Charge the Gates

I’ve talked to some people that tell me that they feel trapped in their marriage.

Others tell me they feel like they are in bondage to debt.

Still others feel like prisoners in their own life – they’re not living anything close to the dreams they once dreamt.

In Matthew 16:13-19, Jesus gives some hope to us that things don’t have to stay the way they are. Freedom is possible. The gates which keep us from living can be broken, freeing us to live.
Jesus asked his disciples who people were saying he was. They said that many people were identifying him as a prophet, or maybe even a reincarnated John the Baptist. Each of these answers, if correct, would suggest that Jesus was the precursor of the next thing – a forerunner of the person for whom the world was waiting. In other words, if Jesus was who many people thought, they would still be waiting for the next chapter. Jesus was just the next step toward the final chapter.

But the disciples had a different view of things. Peter, as spokesperson, shared with Jesus what they no doubt had been talking about upon many occasions. They had come to the conclusion that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One, the Son of God. No more waiting for the next chapter – the final character had arrived.

Sometimes we in the Church get so focused on issues of the afterlife and the end of the world that we miss the work Jesus is calling us to today. We can sometimes be found guilty of giving up on some challenges we face today, and simply settle for the someday when God’s going to wipe out all the evil and only good will remain. What we don’t get, however, is that we are supposed to be the agents of God right now to usher in the Kingdom of God, which means whatever kingdoms reign will slowly become irrelevant.

Jesus even gave the disciples a tremendous word-picture for them to remember as they began living in this new reality. He said that the gates of Hades would not prevail against them. Hades was the place of the dead in ancient Jewish thought. This is one of the Greek words that English translates as “hell.” What Jesus is saying here is that when we storm the things of death, we will eventually be victorious. The gates – the issues, challenges, and problems – that seem so impenetrable will be penetrated. The powers and forces of all that is not of God are no match for the King and his Kingdom.

Please note that Jesus didn’t carry a sword, and that he rebuked Peter for cutting off a soldier’s ear upon his arrest the night he was betrayed. He didn’t ride a war horse into Jerusalem for his triumphal entry, but instead chose a donkey. He is called the Prince of Peace. For the first 300 years of the Church, the Church grew in strength and numbers while world superpowers rose and fell. In a world that is tempted and torn by war, we must remember that Jesus had a different approach when it came to releasing captives from the gates of death.

The key to opening these gates is belief in Jesus as Christ/Messiah.

Why? Because if Jesus is Christ it means we have a different understanding of God, of grace, of life and death, of hope and hopelessness, of possible and impossible, of ourselves, our future – everything.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, “I believe in Jesus, and my marriage stinks – it’s definitely trapped in death. And my stress level makes me feel like I’m a prisoner of my own life. Believing in Jesus doesn’t seem to be the answer.”

If you’re feeling this way, and you “believe” in Jesus, you may want to check your definition of the word believe. In our culture, my experience has been that when people say they believe in something, they’re talking about cognitive belief. To believe means they’ve made up their mind about something – they’ve answered a question. People believe that Jesus was who he said he was. People believe in the US Constitution. People believe that gas prices are too high. People believe that U2 is the greatest band that ever rocked (and they’re right!).

But the “believe” Jesus talked about was a Greek word which included cognition but also meant more than that. To believe, in Jesus’ use of the term, meant that we also had some passion behind that belief – that we actually cared about this belief as we do things we highly value. And it also meant volition – belief meant that our actions matched our passionate mental assertions.
Given that definition, maybe your marriage or your finances or your physical health or… stink because your belief in Jesus is only cognitive. If you believed in Jesus the way Jesus meant, it would mean that you are ordering your life as Jesus would have you live. That means that the way you treat your spouse reflects biblical teaching. Same with your money. Ditto regarding your physical health, your priorities, your everything…

That’s why we can defeat the gates of hell, by the way. Because living by the ethic and in the Spirit of Jesus we will eliminate the influence and power of all that is not of God. More life, less death. The gates break.

Many gates that many have thought to be impenetrable can be opened. We are the ones to open them. So let’s open them the way we have been taught. This means we need to learn the ways of Jesus instead of assuming we already do. This means we care about what Jesus speaks into our lives more than just giving lip service on Sunday. This means doing.

And since our vision is not just for ourselves but for the whole world, it mean inviting others to join us in charging the gates, so that they can be free, too. So who are you going to invite as we charge the gates of death which are holding captive relationships, finances, physical health, emotional health, spiritual health, - everything?

May you be encouraged in spite of your bondage, knowing that freedom awaits as you believe, truly believe, in Jesus as Christ. May you know that the New Day has already dawned – and is waiting for you to awake. May you think beyond yourself and invite a captive world to join you on the journey toward freedom, that the whole world will know life more than death, and that life will be forever.

MP3 Link: http://www.onlinefilefolder.com/index.php?action=getshare&type=0&user_num=43737&share_id=237558&hash=0b92b3ed8fb4f7cfb4ad314aeaa583b2