A year or so ago there was a ruckus in the conservative
community in America over a remark the president made about businesses that
included the idea, “you didn’t build that.”
Here, Nebuchadnezzar says of the royal palace that it is something, “I
have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my
majesty”. For this, the failure to give
credit to God and for his motive, the glory of his own majesty, the king is
brought low like a beast. Not until he
recognized the Lord were his senses and his kingdom restored to him, and added
to even more than before. In that little
hymn of praise here we hear the echo of the first words of this chapter
concerning the Lord’s kingdom. His
praise, however, does not extend to monotheism, only the recognition that this
is the Most High who rules from heaven.
He does not recognize Yahweh as the one God. In this respect we see two
similarities with the book of Jonah. The
king cries out like Jonah and is delivered and his praise is like that of the
men on the ship with Jonah who see something of Yahweh and give Him praise and
like the Babylonians of a later time who repent but do not turn to Him as their
God. Many today recognize Jesus as a
great teacher or some other way but do not turn to Him alone.
The demon in the man in the synagogue cried out, “What have
you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who
you are—the Holy One of God.” At this
confession Jesus rebuked the demon, commanding it to be silent. He did not need demonic testimony to Himself
and naming is a way of controlling.
Jesus was in command of the situation and this demon was attempting to
make a scene of conflict. The mixed
confession, Jesus of Nazareth and Holy One of God was a ruse to confuse the
situation. Which one is He? The allusion to Nazareth would have thrown
off the people as it did Nathanael in John 1, “Can anything good come from
Nazareth?” Perhaps the demon didn’t know
the truth but it seems more likely it did and lied. One way or another, the truth about Jesus is
a matter of faith and belief, not based in demonic witness.
“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides
in him, and he in God.” The confession
seems simple but it is a profound statement.
That Jesus is the Son of God looks like something nearly anyone could
affirm but there are two separate affirmations that make it difficult. God is in the details. The details are specificity. The definite article “the” before Son of God
and the singular “God” are the details that trip people up in their
belief. The exclusivity claims to be the
only way cause us to balk, we like choices too much and the claims of Jesus on
our lives, that they are no longer our own, cause us problems. We recognize that love has conditions and
limits and we prefer love without these so we let Him have some part in the
pantheon but not the only role.
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