Have you ever listened to a message about Thomas not believing that Jesus had been raised from the dead and kind of came away with the impression that Thomas was stubbornly and willfully faithless and Jesus showed up and rebuked him for his faithlessness?
How about when Jesus was asleep in the boat and the storm came? Do you remember getting the sense that Jesus was a little mad at being woke up and got up and rebuked the storm and then rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith and fearfulness?
Yeah, me too! And a whole lot of other people I’ve talked to as well!
Do you know that is not Scripturally accurate?
I remember Brother Kenneth E. Hagin preaching on 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Brother Hagin said that one of the best ways to rightly divide the word of truth is to let the Scripture interpret itself.
Let’s do that!
Turn with me to the book of Isaiah, chapter fifty-four.
“For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.”
Isaiah 54:7-9 KJV
Did you see that?! It is a covenant issue with God that He will not be angry with us nor will He rebuke us! He SWORE IT!
“No Brother David, He was talking to Israel.” Excuse me?! Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ has redeemed US!” It’s the Redeemer speaking in Isaiah fifty-four and I am the redeemed of the Lord and I say so – and so are you!
Now, let’s look at a few Scriptures back to back.
“For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”
John 6:38 KJV
“For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.”
John 12:49-50 KJV
“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”
John 5:19 KJV
The Father’s will is to NOT be angry or rebuke us. So, He is not going to have Jesus speak words of anger or rebuke! Now, think about this – Jesus only did the actions that He saw the Father do. Typically, we think about the big things like healings and miracles but it would also include the little actions like body language during communication!
Are you starting to get a better picture of Thomas and the disciples in the storm?
I’m going to paraphrase this just a bit for sake of space. Thomas said, “I’m not going to believe (have faith) unless I do A, B and C. Jesus showed up and met Thomas right where he was! Jesus said ok, you need to do A, B and C in order to have faith. Here, do A, B and C. Ok, now that you did that and you have some faith, let me show you a better way. This way gets you further into the BLESSING!
You’ll notice, in the scripture, it says Jesus “saith” unto Thomas. It does NOT say He “rebuked” Thomas.
That word “saith” simply means “to lay forth in words.” In other words, to explain or to just simply put it out there.
It’s the same in Mark chapter five. He “rebuked” the storm but He “said” unto the disciples. He did definitely remind them that they had been learning from Him how to do that all day long though.
How do I know how He spoke to them?
Turn over to Ephesians chapter four.
“Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin). Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind). And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:29-32 AMPC
There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY that our Heavenly Father (who is love) had Jesus speak and act differently than He instructs us to do! No way!
Want to know something else?! There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY that our Heavenly Father is going to speak to US any other way than what He had described in those verses!
So, let me ask you this question, are you the “rebuked” of the Lord or are you the REDEEMED of the Lord?!
WE ARE THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD!
Make much of His love and compassion! Think about it all the time! He will always meet you where you are and then take you up to the next level lovingly and compassionately. He loves you so much!