Monthly Archives: May 2015

It’s Still Good News!

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IT’S STILL GOOD NEWS!

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time has come,’ He said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’ (Mark 1:14-15).

Mark was specific about the timing of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. There was no clash or competition between John and Jesus. John’s ministry was short and sharp. He had a job to do and he did it well. He was to introduce the Messiah and then get out of the way so as not to interfere with the greater work of Jesus. He would not to be a part of it. Jesus did not make him His first disciple. John was a prophet and his job was to declare the word of God.

God saw to it, through circumstances, that John was permanently removed and taken out of sight. John had given King Herod a very blunt message: “You are an adulterer!” and Herod was not impressed.  He had shacked up with his brother Philip’s wife. Whether he was actually married to her or not is not clear but, for argument’s sake let’s assume that he had married her.

Herodias, the adulterous wife, was a vicious woman. She had her knife in for John for telling it like it was. You see, what they had done was wrong whether they were believers in God or not. God’s moral law is not only for those who acknowledge Him. He has written His law into the conscience of every human being because His word is a reflection of who He is and a requirement for everyone. Herod imprisoned John and left him to rot in prison until Herodias’ moment came to move in for the kill.

Once John was out of the way, Jesus was free to step into the gap and pick up where John left off. The transition was smooth. John had announced that the rule of God was right there. Jesus declared it too but what did the people understand by this announcement?

For four hundred years there had been no word from God. There was no prophet to interpret the historical events in which His people were caught up. Israel had become sandwiched between the territories of two of Alexander the Great’s four generals who had inherited the Greek Empire after Alexander’s untimely death. They were continually harassed by their Greek overlords. They tried to throw off the oppressors and paid for it time and again. Eventually the influence of Greek culture and customs had infiltrated God’s people.

After Greece came Rome; and the people of God had to bend low under the oppression of Roman rule. Their land was overrun by Roman occupants – soldiers who ruthlessly kept the Israelites in check. They were well and truly under the rule of a godless and ruthless government. God, to them, had abandoned them. He was just not around any more.

First John and then Jesus stepped in with the “good news” that God was back. What did they make of this? Naturally they thought that He was either going to build up an army and lead a successful revolt against Rome or, if He were really the Messiah as John had insisted, He might even supernaturally get rid of the Romans and set up God’s kingdom in Israel again, just as in the days of David and Solomon. After all, hadn’t He supernaturally wiped out the Assyrian army in one night, all 186,000 of them?

Excitement rippled through Judea and even farther afield. The people flocked around John, willing and eager to identify with him and join his movement. Then John disappeared off the scene but the man he had baptised in the Jordan whom he declared to be the Messiah, took up the refrain: “God is back. He is here to rule again. Change the way you think. Stop being pessimistic and defeated and listen to me.”

What they did not hear was that Jesus was there to get rid of Rome. Did He ever say that? But that’s what they expected Him to do. God’s kingdom to them was Israel and they believed that Jesus had come to establish Israel as the greatest nation on earth again.

How sad that the expectations we put on God which, by the way, come from what we want and not from what He has said, lead to bitter disappointment. Instead of trusting Him for what He wants, we blame Him for not answering our prayers and we turn away from Him, disillusioned and frustrated.

What if we just trusted Him, full stop instead of trusting Him for what we demand? We would untie His hands and leave Him to free us from far greater bondage than our personal “Rome”.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

Tested!

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TESTED!

At once the Spirit sent Him out into the wilderness, and He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended Him. (Mark 1:12-13).

Mark’s version of this phase of Jesus’ training to be a son is quite sketchy. He gives no details about this event and yet, according to Matthew and Luke, it was a significant encounter with His arch enemy and one that would set the direction of His mission to reveal the Father as the perfect Son from here on.

He had always lived in fellowship with and obedience to the Father from birth even in an obscure village in Galilee as the son of a peasant carpenter. The Father testified to this at His baptism. But from now on, He would be facing the enemy head on, living in a fish bowl in the public eye, and open to public scrutiny from both supporters and enemies.

The success of His mission depended on declaring and demonstrating who He was – not the son of Joseph and Mary but the Son of God. He came as an accurate representative of the Father to reveal the true nature of their God to His people who had lost their way over centuries of rebellion, punishment and the influences of the surrounding nations.

It was time for them to know who their God was and to return to Him in repentance and trust. Jesus came to show them the way and to pave the way by removing sin and reconciling them to the Father. But how was He to do this? Before He ever opened His mouth to proclaim the good news that God was still in charge and that He had sent His Son to bring them back to Himself,  He had to be sure of His modus operandi. How was He going to convince the people of His identity?

The Holy Spirit had a bold plan. He didn’t send Him into the wilderness to study in a “Holy Spirit School” for forty days. Instead, He let the devil loose on Him just as He had done to His people centuries before when they came out of Egypt. As God’s “son” they had to endure the inhospitable and dangerous environment of Arabia as their classroom in their “school of learning to trust God” for forty years. Jesus must be put through His paces in the equally inhospitable wilderness for forty days.

Isn’t this a rather drastic way to further His education? Why not just sit Him down and give Him some guidelines for conducting His public ministry? No, that was too easy. He had to thrash out His trust in and loyalty to the Father in the “school of experience.” We have to turn to Matthew and Luke for the details of this clash. What was the devil’s plan? To get Him to cut loose from the Father just as he had lured Adam and Eve to do.

Three subtle suggestions – one goal; break the unity between the Son and His Father by getting Him to go it alone. After all, if He was who He said He was, the Son of God, did He not have the authority and power to act as God? If He was hungry, could He not just do a little magic like turning stones into bread? No one would notice and that would deal with His immediate need. It was just a small thing, really – like eating a bit of forbidden fruit.

“No way!” Jesus retorted. “It’s much bigger than you are suggesting. If I did what you are telling me, I would be putting myself under your authority and that is unthinkable.”

“What about getting God to do what you want? Jump and let the people watch a miracle.  After all, didn’t He promise to send His angels to guard you when you fall?”

Jesus saw through that one as well. “Are you crazy? I live under the authority of God’s word. I don’t use it to get my way.”

“Okay, so why don’t you just bow down to me? No one will see you and you can have the whole world without a fight.”

Jesus was adamant. “Get lost, devil! Who do you think you are – God? I will never put myself under your authority. I know who I am and nothing will change that.”

Round one – Jesus, one; Satan, nil. When He left the wilderness, He knew like never before who He was and how He was going to beat the devil. He would trust and obey the Father, no matter what. That’s what sons do.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

The Father’s Blessing

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THE FATHER’S BLESSING

After that time, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased (Mark 1: 9-11).

Jesus was about to step out of phase one of His earthly life and into phase two. His public ministry would put Him in the limelight and set Him up against the most powerful religious leaders of His nation. He was God but He was also a man. He had purposefully chosen to put aside the privileges and power of deity and subject Himself fully to His humanity. This made Him as vulnerable as any other human being to all the experiences and emotions of being a man.

What He was about to do needed all the resources at His disposal if He was to succeed. Up to this point He had lived a sinless life through infancy, childhood and early adulthood. He was now at His prime, trained in the schools of His day, equipped with a thorough knowledge of the Word of God, and aware of His commission from the Father to represent Him to His people.

There were two more things He needed to take on the world, the flesh and the devil and to overcome. He needed the power of the Holy Spirit since He had set aside His own divine power. He also needed affirmation from the Father as to His identity and His track record so far. He could not carry on without the assurance that He was clothed with divine power and that He was who He claimed to be.

When He came up out of the Jordan River, having taken another step of obedience on His journey to perfect humanity, both the Holy Spirit and the Father joined together to provide the equipment He needed to complete His task. Matthew recorded that Jesus reassured John that it was right for him to baptise Him because He had to do the right thing.

What was the right thing at that moment? By allowing John to baptise Him, He identified Himself with sinful humanity; He identified with John’s message and He was initiated into His priestly office. But, wait a minute; He was not a Levite. He was born of the tribe of Judah. He was a descendant of King David. Ah, but He was designated a priest in the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 5:10).

At that moment the Holy Spirit came upon Him, alighting on Him as gently as a dove. A visible appearance? Apparently, yes. Why? Was it to reassure Jesus, or was it to identify Him as Messiah to the crowd? It seems that this manifestation was specifically for John’s benefit.

Then John gave this testimony: ‘I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on Him. And I myself did not know Him, but the one who sent me to baptise with water told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptise with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.’ (John 1:32-34).

Of course John had to know that he had the right man! God would not have left that to chance. But, as much as John needed reassurance, Jesus needed the Holy Spirit. Without His anointing He would have been no different from any other man,

He also needed the Father’s blessing. What does this mean? There are three basic elements to a father’s blessing without which a child enters adulthood without an identity, without security and without the favour of his father in him.

God the Father clearly fulfilled all three elements – which Jesus sorely needed as He navigated a very difficult path to the cross.

  1. The Father acknowledged Jesus as His Son. 2. He affirmed His love for His Son. 3. He declared His pleasure in His Son.

Without this affirmation, Jesus could never have accomplished His mission to perfection. Equipped with His Father’s blessing, He could face anything because He knew who He was and He knew that He had His Father’s backing all the way. The Father had established His unity with the Son, and the Son upheld that unity to His very last breath.

What an example for human father’s to follow! We live in a world of fatherless people – having biological fathers, but never having received their father’s blessing, not knowing who they are and that they are loved and accepted, no matter what. It’s no wonder that the world had gone haywire!

Earthly fathers could take a leaf out of the Father’s book!

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

God Breaks The Silence

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GOD BREAKS THE SILENCE

And this was his message: ‘After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptise you with water, but He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1: 7-8).

Was this the message that captivated the crowds so that they came from far and near to hear this wild prophet? God had been silent for 400 years. Oh yes, there were many who acted in His name. Through the turmoil of those four centuries, when Israel was caught between rival empires and tossed back and forth like a volley ball in a beach match, God was not inactive. Silent, but at work, orchestrating circumstances and events to prepare the way for the arrival of His Messiah, God moved each nation into position.

Suddenly, out of the blue, God speaks again through the mouth of a man who seemed to materialise out of nowhere. Not many would have remembered his miraculous birth thirty years before, to an elderly couple from a priestly clan who were long past childbearing years. How would they, when he did not even have his father’s name?

Not only was his appearance out of nowhere and his wild look and wild ways riveting, but also his message was nothing like the message of any other prophet before him. Messiah was no longer a vague and mysterious figure of the future but He was here, about to make His appearance among them, and he, John, was His forerunner. Where was He and why was his Herald not appropriately dressed and riding ahead of Him on a fine steed and blowing a trumpet to announce His presence?

Everything was so different from what they expected. This “Messiah” was no ordinary monarch, arriving on the scene with pomp and ceremony to take over the kingdom and drive out the occupying Romans. His birth, too, thirty years previously, was hardly remembered. A few shepherds on a hillside outside Bethlehem, were summoned to greet Him. Some might have remembered the horrifying slaughter of infant boys because the despotic and neurotic Herod ordered it. Most of those who remembered did not even know why.

John made it clear that he knew his place with this man. He was no more than a voice to announce His arrival and a servant who did as he was told. He took no credit for his task. He was appointed to do it and he did it with passion, shouting to all who would listen that it was time for them to stop living as they pleased and return to the way of the Lord.

His message was short and to the point. “I am not the one. He is coming after me. I immerse you in water as a symbol of cleansing and setting you apart for a new life. He will immerse you in the Holy Spirit.” What was that all about? They thought Messiah was coming to set up God’s kingdom in Israel once again – free from Roman oppression, to enjoy the bounty of God’s provision and protection from all their enemies.

What was this about the Holy Spirit? Who or what was this Holy Spirit? What did He or it have to do with Messiah and what they expected Him to do? Mark’s version of John’s message is a summary which is expanded by Matthew and Luke.

I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering His wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Matt. 3: 11-12).

What was he getting at? Was he talking about separating believers from unbelievers and sending the unbelievers to hell? Hardly! Since the chaff is part of the wheat grains but inedible, the process of winnowing was to separate the chaff from the wheat so that the edible part could be gathered up and the worthless part burned. Is this not speaking about removing from people’s lives that which was useless so that their lives would be purified and become worthwhile and profitable as God’s people?

Messiah did not come to get rid of the Romans. He came to deal with sin, once and for all, and to return the Holy Spirit to the lives of His people so that He would continue the work of cleansing His people by separating out the “chaff” in their lives and consigning it to the “fire”.  John’s work was to make the people aware of the identity of Messiah, and to pave the way for His atoning work on the cross.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

Wild Prophet!

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WILD PROPHET!

And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey (Mark 1: 4-6)

What a sensation this man must have caused! His appearance, first of all, must have been startling. Camel’s hair clothing! I am sure he had not sat painstakingly weaving cloth from camel hair. He probably wore a tunic roughly cobbled together from a camel hide. His diet sounded revolting – locusts and honey, unless of course he ate the pods of the carob tree, the “locust”, which was what they were called. Perhaps his diet wasn’t quite so out of the ordinary after all. What else could he eat in the wilderness?

His message was equally unusual. Forgiveness of sins? Was he calling people to sacrifice at a rival altar which he set up in the desert? They only knew the forgiveness of sins through animal sacrifice. I don’t think he was setting up a rival religion. Whatever he said to the people drew the crowds. He was swamped by people who wanted to join his movement. Calling them to repentance was familiar to them. God often called His people back to His “way” through His prophets when they had wandered off the path of His instructions and done wicked things in the name of their false gods.

His preaching made a big impression on them because he was making them aware of their sin. Perhaps they had grown so familiar with their never-ending sacrifices that the reality of sin no longer no longer impacted on their lives. He brought the importance of the forgiveness of their sin right up close. Repentance meant returning to the way of Yahweh, to faithfulness to the terms of His covenant with them, to a way of life that reflected who He was in their nation – their God, and to walking in the light of His word.

Why did he baptise them? Baptism or mikvah, ritual washing, was a common practice in Israel. Archeological digs have uncovered baths for ritual washing everywhere. It was a symbol of cleansing, of leaving the old life and starting a new life, of identifying with the one who was leading a movement. Even a young bride-to-be had to go through a washing before her bridegroom concluded the courtship period with a proposal of marriage. She was washing away her old life and starting a new life as a betrothed and soon-to-be-married woman.

Considering what he had to say to them, why was his ministry so popular? He spoke some harsh words to the religious types according to the other gospels, calling people a basket of snakes, for example! Who would want to listen to preaching like that? Not a “seeker-friendly” ministry, I’d say! He didn’t have gentle words for the Roman soldiers either. Imagine that! A Jewish prophet who drew pagan Romans into the mix. There must have been something more than just a charismatic preacher that drew them.

He might have been a lone voice crying in the wilderness from a human point of view, but he was in partnership with the God who sent him and anointed him with the Holy Spirit while he was still in his mother’s womb. He was a miracle child, remember? Born to a childless couple in their old age, he was raised to be a priest and prophet by godly parents. He knew why he was on this earth and he gave his all to fulfill his calling.

His years alone in the wilderness waiting for the cue to preach prepared him for that moment. Trained as a priest, he knew the Torah intimately. God’s word was in his heart. He spent years in the awareness of God’s presence, listening to His voice, hearing His purpose through the coming Messiah. He was so familiar with Messiah in his spirit that he instantly recognised Him when He appeared on the bank of the Jordan River.

His ministry, extraordinary as it was, was owned and empowered by the Holy Spirit from the moment he opened his mouth. He knew what he had to do. He had to introduce the Messiah to the crowds – and they came in droves to meet Him. Their expectation was high. They were tired of the Romans. They were tired of religion. They were tired of being tired! Messiah sounded exactly what they needed to change things for them.

Not even John’s harsh words could keep them away.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com