I’ve Been Thinking About Jesus

You can do a lot worse than emulating Rev. Graham

Have you ever noticed that evangelists think everyone ought to be evangelist?  And that Bible scholars think everyone needs to dig deep into the Word.  Prophets proclaim that anyone can speak prophetically….  I know…. they ae all just talking about what they do.  they should be excited about their gifts from the Spirit. Or are they “of” the Spirit? Spiritual gifts?   The point is, when one is working in the Spirit one is most alive.  That’s exciting!  Why wouldn’t anyone want to spread that excitement and joy?

Jesus teaching in the temple.

Me, I’m a teacher so when I read the Gospels I see what a consummate teacher Jesus is. I also  read passages in which Jesus is referred to as a teacher.  Mary, for instance calls Him “Raboni!” when she encounters Jesus outside the tomb (c.f. The Last Temptation of Christ: Jesus and Mary Magdelene at the Tomb ).  In all, Jesus is referred to as a “teacher” 47 times in the Gospels (ESV).

Jesus was transparent even when His audience didn’t understand what He was saying.  In this way, He also took risks because, even at times when we read His words we are left saying, “Huh?” even though his listeners want to stone Him for blasphemy.  Jesus utilizes all of our senses in His lessons.  We are told to look at flowers and sparrows and trees.  He draws on the ground.  Think of the stench that followed Lazarus out of his tomb or the fragrance that filled the house when Jesus’ feet were bathed in perfume.  What did the bread and fish taste like… or the wine ate the wedding feast.  As you read the gospels do you ever imagine the sound of Jesus’s feet as he strode from one town to the next  What did the bread sound like as he broke it for His students on the road to Emmaus. What would it be like to be held in His arms like Mary?  Or to hug Him back for that matter?

Touching Jesus and being touched by the hands of God.

Those around Him shared experiences such as travelling across the sea in a storm, healing the sick and lame, casting out demons, walking miles together along dusty roads in the Summer heat.  They stayed together, apparently often in one room.  Think of that.  Thirteen guys sleeping in one room after a full day of walking and preaching/teaching .  It must have taken some getting used to.  I’ll just leave it at that.  But it’s obvious from the Gospels that this group of guys experienced life together with Jesus.  He was real.  He did everything they did.  there was joy and sadness.  There were fun times and times that were scary.  Sometimes it was just the thirteen, and sometimes there were others (even thousands).  The disciples were equipped by living the Gospel and learning along the way from the Master.

Walking with Jesus means treading through the dust and rocks of this life.

My prayer at this juncture of my life is that my Lord has been equipping me for His service as well through our life together.  Of course, this prayer does not only pertain to me but to you the reader.  May you find divine purpose in all that you have lived and in your life as it proceeds.  Amen.

God Bless,

Christopher

The Great Commandments

 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
(Matthew 22:34-40 ESV)

Whenever I start thinking about the Law my mind first goes to Leviticus and Deuteronomy and Moses and the desert.  I think to myself, “How is a person supposed to do all that stuff, especially today?”  The short answer is, I’m not.  First of all, I am what the Bible refers to as a gentile.  The simple definition of gentile is some one who, like me, is not a Jew.

I could say (rightly) that being a gentile means that I am not bound by the Law.  That provides me with a sense of freedom.  On the other hand I would be wrong to consider this a freedom to do what I want.  It is in reality a freedom to do what God wants. The best analogy I can come up with comes from my classroom.  Every year we have to establish the rules of the classroom.  One of the things I do is to hold up a school rule book and ask the class if we should read the whole thing.  No one EVER wants to do that.  So, I bring up two simple rules that every one can follow:

1.  If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.
2.  Be nice.

All the rules in the school manual fall in those two categories.  Simple, to the point, and followable.  Guess how many discipline issues I generally have in a given year. The funny thing is, there’s no wiggle room.  There’s no way for a student to say, “That’s not against the rules!”  There are no rules. OK, there are two, but you get what I mean.  The kids know whether what they are saying or doing is nice or hurtful and so does everyone else in the room.  The students end up policing themselves and all I have to do is become the final arbiter when needed.  That is the third rule, I’m the boss.

Faith

The Law is like that student/school handbook.  But the Law is contained in a number of books and takes great effort and concentration to follow.  Enter Jesus who sums things up so beautifully.  “Love God  with all you are,” (paraphrase) “and your neighbor as yourself.”  And then He ends with the clincher, “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” 

When I said that Jesus “sums things up…” I didn’t mean that He summarizes the Law.  I meant that He “cuts to the chase” of God’s Will. These two commandments are the gist of all the Law and the Prophets.  Everything in them is designed to focus a person’s attention either upon God or upon other people.  Simply read the Ten Commandments that started it all and you’ll see what I mean.  Each is about God or others.  Then Jesus removes the wiggle room.  Following God isn’t really about the particulars as much as focusing one’s self totally upon God.  And not for one’s self, but for others.  It’s that simple.  Which isn’t the same as saying that it’s easy.  If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

Questions?  Comments?  Write them below.

God Bless,

Christopher