Tag Archives: eternal life

Both Lord And Christ

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BOTH LORD AND CHRIST 

“From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.’You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.’ Then Jesus replied, ‘Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!’ (He meant Judas Iscariot who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray Him).” John 6:66-71 (NIV)

Good old Peter! For once he got it right!

For all their blundering, misunderstandings, prejudices and misperceptions, of one thing the Twelve had become convinced, that Jesus was the Son of God. They did not fully understand all the implications and they certainly clung tenaciously to the hope that He would deliver them from Rome, but they never abandoned their conviction that He was someone far more than human.

John was careful to identify and isolate Judas Iscariot as the traitor, but that did not mean that Judas was not also convinced of His identity. Why he betrayed Jesus is not absolutely clear. It could have been purely for money or it could have been his way of trying to force Jesus to do what he thought He would do — move supernaturally against the Romans during the Passover when Jerusalem was filled with Jews from in and outside Israel.

John made a clear distinction between two groups of disciples — the ones who were following Him for opportunistic reasons and the Twelve whom He had chosen. The first group was obvious fascinated by and drawn to Him because of the possibilities of what He could do for them. He healed them; He got rid of tormenting demons and He even fed them supernaturally from very little. If they could have a king like that, their troubles would be over.

The problem with this kind of faith is that it places false expectations on Jesus which He is under no obligation to fulfil. It is unfortunate that He is often presented to people as the solution to all their problems. Prayer and faith are a way to get what we want. When He does not meet to our expectations and capitulate to our demands, we either do what we can to appease Him, as though He were some pagan idol, or we become disillusioned and walk away like these fickle “disciples” did.

 

The Twelve followed Jesus because they were chosen. He selected ordinary men from many walks of life; fishermen, tax collectors, political activists, nobodies who were not already fashioned by the religious system to have fixed ideas about God and His Messiah.

When He began to speak about things they could not understand; about suffering and dying, which made no sense to them, they were sufficiently convinced about His identity to wait it out. Their expectations might have differed, even from one another’s but they were prepared to give Him a hearing because they had bonded with Him as a person even if they did not understand everything He said.

Peter voiced the thoughts of the group, and they agreed with him by sticking with Jesus when the others left. It must have heartened Jesus to know that He had a loyal group, even if it was only His intimate group of disciples whom He had personally invited to be His followers. They were not part of the “anyone” and the “whoever”. He called them by name and that meant a lot to them.

The fact that He lost only Judas from the Twelve is also surprising, given the harshness of His words. They may have trembled with fear, abandoned Him and run for cover, hidden in the Upper Room and lost all hope when He died, but that was only part of the process. Resurrection day changed all that. His words, falling on deaf ears then, took on explosive meaning when the implications burst on their understanding.

No doubt, they must have remembered Peter’s expression of their collective faith: ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ How glad they must have been to have stuck with Him then! Their faith had paid off. It was not about what He could do for them. It was all about who He was — both Lord and Christ to whom every knee shall bow.

Have you bowed to Him?

Come To The Table

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COME TO THE TABLE

“‘I AM the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world.’

“The Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, ‘How can this man give us His flesh to eat?'” John 6:48-52 (NIV).

Jesus’ words sound bizarre, don’t they? What in the world is He talking about and how can He expect His hearers to believe what He is saying?

Once more a literal interpretation of His words leaves us with the idea that He is advocating cannibalism! But we know that He cannot possibly imply that, so what is He saying?

We have to turn again to the Hebrew way of thinking. Where the “western” Greek-orientated mind-set is to interpret His words literally, the ancient Hebrew mind would recognize something different in His meaning.

Middle-eastern people were very hospitable but they never ate with anyone with whom they had issues. To eat with someone meant much more than sitting down together and sharing a meal. They only ate a meal with someone with whom they were reconciled.

This practice arose from the origin of the ancient concept of a table. The Paleo-Hebrew word for a table – shulkan – was also the word for reconcile and lamb skin, depending on the sense in which it was used. The connection between these meanings was like this: where there was no table available, for example, when they left Egypt in haste and they had to eat the Passover meal in readiness to leave, the skin of the lamb that was eaten at the Passover was used as a “table”, a sort-of picnic blanket.

The members of the family had to eat a sacrificed lamb as a symbol that they had set aside their differences and were one with each other. They could not travel together on a long journey if they had issues. Hence a meal – shul – was eaten at the table – shulkan– as a symbol of reconciliation.

Was Jesus inviting the people to be reconciled to God through His flesh? It sounds very much as though that was what He was getting at. There is certainly no hint that He was implying that, in some mystical way, the bread eaten and the wine drunk at the Last Supper literally became His body and blood. That would make Him the advocate of cannibalism which is unthinkable.

It also denies the clear teaching of Scripture that His death was a once-for-all, never-to be-repeated, all-sufficient sacrifice which reconciled us to the Father. To insist that, every time we participate in the memorial feast of “Communion” or the Lord’s Supper, we are re-sacrificing the Son of God and eating His actual flesh and drinking His actual blood is to turn it into a satanic ritual rather than a symbol of what He did on the cross for us.

“Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.'” John 6:53-55 (NIV).

When we read His words with the understanding that He was talking about reconciliation, not cannibalism, they make a whole lot of sense. To be reconciled to the Father through the sacrifice of His Son brings us back into union with the source of life. Physical death cannot separate us from Him because He has conquered death. Just as bread sustains and energizes our physical bodies, so also, as we “feed” on Him, our spirits are nourished, and our life in Him grows.

Jesus was not instituting a new, cannibalistic religion, but teaching God’s people that the sacrificial lamb they ate when they celebrated the Passover was only a picture of what He would do on the cross. His death would bring them back into fellowship with the Father and reconnect them with the source of life.

Do you have this life?

Opportunistic Faith

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OPPORTUNISTIC FAITH 

“The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with His disciples, but that they had gone away alone.

“Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.” John 6:22-24 (NIV).

Strange! How did Jesus get back to Capernaum when there was only one boat and He was not in it when the disciples returned from their impromptu picnic?

They had obviously spent the night in the vicinity so that they could be on site when Jesus reappeared the next morning. They knew He must be there because He stayed on the mountain when the disciples set off across the lake. But He had mysteriously disappeared. They waited in vain for Him. Eventually they returned to Capernaum, using the available boats moored nearby.

“When they found Him on the other side of the lake, they asked Him, ‘Rabbi, when did you get here?’ ” John 6:25 (NIV).

Did He give them the slip in the night and walk back to Capernaum? It would have been a long overnight walk and He certainly would have been too tired to be up early and about His business again. They were curious to know how He had returned without a boat, but He didn’t answer them. He was not obliged to satisfy their curiosity. His response went straight to the point.

“Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs performed but because you ate the bread and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.’ “ John 6:26, 27 (NIV).

These people were opportunists, and Jesus saw right through them. He ripped the cover off the most heinous of all motives for following Him, self-interest.

The book of Job, the most ancient of all the Old Testament writings, explores this “factory fault” in the make-up of all fallen human beings. Behind the scenes and unknown to Job, God boasted to the devil of Job’s righteousness. ‘Only because you mollycoddle him!’ the devil shot back. ‘Touch the possessions you have lavished on him and he’ll turn on you,’ he challenged. ‘Okay,’ the Lord replied, ‘You can take away everything he has but you can’t touch him.’

Satan let rip on Job and mercilessly stripped him of everything, including his children. In the midst of his devastation, he responded with humble submission to the will of God. ‘What about his health?’ the devil hissed. Again God agreed to let him afflict his body but not to take his life. ‘Then we’ll see what happens,’ He confidently declared.

Job was bewildered by this sudden turn of events but, in spite of his grief and confusion, he was still determined to trust God. Not even anger and accusation could bring him to “curse God and die” as his wife suggested. The process to understanding was painful, but Job passed the test. He was not as concerned about his loss as he was about God’s silence. He felt that God was angry with him and he could not understand why.

How tragic that we so often, with the whole Bible at our disposal and the Holy Spirit within us to interpret it, have fallen for the devil’s lie that salvation is all about us and that God is here to serve us. When things go wrong, many of God’s people turn on Him and demand an explanation.

This attitude undermines the very foundation of what God did for us in Christ. His love was the motive, not our need or even our worth yet often our attitude exposes our hearts. We think that God owes it to us. “Why me, God? What have I done to deserve this?” Job’s heart was right and he passed the test, even though he knew nothing of the reason for it.

Can God have the same confidence in you, that “though He slay you, yet will you trust in Him? “Or are you in it for what you can get out of it?

A Drink Of Water

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A DRINK OF WATER 

“Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have giving you living water.’

“‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock?'” John 4:10-12 (NIV).

What an intriguing response!

The woman had asked Jesus a simple question, ‘How can you, a Jewish man, be asking me, a Samaritan woman for a drink?’ but it revealed a whole lot about what she thought about herself. In His reply Jesus used the imagery of water to introduce her to something much better than well water.

He asked her for water because He was thirsty but her visit to the well in the middle of the day opened up a pathway to her thirst which could not be quenched by what she could get from the well. Why did she come out in the heat? All the other women of the village drew water in the early morning or late in the afternoon. Was she avoiding them because she was an outcast?

Why was she an outcast? As the story unfolds, we learn of her unsavoury lifestyle. Did she want to be a promiscuous woman? I don’t think so. She was desperately thirsty for love. Her story can be retold today. Many millions of women and young girls sell themselves, their chastity, dignity and self-respect for empty promises to men who use them and throw them away.

One wonders why she continued this conversation with Jesus. Did she see in Him another prospect? And yet she instinctively knew that He was different from other men. He was open, friendly and polite, and didn’t look at her with lust or undress her with His eyes. Instead, His eyes were full of understanding and compassion.

Jesus saw beyond her brassy facade, her emptiness, her loneliness and her tear-stained heart and reached out to offer her what no human being could give her — living water. To a person in Jesus’ day, “living” water was the clean, fresh water from a flowing stream, not stagnant water from a well, but what He offered was far better than that!

Her thoughts didn’t connect with Jesus’ thoughts. She was so imprisoned in her way of thinking and in her lifestyle that it did not occur to her that it could be different. To her, Jacob’s well was a very important water source. In fact, it was a bit of a miracle. Jacob and his family and animals had used this well centuries before and it was still providing water for the village now. What could Jesus offer her that was greater than that?

“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.'” John 4:13-15 (NIV).

There you have it! Jesus was not talking about the stuff you need to drink; He was taking about another kind of “water” which satisfies the thirst that water cannot reach. Every human being is thirsty for the kind of love that does not use and abuse but that unconditionally loves us for who we are. No human love can quench that thirst, not even the best love a human can offer. There is the element of selfishness in human love, even at its best.

This woman had been the object of lust, but she had never been loved. Jesus looked past her sordid life and saw an empty, thirsty heart and offered her the love that only God can give.

But imagine her confusion! What a relief it would be if this man, by some miraculous means could save her from having to face the burning sun every day to come out here for water. She snatched at the opportunity to get some of this “magic” water, having no clue as to where and what it was.

Jesus still sees the empty, weeping heart today. He is the source of a love that never gives up, never runs dry and never betrays the one who trusts Him. He proved it by laying down His life for you.

The Real Test

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THE REAL TEST 

“Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus.’Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?’ He answered, ‘What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?’

“He said, ‘That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence — and that you love your neighbour as well as you do yourself.’

‘”Good answer!’ said Jesus.’Do it and you’ll live.'” Luke 10:25-28 (The Message).

I think Jesus got it all wrong! Aren’t we supposed to accept Him as our personal Saviour and then we’ll go to heaven when we die?

But that’s not what the man asked Him, not what to do to get to heaven but what to do to inherit eternal life. But aren’t they the same thing? Apparently not, according to Jesus.

According to the Bible, whatever we would like to believe, the moment we are conceived we have human life and that life will never end. We live the first phase of it on earth in an imperfect world and among imperfect people. We have been given free will as part of the package of being human and that means that we have choices to make and we have to take responsibility for our choices. Our choices also have consequences which affect our lives and the lives of the people we interact with every day.

Our natural bent is doing our own thing, to be greedy and selfish and to hate God because we fear the consequences of our rebellion. Why? Because Satan lied to the first pair and lured them into disobedience with false promises. Now we live in the shadow of Adam’s foolish choice!

But God didn’t create us to live like that. He created the universe, the earth and everything on it to live together in peace and harmony as a reflection of His nature. In order to fulfil His dream He wanted us to choose to love Him and to obey Him because of our love for Him. But the devil had other ideas…and we live in the result.

But God was not put off. In fact He used these very circumstances to reveal one of the most beautiful aspects of His nature — what the Bible calls “what is heaviest in Him — His mercy.” Because of His mercy, He sent Jesus to show us what He is really like and to pay the debt of sin we owe Him. He took the punishment for our sin on Himself by sacrificing His life for us so that He could bring us back to the Father.

Because He has done away with the reason for our antagonism, God gives us the opportunity to return to Him and to submit ourselves to His authority. Amazingly, when we do that, He reciprocates by giving us His Holy Spirit to live in us. He replaces our old alienation with a new attitude and disposition.  Rebellion gone, we are now able to love Him and to express that love by the way we treat our fellow human beings.

This is what Jesus means by “life”, not endless physical existence but an exuberant life that embraces all people as family and cares more about them than about ourselves. In the environment of God, where nothing out of character with God can exist, everything that does not reflect Him gets pruned off. This is the process we go through as we serve out our apprenticeship in this life.

Eternal life does not begin when we die. It is God’s gift to those who choose to return to His original plan to have a family living together in harmony with Him and with one another in unselfish caring and generosity. This is the evidence that we are truly His family, living life His way here and now. Death is merely the completion of our apprenticeship and the beginning of participation with Him in His forever family in His presence.

Are you someone who had “accepted Jesus” and think you have eternal life or are you really living by loving Him and His children?

That’s the real test!