Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good afternoon, special ones.

We took the little boys to church, ate some lunch on the creekside deck, let them play in the creek a while, then had them back to their mom at 12:30pm. I was able to get in a nice old man Sunday nap. Now I had better get back to the house to assist with some kitchen details in anticipation for some friends coming over for supper later this evening.

Blessings on the rest of your day.

Love, Dad/Ray.

Why?! Why would Jesus refuse to answer their straight-forward question? All this group of antagonists asked was, “By what authority are you doing these things (miracles, teaching, etc.)? Who gave you this authority?” (19:2). Jesus could have taken this as an opportunity and launched into a spell-binding account of His pre-incarnation existence, His direct relationship with Father God, and expounded on the Divine plan for the redemption of mankind. But now that we know something of what Jesus knew all along, it would have been of no value whatsoever for Jesus to answer honestly and accurately. After all, they were just that—antagonists—their mindset was solidified—so it didn’t matter what He said—they were antagonists!

The way Jesus responded to their question was by asking another: “Tell me, John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or from men?” Now I ask, why did they not answer His question clearly? It’s because Jesus knew their heart condition and nailed them at that heart level—so any answer would have been exposing and incriminating. Jesus knew all too well that the same attitudes of pride, control, and religious bondage that prevented their acceptance of John (“John the Baptist”) was the same set of attitudes that was preventing their acceptance of Him—the very Son of God—Sovereign God in human form (Colossians 2:9).

Here I go again, inserting the essential of A HEART AFTER GOD—a heart that honestly seeks TRUTH as authored by He Who Is TRUTH—a heart that cries out from the chaos and confusion of life on this planet—a heart with a soul thirst that says, “Oh God, if You are there, I want to know You, I want to please You, I want to worship You.” Without this vital ingredient, men are automatically made into antagonists against God and His plans—amounting to automatic confused losers. Without it, what difference does it make who thinks what, where, when, and why? In fact, why would it matter what is right or wrong, fact or fallacy, or anything else? With such a confused disposition of heart, all the accurate information in the world is of no more value than a boat without a bottom, a flashlight without batteries, an engine without fuel, a fish without water, or hunger without food! “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul (because he lacks A HEART AFTER GOD)?”(Mark 8:36).