Monthly Archives: November 2022

CORNERSTONE!

Christian Life, ,

CORNERSTONE!

“But Jesus didn’t back down. ‘Why, then, do you think this was written?

“That stone the masons threw out —

It’s now the cornerstone!”

‘Anyone falling over that stone will break every bone in his body; if the stone falls on anyone, it will be a total smashup.’

“The religion scholars and high priests wanted to lynch Him on the spot, but they were intimidated by public opinion. They knew the story was about them.”  Luke 20:17-20 (The Message).

“There are two kinds of people in the world…!” Ever heard that statement?

In this incident, the two  kinds of people are — those who use criticism wisely and those who want to silence the critic! Jesus’ antagonists fell into the second category. Even destructive and unkind criticism can be beneficial if one eats the meat and spits out the bones.

In this instance, it would have been eternally beneficial for them if they had taken Jesus’ words seriously. His intention was neither destructive nor unkind. He had tried everything to get them to wake up and realise where they were headed, but to no avail. They belonged to the category of unteachable people, those who were too proud to admit they were wrong and to want to know the truth more than to preserve their egos.

The only thing that stopped them from carrying out their murderous intention was their fear of public opinion. Of course, that was right in line with their general attitude anyway. They always played to the crowd, but in this instance, public opinion would only drive them underground until the time was right and they could get the crowd on their side.

In the heat of this furore, once again Jesus kept His cool. He knew He was right because He always stood on the side of truth. But His being right was not an image or an ego thing. It was an earnest plea to heed His words because of the consequences.

He was quoting Psalm 118:22, a fragment from a Messianic prophecy. The religious leaders would have been familiar with the Scripture and the insinuation that Jesus was  the cornerstone, which would have riled them even more. Therefore they were enraged on two counts, His outright exposure of their intended plan to kill Him, and His Messianc claim which they interpreted as blasphemy.

The cornerstone of which Jesus spoke, not only supported the entire structure, it was also the test everyone has to pass or fail on their way to eternity. Every person either “falls over” the stone or will be crushed by the stone. This sounds like a heartless statement, and it would be except for one reality — everyone has a choice.   

The way we respond to the “cornerstone” is the way we understand and treat the mercy of God. He has provided a way of escape from the inevitable result of our rebellion against Him. He warned the first pair that disobedience would bring death, but they did not believe Him. Because of their rebellion, death came on the whole human race. God sent His own Son, the “cornerstone”, to pay the debt we all owe Him so that we can go free.

That does not mean that we are free to do our own thing because there is no longer a penalty. It means that God will have mercy on those who return to Him and recognise and come under His authority by accepting His offer of forgiveness and entrusting ourselves to His love. When we fall over the cornerstone, we are broken of our stubborn self-will. We submit to Him by choice and we are on a new road to true freedom.

The other option is to be crushed by the cornerstone. For God to be perfectly just, He has no alternative. He must be true to His nature and to His word. Imagine His heartbreak when He hast o consign rebels to destruction because they decided to reject His offer when they could have had life! 

CRY FOR YOURSELVES

Christian Life, ,

CRY FOR YOURSELVES

“As they led Him off, they made Simon, a man from Cyrene, who happened to be coming in from the countryside, carry the cross behind Him. A huge crowd of people followed along with women weeping and carrying on. At one point Jesus turned to the women and said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me. Cry for yourselves and for your children. The time is coming when they’ll say, ‘Lucky the women who never conceived! Lucky the wombs that never gave birth! Lucky the breasts that never gave milk!’ Then they’ll start calling on the mountains, ‘Fall down on us!’ calling to the hills, ‘Cover us up!’ If people do this to a live, green treee, can you imagine what they’ll do with dead wood?'” Luke 23:26-31 (The Message).

Small talk between Jesus and the women! He’s on His last journey through the city. Exhausted and weakened by the long, sleepless night, the terrible beating He had received from the Roman soldiers, the gruelling trips through the city to Pilate, to Herod and back to Pilate, the incessant chanting and needling by the crowd, He was too weak to carry the crossbar which would support His battered body soon to be suspended on it.

Anyone else in that situation would have had no thought for the people around him. He would have been too preoccupied with his own suffering and what lay ahead to be bothered with the onlookers. Not Jesus!

He was acutely aware of the implications of what they were doing to Him. The women were not. They did not understand the reason for His dying. They saw only a bloodied Jesus, perhaps dear to them because of a loved one released from pain or sickness because of His compassion, perhaps His own beloved following of women among them.  

Jesus was moved by their wailing. He understood their sorrow but He also knew something of which they were unaware. He painfully turned towards them. ‘Dear women,’ He said, ‘Don’t cry for me. My suffering is shortlived and has a purpose. Cry for yourselves because what they are doing to me today had farreaching implications. In three days time I will be alive again. But your suffering will have just begun. It will be so terrible that you will wish you had never been born.’

What did Jesus know that promped these words? Their representatives had judged Him that day but their judgment had decided their own. In the span of one generation they would cease to exist as a nation. Many thousands would be slaughtered in the city until their blood ran like a river in the streets. Their “indestructible” temple would be torn down, its stones scattered like pebbles, its gold and treasures plundered, and the city taken over by Gentiles for almost two thousand years.

They had rejected their Messiah and refused to acknowledge who He was. They had shut their ears to His message and their eyes to His love. They had seen but refused to comprehend His glory, His perfect mirror image of the Father. They thought they knew better and killed Him rather than admit they were wrong. Most of all, they were too comfortable in their greed and in their power over the people to think about their future. So, they turned justice upside down and declared Him guilty and, by implication, themselves innocent.

The anguish in the heart of Jesus for these women was far greater than their anguish for Him. The outcome for Him was everything He and the Father had planned – resurrection and return to the Father, and reconciliation that would bring His alienated sons and daughters back to Himself.

But the way back to the Father is to believe and receive His offer of forgiveness and restoration. ‘Your sin did this to me, but my death will set you free from the debt you owe me if you accept what I did for you and return to the Father.’

DAVID’S SON

Christian Life, ,

DAVID’S SON

“Then He put a question to them. ‘How is it that they say that the Messiah is David’s son? In the book of Psalms, David clearly says,

“God says to my Master,

‘Sit here at my right hand

until I put your enemies under your feet.'”

“David designates the Messiah as ‘my Master’ — so how can the Messiah also be his son?'” Luke 20:41-44 (The Message).

That got them!

This was no trick question. The one thing that stuck in the throats of His religious opponents was that Jesus, an obviously perfectly ordinary human being, whom they rejected because to them He was only the son of Joseph and Mary, was claiming to be the Son of God. This was blasphemy, and blasphemy was punishable by death.

Had the claim come from anyone else, they would have had every reason to have him tried and executed, but from Jesus…that was another story. They had all the evidence they needed but they refused to examine it objectively. Jesus was a man; He was claiming to be God; He must die.

Their questions were designed to trick Him into incriminating Himself either by contradicting Moses or teaching something treasonable against Rome. Jesus was too smart to be outwitted by these religious ‘experts’ who were ignorant of the truths concealed in their ‘Law’.

So, He asked them a question, one that would get them to the crux of their issue with Him. ‘Who are you?’ they kept asking.  Moses, David…these were the heroes of their religion. What they said went. What the religious leaders failed to realise was that Moses and David wrote about Him and what they said accurately presented Him.

David’s statement, quoted from Psalm 110:1, highlights two of Jesus’ qualifications which they refused to believe and which, incidentally, are still rejected by some sects today. Two phrases are glaringly contradictory — ‘my (David’s) Master’ and ‘his (David’s) son.’ That was a teaser for the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and one which focuses on one of the central truths of our faith.

The Bible clearly teaches that Messiah was fully God and fully man. He is both David’s Master and his son. He is God and He is man of the lineage of David, Israel’s greatest king and the model of kingship in the Old Testament. Therefore, Jesus is the rightful king of Israel even though the religious leaders refused to acknowledge Him.

In His own masterful question, Jesus’ answer to their persistent interrogation, ‘Who are you?’ was always the same. ‘The evidence is right in front of you. You decide.’

This is the question that everyone must answer for themselves. Our eternal destiny depends on it. ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Even if we ignore the question, we have still answered it. Whether willingly or reluctantly, this will be our final response:

“And being found in appearance as a man,

He humbled Himself

and became obedient to death —

even death on a cross!

Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place

and gave Him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord

to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:8-11 (NIV).

Guess what! Even the devil himself will bow on that day, and that will seal his final doom and the doom of those who refused to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord! That was their choice.

What’s yours?

DOOMSDAY DECEIVERS

Christian Life, ,

DOOMSDAY DECEIVERS

“They asked Him, ‘Teacher, when is this going to happen? What clue will we get that it’s about to take place?’

“He said, Watch out for the doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities claiming, ‘I’m the One,’ or, ‘The end is near.’ Don’t fall for any of that. When you hear of wars and uprisings, keep your head and don’t panic. This is routine history and no sign of the end.'” Luke 21:7-9 (The Message).

Every generation has its doomsday prophets and its reasons to believe that the end is near. Wars are one of them. But, if we are honest, has there ever been a time when there have been no conflicts in the world? Wars are not so much a sign of the immanence of Jesus’ return as a reminder of the nature of man. Jesus called it “routine history”.

Greed for money and power has driven men and nations into conflict since the beginning of time, from strife in the family to the two world wars of the twentieth century and the localized tribal struggles in between that result in genocide.

A far more subtle problem is what Jesus called ‘doomsday deceivers.” They are often unwittingly a tool of Satan. His most potent weapon is deception, and his tactic, distraction. These false prophets arouse fear through their Biblical misinterpretations and draw our attention away from our Master. They draw a following by their plausible explanations about what is happening in the world.

Jesus’ earnest counsel: ‘Don’t pay any attention to them.’ Instead, He gave us His take on the ‘end of the world’, watch and be ready! There is no question about the fact of His return. It’s the ‘when’ bit that bothers us but, if we heed His counsel, when He is to return should be of less importance than whether we are prepared no matter when it happens.

‘Watch’ does not mean resign your job, leave home, and sit on a mountain waiting for Jesus to come. Jesus told us how to watch — be faithfully carrying out His instructions when He returns. Don’t get lazy or sloppy. You’ll be caught off guard.

Be ready does not mean holing up underground with enough provisions for a siege! It sounds funny but some of the latest books and movies portraying the end of the world give us that impression.

We must turn to the Bible for answers.  Since the Bible is the story of a betrothal and a wedding, the answer to the question, ‘How can I be ready?’ is found in the imagery of Jewish wedding culture. I cannot go into detail here except to focus on the purpose of marriage and the interval between the betrothal and the wedding ceremony.

God intended marriage to be a picture of the unity in the Trinity, and His purpose for creating man – that we would be one with Him. God’s plan for marriage is expressed in three words (Genesis 2:24), “leave…cleave…one”. Union of man and woman in marriage mirrors the essence of God’s image – “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

The purpose of the betrothal was to separate the bride from all other men in preparation for the wedding when she was joined to the bridegroom to become one with him. The interval between betrothal and the wedding had two purposes; the groom prepared the bridal chamber and the bride prepared herself.

Her preparation was reflected in the feasts God commanded His people to celebrate every year. They were a prophetic picture of Messiah, the Bridegroom who would win His bride by self-sacrifice, and the bride, who would make herself ready to become one with Him. In the interval between Pentecost, the last of the spring feasts and the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) the people were called to do three things:

1. Tephillah – prayer, not asking God for things but changing their awareness from self-awareness to God-awareness.

2. Teshuvah – repentance, not from sin but returning to their original state of goodness; in other words, changing the way they thought about themselves to think God’s thoughts about them.

3. Tsidaqah – acts of righteousness, practising generosity because it is the right thing to do as a duty towards God. Whatever we have has been given to us by God and we have a duty to share our resources because God has been generous to us.  

Now consider this Scripture: “Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

‘Hallelujah!

For our Lord God almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and be glad

And give Him glory!

For the wedding of the Lamb has come,

and His bride has made herself ready.

Fine line, bright and clean

was given her to wear.’

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) Revelation 19:6-8 (NIV).

DOOMSDAY TO THE TRAITOR

Christian Life, ,

DOOMSDAY TO THE TRAITOR

“‘Do you realise that the hand of the one who is betraying me is at this moment on the table? It’s true that the Son of Man is going down a path already marked out — no surprises there. But for the one who turns Him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man, this is doomsday.’

“They immediately became suspicious of each other and began quizzing one another, wondering who might be about to do this.” Luke 22:21-23 (The Message).

What a disconcerting experience this must have been for Judas! His “secret” plot was right out in the open. Jesus was advertising it to the whole group without disclosing the traitor’s identity. Why did He do this?

Was Jesus wanting Judas to know that He was fully aware of what he was up to, and giving him an opportunity to back out of his plan, own up and save himself from the terrible judgment that awaited a traitor? The very fact that He had eaten a meal with him, treating him as the honoured guest, suggests that Jesus was offering Judas a way out and full forgiveness and restoration if he was willing to change his mind.

Was He indicating to Judas, ‘I know what you are up to and, boy, am I going to get you back!’? Would Jesus ever do a thing like that? No, that was not His yoke. His yoke was to show mercy and compassion and He was extending mercy to His enemy right up to the moment when Judas finished his dastardly deed with a kiss.

It was certainly not intended to make the disciples suspicious of one another. But, true to human nature, that is exactly how they reacted. Instead of taking stock of their own intentions, they became suspicious of one another which ended in their quizzing one another instead of searching their own hearts.

Jesus had spent more than three years with this bunch of men. He had handpicked them after a night in prayer with the Father. He had lived in intimate fellowship with them, day, and night, teaching and modelling a true son of God, and giving them every opportunity to become like Him.

He had spent precious hours with them in the upper room, sharing a meal with all its rich symbolism, establishing a new covenant which He would sign with His own blood, pleading with them to model His love for them as the hallmark of His disciples and praying for their protection from the evil one and their unity with Him and with one another. 

How much fruit had all His efforts borne? Seemingly nothing at this point! A lesser man would have given up, walked away, and gone to his death a broken and disillusioned loser. But not Jesus! Even at this eleventh-hour apparent failure, Jesus demonstrated His absolute confidence in the success of His mission and the power of God to transform losers into winners and a messed up, self-centred, bickering bunch of men into passionately loyal, single-minded apostles who would turn the world upside down.

Jesus had painstakingly sown the seed of God’s word. Although it was lying dormant then, given the circumstances that were about to unfold in the next few days, that seed would begin to germinate and grow. These same men, except Judas, would be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into fearless witnesses of the resurrection, living and working together in unity and taking on the greatest power of their day, Caesar, and the Roman Empire.

Once again, because Jesus looked beyond the present circumstances to the predetermined outcome of His suffering, He could go with confidence into the fire, knowing that He would emerge the victor, not those who were scheming to eliminate Him. Instead of planning and carrying out their extermination plot, Judas and his accomplices were playing right into God’s hands! But they would still have to take responsibility and pay the price.