Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. - John 14:1

With a casual read of these words of Jesus, it may seem to the reader that Jesus is saying that He is not God. That is, that God is someone to believe in, and that He is someone else to believe in. However, upon closer consideration, these words are quite powerful.

Imagine if these were the words of someone else, such as the stereotypical politician or used-car salesman. If I believe in God, then I should believe in you, too? How would it ever follow that because I believe in God, I should also believe in that scoundrel - or anyone else for that matter? Now, it would make sense if it were the other way around: “If you believe in me, then you should have no trouble believing in God.” Indeed, the God of the Bible declares Himself to be unchanging, forever faithful and true. Whether or not I can trust any man, I should be able to put my faith in God.

Let’s reconsider these words of Jesus. He is telling His followers that if they believe in God, then they should believe in Him, too. Unless Jesus is equal to God, this statement is arrogance of the highest order, or at least the nonsense of a narcissistic crazy man. He is saying that if you can put your trust in the immutable Almighty, then it is reasonable to trust in Him also.

I am reminded of the words of C. S. Lewis:

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. – Mere Christianity, pages 40-41.

So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” - Isaiah 6:5

The closer that I get to God; the more aware I am of my sinful state. Perhaps that is why (and maybe you, too) are reluctant to devote more “one-on-one” time with the Almighty.

It makes sense that the “unbeliever” would shun the God’s presence, since the illumination of His Spirit brings conviction and presses for a conscious response to the grace of God: Repentance or rejection (John 3:20; John 16:8,9). However, Biblical Christians - who recognize communion with Christ as the remedy for past, present and future sin - should gladly run to Him when they are so much as tempted.

May I get to the point where the knowledge and awareness of my unholiness compels me to passionately seek the life of Christ as the only rest for my soul (Psalm 42:1,2; Matt. 11:28,29).

If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. – Deut. 21:22, 23

I am probably not the first to notice this, but I think it odd – fascinating, rather, that instructions are given regarding what to do with the body of a man executed by means of hanging on a tree, yet, stoning is the method always mentioned for capital offences in the Mosaic Law (Lev. 20:27; 24:14; 14:16; Deut. 13:10; 17:5; 21:21; 22:21; 22:24).

Now, there is an instance in which God commanded death by hanging in Numbers 23, but this was in response to a particular situation, and not prescribed as law. Furthermore, it is stated that when certain offenders were pursued and thrust through with a javelin, God’s anger was appeased.

So, the oddity remains that, in the text of the law, there are rules for handling the body of a man executed by hanging on a tree (specifically a tree), when the method of execution prescribed by the law is always stoning. Could this be prophetic of Messiah’s death (Gal. 3:13)? If Christ had not been buried the day of His death, He would not have been buried and raised again on the third day, according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3, 4).

Just a couple of weeks ago I was in Israel on Shavuot – the Feast of Weeks. I was on a tour that day, and one of the tour guides recalled the words of a speaker who once contrasted the Islamic view of the future with that of the Bible. According to the Hadith, “The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say, “O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.” (Sahih Bukhari 4:52:177). This is in stark contrast to the words the Bible, which foretell, “He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4).

After those words, I reflected upon the events of Shavuot, following the Resurrection of Christ:

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs–we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” - Acts 2:1-11

That day the Gospel went out to men of many languages. From Jerusalem, the message of forgiveness and redemption has gone out to Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the Earth. The future Kingdom of God will include those “out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). For in Christ, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female” (Galatians 3:28). Critics often decry that Christianity is “exclusive.” On the contrary, the Scriptures recognize that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23) and that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).

“For by You I can run against a troop, by my God I can leap over a wall.” – Psalm 18:29

Time to pick on an English word, or rather, its usage. In all of my learning, troop refers to a group of individuals assembled for a purpose or action. I once belonged to a Boy Scout troop. It can also be used of an informal multitude of persons, such as, “While the bell was still ringing, a troop of children poured out of the classroom.”

In military parlance, a troop is “an armored cavalry or cavalry unit consisting of two or more platoons and a headquarters group” [1], or “A unit of cavalry, armored vehicles, or artillery in a European army, corresponding to a platoon in the U.S. Army.” [2] However, it seems to me that, since the onset of military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, media now use “troop” now refers to a single soldier. For example, “U.S. offers $200,000 in search for lost troops”, and “Baghdad ‘Surge’ Moves Forward as Search for Missing Troops Continues.”

Is this the result of the U.S Army’s “An Army of One” advertising campaign, a device of anti-war media outlets to exaggerate losses, or something less sinister (but more insidious) like pure carelessness with the English language? Language history decries that if a word comes to mean nothing in particular, then it means nothing at all.

Whether we call them soldiers, troops, or simply heroes, I am thankful for those who risk their own lives to protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for others. May God bless them.

[1] “troop.” Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 18 May. 2007. .
[2] “troop.” The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 18 May. 2007. .