Daily Archives: April 11, 2013

Old Wineskins

Christian Life, ,

OLD WINESKINS

“‘Judas must now be replaced. The replacement must come from the company of men who stayed together with us from the time Jesus was baptised by John up to the day of His ascension, designated along with us as a witness to His resurrection.’

“They nominated two, Joseph Barsabbas, nicknamed Justus and Matthias. Then they prayed,’ You, O G0d, know every one of us inside and out. Make plain which of these two men you choose to take the place in this ministry and leadership that Judas threw away in order to go his own way.’ Then they drew straws. Matthias won and was counted in with the eleven apostles.” Acts 1:22-26 (The Message).

These men had a long way to go. It is not difficult to see how they were still functioning under the old Jewish religious system of “drawing lots” and assuming that God would direct them by this method as He had done in the past. At this point they knew no better and we cannot blame them for doing what they knew.

From this interlude it seems that there were more than just the twelve disciples that accompanied Jesus as He traversed the Holy Land. There were the women who came with Him from Galilee (Luke 23:55), and there were these two men who were hangers-on from the start of His public ministry right up to His ascension, although their names are not mentioned until now. They were chosen from a group who had travelled with Jesus and His disciples.

We have to ask the question, ‘If Jesus wanted to replace Judas, why didn’t He do it Himself during the forty days He was with them?’ Joseph Barsabbas and Matthias must still have been with them right up to where they were in the upper room, doing their voting.

A second question puzzles me. If they selected two men, and they did the voting, how did they know that they had selected the right man? They prayed, yes, but God had not indicated to them that this was the way He had chosen to replace Judas. They simply went ahead, assuming that they would have His leading.

Compare this process with the one recorded in Acts 13:1-3: “In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers:…while they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”

We have two examples of the way in which the believers chose men for the ministry, the one before and the other one after the day of Pentecost. We are living in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit and yet many of our practices resemble pre-Pentecost ways – voting and “casting lots” to choose leaders; having cake sales and bazaars to garner finances for the church when the instruction of God’s Word is clear – give, share, sow; going to court against fellow believers instead of bringing it to the church and so on.

The Christian life is a partnership with God – we act and He responds to our obedience. Yet in practice we are often no different from the world. It should not be a surprise that the world takes the church with a pinch of salt, most of the time, because we wear our title but we are just like them.

Jesus’ parting words were, ”…when the Holy Spirit comes on you…'” Acts 1:8 (NIV). Let’s remember that He has come and that He makes all the difference to the way we do life now.

Murder Meadow

Christian Life, ,

MURDER MEADOW

“During this time Peter stood up in the company — there were about one hundred and twenty in the room at that time — and said, “Friends, long ago the Holy Spirit spoke through David regarding Judas, who became the guide of those arresting Jesus. That Scripture had to be fulfilled and now has been. Judas was one of us and had his assigned place in this ministry.

“As you know, he took the evil bribe money and bought a small farm. There he came to a bad end…Everybody in Jerusalem knows this by now; they call the place Murder Meadow. It’s exactly what we find written in the Psalms:

“Let his farm become haunted so no one can ever live there…”

“And also what was written later:

“Let someone else take over his post…” Act 1:15-20 (The Message).

Judas was gone, taken out by his own hand, leaving a gap in the ranks of the disciples. His ‘prize’ for betrayal was used to buy a burial plot for him. What a prize!

Now Peter was at it again! We must remember that this was before Pentecost. He was spot on in his application of prophecy to Judas but one has to question his so-called ‘leading’ to replace him. There is no mention here that the Holy Spirit had anything to do with what happened next.

Peter was a man of impulse and of action. They were no longer the Twelve but the Eleven and that didn’t sit well with him. He recognised that the psalm he quoted was talking about Judas and, as their natural leader, decided that Judas must be replaced. All very commendable but not in God’s scheme of things!

Jesus had told them to wait in Jerusalem — that’s all! No reference to doing anything else, including replacing Judas by drawing straws. That method was redundant. In a few days’ time they would have the very presence of Jesus within them as He had promised, and then there would be no need to make these kinds of decisions. God already had His replacement man waiting in the wings, but Peter didn’t know it!

Why is this little interlude included in Luke’s story? There is no mention that Peter did the wrong thing — just the bare facts and yet, if one reads between the lines, the replacement they chose played no part in the rest of the story. That says something! Is it a quiet little reminder that we also make decisions that make sense in the natural but are irrelevant to God’s purpose for us?

Before He left them, His very last words to them were about His replacement, the Holy Spirit, who would be in them what He was to them when He was with them. They had to learn to discern and follow His leading when He came, and in the mean time they were instructed to wait for Him.

It amazes me how eager we humans are to ‘help’ God! When things don’t happen quickly enough for us or in the way we anticipate, we add our bit, reasonable, logical, but not what God has planned. In this case it seems there was no harm done except that when God brought them His man, Paul, they had trouble accepting him because of his history.

This may seem like an irrelevant bit of information in Luke’s story but it can be a valuable lesson if we take heed. God is not out of options when we mess up. If we wait for Him, He will reveal His solution at the right time and with far greater impact than we can ever imagine. Compare Judas and Paul. Judas blew it! God replaced him with Paul, not Matthias. Now wasn’t that a good plan!

Master and Messiah

Christian Life, ,

MASTER AND MESSIAH

“‘For David himself did not ascend to heaven, but he did say,

“God said to my Master, ‘Sit at my right hand
Until I make your enemies a stool for resting your feet.'”

“All Israel then know this: There’s no longer room for doubt — God made Him Master and Messiah, this Jesus whom you killed on a cross.'” Acts 2:34-36 (The Message).

Master and Messiah — Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified! It was all finally out in the open. How many times had the Pharisees demanded of Him, “Who are you?” and yet they had swept aside all the evidence and rejected His witness.

There must surely have been many of those same Pharisees in the crowd that day, listening to the same man who had cowered in the shadows and slunk around the courtyard trying not to be noticed. From where did this boldness and confidence come?

Now it was not Jesus claiming to be the Christ but His followers that were making these outrageous claims about a man whom they had sentenced to death for blasphemy. Instead of going away, their nightmare was getting worse. Now they were in the firing line for putting the Messiah to death and they had nowhere to hide.

What was far worse was His followers’ claim that He had actually come back to life and, what’s more, they had seen Him and spoken with Him. They had tried hard to avoid any comeback after Jesus was crucified. They had secured the tomb with a Roman seal and a Roman guard. There was no possibility that the disciples could have removed His body and buried it somewhere else to perpetrate this hoax.

What’s more, no one could deny the transformation that had happened to this peasant Galilean mob. They had no explanation for that! Peter had the audacity to bring them into the limelight for killing Jesus. And they could not wriggle out of it. After all, had they not thoughtlessly and brazenly called down His blood on their heads and the heads of their descendants? They had no idea that it would boomerang on them so quickly.

But what was Peter’s intention, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? Was it to “name and shame them” or was it to call their attention to the God with whom they had inadvertently partnered to bring about Jesus’ death as an atoning sacrifice for their sin?

In one brilliant declaration, Peter called them to account and offered them the solution to their guilt. The very one whom they had condemned to death and crucified was now offering them a new start through the gift of His life for theirs.

Peter showed them (and us) that God was not interested in naming and shaming them. He called them to account so that they would first own their guilt and then receive the forgiveness and cleansing He offered them through His death. Owning up and taking responsibility for their actions was the first step towards a brand new life.

Jesus offers us the same gift if we will own our guilt — our part in condemning Him to death and nailing Him to the cross. Through Jesus’ magnificent resurrection, God assures us that He is both Master and Messiah. We can safely entrust our guilt and our lives to Him.

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 (NIV).

Joyful Generosity

Christian Life, , ,

JOYFUL GENEROSITY

“The man went into the Temple with them, walking back and forth, dancing and praising God. Everybody there saw him walking around and praising God. They recognised him as the one who sat begging at the Temple’s Gate Beautiful and rubbed their eyes astonished, scarcely believing what they were seeing.

“The man threw his arms around Peter and John, ecstatic. All the people ran up to where they were at Solomon’s Porch to see it for themselves.” Acts 3:9-11 (The Message).

What a commotion! What a sensation! The healed beggar was certainly creating enough noise to attract the attention of the worshippers in the Temple.

The Healer had come and gone and life in Jerusalem had settled down to business as usual. There was this new sect that had arisen around Him but they seemed quite harmless. They were joyful and generous, doing life together, sharing their resources, spending a lot of time with their leaders and just generally being pleasant to be around. They weren’t militant. They were no activists, stirring up trouble, and the people of the city had grown used to them.

Now this! A man crippled from birth, a familiar face at the gate of the Temple, suddenly gets up and walks. And, what’s more, two of Jesus’ disciples are in the mix and, mysteriously, the name of Jesus of Nazareth had reappears as the one responsible for this miracle.

The beggar’s reaction got the attention of the people. People are the same everywhere, curious, inquisitive; any commotion is sure to draw a crowd. This is not what the disciples intended. They were not out to get attention. Their action was purely out of compassion for the crippled man. What happened next was more than they bargained for.

The crippled man’s actions were quite amusing. He went “ballistic”! Wouldn’t you? He had never walked. His legs were shrivelled and weak from lack of exercise. He had always viewed life from ground level. He had always been treated with pity or contempt. He always depended on others for help. There was no wheel chair to get him around. Wherever he was dumped for the day, he had to stay put. What a life! One shudders to think about everyday things like going to the toilet, or washing his hands.

In an instant everything changed for him. A new and unfamiliar life had begun. He was walking — it was that simple and yet it opened up a whole new life of learning and possibility.

That’s what Jesus does. It’s not always about a physical miracle, though He does that too. Jesus is about setting people free. It’s His passion. There are many ways in which we are held captive to a life that has only one perspective, ourselves. We are crippled by bitterness, unforgiveness, small-mindedness, selfishness, greed, anger, guilt, shame, fear, everything that robs us of the freedom to realise our potential as beloved children of God.

He came to reconcile us to the Father so that we can enjoy freedom from the crippling enslavement to ourselves that robs us of really living. Living is about loving others for God’s sake. Only Jesus can set us free from loving ourselves for our sake into the same life of joyful generosity that Peter and John were living.

It takes a miracle to do that!

It’s Really Me

Christian Life, , ,

IT’S REALLY ME

“While they were saying all this, Jesus appeared to them and said, ‘Peace be to you.’ They thought they were seeing a ghost and were scared half to death. He continued with them, ‘Don’t be upset, and don’t let all these doubting questions take over. Look at my hands, look at my feet — it’s really me. Touch me. Look me over from head to toe. A ghost doesn’t have muscle and bone like this.’ As He said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. They still couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It was too much. It seemed too good to be true.

“He asked, ‘Do you have any food here?’ They gave Him a piece of leftover fish they had cooked. He took it and ate it right before their eyes.” Luke 24:36-43 (The Message).

The Bible doesn’t give us carefully worked-out doctrinal schemes, but a little bit of detective work can yield some valuable clues to satisfy our curiosity; about the resurrection, for example.

Jesus assured us that, if we believe in Him, even though we die, we shall live. Obviously, dying would refer to physically dying which none of us will escape except those who are alive when Jesus returns. But we know that when we die, we leave our bodies behind to return to the ground. However, without our bodies we are not completely human. We are not angels who are spirits without bodies.

Jesus’ body was placed in a tomb to decay, but when He rose from the dead, He did not rise in a newly-created body but in His renewed body, leaving behind only the empty grave clothes. He invited His disciples to check Him out. The marks of His crucifixion were still there as an eternal reminder of His sacrifice for us. He had the same physical features which they recognised as their Master.

The Apostle Paul assured us that our resurrection bodies would be like Jesus’ body, not newly created but renewed, like a plant which grows from a seed. Our bodies will be sown into the ground and raised in an indestructible body just like the body of Jesus.

Jesus’ body was touchable. He was not an apparition. He had muscle and bone; He even ate fish to show them that He was real, not a phantom or a product of their collective imagination. There is no way they all could have imagined Him at the same moment and heard Him speak the same thing to all of them.

His body, though real and material, was much more than that. He came to them through a closed door. He was there and yet everywhere at the same time. Although He was not physically present in the Upper Room to hear Thomas express his scepticism about His resurrection, He knew what Thomas had said, came to him and invited him to put his fingers in the wounds to confirm that He really was alive.

Not only will our bodies be incorruptible but also our spirits. Jesus defeated death, the end result of sin. Since we cannot die, it will be impossible for us to sin. We will be as perfect as Jesus is. We will be like Him, in perfect unity with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears we shall be like Him for we shall see him as He is.” 1 John 3:2 (NIV).

Perhaps the most awesome of all is that Jesus is our High Priest, representing us to the Father in His human body. So great is the miracle of Jesus becoming a man that He will always be a man. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 2:5 (NIV). We will fellowship with Him in His kingdom as fully human.