Prayers Passing Over

“‘But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it; and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.’” Matthew 13:16-17, NASB.

I arrived early and discreetly made my way into the main wat (temple), and sat down on the floor in the back. There was an elderly monk chanting in monotonous tones, as those gathered bowed to the Buddha statue at different intervals. I must have come in toward the end of the ceremony, because it wasn’t long before the chanting stopped and the people began to disperse.

I stayed were I was and spent time in prayer. The chanting was done in Pali, an ancient language which the people cannot speak or understand. Comprehension, however, was not the point. Those who attended believed they received merit by simply showing up and allowing the words to pass over them. My prayer was that the monks today would have full comprehension of the words of Jesus. By the time I finished praying my legs were asleep, so I crawled out of the back and sat on the steps until I could feel my feet again. Then I made my way over to the monk’s sleeping quarters.

Most of them were eating breakfast when I came in, but Charlie* was the first one who came to meet me. After seating me down he apologized and let me know he could not attend class today. For the last week he had had stomach pains, so he was headed to the hospital. A few months ago I asked Christians to pray for Charlie because of a large boil on the back of his neck. I prayed with him again. He then reminded me of his previous healing and he seemed quite confident that God would heal him again.

While Charlie went over to check with the other guys to see who would be studying today, another monk came over to me and asked if I would listen to a song and write down the words for him. I was busy writing about a hangover and a crummy job when Charlie returned and told me no one would be able to study today. He apologized again and promised that everyone would be ready next week. I said, “No problem” (what else could I say?), and headed for the door.

Fortunately, Shawn and Sam were on their way in. When they saw me Shawn said, “Where have you been? We’ve been waiting for you in the classroom.”

“Great!” I said, “Let’s go.”

The focus today was on John 10 with Jesus being the gate to the sheep pen as well as the Good Shepherd. In order to gain the context, though, I first told the story from John 9 of when Jesus healed the man born blind. They learned that this man was not born blind because of his or his parent’s sin, or bad fruits of karma, but so that God might do a good work in his life. When I told how Jesus had healed him, Shawn kept saying, “Wow!”

They then learned that this man was thrown out of the temple because of the wrath of the Pharisees (the religious men), and he was not able to worship in the only way he knew how. Jesus found him, however, and the man accepted the salvation which Jesus offered him and the man worshiped Him. When that story was done, I asked, “What did Jesus say to the religious men standing near by as he talked with this man?”

Shawn answered, “He said that they only thought they could see, but really, they were blind. But this man, who used to be blind, can now see.”

“Is He talking about physical sight?” I asked.

“No,” continued Shawn. He is talking about accepting the things that He teaches.”

We then moved into John 10. After this story I asked, “What two things does Jesus compare Himself?” The gate and the shepherd, they answered. I asked them what they thought this meant and they said, “If people want to follow Him, they have to go through Him first.” Then I asked them to tell me about the Good Shepherd. They responded, “He protects His followers and his followers know Him; they know that what He says is true.”

At this point, Jack asked if Jesus was just a man or was He God. I said, “Well, let’s look at the story. Toward the end, what does Jesus say about His own life?”

Jack said, “He has the power to give it and to take it back again.”

I asked, “Have you ever known a man to have that kind of power?” He of course responded that he didn’t know such a man. Then I asked, “After Jesus finished speaking, how did the people respond?”

“Some said he had a demon, but others said he didn’t because he healed the blind man.”

“Correct!” I said, “And this is the decision that all of us must make today. Was Jesus a crazy man possessed by a spirit, or was He God?”

Jack then asked, “Then can we become like Jesus; can we become God?”

We then looked back toward the beginning of the story where Jesus says, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” I then asked, “Do we have power over our own lives to die and then come back to life? Can we heal blind people? Can we save others in the same way that Jesus promised?”

“No,” they all agreed.

“Can Jesus?” I asked. “Yes, He can.” I then encouraged them to think on this and decide what they believed about Jesus.

*Names changed for the privacy of locals involved. Excerpt from a newsletter of a Pacific Rim worker.

Pray that:

These monks will decide that Jesus is God and follow Him.

Pacific Rim workers will not grow weary in sharing truth in areas where response is slow in coming.

Charlie will come to understand that the same God who healed his boil can also save his soul.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.