Tag Archives: messiah

LUKE’S GOSPEL…I’VE GOT YOUR BACK – 16a

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“John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’ ” At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭7‬:‭18‬-‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John was having a faith wobble in prison. He was stuck in jail for calling Herod to account for adultery. Jesus was around and about, conducting healing campaigns and doing all kinds of miracles. Was John thinking that Jesus could come by and do a little miracle for him…intervene to get him out of a sticky situation? Of course, such an action would  defy legal authority!

Jesus never came! John panicked. Perhaps all his preaching in the wilderness, his popularity, his attack on unrighteousness, and his most significant mission…to reveal Jesus as Israel’s Messiah…was a mistake. After all, could not Jesus affirm his confidence in Him by doing this miracle for him?

So, he sent two of his followers, since he couldn’t go himself, to question Jesus. “Are you really the Messiah, or have I made a big mistake?”

Jesus didn’t answer John’s question. He simply carried on doing what He was doing…preaching and healing. He left it to John’s disciples to decide for themselves whether He was the real Messiah or a fake. 

How true to His own “modus operandi!” Jesus didn’t tell these men who He was. He gave them opportunity to weigh up the evidence and decide for themselves. They didn’t return to John with the answer, ”Jesus said, ‘Yes, I am the Messiah ‘“ They went back with the story, “We heard what He said and saw what He did. He must be the Messiah!”

For every true believer, faith is built on who Jesus is because of what He said and did. Without this conviction and certainty, faith will never have the solid foundation of truth. 

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Faith that stands firm under all tests must be built on the solid conviction that Jesus is the Son  of God…His legitimate authority…and that He rose from the dead…confirmation that He was an acceptable sacrifice for sin. 

Faith as solid as this will not wobble under adverse circumstances even if Jesus doesn’t show up and do what we expect Him to do when we call on Him. Faith trusts Him always to do what glorifies Him and is best for us. 

To be continued…

ARGUE OR ACKNOWLEDGE

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ARGUE OR ACKNOWLEDGE

“The crowd spoke up, ‘We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, “The Son of Man must be lifted up”?  Who is this “Son of Man”?’ Then Jesus told them, ‘You are going to have the light a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where he is going.

“Believe in the light while you have the light, that you may become children of light.’ When He had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid Himself from them.” John 12:34-36 NIV.

As the time drew nearer for Jesus to be crucified, His pleas to His people became more urgent. To His disciples He would give the assurance that the Holy Spirit would replace Him when He left. They would still have someone exactly like Him who would continue to instruct and lead them from within. However, for those who were on the periphery, watching from afar and questioning everything He told them, there would no longer be His physical presence to show them the true nature of the Father.

Jesus did not answer their question. They had had more than enough evidence from His words and works to convince them that He was the Son of Man of whom He had spoken. Like their spiritual leaders, their sceptical attitude kept them from acknowledging Him as their Messiah.

However, it was much more than giving intellectual assent to the evidence. To believe meant to commit to Him and to reproduce in their own lives what He was teaching and modelling.

John had begun his gospel with a commentary on Genesis 1. When God introduced light to a dark and formless world, it was first the light of truth embodied in Jesus, the second person of the Trinity that entered the world before He created the heavenly lights. The Father assigned the earth to Jesus to provide enlightenment to the human beings He was about to create in His image to know and have fellowship with Him.

Satan had already been abolished to the earth along with his fallen angel companions because of his bid to take over the throne of God. To create and place humans in an environment where Satan had influence was to throw them to the wolves unless they had the presence of God with them in the person of Jesus to counter the devil’s work.

“God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5b. There is nothing selfish, devious or shady about Him. He is everything that is kind, merciful, loving and generous. He is holy, utterly separate from anything wicked or imperfect. His plans and intentions for all mankind are only for good. Everything He does is intended to draw us towards Him and the transform us to be like Him.

Satan is everything that is opposite to God. Like darkness which is the absence of light, he is empty of everything that God is. His attitude and actions are all wicked and selfish. He is heading towards destruction and everything he does is designed to draw us towards him so that we can share in his eternal judgment and doom.

Jesus’ heart cry was always, ‘Believe in me,’ because faith in Him would effect a transfer from the power and influence of the selfishness and greed with which the human race was born to the realm of God’s rule where life would be lived in the light of His presence and in the supernatural power of His Spirit.

There was little time left to hear from the lips of Jesus the words that would bring them the hope of eternal life. Instead of arguing and contradicting Him, He urged them to heed and believe Him so that they could escape from the treadmill of self-centred living which was eroding away their opportunity to enter into the real life He was offering them — life that was enriched and fulfilled by loving God and caring for those who could not care for themselves.

The clock was ticking; the countdown had begun. In a few days, death would remove Him from them. They would no longer see Him. Now was the time to respond or they might never have the opportunity again.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ASSUMING IS DANGEROUS

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ASSUMING IS DANGEROUS

“On hearing His words, some of the people said, ‘Surely this man is the Prophet.’ Others said, ‘He is the Messiah.’ Still others asked, ‘How can the Messiah come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?’ Thus, the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him.” John 7:40-45 (NIV).

Just as Jesus said it would be!

He once asked His disciples what people were saying about Him. It was the same there as here – divided opinions. Some said this, some said that and others said something else. There were those who recognized that there was something different about Him and were willing to go as far as to acknowledge that He could be the Prophet Moses spoke about in Deuteronomy 18:15, “The Lord will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to Him.”

Others saw someone greater than just a prophet. They were prepared to go as far as to say that He was the Messiah. Did that mean that they understood the nature of the Messiah? I don’t think so. Like the disciples, they had their hopes pinned on someone who would rid them of the Romans and ease their load of everyday struggles just to make a living and survive.

The majority dismissed Him as a fake and a deceiver and would have grabbed Him and handed Him over to the authorities if they could. Their argument was that He did not measure up to Old Testament prophecy, or so they thought. Had they only dug a little deeper, they would have been shocked to learn that He was the perfect fit to the prophetic blueprint which they thought they knew so well.

Their reason for dismissing Him was that He came from Galilee. Wrong! That may have been where He grew up, but it was not His birthplace as we all know so well. And, unknown to them, He was of the royal line of David. Galilee also featured in the prophetic blueprint. “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphthali, but in the future He will honour Galilee of the nations, by Way of the sea, beyond the Jordan.” Isaiah 9:1 (NIV).

In Isaiah’s magnificent prophetic vision ,he saw the coming of a child (Isaiah 9:6) who would bring light to His people as far afield as Galilee, the northern province that bordered on Gentile territory and was constantly subject to invasion from the north. He would bring in the righteous rule of God, carrying the government on His shoulders and bringing light and peace where there had been darkness and war.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.” Isaiah 9:6, 7 (NIV).

O yes, they knew the Scriptures. They knew what the Messiah would do, but they just could not connect Jesus to that glorious expectation and make a match! How tragic that they set their sights on a political deliverer and failed to see in Jesus someone much greater than that.

It is unfortunate that many believers have the same tendency to see Jesus as the panacea for all their ills. Instead of going to the Bible for an accurate picture of who He is, they make assumptions and place expectations on Him that He will not fulfil. This perspective is dangerous because it leads to disappointment and disillusionment which hurts them and reflects back on Him.

Jesus did not come to give us cushy lives. He came to reveal the nature of the Father and to reconcile us to the Father through His shed blood so that we can get back on track with the Father’s cosmic plan. The ultimate end is that the whole universe will, in union with Him, reflect the Father’s glory.

It’s all about Him, not about us.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THEY SHUT THE DOOR!

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THEY SHUT THE DOOR!

“At this point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, ‘Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? Here He is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to Him. Have the authorities really concluded that He is the Messiah?'” John 7:25, 26 (NIV).

No, they have not! They still intended to kill Him but when He appeared in public, teaching in the temple; they had no excuse and no way to arrest Him without discrediting themselves. It appears that the people feared the Jews (John’s name for the Jewish religious authorities), and the Jews feared the people!

“‘But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where He is from.'” John 7:27 (NIV).

These people thought they knew the origin of Jesus, but did they? He may have been born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth but that was not His origin. John has already informed his readers that the Word was from God, but these people refused to believe Jesus’ testimony about Himself. All the evidence points towards an origin beyond His human birth but they were left with questions that they could not answer.

“Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, ‘Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but He who sent me is true. You do not know Him, but I know Him because I am from Him and He sent me.'” John 7:28, 29 (NIV).

Such is the power of self-deception that, although His hearers knew deep in their hearts that He was speaking the truth, they refused to acknowledge it.Since they refused to acknowledge Him, their spirits were unable to connect with the Father and to receive the confirmation that Jesus was telling the truth. All their accusations only served to harden their hearts even more and shut them out from “knowing” the Father.

“At this they tried to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him because His hour had not yet come.” John 7:30 (NIV).

“His hour had not yet come” is a recurring phrase in John’s Gospel. John was acutely aware that Jesus’ times were in the Father’s hands. He came close to being killed on many occasions during His public ministry, but each time He simply walked away unscathed because there was an appointed time for Him to die, and that time was not yet.

How comforting to know that our times, too, are in His hands! Our destiny may not be the same as Jesus’ destiny but each of us has our allotted time, already written in God’s book (Psalm 139:16), and it is up to us, in obedience to God’s ways, to live out our time in order to fulfil our destiny.

Of course, we can cut our time short through foolish choices and destructive behaviour, but that is not God’s fault. Submission to Him and obedience to His instructions will qualify us to have the physical stamina to complete His plan for our lives.

“Still, many in the crowd believed in Him. They said, ‘When the Messiah comes, will He perform more signs than this man?'” John 7: 31 (NIV).

At least there were a few sensible people in the crowd! Their faith may have been superficial at this stage but they were on the right track. Before the end of His life, many more would fall by the wayside, offended because they too, like His disciples, refused to pay attention to what He was telling them.

People walked away because He did not live up to their expectations. How unfair is that! But it happens all the time. We put expectations on other people of which they are unaware and which are often beyond their capabilities to fulfil, and then we are disappointed and we judge them because they were not or did not do what we expected of them. How much better to give people the benefit of the doubt! This is part of the generous spirit which Jesus calls us to show towards people because we are to be mirrors of Him.

One of the reasons for being comfortable and safe with the Father is because of His generosity towards us. We can never disappoint Him because He knows us completely. It’s up to us to treat others like He treats us.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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 was drinking at the wrong fountain. 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!

She had finally experienced the wonder of drinking at the fountain of living water. She would never thirst again.

Have you dome to the well to drink of the love of Jesus that is a fountain that will never run dry?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.