Tag Archives: Jesus

A Plan Comes Together

Bible Study, , , ,

A PLAN COMES TOGETHER 

“At first His disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about Him and that these things had been done to Him.

“Now the crowd that was with Him when He called Lazarus from the tomb and raised Him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that He had performed this sign, went out to meet Him. So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!'” John 12:16-19 NIV.

Although John was writing as though he were an objective observer, we must remember that he was one of the disciples and he knew the inside story. He was one of those who did not realize that Jesus was busy fulfilling prophecy in front of their eyes. Once again, like all the other events in Jesus’ life, none of this would make sense to them until it was all over, and they could put all the pieces of the puzzle together and see the bigger picture.

We cannot blame the disciples for their slowness to understand and believe. Everything that was happening was outside their experience and their frame of reference. Like the women who went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, (and found the tomb empty and a glowing figure sitting inside who told them an outlandish story about Jesus being risen which was enough to terrify the wits out of them), the disciples could not correctly process these events until they had time to make sense of them with hindsight.

It seems that the Lazarus incident set off a wave of popularity for Jesus that sent the Pharisees into a frenzy. Things were getting out of hand and it was time for them to take action rather than to keep meeting and planning.

In the meantime…

“There were some Greeks among them who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we would like to see Jesus.’ Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.” John 12:20-22 NIV.

Two stories are running parallel here. There were dark forces egging the religious leaders on to get rid of Jesus, stirring up the jealousy, hatred and anger that dragged them deeper and deeper into their ungodly intentions. At the same time there were men, Gentiles and foreigners, who were moved by the stories they were hearing about Jesus. Was it mere curiosity that prompted their request, or was there a genuine interest in what they were hearing about this man because there was answering response in their hearts?

John stated the reason for their presence in Jerusalem. They had come to worship at the Feast. That put them squarely in the camp of the “God-fearers” – Gentiles who had abandoned their idolatry and had become adherents of Judaism, not yet inducted into the covenant but participating in the ceremonies and festivals of the Jewish people. Somehow, in spite of the ritualistic rigmarole of Judaism, they had been attracted to their monotheistic religion that worshipped an unseen God who received and embraced them though they were not part of His covenant people.

As the events of this saga unfold, in the sovereignty of God He was slowly moving the two camps closer together — antagonists who wanted to kill Jesus and sympathisers who were interested in what He was saying and doing. The two stories converged at the cross; the killers accomplished, in the perfect plan of God, what the enquirers would need to complete their search after God!

Only a wise and sovereign God could devise and put into action a plan so complex and yet so precise that prophecy, human hatred and divine love could meet at one strategic moment in time and effect a deliverance so great that embraces all of time and eternity and shines the spotlight on the mercy and grace of the One who put it all into action.

Dead And Disillusioned

Bible Study, , , ,

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.”

Baby Believers

Bible Study, , , ,

BABY BELIEVERS 

“Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptising in the early days. There He stayed, and many people came to Him. They said, ‘Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.’ And in that place many believed in Jesus.” John 10:40-42 NIV.

Thus concludes a dramatic and tempestuous encounter between Jesus and the Jewish leaders, and a temporary lull in the conflict between them. He retreated beyond the Jordan, not because He was afraid of them but to allow the dust to settle before the last and final battle that would end in His death.

The writer, John, assures his readers that, in spite of the opposition of the Jewish hierarchy, there were many of the ordinary people who were convinced that He was the Messiah and that John the Baptist’s testimony about Him was true. At this stage they were probably still wobbly believers, convinced of who Jesus was and yet wary of the Pharisees because they had the power to do damage to these infant believers in society because of their position in their religion.

In a few short weeks their faith would be sorely tested when Jesus was finally arrested and brought to trial before His adversaries. John’s purpose was to present Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, so that his readers would be convinced of His identity and put their faith in Him. Throughout the gospel he assured his readers that this was happening in spite of the hatred of the Jewish leaders towards Jesus.

After the episode of the healing of the blind man, no doubt the common people were in on the hot debate that raged between the Pharisees and Jesus. They heard the accusations levelled against Him because that He had healed the man on the Sabbath. They had listened to Jesus’ defence: ‘Evaluate my works and see whether they don’t match the nature of the Father.’

They had done their own thinking and concluded that a demon-possessed man could never do the miracles Jesus was doing to bring health and comfort to suffering people. At least they had the good sense to be honest, to weigh up the evidence with an open mind and to reach the conclusion that the Pharisees refused to come to because they were convinced they were right.

The Pharisees not only denounced Jesus; they also dismissed the common people as ignorant and stupid! What an indictment against them!

But where were all these so-called believers when the mob, led by the Jewish religious hierarchy were baying for Jesus’ blood? Were they in the crowd, swayed by mob hysteria to demand His death? Were they too afraid to stand up for Him lest they suffer the same fate? Was their protest so feeble that they were shouted down when they tried to defend Him? We will never know.

However, there must have been many of those early shaky believers who joined the tide of people who had repented and were baptised on the Day of Pentecost. Their failure to support Jesus for whatever reason was only a part of the process. They were not denounced or disqualified for their weakness. They were included in the ranks of those who became staunch followers of the risen Messiah.

Does this not encourage us to believe that where we are now, or where our loved ones are now, is not the end of the story? Where was Saul on the day when he stood watching the fanatical Pharisees hurling stones at Stephen and thoroughly supporting what they were doing? Where was he when he set out for Damascus to do as much damage to the church there as he could? He was only hours away from a life-transforming encounter with the Living Christ that would set his life in a new direction.

We must never give up on those for whom we are praying because they are also at some point in the process of becoming new in Christ. God has promised to complete what He has begun and we can count on His promise, not matter what!

We Know Everything!

Bible Study, , ,

WE KNOW EVERYTHING! 

“Then they turned again to the blind man, ‘What have you to say about Him? It was your eyes He opened.’ The man replied, ‘He is a prophet.’

“They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. ‘Is this your son?’ they asked. ‘Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?’

“‘We know he is our son,’ the parents answered, ‘and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age. He will speak for himself.'”

“His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. That is why his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.'” John 9:17-23 NIV.

Poor Pharisees! They had hard evidence in front of their eyes but, no matter how hard they tried they could not make the evidence or the witness go away!

First they questioned the blind man. “Who do you think He is? After all, it was your eyes He opened?’ Without hesitation the blind man put Jesus into the category of “prophet” which was unpalatable for the Pharisees because prophets were revered by the Jews even though their ancestors had failed to heed them and even killed them.

Then they called for his parents and questioned them, hoping that by some miracle they would say there had been some mistake and that he was not their son or that they didn’t really know whether he had been born blind or not! That didn’t work for them either. The man’s parents freely acknowledged that he was their son and that he had been born blind. They threw the ball back in his court. ‘He is old enough to speak for himself!’

Now the Pharisees were in a dilemma. All the evidence pointed to the fact that the man had been born blind and now he could see. Somehow Jesus was in the mix and they could not make any of the facts go away. They had already decided to penalise anyone who dared to confess that Jesus was the Messiah.

The man’s parents bowed to that one but the problem was that any explanation other than that Jesus was who He claimed to be would make nonsense of the evidence. They sidestepped the issue by putting the onus back on their son so as not to fall foul of the Pharisees. They also refused to acknowledge that Jesus was more than just a man.

“A second time they summoned the man who had been born blind. ‘Give the glory to God by telling the truth.’ they said. ‘We know this man is a sinner.'” John 9:24 NIV.

How do you make the evidence go away? By assassinating the character of the one who did the miracle! They still had another hurdle to get over but this one they ignored. ‘We know,’ they said, as thought that settled all the arguments. On what ground did they base their knowledge? Had they witnessed Jesus practising sin? Had anyone else witnessed His sinful behaviour?

They had no answer for His challenge, ‘Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?’ and yet they were now declaring, as though they were the final authority that He was a sinner and on those grounds they could dismiss the miracle He did as the work of a sinner! How did that work?

There are religious groups today that declare that the Word of God is not true because it has been corrupted. Does that make their claim true, simply because they said it? Try as anyone may, truth is indestructible. Since Jesus declared that the Word of the Lord will never pass away, and since no one has ever proved Him a liar, Jesus and His Word are still reliable and dependable.

Hallelujah!

Knowing The Father

Bible Study, , ,

 KNOWING THE FATHER 

“Then they asked Him, ‘Where is your father?’ ‘You do not know me or my Father,’ Jesus replied. ‘If you knew me, you would know my Father also.’ He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized Him because His hour had not yet come.” John 8:18-20 (NIV).

“If you knew me, you would know my Father also,” is a loaded statement.

Of course. There are levels of knowing. Acquaintance is the first and most superficial level — “Do you know so-and-so?”  “Yes, I met him at the…” That person is no longer a total stranger. I have met him, seen his face and been introduced to him. When someone speaks of him, I know who they are talking about. I know him.

The second level of knowing goes much deeper. I get to know someone when I spend time with him. Perhaps he is a work colleague or even a friend. We talk; we share information about one another; we see one another’s reactions in various circumstances and can even predict how that person will respond when this or that happens.

But not even friends know me in my home environment. I am able to conceal things from them that my family know about because they do not see me in my most vulnerable moments. My family and I live together in much closer and more intimate contact. I cannot hide the quirks and idiosyncrasies of my personality and behaviour from them. They know me and I know them.

The deepest of human knowing happens between a husband and wife. They live together in the most intimate union that humans can share. According to Genesis 2:25, it is God’s intention that the union between husband and wife be the most intimate union possible to human beings. “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife and they become one flesh.” Genesis 2:25 (NIV).

The Hebrew word yada, translated know, has several different meanings depending on the context. In the context of Genesis 2:25 it means “dedicating ourselves to a person so that we can engage them with our love and affection.”

Now look at Proverbs 12:10: “The righteous know (yada) the needs of their animals but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.” In this context the word yada conveys the idea of the good person “understanding the needs of the people around them and taking care of them.”

In Jeremiah 22:15-16 the prophet delivers a scathing rebuke on King Shallum, the son of the good king, Josiah of Judah. Shallum had acted selfishly, neglecting the poor and needy and exploiting others to build his kingdom. Here the prophet blends the meanings of the word yada into one.

“‘Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?’ says the Lord.”

The Lord tells the king what it truly means to know (yada) Him; to do what is right; to show mercy to the poor and needy; to exemplify good and righteous character. To know God is faithfully to live out our covenant relationship with the Lord in every area of our lives. ( www.yadadrop.com/about/what-does-yada-mean).

Is it any wonder, then, that Jesus emphatically told these humbug religious leaders that they did not know God? How could they when they were the opposite of everything that knowing God meant? They refused to recognize in Jesus a visible replica of His Father. His goodness infuriated them. They saw Him only as a threat to be eliminated, but their hands were tied until it was His time!

Do you know God?