So, just so we are starting off on the right foot, the title line came from a guy I was speaking to about some of his issues
with Jesus’ teaching… Â This will make a lot more sense if you take a look here first. Â And now, without further delay… Part Two…
So, to get a running start, imagine Jesus were to appear in your town today. Now imagine if he made those claims. Imagine him saying, “If you ask, I will do it. If you seek me, you will find me…â€
Can you imagine the expressions on the faces of some of those in the crowd? People would clearly be running down their lists. Those lists of times where God hasn’t’ come through for them, where they asked and didn’t get. When they sought him and didn’t find him.  It would seem that the expressions and thoughts weren’t so different in the crowd around Jesus. Look at what he did next.
He changed tactics. He turned the tables a bit.
“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
He didn’t deflect, he didn’t recant, and he didn’t avoid their concerns. He asked a different question that  adjusted their viewpoint. In the first few verses we looked at, the people were asking, seeking, and knocking. This is the right approach for us as followers of the Messiah. He leads us, we seek him. So the imagery is right. He has authority over us.
The problem isn’t with that. Most of us that are followers of Jesus get that we are followers of Jesus. The issue arises when we don’t get what we ask for. Especially when it seems like we have some pretty straightforward language that shows we can expect to get what we ask for. Even more so when we deeply believe what we are asking for is fair or right.
So, back to Jesus turning the tables. What he did next is put us in the role of the authority. He asked what we would do if our child asked for something from us. Would we trick them, hurt them, put them in danger? Of course not! Jesus specifically chooses the relationship of parent and child because it isn’t just one of authority, but one where there is authority that is completely bound up in love.
Essentially, he puts us a bit in God’s place.
Smart move, Jesus. Smart move.  🙂
Doing that called on a few things that certainly any parent in that day (or ours) would almost intuitively know.
One is that the parent’s knowledge and experiential pool is greater than a kid’s. That means that there will be things that a child will believe are fine that actually aren’t. For instance, all three of our children, when they were younger, watched Tracy and I when we drove them places and let us know that not only did driving look fun, but that it looked easy. Push a pedal with your foot and turn a wheel with your hands. Done and done.
In light of their understanding of the simplicity of driving, they made many requests of us to simply hand over the keys and let them drive. When you heard them develop their arguments, it was clear that they felt very strongly that it would be fine. Why wouldn’t we just do it?
Obviously in this situation, wiser minds prevailed and so, even when a child cannot understand any reason for the restriction, they cannot drive. The larger knowledge pool wins. Driving is harder than that, it requires more coordination then they had at that age, more focus. Their belief that they were ready didn’t mean they were.
Any parent that allows their child to drive underage wouldn’t be considered a good parent, but a bad one. My point here is not that all of our requests are equivalent to a five year old asking to drive by themselves,  please hear that. To compare a kid wanting to drive and some of the pain that we pray our way through our out of would be a total misunderstanding of my point. My point is rather that even if the child has no understanding of why something is the way it is, or isn’t the way they would prefer, doesn’t mean there is no point, no reason. Just because I feel there is no wisdom or purpose to a decision made by an authority of mine doesn’t mean there isn’t wisdom or purpose.  Sometimes I simply don’t get what I don’t get.
We will close off this discussion on Sunday, check back if you dare!
Okay that was a bit much. Â See you Sunday. Â Or early next week… Or …
Peace, Jim
