Many Other Miracles

Posted on by korgrocker

“The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.”
John 20:30-31 NLT

The Gospel of John is drawing to a close. John is starting to wrap up his book, which had become a remarkable document of Holy-Spirit-inspired accounts written down by a fisherman called by Jesus from the side of a lake where he was mending some nets. He was perhaps reflecting on some other miracles, many in fact, that had happened but he hadn’t recorded them. He had done enough and he wrote down his account so that people would continue to believe that “Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God“. Mission accomplished. 

Have we pilgrims anything to write down? Some thoughts and experiences collected on the way through life, that now may be of value to a future generation? That was how I started writing blogs in 2017, going through the Bible to record my thoughts. They may or not be of value to others but they have certainly helped me to understand more about God from the Scriptures that have be combined in the wonderful and priceless book we know of as the Bible, and we remember that it is all inspired by the Holy Spirit working in people’s lives, the ordinary men and women who put pen to paper during times touched by God.

John finishes this chapter by writing, “by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name”.There is, of course, nothing significant about Jesus’ name on its own. It is not a magic word that will unlock mystical results, such as healings. We cannot delay death, for example, by the use of His name alone. The power comes from the Man behind the name, Jesus Himself. About Jesus, the writer to the Hebrews wrote, “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). When we call upon the name, Jesus, we call upon all that the name represents, undertaking a deep dive into the character of God Himself. 

There is an intriguing story in Acts 19 about seven sons of a Jewish priest called Sceva, who were using the name of Jesus to try and cast out demons. They were not believers, but nevertheless they used Jesus’ name in a vain attempt to emulate the Apostles works. We read in Acts 19:13b, “ …They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!”” And then in Acts 19:14-15 we read what happened, “But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered“. The result in the community was “the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honoured“. 

Perhaps we pilgrims are sometimes guilty of adding words like “in the name of Jesus …” to our prayers for the sick, but without really being in the zone of understanding about the implications. Do we wonder sometimes why our prayers are ineffective? We used to sing a song “There is power in the name of Jesus”, and, scripturally, that is correct but do we really believe that? Sometimes we omit faith and belief in Jesus from our lives and prayers.

Dear Lord Jesus. Please forgive us for the weakness of our faith and our failure to really believe in You. We confess that our faith muscles are sometimes weak or even non-existent. Please help us to know and understand more and more of the  power of Your name. Amen.

Jesus the Nazarene

Posted on by korgrocker

“As Jesus said “I Am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for?” And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.” “I told you that I Am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.””
John 18:6-8 NLT

In those days the name “Jesus” was relatively common, and there were others of that name mentioned in the Bible. There was one man called Barabbas, also called Jesus Barabbas in some manuscripts. We can read about him in Matthew 27:15-17, “Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd—anyone they wanted. This year there was a notorious prisoner, a man named [Jesus] Barabbas. As the crowds gathered before Pilate’s house that morning, he asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you— [Jesus] Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”” As an aside, can you imagine the relief that Barabbas felt, in prison having been part of a gang who had killed Roman soldiers, and expecting to be executed in the very near future, and to then be released, in the place of someone with the same name? Such is the saving power of Jesus Christ, bringing relief to sinners, who are otherwise under a eternal death sentence. There were other historical figures in those times with the name “Jesus” but who weren’t mentioned in the Bible. The name “Jesus” is a derivation of the name “Joshua” meaning “to deliver or to rescue”, or “salvation of God”. 

To differentiate between men with the same name, often the place where they lived was added for clarity, along with the name of their father. So Jesus became Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Joseph. Or Jesus the Nazarene. Matthew 2:23 reads, “So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”” Later Jesus was referred to “Jesus Christ” or “Christ Jesus”, adding the Greek name of Messiah, as written by Paul in Romans 1:4, “and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.” The name Jesus is not commonly used in English-speaking nations, but it is  more used in places where languages such as Spanish in spoken.

To us pilgrims, however, Jesus is not “Jesus of Nazareth”. He is our wonderful Saviour, the Name above all names. There is no other name by which man can be saved. 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”. In Acts 4 we can read the account of Peter and John, brought before the Sanhedrin for healing the lame man begging at the Beautiful Gate, healing that took place in the Name of Jesus. Acts 4: 7, 10, “They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?” … Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead“. Peter didn’t hold back. He clearly pointed out to the Jewish leaders what the power of the Name of Jesus was capable of, and added for good measure the facts of His death and resurrection. And he finished up by saying, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Dear Lord Jesus. Your Name is above all names. We sing it and believe it and worship You today. Amen.

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The Power of Jesus’ Name

Posted on by korgrocker

“Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.”
John 17:11-12 NLT

Charismatic and Pentecostal Christians used to sing a song, “There is power in the Name of Jesus”. Many of us pilgrims will remember it, even though it is not sung so much today. But the song lyrics put their finger on an important spiritual truth. Paul wrote, “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). The name of Jesus is so powerful that one day all people, all created beings, even those in the Heavenly places, even the devil and his minions, will bow their knees before Jesus, acknowledging the God-Man with the “name above all other names”. But that is all to come. In the here and now, we know Jesus as the Son of God with the Name that saves sinners. Peter, standing with John before the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish court, said, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

But how do we pilgrims know that the name of Jesus is so powerful. We watch the televangelists calling out the name of Jesus over the sick. Sometimes they get better but at other times they don’t. Jesus’ name is not some magical utterance that can cure all ills, as some might claim. In fact, some factions of the Christian church maintain that the power in His name died away with the first Apostles, though I must say this is not something I agree with. To believe so minimises and belittles our wonderful God, denying the fact that He is Omnipotent. Of course Jesus said and as recorded in John 14:13-14, “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!”

The secret in the power of Jesus’ name lies with the alignment of our requests with His will. And that is where our faith kicks in. A good place to start is to pray Scripture. Nothing that we request can be granted by God unless it aligns with what is written in His Word.

The disciples enjoyed Jesus’ physical protection while they were with Him but after He had gone, their souls were kept safe from the evil one. We pilgrims too know the power of Jesus’ name because it will keep our spirits safe until we land to be with Him in His Heavenly home.

Dear Father God. There is indeed power in Your name over all the dark deeds of the evil one. We are so grateful. Amen.


In Whose Name?

Posted on by korgrocker

“For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them. No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honour each other, but you don’t care about the honour that comes from the one who alone is God.”
John 5:43-44 NLT

Jesus came to this world with the highest mandate ever – God’s backing. Anyone with such authority has, by implication, all the resources of the Backer behind them. A diplomat sent overseas enjoys the respect and protection of the nation hosting them, because they are the representatives of the nation that sent them. So, in His conversation with the Jewish leaders, Jesus pointed out to them that He came in the name of His Father in Heaven, but rather than welcome Him and treat Him as they should and as the very Son of God deserves, they rejected Him. With all of God’s power behind Him, Jesus could have eliminated them at a stroke, but He continued to allow them to exercise their own free will, as God has ordained ever since the Creation and Fall. 

The attitude of the Jewish leaders was the same as most of their countrymen at that time. Just because God, or His representatives, and their ways and sayings, didn’t fit in with their human expectations, then they felt they must reject such people, or so they thought. But Jesus went on to say that, instead of honouring Him, the very Son of God, they welcomed people without a God-given mandate, people who came with nothing more than their own personal authority. And, worse, the Jewish leaders honoured such people.

When we honour someone, we acknowledge their value to society or to science, or some other worthy cause. And the same applies to how we treat God, only infinitely more so. Only He is worthy of all the glory, all the praise and all the accolades we can think of. So what was the Jewish leaders’ problem, that they failed to honour Jesus, the Son of God? Perhaps Jesus was telling them that by honouring the wrong people, they were placing a blockage in their ability to honour God Himself. One problem is that the leaders rejected Jesus because He didn’t conform to their Jewish ideology, even though it was founded originally on the Law of Moses. Over the centuries, the intent of the Law had been replaced by a set of rules and customs, so when Jesus came along, breathing the fresh air of the Spirit over the Holy Land, He was rejected. He preached a counter-cultural message about the Kingdom of God. But we read what He said in Matthew 5:17-20. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. … For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven“. The Jews had reached a stage where the intent of the Law had been replaced by a doctrine based on an outward display of conformance. But Jesus blew all that away. He preached a message stating that the only way to keep the Law was through believing in Him.

I’m writing this at the start of the Holy Week, and have been reminded once again about all that Jesus did for us, so that we can stand before God, sins forgiven and righteousness assured. The Jewish leaders knew all about the Law. But they lacked the ability to believe in Him because their hearts were hard and calloused, and they were unable to see God’s Son when He was standing before them. But they weren’t alone, and even today many shut their eyes, preventing them seeing Him, because they are bound up in lives of sin. In 1 Samuel 17:45 David said to Goliath, ” … You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied“. In whose name do we pilgrims go out to fight our battles against the sin and evil around us? There is only one Name, the Name above all names.

The Name of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, the Son of God, is all-powerful. Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father“. That is the power of the Name of Jesus. So, like David, we can go out and face and slay the giants before us. They may have all the weapons in the world but none of them are as powerful as the Name of Jesus. So, fellow pilgrim, what giants are we facing today? Problems or circumstances that seem insurmountable? An illness? Redundancy? Financial problems? Rather than face the giant, do we hide in a corner, hoping against hope, that the problem will go away? Or do we face into whatever is before us, commanding a solution in the Name of Jesus?

Dear Lord Jesus. We know that in Your Name, demons have to flee. We pray that whatever is before will bow the knee to You, the Name above all names. Amen.