Daniel knew that he had overcome the world. He not only knew it, he lived in to it. He spoke without fear to the king of one of
the greatest nations on the earth. The king,
Daniel said, had not humbled his heart even though he knew full well the story
of his predecessor who, when he became proud and lifted up, was humbled by the
Lord for seven years when he was literally out of his mind, acting like a beast
of the field. The king offered Daniel
gifts and honor if he could and would interpret the words written by the hand
on the wall but Daniel said to the king, keep your gifts and honor, I am not
seeking anything at all from you, I am here because of a greater king than
you. His interpretation was that the
king was going to lose his kingdom and it seems certain that the king believed
he would simply lose the kingdom, not guessing that he would, this night, lose
his life, the text says he was killed, we don’t know exactly what happened. He gave honor to Daniel but should have given
honor to Daniel’s God.
Peter is willing to allow the rabbi to get in his boat and
teach a bit but wasn’t prepared to go fishing again. He had already cleaned his nets from the
night prior when they caught nothing, they were prepared for the next night and
he was probably looking forward to getting some sleep. He was willing, nonetheless, to push out,
drop the nets and try again, which meant he would also have to clean the nets
again afterwards, because Jesus said to.
He was rewarded with a catch so large that he needed help from his friends
to bring it in. Peter saw this as a sign
that Jesus was more than a teacher, he was more than “master”, he was “Lord.” The sign was incredibly personal, something
only a fisherman would appreciate. It
was enough that all four men left everything and followed Him. In John 4, the Samaritan woman at the well
left her water jar behind because of Jesus, here, the fishermen left their
catch which would have been quite valuable, and followed Jesus.
John uses the word “know” multiple times in these few
verses. He writes to those who believe
that they may know they have eternal life.
That knowing then means that we have confidence that He hears our
prayers and that those prayed in accord with His will have been fulfilled. We also know that a person who has truly been
born of God does not keep on sinning, a change has happened in that person’s
life, they have received the Holy Spirit and new birth. We know that we are “from God” and that the
whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
That is a powerful piece of knowledge and I wonder if we honestly “know”
it. Knowing that should give us the same
compassion and mercy towards others that Jesus showed those who crucified Him,
understanding they are people who believe a lie about this world and about
God. The final knowing tells us how we
should then live in the world, “And we know that the Son of God has come and
has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in
him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little
children, keep yourselves from idols.”
What is idolatry? The exaltation
of anything under the sun and ascribing it ultimacy in our lives in any shape,
form or fashion. What does the way you
spend your time and money reveal about your “knowing” and understanding the world?
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