Tag Archives: world

Peace That Makes No Sense

Bible Study, , ,

PEACE THAT MAKES NO SENSE

“‘All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.'” John 14:25-27 NIV.

It’s no wonder Jesus did not give up on His disciples! He knew that the Holy Spirit would do the job when the time came.

Everything He taught them was in seed form. The Word of God is seed. When it is sown in the soil of the heart, it will grow when the conditions are right. There was so much Jesus had to teach them but it would be a progression of experiences and understanding through the Holy Spirit’s ministry that would bring them to maturity as time went on.

God is never in a hurry. It takes time for an oak tree to grow. It was His determined purpose to cultivate “oak trees”, people who were strong and stable so that they would be witnesses to Jesus, putting Him on display as their lives were progressively made whole through His grace at work in them.

“(He will) provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendour.” Isaiah 61:3 NIV.

The word Jesus used for the Holy Spirit, translated Advocate or Helper is an interesting one — in the Greek, parakletos, meaning one who is called alongside. The Christian life is viewed in Scripture as a journey — hence it was originally called “The Way” (Acts 9:2). As one walks, the burdens of life cause one to totter and lean to one side or the other, making one’s walk unstable and often pushing one off the path.

The Holy Spirit is “called alongside” to help shoulder the burden so that one can walk upright instead of leaning over and losing one’s footing or leaving the path. A beautiful picture of the Holy Spirit’s ministry in the believer! He does not judge or accuse — that is the Accuser’s disposition because that is all he knows. The Holy Spirit is the strength and support God has provided to enable us to walk a straight path of righteousness and truth as He gets under the burden with us and guides us along our journey.

Apart from the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ greatest gift to His people is the gift of His peace. The disciples had watched Him through the years when He was insulted, maligned and falsely accused by His opponents, without ever seeing in Him a glimmer of revenge or retaliation. He spoke the truth to them and allowed the truth to be their judge. They had seen Him live a life of serenity and peace in the midst of every kind of storm. And now He was assuring them that they would experience His peace — not the kind of “peace” offered by the world.

What kind of peace does the world give? The best that comes from the world is the “peace” that happens when there is a temporary lull in our unpredictable circumstances. We enjoy it while we can because we know it will not last. We know that our circumstances can change at the drop of a hat, plunging us once again into worry, anxiety, fear and frustration.

Jesus’ peace is not dependent on circumstances but rather on our standing in God. His death for us removes the reason for our alienation from the Father and we are now able to rest in His love for us, knowing that we are completely in His care. His peace provides sure footing for us because it stands on two feet: peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1) and the peace of God that surpassed understanding as we commit our circumstances to Him (Philippians 4:6, 7). It is the peace of one who knows he is not an orphan but a son.

In the midst of the turmoil they were about to be plunged into, His disciples had His promise that His peace would be their strength and support no matter what happened. Whether they experienced it right then or not is uncertain but the days were coming when they would face their own “Calvary”. By that time they would have made their acquaintance with the Holy Spirit and learned to rest in Him in the storms and experience the unearthly peace that makes no sense outside of Jesus but is real anyway.

And how much they needed it, and so do we!

Water And Light

Bible Study, , ,

WATER AND LIGHT 

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'” John 8:12 (NIV).

Although the interlude which records Jesus’ encounter with the woman caught in adultery doesn’t seem to fit, it apparently happened in the temple while He was teaching the people. The water ceremony which we spoke about in a previous post, was part of the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. The lighting of the candelabras took place on the second day of the feast.

“According to the Mishnah (part of the oral tradition of the rabbis), gigantic candelabras stood within the court of the women. Each of the four golden candelabras is said to have been 50 cubits high. A cubit is somewhere between 18 and 22 inches, so we’re talking about candelabras that were about 75 feet tall! Each candelabrum had four branches, and at the top of every branch there was a large bowl. Four young men bearing 10 gallon pitchers of oil would climb ladders to fill the four golden bowls on each candelabrum. And then the oil in those bowls was ignited.

“Picture sixteen beautiful blazes leaping toward the sky from these golden lamps. Remember that the Temple was on a hill above the rest of the city, so the glorious glow was a sight for the entire city to see. In addition to the light, Levitical musicians played their harps, lyres, cymbals and trumpets to make joyful music to the Lord. What a glorious celebration! The light was to remind the people of how God’s Shekinah glory had once filled His Temple. But in the person of Jesus, God’s glory was once again present in that Temple. And He used that celebration to announce that very fact. He was teaching in the court of women just after the Feast, perhaps standing right next to those magnificent candelabras when He declared to all who were gathered there,”

(http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/BibleStudyAndTheology/jewishroots/Feast_of_Tabernacles_Jews_For_Jesus_David_Brickner.aspx?option=print)

Although many of the Jewish leaders were scathing about Jesus’ apparent origin in Galilee (although they failed to realize that He was born in Bethlehem as the Scripture had predicted), God had promised that a great light would shine out of Galilee (Isaiah 9:1,2).

The people were unwittingly using ceremonies and symbols which they did not understand while the fulfilment of their symbolic expectation was right there among them! They were celebrating their Messianic hope with physical light while Jesus was offering them a new life of freedom from the demands of selfishness and sin (darkness) so that they could live the lives He intended for them, living lovingly and generously towards others (light).

“‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'” John 8:12 (NIV).

There was pain in the heart of Jesus over the spiritual leaders of the nation who refused to recognize and come to Him as the light. He was inviting the people to set aside all their efforts to please God by following rules and rituals. God had set out His teaching (torah) in His law but they had found it impossible to fulfil all His requirements. The leaders laid a heavy burden on the people through their yoke of legalism.

Jesus offered them a better way. ‘Follow me,’ He said, ‘and you will never walk in darkness.’ He told them that He had not come to do away with the law but to show them how to fulfil it. In His offer of “living water” there was a promise that the Holy Spirit would be in them, like the water they drank every day to quench their thirst, to give them life and enable them the follow Him.

If they followed His way of life, living for others instead of for themselves, their lives would be filled with His light, the joy and peace of God that would bring them satisfaction and fulfilment instead of dissatisfaction and discontent.

He still invites us to follow Him!

 

The Resurrection Is Coming!

Bible Study, , , , ,

THE RESURRECTION IS COMING! 

“After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders were looking for a way to kill Him. But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to Him, ‘Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.’ For even His own brothers did not believe in Him.

“Therefore Jesus told them, ‘My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival because my time has not yet fully come.’ After He had said this, He stayed in Galilee.” John 7:1-9 (IV).

It must have been tough for Jesus to have been rejected by His own brothers!

But it was to be expected because they were part of “His own who did not receive Him.” It was probably the old story of being offended by His goodness. They grew up with Him. He was their flesh and blood. How could they accept that He was not a mere human being like they were?

Their words were not a suggestion but a taunt. One can read their hostility between the lines. Their words were accusing, revealing and a challenge to Him. ‘If you are who you say you are, go public and prove it. You have a golden opportunity to go to the festival in Jerusalem where everybody who is anybody will be gathered.’ Every word was full of venom and unbelief.

Jesus did not seem to be offended. He simply explained why it was not appropriate for Him to go to Jerusalem then. The Jewish leaders would be looking out for Him. Perhaps they even hoped to grab Him and assassinate Him before the crowd arrived so that He would have no opportunity to wow the people and win them over.

His brothers were free to come and go as they pleased because they were not controversial public figures. They were not living according to a strict timetable as He was. No one was watching out for them with murderous intent. They were not hated for exposing evil.

Jesus was smart. He knew that, if He arrived in Jerusalem before or during the festival His enemies would either waylay Him or stir up a riot against Him. Lynching was not God’s plan. He had to be tried, found guilty and offered publicly as a sacrifice at the exact moment when the slaughtering of the Passover lambs began. His guilt and execution had to be a decision of the representatives of both the Jewish and Gentile world. He had to be offered up for the whole world.

Jesus confined His ministry to Galilee for the moment where He was out of sight of the members of the ruling party. The Pharisees were everywhere, no doubt spying on Him and reporting back to their superiors, but the common people were happy to have Him around as long as He ministered to the sick and demon-possessed and taught them about the kingdom of God.

Unlike the undertones of His brothers’ accusation, Jesus was not seeking fame or popularity. He was not trying to make himself a “public figure”. It was unfortunate that the works He did forced him into the limelight. He often cautioned the people He had healed not to tell anyone about it. He did not want fans, but followers; people who accepted His yoke and committed to being His disciples because they believed in Him, not because of what He could do for them.

How unfortunate that many people “follow” Jesus today because of what they think He can do for them! How much better to be like His brothers who were at least honest about their skepticism. It took the resurrection to convince them that He was the Son of God and, once convinced they wholeheartedly threw in their lot with His disciples and were part of the group on whom the Holy Spirit fell in the day of Pentecost.

We may judge Jesus’ brothers for not recognizing who He was. It was part of the process by which they came to faith in Him. Their attitude was not set in concrete. Thank God that even the attitude of our loved ones which may cause us concern is only a part of the process by which many of them may yet come to faith. The resurrection and Pentecost are still coming for them!