Have you ever been reading your Bible when you came upon a scripture verse that stood out to you because of how perplexing it was? I’m not talking about a simple misunderstanding due to some unexplained, ancient cultural detail or other needed contextual background information. I’m referring to a statement or action found in God’s word that seems to make no sense at ALL, or perhaps appears to be incongruent with your perception of how life works. If you read your Bible even occasionally, you’ve likely come across such verses.
What do you do when this happens? If you’re like many people, you may quickly give up trying to figure it out so that you can finish your reading. Perhaps you may think about it for a moment and decide to look into it a little later, but never do. Alternatively, you may decide to ignore it, convinced it’s just too difficult to grasp or not important enough to spend your time researching it.
I confess, I’ve used all these strategies! Although not very satisfying, they at least enable us to get through the parts of the Bible we do understand. I don’t believe; however, this is the best response to these mystifying moments, for they likely cause us to miss some important truths.
Seeing With The Eyes Of The Heart
To make this point, I’d like to look at two examples of troubling verses that, if properly understood and applied, can make a significant impact on your understanding of how to live the Christian life. The first example is one that, on the surface, seems absurd. The second example is one that appears to be out of touch with how life works. For our first example, we’re going to hear from Jesus himself in the Sermon on the Mount.
“You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” (Matthew 5:27-30, ESV.)
Is Jesus telling us that gouging out an eye or cutting off a hand is the solution to overcoming lust? Is it the fault of the offending body part that is the source of sinful lust? I’m sure it’s safe to say that cutting off a hand or gouging out an eye would not solve the problem of lust in a person. You can still lust after someone while missing a hand and an eye! A reasonable question, at this point, might be, “why does Jesus use this language if He doesn’t mean it?” or “Why does He speak in a way that is unclear?” If we don’t have a ready answer to one of these questions, we’ll likely move on from his statement and chalk it up to another crazy biblical moment. However, Jesus uses this language intentionally. He could have made this statement in any number of ways, but He chose this one. And it makes perfect sense if taken in the context of his entire teaching in the Sermon on the Mount found in the gospel of Matthew.
In his sermon, Jesus stresses this point to the crowd of followers, “. . . unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20, ESV). Jesus is telling the people that their lives need to be fundamentally different from the lives lived by those who set themselves up as their spiritual leaders (the scribes and Pharisees). These leaders’ emphasis for living was on their performance, their external actions. Although they did many religious acts such as prayer, fasting, and tithing, it was all done to give the appearance of righteousness. Jesus knew that the actual source of good actions or wrongdoing came from within the human soul. So, He was letting the people know that they needed to focus on the true source of good and bad actions, not on the actions themselves.
In Matthew 5:27-30, Jesus’ sermon addresses the problem of sexual lust and desire, not just adultery. The scribes and Pharisees were focused on not violating the law. So, in this instance, they measured their righteousness by NOT COMMITTING ADULTERY. It was about doing the minimum to be considered good, without giving thought to the purpose of the moral value itself. But not committing the physical act of adultery is an inadequate way to deal with the real problem of right sexual behavior. This is a matter of the heart. Professor and Christian philosopher Dallas Willard made this observation, “In the unredeemed heart of man is a propensity for acting good instead of being good”.
Jesus is saying that if you think that keeping the letter of the law can eliminate being wrong you would, to be consistent, cut off your hand or gouge out your eye so that you could not possibly do the acts the law forbids. So, in this context, when Jesus refers to gouging out your eye and cutting off your hand, He is reducing to the absurd the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. He is making it clear that blinding or dismembering yourself, though it would prohibit you from seeing or touching a woman, would be of no benefit because it would not change the heart. So, you needn’t worry that Jesus was promoting an acute form of self-flagellation as a means to overcoming unhealthy sexual desires.
Finding Life’s True Power
For the second example of a perplexing scripture, I turn to the apostle Paul in his second letter to the church in Corinth. Although this portion of scripture may not be as shocking to the senses as the first example, it is, nonetheless, one that seems counterintuitive and often elicits groans and resistance to its message. The context of the following verses finds Paul wrestling with significant troubles as he prays for God to remove them.
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, ESV).
Most of us would do nearly anything to avoid being in a weak position. To us, weakness is not only undesirable, but also depressing and discouraging. Take a moment to think back to a time when you were sick and didn’t have the strength to do much, or to a time when difficult circumstances rendered you helpless to change your condition. Not a pleasant thought, is it?
So, when we read that the apostle Paul boasts gladly about his weakness, that he believes when he is weak, he is strong, and that he is pleased to be in that state, we are incredulous. This just doesn’t feel right. This must be Paul making the best of unfortunate circumstances, right? He couldn’t possibly mean it the way he said it! I think he does mean just what he said. In these verses, Paul is identifying a reality that most of us find hard to embrace. We all long to live a life that is empowered by God. But to do that we must understand the nature of His power and how it works within us.
In response to Paul’s request for help with his problem, God tells him, “My power is made perfect (complete or full) in weakness.” On the surface, this statement seems self-contradictory. But He did not say that our power is made complete in weakness. It is His power, and it is our weakness. So, God’s power is made full or complete in our weakness. When we are weak, God’s power can find its place in us. That’s why Paul gladly boasts of his weakness, SO THAT THE POWER OF CHRIST MAY REST UPON HIM. But when we are operating out of our own strength, it interferes with the effectiveness of that power.
Let me give you an illustration that might make this more clear. Suppose you are swimming in the ocean, and you get caught in an undertow and must struggle just to keep yourself afloat. Now, after a few minutes of this, you are weakened and beginning to sink. Fortunately, a lifeguard notices your struggle and makes his way out to you. When he gets there, he tells you to stop fighting for your life, and allow him to take hold of you and take you safely to the shore. He knows that if you attempt to ‘help’ him (in your own strength), both you and him may drown, because your efforts will fight against his. Your ‘strength’ will interfere with the power of his efforts. He wants you to accept your ‘weakness’ so that he can rescue you. And your ‘weakness’ will allow his power to complete the task of rescuing you: ‘His power is made complete in your weakness.’
It is from this realization that Paul makes the statement, “when I am weak, then I am strong.” And if that statement is true, then the reverse is true as well, “when I am strong, then I am weak.” Since Paul knows the reality of this condition, he can say with full assurance that he is content in his weaknesses. I think it’s safe to say that many of us are unfamiliar with living by grace in God’s power. We are more familiar with living out of our own power and abilities and hoping that God will help us along the way. This is another way of saying, as we find in the book of Romans, that we are living “by the flesh”. That is, our efforts and capabilities are the resources for living. And these resources are inadequate for living the kind of life God calls us to. Only God’s efforts and capabilities (his power) are sufficient for living the abundant life Jesus came to give (John 10:10b).
As we have read, it is only by embracing our weakness that this kind of supernatural life of power is available to us. In John chapter 15 Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5, ESV). Won’t you take this moment to seriously consider the words of Jesus? It could be very powerful!
There are many more scripture verses that are difficult to hear and accept. But glossing over what we don’t understand, or find hard to receive, will leave us with an incomplete and, perhaps, an ineffective and disappointing Christian experience. Let’s approach all of God’s word prayerfully and humbly. If we seek Him purposefully and earnestly He will be faithful to reveal Himself and His Word to our longing hearts.
