JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture

[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Went Through Samaria (John 4)

Oh, how many folk today are drinking at the fountains, the poor, broken cisterns of this world today? They are crowded, and people flock to them; but they don’t find lasting satisfaction, and they have to keep going back. I heard a man say a while back, “I’ve never been drunk like I wanted to be drunk. I’ve never had enough.” Oh, how many people today are drinking, drinking, drinking! They’re drinking at all sorts of fountains. Because at the soda fountains of life today, you can get any flavor you want. You can be entertained, my friend, but you’ll have to go back for more. Our Lord, in effect, says, “I’m not talking about the fountains of this world. I’m talking about a spring that will spring up within you so that you not only will never thirst again, but you’ll be able to help others.”

Notice Him as He continues to deal with this woman:

The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” (John 4:15)

Now she has asked for this water, although obviously she does not clearly understand. You see, at first she says, “Give me this water that I thirst not — the water that I can drink because I’m thirsty.” But immediately she takes a dive right back into the well, “And I won’t have to come here and draw.” She almost got spiritual insight. There was a flash of comprehension for a moment. Our Lord is leading her into the light. She says, “I’d like to have the kind of water You are talking about. I don’t like to come here and draw water all the time, especially at noontime.”

Notice Jesus’ next words:

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” (John 4:16)

This is the masterstroke. Although the water is available for all, there is a condition to be met — there must be a thirst, a need. She must, therefore, recognize that she is a sinner. So our Lord says to her, “Go, call your husband.” He put His finger on the tender spot in her life, “Go, call your husband, and then you come here with him.”

Now the woman returns to her flippant manner. Listen to her:

The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” (John 4:17)

She’s right back where she started. “I have no husband.” She had had too many husbands, and when you have that many, you don’t really have any. Poor woman.

Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” (John 4:17-18)

She was accurate about that. She had had five husbands, but she didn’t have one then. She was living with a man in adultery. Our Lord insists that when you come to Him, you must deal with sin. All secrets must come out before Him. Here was a sinner. One of the reasons she was not so popular with the women of the town was because she was too popular with the men of the town.

The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.” (John 4:19)
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Went Through Samaria (John 4)

She is shocked into reverence, and now she addresses Him respectfully as “Sir.” She’s moving forward now. Oh, she’s learning the first lesson, which is, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” (Proverbs 9:10). In the life she has led, she has had no fear of God or man. When you come to Jesus, you must come as the sinner you are. That’s the way she will have to come.

Although she is startled into fear, she does a popular thing that folk still do today.

“Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” (John 4:20)

Isn’t that interesting? Here is a woman who is practically a prostitute, and she wants to argue about where to worship God. Many people want to sidestep reality and raise a religious question. It’s amazing the number of people who say, “Well, I just can’t believe the story about Jonah.” You can’t? What’s the trouble? “Well, I don’t think a man could live for three days and three nights in the belly of a fish.” Isn’t your problem really that you’re having trouble living? It’s not Jonah that you have a problem with; it’s yourself.

Oh, how many people today want to argue religion who are not prepared to live it! I’m convinced that most of the superficiality in our churches today — they are honeycombed with hypocrisy — is because there has been a definite compromise with evil. Even professing Christians will not face up to sin. They do not object to the pastor preaching on the sins of the Moabites which were committed four thousand years ago, but they don’t want to hear about their sins here in our contemporary culture!

There are many preachers today, and I know this to be a fact, who are afraid to preach on the sins of Christians. This has been confirmed in my own thinking recently. It has been my custom when I go to summer conferences to use a series of messages and repeat the same series throughout the summer season. By the time I’ve come to the last conference, I know a little something of what I’m talking about. Well, this year it was the Epistle to the Romans, and I learned to watch the reactions. The first day especially there was resentment because the first day I always spoke on sin. The second day I spoke on the fact that everybody is a sinner, including the man sitting in the pew, the deacon, the elder, and the preacher. We all are sinners in God’s sight. By that time I felt like I ought to leave. I was probably the most unpopular man there. But by the middle of the week there was a breaking up and melting down so that by the end of the conference the Holy Spirit was really working.

In one conference a very pompous and pious saint came to me at the beginning to tell me that he was a preacher’s son and that from the time he was a little fellow he had been in the church. He had grown up in the church. He was active in the church. He was a big man in his church, and he wanted me to know it. Also, he wanted to tell me what he thought about some others. At the end of the conference — I never shall forget it — he came to me, tears streaming down his face. He said, “Dr. McGee, I want to talk with you. Do you really think I ought to continue on in the position I have in the church? I have seen myself for the first time.”

In another conference two preachers wanted an interview. And do you know what their question was? They said, “Do you preach like this in your own pulpit?” I said, “Well, I never change my message. We have two or three members of my church here, and you can go ask them.”
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Went Through Samaria (John 4)

They said, “How do you get by with it? Don’t you get in trouble?” I said, “Yes, I do. Frankly, God has given me a wonderful church, some of the most wonderful people. No preacher in this day of Laodicea should be ungrateful when 2,500 people come out to midweek Bible study. How I was humbled by that. But in the congregation there’s a little cell of members who do for me, the preacher, what they try to do for you — crucify me! They criticize the preacher so that they can divert attention from themselves because they know they’re rotten within. But they don’t want to face up to it. There’s a psychological problem involved when you begin to criticize somebody else to take attention off yourself.” And then I asked them this, “Have you ever noticed that when you throw a rock at a bunch of dogs, it’s always the hit dog that hollers?”

Now our Lord did not avoid the religious issue. This woman — well, I don’t think she has asked an honest question yet, and I personally would not have been as gracious as my Lord was here — He took time out to answer her. I would have said, “Wait a minute, let’s stick to the subject. I want to talk about those five husbands and this bird you’re living with now.” Our Lord didn’t. How gracious He was! She said, “I wonder where we should worship, in this mountain or in Jerusalem? Would You tell me where to worship?” You know, friends, if we are honest in our questions, Jesus will always answer us.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.” (John 4:21)

In other words, “Actually the question that you raised is irrelevant; it’s not pertinent at all. It’s not where you worship. It’s Who you worship and how you worship that’s important.”

“You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.” (John 4:22)

Why did He say, “for salvation is of the Jews”? There are several reasons, of course, but this is one that maybe you had not noticed. She said, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” He is going to let her know that He Himself is the Savior. Notice His syllogistic reasoning: “You call me a Jew. Salvation is of the Jews. I am a Jew.” My friend, don’t say He was not a Jew — He was a Jew in the days of His flesh.

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)

Now this woman’s heart is opened. May I say to you, she’s profoundly interested now. And wistfully, with a longing in her heart, she responds to Him. Here’s a woman who is a well-known sinner. The good women of Samaria would have nothing to do with her, but they didn’t know her heart. Our Lord did, and down beneath her sin there is a spiritual longing. Listen to her:

The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes. He will tell us all things.” (John 4:25)

In all of her sins, she was looking for the Messiah. Isn’t that amazing? Listen to this woman, “I know that Messiah is coming.” (It is as if she is saying, “Oh, if He’d only come now!”) “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” She is ready now for the most glorious transaction any soul can have.

This is the most majestic and sublime thing our Lord has said. Listen to Him:

Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” (John 4:26)
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Went Through Samaria (John 4)

Isn’t that glorious? In other words, “I am the Messiah! Woman, I knew in the eternal ages of the past that you would be looking for the Messiah. I knew that you would be a sinner. I’ve come to save sinners, and in God’s eternal Book I wrote down an appointment with you to come through Samaria just to tell you, He is here, He is here. I am the Messiah.”

My friend, have you had that wonderful transaction with Christ, when He said to you, “I am He, I’m the One to meet the need of your heart”? Has it been personal? Has it been real?

If you want to know how genuine she was, notice what she did:

The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (John 4:28-29)

No woman would have listened to her, but the men all knew her. And several men responded. Oh, they snapped to attention, “You mean to tell me He knows everything you’ve done? If He knows about you, He knows about me.” And we’re told that the men of the town came to Him.

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” (John 4:39)

Our Lord reached Samaria through a woman with a shady past. But she was looking for Someone, the Messiah, to take away her sins. She was really thirsty, not primarily for that water in the well, but for the Water of Life.

I conclude with the last invitation of the Bible:

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)

Are you thirsty? He’s thirsty for you if you are thirsty for Him. He died for you, and when you come it satisfies His soul. “He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied…. for He shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11).
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JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Met a Dad and His Lad (Mark 9:2–29)

Before us now is one of the greatest miracles recorded in the Word of God. It is the healing of a lad who was demon possessed. We’ll let Mark paint this picture for us. It is a remarkable picture that is bigger than this little world on which we live — it encompasses time and space.

Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. (Mark 9:2)

Jesus took with Him yonder to the mountain three of His disciples, leaving the other nine below. He went up there to pray, and while He was praying the Transfiguration took place.

His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” — because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Mark 9:3-7)
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Met a Dad and His Lad (Mark 9:2–29)

Jesus was glorified, transfigured, and as you look at Him there, you see God’s goal for humanity. God’s intention for you and me is what you find there on the Mount of Transfiguration! While He was transfigured, Moses and Elijah appeared with Him. Peter, James, and John were also with Him there on the Mount.

Now let’s come down from the mountain. At the foot of the mountain there is a scene of tragedy. Frankly, I think it’s one of the worst scenes we have in the entire Word of God. A father has brought his son, and the boy is demon possessed. Not only is it the worst case you’ll find, it is also the most pitiful, the most hopeless case. Humanly speaking, the boy is incurable.

Added to that is a scene of defeat and humiliation for the nine disciples, for that father brought his son to the disciples since Jesus was not there, and they could do nothing for him. Yes, it was a scene of defeat and humiliation. And worse still, there’s a crowd there watching the sad spectacle and wondering. They are skeptical now of the power of Jesus. And the enemy, in the form of the scribes, is there to gloat, to jeer, to ridicule and criticize. That’s the picture.

Notice the contrast. Yonder on the mountain our Lord was glorified. That was God’s goal for humanity. That is God’s ideal and intention for mankind, and that is the place to which He will bring His own someday, for we do not know how we shall appear, but according to 1 John 3:2, we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him!

Down at the foot of that mountain there is a demon-possessed boy, the product of sin, and I could only wish that Father Adam could be there for a moment and see what it meant to disobey God as he did and what sin really was — look at the boy. Now look at the whole picture: Jesus glorified on the mountain! At the foot of the mountain the demon-possessed boy! That’s what sin can do for you. Mark has sketched this scene for us.

But in this world where you and I live at the foot of the mountain, we are like those helpless disciples at the foot of the mount, in the presence of a demon-possessed world. You can’t look out on this world today, my friend, without seeing that this restless world, where there are literal and political earthquakes taking place everywhere, is demon possessed. And in this sad hour the church is helpless and hopeless, making no impact upon our world. Seemingly, we can do nothing. What a picture!

With that as a background, I’d like to focus our attention on this father and his demon-possessed boy, a dad and his lad, and how our Lord took charge of the situation. Our Lord came down from the mountain, from that celestial air — oh, it was heady up there. But He came down. Peter had said, “Let’s stay here and build some tabernacles.” Our Lord had said, in substance, “There’s no use building tabernacles while men are demon possessed, while there is such a desperate need below.” So He came down.

And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. (Mark 9:14)
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Met a Dad and His Lad (Mark 9:2–29)

He came to the disciples who had failed to heal the boy and to that curious mob watching, with nothing else to do. The scribes are adding to the chagrin and the embarrassment of the disciples. Our Lord immediately comes to the side of His disciples and defends them. He turns to the scribes and says to them, “You have some questions you’re putting to My disciples? You put them to Me. I’ll answer them.” But the interesting thing is that the scribes have had encounters with our Lord before and have never yet come off the winner, so they don’t open their mouths.

But out of that faceless mob walks a man, a father, and he’s the only one identified in that crowd of people. Will you listen to him:

Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.” (Mark 9:17)

You see, the scribes had said nothing, so this father steps out and in effect says, “I’m sorry. I’m the cause of all the commotion and all the embarrassment. I brought my boy to You.”

Now the father is before us. In Dr. Luke’s account, he adds a tender touch here. The man further says, “He is my only child” — the only son of the father, demon possessed! That is the tragic picture.

Three features stand out in this encounter. In fact, out of the context there are three inescapable and self-evident truths. First, there is the responsibility of the father; second, the recognition of the desperate case of the boy; third, there is the realization that Jesus is his only hope.

(Somebody asked me the other day, “Why is it that you always find three things to build your messages around? Why don’t you find two or four?” I’ll tell you why, in case you have wondered. I always lift out three points because two are not enough and four are too many!)
 
Responsibility of the Father

First of all, look with me at the responsibility of the father. There is no need of laboring to establish this point. I think it’s obvious. This father took time out to bring his son to Christ. He came in anguish; he’s almost beside himself. And our Lord asks this father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he says, “From childhood.”

There are always some questions that crop up in your mind when you read that. Had the father neglected the son when he was a little lad so that he’s in this condition? Did it take a tragedy to alert this father to his responsibility? Had he really waited too long before he took an interest in the boy? I do not know, and I’ll not speculate. I do know that at this time the father assumed full responsibility. Now, I’m willing to go along and say that out yonder on the fringe of the crowd stands an anxious mother. She’s out there somewhere, I feel sure of that, but it’s the father who brings the child to Jesus. The same is true of the little girl who died. In chapter 5 of Mark we read that the mother stayed with the little girl while the father came to get Jesus. I do not know the background of either situation. I only know that this father now assumes full responsibility for the boy. “He’s my boy; he’s demon possessed, and I’m bringing him to You.” Oh, he probably lost a day’s wages, but he would have taken off work for a month if necessary.
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Met a Dad and His Lad (Mark 9:2–29)

In the past few years a great deal has been made of Father’s Day. You’ve probably noticed that the merchants have taken advantage of it. I do suspect that they have ulterior motives. I think they’re more interested in honoring father’s check than in honoring father and more interested in making a grand than in the grand old man. They’re more interested in dough than dad and in profits than pater. But nevertheless, father is getting recognition. And it does afford an opportunity to call attention to the biblical responsibility of a father.

Now for years mothers have assumed responsibility for rearing the children. You and I have been brought up in a society where the spiritual leadership in the home has been taken too often by the mother. I want to say today that this is becoming passé — not because fathers have moved back into the home and are taking their responsibility, but because mothers have joined them down at the local bar. Society is now placing the responsibility on the church, on the school, and on society itself for the child’s failure. And he is failing, don’t forget. Now today the sociologists are placing the blame on the educational system, on law enforcement officials and regulations, and on the breakdown of the American homes. And then there are others who are saying that spiritual leadership is the church’s job. I disagree with that. It’s not the church’s job. The spiritual life of a boy is the responsibility of his dad. And a dad needs to get very close to his boy.

Oh, I do not mean to give him the facts of life; he already knows those. The story is told of a father who said to his son, “Son, I want to talk to you about the facts of life.” The boy said, “Okay, Dad, what do you want to know?”

May I say to you again that it’s the responsibility of the father to lead his own son to a saving knowledge of Christ. And he’ll have to get very close to him if he is going to do the job. And believe me, friends, the most wonderful thing a father can possibly do is to lead his boy to the Lord.

What is a boy? I like Alan Beck’s description, sent to me by a listener. It is titled, “What Is a Boy?” Let me share it with you.

Between the innocence of babyhood and the dignity of manhood we find a delightful creature called a boy…. Boys are found everywhere — on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around, or jumping to. Mothers love them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers tolerate them, adults ignore them, and Heaven protects them. A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger. Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair, and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket.

When you are busy, a boy is an inconsiderate, bothersome, intruding jangle of noise. When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly or else he becomes a savage, sadistic, jungle creature bent on destroying the world and himself with it.

A boy is a composite — he has the appetite of a horse, the digestion of a sword swallower, the energy of a pocket-size atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the lungs of a dictator, the imagination of a Paul Bunyan, the shyness of a violet, the audacity of a steel trap, the enthusiasm of a firecracker, and when he makes something, he has five thumbs on each hand….

Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, dogs, and breezes. Nobody else can cram into one pocket a rusty knife, a half-eaten apple, three feet of string, an empty Bull Durham sack, two gumdrops, six cents, a slingshot, a chunk of unknown substance, and a genuine supersonic code ring with a secret compartment.
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Met a Dad and His Lad (Mark 9:2–29)

A boy is a magical creature — you can lock him out of your workshop, but you can’t lock him out of your heart. You can get him out of your study, but you can’t get him out of your mind. Might as well give up — he is your captor, your jailer, your boss, and your master — a freckled-faced, cat-chasing, bundle of noise. But when you come home at night with only the shattered pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with the two magic words  —  “Hi, Dad!”

And let’s not forget that it is the dad’s responsibility to get his lad to Christ. Have you done that?
 
Recognition of the Lad’s Desperate Case

Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not…. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” (Mark 9:17-18, Mark 9:22)

Demon possession is the worst malady that can happen to any member of the human family. And when a child is sick, especially with a fatal disease, it’s far more critical and terrible than when an adult gets the same disease and is in the same condition. I say to you, because he is a boy and because of the fact that he is demon possessed, he is the worst case in Scripture. This distraught father made no attempt to conceal it. He didn’t attempt to somehow camouflage or state the true case in other terms. He didn’t deny the condition of the boy.

In my opinion the saddest condition of Christian parents today is that they think they’re raising little angels when they’re raising big brats. A great many Christian parents today will not recognize that their child has a need, and a desperate need. They will not acknowledge that he’s a little sinner before God and needs to be saved.

A mother was having trouble with her boy, so she went to a psychiatrist for counsel. The psychiatrist asked her some questions, and one of them was, “Does he have a feeling of insecurity?” She looked puzzled for a moment, then said, “No, I don’t think he has a feeling of insecurity, but everybody in the neighborhood does.”

A Bible school teacher in a church I pastored came to me and said, “I don’t know what to do. I have a problem child in my class, so I went to the father, and he denied everything. He said, ‘My boy cannot nor would he ever tell a lie. He always tells the truth.’” I wonder if that father knows that the Lord Jesus said:

For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. (Matthew 15:19)

One of those is false witness. It is the tendency and bent of a fallen nature to lie. You don’t have to teach anybody to lie — they lie naturally. You have to teach them to tell the truth. The father went on to say, “And my boy has never said a bad word.” Probably he has not read what Paul wrote in Romans 3:14, “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”

There have been many parents, Christian parents, who have lost their children as they’ve grown up. They had veneered them nicely. The fact of the matter is, some of them put their children in a plastic bag, saying, “My little Willie or my little Suzie is separated.” Separated from what? May I ask you, have you ever led them to a saving knowledge of Christ? Have they been born again? Have they been given a new nature in Christ? Unless they have a new nature, they will lie and they will cuss.
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Met a Dad and His Lad (Mark 9:2–29)

When I came to the church I pastored in Los Angeles, a man who was then a church officer told me about his grown children. He said, “My children, I’m thankful, are all saved. ” They were not with him in our services but had gone out to other churches, liberal churches. And I’ve been told that their lives are no different from those of the non-Christian, and yet their father will defend them. I say to you today, my friend, we need to recognize the desperate condition of a lost heart, and that lost heart can be that little lad who is in your home. Until he’s been born again he is a lost sinner. He needs to be instructed and disciplined. Oh, I know that we don’t want to be harsh.

I love this little poem and pass it on to you:

I spanked a little boy last night.
I thought I was doing right.
I thought that I was punishing
a little boy for some wrong thing.
Today I bought a ball and kite
for that same boy I spanked last night.
Bought marbles, tops, and everything
to counteract the punishing.
You see, through tears this little lad
tried hard to smile, then said, “Dad,
Will spanking make me good like you?”
I think you would have bought things too.

Yes, I think discipline should be administered very carefully by sinful parents, although it does need to be administered. Oh, we need to recognize that our children’s basic problem is that they are lost until they have come to Christ. And let’s not just put a little veneer around them or slip them into a plastic bag and say, “My little Willie is saved because he can quote John 3:16, and he prays the loveliest little prayer.” That’s all well and good, but you ought to hear him on the schoolground, and you ought to see what he writes in the latrine.

Oh, my friend, there is today a great need for a recognition of the desperate condition of our little lads.
 
The Realization that Jesus was His Only Hope

This poor father felt like the disciples did when our Lord asked them if they were going to leave Him as others had, and they said, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). But this father was shaken when he first came, and he had a right to be shaken. He said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit…. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” In other words, “I came here with high hopes, great expectancy, and I thought something would be done for my boy, but nothing was done.” Listen to Jesus now that He has come down from the mountain and the father has come directly to Him. Our Lord says, “Bring him to Me.” And the father brings him. Then the Lord Jesus asks, “How long has this been happening to him?” And the father says, “Often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.” Now listen to him. Listen to this dad’s heart cry, “But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” That father had suffered with his son. What touched that boy touched him. His life was wrapped up in that boy. He was pleading for help. “Help us!” And that poor father needed help too, as we shall see. Notice that he said, “If You can do anything” — now don’t blame him for saying that. After all, the disciples of Jesus had failed. He’s been disappointed. And after all, he has heard the scribes ridiculing Jesus and criticizing Him. Criticism will dilute the work of the Spirit. So he wasn’t sure. “I came here. I thought I would get help. If You can do anything — even just a little — have compassion on us and help us!”

Notice the answer of our Lord:

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23)
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Met a Dad and His Lad (Mark 9:2–29)

This to me is one of the most wonderful verses in the Scriptures. Jesus said to him, “If you can believe” — but the word believe does not appear in our better manuscripts. It was put there by the translators to smooth it out. It does smooth it out, no question, but it makes us miss the point. The answer of Jesus should read: “If you can, all things are possible to him who believes.” In order to try to get a correct translation of this verse, I suppose I’ve examined fifteen translations. When I checked the Revised Standard Version, thinking that here was their opportunity to really show their scholarship, there was none. An IBM machine would have done it the same way.

Now I admit this is a difficult passage of Scripture so we must have somebody to interpret, and I hope somehow or other I can get over to you the meaning of what our Lord said. It’s the most wonderful thing in the world. In the Greek text the word for you begins the sentence. Maybe that doesn’t mean anything to you, so let me say it this way: “You, if you can — all things are possible to him who believes.”

Will you notice something important here? Our Lord, seizing on this father’s cry for help, said in substance, “The thing that interests Me is you. If you can, I can.” And if you want to smooth it all the way out, Dr. M. R. Vincent gives this, “If thou canst, all things can be” — if you can. You see, friend, our Lord is limited by the father’s lack of faith. That’s the only thing in the world that can limit God — lack of faith. And the interesting thing is that the father had caught the point. Oh, this father understood what our Lord was saying, and “immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.’” The boy is demon possessed and the father doesn’t have faith.

“If you can.” The “if” belongs to you, brother; if you can believe, the child can be healed. This father knew he was weak, and he knew that he was as sick as his boy was. Our Lord had to bring him to belief in Christ. Jesus is saying, “The if is not with Me; the if is with you. If you can believe, I can heal your son. ” And the father says, “I believe You” — then he looks at that poor, helpless, incurable boy and cries, “Oh, help my unbelief!” And, my friend, the minute that father was cured, the son was cured. Isn’t that wonderful? The minute the father came into faith in Christ, his boy was cured. You see, the Bible doesn’t say that we have juvenile delinquency. The trouble is with the parent. Jesus met the need of that father, and the father believed; when he did, the boy was healed. Someone has said, “Train up a child in the way he should go — and go that way yourself!” The father did this. He came in faith to Christ.

I close with this. I heard Dr. George Truett, who was called the prince of the pulpit, tell a story concerning a lawyer friend of his who later became a judge in Dallas, Texas. He and this lawyer had been friends for awhile. But when he began to push the claims of Christ upon the lawyer, it actually antagonized him, and he would no longer attend the church services. The lawyer married, and his family attended the church. The boy in the family, an only son, kept getting into a little trouble, a little difficulty. One day Dr. Truett talked with the boy together with some others, and the fellow said this, “I know I ought to take Christ as my Savior. I need Him; I know it.” Then after thinking a moment he said, “But I like my dad, and everything my dad does is right, and I want to be just like him. He doesn’t need Christ, and I don’t need Christ either.” Dr. Truett said no more to the boy. He went out of his study, walked into downtown Dallas, climbed up two or three flights of steps, came to the office of this lawyer, and went in. The lawyer saw him and said, “Look, if you have come here to talk to me about my soul again, I’m not interested.” Dr. Truett said, “I’m not even concerned today to talk to you about your soul. I’ve come to talk to you about your boy.” The man showed some interest then because that boy was the apple of his eye. He said, “Come in and sit down. Is he in trouble again?” Dr. Truett said, “No, he’s not, but he’s going to get in trouble. I think I ought to tell you about my interview with him. I asked him to accept Christ as his Savior, and he told me he thought he ought to. In fact, he said he thought he needed Christ, but that he liked his dad, and everything his dad did was right. Then he said, ‘My dad doesn’t need Christ, and I don’t need Him either.’” Dr. Truett added, “I think you ought to know that.” And in the dignified manner Dr. Truett was capable of, he said, “I bid you good day.” And he walked out of the office and left that man thinking.

The next Sunday morning Dr. Truett looked out over his congregation, and there was the father of the boy. When the invitation was given, he was the first one who responded. Dr. Truett was amazed, then he looked to see where the boy was. While he was looking, he glanced down and the boy was at the altar by the time the father got there. When Dr. Truett went down to speak to them, the father said, “I really didn’t know that I needed Jesus so badly.”

You see, beloved, many times the fate of the son lies in the faith of the father.

… Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!
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TO BE CONTINUED!

[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Went Out to Dinner (Luke 7:36–50)

“For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” (Luke 7:33-34)

The Lord Jesus had a reputation. He was subjected to criticism, of course, and the awful criticism of being called a gluttonous person and a winebibber because He went out to eat so often. What a contrast to John! And our Lord Himself made the contrast. John was an austere man. The Lord Jesus was friendly. John was severe; Jesus was social. John was a solitary individual; the Lord Jesus was gregarious, constantly with people.

Dr. Luke in his Gospel gives us the record of two occasions when the Pharisees invited Jesus out to dinner, and it was always an exciting evening when He went out to dinner because He was the after-dinner speaker. He always did or said something unusual. But believe me, when He went into the home of a Pharisee, it was more unusual. In this message we’ll be looking at one of those occasions when He went to the home of a Pharisee, the home of Simon the Pharisee.

Now on the surface, it seemed to be friendly enough. Notice this:

Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. (Luke 7:36)

That seems friendly enough, does it not? But on closer examination, which we shall do a little later, we will see there was a lack of cordiality. In fact, there was an open display of hostility and animosity to our Lord on the part of Simon the Pharisee.

Simon actually was insulting to the Lord, and He reminded him of it. It was the common custom in that day to provide water at the door to wash the feet of the guest. Simon had omitted this amenity. May I say to you, he was positively rude in so doing. Also, it was the custom for the host to greet the guest with a kiss. This Pharisee didn’t do that. It was also the custom of the day for the host to provide oil for the head of the guest when he came in. Simon had deliberately omitted these common courtesies, which evidenced the hostility of this Pharisee toward our Lord, and the events that followed bear it out.

The question, of course, arises as to why this Pharisee invited the Lord Jesus in the first place. There have been many suggestions. I’ll not attempt to mention them, because in my judgment this one alone is satisfactory: The Pharisee sought an opportunity to accuse the Lord Jesus. This was a deliberate attempt to find some charge that could be made against our Lord.

May I say to you, this is without doubt one of the worst breaches of common courtesy imaginable! An invitation to dinner is always considered a token of friendship, a display of warmth and intimacy. When you go into the home of the host, you are under his protection. He should not only shield you from harm, he should shield you from every form of criticism. He is your friend. If it is otherwise, it becomes an awful betrayal.

So this Pharisee had invited the Lord Jesus, but he invited Him, not to be friendly, but to seek something by which he could make a charge against Him, and he wanted to find fault with Him.

Now the next question arises: Why did our Lord go? Would you accept an invitation like this into the home of one you knew was not your friend? Would you go if you knew you were going to be laid open to every form of criticism? Yet our Lord went. He wanted to win that hard, cold, calculating, critical Pharisee as much as He wanted to win that woman who was a sinner (see Luke 7:37). The Pharisee’s home that He went into was as unattractive to Christ as the brothel out of which she had come. And our Lord would have been as much at home in that brothel as He was in the home of the Pharisee. But don’t be disturbed by that. He left heaven’s glory and came down to an unfriendly world, a world that crucified Him. And He came down because He wanted to save.
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Went Out to Dinner (Luke 7:36–50)

So it is that our Lord goes into the home of this Pharisee to try to win him. And I think He did, although I have no basis for that other than the events that unfold. Will you follow them with me?

Look for a moment at our host, Simon the Pharisee. Actually, I think he’s probably one of the most unattractive fellows you could possibly meet. I don’t think I would want to go to his home for dinner. The word Pharisee is not a Greek word; it is a Hebrew word. It means “separate.” They were a separated crowd, let me tell you! They were a group that rose up in Israel in what is known as the Intertestament Period, between Malachi and the New Testament.

During the Maccabean Period, when Israel was so pressed by Syria in the north and such awful things were happening to them, these men were raised up, loyal to God and loyal to the nation. Like so many organizations that start off well, but after a certain length of time they run down, this organization had run down. It was no longer the vibrant and vital thing it should have been for God. It was made up of men who were self-satisfied and concerned with externals — ceremonies, rituals, washings, and that sort of thing — and when they practiced them, they were saying, “We are better than you.”

It was a Pharisee who said in his prayer to God, “I give tithes of all I possess, and I thank You, God, that I’m not like other men or like that publican over there.” You never met such a self-satisfied, self-conceited, self-sufficient lot. And this man is marked through the entire meal by self-complacency and a smugness that is almost intolerable. This was Simon the Pharisee. He needed nothing from Jesus, and he wanted nothing from Jesus. He was religious. Oh, there are so many folk like that in our day also!

Now at this dinner one of the most startling episodes imaginable took place:

And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil. (Luke 7:37)

This woman came to that dinner uninvited. She was a sinner. Actually the word that is used — you can’t mistake it — says that she was “devoted” to sin. She was notorious; she was infamous; she was a woman of the town, we’re told, a woman off the streets. She was a harlot. Notice that the Word of God is very careful to protect such women. Their names are not given. I feel sorry for the preacher who years ago identified this woman with Mary Magdalene. It was two altogether different dinners. But he made the mistake, and since then a great many have tried to identify her as Mary Magdalene. It is not true. She is unidentified. The Spirit of God has protected her.

Now why did this woman of questionable character come in to this dinner? Edersheim, who in many ways was such a great scholar and so enlightening in things that he said, makes an awful statement here. He suggests that Simon had had illicit relationships with her. May I say to you, you can rule that out immediately. Simon the Pharisee would have crossed the street had he seen her coming rather than meet her. He wouldn’t have touched her with a twenty-foot pole. This Simon the Pharisee would have had nothing to do with her.

Why did she come? Will you notice something? There was an Eastern custom in that day that when a prominent person in town gave a dinner, the neighbors were free to come in and stand around the wall. In fact, in some places seats were provided for them. All sorts of people would come in during a meal — the curious, the beggars, and some others would come in on business. If a man of prominence gave a dinner, the neighbors might come in, look it over, and say, “Well, you served chicken last time, and I see you have pot roast this time.” Or a beggar would come in and say, “I’m hungry. Would you give me something?” Or some man would come in on business and say, “I’ve been trying to get you all day. I knew I’d find you at home now because I heard you were giving a dinner here tonight. Now I want to buy those twenty head of sheep,” and right there and then he would conduct the business transaction. When the man would leave, the dinner would go on. So during the course of an evening, a great crowd of people could have trooped in and out. By the time they got to dessert, there would be a pretty good crowd of spectators — they wouldn’t eat however. They were not guests; they were standing on the sidelines.
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Went Out to Dinner (Luke 7:36–50)

Now that explains how the woman got in, but it doesn’t explain why she got in, does it? Why did she come? Dr. Luke is very careful to give her motive. Look at this again. “When she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, [she] brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil.” The explanation is that when she knew Jesus was in the house she came. She would never have come under any other circumstances. And, friend, she did one of the loveliest things you’ll find in the Word of God:

And [she] stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. (Luke 7:38)

Dr. Luke records this with exquisite delicacy. Again let me say that I think it is the loveliest thing that happened to our Lord — this incident and when Mary of Bethany did the same thing right before Christ’s death.

Then we have another ancient custom, an Eastern custom that we need to observe. In that day they did not sit in chairs around a table. When I was in Sunday school they gave out cards with biblical scenes to the little folks. I never heard a thing a Sunday school teacher ever said to me, but I sure remember those little cards. And I can still see that picture of Jesus there and Simon sitting across from Him at our type of table, and the woman was down under the table! Many of those pictures were wrong, and if they still use them, they ought to correct them. This little card was wrong, because in that day they had couches instead of chairs around the table, and they reclined during the meal. The guests had taken off their sandals, and their feet were down at the lower end of the couch. The woman was standing at the back with the other onlookers, directly behind where Jesus was reclining. That is the picture before us, and it helps us to understand what’s taking place.

This woman had been a moral leper. She had lived a life of shame, and under the Mosaic Law a harlot was to be stoned. She was in the same class as a publican in that there was no salvation for her. When a man became a publican, he could never again come to the temple and offer sacrifice, and that’s what the poor publican was asking God for when he prayed, “O God, be merciful” or literally, “Make a mercy seat for me, a publican, to go to.” This poor harlot had no place to go. She was shut out from God, and the Law said, “Stone her.” Somewhere out yonder in the city or on the byway or the highway, she had been in a crowd who heard Jesus speaking. Do you want to know some of the things He had already said? “The Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” (Luke 5:24). “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28) — that is, “If you have a burden of sin, come to Me.” It was right after the incident of the harlot being dragged before Jesus that He gave this warning: “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24). She had believed and had experienced forgiveness of sins. Christ had redeemed her, and due to that fact, He’s going to the Cross to suffer the penalty of death for her sins. He had cleansed her. He not only treated her like a lady, He made her a lady! The world condemned her, but Christ forgave her, and now she wants to do something for the One who has done so much for her.

This woman had a very expensive alabaster flask of fragrant oil. She had made money in her profession, and she has something valuable. When she hears that Jesus is reclining at a meal in the Pharisee’s home, she breaks down all tradition and determines to go and wait for the opportunity of putting that expensive oil on Him just to let Him know how much she appreciates that her sins are forgiven. So she takes up her silent vigil. Our Lord comes in, and she quietly works her way to the place where He is reclining, then she stands at His feet. This is her opportunity to do this lovely thing she wants to do.
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Went Out to Dinner (Luke 7:36–50)

But as she stands there, she begins to weep. That is a womanly thing to do, isn’t it? She weeps. We need to pay attention to these details. The harlot is no sob sister, for a woman who has been beaten and battered by life develops a hard shell. There comes a day when she is even harder than any man who comes along. But this one weeps. Our Lord has restored to her the badge of her womanhood, tears. This woman, had you met her before our Lord met her, would not have shed a tear. Now she weeps, and as she weeps the tears fall on the feet of Jesus. She’s embarrassed when she sees what is happening. She looks for something to wipe them off, and there’s nothing to use, so she lets down the tresses of her hair. With disheveled hair she weeps and wipes His feet, and as she wipes His feet she kisses them. It was the custom in that day to kiss the feet of a rabbi, and Luke’s word is interesting: She “smothers” His feet with her kisses. Isn’t that a lovely scene?

While this is going on our Lord seems to be ignoring the woman. He just continues to eat. And while He’s eating, across the table from Him hard, critical, gimlet eyes are penetrating that scene. And if you think they are sympathetic, you are wrong.

Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself…. (Luke 7:39)

He said nothing audibly — he’s a suave, dapper man. He reveals nothing on the outside, but he’s saying something to himself, not knowing the One sitting across from him is reading him like a book and that he might as well shout it from the housetop. Our Lord knew what he was thinking:

“This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.” (Luke 7:39)

What a scene this is. Our Lord is paying no attention to the woman; the woman, disheveled hair, weeping and wiping His feet and kissing them; old Simon the Pharisee, hard-hearted, religious, criticizing, looking over and thinking, Ah hah! He’s no prophet. I knew all along He wasn’t a prophet. If He were a prophet He would not permit a woman like that to touch Him.

Notice what happens. This man Simon thought he saw it all and that Jesus was seeing nothing.

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.” (Luke 7:40)

In other words, our Lord said, “Simon, I have an after-dinner story to tell you.” And Simon said, “This has certainly been an interesting meal, but You go ahead and tell Your story.” Now our Lord uses sparkling and scintillating satire to make a point. He uses the rapier of sarcasm, not to wound or hurt this man, but as a scalpel to operate on the awful, festering sore that is in his soul. It’s a simple story, actually not much to it, but oh, there’s a point!

“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” (Luke 7:41-42)

A simple story, isn’t it? Here is a man who has two debtors. Putting it in our legal tender, one of them owes him five hundred dollars, and the other man owes him fifty dollars. One man owes him ten times as much as the other. He calls them both in and he says to them, “You say you can’t pay, you have nothing, so I cancel both debts. They have been paid as far as I’m concerned.” Which will love him the most?
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[nChrist]

JESUS - Centerpiece of Scripture
by J. Vernon McGee
When Jesus Went Out to Dinner (Luke 7:36–50)

Our Lord is now trying to reach the heart of a Pharisee, and He is letting this man Simon judge himself. That is the way our Lord did these things. Oh, the marvel of our Lord and the way He dealt with men and women!

Now see this:

Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”

Oh, isn’t he self-satisfied!

And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” (Luke 7:43)

And now our Lord does something for the first time —

Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman?” (Luke 7:44)

He has paid no attention to the woman until this moment. Now He turns and looks back at the woman at the same time He’s talking to Simon. He says, “Simon, do you see this woman? You thought you saw her and that I didn’t see her. Well, you didn’t see her, but I did see her! What do you see, Simon? Do you see a sinful woman? I see a sinful woman, but I see a forgiven sinner, and you don’t see that. You see what she was. I see what she is.”

It is interesting that the world will always judge you by the last sin you committed — “Simon, I see this woman. You don’t see this woman.”

Then He moves on and, my friend, our Lord does a very daring thing — a bold thing. Notice this very carefully.

“I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.” (Luke 7:44)

Our Lord counted every tear she shed. He knew every bit of it.

“You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.” (Luke 7:45-46)

Our Lord now contrasts these two. Notice that He does not contrast them on a theological level. I am sure that the woman did not know as much about the Book of Daniel as the Pharisee did. I’m confident of that. I’m confident that if you wanted a teacher for a Bible class, you never would have called on this woman. You might have asked the Pharisee. I’m sure you would have because he knew the Law. Our Lord did not even contrast them on the moral level because one is the antithesis of the other, and what a sharp contrast is here. He is a Pharisee; she is a prostitute, or she was. He is the acme of morality; she had sunk to the depths of immorality. He is the product of religion; she is the product of the underworld. He sits there in self-satisfaction, and she stands there embarrassed. Simon is offended by her and shocked by her presence, but he needn’t worry. If you’d gone back just a few days, she would have been brazen before him and would have had contempt for him and his kind. He is critical; she is crying. He feels superior; she feels inferior. He is from the upper stratum; she is from the lower stratum. He represents the best; she represents the worst. He is famous; she is notorious. He is from the best section of town, from suburbia; she is from the slums. He is a man of the boulevards; she is a woman of the streets. He is a theologian; she is a tart. On a moral level he is better than she. Our Lord didn’t make the contrast there.
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