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62. Character Reference

2nd January 1995 by Arthur Eedle

When applying for a job. one normally has to write a CURRICULUM VITAE. and append the names of two REFEREES, who will be willing to give a confidential CHARACTER REFERENCE on one’s behalf. On receipt of the C.V. and the two CHARACTER REFERENCES, the Employer decides whether the Applicant suits his needs better than any of the other numerous applicants. I suppose this system has been used in more or less this fashion for thousands of years with slight modifications.In this paper I would like to write a CHARACTER REFERENCE of our Lord, based on the evidence provided in the four gospels. Of course, such a reference is not needed, especially by me! God forbid that I should feel the need to supply one. But my purpose is to glorify the Son of God, and I sense the propriety of that. At the start of our Lord’s ministry, and just after His baptism. a voice from heaven declared. “This is my Beloved Son. in whom I am well pleased.” Here is the definitive word of God the Father in the position of our Lord’s “Employer” saying that His Son was ideally suited for the tasks that lay ahead. The gospel writers do not tell us who heard this voice, other than the Lord Himself. But the message from heaven required another ear to hear it. The fact that it has been recorded suggests that John the Baptist heard it and made it known to others.

At a later time in His ministry, the Lord took three of His disciples up a mountain, where He was transfigured before them. The disciples then heard the Father’s voice saying, “This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him.”They were awe-struck and fell on their faces. God the Father was saying that His Son’s progress had been wholly satisfactory.

Just before the crucifixion, at the time of the raising of Lazarus, the Lord prayed and said, “Father, glorify Thy name.” And a voice came from heaven. saying. “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” Nobody else in the crowd heard the words. They thought it was thunder or the voice of an angel. God the Father here sets the seal on His Son’s ministry. He started well. He continued well, and He finished glorifying His Father’s name. As the “Employer”, God had chosen One who absolutely, completely, and unreservedly fulfilled all that He desired.

Because of these three “heavenly interventions” declaring God’s pleasure in His Son, we have no need to underscore the Lord’s character in any way. In fact anyone who writes about the Lord Jesus in a derogatory manner must face God eventually with a sense of shame. The fact that our Lord promised forgiveness to all such, does not exonerate us from blame if we cast aspersions on the divine character.

May we investigate an aspect of our Lord’ s character to demonstrate the worthiness that gave His Father such pleasure? I believe that in so doing we shall find pleasure as well.

In reading the gospels I have often noticed how frequently the Lord insisted that people refrain from advertising Him. “See that you tell no man.” “See that no man knows it.” “See that you tell it not in the town.” To whom was He addressing these words? In each case a person had just been healed. Some were blind, others deaf and yet others had been lepers. In the case of Jairus’s daughter, she had just been raised from the dead. Such references are particularly frequent in Mark’s gospel.

For a long time I have been somewhat puzzled by our Lord’s words. Surely I thought, He must have known how utterly impossible it would be for a blind man not to announce his new-found sight, or a deaf man his ability to hear at last, or the leper to display his perfect flesh to the delight of all? And what about Jairus? How could he keep quiet when everybody knew that his daughter had died and been raised?

And the gospels make it abundantly clear that few if any kept His word. They went and published abroad the wonders and the marvels that they had witnessed. How then are we to understand the Lord’s insistence on keeping quiet? In Matthew 9:27 we read of two blind men who came to the Lord for healing. After they had received their sight, we read that Jesus“straitly charged them” (Greek = sternly admonished them) saying “See you let no one know.” But once they had left Him, “they spread abroad His fame in all that country.” So much for the “stern admonition.”

I can imagine these two men, able to see at last, and in a pitch of excitement, walking about, even running, and telling everyone that they can see. Their friends and relatives would stare in amazement, and want to know how it happened. It is too much for human nature to reply, saying. “I’m sorry, it’s a secret. I’ve been told not to say anything.” And what is more, I am quite sure the Lord knew that too. I don’t believe for one moment that He expected people to keep quiet about the amazing miracles He performed.

Let’s have a closer look at the raising of Jairus’s daughter. The ruler of the synagogue’s servant approached the Lord, saying that it was too late. Jairus’s daughter had died. Undeterred, Jesus walked home with him, and saw the crowd of “professional mourners” outside the home. making obscene wailing noises. “She is not dead, but sleeping,” the Lord announced, which changed their wailing into mocking laughter. Inside the house He ordered everyone out save the father and mother and three of His disciples. Taking the girl’s hand He said, “Talitha koum“. (meaning “Little maid, wake up.”) Immediately she awoke and stood up and walked, to their utter amazement. But the Lord cut short their wonderment and amazement by saying, “Give her something to eat.” And finally He sternly ordered them not to make known what had happened.

Why did the Lord handle the matter in this fashion? In all probability He just walked out afterwards with His disciples saying nothing to the jeering crowds and the wailing mourners. He allowed them to continue their mockery. I am assured of this. He would never have “strictly charged” Jairus to keep quiet and then splashed it into the open Himself on leaving. The whole episode was handled in such a way that people were left to believe that the little maid had not really died at all, but just needed healing.

I think that, more than on any other occasion where a miracle had been performed, this one displays the REASON why our Lord behaved in this fashion, and once the lesson has been learned, we shall be the wiser ourselves.

Jairus and his wife were allowed to witness the resurrection of their daughter. They KNEW what had happened, and I doubt very much whether they hushed it up afterwards. After all, everyone knew that the little girl had died. Therefore the Lord chose to have her father and mother present, as also Peter, James, and John. These five witnesses were needed. The glory of the Lord was manifested, and these five were the privileged witnesses.

But immediately after the “Great event”. the Lord deflects their attention from the event itself to the needs of the child. who required some nourishment. It is all beginning to add up. The purpose behind it is gradually emerging. He did everything to deflect attention away from Himself! THAT is the vital point.

Now we must ask ourselves what lay behind this necessity. Why should the Lord want to deflect attention from Himself? And the answer is simply that of PRIDE. He knew the temptation that accompanied success and wanted to squash it flat before it had a chance to grow. Maybe some of my readers will object to the thought that the Lord could have been subject to pride. But I think we have very cogent reasons for believing just that. Let me explain.

At the start of His ministry, we are told that “The Spirit drove Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.” And after the forty days of fasting, the Devil suggested that He could throw Himself off the pinnacle of the Temple, thereby demonstrating that He would not be hurt. To what purpose was this temptation? To make our Lord into “an attention-getter”.To draw attention to Himself, to declare His divine origin, and gather the crowds to worship Him for His public display of miracles. And there is no doubt about the effectiveness of this method. The world is full of those who delight in drawing attention to themselves in one way or another, but in every case it can be attributed to pride, which God cannot accept.

If the Lord was impervious to such temptation. then the Devil would not have put it into His mind. We are therefore made to attend to this vital fact, that our Lord was indeed “Tempted in all points like ourselves. and yet without sin.” He nevertheless knew the power of pride. He knew and knew keenly, that success is always accompanied by the temptation of pride.

Let someone who has had similar experience speak. Here is a man who has led a godly life, and just occasionally has prayed for healing. and the Lord has answered from heaven in a dramatic way. What follows? There is the immediate temptation to think. “God has answered My prayer. God is therefore pleased with ME, otherwise He wouldn’t have healed this person.” The result is a notching up of credit points, whether consciously or unconsciously, instead of realising that all such spiritual gifts, when operated, are “charismatic”, in other words “gifts of grace,” and as such have no reference to the person’s worthiness. Indeed. by the very meaning of the word “grace”. they come as “God’s love to His undeserving creatures.”

Yes, our Lord was subject to the temptation of pride EVERY TIME HE PERFORMED A MIRACLE. and it is my studied belief that this was an ongoing battle that He had with Satan throughout His ministry. The miracles were necessary as hall- marks of His person and ministry. “If you cannot believe my words, then at least believe Me for the works’ sake” He said on one occasion. Satan was continually at hand to try to make Him fall into the temptation of pride. And the greater the success of His mission, the greater became the temptation. The ladder of success is attended by ever greater possibilities of falling, the higher one climbs.

Now we can return to the scenes of our Lord’s miracles, and assess His remarks once again. Immediately the healing has occurred, He strictly charges the person not to say anything. He doesn’t expect the person to keep the command, but this isn’t the important thing TO HIM. The immediacy of His charge relates rather to the deflection of the temptation to pride that afflicts Him. Knowing how strong the temptation is, He deals it a death-blow at its inception. rather than allowing it the slightest foot-hold of entrance into His being.

In other words, in all these examples, we are witnessing our Lord’s continual struggle against sin. Some people say that our Lord was “not able to sin.” But this is not true. Rather should it be said that He was “able not to sin.” As the author of Hebrews tells us, “Though He were a Son. yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.” Truly “He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 5:8 & 4:15) Each one of us knows, by experience, the wretchedness of being a fallen creature. But the Son of God knew the pain more acutely than any of us. He was tempted to a degree that none of us can ever know, yet He overcame at every point.

This I believe to be the reason why our Lord so frequently told those He healed to be quiet, even to say so with great force. It immediately deflected attention away from Himself and saved Him from the terrors of pride. Satan was at all times ready to afflict Him with this greatest of all problems. It was the cause of Satan’s own downfall in the heavenly regions in the beginning. We read in Ezekiel 28 that he was created perfect in all his ways until iniquity was found in him. How did this come about? “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. and you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness,” declared the Lord. (Ezek.28:17) “For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Host High.” said the Lord through Isaiah. (14:13)

In absolute contrast, the Lord Jesus was already ONE WITH HIS FATHER in heaven, but as Paul tells us in Philippians 2, He left the heavenly regions to “become of no reputation, to take upon Himself the form of a servant, to humble Himself, and be obedient to death, even the death of a cross.” Let us worship Him because of this. Let us realise the extent of the struggle He had against the sin of pride throughout His three years of ministry and see His true greatness emerging against the background of a multiplicity of miracles.

Once, many years ago, I asked the Lord for the gift of healing, because I saw it as a useful tool in persuading people to believe in God. I was denied that gift. The servant of the Lord who ministered to me said that I should read John 15. “Abide in the Vine.” I was unhappy with this decision, even though I had to accept it. But now, many years later, I thank the Lord for His decision. I can see in retrospect that it would have been the greatest single factor to bring about my downfall. Because God is caring and doesn’t want His children destroyed by pride, He withholds power if He knows that it will destroy the one who holds it. I give this as a personal word of testimony. I do not suggest that the gift of healing should NEVER be given. Some men may be able to handle it without fear of pride. But in my case, the Lord saw otherwise.

Here is the end of the matter. I have tried to show how great was the ministry of our Lord in respect of His handling of miraculous power. The understanding here revealed, has been granted to me quite suddenly, by the help of one of my daughters as she studied with me, and I want to thank her, as also the Lord Himself for His kindness to us both.

Filed Under: Original Series

About Arthur Eedle

Arthur was born in 1931, and became a Christian in 1948. At London University he gained a 2nd honours degree in Physics. He went on to get a Teaching Diploma, and throughout his career life taught physics in England, Kenya, and Hong Kong. Coupled with his love of science, he was a keen student of Greek and Hebrew, and gave many lectures on Biblical subjects. Read more

The Prophetic Telegraph

1a. Why settle for half the gospel?

2nd April 1986 By Arthur Eedle

1b. The time has almost run it’s course

1st May 1986 By Arthur Eedle

1c. The Apocalypse of Abraham

1st June 1986 By Arthur Eedle

2. The New Bus

1st July 1986 By Arthur Eedle

3. Lifting the mat

1st August 1986 By Arthur Eedle

4. Sleep and Dreams

1st January 1987 By Arthur Eedle

9. The Law

1st January 1987 By Arthur Eedle

10. Atonement

2nd January 1987 By Arthur Eedle

11. Which Temple? Which City?

2nd January 1987 By Arthur Eedle

12. Which Nation?

3rd January 1987 By Arthur Eedle

5. Man’s Sensory Apparatus

1st February 1987 By Arthur Eedle

6. Gods of the market place

1st February 1987 By Arthur Eedle

7. Protocol & Etiquette

1st February 1987 By Arthur Eedle

13. The House of the Soul

1st February 1987 By Arthur Eedle

14. The Fence Makers

1st May 1987 By Arthur Eedle

15. The Fence Breakers

2nd May 1987 By Arthur Eedle

8. Worship

1st June 1987 By Arthur Eedle

20. Every Knee shall Bow

21st March 1988 By Arthur Eedle

22. Behold He Comes!

1st September 1988 By Arthur Eedle

23. Jesus the Firstborn

1st May 1989 By Arthur Eedle

24. An Ancient Scroll is Found

1st June 1989 By Arthur Eedle

26. Discipleship

1st November 1989 By Arthur Eedle

27. A God of Justice

2nd November 1989 By Arthur Eedle

28.Enmity

3rd November 1989 By Arthur Eedle

30. Noah’s Vineyard

1st October 1990 By Arthur Eedle

31. God’s Pleasure

1st December 1990 By Arthur Eedle

32. Chasing the Glory

2nd December 1990 By Arthur Eedle

33. Glory

3rd December 1990 By Arthur Eedle

34. Money Lovers

1st January 1991 By Arthur Eedle

36. On Your Toes!

1st February 1991 By Arthur Eedle

37. Flesh & Spirit

2nd February 1991 By Arthur Eedle

38. Babylon & Jerusalem

3rd February 1991 By Arthur Eedle

39. The Human Will

4th February 1991 By Arthur Eedle

40. The Mirror

1st July 1991 By Arthur Eedle

41. The Image

2nd July 1991 By Arthur Eedle

42. I Believe!

1st December 1991 By Arthur Eedle

43. Chasing Shadows

1st September 1992 By Arthur Eedle

44. National Identity

2nd September 1992 By Arthur Eedle

45. The “Full” Gospel

3rd September 1992 By Arthur Eedle

46. Confession and Torment!

1st October 1992 By Arthur Eedle

47. “Too Hard”

2nd October 1992 By Arthur Eedle

48. Freewill

1st November 1992 By Arthur Eedle

49. Vengeance

2nd November 1992 By Arthur Eedle

50. The Golden Section

1st January 1993 By Arthur Eedle

51. The Dark Day of May 1780

2nd January 1993 By Arthur Eedle

53. The Power of Thought

1st February 1993 By Arthur Eedle

16. Hidden Treasures of Genesis. Part 1

1st July 1994 By Arthur Eedle

54. A Gross Exaggeration

1st July 1994 By Arthur Eedle

17. Hidden Treasures of Genesis. Part 2.

1st August 1994 By Arthur Eedle

55. Millenial Kings and Priests

1st August 1994 By Arthur Eedle

56. Is This the Antichrist?

1st September 1994 By Arthur Eedle

57. The New Blindness

2nd September 1994 By Arthur Eedle

58. Exclusivism

3rd September 1994 By Arthur Eedle

59. Armageddon

1st October 1994 By Arthur Eedle

60. Perplexity, Confusion & Polarisation

1st November 1994 By Arthur Eedle

61. In Praise of Little Things

1st January 1995 By Arthur Eedle

62. Character Reference

2nd January 1995 By Arthur Eedle

64. The Exaltation of Christ

1st March 1995 By Arthur Eedle

65. Comparison and Contrast

1st July 1995 By Arthur Eedle

66. Adam and Eve

1st September 1995 By Arthur Eedle

67. “The Big Noise”

2nd September 1995 By Arthur Eedle

68. The Evil Eye

3rd September 1995 By Arthur Eedle

69. “Christian Theatre”

4th September 1995 By Arthur Eedle

71. In Pursuit of Excellence

1st October 1995 By Arthur Eedle

72. Capernaum, Bethsaida & Chorazin

1st November 1995 By Arthur Eedle

74. The Secrets of the Lord

1st December 1995 By Arthur Eedle

75. Caterpillar Magic

2nd December 1995 By Arthur Eedle

76. Amazing Historical Evidence

3rd December 1995 By Arthur Eedle

77. The Tin Islands

1st January 1996 By Arthur Eedle

77a. The Ancient Mining of Tin

1st January 1996 By Arthur Eedle

79. Sodom’s Great Secret

1st January 1996 By Arthur Eedle

80a. “A Precious Cornerstone”

1st February 1996 By Arthur Eedle

80b. Nature’s Hidden Model

2nd February 1996 By Arthur Eedle

80c. Further Secrets Revealed

3rd February 1996 By Arthur Eedle

81. Toils and Burdens

4th February 1996 By Arthur Eedle

82. The Sabbath Day and Sunday

5th February 1996 By Arthur Eedle

83. The “Jewish Sabbath”

1st March 1996 By Arthur Eedle

83a. About “Jots and Tittles”

2nd March 1996 By Arthur Eedle

84. About the Sabbath Day and Sunday

2nd April 1996 By Arthur Eedle

85. Contempt

1st May 1996 By Arthur Eedle

86. The Crowning Day. Part 1

1st June 1996 By Arthur Eedle

87. The Crowning Day. Part 2

2nd June 1996 By Arthur Eedle

88. The Enthronement

3rd June 1996 By Arthur Eedle

89. The Ark of the Covenant

4th June 1996 By Arthur Eedle

90. The 1979 Prophecy

5th June 1996 By Arthur Eedle

90a. The Biography of Jane Leade, 1623 – 1704

6th June 1996 By Arthur Eedle

78. The Ark of the Covenant

1st August 1996 By Arthur Eedle

91. The Ron Wyatt Tour of Britain

1st November 1996 By Arthur Eedle

93. Lucifer’s Glorious Beginning

2nd November 1996 By Arthur Eedle

94. Lucifer’s Fall from Glory

3rd November 1996 By Arthur Eedle

95. Lucifers History

4th November 1996 By Arthur Eedle

96. The Trinity

1st January 1997 By Arthur Eedle

99. “Just a Wearyin’ For You”

1st June 1997 By Arthur Eedle

100. Pre-Existance. Part 1

1st September 1997 By Arthur Eedle

101. Pre-Existance. Part 2

2nd September 1997 By Arthur Eedle

102. Pre-Existance. Part 3

3rd September 1997 By Arthur Eedle

103. Pre-Existance. Part 4.

4th September 1997 By Arthur Eedle

104. Pre-Existance. Part 5

5th September 1997 By Arthur Eedle

105. Secret Numerical Codes in Biblical Hebrew and Greek

1st October 1997 By Arthur Eedle

106. An Everlasting Problem

1st October 1997 By Arthur Eedle

107. Pre-Existance. Part 6

1st February 1998 By Arthur Eedle

108. El-Shaddai

1st March 1998 By Arthur Eedle

110. Triangle Numbers

2nd March 1998 By Arthur Eedle

111. The Secret of 153

3rd March 1998 By Arthur Eedle

112. The Secret of 276

4th March 1998 By Arthur Eedle

113. “In the Beginning”

5th March 1998 By Arthur Eedle

114. Good and Evil

1st March 1999 By Arthur Eedle

115. Quietism

2nd April 1999 By Arthur Eedle

116. Meditate on these things

3rd April 1999 By Arthur Eedle

Article Series

  • All our Yesterdays (30)
  • Before He comes (13)
  • God's Spoken Word (37)
  • Mysteries of Science & Faith (8)
  • New Series (101)
  • Newsletter (2)
  • Original Series (109)
  • Prophecy considerations (5)
  • Recognising the Hand of Judgment (33)
  • Resurrection and Change (16)
  • Seekers Corner (14)
  • Simple Statements on Serious Subjects (6)
  • The City of God (18)
  • The Millennial Octave (23)
  • The Restitution Times (22)
  • The Song of Solomon (6)
  • The Standard (19)
  • The Wayside Pulpit (107)
  • The Wayside Pulpit 2015 (96)
  • The Wellspring (101)
  • The Wellspring 2017 (55)

Index of Topics

Arthur & Rosalind Eedle's Personal Testimonies Discipleship Expository Items Good and Evil Human Pre-Existance Jane Leade. Philadelphian Numerology in the Bible Quotations from other Authors Resurrection and the Change Ron Wyatt. Archaeology Science Topics The Kingdom of God the Millennium and the Return of Christ The Sabbath Day Universal Reconcilliation

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