Tag Archives: refused

A Unwilling Partner

Bible Study, , , ,

AN UNWILLING PARTNER

A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. They brought Jesus to the placed called Golgotha (which means ‘the place of the skull’). Then they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it. And they crucified Him. Dividing up His clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. It was nine in the morning when they crucified Him. (Mark 15: 21-25)

Mark tells his story in short bursts of information – no embellishments; no details; just the bare facts.

After His sleepless night without food to build His strength, walking long distances and having to stand for hours, then being flogged until He was close to death from severe shock, blood loss and pain, Jesus was exhausted. He could no longer walk, let alone carry the heavy crossbeam of His cross. The soldiers knew that He would never reach Golgotha if they forced Him to go on.

None of them would carry it for Him. Strong as they were, not one of them would shoulder His burden, so they pressed a stranger into service to carry it for Him. Did any words pass between Simon and Jesus? Did Jesus express gratitude to Simon for doing this small deed of kindness for Him although Simon was coerced into it? He did not dare protest lest he get more than carrying Jesus’ cross for a mile or two to the place of execution. How did he feel about this unexpected imposition? Was he angry, resentful, or rebellious against the Romans?

Mark slipped in a comment which fills this little detail with significance. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus. Who were Alexander and Rufus? Why did Mark connect Simon with his sons rather than with his father? Other Bible characters were linked to their fathers by way of identification, for example, Simon son of Jonas (Peter), Bartimeaus (son of Timeaus) etc. Bible scholars generally agree that these two men were known to the Roman readers (and may have been prominent Christians in the local church), while their father was not. Mark’s letter was written for Romans, hence the many explanations of Jewish customs as well.

The mention of the name Golgotha, where crucifixions took place, also needs a comment. The translation of the name, again for the benefit of the readers, implies some sort of natural formation which resembled a skull. Tradition has it that the place where Jesus was executed was on a hill. However, biblical details imply something different. Jesus was crucified next to a thoroughfare outside the city and next to a rock formation that looked like a skull. The Roman authorities chose this spot so that the executions would be spectacles to passers-by to serve as a warning to stay within the boundaries of their authority or face the same fate.

He was offered a cocktail of sour wine and myrrh before they drove in the nails and lifted the cross into the hole into which the upright was dropped but He would not drink it.

“Why did Jesus refuse the wine and myrrh mixture? He did not want to die from poisoning or have his senses numbed while on the cross. He knew that He had to shed his blood in order for Him to become the supreme sacrifice for the sins of all man, and He refused to take the easy way out of it.”

http://www.biblestudy.org/question/why-did-jesus-refuse-to-drink-wine-with-gall-while-on-cross.html 

Many false teachers have rejected the truth that Jesus’ death was real – either that He did not die on the cross or that He was not dead when He was taken down and buried. However, we have the “sure word of prophecy” that Jesus fulfilled what was written about Him centuries before. In Mark’s terse, undetailed account of Jesus’ crucifixion, without making reference to the Old Testament, he confirmed the fulfilment of prophecy.

They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar to drink. (Psa. 69: 21)

They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing (Psa. 22: 18)

But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed. (Is. 53: 5)

This is a factual, eyewitness account of what happened to Jesus, not some fanciful, incomprehensible, philosophical religious waffle. Jesus suffered and died a terrible death so that those who believe in Him might have everlasting life.

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.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Watch this space. My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), companion volume to Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master, will soon be on the bookshelves.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

 

A Better Resurrection

Bible Study, ,

 A BETTER RESURRECTION

There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated – the world is not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground (Heb. 11: 35b-38).

What a register of nameless, courageous people! What faith!

We cannot even begin to guess who these people were. A few names come to mind of those whom we can identify with the things they suffered. Many remain anonymous as far as the world is concerned, but never in God’s eyes. It’s one thing to trust and obey God when He has an assignment in mind. It’s quite another to believe God – with nothing but His promise for a future life to go on, no reward for believing Him in the present, and no hope of a fair deal in this life.

Their faith carried them beyond this life into the life to come. They had no guarantee that the promises they put their confidence in were true. They did not even have a written document to substantiate what they put their faith in. No one had come back from the dead to affirm that there was something better for those who loved and obeyed God. Their hope lay in what they knew of God from their own experience.

The bitter persecution and murderous hatred of God’s people is evidence of Satan’s enmity against God which he channels through ungodly people to those who have allied themselves with the Almighty. We are a world at war. In the beginning, Satan challenged God for His place in the universe. Beaten though he was, he has not given up the challenge and will not until he and all who follow him are forced to bow and to confess that, after all, Jesus is Lord!

We continue to live in the environment of war and the evidence of it is everywhere. From the subtleties of religious prejudice and the outright promotion, even legislation in favour of everything that contradicts God’s holy standards – abortion, prostitution, Satanism, homosexuality and same-sex marriage, etc. – to the murder of Christians, simply because they believe that Jesus is the only Saviour.

Why did believers still cling to God’s truth when they had to pay such a high price for refusing to recant? Some suffered death in unspeakably cruel ways and some still do today, but they refused to give up on God.  What held them to the conviction that there was something better for them up ahead? A better resurrection. Why are people still willing to face cruel torture and death today rather than give up on God?

God has built into the human spirit the conviction that there is an afterlife. Some religions have fabricated fanciful ideas about the idyllic existence that awaits them beyond death. Some go through elaborate burial rituals to send the departed spirit on its way. There are a few who deny that there is anything beyond death – but that does not change the hope that exists in them whatever they choose to believe. These are all efforts to deny the truth that there are only two destinies awaiting the human race, with or without God.

Because He is our Creator, we are all accountable to Him whether we choose to believe it or not. What we believe or do not believe cannot change the truth.

He has also set eternity in the human heart . . . (Eccles. 3: 11b).

God created human beings – people who are both body and spirit. Without our bodies we are disembodied spirits, not human beings. His plan of restoration includes the resurrection of our bodies, not the perishable state we are in now but an eternal and indestructible body like the resurrection body of Jesus. He is the firstfuits of the resurrection and, because He conquered death, we shall live again in our eternal bodies, human and complete as God intended from the beginning.

Our lives on this earth in these mortal bodies is transient.

The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more (Psa 103: 15).

Human imagination cannot venture into the realm of what lies ahead beyond the grave. This is God’s realm and He has not told us in detail what to expect. But He had told us to anticipate something unspeakably wonderful for those who love Him, and that is enough to hold us when everything in this life turns sour. We may not all have to suffer for our reward. It is the gift of faith, not suffering. Some may gain it through suffering, others through persevering faith in everyday circumstances. The question is, “Do we love Him?”

However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” – the things God has prepared for those who love Him – these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit (1 Cor. 2: 9-10a).

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.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

The Pinnacle Of Faith

Bible Study, , , ,

THE PINNACLE OF FAITH

By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead for his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered as seeing Him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel (Heb.11: 23-28).

Moses got the longest slot in this faith hall of fame. He deserved it, of course, because he epitomised the qualities and characteristics of faith in the era of the Old Covenant – and that before the covenant prescriptions were even given. Let’s look at this man’s track record and the reasons for his endurance.

It started with his parents, Amram and Jochebed. Few of the others’ parents were mentioned. Moses had a remarkable mother. She recognised something special in her new-born son, not just because he was an unusually beautiful child but because he had an aura about him that she could not escape. Save him, she must. She obeyed the king’s edict, but not to the letter. “Throw the boy babies into the river,” was his heartless instruction. Instead, she put him in the river – in a little waterproof boat, and sent big sister Miriam to watch.

Sure enough, the Pharaoh’s daughter was captivated by the adorable Hebrew baby. She fell in love with him and claimed him as her son with his own mother as the wet nurse. For Jochebed, everything was going to plan. While she suckled her son, she fed God’s promises into his mind, singing the songs of her homeland and her faith for as long as she could while he was under her care.

Moses absorbed his heritage along with his mother’s milk. When he left home to live in the palace as an Egyptian, he was thoroughly a Hebrew at heart. Perhaps Jochebed even instilled into his mind the seeds of a deliverer which he never forgot. When the time came, he took his opportunity but it was not yet God’s time. Having completed his training as an Egyptian prince for forty years, he had to undergo training in survival in the desert for another forty years. Eighty years under God’s tutorship; his task must have been of utmost significance for such a long apprenticeship.

Jochebed defied the king’s edict because she recognised something others had not seen – a calling on Moses’ life. When Moses was ready for the next phase, he defied the king’s anger because he saw what no one else was able to see – the God who had called him to be a deliverer. Once he had received his call in the desert through an encounter with his unseen God, he kept his eyes steadfastly on Him, and not on the circumstances which were bad enough to put a lesser man off.

Moses not only saw God, he also saw the future and, because of what he saw, he was not tempted to lay hold of the trinkets life in Egypt offered him. Even the richest of treasures were transient – part of this life which would come to an end and all the earthly comforts, riches and pleasure with it. O yes, he would not forfeit his reward by identifying with his own people, a rabble of slaves though they were, but the reward he saw ahead was a lasting one – beyond this life and forever.

Moses realised something else – God had a lamb for their protection. He observed the Passover by faith in the blood of a lamb which would save them from judgment. Did he see by faith another Lamb – slain from the foundation of the world for the sin of the world?

We would do well to embrace what Moses valued more than anything the vast wealth and ease Egypt had to offer:

  1. He embraced his Hebrew heritage because his ancestors had received God’s promise. They would inherit a fruitful land and become a great nation. He chose to be part of them even though getting there would be uncomfortable and costly.
  1. He chose to ignore the king’s anger. He confronted the king under a greater authority than the ruler of the most powerful nation on earth. He was no longer under his jurisdiction but under God Himself. He would crush Egypt’s gods, challenge the king’s power, force the king’s hand and lead his people out with the king’s permission. When the Pharaoh changed his mind and pursued his people, he used his delegated authority to do a mighty miracle and destroy Egypt’s army once and for all.
  1. Moses did all this because he saw and believed in the reality of the unseen realm and the invisible God who reigned over all the kingdoms of the earth. This was the secret of Moses’ faith. He kept his focus on the God with whom he had spoken. He trusted Him; he obeyed His instructions to the letter; he relied on Him for leadership, for wisdom, and for mercy when His people defied him. He clung to God in times of crisis. He pleaded for his people when God’s anger threatened to exterminate them. He was so intimate with God that he became known as a friend of God.

All the way it was just Moses and God. It’s no wonder he had the longest slot in this resume’ of God’s greats. He deserved it, don’t you think?

Where do you and I fit in? Would we even get a mention in a historical record like this? For what would you like to be remembered?

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.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublshing.com.

 

A Glorious Welcome

Christian Life, , ,

A GLORIOUS WELCOME

“‘It will seem like all hell has broken loose — sun, moon, stars, earth, sea in an uproar and everyone all over the world in a panic, the wind knocked out of them by the threat of doom, the powers-that-be quaking.

“And then — then! — they’ll see the Son of Man welcomed in grand style — a glorious welcome. When all this starts to happen, up on your feet. Stand tall with your heads high. Help is on the way!'” Luke 21:25-28 (The Message).

What a glorious, terrifying moment! It will be glorious for those who have taken Jesus’ words seriously and terrifying for cynics, sceptics, agnostics, atheists and everyone who chose to believe and follow the counterfeit rather than the truth. So cataclysmic will Jesus’ return be that even the natural world will reel with the enormity of it.

Earth’s population, past and present, will be split right down the middle; those who love Him will welcome Him with overwhelming joy and relief; those who rejected Him will cringe in horror when they discover to their loss that He was telling the truth all the time.

The Apostle Paul wrote to encourage the Thessalonian believers who were suffering at the hands of the Roman emperor (probably Nero) because they refused to acknowledge that Caesar was Lord.

“God is just. He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled…This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power on the day He comes to be glorified in His holy people and to be marvelled at among all those who have believed.” 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10a (NIV).

Jesus made enormous predictions. How do we know they are true? Many people have prophesied over the centuries. What are the credentials for believing what they say? In order to verify their trustworthiness, we have to examine their authority, their character and their accuracy.

On what authority did Jesus say these things? He claimed that His authority came from the Father. “‘For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to judge because He is the Son of Man.'” John 5:26-27 (NIV).

When we examine the character of Jesus, we must find that He was a liar, a lunatic or flawless. He asked His opponents a question that they could not answer: “‘Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?'” John 8:46 (NIV).

As for the accuracy of His predictions, if He foretold His death and resurrection in uncanny detail and then fulfilled every detail to the letter, is there any reason to doubt any of His other words, prophecies and promises?

In every way Jesus fulfilled the qualifications of an authentic prophet. He foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and it happened. He even told Peter that he would suffer a violent death and Peter died by crucifixion. Accurate fulfilment of His prophetic words gives us reason to take everything else He said seriously, including what He had to say about his return and the consequences of rejecting Him and disregarding His words.

For those who believe in Him, it will be a moment of celebration and vindication, delirious joy for our union with our Master and release from the obstacles and hindrances of our sinful nature, and vindication that our faith in Him and perseverance in spite of opposition was not in vain.