Jesus Had a Plan

Posted on by korgrocker

“A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha …. So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.” But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days. Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.””
John 11:1, 3-7 NLT

John’s account in his Gospel doesn’t provide any details about the nature of Lazarus’ illness, but events could have developed in the following way. One day Lazarus was a healthy young man, carefree and enjoying life. Then he started to feel unwell. A fever developed and he became too ill to get out of his bed. The fever started to get worse, and he drifted in and out of delirium. His poor sisters became very worried, and spent their time in shifts, dealing with his personal needs, wiping the sweat from his brow. Trying to get him to drink. After a few days, he became comatose and still. Barely breathing. The fever raging on. In the middle of all this the two sisters sent a message to their friend Jesus, an anguished call for help. He didn’t come to heal their brother, but perhaps He instead sent a comforting message to Martha and Mary, that Lazarus was going to be alright.

Jesus received the message but He decided to stay where He was for another couple of days. If He was still at the place where He went to after His previous hassles with the Pharisees, He was still near Jericho and not too far from Bethany where Lazarus and his two sisters lived. Jesus, however, had a plan. Lazarus’ sickness was an opportunity for giving glory to God and His Son, Jesus, and His plan was that “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death”. So rather than rush to his friend’s bedside, Jesus stayed away for another couple of days. And then there came the moment when He decided to travel to Bethany, in Judea. 

As the story unfolded, the backdrop to one of Jesus’ most momentous miracles was starting to build. This was a miracle that indeed brought glory to God, but it also sealed Jesus’ death warrant. So the story of Lazarus has remained in Scripture as an important milestone on Jesus’ journey to the cross, and our journey to salvation. It was an event that was faith building for His disciples, and is the same for us, His modern disciples, today. There are no doubts in our minds. John’s account lacked details, but that in a way makes it even more authentic. The events in Bethany changed John’s life, and he wrote much later “We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life” (1 John 1:1). John was convinced about Jesus’ divinity and never wavered in His faith in Jesus. He went on to write, “We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). John did his utmost to leave a legacy underpinned by the reality of Jesus, and his writings have endured the passing of time to bring that message to everyone who dares to pick up a Bible and read it. With John today, and countless disciples since, we give Jesus all the glory, all the praise, and all our thanks and worship. Forever.

Dear God. We give You all the glory for the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Thanks You. Amen.

A Brother With Two Sisters

Posted on by korgrocker

“A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.””
John 11:1-3 NLT

Chapter Eleven in John’s Gospel introduces Jesus’ friends, Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha. They lived in a place called Bethany, a village located about two miles from Jerusalem on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. So it was quite close to Jerusalem and someone walking from there would take about forty minutes. We know little about the three siblings, but a story was about to unfold that had earth-shattering consequences. The account in John doesn’t appear in the other Gospels, although references to Mary and Martha do. But we do know that Jesus was friends with this small family unit, and probably stayed with them as often as He could. 

We know a little about Mary, because she “poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair”. John 12:3, “Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.” And we know a little more about the two sisters from the account in Luke 10, where Martha bustled around preparing a meal for all the hungry guests – Jesus and His disciples – while her sister, Mary, chose to sit at Jesus’ feet, listening to His teaching. This is a well know story often referred to today, with some women identifying either with Martha or Mary in the course of their Christian journeys.

Lazarus became sick. With what we don’t know, but it was important enough for his sisters to send a worried message to Jesus. But the picture emerges in our minds of this ordinary Israeli family, living in a house large enough to accommodate guests. Lazarus and his sisters were probably at the younger end of the age spectrum, but there is no mention of parents or other relatives. Circumstances conspired to leave them, apparently reasonably well off, as three siblings living together on their own. John provided just the bare minimum of facts about this family unit, leaving us to try and fill in the gaps. 

But we pilgrims can relate to the concerns of being ill, and especially if a person close to us is unwell. A parent with a sick child. A wife with a sick husband. A Mary and Martha with a sick brother. Part of life as a human being living on Planet Earth is having to deal with sickness. This wasn’t God’s plan when He created the human race. Instead, we live in a world corrupted by sin, and under the power of the “god of this age”, and because of that we will experience illnesses, all the way from a common cold through to the ravages of cancer. When Jesus came He offered eternal life to all who believed in Him. This wasn’t an infinite natural life extension but eternal spiritual life. Yes, there were well documented occasions, such as in the account we are reading today, when Jesus healed the sick and even raised the dead. Today, there are still miraculous healings that take place through God’s servants and these are all down to God and His compassion.

There was a bond between Lazarus, Martha and Mary that was strong and able to withstand what would be coming to them in the days and weeks ahead in John’s account. But we pilgrims need to be on our guard because the devil excels in breaking up families, and especially Christian families. The devil will want to destroy anything that God has created and ordained. We know from Genesis 2 that God ordained marriage between a man and a woman – “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one” (Genesis 2:24). From the man/woman union comes a family, and family life, and two of the Ten Commandments confirm the importance of the family. The sibling family residing in Bethany were perhaps unusual, but they demonstrated a familial bond that was important.

In a spiritual sense, we are part of a much larger family, made up of the children of God. The devil will want to divide and conquer the church of which we are a part, so we need to be on our guards. And that is the message today as we explore the account of Lazarus, Martha and Mary, and what was about to happen in Bethany.

Dear Father God. You designed the family unit and put within us Your family dna. You too are a part of a family unit, together with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We pray for our families and know that even if we aren’t in a family unit, You are there with us. We are so grateful. Amen.

Escape to the Jordan

Posted on by korgrocker

“Once again they tried to arrest him, but he got away and left them. He went beyond the Jordan River near the place where John was first baptising and stayed there awhile. And many followed him. “John didn’t perform miraculous signs,” they remarked to one another, “but everything he said about this man has come true.” And many who were there believed in Jesus.”
John 10:39-42 NLT

The tone of John’s account is remarkably downbeat, factual but unemotional and, at times, a bit short on detail. There was Jesus, apparently in the middle of an antagonistic and aggressive crowd, who were wanting to stone Him because they considered His claims about Himself to be blasphemous – “Once again the people picked up stones to kill him” (John 10:31) – yet He was able to escape arrest, walking away and leaving His aggressors behind. And Jesus didn’t have far to go. The exact place where John the Baptist was baptising in the Jordan is debated amongst archaeologists, but the consensus seems to place it about five miles North of the Dead Sea, no more than twenty or so miles from Jerusalem. So Jesus didn’t have far to go before He found a place of safety. John’s account records that “many” followed Jesus there and “many” believed in Him.  Away from the legalistic and aggressive crowd in Jerusalem it seems people were more able to listen to Jesus, see His miraculous signs, and come to a belief in Him as the Son of God.

We pilgrims know how difficult it can be, to share the Good News about Jesus with several unbelievers all at the same time. They tend to hold each other back and even resort to ridicule or more aggressive responses. But on their own, without peer pressure, people can be more receptive. The devil has indeed blinded the eyes and stopped the ears of those who otherwise would be open to hearing our testimonies of hope in Jesus, for a future with Him in eternity. Much of our evangelism is focussed on helping people move a little closer to a belief in Jesus, without finally hearing the big “Yes” to become a follower and believer in Him. But the people in Jesus’ day were pre-armed by John the Baptist, who pointed the attention to Jesus, and they remembered what he had to say. John 1:29-30, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me’”. John the Baptist was well respected by the people and they listened to him.

We pilgrims must always take advantage of the occasions where we find a chink in someone’s anti-God life and provide an opportunity to communicate the love of God. There are many lonely or depressed people around us, who have no solution to their misery. The pressures of life have worn them down, and they desperately need to hear Good News, but they turn on their televisions and find even more depressing news and images of distress that contribute to their own problems. Such people would, however, rather turn to hedonistic activities to try and dull the pain, or they try and find a “god” in activities such as alternative religions or practices such as Yoga. They end up seeking medical solutions with pills that treat their symptoms rather than the cause behind them. They may even engage in public demonstrations for lost causes instead of focusing their human efforts towards God, because we know that there is only one Person who has the remedy for their suffering and that is Jesus. The people in our families and communities need to see and feel the love of Jesus and we may be the only people who can help. 

In Jesus’ day, the people were drawn by His miracles. In our days, miracles are not quite so obvious but we can tell about the miracle we experienced on that day when we came to believe in Jesus. But there came a time when Jesus had communicated all that He could and it was time for Him to find a place of safety where He could find rest and recharge His spiritual batteries. If Jesus needed to do that then how much more must we, His followers, who are not immune from the pressures of life just because we are believers. We too need to find a place perhaps right back at the beginning when we were baptised. That place when we felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. That place when we heard the voice of Jesus saying “come”. And when we arrive there His Spirit will once again flush away the stains of this world, resourcing us for our journey towards the promised land. 

Dear Father God. On our knees today we offer to You all the praise, all the worship and all the glory. Amen.

The Father’s Work

Posted on by korgrocker

“Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work. But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”
John 10:37-38 NLT

Father God was, and is, a worker. His activities never cease, and He considered His work to be “very good”. Genesis 1:31, “Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day”. We can’t even start to imagine the extent of the work necessary to create the universe, and ever since then God has continued to work in His creation. The devil came to frustrate and destroy God’s work by bringing evil and wickedness into this world but God had a plan right from the beginning, a plan that involved His Son, Jesus.

Jesus’ coming to this world was very much a part of God’s creative work, and He told the crowd before Him that the evidence of His Father’s endorsement of Jesus as His Son, was contained within the miraculous works that He performed. And if that was not enough, after Jesus’ baptism by John, a public declaration from Father God was heard, “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy”” (Matthew 3:17). But regardless of all the evidence before them, the people still refused to believe in Jesus.

What was the work that Jesus was undertaking on behalf of His Father? In John 17:4, Jesus’ prayer included this verse, “I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4). So everything that Jesus did in His short life brought glory to His Father. All the teachings, all the miracles, the training of His disciples, even the death on the Cross – all Jesus’ work was the implementation of God’s plan for the salvation of mankind. Those years spent in the carpenter’s shop were preparation for the ministry years still to come. And there came a point when Jesus could say that His earthly work was complete. 

In His last post-resurrection days, Jesus delegated to His disciples the work necessary for the building of His Kingdom and the Church. And that has continued over the centuries since, and still goes on today. We pilgrims are spiritual descendants of the first disciples, and we also are working in our families and communities, to continue the Father’s work. One day it will all be completed and God will declare that His work is “very good”. What a privilege we have, to be part of God’s workforce, employed in the service of our King. 

Dear Lord Jesus. Thank You for the work that You have delegated to us. We pray for Your guidance in doing it. In Your previous name. Amen.

Godly Claims

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Father and I are one.” Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?” They replied, “We’re stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God.””
John 10:30-33 NLT

Jesus made the claim “the Father and I are one”. We believers know of course the truth in that, and the impact that this statement has on our faith. We know all about the Trinitarian God we worship, or we think we do. We struggle at times to describe how our God can exist in three persons, three very distinct but totally unified individuals with very different functions and personalities. But why are we surprised about our struggles? God is a Being infinitely more intelligent and far-reaching than we are. He is an infinite God that we, with finite minds, can never fully describe or appreciate. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God—but there is only one God. That is the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. It doesn’t help in our understanding that the word “Trinity” cannot be found in the Bible. But each member of the Trinity has different functions, and each can be defined, at least to a certain extent, by a detailed Bible study. In the end, though, we have to accept that we worship the only true God and leave things there.

Jesus made the truthful statement of His unity with Father God. The Jews listening to Him were incensed by what they perceived as blasphemy, which was punishable by death from stoning in those days. Their sensitivity was perhaps increased by tales of rulers in other lands making such a claim about being a god. And they knew about the pariahs who demanded that people bowed down to them, or to an effigy made to look like them. They could read about such a situation in the days of Daniel – “King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. … When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments, bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue” (Daniel 3:1, 5). There was a later story about Herod that Luke wrote about in Acts 12. “The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!” Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died” (Acts 12:22-23). People making godly claims generally come to a sticky end. And for those who claim that this was just a historical situation existing in an ancient society, look at the situation with the leaders in North Korea today. 

In 21st century Western cultures, if we asked the average man in the street about Jesus and His relationship to His Father, we would be fortunate to find anyone who knew anything about what we were asking. Most people would probably, if they were honest, admit to a belief in a “higher power”, something that is not unsurprising because God created everyone – Psalm 139:13, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb”. Within our “DNA” is something of God’s handiwork. But a knowledge of God and His Son Jesus would not be considered all that relevant today. But we pilgrims know better, and when Jesus said he was One with His Father, we feel the warmth emanating from that relationship. Rather than pick up stones to kill Him, we instead fall on our knees to worship Him. Our knowledge of Jesus and all that He did for us can never be replaced by a religion based wholly on the Law of Moses.

Dear God. Thank You for Your love and compassion. Amen.

True Sheep

Posted on by korgrocker

“The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
John 10:24-27 NLT

Jesus seemed to be surrounded by an increasingly antagonistic crowd of people, who were unsure about His claim that He was the Messiah and in any case unable to accept His teaching that anyone who believes in Him will inherit eternal life. As has been said before, the people before Him, probably heavily influenced by the Pharisees and their followers, were looking for a Messiah who would bring about a radical reform of the political situation and bring about the re-establishment of Israeli as its own nation once again. But for some reason they were unable to relate the prophecies about the Messiah to the Man, Jesus, who was standing before them, because they favoured one and ignored the other. On the one hand there was the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53, and on the other the King and Ruler in Micah 5 and Zechariah 9. It was the latter portrayal of the Messiah that the people in the crowd in front of Jesus were expecting. But with the benefit of hindsight we have been able to separate the two prophetic groups into the First and Second comings of Jesus, something that eluded the Jews of His day.

Jesus said to the crowd in response to their question about who He was, by saying effectively that He had already told them and the miraculous works that He had done had proved it. And He went on to say that, as the Good Shepherd, He was going to look after those who were His followers. As for the crowd before Him, they were not his “sheep” because they didn’t believe in Him. We pilgrims are hopefully the true sheep who know Jesus, who know His voice, and who follow Him. And in return he knows us. What a wonderful place we are in! But there are other “sheep”, people who claim to follow Jesus, but in reality don’t. They may be religious people, who faithfully say and apparently do all the right things, but who don’t really know His voice, and He doesn’t know them either. Jesus told us about such people in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’” Hard words indeed!  But who are these people? They claim to be Christians, and many labour away doing wonderful things in Jesus’ name. I know such a person who calls themselves a Christian but who has replaced faith with things they do instead. A nicer and friendlier person is hard to find, and they never refuse a request for help. But they are convinced that their good works are sufficient for their salvation, and refuse to accept that salvation comes by faith in Jesus alone.

The go-to verse for me about an assurance of salvation is Romans 10:9-10, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved“. And we remember what Paul wrote in Romans 3:22-24, “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. 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.” But in the end, the assurance of our salvation, and acceptance by God of being “true sheep”, boils down to faith. Romans 3:30, “There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.”

If we are unsure of our status as sheep, we pray and if necessary have a discussion with our pastors or a trusted Christian friend who will soon put our minds at rest.

Dear God. It is only through believing in Jesus Your Son that we will become Your children. We are thankful for Your grace and mercy. Amen.

Plain Talking

Posted on by korgrocker

“The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
John 10:24-27 NLT

Jesus interacted with the crowds around Him in those days in Jerusalem and He made a significant claim about Himself, that he was the promised Messiah. But is spite of all he had said, the people were unconvinced. They had heard Him say, “ … 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” (John 8:42). And then there was the time when He said, “ … I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!” (John 8:58). On His journey to Jerusalem from Galilee, Jesus spoke with a woman at Jacob’s well in Samaria, and Jesus’ statement about Himself couldn’t have been clearer. We read in John 4:25-26, “The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah!”” Jesus never wavered in telling people about His Person, His pedigree and His message. The problem for the people of His day was not that He wasn’t speaking plainly, it was because their expectations of who the Messiah would be didn’t fit in with His narrative. Also, most of the Jews of Jesus’ time were looking for a political and cultural saviour, not a Saviour from sin. They wanted Jesus to throw off the yoke of Rome and establish Zion as the capital of the world. They could not see how the meek and lowly Jesus could possibly do that. Even after His resurrection, the disciples were still expecting Jesus to bring about a political solution to Israel’s occupation and free it from a foreign power – Acts 1:6, “So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”” Jesus’ reply was recorded by Luke just before he was taken up into the clouds, never again to walk this planet until he returned as the conquering King. Acts 1:7-8, “He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”” 

Jesus could never be accused of not speaking plainly about Himself. The problem was that the people weren’t listening. At the present time the UK’s political leaders and prospective election candidates are saying much about themselves and their policies. The speaking appears to be plain but in reality much will never be repeated or will be shrugged off as election rhetoric. Very few people actually believe that what is said will actually happen. Empty promises would sum up most of the election talk. Jesus was never like that. His manifesto was clear – believe in Me and You will inherit eternal life. John 3:16 again, “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”. We pilgrims also have a plain message. To those around us we repeat what Jesus said about Himself and in everything we say we point to Him as our Saviour, the One who took on the punishment we deserved for our sins so that we could inherit eternal life. Who is there in our circle of friends and family who we know needs to hear some plain talking about Jesus? They may protest about the message, but we see beyond the immediate claims that we don’t know what we are talking about, to the time when they too accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Jesus persevered with His claims about Himself and about His message to His needy people, and even in His last day he still maintained that he was the Messiah, the Jewish King long awaited. In Mark 15:2 we read, “Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “You have said it””. Pilate believed Him and added a name plate to the cross of Jesus’ crucifixion “And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”” (John 19:19). Right to the end, Jesus was the Messiah. And the people of His day missed the coming of their Messiah and instead crucified Him. A tragedy for them, but an event that brought salvation for mankind, past, present and future. Jesus said, “ … 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.”” We have the light, folks; let’s turn up the wick and brighten our world.

Dear Lord Jesus. We echo the words of the Bethel song, Gratitude – “All my words fall short, I got nothing new, How could I express, All my gratitude?” But at Your feet we can worship the King of all kings. Amen.

Hanukkah

Posted on by korgrocker

“It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication. He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade. The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.“”
John 10:22-24 NLT

Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication or Feast of Lights, was the time when the Jews held an 8-day festival celebrating a historic Maccabean victory over the Syrian army, and a miraculous event that accompanied the cleansing of the Temple. There is much more about this period in Jewish history that has been recorded and documented, but we’ll look at the events surrounding Jesus as He walked through a part of the Temple “known as Solomon’s Colonnade”. This was a covered area in the Temple complex, and was much favoured later as a meeting point for the early Christians. Jesus being there at that time was perhaps a prophetic indication of His offer of salvation to all who believe in Him, compared with the events that had taken place some years before when the Maccabees had saved the Jews from a foreign and tyrannical power. The people were in the Temple celebrating the previous victory and turned to Jesus wondering if He was the Messiah who would bring another victory against another foreign and tyrannical power – the Romans.

The problem that the people failed to grasp was that Jesus was indeed the Messiah who had come to save His people, but not in the way they thought or hoped. Jesus had come to save them from the consequences of their sins. Luke recorded what Jesus said about His mission in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost”. The people wanted a physical salvation, Jesus came to offer a spiritual salvation. The people had been lulled into a sense of false spiritual security by believing that they could be saved just by doing their best to implement the demands of the Law. So it wasn’t salvation for their souls that they wanted from their Messiah. 

In some parts of the world Hanukkah has become a secular holiday because it takes place quite near Christmas in November or December, depending on how the date on the Jewish calendar falls. But there is a spiritual significance in this festival, the Feast of Lights. The miracle that took place when the Maccabees cleansed the temple concerned a supply of a special oil needed for the Menorah, a multi-branded lamp stand. It miraculously lasted for 8 days while the victory celebrations continued and until another supply of oil could be found. The light within the Temple was happening again right in front of the people but they failed to make the connection. Jesus said in John 8:12, “ … 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.” The light that Jesus brought into the world was far more important and significant than the light supplied by a Menorah, no matter how miraculous the supply of oil was. The Menorah lit up a small dark area within the Temple, but Jesus’ light illuminates the lives of men and women throughout the globe, not just when the sun goes down, but all the time.

We pilgrims have been tasked with the responsibility of bringing the light of Jesus to a sad and dark world, riven and blackened by sin and evil. We ourselves have seen the Light, and have allowed it to infuse every facet of our beings as we go about our business as children of God, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your Heavenly Father”. With that Light, and in obedience to Jesus, we illuminate every dark corner in our communities and families. Our “Hanukkah” takes place every day, as we celebrate the victory Jesus brought over sin and death.

Dear Lord Jesus. You are the Light of the World and always will be. Thank You. Amen.

Opinions

Posted on by korgrocker

“When he said these things, the people were again divided in their opinions about him. Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?” Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?””
John 10:19-21 NLT

One thing we human beings are good at is forming an opinion of someone. It could be about a famous person, or a neighbour or friend. Even about a relative. Opinions are derived from our observations or interactions with the other person, and it is remarkable that different people will have different opinions of the same person, which is just as well, really, because otherwise there would be a bland sameness about our society. Jesus burst into the religious scene in Israel performing amazing miracles and making statements about God and Himself that was counter-cultural, to say the least. The people who heard what He had to say were, we are told, “divided in their opinions about Him”, and they concluded that He was either mad or deluded, or even possessed by a demon, a phenomenon that was perhaps used as a catch-all for anyone who behaved in an odd way, or said things that were outrageous.

Jesus said things like, “ … Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart’” (John 7:37-38). He also said, “ … 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). He made the claims that He was the door that leads to salvation (John 10:7) or the Good Shepherd who cares for people and who is prepared to lay down His life to save them (John 10:11). With the benefit of hindsight we pilgrims understand what Jesus was getting at and we have formed an opinion of Jesus that is difficult to describe with words other than loving, gracious, awesome, amazing, caring and …. There are many many more descriptions and opinions of Jesus that would form an enormous list. In the end, the only response to Jesus, is worship, prostrate before Him.

To someone who is not a believer, what is their opinion of Him? The people of His day, with the benefit of a personal contact, couldn’t make a collective opinion of Him. Instead they were divided. Why? After all, He had performed some miraculous healings, including that of a man born blind receiving his sight. Surely that by itself would have had people running to Him with the assurance of knowing that only God Himself could do such things. But, sadly, some thought that this was the work of a demon. 

Today, research has shown that there is little doubt amongst people generally in the West, that Jesus was a real person. Older people will mostly agree that He was divine, younger people just that He was a great religious leader. But digging deeper, a world of confusion exists about Jesus and He is just as divisive today as He was two thousand years ago when He walked this planet. But what matters is what we pilgrims think. What are our opinions? We have the benefit of the Canon of Scripture and the expositions of faithful and Godly men and women to help us. But as believers in, and followers of, Jesus, we have the privilege of attaining the status of being children of God. We are assured of Heavenly eternal life with Him one day, after we have departed this life. And while alive in our societies, we have the opportunities to introduce others to Him, and help them form an opinion of Jesus that will lead to their salvation and the same relationship with God that we enjoy. 

So we pray for clarity over who Jesus was, both in our own minds, and those of our friends and families. In our daily work-a-day lives we view our surroundings through the lens of a favoured child of God, seeing what God sees and hearing what God hears, knowing that having God’s perspective, and speaking it out, will fulfill Jesus’ command to be salt and light in our communities. Jesus is no longer here in person but through His Spirit working in us and fuelling our divine opinions, we propagate the same issues that the people of Jerusalem faced when they heard Jesus speak out in His teachings and parables. We may end up with the same labels that Jesus had but that’s ok. We instead have the prospect before us of hearing our Master and Saviour say, “Well done”. There will be no better place to be.

Dear Lord Jesus, You elicited opinions from the people of Your day that didn’t give You justice. But You continued resolute to the Cross, to fulfil Your mission. We are so grateful that You did. Amen.

The Father’s Love

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
John 10:17-18 NLT

Jesus said that His father in Heaven loves Jesus, His Son, especially because He was willing to sacrifice His life. Jesus’ obedience in fulfilling His mission of saving the world was one that we see develop through the pages of the Gospels, starting from an animal’s feeding trough and ending on a Roman cross at a place called Calvary. Jesus never wavered from completing His mission. He remained steadfast right through to the end. Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy the following, “This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all” (1 Timothy 1:15). Isaiah, the prophet, looked down through the tunnel of time and could see the Messiah coming. About Jesus’ mission he wrote, “For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed” (Isaiah 50:7). Jesus’ primary role was “ … to seek and save those who are lost” (Luke 19:10), and His Father loved Him for His obedience for being willing to sacrifice His life to make it happen. 

It is interesting that Jesus also said that the sacrifice of His life was followed by His being able to “take it back again”. It was difficult enough for the people listening to Him to absorb and accept what Jesus was saying about laying down His life, but then to say that He would “take it back again” was beyond their understanding. But Jesus made the point that His death was His to control. Only He had the authority to lay down His life. No-one else could make that decision. The act of crucifixion normally left the poor unfortunate victim no choice in the way it was carried out and the consequence of a slow lingering and extremely painful death. But it was different with Jesus, because he had the power to avoid the cross altogether. He could even have removed Himself from the cross at any time. But He fulfilled His mission right to the end, even providing reassuring words to the adjacent criminal who, in His dying breaths, reached out to Jesus for forgiveness. Jesus was in total control of His life right to the end.

So to is no wonder that Father God loved His Son, because He did what He had been commanded to do. We will never fully understand that relationship between Jesus and his Father, but we see its consequence in our faith-filled, everyday lives. The same love that Father had for Jesus is also poured out on us, His children. 1 John 3:1, “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognise that we are God’s children because they don’t know him“. Ephesians 1:4-5, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure“. So we see God’s love and try and emulate it, in a humanly limited way, in our Christian lives. And in the process, perhaps those around us get a glimpse of the Father’s love.

Father God. We sing about Your amazing love, but it goes beyond a song. It started at Calvary and has poured out on all mankind ever since. We are so grateful. Amen.