectations: “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain. . .” (Heb 11:4). And this begs the question: “faith in what?”

Cain might very well have had complete confidence that God would be satisfied with a bowl full of figs, some fried okra and a mess of boiled squash, but confidence in our best and faith in God’s direction are two completely different things.

Faith to obey God’s instructions means a willingness to dip seven times in the filthy water of the Jordan (2 Kings 5), or to cast the nets on the other side of the boat (Luke 5). Naaman argued for the cleaner streams of his homeland, but was encouraged to simply obey, and he was healed. The disciples might easily have argued for Jesus, the carpenter, to stay in His own lane and let them be the fishing experts they were, but they obeyed and a great catch of fish was hauled in.

With the prescribed method being sacrifice, Abel, through his faith and obedience, was accepted; and “. . . Cain was very angry, and his face fell” (Gen 4:5b).

“. . . Cain was very angry, and his face fell” (Gen 4:5b).

Well just exactly who was Cain “very angry” at?

Not One to let things slide, Jesus confronted him and asked, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? (Gen 4:6).

Questions are an interesting study in the Bible. My aunt Doris said she thought it would be an interesting sermon series to look at questions in the Bible. (She did have 60+ years as a pastor’s wife to know what might be of interest!)

The first question asked in the Bible was from Satan and was designed to cast doubt on the goodness of God: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’? . . .”You will not surely die. For God knows . . . you will be like God. . .” (Gen 3:1, 4-5).

And the second question in the Bible? “But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” (Gen 3:9).

Jesus never asks a question due to a lack of knowledge. It was not for His own benefit that He asked where Adam and Eve were. It was for their benefit: to give them the opportunity to confess what they had done.

And now He has a question for Cain: “Why are you angry,. . .?”

We have no response from Cain recorded, but we do know what he did next. He lured his brother, Abel, into a field and killed him. Why in the world did he kill Abel? Abel had not done anything to Cain! Abel had not corrected Cain! Abel was only trying to do his best to follow the commands of Jesus, and he got murdered because of it! Well that stinks!

Which brings us to another question: Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” (Gen. 4:9).

When people respond to a question with a question, it is usually a pretty good indication they are hiding something, as Cain was when he answered: . . . “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen 4:9).

Whether we are our brother’s keeper or not can be debated, but there can be no debate that we are NOT to be our brother’s killer!!

Whether verse 10 is in the form of a question or in the form of an exclamatory statement is debated, but the heartbreak of God is clear in the cry of, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground (Gen 4:10).

For someone who has no recorded words in the Bible, Abel sure said a lot!

In Genesis 4:10 it is his blood which is crying out to God from the ground which has been defiled.

n Hebrews 11:4 it is his faith which, even to this day, continues to speak when we read, . . . through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

May our lives, and may our faith expressed through active obedience, speak to multiple generations of the goodness of God.

But the question remains, “Why did Cain kill Abel?”

So why did Cain kill Abel?

Abel was not the one who rejected Cain’s offering: God was.

Abel was not the one who confronted Cain on the anger in his heart: God was.

Abel was not the one who instructed Cain on the deceitfulness of sin: God was.

Look at what God said to Cain in Genesis 4:7: If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.”

Notice the instruction, as well as encouragement, Cain is given:

1) “. . . sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you. . .” That is a warning we would all do well to attend to.

2) “. . . and you must rule over it.” Wrapped in that statement is the encouragement of possibility.

Charles G. Finney said, “The command to obey implies the power to do so.”

Fleshed out, that statement means, if God tells us to do something which He, who is all knowing, knows we canNOT do, and then punishes us for not doing it, then He is a tyrant not worthy of our worship.

However, if God tells us to do something, since He IS all knowing, by virtue of the fact that He told us to do it means we have the ability to do what He said.

hen God told Cain, “. . . and you must rule over it”, He lets Cain know it is possible for him to rule over the sin which was already crouching at the door of his heart. Knowing what Cain was about to do, God was letting him know, “you don’t have to do this thing! You are being tempted! You don’t have to give in to it!! It is possible for you to rule over this temptation if you choose to!!!”

But “. . . Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him” (Gen 4:8).

So why did Cain kill Abel? Was it anger toward Abel that was being expressed, or was Cain’s anger directed toward another?

Friends, God was the One who corrected: God was the One who challenged: God was the One who confronted: and Abel was the one who received the brunt of Cain’s anger.

People have done this to us, and we have done this to others. Cain was mad at God, and killed Abel because of it. Cain needed someone to direct his anger toward, and since he could not get his hands around the throat of God, he went after one God loved.

We have all experienced the wrath of a brother and wondered what we have done.

And we have all mis-directed our own anger toward someone who did not deserve it at all. (“How long am I going to have to pay the price for the foolishness of_________?).

No matter how personal the vitriol, no matter how calculated the attack, it has helped me enormously to realize that, Cain was mad at God and killed Abel as a result.

Though personally struck, we must not take unwarranted attacks personally, and in so doing be able to say, “. . . Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. . .” (Luke 23:34)

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Disturb us, Lord,
When we are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord,
When with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst for the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord,
To dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

AMEN