Monthly Archives: February 2023

FRAGRANT DEVOTION OR STINKING TREACHERY

Christian Life, ,

FRAGRANT DEVOTION OR STINKING TREACHERY

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

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39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” Luke 7:36-39

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honour. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 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.


4But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 6 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 what was put into it.

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7“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” John 12:1-8

Two stories…two women. One was a woman of the streets, a prostitute, if you will, the other a fervent worshipper of Jesus.

Jesus was reclining at the dinner table with Simon, the Leper. (Since leprosy made a person unclean, had Simon perhaps been a recipient of Jesus’ healing power so that he was no longer an untouchable outcast? Was this dinner an expression of gratitude for a new life?)

An unnamed woman gate-crashed the party – other gospels identify her as an unsavoury character whom the present company despised. Undaunted by the hostile looks, she did what she came to do – she broke her most treasured possession, an alabaster jar of costly nard, and poured the contents on Jesus’ feet As the oil soaked His sandaled feet and dripped onto the floor, its fragrance filled the room and for a moment the guests were stunned.

Simon, the Pharisee leper was annoyed. How could Jesus, the prophet, allow this. Surely, He knew who this woman was, a well-known prostitute on the town, an “untouchable”, according to the religious ones.

Then a buzz broke out, murmuring voices rising in volume until this protest could be heard, “What a waste! Why didn’t she sell it and give the money to the poor?” Whose voice was the loudest – Judas’ Iscariot’s, the thief and traitor! ….

Another dinner scene, this time in the home of friends. Lazarus had died and been miraculously raised from the tomb after four days. Jesus was an honoured guest in his home. This time it was Mary, Lazarus’ sister, overcome with love for her Master, who fell at His feet and discharged her dowry of nard on His feet.

According to John 12:4, it was Judas who voiced his objection to the waste.

Jesus was outraged. Who really cared about the poor – not Judas, not even all Simon’s wealthy dinner guests? Was it the woman’s sacrificial love that enraged them? Did they condemn her for showing them up, even the disciples?

Jesus jumped to her defense. “Leave her alone,“ He thundered. “Don’t you dare criticise her extravagant devotion to me! What she has done will never be forgotten – throughout the whole world for all time, right alongside me and my death.”

Were Jesus’ words pointed at Judas? Was it this public rebuke that tipped him over the edge? He left the party immediately, burning with rage, to sell Jesus out to His enemies.

Two people, two actions, two legacies.

This is the only time Jesus ever personally and verbally memorialised anyone for any deed during His time on earth. Both the unnamed woman and Mary are remembered in every copy of the Scriptures in every language throughout the whole world for all time, and every reader feels the warmth of their love for Jesus and His tender response to their worship. We feel His sympathy for them and perhaps even secretly enjoy His rebuke of the heartless men who tried to insult them.

We remember Judas too, not because we want to, but because we can’t help it. He has also been immortalised in every copy of the Scriptures in every language for all time, but we remember him, not for his devotion but for his callous treachery of the Master with whom he walked for three and a half years.

How would you, how would I like to be remembered, even for a few years after our passing? As an extravagant lover of Jesus, as a dutiful servant who worked ourselves to death, or as a turncoat, who walked away from Him because He did not give us what we wanted?

The choice is ours!

HAVE YOU BEEN BORN AGAIN?

Gospel, ,

HAVE YOU BEEN BORN AGAIN?

“In reply, Jesus declared (to Nicodemus- author’s note). ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ John 3:3-7

Humans have the strange compulsion to reduce everything to formulae so that we can apply what we understand better. Our attempts at evangelism are no different. We approach people with the “Four Spiritual Laws”, Evangelism Explosion and even “The Born Again” message.

However, when we watch Jesus’ way of interacting with people, He was different. He treated every person as unique. To the woman at the well He offered water that would satisfy her thirst to be truly loved. To Zaccheus, He was the one who freed him from dishonesty and greed, which Jesus called “salvation”. To the woman caught in adultery, He showed mercy by not stoning her, and He delivered her from guilt. To the woman who was bleeding, who touched the tassels of His prayer shawl and was healed, Jesus said, “Go in peace. Your faith has made you whole.” To the paralysed man whose friends let him down through the roof, Jesus responded to their faith and forgave his sin. Now how can we turn any of that into a formula?

Where did the “born again” idea come from? Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a man schooled in the religion and practice of Judaism. He understood what it meant to be “first-born”. In Hebrew culture, the firstborn son in every family stood in the position of privilege and responsibility. He represented his father in making decisions and taking responsibility for his younger siblings’ actions. Hence it was Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, who tried to protect Joseph from his brothers’ murderous intentions because he was responsible for him. Adam was God’s firstborn son and, as the firstborn, he was responsible for his wrong choice and the sin of the whole world. According to the Apostle Paul, then, “In Adam, all die.”

All the other children in the Hebrew family were “second born”. Because the firstborn took their judgment, they received mercy. It is equally true that, since Jesus was the firstborn of the Father, as a human being, he received justice. He is also called the “second Adam”, so that, in Him, people receives mercy.

Nicodemus knew that, in Adam, he was subject to God’s justice for his sin. Hence, as a Pharisee, he tried to keep the Law of God as best he could. Jesus explained that it took a supernatural act of God’s grace to move him from firstborn in Adam to second-born in Christ so that he would receive mercy and not justice. He could not earn mercy by keeping the rules. He could only receive it by faith in the one who would be lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness.

By an act of grace through faith in Jesus, we are moved from justice to mercy by being “born again.” It’s not a formula but a fact. (LAC)

GROOVE OR GRAVE?

Christian Life, ,

GROOVE OR GRAVE?

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. Luke 1:5-7

The difference between a groove and a grave is the depth!

The story of Zachariah, recorded in Luke 1, is an illustration of what happens when we get into a groove.

Zachariah was a good man, faithful in all his religious observances, serving God as a priest in the temple, but in a groove of routine, monotony and expecting nothing from God because he was disappointed – with God.

He was resting in his groove. He had spent his whole life making his groove more comfortable – a pillow under his head, padding for the hard places, Coke and chips beside him so that he would never get hungry or thirsty, just existing and waiting to die.

Suddenly an angel appeared, standing above him on the edge of his groove. Zack looked up, terrified and a little irritated. Who was this intruder, rattling his cage when all he wanted was to be left alone in his “comfort zone”? The angel tried to rouse his interest with startling news. “Guess what, Zachariah! Your wife is going to have a baby!!”

“What! You must be crazy. We’re too old and it’s too late. Just go away and leave me alone.” He turned over in his groove and looked the other way. The angel tried again. “I am Gabriel, Zack, sent from God to tell you the good news. It’s going to make you jump for joy.” Zack sighed. “Yes, whatever.”

“Zack,” the angel said sharply, “I’m going to zip your mouth for nine months because you refuse to believe me. That’ll give you time to think about what I have said.” Zachariah opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out.

How like Zachariah many of us are! We are believers, walking with God, serving Him and doing all the right things but expecting nothing and believing nothing. We are stuck in our groove. Not even an angelic visitor would move us. We’re immovable and dumbstruck, lying there, waiting for our groove to become a grave!

Becoming a dad left Zack no time to stay in his groove. He was forever cured of his “groove” mentality.

Getting out of your groove is also a healing experience. Why was Zack in a groove? He was living in disappointment. For years he had prayed for a son but it seemed that God was deaf to his request. Now he and Elizabeth were too old, it was too late, and his heart was sore. “Too late,” he thought, but not for God. God not only needed a “John the Baptist”. He also wanted to heal Zachariah’s broken heart.

Are you in a groove of disappointment, hurt, emotional pain? You’re stuck – in a broken relationship, in a web of helplessness and hopelessness, or in a vacuum of unfulfilled dreams. What will it take to get you out of your groove? God has a plan for you – seek Him, trust Him, obey Him and see what He will do. (LAC)

GOD’S KINDNESS CAUSES US TO CHANGE

Christian life

GOD’S KINDNESS CAUSES US TO CHANGE

“Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realising that God’s kindness leads you towards repentance.” Romans 2:4

I am intrigued by the “upside down” way in which God deals with people. When He wants to draw us to Himself, He hides. When He wants us to listen to Him, He whispers, and when He wants to change us, He showers His goodness on us.

Jacob is a case in point. He was an unsavoury character – “deceiver” was his name. After cheating his twin brother out of his inheritance and his father’s blessing as the firstborn, he ran for his life. For some reason which God does not explain, He chose Jacob to be the one in Messiah’s line.

But Jacob was an unlikely candidate. How was God going to shape him into a worthy patriarch of the Jewish nation? Before anything else, Jacob needed a good talking to because of his bad behaviour. Exhausted from his long journey, he put his head on a rock and went to sleep. He had a strange dream; a ladder reaching up into the sky with angels ascending and descending on it and the Lord Himself standing above it. In his dream God spoke to him – not a word of reproach or rebuke, never a threat of punishment.

“I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” Jacob could not believe his ears; he who needed to be faced with his wickedness, was hearing gracious words of comfort, promise and blessing. “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.” (Genesis 28:13,15).

Jacob was probably more ashamed of what he had done because of God’s kindness than he would have been had he received a sharp rebuke.

Perhaps we can paraphrase the Apostle Paul’s comment this way, “It is God’s kindness to us that causes us to change our minds about Him.” Why do we need to change our minds? Is it not because our opinion of God is sometimes far from what the Scriptures reveal about Him? When Moses asked God to show Him His glory, God responded, “I will cause all my goodness to pass before you.”

God wants us to know how good He is. He showers His goodness on us so that we can change our minds about Him. He wants us to recognise His goodness, celebrate His goodness and honour Him for His goodness. He wants us to respond to His goodness by reflecting it in the way we relate to others.

How do you treat God’s kindness? Paul warned, “Don’t treat God’s kindness with contempt.” Ingratitude is the most subtle way to treat God’s kindness with scorn, as though it were worth nothing. Ingratitude sets our way towards disaster. God is good. Let’s acknowledge His goodness…always.

GOD’S ABUNDANCE IN A SEED

Christian Life, ,

GOD’S ABUNDANCE IN A SEED

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest…. will never cease.” (Genesis 8:22, NIV).

God is abundantly generous but also very wise. He does not want us to live only from handouts from Him. He wants us to live in obedience to His ways so that we can grow in trust and dependence.

So, He built the amazing principle of seedtime and harvest into everything He does. Creation began with one of each species with the potential to reproduce through seeds. “God blessed them (the water and sky creatures – author’s comment) and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number…”” (Genesis 1:22). The harvest from which we eat, comes from seed (Genesis 8:22);children are born to us from seed (Gal 3:16);faith is given to us as a seed (Matthew 17:20);God’s Word is seed (Luke 8:11; 1 Peter 1:23);the kingdom of heaven is a seed (Matt 13:31);our Saviour was a seed (John 12:24); even ourmoney is seed (2 Cor 9:10).

When you look at an apple, what do you see, some fruit to eat or the potential of an orchard of apple trees? It all depends on your perspective.

As our Father, God has pledged to meet all our needs but, if we do not understand the law of the harvest, we will miss one of His most amazing and exciting principles. He wants us to partner with Him in everything we do, including releasing His supply of resources for our lives, so He put everything into seed form. Every seed, no matter what kind it is, has the power within itself to produce a harvest but it must be sown in the appropriate soil in order to release its power.

Our responsibility is not only to sow the seed, but to put it into the right soil; for example, money buried in the ground, or in the bank, will not grow, but given away to someone in need, will produce a harvest

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:6,7, NIV).

Whatever our need might be, if we sow the appropriate seed into the right soil, we will reap what we have sown, according to the amount we have sown.

This principle applies to everything we do. If we sow friendship, we will reap friendship, if we sow love, we will reap love, if we sow conflict, we will reap conflict etc. The principle works for everything.

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:10-11

The outworking of this law has an even bigger purpose than just meeting our needs. Through the harvest, God not only increases our store of seed but also enlarges our harvest of righteousness. It is right to be generous and every time we give, we increase our capacity to be like God. Wow! That’s what God wants!

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