Tag Archives: I AM

Dead And Disillusioned

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DEAD AND DISILLUSIONED

 “On His arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed at home.

“‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’

“Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?'” John 11:18-26 NIV.

Two worlds! Two perspectives! Two sisters; Martha and Mary — disappointed, disillusioned, devastated! Were they more distraught about Jesus’ failure to come when they needed Him than they were about the death of their brother? Like Job, the Lord whom they passionately loved and believed in was not there for them in their darkest hour.

When He did finally arrive it was too late. Did He miss the seriousness of Lazarus’ illness? Was this the one time in His life when He was out of touch with reality? His head in the clouds, had He misjudged the whole situation and fallen short of their trust?

Martha was quick to respond to His arrival. She had to let Him know how she felt about His behaviour. Her rebuke fell from her lips before she had time to think. She blurted out her disappointment, perhaps in the hopes that she might at least get an apology from Him. Does God ever have to apologise? Perhaps an explanation? Something beyond His control had delayed Him and He was ever so sorry that He could not come in time…

Another world! Another perspective! Jesus; the Son of God — fully aware of what was going on in the natural as well as the unseen world. His delay had been purposeful, fully under the Father’s control. There was something bigger in this situation than another healing to notch up on His proverbial belt. This was a setup from God to give those nearest to Jesus — as well as His opponents — the biggest shakeup of their lives.

Of course He knew exactly what was happening! This was no error in timing or in judgement. Everything was perfectly on course, including Lazarus’ death and what was to follow. He had to wait until the spirit of the dead man, whom the Jews believed remained in the vicinity for four days before leaving, had finally departed for the other realm.

His response was not an apology or an explanation, as Martha possibly expected. Instead Jesus spoke some of the profoundest and most riveting — and comforting — words He had ever uttered. At first Martha misunderstood His reassurance, ‘Your brother will rise again.’

We do not know what Jesus had taught this little family during the times He spent in their home. No doubt, from Martha’s response, He had fleshed out with them the hope of resurrection which was not much more than a vague idea in the Old Testament writings. Martha had the comfort of knowing that there was a life to come, but that did little to ease ache of her loss. She needed something more substantial to fill the terrible void left by her brother’s death.

Jesus’ beautiful plan was much more imminent than that. He was there — Jehovah Shamma; Immanuel — God in the flesh, and wherever He was, He reversed everything the curse had brought to mankind. He was the Lamb of God, slain from before the foundation of the world. In Him was life and the power to restore life, both physical and spiritual. What He needed was a response of trust from the two sisters who were the link between Jesus and their brother.

He was not out of options. Did Martha believe that? Did she realise that everything He did was purposeful? No, He had not misjudged anything. He was about to reveal, through the death of their brother, everything that He was — the Son of God who had overcome the enemy’s most vicious weapon — death! Lazarus would live again — for now; the day was coming that they would all live again — forever; Lazarus, their brother would be the incontrovertible sign that not even the Jews could deny.

“I AM the resurrection and the life.”

Offended And Exposed

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OFFENDED AND EXPOSED!

“‘Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.’

“‘You are not yet fifty years old,’ they said to Him, ‘and you have seen Abraham!’ ‘Very truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I AM!’ At this they picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus hid Himself, slipping away from the Temple grounds.” John 8: 56-59 (NIV).

Jesus was either a madman, speaking words that were the height of blasphemy or…

This conversation, which started off with many of the Jews (his name for the religious leaders) believing in Jesus, and ended with these same believers’ attempting to stone Him for blasphemy, was one of those times when Jesus probed to expose what was really in their hearts.

It turns out that their so-called faith was no faith at all because they refused to believe that He was the Son of God. Jesus said things that were either the words of a crazy man or, if they were true, could only point to His identity as God in the flesh.

He claimed to be the fulfilment of the water and light ceremonies which they celebrated every year at the Feast of Tabernacles; He spoke of His unity with the Father; He said that He had been sent by the Father; that the Father was with Him; that He spoke only what He heard the Father saying; that He would set all those free who believed in Him and held to His teaching; that He existed before Abraham was born and that He was the I AM whose name He revealed from the burning bush!

That tipped them over the edge! Their faith in Him was phoney and their wicked hearts were exposed. Just as Jesus had revealed, they were murderers at heart, just like their father, the devil, and their murderous intention broke out into action. They were thwarted in their attempt to kill Him once again because it was not yet time for Him to die and not in the manner they were using at that moment.

It would have been easy for Jesus to slip away through the crowd. It was the final festival of the Jewish calendar and there would have been thousands of people, locals and visitors thronging the temple courts. He did not wait around to give them the satisfaction of carrying out their murderous action. He simple melted into the crowd and left them to lick their wounds and plan the next move.

Why did Jesus egg them on to reveal their true colours? He was not interested in popularity for its own sake. He did not come to gain membership for a cause. He came to reveal the true nature of the Father and to restore those to fellowship with the Father who would recognize who He was and bow to His authority.

The Jewish leaders who had initially believed in Him had shown that they were not interested in anything other than what they believed and desired. They were not willing to repent (change their minds about what they believed and receive the truth from Jesus). He did not fulfil their expectation and so they dismissed Him as a fake and a blasphemer.

We need to look closely at our own attitudes lest we mirror theirs and disqualify ourselves from being Jesus’ disciples. Eugene Peterson captures the sense of Jesus’ words in his interpretation of Matthew 16:24 in “The Message”:

“Then Jesus went to work on His disciples. ’Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way to finding your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?'”

Jesus demands unquestioning obedience to His will and His way. Unless we are prepared to lay aside our own demands and expectations and embrace Him and His way wholeheartedly, we are disqualified from being His disciples no matter what we think.

It’s as simple as that!

Crazy Or True?

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CRAZY OR TRUE? 

“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.

“‘All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him whom sent me.

“‘And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose none of all those He has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks at the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.’” John 6:35-40 (NIV).

Jesus made some crazy statements — unless, of course, they were true!

Firstly, He made the claim that only God could make, ‘I AM.’ But then, before He ever came to the earth in the flesh, He was already here, filling heaven and earth with His presence. He introduced Himself to Moses as “I AM” at the burning bush. How do we know that it was Jesus and not the Father? Because He, the second person of the Trinity, was “the true light that gives light to everyone” and the “life that was light to all mankind” (John 1), the light that was already present on the earth on the first day of creation.

Then He claimed to be bread for the hungry and water for the thirsty. Now we know that He didn’t mean that literally! That was also true because He left a trail of people who believed in Him and followed Him. They went on to tell the world of the peace and satisfaction He gave them which they could find nowhere else and in nothing else.

He also assured them that He would never turn away anyone who believed in Him because they were the Father’s gift to Him. He had pledged to give them eternal life and to raise their bodies at the consummation of the age (the last day) to live in a realm where death and decay would never touch them again.

He spoke of an intimate relationship with the Father where they worked together in unity to restore everything that man had destroyed by his disobedience. Death was the penalty that was passed on to all creation. Even stars die, so the scientists tell us. It was not supposed to be like that but Adam’s decision to go it alone disrupted God’s plan to create a universe where everything functioned in perfect harmony.

How could Jesus be so sure that He would reverse the curse of death that had fallen on the entire creation? Although His death to pay the debt of Adam’s rebellion, and the debt of the entire human race, was accomplished at a specific time in history, from God’s perspective it was a fait accompli from before the foundation of the world. It was a done deal. Jesus could speak of it as a completed transaction.

He forgave sinners because of His sacrifice. He healed sick bodies, raised the dead and evicted demons because He had already overcome the enemy. He had the right to give eternal life to whoever believed in Him then, as well as now because He conquered death and rose from the grave,

He spoke with authority and assurance of what He would do, not because He was crazy but because He was the Son of God.

It hurts me to see how hard people work to secure the favour of their god or gods, bathing in a sacred river to have their sins washed away, faithfully chanting prayers and carrying out rituals, performing ceremonies, sacrificing animals and calling on the dead for help when He offers the free gift of eternal life to those who believe in Him. Not only that but He promises and makes good on His promise to provide the satisfaction that ends our search to fill an empty heart.

Why is it so difficult to believe Him when He proved Himself true by His resurrection? Is it because we do not trust His promise that His gift and His grace are free? He paid the bill so that we can receive the goods.

Have you received Him?