JESUS DEMONSTRATED GOD'S LOVE -- Part One . . .Friday of the First Full Week of Lent

Today I had lunch with my good friend Jack who I have known since high school. We didn't see one another for 39 years. But when I was the chairperson of our Reunion Committee, someone forwarded him an e-mail from me about our 40th reunion and it had my phone number on it. He saw that we were living in the same area code and we reconnected. Not long after that he felt led to be baptized on his birthday, which was the Fourth of July, and I was delighted to be able to be there for that.

On the way home from lunch, I was thinking about how good it is to spend time with a friend I have known since I was young. We have friends, teachers, places and events in common. We both went to our 40th reunion and caught up folks we hadn't seen in 20-40 years. (I went to our 20th Reunion, but our 40th was the first one Jack had been to.) As I was driving back from lunch, I was also thinking about the friend I have in Jesus and how long I have known Him and how I know Him.

I was raised in the church by faith-filled parents who were also raised in the church. There is a saying that God doesn't have any grandchildren -- each one of us is a child of God and siblings of God's only begotten Son, Jesus. And one of the reasons that God became incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ/Messiah was to demonstrate God's love for people in a new way.

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob each had a personal relationship with the Creator who called them into a special relationship with Him. Even before their era, the Hebrew Bible chronicles the relationship between God and many people beginning with Adam and Eve. The narrations about these relationships between God and individuals; and between God and ethnic groups all help us to understand how God has interacted with individuals and groups of people. When we read the Bible we can understand a little about God, but we can't really know Him.

Second hand information is fine in its place, and we certainly can have faith because of what we learn, but that is not the same thing as knowing a person and having a relationship with him or her. We can't get to know God in Jesus Christ the same way we can know a family member or friend, but those who knew Jesus in person did know Him that way. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can come to know God in Christ, too.

This is a different kind of experience than that of a relationship with a friend, spouse or family member, but we when we come to know God personally we can find a wonderful and special relationship.

In John 13:34b-35, it is recorded that Jesus said, "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Those statements beg the questions, "What did Jesus mean when He told His disciples to love each other the way He loved them?" "How did Jesus love the people closest to Him?" and "How did Jesus demonstrate God's love?"

In the Gospels we find a lot of answers to these questions. When we first read about Jesus encountering His disciples, it is evident in some cases that Jesus has chosen them carefully. He has observed them, and knows about them. That is probably true for all of them, but we read about the original encounters that Jesus had with several of His disciples including Peter and his brother Andrew; James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee; Matthew, Philip and Nathanael.

As told in the Gospel of John 1:35-42, one example of Jesus’ discernment about the men He chose to be His disciples is the narration about Philip and Nathanael coming to be His disciples. The day after Jesus’ baptism, John the Baptist and two of his disciples see Jesus walking nearby. John the Baptist proclaims,” Behold the Lamb of God,” indicating to his disciples that he means Jesus, so the two disciples follow Him. One of these men was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

Then as related in (John 1:43-51), on the next day Jesus goes to the Galilee and encounters Philip from Bethsaida, which is also the hometown of Peter and Andrew. Jesus calls Philip to follow Him, and then Philip tells his friend Nathanael, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (John1:43-45) Nathanael is skeptical and answers, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip tells him to come and see. And when they are approaching him, Jesus declares about him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael wants to know what Jesus means by this comment, and Jesus tells him that he noticed Nathanael when he was speaking with Philip under a fig tree. Nathanael thinks that this is amazing, and says, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”(John 1:49) In reply Jesus asserts, Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”

This is all a bit preliminary to answering the questions I posed above:

"What did Jesus mean when He told His disciples to love each other the way He loved them?"

"How did Jesus love the people closest to Him?"

"How did Jesus demonstrate God's love?”

So, I will come back to the topic tomorrow. I wanted to start by writing about how Jesus met and got to know His disciples. As is obvious from John’s narration, Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip and Nathanael all followed Jesus because they believed that Jesus could be the Messiah. But this was only their introduction to Him. As time when on, as we have mentioned previously, the disciples were witnesses to the signs and wonders that Jesus performed in His ministry. But let’s look more at how Jesus demonstrated God’s love tomorrow, okay?

Meanwhile, Beloved, I hope you have a peaceful night’s sleep remembering, as ever, that angels guard your rest.

May the Lord continue to bless and keep you and yours.

JESUS WENT ALONE TO PRAY -- Thursday of the First Full Week of Lent

When we think about what Jesus did during his time of public ministry, we think about when He taught using parables, and when He healed and cast out demons. We know how He related to people that He knew and loved. We have looked at what He said when His disciples asked Him how to pray. When I wrote about the Lord's Prayer the other day, that opened my heart to what the Gospels say about Jesus' own prayer life. 

The first time we see Jesus going away to be by himself in prayer is right after John the Baptist baptizes Him. The Holy Spirit descends one Him and He hears the voice of His Father in Heaven tell Him that He is loved. Then the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness beyond the Jordan and He spends forty days fasting, praying, and being tempted by Satan.

Because of His time alone with the Lord, Jesus comes to be able to conquer the temptations. It is obvious that because of His time aside with God in the wilderness that He is able to know who He is as God's Son and has the strength to defeat the evil that comes against Him. Jesus needed the forty days of fasting and prayer in the wilderness in order to have the spiritual power to begin His ministry.

Then over and over, the scriptures record that Jesus goes off by himself to pray before the deeds of power that make it evident that He comes from God. For example --

* "And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed." Mark 1:35 (RSV)

"But he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed." Luke 5:16 (RSV)

"And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone," Matthew 14:23 (RSV)

Jesus goes off by Himself to pray many times (see this web page) including before He feeds the five thousand (Mark 6:30-44) , and before He walks on the Sea of Galilee to rejoin His disciples (Matthew 14:22-33), Sometimes the miracles are witnessed by the multitudes, and sometimes only the disciples are witnesses. Jesus revealed His power In order to fulfill the purposes of His life.

Beyond teaching the disciples how to pray, as we have observed previously, Jesus brought Peter, James and John with Him when He went up to pray and was transfigured while speaking with Moses and Elijah. That time aside with the Lord is revealed to us through the scriptures, but we also are given a view of Jesus in prayer at the most difficult time.

This is of course when Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night that He was betrayed after celebrating the Passover with His disciples in the Upper Room. Jesus' agony during His prayer time in the Garden of Gethsemane is described in detail. Jesus is so upset that Luke records that his skin oozed with blood. This is a detail that Luke the physician would understand. Under extreme stress, capillaries may burst and bleed through the sweat glands. We understand that Jesus is overwhelmed by the terrifying prospect of the treatment that He knows will befall Him if He submits to it.

Even though again, Jesus has asked Peter, James and John to accompany Him, He becomes distressed that they keep falling asleep instead of watching and praying with Him. Ultimately through, Jesus' agony is resolved when He makes the decision to do His Father's will. After that the guards from the Temple come to capture Him and His passion begins as the disciples flee from Him.

After praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, we see that Jesus has peace and strength throughout all the horrible things that happen to Him all that night long and through the middle of the next day when He gives up His earthly life on the Cross.

In thinking about the times the Jesus prayer, and how that strengthened him and help him to be able to for fill the purpose for which she came to earth, I have been blessed. As the author and psychologist Scott Peck wrote in the beginning of his book "The Road Less Taken," "Life is difficult." God came to be incarnate in Jesus so that we  would all know that He is not far off and removed from us. And Jesus demonstrated God's love and the signs of His divinity by the miracles, and acts healing and deliverance He performed. He also gave us a model of how to make it through the difficult times during our lives. He showed everyone who knew Him that prayer is essential.

And what joy we can experience when we take time aside with God in prayer and meditation! God is so good and so faithful! He has given us a way to be in communication with Him. Prayer can be used not only to get to know the Lord, but so, as it was for Jesus, that we can be strengthened in our spiritual walk. Through prayer and meditation we can come to know the purpose God has for us. We also can be open to the Holy Spirit as He guards us, guides us, and reveals Jesus Christ to us.

This is so wonderful!

As ever, Beloved, my prayer for you is that you will come to know God's love for you in deeper ways.  And I pray that you will be able to do this by beginning with prayer. 

May the Lord continue to bless and keep you and yours.

* "And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed." Mark 1:35 (RSV)

"But he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed." Luke 5:16 (RSV)

"And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone," Matthew 14:23 (RSV)

http://babyboomergospel.blogspot.com/2016/02/jesus-went-alone-to-pray-thursday-of.html

JESUS COULD NO LONGER OPENLY ENTER THE TOWNS* -- Wednesday of the First Full Week of Lent

As we continue to spend time with the Lord during Lent thinking about how it was for Him and those round Him as He turned His face toward Jerusalem, I have been thinking about how people started to become aware of Him and were drawn to Him as time went on. Each Gospel relates what happened when Jesus was baptized by John in the area of Bethany beyond the Jordan and then began His ministry. After John the Baptist baptized Jesus, He called His disciples to be with Him, and He began to teach in synagogues in and around the Galilee. As he became more and more well known, the religious leaders began to have problems with Him. One of the first of Jesus’ practices that they found objectionable had to do with Jesus’ activities on the Sabbath.

Those who objected to Him saw Him and His disciples eating grain they plucked on the Sabbath as they walked through some fields (Luke 6:1-5). When they were seen doing this, Jesus was accused of breaking the Law because they considered it work that they plucked the grain and rubbed it together in their hands to separate the kernals in order to eat it. His reply to His accusers was that when David and the men with him were hungry they entered the house of God and ate the bread that was set aside as holy and not to be consumed except in religious ceremonies. He also proclaimed to them that the Son of Man was the Lord of the Sabbath. Beyond their anger with Him that He had worked on the Sabbath, He could not have said anything that would have angered them more than the statement that implicated that He was claiming to be the Son of Man, the Messiah, as I have mentioned previously.

In that era it was normal for people to come to their synagogues seeking healing and wholeness when men who taught about the scriptures were there. The religious leaders and teachers of the Law considered the acts of healing and deliverance to be work. In Luke 6:6-11, right after the scripture about Jesus and His disciples picking and eating the grain on the Sabbath, it is related that a man with a withered hand comes to his synagogue to seek healing from Jesus. Knowing that those who are watching Him to trip Him up will be critical of this act of healing, Jesus asks them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” Then Jesus tells the man to stretch out his hand and He heals him.

In another passage about healing on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10-17), after Jesus has delivered a woman who has been crippled for seventeen years, the synagogue leader rebukes Jesus in this way -- “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.” And Jesus replied to him, But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?”

By this time, the narratives about Jesus’ conflicts with the Pharisees and the scribes start to make it clear that those who are against Jesus are dangerous enough to be called his enemies (Luke 13:17). And the people who were ministered to by Him and heard His teachings, and believed in Him were rejoicing. The accolades of the crowds became even more troublesome to the leaders. And this all contributed to why it was so dangerous for Jesus to be heading to Jerusalem for Passover that final time.

Jesus demonstrated God’s love to everyone who met Him and heard Him teach, and was healed and/or delivered by Him. When He taught about the Kingdom of Heaven through parables, He was describing what God is like and the differences between the way things work in Heaven compared to how human beings live when they do not know the Lord. One of the reasons that the religious leaders were so negative to Jesus was that they had made the laws that had been written down more important that acting out of God’s mercy, righteousness and love. Over and over people were cast out of society and marginalized instead of being welcomed and taken care of and nurtured.

The religious leaders considered Jesus their enemy because they believed their power was being threatened by Him. The Roman political leaders represented by the Procurator Pontius Pilate needed to keep the peace in the region that had become part of the Roman Empire in 63 B.C. By the time Jesus had become the threat that He was to the religious and political leadership He dealt with, His life had been threatened over and over.

Even before He was born, His mother could have been stoned to death for being pregnant before her wedding. After the Magi came to honor Him, the first King Herod tried to kill Jesus when he ordered all the baby boys two years old and younger who were born in Bethlehem to be killed. And Jesus was almost thrown off a cliff and killed in Nazareth when He came there to read the most important Messianic prophecy. On the day that the scripture we know as Isaiah 61 came up in the in the annual lectionary, Jesus announced to everyone there in the synagogue where he had grown up, that the scripture was fulfilled because He was the One about whom it was written. It was at that point that Jesus reminded the people of Nazareth that a prophet is not welcome in His home country. Only a few people there had faith enough in Him to receive healing.

As I have spent this time with the Lord reading, writing, praying, and meditating today I have seen more clearly what it must have been like for Jesus as He continued to do God’s will. Even though the multitudes revered Him and followed Him with adulation, the forces against Him were getting stronger and stronger. It must have been terrifying in many ways, and yet Jesus knew why He came to Earth. He knew that He was given the same free will that every other human being has been given. Therefore, when He decided it was time to turn His face to Jerusalem, it took a great deal of courage. I think that is very important to remember as we keep on accompanying Him on this journey during Lent.

May the Lord continue to bless and keep you and yours, Beloved. As ever, I am praying for you and hoping that you are open to God’s love and grace in Jesus Christ.

* Mark 1:29-45 (RSV)

Jesus Heals Many at Simon’s House

29 And immediately he left the synagogue, and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him of her. 31 And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her; and she served them.

32 That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together about the door. 34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

A Preaching Tour in Galilee

35 And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him pursued him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Every one is searching for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

40 And a leper came to him beseeching him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And he sternly charged him, and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to any one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.” 45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

THE LORD'S PRAYER--Tuesday of the First Full Week of Lent

In Matthew 6:7-15 this is how the Jesus told His disciples how to pray --

"Jesus said, 'When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

'Pray then in this way:

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And do not bring us to the time of trial,

but rescue us from the evil one.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.'"

This has, of course come to be known as the Lord's Prayer that we pray in worship services and privately. As members of the Body of Christ in the world, praying it connects us together and for each of us as individuals, praying it can be comforting and uplifting. Nevertheless, it is possible that because it is so familiar, that we might pray it without thinking about what it really means.

Because we pray it so often, we may not always remember what Jesus says before He tells His disciples what to pray. He admonishes them that they do not need to go on and on with many words in order to get through to God. He reminds them that God knows what we need before we even ask. And sometimes we might wonder why we need to pray at all if God knows what we need before we ask. But often we just try to do everything on our own and the Lord would rather that we count on Him for all we need. When we pray and trust God to help us, we are opening a channel to receive what God has for us.

And while it is important that we pray the words that are part of the scriptures, we can also look at the Lord's Prayer as a model for a way of praying. BY that I mean that when we pray, as Jesus taught, we see that the first part of the prayer is a recognition of who God is and the power that He has in heaven and on earth.

Next, in the prayer is the acknowledgement that it is God who gives us the sustenance to live, the food that we eat. After that comes the request that God will forgive our sins just as we forgive those who have sinned against us.

Finally, when we pray as Jesus taught s, we ask that we will not be tempted to sin and that the Lord will deliver us from the evil one. In each part of the prayer it is not so much that we are asking the Lord for something that He may or may not do for us. Each phrase is really an acknowledgement of what the Lord is always ready and willing to do for us, but because of the free will that god has granted to all human beings, we need to ask in order to receive.

The way the prayer sounds to us sometimes, it may seem like we have to beg God to do all that we are asking in it. But that is no the case. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray using that format to make clear to them what God wants us all to know and understand about who God is and what He wants to do for us.

When we do not have an active prayer and meditation life, we miss out on so much. The Lord wants more than just a formula prayer and prayer when we are desperate or in trouble. God loves each one of us so much, and He wants us to be able to open our hearts to hear the loving assurances that He has for us. So we can begin our prayer lives with the Lord's Prayer and prayers based on its model. But after that the most important thing is to spend time listening with our hearts and receiving the peace that God has for us no matter what is happening in our lives.

As we get to know the Lord better and understand that every good gift and provision in our lives comes from Him, we are able to praise Him and thank Him with hearts full of love and joy.

More than anything else, the Lord wants you to trust Him and be open to Him so that you can live in loving relationship with Him. That relationship begins with prayer, and we are blessed that when Jesus' disciples asked Him how to pray, that He taught them and they passed it on. Nevertheless, they had the advantage over us of living with him day by day and knowing Him personally.

All that was written down in the Gospels cannot really disclose completely what that was like. But even though we could not have been there at that time, we are blessed that the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us. And because of that we, too, can live with the Lord day by day and get to know Him. We can be aware that He is by our sides and in our hearts all the time. We can count on Him no matter what is happening, and as we get to know Him, He reveals Himself more and more.

As ever, Beloved, you know that my hope for you is that you will allow the Lord to reveal Himself to you so that you will come to know how much He loves you and how He will always take care of you and provide for you.

I praise Him and thank Him for all He is and for all the ways He loves us, and I ask Him to continue to bless and keep you and all those you love.

JESUS AND THE LEAST OF THESE -- Monday of the First Full Week of Lent

In the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew  25:31-46), Jesus makes some startling statements about the activities of people who belong to the sheep nations and the people who belong to the goat nations. Jesus says that at the Last Judgement, the Son of Man (another name for the Messiah, the Son of God) how those who are naked, starving, oppressed or imprisoned—the least of these whom He calls His brethren—are being treated is what counts. Jesus says that the Son of Man will judge out of His identification with people who are in need or oppressed as if what has happened to them has happened to Him. 

This level of caring and identification reminds me of what God says to Moses when Moses encounters the Lord at the burning bush as told in the third chapter Exodus.  In that passage, after introducing Himself to Moses, the Lord explains, “I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings . . . ” (Exodus 3:7) The verbs in Hebrew in this statement indicate that God is very attentive to the conditions that his people underwent as slaves in Egypt.  Not only does He see what is happening, not only is He attentive to their cries of pain and grief, but in addition He KNOWS their sufferings.  The Hebrew verb that is translated into English as “knows” in this case is the same word that is used concerning the way a husband and wife know one another.  It means more than just understanding something or someone—it means the kind of identification because of loving someone and caring deeply about them.

In the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Jesus is talking about the same level of love and care that God expresses to Moses in the third chapter of Exodus, but there is a difference because of the incarnation.  I believe that when the Living God, the Almighty Creator of the Universe, the infinite, all-knowing divinity, the true and only God, became incarnate as the human being Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ (the Messiah), God came to know and understand human beings in a unique way.  There is a difference between the understanding intrinsic in knowing something—even as the omniscient and omnipresent God knows—and understanding and identification because of first hand experience. Because of God’s incarnation we don’t have to imagine that the Divine who is invisible and may seem remote can understand what we as human beings go through here on Earth.  Jesus was here and experienced what human life is like in the flesh.

This is a mystery and may be difficult to understand or to get our minds around.  Nevertheless, since this is a point of faith, we can come to believe it with the help of the Holy Spirit.  When I was a child and I heard the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, I can remember being shocked to hear what Jesus said. Thinking about the reaction of the people of the goat nations when He tells them that when they ignore those who are in need or suffering, I imagine that they seem to think it is unfair that Jesus says how they have treated the people they ignore is the same as allowing the Son of Man to suffer as well.  At the same time, I think that the people of the sheep nations who take care of those who are in need or suffer might be awed to know that when they take care of those who are in need or suffering, it is the same as if they are taking care of the Lord.

Since the beginning of Lent we have explored who Jesus says He is and who we believe He is.  The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us, and we come to know God in Christ not just by reading the Bible, hearing sermons and reading or listening to Bible studies.  We get to know the Lord because of experiences we have with Him as we grow in loving relationship to Him.  These may include how something in a sermon or Bible study speaks directly to us concerning something that is going on in our lives.  We also may come to know the Lord in prayer and meditation so that something we may have questioned becomes completely clear.  Or we may be suffering or in need in some way, and receive the help that we need to deliver us, or so that we are provided what we need.  Even when that help comes from people we know — or from strangers, we can be sure that the Lord who loves us in behind the blessings we receive.

God loves you and knows everything about you.  He knows what you need and is able to do so much more than you can even think to ask Him.  If you don’t believe that, all you need to do is give Him a chance to show you. 

Whether you believe it or not, our spiritual journeys are the most important part of our lives. God reveals Himself to us in exactly the way we need to know Him.  When we have doubts and lift them up to God, the Holy Spirit finds ways to answer those doubts and to help us to be sure that God loves us.  And when we come to know God in Christ Jesus and receive Him as our Savior, we leave the existence that we have known and enter into the abundant life that Jesus promises all who come to know God in Him.

As ever, my prayer for you, Beloved, is that if you know the Lord, that you will continue to open your heart, mind and soul to Him so that he is able to draw you closer to His heart and so that you can enjoy the abundant life in the fullness of joy and love that he offers both now and for eternity. 

And, Beloved, if you don’t know God in Christ yet . . . or if you don’t believe at all that God exists, I pray that you will open your heart and mind even a little bit so that you will give God a chance to begin to show you not only that He exists, but that He loves you more than you can imagine. 

May the Lord continue to bless and keep you and yours, today, this week and always.

CELEBRATE! The First Sunday in Lent

Every Sunday is a day that commemorates the Resurrection, a day of celebration that we are able to live new lives in Christ Jesus and share God's love. We may not think about the weekly celebration very often, but during Lent, we can remember it in a special way because Lent is the period of time on the liturgical calendar that leads up to Easter. As I mentioned earlier, Sundays are always feast days, and we are not meant to fast on them. The day of Jesus' Resurrection was the first day of the week and the first say of a whole new world.

Sometimes we can allow routines to keep us from remembering the significance of the tenets of our faith when we have grown up as believers, or even when we come to know the Lord as adults. Sometimes we don't think very much about what we believe. And the most important tenet of our faith is

our belief in the Resurrection.

Coming to believe something we have been taught does not lead to the fullness of our faith and life in Christ, but of course it is a foundation. Faith is a gift that the Holy Spirit offers to us just as He reveals Jesus to us as we get to know the Lord. Yesterday I wrote about who we say that Jesus is, and beyond that, we can also explore what we truly believe about His birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection.

When we only have head knowledge of the doctrines and tenets of Christianity without knowing the Lord in our hearts, we are missing the most important gift that God can give us.

I rejoice in my life in the Spirit and in all the ways the Lord has made Himself known to me. I am grateful for all the loving people in my life and for all the ways that God provides for me and helps and cares for the people I love. During this Lent, I know that as I open my mind and heart to the Lord each day that He will increase my faith and help me to know Him in deeper ways.

My prayer for you, Beloved, is that all that will be true for you as well.

JESUS SAID, "I AM THE SON OF GOD" -- Saturday of the First Week of Lent

Yesterday when I was thinking about what made Jesus' last journey to Jerusalem so dangerous, I shared with you some reflections concerning how significant it was that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. I think about how it must have been for Lazarus after he was raised from the dead.  We know Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha gave hospitality to Jesus and His disciples, as reported several times in the Gospels.  Until just before we read of Lazarus' impending death, we know more about Mary and Martha than their brother.  And we can tell that they believed in Jesus just as many others were come to believe.

By the point inn time that Jesus came back from beyond the Jordan where John the Baptist has been baptizing the multitudes to deliver Lazarus from death that is described in John's Gospel, Chapter Eleven, people had many opinions about who He was.  This is described in the tenth chapter of John's Gospel. Jesus was in the Temple for the Feast of Dedication that we know of as Hanukkah, and other men also celebrating the feast challenged Jesus about who He was (John 10:22-42).  They said to Him -- “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” (John 10:24b) Jesus answered them by saying, "“I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”  (John 10:25b-30)

When I meditate on this, I remember the time when Jesus asked His disciples who Jesus said that He was as described in in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke (Matthew 16:13-20; Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-21).  They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli′jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”(Matthew 16:14b) And then when Jesus asked them who they said that He was, Peter had the "A" answer, saying that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah).  In each of the three versions of this important revelation in Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus tells His disciples to tell no one. But by the time Jesus has the discussion with the men in the Temple not long before He raises Lazarus from the dead, His identity as Messiah has been evident to the multitudes. 

The Gospel of John has a similar pericope when many of Jesus’ followers leave Him after He teaches them that He is the Bread of Life after He feeds the Five Thousand and Walks on the Sea of Galilee.  (John 6) Jesus asks the twelve disciples if they, too, want to leave Him and Peter answers Him saying, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 9:67-69)

The revelation that Jesus is Messiah, also called the Son of Man and the Holy One of God, who was prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus was born by Isaiah and other prophets is essential. But beyond that Jesus is also proclaimed as the Son of God. Most of the leaders of the Temple, members of the Sanhedrin as well as other scribes, Saduccees, and Pharisees had a problem with people believing that Jesus embodied both of those identities. essential. But beyond that, Jesus is also proclaimed as the Son of the Living God.  Most of the leaders of the Temple, members of the Sanhedrin as well as other scribes, Saduccees, and Pharisees had a problem with people believing that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God.  This becomes clear when He has been captured by the Temple guards and brought before Caiaphas, the High Priest, and members of the Sanhedrin.

After many false witnesses have come forward to no avail, and Jesus has remained silent before His accusers, Caiaphas says to him —“Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?” But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Then Jesus answered him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

This is the final straw as far as those in power in the Temple are concerned.  From this point all the efforts to kill in the past are overshadowed by the events that ensue that culminate in Jesus’ crucifixion.

But we will spend more time on this in the next few weeks.  Today the most important thing is to think about who each one of us says that Jesus is.  What do you believe?  Why do you believe it?

I would like to invite you to meditate and pray about these questions with me if you feel led.

May the Lord continue to bless and keep you and yours.

Here are some resources online that you might find interesting:

Daily Exegeis

"Who Do You Say That I Am?" from Loyola Press

AFTER JESUS RAISES HIS FRIEND LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD -- Friday of the First Week of Lent

As we move through Lent thinking about Jesus’ life in the last weeks before He was betrayed by Judas and captured by the Temple guards on orders from the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane, it is important to focus on important events that led up to that moment.

And as we continue to accompany Jesus during this Lenten season as He turns His face towards Jerusalem, it is important to think about why that was a dangerous goal. There is no doubt that the reactions of the people of Judea, the Galilee and the other regions Jesus visited were noted by the men in power both politically and religiously. People believed he was a prophet and by the time he came into Jerusalem, He was proclaimed the Messiah and King of the Jews by the multitude that had gathered to celebrate the Passover. There were many reasons for this that were directly related not only to what He taught, but to the healing, deliverance and miracles extant in His ministry.

When we spend time reading about Jesus’ life and ministry in the New Testament, the narrations about healing and deliverance are memorable. When we are open to the Lord, the Holy Spirit illuminates the wonder of those acts and the miracles Jesus performed, like the Feeding of the Five Thousand. We can imagine Jesus talking to the multitudes, sharing the parables we know so well and teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven. The miracles and the acts of healing and deliverance that Jesus wrought were signs of God’s presence. They made it clear to the people who met Him and heard about Him that He was a powerful man of God.

Nevertheless, the most amazing signs of God’s presence were when Jesus brought people back to life. The Bible tells us that Jesus brought three people back to life — the young son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-18), the 12 year old girl who was the daughter Jairus, a synagogue leader in the Galilee (Mark 5:35-43), and Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany who were all good friends of Jesus (John 11:1-5).

When Jesus brought the children back from the dead, he was identified as a prophet by the Jewish people. In the Books of 1 and 2 Kings in the Hebrew Bible, it reports that the prophets Elijah and Elisha each raised a boy from the dead, too (1 Kings 17:17-22) and (2 Kings 4:32-35). These signs made it evident to people in their era that each of the prophets was righteous and very close to God. Nevertheless, the death of Lazarus and the fact that Jesus raised him from the dead was a bit different.

First of all, Jesus was across the Jordan in the place where John had baptized, and He was told that His friend Lazarus was ill. The expectation of those who told Him was that He would come and heal Lazarus. Instead, Jesus stayed away where He was and Lazarus died. At the time that Jesus announced the decision to stay away, and was challenged about it, He said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” (John 1:4b)

Then, after two days Jesus announced that it was time to go back to Judea. His disciples challenged Him saying, “ . . . a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” (John 11:8) Jesus’ disciples made it clear that they felt Jesus was in danger if he went back to Bethany in Judea. The reasons for this are addressed in the narration in John 10:22-42 that relates some of the turmoil that Jesus encountered in the Temple and in other regions outside of Jerusalem.

Next, as opposed to restoring the children to life right after they died, Jesus did not return to Bethany until Lazarus’ body had been in the tomb for four days. Those who knew him had been mourning for four days, and his sisters were bereft. When Jesus reached the mourners, He cried, too, and the people there saw the level of emotion He felt because of the death of His friend. Then Jesus called Lazarus forth from the tomb, and he came out.

This was very different and much more public than the raising of the children. Bethany was on the way to one of the gates of Jerusalem, and everyone who traveled that road and who had heard about Lazarus’ return to life would have been able to find out for themselves if it was true.

For people in leadership who did not want to believe that Jesus was who He said He was, the fact of the risen Lazarus living up the road from one of Jerusalem's gates would have been an affront.So even though Jesus' life was already threatened, and He was in grave danger even before He returned to Judea to raise Lazarus from the dead, He was in even more danger afterward.

The above is a bit of what I have been thinking as I have spent time with the Lord today. If you have any comments or questions . . or want to share what you have been thinking as you move through the days of Lent, please let me know!

Meanwhile, may the Lord continue to bless and keep you and yours.

JESUS TURNS HIS FACE TOWARDS JERUSALEM -- The First Thursday in Lent, 2016

When we think about what was happening to the Lord during the last weeks before his crucifixion, we can read the scripture passages that tell about this time. Each one of the Gospels includes narrations of Jesus' life and ministry during the last part of his journey to the cross. One of the reasons that we think of the time frame of Jesus' ministry has been three years long, is that the Gospels include three times that he is in Jerusalem for Passover.

Passover is the most important and significant celebration in Judaism. When God delivered The children of Israel from death and brought them out of slavery in Egypt, He showed his faithfulness to those whom He had chosen to be his people. Because of the miracles that God made manifest to try to convince Pharaoh to release the Children of Israel, and because Moses convinced his people that they should trust God and do what God required for them to do so that their firstborn sons would remain alive when death came over the land and took the firstborn of the Egyptians, God was able to deliver the Children of Israel from slavery and death.

In the fullness of time, God became incarnate as Jesus Christ in order to redeem creation from sin, and so that all people would be able to be delivered from slavery to sin and death. This plan was made before anything was even created. Jesus knew that his life would be offered up as a sacrifice so that we could be free to live in loving relationship with God now and forever. During Lent, we fast because it helps us to remember that Jesus gave up his life for us. Testing is a way that we can use to identify a little bit with the sacrifice that He made for each one of us and for everyone.
When I think about Jesus coming to the point in his life when he knew it was time to go to Jerusalem for the last time, my heart goes out to Him. Even though he was the Son of God, both human and divine, he faced all that was going to happen to him the same way any other human being would have faced it. He experienced everything that happened just as if it would have happened to any other person. Therefore, it took a lot of courage to move toward Jerusalem, especially because his life had already been threatened so many times. 

Jesus' disciples were also aware of the dangers that He faced. They too, had to be brave to be able to accompany him to Jerusalem that last time. As we spend time in prayer and meditation during Lent, we, too, can accompny the Lord on this journey in a way. 

What didn't really mean for Jesus and the people who love to most to take the risks that he faced? We know that Jesus had deep face and the kind of spiritual hope that we can hardly even imagine. When Jesus, Peter, James, and John went up to the summit of Mount Tabor, Jesus was transfigured and conferred with Moses and Elijah about what was to come. On the way down the mountain, Jesus told those disciples not to speak of it until after His resurrection.

When I think about that, I wonder how Peter James and John must've felt, not only to have witnessed the Transfiguration, but also to be privileged to know that Jesus was heading toward His death. The Bible accounts do not talk about the feelings or understandings that the disciples had very much. And we can only imagine what they might have felt. But we can also put ourselves in their place, and think about what we might have felt. We, too, are the disciples of Jesus. The Holy Spirit can help us to experience what it might have been like to be with Jesus during that time.


So, Beloved, I would like you to ask you to join me and being open to the Lord about what it must've been like to be with him as he began his last journey to Jerusalem. If you want to share anything about your time in prayer meditation either on this page or in a private message, I would love to read it. 

And I will continue to pray for you as we move through this time of Lent together. May the Lord continue to bless you and yours, today and always.