Being the Son of God probably qualifies you to disregard the opinions and suggestions of mere people, no matter how well-meaning they might be. You might expect that Jesus would have had the inside information on the divine will of God, and therefore, anyone else’s advice was a little redundant, to say the least. You may also assume that Jesus, who had a profound awareness of his life’s mission and purpose, would not be dissuaded by anyone.
We read stories of Jesus standing his ground. For example, when Jesus predicted his own death at the hands of the chief priests and teachers of the law, the Apostle Peter quietly pulled Jesus aside and tried to talk some sense into him. “Don’t be silly, Jesus! This isn’t going to happen to you!” But, Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (Matthew 16:23).
Those are pretty strong words — especially considering Peter was merely trying to look out for his teacher and friend. You get the impression that Jesus knew what he was doing and nobody was going to be changing his mind.
And yet, there are people who do change his mind.
Two, in fact.
And they both had something in common.
The two people who changed Jesus’s mind
Considering the kinds of people that Jesus might have had access to, it is surprising to discover who managed to change Jesus’s mind. Jesus had regular interactions and conversations with the scribes, Pharisees, and teachers of the law — highly educated men with a vast knowledge of the Jewish faith.
But they they weren’t the ones who changed Jesus’s mind.
In fact, there is not a single account in Scripture where a man manages to change Jesus’s mind. The two people who changed Jesus’s mind were, in fact, both women.
The first was none other than Mary — his own mother. The story is found in the Gospel of John, wherein Jesus is attending a wedding reception. It must have been quite an occasion because, at some point, the alcohol began to run low. At Jewish wedding feasts, which went on for days on end, this would have been a complete embarrassment to the hosts.
Mary brings the dilemma to Jesus and pleads with him to do something about it. Jesus responded by saying: “Dear woman, why are you telling me this? It is not yet time for me to begin my work.” In other words, “Not now, Mom!”
Presumably, Mary didn’t take no for an answer, and Jesus, being a dutiful son, caves into his mother’s demands and miraculously produces more wine — or so the story goes.
Now, one could understand how the mother of Jesus might have managed to change Jesus’s mind: She was his mother, after all. But the second woman who changed Jesus’s mind had no such relational leverage.
She was, in fact, a gentile woman — one whom a good Jewish man would not normally associate. In this story, a Canaanite woman comes to Jesus begging for Jesus to save her demon-possessed daughter. Initially, Jesus is reluctant to help her, saying: “God sent me only to the lost sheep of Israel.” In other words, Jesus says: “What you’re asking me to do is outside the scope of my mission.” However, the woman persists and impresses Jesus with her perseverance and faith. Jesus relents, changes his mind, and heals her sick daughter.
What does this teach us about Jesus?
There are a few wonderful observations that we can make about Christ from the fact that he changes his mind in these accounts.
Jesus was fully human
You would not expect an all-knowing, all-powerful divine being to struggle with decision-making, nor allow his mind to be changed. Yet here it is. This points very firmly to the humanity of Christ. Jesus had to make decisions like the rest of us.
We are reminded that Jesus lay down the benefits of being divine in order to live a fully human life and die a fully human death. Now, we are comforted by the fact that we can follow a God who is not unfamiliar with the struggles of being human.
In the late 1940s, Lutheran priest Richard Wurmbrand was arrested and imprisoned for his Christian faith under the communist regime in Romania. Wurmbrand would spend his nights preaching sermons to himself — and would late record them in a book. One night he took God to task:
It is true.
Could we really say that God knows all things with him knowing what it is like to be human? Only in Jesus do we find a God who we could possibly relate to — person to person.
Jesus was unimpressed by titles
Think about this: Of all the people who could have changed Jesus’s mind, it was those who were the lowest and the least — in the eyes of the culture of the day — who managed to achieve this feat.
It was not those with titles and positions of power and influence. It was not those with the most education and training. Rather, it was those who expressed genuine and persistent faith. It was those who were so convinced that Jesus could help them that they forgot their place in the social order. Jesus was unimpressed by titles but highly impressed by faith — regardless of the stature of the person from which it came.
Jesus regarded women as equal
The social conditions of women in the first century were oppressive, to say the least. Women were not allowed to engage in commerce or business nor testify in court. Women were separated from men in private, public, and religious life.
In Jesus’s day, most women were likely illiterate since the rabbis did not consider it incumbent upon women to learn to read in order to study. Rather, according to Jews for Jesus, respectable women were expected to stay within the confines of the home. They didn’t even do their own shopping. In fact, if a woman was ever in the streets, she was heavily veiled and prohibited from conversing with men — let alone conversing with a rabbi like Jesus.
The fact the Jesus allowed two women to change his mind in a public setting, when he was surrounded by other men, was — at the very least — highly countercultural. By publicly including women in his ministry, Jesus shattered the prejudicial customs of his day. It was revolutionary.
Some will tell you that the principles contained in Scripture are archaic and outdated, and perhaps some of them are, especially when viewed with a 21st Century worldview. However, the general pattern of Scripture, and particularly the life of Christ, is towards a more inclusive society where oppressive social and cultural taboos are broken.
Jesus leads the way.
No man could change his mind — but a woman, on the other hand, could.
Prayer is not pointless
At various points of my journey, I have arrived at this fatalistic perspective. I started to view prayer as a pointless exercise since I was told that God has either pre-destined everything that happens or God has taken a “hands-off approach” to running the universe, and it’s all spinning wildly out of control. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
However, when I consider that the mind of Christ was able to be changed by the petitions of mere humans, it encourages me that perhaps I can do the same. In fact, if prayer causes things to happen that might not have otherwise happened, then perhaps prayer is my stake in helping to run the universe with God. What a thought!
After all, there are other occasions in Scripture where God allows his mind to be changed by people. Moses changes God’s mind in Exodus 32:9–14, and, in one of my favorite lines of Scripture, God says to his people, “Come, let us reason together.”
You see, God himself invites the conversation.
One final encouragement
What would you do if you believed that you could change the mind of God? I’m sure the very idea will be berated by those who consider themselves so enlightened that the idea of God is nothing more than superstitious nonsense.
But entertain the idea for a moment.
If God invited you to a conversation wherein he was willing to listen to you, reason with you, even change his mind, what might you say?
The life of Christ suggests to us that it is possible and that Jesus lends his ear to those who come in humility mixed with persistence mixed with faith.
—
This post was previously published on Backyard Church.
***
You Might Also Like These From The Good Men Project
Compliments Men Want to Hear More Often | Relationships Aren’t Easy, But They’re Worth It | The One Thing Men Want More Than Sex | ..A Man’s Kiss Tells You Everything |
Join The Good Men Project as a Premium Member today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
A $50 annual membership gives you an all access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class and community.
A $25 annual membership gives you access to one class, one Social Interest group and our online communities.
A $12 annual membership gives you access to our Friday calls with the publisher, our online community.
Register New Account
Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
—
Photo credit: Shutterstock