1.4. A vision of the urgency

The time has come

By José Bernardo

When we look at distance, we see the Word of God. The light concentrates and we see children receiving the Word. If it focuses some more, we see children and youth producing fruit of repentance and obedience. What comes next? What is the final image that we see in the narrower tip of our telescope?

Sorrowing Old Man (At Eternity's Gate). Vincent van Gogh, 1890 (Detail) 

Jesus preached the answer and Mark summarizes his evangelization in three phrases, each one answering a key question. Why? “The time has come”. How? “The kingdom of God has come near”. What? “Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15). The compelling reason of the Gospel is that the time is complete. There is nothing to wait for anymore. Nobody is saying ‘slow down’, ‘take your time’… We see the same urgency all across the New Testament since John the Baptist. He urged people to repent and when they tried to flee, he talked about fire. Could it be something more imperative? For John, the era he was announcing, was a time to throw into the fire every tree that did not produce good fruit. Jesus was coming and instead of water, he would baptize people with the Holy Spirit and, since in this context it signifies destruction, with fire. To clear any doubts that Jesus would in fact burn some people, John said, “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire” Matthew 3:12.

For many people who have a wrong idea of divine Grace, it is not easy to think of an all-loving Jesus burning people with fire. However, the one who loves the Father first, who is consumed by the zeal for the House of God, confirmed the prophecy of John. When he was preaching in parables we saw the winnowing fork in his hands, and in the evening, after the Last Supper he said, “If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned” John 15:6. The urgency in the Gospel is meant to produce fruit of repentance and obedience. Answering a question of why some people perish and others remain, the Master told the parable of a fig tree that did not produce fruit for three years, and should be cut down (Luke 13:1-9). The gardener bargained for one more year, but the word of the Lord resonates: “unless you repent, you too will all perish”.

Jesus decided to give the Father the fruit he is worthy to receive. It’s all about the Song of the vineyard (Isaiah 5). The Lord gave everything to Israel, but did not receive the fruit of repentance and obedience. Now, the new Israel in Christ must work the harvest with great urgency. “If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.” Luke 13:9.

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Jose Bernardo is the OneHope vice-president for lusophone countries. OneHope is a global agency of the Bible that has worked in 145 countries giving the Word of God to every child.

1.3. A vision of the results

It will not return to me empty

By José Bernardo

The Word of God came, asking a child, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” Jer 1:11. Once the boy saw what was intended to be seen, the Lord said: “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” (v12). Looking through our spiritual telescope, we see the Word of God, and we see children receiving it. When this light concentrates even more, we must see children reacting to the Word.

Harvest Season 03. To Ngoc, vietnamese contemporary artist.

In teaching about results of hearing the Word, Mark tells the stories of the withered fig tree and the cleansing of the Temple (Mark 11:12-26). It is so important that he abandoned his dynamic and objective style to wrap one story inside the other. The last week before the crucifixion had come. It was Passover time and Jesus stayed among the poor in Bethany. The Lord walked every day to Jerusalem with his disciples and met pilgrims visiting the Temple. In the first morning, upon leaving Bethany, he was hungry. He saw a fig tree in leaf at a distance; it should have some fruit. Figs sprout before leafs and some should be ripe even if not all of them. However, Jesus found nothing, even unripe fruits. He prayed according to the situation, and the disciples heard him. In the following morning, they saw the tree withered, remembering what had happen.

This first story helps to explain the equally dramatic cleansing of the Temple. Jesus entered the Temple courts and drove out those who were buying and selling. He even overturned tables and benches and did not allow anybody to carry merchandise. In doing this, he also taught from Isaiah (56:7) and Jeremiah (7:11): “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” Mark 11:17. Jesus saw that people were not obeying the command of the Lord, and then acted to see the Word obeyed. The Lord said, in the very prophecy of Jeremiah quoted by Jesus, “…but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.” Jeremiah 7:23.

Obedience to the Word is the fruit the Lord wants to see, not leafs of an apparent worship. Moreover, it is not difficult to obey the Word of God, because “…whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24. The Lord’s covenant to be our God, and for us to be his people, is based in obedience. We receive grace to obey, because the Word of the Lord is rain that comes down from heaven, it buds and flourishes, so that it gives bread for the eater (Isa 55:10). Indeed, “To obey is better than sacrifice…” 1Sam 15:22.

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Jose Bernardo is the OneHope vice-president for lusophone countries. OneHope is a global agency of the Bible that has worked in 145 countries giving the Word of God to every child.

1.2. A vision of the children

Let the little children come to me

By José Bernardo

The Word of God is the first thing we see when we look through our spiritual telescope. God reigns sovereign, and everything reflects his word and good will. It is as the psalmist said: “The earth is filled with your love, Lord; teach me your decrees.” Psalms 119:64. Then, when such powerful light concentrates, what do we see? We see people hearing the Word of God. Who are they?

Cornelia Pointing at Her Children as Her Treasures. Angelica Kauffman,1785. 

John describes how the Jews would not believe in Jesus, even after he performed so many signs (John 12:37-50). Paul also explained to the Romans why the Israelites did not believe in the Good News (Rm 10:16-21). Both repeated the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Isaiah 53:1. Very few people see, hear and experience the Word of God, repent and get saved. However, about children, Jesus says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these…” Mark 10:13-16. What strong colors Matthew, Mark and Luke used in the original language to paint this scene! People brought children to Jesus so he could light them up. The disciples spoke as if they were saying something of great value. Jesus felt like he was bending over in terrible pain. He told the disciples to release and not mutilate the children, and affirmed that the Government of God exists for people who are like little children.

Once again we see a passage teaching that not all people receive the Good News. A very specific kind of people are able to see, hear and experience the Gospel. The key to understand who they are is in the expression “…such as these…”. Children do not exactly own the Kingdom, but they have characteristics that allow them, and everybody that has the same characteristics, to be under the ruling of the Almighty King. Again, those characteristics are in the text, implicit in two words: “Let…” and “…do not hinder…”. The root for the word ‘hinder’ in Greek is to curtail, to punish or impede by mutilating. The whole idea is that unless children are mutilated, if they are released, they will come to Jesus, they will submit to his kingship, and that is the Gospel. 

The SUPER20 research on the growth of the Brazilian church shows that 77% of all conversions used to happen when people were under 24 years of age. The largest group was from 11 to 17 years old, which represents 32.7% of the total. People in these age groups are the ones like children; they would be naturally attracted by the Lord once they are released and not mutilated. Let the children come!

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Jose Bernardo is the OneHope vice-president for lusophone countries. OneHope is a global agency of the Bible that has worked in 145 countries giving the Word of God to every child.

1.1. A vision of the Word

And God said, let there be light
By José Bernardo

The Scripture says that ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ (Deut 8:3; Mat 4:4). The reason of our existence is the Word of God, which is his ‘manifest will’. This is also the reason for the existence of everything. So, what will we see when we look through our spiritual telescope?

The Prophet Daniel. Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel.

The Book of Hebrews was written to help Jews keep the Christian faith, even if they were going through extreme trials and being lured to return to Judaism. The key to accomplish such an ambitious goal is faith. So, we can say that Hebrews is specialized in faith and chapter 11 is its highest peak. In this chapter, faith is meticulously described and its dynamics are abundantly exemplified. First, the primary example of faith is our knowledge of the arrangement of the eons: “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Hebrews 11:3. The Word of God formed the universe we see. To explain that, the author uses the Greek word rhéma, which means a spoken word or a command, as we see in the very beginning of Genesis.

Evoking Genesis, Hebrews states that everything we see is formed by the Word of God. Therefore, it is correct infer that what we see is the Word of God, in the sense that it is the result of his commands and of his good, pleasing and perfect will. The psalmist echoes this idea saying: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Psalm 19:1-4. What we see is what the Lord said must be; what we see is ‘the manifest will of God’.

The Word of God is the light that will hit our spiritual telescope. John takes us even further: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” John 1:4. Again, what we see is made by nothing other than the Word, and the Word is Jesus. Nature was made through Jesus and the Bible teaches about him. The fact is that if we look to Jesus we’ll see the Word, and when we see the Word of God we will have seen everything. Nature is a register of what God has done; the Bible is his active word that interprets everything. The word of God is enough!

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Jose Bernardo is the OneHope vice-president for lusophone countries. OneHope is a global agency of the Bible that has worked in 145 countries giving the Word of God to every child.

1. A telescopic vision

If we just look
By José Bernardo

Anticipation is essential for survival. Every living being has some ability to anticipate what is coming and their lives depend on it. For instance, it is possible to use a telescope to see what is happening from a distance. In doing so, the traveler preview the future and would prepare in advance for what will be found and get the best results. This material experience can be virtually reproduced in business or ministry, and this is what we call a tactical vision. Let’s see how it works.

Galileo Galilei displaying his telescope, H. J. Detouche, 1754

How amazing to see the invisible, to comprehend the incomprehensible, to shorten distances, to find a completely new world. Looking through a telescope leads to a whole new perspective. We are able to anticipate upcoming events, to know in advance things that we will encounter in the future. The same idea applies to tactical vision, either in business or in ministry. Spiritually, our telescope is the divine revelation. We can’t invent a vision; unless we are eluded and deceived, chances are we won’t see what we want to see. We see what the Lord says; we see what he is doing. We perceive his words and actions and they tell us what to expect. This is what may be called ‘the manifest will of God’, our telescopic vision. Looking through it we can be prepared for the future.

This is how a telescope works: the light reflected by objects at a distance enters the larger extremity. Then, the light is concentrated and focused until the observer can see the object closer through the narrow extremity. When we point our spiritual telescope, we also will see a vision that goes from a broad to a concentrated idea. The light in the larger extremity is the Word of God. When it concentrates, we see children and youth receiving the Word of God. At the next stage, we see the transformation of lives and finally, at the closest extremity, there is a clear image of the urgency for the life transformation of children by giving them the Word of God.

If we just look, this is what we’ll see. However, if we don’t have the spiritual telescope, we will ignore what is coming ahead, expending our resources with what is habitual, never being prepared for the future. A telescopic vision is a new vision. Upon receiving it, we need to interpret what this vision means for the present and decide what to do now about the future. While walking for the future, we need to keep that vision in mind. We also have the responsibility to communicate the vision to our disciples, co-workers and partners, people who we want to see preparing alongside us for what we anticipate. Point your spiritual telescope and observe!

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Jose Bernardo is the OneHope vice-president for lusophone countries. OneHope is a global agency of the Bible that has worked in 145 countries giving the Word of God to every child.