Monthly Archives: March 2014

Dying To Live

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DYING TO LIVE 

“Jesus replied, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves his life will lose it, while anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.'” John 12:23-26 NIV.

Why was the arrival of a few Greek worshippers seeking Jesus the cue for Him to make this declaration? Up to this point He kept saying, ‘Not yet; not yet.’ Greeks…Gentiles…non-Jews. What had they to do with this gear-shift in God’s time-table? Had the Father given Him a signal that would alert Him to the beginning of the process that would end in His death?

It seems that their request plunged Him into a season of sorrow that would culminate in the cross — “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”. He both reassured Himself and His followers that it was necessary for one seed to die to produce a harvest. The seed will remain fruitless and alone unless it is deposited in the ground to begin the process of reproduction. He was the seed of which God spoke when He condemned the serpent to destruction in the Garden of Eden under the heel of the woman’s seed (Genesis 3:15)

Does this mean that all His followers must suffer the same fate as He did? There is a death far more difficult and painful than even the death He died for us. Only those whose minds are deranged will take their own lives. For the rest, death comes upon us unbidden and we shrink from it as an enemy. But there is another death which every disciple must choose or, Jesus said, we cannot be His disciples. This is the death of the “I”, the very core of our lives where we are the centre of our universe.

The Apostle Paul called it “a living sacrifice”. Every animal that was sacrificed in the Jewish ritual of shedding blood as a symbol of the debt owed to God for sin, had its head and limbs cut off and its inward parts washed. There is deep meaning in this action — the head and the limbs are offered to God — the processes of thought and action are no longer under my control but surrendered to Him and my inner parts made clean by the shed blood of His lamb.

Just as Jesus laid down His life for us, so we are called to lay down our lives to Him. Whether that means physical death or not is His choice because we are no longer in charge. We only find our true selves when we submit our lives to Him. As living seeds we are buried with Him and our lives grow up into something that is being transformed into His likeness.

“‘Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.'” John 12:27-29 NIV.

We are privileged to eavesdrop on a conversation between Jesus and the Father. Again we glimpse the heart of a true son. No matter what lay ahead for Him and no matter how much He shrank from the anticipated horror of it, He resolutely submitted to the Father’s will because His concern was for His Father’s glory. He would see it through regardless of the cost.

How He must have treasured the Father’s reassurance that He was right on track throughout His whole life. The Father would provide the strength for Him to complete what He had begun. As long as He kept choosing the Father’s will, He would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to fulfil it perfectly.

The same Holy Spirit that was given to Jesus is at our disposal to enable us to “die” to the relentless self that demands to drive us, and to place our lives at His feet for His glory.

“For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:13 NIV.

A Plan Comes Together

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A PLAN COMES TOGETHER 

“At first His disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about Him and that these things had been done to Him.

“Now the crowd that was with Him when He called Lazarus from the tomb and raised Him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that He had performed this sign, went out to meet Him. So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!'” John 12:16-19 NIV.

Although John was writing as though he were an objective observer, we must remember that he was one of the disciples and he knew the inside story. He was one of those who did not realize that Jesus was busy fulfilling prophecy in front of their eyes. Once again, like all the other events in Jesus’ life, none of this would make sense to them until it was all over, and they could put all the pieces of the puzzle together and see the bigger picture.

We cannot blame the disciples for their slowness to understand and believe. Everything that was happening was outside their experience and their frame of reference. Like the women who went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, (and found the tomb empty and a glowing figure sitting inside who told them an outlandish story about Jesus being risen which was enough to terrify the wits out of them), the disciples could not correctly process these events until they had time to make sense of them with hindsight.

It seems that the Lazarus incident set off a wave of popularity for Jesus that sent the Pharisees into a frenzy. Things were getting out of hand and it was time for them to take action rather than to keep meeting and planning.

In the meantime…

“There were some Greeks among them who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we would like to see Jesus.’ Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.” John 12:20-22 NIV.

Two stories are running parallel here. There were dark forces egging the religious leaders on to get rid of Jesus, stirring up the jealousy, hatred and anger that dragged them deeper and deeper into their ungodly intentions. At the same time there were men, Gentiles and foreigners, who were moved by the stories they were hearing about Jesus. Was it mere curiosity that prompted their request, or was there a genuine interest in what they were hearing about this man because there was answering response in their hearts?

John stated the reason for their presence in Jerusalem. They had come to worship at the Feast. That put them squarely in the camp of the “God-fearers” – Gentiles who had abandoned their idolatry and had become adherents of Judaism, not yet inducted into the covenant but participating in the ceremonies and festivals of the Jewish people. Somehow, in spite of the ritualistic rigmarole of Judaism, they had been attracted to their monotheistic religion that worshipped an unseen God who received and embraced them though they were not part of His covenant people.

As the events of this saga unfold, in the sovereignty of God He was slowly moving the two camps closer together — antagonists who wanted to kill Jesus and sympathisers who were interested in what He was saying and doing. The two stories converged at the cross; the killers accomplished, in the perfect plan of God, what the enquirers would need to complete their search after God!

Only a wise and sovereign God could devise and put into action a plan so complex and yet so precise that prophecy, human hatred and divine love could meet at one strategic moment in time and effect a deliverance so great that embraces all of time and eternity and shines the spotlight on the mercy and grace of the One who put it all into action.

A Bid For The Throne

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A BID FOR THE THRONE 

“Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of Him but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in Him.” John 12:9-11 NIV.

How far will people go to secure their own position and protect their beliefs? These religious leaders were stooping to the very lowest, scheming to get rid of Lazarus as well; to silence both him and Jesus because they were a threat to their power and influence over the people and, of course, to their income from them.

Once again John pointed out that this latest and greatest sign brought another wave of people to faith in Jesus. For the Jewish leaders this was bad news. Things were getting out of hand as far as they were concerned and they had to take action to put a stop to it before they were completely swamped by Jesus and His followers. And it could only get worse…

“The next day the crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet Him shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!’

“Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written, “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” John 12:12-15 NIV

Although this was a spontaneous outbreak of praise from the people, no doubt set off by one exuberant person and taken up by the crowd, it had been prophesied by the post exilic prophet, Zechariah, centuries before. Surely the religious leaders would have recognised what they were shouting as a fulfilment of prophecy! It should have stopped them in their tracks and alerted them to the amazing truth that they were right in the middle of the fulfilment of their own Scriptures.

“Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9 NIV.

For these stubborn unbelievers it was a danger sign, not a reason to celebrate the arrival of their rightful and righteous ruler. Had they only listened to Jesus instead of opposing Him at every turn, they would have realized that Jesus was no threat to Rome. The kingdom of which He spoke was unseen and within, transforming people from selfish and greedy getters to compassionate and generous givers because of a new Master in their lives.

They would still be under Roman rule until the Father saw fit to release them from their oppressors. But that would be nothing compared with their release from the burden of religion, sin and the slave-drivers within; the guilt, shame and fear which tormented them and from which Jesus came to set them free. The throne of which their Scriptures taught was not an earthly throne but the control centre of their lives surrendered to Jesus so that He could direct them into a life of peace and oneness with the Father.

Where was Jesus heading when He came riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey accompanied by the crowds in a party spirit? To Pilate’s residence to make a bid to oust Rome…with a mighty army of twelve men and a crowd of revelling children? To the temple where He would challenge the authority of the religious leaders and take over the temple?

Yes, it was His announcement that He had come as a king but…His reign would be a reign of peace – “I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” Zechariah 9:10 NIV.

But that peace would come at a price, His own blood shed for the nations so that they would experience the peace that is much more than the cessation of war — peace with God and the peace of God which transcends understanding.

Wax Or Clay?

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WAX OR CLAY?

“But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray Him, objected, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.’  He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to whatever was put into it.” John 12:4-6 NIV

Who was this Judas Iscariot? What kind of man was he? Why did Jesus choose him to be a disciple?

We have to glean bits and pieces about the character of Judas from the gospel story. We learn most about him from the events leading up to the crucifixion. It seems that there was no love lost between him and John, writer of the most “spiritual” gospel, according to the early church fathers. Even though John was an old man by the time he wrote, he could not resist having a dig at Judas as he remembered and recorded details about his part in the events of that terrible week.

Judas was the “treasurer” of the group. It fell to him to take care of the money bag, to buy the necessary provisions and to pay the taxes required by the Romans, and the temple tax, tithes and offerings as part of their covenant responsibility. Apart from that, John knew that he periodically helped himself from the money bag for his own private use but he did not divulge his source of information. Perhaps it was no more than a suspicion because he knew that Judas liked money.

Did Judas volunteer for the job or did Jesus appoint him to take care of the finances? If so, why? Didn’t Jesus know that he had sticky fingers? One can only see God’s grace offered to this man. Jesus gave him opportunity to change his behaviour by entrusting this responsibility to him. Judas could have risen to the occasion by choosing not to violate that trust instead of seeing it as an opportunity to enrich himself, but he didn’t.

In spite of the years he spent with Jesus, following, listening and even doing the works Jesus did, Judas’ heart was still hardened and unchanged because of his love of money. He remained unmoved by the compassion, kindness and generosity displayed by His Master; he certainly could not understand how He could accept Mary’s lavish adoration on this occasion when she “wasted” her precious dowry on His feet!

On one occasion Jesus had pointed out to His disciples that it was impossible for a man to serve two masters. The God of Israel and Mammon, the god of money were at opposite ends of the pole. God is the epitome of generosity; Mammon represents everything that is selfish and greedy – what the Hebrews called the yetzer harah, the evil eye, the “factory fault” with which every human being is born since Adam. The gap between God and Mammon is so vast that serving one is tantamount to hating the other. Therefore, if Judas served money it was impossible for him to love God.

For Mary to lavish such expensive perfume on Jesus meant that she valued Him far more than she valued her most valuable possession — something that was absolutely foreign to Judas, so foreign in fact that he was willing to sacrifice Jesus for the sake of money. Judas betrayed his greed by his objection, and John read him aright. For Judas it was not about the poor; it was about the money he could have had in the bag — another opportunity to remove his “salary” without authorization!

“Leave her alone,’ Jesus replied. ’It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.’ John 12:7 NIV.

Was John also hinting at one of the reasons why Judas betrayed Jesus? Once again, in a public assembly, Jesus had exposed the heart of Judas, and Judas must have squirmed at the humiliation! But Jesus never exposed hearts for the sake of revenge. As with the Pharisees, He wanted people to know themselves so that they would turn to Him for mercy. When Peter faced his exposure, he turned, but not Judas. He became harder and even more determined to get even with Jesus.

The same sun that melts wax, hardens clay!

Transformed – By Death

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TRANSFORMED – BY DEATH 

“Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honour. Martha served while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with Him.” John 12:1, 2a NIV.

I find it strange that, for the first time the name of Lazarus, Martha and Mary’s brother was mentioned apart from his sickness and death in John 11. Although Jesus visited their home in Bethany many times, Lazarus did not feature until after he was raised from the dead. There is no indication that the two sisters even had a brother until now.

Is it possible that Lazarus was unsympathetic, even hostile to Jesus before he died? The sisters called him, “The one whom you love,” but that does not mean than he had any sort of relationship with Jesus. Jesus loved the rich young ruler and yet he chose not to follow Him and walked away.

Did Jesus allow Lazarus to die so that he could go to the grave an unbeliever; to awaken him to the truth that there is an afterlife and that there is only one way to the Father, after all, and that is through Jesus?

For the first time, at the dinner given in Jesus’ honour in his home, Lazarus was among those reclining at the table. John makes sure that his readers understand that it was in Jesus’ honour, not Lazarus’, that Martha arranged this function. The fact that Lazarus was one of the dinner guests meant that Jesus and he were reconciled. Did he refuse to eat with Jesus until now because he did not believe in Him?

Although this is conjecture, if it is the truth, Jesus might deliberately have allowed Lazarus to experience death and then bring him back to life again so that he would know what it was like to be separated from God and then be given another opportunity to believe in Jesus.

“…with Him.” Is that a loaded statement? It almost sounds as though John wanted to emphasize Lazarus’ new intimacy with Jesus. Jesus would have occupied the place of honour at the table, but where was Lazarus seated? “With Him,” right beside Him; perhaps reclining on Him as John had done at the Passover meal.

I think it was more than gratitude that brought Lazarus to faith in Jesus. He was probably one of those men who was too proud or too stubborn to acknowledge that he was wrong. He needed a wake-up call (pardon the pun) far stronger than the teaching, or even the healing miracles of Jesus. Was he one like Thomas who demanded to poke his finger into Jesus’ wounds before he would believe?

Whatever Lazarus needed to shake him out of his unbelief, Jesus met him and he became a convinced and devoted follower. He had tasted death and returned. The Pharisees could argue that the man born blind was not blind or not healed or whatever else they wanted to believe but they could never argue away the truth that Lazarus was decaying in the tomb and Jesus called him back to life.

“Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” John 12:3 NIV.

This verse completes the picture and gives one a feeling of satisfaction. Each member of the Bethany family is in his or her place; Martha in the kitchen, serving; Lazarus at Jesus’ side, reclining; and Mary at Jesus’ feet, adoring; each one worshipping Jesus in the appropriate way! Finally, Lazarus has come home. He has become a member of God’s family and has taken his rightful place in his human family.

It was a long and difficult road for him. He had to endure the suffering of his mortality to gain an understanding of his immortality. In His love for Lazarus, Jesus allowed him to walk right into physical and spiritual death to feel the magnitude of God’s grace and to receive the gift of everlasting life that was wrapped up in His own death and resurrection. In the course of a few days Jesus would be where Lazarus had been so that Lazarus could be where He was.

He did that for him and for us too…!