pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: Jesus


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Lord of All

In the book of Mark, Jesus is most often referred to as “teacher.”  Mark used “Messiah” once and “Son of Man” a couple of times.  In encounters with demons, Mark tells us they called Jesus “the Holy One of God.”

Jesus adds a new name himself when he tells the two disciples to go and retrieve the colt.  He instructs any who ask to tell them, “The Lord needs it.”  In the language of the day this term was reserved for royalty and divinity.  As in Caesar and God.  As His final week drew near, Jesus was adding a new and important definition to who He is: divine presence.  In several places Jesus uses the term “Lord” to refer to God.  Now He is applying it to himself.

This claim implies more for His followers.  It draws a new level of commitment and attachment.  Believing in Jesus as a good teacher was easy.  All who heard Him speak were amazed and He seemed to draw knowledge from a higher source.  And the healings!  These pointed to something special about this Jesus.

When we claim Jesus as Lord there is something more to it than there was before.  But to simply call Jesus ‘Lord’ feels incomplete.  It really needs to be “Lord of my life.”  As in all of me.  As in over all of my life.  It is not a partial commitment.  Jesus did not go half way to the cross.  Nor does He expect us to go half way in following Him.  To call Jesus “Lord” offers our total being to Him.  What do you call Jesus?

Scripture reference: Mark 11: 1-3


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Together

As we move toward Holy Week, we must have a sense that we need to be prepared to walk with Jesus through the trials of the last week of His life.  At times on that journey, the forces of evil were in full force.  It is at times physically painful, at times emotionally painful and at times it is even spiritually painful.

Psalm 118: 24 reads, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  This verse can apply to each day in the week ahead.  Every morning when we begin our day, we can use this verse to garner strength for whatever may come personally and for being present in the events of the week as we walk with Jesus.  Every day God has made.  All things of that day too.  It is a mater of attitude to give each day to God.

It is also a matter of company.  The ‘let us rejoice’ is plural.  We are all in this together. All Christians should walk through Holy Week together with Jesus.  Whether your community is your small group, your church, or the group that reads this today, there is power in practicing our faith together.  There is unity and there is strength.

Holy Weeks is a week of highs and lows.  At times the forces of evil seem to rule the day and at times God is clearly triumphant.  It is as important to celebrate the highs together as well as to walk through the tough stuff together.  May our faith draw us together as we prepare to journey with Jesus through Holy Week.

Scripture reference: Psalm 118: 19-24

 


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Bringing Glory

Jesus seeks to draw all people to himself.  In today’s story Andrew and Philip bring some Greek Gentiles to meet Jesus.  The religious leaders note that this Jesus is drawing “the world” to himself.  Their exclusivity is just the opposite of Jesus’ desire to bring all people together.

Jesus declares that the time of judgment is near and that the prince of peace will soon drive out the rulers of this world.  As His death is drawing very near, He again states that it is why He came – to glorify God.  Did the religious leaders see their role in these two things?  Or were they like the disciples, only becoming fully aware after He had risen?  Or were they so blind and jaded that they never got it?

Jesus, our Prince of Peace, came not to drive people apart but to unite them in love.  He came to break down barriers between Jew and Gentile, between haves and have-nots, between religion and faith.  Jesus came to forge a new community based on love, peace, and forgiveness.

Do we today, as His disciples, see our role in this plan?  Do we, as His followers, walk where Jesus walked, inviting all into our fellowship?  Do we, like our Prince of Peace, seek to remove all barriers to our community of faith, encouraging all to share in His love, peace, and forgiveness?  May we too bring glory to our King!

Scripture reference: John 12: 27-33


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Following Along

In John 12 Jesus parallels our faith with that of a seed.  If a single seed remains sitting on the counter or in the package, then that is all it is.  In a similar way, if we just believe in God then that is all our faith is: just belief.

When the seed is placed in the soil though, it can produce much more.  But in order to produce a crop, the seed itself must die and grow into a plant.  The old is gone and the new goes on to produce a crop.  In a similar way, our old self must be given up so that our new self can grow to live our life for Christ instead of for self.

If we are willing to set aside self and to live for and with Christ, we too can bear much ‘fruit.’  And here too Jesus gives insight.  He tells the disciples and us that whoever serves Him, must follow Him.  Whoever follows must go where He goes.

Here Jesus is calling us past belief.  He is calling us to action: follow, serve, go.  In order to bear fruit in our lives, it requires us to put God and others ahead of ourselves.  This means we cannot ask “Go where?” or “Now?” or “With whom?”  Jesus ministered to anyone, anywhere, anytime.  If we are to follow, we must do the same.

Scripture reference: John 12: 20-26


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Suffering and Faith

For many, many years most images of Jesus show his miling and gentle.  Art generally depicted Jesus’ life and rosy and carefree.  But in recent times, we have begun to see a different side of Jesus’ life.  Most notably in the movie “The Passion of the Christ” we saw a suffering Jesus.  Other movies and television shows have allowed the public to see the sacrifice and pain Jesus experienced.

Jesus did have a lot of pain and suffering in his life.  He wept when Lazarus died, he was sorrowful when John the Baptist was killed, shed tears like blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, lamented over the lost children of Israel, and personally endured the pain and suffering of being beaten and crucified.

All of Jesus’ suffering was for us.  Because He experienced these emotions and feelings, Jesus can have empathy for us and can intercede more directly when we suffer trials and pain.  He has walked through these things and can relate to us.

He also suffered to give us an example. Jesus could have chosen to not suffer by calling in angels or exerting power himself.  Instead He gave us the example – be obedient to God, pray through our trials, trust in God’s big plan, lean into His love.

Although no one chooses to suffer, it is often in the trials that our faith grows the most. As we follow Jesus’ example, we learn that we can only make it through some things with God’s help.  Our relationship then grows, deepens, becomes more trusting.  God will carry us through.  We just need to call upon Him and follow Christ’s example.

Scripture reference: Hebrews 5: 5-10


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Go Forth

When asked, Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love God with all our heart, soul, mind,  and strength.  He quickly added a second that was like the first: love neighbor as self.  These two are alike in two ways.  First, they both involve love, arguably the highest human emotion.  Second, they both involve a two-way relationship.  God’s love for us is unfathomable yet Jesus calls us to love Him back as close to this as we can.  In essence, with every fiber of our being.  In the second, our neighbor are also called to love us back.

Jeremiah 31 speaks of a time when God’s ways and laws do not need to be taught anymore because they will be written on all of our hearts. In our church communities we start to see what this looks like.  In these microcosms people know God and strive to obey His teachings.  People who gather together for worship, fellowship, and so on are known by God and are connected together through this relationship.  Once each is in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then their relationship with each other is changed.  All are loved equally by God.  Loving each other in the same way is the basis for this new community.

But… clearly not all are part of these loving communities.  In fact, the majority of people live their lives outside of a church family, outside of a relationship with Jesus.  I believe that if asked, Jesus’ third greatest commandment would be the great commission: go forth and make disciples (Matthew 28:19).  Jesus didn’t say to always stay in our churches.  He didn’t say to closely guard our little communities.  He said go forth.  Into the world.  The great love of and for God compels us to share it with others.  Is not the highest form of loving neighbor to share what is most important to us?  Go forth.

Scripture reference: Jeremiah 31: 33-34


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Called to Light

In the Gospel of John he speaks frequently of the light and eternal life.  He speaks of Jesus being the light that shines in the darkness and how the lights shows things as they are.  We are intended to live in the light that is shed by Jesus, God’s Son.

John draws some contrasts for us: living and perishing, saved and condemned, doing right and doing evil.  Depending on the day and the moment, we all live somewhere along these continuums.  We all want to permanently be on the living/saved/doing right end of the line, but the reality is that we are imperfect and fail now and then.

The messages of the world and our own human tendencies pull us towards the perishing/condemned/doing evil end of the spectrum. It is a constant battle.  The Holy Spirit, through the power of Jesus, is always shining the light into our darkness.  The light dispels the dark and exposes us for what we are.

Broken yet redeemed.  Sinful yet forgiven.  Lost yet found.  Human yet loved by God Almighty.  We are each loved enough that God sent His only Son to die for each of us.  Jesus came, died, and was resurrected not to condemn but to save.  He came to bring eternal life.  He came to shine light into darkness.  We are called to live into these truths.  What is our response?

John 3: 14-21


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Master Craftsman

“He sent forth His word and healed them.” – Psalm 107:20

Reading today’s scripture through Old Testament eyes, God chose to step in and act.  The people realized their sins and were feeling the consequences of them.  They cried out to God.  In His mercy He healed their hearts and returned them to the path that they were intended to walk as His people.  God strengthened them for the journey so they could be just in how they lived.

Read through New Testament eyes, the ‘word’ is Jesus.  Through His life and example we can see how we are called to live.  And just like the Israelites, we will falter.  This could be outright sin or it could be a failure to meet an opportunity that God places before us.

Thankfully God is a God of second chances.  And thirds, fourths…  The Israelites wandered frequently and so do we.  But no matter how many times we falter, God’s love for each of us is steadfast, eternal, and freely given.  For this generous gift we offer our thanks.

God is also a master craftsman, a skilled artisan.  As His love is poured into us, we in turn are led by the Holy Spirit to pour into others.  Again, at times we fail.  But here is what is so amazing about His love: He is seeking perfection in us so He keeps on working us and reshaping us.  In realizing we missed an opportunity, the seeds of how to not miss it next time are planted.  We can rest assured that God will give us more opportunities to share His love because as we do, we grow closer to being the believer He created us to be.  And for this gift, we offer our thanks.

Scripture reference: Psalm 107:20


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Head to Heart

Faith rests upon the bedrock of Christ crucified and risen.  It is only through His sacrifice that we are made right with God and only through His resurrection that we have the promise of eternal life.  We ourselves can do nothing to earn forgiveness or to earn our way into heaven.  It is only by His grace and with the power of the Holy Spirit that we walk daily as a child of God.

For many today, this seems foolishness and is very hard to accept.  Like the Jews and Greeks in today’s reading, people today still want amazing signs or miracles or they want to be able to reason out faith.  Many in Jesus’ day saw miracles but failed to believe.  Many today believe that Jesus exists but fails to follow Him.  They observe the rules and diligently check off the boxes.  They know the stories in the Bible.  They practice religion but do not have a living faith.

But until Jesus makes that journey from head to heart, religion is all one has.  Once Jesus starts to live in our hearts, our lives change radically.  Instead of thinking how nice it was that Jesus did all those wonderful things for people, we want to go and do in His name.  Once Jesus lives in our hearts, our faith grows hands and feet.  The Spirit comes to dwell within us and life is never the same.  It is then that we can see with Jesus’ eyes, love with His heart, and serve others in the saving name of Jesus Christ!

Scripture reference: 1 Corinthians 1: 18-25


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Temple of the Heart

In today’s scripture we see one of the rare times we see the ‘angry’ side of Jesus.  It is a story filled with emotion.  Over the years the temple courts had become a market.  People bought what they could afford from the merchants for the required ritual sacrifices.  Money changers were also there for the Jews coming from foreign lands. All of this was done for a healthy profit.  To Him, such things did not belong in His father’s house, so he started cracking the whip and turning over tables.  He drove them out.

Jesus was clearly upset at the merchants who were taking advantage of the people.  Was He also upset at the religious leaders who also benefited?  Was he upset at the people who had gotten away from bringing their own unblemished animal or the first fruits of their own labors for the sacrifices?  There was probably some of these emotions mixed in there too.

As I reflect on this story, I am drawn to consider my own life.  If Jesus were to enter the temple of my heart, would He start cracking the whip and overturning things?  What things am I holding onto that I need to let go of or turn over to Him?  What things am I doing that I need to stop doing?  Where am I falling short as a follower?  It is much to consider.  But it is also fertile soil to work through in this season of Lent.  God be with you on your journey as well!

Scripture reference: John 2: 13-22