Jesus Is My Iconoclast - a podcast by Lewis Marsh

Discovering Jesus in the New Testament

#03 Jesus My Iconoclast

By Louie Marsh, 1-22-2023

 

iconoclast

 

noun

a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being based on error or superstition.

a breaker or destroyer of images, especially those set up for religious veneration.

 

The term originates from the Byzantine Iconoclasm, the struggles between proponents and opponents of religious icons in the Byzantine Empire from 726 to 842 AD. Degrees of iconoclasm vary greatly among religions and their branches, but are strongest in religions which oppose idolatry, including the Abrahamic religions. Outside of the religious context, iconoclasm can refer to movements for widespread destruction in symbols of an ideology or cause, such as the destruction of monarchist symbols during the French Revolution.

 

Pictures of Jesus

 

1) Jesus always spoke to the HEART of the matter.

 

• He tore things down to EXPOSE the idols of our hearts.

 

“1Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. 2And the word of the Lord came to me: 3“Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts…(Ezekiel 14:1–3, ESV)

 

“5For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” (Ephesians 5:5, ESV)

 

2) I should FOLLOW Jesus not tradition.

 

“33“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” (Matthew 5:33–37, ESV)

 

3) Jesus forbids using God to MAKE MONEY.

 

“13The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”” (John 2:13–17, ESV)

 

• Worship is not a means to an end, it’s an ENCOUNTER with God.

 

4) Jesus loves people not THINGS OR TRADITIONS.

 

“1At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”” (Matthew 12:1–8, ESV)

 

During the 1952 Christmas season, C. S. Lewis invited Joy Davidman Gresham—an American with whom he had corresponded for over two years—to spend the holidays at his home, The Kilns. Joy asked Lewis to autograph her copy of his book, The Great Divorce. He wrote, "There are three images in my mind which I must continually forsake and replace by better ones: the false image of God, the false image of my neighbours, and the false image of myself. C. S. Lewis 30 December 1952 (from an unwritten chapter on Iconoclasm)."

 

 

5) Jesus doesn’t CONDEMN those struggling with faith.

 

Doubt. The Biblical word doubt stands between faith and unbelief. Both faith and unbelief have one thing in common, they are committed to a particular belief or point of view. Doubt isn’t. Doubt is the lack of commitment. When you aren’t sure, as the father here isn’t, you are doubting. Perhaps the best way to think of doubt is as a pendulum. It swings back and forth between two different poles. You can doubt and be very far from faith or very close to it. Jesus proved this when he said to a Scribe, “3… 

 

“You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.” (Mark 12:34, ESV)

 

• Jesus PINPOINTS the problem.

 

“22And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” (Mark 9:22-23, ESV)

 

• Jesus gives the doubters what they NEED to believe.

 

24Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 25And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”” (Mark 9:24–25, ESV)

 

The father knew he had doubt, but he didn’t know what to do about it. So again he turns to Jesus and exclaimed, “I believe; help my unbelief!” There you have it, belief and unbelief equal doubt. But a doubt that is very near to the Kingdom of God because the father wisely turns to Jesus for help with his doubt.

 

Today we hear many preachers railing against what they call, “Doubt and unbelief.” They condemn anyone who doesn’t have perfect faith like they supposedly have. But in fact, these men don’t know what faith is at all. Doubt is not in the same category as unbelief, as even a cursory glance at a lexicon or a dictionary would tell you.

 

Jesus does not condemn this man, any more than he would later with Thomas. 

 

“27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”” (John 20:27–29, ESV)

 

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