RESTORATION AT BETHANY
I think it is fair to say that the theology of the restoration movement has been church centered rather than Christ centered. It began as a Christ centered movement, but the effort expended on scrutinizing the pattern of the New Testament church caused the center to shift. There have always been voices within the movement trying to revive the church by returning it to its Christ centered pattern. I believe those voices are stronger than ever today; and we must listen if the restoration is to experience a revival that will please and honor our Lord.
I think there is a pattern in the New Testament containing the Lord’s thought for his beloved assembly, which is his church. I am not speaking about five steps to salvation and five items of worship; or about the organization and work of the church; or even about the commendable examples of the early churches in Acts and the epistles of the New Testament. I am speaking about the pattern in the Gospels, that the Lord himself lived, exemplified and demonstrated. If we follow this pattern, churches will be revived and restored.
This pattern is not the fullness of the Lord’s thought for his church, but it is the essential kernel that must be to please and honor him. I first understood this pattern after reading a sermon by T. Austin-Sparks, entitled, “Bethany — The Lord’s Thought for His Assembly.” [See www.austin-sparks.net/english/000422.html.] Then I took this understanding, and researched, prepared and preached a sermon in support of a church growth effort by our local congregation. Recently I found another sermon building upon the same understanding, by Frank Viola, entitled, “Bethany – The Lord’s Desire for His Church (May 11, 2007).” He fashioned the same idea with valuable admonitions for simple, house church gatherings of Christians. [See www.ptmin.org/bethany.htm.]
There is an important contrast between what Jesus experienced in Jerusalem and Bethany, located two miles from Jerusalem. Bethany was nestled beside the Mount of Olives. Bethany is Aramaic, likely meaning “house of figs or dates”. In Jerusalem Jesus experience the prevailing formalism and hypocrisy of Judaism and its leaders that rejected him and his message from God. In Bethany Jesus found a place of acceptance, friendship and adoration; a place where he could fully manifest the life of God to his disciples. Bethany, not pre-Pentecostal Jerusalem, is what the church should be to and for Jesus today. The key passages on Bethany are Luke 10:38-42, Mark 11:1-25, John 11:1-27, John 12:1-11 (See also, Mark 14:1-11; and compare Luke 7:36-50), Luke 24:36-53, and perhaps John 1:28 (rendered Bethany in newer English versions and Bethabara in the KJV, but nevertheless may refer to Bethany on the east of the Jordan rather than the west of the Jordan).
In Bethany Jesus found friends whom he loved and who loved him. They welcomed him, fed him, and best of all received spiritual food from him. In Bethany Jesus was central. Jesus taught and experienced the priorities of fellowship and deepening our relationship with him and each other; of receiving his word first, then serving him with a heart knowledge of his will; of waiting on help in our time of need and his vindication of our sharing in his sufferings; of demonstrating how much the Lord is worth to us by what we give of ourselves, our time and our possessions; and of realizing that we must boldly share in his reign and live in expectation and watchfulness of his return.
In contrast, Jerusalem is more like what the church has become today; a formalistic and hypocritical religion controlled by unspiritual political leaders and business administrators. In Jerusalem the Lord is rejected, and all the things he experienced in Bethany cannot be found or experienced. On the road from Bethany to Jerusalem, Jesus cursed the fig tree. Recall that Bethany means “house of figs.” In Jerusalem Jesus found a fig tree without the figs. Although it was not the season for figs, still in the spring time there should have been edible buds, the evidence that the tree would bear fruit. What spiritual fruit did Jesus not find in Jerusalem: trust in God? This is what he challenged his disciples with, to trust in God with the faith that can move mountains. Jesus found the spiritual feast of figs in Bethany. Bethany is what a revived and restored assembly of Christ will be.
[Buttram, D. Bryan. Reviving the Restoration Movement VI. WordPress.com. 09/10/2007].
