Tag Archives: Father

No Sense Of Need

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NO SENSE OF NEED 

“‘For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son of Man gives life to whom He is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent Him. Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.'” John 5:21-24 (NIV).

Wow! That was a mouthful for His opponents to swallow!

Did these men who thought and acted in the natural, understand what Jesus was saying? What was their first impression?

Even if they did not get what He was saying, they could not miss that fact that He was talking about unity, partnership and authority in His relationship with God that clearly put Him on the same level as the Father. This must have riled them to the core because no one would have the gall to make such claims unless he were either crazy or speaking the truth.

They were face to face with someone who was evidently completely human and yet He was talking about God as His Father and claiming intimacy and unity with Him and the functions that belonged to God alone; raising the dead and judgment. And then, on top of that, He was demanding equal honour with the Father as though He were on a par with Him! To them this man was a complete lunatic or a dangerous blasphemer.

Yet Jesus did not behave like either. Could someone who was out of his mind do the things He was doing? He had just healed a man who had been paralysed and helpless for thirty-eight years. Was that the action of a madman? And the way He did it was equally miraculous — He simply spoke to the man; told him to get up and walk. That’s how God worked — spoke the universe into being and it happened!

The facts stared them in the face but their minds could not process the facts or the explanation He gave about the facts. On top of that they had their prejudice and their resistance because they did not want to believe in Him. If they did, their comfortable lives and the power they wielded over the common people would be shaken to the core.

What was the problem that lay at the heart of these religious leaders’ thinking, and the difference between them and the tax collectors and “sinners” they despised? They had no sense of need. Religion is the most difficult disease to cure because it infects with such self-righteousness that no sense of need remains.

What was Jesus doing when He spoke to these stubbornly insensitive people? He was trying to awaken in them an awareness of how far they were away from the truth, as one insightful preacher said, “He offended the mind to expose the heart.” Jesus’ words do that. He either offends or informs His hearers in order to expose the deception they have swallowed and followed. People either react or respond to Him according to their sense of need.

The Samaritan woman, by contrast, responded to His exposure of her unsavoury lifestyle by telling the people of her home town what Jesus had revealed. She was neither ashamed nor embarrassed by His disclosure. She was transformed and she wanted everyone to know it.

The Pharisees reacted in anger towards Him and schemed to kill Him rather than respond to Him because, unlike the Samaritan woman, they felt no guilt and had not sense of need. Their self-righteousness, based on their performance which they put on for the sake of their audience, left them with the idea that God was obliged to them because of their “goodness” and they had no need of His mercy or grace.

There is only one thing that will keep us aware of our need of God’s mercy — our utter inability to reach God’s standard of perfection. We can either keep trying and failing or we can fall upon His mercy and receive His forgiveness and the gift of His perfect righteousness which Jesus gives to us at the expense of His own life.

God-Killers

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GOD KILLERS 

“For this reason they tried all the more to kill Him; not only was He breaking the Sabbath but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” John 5:18 (NIV).

Did these religious leaders also look forward to the coming of the Messiah? Judging by their attitude to Jesus, I think not. Jesus’ disciples certainly anticipated His coming even though their idea of what He would do completely missed the mark. They thought He was coming to deliver them from Roman domination and set up His kingdom in Israel to revive David’s rule.

It does not seem like the Pharisees had even that hope. They were in cahoots with the Romans and had altogether too cushy a life to want it to be disturbed by anyone claiming to be God’s Messiah. The idea that He was actually the Son of God outraged them and sowed murderous thoughts in their minds. This man had to be silenced before He made too many waves among the Romans and among the people.

“Jesus gave them this answer: ‘Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. Yes, and He will show Him even greater works than these so that you will be amazed…'” John 5:19-20 (NIV).

We can be very grateful for the altercations Jesus had with the Pharisees because we learn more about Him and His relationship with the Father from these than we do from any other source in the gospels. He speaks here of an intimacy and a unity with the Father that gives us a glimpse into the relationship between the Father and the Son in the Trinity. Later on during another argument with His opponents He said, ‘I and the Father are one.’

There are sects that deny the Trinity because they do not understand the nature of the Trinity. Jesus was not claiming to be a god. He was hinting at the heart of the Trinity – three persons who are one in nature and essence and in perfect unity with one another. There are false religions that deny that God had a Son because they do not understand the nature of His sonship either.

As the Father’s representative on earth, Jesus perfectly mirrored the Father in His nature and perfectly revealed the Father in His work. His religious opponents could not get their head around the compassion Jesus showed to people, especially those whom religion despised and ostracized because they did not measure up to their standards according to the god they had created and worshipped.

Their god put people into categories like “sinners” and “prostitutes” and “lepers” and “tax-collectors”. They did not mix with people like that because they were “holy” in their own eyes, not separate from sin but separated from the ones they despised and categorized as “sinners”.

Instead of being drawn to Jesus because of His mercy, they were repulsed by Him because He showed up their wicked hearts and they were not prepared to change. They loved their status and the power it gave them to manipulate people too much to recognize who He really was.

This was the nature and depth of their sin compared with the “sinners” they so despised. It touched the core of who they really were and triggered a hatred for the God they were supposed to be representing. They targeted Jesus for extermination. This is what the Bible defines as “envy”. Envy is not another word for jealousy. It goes much deeper than that. Envy hates the goodness in another person so much that it is willing to kill to get rid of that goodness.

“For he (Pilate) knew that it was for envy that they handed Jesus over to them,” Matthew 27:18 (NIV).

This envy began to chew at them when the compassion of Jesus showed up their callous indifference to the suffering of others and exposed the false religion they paraded as godliness which alienated them from the very people of which they were supposed to be a part.

We are constantly being called on to take a stand. Are we part of those who put people into categories or are we just members of the human race who need the grace and compassion of Jesus to forgive and make us whole?

The Real Thing!

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THE REAL THING! 

“‘Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’ The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.’

“Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the one speaking to you — I am He.'” John 4:23-26 (NIV).

Her curiosity was aroused!

At first she was afraid, getting ready to run if Jesus came too close, but now, like an inquisitive animal she crept nearer. Her secret was out and she was no longer afraid of being found out. Jesus knew it all but, instead of judging her, He diagnosed the cause of her pain — she had no Father, no-one to turn to; no-one to give her an identity; no-one to worship who would accept her and receive her and make her feel secure.

‘God the Father is looking for true worshippers, people who will open up their entire being to Him and become one with Him through the Holy Spirit,’ Jesus explained. Something came alive inside her. Her cold, dead heart was awakened. Somewhere she had heard that the Messiah was coming and He would make it all plain.

Wistfully, she voiced her longing. ‘Isn’t there someone who can tell me what this means? I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will make it clear. But He’s not here, and how am I supposed to understand?’

Jesus did something He had never done in any other company — He told her straight out that He was the Messiah! She had inadvertently expressed her longing for Him, now that her interest and desire to know the truth had been aroused. It was time to disclose His identity so that her awakened heart could open up and receive the truth He was offering her.

In a short space of time she had come a long way from being a brassy and hardened loose woman to an interested enquirer after the truth. How did Jesus do that? There was something about Him that she could not fathom but that drew her to Him. He was not the run-of-the-mill man who was lured by her “charms” and wanted what she shamelessly flaunted.

He was friendly, warm, gentle even when He disclosed her sin, and genuinely interested in her. He understood her; He knew who she was behind her hard exterior.   She was not the person she projected to the world. She lived in a prison of loneliness, shame and fear, feeling worthless, used and unwanted. She was an orphan. She had no Father.

Slowly He coaxed her out of her shell. When He dropped His bombshell by revealing His intimate knowledge of her lifestyle, she was ready to listen and not to run away. It was His role to introduce her to the Father and to reconnect her to Him so that she, too, could take her place in His family as a beloved daughter.

Her way of life was a poor substitute for what her heart longed for. She knew there was something missing but she could not put her finger on it until she met Him, and then it all fell into place. It was not only His words that unlocked her imprisoned heart. It was the presence of Jesus Himself that finally set her free. He exuded the very presence of God, the real God, not the substitute god she knew about and to whom she possibly even paid lip service.

She did not know then, but she would learn that she was standing in the presence of, and being spoken to by the Son of God, in the presence of pure Love, a love she had never experienced before. It was a love that engulfed her like a warm blanket, making her feel alive, clean and completely accepted in spite of everything she had done. This was the real thing and she knew it!

Nailed!

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NAILED! 

“He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’ ‘I have no husband,’ she replied. Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’

‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.'” John 4:16-20 (NIV).

O-oh! This conversation is getting a bit uncomfortable. How did Jesus know that?

If this woman was to admit her thirst and come clean, she had to open up the cupboard and get all the skeletons out. Jesus didn’t pussyfoot around. He could read her like a book. Why did He expose her, just like that?

First of all, they were alone at the well. There was no-one around to eavesdrop on her private life. Jesus would never have exposed her in front of His disciples. It was not His intention to shame or embarrass her but to open up the lines of communication between them so that He could speak to her heart.

Secondly, as long as she kept secrets, there would be a wall between them. He knew and she knew but, until she knew that He knew, she would not hear Him or receive what He was offering her. He told her that He knew exactly what was going on, not to accuse but to show her that her lifestyle was a symptom of her real thirst. She thought she needed a man to love her but what she really need was to reconnect with the God who loved her unconditionally for who she was.

She did what every person does when faced with having to own up to what they are doing — she became religious. ‘This is scary. You must be a prophet. We Samaritans go to this church, but you Jews insist that your church is the right one. So which one is the right one?’ A convenient “red herring” to take the heat off her!

But, whether she liked it or not, her interest was aroused. This was not just a casual conversation — small talk at the well while she was getting water; this man was getting very personal and she had to change direction before He embarrassed her even more. Let’s talk religion. That’s safe ground, so she thought.

 

But her question got Jesus even more fired up. This exchange was going somewhere and He was nudging it on. “‘Woman,’ Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is of the Jews.”’  John 4: 21, 22 (NIV).

‘It’s not about where you worship, but who you worship. It’s not about this church or that denomination. It’s about worshipping the Father.’ That must have startled her. Her religion was a hotchpotch of religions, man-made and futile because it was not the truth. Her problem began with a false idea about God. She had no foundation upon which to build her life and so she was doing what Adam did — making her own rules which didn’t work and left her heart empty and thirsty.

Jesus gently took her back to basics. ‘Who are you worshipping? There is only one God and He is your Father, the source of your life. All other gods are products of someone’s imagination, and worthless substitutes for the true God.’

She had to learn that God was neither an intrusion nor an add-on to her life but the source and foundation of everything that would provide peace and wholeness. Her life was in tatters because she had no Father to give her identity and stability, no one to worship and honour, to follow and obey and to be the authority in her life. Like a captain-less ship she was trying to navigate life without knowing who she was, where she was going and who was in charge. And it wasn’t working for her.

Only the Creator knows how His creation should function. Without Him, nothing works. You have to get reconnected. Have you?

Listen To Him

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LISTEN TO HIM

“Meanwhile, Peter and those with him were slumped over in sleep. When they came to, rubbing their eyes, they saw Jesus in His glory and the two men standing with Him. When Moses and Elijah had left, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials: one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ He blurted this out without thinking.” Luke 9:32-33 (The Message).

Once again Peter, the blunderer, exposed the natural human reaction to a great moment of revelation in his life.

This experience was for them; it was to be a defining moment, convincing them once and for all that Jesus was the Messiah and binding them to Him in loyal love for the rest of their lives. What did Peter do? He wanted to set up a shrine to Jesus, Moses and Elijah!

He got it wrong on at least two counts. Firstly, Moses and Elijah were not on a par with Jesus. They were mere men; Jesus, the Son of God. Secondly, this was not about another religious experience to set up another memorial stone, as the children of Israel had done throughout their history. They never learned from their experiences but they kept making religious events out of them.

For the three disciples, this was another landmark on their journey towards getting to know Jesus as their rabbi, but much more than their rabbi. He was their Lord, the Son of God and Messiah. How else would they be convinced that He was who He said He was? Jesus was not interested in setting up another religious “festival” to add to the Christian “calendar”. Of what use would that be if this experience did not influence and change their lives?

Of what value is all the carry-on about Christmas, Easter and all the other highlights on the “Christian calendar” if it does not contribute to transformation into true disciples and sons and daughters of God? Over many weeks we have been meditating on who Jesus is and what He expects of us. We have learned that it was never His idea to set up another useless religion.

It grieves me to see what is done in His name when He NEVER told us to do it. Jesus does not want shrines and memorials, and church buildings, and fancy clothes, and chanting and rituals, all done “in His name” which out of character with who He is and what He wants.

He said, “Follow me!” What is He doing and where is He going? He still wants to reach out to the world, to heal the broken hearted and to restore everything that was broken through Adam. His message to the world is still “Follow me,” because He wants to take us to the Father.

“While he was babbling on like this, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them. As they found themselves buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God. Then there was a voice out of the cloud: ‘This is my Son, the Chosen! Listen to Him.’

“When the voice died away, they saw Jesus alone. They were speechless. And they continued speechless, said not one thing to anyone during those days, of what they had seen.”  Luke 9:34-36 (The Message).

It was the Father who put Peter in his place and corrected his cock-eyed thinking. No long explanations — just a terse instruction: “This is my Son; listen to Him.” Forget Moses and Elijah; they have served their purpose. It’s all about Jesus. It was then and still is now.

What if you and I made it our life’s purpose to follow Jesus — in our homes, in our work places, in our communities — being merciful, caring and generous instead of worshipping at our little shrines of experience and carrying on in our old selfish ways as though nothing had happened?

When you have “seen” Jesus, don’t set up a memorial. “Listen to Him.” That’s what it’s about.