Tag Archives: voice

Blind, Deaf And Dead

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BLIND, DEAF AND DEAD 

“‘Very truly, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to judge because He is the Son of Man.

“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice will come out — those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.'” John 5:25-29 (NIV).

These are either the words of a lunatic or they are the authoritative words of the Son of God.

John introduced Jesus to his readers as the “Word”. In Hebrew thought this meant God manifest in another form. It was John’s purpose to present Jesus as the Son of God so that all who believe in Him might have life through His name. His claims, therefore, had to be more than the wild aspirations of a maniac. What He said had to be backed up by what He was and what He did.

Let’s look at the claims He was making in His attempt to convince His opponents that He was their Messiah. Jesus was doing more than setting out to prove that He was right and they were wrong. He was in a struggle for their lives and their destiny which hung on their acceptance or rejection of His words.

He had already, early in His ministry, begun to do “signs” to point to the truth of who He was claiming to be. It was His latest sign, healing the paralysed man at the pool of Bethesda that had provoked this altercation with His religious opposition. They accused Him of breaking the Sabbath and calling God His Father, making Himself equal with God.

His response was shocking to them. Not only was He calling God His Father, but now He was also asserting that He was doing the things only God can do because the Father had given Him the authority to do them, for example, to Him was give the power to raise the dead, the authority to judge and equal honour with the Father. He even went as far as to declare that those who heard His word and believed in the Father would step over into the realm of eternal life.

The dead, both those who have already passed on and those who are alive in the natural realm but dead to the dimension of God, will hear His voice and those who respond to Him will cross over into an eternal life in His kingdom and under His authority because He is the Son of Man. Now that’s a loaded statement!

Jewish people, schooled in the Word of God, would immediately recognise that Jesus was referring to the book of Daniel where, in Daniel’s vision in chapter 7, he saw “one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13, 14 (NIV), and Jesus was claiming to be the fulfilment of that prophecy!

It’s no wonder His opponents were incensed by His words. They could not see the truth because they were blinded by their prejudice and their unwillingness to face their own wickedness and open their eyes and hearts to the truth.

They did not understand that Jesus was offering them, His avowed enemies, the opportunity to align themselves with Him and become part of the glorious kingdom He was introducing to His people. They persistently shut their minds to the truth of who He was and forfeited the greatest gift of all — life in union with Jesus in the presence of God in an eternal now and under His benevolent rule.

The same invitation is open to everyone who is willing to see beyond their own prejudice to the reality that Jesus is the Son of God and that His offer of eternal life is genuine because He is the truth and He spoke the truth.

Words To Rattle Your Cage Or Give You Hope

Christian life, , ,

WORDS TO RATTLE YOU CAGE OR GIVE YOU HOP 

“Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess but confessed freely, ‘I am not the Messiah.’

“They asked him, ‘Then who are you? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ Finally they said, ‘Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, ‘I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.'” John 1:18-23 (NIV).

John caused a real stir! People flocked from all over to listen to the fiery preacher who emerged out of nowhere. The religious leaders were getting worried. Their comfortable lives were being shaken up and they didn’t like it — especially because of what he had to say about them!

They sent their representatives to interrogate John. ‘Who are you?’ There were two things on their minds. Elijah or ‘the prophet’. Why Elijah? They knew what the prophet Malachi had said about Elijah — not necessarily Elijah come back from the dead but another prophet in the disposition and ministry of Elijah.

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents, or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” Malachi 4:5, 6 (NIV).

Malachi, like all the other prophets, was calling God’s people to return to Him. Judgment day was coming and only those who turned back to the Lord and showed their sincerity by doing whatever they could to restore the family unity would escape the “flames” of the refiner’s fire.

A symptom of the depth to which God’s people have fallen is evident in the disintegration of the family unit. Even so-called believers are abandoning marriage through divorce, or “shacking up” so that they can walk away if it doesn’t work. There is very little commitment and children are left fatherless, without security and without identity. God said, ‘It’s got to stop! Get the family back on track. That’s the first step towards restoration.’

Who was “the prophet”? Moses reminded the people, “‘For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire any more, or we will die.’ The Lord said to me, ‘What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in His mouth. He will tell them everything I command Him.'” Deuteronomy 18:18 (NIV).

The people were waiting for this special prophet to come. It is quite natural that they thought that John was he. But John denied it.

Then how did John view himself? The apostle John, looking back, saw John the Baptist as a man who understood who he was and what his role was in this crucial time in Israel’s history. He made no extravagant claims for himself, and yet his very words set him apart as a prophet with a unique ministry. He was a voice proclaiming the beginning of a new era for which God’s people had waited for four long centuries after the last prophet.

‘I am the one who is telling you that the Messiah is here.’ What an astonishing declaration! After all this long time, God was actually doing what He said He would do. He would send His representative, the Messiah to put everything right that had gone wrong since the beginning of their existence as a nation. They could hardly believe it.

What do you suppose the priest and Levite contingent told the Jewish leaders when they got back to Jerusalem? ‘This man says he is the prophet God promised He would send as the forerunner of the Messiah,’ or something like that? Possibly! Did the Jewish leaders believe them? Not likely.

All the evidence, in their attitude to and treatment of Jesus suggests that they rejected John’s response and were ready with their campaign to deal with any challenge to their comfortable position as spiritual leaders of the people. When Jesus came along, they were ready to use their power and influence to maintain their authority, whatever the cost.

Do John’s words, ‘I am the voice,’ rattle your cage or give you hope?

Caught In The Act

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CAUGHT IN THE ACT!

“One day on my way to Damascus, armed as always with papers from the high priests authorising my action, right in the middle of the day a blaze of light, light outshining the sun, poured out of the sky on me and my companions. Oh king, it was so bright! We fell flat on our faces. Then I heard a voice in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me? Why do you insist on going against the grain?’

“‘I said, ‘Who are you, Master?’

‘”The voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down like an animal. But now, up on your feet — I have a job for you. I’ve hand-picked you to be a servant and witness to what’s happened today, and to what I am going to show you.'” Acts 26:12-15 (The Message).

Did a day ever go by that Paul did not remember his encounter with Jesus? He remembered every detail as though it had happened yesterday. As he recalled it in the presence of the king, his entourage, the governor and all the dignitaries in the Great Hall that day, he relived those moments, felt the electricity of the Divine Presence once again and melted in the atmosphere of perfect Love.

The words of Jesus were branded on his heart. The Voice, like the sound of a thundering cataract, echoed and re-echoed around the caverns of his mind, supporting and steadying him through every danger and trial he experienced on his journey of life with his Master, and leading him ever on to greater heights of obedient love.

He didn’t care what they accused him of doing, what they said about him or what they tried to do to him. Nothing could change or take away from his encounter with the risen Jesus, from the glory of the Presence that melted his hatred, his anger, his hostility and aggression towards those who believed in Him, and changed him in an instant from a vicious persecutor to a hopeless, helpless, passionate lover of Jesus.

“‘I’m sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I’m sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who began real living by believing in me.'” Acts 26:16-18 (The Message).

Instructions like that should have sent a fanatical Pharisee into a frenzy of protest, had they come from the lips of anyone else than those of his new-found Lord. Go to the Gentiles! Outrageous! Never! But Paul had new eyes and a new heart. Instantaneously he was transformed. He saw, with the eyes of Jesus, the Gentiles as people, not “dogs” or inferior scum to be brushed aside with contempt. Go to the Gentiles? Anything, Lord, if it comes from your lips.

What made the difference for Paul? What should make the difference for us? Not “knowledge” which does nothing to change our hearts. It is only the real, vital, living presence of Jesus that can transform our stony hearts. When we “see” Him, we are changed. When we gaze on Him, we begin to reflect His glory. No work, service, labour, or doing things for Jesus can accomplish what moments of contemplation in His presence can do. There is no substitute for His presence.

Paul saw Him and for the rest of his life he continued to gaze on his Beloved. This is his secret: “And we, who with unveiled faces, all reflect (contemplate) the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV).