I use the verb ‘encash’ as a focused theme in this blog for a specific reason. As we see around and experience the world around us, and of course to a greater extent we too are engaged in hot chase and violent pursuit of wealth. And, in the course of this pursuit, many are not hesitant to convert anything in possession into hard cash. This madness has resulted in the destruction of our heritage, nature, and spiritual value system. For example, trees are cut to construct concrete jungles (buildings), heritage constructions are sold off for setting up commercial plazas and malls. We often get to read reports that ancient manuscripts, articles, and utensils are sold in the black market of many middle east Asian countries. The tendency of encashing anything and everything has intruded into the life of churches as well. In many western countries church buildings are sold for millions of dollars. These church buildings are later converted into residential dwellings, shops, and even pubs. Thus the same house of Lord is converted into properties of selfish commercial interests and demonic engagements. Jesus said ‘….you have made it into a den of robbers’ (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46).The hurricane of pursuit for wealth is claiming massive causalities in today’s world and needs to be investigated so as to dig out the hidden agenda of Satan. The fundamental cause and linkages will certainly help us to arrest this destructive regime.
Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan three times in the desert as the Bible describes in Matthew 4, Mark 1, and Luke 4. The first temptation was Satan asking Jesus to turn stones into bread (Matthew 4:3).
Before discussing about this temptation let us have a basic understanding of bread:
Jesus said ‘I am the bread of life” (John 6:35) and this bread comes out of heaven to give life to us (see John 6:33). Therefore, it is evident that there are two types of food, eternal and perishable. Jesus discourages those who follow Him just for the sake of perishable food (John 6:26-27). Many of us are not different from the people identified here. It is unfortunate to see that the journey with God is discontinued the moment when He stops responding to our material demands. We must remember that God is not our butler to look after our material needs. He is “…our refuge and strength, an ever- present help in trouble (Psalms 46:1). Alongside, we need to know that Lord is our refuge from Satan,strength to fight against the demonic powers (Ephesians 6:10-12), and an ever-present help in trouble from the demonic powers (Matthew 28:20). To sum up this paragraph, let me reinstate that we must seek spiritual benefits from God rather than perishable material riches, for our material needs are taken care of without our asking (Matthew 6:8). therefore, let us seek His kingdom and His righteousness first, and the rest will also be given to us (Matthew 6:33).
When Satan asked Jesus to turn the stones into bread, he had hidden motives which could be traced to the Old Testament. In Joshua 4:3,8 & 20, we see that the men of Israel from each tribe obeys Lord’s commandment given through Joshua, and carry 12 stones from the middle of Jordan. Later Joshua set these stones up one in each camp according to the 12 tribes, at a place called Gilgal. The laying of the 12 stones equivalent to the 12 tribes of Israel represents the foundation of the Church as is mentioned in Ephesians 2:20. Therefore, anyone arguing against the Old Testament is in fact arguing against the word of God and in the process undermining the foundation of God’s household (Ephesians 2:19), which is the Church. Secondly, by taking the stones from the middle of Jordan denotes baptism in advance in the glory of Christ. Jesus said …no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5). By passing through Jordan and in clouds Israelites were baptised by Moses (1 Corinthians 10:2). Thus, the 12 stones represent the chosen people of God, prepared in advance by Moses and Joshua for eternal salvation through Jesus Christ. And, we may well imagine why Satan would cede the whole generation of Old Testament to Jesus and His Kingdom. And, Satan was well aware that Israel was instructed through Joshua that the stones represents the mighty hand of God and is an eternal memoir (Joshua 4:21-24). This would have been the reason why Satan asked Jesus to turn the stones into bread. If Jesus listened to Satan’s advise of encashing the stones for bread, Jesus would have lost an entire Old Testament generation to Satan and consequently loosing the primary purpose of His mission. The lost sheep of Israel was apparently Jesus’ first target of mission (Matthew 15:24; Romans 1:16).
The second set of 12 stones is mentioned in Joshua 4:9 where it says that Joshua set up 12 stones in the middle of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of covenant has stood. At the outset, please note that the first set of 12 stones were also taken from the same place, where the priests stood (see Joshua 4:3). This may be linked to the eternal priesthood of Jesus (Hebrews 5:6; 7;21; Psalms 110:4). Coming back to the topic of discussion, the 12 stones which Joshua laid in the middle of Jordan is prophetic in nature, and represents the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ who would form the second part of the foundation of the Church. As mentioned above, Ephesians 2:20 identifies the 12 disciples as the foundation of the Church. Therefore, the Church stands on Old Testament principles and New Testament values and both are equally important in the Kingdom of God and salvation of the creation. While Old Testament converges in Jesus Christ, New Testament stems from Jesus Christ and branches bearing flowers and fruits through the Apostles, and fully guided by the Holy Spirit. Again, as we saw above, Satan wanted Jesus to sell off the (12 New Testament) stones for bread. This would have again be disastrous to the mission of Christ, had the advice been followed. Obviously, Jesus knew the fundamental characteristics of Satan as a liar and murderer (John 8:44) and also a deceiver (Revelations 12:9). And, this is evident in Satan’s tactful recommendation to encash the valuable stones so that the whole church may be destroyed once for all.
The 12 stones representing the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 foundation stones of the Church (Ephesians 2:20) adds up to 24 in total. The 12 fathers of the Old Testament and the 12 of New Testament are seated on 24 thrones surrounding the throne of Jesus Christ as stated in Revelations 4:4). These thrones were promised by Jesus Himself in Matthew 19:28. Further, As we see in Revelations 4:4 that the elders sitting on the throne are dressed in white robes with golden crowns on their heads.
So ‘who gets the crown’ should be our primary concern. Revelations 3:21 promises that whoever ‘overcomes’will get the crown. As Jesus did, and as His disciples, martyrs and several saints did, we should defeat and overcome the trials and tribulations of this world which are from Satan. Revelations 7:14 says, ‘these are the people who had overcome great tribulations during their life on earth, using the blood of Christ’. Saint Paul boasted that nothing could separate him from the love of Christ (Romans 8:39). He overcame tribulations of this world by considering everything else except Christ as garbage or rubbish (Philippians 3:8). Therefore, Saint Paul could confidently foresee the crown waiting for him (2 Timothy 4:8). Jesus during His time of hardship (like when he was hungry) did not sell the stones, neither did any of the disciples or other martyrs. As children of God we are not allowed to encash our richest of the assets which of course is the foundation of the Church.
May God bless us.
Fr Dr Saji K Mathew 