TGIF
“Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” ” (Matthew 11:2–3 ESV)
John wasn’t sure he’d gotten it right.
This was not what he was expecting, not how he thought it would go down.
He had believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the One who would come to set the captives free.
However, John was in prison.
He was not free.
He was scared and shaken.
He had risked it all on being right and now he wasn’t sure if he had made the right decision.
He had…and he lost it all anyway.
A woman would gladly receive his head on a plate soon thereafter.
I don’t like this story, but I have to learn from it.
Sometimes, Jesus lets the bad guys win.
Sometimes, Jesus lets you lose.
Sometimes, Jesus lets you die.
John was not in prison waiting to be executed because he was out of the favor of God.
“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.”(Matthew 11:11 ESV)
John was in prison and would die for the sake of the kingdom.
Somehow, in a way neither John nor we can understand, our suffering can and does further the kingdom and plan of God.
The miracles were for unbelievers, the suffering belongs to us.
We have to be willing to receive both.
The kingdom is worth it.
““Go and tell John what you hear and see:the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.””(Matthew 11:4–6 ESV)
Like I said, I don’t like this story.
Make your own application…
Amen my dear! I must say that I think this story is the real reality of following Jesus… not the childish “reality’ of expecting life to be easy or simple. Thank you! As my beloved Pastor Rob Verdeyne often said, and I remember so well, reminding myself often “Life is hard. God is good. Never confuse the two.”
Sobering thoughts, God help us.
Paige,
I think this is the reality…though we can pray that God surprise us with joy as well.
We’ve so negated the place of suffering in the faith, that it’s almost a different faith we’re promoting…
***A whore would gladly receive his head on a plate soon thereafter.***
Words have meanings. The fact that Herodias divorced her first husband while he was still alive does not a prostitute make her. The fact that Salome danced at a dinner at her mother’s request does not a prostitute make her. There are plenty of men in the Bible and throughout history who have divorced inappropriately and engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior (although, it’s worth noting that we have no idea if the dance Salome performed was actually sexual in nature) and yet, you still call those men by their names and don’t reduce them to an exaggerated name for their sin.
Yes! Except I love this story.
It lets me know that I’m not off course because I suffer. Jesus is right there with me in the suffering, bringing joy, peace, and victory…even through the pain.
j2,
Words do have technical meanings and words can also be symbols .
The church has said far worse about Salome over the centuries…and I think I’ve used the word correctly…symbolically.
As to the double standard you speak of…I agree.
Yes, it is, indeed, a ‘different faith” that is oft being promoted…. certainly different than the reality for many of christians historically…and for many across our globe today. If any man/woman come after Me, let him/her deny him/her-self and take up his/her cross and follow Me…” “for we are dead and our life is hidden with Christ in God”. These are not party invitations.
Paige,
Amen.
The party starts later and we’ve already been RSVP’d.
Josh,
The interesting thing is that Jesus was NOT right there with John…it doesn’t even appear that He visited.
My guess would be that this troubled John more than a little.
Yes, we are now indwelt by His Spirit…but there are times when I wonder if He’s left as well.
We walk by faith, not by sight…or feeling.
Yes! YES!!! And that is my point, exactly. And very exciting, and comforting for me. A person who usually feels like a big loser.
Jesus said there was no man ever greater that John, yet John went through a period in his life when he was overwhelmed by his circumstances to the point that he didn’t even know what to believe. I love that. It gives me hope.
I think the only reason it could possibly be “symbolically” correct is because men in the church have been using that term technically incorrectly for thousands of years as a way to diminish and denigrate women they don’t like.
Just from a factual standpoint there is actually little if any evidence that Salome’s dance was sexually provocative. It has been built up as such through myth, literature, and storytelling, but the text does not say such and from an historical perspective it is not clear that a dance performed in that setting would have been sexually provocative in nature.
History is also silent as to what Salome’s thoughts on performing were–whether she wanted to or didn’t want to.
We don’t even know how old she was when it happened.
I find it kind of insulting that (1) you did not even use her name–it’s like she’s no longer an actual person, all she is is “a whore”–and (2) there are not really any facts on which you can base that sort of name calling and reductionism.
I would imagine that I would receive very strong pushback if I started referring to the Apostle Paul as “the ass****”, even though one could argue that he did and participated in things far worse than Salome did.
j2,
The story I wrote wasn’t about Salome.
It wasn’t my intent to write a historical and literary perspective on women’s roles in the church and culture or the use of language to oppress them.
It was to encourage people who are going through difficult times.
I am using the traditions of the church and narratives that have been passed down for centuries.
j2 does bring up a good point though. Nobody ever calls David a manslut.
I liked the TGIF – several good points to think on.
I understand that, Michael. It seems to me that if that was not the point then, perhaps you should consider rewriting the sentence in which you reduced a woman, possibly a child, to a whore even though there’s no evidence she was one. I don’t think rewriting that one sentence will make your overall article any less poignant, and, in fact, it will be helpful to people like me who are really bothered by those sorts of things. I know you’re not sexist and I know you had a different point with this post, so even if you don’t change it I’ll let it drop, but it would be nice if you rewrote that part. Thanks.
This story is so powerful and it’s something I have thought about often. It hints at the same theme of the book of Job, which I understand to be the first book of the Bible to be written. Seems the subject of suffering was something God was very concerned with from the start. This story and (this should make Alex G. happy) the Ricky Bobby, Baby Jesus scene from “Talladega Nights,” inspired a theater piece I did a few years ago. If you’d like to spend 4 mins you can see the John’s disciple scene here;
j2,
I made the change.
I’m still a huge fan of Paul, though. 😉
Michael,
That was so good…
Hell froze over…I wrote something MLD liked.
Thank you, Michael. 🙂
I appreciate J2’s sensitivity and Michael your response. However, I will add that I cannot imagine Salome’s step father having John the Baptist beheaded over Salome simply doing a skillful dance. I believe that the “dance” that the man was so excited about, involved a lot more than a young girl/woman just moving her feet and shaking her booty a bit.
Michael,
Hell has frozen over. Nonnie said “shaking her booty.”
FF,
LOL! 🙂
LOL!!! 😀
Josh,
thank you for your #5. I have often wished that the Lord would take more control of my positive experiences in life to be proof that I am correct in my spiritual correctness regarding my overall character. By reading your #5 it made me realize that by holding to that way of thinking then I must also be guilty of something when bad things happen in my life, which occurs almost more often and would indicate me being more abundantly bad than good.
Thank you and God bless you.
How dare you say that we as Christians will sometimes die for our faith or the bad guys will win! This is the land of the Free and The home of the Brave, we always win baby!
I though serving God was all about Mercedes, Porche’s and Rolls Royce’s and health and wealth baby! I didn’t sign up for suffering!
#16
Well done! You put flesh and blood upon the Word…I would love to see more.
The lesson is simple- the law at it’s best cannot comprehend grace. John, who Jesus inferred was greater than Moses, couldn’t untie one shoelace of grace. Even while preaching repentance John was clueless about what Jesus was about and the new life He would offer. In the Law there is no hope.
“The miracles were for unbelievers, the suffering belongs to us.”
Thanks Michael.
Phil. 3:10 “…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;”
Drop @ 25 – Thank you so much for the kind words!