Mother's Day - A Twist for You

Being Mother’s Day upcoming, my advice is love your mother while she is with you. There will come a day when she is not, and her care will have to be entrusted to another.  In remembering my own mother, I put my mind back to Jesus and his mother and the scenes of Jesus’ birth and ultimately His death.  “Mary Did You Know,” a popular song is reflective of these happenings.  It is also an important thing to note, that Jesus left the care of His mother to his disciple John.

John makes a change in his life that is worth noting, in order for this event to happen.  It is significant that John is introduced is a typical fisherman, yet as with his brother prone to anger issues (Mk.3:17; 9:33-40’ Lk.9:51-56).  He also had a degree of covetous pride that would show itself occasionally (Mt.20:20-28; Mk.10:35). So the question is, what changed in John over a period of three years, that would make him at the cross, someone that Jesus would entrust the care of his mother to.

It is a significant thing, that Jesus taught his disciples that He did not “come to destroy, but to save (Lk.9:55,56). This would require John learning restraint of his temper and control of his ego in order for him to learn this.  Significantly, Jesus told his disciples that they would not be like the world and would behave differently (Mk.10:43), because they would march to the beat of a new commandment (Jn.13:34,35). The fact that John internalized this teaching is seen in his own writings and epistles.  1 Jn.2:24-28 is an example, where we see John emphasizing obedience and control, love, humility, and unity. The John of these epistles is not the John of the gospels. He is a changed man. A man that would be one of Jesus’ closest and most endeared disciples, enough that Jesus would entrust his mother to this man.

What does this have to do with Mother’s day? 

1

1.    Love your mother while she is with you and you with her. Jesus did this and the scripture is filled with passages that provide commentary to “honor your father and mother.”
2.      John shows us that you can change and what changing for the good bring about in your life. He teaches us in 1 Jn.3:18 to love with our actions as well as the words of truth.
3.     That we transcend living as in a world of death, to a life of true living when we learn how to love and show that love to others (1 Jn.3:14)
4.      When we learn to help one another (3 Jn.8) then as Jesus said of Himself,  Matt. 12:50  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

So, honor your mother today. Mend fences if they are broken, it will be worth it.  Change your life and you  might just find that the world is a better place and the people around you appreciate that change.

Jim

God's Talking: Are you listening?

Often in the hectic paces of life, it may seem that God isn't talking to us. We read the Bible, but it doesn't have the same effect. We pray and find ourselves wondering if we were heard.  We try to stay faithful, but find doubts creeping in. We know that God speaks through His word and answers prayers. But how do we know God’s will? How do we know if it is not expressed specifically in black and white scripture what God is saying to us?

  "Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God." 

Job 37:14     

We may have our issues, that Job’s friends weren't such good friends to comfort a suffering man. Yet, that doesn't make everything that they say erroneous. The statement above is a good case in point, as it offers some very good advice. When we’ve tried everything else and we still don’t think we can hear God, you often have to be quiet in order to hear God speak. This means sitting down – you and God – and you listening quietly. Turn off the cell phone! Turn off the TV!  

One of the reasons why God may never speak to you could be because you’re never quiet. Cultivating a quiet mind takes practice and has to become a habit. God may actually be revealing His will to you, lighting your path, enlightening your wisdom, you’re not hearing because He’s getting a busy signal from you. You've got to reserve time alone with God. So, here are some things to think about....

• Is getting God’s dream for your life, voice in your life, will in your life worth one day of your life? 
• Have you ever taken an entire day and done nothing but be alone with God? 
• Have you taken advantage of Sunday worship, to get yourself in tune with the Spirit of God? Let God talk to you through the Bible. Relax. Think. 
• Have you tried writing down the thoughts God puts in your mind? 
• Have you determined to set spiritual goals that you know that God wants you to achieve? 
• Look through your schedule for the week – is God there? We work, do things that we consider important – is God there in your priorities?

Recently, someone determined to spend one day saying nothing negative about anyone or anything. They found this to be a great challenge, yet in doing so they heard God’s voice telling them that they had let their lives become controlled by this type of thinking. We go here..go there – have you ever asked God, “God, where do you want me to go? What direction do you want me to go?”

God speaks to people who take the time to listen — not just for a day, but also on a regular

basis. This is called a quiet time. We exercise it best, when The Lord’s Day is the most important day for us and we wouldn't miss it for anything.  You think you don’t have time for this? We’re talking about figuring out why you’re here on Earth, so you've got to make the time.

• Do you want to hear God speak to you? What are you willing to do about it?
• How much time do you actually spend being quiet and waiting on God to speak to you?
• What distractions need to eliminated so that you can spend more time with God?

          "Hear this, O ; stop and consider the wondrous works of God." 

Jim

Experience Can Be A Harsh Teacher

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—just as Abraham "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"? 

Gal 3:3-6  

We learn from many things and may senses. Sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, all of these are given to us that we might sense and learn in life. This is called gaining experience and experience can be both good and bad. To apply experience, you have to go back over it mentally and ask, “Was I successful and where was I not? What got me excited about this?” Is this experience worth in the grand scheme of things, pursuing again or is it something detrimental that I should never do again? Everything that you experience are lessons for your life; you just have to spend time examining them. When you do, you’ll see that in every failure are the seeds of success — if you learn from them.

I do not know why some people have to go through certain experiences to perceive truth, but, we are human and that is what humans do. Either we learn from experiences to make us better people, or we are destined to repeat the experience until we do, or we dive into the lies that come when I refuse to learn from what experience is teaching. This is what Paul is trying to get the Galatians to understand in Galatians 3, that I cannot start walking by the Spirit of God, and then claim to be enhancing that by augmenting it with drugs, ritual or repetition of allowing bad habits back into my life by claiming they remind me of what is good. 

Joseph in the book of Genesis (Gen.30-50) is a good example of this. A man who had one bad experience in life after another, yet strives to serve God through all of them. He always keeps his good character even through his bad experiences.  Yet, it is not until much later in life, that Joseph realizes that everything he experienced was for a particular moment. 

Esther is another, who after seeing he people become captive in a foreign land, being stigmatized because of her nationality is chosen to be queen of Persia, only to have that blessing become the greatest challenge in her life. Est.4:14  For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" These famous words show us that God takes us through things that we don’t understand at the time, but later realize that it shaped you into who you are. Maybe you’re in the middle of something like that right now. Trust that God will use your circumstances to show you what he shaped you to do and how you can use your life to serve him.

Have you learned from the experiences in your life?

Obey God's message! Don't fool yourselves by just listening to it.  If you hear the message and don't obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget.

 Jas 1:22-25

Jim  

Mary Magdalene - A Forgiven Woman

Mary Magdalene is a name that we hear often in the gospels. Among converts, she is one of Jesus’ first and closest, and is one of the few who stand at the foot of the cross. She is also among the first to see Jesus resurrected. Different explanations have been given of her over the years, some even villainous. Recent writings and docu-fiction have heavily suggested and implied that she was even Jesus’ wife. So, what do we know about her?

The most commonly known thing is that she came from the town of Magdala, hence her last

name given as Magdalene. Magdala, means "elegant", "great", or "great place it is the name of at least two places in ancient Israel mentioned in the Jewish Talmud and one place in the Gospels. The New Testament makes one disputable mention of a place called Magdala in the KJV, (Matt.15:39), however the most reliable Greek manuscripts give the name of the place as "Magadan", and more modern scholarly translations follow this.  The parallel passage in Mark's gospel call the place Dalmanutha. The Jewish Talmud distinguishes between two Magdalas, 1.) Magdala Gadar in the east, on the River Yarmouk near Gadara (in the Middle Ages "Jadar", now Umm Qais), thus acquiring the name  and 2.) Magdala Nunayya  near Tiberias, Meaning "Magdala of the fishes," which would locate it on the shore of the Sea of Galilee which is our most likely candidate for Mary’s hometown. . Al-Majdal, a Palestinian Arab village depopulated in the lead up to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war was identified as the site of this Magdala. The modern Israeli municipality of Migdal (Khirbet Medjdel), founded in 1910 and about 6 km NNW of Tiberias, has expanded into the area of the former village.

Mary appears before us for the first time in Lk.8:2, among the women who "ministered unto him of their substance." All of these women, appear to have occupied a position of comparative wealth and supporting His ministry out of gratitude for their deliverance from "evil spirits and infirmities." Of Mary in particular, it is said specially that "seven devils went out of her," in this passage.  This alone indicates a more than ordinary malignity, but does not suggest anything about her character other than Jesus saw her as a person who needed to be healed.  She is present during the agony on the cross. Jn.19:25, and remains until it was over and the body removed. She waited until the body is placed in sepulcher (Mt.27:61; Mk.15:47; Lk.23:55). She is with Salome and Mary, the mother of James when they "bought sweet spices that they might come and anoint" the body. Mk.16:1.  The next morning, accordingly, in the earliest dawn, Mt.28:1; Mk.16:2, they came with Mary, the mother of James, to the sepulcher. Mary Magdalene had been to the tomb and had found it empty, and had seen the "vision of angels." Mt.28:5; Mk16:6. It was to her first, that Jesus appeared after his resurrection. Jn.20:1-15.

From the scripture, this is all we know about Mary Magdalene. While she occupies a position of prominence from the scriptural record, it is interesting that people have sought to make her reputation disreputable. There is no authority for identifying her with the "sinner" who anointed the feet of Jesus in Lk.7:36-50. Neither is there any authority for the supposition that Mary Magdalene is the same as the sister of Lazarus.  It is the Roman Catholic Church that is guilty of fastening this slander upon Mary Magdalene when at Naples, in 1324, it established its first “Magdalen House” for the rescue and maintenance of fallen women or prostitutes, and hence the reputation that she was a prostitute began here. Of late, with the printing of Dan Brown’s fiction “The DaVinci Code” he seized upon another “legend” that she was the wife of Jesus, bearing him a son and continuing the bloodline of Jesus to the present day. While good fiction, there is no biblical evidence to support it, and the so called “evidence” has been found to be a forgery.

If Jesus thought enough of Mary to heal her, accept her company, appreciate her compassion and respect her as a woman, why shouldn't we do the same? If anything her example shows us what forgiveness can accomplish in the life of a person, the strength that it can give us, and the faith that can sustain us. The world can have its fiction, I will take Mary….a woman honored with being the first to see Jesus resurrected in glory. I look forward to that day!

6 Weeks To Resurrection: Resurrection? Is it real?

It is a fact, that Jesus is a point of controversy. It is very interesting that history and archaeology have shown that He existed and that His teaching rocked the world then and now. Even when He walked the earth, His teaching was controversial.  To the point that even people of His day didn’t know how to answer the question of who He was. Mt 16:14  And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." Yet, Peter proclaims in vs.18, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”  Jesus tells Peter that only the Father in heaven can reveal things like this (vs.17; Jn.14:9).  Mt.16:21; Mk.8:31; Lk.9:23 all state that from this particular time forward, Jesus began to teach and show them several things that they would need to know, and that they would have to teach others too.

Many do not know, that there were several that lived in the same time era that claimed to be the Messiah of God.  A man by the name of Simon of Peraea, a former slave of Herod who lived in 4 B.C. lead a revolt and was considered by many to be a Messiah until he was killed by Romans. Another man named Athronges, a simple shepherd lead a rebellion against the

Romans during the time of Herod Archaleus (when Jesus was a small child Mt.2:13-23) and claimed himself a Messiah, whose end came at the hands of the Romans. So, when Jesus came along, the “so what’s new?” attitude was already in place. What made Jesus different?

Jesus taught His disciples that He too was going to die at the hands of the Jewish Authority and the Romans.  Yet, there is one remarkable claim that Jesus made, that not only set a stage of controversy – it also was partly what lead to His death. Jesus claimed, Mk. 9:31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise."  There are many that deny that this ever happened, and therefore never occurred. That it is a fable, myth, lore, and lacks any empirical evidence.  What I find interesting is the following:

• If the resurrection is not real and didn't occur, then why did the people crowd, even the Jewish Authority to see Lazarus when Jesus came riding in on a Donkey’s foal? (Jn.12:9)  Lazarus had died and was in a tomb 3-4 days before Jesus raised him (Jn.11:17).  Now here he is coming into the Temple to observe Passover and the crowd all see him.
• If resurrection is not real, they why did the Jewish Authority petition Pilate to have not only a guard placed at the tomb of Jesus, but have a seal set on the tomb (Mt.27:66) to prevent it from happening?
• If resurrection did not happen, they why did the guards report it to the authorities, and why did the authorities pay them to keep quiet about the matter? (Mt.28:11-13)  If it did not happen, there was nothing to keep quiet.
• If the resurrection did not happen, they why do up to the 100’s see Jesus up to a month after he is reported dead? (Acts 1:3, 15; 1 Cor.15:6)

All of this said, belief in the resurrection is a matter of faith. You either believe it or you don’t – just like air – you either believe it exists or you don’t. Yet, in all of this, I find it very fascinating, that if it did not occur, and if it is not real, then why does it cause so much consternation?  If it is not real, then aren’t we who believe just a bunch of wacky religious people who don’t know better?  Yet – if it is real (which I believe it is) then why has it, did it, and does it cause such nervousness with people? Could it be because if it is real and we don’t believe, that we know what the outcome is going to be?

1 Pet 3:21  Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Jim

6 Weeks To Resurrection - The Annas Meeting

After His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is lead to what will be the first of His trials. John 18:13  First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.  The picture to the right shows a picture from inside the family tomb of Annas where the famously discovered ossuary of Caiaphas was discovered in 1990. This demonstrates to any reader, that the events of the gospels are historical and involved the people that are mentioned in their narratives.   The High Priest's Palace has also been located, and was during its day a palatial multi-story mansion. This is where Jesus was brought, bound for what is his first trial. The Passover ended, Jesus went to the Garden with the disciples on what would have been after 9pm on a Wednesday. It is around midnight when Judas appears in the Garden with the guard to arrest Jesus. For what to us would have been very early Thursday morning (2 am or so), he is escorted from the Garden to the High Priest's Palace. John 18 and the other gospels describe the events, but what is important to understand is that what happened to Jesus was illegal in all sorts of ways.  Both the gospels, the characters mentioned, and historians outside of the scripture all mention that the events were irregular and violations of the rules that the Jews themselves set for things such as this.  Two primary things are 1.)  That he was brought to Annas before he was brought to the Sanhedrin was illegal. Annas had no authority, was not in office, and could not decide anything as far as Jewish law.  2.) The fact that it was still night and that Jesus was beaten were two NO NO's of Jewish law. They would not do this in any other case -- but they did with Jesus. What does this tell you?

Another key event that happens here, is that this is where Peter denies Jesus. To understand this and to see where it occurs really brings home the emotions and fear of the night. In the upper right of the picture is the Reception Hall where Jesus was brought. Just down to the left is the Courtyard where Peter was have stood, "warming himself" Jn.18:18. There was a doorway that is there, and this is where Peter denies Jesus, and it is also where Jesus looks at Peter as the denial occurs. The weight of that moment can be palpably felt, as for Peter - he is crushed. He has not done what he has said he would do. For Jesus - the finality that events are now set in motion and his death is upon Him. 

What can we learn from these events?

1. Prov. 29:25  The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe. Fear causes people to do things that they normally would not do. Many things that we do sometimes that we consider "dumb" are things that we do out of fear. Fear that we cannot do without something. Fear that someone will not like us. Fear that we will be blamed, accused, etc.  But, hear the proverb because Trusting in the Lord casts out fear because with God no matter what comes, my path is set. Jesus trusted God in this time of fear. Peter did not, neither did those who accused Jesus. Do you? Or are you afraid?
2. Mt .6:41  "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  This is so true.This was also Peter's dilemma. His spirit was indeed willing to die with the Lord, but when it came time to face the pain - he became weak. This is true with us too. We all go to church, talk bible, and many things that outwardly are spiritual good things. Yet, when the time comes to face the pain, guilt, truth or whatever, our flesh becomes weak and we give in. 1 Jn.1:9 if we confess our sins, God forgives.
3. Jer.10:23  I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. Learn that you cannot captain your own ship as many have been taught that they can. We master little in life, and our life is not one of them. Without God in our lives, we are a shipwreck waiting to happen.

Many things happened in this trial that Jesus went through and there were yet more to come. We see humanity at its worst, and God at His best. Ever wonder what would have happened if God had reacted to the world as we would if it were our child -- "What do you think you are doing to my boy?" Me thinks the world would be a crispy critter!  Aren't you thankful for grace?

Jim

6 Weeks to Resurrection: The Night of Gethsemane

There are three actions emphasized in Mark’s narrative regarding the Gethsemane event that lead into the crucifixion, that warrant further investigation. 

1. The kiss of Judas. Mark uses the normal word for kiss, which means "to love," in telling of the arrangement Judas had made with the chief priests. They were to seize the one whom he (Judas) kissed. In the actual moment, when Judas carries this deed out, Mark uses an different form of that word, that means a prolonged kiss, a lover's kiss -- a deliberate, prolonged, apparent-ly loving act, yet done with cold determination to accomplish his own purpose. We shudder at the thought and speak with disgust at those who would do such a thing. Yet, this same heart can exist within us, and at times we do the same type of thing – especially in mob mentalities. We “sacrifice” someone with “a word of kindness,” then leave them to vultures who do nothing but tear and rend.  Judas “thought” he was doing right. I wonder what he was thinking when he hung himself over what he had done after the fact.
2. Second is Peter's “defense.”  Peter is in this passage, trying to make a show of carrying out what he believed. He grabs the sword and, as the priests and soldiers move in on Jesus, he slashes away. But so poor is his aim that all he does is lop off the ear of the high priest's servant. This is such a beautiful example of the flesh at work! We may strike out in our attempts to carry out our purposes, but all we accomplish is the lopping-off of somebody's ear. Attempts to do what we think is right -- but it is not of the Lord. We have all done this. The glorious thing, Luke tells us, is that Jesus reached out and touched that servant and healed his ear. How many lopped-off ears have we been responsible for during our lifetime that Jesus has to come behind us and heal because we thought we were doing what is right.
3. Third is the sudden flight of the disciples. They all forsook him. I am sure this means that, at that moment, after three-and-a-half years, all their confidence that Jesus was indeed the Messiah suddenly forsook them. His willingness to give himself over without any resistance into the hands of his enemies and his refusal to defend himself in any way becomes, in their eyes, his renunciation of being the Messiah. Now it is every man for himself, and so they flee. In Luke's account of the resurrection - remember that as two disciples walked along the road to Emmaus, a stranger appeared, a man whom they did not recognize, and they discussed with him the events that had taken place in Jerusalem. They said to him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, "We had hoped (notice the past tense) that he was the one who would redeem Israel," (Luke 24:21). Their hope was gone, so they forsook him and fled.  And thus the smiting of the shepherd resulted in the scattering of the sheep.

Mark adds what is almost a postscript in Verse 51 “And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body; and they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.” (Mk 14:51-52)  Whoever this young man is, it is explaining to us how we get the account of Gethsemane. None of the disciples could have given it. One was with those who were arresting Jesus, one who betrayed him and killed himself before he could have written anything (Mt.27:5; Acts 1:17,18). Seven of them were in a part of the garden some distance from Jesus. Three of them were close to him, but they were sound asleep and could not have heard the crying and the prayers; they did not see the angel come and minister to him. But somebody was watching. A certain young man (perhaps Mark himself), was there watching the whole thing. He is the one giving us the story, that we might have hope in the hour of our Gethsemane. This account can help us, when we either feel that we do not want to do what God tells us to do, or feel confident that somehow we can work it out in our own strength. In that hour, this account to reminds us that we can “come to the throne of grace and find mercy and grace to help in time of need."

Someone may be in Gethsemane's Garden right now. So, who are we? Judas? Peter lopping off ears? The running disciples? – or maybe even the young man? There may be some who have just come through it. Will we open our eyes and hearts to understand this passage? We have Jesus, risen from the dead, who goes before us to meet us. The shepherd upon whom we can rely, to whom we can go in the hour of anguish and find the strength -  to do what we do not want to do to obey when we would rather do something else. Are you in Gethsemane?

Jim