Today's passage tells the story of Jesus entering the synagogue. He immediately noticed a man with a withered hand. This man's physical infirmity moved Christ to compassion. Unfortunately, the religious leaders were simply calloused toward the man's predicament. The Pharisees watched Jesus closely, not because they were pleased with His gracious act, but because they sought opportunity to accuse the Lord for breaking their man-made rules. As the Lord observed the crowd, the Pharisees’ hardened hearts grieved the Lord to the point of anger. Of course, the Lord knew their thoughts and first sought to reason with them. He did the very thing which the Pharisees hoped He would. The hearts of the religious leaders that should have been tender and welcoming to God's miracles were instead full of pride and completely calloused. Christ's acts of compassion served to further harden their deceitful hearts rather than softening them.
Searching a modern dictionary for the words temperance or temperate likely yields a definition limiting temperance to self-control or abstinence from alcohol. However, the scripture infers a much broader and deeper definition. Studying the root word temper offers a better biblical definition of the word than today's typical dictionary definition. Temper is an action word that means to mix something. Although the Bible contains only a few uses of the words temperate and temperance, these words mean to be balanced or to have a proper mix. Paul’s message, as he reasoned with Felix, included a message of temperance. Improper balance is one of greatest problems plaguing modern Christianity. It can best be seen in the tendency to lean either toward absolute truth without love or love without seeking the balance of presenting the whole counsel of God.
God directs believers to submit to various authorities; yet, above all these authorities, we must submit ourselves unto God. This submission entails submitting our whole being (body, soul, and spirit) to God. Christ purchased us with His own blood on Calvary (1 Corinthians 6:20), and we are no longer our own. This means that God has the authority to tell us what to eat, where to go, what to watch, what to listen to, what to read, where to attend church, how to worship Him, and the list continues without end. Every aspect of our lives, from our thought life to our every action, remains God’s business. We should wisely submit every aspect of our lives to Him. Submitting to God enables us to resist the Devil and when we resist him, the Devil flees.
The passage may appear to directly equate obedience and submission together, but each word conveys a separate and distinct concept. Although today's passage includes both obedience and submission, it is important to recognize that these two words involve separate acts. Earlier studies noted a twofold definition of obedience: first, having an attentive ear, followed by acting upon what has been said. Dividing submission into two parts helps to better understand it too (sub + mission). The prefix sub means under (thus a submarine travels under the water), and the root word mission means to be sent out. Obedience, therefore, emphasizes the act of hearing and doing, while submission emphasizes the act of placing oneself under the authority of another.
The apostle Paul, through the leading of the Holy Ghost, made his way through Paphos preaching God's word. While in that country, Paul faced great resistance especially from the likes of a false prophet named Bar-jesus. Yet, in the midst of this chaos, the Bible mentions a prudent man named Sergius Paulus, the deputy of the country. He desired to hear the message preached by God's man. Sergius Paulus wanted to hear the truth because a prudent man desires to hear it no matter the opposition and the attempts to silence the words of God. Unfortunately, there seem to be many more people like the false prophet today. They want little or nothing to do with the word of God. Yet, a prudent man, whether he agrees or disagrees with what he hears, will desire to hear the words of God. He then ponders those words as he makes his decisions concerning his daily life and eternal destination.
Likely, no mere mortal endured more difficulty over a short period of time than did Job. Job suffered several awful trials with most of them coming simultaneously. Perhaps Job should not be remembered so much for the trials, but for how he handled those trials. When Job received the news that his children had perished, he said, “Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). The verse which follows Job’s statement conveys volumes, “In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” Job’s endurance of such trials led the Lord to point to Job as an outstanding example of patience (James 5:11).
Have you ever heard that it is unwise to pray for patience? Since “tribulation worketh patience” (Romans 5:3), it is thought to be dangerous to pray for patience. The idea may be quaint, but it does not make for good advice. The word patience is historically connected to the word passion which is biblically defined as suffering (Acts 1:3). True to its association, the word patience means to suffer or endure some time of trial. No wonder doctors and hospitals refer to a person suffering from health issues as a patient. The Bible bears further testimony to these truths by associating patience with waiting (James 5:7) and enduring (2 Thessalonians 1:4; James 5:11). The Bible also combines patience with the word longsuffering (Colossians 1:11). These words may appear the same, but they are not. Longsuffering has to do with the quantity (or length of time) of endurance, while patience has to do with the quality of endurance.
We previously alluded to the very real probability of conflicting authorities. What happens when the government tells men that they cannot obey the words of God? What should a lady do when her husband tells her to do something clearly contrary to the scriptures? What should employees do when asked by their employer to disobey a clear command found in the word of God? What should a church do when the preacher departs from the truths of the Bible? These are tough questions, but the Lord did not leave us without answers and guidance. When authorities conflict, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Man’s responsibility in obedience is first and foremost to God. Men should obey those who have been given authority by God so long as those men do not lead contrary to God's precepts.
No matter where we look we see order and authority. Even God's acts of creation reveal this order. The Bible says that the sun was given to rule the day and the moon to rule the night (Genesis 1:16). The Lord gave priests and prophets to the children of Israel in the Old Testament to lead them and show them His truths. Faithful to His nature, God has also given a level of authority within the church. According to our passage, we are to “obey them that have the rule” over us. On a couple of different occasions, the word rule is used in the job description of a pastor or elder (1 Timothy 3:5; 1 Timothy 5:17). Today's passage also reveals that the man of God watches for the souls of the people and must give an account to God for his watch care. No true God-called leader takes his position lightly.
Because political abuses are becoming increasingly common, people have become disillusioned with their elected representatives. However, God is very specific concerning His purpose for government. It is empowered by God for the punishment of evil doers and the praise of the righteous (Romans 13:1-6). The Bible refers to rulers as “God’s ministers” (Romans 13:6) and these ministers are offered as a gift from God to the people. As believers, we are to submit ourselves to the ordinances of man for the Lord’s sake (1 Peter 2:13-17). In our passage, Titus was reminded that one of his responsibilities as a preacher was to put the people in mind “to be subject to principalities and powers” and to encourage them “to obey magistrates.” This may sound like a daunting responsibility because governments frequently go beyond the scope of their God-given authority. This is why God has not left Christians without direction when He instructs that is better to obey God than men (Acts 5:29).
