During the Tribulation - Matthew 24:15-28

Last time we studied Matthew, we read about events leading up to the Tribulation.  In this next set of verses, Jesus is jumping straight to the Tribulation's middle.  The entire book of Revelation traces out each little event with detail, but apparently for His warning recorded in Matthew, He was being more brief.  So, what we see here are basically the high points.

15 "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

17 "Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house.

18 "Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.

19 "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!

20 "But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath."

The Abomination of Desolation is described elsewhere in Scripture:

From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
- Daniel 12:11

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.  Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4

So what we gather will take place at the Abomination of Desolation is that it is the half-way point in the seven-year Tribulation, that sacrifices in the Jewish Temple will be halted (which means they will have been begun again - something that could actually happen at any moment as the Jews can have everything up and running in a matter of days when the regain the Temple Mount), and that the "Antichrist" (it seems, since being God has been Satan's motivation all along) will declare himself to be God.

(Tiny side-note: Those verses in 2 Thessalonians are yet another point in Scripture that I see as pointing to a post-Tribulation rapture, not pre-Tribulation.)

An Abomination of Desolation of sorts already happened a couple of centuries before Christ said these words - committed by the evil Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes.  What he did to the Jewish Temple was the inspiration for the Abomination of Desolation scene in Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye's Left Behind series.  And it was kind of a precursor to the "real-deal" on that will happen during the Tribulation.  Just as Jesus appeared in human form before His incarnation multiple times in the Old Testament (for example, talking with Abraham and wrestling with Jacob), I think it likely that "the Antichrist" has appeared on Earth multiple times as well (i.e. human beings indwelt by Satan - like Judas and probably Hitler).

The rest of the verses in this set serve to point out just how terrible this time will be for the Jews.  Keep in mind how much oppression and near-extermination they have suffered throughout the history of the world - and realize that this time will be THE worst.  And yet, God's concern for the pregnant and nursing women trying to flee reveals His incredible care - even thousands of years in advance while delivering a brief prophecy, He takes the time to express His concern for them.

And verse 20 brings up an interesting topic for us to all mull over regarding prayer ... Even beyond the basic theological truth that God has always known everything that will ever happen, it is even made explicitly clear that the day of Christ's return is set in stone (Matthew 24:34-36).  And since studying Daniel and Revelation makes it clear that all End Times events are on a strict, interconnected timetable, that means that the day of the Abomination of Desolation has a set date, as well.  So, praying that this won't happen on a Sabbath or during winter wouldn't seem to be able to change anything ... except that God would have known in advance that people would pray that if He told them to, so He answered their prayers in advance before they had even prayed it yet ...  Try wrapping your mind around that for a minute! ;-)

21 "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.

22 "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short."

The word "tribulation" has the potential to confuse some.  Basically, we have decided to call the entire seven-year period of judgments outlined in Revelation "the Tribulation," but the Bible itself calls the second half of that seven-year period a "Great Tribulation."  So they are two different things.

And, as indicated here and in the timeline in Revelation, that second half will be far more intense than the first half - and considering how terrible the first half will be, no wonder the whole thing has to be cropped to only a few years so that some sort of remnant of the saved will be able to survive!

23 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him.

24 "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.

25 "Behold, I have told you in advance.

26 "So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the l,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,,' do not believe them.

27 "For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be."

We talked about this topic in our last study, too, so I won't spend a ton of time on it here.  But it's critical to remember that as the End gets closer and closer, demonic power will increase on Earth, to the point that possessed people have such demonic powers that even some Christians will fall for it and think they're prophets or Christ Himself.  But Christ will not come in that form - even though there is a lot of End Times prophecy that is confusing, one thing that is abundantly clear is that when Christ comes, everyone on Earth will know it, and it will be a powerful moment.

28 "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather."

Apparently a lot of people try to read specific prophetic meanings into this verse, like it talking about the rapture or Armageddon, but I see it is as simply a wry descriptive phrase about the false Christs.  It could mean that as the post-apostasy Church has a lot of spiritually-dead "Christians" and former Christians, charlatans will come in and lead them into following demonic influence, or that as the Earth approaches its death, false teachers will come in and drag people into spiritual death, or many other things along these lines.

Next time, we'll get to cover some of the "happy," exciting stuff following the Tribulation. :-)

Sensitive Issues with Demons - : Matthew 17:14-21

The Scripture Passage

 

14 When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying,

 

15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.

 

16 "I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him."

 

17 And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I put up with you?  Bring him here to Me."

 

18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.

 

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it out?"

 

20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

 

21 ["But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."]

 

Was He Really Possessed, or Just Crazy?

 

The boy in this story was a "lunatic" - someone completely out of his mind and who was a danger to himself.  Because the Bible identifies the source of his insanity as a demon, some people take one of two extreme views (both of which are Biblically inaccurate) of the situation.

 

First, some claim that New Testament people misunderstood psychological illness as demon possession, that this mistake was further committed by the Gospel writers, and that Jesus either (as a man living at that time) believed the same or just went along with their belief that it was a demon even though he knew it wasn't.  However, there are a couple major problems with this view: (1) One of the central beliefs of genuine Christianity is that the Bible is fully inspired by God and has absolutely no errors (see 2 Timothy 3:16-17).  Therefore, to say that the Gospel writers made a mistake would be to wander into dangerous, cultish territory.  (I won't spend much time on whether or not Jesus, in His human state in which He temporarily gave up His power to know everything, could have made such a mistake because exactly how much Jesus did and did not know while on Earth is an endless debate...I'll just leave it at: I personally do not believe such a mistake would have been possible for Him because, although He gave up His ability to know everything, He maintained deep knowledge of spiritual matters, and this falls into that category.)  (2)  If you read through the accounts of healings and castings-out in the Gospels, some maladies are identified as actual physical problems, in which case Christ healed them, and other maladies are identified as demonic manifestations, in which case Christ cast the demon out.  The distinction is made in Scripture, so clearly, some illnesses (physical or psychological) are truly caused by demonic possessions.

 

The Second dangerous viewpoint is that all psychological problems are caused by demons; in other words, the view is that if you suffer from depression, or obsessive compulsive disorder, or schizophrenia, or epilepsy, or bipolar disorder, or have a clown phobia, or whatever, you are possessed by a demon.  I take extreme issue with this view, as well.  (1) In the Gospels, demons aren't just the cause of psychological maladies, they also cause physical illnesses and handicaps.  So, to say demons cause all psychological problems would require you to say that they cause all physical problems - and that circles back to what we discussed above, how Scripture makes it absolutely clear that some problems are caused by demons, and others are not.  The fact of the matter is, we live in a fallen world where people get diseases and handicaps and disorders because humanity is sinful and fallen, not because of demons.  (2)  Plenty of believers have psychological problems.  As I have mentioned a few times before, there is not a single Scriptural indication I'm aware of that Christians can become possessed, and I think there are even direct hints in Scripture that it cannot happen.  If all psychological problems were the result of demonic possession, no Christian would ever suffer from them.

 

So, to sum up: Some problems really are caused by demons (so don't just write these accounts off as an antiquated, pre-medical way of thinking), but all of them certainly are not (so if someone you know is suffering from a psychological malady, don't think they're possessed).

 

When Should a Christian Cast Out a Demon?

 

The issue of casting out demons itself is another issue of stark polarity, ranging from, "We don't really see a lot of possessions in America...and it scares me, so I just don't want to think about it!" to "Every single problem in every person's life is caused by demons, so I cast 'em out five times a day!"  It's an issue I've mulled over in my mind and searched out in Scripture for about the past four years, and I've finally focused on a couple of indications in Scripture that seem to be really relevant guidelines.

 

First, in every case in the Gospels I can find where Jesus casts out a demon, it is specifically stated that the possessed person's friends or relatives brought that person to Jesus to get the demon cast out.  The only exception to this that I'm aware of is in Mark 5:1-20, in which the possessed man sees Jesus from a distance and runs up to Him specifically to talk to Him.  So, it doesn't seem like every time Jesus saw a possessed person, He cast it out - rather, they or someone they loved seemed to desire for release from the demon, and then He cast it out.  It's kind of like how in Luke 11:24-26 if a person gets a demon cast out of them and there's no change in their life, the demon will just come back.  Think about it - if a demon is cast out of a Satanist, and they keep worshipping Satan, of course it makes sense that they'll just get possessed again.

 

Another telling example is in Acts 16:16-18, in which a demon possessed girl follows Paul for a number of days, shouting as he tries to preach - and he doesn't cast the demon out until he becomes "greatly annoyed" at the end of "many days."  Now, wouldn't you think that if we were supposed to cast out demons whenever we encountered them (instead of when someone specifically asked for the casting-out), Paul would have cast out the demon right away?  But he didn't.  He only did, finally, when it seems the demon possessed person was impeding his ministry.

 

So, the tentative conclusion I've arrived at so far is this: Believers are not intended to cast out any demon they encounter willy-nilly, but rather in cases where the possessed person or their friends/family specifically wants freedom from the demon, or where the demonic possession is interfering with a ministry.

 

Can a Demon Possess a CHILD?

 

In this story, the son's age is not indicated - he could easily be an adult (the same is true in Matthew 15:21-28).  So, with the vagueness in those examples, we have no Biblical indication that children either can or cannot become demon possessed.

 

But here's the thing.  Although different Christian branches and denominations hold to specific "ages of accountability" at which point a child becomes old enough to comprehend issues like sin and salvation, no such age appears anywhere in Scripture.  Now, that doesn't mean that the principle isn't perhaps valid (here is a fascinating discussion of that issue at GotQuestions.org), just that it is absolutely wrong to assign some specific man-determined age.  I personally have seen some children seem to grasp the Gospel as five and others not able to until they were just into their double-digits - it seems to vary from person to person.

 

So, if a child can make a decision to trust Christ as Savior, it follows that they could make the conscious decision to dabble in the demonic realm.  If a kid is playing with a Ouija board or Tarot card deck or "playing pretend" as a wizard or fortune teller, I think it's entirely possible they could become possessed.  We don't know - so let's not risk it.

 

Why Couldn't the Disciples Cast Out the Demon?

 

The problem here is lack of faith.  While there are plenty of Scriptural examples of the person who seeks to be healed needing faith in order for the healing to succeed (for example, Matthew 9:27-29), there are also places where the healer (or demon-caster-outer) must have faith, such as here and in James 5:15.  Although this is tangential to the main point, I find it interesting that heretical televangelists always blame failed miracles on the other person's faith instead of on themselves...

 

Anyway, why did the disciples lack adequate faith in this case?  I mean, they'd cast out demons before (see Matthew 10:1-8, and the parallel passage in Mark 6:7-13 which records their success).  Perhaps they were scared since this seemed to be quite an extreme case of demonic possession (lunacy and trying to kill the man, as opposed to more minor manifestations such as demons causing blindness).  Or, perhaps their lack of faith in God was a result of too much faith in their own abilities - i.e., they had grown arrogant in their power to cast out demons.  This latter case would explain Jesus's harsh reaction, and especially why He told them they had to fast and pray to cast out the demon.  Fasting and praying focuses us back on God's provision, not our own abilities.

 

What About That Verse in Brackets?

 

You may have noticed that verse 21 is in brackets - this is because it appears in some of the original source manuscripts, but not all of them.  Different translations will approach such verses in different ways: Some put them in brackets, or italics, or in the footnotes, and some pick and choose which such verses to include and reject without any indication to the reader that they did so (the NIV does this, which is one of the reasons I'm not a big fan of that translation - but please don't be offended if you prefer the NIV).

 

How do such discrepancies appear in Scripture?  Well, if you think about the process by which the "books" of the New Testament were copied, it was all by hand, a lot by largely uneducated men, and probably quite often in a hurry.  So, even though the original writing was inspired by God, there's no reason to think that every single act of copying it was guided directly by God, as well.  So, that would explain why some verses don't appear in some manuscripts (a person could have mistakenly skipped over it).  In addition, the New Testament books were not all necessarily regarded as Scripture the minute they were written, so a copier who had something they remembered or thought to add would have seen no moral reason not to write that in (which explains why some verses do appear in some manuscripts but not in others.  And, with both of these, one addition or subtraction would be carried on to the copy of that copy, and the copy of the copy of the copy, and on and on exponentially.

 

So how does this mesh with our belief in the inerrancy of Scripture?  Personally, I don't see a conflict.  The fact that we're aware of where the discrepancies are and that none of them have to do with anything important (like being the basis of a doctrine) demonstrates to Me that God protects His Word even amidst human mistakes.  In that light, the discrepancies support the idea that the Bible has remained the same, not the opposite.

 

Now, every Bible teacher you talk to will probably have a different approach to how to handle these "bracketed" verses.  Some reject them all, some accept them all, and some go with a case-by-case approach based on some criteria.

 

I myself fall within the case-by-case category.  My personal method is to check if it's the King James Version Bible.  Even though I am definitely not the type of person who insists that the KJV is the only or even most accurate English translation of Scripture (as evidenced by the fact that I frequently pull from the NASB, ESV, NKJV, and AMP translations), I personally choose to treat it as the authority in the specific issue of "bracketed" verses.  Why?  Let's look at history...

 

The KJV was translated from 1604-1611 using the same Greek source texts as were used for the Latin versions.  The primary Latin version accepted at the time was the "Authorized Latin Version," which was translated by St. Jerome in the 400s.  Before him, Latin versions were translated from the same texts as early as the 100s (about as close to the original time period as you can get).  Therefore, those specific Greek texts were what gave the entire continent of Europe their New Testament for 1500 years.  Personally, I believe that God is powerful enough to not have an incomplete or flawed Word for 1500 years!!!  So, when I encounter a "bracketed" verse, I check to see if it's in the KJV - if so, I treat it as Scripture, if not, I treat it as something that is perhaps true but not Scripture.

 

But, again, that is my personal method.  I'm not saying it's the only way or the best way to approach such verses - it's just my way.

 

An Important Reminder and Questions for You

 

If you want to read through the Bible in 2013, check out the "Weekly Scripture Readings" tab above for a Through the Bible in a Year plan I developed, or check out this past weekend's post referring you to some other plans to best fit your needs.  Make sure you find some way to dive into God's Word every day in 2013!!!

 

What is your approach (or thoughts on an approach) to the "bracketed" verses?

What's your take on the issue of whether or not children can become possessed?

Anything else you'd like to add or ask?

 

 

 

All Images courtesy of Sweet Publishing.  Used by permission.

 

Suddenly Serious: Matthew 16:20-28

Bombshell One: "I'm Going to Die"

 

20 Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.

 

21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.

 

22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You."

 

23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."

 

There's actually a lot of material packed into these four short verses.  Let's start with Jesus's command to the disciples that they - to whom He had just affirmed that He was the Christ - not tell anyone His true identity.  I want to make it very clear that this was a very temporary command, and the opposite is true today.  As you may recall, Matthew 10:32-33 tells us, "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.  But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven."  Denying Jesus - denying that He is your Lord - means that you are rejecting His salvation.  It is a conscious decision to deny your faith in Christ because (for example) someone who hates Christians is holding a gun to your head, or your loved one's head, and you decide that physical life is more important than God.  Do not misunderstand that the same situation appears here in this passage - it's not an exception, because there are no exceptions.  His command to the disciples (a specific group of people at a specific time) did not contradict that because He had not yet revealed Himself publically as the Christ.  But now He has - that's the difference.  Additionally, the disciples were still quite literally risking their lives to follow Him, and by travelling aroud with Him, that act was a very public declaration that they believed in Him.

 

Next, let's look at what happened right before Peter responded.  We all know that Jesus was tortured, murdered, and rose from the dead, so the bluntness doesn't shock us, but try to imagine what it was like to be there.  These men were going to lose thier best friend and their Prophet.  They'd also just realized He was the Christ, so they probably getting excited over the prophecies they expected Him to fulfill immediately about throwing off the Jews' oppressors and reigning with an everlasting kingdom of peace (which He won't fulfill until the End, after the Tribulation) - and then He tells them He's going to die a brutal death.  Shock, sorrow, rage, and fear must have all boiled within them.

 

With all of that in mind, based on his later behavior, Peter probably felt protective - vowing willingness to risk his life fighting to defend his Teacher from capture.  That's noble on the surface.  But underneath, there is a radical amount of pride and selfishness.  It reveals that he thought he knew better than God, wanted something whether it was God's will or not, and thought he could "protect" God, thereby doing something tor God that God couldn't do Himself!  You can see the foolishness of that type of thinking with his logically unsound utterance, "God forbid it, Lord!"  Yes, Peter's reaction was understandable, given the circumstances, but it was still deeply sinful.

 

So what did Jesus mean when He said, "Get behind me, Satan!"?  Was Peter actually possessed by Satan?  I highly doubt it.  We know that Satan possessed Judas at different times, but as I have mentioned before, it is my personal belief that a believer would have to fall pretty dang far away from the Lord to be "possession material."  But that doesn't mean that we can't open the door to demonic influence (such as increased temptation) by thinking about things we shouldn't, exposing ourselves to media we shouldn't, or giving in to our fleshly nature...and I think that's what's going on here - Peter is not possessed by Satan, but he is acting "in the spirit of Satan" - being rebellious, prideful, and selfish exactly as Satan is (Isaiah 14:12-14, Ezekiel 28:12-18), and not banishing the devil's temptations.  Jesus is pointing out the source and character of Peter's reaction.

 

Finally, we see Jesus mention Peter's response being a "stumbling block" to Him.  This is a very minor point, but when you read of a "stumbling block" in Scripture, don't assume that it refers automatically or exclusively to a temptation - it can, as it appears to here, mean something more along the lines of <anything that is a hindrance to someone's walk, even if it's just something like a distraction that keeps them from "quiet time" with God or, as here, waste ministry time on something that shouldn't be an issue>.

 

Bombshell Two: "You Guys Need to Die, Too."

 

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

 

25 "For whoever sishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

 

26 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

 

27 "For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.

 

28 "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

 

Those of you who know a bit about history may recognize the painting at the left - it's Peter being crucified, which happened long after Jesus.  It's a stirring reminder that each and every one of us are called to the same...not necessarily literal martyrdom for our faith, but plenty of other forms of "dying to self."  We may be called to be rejected by our friends and our families.  We may be called to be fired from our jobs for our faith or to give up everything we own.  We may be called to give up a life-long dream (career, marriage, whatever) and pursue the path God has planned for us.  We may be called to move to another country, or yes, even to die.  Each of us is called to do whatever God asks of us, with no looking back.  Christianity is not about feeling better about yourself and being blessed - it's a battle for the souls of mankind.

Os Guiness said, "Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to his summons and service."

 

Please do not misunderstand me - this is not about salvation by works.  This isn't a matter of doing good things to somehow "earn" salvation of improve God's opinion of you - those things are impossible, and they both hinge on the faulty assumption that the purpose of salvation is to get into heaven.  It's not.  The purpose of salvation is to make us like Christ.  So of course we are called to live like He did - suffering and all.

 

Anything we have to give up or suffer on this earth is a mere speck compared to what basking in the glory of Christ will be like - spending eternity in unending fellowship with our Savior.  The apostles understood what living and dying for Christ meant on a far deeper level than any of us in the American church could ever imagine - and clearly they saw their "investment" as worth it.  We should believe the testimony of their lives.

 

As Jesus promised in this passage, at least one man there, John, did see Christ returning - in a vision of the End of Days.  Perhaps some of the others had similar, unrecorded experiences much like Stephen where Christ supported them with visions of what they would behold if only they endured.  Just the same, Christ will give us the strength to endure whatever "crosses" He asks us to carry.  It won't be easy (or else it wouldn't be a cross), but He will support us.  I forget who it was who said, "The cross bears those who bear the cross."

 

Please, believers, make time today to spend time alone with God and ask Him what your cross to bear is.  And then be faithful in bearing it.

 

And if you do not yet know Christ as your Savior, click here to learn how in English or here to learn how in your own language.

 

Questions for You

 

Have you ever had a time in your life when you thought you knew better than God, only to later see the wisdom of His plan?

 

What cross(es) do you bear today?  What cross(es) have you had to bear in the past?

 

Anything else you'd like to add or ask?  Leave it in the comments section. :-)

 

Giving Credit Where It's Due

 

Image Number One: Matthew Illustration courtesy of Sweet Publishing.  Used by permission.

 

Image Number Two: Crucifixion of St. Peter, by Carvaggio.  Wikipedia.  {{PD-1923}} Public domain in the United States.



Tackling Binding and Loosing - Matthew 16:15-19 (and 18:15-19)

The Scripture Passages

 

In our last study post, we arrived at the point where Jesus mentions the issue the American Church knows as "binding and loosing."  I saved the topic for its own post because it is a very complex, important issue to address.  It is only mentioned twice in Scripture, both in Matthew; we will look at both of those occurences, along with some surrounding verses to provide context (which is critical for their interpretation).  Like some other sayings of Jesus that appear multiple times, this phrase can have multiple different (albiet related) meanings in different contexts.

 

Matthew 16:

 

15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

 

16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

 

17 And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

 

18 "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

 

19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

 

Matthew 18:

 

15 "If your brother sins, go and who him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.

 

16 "But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.

 

17 "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

 

18 "I truly say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

 

19 "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that theyu may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven."

 

The Controversy

 

Different denominations, doctrinal groups, and scholars interpret the issue of binding and loosing to mean many different things.  What follows will be my personal view on the matter, a view backed up by two solid Bible teachers whom I trust.  However, I do not stand as firm on this issue as I do many of my other stances precisely because there are so many views, and so little Scriptural material from which to derive and understanding of this matter.

 

One interpretation of "binding and loosing" that I do stand against with firmness is the idea that every time a believer is tempted to do something, he can "bind Satan" for tempting him.  There are multiple Scriptural and logical flaws with this:  (1) Satan will not be "bound" until Revelation 20, at the end of the Tribulation; (2) if Christians have to keep binding him, clearly he keeps getting free...so clearly, it doesn't work and is not backed up by God's authority by which he grants Christians power to command demons; and, (3) it ignores that fact that, in addition to being tempted by Satan and his demons, we are also tempted by our own fleshly natures and by the world (Matthew 13:22, 1 Corinthians 2:12, Galatians 4:3, Ephesians 6:12, etc.).  I think this practice also has the negative consequences of denying personal responsibility, distracing Christians from God because they're obsessed with the demonic realm, and damaging Christians' witness to unbelievers since it appears "crazy."

 

That said, however, again, what follows now is very much just my view on binding and loosing.  Everything I post on this blog except the core of the Gospel I identify as my opinion, but this matter I am less firm in my stance than other issues.

 

Yay, Grammar (but it's Important)!

 

I really like how the NASB translates these verses, because rendering the verb tenses correctly, even at the cost of easy readability, is imperative when it comes to this matter's interpretation.  Let's look at Young's Literal Translation (which stives for pure literalness, not readability at all), and then a modern rendering of it from another Bible teacher I trust:

 

...whatever thou mayest bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever thou mayest loose upon the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.

 

...whatever you shall bind on earth shall have been bound already in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall have been loosed already in heaven.

 

Now, let's look in the original Greek:

"Bind" is deo, meaning to bind or forbid.

"Loose" is luo, meaning to loose or allow or destroy.

So that gives us:

 

...whatever you shall bind/forbid on earth shall have been bound/forbade already in heaven, and whatever you shall loose/allow/destroy on earth shall have been loosed/allowed/destroyed already in heaven.

 

And finally circling back to interpreting our Scripture passages... :-)

 

Matthew 16

 

As we discussed last time in a bit more detail, Jesus was stating that Peter's faith was remarkable, that that type of faith would be the basis of Christianity, and also that Peter would be a Church leader.  That genuine type of faith would never be overcome by the devil.

 

In Matthew 16, I believe binding and loosing refers to Jesus transfering His authority and backing to those with Peter's faith in their witnessing efforts - basically, He's saying He is pleased with that faith, and was planning to use it to further His kingdom.  Where do I get this?  Context, and a whole lot of verses using the same wording, such as these examples:

 

Acts 2:24 KJV

God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death.

 

Psalm 147:3

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

 

Ezekiel 34:16

I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick.

 

So, God is the ultimate One who looses pains, cords, chains, etc., allowing them to go free, and binds  up their wounds, forbidding their sin to rule them.  With the literal renderings of today's verses, He has already done these, but will use us to accomplish that on earth.

 

Matthew 18

 

In Matthew 18, the context is about Church discipline - if you see a Christian living in sin (not struggling with it - living in it), you're to approach him about in alone first; if he doesn't repent, bring a couple other solid believers with you, and if he doesn't repent after that, bring the matter before the Chruch (not in a gossippy manner - with the American Church setup, I personally, generally recommend bringing the matter to the Church leadership, who can bring the manner before the Church in a more controlled manner than a layperson can).  If he doesn't repent even then, fellowship is cut off (he's "excommunicated" - no longer treated as a believer).  This process is outlined repeatedly in the New Testament.

 

Forbidding and allowing obviously fit in here, pertaining to partaking of fellowship with other believers - you allow or forbid them to continue fellowshipping with believers.  So, this variation of the same issue is that when God cuts off His own relationship with someone because they openly reject him by unabashedly living in unrepentant sin, He gives His Church the authority to cut off fellowship as well, and when He has a relationship with someone, the Church is to welcome them as well.

 

Tying Them Together

 

So, binding and loosing in both Matthew 16 and 18 are different variations of the exact same issue: When God creates or cuts off a relationship with a human, He gives authority to His followers to manifest physically/on this Earth what He's already done.

 

Questions for You

 

That's my take - but what are your thoughts?  I want to know! :-)

 

Or, if you haven't really thought about this issue before (because, admittedly, the verses are a bit easy to gloss over in reading), was there anything I didn't make clear?

How Will You Respond? - Matthew 8:28-9:8

Demons in the Pig Pen

28 When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs.  They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.

29 And they cried out, saying, "What business do we have with each other, Son of God?  Have You come here to torment us before the time?"

30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them.

31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, "If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine."

32 And He said to them, "Go!"  And they came down and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters.

33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demonaics.

34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.

Okay, so these two demon-possessed men are coming out of the tombs...does that mean that the demons are reanimating corpses?  In this case, the answer is, very fortunately, no.  Mark 5:2-3 clarifies that these men were living in the wild where the tombs were.  So, they were'nt undead, but it's still a vivid picture of how Satan's kingdom is one of death. 

One more quick clarification - Matthew says there were two demon-possessed men here, but when the story is told in Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-39, only one man is mentioned.  Is this a contradiction?  No.  If there were two men there, it's also true that one man was there.  Mark and Luke just chose to focus in on one of the men, seemingly the one who was in much worse condition since he had more demons in him.

"They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way."  Here's what impresses me: Jesus wasn't scared of them at all.  Here they were, lashing out a people with super-strength (see the above hyperlinks to the passages in Mark and Luke), but Jesus walks right up to them.  Why?  Because He knows He has no reason to fear them since God had given Him authority over them.  Did you know that we have the same authority?  Mark 16:17 tells us, "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues..." and Luke 10:19-20 reads, "Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven."  I realize that, as someone who has never cast out a demon or even seen someone acting "demon-y," this is easy for me to say.  But the Word of God still stands: we as believers do not need to fear.

Now, people teach verses 29-32 in a lot of different ways.  ***This is just my take on it.***  What the demons fear is being sent straight to hell instead of being allowed to roam the earth (Luke 8:31 puts this bluntly).  Interesting that they fully acknowledge their power and authority of God (also see James 2:19), yet they're still clearly unrepentant - I mean, they were just causing trouble by possessing a guy!  How often do we make the same error - believing in God, yet refusing to repent and live for Him?  Belief isn't enough - He wants a relationship.  Check out this post for more on that.

But back to what's going on with the demons entering the swine.  I see two possible scenarios.  (1) The demons want to cause trouble by killing the pigs so the people will chase Jesus out of town.  It seems ridiculous that demons would be stupid enough to think that they can pull one over on the God who can force them to act with one word...yet isn't that Satan's entire game plan?  If this scenario is what's going on, then having to leave town is within God's will for Jesus.  (2) Jesus intends to send them into the abyss, anyway, since the sea is thought to be some sort of extra demonic realm (see Revelation 20:13).  This demonstrates His ultimate power over them.  In this case, too, having to leave town is part of His plan.

Now let's look at the people's reaction to this event.  Luke 8:35 tells us, "The people went out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened."  They could have feared any number of things, including His power, the loss of more of their material possessions, and a riot.  They allowed fear to prevent them from caring about these men who were freed from possession and from seeking God's salvation.

Healing a Paralytic: Everybody's Surprised

1 Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city.

2 And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, "Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven."

3 And some of the scribes said to themselves, "This fellow blasphemes."

4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, "Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?

5 "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, and walk'?

6 "But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" - then He said to the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your bed and go home."

7 And he got up and went home.

8 But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

You may be familiar with the longer account of this healing in Mark 2:1-12 and Luke 5:17-26 - it's the one where the paralytic's friends lower him through the ceiling to get to Jesus because they can't make it through the crowds.  Now, why does Mark identify this as taking place in Capernaum, since Matthew says it's Jesus's own city...wouldn't that be Nazareth or Bethlehem?  Actually, Jesus made Capernaum his sort of "base of operations."

One thing I find amazing about this story is that Jesus saw their faith...this means He saw the friends' faith, as well.  They had so much faith in Jesus's power to heal their friend, and so much love for their friend, that they were willing even to tear the roof of this house - knowing that they would likely get yelled at for doing so and have to pay for/do the repairs themselves.  Also, in none of these accounts does the homeowner get angry with them.  It is possible that he did and the Bible just doesn't mention it, but judging by the fact hta the was willing to let all these people congregate in his home to see Jesus, I'd wager that he didn't mind.  Talk about amazing compassion for a stranger!  This is a beautiful example for us.

I love the order in which Jesus responds.  He heals the man's soul first - because that is indeed His first priority, and the most important thing.  But He also has mercy on the man's physical condition, as well as takes the opportunity to prove His power (gotta love that spunk).  How often do we ask God to fix things in our lives, but not in our hearts and souls?  We know what His priority is...what is ours?

Finally, let's look at everyone's reactions.  The scribes: They reject Him - He threatens the status quo and their station among the people.  He shakes things up in their lives, and they don't like that.  The crowds: They rejoice!  They praise God for His mighty works and for dwelling with them.  The paralytic: This one is my favorite. :-)  He obeys perfectly.  God has blessed him tremendously, but rather than using that blessing to do whatever he wants, he uses it to do exactly what God wants him to use it for.  How will you react today - like a scribe, or like the paralytic?

The Ultimate Response

We've talked a lot today about people's reactions to Jesus.  What is yours?  If you have not ever entered into a relationship with Jesus, now is the time to do so - do not delay!!!  Click here or the "How to Receive Salvation" tab above to find out how.

He's waiting for you - what's your answer?

Questions for You

Do you see the story of the demonaic differently (there are many takes; share yours!)?  How have you responded in the past when God blessing someone else required something of you, whether it be time or something material (like the herd and roof)?  Share these, and any other questions and comments, by leaving a comment. :-)

Giving Credit Where It's Due

Picture Number One: Medieval manuscript illumination, Christ Exorcising the Gerasenes Demonaic.  Wikimedia Commons.  {{PD-1923}} Public domain in the United States.  {{PD-old}} Public domain in European Union.

Picture Number Two: Christ Healing the Paralytic at Capernaum by Bernhard Rode.  Wikimedia Commons.  {{PD-1923}} Public domain in the United States.{{PD-old}} Public domain in Germany.