As I was thinking about what to write about in this inaugural blog (and on inauguration day, too, which is also my birthday), I kept coming back to the concept of dreams. This is mostly because people have asked me why I use the handle @TheNunsPriest and figured this was as good an opportunity as any to explain my reasoning behind the name. It comes from a story in The Canterbury Tales about Chanticleer the rooster and a dream in which his doom is foretold. In the story, Chanticleer tells his hen-wife, Pertelote, about the dream. She says, “And can a dream reduce you to such terror? Dreams are vanity, God knows, pure error.” To which he responds, “And then there’s the Old Testament — a manual/Well worth your study; see the Book of Daniel…”
So I was thinking about dreams and kept coming back to Matthew 27: 19 where Pilate’s wife, Claudia (traditionally), tells her husband about a similar dream of doom:
While [Pilate] was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.” (NASB)
It’s an interesting verse. On the one hand, Claudia is concerned — and rightly so — about the execution of an innocent man. This knowledge of His innocence discerned via dream can certainly only be attributed to divine revelation. Charlotte Brontë put it well in her poem, Pilate’s Wife’s Dream:
Dreams, then, are true — for thus my vision ran;
Surely some oracle has been with me,
The gods have chosen me to reveal their plan,
To warn an unjust judge of destiny:
I, slumbering, heard and saw; awake I know,
Christ’s coming death, and Pilate’s life of woe.
How else would she know about the relative righteousness of an inconsequential Jewish carpenter (see Matthew 16: 17) if it wasn’t revealed to her. Except that her intended outcome — to have Pilate stop Jesus’ execution — would have been in direct opposition of God’s plan — for “Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5: 21). It’s the same reason Jesus had such a seemingly over-the-top response to Peter’s reasonable concern for His life in Matthew 16: 23 — “Get behind me Satan.”
If a thing is in opposition to God’s will it is — by definition — of the devil, no matter how good or right or justified it may seem.
The question I want to pose is this: Who revealed Jesus’ divinity to Claudia? Jesus warned the Pharisees against mistaking the work of the Holy Spirit for the work of the devil (Matthew 12: 27–28, 31), and the same mistake can be made, I think, in reverse. I’m certain that oftentimes Christians mistake temptation for the Holy Spirit. This is the danger in misinterpreting circumstance, coincidence, Scripture, intense feelings, etc. to determine God’s will for our lives. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11: 14 that “even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” It stands beyond reason that you might mistake an unlikely opportunity, a strange dream, or an oft-plucked Bible verse to be course-confirmation from Christ when, in fact, it’s a distraction to keep our eyes off the Kingdom.
This phenomenon is most dangerous, I think, for Christians who are looking for an answer — those who are at a pivotal but precarious place in their walk. It’s especially easy to attribute something to God when it conforms to our feelings or confirms what we already want. I can speak from experience. When we’re in a broken, vulnerable, or precarious place in our lives, we Christians call out to God looking for signs, answers, or miracles — as we should! But if we don’t measure the answer, sign, or miracle against a Biblical background, we risk pursuing something that feels divine, but isn’t.
If Claudia had read her Bible, she may have recognized that Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53, and that “by His scourging we [would be] healed” (Isaiah 53: 5). Sometimes the broken, vulnerable, and precarious times in our lives are intended to draw us closer to God or wait on Him a little longer, and when opportunities, signs, or answers present themselves that distract or detract in any way from our walk with Him, they are not from God. If we content ourselves in remaining broken a little longer — or even seek answers directly from Scripture instead of waiting for a sign to appear out of thin air (see Ephesians 2: 2) — we may lean closer into Jesus and farther away from our own understanding.
So, how can Christians avoid the trappings and pitfalls of mistaking the devil’s direction for God’s guidance? It all boils down to building your foundation on solid ground. Ask yourself:
- Does this glorify God?
- Does this conform to the whole Bible?
- Does this fit in 100% with Biblical morality?
Claudia’s dream was a hail Mary attempt by the devil to stop or at least hinder God’s plan for the final atonement for sin. There was nothing inherently wrong with it, nor was it superficially evil. This is why we as Christians need to be cautious when it comes to following circumstances and feelings to determine God’s plan for our lives and direction for our actions. If Pilate had listened to his wife’s advice, true and well-intentioned as it may be, there would be no salvation. Of course, God’s plans are never thwarted and Jesus came “in the fullness of time” to “redeem those who were under the Law,” so it didn’t work. But while the salvation of the world may not rest in our decisions, our full obedience to God does, and our personal relationship with God — even our overall contentment — can be thrown way off course if we look for answers that “suit our own desire” (2 Timothy 4: 3–4). That’s why it’s so important to test every sign, miracle, or answered prayer against what God has already said, even if it feels right — “feels” being the operative word.
But I digress. The main point is that I use @TheNunsPriest because I like that story in the Canterbury Tales about the rooster and the dream he had.
-T.C.H.
