After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" [Matthew 11:1-2] What an amazing text...one that reports John the Baptist asking the great question — Are you the one? Are you the one? This isn't merely A great question. This is THE great question of all time. Numero uno; Life’s Meaning 101: Jesus, are you the one? Are you all sufficient? Are you really the son of God, and the son of Man? Are you what you claim to be? This is ground zero, the foundational question for every man, woman and child that ever lived and ever will live. Four short words, the answer to which shakes the universe. It’s a binary question, with its demand of a "Yes/No" response. Are you the one? Not, "Might you be the one?" Are you the one? There is no in-between; no middle ground; no maybe; no perhaps. All of man’s hedging responses to this question about Jesus' nature -- myth, good man, great teacher, powerful role model, human exemplar [some of which are true, of course] -- are insufficient. Each represents a marginalization, an avoidance of the core question that has been called by John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin. "Are you the one?" To many, "Yes" seems obvious. It has to be! We see it, so why don’t others? We cry out, "God, why can’t he see it — she see it — as clearly as me?" How is it that we can witness the same creation, read the same texts, see our lives clearly interpreted through God’s word, look at all the same evidence, and yet reach radically different conclusions? Yes! No! Or, I need more information. Georg Hamann, 18th century critic of the Enlightenment, wrote the following in a letter to his brother: "Do not run to men, even if they be high priests like Eli. It is the voice of God -- hear what He says. The rolling thunder, the whispering spring, and the cool evening breeze in the midst of the garden are the tongues of His attributes. But what are all these suns and earths with their harmony, and what is all the language of the turning stars among angels and men? A sounding gong compared to the love that speaks from the blood of His Son, our brother, who was slain for us from the foundation of the world." Hamann’s is a beautiful word picture of faith-filled eyes. Seeing eyes. How is it that his "yes" is so clear, so beautiful, yet many of his learned contemporaries answered "no" so resoundingly? Binary brings to mind the world of computing, e.g., binary code. Let’s lift one concept from the computing world and tease it out a bit here. Among computer scientists, the term for a standard response to any stimulus not otherwise categorized is the default response. What is the default response in man, as regards the truth claims of Scripture? Are we set to "yes", preprogrammed to belief? Or are we set to "no" as our default condition, and need explicit intervention into our human circuitry to move that dial? Since the Fall, we know that we have set ourselves to "no." Our forebear, Adam, tripped that setting when he disobeyed his Creator. His fall becomes our default. Listen to Paul's words to the Roman church [Romans 3:10-12]: "No one is righteous, no, not on; no one understands; no one seeks God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." Jesus makes the same point in Matthew 13, "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand." Our default setting is not "yes." It is not belief, but unbelief. And fallen man cannot move that dial from "no" to "yes" on his own. Apologies to all who believe that Cartesian logic can move that dial. It just ain’t so. Our intellect, logic, or force of will alone will not get us off of that fallen default position. We can’t shift the dial. We need divine intervention. The invisible hand of God. We need the Spirit of the triune God to awaken us...to open our eyes...to unclog our ears...to unfreeze our hearts. To quicken our dead spiritual pulse. Ephesians 2: 8-9 tells us, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." We believe, therefore we see. The world sees, yet does not believe. Said another way, believing is seeing. The world claims seeing is believing: I don’t see it; therefore, I do not believe it. I will wait for another. We know that belief precedes sight. Faith is a gift from God. Saving faith, that opens unseeing eyes. Here's another quote: "Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones." [Bertrand Russell] Sorry Bertrand, but that’s not quite right. Even in the presence of good grounds for belief, man will still be satisfied with bad ones. The evidence is all around us, isn’t it? Human history is chock-a-block with men ignoring good grounds and clinging to bad ones. In the presence of so many good reasons for belief -- the world we live on, the universe we are spinning through, the truth we see revealed all around us, the beauty we see embedded in God’s creation, the veracity of the Word that God has given us...that describes us, our relations, needs, wants, desires, propensities...the preponderance of evidence of God’s design on us and everything -- we are still prone to accept falsehood and reject truth. OK, but so what? What's a 2009 application of this 2,000 year old truth? Here’s one. When we answer the greatest question of all time with an emphatic "Yes, you are the one", we need to remind ourselves that our very response is a gift of God. We cannot credit ourselves with better vision, greater discernment, more holiness or anything else compared to our unbelieving brothers and sisters. If we find ourselves, like the Pharisee in the temple, taking glee or just plain comfort from our spiritual condition compared to another, we know that it is Satan having his way with us. The only legitimate, honest response we can render to our improved sight -- our saving sight -- is gratitude for the cross. Said another way, our improved sight must give us a clearer vision of Calvary, and our part in that sacrifice.
First, we must recognize our own, personal contribution to the crucifixion of the Son of God. While our sins have been forgiven, thank you, Lord, we still own their impact. And second, coupled with the first, we have to realize that the saving faith we have is because of Jesus’ atonement...that he has gifted to those who accept Him as Lord and Savior. Are you the one? The author of life demands an answer.
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