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Posts Tagged ‘Jesus’

In the ‘Tween Time

Posted in Holy Week, Jesus Christ, tagged , , , , on April 5, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Between the delivery of the promise and its realization is the “Tween Time”.  On Good Friday Jesus died.  Through the Holy Sabbath that followed the disciples, His followers, the religious leaders, even the Roman authorities lived in the ‘tween time.  Consider what each group must have experienced through this day of waiting.

His disciples were crushed.  They had lost their leader, their friend, the One they had left their lives and livelihood to follow.  They had thought He was going to become the leader who would set them and their nation free from Roman oppression.  They were Jesus’ closest friends and confidants.  Simply losing someone dear is a terrible shock.  But they had thought Jesus was so much more.  Now He was gone.

They were also very afraid.  It was bad enough that the religious leaders had it out for Jesus, but the Romans had actually carried out the execution.  And one thing about Roman justice when it came to even a hint of rebellion, they were not afraid to squash it ruthlessly.  If they had crucified Jesus because they felt He was a threat to Roman rule, then His disciples would soon follow.  Recent uprisings had seen not only the leader crucified, but dozens and sometimes hundreds of their followers crucified as well.

In varying amounts they were also ashamed.  They fled when Jesus was taken.  They were not able to stand this simple test.  Peter personified this sense of guilt for the group.  He promised to stand with Jesus going to the garden, but within just a few hours he had denied knowing Jesus even with an oath.

His other followers were bewildered.  They too had put their hopes in Jesus.  Many had experienced healing at His touch.  Others had been set free from demonic bondage.  Thousands had seen and experienced His miracles whether in the food that multiplied when He prayed or through sermons that touched the heart.  They knew these things that had happened were real… or at least they thought they were real.  How could it be that the One who demonstrated such power had so quickly been taken from them?

The religious leaders were a mixture of smug assurance that a very real threat had been eliminated and still a little wary since the impostor had spoken a number of time about “life after death”.  While they felt confident that Jesus’ death would put an end to this growing challenge to their power, they took steps to ensure no further complications could arise by the Galilean’s followers taking His body and saying He had arise.  They convinced Pilate to have the tomb carefully guarded.

The Roman authorities were probably not too terribly worried about the whole issue.  Pilate, for His part, was not particularly pleased that he had to stoop to being the pawn of the religious leaders in this incident, but his tenuous hold over this restive Roman province was predicated upon a good “working” relationship with the Jewish leaders.  As requested, a Roman guard posted at the tomb of this man, Jesus, was a simple final task in this unsavory business.  Soon the Passover would be over and he could return to Caesarea away from these religious fanatics.

On this Saturday everyone was convinced a climax had been reached, the curtain had drawn closed, and Jesus’ life and mission had been completed.  Jesus’ powerful presence had been the engine that was driving the movement and now He was gone.  While no one really knew what to expect a couple things were certain.  The religious leaders had stopped this movement by cutting off the head and the disheartened, frightened band of disciples and followers were certainly in no condition to keep it going.  This Jesus movement was a thing whose time had passed.

At least that is what they thought on Saturday in the ‘tween time…

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A Time to Grieve

Posted in Church, God, Jesus Christ, The Father, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 3, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Good Friday is a time to remember what Jesus did for us.  He was innocent.  But He chose to die in obedience to the Father and out of love for us… for you and for me.  Consider what He did.  For the story from 4 perspectives Read Matthew 26:57 – 27:61, Mark 14:43 – 15:47, Luke 22:47 – 23:56, John 18:1 – 19:42.

He was innocent.  He never sinned.  At a time of great political tension in the land Jesus did not antagonize the foreign power that ruled.  In fact His message and heart reached out to the Romans who listened and were receptive to truth.  Remember the Roman centurion who asked for prayer for his servant.  Jesus’ only “issue” was that He stood up to the religious authorities and He called them out about their hypocrisy.

He was powerful.  He did not have to die.  He certainly did not have to die the brutal way He did… if He chose not to.  When He is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, His followers begin to mount a resistance, but Jesus tells them to stop and that He could overwhelm His accusers with 12 legions of angels.  But He chose to obey the Father’s plan and submit to them instead.

He was gentle.  When Jesus faced His death, He laid aside any and every attempt to soften the path.  I woke up at 3 this morning and I immediately thought about Jesus.  At that time He was probably with the Sanhedrin.  He had already been beaten, spit upon, and cursed by many.  He was nearing 24 hours being awake.  Don’t forget the intense sorrow He had experienced in the garden, sorrow and anxiety so intense that He had sweated blood.   Already He had to be close to physical and emotional collapse.  Yet He stood and He took their worst.

He was beaten and battered.  In addition to the beatings He took from the religious leaders and the temple guards, Jesus was brutalized by the Romans who were professionals at administering pain and death in the most horrific fashion.  Seriously, the Romans knew how to inflict the utmost pain and humiliation upon a person.  It was a key ingredient in how they kept such a large empire under control.  Make the penalty for resistance and rebellion so unbelievably cruel and painful that almost no one will stand against you.  These were Jesus’ executioners.  The most realistic portrayal of this is in the movie – The Passion of Christ.  It has been a part of my spiritual discipline to watch the movie on Good Friday primarily because it portrays what Jesus went through… for you and for me.

He was loved and He was being separated from the ones He loved.  The images of His mother, His disciples, His close followers mingled in the crowd of “haters” as He was led to Calvary had to pain Him further.  But even more excruciating had to be the separation from His heavenly Father for a time.  In fact this is probably the biggest deal of all.  Jesus, the One Who existed in union with the Father from before the world began, was about to experience something that happened only this once in all eternity.  As judgment passed on Jesus for all mankind’s sin, His Father turned away.  When the sin was judged, Jesus knew separation from the Source of all life, His heavenly Father.  Matthew captured this moment in Matt 27:45 – 46.  Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  We know why today.  The Father’s love desired to make a way for us to be reconciled to Himself.  The demands of justice had to be met.  Through the death of the only sinless, perfect soul, our redemption was purchased.

Again I encourage you to take the time today to let the weight of what Jesus did rest upon your soul for a little while.  When we understand how much He did for us… how low He was willing to go to reach us… what great a price He paid for us, we cannot help but be deepened in our love and devotion to Him.  That God loves you so much that He experienced Good Friday is amazing beyond description.

Receive the Lord’s blessing today in rich abundance.  And share His blessing with those He brings into your life.

Here are pictures from our trip to Jerusalem.  Actually we walked the Via Delarosa exactly one year ago today.  I begin with pictures of the Garden of Gethsemane.

Garden of Gethsemene

Garden of Gethsemane

Ancient Olive Tree in the Garden. This tree is hundreds of years old.

Ancient Olive Tree in the Garden. This tree is hundreds of years old.

Inside the Church of All Nations in the Garden.

Inside the Church of All Nations in the Garden.

The altar in the Church of All Nations is directly over a large rock outcropping that was in the Garden. This is a likely place where Jesus prayed.

The altar in the Church of All Nations is directly over a large rock outcropping that was in the Garden. This is a likely place where Jesus prayed.

The Garden of Gethsemene was the location of an Olive Press.

The Garden of Gethsemane was the location of an Olive Press.

Our guide indicated that while these trees are possibly over a thousand years old, they roots continue to send up shoots and they live for thousands of years.

Our guide indicated that while these trees are possibly over a thousand years old, the roots continue to send up shoots and they live for thousands of years.  So these roots existed at the time Jesus was arrested here.

Front of the Church of All Nations.

Front of the Church of All Nations.

Next is the area where the Roman fortress Antonia was located.  Here the final part of Jesus’ mock trial was completed, where the Roman scourging took place, Where He was dressed in a purple robe and a crown of thorns and mocked, where he was disrobed, and where His march to Golgotha began.

This is the Church of Condemnation. The area surrounding the "Stone Pavement" mentioned in John 16:19.

This is the Church of Condemnation. The area surrounding the “Stone Pavement” mentioned in John 16:19.

Inside the Church of Condemnation.

Inside the Church of Condemnation.

In the Church of Condemnation

In the Church of Condemnation

This is the Stone Pavement where Pilate tried to release Jesus. He brought Jesus out wearing a crown of thorns and wearing a purple robe. But the crowd, incited by religious leaders, shouted, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"

This is the Stone Pavement where Pilate tried to release Jesus. He brought Jesus out wearing a crown of thorns and wearing a purple robe. But the crowd, incited by religious leaders, shouted, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

Details on the Stations of the Cross.

Details on the Stations of the Cross.

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Inside the Church of Flagellation.

Inside the Church of Flagellation.

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Standing at the beginning of the Stations of the Cross

Standing at the beginning of the Stations of the Cross

The following shots are several of the Stations of the Cross as we wind our way through the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem.

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These final pics are from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which is over the most likely site of Golgotha (also referred to as Calvary) and the Garden tomb.  This church was built in 326 AD.  It is also called the Church of the Resurrection in the Orthodox Church.

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This altar is over the rock that is believed to be Golgotha, the “place of the skull” where Jesus’ cross was erected. Here a pilgrim leans in to kiss the rock.

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This slab is supposed to represent where Jesus body was laid in preparation for burial.

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The Pursuit of Truth

Posted in God, Holy Week, Jesus Christ, tagged , , , , , , , on April 2, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Good Morning this Maundy Thursday of Holy Week 2015.  For much of the night I pondered and prayed about what to share this morning.  Holy Week is climactic in the life of a believer as we relive Jesus final earthly hours and culmination of why He came.  As I alluded to yesterday Jesus came with a primary purpose and a number of secondary purposes.  Some of His secondary purposes were to give us an example of how to live, to touch lives in His day that were later recorded so we would know how to minister, and to send the Holy Spirit to live within us who would further our living and ministering in faith.  His primary purpose was to give Himself up as a perfect sinless sacrifice for sin so that through Him everyone would have a path to forgiveness and restoration with God the Father.  I heard on the news this week that a recent study found that over 50% of youth and young adults do not know the reason for the Easter season.  That is sad.

I am praying for a groundswell of truth seeking for I am convinced that if people seek truth, they will find God.  This is never more accurate than if they simply look into the facts about Jesus.  I have spoken with unbelievers and invariably their response has fallen along a couple of distinct lines.  Either they don’t want to be bothered by seriously considering the claims of Christ or they simply have never taken the time to weigh the evidence and apply logic to determine what is true.  In my experience the root of unbelief for those who have heard the gospel and not accepted it has always been a sin they were not willing to give up or look past long enough to consider is Jesus who He said He is.

One of the things I have done a lot in my career as an engineer is Root Cause Analysis.  The most effective way to get to the real reasons a failure occurs is to diligently gather all the evidence, make sure it is valid and accurate, and then put those pieces of evidence together to see what story it tells.  I have been involved in hundreds of these investigations and if this process is followed, we always resolve the issue.  However I have seen a number of situations where the investigator approached a failure with a preconceived idea of what the root cause was and the investigation did not go well.  You see, if we approach a question with a bias ahead of time, it becomes much more difficult to accept the evidence at face value.  We look for evidence that supports our hypothesis.  In many cases unconsciously.  In others it is conscious and willful.  We will overlook or dismiss evidence that does not fit our hypothesis.  Additionally when we have a bias from the outset, we are not able to effectively apply logic.  Remember that one of the key principles of logic is that when all the evidence is weighed, if all other options are eliminated, then the remaining option, regardless of how unlikely, must be true.  (I think I heard the character Sherlock Holmes say that recently.)

The ultimate question then becomes “Who was Jesus?”  People who haven’t investigated all the facts and applied logic will often respond, “Oh Jesus was a good man.”  “He was a wise and good teacher.”  Or perhaps they will even go so far and say what Islam says about Him, “He was a great prophet.”  However those are not valid choices as the ultimate declaration of who Jesus was.  To make the claims He made and to suffer an indescribably cruel and painful death as He did, there are really only three choices.  One he was insane and delusional in the most extreme sense.  Two He was the greatest deceiver who has ever lived.  Or three, He was who He claimed to be.  Jesus claimed to be God’s Son – to be One with the Father.  He claimed to be able to forgive sins.  In John 14:6 we read “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one come to the Father except through me.'”  These are extremely bold claims.  A good man does not make Himself equal to God unless that is Who He truly is.  Otherwise He is either a deceiver or mad.

The evidence is pretty substantial.

  • We have eye witness evidence from multiple sources of the life and miracles of Jesus.  They are amazing stories.  And if we do not allow our biases, either for or against to sway us, then we put those into the “validation bin” to determine a little later if we admit them as true and valid.
  • We have the number of prophesies in the ancient Hebrew sacred texts (the Old testament of the bible) written 400 – 1000 years before Jesus’ birth that fit what we know about His life perfectly.  Many of these were fulfilled completely independent of any thought or action He could have taken.  Here are a few of the 100+ prophesies fulfilled in the life of Jesus.
    • Virgin birth
    • Born in Bethlehem
    • Herod’s killing of all male babies in Bethlehem (except Jesus who had escaped to Egypt) after Jesus birth
    • From the lineage of David
    • The manner of His death
    • The advent of John the Baptist
    • Plus many more to numerous to capture here.
  • The fearful disciples who hid themselves after the crucifixion were transformed into life long evangelists after His resurrection.  Eleven of the twelve were martyred with John the only one to suffer a natural death albeit in exile because of His faith.
  • Jesus’ body was never found.  This is really huge. Remember the key principle about logic mentioned above.
    • If the disciples had stolen the body (highly unlikely) one of them would surely have broken and confessed when under the threat of death.  And while it is possible a person might die to cover up a lie, that such a large group of people maintained the same story speaks to the truth of the tale.
    • If the authorities had taken the body all they had to do was show the body and the movement would have been stopped at the outset.
  • The number of post resurrection appearances Jesus made.  All told Jesus appeared to over 500 people after He was ressurected.  And because of this they were transformed into faithful followers even through persecution and death.
  • The accuracy and validity of the bible.  This is actually evidence to support the validation process.
    • The bible is far and away the most studied book of antiquity.
    • There are more high quality ancient manuscripts of the bible than any other book from antiquity by far.  Some of these manuscripts are from within just a few decades of the original documentation.  A recent ceremonial mask from Egypt was found and carefully studied.  I believe the date was from around 80 AD.  The mask was made from papyrus that had short selections of the Gospel of Mark in it that authenticated current texts.
    • The dead sea scrolls found in the Judean desert in 1947 had a large number of Hebrew texts that proved the accuracy of current texts.
    • Along these lines, an understanding of the absolute rigor and holy reverence with which the Jewish scribes approached the copy of the texts ensures the highest level of accuracy and attention to detail.
    • The secondary sources such as the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus that support the historical details surrounding Jesus and the time and place He lived.
    • Even the manner of the biblical writings supports its authenticity.  A consistent message and story is presented with enough variability to show it was compiled by different persons with slightly different perspectives.  The minor differences do not in any way take away from the central tenants of the faith, but they do reveal an integrity in documentation and copying.  This supports the argument that what we have today is in the same form as the original writers, some eyewitnesses and some recorders of eyewitness accounts, intended.
  • The growth of the church from the humblest of beginnings, ie. one man crucified upon a Roman cross after only a three year itinerant ministry in a very small, remote, and isolated province of Rome, to the 2 billion Christians in the world today.
  • Lastly, the lives of people throughout history and continuing today, who are changed because of knowing the risen Lord.  Jesus is alive today and He is still meeting people and transforming them through His mercy and grace.

I am one of those people Jesus has changed.  I have met the Lord.  He has saved me.  He has brought much positive change in me.  I would love to say I am totally faithful and complete in every way, but I am not…yet.  I, like all faithful believers, am a work in progress.  But I am growing because He is real and He is walking with me, helping me to become more and more like Him.

Dear friend, I hope this has encouraged you today.  If you are a believer my desire is that this provide a reinforcement of your faith and help you share that faith with others.  If you are not yet a follower of Jesus Christ I invite you to dig deeper and see if what I have written is true and accurate.  Ultimately I was convinced by the life that I saw in people who claimed to know Jesus and lived with a vibrant, tangible faith.  The rest of the information just solidified my faith once I accepted and started following Him.  Since this is Easter, I encourage you to go to a bible believing church this Sunday and ask the Lord to speak to you.  See if He won’t speak a message of love to you heart.  What do you have to lose?

Be blessed today and be a blessing.

Oh, one more thing.  Three year ago I wrote a blog that is really cool family story called Quest for Truth.  If you want to read about a practical application of Truth Seeking.

 

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Holy Week in Israel – Palm Sunday

Posted in Church, God, Jesus Christ, Responsibility, Service, The Father, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

My personal preference is majestic nature views like the vistas in Yosemite Valley or the view from Clingman’s Dome observatory.  However the morning view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives is impressive indeed.  Such was the view locals and pilgrims experienced as they crested the Mount and viewed the city over the Kidron Valley.

View of Jerusalem from the top of the Mount of Olives. The golden dome is the Muslim Dome of the Rock which sits essentially on the site Jewish Temple Mount. Going even further back into antiquity this is also Mount Moriah where Abraham was directed with his son Isaac. At the last minute before Abraham sacrificed Isaac, God stayed his hand and provided a ram for the sacrifice. See Genesis 22.

View of Jerusalem from the top of the Mount of Olives. The golden dome is the Muslim Dome of the Rock which sits essentially on the site Jewish Temple Mount. Going even further back into antiquity this is also Mount Moriah where Abraham was directed with his son Isaac. At the last minute before Abraham sacrificed Isaac, God stayed his hand and provided a ram for the sacrifice. See Genesis 22.

Zoomed-in view of the southern side of Jerusalem. Shot 1 of 4 with each panning a little further to the north.

Zoomed-in view of the southern side of Jerusalem. Shot 1 of 4 with each panning a little further to the north.

Jerusalem, Shot 2 of 4.

Jerusalem, Shot 2 of 4.

Jerusalem, shot 3 of 4.

Jerusalem, shot 3 of 4.

Jerusalem, shot 4 of 4.

Jerusalem, shot 4 of 4.

It was along the path leading down from this point and into the city that Jesus was hailed by the crowd, probably numbering in the few hundreds.  Recorded in the gospels (Matt 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, John 12:12-19) they shouted, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.” “Hosanna in the highest.”  “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  “Hosanna to the Son of David.”  “Hosanna!”  “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”  “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David.”

It is important to realize that Jesus was still an enigma to many.  Some saw in Jesus the political leader who would rise up and challenge the oppressive Roman regime and lead Israel to freedom.  Others saw a man who made outrageous claims of intimacy with God that bordered on blasphemy.  Many were devoted followers who believed Him to be a great prophet.  And some had even confessed Him as the Messiah, the Anointed One sent from God.  So within the crowd that lined the path and pushed around Him there was religious fervor, political fervor, and a few skeptics who watched, listened, and took notes to report to the religious leaders.

One telling scene during the descent which probably took an hour or more, was that Jesus wept over the city (Luke 19:41).  He knew the opportunity that the people of Jerusalem had, but He also knew that many would miss it.  In the midst of what should be pure celebration, Jesus is saddened by loss those who do not recognize Him will experience.  Unfortunately that is still true for many today.  God is present and alive in the world today, but many still miss Him.  They fail to recognize the time of the Lord’s visitation and their loss is an eternal loss.

That Jesus arrives in an understated manner is part of God’s approach to us.  This approach leaves room for faith.  While some religions believe it is acceptable to coerce conversions, that is not God’s way.  He values the relationship built upon faith.  When we exercise faith in giving up our lives to Him, then the gift He gives is an assurance that He is Who He says He is.

As I think back to my life before I gave my life to Him, I was a fairly religious person.  I think it is important to clarify, I could not see hypocrisy in my life because frankly, I don’t remember my church speaking too strongly against many of the sins I walked in.  I believed in God.  I believed Jesus was His Son.  I attended church almost every Sunday, said confession, and partook of the sacraments.  I tried to be a good guy and follow what the church taught.  What I did not do was regularly read the bible, pray, or live according to all that the bible said about believers.  OK, that sounds like a hypocrite, but from my point of view I was just trying to be like many of the other “Christians” I knew.   I guess I was just like a lot of people in the crowd on that first Palm Sunday waving palm branches and shouting, but not really knowing who Jesus really was.

That changed for me when I finally surrendered and asked Him to be Lord of all my life.  My belief about God and Jesus moved from belief to certain knowledge.  Doing “church” things out of duty morphed into living a life in intimate relationship with the living Lord.  And the Word of God became the source of my inspiration, information, and strength.

Admittedly there have been times when I have struggled to release something, but the Lord has graciously led me successfully through a number of those challenges.  I am sure there are still other opportunities to grow by either giving up something that I don’t really need or adding something the Lord wants me to undertake.  However I am confident that since He has been faithful to lead and help me through those before, He will continue to do so in the future.  Even though He was God’s Son, Jesus prayed and had to lean on God’s strength to pass through some of the tests that He undertook on our behalf.  This is a model for us to follow.

A thunderstorm rolled through early this morning as I was praying about what to write today.  At one point a brilliant flash of lightning streaked across the still black sky just as I looked up.  Jesus had the power to ask, nay command, the forces of nature to obey Him and they would have.  He even said at one point that He had to but ask and legions of angels would respond to His call.  But He did not seek to be spared by any of the means He had at His disposal.  Instead He obeyed the Father perfectly.  He took my place and He took your place on the cross.  He bore my sin and He bore your sin.  The penalty that we were under, He paid.

On Palm Sunday Jesus again set His face resolutely toward Jerusalem.  With raucous celebration around Him he crested the hill at the Mount of Olives and saw the city of His death, burial, and resurrection.  And while He wept, it was not for Himself, but for the city and those in it who would miss what He was doing.  Lord, help us to see, understand, appreciate, and act upon what you are doing in our lives and the lives of those around us – today and every day.  To You be all glory, honor, and praise today and forevermore. Amen!

Be blessed my friend and be God’s blessing to someone today.

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Holy Week in Israel – Part 1

Posted in Church, God, Jesus Christ, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 28, 2015| Leave a Comment »

In 2014 we were fortunate to travel to Israel with a group from our church.  I enjoy learning about history and I am an avid student of geography.  Visiting the places where Jesus lived, walked, and taught was a dream come true.  And while I have studied the bible for over 30 years, being there made it come alive in a new and vibrant way.  This was just before the Arab uprising which stopped travel for several days.  As we progress through Holy Week for the next several days I will share pictures and stories from that trip.  To set the stage for Holy Week I will concentrate upon the trip prior to our Jerusalem visit today.

The three days prior to Jerusalem were spent in Galilee.  We visited Capharnaum, where Jesus was based through His time of ministry, as well as many traditional sites such as the Mount of Beatitudes, the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, the Church of the Primacy of Peter where Jesus commissioned Peter to “Feed My sheep”.  An over-riding impression of Galilee was peaceful.  It was easy to picture Jesus walking through this land, ministering to people, healing, delivering, and teaching.  Galilee is fairly rural.  In Galilee the land is dotted with small villages surrounded by lots of fields and open spaces.  It is different from the US where rural often means a single farm surrounded by it’s fields.  I don’t remember seeing any homes remote from others.

When visiting places of historic consequence, I like to imagine what it was like at that time in history.  That means you often have to look past a lot of what has been added as well as seeing through the revisionist history.  Fortunately in the Holy Land you have two major benefits.  First, there is much about the land that has not changed dramatically.  Being such a highly contested area, there has been much ebb and flow to who is in charge, but not a tremendous amount of development that has significantly changed the land.  One of the most significant changes is that modern horticultural techniques have made the land bloom and grow more prolifically than ever, however this has not resulted in significant development and growth… at least not in Galilee.  Along the Mediterranean Coastline, yes, but not so much in Galilee.  The second reason it is perhaps easier to get the feel of what it was like 2000 years ago is that we have the most accurate living document from antiquity to consult when we read the bible.  The bible is far and away the most widely published and read document in history.  And unlike all other ancient documents, the bible can be compared to extant manuscripts from the first century showing the accuracy of what we read today.

One small detail.  I will refer to the Sea of Galilee by its traditional name from the scripture of Sea of Galilee.  However it is technically a fresh water lake.  Water flows in particularly from the snow melt and springs of Mount Hermon and it flows out by way of the Jordan River.

 

CAPHARNAUM

Matthew 4:13 tells us that Jesus moved to Capharnaum.  It was in this area that Jesus called Simon Peter, his brother Andrew, James, and his brother John.  (Matthew 4:18-22).  It was in this area that Jesus got into a fishing boat and taught the people as they lined the shore.  From this shoreline Jesus would climb into a boat with His disciples and travel to different places around the lake to teach, to heal, and to get away for quiet time with the Father.

Jesus' home during His ministry years.

Jesus’ home during His ministry years.

Ruins in Capharnaum.

Ruins in Capharnaum.

One of the stories set in Capharnaum is found in Matthew 8:5-13.  A Roman Centurion comes to Jesus asking for healing on behalf of his servant.  The Centurion’s faith in Jesus is so strong that Jesus is “amazed.”  (See verse 10)

Aviel, our guide, provides background on the ruins of the synagogue we are standing in. Archeologists put the timing of this synagogue to around the 1st century meaning it is possible this was one of the places Jesus worshipped and taught in. The construction cost was likely funded by a wealthy Roman centurion.

Aviel, our guide, provides background on the ruins of the synagogue we are standing in. Archeologists put the timing of this synagogue to around the 1st century meaning it is possible this was one of the places Jesus worshipped and taught in. The construction cost was likely funded by a wealthy Roman centurion.

The shore of the Sea of Galilee in Capharnaum.

The shore of the Sea of Galilee in Capharnaum.

 

MOUNT OF BEATITUDES

On a sea side hill about a mile from Capharnaum is the commonly accepted location of the Mount of Beatitudes (See Matthew 5-7).  A small church was erected in that location and visitors like ourselves come to walk where Jesus walked and see what Jesus saw.  We were there in early spring and everything was nice and green.  We were told that the beginning of April moves into the dry season and shortly browns and tans would be the predominant coloring.  As you can see, it was fresh, colorful, and alive.

 

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View southeast from the Mount of Beatitudes. Mount Arbel is the peak just left of top center.

View southeast from the Mount of Beatitudes. Mount Arbel is the peak just left of top center.

View west from the Mount of Beatitudes.

View west from the Mount of Beatitudes.

View eastward from the Mount of Beatitudes.

View eastward from the Mount of Beatitudes.

 

Church on the Mount of Beatitudes.

Church on the Mount of Beatitudes.

View up to the church on the top of the hill that is the likely location of the Mount where Jesus gave the sermon on the mount, including the beatitudes.

View up to the church on the top of the hill that is the likely location of the Mount where Jesus gave the sermon on the mount, including the beatitudes.

 

CHURCH OF THE PRIMACY OF SAINT PETER

The Church of the Primacy of Peter sits on the water’s edge on the north side of the Sea of Galilee, a little below the Mount of Beatitudes.  This location is believed to be the same one described in John 21.  This makes sense since it is only a mile or two east of Capharnaum where the disciples would have likely headed after Jesus’ crucifixion.

Reading John 21 again, I am struck by how Jesus responds to the disciples, especially Peter.  First Jesus sought Peter and these other disciples out after they had gone back to Galilee.  Jesus had told Mary of Magdalene to tell the disciples He would see them again in Galilee.  In my mind I suspect they had “hung out” for a little while before they resorted to what was familiar to them – fishing.   Second He met them where they were and He met their immediate need.  An entire night without any success was instantly turned into overflowing success immediately following obedience to Jesus’ command.  Third He feeds them.  Notice that He already had fish and bread ready for them when they came ashore.  Finally the way Jesus restores Peter is telling.

Peter denied Jesus three times.  Jesus asks Peter three times does he love Him.  With each response I can sense Peter’s growing desperation to assure Jesus of his devotion.  I can’t prove it, but I believe that Peter carried with him a large burden of guilt because of his denial of Jesus.  There are not a lot of activities that are recorded in all four gospels.  When they are they are vitally important in God’s message to the church. Peter’s denial is one of them.

When Jesus forgives us, our sins are literally transferred to the ledger of “debt fully paid”.  We do not ever have to go back and pay that debt.  This is hard for some people to accept though.  As proud and brash as Peter was, it is likely that his sense of guilt was strong and would hinder the plans Jesus had for him.  Jesus’ three questions and three directives were directly aimed at demolishing the foot hold the enemy had in Peter’s life through that guilt.  Finally Jesus speaks prophetically to Peter to let him know that he will again face a choice to deny or follow Jesus and this time he will follow to the very end.

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The Primacy of Peter chapel.

The Primacy of Peter chapel.

Inside the chapel at the Church of the Primacy of Peter.

Inside the chapel at the Church of the Primacy of Peter.

Statue symbolizing Jesus reinstating Peter into leadership in the church.

Statue symbolizing Jesus reinstating Peter into leadership in the church.

The outside chapel at the Church of the Primacy of Peter. We enjoyed a wonderful quite time as a church here.

The outside chapel at the Church of the Primacy of Peter. We enjoyed a wonderful quite time as a church here.

Having Church on the shore of the Sea of Galilee on the grounds of the Church of the Primacy of Peter.

Having Church on the shore of the Sea of Galilee on the grounds of the Church of the Primacy of Peter.

 

JORDAN RIVER

The place we visited on the Jordan River and had baptism was within a mile or so from where the Sea of Galilee empties into the Jordan River which flows the 75 or so miles south to the Dead Sea.  We were told that the lower Jordan River is fairly polluted due to the heavy use of the lower Jordan River for agriculture, but I don’t have any confirmation of that.  As you can see by the pictures it was a beautiful location.  The Jordan River below the Sea of Galilee for most of the year is a small, meandering stream rather than a large flowing river.  I find it so like our Lord to take a small and relatively insignificant river and infuse it with eternal meaning as the site of John the Baptist’s ministry and Jesus’ baptism.  The same is true of Galilee in general.  There are no large and prosperous cities.  The people seem to live quiet, modest lives.  It is such an understated place for the God of the universe to perform the vast majority of His earthly ministry.  But that was His plan and purpose.

Pilgrims coming up out of the Jordan River.

Pilgrims coming up out of the Jordan River.

The baptism site at Yardnit on the Jordan River in Galilee.

The baptism site at Yardenit on the Jordan River in Galilee.

Jordan River downstream from Baptism location.

Jordan River downstream from Baptism location.

Pilgrims awaiting the baptism at the edge of the Jordan River

Pilgrims awaiting the baptism at the edge of the Jordan River.

 

TIBERIUS

We stayed two nights Tiberius, the city built by Herod Antipas during this time and named after the Roman emperor.  For a time it was the capital of Galilee.  While much of Galilee was decidedly Jewish, there were Roman cities built during these years such as Tiberius and Sepphoris.  These cities were built from the excessive taxation of the local citizenry and strove to create a Roman feel in the backwoods province of Galilee.  These were pagan cities of the foreign rulers built to impress upon the local population the dominance of Rome and perhaps bring the influence of Roman culture.

View north from our hotel room in Tiberius.

View north from our hotel room in Tiberius.  I never was sure what that flare was, but it reminded me of Jesus teaching that a city set on a hill cannot be hidden in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:14)  About four hours after this picture we were on that Mount which happens to be just under the city shining in this picture.

Tiberius from our hotel.

Tiberius from our hotel.

View back at Tiberius from out on the Sea of Galilee.

View back at Tiberius from out on the Sea of Galilee.

Demonstration of the traditional "fishing" on the Sea of Galilee.

Demonstration of the traditional “fishing” on the Sea of Galilee.

One of our tour boats on the Sea of Galilee.

One of our tour boats on the Sea of Galilee.

The fishing fleet returning at days end to Tiberius.

The fishing fleet returning at days end to Tiberius.

The hills north of the Sea of Galilee

The hills north of the Sea of Galilee

Remnants of the morning shower that rolled across Tiberius and the Sea of Galilee at daybreak.

Remnants of the morning shower that rolled across Tiberius and the Sea of Galilee at daybreak.  It was so cool to wake up to this flash shower that quickly rolled down off the hill above Tiberius and onto the Lake.  It reminded me of the stories of Jesus calming storms such as the one found in Matt 8:23-27.

 

Over the next few days I will share a few other pictures and stories from Israel.  One of my biggest take-aways from the trip was that the Lord who is powerful beyond comprehension chose such a quiet and relatively non-descript area to send His Son.  We are talking about Jesus’ entire life and ministry spent in an area the size of New Jersey.  Today over 2 billion people all around the world call themselves Christians.  Amazing!  But that is not all.  Wherever you are, whatever you have done the same God who chose this unlikely piece of land to fulfill His amazing plan is asking you to be His and to allow Him to use you and your life for His glory.  He wants to pour His life into and through you just as He poured His life into and through Galilee 2000 years ago.  And just like He is not through using this Holy Land in His plan, He is not through using you either.  That is awesome beyond words!  Thank you Lord God Almighty!!!

Be blessed today and be a blessing.

 

 

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Lover of My Soul

Posted in God, God Stories, Jesus Christ, Prayer, The Father, Worship, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I am moved by how deeply, how passionately God loves us.  As we approach Holy Week I invite you to pause each day and plumb the depths of what God did for us… for you 2000 years ago.  He literally dealt with sin once and for all.  Jesus, God’s Son, performed the most gracious act ever undertaken because He loved and obeyed the Father and because they both love us.  Romans 5:8 says “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

I heard a story about a Railroad switchman many years ago that has stuck with me.  Back in those days switching a railroad from one track to another was accomplished by manually actuating sets of large, open gears that literally shifted the rails from one set to another.  The switchmen were the railroad employees responsible for knowing which tracks went where and how to keep the trains flowing smoothing through the yard without incident.  While this is all automated today, back then it was a task that rested upon the knowledge, quick-thinking, and physical strength of the switchman.  The story told was long before OSHA rules and regulations.

As the story was told to me one particular day a watchman had decided to take his young son to his work to show him the trains and give him an idea of what his dad did for a living.  The young lad was thrilled to see the engines and all new things in the switchyard.  While they are there another railroad employee approached the switchman with a question to which the switchman responded.  His son saw his chance to “explore” and slipped away.  The question it turns out reveals a significant drama unfolding.  A passenger train is barreling into the switchyard and has had a brake failure.  The father’s presence becomes providential in that he understands the gravity of the situation and is able to quickly determine what must be done to save the train and it’s passengers.  It’s fairly complicated, but with a few rapidly executed track switches he can prevent a certain crash and derailment which would injure and kill many passengers.  As the father runs from switch to switch making the necessary changes, he is barely ahead of the speeding train.  At the last switch he arrives with only a moment to look up before he must throw the switch only to realize making the last switch will send the train down the track where his son is seated playing with a piece of coal.  He has only two choices – either save his son and watch many people crash and die or make the switch and watch his son die.

I heard this story before I had children and it was hard to fathom the sacrifice the father made even then.  Today I have four children and it is even harder.  But this gives us a sense of the sacrifice our heavenly Father made in sending His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins.  Why did He do this?  The answer absolutely blows me away.  He did it because He loves me.  He did it because He loves you.  He did it because it was the only way we could be reconciled in our relationship with Him.

Sin… my sin, my choices to go my way, had put a barrier between the God who loves me and me.  But God never stopped loving me.  He never stopped loving you despite your sin.  In fact He knew we would be separated from Him so He made a way for us to be reconciled to Him.  He called a people group to be His chosen people.  Through this group He set up the process where by a substitution, a perfect lamb, could stand in the place of a sinner to take their deserved punishment.  The code of justice was served, the penalty was paid, and mercy was extended to the sinner.  But the blood of goats and lambs only rolled the penalty forward.  It foreshadowed God’s ultimate plan to send His Son, Jesus, to live a perfect sinless life among His chosen people.  And at the right time to become the one, perfect sacrifice for all people, for all time.  AMAZING… AMAZING LOVE!

For the person reading this right now, I believe God put these thoughts in my heart and encouraged you to read this so He can get you this message.  “He loves YOU with an amazing, hard-to-fathom, but true love.  You are so precious to Him that He gave that which was, and is, dearest to Him – the life of His Son, Jesus.  He purchased your salvation at the highest price imaginable because to Him, you are worth it.”

“Father, this day we thank you for your amazing love.  You absolutely overwhelm us with your goodness, your kindness, your mercy.  Although we don’t deserve it, we will receive it with thanksgiving.  And we love you in return.  Imperfect as it is, we offer you our love, our lives, our obedience.  God, please deepen our knowledge of You.  Help us to be transformed by Your Holy Spirit through the reading of Your Word and obedience to what it says.  Jesus, make your life inside of us grow more and more each day.  Let your love do its work in us and through us.  And love others through us today so that they might know You – the Lover of our soul.  Jesus, I pray this in Your mighty and powerful Name.  Amen.”

Be blessed and be a blessing today my friend.

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Leaving and Forsaking

Posted in God, God Stories, Jesus Christ, Salvation, The Father, tagged , , , , on March 25, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Many of us live lives that are damaged, bruised, and broken.  Even those who seem to “have it all together” often have scars and reminders of the brokenness we all must deal with.  Relationships with those around us – spouse, family, friends, acquaintances are subject to the influences of mood, circumstances, miscommunication, egos, and sin in all its varied forms.  It’s no wonder that from time to time we experience pain in every facet of our being whether it be emotional, physical, mental, or spiritual.  But this is not our end state.  Nor do we have to remain trapped in the lonely, unhappy place this brokenness takes us.  In John’s gospel we read.   8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”   There has been one thought that has rumbled through my consciousness all week that is tremendously liberating.  God promises to those who are His that He will never leave us or forsake us.  This is a bedrock truth that fits tightly with the cornerstone of faith which is Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 

This truth was what Jesus said the day I turned my life over to Him.  As I knelt in the chapel at Camp Hardtner in the piney woods of central Louisiana I knew I had an important decision before me.  At 23 years of age I had been a church-goer all my life and seemingly for the most part, a pretty good guy…  But in reality I was living mostly for myself and there were plenty of times when the choice to do what I knew was right was overwhelmed by the decision to do what I wanted to do in that moment.  I was in Camp Hardtner because the leader of the youth group where I was helping had suggested that I go to the Cursillo weekend.  Well, a day and a half of being loved on by people who knew and loved the Lord combined with simple, yet powerful talks by people whose lives were being touched by a very real, very personal God had me in the chapel pondering what it all meant for me.

You see, I entered the chapel to get alone for a few minutes to gather my thoughts and try to process what I was hearing, thinking, and feeling.  But in reality I was coming to a divine appointment with Jesus.  As I knelt there looking at the cross in the chapel I started talking to God knowing that He was real and that He could hear me.  As I poured out my questions I became aware that I was not alone.  I realized Jesus was right behind me, listening to my words and listening to my heart.  I stopped talking and I just listened.  Then Jesus spoke to me.  Even though it was over 31 years ago, I remember the details very vividly.  He first clarified the question.  “Dan, will you continue living as you have been living or will you follow me?”  He didn’t have to say that my “following Him when it was convenient” wasn’t really following Him.  That was what the day and a half at the camp had brought into crystal clarity.  I remember at this point holding my hands in front of me, palms up.  I saw that I was holding up everything that meant something to me in life…my family, my job, my car, my reputation, even my future hopes and dreams.  I guess I subconsciously knew I was making an offering of my life at that point, but Jesus made it even clearer with His next words.  At that moment he referred to my left hand and He said, “Dan, this is your life… your parents, your brothers, your sister, friends, job, reputation, your hopes and dreams… everything that you call your own.  Everything that makes up your life now.”  And then He switched the focus to my right hand which at this point was empty since everything that defined me was resting in a pile in my other hand.  And then He said, “This is the life I offer you.  I promise you only one thing, I will never leave you or forsake you.” 

I knew I had a decision… the most important decision of my life.  I had a lot in my left hand compared to what was visible in my right hand – a life given to Jesus with only the promise that He would never leave me or forsake me.  But God gave me the faith and courage to make the decision for Him.  In my mind I offered up everything in my left hand, one by one, to God for Him to have and do with as He saw fit.  My family was the hardest, but at 23, my hopes and dreams were a close second.  Funny thing is, in releasing those things, whatever control they had over me was gone.  I still loved my family, in fact I believe I have been able to love more deeply, but since they were the Lord’s I did not fret over them.  In my case, the majority of the things that I gave up, the Lord allowed to remain and become better because they were now all viewed as gifts from God.  The things I needed to give up and be done with were easy to walk from since I had truly “turned them over to God”.  I forsook and left those things that were of no lasting value and I gained a relationship with the One who promised never to leave or forsake me.  I am reminded of a quote by the martyred missionary Jim Elliot.  He said, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

The Lord’s peace gently came over me that afternoon which was greatly reassuring.  Our Father meets us in a manner that is perfect for us.  I have heard of others who are absolutely overwhelmed by God’s grace and power at the moment of salvation.  For me it was more like the tide turned and began to rise.  I knew immediately that God and I had entered into a life relationship and I experienced His peace, but over the rest of the weekend that peace and joy steadily grew.  By the time the weekend ended I had experienced a healing of my heart that I didn’t even realize I needed and my heart was truly full.

Today, some 31+ years later, I can honestly say God is faithful to His Word and to the specific word he spoke to me that day.  He has never left me or forsaken me.  That includes the times when I have stumbled in my walk.  It includes the few times when regretfully I grieved Him.  Even when I have gone through challenging and spiritually dry times, I could look back and see He was there with me through them all.  He has remained patient, loving, and present at all times.

As you read this, take heart because Jesus loves you and desires an intimate relationship with you.  If you are already His, take a moment to dwell on His promise repeated over and over in scripture (Jos 1:5, Psalm 37:28, Psalm 94:14, Hebrews 13:5, Isaiah 42:16, John 14 – 17) that He will never leave you or forsake you.  Rejoice in that truth.  If you are not His, I believe you are reading this as another time He is reaching out to you, calling you to Himself.  In fact, if you are willing it can be your moment of truth, your moment of decision just like I had in a little church camp many years ago.  I encourage you to take Him up on His offer.  While my life was already full of stuff, I didn’t realize there was still an emptiness until He offered me a life totally committed to Him.  I have learned that a Full Life in Him is way beyond a life full of stuff.  And while stuff fades, breaks, gets lost or stolen Jesus and His love will never leave us or forsake us… forever and ever, world without end.  Amen.

If you have made a decision for Christ today please let someone know.  And drop me a note as I would like to encourage you in your new life in Christ.

Have and unbelievably awesome day today.  Be blessed beyond all measure and be a blessing to someone else.

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Choosing to Die

Posted in God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Marriage, Prayer, tagged , , , , , on February 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I don’t know about you, but choosing to die is not my first choice.  In fact in almost every scenario that comes to mind I am choosing the path that provides at least a glimmer of hope of survival.  Our sense of self preservation is strong.  But Jesus preached and modeled something radically different than self preservation.  In Matt 16:25 He said, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it.”  As we follow His life we see that Jesus willingly lived in obedience to God’s plan and for our salvation which included dying to His self.  As a professed believer and follower in Jesus it is of paramount importance that I come to grips with what Jesus is asking me to do.

Dying to self is the foundational act of faith.  Truly living a life where Jesus is Lord means that we are not.  We, or at least I, are selfish creatures.  In most cases my world revolves around what I see, perceive, and deem appropriate.  Although I am loathe to admit it, I often want what I want and I will act in accordance with that desire much of the time.  Judging by the world around me that is true of most people.  When I committed my life to Christ, when I gave Him my life, I recognized that this innate selfishness was liable to be a problem.  But I trusted Jesus to do something about that.  As I look back over 30+ years of following Him I can see much progress yet there are still times that the old selfish man rises up.  Thankfully God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us with this.  Our response is to die to self daily and trust Him to help us.  And He does.

Jesus modeled dying to self literally.  Not everyone is called to willingly put themselves into situations where physical death is the likely outcome, but that is part of what we sign up for.  As I mentioned yesterday history is full of the faithful losing their lives at the hands of despots and tyrants who war against the one true God and His people.  Today as I write this many believers will perish at the hands of ISIS followers.  My heart hurts for them and I am moved to intercession.   We also have a dear family that we love and support that have been ministering in central Asia now for 11 years.  They recently relocated to Turkey and are beginning a new work among the Muslim population there.  Please join me in praying for God’s protection, grace, and mighty power upon all those in this part of the world.

In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.  Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Mt 26:39.  I have prayed something resembling the first part of that prayer many times… “Lord get me out of this bad or unpleasant situation.”  That is not dying to self though.  Dying to self is the entirety of Jesus’ prayer… a request for another option other than the obvious, but total submission to the Father’s plan and purpose.

Because Jesus submitted to the Father’s will He did have to suffer an agonizing night and day of torture, humiliation, crucifixion, and death.  However, He also purchased my forgiveness and forgiveness for anyone who trusts in Him.  He also launched the Church to proclaim the truth of reconciliation with God through faith in Him.  He broke the power of hell and the grave as He proved that heaven is our final home and the grave is just a doorway into larger life.

I don’t know about you, but I get pumped up when I think about what Jesus has done for me and for you.  Before I close I want to flesh out a little more what dying to self looks like for us.  Let’s get practical.  I think the fifth chapter of Ephesians is a good place to start.

For husbands it means cherishing your wife, listening to her, working hard to understand her needs and then striving to meet them.  In the list of priorities after you wife would be your children.  These come first – before the man-cave, guys night out, or your pet project.  I’m not saying that those fun things can’t happen, but they have to be down the priority list and only occur when others are considered and acted upon first.  I have to laugh because I have handled this in every way imaginable and most of them have NOT been the right way.  To do these things for your wife and children, but be secretly pouting for the guy things, is not dying to self.  Time spent with the Lord asking and allowing Him to instill in us the desire to love and cherish our family is how we get to the place we can do this right.

Wives dying to self really comes down to a very simple word – submission.  I know that opens a can of worms and I am not going to take the time to chase and catch them all.  Staying simple, Jesus is your Lord as a believer.  You are to submit to Him just as your husband is to submit to Him.  To the extent you can do so without violating the specific leading of the Lord in His Word, you are to live in harmony under the leadership of your husband.  Just like the husband who must give up his will to seek the Lord’s will first and then serve you and your children, so too you must dwell in your prayer closet with the Father to have His heart and attitude in this.

I can think of dozens of scenarios and situations and I am sure you can think of many unique to your life.  In every case the right path is similar.

It begins with a vibrant relationship with the Father through consistent, constant prayer and reading of the Word of God.

It is undergirded by the consistent petition, “Lord make me more like you.”

It progresses through consistently asking and acting upon the thought, “what is best for the other person.”

It is solidified by celebrating the joy and blessings in the lives of others.

It finds it’s rest in thankfulness to the Father for allowing you to be an agent of His grace.

And along the way, without ever focusing upon yourself or your wants, you will find yourself blessed with peace, joy, love, and a deepened faith in the One who loves us more than we can ask or imagine.

Be blessed and be a blessing today my friend.

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Party Animal?

Posted in Jesus Christ, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 23, 2012| 2 Comments »

We attended a beautiful and fun wedding this weekend.  By the way, May God richly bless your marriage Ryan and Jessica.  Make God first in your marriage and He will make it the most enriching and fulfilling experience you can imagine.

As we left the wedding party I was struck with the thought – “That’s the setting Jesus often joined.”  His first miracle recorded in John 2:1-11 was at a wedding in Cana.  At that wedding the party was obviously pretty big as the wine gave out early in the evening.  Jesus’ mother noticed and pointed it out to Jesus, drawing Him into the host’s dilemma.  To run out of wine would be a big disgrace.  Jesus responded by turning water into wine… between 120 – 180 gallons of it.  Thus ensuring many more wedding invitations in the future.

This isn’t the only party Jesus attends in the three years of His earthly ministry.  In fact as time goes on Jesus shows up in so many party situations that His detractors began deriding Him for being a “friend of sinners”.  We know that on a couple of occasions Jesus taught thousands at a time out in the open fields away from the towns.  In terms of popularity He was an ancient world rock star.  He was as comfortable seated at a friend’s wedding as He was in the pulpit of the synagogue.  Jesus went wherever there were people in need and He offered them life and hope.

Jesus is unique in many ways, but in the context of today’s discussion one aspect strikes me as particularly profound.  Jesus entered so many different life situations and yet He was without sin.  He lived a perfect, sinless life.  This was essential so that when He died on the cross He was able to be the perfect, sinless sacrifice for our sin.  If He had sinned at any time, then His death upon the cross would have been just punishment for His own sin.  As it was, the plan He and the Father had devised was that Jesus would live a life like all of us, but without sin so that He would be able to be our substitute when God’s rightous judgement punished sin.

Jesus did not come for just the righteous.  Nor did He come for just the Jewish people although He came to and for them too.  He did not come for just the poor and needy, although they were definitely on His list.  Jesus did not come just for the rich, affluent, and powerful although it’s obvious that He came for  them.  He was in the midst of every one of these groups in party and dinner settings.  In all cases He shared words of life that spoke to the group and to individuals.  In many cases He also performed miracles which both met real needs and spoke of God’s real and present power.

As I look through the scripture there is only one group that really struggled to like Jesus – the religious leaders.  Jesus never condoned sin, but He always treated sinners with gentleness and compassion… except for religious sin.  In fact the times we see Jesus angry, and yes He got quite angry, was in confronting sin within the religious leadership.  Greed, pride, hypocrisy were all sins that Jesus confronted head on.  Interestingly even many of these rebukes were delivered in private parties in the homes of the religious leaders.  Jesus was just too amazing a person to ignore.

Now some might point to Jesus’s divinity as the reason He did not sin.  While I know that He was fully God, Philippians says He emptied Himself of all the privileges His divinity might give Him and He became fully human.  He was tempted in every way as we are and yet He was without sin.  So as Jesus entered all these situations which held many temptations, He was not immune to their allure.  He did not fall to them though.  Jesus spent time alone with His Father… consistently… intimately… frequently.  This was the source of His power over sin.  And this same source of strength is available to all who call upon Him and rely upon the Lord God.  We’ll talk about this more in a later post.

The children’s song – “Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so” is absolutely true.  Jesus’ engagement with people in any and all situations shouts that loud and clear.  Was Jesus a Party Animal?  Jesus was (and still is) a lover of people and if that requires entering a raucous wedding party, a gay bar, or a high brow dinner party to share the gospel and save a soul He will.  Since we are His hands and feet today, then we must listen to His voice and follow the prompting of His Holy Spirit in this.  Jesus example was to enter places fraught with darkness and sin, yet He carried light, love, and faithfulness to God as He went.  He touched lives, He spoke life, He gave hope.  He expects us to do the same.

Love you all.  Grace and peace to you in the Name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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Good Friday, 2012

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »

We are on vacation at the beach for our youngest son’s spring break.  Last night the clouds rolled in with showers and thunderstorms.  I had intentions of getting up early and watching the sunrise on Good Friday morning, but the weather forecast was calling for rain all day on Friday.  I off-handedly said, “Well I guess there won’t be a sunrise tomorrow.”  My wife, whether knowingly or not said something that this morning seems rather profound.  “Honey, there’s always a sunrise.  It’s just that not everyone sees it.” 

As I reflect upon her statement this morning I realize that her statement is true whether she meant sunrise or Sonrise.  It is sad, but all too true that we often miss the meaningful because we have our eyes, our thoughts, or our attention on the trivial.  As I sat in the sand this morning with grey, scuttling clouds racing by overhead and the merest hints of color in a few scattered openings in the otherwise thick clouds, I thought about the sun that is out there rising behind those clouds.  Other people are in places where they can see it clearly and they know the sun is there.  I have seen the sun rise before and the brightening sky tells me that even though I don’t see him he is still there.  But for some all they can see are the clouds, the rain, and the disruption of their plans.  Sitting in the sand waiting and listening I saw much that I would not have noticed otherwise…

Pelicans, an otherwise odd-looking bird, looking so graceful as they fly up the beach in groups of from 3 – 25 in swooping lines just inches above the crashing surf.

The undulating pattern of the sand dunes covered with sea oats forming both a scenic and protective barrier for the homes and villas behind.

The furthest sawgrass toward the ocean.  Standing at the very edge of the surf, this little tuft gets the abuse of wind, wave, and the occasional beach walker, yet still holds his ground… literally.

The sky itself with a few pink highlights to the east and south while looking foreboding with dark greys and blues to the north and west. 

And then remembering that by this time on Good Friday, Jesus had already been tried and convicted in a mock trial, beaten within the confines of the Jewish council, and was probably on his way to be whipped by the Roman soldiers.  Still ahead the long walk to Calvary carrying His cross until He was no longer able.  The nails hammered through his wrists and feet to affix Him to the cross.  Then the unbearable pain as the cross is raised to the vertical and all the weight of His body rests upon the three nails… 

And His cry after hours of pain and suffering – “My God, My God.  Why have You forsaken Me?” 

God didn’t answer out loud, but His answer resonates today – “Because I love them.”

People say that Valentines Day is the Day of Love.  I disagree.  It is a day of romance and while love is an essential component of true romance, Valentines Day is not the ultimate demonstration of love.  The most amazing demonstration of Love was on the original Good Friday.  Jesus, pure and innocent Jesus, offered up for us.  He loves us more than we can comprehend.  God loves us so much He offered up His Son.  Jesus loves us so much He offered up Himself. 

If you know Him, please join me in worship and adoration of our loving Lord. 

If you don’t already know Him, please consider His offer of love.  He will not force Himself upon you.  But He does desire your response.  He loves you and wants to fill you with His love.  It is the best thing in all the world.

Have a blessed day today.

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