The | Yet Not I, But Christ

A Jewish friend of mine who purported to understand Christianity told me an interesting story. It was about the first sermon he remembered hearing from his Rabbi. First of all, let me say that his understanding is probably not much different than many Christians, so let’s be careful about judging. Now, I have taken some literary license to make it read better. Here goes:

“Once upon a time, there were two men who died,” the Rabbi started. “When they awoke, they were sitting in front of the entrance gates to heaven. But they were not free. They were bound with cords opposite to one another, face to face. In between them lay two apples from the Tree of Life. Each could reach the apples with their hands, but their wrists were restrained in a way that prevented them from bringing the fruit to their own mouths. The cords did not restrict them, however, from reaching their apple to the mouth of the other man. They looked at each other quizzically. What is this all about, they wondered?

“An angel appeared and spoke to the two men. ‘You cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven,’ he said, ‘ unless you eat of the Tree of Life. I must now leave. If you are still here when I come back, it will be because you have not eaten of the Tree of Life and you will be cast into hell. If you are not here when I come back, it will be because you have partaken of the Holy Fruit and been welcomed into heaven as one of God’s faithful servants.’ The angel disappeared before them.

“The two men stared at one another panicked. What would they do? They could not feed themselves. Each could see suspicion in the other’s eyes as well as a reflection of their own distrust.

“When the angel came back, the two men were gone. They had eaten of the Tree of Life and entered the Kingdom of Heaven.”

“How did they do it?” the Rabbi asked rhetorically. “They could not help themselves.”

He waited a minute. There was silence.

“The answer is,” explained the Rabbi, “that though they could not feed themselves, each could feed the other. In that moment, they had to put their faith in one another and put the Holy Fruit up to the other’s mouth so the other could eat and enter heaven with no promise he would reciprocate. ”

“The moral of the story,” the Rabbi said wrapping up his message, “is to do unto others as you would have done unto yourselves. This is what it is about. Doing good to others.”

Now that story sounds very nice and noble. Many Christians would agree. That is what it is all about. Luke 6:31 says that very thing.

But what if I were to tell you that it still falls short. It misses the mark. It’s not enough. You might raise your eyebrows in bewilderment.

Let’s start with what Paul said in Gal 5: 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The operative word is “Love!” The question here is did these two men do it out of love, or did they do it with the idea of getting something back in return. Jesus also said in Matt 5: 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?

Let me explain what true love is by retelling the story with a little twist.

Let’s say that one of the men in the story had his wrists bound behind his back. He could neither feed himself nor feed the other man. He was totally helpless. The other man was bound like the story above. He would be able to feed the other but not himself. That man was Jesus. He could save the man across from him, but there was no way that he would be able to partake. What would do you think the outcome would be now? Do you think there would have been one person, two persons, or none when the angel returned?

A trick question, you might ask? No. I think you know answer.

When the angel returned, he would have found one man. That man is Christ. He is the only one that would die for another with no thought of anything in return. You see, the only way anyone will get to heaven is for God to provide a way, which he did through His Son, Jesus Christ. No one on earth has the power to get to heaven on their own by their own good works. We are totally helpless like the man in the story.

The only way we can get to heaven is to have Christ feed us from the Tree of Life which he did at the cost of his own life. Now that is what you call “True Love.”

Father, thank you for being LOVE and for being LOVE in us.