As the Scriptures Said

Posted on by korgrocker

“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.”
1 Corinthians 15:3-5 NLT

“Christ died for our sins,
just as the Scriptures said”

Paul was a messenger who referred to Old Testament scriptures, the prophesies about Jesus, and also to fellow believers that Paul knew, people who had confirmed them. Isaiah wrote, “Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5). Jesus took the punishment for our sins that we deserved, “just as the Scriptures said“. The punishment for sins that Paul and those in the Corinthian church deserved. The same punishment that everyone who has ever lived deserves. “Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said”, wrote Paul. Why did Jesus take on the punishment that we deserved? 1 Peter 3:18, “Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit“. And we know from John 3:16 that God gave His Son that we might receive the gift of eternal life. So how is that going to work? No believer has ever returned from Heaven with a testimony that all their sins committed in this life were forgiven through their faith in Jesus, something that they would only find out when they reached the “Pearly Gates”. Of course, we have no measurable evidence available to us. But we know what Jesus said, and we believe, O how we believe! That is what faith in Jesus is all about. Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he had passed on to them some important things that had been passed on to him, and, although the Gospels were not available to him, Paul knew all about God’s grace and love, and, implicitly, the contents of John 3:16. As an aside, note that there are only two outcomes from this very well known verse – “perishing” or “eternal life”. In faith, we believers have made the right choice, but most in the world around us are defaulting to a place reserved for those who are “perishing”. So, Paul passed on to the Corinthians the Good News about Jesus, that He had “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”

Paul also wrote, “He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said”. There are several Old Testament prophetic Scriptures about this. We have Hosea 6:2, “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence”. The Book of Jonah also has a reference to the third day: Jonah 1:17, “Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights”. This was a Scripture Jesus referenced in Matthew 12:40. Paul, being a devout Jew before he met Jesus on the Damascus Road, would have known these Scriptures well. We pilgrims are familiar with the story of the empty tomb. Psalm 16:10 is taken as a prophetic reference to Jesus’ resurrection. “For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave”. Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 provide incredible details about Jesus’ death, and they include references to His life beyond it. The Old Testament is full of Scriptures about Jesus, because the central theme running through it is always about God, His love, His plan for the salvation of mankind, and the ultimate sacrifice of His Son, Jesus.

For us pilgrims, “just as the Scriptures said” is the bedrock of our faith. The Bible is a treasure trove of spiritual nuggets, and Paul described its worth in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realise what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work“. And so we pilgrims constantly read the Bible because it contains God’s Word to His children to keep them safe on their journey to be with Him in Paradise. We neglect the Scriptures at our peril.

Dear Father God. We thank You for the wonderful resource that You have provided for us. We pray that You open the Scriptures to us and reveal Your will and purposes today and every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

How Did Jesus Know?

Posted on by korgrocker

“So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.” And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.””
John 13:25-27 NLT

Jesus was, and still is, the Son of God, divine and human. Two thousand years ago He was sent to Israel with a plan for the redemption of mankind, following through every requirement to bring it into fruition, a successful conclusion. Jesus knew that His death and resurrection were the final part of the plan, and He spoke several times about it – Mark 8:31, “Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead“. But how much of the detail beforehand did Jesus know? Father God could of course see the end from the beginning, every twist and turn, every event, because He lives in eternity, a place without time. Imagine something like the Bayeux Tapestry, laid out before Him, but with every event portrayed in its minutest detail. Because of His humanity, Jesus would not have had such a view, and He regularly communicated with His father in prayer to obtain the guidance He needed, to make sure He stayed on track. Through the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, He retained that divine communication.

But Jesus was also human. We see from John 4:6 that He got tired, “Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.” About Jesus, Paul wrote, “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. … ” (Philippians 2:6-7a). So Jesus needed to eat and drink, sleep, and use the bathroom. Even as early as the age of twelve, Jesus had a sense of His mission, as we read from the account of Jesus in the Temple, “So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”” (Luke 2:48-49). 

So, did Jesus know beforehand about the woman at the Samaritan well? Or the fact that there would be five thousand men and their families to be fed? What about the other miraculous occasions? Did Jesus know about all these in advance? I don’t think He did, but He did know about the power through the Holy Spirit that He had within Him, and He was close enough in tune with His mission and His Father’s will to know what to do at the time. So, how did Jesus know it was Judas who would betray Him? In fact, how did He know that He would be betrayed at all? Judas was a pivotal factor in God’s redemptive plan, to the extent that he was prophesised about in Psalm 41:9, “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me“. At first sight, it would seem strange that Jesus gave a piece of bread soaked in the vinegary dip common at the Passover meal, to expose the man who would betray Him. But that was a very real part of the Psalm 41 prophecy. 

Jesus did know what was going to happen because He knew the Scriptures. Today, there are many problems both inside and outside the church caused by a lack of Bible knowledge and, consequently, a failure to put God’s commands into practice. But at a personal level, we find most of what we need to live in the Bible. It is a unique book. There in none other like it. As Peter said in John 6:68, “Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life“. There is nowhere else where we can find the words we need. Of course we pray to our Father in Heaven and trust in the Holy Spirit for power and guidance, but through the Word of God we have a foundation that underpins our lives on this planet and leads us to a life with God for ever.

Dear Father God. We thank You for Your Word, and the guidance it provides for our lives. Amen.

A Kind of Food

Posted on by korgrocker

“Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.” But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other.”
John 4:31-33 NLT

The disciples must have returned from their visit to Sychar with a supply of food, and they urged Jesus to eat some of it. But they were confused by Jesus’ response, with their minds still focussed on their bread and anything else they were able to acquire. Physical food was of course very necessary, even to Jesus in those days, so the disciples even wondered if someone else, perhaps even the Samaritan woman, had brought Him food while they were away. So, what was this “food” that Jesus had consumed?

It goes without saying that physical food is necessary to nourish our physical bodies, and spiritual food is necessary for our spiritual bodies. But most people in our societies major on the first, and neglect the second. They end up fat and bloated after overeating all the wrong types of physical foods, but their spirits are shrivelled up and in danger of dying from a lack of spiritual food. The death of their spirits can result in people suffering all kinds of physical and mental disease, with physical remedies being sought to fix a spiritual problem. 

When He was being tempted by the devil in the wilderness, Jesus replied on one occasion, “But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”” (Matthew 4:4, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3). So Jesus equated the physical food of bread with the spiritual food of the Word of God. In 1 Peter 2:2 we read, “Like new born babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment”. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:2, “I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready“. 

So the food Jesus received, while the disciples were away in the village of Sychar, was obtained through prayer with His Father in Heaven. He remembered the Scriptures in which He had been grounded in His early years. And He received all the sustenance He needed, and more, in preparation for what was to come when he met the people of Sychar. 

So, fellow pilgrims, how are our spirits today? Shrivelled and almost dead, or bursting with life and vigour? God said through the prophet Isaiah, “”Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food” (Isaiah 55:1-2). That invitation written down all those years ago is still valid today. In fact with our modern technologies, we have access to the Word of God far beyond what anyone could imagine in Isaiah’s day. Let’s not waste the opportunity to feed our spirits, our very souls.

Dear Father God. You fed Your people physical food in the wilderness and You still feed Your people with spiritual food today. We are so grateful. Amen.