Hard Hearts and Blind Eyes

Posted on by korgrocker

“But the people couldn’t believe, for as Isaiah also said, “The Lord has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts— so that their eyes cannot see, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and have me heal them.” Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he said this, because he saw the future and spoke of the Messiah’s glory.”
John 12:39-41 NLT

‭‭John, in these verses from chapter 12 of his Gospel, quoted a verse from Isaiah 6. Isaiah was a prophet in the time of King Uzziah, a good leader who died in 740 BC. He was one of the few Godly kings in those days and he brought stability in a politically unstable period of history. So when he died, Isaiah was concerned about what might happen next and he did something we all do, or should do, in times of worry and stress – he sought God’s counsel. And what better place to seek God than the temple. While there, he had an amazing vision of God – the detail is in Isaiah 6:1-4. 

As well as a vision of God, though, Isaiah became aware of his sins, and the sins of the people. Isaiah 6:5, “Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies”“. But equally, Isaiah realised that sinful though he was, it was only an act of God, through His servant the seraphim, that could forgive his sin. Isaiah was about to become a minister of God’s Word to his people and it was only with cleansed lips that this would be possible. 

Then God ordained Isaiah as His messenger to the people – Isaiah 6:8, “Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me”“. So he went out proclaiming God’s message of salvation to a people reluctant or unable to hear and understand the implications of what they were being told. In a way, Isaiah was a “type” of the coming Messiah, who was also proclaiming the message to a people seemingly deaf to the message of grace and truth, of eternal life to anyone who believed in the Son of God. Jesus taught the people by using a literary style we call parables and as we can see from Matthew 13, Jesus explained why He used such a medium to speak to the people. In response to a question from His disciples, Jesus said, “ … You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That is why I use these parables, For they look, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand” (Matthew 13:11-13). Jesus went on to quote Isaiah’s prophecy, in Matthew 13:14-15.

Is there a reason why the Jewish people were afflicted with hard hearts and blind eyes? Of course, this condition is not unique amongst Jews by any means – any human being is sinful, and that in itself will harden hearts and make them resistant to God’s message. Heart, ear, and eye diseases are endemic, and always have been since the days of Adam. Jesus told a parable about seeds and soils, and He likened the state of the soil to the different conditions that can be found in the human heart. Those people with receptive hearts will have eyes and ears opened ready to hear and receive the seed of God. But most have stony soil on which seeds will wither and die. But even the disciples were accused by Jesus of having hard hearts following the feeding of the four thousand, as we read in Mark 8:17-18, “Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all?” No-one is exempt from having hard heart disease.

So how do we deal with the condition of having a hardened heart. There is only one remedy, and that is true repentance for our sins. We have to do this, because the effect of sin on our hearts is disastrous and leads to a hardening that will eventually shut God out of our lives. The Holy Spirit will call but we will be unable to hear Him. One of my favourite Psalms is 139, and we read the closing verses, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” A dangerous prayer to pray but one that will lead to a softening of our hearts. And a soft heart allows God once again to bring His Word of truth into our spirits, leading us and guiding us in His ways.

Dear God. We pray today for Your Word to dwell deep within our hearts, keeping us soft and leant in Your hands. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.


Believing The Message

Posted on by korgrocker

“Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.” After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them. But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him. This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted: “Lord, who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?””
John 12:36-38 NLT

These verses today portray a damning indictment of the people in Jerusalem, gathered together for the Passover Festival that year. Jesus worked hard and selflessly amongst all His people during His ministry but John recorded that “most of the people still did not believe in him”. Jesus correctly declared who He was, the Son of God. He backed up His claim by doing amazing miraculous signs, even raising one man from the dead. And then there was the public conversation between Him and His Father in Heaven. What more did He have to do to convince this people that if they believed in Him and followed Him, then they would receive eternal life? 

But human beings have a tendency to only believe what they want to believe. There is an organisation today called the Flat Earth Society. In spite of all the physical evidence to the contrary, the people who are members of this society are convinced that the planet on which we live is flat and not a sphere. Their web site sets out their aim – “Standing with reason we offer a home to those wayward thinkers that march bravely on with REASON and TRUTH in recognizing the TRUE shape of the Earth – Flat”. Really? And then there is all the confusion around gender ideology, with organisations promoting the belief that people can be born in the wrong body. Really? One web site says, “Trans young people and their families are at breaking point“. Of course they are at breaking point because they are going against what God created – Gen 1:27, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them”. There are many other examples of people with other strange and unsupportable beliefs, so we shouldn’t be surprised if people, including us pilgrims, refuse to believe them. People are of course entitled to their views and beliefs, but there is a problem when they try and impose their ideologies on others, calling them all sorts of names if affirmation is declined. We pilgrims are used to all sorts of ridicule and abuse, as we try and speak out God’s message of love and hope to a resistant and unwelcoming society.

All of which perhaps brings us back to how Jesus was perceived by the people in His day. Throughout their lives, the Jews were steeped in the Law of Moses, with no unconventional interpretations being allowed. Only the Rabbis were allowed to interpret the Law, and the people had to follow what they said. So Jesus burst into the Jewish religious scene with an explosive mix of teaching and miracles, apparently cutting across what the people had come to understand about the Law. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-18, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved”. Matthew 5 – 7 make sobering reading. But in spite of all His teaching and miracles, “most of the people still did not believe in Him”. To a people stuck in a fixed religious mindset, Jesus’ presentation of a radical counter-cultural invitation to believe in Him was something that they couldn’t, or wouldn’t, accept. But, praise God, we can thank Him that some people did believe in Jesus, and they formed the early church that blossomed and reached the world of their day.

If we fast forward to today, the same problem still exists. Jesus’ message of forgiveness to all those who repent and believe in Him still stands. The signs of religious inflexibility however, still mark the landscape with empty church buildings standing as monuments to a past move of God. The Holy Spirit is always at work, gently preparing the ground in people’s hearts for a seed of hope to be planted in our hopeless world. We pilgrims are seed planters and we pray for the opportunity to present Jesus’ invitation to believe in Him to all who will listen. Isaiah cried out, “Lord, who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?” A despairing cry but not a hopeless one, because the answer came on a Cross at Calvary. We pilgrims proclaim the message and the Holy Spirit brings about the solution.

Dear God. Thank You for Your message of hope, that cuts across and trumps all man made ideologies. We praise You today. Amen.

Children of the Light

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus replied, “My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going. Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.” After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them.”
John 12:35-36 NLT

Light and darkness, good and evil, blessings and curses. A black and white world in which no grey middle ground exists. People think that if they live a “good” life then all will be well. Those who acknowledge that they are living a “bad” life accept their ultimate fate. But then there are those who reject such semantics about life and live in what they think is a grey world driven by secular beliefs and attitudes, bolstered by politicians who have no moral compass, all drifters in a sea that, because it is not illuminated by the Light, is effectively in darkness. They just don’t realise that if they are not light inhabitants, then they, by default, live in the dark. 

But whether or not people live in darkness or light, they are all made in God’s image. Genesis 1:26a, “Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. …” So every human being is wired with light already built in, just waiting to connect with the Source of light, their Creator. A light bulb is ready to illuminate its surroundings, but until it is connected to a source of power, it remains dark and useless. God graciously allows people to make choices about the world in which they live but there will come the day when they find out that they are in a place of darkness. Those that choose the light end up in God’s presence.

There are those who do some amazing good works during their lives, works obviously illuminated by the light within them, but they are still heading for a dark eternity. Surely God will have mercy on such people when they stand before Him to account for their lives, is a common thought propagated by people of the dark. But as Paul wrote in Romans 3:23, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard“. Even the most amazing good deed will still fall short of the righteousness that God requires. It is not deeds that God requires, but a repentant heart that believes in Him. But I have a suspicion that God, as He did with the penitent thief, will still draw to Him those breathing their last, allowing a choice to be made when those around them think that it is too late.

Jesus said to the people in the crowd around Him in those Passover days that they were in a privileged position, with the Light of the world living with them. He would soon be executed following trumped up and baseless charges administered by an illegal court, but for all those in His company, time stood still while His words hung in the air. “Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light”. And even today those words, through God’s grace, are still with us, words of life and hope in a dark, sad and hopeless world. 

The amazing thing about God’s grace is that it never changes or is diminished as long as a human being is breathing. A hardened criminal, being executed following a life of crime, hung on a cross next to Jesus, and received forgiveness as he put his trust in the light. The other criminal chose darkness in a whirl of curses and anger. One found himself in Heaven, the other in hell. Light and darkness, good and bad, blessings and curses, Heaven and hell. Choices that can be made in this life for eternity in the life thereafter. 

Dear Father God. We are so grateful for Your grace and mercy. Without it we would be heading for the punishment we deserve, the punishment that Jesus took on Himself in our place. Thank You. Amen.

Who Is The Son of Man?

Posted on by korgrocker

“He said this to indicate how he was going to die. The crowd responded, “We understood from Scripture that the Messiah would live forever. How can you say the Son of Man will die? Just who is this Son of Man, anyway?””
John 12:33-34 NLT

The people in the crowd were just not getting it. Just a few minutes before, Jesus had referred to Himself as the Son of Man – John 12:23, “Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory”. And the same people were there when He spoke about the kernel of wheat, and then when He had a conversation with His Father in Heaven. Of course, we also mustn’t forget that the miraculous raising of Lazarus from the dead was still foremost in their minds. What else did Jesus have to do to get across to them that He was the Son of God, the Messiah, and the Saviour of the Jews? 

But Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man. In effect, all us males are sons of man. Not to offend anyone, we are all sons and daughters of men and women. In other words, we are all human. So when Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man, He was emphasising His humanity. He was the Son of God and the Son of Man, divine and human. In the New Testament, Jesus referred to Himself eighty one times as the Son of Man, and then there was an eighty second mention from the lips of Stephen, as he was martyred – “And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honour at God’s right hand!”” (Acts 7:56). 

Jesus also used the descriptive “Son of Man” as a statement of His humility. A humility that was exposed in a definite way when He washed the disciple’s feet. A humility that fulfilled the suffering servant prophecy we see in Isaiah 53. Jesus said, as recorded in Matthew 20:28, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus never went around lording it over people and using an elevated title to explain His true status. In all humility He rode a donkey into Jerusalem, hardly a mode of transport fit for the King that he was. He came to serve.

Jesus was God’s Son, part of the trinitarian Godhead, but also He was one of us as well. And, somehow, that humanity forms a link between God and His creation, mankind. In Colossians 2:9-10, we read, “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority”. There is also that tremendous verse – Romans 8:29 – where Paul wrote about Christ having many siblings – “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters“. We pilgrims are part of God’s family, and all because we believed in Jesus and His offer of salvation and eternal life. The Son of Man and the sons and daughters of men and women all combine into a glorious and united family, a family that one day will be all together in the presence of our Father God. 

Father God. Through Your grace, love and mercy, You have accepted us as Your children. We are so grateful. Amen.

The Time Has Come

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then Jesus told them, “The voice was for your benefit, not mine. The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this to indicate how he was going to die.“
John 12:30-33 NLT

‭‭The coming of the Greeks seemed to be a trigger starting the sequence of events that culminated in Jesus’ death and resurrection and finally, the return to His Heavenly home. In John 12:23 we read, “Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory.” It was almost as though His ministry to His people, the Jews, had gone as far as it needed, and the demands from the Gentiles, the “Greeks”, exposed the ultimate reason as to why Jesus came, which was the salvation of the world. Jesus was clear about the limits of His mission, as we read in the account of the Syro-Phoenician Gentile woman in Matthew 15:24, “Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”” The mission of salvation for the Gentiles happened through the Apostles later, as we read in Acts 13:46-47, “Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, “It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles. For the Lord gave us this command when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’””

In our verses from John 12 today, Jesus said, “The time for judging this world has come”. We know, with the benefit of hindsight, that the final judgement won’t happen until after the End Times events described in John’s Revelation (see Revelation 20:11-15). And Jesus said in John 3:17, “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” But Jesus was speaking about His upcoming death on the cross at Calvary, at which point there will be judgement of sin, and evil will forever be defeated. ‭‭From this point, the devil’s hold over mankind was to be forever broken, and no longer would he have a hold over God’s children.

Before Calvary, the remedy for sin was the shedding of the blood of animals. Hebrews 9:12-14, “With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.” Praise God! We are now set free of evil and sin, and are in bondage to the devil no more.

So, two thousand years ago, the time had come for the judgement of sin and evil, and that time is still with us today. We pilgrims have the opportunity to set free all those around us as we declare the Good News to those in bondage to sin. The blood of Christ has set us free forever.

Dear Father God. Your master plan for the salvation of all on this planet has opened the door for everyone to respond to Your invitation. We pray for opportunities to reach those who are ready and waiting to hear about You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Voice From Heaven

Posted on by korgrocker

“Father, bring glory to your name.” Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.” When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him. Then Jesus told them, “The voice was for your benefit, not mine.”
John 12:28-30 NLT

‭‭If we hear a sound that seems a bit strange or one that we don’t recognise, we try to find its source, don’t we? For example, I remember many years ago of an unexpected loud crashing noise that occurred one evening, from the direction of the shed in our back garden. Several of the neighbours heard it as well and some ran to the adjacent main road, expecting to see the remains of a car crash. But there was a nagging thought in my mind – in my shed were a number of jars located on a shelf I had erected the previous day. And my fears were realised when I later took a look – the shelf had collapsed. I was too embarrassed to tell the neighbours of my shoddy craftsmanship. But there is always an explanation for a sound – well, that is, until God is involved.

But here we are imagining ourselves in a crowd listening to a Man speaking about some religious matters, joining other people who were in Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. There was a crowd standing around a Man called Jesus, who had performed an amazing miracle raising a man from the dead. As we watched, this Man lifted His face to Heaven and we heard Him cry out “Father, bring glory to Your name”. And then we clearly heard what seemed to be a voice from the sky above us. The voice said, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.” We looked up but could see nothing, but there were a few clouds there. Some around us were saying that it was a clap of thunder. Others who obviously heard some words thought an angel had spoken. But the Man called Jesus then spoke to the crowd again. He said, “The voice was for your benefit, not mine.” Thunder, an angel, or God Himself? What if it was the voice of God, responding to this Man who claimed to be His Son?

How would we feel if we suddenly heard a voice from Heaven? I think we can agree that this is not a common occurrence, and we would be more likely to look for a source more mundane or logically viable. But in the crowd, the voice from Heaven was loud enough to be confused with thunder, so to hear something of equal loudness today would be perplexing. That is, unless we were open to such an event as the voice of God speaking loudly to us. Have we pilgrims ever heard God speak to us? There was an occasion during my daughter’s illness when I was crying out to God in prayer. I was at the time rushing to her hospital bed, summoned by the medics who were fearful that she was in her last moments. But in the middle of my prayerful anguish, I head a voice clearly coming from the back seat of the car, saying “Trust Me”. It was so clear that I turned around to see who was there. God was with me that day, and through His loving kindness and compassion, I received strength and the assurance for the difficult days ahead. I will never forget His voice.

The people in the crowd were faced with a choice. If someone before them was having a conversation with someone else in Heaven, surely they would, or should, have taken notice and attributed some divine meaning to what was happening. But many in the crowd chose not to, rather trying to rationalise the situation with a natural conclusion, and in the process they missed a golden opportunity to connect with God Himself. Jesus said that all those who believed in Him would inherit eternal life, and God is still in the process of speaking to people today. The offer still stands in this season of grace.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your patience with us humans. We love You and thank You that we can hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us. Amen.

The Reason

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. … Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came! Father, bring glory to your name.” Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.” When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him.”
John 12:23, 27-29 NLT

‭Why did Jesus come to this earth? Why did God’s Son, who had been present in Heaven since the creation of the world, put on human flesh and become a human being? To fully answer that question would require many words, enough to fill a book. And even then the question would not be completely answered. But in the context of our verses from John today, Jesus came to complete God’s plan for the salvation of the human race. 

God created human beings in His image so that they would be with Him forever. In the Garden, God used to spend time with Adam – Genesis 3:8-9, “When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”” And ever since, God has poignantly been calling out to His creation “Where are you?” Jesus came to bring an answer to that question, so that once again human beings can respond by saying “Here I am” and not by hiding away from His call.

Because God is eternal He could see world events pan out before Him, and He chose the most effective time for His plan for restoring mankind back to relationship with Him. Romans 5:6, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” God’s plan involved His Son Jesus and was to be the final solution to the devil’s hold over human beings. After the plan had been executed, humans were no longer obliged to be in servitude and enslaved to the devil and his minions. Ever since, mankind has had a get out clause where they can say to the devil that because of Jesus they are now free from his clutches.

Jesus was clear about His rescue mission to Planet Earth. We have Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost“. ‭‭And of course we have John 3:16-17, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” But in our verses today from John 12, Jesus declared that His time had come. Of course He was “deeply troubled“. He was about to face into a painful death, but more than that, He knew that he would be taking upon Himself the sins of the world, past, present and future. A heavy, almost impossible load, even for God’s Son. No wonder that he asked that He be spared such a load. But such a thought was quickly replaced by His ultimate desire to please His Father in Heaven and bring glory to His name. From John’s account, we read that a voice was heard from Heaven, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.” 

This was a point when Heaven touched earth, and the people there at the time heard the voice of God Himself. Jesus did indeed bring glory to His Father, and aren’t we glad that he did!

Dear Father God. We give You all the praise, all the worship and all the glory today and every day. Amen.

The Kernel of Wheat

Posted on by korgrocker

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honour anyone who serves me.”
John 12:24-26 NLT

‭John recorded a pivotal moment in Jesus’ ministry, where He publicly declared the true purpose of His mission, though in terms that would have puzzled the disciples. They knew, of course, of the principles of arable farming where a farmer would sow seeds to produce a crop. But what was that to do with Jesus? And how would that enable Him to enter into His glory? 

Jesus said that His life would have to be sacrificed so that there would be “a plentiful harvest of new lives”. He knew that there was coming a time quite soon when He would be executed on a Roman cross, but, equally, He knew that unless He made the ultimate human sacrifice, there would be no fruit, no church, no remedy to mitigate man’s sin. With the benefit on hindsight through the Biblical accounts, we knew what happened, and the fruit in terms of souls saved has been enormous. Numbers impossible to count. But through His sacrifice at Calvary, Jesus fulfilled God’s will. Hebrews 10:10, “For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time”. Romans 3:23-25a, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. …”

But Jesus went on to say something that cuts across the sin-filled culture in which we live. He said that by if we love our lives in our natural lifetimes we will find that we will lose our lives for eternity. Conversely those who care nothing for their natural lives, who instead devote their time to others and their good, will enjoy eternal life with God. Jesus emphasised this principle by saying that His followers must honour God by serving Him. A counter-cultural way of life that does not sit easily in our grasping and selfish society. A society that asks “what’s in it for me”. A society that pursues personal gain to the detriment of others. A society that honours those who have fought their way to the top of their businesses by trampling and abusing those around them in the process. There is surely nothing new under the sun – Solomon penned this verse many years ago, “But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere” (Ecclesiastes 2:11). 

We pilgrims are followers of Christ and on another occasion He clearly spelled out what this means. Matthew 16:24-26, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” So everything we do in our pilgrimage must be in accordance with the long view of the destination of our souls. 

We pilgrims have the opportunity to lay down our lives for others, and by doing so, the process will follow closely the arable process of seed planting. Everywhere we go we broadcast Gospel “seeds” that will produce fruit for the Kingdom of God. Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice on a hill called Calvary, and we pilgrims are the fruit of that sacrifice, among many brothers and sisters throughout the world.

Dear Lord Jesus. We are really grateful for what You did for us at Calvary. Please lead us to the right places, where there is receptive soil waiting for seeds to be planted. In Your precious name. Amen.

The Greeks

Posted on by korgrocker

“Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration paid a visit to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. They said, “Sir, we want to meet Jesus.” Philip told Andrew about it, and they went together to ask Jesus.”
John 12:20-22 NLT

‭‭In those days the term “Greeks” had a generic meaning for all non-Israelites. They had come to enjoy the Passover festival because, although not Jewish, they revered Israel’s God. John records in these verses that they tried to get access to Jesus through Philip who, perhaps, and along with Andrew, was acting as a security vetting service for Jesus, because, as we know, the religious leaders wanted to arrest Him. We can only guess about the significance of Philip being from Bethsaida – perhaps one of the “Greeks” knew him from there.

So, why did the “Greeks” want to see Jesus? They would have heard about the amazing miracles that He had performed, so, perhaps they wanted Jesus to do a few for them. A natural curiosity might have been the reason. Or perhaps they too wanted to hear at first hand some of the sayings of Jesus that they had heard about. 

We pilgrims today are in a truly favoured position. Through the Holy Spirit we have access to Jesus always. We read what Jesus said to His disciples in John 16:7, “But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you”. And then in John 16:13-14, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me”. Jesus was limited to being in one place at a time, even though He is divine. But the Holy Spirit is universal and omnipresent and can be with all believers all of the time. We don’t have to request an audience with Jesus and then wait our turn in a long queue, or try and book an appointment as we do at our doctor’s surgery, and then wait days or weeks before we get a ten minute slot.

Jesus came to His own people the Jews, but right at the start of His ministry He made that universal statement, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). And then a bit later he said, “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16). Jesus came “to seek and save the lost” in all the nations, including the “Greeks”.

Father God. We are so grateful that Your plan for salvation was for all human beings, not just the Jews, and it was implemented through Your Son, Jesus. We are deeply grateful. Amen.


Natural Evangelism

Posted on by korgrocker

“Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it. That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign. Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after him!””
John 12:17-19 NLT

For those people who believed that evangelism didn’t start until after the Day of Pentecost, referring to that tremendous sermon from Peter after which three thousand men were saved, and which we can read in Acts 2, then they have missed something. The news about the raising of Lazarus from the dead, a miracle initially observed by a “crowd” of people (perhaps thirty or forty?), spread quickly through Jerusalem and the surrounding areas and even to the Passover visitors. The people who observed Lazarus emerge from the grave still wrapped in his graveclothes would never forget what had happened before their eyes, and they couldn’t wait to go and tell someone. A natural response to something out of the ordinary. But isn’t that evangelism?

Another remarkable event took place on the Day of Pentecost, when the people in the upper room, who had just experienced the tongues of fire and the ruach of God rushing through the place, burst out onto the streets of Jerusalem, speaking in languages native to the many visitors who had come for the Feast. Isn’t that evangelism?

The Pharisees were at a loss to know what to do. The amazing miracle that Jesus had committed had become common knowledge in that area and the people flocked out to see Him as he rode the donkey up the road into Jerusalem. In despair, they realised that they had been deserted, and didn’t have the following amongst the people that they had previously enjoyed. Their teaching was heavy and boring. They were unable to demonstrate miracles. And no amount of threats could stop the people from following the Man who did such amazing things. Isn’t that the result of evangelism?

We pilgrims have experienced a remarkable miracle ourselves. That the Creator God of the Universe would love us so much that through His Son, Jesus, He has allowed us to enter His presence sinless and righteous, and has ensured that we will be with Him for all eternity. That’s a miracle, and one that we cannot but tell everyone we meet. It’s a message that will not often be welcomed. Faced with a choice, people will prefer the pleasures of sin over the assurance of an eternity spent with God. But we pilgrims pray every day and ask God to lead us to just the right person who will be receptive to hear our miraculous message. We are not all great evangelists preaching messages to thousands of people. We might be like the teenager who persuaded a friend to go to church with him, and the friend was saved. That friend was Billy Graham. We don’t know what happened to the teenager, but we do know that he was faithful in doing what God had asked him to do.

So who knows – the next time we share our messages of hope, there might be another Billy Graham waiting to hear what we have to say. Isn’t that evangelism?

Dear God. Your love has motivated us to the point that we cannot help but tell others about all that You have done for us. Please lead us to the right people. In Jesus name. Amen.