Amazing Grace: The Sweetest Sound of All [Video]

The Historical Side of the Communion Table

Preached at Northwest Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, March 18, 2012

1 Timothy 2:1-7, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.”

As most of you know, this past week several members of my family and I had the opportunity to travel with my mother to Arkansas to assist my mom in sorting through her mother’s possessions.  There, in a little town in Northeast Arkansas, at my grandmother’s home, we had the opportunity to sort of go back in time, for me, to recall many happy memories of visits to her home, and for us, especially my daughters, to learn a great deal more about the roots of my mother’s family.  The Lord willing, we will be continuing that process with my mother over the next several months, and certainly, we covet your prayers as we do.

Image credit: Allenscottwalker

We live in a world that is almost obsessed with the future.  Whether it be the Monday through Friday, nine to five crowd living for payday or for Fri-day and the weekend, or whether it be the younger folks among us, on the edge of their seats, awaiting no just the announcement of some new gadget, the latest technological advancement that will supposedly enhance their lives, but biting their nails in anticipation of the arrival of that gadget or gizmo in the retail stores.  Rushing off to be the first in line to have in their hot little hands.  As I said, we live in a world, a culture, that is almost obsessed with the future, with what will be.  And certainly, there’s some good to that interest, that fixation on the future.  I mean, anybody ever try to drive your car on central expressway, looking only, ONLY in the rearview mirror, and never out the windshield in front of you?  We have to look ahead, don’t we?  We have to have at least a little bit of interest in and concern about the future, right? 

But, listen, before we, as followers of Jesus Christ become too caught up in the future only mindset, I think there is also a great deal of wisdom bound up in the statement that goes something like this: to know where you are going, to accurately discern the present and the future, you must be sure certain, well-acquainted with where you have been.  Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to our time at this Table each Lord’s Day.  As Christians, living not days, not weeks, not months or even years, but over two millennia, TWO THOUSAND years after the events we celebrate each Good Friday and Resurrection Day season, as Christians living that far removed from the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, it’s easy to forget that this Table, the Lord’s Table and what it stands for, what is represents to us as Christians has a history to it.  It has a ‘side’ to it that is visible to us ONLY as we look in the ‘rear view mirror’ of the Word of God.  Let me explain what I mean. Going back as we did last week, to my grandmother’s home in Northeast Arkansas, I did sort of relive many good memories from my past.  And that was a blessing.  But, listen, here’s what blows my mind: though, like you, I live in the present – you know, Sunday, March 18, 2012 – and though, my birth certificate tells me, my life in this world had a beginning on Father’s Day Sunday, June 18, 1961.  Listen, when you start uncovering, as we uncovered at my grandma’s home, your family roots, you realize that your life or what led to your being here today, goes back a lot further than that date listed on your birth certificate.  The same is true for us as Christians.  In our mind’s eye, we go back to the first Good Friday, and we see Jesus, our Savior carrying His cross, we see Him hanging on that cross, loaded down by our sins and our guilt and enduring our punishment, that we might receive the benefit of that incredible sacrifice of redeeming love.  And we’re humbled, and we praise God for what Christ did for us.  But, listen, have you thought about it?  Is that as far back, is 30 A.D. on a hill outside Jerusalem, as far back as the Saving plan of God, the redeeming work of Christ goes?  Is it? 

This ‘side’ of the Communion Table, the Look-Back, as some have called it – talk about blowing your mind!  Knowing what I know; what this Book helps me to know about what we celebrate each Lord’s Day at this Table, we realize or should realize, that the saving plan of God, the John 3:16-intention of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, goes back farther, way, way farther than you and I could ever dream!  Take a look with me, at this, will you? 

This side of the Communion Table, the ‘Look Back’, how far back do we have to go to find out about the ‘Roots’ of our Redemption?  Revelation 13:8 – What does the Scripture say there about the ‘history’ of the saving plan of God, in the mind of God?  It says simply, does it blow your mind, like it does mind?  It says simply that God’s plant to save lost sinners, in His mind, that plan goes back even further than Genesis one, one!  Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, in His Father’s mind, He was slain, crucified, put to death for us BEFORE the creation of the world!  Wow!  The apostle Paul, in our text we read a moment ago from 1 Timothy 2, tells us that the man, Jesus Christ, the One Mediator between God and men, gave Himself for a ransom for all, in due time (see Galatians 4:4ff), at the precise moment God the Father had planned going all the way back to before Genesis one, verse one.  Wow!

Before we move one, let me read for you from two other passages from Paul’s letters, to undermine this point. 

2 Timothy 1:8-10, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

Titus 1:1-3, “Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior.”

The ‘Look Back’, this first side, this first ‘view’ or ‘view-point’ pertaining to the Lord’s Table, and the discovery that in His mind, God’s grace was given to us, in Christ Jesus, BEFORE time began!    Wow!  Wow! 

But, then, we look further into this subject, and we find out that not only was what we celebrate, today, at this table, prepared before time began, in God’s mind.  Listen, through His mouth, through God’s mouth, God’s saving plant was proclaimed to and through His prophets centuries – millennia – BEFORE Christ came to live and die and rise again. 

What do you mean, preacher?  Here’s what I mean: take for example, God’s promises made to Abraham, two thousand years before the birth of Christ.  (See Genesis 12:7; 13:15; 24:7, etc. and Galatians 3:16).  Through His mouth, God spoke to His prophet, His servant, His human instrument, Abraham, and said, “In your Seed (through a Descendant of yours, Abraham) all the nations of the world will be blessed.”  Who is that ‘Seed’, that ‘Descendant’?  Jesus Christ!  He is the One all those dusty, old genealogies from the Old Testament were leading up to! 

2 Samuel 7:12 – The Covenant Promises of God, God putting His reputation on the line, this time the prophet, the servant of God, the human instrument is not Abraham, but a great, great, great, great… grandson of Abraham, a man by the name of David.  Again, spoken by the very mouth of God, the promise has to do with a future ‘Seed’ who would rule and reign.  Who is that future ‘Seed’?  Solomon?  I mean, he was tee one born, soon thereafter, to David.  No!  The ‘Seed’, the Promised Coming King of kings was not merely David’s son, but God’s Son, Jesus Christ (see Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 3:21-38). 

Or, how about Isaiah 53 - Through His mouth, and human mouth-piece Isaiah, more than 700 years ahead of time, God foretold the coming of a Servant, a Suffering Servant Savior, who would be despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.  Who is that Suffering Servant Savior?  The nation of Israel?  Isaiah, the prophet? No!  Look again at His stretched out arms on that cruel tree, and you will see, the Suffering Servant Savior of Isaiah 53 is Jesus! 

What do you see when you look back from this Table sitting here in this room?  What do you see, what ought you to notice when you view this Table and what it stands for, from this ‘side’, this ‘camera angle’?  The mind of God, planning BEFORE He ever said, ‘Let there be light,’ planning for what we celebrated just a few moments ago.  The mouth of God, speaking to and through His prophets, His human instruments, about that plan, though it was still hundreds and hundreds of years before it came to pass. 

But, then, notice also, we see from this ‘side’ of the Lord’s Table, the movement of God, His mighty, hand at work in History!

Exodus chapters 14 and 15, the culmination of over 400 years of slavery in Egypt for God’s Old Testament people, the Israelites. The mighty hand of God MOVING, not only to persuade a stubborn ruler named Pharoah, to let His people go, but do you remember the account?  The record of that miraculous intervention of God at the Red Sea?  His people, Moses and the children of Israel, led safely THROUGH the Red Sea on dry land, but the Egyptians, the arrogant tool of the Arch Enemy of God, Satan himself – what happened to them?  No deliverance there, right?  No rescue and victory for the Egyptians there right?  No!  The same waters through which the Israelites safely passed God used to DESTROY the Egyptians!  Exodus 14 and 15 – What do we have here, my friends?  A mere glimpse into a highlight of ancient Israel’s past?  No!  No!  That watery deliverance, that incredible victory of God, for His people, what is it?  It is one of many, many pictures of the movement of God’s mighty hand in History, pointing forward to the ultimate victorious deliverance of God’s people at Calvary!  That’s what you see from this ‘Look Back’, this historical ‘side’ of the Communion Table. 

But, listen, there’s one more portrait or, we might say, THE focal point of this ‘portrait’ of the Lord’s Table, that we see or ought to see each time we partake of the bread and the fruit of the vine.  What is at the center of this ‘Look Back’ side?  The mind of God?  Well, yes…  The mouth of God?  Well, yes...  How about this?  At the center, the focal point of this ‘portrait’ of the Lord’s Table is not a WHAT, but a WHO!  1 Timothy 2:5-6, “For there is one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus who gave Himself a ransom for all…”  Whose Table is this? This is the Table of the Lord Jesus Christ!  Who’s supper is this?  The Host of this New Covenant Banquet is none other than our Savior, our Redeemer, our Mediator, the Son of God, the Man Christ Jesus.  The Man of men, Christ Jesus!

The author of the hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, states it this way in the second verse of the song: “Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing.  Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing!  You ask who that may be?  Christ Jesus it is He, Lord Sabaoth is His name, from age to age the same, and He must win the battle!”

Video: Jesus' Hands: God's Love Touching Our Lives - Part 2

Jesus' Hands: A Display of God's Love

Preached at Northwest Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, February 26, 2012

Ephesians 3:14-21, “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

How is it that God makes His love for us tangible, concrete, practical and touchable?  The Psalmist David, who penned the words (“My Times are in God’s Hands”) found on the front cover of today’s worship bulletin knew the answer to that question.  God uses, Jesus uses, His hands.  If you want to look it up, the reference alluded to on the cover of the worship bulletin is from Psalm 31:15.  Wrestling with the anguish of physical weakness, anyone here able to relate to that?  Distressed by grief and the losses he had sustained in his life – anyone here ever experienced those things?  Attacked, forsaken and forgotten by friends and enemies alike – anyone here know how that feels?  Dealing with all of those difficult dilemmas, what does David the psalmist do?  Where does he end up?

3 Times, at least as I observed it in my reading and study of this passage, Psalm 31, David the psalmist refers to God’s hands, and concludes, “This is how I know that You love me, God.  This is how…”  Verse 8 – “You have not handed me over to the enemy, but You have set my feet in a wide place, a roomy, spacious location.”  This is how I know that You care about me.  You hands.  Verses 14 and 15 – “As for me, You are my God.  As far as I am concerned, I trust in You, O Lord. My times, every day, every house, every minute, every second of my life is in Your hands.”  This is how I know that You know what I’m going through.  Psalm 31:5 - David the psalmist bolding exclaims, “Into Your hands, O God, I commit my spirit.”

How is it that God makes His love for us tangible, practical, concrete, touchable?  Anybody ever see one of these?  Anybody ever noticed hands stretched out like this?  Ultimately, that’s how the apostle Paul defines and describes the love of God, the love of Christ, for us, in the text we read at the outset from Ephesians 3, isn’t it?  Paul depicts the love of God, the love of Christ, in cross-sized, cross-shaped dimensions.  I want to know, I’m praying that you might know and experience the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, all the width, length, depth and height of God’s love for you in Jesus Christ. 

We’ve been examining that subject, haven’t we, through the lens of the gospel of Mark, a portrait of the life of Jesus penned by one of Peter’s dear friends, John Mark.  And what have we learned so far?  We have learned that Jesus, the Servant who rules, with His hands he cleansed a leper, effected a healing, helping, cleansing, with His hands.  We’ve learned that Jesus, the Servant who rules, with His hands, quieted a raging fever ravaging the body of Peter’s mother-in-law.  His hands calmed her.  Restored strength to her.  We’ve learned that Jesus, the Servant who Rules, who has authority over leprosy and fevers, also has power, authority, to illuminate the darkness, to give sight to the blind, to open deaf ears and loosen bound up tongues.  Yes, we have learned, isn’t it amazing?  Isn’t it glories?  That Jesus, the Servant who rules, also has power with His hands and His words, over DEATH!  A little girl, Jairus’ precious daughter, Jesus spoke to her the tender words, the life-giving words, ‘Talitha Cummi,’ ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise!’ 

In the first 8 chapters of the gospel of Mark, we watch in wonder and amazement at how God, using the hands of Jesus His Son, the Servant who rules, says, ‘This is how you know, that I love you!’  But then, beginning in chapter nine, Peter, an up-close, and very, very personal eye-witness to all that John Mark relates to us in the Book, Peter shows us how that Jesus is not only the Servant who rules, but listen, He also is the Ruler, the King of Kings and Lord of lords, who serves.  Would you take time with me this morning to walk up and down and around Mark chapter nine and ten, and observe with me the love of God at work, through the hands of Jesus, the Ruler who serves. 

First of all, notice with me the context, the background, the ‘shadow’ if you will, that looms large over this entire section.  Mark 9:1-8 – We call that section the record of the transfiguration of Jesus.  Up to this point in the narrative of this gospel, the emphasis has been on the Servant who rules.  Now, in this incredible experience with Jesus, Moses and Elijah, on that mountain, Peter, James and John begin to have their eyes opened to the fact that Jesus is not only a Servant who rules, who has authority over fevers and leprosy and blindness and death.  But that He also is, God, Jesus’ Father says and shows them that He is also the Ruler who serves.  THE One, not one of the ones, but THE One that they must worship, serve and obey! 

But mountain-top lessons, you know this don’t you?  Spiritual mountain-top lessons are often quickly forgotten in the nitty, gritty of life’s ‘valleys’, aren’t they?  The very next day, the very next section of Mark 9, Peter, James and John come down from that mountain with Jesus, and they, along with their fellow disciples, are confronted with the nitty, gritty, bad and ugly problem of demonic oppression and the devastation it causes in people’s lives.  A desperate father had brought his young son to Jesus’ disciples, thinking that they, like their Master, could help them.  They couldn’t.  They hadn’t been able to do a thing to help this man or his son.  In fact, the first part of the text seems to indicate that the disciples had gotten side-tracked with a debate they were having with the scribes.  And Jesus, quickly analyzing the situation, was not happy!  “How long!  How long am I going to have to put up with you guys and your lack of faith?”  But, then look at what happens next.  Jesus, the Ruler who serves, doesn’t do what so many other rules would do, He doesn’t leave the problem to His bumbling underlings.  No!  What does He do?  Jesus speaks the words this desperate father had been hoping he’d hear all along.  “Bring the boy to Me.”  Jesus, the Great One, as testified by God Himself on transfiguration mountain , with His words, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of this boy and enter him no more!”  Jesus, with His words, AND with His hands, lifts up an otherwise helpless young man and restores him, whole and strong, to his father.  What a blessing.  What an amazing miracle, right?  But, listen, is the lesson over, finished, as far as Jesus’ disciples are concerned?  Remember?  They had been helpless, powerless, to assist this man and his son.  What did they need to learn from this encounter?  The right words to say?  The proper magical formula to follow to perform a miracle?  No!  They needed to learn, to know, to live by what Jesus, the Ruler who serves, lived by.  Verse 29, “This kind comes out by nothing but by prayer and fasting.”  In other words, ‘yes, I’m the Ruler, but listen, fellows, I can do nothing, I am powerless to help people like this boy and his father, apart from the strength of My Father in heaven!’  Have you learned that lesson, that basic A-B-C’s kind of lesson, regarding serving and ministering?  Have I? 

Press on with me, would you?  Jesus, the Servant who rules, and now, in this the second and final half of Mark’s gospel, Jesus, the Ruler who serves, He has another mountain in view, doesn’t He?  What mountain is that?  Verses 30-32 – It’s a hill called Calvary, right?  Jesus, the Ruler, in His ultimate act of service, and atoning sacrifice, would soon stretch out His hands on a Cross and by that answer the question once and for all, about how much God loves us. 

But, He wasn’t there yet and certainly His disciples were a long ways from understanding that, weren’t they?  How do we know that?  Well, in verse 32, the text says it plainly, doesn’t it?  It says that the disciples did not understand what Jesus was trying to teach them about His coming death, and not only that, but they were also afraid even to ask Him about it.  But, then notice the very next section of the passage.  It contains a lesson on leadership and ministry that the disciples were very, very slow to learn. 

Verses 33 and following, Jesus is the Ruler, the Great One, right?  In chapters one through eight He showed it repeatedly through His miracles of helping and healing, right?  And, then, beginning with the transfiguration event, and the declaration of God Himself, the second half of this Gospel proclaims the same message, right?  Jesus is the Great One.  But, look who’s arguing the point.  Look who’s missing the point.  12 thick-headed, hard-hearted men Jesus had chosen to follow Him.  Jesus is the Ruler, the Great One, for sure.  But how does He define greatness?  How does He show, demonstrate, what His kind of greatness is all about?  ‘Okay, fellows.  It’s time to gather around for another ‘skull session’, another teachable moment.  Verses 35 and following.  ‘Let me tell you what real greatness is all about.  Real greatness is all about serving.  In the very next chapter, Jesus reinforces the very same lesson with these words, “Even the Son of Man,” that’s an Old Testament Messianic title with every bit as much declaration of Jesus’ greatness as God His Father spoke on transfiguration mount.  Mark 10:45, Jesus says, “Even the Son of Man, as great as He is, and will be, did not come to BE served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.” 

How does Jesus define true greatness?  The Great One says, ‘I’m here to serve and to give up My life for you.’  And, how does He demonstrate that greatness?  He uses His hands!  Verse 36 – “Then Jesus took a little child and set him in the midst of them.  And when Jesus had taken the little fellow in His arms, Jesus said to His disciples, ‘whoever receives one of these little ones in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me, but Him who sent Me.”

My loved ones, do you see it?  Do you?  Jesus, the Servant who rules, Jesus, the Ruler, the Great One who serves, He is building a kingdom with His hands.  And He wants you to be a part of that kingdom of love and light.  But to be a part of that kingdom, what must we do?  We must die.  We must die to the selfish striving for our own greatness.  We must die to us that we might live in Him, through Him, and most of all, for Him.  Jesus said it this way, and with these words we will close:

Mark 8:34-35, “When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

The serving, saving, self-sacrificing hands of Jesus, stretched out on Calvary’s cross, that’s how God makes His love for us tangible!  That’s how!

Jesus' Hands: God's Love Touching Our Lives - Part 2

Preached at Northwest Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, February 19, 2012

Ephesians 3:14-21, “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

How is it that God makes His love for us concrete, tangible, practical, touchable? 

To be strengthened with might by God’s Spirit in the inner man, that Christ might dwell in our hearts by faith, to be rooted and grounded in love – these were the things the apostle Paul asked God to do in the fives of the Christians at Ephesus, why?  So that they might be able to comprehend with every other Christian, the dimensions, the ‘Cross-Sized’ dimensions of God’s love, in Christ, how wide it is, how long it is, how deep it is and how high it is.  But not just to GRASP it, intellectually, conceptually, but what?  Paul prayed that the Church, the people of God, would KNOW that love, that we would EXPERIENCE that love that goes way beyond intelligent comprehension and so be filled with all the fullness of God!  Wow!  Have you ever prayed a prayer so gigantic, so enormous in scope and purpose? 

Lord, would you, please, answer that pray in me, would you please, accomplish that prayer in us! 

The love of God, how is it that God answers, has answered, that prayer?  How does He make His love for the world, and, in particular, for His Precious Bride, the Church, real, practical, tangible, touchable?! 

You remember it from last time, don’t you?  Can you put your hands together in this way? 

The gospel of Mark, that unique portrait of the life of Jesus presented, I believe, through the eyes of the Apostle Peter, and his young friends, John Mark, this portion of Scripture provides us with at least seven powerful illustrations of God’s love, long, wide, high and deep, through the hands of Jesus.  Would you find again that portion of the Word of God, and let’s explore, not only God’s love, His tender compassion for sin-sick humanity, but also, His special redeeming love, sanctifying love, for the Church, His Bride. 

Mark 7:31-37, “Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”  Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

Have you ever made a list of the things, the common things, the ordinary things, you take for granted?   It’s 6:30, 6:45 in the morning, sun will be up shortly.  We take that for granted, don’t we?  Got to run to the grocery store, got to head off to work.  Jump in my car, put the key in the ignition, it’s gonna start, right away.  We take that for granted.  How about this?  We awaken in the morning, yes, to the blare of the alarm clock, but also the sounds of people we love and who love us, clanking around in the kitchen or bathroom, little feet, and big ones, too, pitter-pattering in the living room or laundry room.  Can you imagine what it would be like to awaken each morning to silence?  We take our hearing for granted, don’t we?  Or, what about this?  I can relate, “Where would this preacher be, if, when he opened his mouth, nothing came out?  We take our ability to speak, for granted, don’t we?  Imagine not being able to SAY the words, ‘I love you!’  Imagine not being able to HEAR them!  That was the plight of my great uncle, Jim McKnight.  And that was the plight of this unnamed man whose friends brought him to Jesus. 

How is it that God makes His love for the world real, tangible, practical?  The hands of Jesus, look what Jesus dos with His hands.  Verse 33, first of all, Jesus takes this man aside, away from the crowd, to minister to him privately and personally.  You know, that’s just a little detail in the account, but, if you think about it, it speaks volumes about the kind of gracious Servant/King Jesus is, and about how to go about ministering to the needy as Jesus did.  Jesus didn’t merely pronounce a ‘blanket blessing’ of help and healing on a sea of faces.  He didn’t run them through a cattle chute like some big ‘herd’ – next!  Next!  Next!  Next!  No!  He took this man, whose world was full of silence, and, I suspect, full of great pain, and with His powerful, healing hands, OPENED, LOOSENED, FREED, what had previously been closed and pad-locked!  Jesus’ hands, the amazing instruments of God’s love, look at what He does with those hands: the Awesome Creator Who made these incredible organs of hearing and speech, Jesus uses those very same hands to heal this man’s body and to open, wide a door he’d likely never, ever walked through before. 

I mentioned the teachers, the preacher, the sales-people in our midst, those of us blessed with the ‘gift of gab’.  Jesus, the Master Teacher, the Prince of Preachers, if anyone ever had the ‘gift of gab’, He did.  But, look.  One more thing we need to notice here.  The thing about Jesus that caused everyone to marvel, in this instance it wasn’t His speaking, His telling a parable or preaching a sermon.  No!  Rather, verse 37, take a look, the text says that what caused the people to be astonished was what Jesus had DONE, not said, but DONE, with His hands!  “He had done ALL things well!  He makes both the deaf to hear – no more silence!  Hallelujah!  And He makes the mute to speak – praise the Lord!” 

When God says, ‘I love you’, He doesn’t write it on the clouds, He doesn’t put up a billboard along the highway!  He doesn’t send you a text with smiley faces and strange abbreviations!  No!  He uses Jesus’ hands!  He uses His Son’s hands!

Mark 8:22-26, “Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. Then He sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town.”

So far, in our look at the hands of Jesus, God’s incredibly tender and powerful instruments of His love for the world and for the Church, we have learned that Jesus used His hands to CLEANSE the leper; He has CLEANSING hands.  And that He used His hands to QUIET Peter’s mother-in-law, who was sick with a raging fever.  Jesus has CALMING, QUIETING hands.  And that He used His hands to give life to Jairus’ little girl; ‘Talitha, Cumi – Little girl, arise!’  Jesus has LIFE-GIVING hands! 

But, now look, what kind of hands does Jesus have?  Mark 8:22-26 – Jesus has illuminating hands.  I mentioned a moment ago, that you and I have a tendency to take things, many, many ordinary, everyday, but very, very important things, for granted. 

Peggy can relate, can’t you, Peggy?  You had your second cataract surgery performed last week, and praise God, so far it appears as if everything was very successful.  She can see things, CLEARLY, that she hasn’t seen in years!  Imagine, Peggy, what it would be like to awaken each morning, not to a world of silence, that would be bad enough, wouldn’t it?  Can you imagine what it would be like to awaken each morning to a world of darkness?  Groping about, stumbling along, trying to find your way.  By the way, darkness, blindness, that is the situation, spiritually of every lost, unsaved man, woman and child.  God, please open their eyes, that they may see! 

Take a look at this text.  Mark 8:22 and following.  First of all, please notice the DEPTH of the need!  Remember Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 that we read at the outset?  Paul prayed that we might comprehend and experience the DEPTH of God’s love for us in Christ!  Listen.  This passage in Mark 8 illustrates the point well.  The depth of God’s love, demonstrated, ultimately in Jesus’ great SACRIFICE of love at Calvary, that DEEP, DEEP love, can ultimately only be calculated in terms of the exceeding depth of our need for it!  Mark 8:22 – “Then Jesus came to Bethsaida and they brought to Him a blind man…”  Then, notice the next sentence, the next phrase, it says that the people BEGGED Jesus to touch him, to heal him!  This wasn’t a request for a cure for a hang nail, or a case of the sniffles.  No!  This was an urgent plea for the LIGHT of the World, the Maker of this man’s eyes, to Shine into his life, to touch him with His hands, that he might see!  Illuminating the DARKNESS, taking away the blindness, that’s what Jesus does with His hands.  That’s how God shows His love through Jesus’ hands! 

I was contemplating these things, and their message for me, for us, and realizing those things that we take for granted, physically, organs of hearing and speaking and seeing that function fully and flawlessly.  Those of us who aren’t like my great uncle, Jim McKnight was, those of us aren’t afflicted like this blind man was, we forget that, unless and until Jesus extends His loving hands to lift the veil over our eyes, and to open and loosen our bound tongues and blocked ears, we won’t see Him, we won’t hear Him, we won’t be able to speak for Him! 

One final passage, the very next section of Scripture in Mark chapter 8.  Jesus gathers around Him not the multitudes, but His disciples.  We might put it his way, He gathers around Him His church.  And, what does He do?  He wants to know, yes, what the crowds are saying about Him, sure!  But more importantly, much more significantly, Jesus wants to know, wants to hear, to see, to know who WE think He is.  And what is Peter’s answer?  Mark 8:29, “You are the Christ,”  “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”  (Matthew 16:16)

Here’s my question for you, Church.  Here’s what we must always keep in mind, people of God.  How did Peter come to know this?  I mean, if you look at his life, this guy, at times, he’s as blind as they come!  At times, he’s as deaf as they come, speaking when he should have been listening!  How did Peter, this often very ‘blind’ and ‘deaf’ man come to this world-changing conclusion: Jesus, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God?!

Here’s how: Matthew 16:17 – The parallel passage to this text in Mark 8, Jesus, the One whose hands give sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf, Jesus says, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven!”

I praise God for my eye sight and for ears that are open and a tongue that is loose, maybe at times too loose!  But, listen – what I need even more, more, more, more, are eyes to see the things God helped Peter to see and ears to hear the things God helped Matthew and Mark to hear! 

Why?  So that I might speak!  So that I might go, and tell!  The hands of Jesus, God, would you use Your Precious Son’s hands to help us see and hear and speak!