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Monday, May 02, 2005
My grandfather died when I was 8. My father died when I was 13. The two events were somewhat related.
My grandfather lost a year-long battle with cancer. He was an incredible businessman who had a great deal of influence in our family. He was, in every sense of the word, a patriarch. We knew him and loved him. Even at a young age I felt like I knew him well...which was not abnormal. He made everybody feel like they knew him well and he treated people thoughtfully.
This sent my dad into a mild depression. That mild depression turned into a major depression, and to make a long story short, some medical mistreatment of the symptoms of that disease killed my father. He was 39...the same age I am now.
I don't remember feeling too much at the death of my grandfather. I was too young to comprehend what was going on, I guess. I mean, I knew everybody else was sad and there was lots of crying and I'm sure I cried but I really don't think I understood it all. I didn't "grieve." I just cried because I was a kid and everybody else was sad and that reality made me sad.
I felt entirely too much at the death of my father. I was a teenager and the moods came and went with lightning speed. I would sit there and cry and then get mad because I was crying and didn't know why and I would yell and punch mattresses and pillows and then I could be calm and comfort my mom...and all of that could happen within an half-hour's time frame.
Now, I'm not telling you all this to depress you.
Not at all.
I'm telling you this to help you get into a mindset that Jesus was likely facing when he was in Matthew 14. All to often, we read Bible stories and remove ourselves from the incredible emotion of it all...and we tend to do it at a more elevated level when it comes to Jesus...we discount His humanity and focus on His diety without realizing some of the emotions He went through.
So, if you've ever had someone you care about die, then you have a handle on what Jesus was going through in Matthew 14.
We learn in verses 1 & 2 that Herod, the tetrarch in the time of Christ (who Christ would later ignore during His trial during the Passion Week) thought that Jesus was actually John the Baptist raised from the dead. This would explain the miracles.
So, Matthew tells us how John the Baptist died. Read verses 3--12 right now.
We learn that Herod had John in prison for the crime of speaking out against the ruler. See, the king's half-brother, Philip was Herodias' uncle as well as husband. She had been left Philip to marry Herod, thus making the relationship incestuous. I'm sure John brought up the realities of Leviticus 18 to the two of them. Sometimes, standing up for God's Word to powerful people can get you thrown in jail...and that was the case here. Herod couldn't execute John because he knew the masses would revolt, so he just left him in jail and hoped the problems would just go away.
Well, they didn't. Turns out Simone, Herodias' daughter danced at Herod's birthday party very well. Mark 6 gives us details about the guest list and all sorts of realities about the offer he made to Simone: As thanks for the dancing, he would give her whatever she wanted, up to half his kingdom.
Well, Herodias took this as a chance to get back at John the Baptist, so she convinced her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. And Herod delivered. A real party-ender...but hey, a deal's a deal, right?
Can you imagine the emotional response of Jesus?
It isn't out of the question to think Jesus was told the story of how John, in the womb, lept for joy when he heard the voice of the mother of the Lord.
They were cousins...probably very close, if for no other reason than the incredible angelic visits and supernatural occurrences the took place around the time of their birth that I'm sure their mothers compared notes.
They were roughly the same age and likely were scorned children because, in small towns, those stories were probably well known and disregarded by the other kids and families.
They probably saw each other at the festivals each year.
They had a lot in common.
John even baptized Christ in what must've been another in a long line of unexplainable events the two had in their lives togeter.
And, now, this is how it ends? On a party bet? A gruesome beheading at a birthday party? A humiliating death for one of the greatest men who ever lived? Who happened to be a close family member you shared so much with...
Jesus was hurt.
And, his first reaction was to get away from it all. Collect His thoughts. Position Himself in such a way to get healing from His Father.
Matthew 14: 13 reads, "Now when Jesus heard it, He withdrew from there in a boat, to a lonely place by Himself;..."
There's a key there in the spiritual life there for all of us. There are times when we need to be alone. Times when the world and it's speed simply gets to us and we need to recalibrate our walk with the Lord.
And that's what we'll be looking at this week...the spiritual practice of solitude. Being alone.
So, for today, if I were to say that you need to spend some time in solitude, what images come up in your mind? What benefits do you see? What are the reasons that this discipline would be difficult?
Brent 7:49 AM
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