Partakers Christian Podcasts

Jesus - A Glimpse Of God Part 18

18.  Jesus Teaches Religious Leaders 2

 

Welcome back to our series, AGOG – A Glimpse of God. We are on Day 18 of our adventure, looking together at the life of the most amazing person in human history - Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Mark 8:11-21 The Pharisees went to Jesus and began to argue with him. They tested him by demanding that he perform a miraculous sign from heaven. With a deep sigh he asked, "Why do these people demand a sign? I can guarantee this truth: If these people are given a sign, it will be far different than what they want!" Then he left them there.

Jesus faced constant opposition from the religious leaders. Normally there wasn't much love lost between Pharisees and Sadducees! They had mutual contempt and hatred for each other. But because both groups felt threatened by Jesus, they engaged in acts of unity against Jesus.

These religious leaders came to Jesus spoiling for an argument. They were unable to object any longer against the faultless teaching of Jesus, so they changed tactics. They came with a cunning scheme to test and tempt Jesus which was to ask for him to give and provide them with a miraculous sign from Heaven. However, they asked for a sign not because they wanted to see if Jesus was the Messiah. They had already decided that he wasn't. Their request was insincere, as they were actually wanting evidence that Jesus was not the Messiah.

Oh they had heard about and seen Jesus performing miracles. Things such as: feeding the multitudes, healing people and raising Lazarus from the dead. But these miracles to their minds was insufficient evidence that Jesus was God's Son - the anointed Messiah.  We know from other parts of the Gospel, they thought Jesus did those things by the power of satan. These leaders wanted special proof that Jesus was who He claimed to be, that He was indeed the anointed one sent from God and not sent by satan.

Jesus groans deeply when faced with these ungrateful religious leaders. These men were not seeking to glorify God but to glorify themselves and fill their own vanity. This caused Jesus' great vexation, frustration and grief. Jesus was guided by the Holy Spirit and had great zeal to do the work His Father had sent Him to do.  Jesus' frustration was because of the stubborn obstinacy of those who were the religious leaders to believe He was sent from God as the Messiah.

Also Jesus didn't want to give complete evidence that He was the Son of God the Messiah. Here Jesus does however reinforce his faith in His Father to bring him back from the dead. In Matthew's account of this incident, Jesus recalls Jonah, saying that just as Jonah was in the great fish for 3 days, so would the Christ be killed and be in the grave for 3 days and then rise again by the power of God. If Jesus had given complete evidence, then there would be no room for faith. Faith only exists where the object of faith is beyond the finite knowledge of humanity. Jesus wanted to find out who had faith and who did not.

In both the accounts by Matthew and Luke, Jesus reminded these religious leaders, that they could tell what the weather was going to be like, by looking at the sky and the direction of the wind. In other words, they had already had all the signs and miracles, but they refused to believe them! They were unable to see the forest for the trees! Their hearts were closed to the anointed Christ hence why in Luke's account of this event, Jesus calls the religious leaders hypocrites! They were hypocrites, because even if Jesus did give them a miraculous sign, they still would not believe that Jesus was sent from God as the anointed Messiah. No matter what signs Jesus gave, the religious leadership would never believe Jesus as their Christ.

What about you? Again, I ask, who do you say Jesus is? What are you waiting for? Are you like the Pharisees and Sadducees demanding a sign or are you prepared to take by faith, what Jesus Christ offers you! He is offering you free eternal salvation, by grace alone through faith alone! The choice is yours! Jesus loves you and because He loves you, He will not force you to love Him in return! But His love is compelling and He is calling you to come and take up His free offer of eternal life! It is not too late! Today can be the day of your salvation and new life! Are you going to acknowledge Him as your saviour or are you going to merely put him aside as a miracle worker or man of wisdom?

Come back tomorrow for Day 19 of our series AGOG, as we continue to look together at that extraordinary man, Jesus Christ, through the Gospel accounts! See you soon!

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Job - Why God? - Part 2

Study 2 : Job 3, 4, 6, 8

Job finds his voice; he and his friends argue.

 

The pattern of the book is simple. Within the frame given by the prose of the first two and the last chapters and following an opening speech from Job there are 3 cycles of speeches: Eliphaz, Job,  Bildad, Job, Zophar, Job and round twice more. That should be 3x6 = 18 speeches but the last speech of Zophar is lost, perhaps deliberately to show the answers are incomplete.

The next chapter after these cycles of speeches (28) is a poem to Wisdom. That is followed by a speech of Job and a lengthy rant by a 4^th guy, Elihu. Only then do we hear from the Lord God himself, pointing out how Job has failed to understand what has happened and to learn from it. Then, finally, there is an epilogue, probably drawn from the old tale, which is used to teach one final fundamental lesson about life.

The poetic dialogue begins after those first 2 chapters of prose we thought about last time. Job expresses his total horror at what has happened to him in chapter 3; his first friend, Eliphaz, tries to analyze what has happened to him; Job replies and then a second friend Bildad speaks, expressing his view of Job’s problems more openly and clearly than Eliphaz did. I will read chapter 3, then a little of what Eliphaz said in chapter 4,  and part of Job’s reply, then we will skip to what Bildad says in chapter 8 and Job’s reply.

Here is Job’s lament in chapter 3: 1 - 19. Note how striking the poetry is.

All that is very understandable. There is next to no sign in the Old Testament that they had any idea of a life after death except a descent to Sheol for an experience they knew nothing about. The NT is very different. There we find statements like “longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up in life” in 2 Cor 5: 4.

Question: why the difference between the OT ideas and those of the NT? What should our reaction be?

Answer: of course this all hinges on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. “Death is swallowed up in victory” as Paul says. We know that we should never share these negative attitudes of Job whatever happens to us in this life.

At this point I will skip to the next chapter because the last few verses of that chapter do not add much to the argument of the book. I will be doing this through these studies, picking out the most interesting and important bits of the book. That isn’t to say that it is not worth reading it all. It is. Here then is Job 4:1–9.

Eliphaz asks a very sharp and important question to all those of us who make a Christian profession. “Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope.” In other words he is asking whether Job was righteous just because it was the best thing to be from his point of view. Are we Christians because this is the best option – we can live more comfortable lives as Christians, or as sometime Christians (when it suits us) - we can keep the family happy – it sounds good in the community – we want to go to heaven when we die?

Question: are you a Christian for these or any other selfish ‘you based’ reasons.

Answer: the answer is yours, obviously. We should be Christian - we should be following Jesus -because we feel compelled to do so by who he is and what he has done for us, oblivious to our own immediate comforts. 200 years ago those who went on mission to the west coast of Africa lived on average for only a few months before they caught one of the lethal diseases of that area to which they had no natural immunity. They did not consider themselves, their own comforts and even their own lives, as of any significant account in the service of the King. Neither should we.

Eliphaz continues in 4: 12 – 21. In a very striking passage he says he has had a dream which introduces the idea that will persist throughout all the speeches of all Job’s four friends (if friends they can be called) that Job must have done some thing very wicked for all this to have happened to him.

Part of Job’s reply is in chapter 6: 2 - 4, 14 – 17, 21 – 30. That brings a reply from his second friend Bildad in chapter 8.

It is now clear that the friends, and even Job himself, are working from the assumption that bad things only happen to bad people. Therefore Job must be in so much trouble because he is a bad person, having undisclosed sin in his life, which he is hiding from them and even from himself. We know what they don’t know, that that is not the case. Job has experienced all his troubles only as a result of what the author has described as a discussion in the heavenly counsel. Or in other words he is experiencing what I called the NCL, the normal chaos of life. We have to accept that sometimes things just happen for no reason that we can discern. Sometimes things happen because of other people – it was the Sabeans and the Chaldeans that stole all Job’s huge herds of oxen, donkeys and camels. But sometimes it is natural forces - it was lightning and storm that killed his sheep, his servants and his children.

That is our experience too. Some of the chaos of life we experience is because other people, unwittingly or deliberately, have disturbed the even progress of our existence. Some of the chaos is because of all sorts of natural things, tsunamis and storms, illness and accident, which may have deeply affected our lives.

That is the way the world is – for us as for Job. We don’t know why the world is this way, why it is so full of chaos, though we may think that a world in which there were no storms, no winds, no floods, would be a very boring and uninteresting place. God, the Lord has never promised to protect us from such things. He has promised to protect us through them. Isaiah said, speaking for the Lord to his people,

” When you pass through the waters,
 / I will be with you;


and when you pass through the rivers, / they will not sweep over you.


When you walk through the fire,
 / you will not be burned;
 / the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the Lord your God,
 / the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour;

He does not say I will help you to avoid the rivers and dodge the fires. But when you are in them, battling with them, I will be with you.

Job will eventually understand, by the end of the book, but he is not there yet. He does not understand about the NCL – the normal chaos of life; nor does he realise that the CEP does not work – there is no cause/effect principle operating in moral and ethical life. Our piety does not protect us from what Job calls ‘the arrows of the Almighty’ in chapter 6 (which possibly gave rise to Shakespeare’s phrase ‘the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’.)

Jesus clearly agrees. When told about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. He says ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.’

We simply have to accept that the world we are in, the created world, created by our loving God, is subject to the Normal Chaos of Life and that no Principle of Cause/Effect  operates.

Too many people, too many Christians, try to convince themselves that there is no such thing as NCL. They say that the Lord is in control so there cannot be chaos. He is indeed in control but we do not know what he is doing, or why, so we are far better to accept that it looks like chaos to us and get on with living in our chaotic looking world.

Too many people, too many Christians, think that the CEP does operate and get very upset, sometimes even losing their faith, when it doesn’t work the way they think it should. They say things like ‘my lovely son or daughter died – life’s not fair – so I can’t believe in God any more.’ Why do they do that? He never promised a CEP. Why should he be blamed when it is clear there isn’t one?

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Jesus - A Glimpse Of God Part 17

17. Teaching the religious leaders 1

 

Welcome back to our series, AGOG - A Glimpse of God. We are on Day 17 of our adventure, looking together at the life of the most amazing person in human history - Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Today we look briefly at Jesus teaching the religious leaders!

Cleansing the temple

(John 2:13-25) The Jewish Passover was near, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. He found those who were selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons in the temple courtyard. He also found moneychangers sitting there. He made a whip from small ropes and threw everyone with their sheep and cattle out of the temple courtyard. He dumped the moneychangers' coins and knocked over their tables. He told those who sold pigeons, "Pick up this stuff, and get it out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!"

His disciples remembered that Scripture said, "Devotion for your house will consume me." The Jews reacted by asking Jesus, "What miracle can you show us to justify what you're doing?" Jesus replied, "Tear down this temple, and I'll rebuild it in three days." The Jews said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple. Do you really think you're going to rebuild it in three days?" But the temple Jesus spoke about was his own body. After he came back to life, his disciples remembered that he had said this. So they believed the Scripture and this statement that Jesus had made.

While Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover festival, many people believed in him because they saw the miracles that he performed. Jesus, however, was wary of these believers. He understood people and didn't need anyone to tell him about human nature. He knew what people were really like.

Jesus cleansed the temple twice! Our example here occurred about a year after His baptism and the second cleansing, occurred two years later. In the cleansing of the Temple, we see Jesus' indignation rise. The Temple was central to Jewish worship. This is not Jesus, meek and mild! This is Jesus the indignant and upset! Jesus is in Jerusalem with His disciples to celebrate the festival of Passover. When he arrived at the Temple, Jesus saw in the courtyard, traders selling sacrificial animals. He also saw money changers who were there exchanging normal money for the special currency used to pay the Temple tax. 

So Jesus with righteous anger and indignation drove them out with a whip and upturning the tables. He was indignant that they were doing business and profiteering in the courtyard of His Father's house, the Temple. By cleansing the temple of such business, Jesus was making claim to being the Messiah, long foretold in the Old Testament.  His disciples knew this to be a sign of Jesus being that Saviour Messiah figure. Psalm 69:9 predicted a zeal to protect the honour of God's Temple. 

By behaving like this, Jesus was concerned for God's honour alone, for the Temple was for prayer and worship - not for the trading of merchandise, profiteering and banking. The religious leaders also knew it as a sign, hence they asked for a sign and a miracle to prove that Jesus did indeed have the authority to justify his actions. If Jesus did not give them a sign, He would merely be a lawbreaker, troublemaker and rabble-rouser. So Jesus offers them a sign "tear down this temple, and I'll rebuild it in three days."

Of course the religious leaders misunderstood Jesus' meaning.  The temple was still not complete, so how could he tear it down? What Jesus actually meant is revealed by John, after the event! The temple Jesus was talking about was his own body.  Throughout his public ministry, Jesus always had his crucifixion and his resurrection as his goal!

The sign Jesus would give to the religious authorities was his own resurrection, 3 days after his death! The resurrection which would be the final proof of Jesus being the Messiah they were waiting for! However, his own disciples were confused at this point and it was only after his resurrection that they would understand fully. It was then that they truly believe that Jesus was who He had always said He was. That Jesus was indeed the Son of God come to rescue the world from sin, death and decay.

Many people believed in Jesus because of his miracles but their faith was shallow. The remembered him as a great miracle worker, a leader and king - but certainly not their saviour and Messiah. Jesus didn't lean on them for support because He knew how fickle they could be.  Jesus put his full trust on God the Father for support, because He knew how reliable and trustworthy He was!

Who do you say Jesus is? What are you waiting for? But further, what are you going to do with this Jesus? Are you going to acknowledge Him as your saviour or are you going to merely put him aside as a miracle worker or man of wisdom?  It is not too late! Today can be the day of your salvation and new life!

Come back tomorrow for Day 18 of our series AGOG, as we continue to look together at that extraordinary man, Jesus Christ, through the Gospel accounts! See you soon at Partakers!

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Job - Why God? - Part 1

Study 1 : Job 1 - 2

Terrible disasters hit Job. The book of Job is totally fascinating – but difficult. It is deeply concerned with the question of wisdom – how does one live well – but we will leave consideration of that to later in our studies when the question rises to the surface.

In particular the book deals with the questions that arise when disaster strikes. There are no clear answers to the questions it poses. Instead there are lengthy dialogues between Job and his three friends, then between him and a rather brash young fellow and only finally with God. We are left to think and puzzle over what is said and draw our own conclusions rather than treating it as an authoritative text that tells us things we should believe or do. One commentator says “we need to be transparent about the hazards of being human and teach the full witness of Scripture, which is messy, complex and, ultimately, wonderfully true.” That is nowhere more the case than in the book of Job. This is an attempt to teach that full witness as we are given it in this book.

Job Chapter 1

What a situation! Before looking at it in any detail here is an overview of what is to come.

The book tackles two major questions in particular:
Question 1: why is it not true that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. A Psalmist realised that when he said “For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills. This is what the wicked are like –
 always free of care, they go on amassing wealth. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
 and have washed my hands in innocence”


Then the major question 2) is: how can it be that our world, and our life in it, is subject to so much chaos.


It also raises two other questions that follow from those two: 3) how can we live wisely in this difficult environment and 4) how can we trust in the reliability of God if he presides over such an erratic world.


We will not get complete and totally satisfactory answers to those questions but we will be forced to think through our attitudes towards them and come to a deeper appreciation of this world we live in and the God who created and now controls it.


Question 1 revolves round one false idea that was common in those days and is still very common today. That is that everything that happens to us has a moral cause behind it leading to the effect we see. We will call this a CEP – cause/effect principle. It suggests that if I am good only good things will happen to me; if I am bad then bad things will happen to me. That leads to commonly heard statements like “he didn’t deserve that”, implying that something terrible has happened to an essentially good person and that it shouldn’t have done. The CEP does, of course, operate in the physical world: if you put salt in water you get salt water; if you kick the table leg you will get a bruised toe. The book of Job teaches us that a principle like that does not operate in the moral and ethical world.


Question 2 revolves around what we will call the NCL – normal chaos of life. Many Christians would query use of the word chaos in relation to the way the world works but it does seem to be the right word to use in this book. We will question the use of it more closely in study 9. As we shall see the book of Job teaches us that life is not well ordered. It hasn’t been since the Creation. However difficult it may be to accept that God did not create a neat and well ordered world but one that appears to us to be a thoroughly erratic one that is what he did and we have to live in it.


To move on to the detail of chapter 1, here it is.


Job was probably a real person who gave rise to many stories. He lived in the Middle East, but not in Israel, sometime about the same time as Abraham. The book was written by an Israelite much later, probably about 700 BC possibly using an old beginning and the end as a frame into which he put the lengthy poetical dialogue which is the main part of the book. The obvious intention was to do something to answer some of the questions raised by the old tale. We will look at selected sections of the book, not all of it, which can be thought a bit repetitive.


The Satan of this chapter is not the devil of later books of the Bible. He is a member of the Angelic Council (1: 6). He is the Accuser, the prosecuting counsel before the Lord, a sort of Attorney-General so we are straight into a courtroom type of thinking. We shall soon find that much of the book is concerned with Job wanting a judicial review of his case. He wants to be able to argue his case before the Lord.

Chapter 2

The challenge and counter-challenge between the Lord and the Satan in these first 2 chapters are curious to our eyes. The point in that culture is that if Job does not love God for his own sake, but for what he can get out of it, the honour of God is severely damaged. He would be shamed. To explain that: if a woman loves a man, not for his own sake but because he is rich we – in the Western world anyway – would not think well of the woman. But in this ancient culture it would bring more shame on the man. Similarly if Job does not love God for his, God’s sake, that brings shame on God rather more than on Job.

I’m going to ask some questions, pause briefly to let you think about them – and possibly use the pause button to do so – then pass comments on them.



Question: Some people’s first reaction to extreme trauma would be like Job’s; tearing his robe’s and shaving his head (but perhaps not worshipping as Job did). Stop and think for a moment: how would you react to extreme trauma? Would you let everyone know about your grief or would you bottle it all up inside? How long for? Would this be a healthy thing to do?

Answer: Of course I don’t know what your reaction would be. Possibly you don’t either as we often don’t know ourselves very well in situations like this until we actually experience them. The way we react to such things is very dependent on the culture of our society. Westerners tend to bottle things up. Other cultures are often more open about grief and better at sharing it.



Question: Which of the 3 friends actions here would you think most helpful to Job? How would you act in such a situation? How should you act?

Answer: Their silent sharing of his grief would most helpful to him. There would be a great temptation to say all the culturally approved things, many of which are not very helpful. It is a great gift to be able to say truly helpful things in a situation like this.



The Lord said to the Accuser “you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”



Question: What are the implications of that statement? What does it tell us?

Answer: all things are in the hands of the Lord, both good and bad. The Bible never teaches the existence of a good God and a bad Satan, or nature, or anything with a power that God does not control. Even when Paul talks about “the devil’s schemes. … the powers of this dark world … the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. … and the evil one” he is talking about powers that are acting only with the express permission of the Lord God. That is hard to understand, but it is the way the Bible speaks of such things throughout.

The most stunning statement in these chapters is Job’s reaction to what has happened: the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

Question: What does this tell us about Job’s view of God and his relationship to him – and therefore of what ours should be?
Answer: Job had a deep sense of relationship with God that had not been shaken by the appalling external events. For those of us (Westerners in particular) who are encouraged to seek our own good before anything and everything else, thus doing things like divorcing a spouse who no longer seems best for us, this approach to our own gratification is a fundamentally important lesson.

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Jesus - A Glimpse Of God Part 16

16. Teaching the living!

Welcome back to our series, AGOG – A Glimpse of God. We are on Day 16 of our adventure, looking together at the life of the most amazing person in human history - Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

John 11:30-46 Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!” Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen. But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

Resurrection and the Life - Jesus’ friend Lazarus was sick. His sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word to Jesus about this, hoping that Jesus would come and heal him. Jesus replies to this family he loves, that he wouldn’t come just yet and that the illness would not result in death! How could he be so sure, particularly from a distance? Though Jesus knew that Lazarus was dead, he still waited a further days before going there. He knew it didn't matter whether Lazarus was dead 2 days or 4 days - dead is dead!

Such was the eagerness of Martha to see Jesus when he eventually arrived she left the house of mourners and expressed some faith that God would hear Jesus' prayers. She uttered that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, the Saviour Messiah spoken about in the Old Testament.

Jesus' humanity - The emotions of Jesus, love, feelings, weeping, sorrow and anger are revealed. They reflect his true humanity and his heart of compassion for people. Did you note that Jesus grew angry? Most people are surprised that Jesus gets angry and some people even deny it! As Jesus is the life, Jesus is angry with death and decay, as they are the end result of sin. Jesus is angry because death hurts people, even people close to him. This stirs Jesus deeply. Jesus is full of compassion, pity, sympathy, grief and care for this family. He shares their pain and shows it in his tears. He loves them and is determined to show this love in practise. He weeps.

Jesus' Divinity - Then the moment of truth arrives! Will Jesus be true to his word and raise Lazarus back to life again? Some doubted but Jesus knew that God would answer his prayers. First he thanks God that for hearing him and then issues the command for Lazarus to come out! Is this not one of the great moments of the Gospels? Jesus was true to his word! God heard his prayers and Lazarus was raised from the dead! He was dead but now back to physical life! One day Lazarus would die physically again but for now he had new life! This Jesus even had authority over death and life! Amazing! Yet, just after this event, the Jewish authorities, who were watching carefully, came up with a plot to kill Jesus.

This story is also true in a spiritual sense. When you allow Jesus to be your saviour and rely on him for your salvation, you become spiritually alive! Until then, you are spiritually dead. What are you waiting for? Again, I ask, who do you say Jesus is? But further, what are you going to do with this Jesus and let Him bring you to life spiritually? It is not too late! Today can be the day of your salvation and new life!

Come back tomorrow for Day 17 of our series AGOG, as we continue to look together at that extraordinary man, Jesus Christ, through the Gospel accounts! We will see together, somebody rejecting Jesus because the price of following Him was too high a price to pay! See you soon at Partakers!

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Jesus - A Glimpse Of God Part 15

15. Teaching the powerful!

 

Welcome back to our series, AGOG – A Glimpse of God. We are on Day 15 of our adventure, looking together at the life of the most amazing person in human history - Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

(Mark 10:17-22) As Jesus started on his way; a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honour your father and mother.'" "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."

Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

This story is in the three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. Luke describes him as a wealthy ruler (Luke 18:18-27). Matthew describes him as a young man (Matthew 19:16-26). In Mark’s account, he is simply a man (Mark 10:17-22). Put altogether that makes him a rich young ruler. He runs up to Jesus and falls on his knees before him. He wants eternal life, wants it now! When he calls Jesus a good teacher, Jesus responds “No one is good—except God alone.” This young man was also thinking that he was good, and that to have eternal life, he had to continue to be good. Hence his question, he wanted to make sure of it! Now Jesus could have been correcting the young man, but more likely Jesus was asking: “Do you know what you are saying and how close to the truth about me you are?”

Jesus goes on to list some of the 10 commandments. The young man assured Jesus that he had kept each of them faithfully in his pursuit of eternal life, yet was lacking that he was assured of eternal life. But a problem was that the law had to be kept perfectly and he had not! He had not fulfilled the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods but me!” He had also broken the greatest commandment “Love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Jesus looked on this man with love and said to him, that in order to follow Him, that this young man lacked one thing. He would have to give up everything in order to follow Jesus.

That was a step too far, as he wanted his riches and eternal life but Jesus said he couldn’t have both. The rich young ruler left disconsolate. He remains the only man who left Jesus’ presence sorrowful, and that due to putting his trust in his riches and wealth alone. Now riches are not necessarily wrong but they do make trusting fully in God very difficult (Mark 10:23). The rich young ruler had hoped to have his riches as well as eternal life – but the price to have that eternal life, was too much for him to pay.

The disciples then asked the obvious question “If not this man, then who can be saved?” Jesus replied that it was impossible for any person to gain eternal life in their own power! But with God, it is possible, because this eternal life is a gift offered not a gift earned! As my followers, you will gain eternal life and you will become members of a new family! Persecutions will come, if you follow me, says Jesus – but it will all be worth it! I promise! If you want to be great in my kingdom, seek only me as your Saviour – put me first over all! All too much for that rich young ruler! Is it too much for you in the 21st century?

Again, I ask, who do you say Jesus is? But further, what are you going to do with this Jesus and let Him do to you? Are you trying to gain salvation through your good and charitable acts, rather than depending fully on Jesus Christ? It is not too late! Today can be the day of your salvation!

Come back tomorrow for Day 16 of our series AGOG, as we continue to look together at that extraordinary man, Jesus Christ, through the Gospel accounts! We will see together, somebody rejecting Jesus because the price of following Him was too high a price to pay! See you soon at Partakers!

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Jesus - A Glimpse Of God Part 14

14. Teaching the Penitent!

 

Welcome back to AGOG – A Glimpse of God. We are on Day 14 of our adventure, looking together at the life of the most amazing person in human history - Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

John 8:1–11 Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

Jesus, as all Rabbis and teachers did, was at the temple teaching and talking with people. It was also part of the role of the rabbi/teachers to ascertain what to do in certain difficult moral and legal situations. As part of this role, the Pharisees dragged in an unknown woman charged with adultery. The Pharisees, the Jewish religious teachers and elite have been watching Jesus. They had heard what he was doing, and knew that he was increasing in popularity and gaining more and more followers. The Pharisees here are plotting to lay a trap for Jesus. If Jesus said to stone the woman, then the Romans could arrest Jesus, for it was Roman law that any death must be conducted by them and not by others. If Jesus says to release the woman, then the Pharisees would say that Jesus is contravening Scripture and the Law of Moses. So what does Jesus do? He writes in the dirt (John 8:6).

We don’t know what He wrote, but from the Greek word for 'write', we understand that He was seemingly writing a report and that when in he says in John 8:7 “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”, He is in fact saying “If any one of you is without this sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Jesus was testing the motives of the Pharisees to see if their attitudes and purpose were pure and upright, in bringing this woman before him. Jesus also turned the trap upon them. If any of the Pharisees had not committed adultery, whether in the mind or the actual physical act, then they could have stoned her. As it was, they left one by one, the oldest first (John 8:9). He must have also been indignant at the way the Pharisees who were hypocrites were quick to condemn others, so maybe Jesus was reminding them of Jeremiah 17:13: “O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water.”

So instead of passing judgement on the woman and also by eluding the trap of the Pharisees, Jesus passed judgement on the judges. Jesus having forgiven the woman of her sin, then charges her to leave her life of sin (John 8:11). Jesus condemned the sin, but forgave the woman.This reminds us that with the forgiveness of sin, comes a responsibility to live a life worthy of Jesus and to pursue righteousness. It is easily forgotten part of repentance. Jesus showed His compassion and forgiveness on the outcasts of their society. Jesus showed mercy and forgiveness and loved them.

There is no room in Christianity for actions and attitudes that defy Jesus’ ever-reaching and all-encompassing forgiveness and love. His Gospel, as he always shows, is for all people everywhere, regardless of gender, race, age, culture or social status. I ask, who do you say Jesus is? But further, what are you going to do with this Jesus and let Him do to you? Have you acknowledged your sin before him and trusting in Jesus for your salvation? It is not too late! Today can be the day of your salvation!

Come back tomorrow for Day 15 of our series AGOG, as we continue to look together at that extraordinary man, Jesus Christ, through the Gospel accounts! We will see together, somebody rejecting Jesus because the price of following Him was too high a price to pay! See you soon at Partakers!

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Jesus - A Glimpse Of God Part 13

13. Jesus Teaching the Needy!

 

We are on Day 13 of our adventure through the Gospels, looking together at the life of the most amazing person in human history - Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

John 4:1-26 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Jesus was travelling via Samaria as it was the shortest route back to Galilee. It was hot. Jesus was thirsty and wanted a drink. His disciples had gone into town to get food. So he asks a Samaritan woman to fetch him some water from the well. That he asked a Samaritan would have been bad enough, but to also talk to a woman!

The woman: We don’t know the name of this woman. But by looking at this conversation between Jesus and her, we discover several things about her. That she was a Samaritan. There was equal animosity between Jews and Samaritans. The Samaritans were a mixed race people of both Jewish and Assyrian descent from the time of the division of Israel into two parts and the annexation of the Northern kingdom by Assyria. As she was fetching water at the hottest part of the day, she was probably an outcast! This was probably due to her sexual immorality having had 5 husbands and currently in a 6th relationship.

Jesus: Jesus here reveals his genuine humanity. He was tired, drained, hot, thirsty and hungry – normal human feelings and reactions. It also shows that Jesus contravened tradition in that he spoke to a woman who was a Samaritan and a sinner. By asking for a drink of water; he was putting himself in this woman’s debt and showing his humility. It also reveals his divine nature! He knew the woman’s life of sinfulness (John 4:17) and again, when he offered her the water of eternal life (John 4:14) and he was able to spiritually satisfy her (John 4:14)! Jesus, loved the woman, an outcast from her community, and gave her the most revealing and explicit statement we have in the Gospels as to who He really was (John 4:26).

In showing love for the woman, he transcended cultural barriers. Ordinary Jewish men would never ask a woman for a drink, let alone a Samaritan woman! But Jesus is no ordinary man. The Gospel accounts show Jesus’ love is for all people: rich, poor, learned, unlearned, male, female, wanted and unwanted! This encounter between Jesus and the woman shows us that Jesus’ offer of salvation is for all people, and not just the Jews. The woman, did however, misunderstand one thing - the living water Jesus offered as she probably thought he meant running water or water from a river! But the living water Jesus offered was spiritual water to cleanse her from sin and give eternal life. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, God is described as “a fountain of living water” (Jeremiah 2:13; Jeremiah 17:13).

When the disciples returned, the woman left her water jar and went back to the town to tell other people about Jesus (John 4:29-30). We read of the many people coming to faith because of the Samaritan woman’s story (John 4:39-42) knowing Jesus as the saviour of the world (John 4:42). Again, I ask, who do you say this Jesus is? But further, what are you going to do with this Jesus and let Him do to you?

Come back tomorrow for Day 14, as we continue to look together at that extraordinary man, Jesus Christ, through the Gospel accounts! We will see together, Jesus rescuing and teaching somebody who is contrite of heart - unlike her accusers! See you soon!

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Jesus - A Glimpse Of God Part 12

Jesus Teaches the teacher!

 

Welcome back to our series, AGOG – A Glimpse of God. We are on Day 12 of our adventure, looking together at the life of the most amazing person in human history - Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

John 3:1-15 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. ” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

News about Jesus and the work he is doing is spreading quickly. One night, Nicodemus approaches Jesus to talk to him. He has heard about the miracles Jesus has been doing. Nicodemus is a leading teacher scholar from the Jewish ruling council. He wants to know more about Jesus and investigate him personally.

Like many people, Nicodemus was looking for the kingdom of God based around a political Messiah; hence admitting that due to his miraculous signs, Jesus must have been from God. However, Jesus corrects Nicodemus and says that it will not be through a political kingdom that God’s kingdom will be seen. Entrance to the Kingdom of God will not be through a person’s efforts but by being “born again”.

Jesus goes on to say that being “born again” is the new covenantIt is being born with water and spirit – cleansed of sin and indwelt with the Holy Spirit! It is being born from above, which is looking to the one who has come down from heaven. That’s Jesus! For the phrase “born again” can also be translated “born from above”. The ancient Israelites were once saved by looking at a bronze snake lifted up (Numbers 21v8)! Jesus goes on to say, that people will be saved by putting their salvation trust in the Son of Man (himself) when he is lifted up! Salvation will be personal under the New Covenant and not corporate as it was under the Old Covenant!

Even though at the start of his earthly ministry, Jesus is focussed on that time when he will die. Jesus goes on. God loves the world. God will save the world through the gift of His Son. I am that son, says Jesus! I am the light of the world come to shine light into the dark places. The world is in darkness due to sin and evil, and the Son of Man has come to take away that darkness. Those accepting of me are in the Kingdom and will not be condemned. Those who reject me will be condemned by God! Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be grasped! He sure did seem astonished that Nicodemus didn’t already know that, seeing as he was one of the leading teachers at the time!

Again, I ask, who do you say Jesus is? But further, what are you going to do with this Jesus and let Him do to you? Are you born again, that is, trusting in Jesus for your salvation? It is not too late! Today can be the day of your salvation!

Come back tomorrow for Day 13 of our series AGOG, as we continue to look together at that extraordinary man, Jesus Christ, through the Gospel accounts! We will see together, Jesus teaching somebody who is in great need – much to the initial dismay of his disciples! See you soon!

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Jesus - A Glimpse Of God Part 11

 

 11. Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners

Mark 2:13-17 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi (Matthew) son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

At the start of this chapter, Mark 2, we see Jesus’ proclaiming that he is able to forgive sins – much to the consternation of some members of the religious establishment who accused Jesus of blasphemy as only God can forgive sins! Jesus here cured a man’s soul as well as healing his physical ailment. Jesus calls himself there, the Son of Man – meaning that while he is fully God, he is also fully human!

This Jesus, the Son of Man, in this passage is walking out around the lake. He sees a tax collector sitting in his booth waiting to collect taxes from people. Jesus calls to him to leave his business and follow him! At which Levi, who we know as Matthew (the writer of the Gospel with the same name), promptly does so. Again much to the indignation of the religious zealots, because tax collectors were despised. They were despised not just for co-operating with the gentile Romans but also because they usually collected more than they were legally allowed to, and kept the excess for themselves.

That Jesus chose one of these people to be his disciple or follower was an amazing thing to do! Most people chose followers who didn’t have a hint of scandal about them, certainly not a tax collector! But not Jesus – he chose people to follow him including those who were scandalous and down-trodden. This shows the inordinate grace and wisdom of Jesus. Grace which calls such a sinful person as Matthew and a wisdom to call a man who spoke both Greek and Aramaic as Matthew did. He knew they could be transformed by the work of God!

As he started to follow Jesus, Matthew left everything behind to serve Jesus. Matthew didn’t choose Jesus – Jesus chose him! WOW! Jesus appealed to Matthew to follow him but did not force him. Jesus loved Matthew. Love can be compelling and appealing but love never forces against the will. Jesus will compel you to follow and obey, but He will never force you to do something against your own will. In response to the indignation of the religious establishment, Jesus states clearly that his mission is to call those who acknowledge their sinfulness – unlike those of the religious establishment who were hypocrites. In Matthew’s account of this story Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6 “I desire mercy, not sacrifice!” The religious establishment including the Pharisees were mainly devoid of mercy, yet kept the law and its sacrifices obediently. Such people as tax collectors where shunned by the Pharisees. Yet Jesus, the Son of Man, embraced such people and called upon them to leave their sinful life behind. Jesus forgave Matthew of his sins and reached out to him with love – just as Jesus still does today.

I am a follower of Jesus. I have been now for almost 40 years and He has never failed me. Even when I have failed him! Are you following this Jesus? He is calling you to follow Him out of his love for you. His love compels you, but He won’t force you to follow, as that would not be love. Jesus leaves the choice with you. Follow or not!

Come back tomorrow for Day 12 of our series AGOG, as we continue to look together at that extraordinary man, Jesus Christ, through the Gospel accounts! We will see together, Jesus teaching something new to one of the teachers of the Law! See you soon!

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