Different Bodies

Posted on by korgrocker

“It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.”
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 NLT

I’m always fascinated by the life cycle of a moth. There are four stages: an egg, a caterpillar, a pupa, and then the adult moth, which lays more eggs, and the process continues. But the fascination to me is that the caterpillar eventually forms a cocoon, where it metamorphoses into an adult moth. But we are all aware that the caterpillar looks nothing like the final moth, an insect that, for some species, is really beautiful with the colours and design of its wings. Within the caterpillar is everything required to produce the moth, DNA and all, and the transformation that takes place is nothing short of a miracle, designed and created by our amazing God.

When human beings are conceived, another miracle takes place. The unique fusion of a male and female cell provides everything required for the birth and growth of the resulting human being. But within each human being, as well as the physical or material part of the body, there is an immaterial part we call a soul or spirit (some maintain we have both). A surgeon’s knife will never find the spirit within a person because it is not a physical entity. Such a division between body and spirit is described several times within the Bible, with scriptures such as Ecclesiastes 12:7, explaining what happens after death: “For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it”. We also have the reference to the cutting-edge nature of God’s Word, as in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires“.

In Genesis 2, we read about how Adam was created, “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person” (Genesis 2:7). What is the “breath of life” other than God putting within us something unique to humans, which is God’s spirit? In the Genesis account, we find no reference to a similar spiritual content being placed in the animals God created. 

So we have a physical body, containing all the body parts that a surgeon can find, and a spiritual part, which is our intellect, will, conscience, mind, emotions, etc. But here’s the thing. Our spirits never die; they live on forever. The Apostle Paul came to a point in his life when he faced the very real prospect of his death. There he was, chained to two Roman soldiers in a prison, and he wrote, “I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live” (Philippians 1:23-24). Paul had no doubts at all about the eternal nature of his spirit. 

So in our verses today, Paul points out that we have a physical body and a spiritual body, and the latter continues eternally, in glory and strength. Of course, we look after our physical bodies, with food and drink supplying all that our bodies require. We wear clothes to keep us warm. A vast industry has developed to heal any of the body’s ailments, and hardly a day goes past without some new discovery of a drug, a new piece of equipment, or a procedure that can fix a physical body’s problems. But inevitably, there comes a day when our physical bodies can no longer sustain life, and we die. However, our spirits continue to live, living in a way that depends greatly on how we looked after them while they resided within our physical bodies. 

Do we feed our spirits? Most people are aware of their spiritual side and do much to please it in various ways. When distressed, people engage in visits to counsellors, or undertake some “retail therapy” or consume a quantity of alcohol or drugs, in the hope and expectation that they can do something about the hunger pains in their spirits. The spiritual state they are aiming for is a “high” that permeates through their physical bodies, bringing feelings of well-being. We refer to this state as “happiness”.

“Give us this day our daily bread”

But Christians are aware that their spirits need to be fed in the way that God intended, using the “food” that He has supplied. Following their new spiritual birth, a believer must feed their spirit so that it may grow. 1 Peter 2:2-3, “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness“. But it is no good heading for a supermarket for a bottle of “pure spiritual milk“. We have to look to God Himself, because He is the only Source of the spirit-food that we need. Just as He supplied food called manna to the Israelite slaves in the wilderness, a food so complete that it contained every element and vitamin necessary to sustain human life, God also supplies the food necessary to maintain our spirits. Where will we find it? In His Word and in His company, spending time with Him through prayer and meditation. Like many things about God’s Kingdom, there is no instant solution.

Dear Father God. We pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”, and testify to Your goodness in supplying all that we need, body, soul, and spirit. Thank You. Amen.

The Ephesians Beasts

Posted on by korgrocker

“For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, that I face death daily. This is as certain as my pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done in you. And what value was there in fighting wild beasts—those people of Ephesus—if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!” Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.””
1 Corinthians 15:31-33 NLT

It appears that the early believers in Ephesus were having a difficult time. The Romans loved their “games,” where gladiators fought each other, often to death, and unfortunate people were set against wild animals such as lions for the entertainment of the crowd. So when this movement of Christ-followers emerged, they became candidates for the lions unless they recanted their faith and denied Christ. But looking closer at 1 Corinthians 15:32, it seems Paul was referring to having to fight the wild beasts, who were the people of Ephesus. He wasn’t, as far as we can tell, a violent man, so to what was he referring?

“The name of the Lord Jesus
was greatly honoured“.

As a background, Paul found himself in Ephesus on his Third Missionary Journey. We read in Acts 19:8, “Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God”. At first, he had great success: “This went on for the next two years, so that people throughout the province of Asia—both Jews and Greeks—heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10). After the “Seven Sons of Sceva” episode, we read, “The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus, to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honoured. Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices” … “So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect” (Acts 19:17-18, 20). 

But all was not well in the Ephesian silversmith industry. A businessman called Demetrius had a good business going, manufacturing images and shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. We are told that he “kept many craftsmen busy”. A riot broke out when the silversmiths objected to Paul’s preaching, claiming it was damaging their livelihood. We can read all about it in Acts 19. On this occasion, Paul was prevented from getting involved by the Ephesian believers, but the raw hatred and religious fervour could have spilt over into violence against Paul. There was also a possibility that Paul’s “wild beasts” referred to the demonic influences in Ephesus, with the Seven Sons of Sceva’s attempt to cast out a demon indicating the demonic stronghold present in that city. 

Paul’s reference to “fighting wild beasts—those people of Ephesus” was perhaps referring to his experiences there. The riot in Ephesus would have been a frightening experience, and at such times, men behave as “wild beasts”, out of control and capable of violence. But if we have difficulty understanding the silversmith’s anger and reaction, think about the UK Miners’ Strike in 1984, where there were scenes of violence directed against the police and the government. If the Prime Minister of the day, Margaret Thatcher, had personally tried to reason with the miners, she would have been just as vulnerable as Paul would have been, had he found himself before the braying mob of Ephesian beasts.

Paul pointed out to the Corinthian believers that there was no value in fighting the “wild beasts”, regardless of what they were, if there was no resurrection from the dead. Why should I have faced into such danger for no benefit, Paul argued? In fact, to make his point to those who believed there was no resurrection, Paul went on to say that the people might just as well make the best of their lives on earth. He quoted from Isaiah 22:13, “But instead, you dance and play; you slaughter cattle and kill sheep. You feast on meat and drink wine. You say, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”” 

The same logic applies to believers today. If there is nothing to look forward to after death, then why bother with having faith in a lie? If, when we die, there’s just blackness and a realm of nothingness, we might as well live life to the max, complete with every sin imaginable. But because of Jesus, and our faith in Him, we, like Paul, have a different future from those around us who don’t believe there will be something better over the terminal horizon. Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am” (John 14:1-3). A few verses on in John 14, Jesus also said, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”. 

We pilgrims have much to look forward to. A life to come that is worth fighting for. A life that will be in God’s presence in a place Jesus called Paradise. So we keep short accounts with God as we persevere in our journeys to glory. We follow the Master in obedience, doing His work as He has ordained. The enemy, the devil, and his minions will do their utmost to destroy us, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world” (1 John 4:4). We are equipped for the battles ahead, and we put on the spiritual armour of Ephesians 6 with the confidence and certainty that we are on the winning side.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Jesus. We thank You for all He did for us at Calvary, and for showing us the way to glory. Amen.

Risking Death

Posted on by korgrocker

“If the dead will not be raised, what point is there in people being baptised for those who are dead? Why do it unless the dead will someday rise again? And why should we ourselves risk our lives hour by hour? For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, that I face death daily. This is as certain as my pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done in you.”
1 Corinthians 15:29-31 NLT

There is no point, said Paul, to face into all the danger that being a Christian involved in those days, if there was to be no resurrection of the dead. Previously, in this chapter, in this his first letter to the Corinthians, he answered those in Corinth who were saying that there would be no resurrection of the dead. This was despite what Paul and his colleagues in ministry were teaching. And Paul made several points to them about what this would mean in practice. 

Jesus died and rose again
on the first Easter Sunday
morning

Firstly, he said, “For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either” (1 Corinthians 15:13). To deny that Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to so many witnesses was to do what some people do today. They were trying to rewrite history because it didn’t suit their particular worldview. We have those today who deny that the Holocaust actually took place, but just to deny that something ever happened doesn’t change the facts. Jesus died and rose again on the first Easter Sunday morning. Of course, we remember the Sadducees who were around between 200BC and about 70AD. They were a rich and powerful sect of mainly businessmen who denied that the dead would be raised, and they were also very prominent in the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. Paul knew that they believed that there was no resurrection and he used this to good effect when he was brought before the Sanhedrin. Acts 23:6, “Paul realised that some members of the high council were Sadducees and some were Pharisees, so he shouted, ‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee, as were my ancestors! And I am on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead!’” The Council was made up of Pharisees and Sadducees, and absolute mayhem resulted as they fought over their different beliefs about resurrection, to the extent that the local commander of the Roman forces had to send soldiers in to rescue Paul. 

Secondly, Paul made the simple statement, “And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:15). It would be a sad place for Paul, if he had made up all the stories and facts about Christ’s resurrection. To find out that he was lying would have been a terrible place for him to be in, and totally contrary to the purity of the Good News that he preached. 

Thirdly, Paul pointed out that “ … if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins”(1 Corinthians 15:17). The fact of Christ’s resurrection is a fundamental cornerstone of our faith. Without it we are just a deluded set of fantasists believing in fairy stories and heading for an unknown post-death fate.

Paul said, “I face death daily“.

Fourthly, and in connection with the last point, Paul said that “ … why should we ourselves risk our lives hour by hour? For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, that I face death daily. This is as certain as my pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done in you” (1 Corinthians 15:30-31). It would be hard enough to live out a life of denial, but to be so convinced by that lie, involving facing death, as he was doing, every day,  beggars belief. In the first century, many martyrs died for their faith, and Paul was well aware that he was in danger himself. 

We pilgrims, believers in the resurrection, will never experience the danger of death in response to our faith. But we are increasingly experiencing persecution through the passing of secular laws and through ridicule and exclusion in various places in our society. But we know that this would happen because Jesus Himself warned us about it. So we stand strong in our faith, believing in our salvation and in the One who made it all happen.

Dear Lord Jesus. You came to this world proclaiming the words of eternal life. We have nowhere else to go, and we pray for the strength to hold firm in this, our hostile, lost and evil world. In Your precious name. Amen.

Adam and Christ

Posted on by korgrocker

“So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.”
1 Corinthians 15:21-23 NLT

We know from the Genesis account that Adam and Eve were expected to live forever, sustained by the fruit from the Tree of Life located in the Garden of Eden. We can only imagine what this place was like, but it would have contained all the space, vegetation and animal life that we know and enjoy, and probably much more. The Garden of Eden was a biblical paradise created by God for the benefit of the human race that He had created. The Garden would have featured abundant, beautiful, and edible fruit from trees (including the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge), fresh water from a river, and harmonious animals, all existing in perfect peace, innocence, and provision before humanity’s disobedience led to expulsion and hardship. Genesis 3 tells us that after sin entered the world through Adam, a marked change happened as we read in Genesis 3:17-18, “And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains”. In other words, life for Adam was going to get very hard, and his previous idyllic existence was about to be replaced by sweat and toil.

“all creation [has been]
subjected to God’s curse“

We tend to restrict our thoughts to the impact sin has had on mankind, but what about everything else that God created? We read in Romans 8:20-22, “Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time”. It is a graphic thought that what we see around us is the world under a curse, restricted and unfulfilled in every way. So, we look at a lily or a kingfisher, a valley, lush and green, and a sunset vibrant with pinks, reds and yellows, and wonder, because this is the world under a curse. We wonder, if we allow our imaginations to do so, what our world would have been like without a curse restricting all that God originally intended. 

Paul wrote in Romans 5:12, “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned”. We are all sinners, and Paul agonised over this condition, as we read again in Romans, “I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me” (Romans 7:21, 23). If we pilgrims stop to think for a moment, we too can cry out Paul’s lament. But Paul didn’t finish with Romans 7:23. His next verse reads, “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? …”. 

“So now there is no
condemnation for those
who belong to Christ Jesus.
And because [we]
belong to him,
the power of the
life-giving Spirit has
freed [us] from the power
of sin that leads to death.”
Romans 8:1-2

We thank God for Jesus. All the damage caused by sin in the hearts and minds of human beings was at last redeemed by God Himself, through His Son, Jesus. That is, if we turn to Him, away from our sin in an act of our will and in true repentance, and believe in Him for our salvation. There is no other way to escape the curse of Adam’s sin. And all around us, the consequences of that sin are expressed in the groaning of the world. The misery, the wars, the famines, the hate, the evil, the list is endless. And all because of sin, bringing a curse to our world. But Jesus redeemed us when He came to the world He created. Romans 5 again, “Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:18-19). 

“Thank God! The answer
is in Jesus Christ our Lord“

But we can’t just leave things there. If Jesus had just died on that cross, finally ending His visit to earth, then we would have no future as His followers. We would suffer the same fate and would be left mouldering in a grave somewhere. But as we know, Jesus only borrowed that tomb for a few hours. That first Easter Sunday, He rose from the dead, and appeared before many witnesses. Think about the impact of that. Quotation from Max Lucado in his book “Fearless”. “If one person claimed a post-cross encounter with Christ, disregard it. If a dozen people offered depositions, chalk it up to mob hysteria. But fifty people? A hundred? Three hundred? When one testimony expands to hundreds, disbelief becomes belief. Paul knew, not handfuls, but hundreds of eyewitnesses. Peter. James. John. The followers, the gathering of five hundred disciples, and Paul himself. They saw Jesus. They saw him physically. They saw him factually. They didn’t see a phantom or experience a sentiment”. He continued, “Jesus experienced a physical and factual resurrection. And—here it is—because he did, we will too! “Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back” (1 Cor. 15:23).

Through Jesus, God has given everyone a choice. We can continue in Adam’s sin, or we can embrace the Good News about the Resurrection of Jesus. He has provided a way to escape the consequences of sin because He is the Way. And there is no other way.

Dear God. Thank You for Jesus, and all that He has done for us. Amen.

A Great Harvest

Posted on by korgrocker

“But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.”
1 Corinthians 15:20 NLT

I don’t think there is anyone who doesn’t understand what a harvest is. Even we city dwellers occasionally travel outside our confines and venture into a strange place without houses and the other signs of urban life. Great swathes of concrete and tarmac blight our city neighbourhoods. Neon signs and street lamps provide illumination. Motor vehicles abound, transporting people around, creating an impression of busyness and movement. Supermarkets peddle well-packaged fresh food that, in many cases, has been altered or displayed in ways that hide its origins. For those picking up a net of oranges, would they know how it was grown? Or would a shopper who placed a sliced loaf, packaged in plastic film, in their trolley, understand what was in it, and where it came from? But taking a journey outside our urban limits will expose fields covered with all sorts of crops. Cereals such as wheat, barley or oats. Greenery such as cabbage or broccoli. In other countries, vines burdened with clusters of grapes or trees covered with oranges or apples can be found. And in it all, we look on, wondering how such products of God’s glorious provision ever get to our mouths. But we mustn’t forget the source of essential proteins originating in the animals we eat. Beef, pork and chicken products are commonly found on our supermarket shelves or in our butchers’ shops, but these animals can be found not far from our city limits. I remember some years ago a foster boy aged about four, who we had just collected from a social work office in Glasgow.  The poor lad was confused enough with the journey to his new home, but in the rolling fields in the West of Fife, he spotted a herd of cows and asked what they were—such a shame for a neglected child deprived of the basics of a life we take for granted. 

“[Christ] is the first of a great harvest“

Paul wrote that Christ was the “first of a great harvest of all who have died”, because He was resurrected from the dead after a short time spent in a tomb. Usually, such graves are permanent places of residence for a human body, but not so for Jesus. He just needed to borrow it for a while. He spectacularly vacated that tomb, as recorded in the Gospels. The practical details we read are authentic and detailed. In his Gospel, Mark records that some prominent women purchased spices to anoint Jesus’ body, but as they journeyed to the tomb, they were worried about how they could roll the stone away from the entrance. Imagine their surprise when they found that it had already been moved away, and “When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked” (Mark 16:5). This young man (who must have been an angel) then said “ … Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body”. Reading on, we find that the women fled the tomb, scared witless. In Matthew’s account, we read about a great earthquake, an angel rolling aside the stone, and then sitting on it. The Roman soldiers fainted with fear and were bribed to tell lies about what had happened. All wonderful details of that day when Jesus was raised from the dead, the “first of a great harvest of all who have died”. The detail of an angel rolling away a heavy stone and then sitting on it never fails to amuse me.

Predicting His death and resurrection, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives” (John 12:24). Jesus died on that Calvary cross, taking on Himself the sins of mankind, past, present and future, but without the resurrection His death would have been pointless. Jesus died so that we would be forgiven, but He was raised to life, demonstrating that all who believe in Him would also be resurrected, just as He was. Eternal life awaits those who faithfully follow Jesus day by day in this life here on Planet Earth. 

Father God. We will never really get our minds around the perfection of Your plan for the salvation of mankind. We thank You for Jesus, the first of the resurrected ones, and we look forward to the day when we will join with Him in our Heavenly home. Thank You. Amen.  

Resurrection

Posted on by korgrocker

“But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.”
1 Corinthians 15:12-14 NLT

What was going on in Corinth! Apparently, some believers there were a bit wobbly in their thinking about what happens after they die. This was despite the Apostle’s teaching about Jesus and His resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15:4-6, and about Jesus, Paul wrote, “He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died”. With all those witnesses and the preaching of men like Paul, why were some of the believers in Corinth saying there is no resurrection of the dead? 

In common with our Western societies today, in Greece two thousand years ago, many believed that after death there was either blackness, a state of nothingness, or, once free from a physical body, a person’s spirit could roam as it pleased. In both cases, the prevailing Greco-Roman thought was that life in a human body was to be lived to the max, because whatever followed was unimportant, even if a post-death experience was real. 

Today, humanists and atheists hold similar views. They primarily see death as the end of individual existence, focusing instead on making the most of life in the present and leaving a legacy through one’s impact on others and the world. Some non-religious individuals may hold beliefs in a form of afterlife, such as reincarnation or the continuation of consciousness, sometimes based on personal experiences like near-death experiences, but these are not core tenets of humanism or atheism. Quite sad, really, because they live a life without hope, and as the end draws nigh, fear and regrets start to prevail, and they finally die, broken and lost. It begs the question about what life means to a humanist or an atheist. A secular view of the purpose of life is that meaning isn’t preordained but is created by individuals, who focus on human values, and relationships, and flourishing in this life rather than an afterlife. They emphasise compassion, justice, knowledge, and making a positive impact on the world and others. Noble thoughts, but there is so much more. In their lives now, I think it is so sad that an atheist can look at the landscape before them, or a beautiful sunset, and yet have no One to thank for the experience. And it will be a nasty shock to such people when they find themselves, in their resurrected bodies, by the way, standing before Jesus, sitting in judgment on the Great White Throne we find in Revelation 20.

Jesus said,
“I am the resurrection
and the life”

But believers in Jesus, those we call Christians, know differently. Don’t we? Two Christian creeds were developed in the first centuries AD, the Apostles‘ Creed and the Nicene Creed, and they both reference the facts that Jesus rose from the dead and that our bodies will be resurrected. The last paragraph of the Apostles’ Creed reads, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting”. This is a statement founded on Scripture and an indisputable part of a Christian’s beliefs. 

To Martha, the sister of Jesus, He said, “ …I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying” (John 11:25). Romans 6:4-5, “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was”. It is fundamental to Christians, us pilgrims, that we believe we will one day rise from the dead. Resurrection is real, folks, because of Jesus.

Dear Lord God. Thank You for Your Son Jesus and all He did for us during His life here on Planet Earth. We follow Him gladly, trusting in Him for our future resurrection. Amen.

Rabboni

Posted on by korgrocker

“She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).”
John 20:14-16 NLT

Mary Magdalene had just received a vision of two angels in the empty tomb, seen through her tears of grief, and she was now turning away to leave, broken-hearted. But she then became aware that there was someone standing there. The person asked her why she was crying and who she was looking for. Perhaps at this point she thought there was something familiar about the person she saw, but her first impression was that she was conversing with the gardener, who was looking after the cemetery where the empty tomb was situated. She thought that perhaps it was he who could have removed the body of Jesus, so Mary asked where He was now so that she could make other arrangements for His burial. But there was then a pivotal moment in Mary’s life. The person before her knew her name and spoke it out. And all of a sudden, Mary turned to the Person before her and called out “Rabboni”, which we are told means “Teacher”. She recognised it was Jesus standing before her. But why refer to Him as Teacher? It explains much about their relationship, because she could have used His name, or Master, or Lord. The word “Rabboni” signified respect and her close friendship with Jesus, and could even have raised her expectations that Jesus had returned from the dead, as He said He would, to continue His ministry. 

That moment on the first Easter Sunday morning brought a message of hope, not only to Mary, but to the disciples and for anyone reading this Biblical account over the years since it was written by John. There were many ways in which Jesus could have used Mary’s name. Harshly, unfeelingly, or even dismissively, but I’m sure that when Jesus used her name, Mary felt waves of love and acceptance wash over her. Had Jesus spoken her name before? He must have done because in Luke 8:2 we read, “along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons“. Mary had been a follower of Jesus for some time, grateful for her release from demonic influences, and she knew Him as her Teacher and friend. 

There were several times when Jesus called someone by their name. Worthy of note is the time when Jesus called the dead Lazarus, now resurrected, from the grave. The account is in John 11, but in verse 43 we read, “Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”” But before Mary on the Easter Sunday morning it was the resurrected Jesus who was calling out another name.

Our names are important to God. We get a glimpse of God’s love for us from Isaiah 49:14-16, “Yet Jerusalem says, “The Lord has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us.” “Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins“. In Hebrews 13:5b we read, “ … I will never fail you. I will never abandon you”. We pilgrims are truly favoured children of God and He knows our names. And sometimes in a moment of quiet, He whispers them so that we can receive the assurance that He is still there and is still with us. One day each of us will receive a new name that will only be known to Jesus and to us. Revelation 2:17b, “ …  And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it“. 

Dear fellow pilgrims, our names are important to both us and to God. There was no special relationship between Jesus and Mary, exclusive just to them. Jesus knows our names too because we matter to Him. He loves us and will never abandon us. Ever.

Father God. We can only pray prayers of thanks and worship today, saying that we love You Lord, and we always will. Thank You. Amen.

The Graveyard Dead

Posted on by korgrocker

“And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man. Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment.”
John 5:27-29 NLT

Some ominous words from Jesus. To the Jewish leaders, He said that He had life-giving power and because of that, all those who had died and were in their graves, no matter where they were, would hear His voice. And the result was that they would rise again. I expect the Jewish leaders were seriously looking for a way out of this conversation and were probably regretting that they had bothered to pick Him up for a minor misdemeanour about telling someone, who Jesus had just healed, to pick up His bed and walk. 

Do we take what Jesus said literally? I think we can because He Himself was dead in a grave, and was resurrected. Lazarus, His friend, was dead in his grave and had been there for four days, and Jesus, through His “life-giving power” raised him from the dead. In His own case, Jesus’ resurrected body was superficially just like His old one, but it also had special supernatural powers enabling Him to walk through walls, amongst other things. And then there was that day when He ascended into Heaven. The Apostle John recorded at the end of his Gospel, “This disciple is the one who testifies to these events and has recorded them here. And we know that his account of these things is accurate. Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written”. All the accounts about Jesus post-resurrection, and recorded in the Bible, actually happened before reliable witnesses, so we can therefore, I believe, take what Jesus said to the Jewish leaders in a literal way. 

So, to all those people who believe that when we die we will experience a transition into nothing – people who are referred to as Annihilationists – are in for a nasty shock if what Jesus said is true. These people believe that there is no after life, with their consciousnesses being extinguished, and their physical bodies eventually returning to the elements from which they were formed. However, such a belief is not supported by Scripture, and Jesus warned people repeatedly that they will eventually be held to account for their sins. God had the power to raise His Son from the dead, and that same power will one day raise everyone from the dead too. Jesus said, “Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment”. The “good” Jesus referred to wasn’t good works – doing things for others that could be defined as being “good” – but the good of believing in Him. Ephesians 2:8-9, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it”. 

When we die, our spirits go to a place of waiting. We know from Scriptures that those who die as believers will go to a place called Paradise (read what Jesus said to the repentant criminal on the cross next to His), or a place of torment (read Jesus’ account of the Rich Man and Lazarus). And then one day everyone who has ever lived will receive a resurrected body. Acts 24:15, “I have the same hope in God that these men have, that he will raise both the righteous and the unrighteous”. After which, there is to be a time of judgement. Revelation 20:13, “The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds”. Jesus very clearly told the Jewish leaders what the results of His judgement would be.

Jesus, the Son of God, came to this world as God’s plan for dealing with evil and sin, and human beings have a choice before them. They either believe in Jesus and receive God’s forgiveness, or they don’t. The outcome of the choice made was made very clear by Jesus in His conversation with the Jewish leaders.

But in the meantime, and while there is still time, we pilgrims have the opportunity to tell people about God’s love and grace, and His plan for their salvation. Surely we owe it to our friends and families and anyone else we come in contact with?

Dear Father God. Please go before us and prepare the way for the conversations You wish us to have with people who need to hear about You. Open their ears, we pray, and help us to say the right words. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Three Things

Posted on by korgrocker

“One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath,”
John 5:5-9 NLT

I wonder what that man did every day, just lying there by the pool? Was his mind in neutral, in a living but comatose state? Or had he made friends with those around him, conversing with them every day? But without any meaningful stimulation, what was his mental state? And who fed him and tended to his personal needs? But the man at the Pool was obviously mentally alert and open to the possibility that he could be healed if he could only get to the water in time. What a tragedy – thirty eight years wasted. 

Jesus asked the man, “Would you like to get well?”, but the man’s response was one describing the practical difficulties caused by his disability. Imagine his limited efforts to crawl or squirm his way to the pool edge to reach the bubbling water before anyone else could get there. Imagine his despair when, once again, someone got there before him. Imagine the constant strain of having to look for the tell-tale stirring of the waters. But along comes the Saviour, compassionate and caring, with three instructions that transformed the man’s life. “Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”” 

There is so much to see behind these words. It wasn’t just the physical healing that made a difference. Once again we see that it is the whole person that Jesus heals. The man’s legs and other parts of his body suddenly had all the muscles, flesh, nerve tissues, and bones restored to them. He would have felt the new surge of energy and the lack of pain, but there was still his mental state that needed to be healed. After thirty eight years his mind would have needed time to adjust to the new situation. But we are told in John’s account that the man was instantly healed. And in accordance with Jesus’ instructions he stood up, rolled up his sleeping mat and started to walk.

People even today sometimes get caught in a rut. It needn’t be a physical disability, like the man at the Pool. It could be one of self pity, or feelings of helplessness through a relationship that has gone sour, or a job that has become full of drudgery or hardship. But Jesus has the words we need to enable us to stand up and move on. He always has a way for us to follow, to get us out of a situation. He always has the words we need to hear in times of stress and anxiety. These words may be difficult to hear and our response may well be one of fear, but through faith we know that God can heal us just as well as He healed the man at the Pool. 

In Romans 8:11, Paul wrote, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you“. We pilgrims, have the Holy Spirit living within us, giving us life and all the resources we need. After all, if the Holy Spirit was powerful enough to raise Jesus from the dead, He will have no problems with whatever ails us. So in faith we bring our problem to the Saviour and respond in obedience to whatever He tells us to do. 

Dear Father God. Thank Your for Your Son, Jesus, who came to this world for our benefit, for our salvation. Your grace and love is endless. Thank You. Amen.

The Resurrection

Posted on by korgrocker

“So he went and preached to the spirits in prison— those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood. And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 3:19-21 NLT

To a Christian, the “resurrection of Jesus Christ” must be another of the most significant events in human history. Of course, many will dispute this, but in the context of eternity, few could argue otherwise. It is the foundation stone, the Cornerstone even, to the believer’s faith. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:13-14, “For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless”. Without the resurrection our “faith is useless”. 

Nearly two thousand years ago, Jesus, the Son of God, was crucified. A man innocent of any crime except that He dared to challenge the spiritual authority of the Jewish leaders. John wrote, “He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him” (John 1:10-11). It is astonishing that His life ended up in the way it did. But this was all part of God’s plan. He looked down from eternity at the world’s events and selected a time when His plan would come to fruition. Paul wrote in Romans 5:6, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners”.

So why is the resurrection so important to the faith of a believer? This act of God demonstrates that He is capable of raising a dead person, and not only that, giving Him a resurrected body with special powers. Because of that we can have confidence that through our faith in Him, we too will have a resurrected body one day. God’s power over life and death is absolute.

We should note that the evidence for the resurrection of Christ is indisputable. Paul wrote, “I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). There have been reports of sceptical lawyers who have examined the evidence for the death and resurrection of Jesus, and have concluded that there is sufficient proof to stand in a court of law. 

Jesus knew what would happen to Him. He said to Martha just after Lazarus had died, “ … I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying” (John 11:25). Because we pilgrims believe in Him we too will live with Him after we die. The Apostle John wrote about the significance of Christ’s life. “And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12).‭‭ Paul wrote that death has been conquered and the new bodies we will one day receive will never die. “Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).

‭‭We pilgrims are a favoured and God-valued people. We have stumbled on a priceless treasure, one without limit. One that can extend to all. Why won’t unbelievers become believers, grasping this priceless offer with both hands? Probably because they take the short term view, valuing a sinful life over the consequences of believing in Jesus. The devil blinds their eyes and silences the inner whisper that leads them to Christ. But their intransigence won’t stop us reaching out to them anyway. Jesus died and rose again for everyone, not just us.

Dear Lord. We pray today for our loved ones, that they too will come to know Your wonderful love and grace. Please help them we pray. Amen.