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Ointment of Mud

Posted on by korgrocker

““It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him”. … Then he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!”
John 9:3, 6-7 NLT

Why did Jesus make mud with His saliva, using it as a salve or ointment for smearing on the blind man’s eyes, when He could have just healed him with a word? Or He could have laid His hands or fingers on the malfunctioning eyes. Why the mud? There have been a number of theories as to why Jesus healed the man this way. Jesus healed another blind man in Bethsaida, and we can read the account in Mark 8:23-25, “Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?” The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.” Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly”. This was a two stage healing, starting with Jesus spitting in the man’s face followed by Him placing His hands on them. A theory promoted by some in those days was that saliva had healing properties, so perhaps Jesus was using it to help the blind man’s faith. But we don’t really know what was going on in Jesus’ healing ministry. No two healing events were the same so, try as we do to think one up, there is no formulaic recipe for copying Him. 

Vision difficulties today are common and the medical profession can often help by using optical corrections such as spectacles or contact lenses. Cataracts can be removed and replaced with an artificial lens. Degenerative or age-related conditions can often be delayed with the skills of the doctors. But someone born blind is, unless there are exceptional circumstances, beyond healing by our medics. But nothing was too hard for Jesus – He had the ability to restore sight whenever the opportunity arose. And we should also take note that through the power of the Holy Spirit, blind people have been healed today. There are well documented accounts available for those who look for them. Also note that healing a man blind from birth was more than introducing sight to his eyes. There is the infrastructure behind the eyes that processes the visual information to enable what is seen to be interpreted correctly. In healing the blind man, Jesus also reprogrammed the man’s brain.

There is a condition much worse than physical blindness and this is spiritual blindness. People with this condition are those who have rejected God and who deny the validity of anything spiritual, and particularly anything to do with God. We read what Paul wrote about the cause of spiritual blindness in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God”. Those who fail to respond to the invitation to the Good News about Jesus are committing themselves to a future spent in a place of total blackness, where any form of sight is no use at all. One day, any believer who is physically blind will receive a new pair of eyes, with perfect vision. And he or she will be able to gaze on the face of God in awe and worship. It will be an amazing experience for all of us. In Revelation 21:23 we read, “And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light“. Jesus proclaimed to His people that “….. I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12). Both sighted and unsighted people are in the same place before the Cross of Christ.

Dear God. You are a God of light and there is no darkness within You. We worship You today. Amen.

Power of God

Posted on by korgrocker

““Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.””
John 9:2-5 NLT

That poor man had been born blind in a culture that left him with no option but to be a beggar. A sad situation where the man would have had no self respect and he would have been reliant on others for most of life’s basic requirements. But Jesus assured the disciples that the man’s blindness was not caused by sin. Instead, He implied that on this occasion there was an opportunity to demonstrate that the “power of God” was able to cure this otherwise incurable condition. Should the man be able to see would be a miracle that the Pharisees and the other religious leaders could never be able to explain away.

There is a connection between this man being blind, living his life in a world of darkness, and Jesus being “the light of the world”. In a physical sense the blind man was walking in a dark world that could only be illuminated by the “power of God”. In a spiritual sense, the far more common condition of sin could only be remedied by belief in God and the One whom He sent, Jesus, His Son. There is an immediate connection between physical and spiritual blindness and Jesus demonstrated for that, and subsequent, generations that it is only the “power of God” that is capable of bringing a remedy. 

Jesus told His disciples that there were things to do that could only be done while it was daylight. Once the night had come, these tasks would no longer be possible. Because Jesus was the “light of the world” perhaps He was implying that once He had left the world the opportunities to perform the “works of God” would leave with Him. That would certainly have been the case except for one thing – the sending of the Holy Spirit. We read in John 14, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. …. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognise him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you” (John 14:12-13, 16-17). 

Sadly, there are many Christians today who believe that the “power of God” was only for the apostolic age and they deny that God’s power is manifested anymore in works of healing. But Jesus left us with His Great Commission, and we read in Mark 16:15-18, “And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptised will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”” We Christians agree that we must share the Gospel, the Good News about the saving love and grace of God, but the Commission goes on to describe manifestations of the “power of God”. Speaking in tongues, casting out demons and healing the sick were specifically mentioned by Jesus. We have the power of God through the Holy Spirit who lives within each and every believer. And so, we believers have a challenge. The Holy Spirit works through us to do the works of God – if we let Him.

Dear Father God, please forgive us for taking those elements of Scripture that we feel comfortable and safe with, but ignoring or forgetting the rest. We have Your Heavenly resources at our disposal, and through faith we can use it to Your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Born Blind

Posted on by korgrocker

“As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.”
John 9:1-3 NLT

The disciples asked a question that has perplexed generations of people – why are some people born with a physical problem? Jesus was walking somewhere with His disciples, and they asked Him for an explanation for the poor blind man’s disability. In those days it was common to think that a disability was a judgement for sin. Therefore it followed that the man who had been born blind was guilty of some terrible sin or other, and, if not him, perhaps his parents were at fault. But in their limited understanding and fuelled by a natural curiosity and desire to solve a mystery, the disciples asked the Master. Surely He would know what the problem was and why it happened.

But that was all very well for the disciples, journeying as they were with the Fount of all knowledge, but what about today, as we read about babies being born with a physical problem. A hole in a heart. Debilitating conditions such as cystic fibrosis. Missing limbs, or deafness. Or blindness like the man in the account we are reading. The list is endless and anguished cries of pain from distressed parents must often reach the heavens and beyond. The sad situation when a new life with so much potential is born struggling even to make a start in this world of ours. And some mums do feel guilt. They rack their minds to try and make some sense of it all, in case they had done something they shouldn’t have done during those formative weeks and months with the new born baby in their wombs. Some parents even shake their fist at God in a frustrated and angry attempt to focus blame.

We pilgrims look at someone with a disability, and wonder about the cause. But we forget that disabilities are a matter of degree. We all have, to some extent, a disability. Poor vision needing correcting glasses. Insulin for type 1 diabetics. Many suffer from mental health issues such as anxiety or depression. It is thought that over ten million people in the UK have arthritis. So a disability is just a matter of degree. With the man born blind, we read that his disability “happened so the power of God could be seen in him”. Another reason for having a disability could perhaps be for the outworking of the scripture in 1 Corinthians 1:27, “Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.” But in it all, we know that no disability appeared in God’s plan for mankind. He created perfection, but sin destroyed what God intended. The consequence of living in this fallen world is before us every time we experience the aches and pains and sicknesses that so commonly afflict us.

In 1 Corinthians 15:53 we read, “For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.” One day God will transform our human bodies, complete with all the imperfections we know so much about and many of us have to live with, into a resurrected body, a perfect body just like Christ’s. And we will join together in the worship of our wonderful Creator, enjoying Him and our new bodies.

Dear God. We understand the impact sin has had on this world, and we thank You for Jesus, who came to overcome the works of the being who has brought so much distress to this world. We believe in Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Father Abraham

Posted on by korgrocker

“Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.” The people said, “You aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!” At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple.”
John 8:56-59 NLT

The people with Jesus in the Temple failed to realise that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, partially divine and partially human. It was just too much for them to get their minds around. In the past, visitations to the Jews from Heavenly realms had taken place through obviously supernatural figures like angels. Such occasions were either on a personal, one to one basis, such as to Zechariah by the angel Gabriel – “While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. … Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news!” (Luke 1:11,19). Sometimes a Heavenly visitation was to a group of people – consider the shepherds in Luke 2:9, “Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified,”. In the Old Testament, we read the passage about how the Lord Himself appeared to Abraham – “The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day” (Genesis 18:1). Isaiah received a vision of the Lord in the Temple, as we read in Isaiah 6:1, “It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple.” But in these and other occasions, it was clear to the person or people there at the time that they were receiving an indisputably Heavenly visitation, if not from God Himself then one of His angelic messengers.

But here we have an ordinary looking Man teaching in the Temple and engaged in a dispute with a group of religious leaders about His pedigree and His message. Jesus was not wearing a luminous glowing robe. His presence was not that of an angel. He was as Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 53:2b, “ … There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.” But unlike Abraham, the people failed to discern that the Person before them was from God. Jesus was a divisive Person; people either believed in Him and followed Him as His disciples, or they rejected Him, rationalising that He was an imposter or worse. There was of course the sitting-on-the-fence position where the people were unsure about Jesus, but were almost convinced – “they said, “would you expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done?”” (John 7:37b). 

According to the Apostle Paul, Abraham was the father of the Jews. Romans 4:1, “Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God?” Paul went on to write that Abraham didn’t rely on his good deeds for his salvation. Romans 4:3 “For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”” There was much in the Genesis account of Abraham and his faith that pointed forward to a Descendant who would fulfil God’s promise to mankind. In Genesis 18:1 we read that the Lord appeared to Abraham, and some theologians believe that this was a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Himself.

We pilgrims have a spiritual example through Abraham. Paul wrote in Romans 4 that the custom of circumcision, so significant to the Jews, makes no difference when it comes to the importance of faith in God. And we read in Romans 4:13, “Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.” In the end it’s all about God and His grace and love for mankind. We are all accountable to God for the light that we have received. Man made customs and liturgies are meaningless without faith in God.

Dear God. Thank You for the man Abraham, who lived so long ago. His faith in You has encouraged all of Your children through the ages, and I pray that such faith continues to bless us as we continue out journey to our own promised land. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Knowing God

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus answered, “If I want glory for myself, it doesn’t count. But it is my Father who will glorify me. You say, ‘He is our God,’ but you don’t even know him. I know him. If I said otherwise, I would be as great a liar as you! But I do know him and obey him. Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.””
John 8:54-56 NLT

Jesus told the Pharisees and other religious leaders in the crowd listening to Him that they don’t even know God. The religious people in Jesus’ day probably knew a lot about God but had never come to know Him personally. They had this sense of pride in their knowledge of their Bible. They could recite huge tracts of Scripture. They knew all the rules and regulations, and the Laws of Moses, like the backs of their hands. They lived their lives in a way that was, to them, above reproach. God to them was measurable and containable, kept in a box bounded by their knowledge. And the other less tangible parts of a relationship with God were rationalised within the limits of their knowledge about Him. 

But when it comes to knowing God, the same accusation could be levelled at many religious people today. They think that they are “good” people because they keep the laws of the land, give money to charities, go to church on a Sunday every now and then, and don’t curse and drink to excess. They don’t beat and abuse their spouses and work hard at their professions. “Surely God likes me and would never reject me when it comes to matters of eternal life”, or so they think. 

But Jesus was very clear during His time here on earth, that there was only one way to please Father God, and that was by believing in Him. We of course know John 3:16, “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.” Later Jesus said to Thomas, one of His disciples, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:6-7). 

But believing in Jesus does not mean believing the facts about Jesus. It is believing that He came to this world to die for sinners, past, present and future, in His death taking on the punishment for our sin, and instead giving us His righteousness. In the process we come to love Him personally because the enormity of what He did for us at Calvary sinks deep within our souls. The understanding that Jesus, the Son of God, loved me so much that He was willing to die in my place, and that through Him I will receive the gift of eternal life, has turned my life around from being a detached and uninvolved “believer” into someone who knows God as a loving Father. My life is now not about being a “good” person, but about living a life pleasing to the One who loves me. Yes, the fruit of that will be goodness, but that comes from, not for, a relationship with God.

The Pharisees knew much about God. But they were unable to do what Paul did. About the Pharisaical obedience to the Law, he wrote in Philippians 3:7-9, “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith”. The Pharisees before Jesus that day in the Temple had an opportunity to believe in Him, but missed it. We must make sure that we don’t miss it either, by taking subtle steps towards replacing our relationship with God with a liturgy that takes less effort.

Dear Father God. We love You because You first loved us. We worship at Your feet today. Amen.

Demon Possessed

Posted on by korgrocker

“The people retorted, “You Samaritan devil! Didn’t we say all along that you were possessed by a demon?” “No,” Jesus said, “I have no demon in me. For I honour my Father—and you dishonour me. … I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!” The people said, “Now we know you are possessed by a demon. Even Abraham and the prophets died, but you say, ‘Anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!’ Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?””
John 8:48-49, 51-53 NLT

The accusation that someone is possessed by a demon is only rarely heard in our Western cultures, if at all. Much was attributed to demon possession in Biblical days, society using it as a catch-all for a variety of unexplained physical, mental and behavioural attributes and conditions. To the crowd, heavily infiltrated by Pharisees and other religious leaders, Jesus’ counter-cultural claims and message were so unusual that the accusation of demon possession was, at least superficially in that culture, a logical choice. The crowd were doing what we often do – they tried to make sense of behaviours unexplained by any other cause. In our societies today we might conclude that strange and unusual behaviour is because of “learning difficulties” or some form of mental illness. But in Jesus’ day there was no reason why the crowd should level the accusation of demon possession at Him just because they disagreed with what He was saying. Jesus’ message was simple yet profound, and never the ravings of someone possessed. The dangerous thing for the people was that by levelling such accusations at Jesus, they were at risk of committing the unpardonable sin. Mark 3:28-29, “I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences”. Imagine the scene before the “pearly gates” as one of Jesus’ intransigent accusers arrived and tried to gain entry. The realisation of what they had done would have preceded a quick journey to a place where they would find out what real demon possession was all about!

To a crowd steeped in a religious culture that claimed salvation through obeying the Law of Moses and the plethora of rules devised by generations of rabbis, someone who claimed otherwise would have been most unwelcome, to the point that they might become associated with the devil, who, by definition, was anti-God. To a sincere law-believer of that day, such a person as Jesus was in danger of destroying their entire belief system, and their first instinct was to protect what they had. But the sad thing was that religious people of Jesus’ day had replaced God’s loving plans with a liturgy that excluded relationship with God and exchanged it for a life style devoid of the life that God intended. 

In 21st Century Western societies, people only rarely display anything that would warrant the claim or accusation of demon possession. But things happen that display the same stubborn behaviour in the face of messianic claims of a new way or alternative explanation. The ideological clashes between groups of fanatics over issues such as the climate or gender are perhaps a modern day demonstration of the same refusal to change demonstrated in the crowd before Jesus and such behaviour is still very much part of the human psyche. The same crowd who accused Jesus of demon possession would perhaps deny the holocaust ever happened in the mid-twentieth century. Or they would make other outrageous claims all in the name of their own particular “religion”.

How do we pilgrims cope in the face of new claims and better ways? We do what countless others have done – we turn to the Word of God. There we find truthful nourishment for our souls. And rather than accuse the ideological fanatics of demon possession, we reach out to them with a message of hope straight from the throne of God. They will probably reject both us and the message, even screaming accusations of demon possession, but, like Jesus, we patiently and lovingly repeat what we have said and then move on, leaving the consequences of their denials to the mercy of God. 

Father God. Please help us to stay close to You and listen constantly for Your voice in all we think and do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Insults

Posted on by korgrocker

“Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.” The people retorted, “You Samaritan devil! Didn’t we say all along that you were possessed by a demon?” “No,” Jesus said, “I have no demon in me. For I honour my Father—and you dishonour me. And though I have no wish to glorify myself, God is going to glorify me. He is the true judge. I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!””
John 8:47-51 NLT

In front of Jesus, as He taught in the Temple, was a hard-core group of “people” who had started to throw some serious insults at Him. Presumably those in the original crowd who had professed their belief in Him had gone on their way, perhaps rejoicing that they had met the Son of God. The remainder of the crowd was what John called “the people”. This group was seriously rattled by what Jesus had said, and continued to say, about Himself, His relationship with His Father, and His message of eternal life. They were so rattled in fact that they resorted to insulting Him by calling Him a “Samaritan devil” and that He was possessed by a demon. Who were these “people”? Well, the Pharisees would have been well represented along with religious lawyers and others, all of whom had a vested interest in the continuation of their hold over the religious and social lives of the common people. They could not survive if their authority was removed from them by Someone who called Himself God’s Son, and who was preaching a message that circumvented their rules and laws.

But Jesus deftly sidestepped their insults. He was above their behaviour and wasn’t going to be drawn into a slanging match with the “people”. Instead, He calmly pointed out that there was no demon in Him, and then He drew the conversation back to His original message. Again He tells those before Him, “anyone who obeys my teaching will never die”. 

Isn’t it strange that professing to being a Christian or preaching a Gospel message seems to bring out the worst in some people. Jesus warned His followers that this would happen as we can read in the Beatitudes. “God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way” (Matthew 5:10-12). Peter wrote in his first epistle, “If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you” (1 Peter 4:14).

We pilgrims know that by “coming out” as a Christian in our schools or workplaces will open us up to all sorts of abuse, some of which is subtle, like being quietly overlooked for a promotion or some other reward, or not so subtle, as being ostracised or excluded from workplace events. The Gospel message for which we stand will cause offence because it confronts the sin that soaks the unbelievers around us. A Christian will make such people feel uncomfortable even before he or she has said a word. Indeed, it should, because all true Christians have the Holy Spirit living within them, and a sinner will recoil away from God’s presence. 2 Corinthians 2:15-16a, “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. …”. Have we ever noticed something like a perfume around a Christian? It’s not a smell of dusty churches with elderly people and even older carpets. It’s a peace, an assurance, something almost imperceptible that seems to filter down from Heaven and God’s throne. Unbelievers are aware of this as well, but to them it brings an awareness of their sin, and insults against God and His people start to rise in their throats. But as Jesus said, this will make us happy because our treasure chest in Heaven is being added to. we won’t be the first of God’s children to suffer insults, and we won’t certainly be the last.

Dear Father God. As we stand firm on the Rock that is Jesus we pray for those around us, that they too will feel Your presence, and respond to Your love and grace. Amen.

The Father of Lies

Posted on by korgrocker

“For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me! Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.”
John 8:44-47 NLT

Jesus didn’t pull any punches. The Pharisees and others before Him consistently and continually refused to believe in Jesus, believe who He was and believe in His message. After explaining to them that they were spiritually deaf, Jesus changed tack and pointed out to them that because they were sinners who refused to accept God’s gift of grace, they were, by definition, children of the devil. They followed the devil’s lead by refusing to believe the truthful statements Jesus made, and because of that they didn’t belong to God. There was only one other place that they could be and that was one fathered by the devil.

Jesus had some strong, but truthful, words about the devil. He spoke the first lie, which we can read in Genesis 3:1-4, “The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman”. By believing in the devil’s lie “You won’t die”, the woman, Eve, followed by Adam and the rest of mankind, have all died.

So the scenario that developed in the Temple that day became a clash point between God and His truth, and the devil and his Pharisaical disciples. How often the devil has lied his way into the hearts of men and women who started off by believing God and ended up following a lie. We consider the cults and false religions, just for a start. The Pharisees took what God intended for their good and twisted it into a loveless religion of rules, convincing themselves in the process that their pedigree and adherence to following their rules and customs would be all that God required and would assure them of eternal life. A lie from the devil. It was no wonder that Jesus had some hard words for them, and it was so sad that even being in the presence of God’s Son was insufficient to overcome their lie-infused thinking.

Most people around us today are also saturated with the devil’s lies. It is a disease so prevalent that the devil truly has the title “Father of Lies” and “god of this age”. There is only one remedy, only one escape, only one way to God, and that is through believing in Jesus. Only He can lift us out of the gutter of sin. Psalm 40:2, “He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along”. We pilgrims must constantly wash off us the dirt and dust of living in a world ruined by the devil and his lies. We do it by staying close to Jesus and His cross, keeping short accounts with our loving Heavenly Father. 

Father God. It is only from You that we can find the words of truth. Please help us to discern the devil’s lies, as we go about our daily lives. in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hearing But Deaf

Posted on by korgrocker

“No, you are imitating your real father.” They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.” Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me!”
John 8:41-43 NLT

Isn’t it strange that people will only hear what they want to hear? Our brains seem to filter out unpleasant words, or introduce an emphasis that totally changes the meaning of what the speaker intended. We hear what others say through audio filters that are wired into our thoughts and worldviews. Jesus was still speaking in the Temple, and by this time the religious Pharisaical content of the crowd seemed to be asserting themselves, bringing Jesus to the point of having to ask the question “Why can’t you understand what I am saying?” And He concludes, “It’s because you can’t even hear me!”

When it came to things to do with matters religious and with the Mosaical Law, the Pharisees and the religious leaders considered themselves the final arbiters and they, and only they, knew what the Law contained and how it should be interpreted. Then along comes someone who seems to be suggesting something at variance with their beliefs and, on top of that, claiming that God in Heaven is His Father, and they immediately hang a sign “Cannot compute” on their doors of religiosity and attempt to fix the problem by closing it down. It is almost as though the Pharisees engaged in the childish game of placing their fingers in their ears and making a lot of noise, when not wanting to hear something unpleasant. 

Jesus had been very patient in setting out who He was and what His message was. It was all very simple – He had a Father in Heaven, God Himself, who had sent Him to Planet Earth to tell the people that if they believed in Him then they will receive eternal life. What is there difficult about that? The Gospel message is extremely simple and easy to hear and understand. So why do more people not believe it and respond to it? Like the Pharisees before Jesus, however, it’s is not so much what is said as the implications about what it would mean to the hearers’ lives and behaviours.

We pilgrims can test this out in our workplaces or queues at a bus stop. If we tell them that there is a God in Heaven who loves them and wants them to believe in Him, the response will be mixed, but largely negative. We will find out that people will hear what we say but will reject its message, because … and then there will follow a shed full of excuses. Jesus told the parable of the Great Feast, which we can read in Matthew 22. He said, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come! So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them” (Matthew 22:2-6). This parable illustrated what was happening before Jesus that day in the Temple. His invitation to eternal life was largely rejected by the people before Him. We will find the same today, as people we share the Gospel with will reject it because they feel that their day to day business of living is far more important than stopping to hear and understand God’s invitation. Our ears become bunged up with the detritus of living, and sometimes even we pilgrims need to sit, dump out the rubbish blocking our spiritual ears, and listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying. Jesus finished the Parable of the Soils with the words, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand” (Matthew 13:9). Good advice that we should follow. Our lives may depend upon it!

Dear Father God. We pray that our ears will be open to hear Your gracious and eternal words. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Real Father

Posted on by korgrocker

“Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message. I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.” “Our father is Abraham!” they declared. “No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example. Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. No, you are imitating your real father.” They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.””
John 8:37-41 NLT

The Pharisees and others in the Jewish crowd around Jesus in the Temple were convinced that they were descendants of Abraham and therefore they knew better than Jesus. They thought that they were on the moral high ground over this interloper, who was making claims that He was greater than Abraham. Jesus said that when He was with His Father in Heaven He was looking on as Abraham was prophesying about Him. God said to Abraham, “indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. Through your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have heard and obeyed My voice” (Genesis 22:17-18 AMP). Some Bible translations take “seed” as being plural, meaning descendants, but others interpret “seed” as being singular, pointing to Jesus, the Messiah to come. So down the ages perhaps Abraham saw a glimpse of the Messiah, through Whom would come the salvation of the world.

Jesus rightly pointed out to the crowd that Abraham would never have wanted to kill the One whom he foresaw, so how could Abraham be the father of the Pharisees, who were fostering murder in their hearts. And therefore, as much as they stressed their heritage, there could only be one father of the Pharisees, and that was the devil himself. That made them illegitimate, something they protested vigorously. And once again they proclaimed that God was their true Father. So who was right? Who spoke the truth? We know from hindsight, and our own faith, the answer to that question, but in front of Jesus was a people who refused to accept what He said. I suppose if Jesus had said the words they wanted to hear, words that didn’t conflict with their world view and preconceived ideologies, then they would have accepted Him, but they had no room in their hearts for a counter-cultural message of truth from God’s Son.

The real father of the Pharisees could not have been Abraham, Jesus said. But bringing the same issue up to date, we have theologians and others who have interpreted the Bible to suit their own ends but to whom Jesus would direct the same message. Men and women who deny Biblical truths by saying that Jesus was just a good man, that His birth never came from a sinless conception, that many of His miraculous signs never really happened, and that His Resurrection was just Jesus recovering after swooning on the cross. Would these same people have argued with Jesus, if He came and stood among them, repeating once again His message that only those who believe in Him would receive eternal life? Would their real father emerge once again, driving the dissenting words that sought to destroy Jesus and His message? We pilgrims need to be constantly on our guards, lest we too get drawn into a position that seems plausible but pulls us towards a different father.

Dear Father God. We confess today that only You are our true Father. Only You have the grace to save us from the other father in this world. Amen.