Recap: In the last post we began to see how the cross was really a dramatic spiritual "do-over" - the start of a brand new phase of God's plan to save the world through his Son, Jesus Christ. In shocking fashion, spiritually speaking, God terminated the old order by destroying "man" on the cross with a consuming fire that "consumed both soul and body" (Isaiah 10:18 NKJV) until "so few remained that a child could count them" (Isaiah 10:19 CSB). Then, upon his resurrection, Jesus, "the firstborn of all creation (Col 1:15), initiated a spiritual reawakening - a "quickening" of the world, beginning with his chosen remnant.
In this post we're going to explore why the understanding of the cross as God's "spiritual reboot" of creation becomes an important factor in reconciling apparent contradictions in Jesus' ministry. The cross changes everything.
Contradictions?
One of the most baffling and frustrating issues regarding the doctrine of election is the willingness of many biblical scholars and theologians to accept clear contradictions as divine "mysteries". For example, was (is) Jesus' ministry inclusive - a sincere offer of saving grace to everyone? Or was (is) it exclusive, - intended to restrict it's effectiveness to a select few?
The answer is... both!
But that's not a contradiction. Here's why -
Inclusive. . .?
On the one hand, we have many wonderful, sincere invitations extended to everyone:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Mat 11:28 ESV)
..."If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink." (John 7:37 ESV)
... Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17 NKJV)
We can add to these encouraging, all-inclusive invitations the parable of the wedding banquet where the king instructs his servants to invite "everyone you find" to the wedding feast (Mat 22:9 CSB). We can also take into account and rejoice in the many references to God's desire to save "the whole world" (John 3:16, John 4:42, John 12:47, 1 John 2:2, etc.).
Or Exclusive?
On the other hand we have many verses that reveal that Jesus' ministry was very limiting, selective, exclusive:
"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Mat 15:24 ESV).
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. (John 6:44 ESV)
We also see evidence that there were those who were divinely prevented from understanding Jesus' teaching (Mark 4:11-12) or who who were expressly prohibited from following him (Mark 5:18).
The Dividing Line
So how do we reconcile this apparent paradox in the ministry of Jesus? How is this not a contradiction?
God, indeed, works in mysterious ways... but this is not one of them. We can harmonize the "inclusive" verses with the "exclusive" verses by “ . . . rightly dividing the word of truth. (2Ti 2:15 NKJV) - and the dividing line is the cross.
Everything changes at the cross, including “who” can come to (be with and believe in) Jesus and “how” people come to (be with and believe in) Jesus. In other words, when we distinguish between Jesus' pre-cross teaching and ministry from his post-cross teaching and ministry, we eliminate the apparent contradictions, we solve the "mystery" and we clarify a blurry understanding of God's purpose of election in the New Testament.
Here is a chart to help us understand the two natures of Jesus' ministry.
Today, let's focus on the pre-cross ministry.
Pre-cross Ministry
For the three-year span of Jesus' earthly ministry, he makes clear his earthly mission: he came only to witness to ethnic Jews. In Mathew 15, Jesus responds to a Canaanite (Gentile) woman who begs for his help with her demon-possessed daughter with these blunt words, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Mat 15:24 ESV).
Jesus’ pre-cross ministry was for ethnic Jews – but not all ethnic Jews. Throughout the gospels we see a number of verses where Jesus tells his fellow Jews; “I didn’t choose you”. “You aren’t mine”. “You aren’t my sheep”. “You can’t follow me.” For example,
As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he (Jesus) did not permit him . . . (Mar 5:18-19 ESV)
The healed man begs to follow Jesus. Yet Jesus does not permit him.
And there is evidence that the exclusion of some ethnic Jews had been divinely predetermined. The following statement by Jesus, makes clear that there were many who were supernaturally prevented from understanding his message and from identifying him as the Messiah.
And he said to them (his disciples), "To you (the apostles) has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that "they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven." (Mark 4: 11-12 - quoted from Isaiah 6:9)
There were some Jews on the "inside" and some Jews on the "outside". Note that the purpose of the parables was to keep those "on the outside" from "turning and being forgiven!" The night of Jesus' arrest, Judas (not Iscariot) was perplexed by this obvious exclusivity in Jesus' ministry for the past three years and was moved to ask: "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us (the apostles), and not to the world?" (John 14:22 ESV).
On the Inside
What determined which Jews would be allowed to be "on the inside" - to come to Jesus, to be his disciples, and to be given the "secret of the kingdom of God"? Apparently, in his pre-cross ministry, not only did a person have to be an ethnic Jew, but he had to have been taught by the Father, drawn by the Father, and given to Jesus by the Father. About a year before the cross, Jesus says:
No one can come to (be with) me unless the Father who sent me draws him... Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to (be with) me. (Jhn 6:44-45 ESV)
I added the phrase "be with" to the verses above because, in my opinion, these verses are not about coming to believe in Jesus (note that the verses don't say that), but about coming to be with Jesus (physically). It seems that during Jesus' time on the earth, the Father was uniquely controlling access to the incarnate Jesus, and selectively revealing his true identity. This unique working by the Father of revealing Jesus as the Messiah and drawing people to be with him is evident when Jesus explains to Peter how he (Peter) had come to know that Jesus was the Christ.
He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. (Mat 16:15-17 ESV)
In other words, during his pre-cross ministry, no one could come to Jesus except through the Father. (Note that this is the reverse of John 14:6 - No one comes to the Father except through (Jesus) - a wonderful, post-cross teaching. More on that next week). I believe that this process represents a unique, pre-cross division of labor in the Trinity that is never displayed in any of the writings subsequent to the cross. The Father chooses, the Father teaches, the Father draws, the Father gives. There is not a single mention of these activities being performed by the Father in the letters of Paul or Peter or John to the post-cross saints.
Final Thought
There can be no doubt that Jesus' pre-cross ministry - most notably, the selection of the Twelve, his apostles - was quite "Calvinistic" in nature. People who were foreknown (pre-chosen by the Father) were supernaturally enlightened (taught by the Father), irresistibly drawn to Jesus (by the Father), and given to him (by the Father) to train up and equip in preparation for their important post-cross purpose. Jesus' pre-cross ministry was restrictive, targeted, exclusive - Calvinistic.
Next Post: You and I are post-cross Christians. In the next post we'll look at Jesus' post-cross ministry. Everything changes. Here's a link to the next post:
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