Tagged: Messiah

Fighting Against God

The Jewish leaders are furious. They have arrested Jesus’ apostles and they are on the verge of putting them to death.

One of their members, Gamaliel, asks that the apostles be removed from the room so that he can speak privately with his colleagues. Then, he reminds them of two other recent, would-be revolutionaries and the way their movements dissipated.

“Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

Gamaliel persuades the rest of the Sanhedrin. They have the apostles beaten, and then release them.

            The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

Please Read Acts 5:12-42. Link to the passage: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%205:12-42&version=NIV

Pentecost: “What Does This Mean?”

Please Read Acts 2:1-41. Link to the passage: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202:1-41&version=NIV

“What does this mean?”

This is the question that both Jews and converts to Judaism ask on the day of Pentecost as Jesus’ followers are filled with the Holy Spirit and begin to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enables them.

So, Jesus’ disciple, Peter, stands up and helps the Jews in Jerusalem get their bearings within The Big Story.

He points back to their prophet, Joel, and he reminds them that God promised to “pour out [His] Spirit on all people.”

He points to their king and prophet, David. He reminds them of God’s promise that David’s throne would last forever, and he reminds them that David anticipated the resurrection of God’s Anointed One.

And, Peter points to Jesus; the one who is fulfilling God’s promises.

            “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.”

The Future of Israel

The motives of the Jewish leaders aren’t clear to me, but the leaders sound genuinely afraid of Jesus’ impact on their beleaguered nation.

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

The Jewish leaders arrest Jesus and conduct a midnight hearing. Their prisoner frustrates them with His silence during most of the proceedings until — suddenly — Jesus makes a stunning claim to authority that dwarfs their national interests.

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

The Jewish leaders recognize Jesus’ reference to, and His claim to fulfillment of, the words of their prophet Daniel:

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Now, will the Jewish leaders continue to grasp a kingdom that the Romans could take away?

Or, will they relinquish their grip on a kingdom that the Romans could take away to receive the King whose kingdom will never be destroyed?

Please Read Mark 14:53-65. Link to the passage: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2014:53-65&version=NIV

A Dark Spotlight

A dark spotlight shines on Jesus in three scenes.

    Scene 1:

Jesus knows that death has harmed the household of His friends Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. He decides to go to them, and He tells His disciples, “Lets’ go back to Judea.”

            “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short time ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

Yes. . . “let us go. . . .”

            Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

      ***

    Scene 2:

When Jesus arrives, Lazarus has already been in the tomb for four days.

Martha doesn’t understand, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Mary falls at Jesus’ feet. She doesn’t understand, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Jesus cries.

Some of the Jews don’t understand, “Could not He who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

      ***

    Scene 3:

The Jewish leaders, the Sanhedrin, have come to recognize Jesus as a powerful threat to their nation. They worry – until the high priest looks at Jesus in the dark spotlight, sees clearly, and speaks up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

      ***

Standing in the dark spotlight of death, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Please Read John 11. Link to the passage: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2011&version=NIV

Jesus’ Exodus

Please Read Luke 9:28-35. Link to the passage: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%209:28-35&version=NIV

Jesus has claimed to be the Messiah, sent from God. He has told His disciples that He will die and rise from the dead. And, He has told them that everyone who wants to be His disciple must “take up their cross and follow [Him].”

            About eight days after Jesus said this, He took Peter, John and James with Him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about His departure, which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.

They spoke about His departure. . . . The Greek word used for “departure” is “exodon.”

Exodus.

I wonder if a better translation, within The Big Story, would be, They spoke about His exodus. . . .

            . . .which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.

Jesus is about to lead an exodus, through death, at Jerusalem.

Jesus and The Death-to-Life Project

Northern Israel
ca. 29 AD

Talking with His disciples at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus confirms that He is “the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

From that time on, Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Unfathomable.

            “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” One of His disciples argues.

But, Jesus insists. He will carry The Death-to-Life Project forward, and the project will move directly through death.

What’s more, He expects His disciples to follow Him, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Directly through death.

Please Read Matthew 16:13-28. Link to the passage: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2016:13-28&version=NIV

Marginal Messiah

The place was, at least, uncomfortable.

A Jew, just outside a Samaritan town.

It appears that only Jesus and the woman were at the well, and that she expected to carry out her chore of drawing water quietly. She was surprised when He spoke to her.

When Jesus’ disciples returned, they also were surprised to see Him talking with the woman. The moment was, at least, uncomfortable. It appears that the disciples had plenty to say about the situation, but none of them said anything.

The woman left. But soon, she came back to the well with other people from her Samaritan town. They had a question.

            “Could this be the Messiah?”

For the next two days, Jesus stayed in an out-of-the way town among people with whom He did not belong. It appears that He spoke boldly and plainly, and the people received an answer to their question.

            “. . .we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

Please read John 4:1-42. Link to the passage: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%204:1-42&version=NIV

Why to Watch Jesus

Stories about Jesus’ healing power are spreading. The crowds around Him are getting big. And, He has “disciples” – followers.

Jesus’ popularity seems to be especially potent because of the way He meets people at their points of need, even desperation. Their expectations are building, and leaders in Israel perceive that Jesus is already becoming a religious and political force.

Whether you find this a little bit disturbing or a little bit hopeful, when Jesus sits down on a mountainside one day and begins to teach, it’s hard not to listen.

He doesn’t disappoint. His words are bold.

He calls for their allegiance:

            “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.”

Stunning. Is He justified in asking this of people?

And, Jesus presumes to have the highest authority in Israel:

            “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Leadership is one thing. Fulfillment is an entirely different category.

Whether you find Jesus a little bit disturbing or a little bit hopeful, please watch Him.

Please read Matthew 5:1-30. Link to the passage: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205:1-30&version=NIV

Introducing Jesus

Please read Matthew 3:1-12. Link to the passage: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%203:1-12&version=NIV

Just prior to Jesus’ birth, an angel appeared to Mary and introduced Jesus as one who would

  1. be given the throne of David.
  2. reign forever over a kingdom that would never end.
  3. be called the Son of God.

I’m intrigued by this introduction because

  1. I’m struck by God’s determination to keep His promises to David and to Israel – even though Israel looks like a 1500-year-old failed experiment.
  2. I don’t understand how this is possible.
  3. it reminds me of the way God claimed Israel as His firstborn son when He was about to bring Israel out of Egypt. What does it mean that God is claiming Jesus as His Son now?

An angel also appeared to Joseph and introduced Jesus as one who

  1. “is from the Holy Spirit.”
  2. “will save his people from their sins.”

I’m intrigued by this introduction because

  1. I believe the big problem in The Big Story occurred when human beings lost the breath of God, the Holy Spirit.
  2. sin has dominated human beings since that time.

Thirty years after Jesus’ birth, a man named John became prominent in Israel. People went to him to confess their sins and to be baptized by him in the Jordan River. But, John made it clear that the main reason he had come was to introduce Jesus.

            “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

What might this mean for dead humanity?

Neonatal Grit

Please read Luke 2:1-40. Link to the passage: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%202:1-40&version=NIV

Commotion at the birth of Jesus. . . . Like most babies, his mother worked hard to bring him into the world.

Then, a measure of peace. Relief. Mary held her son. And, after a while, she wrapped him in cloths and settled him into a manger.

Baby-size sighs in deep sleep.

What did the young mother do then? Did she need to get clean and warm? Did she cry, grateful that she and her baby had been delivered? Did she also sink deeply into sleep?

More commotion.

Shepherds interrupted the night; excited and probably a little too loud. They told a story about angels, and they repeated the angels’ announcement that the baby in the manger was a Savior.

            “. . .Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

A wonder-full night.

A few weeks later, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple for purification rites required by The Law of Moses. While they were there, an elderly gentleman named Simeon held Jesus in his arms. He praised God, but he also had pointed words for Jesus’ mother:

            “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”