Tag Archives: servant

The War To End All Wars

Bible Study, , , , ,

THE WAR TO END ALL WARS

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mind-set as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:6-8.

This was the mind-set of the human Jesus!

We will never know what it meant for Him to leave the realm of the spirit, where He reigned with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the indescribable glories of heaven and reduce Himself to the level of a human being. He entered the world He had created, beautiful and perfect in the beginning, only to be corrupted by a ruthless fallen angel and his minions of demonic allies.

Not only that, but the very humans whom He had made in His image to be His beloved family turned against Him. They were no longer family but enemies, filled with the same evil nature as their demonic overlords, rebels to the core, hating Him, defying Him wherever they could and living in the darkness of selfishness and greed.

How did He come? Not as God in a blaze of glory to take vengeance on His alienated family! Not in fiery chariot with a retinue of angelic warriors to make war on the master  Rebel, His own creation none-the-less who had chosen to make war against Him and drag a third of the angels with him. He could have done because He was Lord of all creation and of those who had risen up against Him. He came like every other human being, from the womb of a woman.

Satan had power, but only the power of deception, lies that had no substance and would disappear in a puff of smoke when challenged by the power of truth. Jesus came, not to destroy the devil by sheer force but to unmask him by a life of perfect obedience to the Father as a submissive and obedient Son, and then to die as an evildoer at the hands of His enemies.

No fallen human being has ever lived like that – absorbing every cruel and ruthless attitude and action without resistance or retaliation because the Father willed it; living in perfect harmony with the Father and loving His enemies for the Father’s sake. They skewered His body to a Roman torture stake until every drop of blood leaked from the wounds they had inflicted on Him in an effort to make Him sin, but He remained pure in heart to His very last breath.

Even in His dying moments, He loved those who did it to Him. He embraced with His love a terrified criminal dying next to Him. He forgave His tormentors with His final agonising gasps of breath. He died a violent and unnatural death at the age of thirty three, a young life cut off in His prime because His own people decided He was too good to live. And He won the war because He conquered death and came back from the dead

And Paul said, “I want you to live like that!” Are you crazy? Do you know what you are asking, Paul? You are expecting ordinary, sinful, selfish, self-centred and self-absorbed human beings to live like that? Impossible! No, it’s not, for two very good reasons.

The very nature of God has been implanted in those who have turned their lives over to Him.

“…He has given us His very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world, caused by evil desires.”  2 Peter 1:4.

The very Spirit who empowered Jesus to be a perfect Son now lives in you, enabling you to be a submissive and obedient son.

“The Spirit you received does not make you a slave so that you live in fear again; rather the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15.

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16.

Paul held Jesus up to the Philippian church, not as a goal beyond their reach, but as a perfect model to follow even if they could not achieve it in this lifetime. It would not happen by trying harder but by gazing longer at Him.

“And we all who, with unveiled faces, contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18.

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.

 

Jesus Is Jesus!

Bible Study, , ,

JESUS IS JESUS!

“When He finished speaking to the people, He entered Capernaum. A Roman captain there had a servant who was on his deathbed. He prized him highly and didn’t want to lose him. When he heard Jesus was back, he sent leaders from the Jewish community asking Him to come and heal his servant. They came to Jesus and urged Him to do it, saying, ‘He deserves this. He loves our people. He even built our meeting place.'” Luke 7:1-5 (The Message).

Quite a guy, this Roman captain! A most unusual man! Not like the run-of-the-mill Roman soldiers, it seems. He had a heart for people, unlike most of the others who were ruthless in the course of their duty. He cared about his servant and was distraught when the man lay dying.

He was also sympathetic towards Jesus. He knew about Him; he may have even been on the outskirts of the crowd, listening to Him while he was on duty doing crowd control. Was he perhaps one of those who were among the soldiers who had heard John the Baptist and had been baptised by him in the River Jordan? We will never know.

There was no doctor and no medicine to cure his servant and he stood by, helplessly watching as his servant began to slip away from him. Then he heard that Jesus was on His way to Capernaum. So desperate was he to get help that he sent some of the Jewish leaders to Jesus, hoping against hope that Jesus would not spurn a Roman’s cry for help.

He could not go himself because he was not sure of the reception he would receive. Surely Jesus would respond if the most respected Jews in his community would speak for him? He hoped against hope that this Jew would look past his people’s treatment of His fellow Jews and have mercy on him. He had no doubt about His ability to heal. That was not the issue. But would He help a Roman?

The Jewish leaders, whoever they were, Pharisees, elders of the town, men in charge of the synagogue…who knows?…were ready to plead his case with Jesus. Evidently they held the captain in high esteem because he wasn’t like the other Romans. He had a heart for them. He used his money to build a meeting place for them. He may have even stood outside on a Sabbath, listening to the reading of the Torah and feeling a tug of response in his heart to the God of whom they read.

The Jews were quite willing to act as messengers. They were keen to help the man who had helped them. They went to Jesus with the story of a warm-hearted man who needed help and was worthy of Jesus’ intervention because of all his good deeds.

How did that affect Jesus? Had we been in His place, we might have been impressed by the man’s credentials. The very fact that these Jewish leaders were willing to act as messengers was quite unusual. They came because they were friends, not because they were obeying orders. They were with him in his trouble.

Would Jesus respond to their plea because of whom the man was or because of whom He was? Would the fact that he was a Roman influence Him? Would He, a Jew, go into the home of a Gentile? Would He help him because it was a group of Jews who acted as mediators?

Luke does not comment on the reason for Jesus’ response. However, if we fast-forward the story, when Jesus was hanging on the cross, suspended on nails that Roman soldiers had driven into His wrists and feet, we hear words from His cracked lips that encompass not only the ones who were responsible for His being there, but also the ones who had carried out the orders. ‘Father, forgive them…!’

Now we understand that the commendation of the Jews was quite unnecessary. Had this Roman captain been a typical soldier, cruel and uncaring, Jesus would have still responded to his request. Why? Because Jesus is Jesus!

You can also have absolute confidence in His mercy!

Your Turn Is Coming

Christian Life, , ,

YOUR TURN IS COMING

“‘Who would you rather be: the one who eats the dinner or the one who serves the dinner? You’d rather eat and be served, right? But I’ve taken my place among you as the one who serves. And you’ve stuck with me through thick and thin. Now I confer on you the royal authority my Father conferred on me so you can eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and be strengthened as you take up responsibilities among the congregation of God’s people.'” Luke 22:27-30 (The Message).

Of course we would rather sit down at the dinner table and be served than watch others eating while we serve! But once again, we belong to a kingdom where all the values are a reversal of this world’s values. In the present order of things, “sitting at the table” implies occupying an important position in society.

Serving is a menial job and is reserved for the “nobodies”. In the world’s eyes, Jesus is a “nobody”. In fact, even believers often treat Him as a nobody – it’s “Jesus, do this; Jesus, do that” as though we were the masters and He the servant.

Once again Jesus is teaching us to view this life as part of a bigger whole. Being a servant in the here and now is a necessary part of our apprenticeship for our task in God’s kingdom. It would be foolish to employ an untrained person to do a responsible job, especially one that handles people’s lives. No airline company would employ a rookie to pilot their passenger planes.

There are examples in Scripture of people who were placed in responsible positions without first being taught to be a servant. The most glaring would be King Saul, Israel’s first king. He had great potential but he was never put through his “servant” training before he became king. When the tests came, he failed dismally because he did not know how to submit to God’s authority.

He was disqualified and replaced by David, a shepherd boy who had learned to serve as the youngest son in a family of eight. His trust in God carried him through many dangerous situations and equipped him to be a true leader of God’s people because he submitted to God’s authority and ruled wisely under God.

Having a servant heart is a necessary part of being a disciple. It teaches us how to live in submission and obedience to our Master and equips us to be imitators of Jesus. Without this training we would be liabilities to God in His kingdom just like Satan was, taking the bit between our teeth and causing chaos through disobedience and self-will.

There will be a time when we reap the reward of faithfully serving others through our obedience to God. Jesus assures us that, if we stick with Him, we will share the honour of a place at His table if we have passed the test of humility and self-sacrifice. Joseph spent thirteen years in slavery and imprisonment in preparation for his great task although he was not guilty of wrongdoing. God found him faithful and promoted him to a place of honour and authority where he could “sit at the table” because he had served well.

Our turn is coming. Our years of training may be long and tedious but they are intended
to prepare and test us for great responsibility and honour. If we stick with Jesus and serve others with humility, we shall also share in the reward of “a place at His table”, taking up our responsibilities among the congregation of God’s people.

Jesus is the perfect pattern God has given us to follow. “Although He was a son, He learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him and was designated by God to be a high priest in the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 5:8-10 (NIV).