Slow to Learn
or slow to believe…
'When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. ' John 2:13-22
i think this is a struggle for many people - learning and believing. the former is a head issue while the latter one of the heart. the first being the ability to grasp, take in, retain, convey what you were taught, and perhaps knowing the purpose of what you just took in; the second one deals with the confidence in which you have in a person or understanding, and the conviction that you have towards that individual or ideal.
One answer is to the question at what point can you say you have learned something?, is therefore – it depends. It depends on the context and purpose of the learning3. If I just need to retain the information for a day and thats all I do, then I suppose given that context, I have learned it and then forgotten it. That is fine as that was the purpose. You just need to be clear that was the purpose.
there are deeper discussions on the topic of learning on their website and recommend you check it out, including their blog on learning.
believe - from merriam webster:
transitive verb
1a: to consider to be true or honest; b: to accept the word or evidence of
intransitive verb
1a: to accept something as true, genuine, or real; b: to have a firm or wholehearted religious conviction or persuasion, to regard the existence of God as a fact; 2: to have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something
how does it apply in these verses? 1) the hardened hearts of the people in the temple courts; 2) the ignorance and revelation by the disciples.
the people: if they were jewish, from my understanding, kids would have been taught by age 10 the first 5 books of The Bible (torah) - genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, & deuteronomy, and they would have it memorized; from there it would be learning from the prophets (nevi’im); lastly the other writings (ketuvim).
knowing that something engrained in you from that age to adulthood doesn’t just magically disappear, i have to believe that they should have known what they were doing - selling merchandise and defiling the temple - was wrong. this goes to the point of knowing what is right and ignoring it because of selfish motives, and basically forgetting who God is and all of the good that He has done in our lives.
the disciples: even though they were with Jesus, listening, watching, learning, and even applying (when He sent them out), it took His death and recalling what ‘was spoken’ to the jews for their eyes to be opened - or, as written, “then they believed the scripture and what Jesus said.”
as written in other parts of the new testament, it always seems as if something needs to happen for any of the disciples to believe even though they were the closest to our Savior. perhaps it is no different for me. though i know the stories and words in the Bible, how much of its lessons and teachings have i applied and walked it out in my daily living?
is it only when something bad happens that i realize that verse about not doing this or that? when i’m in the valley in despair, do i turn to The Lord or run away? when my family and i have been blessed do i thank Him or take all the glory?
while this is not a traditional “Application” for S.O.A.P., i do realize that this is an area that i will continue to work on through the rest of my life. want to continue learning, and from their applying it in my life, so that my conviction is firm, and i won’t waiver on the believing.
dear Heavenly Father, thank you for loving on my family and i. while we continue on this journey with you leading the way, please enlighten us, teach us, and through the power of your Holy Spirit continue to help us grow. may our lives be lived out to glorify you. i love you, we love you, in Jesus’ name i pray, amen!