When we have a divine epiphany, it is always unexpected and it is indeed exacting. This is how David Brainerd, the pioneer missionary to the Indians in New Jersey described his:

"As I was walking in a dark thick grave, 'unspeakable glory' seemed to open to the view and apprehension of my soul &elipse; It was a new inward apprehension or view that I had of God; such as I never had before, nor anything that I had the least remembrance of it. So that I stood still and wondered and admired &elipse; I had now no particular apprehension of any one person of the Trinity, either the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit, but it appeared to be divine glory and splendor that I then beheld. And my soul 'rejoiced with joy unspeakable' to see such a God, such a glorious divine being, and I was inwardly pleased and satisfied that he should be God over all forever and ever. My soul was so captivated and delighted with the excellency, the loveliness and the greatness and other perfections of God that I was even swallowed up in him, at least to that degree that I had no thought, as I remember at first, about my own salvation or scarce that there was such a creature as I.

"Thus, the Lord, I trust, brought me to a hearty desire to exalt him, to set him on the throne and to 'seek first his Kingdom', i.e. principally and ultimately to aim at his honor and glory as the King and sovereign of the universe, which is the foundation of the religion of Jesus &elipse; I felt myself in a new world (pp. 138-140)."

It was the Lord's Day, July 12, 1739 and he was 21 years old. Two months later he entered Yale to prepare for the ministry.

As Peter had his divine encounter on the mountain of transfiguration (Matt. 17), his immediate, hasty reaction was to build their shelters. He wanted to "retain" this experience, forgetting that our divine encounter is given to us not to be possessed, but to prepare us for greater obedience (Matt. 17:5). And thus, David Brainerd obeyed and entered Yale where he received his training — no, I do not mean the theology that he learned, but his experience of being expelled by Yale because of his zeal for Christ.

Referring to the rebuke by Jesus in Matthew 17:17 of the unbelieving and perverse generation, the noted Bible scholar, Lenski writes, "But the point is the failure of the nine disciples to drive out the evil spirit. Nowhere does the narrative stress the unbelief of the multitude." (Lenski, Matthew, p.666).

It is a haunting thought that the disbelief and perversion of the disciples can cause such grief to Jesus. But if this was the case with the disciples, how much more is the case with us today.

I often wondered why Jesus would only take Peter, James and John away from the nine to witness His transfiguration. Was He not playing favorites? Perhaps, Peter, James or John did know Him better, with Peter being the spokesman in acknowledging who Jesus is (Matt. 16:16). If this was the case, perhaps, if one of them was with the other nine when the father brought his demon-possessed son to them, the demon would have been driven out. But without any of the three being present, the hearts of the nine were revealed.

They were still faithless (apistos), not of little faith. They were tag-alongs only. Unlike Peter, they had yet to truly believe who Jesus really is! They had been with Jesus, just like the three, and, for quite a while, they saw the same miracles of Jesus, heard the same powerful sermons and lived with Him, witnessing the only perfect life on earth. No wonder it grieved the Lord so much.

Worse, they were perverse, and the original meaning of the word is "twisted". They were still like the Pharisees and the scribes, interpreting Jesus as anything but who He really is! They followed Him for the wrong reasons, they still had the wrong expectations of Him, and they were still heading towards a wrong direction in life. No wonder it grieved the Lord so much.

In our case, I do not think we are as faithless, but we may be just as twisted —

• Do we follow Him for the right reasons?
• Do we still have the wrong expectations of Him?
• Are we still heading a wrong direction in life?

Food for some serious thoughts!

It is interesting to note that the motif of not being a stumbling block that is more clearly translated in the English Bible in Matthew 18:7, actually begins with the paying of the temple tax in chapter 17:27. As William Barclay explains,

"The New Testament always used the verb to offend (skandalizein) and the noun offence (skandalon) in a special way. The verb never means to insult or to annoy or to injure the pride of. It always means to put a stumbling-block in someone's way, to cause someone to trip up and to fall. Therefore Jesus is saying: 'We must pay so as not to set a bad example to others. We must not only do our duty, we must go beyond duty, in order that we may show others what they ought to do.' Jesus would allow himself nothing which might make someone else think less of the ordinary obligation of life." (Barclay, Matthew Vol. 2, 170)

This same verb is thus used in Matthew 18:6,7.

Yes, we live in a world that is not necessarily dissimilar to that of the Roman world. In fact, the Roman world could be worse in that emperors were always ruthless, immoral and perverse, and many of their policies were against Christian principles. While I disagree with Barclay's dating of Matthew to the post-destruction of the Jerusalem temple, where the temple tax was replaced by a tax to a pagan temple, the principle that Jesus taught here remains. It is, as far as is possible, to live in peace in this world. All human governments will have policies that we as Christians cannot agree with, such as how tax money is used. But still Romans 13 admonishes us to pay, just the same. If we resist at every turn, we will become a stumbling block to the world and we will be misunderstood as people who are trying to avoid their civic duties.

But as much as Jesus had no problem with paying taxes, He was not shy in "offending" the authorities for hypocrisy and for turning His Father's house into a robber's den. I guess the lesson to learn is that we should pick our fight. And for me, the most important thing to fight for is religious freedom — our rights to worship the Lord publicly, to preach the truth from the Word of God freely, and to share the gospel with people of all ages.

I used to agree that Jesus Christ seldom evoked His emotion, but that really isn't true. Just take Matthew 18:6 as yet another example.

"If anyone causes one of these little ones — those who believe in me — to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."

To me, these are words of deep emotion and He means what He says. He "hates" those who cause others to sin, especially those who believe in Him.

As a pastor, and perhaps, because of my previous executive training and experience in the secular world, I received, from time to time, praises for my administrative ability. But none was scarier than those from a Christian businessman who also appeared to be a very God-loving Christian. At least, I could see that he was quite eager to share the gospel with people on the street, that is, people who did not know him too well.

But for those who knew him well, they knew that his professional license was yanked because of professional misconduct. But he had never given up his dream to make it big and be successful, at all costs.

So, with his business connection, he had another opportunity to make some really serious money, and was planning to go public with his new venture. As he had observed how I served in the church as a minister, he also prayed with me often and served with me in many occasions. But when he saw this golden opportunity to "gain the world", he dared even to convince me to leave my gospel ministry and be his CFO. He used all kinds of spiritual reasons, although he knew full well that I had been called of God for full-time gospel ministry. I grieved and thought of Balak and Balaam. Yes, if I had been convinced, I would have had to own up to my own decision, but a millstone would have been tied to his neck!

And so, when I saw another servant of God entice a missionary to leave his very strategic missionary post for a cushioned executive post, I grieved too. It wasn't as bad as Balak and Balaam, but was it really that different?

For reflection, I shall attempt every week to choose one hymn or song that has touched me and thousands, if not millions, of Christians. Today, let's pause and reflect on these wonderful lyrics by Elizabeth C. Clephane, 1868.

1. There were ninety and nine that safely lay
   In the shelter of the fold.
   But one was out on the hills away,
   Far off from the gates of gold.
   Away on the mountains wild and bare.
   Away from the tender Shepherd's care.
   Away from the tender Shepherd's care.
2. "Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
   Are they not enough for Thee?"
   But the Shepherd made answer: "This of Mine
   Has wandered away from Me;
   And although the road be rough and steep,
   I go to the desert to find My sheep,
   I go to the desert to find My sheep."
3. But none of the ransomed ever knew
   How deep were the waters crossed;
   Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through
   Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
   Out in the desert He heard its cry,
   Sick and helpless and ready to die;
   Sick and helpless and ready to die.
4. "Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way
   That mark out the mountain's track?"
   "They were shed for one who had gone astray
   Ere the Shepherd could bring him back."
   "Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?"
   "They are pierced tonight by many a thorn;
   They are pierced tonight by many a thorn."
5. And all through the mountains, thunder riven
   And up from the rocky steep,
   There arose a glad cry to the gate of Heaven,
   "Rejoice! I have found My sheep!"
   And the angels echoed around the throne,
   "Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!
   Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!"

Sankey spotted these words in a British newspaper while on an evangelism tour in Scotland with Dwight Moody. He tore the poem from the paper, put it in his pocket, and forgot about it. Later that day, at the end of their service in Edinburgh, Moody asked Sankey for a closing song. Ira was caught by surprise, but the Holy Spirit reminded him of the poem in his pocket. He brought it out, said a prayer, then composed the tune as he sang. Thus was born "The Ninety and Nine."

Many years ago there lived at Northfield \[Massachusetts\] an infidel; and one day, while all the neighbors had gone to the meeting at the church, he sat at home alone feeling dissatisfied with himself and all the world in general. But he heard Mr. Sankey singing "The Ninety and Nine"; and there was something in the hymn that he could not escape. The melody rang in his ears, and the thought of the lost sheep troubled him that night, and the next, and the following day until the evening, when he could stand it no longer. He went to the meeting and returned a saved man.

A few years later he was taken ill. One day he said to his wife, "Raise the window; I hear 'The Ninety and Nine.'" Then he listened attentively until the last notes of the hymn had died out; and turning from the window he said, "I am dying; but it is all right, for I am ready. I shall never hear 'The Ninety and Nine' again on earth, but I am glad that I have heard it once more today."

(Source: Cyberhymnal.com)

Most of us love reading the short poems of Amy Carmichael, and perhaps it is fitting that we should be reminded of "How 'If ' came to be written":

"One evening a fellow-worker brought me a problem about a younger one who was missing the way of Love. This led to a wakeful night, for the word at such times is always, 'Lord, is it I? Have I failed her anywhere? What do I know of Calvary Love?' And then sentence by sentence the 'Ifs' came, almost as if spoken aloud to the inward ear.

"Next morning they were shared with another (for they had been written down in pencil in the night), and then shared with a few others. Afterwards, some copies were printed on our little hand press for the Fellowship only; and that led to this booklet.

"At first, when it was asked for, we felt, 'No, it is far too private for that. But if it can help any to understand what the life of love means, and to live that life, then it is not ours to refuse…'

"And in case any true follower be troubled by the 'then I know nothing,' I would say, the thought came in this form, and I fear to weaken it. But here, as everywhere, the letter killeth. St. Paul counted the loss of all things as nothing that he might know Him whom he already knew; and the soul suddenly illuminated by some fresh outshining of the knowledge of the love of God shown forth on Calvary, does not stop to measure how much or how little it knew of that love before. Penetrated, melted, broken before that vision of love, it feels that indeed all it ever knew was nothing, less than nothing."

If I cast up a confessed, repented, and forsaken sin against another, and allow my remembrance of that sin to color my thinking and feed my suspicions, then I know nothing of Calvary Love.

If I can hurt another by speaking faithfully without much preparation of spirit and without hurting myself far more than I hurt that other, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

If I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude, forgetting
"Who made thee to differ?
And what has thou that thou has not received? "
then I know nothing of Calvary love.

(Excerpts from "If" by Amy Carmichael)

Instone-Brewer devoted his effort in researching the divorce culture of Jesus' time and his findings have enriched my understanding of the exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees on the subject in Matthew 19, although I do not necessarily agree with all his interpretations of the passage.

One such finding that has enriched my understand is that the popular culture on divorce of the time in among the Jews was marked not by their adherence to the Law of Moses, but the adoption of the "any cause divorce" view championed by Rabbi Hillel as legal among the Jews. Under this law, a Jewish man can divorce his wife without ground at all, but not vice-versa. Interestingly, some of the Pharisees had the decency of attempting to stamp the tide, and presumably, as much as they were testing Jesus, they were hoping that Jesus would take a more conservative position. But they got more than what they bargained for, because Jesus took a position far more restrictive than that of the Law of Moses. In essence, Jesus is saying, once married, the couple is inseparable, except for adultery.

What is fascinating to me is the response of the disciples, "If this is the situation between a husband and a wife, it is better not to marry." (Matt. 19:10) The disciples were not saying that if marriage could lead to such unhappiness, why bother getting married. What they were saying was, if divorce is not possible, they'd better not get married in the first place. This is a typical example how godly people, like the disciples, could be so influenced by secular culture without knowing it. And what they said captures not only the spirit of their age, but ours. People are getting into marriage, not as a life-long commitment, but only when it is convenient, and when it serves their purpose, and as a result, there has to be an "escape clause", without which they are not prepared to enter into "holy matrimony". This is also why pre-nuptial agreement is so in vogue, even among some Christians.

But Jesus' teaching is clear, "let not man put asunder" (KJV), and for once, I agree with some of the newer translations, "let not man nor woman put asunder."

As I was reflecting on Jesus blessing the children in Matthew 19 and His reminder that "the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these", I immediately called to mind the following two stories.

The first one is a story that you have probably heard in various forms and whose authenticity I have sometimes wondered about. But the message is one we need to hear over and over again. The version I came across many years ago was set in post-war Europe when an American soldier walked through the streets of a war-torn town. He went into a bakery to buy some bread for himself. As he looked out of the shop's window, he saw a little boy pressing his face to the window, staring at the bread on display. He was obviously very hungry, but had no money. The soldier was touched by his plight, and as he walked out of the bakery, he offered the boy his bread. The boy was taken aback by this unexpected generosity and compassion. He looked up to the soldier and asked, "Mister, are you Jesus?"

The second one was told by my mother as she returned from the market one day. She told me that she was about to buy some oranges from a lady in the market. There was sign that clearly said that the oranges were Sunkist oranges, except that my mother did not see any Sunkist logo on any of the oranges. So, she asked the storekeeper why there was no Sunkist logo on the oranges. Before the storekeeper could answer, her young daughter quickly replied, "O yes, madam, they are Sunkist oranges. It was my fault that I forgot to stamp the logo on them."

Not long ago, I was reading one of the leading Catholic magazines and came across an article by a leading Catholic theologian who was mocking Calvin's emphasis of salvation through faith, and not by work. The author said that it was unmistakable that Jesus, in the various gospel accounts, was preaching salvation by work. One of the passages that he cited in support of his argument was that of the rich, young ruler of Matthew 19, in that Jesus said, "If you want to enter life, obey the commandments" (19:17). This, to him, is being further affirmed by Jesus' command of selling all his possessions, giving them to the poor and then coming and following Him.

The Catholic assertion of salvation by work is in plain contradiction to Paul's clear teaching of salvation by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9) and James' clear understanding that if we break one law, then we break all the laws (Jas. 2:10).

The story of the rich young man clearly shows that, as good as this young man was — he might honestly had kept the last 6 commandments that Jesus asked about — his honest soul knew that it was not enough. He honestly found himself lacking. As a result, Jesus, in 19:17, was simply repeating what the young man believed — obey the commandments and one would enter eternal life. He found out that doing such was not the case, for he honestly believed himself to have kept the commandments.

As the story unfolds, the young man came to understand that:

• The only way to eternal life is by following Jesus.
• In order to follow Jesus, one has to love Him more than anything and anyone, which is the meaning of the 1st four of the Ten Commandments that Jesus did not ask (or rather He did ask by asking him to sell everything to follow Him).

In support of the Catholic view of salvation by work, Reno (another noted Catholic intellectual) argues that,

"St. Paul's criticism of the law of Moses should be read as part of his larger claim about its fulfillment in Christ." (First Things, January 2012, p.38)

and that the Old Testament Laws do not go far enough, and we need to complement them by obeying and listening to Christ's commandments. But the fact remains that no one can by themselves obey the law, whether Moses' or Christ's. Only when we put our faith in our resurrected Christ and His merit on the Cross, then and only then can we have the power to obey Christ and His commandments. We cannot put the cart before the horse, the cart being work, and the horse being faith in Christ which gives us eternal life.

In Mark's account of this young man, the question being asked was, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" (10:17). This question already reveals this man's understanding that eternal life could only be inherited and no one can work for an inheritance; it is a matter of relationship. In the Old Testament or in any culture for that matter, only children can inherit, no one else needs to apply.

"Yet to all who did receive Him (i.e. Jesus Christ), to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."(NIV) (Jn. 1:12)

As I was reading the disciples' response to Jesus' hyperbole of how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, using a camel and the eye of a needle as comparison, I found the response of the disciples rather surprising. Instead of saying, "Which rich man can be saved?" They were saying, "Who then can be saved?"

Most of the disciples were of a humble background and all of them had given up everything to follow Jesus, and yet they still responded to Jesus' hyperbole of a rich man with, "Who then can be saved?" This reflects their honesty in that they understood wealth as a powerful stumbling block for both the rich and the poor in entering the kingdom of heaven. They understood very well that "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

For the rich, the problem is obvious and the rich young ruler left Jesus sadly, exactly because wealth had become his security, his reliance and therefore, his god!

But for those whom we might call the middle class, the problem with wealth is still powerful in that while they may not be rich, their desire to be rich, to earn more, to accumulate more and to enjoy more could still be a strong enough love that overtakes their love for God. Such a love for wealth may not be as obvious, and it takes tests like a sudden loss of fortune or job, or a rare opportunity to make millions that might conflict with family life, church life or biblical principles to reveal who their God really is.

One would think that the poor certainly has no problem when it comes to wealth. But I have come across many poor who are bitter with society and with God, who think that the world has owed them the wealth that they think they never could have. They are jealous of those who are well off, and while they may not be able to improve financially, they would be more than delighted to see more people become like them. No, not all poor are like this. Some poor have integrity and dignity and would not allow poverty to define who they are. I have come across many poor parents like this in my youth, as I studied in a primary school attended by children living as squatters on a nearby hillside.

But the bitterness and jealousy are signs that wealth, nonetheless, is a god that they wish they could possess.

Such, I believe, is the profound understanding of the disciples, of course except Judas whose poverty drove him to betray the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is a well-known fact that most churches (or all churches, I should say,) have 20% of their people doing 80% of the church ministries. Many of these servers are multi-tasking. As a result, I have discovered that the "poor-me" syndrome is very prevalent in churches.

You will have come across such people (or you may be one of them). They are very God-loving individuals who have a passion to serve. Many have children at home, and yet they will serve to the point that they spend more time in the church than in their homes. Apart from being commission-heads, project leaders, Sunday School teachers and Bible Study leaders, they would also care about others sacrificially. Yet, they do not have joy. Their mouths are full of complaints and criticisms. It is also obvious that they do not really have a meaningful and consistent "quiet" time with the Lord. Their constant complaint is that "nobody cares". They are the only ones.

Like Elijah, their best cure is to run away, to take a break, a real break to be alone with the Lord, to listen to the small voice of God. Well, to tell you the truth, the voice of the Lord may not be that small, just that we have crowded ourselves with our busyness and bitterness that we have failed to hear the clear voice of God and we have made it sound small.

The Bible says, "God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Co. 9:7) and I believe it does not only apply to the giving of money, but also to our time, effort and yes, ourselves.

As we reflect on the pride and competitive spirits of the disciples in Matthew 20, perhaps it is fitting that we meditate on the lyrics of this hymn of Isaac Watts and translate them into our own prayer. (Note that the 5th stanza, though written by Watts has never been included in his publication.)

1. When I survey the wondrous cross
   on which the Prince of Glory died;
   my richest gain I count but loss,
   and pour contempt on all my pride.
2. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
   save in the death of Christ, my God;
   All the vain things that charm me most,
   I sacrifice them to his blood.
3. See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
   sorrow and love flow mingled down.
   Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
   or thorns compose so rich a crown.
4. Were the whole realm of nature mine,
   that were an offering far too small;
   Love so amazing, so divine,
   demand my soul, my life, my all.
5. His dying crimson, like a robe,
   spreads o'er His body on the tree:
   Then am I dead to all the globe,
   and all the globe is dead to me.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

Jesus healed many who were blind, but the two blind men in Jericho were special; they were not only healed, but they "followed Him". And so, they would have followed Jesus into Jerusalem and seen with their eyes, which were just opened, the drama of the last week of the Passion of Christ. They saw as the crowd turned against Jesus, as the leaders plotted and executed their evil scheme, as Pilate succumbed to the pressure of the people, as the Roman soldiers mocked and flogged Jesus and as Jesus was finally condemned and nailed to the cross. How would the two newest followers of Christ feel? Would they not be devastated, angry or at least puzzled? But one thing that was unique to them was that once they were blind and now they could see. No matter how confusing the whole thing might be to them, it was unmistakably clear that Jesus had performed this miracle in their lives.

Many new Christians face similar challenges. I came to Christ with zeal and fervor that ushered me into rapid growth in Christ and in the church. But after such emotions leveled off, I began doubting if what I believed was true. Indeed, feelings come and go, and if our faith is grounded on feelings, there cannot be looser grounds. Our faith is ultimately grounded in the unchangeable Word of God in the Scripture. But, the Holy Spirit who dwells within our spirit because of our faith in Christ "testifies with our spirit that we are God's children" (Rom. 8:16). Furthermore, every true believer has the undeniable experience of an inner transformation, like having successfully gone through a diet-program; we have a clear pre-and-post story to tell. This three-fold witness — the Word of God, the inner-witness of the Holy Spirit and our personal testimony of transformation — serves as a powerful surety of our salvation, no matter what the world around us may say.