Daily Archives: November 25, 2013

Glimpses Of The Great God: Day Thirteen

Devotion, ,

DAY THIRTEEN

 Who has believed our message

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,

and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him,

nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.

He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.

Like one from whom men hide their faces

He was despised and we esteemed Him not.

Surely He took up our infirmities

and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered Him stricken by God,

smitten by Him and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:1-4

 What proof do we have of God’s love for us?  “Greater love has no-one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  Read through this very familiar passage of Scripture again and again.  Jesus left the place where He was the darling and focus of all the attention of heaven to this – unknown, unrecognised, unappreciated, rejected, despised, scorned, humiliated and thrown away like a bit of garbage – and that by the very people He had created in His own image and for His glory.  Could He have stepped any lower?  And yet He did it for you and for me.  He absorbed all the blows that were meant for us so that we could walk free and be completely acceptable and accepted by God.  He was no “Mr Universe” or “Mr Sexy” as the world loves to categorise men. He was so ordinary that no-one recognised Him as God.  Even His miracles were misrepresented as the works of the devil.  For you and for me He became NOTHING.

Listen To Him

Bible Study, ,

LISTEN TO HIM

“Meanwhile, Peter and those with him were slumped over in sleep. When they came to, rubbing their eyes, they saw Jesus in His glory and the two men standing with Him. When Moses and Elijah had left, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials: one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He blurted this out without thinking.” Luke 9:32-33 (The Message).

Once again Peter, the blunderer, exposed the natural human reaction to a great moment of revelation in his life.

This experience was for them; it was to be a defining moment, convincing them once and for all that Jesus was the Messiah and binding them to Him in loyal love for the rest of their lives. What did Peter do? He wanted to set up a shrine to Jesus, Moses and Elijah!

He got it wrong on at least two counts. Firstly, Moses and Elijah were not on a par with Jesus. They were mere men; Jesus, the Son of God. Secondly, this was not about another religious experience to set up another memorial stone, as the children of Israel had done throughout their history. They never learned from their experiences but they kept making religious events out of them.

For the three disciples, this was another landmark on their journey towards getting to know Jesus as their rabbi, but much more than their rabbi. He was their Lord, the Son of God and Messiah. How else would they be convinced that He was who He said He was? Jesus was not interested in setting up another religious “festival” to add to the Christian “calendar”. Of what use would that be if this experience did not influence and change their lives?

Of what value is all the carry-on about Christmas, Easter and all the other highlights on the “Christian calendar” if it does not contribute to transformation into true disciples and sons and daughters of God? Over many weeks we have been meditating on who Jesus is and what He expects of us. We have learned that it was never His idea to set up another useless religion.

It grieves me to see what is done in His name when He NEVER told us to do it. Jesus does not want shrines and memorials, and church buildings, and fancy clothes, and chanting and rituals, all done “in His name” which out of character with who He is and what He wants.

He said, “Follow me!” What is He doing and where is He going? He still wants to reach out to the world, to heal the broken hearted and to restore everything that was broken through Adam. His message to the world is still “Follow me,” because He wants to take us to the Father.

“While he was babbling on like this, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them. As they found themselves buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God. Then there was a voice out of the cloud: ‘This is my Son, the Chosen! Listen to Him.’

“When the voice died away, they saw Jesus alone. They were speechless. And they continued speechless, said not one thing to anyone during those days, of what they had seen.”  Luke 9:34-36 (The Message).

It was the Father who put Peter in his place and corrected his cock-eyed thinking. No long explanations — just a terse instruction: “This is my Son; listen to Him.” Forget Moses and Elijah; they have served their purpose. It’s all about Jesus. It was then and still is now.

What if you and I made it our life’s purpose to follow Jesus — in our homes, in our work places, in our communities — being merciful, caring and generous instead of worshipping at our little shrines of experience and carrying on in our old selfish ways as though nothing had happened?

When you have “seen” Jesus, don’t set up a memorial. “Listen to Him.” That’s what it’s about.

It Had To Come Out

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IT HAD TO COME OUT!

“About eight days after saying this, He climbed the mountain to pray, taking Peter, John and James along. While He was in prayer, the appearance of His face changed and His clothes became blazing white. At once two men were there talking with Him. They turned out to be Moses and Elijah — and what a glorious appearance they made! They talked over His exodus, the one Jesus was about to complete in Jerusalem.” Luke 9:28-31 (The Message).

Exodus — a strange and unusual word to describe what Jesus was soon to accomplish in Jerusalem. This was obviously a reference to His death and resurrection, but why “exodus”? Luke is the only one of the gospel writers who used this word. Did he understand something the others hadn’t grasped?

This was a highly significant event. Why did it happen? Of what value would it have been had Jesus been alone on the mountain?

Let’s answer the second question first. Did Jesus need the affirmation of His Father? He had received the Father’s blessing at His baptism and, on the strength of that, He had launched into His public ministry, having passed the test of true son ship during His forty days in the wilderness. He had lived in close union with the Father and learned the lessons of obedience by obeying Him in every detail of His life. He knew He was loved and He lived out of that assurance. No, He did not need another affirmation of his identity as the Son.

It would seem that this was about the disciples; they needed this revelation of Jesus to cement two things in their minds, His identity and His mission. The appearance of Moses and Elijah and Peter’s reaction would help to put Him in perspective. Two of Israel’s most important and revered historical figures in company with Jesus?

It is clear that the disciples overheard the conversation — His exodus in Jerusalem. The exodus from Egypt, of course, was inseparably linked to Moses. Moses had led the children of Israel out of Egypt and into a covenant relationship with God. Elijah’s ministry was a powerful attempt to lead the people of the northern kingdom of Israel back to God out of slavery to idol-worship.

What was the meaning of Jesus’ exodus? Did it refer only to His departure from the world of humans back to the Father? The exodus from Egypt was a type of a greater deliverance — from slavery to sin and into a new covenant, sealed in His own blood, that was be a better covenant, based on better promises and sealed with a better sacrifice, guaranteeing a better hope.

This was an experience Peter and John never forgot and which helped to shape their conviction that Jesus was God’s Son and the promised Messiah. Peter wrote of this revelation: “For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. He received honour and glory from the Father when the voice came from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain.” 2 Peter 1:16-18 (NIV).

John’s testimony is similar: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (NIV).

It was imperative that these men, who were to testify to the world that Jesus was God’s Son, be so convinced in their hearts that they would be willing to give their lives for the truth they would proclaim. And they became eyewitnesses of something that no one else had ever seen.

We may not see the glory of Jesus in His visible form but with the eye of faith we have seen and believed. Have you?

Hug It, Don’t Shrug It

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HUG IT, DON’T SHRUG IT

“Then He told them what they could expect for themselves: ‘Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You are not in the driver’s seat — I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Believe me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?

“‘If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I’m leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when He arrives in all His splendour in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn’t, you realise, pie in the sky by and by. Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their very own eyes the kingdom of God.'” Luke 9:23-27 (The Message).

In the context of His own impending suffering, Jesus laid out clearly before the Twelve the way of a disciple. Once again it’s all about letting Him lead. What does that mean? How do we interpret the circumstances of our everyday lives, especially when things are tough or uncomfortable or even tragic? Is He leading only when the days are sunny and the way smooth? That’s what we tend to think, and we give the credit to the devil when things go wrong.

Could it be that Jesus is leading, even when we don’t like what’s happening? It’s really all about trusting Him, isn’t it? My journey with Him had been a long one, over 57 years to date, and it has taken me a long time to realise that He was leading every step of the way, through success and failure, through financial struggles, the loss of a child, a stormy marriage, divorce, homelessness, starting a new business, and having to pick myself up and carry on on my own.

Jesus gives us the key to using our difficult times to our advantage, not wasting them blaming the devil and becoming angry and disillusioned with God. He said, ‘Don’t run from suffering; embrace it.’ That’s it! Our attitude to our hard times will make all the difference between wasting them and having to go through them over and over again, or embracing then and being refined like gold in the fire.

The writer to the Hebrews recognised hardship as God’s way of disciplining His beloved children. “My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child He loves that He disciplines; the child He embraces He also corrects.” Hebrews 12:5b, 6 (The Message).

Does that mean that God deliberately makes life difficult for us? No. We live in a fallen world where bad things happen to good people as well as bad people. Our troubles are sometimes the result of our own bad choices and sometimes the result of other people’s bad decisions, but God brings good out of the worst of circumstances if we trust Him.

 

Why does He allow stuff to happen? Why does He not cushion us from trouble and suffering? I think that one of the big reasons is that, when we are bumped, what’s inside of us comes out. God’s plan is to “bring many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10); and He does it in the same way as He prepared Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice for our sin; through suffering.

He has to get rid of the thoughts and beliefs and attitudes that belong to our old sinful, selfish natures. Difficult times, issues with people, physical and emotional suffering expose what’s in our hearts. If we turn these things over to Jesus, He will cleanse and heal us and move us towards being mature sons and daughters instead of immature brats who are always needing diapers changed and noses wiped, always demanding, and always throwing temper tantrums when we don’t get our own way.

“Don’t run from suffering; embrace it.” Treat it as a friend, not an intruder. You will be on the way to being released from your old selfish self to becoming “a chip off the old block”, following and imitating your Master.

Who Do You Say That I Am?

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WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?

“One time when Jesus was off praying by Himself, His disciples nearby, He asked them, ‘What are the crowds saying about me, about who I am?’ They said, ‘John the Baptizer. Others say Elijah. Still others say that one of the prophets from long ago has come back.’ He then asked, ‘And you — what are you saying about me? Who am I?’ Peter answered, ‘The Messiah of God.’ Jesus warned them to keep it quiet. They were to tell no one what Peter had said. Luke 9:18-21 (The Message).

Luke said nothing about the circumstances and environment of this event – which happened at Caesarea Philippi, the “red light” district of Israel — or Jesus’ altercation with Peter because of his misunderstanding of what He, as God’s Messiah, had come to do.

Jesus, it seems, wanted His disciples to be clear in their minds about His identity. They needed to distance themselves from the opinion of the people around them because, without the absolute conviction that He was the Messiah, they would not have the strength or perseverance to stay with Him when the going got tough.

The crowds who thronged Jesus were dazzled and enamoured by His personality and His miracles but they still fell short of their understanding of who He was. He was a prophet, yes, even one of the great prophets of history come back from the dead — that was a possibility — but not the Messiah. They could not rise to that, especially as their spiritual leaders repudiated His claims and were bent on annihilating Him because He was a threat to them.

It was imperative that His disciples get it. It must have encouraged Him to know that they, probably through discussion among themselves, had at least recognised that He was more than just a prophet. Whatever their understanding of Messiah was, was yet to be revealed. It turns out that they were set on believing that He would deliver them from Roman occupation and restore the glory of David’s kingdom and nothing more than that.

Although He repeatedly tried to get them to understand what His messianic role was, it was only after all the horror of His crucifixion and the miracle of His resurrection that they came any closer to understanding that the deliverance of which He spoke was more than political and that God’s kingdom was broader than Israel.

It’s a great pity that there are large parts of the church today that have just as narrow a concept of who Jesus is as the disciples and the people of Jesus’ day had. Many denominations narrow God’s kingdom down to their particular theology or way of doing things. Some preachers insist that it’s all about “faith and prosperity”, while others go so far as to declare categorically that there is no salvation outside the boundaries of their “church”. They have removed Him from the throne and put themselves in charge.

But Jesus refuses to fit into anyone’s mould or to be anyone’s servant. He does not belong to anyone’s denomination or subscribe to anyone’s theology. His criterion for participation in the kingdom of God is far simpler and less regulatory than that.  He said, ‘Follow me.’ Those who don’t do that, immediately disqualify themselves from being His disciples.

As simple as that instruction is, it will take a lifetime to understand and carry out His command. Following Jesus implies watching, listening, learning, practising, falling, getting up, starting again, going on, imitating, obeying, repenting, relearning, over and over again, like an infant learning to become a responsible adult.

Anything less than, or other than that, is just not Christian. As He said, ‘If you don’t do that, you are disqualified.’ It’s time for us, who call ourselves believers to get back to the Word of God and stop inventing our own brand of Christianity. The measure I use, which helps me to stay on course, and especially when I see and hear what goes on in the name of Jesus, is to ask the question, “Is that why Jesus came?”

It is the Bible, not popular preachers, that gives us the answer.