John 20:31 (NKJV), John 2:1-22 (NKJV)
When a soldier is dying on the battlefield a medic will give him a potent dose of morphine. The drug will not save him, but it will mask the pain and ease the suffering.
In the same way the blood of animals could never save and could not fix the root of the fatal wound; sin. These Old Covenant sacrifices could only mask the symptoms of sin for a short season, but every year new sacrifices had to be offered and new blood had to be shed.
The blood of Jesus was of a totally different quality than any blood ever shed before. The blood of Jesus not only dealt with the symptoms of sin, it went to the very root of the problem. The blood of Jesus was not a superficial remedy for a shallow flesh wound. It penetrated the core of the human condition and went all the way back to Adam; reversing the curse and turning the greatest tragedy in history into the greatest victory.
The ruler of the feast said, "…you’ve kept back the good wine until now." After all other wines had been served and after they had all run out and run short, finally the "good" wine was being served. The best was saved for last. I see this first miracle of Jesus as a prophetic foreshadowing of what Jesus had come to do. The Jews were hoping for a national Messiah that would start a Maccabean-type revolution. Jesus had come to lay down his life and shed his blood.
When Jesus sat at the last supper and held up the cup of Passover wine he said, "This is the NEW Covenant in MY blood…" After all the blood of goats, lambs and birds had been shed and after they had all run out and fallen short, then God Himself came and performed a miracle; the Word became flesh.
His body was broken and His blood was shed once for all. His blood did what no other sacrifice had been able to do. There is enough power in one drop of the blood of Jesus to wash away every sin, to heal every sickness, to break every curse of every human being who has ever lived in all the world and in all of history! God has saved the best for last!
Taken from Christ for all Nations news
Water Into Wine - Part 3 of 3 - No Other Sacrifice
By: Daniel Kolenda, Evangelist
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Easter 4 (15th May 2011)
Theme: The Shepherd and the Sheep (John 10: 1-10)
The context of our Gospel reading for this morning is the story in John 9, which is about the healing of a man who had been blind since he was born. After Jesus healed him, the Pharisees were angry because he did it on a Sabbath Day. So in chapter 10 Jesus started to talk about the Good Shepherd and what he does for his sheep. He was explaining what he was doing – that in his act of healing the man born blind, he was exercising his love and his care for his sheep.
The image of God being our shepherd was not an invention of Jesus: it was a continuation from the Old Testament. Ezekiel 34:31 says, "You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God," says the Lord.” In Psalm100:3b, it is stated: “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” Psalm 95:7, it says: “For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.” And in Isaiah 40:11: “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.”
Why are we compared to sheep? Why not dogs or cats or horses? It is because a sheep is a unique animal. Without a shepherd a sheep is a defenceless animal. Without God we too are defenceless against Satan. A sheep may fight with another sheep but it cannot fight other stronger wild animal. We too can fight our fellow men, but under attack of Satan we would succumb to defeat.
The sheep is prone to wander and a sheep is also without a sense of direction. If a sheep is lost it cannot find its way back, like a dog or cat. That is why in the parable Jesus speaks about the lost sheep that has to be searched by the shepherd. We too are prone to wander until we get lost. Isaiah 53: 6 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
So because we are easily lost like the sheep, we need a Shepherd to guide us. And because we are defenceless against Satan on our own, we need to stay together, just like the sheep under one flock and led by a shepherd.
There are three things that I want to share with you about becoming sheep of the Shepherd:
Good sheep know the shepherd: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep” (vs. 1 & 2).
We live in a world that has a lot of false shepherds knocking at the door of the sheepfold. People are being misled, confused and wasting their lives without ever truly understanding Who God is and what He wants for their lives. How are we going to recognize the true Shepherd?
First, false Shepherd avoids the proper way. He who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. The purpose of the sheepfold was to provide protection during the night. A Sheepfold was a circular wall about 10 feet tall with a single opening that served as a door. Several flocks might be placed into the sheepfold at night, with one of the shepherds lying in the opening to serve as the door. Nothing could get into, or out of the sheepfold without having to go through the shepherd and only thieves and robbers seek to enter the sheepfold by another means besides the door.
Second, false shepherds surround us on all sides looking for ways to get at the flocks. Sometimes they come through religion. Sometimes they approach us and teach about morality and make us feel guilty, and then give us false hope. Some may tell us about giving us excitement, or promises of wealth or health. What is common about false shepherds is that they always distort the truth in one way or another - primarily the truth about Who Jesus really is.
Third, false shepherds work hard. They teach you many rules to follow and rituals to keep so that you remain in their control, and you can be led astray. Their teaching may sound good, but their real motive is to steal and exploit the sheep for their own purposes. Many of these false shepherds are sweet-talkers and full of charisma, and that is why many people don’t even realized that they are being sucked in and led astray. 2 Peter 2:2-3 says, “And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
On the other hand, the true shepherd enters the proper way: "But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep” (vs. 2). In the summer, the flocks stayed out in the field all night. But in the winter, the flocks were gathered into pens, or sheepfolds.
Shepherding in the ancient East worked differently from the ones practiced in the West. In the west, sheep are driven by the shepherd on a horse with the help of a dog. In the east, the shepherd leads the flock on foot, and they follow him. In the east, sheep were given names, as we do with our dogs and cats. The shepherd was familiar with his sheep, knowing them all by name, and they would know the sound of his voice.
The sheep would graze out in the field the whole day. When even came the sheep would be led into the sheepfold. In an open country, the shepherd would herd his sheep into a low walled enclosure of piled rocks with a small opening. At night, since there was no gate, just an opening, the shepherd would lie across the opening to keep the sheep in and the wild animals out – he would literally become the door. That was what Jesus was talking about in verse 7: “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep”.
The sheep that were reared near villages were kept in a slightly different manner. They would be taken into a common sheepfold. This sheepfold was typically a large stone wall enclosure about 10-feet high, without a roof, with a single entrance into it. Several flocks from various shepherds would all share this same sheepfold for the night. Shepherds would take turn to guard the sheep by spending the night sleeping at the entrance of the sheepfold.
A good Sheep know the voice of the shepherd: "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out (vs.3). A communal sheepfold might have about a few hundred sheep belonging to different shepherds. How would they sort out what sheep belong to who? In the morning the shepherds knocked at the barred door & the watchman would open from within. Then each shepherd would separate his sheep by giving a call or singing a song. The flock would follow its own shepherd. This reminds us two things:
First, good sheep know the Shepherd’s voice. A sheep is a unique animal. It does not respond to a call: you cannot blow a whistle and expect the sheep to come like a dog. Sheep don’t respond to calls like that: they respond to Shepherd’s voice. What does the voice of our Shepherd sound like? Does he speak like a politician or an environmentalist or a businessman? Does Jesus speak like any religious leader? I believe that the voice of Jesus is different from most voices because he speaks about forgiveness, about love, and about grace, in a way different from others. We who are his sheep need to hear a voice that speaks like Jesus. And we, the Church, cannot speak differently from how Jesus speaks.
Second, good sheep know their own names given by the Shepherd. In Bible times the sheep were raised not so much for their meat, but for their wool. So the sheep received special care, and even develop a sort of relationship with the shepherd. The relationship was so special that the shepherd has a name for every one of his sheep. What sorts of names does a shepherd give to his sheep? He usually named them by their peculiar characteristics, traits or spots, or even by their defects. He would give them descriptive names like “Brown-leg” or “Black-ear” or “Big eyes”.
Jesus also knows the individual weaknesses and failings of His flock and watches over the members with love and understanding. Jesus knows our doubts, fears, trials, conflicts, and defeats that disturb our peace, and He will come to our aid. That is the picture of our God. He knows what you are worried about right now. He knows the temptations that you battle with. He knows the struggles you have had this week
Names convey a sense of who we are and how others relate to us. “The Lord has called Me from the womb; . . .He has made mention of My name” (Isa. 49:1). Jesus calls us by name because He knows us so well. And those of us who know him respond to his voice. If the shepherd gives the names of his sheep after their traits and characteristics, what name do you think that Jesus has given you? Of course I don’t want you to go around and tell people that Jesus has called you “Ms. Humility” or “Mr. Cheerful Giver”. That is for you to know yourself.
A good sheep follow the leading of the shepherd: …..and leads them out. "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers" (vs. 4 & 5).
The shepherd has to constantly lead the flock of sheep from place to another. He cannot lead the flock out of the sheepfold to graze and then takes a rest and goes to sleep. We need to remember that the grass in Palestine is not like ours. They only have little patches of grass here and there and the shepherd has to protect them and ensure they will grow again. So the shepherd has to keep the sheep moving otherwise the sheep will eat all the grass until the root, leaving the place a barren land. The sheep have to be on the move because if they keep still in one place they will start to fight one another.
What does this speak about our God? Our God is the Shepherd who keeps us always on the move. Sometimes he leads us out of our places of comfort so that we don’t get lazy. Sometimes God makes us busy so that we don’t have time to fight and quarrel with one another. I know why I have to be moved out from this town parish to a rural parish like Betong – It is not only because God has a purpose for me there: it is also for your own good that I move.
Now if the Shepherd is on the move, we the sheep should be moving too. The sheep has to constantly listen to the voice of the shepherd; otherwise it will be left behind. Christians who are not paying attention will be left behind. If you are left behind, you are without the protection of the Shepherd. If you do that, you are putting yourself in a very dangerous place and very vulnerable to attack of the enemies.
There are so many religions and churches around us – all claiming to speak the truth and leading people to the right way. So how do we know the truth? Look at verse 5: "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." Do you know why the thieves and wolves are so successful today? Do you know why false teachers attract crowd of people to follow them? It is not because their voice is so effective: it because the sheep don’t know the voice of the true Shepherd. When you don’t know the truth, you will accept anything that sounds convincing, sweet and nice to be the truth. That is why every Christian must spend enough time with God, to study his Word and in prayer. In that way you will develop an ability to know the voice of God, so that you can recognise when a stranger or a false shepherd is speaking and trying to lead you astray.
I believe that as we go through this section of the Bible, there are at least two things we can learn: Jesus is leading us right now. As he moves ahead of us, he is calling us to follow him. The question is: are you listening to his call and are you moving with him?
Theme: The Shepherd and the Sheep (John 10: 1-10)
The context of our Gospel reading for this morning is the story in John 9, which is about the healing of a man who had been blind since he was born. After Jesus healed him, the Pharisees were angry because he did it on a Sabbath Day. So in chapter 10 Jesus started to talk about the Good Shepherd and what he does for his sheep. He was explaining what he was doing – that in his act of healing the man born blind, he was exercising his love and his care for his sheep.
The image of God being our shepherd was not an invention of Jesus: it was a continuation from the Old Testament. Ezekiel 34:31 says, "You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God," says the Lord.” In Psalm100:3b, it is stated: “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” Psalm 95:7, it says: “For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.” And in Isaiah 40:11: “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.”
Why are we compared to sheep? Why not dogs or cats or horses? It is because a sheep is a unique animal. Without a shepherd a sheep is a defenceless animal. Without God we too are defenceless against Satan. A sheep may fight with another sheep but it cannot fight other stronger wild animal. We too can fight our fellow men, but under attack of Satan we would succumb to defeat.
The sheep is prone to wander and a sheep is also without a sense of direction. If a sheep is lost it cannot find its way back, like a dog or cat. That is why in the parable Jesus speaks about the lost sheep that has to be searched by the shepherd. We too are prone to wander until we get lost. Isaiah 53: 6 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
So because we are easily lost like the sheep, we need a Shepherd to guide us. And because we are defenceless against Satan on our own, we need to stay together, just like the sheep under one flock and led by a shepherd.
There are three things that I want to share with you about becoming sheep of the Shepherd:
Good sheep know the shepherd: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep” (vs. 1 & 2).
We live in a world that has a lot of false shepherds knocking at the door of the sheepfold. People are being misled, confused and wasting their lives without ever truly understanding Who God is and what He wants for their lives. How are we going to recognize the true Shepherd?
First, false Shepherd avoids the proper way. He who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. The purpose of the sheepfold was to provide protection during the night. A Sheepfold was a circular wall about 10 feet tall with a single opening that served as a door. Several flocks might be placed into the sheepfold at night, with one of the shepherds lying in the opening to serve as the door. Nothing could get into, or out of the sheepfold without having to go through the shepherd and only thieves and robbers seek to enter the sheepfold by another means besides the door.
Second, false shepherds surround us on all sides looking for ways to get at the flocks. Sometimes they come through religion. Sometimes they approach us and teach about morality and make us feel guilty, and then give us false hope. Some may tell us about giving us excitement, or promises of wealth or health. What is common about false shepherds is that they always distort the truth in one way or another - primarily the truth about Who Jesus really is.
Third, false shepherds work hard. They teach you many rules to follow and rituals to keep so that you remain in their control, and you can be led astray. Their teaching may sound good, but their real motive is to steal and exploit the sheep for their own purposes. Many of these false shepherds are sweet-talkers and full of charisma, and that is why many people don’t even realized that they are being sucked in and led astray. 2 Peter 2:2-3 says, “And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
On the other hand, the true shepherd enters the proper way: "But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep” (vs. 2). In the summer, the flocks stayed out in the field all night. But in the winter, the flocks were gathered into pens, or sheepfolds.
Shepherding in the ancient East worked differently from the ones practiced in the West. In the west, sheep are driven by the shepherd on a horse with the help of a dog. In the east, the shepherd leads the flock on foot, and they follow him. In the east, sheep were given names, as we do with our dogs and cats. The shepherd was familiar with his sheep, knowing them all by name, and they would know the sound of his voice.
The sheep would graze out in the field the whole day. When even came the sheep would be led into the sheepfold. In an open country, the shepherd would herd his sheep into a low walled enclosure of piled rocks with a small opening. At night, since there was no gate, just an opening, the shepherd would lie across the opening to keep the sheep in and the wild animals out – he would literally become the door. That was what Jesus was talking about in verse 7: “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep”.
The sheep that were reared near villages were kept in a slightly different manner. They would be taken into a common sheepfold. This sheepfold was typically a large stone wall enclosure about 10-feet high, without a roof, with a single entrance into it. Several flocks from various shepherds would all share this same sheepfold for the night. Shepherds would take turn to guard the sheep by spending the night sleeping at the entrance of the sheepfold.
A good Sheep know the voice of the shepherd: "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out (vs.3). A communal sheepfold might have about a few hundred sheep belonging to different shepherds. How would they sort out what sheep belong to who? In the morning the shepherds knocked at the barred door & the watchman would open from within. Then each shepherd would separate his sheep by giving a call or singing a song. The flock would follow its own shepherd. This reminds us two things:
First, good sheep know the Shepherd’s voice. A sheep is a unique animal. It does not respond to a call: you cannot blow a whistle and expect the sheep to come like a dog. Sheep don’t respond to calls like that: they respond to Shepherd’s voice. What does the voice of our Shepherd sound like? Does he speak like a politician or an environmentalist or a businessman? Does Jesus speak like any religious leader? I believe that the voice of Jesus is different from most voices because he speaks about forgiveness, about love, and about grace, in a way different from others. We who are his sheep need to hear a voice that speaks like Jesus. And we, the Church, cannot speak differently from how Jesus speaks.
Second, good sheep know their own names given by the Shepherd. In Bible times the sheep were raised not so much for their meat, but for their wool. So the sheep received special care, and even develop a sort of relationship with the shepherd. The relationship was so special that the shepherd has a name for every one of his sheep. What sorts of names does a shepherd give to his sheep? He usually named them by their peculiar characteristics, traits or spots, or even by their defects. He would give them descriptive names like “Brown-leg” or “Black-ear” or “Big eyes”.
Jesus also knows the individual weaknesses and failings of His flock and watches over the members with love and understanding. Jesus knows our doubts, fears, trials, conflicts, and defeats that disturb our peace, and He will come to our aid. That is the picture of our God. He knows what you are worried about right now. He knows the temptations that you battle with. He knows the struggles you have had this week
Names convey a sense of who we are and how others relate to us. “The Lord has called Me from the womb; . . .He has made mention of My name” (Isa. 49:1). Jesus calls us by name because He knows us so well. And those of us who know him respond to his voice. If the shepherd gives the names of his sheep after their traits and characteristics, what name do you think that Jesus has given you? Of course I don’t want you to go around and tell people that Jesus has called you “Ms. Humility” or “Mr. Cheerful Giver”. That is for you to know yourself.
A good sheep follow the leading of the shepherd: …..and leads them out. "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers" (vs. 4 & 5).
The shepherd has to constantly lead the flock of sheep from place to another. He cannot lead the flock out of the sheepfold to graze and then takes a rest and goes to sleep. We need to remember that the grass in Palestine is not like ours. They only have little patches of grass here and there and the shepherd has to protect them and ensure they will grow again. So the shepherd has to keep the sheep moving otherwise the sheep will eat all the grass until the root, leaving the place a barren land. The sheep have to be on the move because if they keep still in one place they will start to fight one another.
What does this speak about our God? Our God is the Shepherd who keeps us always on the move. Sometimes he leads us out of our places of comfort so that we don’t get lazy. Sometimes God makes us busy so that we don’t have time to fight and quarrel with one another. I know why I have to be moved out from this town parish to a rural parish like Betong – It is not only because God has a purpose for me there: it is also for your own good that I move.
Now if the Shepherd is on the move, we the sheep should be moving too. The sheep has to constantly listen to the voice of the shepherd; otherwise it will be left behind. Christians who are not paying attention will be left behind. If you are left behind, you are without the protection of the Shepherd. If you do that, you are putting yourself in a very dangerous place and very vulnerable to attack of the enemies.
There are so many religions and churches around us – all claiming to speak the truth and leading people to the right way. So how do we know the truth? Look at verse 5: "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." Do you know why the thieves and wolves are so successful today? Do you know why false teachers attract crowd of people to follow them? It is not because their voice is so effective: it because the sheep don’t know the voice of the true Shepherd. When you don’t know the truth, you will accept anything that sounds convincing, sweet and nice to be the truth. That is why every Christian must spend enough time with God, to study his Word and in prayer. In that way you will develop an ability to know the voice of God, so that you can recognise when a stranger or a false shepherd is speaking and trying to lead you astray.
I believe that as we go through this section of the Bible, there are at least two things we can learn: Jesus is leading us right now. As he moves ahead of us, he is calling us to follow him. The question is: are you listening to his call and are you moving with him?
Monday, April 11, 2011
That You Might Believe
John 20:31 (NKJV), John 2:1-22 (NKJV)
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."
Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come."
His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."
Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast." And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!"
This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
John 2:1-22 (NKJV)
What an embarrassing debacle! Running out of wine at a Jewish wedding was a shame to irresponsible hosts. Once their disgraceful miscalculation became apparent, the bride and groom could only wait and dread the moment when their thirsty drunken guests would start whining (no pun intended) about their dry goblets and itching tongues.
For all their bungles and blunders, however, the discombobulated newlyweds had unwittingly done something very wise…they had invited Jesus to their wedding. Jesus saved the day! I’m sure the bride and groom would have been thrilled for Jesus to supply any wine…even average wine. After all, it was the end of the wedding and usually the cheaper wine was served when the guests were inebriated and had become indifferent. But Jesus' wine wasn't just "good enough"…it was the best! It was the finest! It was more than enough!!
This is a wonderful parable of grace – no matter what mistakes you have made along the way, if you’ll invite Jesus into your life, he will turn your mess into a miracle and your tragedy into a triumph!
The turning of the water into wine was the first of Jesus' miracles and it had a profound effect on those that knew him. John 2:11 says that it was because of this miracle that his disciples, "believed on him." To most it would have been seen as a demonstration of power and a revelation of Christ's Messianic identity, but those disciples would later see a much more profound prophetic meaning to the miracle after Christ had ascended to Heaven.
Taken from Christ for all Nations news
Water Into Wine - Part 1 of 3 - That You Might Believe
By: Daniel Kolenda, Evangelist
John 20:31 (NKJV), John 2:1-22 (NKJV)
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."
Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come."
His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."
Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast." And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!"
This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
John 2:1-22 (NKJV)
What an embarrassing debacle! Running out of wine at a Jewish wedding was a shame to irresponsible hosts. Once their disgraceful miscalculation became apparent, the bride and groom could only wait and dread the moment when their thirsty drunken guests would start whining (no pun intended) about their dry goblets and itching tongues.
For all their bungles and blunders, however, the discombobulated newlyweds had unwittingly done something very wise…they had invited Jesus to their wedding. Jesus saved the day! I’m sure the bride and groom would have been thrilled for Jesus to supply any wine…even average wine. After all, it was the end of the wedding and usually the cheaper wine was served when the guests were inebriated and had become indifferent. But Jesus' wine wasn't just "good enough"…it was the best! It was the finest! It was more than enough!!
This is a wonderful parable of grace – no matter what mistakes you have made along the way, if you’ll invite Jesus into your life, he will turn your mess into a miracle and your tragedy into a triumph!
The turning of the water into wine was the first of Jesus' miracles and it had a profound effect on those that knew him. John 2:11 says that it was because of this miracle that his disciples, "believed on him." To most it would have been seen as a demonstration of power and a revelation of Christ's Messianic identity, but those disciples would later see a much more profound prophetic meaning to the miracle after Christ had ascended to Heaven.
Taken from Christ for all Nations news
Water Into Wine - Part 1 of 3 - That You Might Believe
By: Daniel Kolenda, Evangelist
Friday, April 8, 2011
Theme: “The Flesh and the Spirit (Romans 8: 6-11)
Lent 5 (10 April 2011)
Other Readings: Ezekiel 37:1-14 & John 11:1-45
This section of the Bible is a reflection or a meditation of Paul. Paul is reflecting on the difference Christ makes between “flesh,” and “spirit”. By “flesh” Paul means living life on one’s own powers, by one’s own lights, on one’s own terms, without God. It is to live a life, whereby God is not at the centre of our lives. A person may claim to be a Christian, but if God is not at the centre of his life, it is living without God.
According to Paul, if we continue on living such life, it will result in death. Now, the “death,” that Paul refers to here is not physical death. Paul is talking about an absence of life or deprivation of life. It is life empty of meaning, purpose, point, and it is certainly absence of God. It is a life lived according to the principles of “flesh,” which will not only lead to death, but is “death,” itself. They are things we do that are meaningless, and contribute nothing to anything really worthwhile, no matter how good they look, or how much they are valued, on the outside.
These “principles,” of the flesh are things we do: they are the operating ABC’s of a society and the individuals in that society. The Jews and many religious people all have their operating principles, and these are rules, or basic assumptions and prescriptions about life. These laws or rules are often inspired by God or connected to God. Though the laws are good and reveal what God wants out of us, but they do not help us to become good people because we simply do not have the power to keep them. Thus, a Jew has all the rules to help him how to live. However, he does not have the power to exercise what he knows, because he cannot overcome the flesh.
So we need some other force or power to help us - an extra ingredient if we are to become what we can become. Paul identifies that “ingredient,” as spirit. This is not the human spirit: this is the divine Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Indwelling Holy Spirit, who enables Christ to live in us and among the Christian community. Though we are still in the world or still in the flesh, we are no longer a prisoner of the flesh because the Spirit helps us.
This Spirit also helps us by bringing us into the presence of God, right up to the last day, the day of general resurrection, the “end of the world.” This Spirit affects our attitude, which changes our behavior and connects the two, the internal (attitude), and the external, (behavior). This is what we called life in Jesus Christ; it is a life which transcends the laws, principles, customs, presuppositions, prescriptions, death, and sin.
In verses six and seven, Paul says that the mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. The verse explains the results of the sinful nature as well as the result of the life controlled by the Spirit. He says that the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Again this verse explains the result of the sinful nature and the result of no relationship with the Spirit.
Verse eight tells us that those who are in the flesh cannot please God: To be “in the flesh” is to be operating on one’s own – meaning to doing what we want or like, and that, by definition, is opposed to God. The two cannot mix, cannot be reconciled, because they are opposites. Living “in the flesh,” has for its purpose and goal pleasing the self. “Flesh” and “obedient to God” are contradictory terms.
In verse nine, Christians are people whose lives are directed from a source outside themselves, here characterized as “living in the Spirit”. There can be no relationship with Christ apart from this Spirit. There can be no such thing as a Christian Pharisee; that is, by being someone who tries to please God by living a good life through his own power. And Paul stresses that whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ. If you have no Holy Spirit, you are not a Christian. Note also that Paul uses “Spirit of God,” and “Spirit of Christ,” interchangeably.
Paul does not deny that all humans have something which can be described as “spirit.” This is often referred to as zeal, enthusiasm or motivation. But it is only when that human “spirit,” is enlivened by “Spirit of God,” that life starts to have special meaning. In our Old Testament reading in Ezekiel 37: 1-14, the resurrection from the dead took place in two steps. First, the “body,” rose. It looked like any normal human body, but was lifeless. Only when the “spirit,” was breathed into it did it come to life.
Likewise, we have bodies that live, but if we really look at ourselves and at one another, we shall realize that many of us are not really living as we should. We are just on surviving mode. We come to church, we say our prayers, give some money and that is it. The church itself no longer has meaning. Some of us treat our job just as source of earning income: the work itself no longer has meaning. We can be just doing things without zeal, enthusiasm or motivation: it is just dead.
That is why we need God’s Spirit to help us. When we are only guided by the human spirits we shall only exercise human enthusiasm. Yes, we shall do good and noble things, but up to a certain points. Time will come when that enthusiasm will cease, when we become less motivated, or when we lose interest altogether. But when we allow God’s Spirit to work within us, we shall not only do good things just for the sake of looking good or making names for ourselves. (These are what the people of the world are doing: they want to be seen and acknowledged, praised and honoured, and remembered for the good things they have done). When we work simply under the strength of our human spirits we can also get bored and lose interests after we have been doing them for a long time; or we may want give up when we are challenged by difficulties and problems. But when we are under God’s grace we have God’s Spirit to help and empower us, to do what God’s want us to do. That is why when we have done something good for the church or society, we should not be taking the credit. The glory should be given to God because he is the one who enables us to do what is good and right. If there is anybody who says, “I quit because nobody notices or appreciates what I am doing,” that person is not serving with the grace of God: he or she is serving out of her own effort!
Again I don’t want to be misquoted here. I am not implying that if a Christian has lost his zeal, interest or becomes lukewarm, he has no Holy Spirit. No. I am not saying that. I believe that every Christian has the Holy Spirit in him or her. The problem is the person does not allow the Holy Spirit to work; perhaps because he does not trust the Holy Spirit, or because he does not know he has the Holy Spirit.
Let us look at verse 11: And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Note that the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit who lives in us. If you use this verse to apply Christ’s resurrection to the resurrection of all Christians, it can come to mean that that our resurrection is not only at the end of time. In fact, our first resurrection takes place when the Spirit enters our lives at our baptism. Paul in Colossians 2: 12 says, “…having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
Last few Sundays we heard about the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus; and in that encounter Jesus explained to Nicodemus what it meant to being born again by the Spirit. From Jesus’ explanation we understand that when we receive the Spirit of Christ or the Holy Spirit, we are reborn because our mortal bodies are given new lives. So our lives now have new meaning. And not only that: our meaningless activities are also transformed into life-enhancing and enduring quality. The good things we do in this world under the power of the Spirit will not be good only to this world: they take on eternal value and meaning. For example, how we treat one another does not only affect our relationship with each other: it affects our relationship with God. Jesus spells it out plainly: he says that if we forgive others, we will be forgiven. Likewise, we shouldn't judge, lest we be judged and we shouldn't condemn lest we be condemned as well.
This is not always good news to the church because when some people in church allow themselves to be transformed and used by the Holy Spirit, it can create uneasiness or even tension between them and those people who have not opened themselves to the working of the Holy Spirit. People who are not transformed and inspired by the Holy Spirit tend to use human reasons, experiences and emotions when they do things. For example, when Jesus told the people to remove the stone covering the tomb of Lazarus, Martha said, “But, Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Martha was speaking out of her human experience that a body that had been buried for 4 days would produce a bad smell.
On the other hand, those under the guidance of the Holy Spirit listen to the God’s word and prompting. Sometimes what they say or do does not make sense at all: they go beyond the confine of human logic or experience. Therefore, people not under guidance of the Holy Spirit very often, will accuse them of being extremists or even heretics.
What is my point in bringing out this matter? First, we need to understand that the church is composed of various kinds of people at various levels of spirituality. Some are very worldly-minded and they only do things based on reasons and experiences. Some are more matured and have learned how to submit themselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. A few have advanced deeper so much so that God have given them special gifts that others have never experienced. These are people who are blessed with visions, blessed with gifts of prophecy, and abilities to perform miracles.
Wherever or whatever level we are at, Christians have no basis or cause to reject something or boast about something, except in the Lord. If we are to do that, we are allowing ourselves to slid back into the conceit, into thinking that we can do God’s work without the help of God’s Spirit; and into thinking that we can do something good on our own power alone. It is not the deed itself, but the “Spirit,” in which and by which the deed is done that matters to God.
Second, Christians are supposed to grow in faith. Those of us who hold important position in Church must grow spiritually; otherwise we become obstacles to the growth of the Church. It has taken a long time for the Anglican Church in this Diocese to grow because many lay leaders and some members of the clergy are not spiritually-enlightened or transformed. They do things under the pretexts of keeping the traditions. They reject anything that comes from the Spirit of God, and instead prefer to use their own logics and reasons to do the work of God. Rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to lead them into new experiences, they prefer to walk the familiar roads, play safe, and stay in their comfort zones. They say, “This was how things were done in the past, and this is how they are going to be run”. They are just like the men in Ezekiel’s vision: they have bodies but they are spiritually dead.
Therefore, if we want the Church to grow, that growth must begin in each one of us first. We need to abandon our old thinking and allow our minds to be transformed and opened to the guidance and the prompting of the Holy Spirit. To have God’s Spirit dwelling inside us means that we must accept Christ, replacing our own will with His will. And these are not easy things to accomplish because we are naturally protective of our biases, interests and things that we are comfortable with. That is why we need the grace of God to help us out. We are like the dead men in the valley of dry bones: we need the breath of God. We are also like Lazarus who came out of the tomb, covered in shroud: we too need to be released of our bondage.
Other Readings: Ezekiel 37:1-14 & John 11:1-45
This section of the Bible is a reflection or a meditation of Paul. Paul is reflecting on the difference Christ makes between “flesh,” and “spirit”. By “flesh” Paul means living life on one’s own powers, by one’s own lights, on one’s own terms, without God. It is to live a life, whereby God is not at the centre of our lives. A person may claim to be a Christian, but if God is not at the centre of his life, it is living without God.
According to Paul, if we continue on living such life, it will result in death. Now, the “death,” that Paul refers to here is not physical death. Paul is talking about an absence of life or deprivation of life. It is life empty of meaning, purpose, point, and it is certainly absence of God. It is a life lived according to the principles of “flesh,” which will not only lead to death, but is “death,” itself. They are things we do that are meaningless, and contribute nothing to anything really worthwhile, no matter how good they look, or how much they are valued, on the outside.
These “principles,” of the flesh are things we do: they are the operating ABC’s of a society and the individuals in that society. The Jews and many religious people all have their operating principles, and these are rules, or basic assumptions and prescriptions about life. These laws or rules are often inspired by God or connected to God. Though the laws are good and reveal what God wants out of us, but they do not help us to become good people because we simply do not have the power to keep them. Thus, a Jew has all the rules to help him how to live. However, he does not have the power to exercise what he knows, because he cannot overcome the flesh.
So we need some other force or power to help us - an extra ingredient if we are to become what we can become. Paul identifies that “ingredient,” as spirit. This is not the human spirit: this is the divine Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Indwelling Holy Spirit, who enables Christ to live in us and among the Christian community. Though we are still in the world or still in the flesh, we are no longer a prisoner of the flesh because the Spirit helps us.
This Spirit also helps us by bringing us into the presence of God, right up to the last day, the day of general resurrection, the “end of the world.” This Spirit affects our attitude, which changes our behavior and connects the two, the internal (attitude), and the external, (behavior). This is what we called life in Jesus Christ; it is a life which transcends the laws, principles, customs, presuppositions, prescriptions, death, and sin.
In verses six and seven, Paul says that the mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. The verse explains the results of the sinful nature as well as the result of the life controlled by the Spirit. He says that the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Again this verse explains the result of the sinful nature and the result of no relationship with the Spirit.
Verse eight tells us that those who are in the flesh cannot please God: To be “in the flesh” is to be operating on one’s own – meaning to doing what we want or like, and that, by definition, is opposed to God. The two cannot mix, cannot be reconciled, because they are opposites. Living “in the flesh,” has for its purpose and goal pleasing the self. “Flesh” and “obedient to God” are contradictory terms.
In verse nine, Christians are people whose lives are directed from a source outside themselves, here characterized as “living in the Spirit”. There can be no relationship with Christ apart from this Spirit. There can be no such thing as a Christian Pharisee; that is, by being someone who tries to please God by living a good life through his own power. And Paul stresses that whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ. If you have no Holy Spirit, you are not a Christian. Note also that Paul uses “Spirit of God,” and “Spirit of Christ,” interchangeably.
Paul does not deny that all humans have something which can be described as “spirit.” This is often referred to as zeal, enthusiasm or motivation. But it is only when that human “spirit,” is enlivened by “Spirit of God,” that life starts to have special meaning. In our Old Testament reading in Ezekiel 37: 1-14, the resurrection from the dead took place in two steps. First, the “body,” rose. It looked like any normal human body, but was lifeless. Only when the “spirit,” was breathed into it did it come to life.
Likewise, we have bodies that live, but if we really look at ourselves and at one another, we shall realize that many of us are not really living as we should. We are just on surviving mode. We come to church, we say our prayers, give some money and that is it. The church itself no longer has meaning. Some of us treat our job just as source of earning income: the work itself no longer has meaning. We can be just doing things without zeal, enthusiasm or motivation: it is just dead.
That is why we need God’s Spirit to help us. When we are only guided by the human spirits we shall only exercise human enthusiasm. Yes, we shall do good and noble things, but up to a certain points. Time will come when that enthusiasm will cease, when we become less motivated, or when we lose interest altogether. But when we allow God’s Spirit to work within us, we shall not only do good things just for the sake of looking good or making names for ourselves. (These are what the people of the world are doing: they want to be seen and acknowledged, praised and honoured, and remembered for the good things they have done). When we work simply under the strength of our human spirits we can also get bored and lose interests after we have been doing them for a long time; or we may want give up when we are challenged by difficulties and problems. But when we are under God’s grace we have God’s Spirit to help and empower us, to do what God’s want us to do. That is why when we have done something good for the church or society, we should not be taking the credit. The glory should be given to God because he is the one who enables us to do what is good and right. If there is anybody who says, “I quit because nobody notices or appreciates what I am doing,” that person is not serving with the grace of God: he or she is serving out of her own effort!
Again I don’t want to be misquoted here. I am not implying that if a Christian has lost his zeal, interest or becomes lukewarm, he has no Holy Spirit. No. I am not saying that. I believe that every Christian has the Holy Spirit in him or her. The problem is the person does not allow the Holy Spirit to work; perhaps because he does not trust the Holy Spirit, or because he does not know he has the Holy Spirit.
Let us look at verse 11: And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Note that the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit who lives in us. If you use this verse to apply Christ’s resurrection to the resurrection of all Christians, it can come to mean that that our resurrection is not only at the end of time. In fact, our first resurrection takes place when the Spirit enters our lives at our baptism. Paul in Colossians 2: 12 says, “…having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
Last few Sundays we heard about the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus; and in that encounter Jesus explained to Nicodemus what it meant to being born again by the Spirit. From Jesus’ explanation we understand that when we receive the Spirit of Christ or the Holy Spirit, we are reborn because our mortal bodies are given new lives. So our lives now have new meaning. And not only that: our meaningless activities are also transformed into life-enhancing and enduring quality. The good things we do in this world under the power of the Spirit will not be good only to this world: they take on eternal value and meaning. For example, how we treat one another does not only affect our relationship with each other: it affects our relationship with God. Jesus spells it out plainly: he says that if we forgive others, we will be forgiven. Likewise, we shouldn't judge, lest we be judged and we shouldn't condemn lest we be condemned as well.
This is not always good news to the church because when some people in church allow themselves to be transformed and used by the Holy Spirit, it can create uneasiness or even tension between them and those people who have not opened themselves to the working of the Holy Spirit. People who are not transformed and inspired by the Holy Spirit tend to use human reasons, experiences and emotions when they do things. For example, when Jesus told the people to remove the stone covering the tomb of Lazarus, Martha said, “But, Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Martha was speaking out of her human experience that a body that had been buried for 4 days would produce a bad smell.
On the other hand, those under the guidance of the Holy Spirit listen to the God’s word and prompting. Sometimes what they say or do does not make sense at all: they go beyond the confine of human logic or experience. Therefore, people not under guidance of the Holy Spirit very often, will accuse them of being extremists or even heretics.
What is my point in bringing out this matter? First, we need to understand that the church is composed of various kinds of people at various levels of spirituality. Some are very worldly-minded and they only do things based on reasons and experiences. Some are more matured and have learned how to submit themselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. A few have advanced deeper so much so that God have given them special gifts that others have never experienced. These are people who are blessed with visions, blessed with gifts of prophecy, and abilities to perform miracles.
Wherever or whatever level we are at, Christians have no basis or cause to reject something or boast about something, except in the Lord. If we are to do that, we are allowing ourselves to slid back into the conceit, into thinking that we can do God’s work without the help of God’s Spirit; and into thinking that we can do something good on our own power alone. It is not the deed itself, but the “Spirit,” in which and by which the deed is done that matters to God.
Second, Christians are supposed to grow in faith. Those of us who hold important position in Church must grow spiritually; otherwise we become obstacles to the growth of the Church. It has taken a long time for the Anglican Church in this Diocese to grow because many lay leaders and some members of the clergy are not spiritually-enlightened or transformed. They do things under the pretexts of keeping the traditions. They reject anything that comes from the Spirit of God, and instead prefer to use their own logics and reasons to do the work of God. Rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to lead them into new experiences, they prefer to walk the familiar roads, play safe, and stay in their comfort zones. They say, “This was how things were done in the past, and this is how they are going to be run”. They are just like the men in Ezekiel’s vision: they have bodies but they are spiritually dead.
Therefore, if we want the Church to grow, that growth must begin in each one of us first. We need to abandon our old thinking and allow our minds to be transformed and opened to the guidance and the prompting of the Holy Spirit. To have God’s Spirit dwelling inside us means that we must accept Christ, replacing our own will with His will. And these are not easy things to accomplish because we are naturally protective of our biases, interests and things that we are comfortable with. That is why we need the grace of God to help us out. We are like the dead men in the valley of dry bones: we need the breath of God. We are also like Lazarus who came out of the tomb, covered in shroud: we too need to be released of our bondage.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Pontianak Mission Trip 2011
Praise the Lord for my safe voyage to Pontianak and also for my safe passage return back to Brunei Darussalam. The Lord Jesus had sheltered me and secluded me from any harm that might transpire along the way of the mission trip. Even though a day before my embarkation to Pontianak, the evil one had tried to prevent me from going there by giving me some treacherous obstacle. But the Lord Jesus had kept me out of danger.
I give thanks to the Lord, for giving me the opportunity to be called for the missionary work in Pontianak and also for the spiritual experiences that I gained during those passed days serving at “ruko” with Ps. Martin, Sister Noridah, Aunty Janet, Aunty Betty and Aunty Grace.
My first impression of Pontianak was: “It is a cultural wakeup call” for the reason that I found out a lot of Dayak heritage is still firmly exist in all places throughout the city. I was a bit surprised that it resembles a lot more like the Iban culture in Sarawak in terms of the tribal art, the traditional attire and so forth. It is really startling to see all of that, and I finally discovered that the Iban heritage was originated from Kalimantan. So the history was there and surely it will be a good sharing for the G.Y.M.
From the first night at Pontianak, I met up with all the young adults at ruko, from my point of view they are very extraordinary and gifted young people. There is nothing that they can’t do in Christ alone. Ucok, Ana and Elisabeth are among the youth leaders and the Sunday school teachers that had attend the ADYC Leader’s retreat in Kuching 2010. As we comfortably seated at ruko, Ucok gave us the warm welcoming speech on behalf of Pak Ben who was not there due to his training somewhere in Bandung. Nevertheless, the praise and worship at ruko is simply excellent in terms of spirituality even though they only utilize a keyboard but the heart of worship was present, the music are all preset in the keyboard synthesizer consequently that it will produce a good quality sounding effect. The worship was pretty much alive when everybody stood up and giving their best to the Lord. Overall ruko can be a very good potential youth church since most of the members are youth & young adult. The young adults are the ones that are the most active on the reaching out part in comparison to the adult member.
In terms of church growth it needs to be improved for the elderly members. I witnessed only three or four members are adults but the majorities are youth & young adult. Definitely ruko need to have some pastoral effort to be conducted. Well one of the member name Pak Herman is one remarkable person. He had endured hardship in his life, the Lord had blessed him. His skull was badly broken when he tried to prevent an armed robbery in progress during his duties as a security. He testified that the Lord had saved his life. He is one of the dedicated members who haven’t consecrated himself to join the Anglican member at ruko because he is from another church called ‘Isa Al-Masih’. He is very faithful to the Lord and served Him with all his heart. He has an open view to join ruko. He also composed worship songs, play musical instrument and lead worship. I think that he will make a good lay-reader or worship leader for ruko.
During our visitation to Siantan (slump area) at a place for Sunday school called “The holy house of life”, there is a feeling of sadness reached out to my heart where I saw poverty empowers the land. A different side of life that I never encountered before seems to grab my nature sensitivity. What made this part so heartrending is that the unleveled stilt house, roof full of holes that I can imagined when the rain pouring down the water will be dripping all over the place and makes it a hell on earth to live in; the fact that the owner of the house is just a little girl surviving on her own. The empathy for the little girl was really depressing that made me call upon the Lord in prayer and from that moment I had learned a valuable lesson not to take everything in life for granted. I believe that the Lord always watched over her as she watched over the few dozen children there which they use her home as a class for Sunday school. In nature they are too young to have felt the hardship in life, yet they manage to wipe their sadness with a warm smile. The most remarkable things that I’ve seen in life that the effort that they made to minister to others in harsh conditions. The benevolent dictates the heart that serves the Lord with truth, hope and love.
As we continue our days in Pontianak, it came to one Sunday morning where we walked approximately 15 minutes away from our hotel to a nearby stilt house which is also utilize as a Sunday school class room. Aunty Janet and Aunty Betty had become a blessing to those children. Those children were so anxious to answer their questions because in return they will be receiving prizes. Once they were asked to pray, I was once again amazed of the heart that showed how intimately those children with Christ in their prayer. One small boy captured my attention, he was closing his eyes so tightly; holding his both hands so firmly and prayed with his immense heart to the Lord. It is a heartwarming situation for me, as I never encountered any children below the age of 6 would pray like an angel. It is truly a blessing to have experienced all of that. I know that there is a reason why the Lord called upon me for this mission and that is to serve and gain more faith; there is a purpose to be served here. Aunty Betty was so brilliant ministering to the children with the help of Aunty Janet, they were match made in heaven to be the children’s greatest blessing.
We had a long journey of endless prayers, we visited the members that had not been attending regular Sunday service at ruko and gave them encouragement and counseling. We prayed for the blessing of the Lord to be upon them.
Well some journey will come to an end somehow. During our last day in Pontianak we gathered in fellowship with the ruko members. We ate together in joyfulness as if that is the last time we ever see each other again. That night me and the three girls from ruko perform a musical collaboration involving guitar and tambourine in a sense of creative art. Sister Noridah had thought them how to play the tambourine while I on the spot accompany those three girls on the guitar part. Another new experienced for me playing another type of musical genre. It was overwhelming to worship the Lord using musical instrument, one of the very talents that the Lord bestowed in me.
I’ve learned so much during this mission trip. I’ve learned about life walking with Jesus, serving his people according to His will. The Lord had made a path for me long before I was born. He had planned something wonderful for me. I just need to listen to what He is telling me and He shall direct my path to righteousness for His glory.
Guard their hearts, Lord, keep them close to you. Lord, help me to show them what is right. I pray, Lord that they would grow strong in you. Thank you Lord for trusting me, guide me and teach me all your ways; and I will not fail to give You all of the glory and praise. In the name of Jesus, Amen
This prayer will always be the remnant of blessing from the Lord for the members of ruko at Pontianak.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Lent 3 (27 March 2011)
Theme: Jesus and Sinners
Last Sunday we heard about the encounter of Jesus with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. This morning we hear of another encounter of Jesus – not with another religiously upright, educated, wealthy or a respectable person of society - but a woman with doubtful character from Samaria. Nicodemus sneaked into the house where Jesus stayed at night, while this woman met him as she went to the well at noon time. Though they have chosen two different times, they did it out of the same reason – i.e. in order to avoid being seen by others. Nicodemus did not want other Pharisees or religious people to see him with Jesus who they regarded as a false teacher and therefore, an enemy. The Samaritan woman went to draw water from the well at noon day because she did not want to meet other women who despised her.
When John put these two stories one after another, I believe he has one purpose in mind – that is to let us see that irrespective of where you stand in the eyes of society this morning you need Christ Jesus. The religious and the irreligious, the moral and the immoral, the educated and the uneducated, the rich and the poor, male and female – all need Jesus Christ.
It is not easy to describe the life of this Samaritan woman. As a man I cannot possibly understand her feelings as an outcast. But there are a few things which we can understand. First, as a woman in those days, she was dependent on a man for her identity as a human being. We are told that she had been married five times, and the man she was living with was not her legal husband. We do not know how her marriages to the other men ended, whether by death or divorce.
She knew the life of an outcast to the point where she had to go to a well far distant from the city on at noon day. No woman would come to the well to wash their clothes or draw water at noon day: it would be too hot. They would come in the early morning or evening when it would be cooler, and that was when they would fellowship and chat with one another. This Samaritan woman could not join the other women because they would have nothing to do with her – to them she was an outcast, an immoral person and object of gossips.
Imagine her loneliness and the inner pain – the men looked down on her and the women rejected her friendship. She knew their gossips. She heard their conversations. She was familiar with her reputation, the stares and the snide remarks. They wounded her spirit and hardened her heart. She would rather face the fierce heat of the midday sun than risk meeting one of the townspeople at the well. Imagine yourself to be in that position: it is a dreadful place to be and an awful situation to find yourself in. Hiding away from people for fear of what they might say and what they are thinking.
How did Jesus end up meeting this woman? We are told that the encounter took place while Jesus was on the way from Judea to Galilee. In order to reach Galilee travellers from Judea must travel through Samaria. This was not something the Jews would do unless they had to because the Samaritans were considered by the Jews as enemies. Some strict Jews would even travel hundreds of miles through other regions outside Samaria in order to stay ritually clean. This hatred of the Jews towards the Samaritans and vice versa stretched back over 700 years to the time immediately after the death of Solomon and the conquering of the land by the Assyrians. When the northern region was conquered the Jews of that land started to marry people of other races, and hence lost their racial purity and their religious purity, and came to be known as the Samaritans. Around 400 B.C. the Samaritans built their own temple at Mt. Gerizim because they could no longer worship in Jerusalem. This is the background to this story.
John tells us that Christ Jesus was tired from the travelling and so he sat down at the side of Jacob’s well (v. 5-6), whilst the disciples headed off to the nearest town to purchase some food (v8). Whilst they were away a woman came to the well and Jesus asked her for a drink of water (v.7).
To us this seems like a simple request but considering the hatred between Jews and Samaritans, it means crossing over social barriers. And for Jesus, a Jewish man, to speak to a woman, in public was forbidden – and worse still a Samaritan woman. Some Jews would even speak to their own wives in public. That was why the woman was so shocked when Jesus spoke to her (v9). She said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”
Even her own people in the village of Sychar despised and rejected her, and yet here was Jesus, a Jewish man speaking to her. She must be thinking, “If this man knows my reputation he will not speak to me. And he certainly will not ask me for anything”. Most of us will never tell anybody what we really go thorough in life because we fear what they will think of us. We keep our pains, hurts and longings to ourselves because we fear people may no longer want to be our friends, if they know who we are. When this woman answered Jesus, ‘How can you ask me for a drink?’ she was stating more than the social barriers between them – she was revealing something of her heart to Jesus. “If you know what sort of woman I am, you will not speak to me, let alone ask water from me?”
In reply to her question Jesus made an offer (v10). He said, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” Water is a symbol of spiritual blessing, and Jesus spoke to her about ‘the gift of God…and living water.’ But she could not understand what Jesus was saying. Even when Jesus restated the offer in even more vivid terms, in verses 13 and 14, but once again she failed to understand. While Jesus was talking about the spiritual thirst of her soul, she was talking about her physical thirst. He talked of the eternal and she was focused on the things of this world. But then, why should we expect her to understand? Her life was all about fulfilling her physical hunger and thirst. Wasn’t her entire adult spent on seeking to quench her thirst for love, acceptance and security in one failed marriage after another? Hadn’t she been thinking, hoping, maybe even praying all these years that the next husband would be the one to fulfil her longings?
Now let us ask ourselves a question – Are we any different from this woman? Have we not been thinking and hoping and praying for the next thing that can bring us satisfaction in life, but only to be disappointed time and time again? It may not be relationship issues: it may be a job that we hope will satisfy our ambition; or that we are hoping for more money to come in that will fulfil our needs; or it may be some project that we hope to accomplish that will bring names for ourselves. Are there not times when you think there is ‘something is missing in your life’ and that you have not found it until now? In our story this morning, Jesus was trying to make the woman to take her eyes away from the things of this world and to look at the spiritual, and she couldn’t do it. Are you like that woman, stuck with your particular needs, and having no idea how to get out?
When the woman asked for a drink of this ‘living water’ which would quench her thirst, Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” Why did Jesus do that? That is how Jesus often deals with our thirsts. He went directly to the source of the problem. (I am not saying that the sixth husband is the problem). But look at her answer. Up to this point she had been quite talkative but now her answer is short and too the point, ‘I don’t have a husband’ (v17). Her answer is truthful but evasive. She still refused to talk about it because it was a painful subject to talk about.
Have we not been there? Have we not been evasive in some areas of our lives because they are too painful or hard to confront? Sometimes we blame other people or circumstances for our miseries and our failures. But look here: Jesus did not stop from confronting her with a personal issue. He said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
The question I want to ask you is: was Jesus being cruel by revealing something so personal and opening up the past wounds? You need to remember that in a few weeks time Jesus would die on the cross for this woman. Jesus wasn’t being cruel to her: he was doing this to save her from the consequences of her past and to save her from having to continue in such a spiral of broken relationships, unsatisfied thirst, and living in shame in the future.
But it was hard for her to accept. She tried to divert the conversation once more. “Sir,” she said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” She did not want to talk about her personal life, instead tried to change the subject to a religious question. It is easy to be critical about this woman. But don’t we often talk about religion when God wants to talk to us about relationship? This woman asks a question concerning the right place to worship God: was it Jerusalem or Mt. Gerizim? She talked about place of worship not because she was religious: she was simply uncomfortable with the topic that has to do with her moral life. Don’t we do the same?
I have attended several hundreds of committee meetings in Churches all over the Diocese and Province during the course of my ministry. Most of the things that were heavily discussed or debated upon have to do with material things – money, buildings, lands, vehicles, number of people and list of physical activities and programs. And when it comes to dealing with spiritual matters, things that concern our relationship with Jesus and things that matter the most – only few people dare to give their opinions.
It is significant that Jesus refused to be drawn into this argument as to what place was the acceptable for worship. And Jesus told her that a time is coming when neither the temple in Jerusalem nor the temple on Mount Gerizim will be needed or considered as acceptable place to worship God. After the Ascension of Jesus, God is worshipped all over the places, and all over the world. The important thing is not where, it is the attitude of the hearts which matter - that God must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. It is all about the Spirit of God and truth of God’s Word. It is not dependent on places or things.
Then she answered, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” And Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” It was at that point that the disciples returned. Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
Many of you have heard this story many times and you have heard many explanations from various preachers, so much so that our hearts can be hardened, and say that there is nothing more to learn. Let us ask ourselves: are we happy and contented with our lives, or are we always feeling something are missing deep within our hearts? Sometimes we connect this sense of emptiness with something we hope to find in this world. It may be human friendships; it may be material wealth; it may be change in our status; but if that emptiness has something to do with the living water Jesus was talking about, no amount of money, friendships and whatever things can fulfil the emptiness. But how often we are like this woman: seeking to fulfil her needs, and yet when she is confronted by Jesus on the very issue of her problem, she wants to change the subject? Every time Jesus wants to talk to us about renewing our relationship with him, we change the subject: we talk about church buildings, or money, or about maintaining traditions, rituals or rules. And when we are confronted with the issues of our own sins, we talk about what is wrong with other people.
If we come to church this morning, feeling almost exactly like this woman who stood before Jesus, please know that Jesus is also speaking to us, also wanting to offer us this living water. You know that he knows the sin in our lives, the mess of our past lives and he is not going to let us brush them aside. If my sharing this morning makes you feel somewhat uncomfortable or even angry, it may be because Jesus is speaking to your heart, telling you something is not right with your life. This Sunday is already the 3rd week of Lent and if you have really reflected upon your personal life, you may come to conclusion that there is something that is not right with your life.
This morning Jesus gives us an offer – the forgiveness of our sins, the cleansing of our souls and the quenching of our thirst. Our longing to be forgiven, to be loved, to be accepted, to be free from the past and to have another chance can be realized this morning. But there is a condition for it: Jesus will not, and he cannot, evade the issue of our sin. Jesus also comes to us with the living water that can satisfy the thirst that lies deep within us and cries out for quenching. He knows the poor decisions each of us have made in life, and yet he accepts us for who we are, and loves us still.
Earlier during the service we have heard the Ten Commandments and said our general confession. Now we take a more personal step to confessing a particular sin that that has become a barrier to our relationship with Jesus; and have that burden lifted, our sin forgiven and the thirst of our soul quenched. Let us pray this sinner’s prayer:
“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”
Theme: Jesus and Sinners
Last Sunday we heard about the encounter of Jesus with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. This morning we hear of another encounter of Jesus – not with another religiously upright, educated, wealthy or a respectable person of society - but a woman with doubtful character from Samaria. Nicodemus sneaked into the house where Jesus stayed at night, while this woman met him as she went to the well at noon time. Though they have chosen two different times, they did it out of the same reason – i.e. in order to avoid being seen by others. Nicodemus did not want other Pharisees or religious people to see him with Jesus who they regarded as a false teacher and therefore, an enemy. The Samaritan woman went to draw water from the well at noon day because she did not want to meet other women who despised her.
When John put these two stories one after another, I believe he has one purpose in mind – that is to let us see that irrespective of where you stand in the eyes of society this morning you need Christ Jesus. The religious and the irreligious, the moral and the immoral, the educated and the uneducated, the rich and the poor, male and female – all need Jesus Christ.
It is not easy to describe the life of this Samaritan woman. As a man I cannot possibly understand her feelings as an outcast. But there are a few things which we can understand. First, as a woman in those days, she was dependent on a man for her identity as a human being. We are told that she had been married five times, and the man she was living with was not her legal husband. We do not know how her marriages to the other men ended, whether by death or divorce.
She knew the life of an outcast to the point where she had to go to a well far distant from the city on at noon day. No woman would come to the well to wash their clothes or draw water at noon day: it would be too hot. They would come in the early morning or evening when it would be cooler, and that was when they would fellowship and chat with one another. This Samaritan woman could not join the other women because they would have nothing to do with her – to them she was an outcast, an immoral person and object of gossips.
Imagine her loneliness and the inner pain – the men looked down on her and the women rejected her friendship. She knew their gossips. She heard their conversations. She was familiar with her reputation, the stares and the snide remarks. They wounded her spirit and hardened her heart. She would rather face the fierce heat of the midday sun than risk meeting one of the townspeople at the well. Imagine yourself to be in that position: it is a dreadful place to be and an awful situation to find yourself in. Hiding away from people for fear of what they might say and what they are thinking.
How did Jesus end up meeting this woman? We are told that the encounter took place while Jesus was on the way from Judea to Galilee. In order to reach Galilee travellers from Judea must travel through Samaria. This was not something the Jews would do unless they had to because the Samaritans were considered by the Jews as enemies. Some strict Jews would even travel hundreds of miles through other regions outside Samaria in order to stay ritually clean. This hatred of the Jews towards the Samaritans and vice versa stretched back over 700 years to the time immediately after the death of Solomon and the conquering of the land by the Assyrians. When the northern region was conquered the Jews of that land started to marry people of other races, and hence lost their racial purity and their religious purity, and came to be known as the Samaritans. Around 400 B.C. the Samaritans built their own temple at Mt. Gerizim because they could no longer worship in Jerusalem. This is the background to this story.
John tells us that Christ Jesus was tired from the travelling and so he sat down at the side of Jacob’s well (v. 5-6), whilst the disciples headed off to the nearest town to purchase some food (v8). Whilst they were away a woman came to the well and Jesus asked her for a drink of water (v.7).
To us this seems like a simple request but considering the hatred between Jews and Samaritans, it means crossing over social barriers. And for Jesus, a Jewish man, to speak to a woman, in public was forbidden – and worse still a Samaritan woman. Some Jews would even speak to their own wives in public. That was why the woman was so shocked when Jesus spoke to her (v9). She said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”
Even her own people in the village of Sychar despised and rejected her, and yet here was Jesus, a Jewish man speaking to her. She must be thinking, “If this man knows my reputation he will not speak to me. And he certainly will not ask me for anything”. Most of us will never tell anybody what we really go thorough in life because we fear what they will think of us. We keep our pains, hurts and longings to ourselves because we fear people may no longer want to be our friends, if they know who we are. When this woman answered Jesus, ‘How can you ask me for a drink?’ she was stating more than the social barriers between them – she was revealing something of her heart to Jesus. “If you know what sort of woman I am, you will not speak to me, let alone ask water from me?”
In reply to her question Jesus made an offer (v10). He said, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” Water is a symbol of spiritual blessing, and Jesus spoke to her about ‘the gift of God…and living water.’ But she could not understand what Jesus was saying. Even when Jesus restated the offer in even more vivid terms, in verses 13 and 14, but once again she failed to understand. While Jesus was talking about the spiritual thirst of her soul, she was talking about her physical thirst. He talked of the eternal and she was focused on the things of this world. But then, why should we expect her to understand? Her life was all about fulfilling her physical hunger and thirst. Wasn’t her entire adult spent on seeking to quench her thirst for love, acceptance and security in one failed marriage after another? Hadn’t she been thinking, hoping, maybe even praying all these years that the next husband would be the one to fulfil her longings?
Now let us ask ourselves a question – Are we any different from this woman? Have we not been thinking and hoping and praying for the next thing that can bring us satisfaction in life, but only to be disappointed time and time again? It may not be relationship issues: it may be a job that we hope will satisfy our ambition; or that we are hoping for more money to come in that will fulfil our needs; or it may be some project that we hope to accomplish that will bring names for ourselves. Are there not times when you think there is ‘something is missing in your life’ and that you have not found it until now? In our story this morning, Jesus was trying to make the woman to take her eyes away from the things of this world and to look at the spiritual, and she couldn’t do it. Are you like that woman, stuck with your particular needs, and having no idea how to get out?
When the woman asked for a drink of this ‘living water’ which would quench her thirst, Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” Why did Jesus do that? That is how Jesus often deals with our thirsts. He went directly to the source of the problem. (I am not saying that the sixth husband is the problem). But look at her answer. Up to this point she had been quite talkative but now her answer is short and too the point, ‘I don’t have a husband’ (v17). Her answer is truthful but evasive. She still refused to talk about it because it was a painful subject to talk about.
Have we not been there? Have we not been evasive in some areas of our lives because they are too painful or hard to confront? Sometimes we blame other people or circumstances for our miseries and our failures. But look here: Jesus did not stop from confronting her with a personal issue. He said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
The question I want to ask you is: was Jesus being cruel by revealing something so personal and opening up the past wounds? You need to remember that in a few weeks time Jesus would die on the cross for this woman. Jesus wasn’t being cruel to her: he was doing this to save her from the consequences of her past and to save her from having to continue in such a spiral of broken relationships, unsatisfied thirst, and living in shame in the future.
But it was hard for her to accept. She tried to divert the conversation once more. “Sir,” she said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” She did not want to talk about her personal life, instead tried to change the subject to a religious question. It is easy to be critical about this woman. But don’t we often talk about religion when God wants to talk to us about relationship? This woman asks a question concerning the right place to worship God: was it Jerusalem or Mt. Gerizim? She talked about place of worship not because she was religious: she was simply uncomfortable with the topic that has to do with her moral life. Don’t we do the same?
I have attended several hundreds of committee meetings in Churches all over the Diocese and Province during the course of my ministry. Most of the things that were heavily discussed or debated upon have to do with material things – money, buildings, lands, vehicles, number of people and list of physical activities and programs. And when it comes to dealing with spiritual matters, things that concern our relationship with Jesus and things that matter the most – only few people dare to give their opinions.
It is significant that Jesus refused to be drawn into this argument as to what place was the acceptable for worship. And Jesus told her that a time is coming when neither the temple in Jerusalem nor the temple on Mount Gerizim will be needed or considered as acceptable place to worship God. After the Ascension of Jesus, God is worshipped all over the places, and all over the world. The important thing is not where, it is the attitude of the hearts which matter - that God must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. It is all about the Spirit of God and truth of God’s Word. It is not dependent on places or things.
Then she answered, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” And Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” It was at that point that the disciples returned. Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
Many of you have heard this story many times and you have heard many explanations from various preachers, so much so that our hearts can be hardened, and say that there is nothing more to learn. Let us ask ourselves: are we happy and contented with our lives, or are we always feeling something are missing deep within our hearts? Sometimes we connect this sense of emptiness with something we hope to find in this world. It may be human friendships; it may be material wealth; it may be change in our status; but if that emptiness has something to do with the living water Jesus was talking about, no amount of money, friendships and whatever things can fulfil the emptiness. But how often we are like this woman: seeking to fulfil her needs, and yet when she is confronted by Jesus on the very issue of her problem, she wants to change the subject? Every time Jesus wants to talk to us about renewing our relationship with him, we change the subject: we talk about church buildings, or money, or about maintaining traditions, rituals or rules. And when we are confronted with the issues of our own sins, we talk about what is wrong with other people.
If we come to church this morning, feeling almost exactly like this woman who stood before Jesus, please know that Jesus is also speaking to us, also wanting to offer us this living water. You know that he knows the sin in our lives, the mess of our past lives and he is not going to let us brush them aside. If my sharing this morning makes you feel somewhat uncomfortable or even angry, it may be because Jesus is speaking to your heart, telling you something is not right with your life. This Sunday is already the 3rd week of Lent and if you have really reflected upon your personal life, you may come to conclusion that there is something that is not right with your life.
This morning Jesus gives us an offer – the forgiveness of our sins, the cleansing of our souls and the quenching of our thirst. Our longing to be forgiven, to be loved, to be accepted, to be free from the past and to have another chance can be realized this morning. But there is a condition for it: Jesus will not, and he cannot, evade the issue of our sin. Jesus also comes to us with the living water that can satisfy the thirst that lies deep within us and cries out for quenching. He knows the poor decisions each of us have made in life, and yet he accepts us for who we are, and loves us still.
Earlier during the service we have heard the Ten Commandments and said our general confession. Now we take a more personal step to confessing a particular sin that that has become a barrier to our relationship with Jesus; and have that burden lifted, our sin forgiven and the thirst of our soul quenched. Let us pray this sinner’s prayer:
“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Sunday next Before Lent (6 March 2011)
Theme: The Significance of the Transfiguration of Jesus
Texts: 2 Peter 1: 16-end; Matthew 17: 1-9
Our lesson for today tells us about one of the greatest experiences ever recorded in the Bible - the transfiguration of Jesus Christ! It came about when Jesus was preparing himself to face the cross. Jesus knew that he would die. Jesus also knew that it would not be just death, but a painful death on the cross. He knew how the Roman soldiers treated their prisoners as they were condemned to die. Those thoughts must be really agonising. We know that Jesus tried to share his predicament with the disciples. But when he mentioned it to them (e.g. Mark 8: 28-32), Peter rebuked him for saying such a thing. They could not understand. So the only thing to do was to seek comfort from his Father. Could that be the reason why Jesus decided to go up the mountain? Or is there other reason?
So on this particular day he took his three disciples with him up the mountain. Matthew said it was a high mountain. Some people suggest that it could be Mount Hermon , but quite unlikely – because at more than 9000 feet high, it would be too cold at top. Some say it was Mount Tabor Mount Meron , which at 3,900 feet is the tallest mountain in Israel
As I said earlier, Jesus could have decided to go up the high mountain with the 3 disciples in order to seek peace and comfort as he faced the cross. But it could be more than that. If you study Matthew 16, you read that people had been asking the question: Who is Jesus? In Matthew 16: 13, Jesus asked his disciples: “13Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The disciples replied, "Some say John the Baptist; some say Elijah; and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets." But it wasn’t just the crowds who were talking about Jesus. His own disciples were asking the same question. So he asked them: "Who do you say I am?" It was Simon Peter who answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." The question “Who is this Jesus” was on everyone’s lips. Matthew 16 tells us about the human responses. Now in Chapter 17 we see a divine response. So Jesus took the 3 disciples so that God the Father can give them the answer to the question of Jesus’ identity.
There may be another reason – to fulfil his promise to the disciples in Matthew 16:28. He said, “Some of you standing here now will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Jesus was, of course talking about his second coming in glory and might. But as far as seeing the Son of man in glory, that verse was fulfilled when Jesus transfigured at the top of the high mountain.
The transformation was such a sight. One minute, Jesus looked like any other Jew. The next minute, His face was shining like the sun and His clothes were as white as the light! This is what Jesus is going to look like when he comes again and that is what he looks like when He is in heaven. In Revelation 1:16, when John sees the heavenly Christ walking among the seven golden lamp-stands, he says that Jesus’ face was “like the sun in all its brilliance.”
Then Moses and Elijah appeared before them and talked with Jesus. Matthew does not tell us what the two men said to Jesus, but Luke 9: 31 tells us that they were speaking to Jesus about his “departure, which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.” I am sure that you have been told about the significance of the two men. Moses was the one who brought the Israelites out of Egypt
Peter, confronted with the extraordinary sight, did not quite know what to say and do. In the process he made two subtle mistakes. First, he did not want the experience to end. Peter wanted to prolong the mountaintop experience and enjoy that glorious fellowship as long as possible. We do not want to criticize Peter too much because I think he was overexcited more than anything else. But think about the implications of what he was saying! There was an element of selfishness in it. He was saying “Forget about the nine other apostles down for a while. Let them have their hands full trying to drive out demons and healing the sick. Forget about our mission for a while. Let us just stay up here and just keep Jesus to ourselves for a while!”
Could we be feeling the same way when we are in Church? Are we content with our worship and fellowship, that we need not care what is happening to the world outside? Are we content to have our little mountaintop experience with Jesus right here?
There is nothing wrong with having a mountain top experience with Jesus Christ. In fact we need it once in a while. But we cannot keep the mountain top experience to ourselves! We have a responsibility to share our mountain high Jesus experience with the people down below and the people outside.
Personally-speaking my three-year stay at St. Margaret’s Church has been a mountaintop experience in my ministry. It is a blessing to be given this break to look after a small congregation. But I am not supposed to enjoy this for long…time may come when I have to go down to the valley, where tough works are waiting to get done.
Peter also made another mistake. He calls Jesus “Lord,” but then he ends up creating his own little trinity. He said, “If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” You see: the whole point of the transfiguration is to shine the spotlight on Jesus Christ! It is to show that Christ alone is the central authority figure in our lives! Christ alone is the Lord. But Peter did not know what he was saying, and he ended up blurring the distinctiveness of Christ and putting him on an equal level with Moses and Elijah.
How many of us have ever put other things or people in our lives on an equal level as Jesus? We call Jesus “Lord”, but how many of us are more excited about other things than we are about our relationship with Jesus?
Peter’s comment about putting up tents makes it clear that he doesn’t understand the significance of Jesus’ transfiguration. So God has to act quickly. Verse 5 says that while Peter was still speaking, “a bright cloud enveloped them” and a voice from the cloud proclaimed “This is my Son, whom I love, with whom I am well-pleased.” Then God added three very important words: “Listen to Him!” The disciples were in fear. And when the bright cloud cleared Elijah and Moses were seen no more. Only Jesus was left standing with them.
There are three very important lessons that we can learn from the transfiguration of Jesus Christ. First, it teaches us that when we are in the midst of some personal crisis, it is wise to come away to be with the Lord. There are people who blame God for their problems and stay away from God’s Church. There are people we don’t agree with in church and there may be things we don’t like happening in church. But it is a mistake to stay away from Church. What we should do instead, is to come closer to God and spend time more time with him – not less time. In time God will reveal to us greater things which our human eyes fail to see. And God may even use us as agent of change in that imperfect church.
Second, Jesus had spent numerous times up on the mountain or a lonely place alone; but not this time. When Jesus went up the high mountain he took Peter, James and John with him to experience something. And that encounter would be something that they would never forget. Long after Jesus had risen from the dead, this scene was still burned in their minds. In 1 John 1: 5, John wrote, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” And Peter, in our Epistle reading this morning, declares, “…we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain” (2 Peter 1:16-18).
What does that tell us? It tells us that there are times when Jesus invites us into his presence so that he can share his glory with us. I believe that Jesus wants us to talk with Him and worship Him and focus on Him! He wants us to see that he alone is the glorious Lord of heaven and earth! But why is that not happening or never happens to us? Perhaps we never desire it. Perhaps we don’t believe that we can ever see such things. I think our problem is that we have been so complacent with what we have been doing over the years. We simply don’t expect good and wonderful things to happen…so they never happen!
Third, it teaches us about the importance of listening. Peter had been focusing on “good” things. Moses and Elijah were important men who represented the greatest revelation that God had ever given to man up that point. Moses and Elijah were important men, but they paled in comparison to Christ. Moses’ face didn’t shine like the sun. Elijah’s garments did not turn as white as snow. It was Jesus that shone with light and glory… not them. That was why the voice from the bright cloud and a voice from the cloud proclaimed, “This is my Son, whom I love, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to Him!”
The point is this: It’s easy to get distracted by “good things” in this life and neglect the best that God wants for our lives. As a Church we can fall into the trap of paying too much attention to the less important things. We can have our “hobby horse doctrine” and conduct activities and programs that consume almost all of our teaching, energy and money, while leaving Jesus out. We can spend a lot of time preaching important topics, but failed to show people Jesus. It has happen to preachers and churches; you know fully well it can also happen to us here.
You need to be aware that it is possible to go to church all of your life… and still not listen to Jesus. It is possible to have perfect attendance; to be involved in various committees and activities in the congregation; or even preaching or sharing the Word; but to have Jesus missing out of our lives. We can go through the routine of going to church: say and do all the proper things, but never seem to be listening to Jesus.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)