Tag Archives: Demand

The Great Omission

April 10, 2025 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
Matthew 11:2-6 (NIV)

I have been working diligently on some upcoming messages of late. I have the honor this year of delivering the Good Friday message this year before my local gathering of Jesus’ followers. The story of Jesus climactic final day on earth is more dramatic than most people realize. It is a microcosm of the base conflict of the entire Great Story between good and evil, the Kingdom of God and the Prince of this World and the Kingdoms of the Earth. I’m looking forward to unpacking it for those spiritually trekking through Holy Week on the way to Resurrection Sunday.

I’m also working on a trinity of messages I’ll be delivering in May that will together form a unified whole. The first of those three messages is based on the episode in today’s chapter. Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, is languishing in Herod’s prison. His crime? He was publicly critical of Herod’s incestuous marriage to his brother’s ex-wife, Herodius, who was also his niece. The playbook of those with earthly power was the same then as it is today: silence and suppress your critics. Thus, John sat silenced and suffering in Herod’s dungeon while Jesus was launching His ministry around the Sea of Galilee.

In the discomfort of his prison cell, John was growing impatient. What was he expecting? Luke tells us what John preached to his followers:

“The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

‘His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

John envisioned Jesus the righteous judge on the great “Day of the Lord” in the end times (see Revelation 20). John envisioned what everyone else had envisioned the Messiah doing: Wiping out all the bad guys (including Rome and the Herods), making sure they got their just desserts, and setting up a kingdom on earth from which He would rule the world. Sitting in the darkness of Herod’s dungeon, John couldn’t wait for Jesus to storm Herod’s fortress, free him from his chains, and punish Herod for all the pain and suffering he’d inflicted on His cuz. Then John would be right there by Jesus side as He reigned over all the earth.

While Jesus Himself proclaimed that Judgement Day will eventually come, He first had to fulfill His purpose as the suffering servant and the sacrificial lamb prophesied by Isaiah and others. Yet, this was hidden even from John. So, when John grows impatient, the shackles chafing his wrists and ankles, he begins to doubt. Jesus is disappointing him. This is not the Messiah John told his followers to expect. So, he sends his disciples to ask Jesus, “Hey cuz! Dude? What gives? Get me outta here!”

In His reply, Jesus alludes to the prophet Isaiah whom Jesus quoted in His first public sermon at his hometown synagogue in Luke 4:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free…”

But in His allusion to John’s disciples Jesus mentions proclaiming the good news to the poor and giving sight to the blind. He even adds that “the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised.” Jesus, however, omits from His report proclaiming “freedom for the prisoners” and “setting the oppressed free.”

Ouch. What a great and deliberate omission.

Jesus’ earthly mission on this go round will not look like John wants it to look. There’s a freedom that must first be proclaimed that has nothing to do with the physical shackles of a temporal world, but rather the spiritual chains of sin and their eternal realities and consequences.

“Sorry, cuz. I’m afraid that you must suffer as I must suffer. Believe me, your chains are temporary. Your reward is eternal. You can’t see it now, but you will. You’re almost to the finish line. Don’t stumble now, bruh.”

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about the spiritual posture that Jesus is asking of John. It is a kneeling, open, and surrendered posture. It is the same that He has demanded of His disciples and anyone else who would follow, including me. Anyone who wants to follow must deny themselves, their expectations, their desires, and their demands. They must be willing to sacrifice and to suffer. The path to Life lies through death. There are no shortcuts, workarounds, or easy detours.

“Not my will, but Yours be done.”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!

Chapter-a-Day

Path and Purpose

August 29, 2022 Tom Vander Well 2 Comments

So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord call David’s enemies to account.”

“As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die!”
1 Samuel 20:16, 31 (NIV)

Along my life journey, I’ve been aware of the paths on which I was led. God’s hand has guided my steps. In a few cases, the direction and guidance were as unmistakable as an exit sign on the interstate. In most cases, I was simply moving forward step-by-step, and it’s only in looking back that I realize that I was being led the entire time.

A strong sense of purpose is one of the tell-tale motivations of an Enneagram Type Four, so I get that I may sense it more deeply and recognize it more clearly than those who are motivated in other ways. I believe deeply that every life has purpose which may also be the reason I observe and consider the paths I see others taking.

I have always observed with fascination when children’s paths and purpose are placed upon them by parents and family. I have observed some individuals whose life was tyrannized by parents who demanded their children walk the path prescribed for them. It appears to be more common when family legacies, businesses, and kingdoms are involved and at stake. How fascinating it’s been to watch England’s Prince Harry try to separate from the royal family while living off the privilege of the very life he says he wants nothing to do with.

But those are the big examples. They come in quiet, everyday examples as well. I know at least one individual who was specifically raised to take over the family business, a fate for which he had no desire and for which he was never really suited. He eventually attempted to commit suicide.

What I found fascinating in today’s chapter was the motivations of father and son, Saul and Jonathan, which bring the story to a climactic event. King Saul is trying to have David killed, and he tells Jonathan that he’s doing it to preserve the throne and kingdom for Jonathan himself. And, I tend to believe that it’s more about Saul’s self-centered pride than it is about an altruistic desire for his son’s future. Jonathan, meanwhile, knows that his father is a poor leader, knows that David is God’s anointed, and appears to approach the situation with a desire for God’s purposes to prevail. Jonathan makes a covenant with “the house of David,” meaning that he is choosing loyalty to David and his descendants. He is abdicating any “right” to ascend his father’s throne.

This has me thinking back to my own path in life, and to my own choices as a parent. I’m blessed that my parents allowed me to choose my own way and placed little, or no, expectations on me (Thanks, Dad and Mom! I’m grateful.). Likewise, my heart’s desire for both Taylor and Madison was that they follow the path God had for each of them. I’ve always tried to provide guidance and wisdom, but I always believed that my role as a parent was to steward them to become the person God intended for them to be, not tyrannically demanding they become the person I envisioned or desired for them to be. I’ve discovered that entrusting my children to God doesn’t end with choosing a college or a major. It’s a life-long process.

In the quiet this morning, I am so respectful of the choice Jonathan made. Breaking with family, especially a son choosing against his own father, can be incredibly difficult. With the covenant he makes in today’s chapter, Jonathan seals his father’s fate, as well as his own, and his descendants. In so doing, he opens the path to God’s stated purposes and the eventual ascendence of David.

But the story isn’t finished. As I’ve experienced in my own life, sometimes God’s purposes take years to germinate, take root, and grow before the fruit appears. Saul is still on the throne. David is now headed into the wilderness, living life on the lam. God’s path almost always leads through the wilderness. I’m looking forward to following David and reminding myself why.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Spiritual Scarcity

May 9, 2016 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

“Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift….”
1 Corinthians 1:7a (NIV)

A few weeks ago I was wondering exactly where my property line lay in relation to a few adjacent lots. There are metal property pins driven into the corner of each lot, but most of them have been buried over time. So, I put out a plea on Facebook for a metal detector as I figured that was what I lacked to find the pins, and a friend brought one over to me. In the process, however, another friend messaged me a link to an iPhone app. I never knew it, but my iPhone can act as a metal detector. Who knew. All along I had what I needed right in the palm of my hand.

“You don’t have enough….”
“What you really need is….”
“If only you had….”
“You’ll never, until you have….”

Along the journey through life I have come to realize that our economy and our culture is predicated on an innate sense of scarcity. A market is driven by supply and demand. If a company is building a supply of widgets that they want to sell to the masses, then they must somehow create a demand for it. The marketing and branding gurus go to work convincing us that we want that widget. We need that widget. Our lives are less fulfilled without it and life would be more comfortable, satisfying, and complete if we only had this widget.

Scarcity is the underlying belief that I am not enough and I don’t have enough. We are subtly fed this message day in and day out without us ever being aware of it. Along the way, I’ve come to the realization that it seeps out of mass media into my very soul. It affects the way I view God and my spiritual thought and belief system.

“If only I was a gifted [fill in the blank]….”
“God won’t ever be happy with me because I’m not….”
“I would feel closer to God if only I had….”

In the opening of his letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Corinth, Paul reminds them that they don’t lack any spiritual gift. Other teachers were trying to convince them that what they “really needed” was to be baptized by this particular teacher, or the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues, or this, or that, and et cetera. Paul made it clear. You’ve got what you need. You just don’t realize it.

On this Monday morning when my soul is weary and I’m staring out at long week ahead, it is easy to feel a sense of lack. It seems that what I really need is scarce and I’m starting the week in a deficit of [fill in the blank]. It is good to be reminded that as a follower of Jesus I am blessed with “every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3) God has spiritually provided all that I need. It’s time to realize it, and accept the realization.