Heard ׁשמע shâma‛ to hear, listen to, obey (verb) and see ראה râ’âh to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider
In our media soaked society, we hear much that we do not listen to and we see much that we do not consider. We are on overload, with too much input and too little time.
This was not so in the times recorded in Scripture. Hearing and seeing were the basis of life, and decisions that would effect lives and generations were made based on these senses. This is Hebraic life – what you can see and touch is as important as the unseen behind the scenes and when the seen and the unseen come together, life is found.
“And you said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live.’” Deut. 5:24 ESV
We have heard and we have seen. In Part 1 we heard and saw what happened when Peter and John brought healing to the man born lame from his mother’s womb. It stirred up the whole city and being told to keep quiet led to them responding “For we are not able not to speak what we saw and heard.” Acts 4:20 LITV
Was this something they came up with on the spot, or is there a background to their response?
Yeshua (aka Jesus) said it this way in Luke 6:40 “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.”
Fully trained in their culture was to be an imitator of your teacher. Pirkei Avot (Hebrew: אָבֹות פְִּרֵקי) in English is Chapters of the Fathers, and is a compilation of the ethical teachings and maxims from Rabbinic Jewish tradition. In Pirkei Avot 1:4 we read, Yose ben Yoezer used to say: let thy house be a house of meeting for the Sages and sit in the
very dust of their feet, and drink in their words with thirst.”
The idea of following so closely with your teacher would mean being covered by the dust of their feet is a picture of learning to imitate. So is seeing and hearing important to the Rabbi or Teacher of John and Peter?
When Yochanan the Immerser (aka John the Baptist) had been imprisoned, he sent some of his disciples – students or followers – to ask Yeshua a question.
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Messiah (things that are seen), he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Matt. 11:2-3 ESV
Can you imagine being John in Herod’s prison? How much was he struggling with his circumstances, where he had ended up after confronting Herod about his sin. This is what John did without regard to the status of the person, calling Pharisees “a brood of
vipers” (Matt. 3: 7) and telling others he was there to immerse them in water but there was another coming after him “whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. . .” this one who would immerse others in the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matt. 3:11)
This is the same John who was standing with two of his own disciples when Yeshua walked by and as he went by John exclaimed “Behold, the lamb of God!” (John 1:35-36)
You can hear his struggle in the question, but you can hear hope and truth being sent back to him by his Messiah, Yeshua.
And Yeshua answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” (Matt. 11:4-5 ESV)
Go and tell John what you see and hear! All of this is seeing with the exception of the last part which is hearing. “The blind receive sight” – seen! “The lame walk” – seen! “Lepers are cleansed” – seen! “The dead are raised up” – seen! “The poor have good news preached to them” – the only heard.
If we have failed at anything in the American church it is in the seen part.
We became very adept at speaking sound doctrine, at teaching well with enthusiasm the content of Scripture. We have made our speaking to the hearing of people attractive, in attractive settings in attractive ways. However, somewhere along the way, we lost – to a great extent – the passion for making our unseen Messiah visible to others.
When all we do is speak words, we are reaching thoughts, imaginations, people contemplating and comparing what they are hearing with what they have already heard from others and from other settings. When we give the seen we are impacting them.
The gospel is much more than speaking. It is in the doing that we make him seen, that we make our teacher visible to others. We do not get covered in his dust by merely sitting at his feet. When we imitate what Yeshua did, like he did, we are then walking in the dust of his feet. Yes, Yeshua had quiet times – alone, in prayer. But always to prepare for what he was going to do next.
This is really not complicated. At the simplest level it is this: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” (Matt. 25:35-36). These are all doings.
So is healing the sick, casting out demons, watching the lame walk and the blind see. His disciples made him visible by doing as he did. Will we do the same and so taste his dust?