Category Archives: Bible Study

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For Such A Time As This

Esther Before Ahasuerus by Giovanni Andrea Sirani

While the name of God is not mentioned, His hand is seen in all of the unfolding events within the book of Esther. God uses the faithfulness, courage and integrity of Esther and Mordecai to accomplish His good purposes for the exiled Jewish people. Mordecai ponders the mystery of God’s providence and their role in His plan when he asks,

“And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)

In a bold act, Esther enters the King Ahashuerus’ court without summons and is extended the gold scepter of the King’s royal favor. In contrast to her predecessor, Vashti, who rebelliously avoided the King’s summons, Esther greatly pleases him with her initiative toward him without summons. He offers her any request—an offer which will provide the occasion for the salvation of the entire Jewish people from total annihilation!

“On that night the king could not sleep…” (6:1)

The turning point in the Book of Esther occurs when the king has a sleepless night. He orders that the chronicles of his kingdom be read. In that reading, he hears of the loyal acts of Mordecai in thwarting the plot of sedition against the king’s life (See Esther 2:21-23).

Mordecai’s faithfulness toward the king becomes yet another occasion for Divine Providence. His service to the king is used for God’s glory. His faithfulness, integrity, and courage under God is to be starkly contrasted with the vain self-serving character of the royal advisor, Haman.

King Ahashuerus in that moment purposes to exalt Mordecai to high honor for his loyalty and action. Ironically, the vain Haman mistakenly believes the king was purposing to honor him. Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” (6:6). His pride and vanity would see him lifted high to his own 50-cubit-high gallows.

Indeed, God uses His people in mighty ways when they seek to courageously and uncompromisingly live for Him in the small unseen acts of faithfulness. Contemplate whether the circumstances in your life are just such an occasion for God to use you mightily. Who knows whether you have not come to your current position for such a time as this?

Prayer: Lord, I offer myself to be used to accomplish your good will and purposes for your kingdom. Show me your ways and teach me your paths that I may walk in them. Amen.

This post originally appeared here.

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Futility of Selfish Ambition

The Futility of Selfish Ambition

A Reflection on Ecclesiastes 4:1-6:12

The Preacher of Ecclesiastes turns to a reflection on the futility of human beings pursuit of selfish ambition. This pursuit has led to bitter tyranny and oppression. (4:1-6) Man’s envy is self consuming: “The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh” (4:5) Selfish ambition leads to a lonely alienation and foolish self-centered existence:

Again, I saw vanity under the sun: one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business. -Eccl. 4:7,8

Selfish ambition is the sin of presumption upon the grace of God. The words of our mouth are arrogant in what we purpose and vow to do. Our dreams and plans for ourselves are often not God’s ways and plans. Selfish ambition is futility–the equivalent of chasing after the wind. Not smart.

Ultimately, the selfish pursuit of more and more wealth will prove to be unsatisfying and stressful. The more you have, the more worries, because there is more to lose. And at the end of the day–it will all be lost.

“As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.” (5:15)

So hold earthly wealth loosely; enjoy it while you have it–and count your blessings as a gift from God! (5:18-20) The vain pursuit of earthly and temporal gain alone ultimately leads to despairing because the future is so unpredictable:

For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun? -Eccl. 6:12

Like Jesus, the Preacher calls us to turn away from ourselves and surrender to the way and will of God. The re-orientation of our lives away from self and toward the Lord, not only brings significance back to the prosperity and adversity of life, but secures an eternal reward for all who trust in Him.

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The Heart of a Reformer

King Ahaz was a corrupt and faithless king. He set up altars to false gods in every corner of Jerusalem, and he made unholy alliances with foreign kings. The most dramatic act of his rebellion against the Lord was when he “shut up the doors of the house of the Lord” (2 Chr. 28:24).

His son Hezekiah took the throne, and he was the complete opposite of his father. The very first act of his reign was “he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them.” (2 Chr. 29:3). The main point of the book of 2 Chronicles is to demonstrate that repentance leads to restoration. Earlier in the book, the Chronicler recorded this word from the Lord for King Solomon and his descendants:

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chr. 7:14

Hezekiah stands as a model reformer of society for all time. By turning away from the “filth” and “unfaithfulness” of his predecessors and by seeking the face of the Lord, he demonstrates the character and actions that God is seeking in his people. The people followed his lead and were reorganized in the service of worship of the Lord. Hezekiah had the heart of a reformer:

“Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us.” 2 Chr. 29:10

Have we not inherited a culture that has “shut up the doors” to the worship of the Lord, Jesus? Have we not experienced and even been participants in the “unfaithfulness” and the “filth” of a culture that has set up idols “in every corner”. In our day, just as in Hezekiah’s day, we desperately need leaders with the heart of covenant faithfulness. We need leaders who will make true worship of the one true Lord, Jesus Christ the priority of our common life. We need followers who will be ready themselves to be ministers of the Lord.

Do you have the heart and character of a reformer?


Lord, make me an instrument of reform and renewal in our day. Show me the place where my family, my work place, my church, my school, my government need godly change. Guide me to the places that can be reorganized and centered on you. Give me the courage to act in Jesus name, Amen.

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I Have Overcome the World

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

This morning I was talking to a favorite friend of mine. We enjoyed light talk then moved into the realities of a chaotic and challenging summer.

I loved her question: “Don’t you just want to take a break from growing, a break from being transformed?”

“Yes!” I answered, “I love breaks and I do believe God gives us those. However, I want abundant life even more than the break.”

This is what I have come to understand. The world showcases the glamorous lives of the rich and famous through movies, TV and tabloids. Facebook or “Fakebook”, as my friend refers to it, portrays problem-free life. What the movies, TV, tabloids and Facebook do not properly portray is what is underneath all the glamour shots. With a close up view, there are things that even facades and make up cannot hide.

Struggle and Pain. Most of the time our lives have some element of struggle and pain. Yes, we can hide it behind facades, make up, busy schedules, exercise addictions, eating disorders, alcohol and anything else used to escape the reality of life. Nevertheless, underneath all the addictions and facades lay the same things — struggle and pain. It is the truth that we desperately don’t want to hear.

Look at the life of Jesus. He shared many wonderful, joy-filled moments with his people. There was also struggle and pain. Jesus experienced much rejection, being misunderstood, anger at those who did not understand his Father, mistrust of his own family, abandonment by his closest friends, then a trip to Calvary and an agonizing death on the cross.

Jesus understands struggle and pain. He did not die to guarantee you a pain-free life. He died to guarantee you a resurrected life. The struggle and pain in our lives are agents of change, agents to take us deeper into that resurrected life. They can be the means to our healing and freedom.

Here is the question: are you willing to trust God with your struggle and pain? Are you willing to allow Him to take you deeper into His heart, His plan, His way? If so, you have to embrace the struggle and pain and allow God to convict, heal and set free. This is our cooperative work in transformation. Like Jesus, we can overcome the world. We can overcome the pain. To overcome, we have to be willing to walk through the process of transformation. The awesome promise of God is that through that transformation we are moving from one degree of glory to another.

Yes, I know we all want a break from the transformation process God works in our lives. But brothers and sisters, we have to take heart. The victory has been won for us in the cross. It will be won in us through the Holy Spirit. We, too, will overcome the struggle and pain. In the meantime, we get to move deeper and deeper into the heart of our heavenly Father who loves us beyond comprehension and deeper into the abundant life he has planned for us.

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Gospel Power and God’s Plan

The Power of the Gospel for Salvation

“To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints…” By the time of Paul’s letter to them, the Roman church had become something of a missionary outpost and hub. As the capital city of the Roman Empire, the church had a global reach for the mission of the Gospel of God. Paul expressed gratitude to the church for their strong global witness saying, “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.”

From the letter it is clear that up to the point of his writing, Paul had not yet personally visited the church in Rome–though he deeply wanted to do so.

Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. -Romans 1:13

The letter is a way of laying the groundwork for that future preaching-teaching visit, and it may have ultimately served to be a surrogate for a more personal instruction. The reason for Paul’s delay is revealed in Romans 15:22-29 where he describes his journey to Jerusalem to deliver a gift to the impoverished saints in Jerusalem:

22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

It is long appreciated that Paul’s delay in visiting Rome actually became the occasion for writing a letter which has had a tremendous impact for the Gospel. Had Paul actually gone to Rome accruing to his own plans and timing, the letter to the Romans would not have been written. That is why one commentator calls Paul’s Jerusalem gift, “The Gift that Changed the World”. Sometimes God prevents us from doing what we want to do so that he can accomplish an even greater unexpected purpose through us.

Paul would eventually make it to Rome but his time there would be as a “prisoner in chains” for Christ. The Lord himself revealed to Paul that he would one day personally bear witness for him in Rome:

Acts 23:11 That night the Lord stood near him and said, “Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome.”

From prison in Rome, Paul would write several more influential letters known as the “prison epistles”. Out of all of the Apostle Paul’s writings, the letter to the Romans stands to this day as one of the most influential books in the entire Bible. Many of the greatest church leaders in the history of the Christian church were converted or deeply influenced by the letter. People such as, St. Augustine, Martin Luther, John Wesley all trace their initial conversion and spiritual awakening to verses from the letter to the Romans. Rightly so, the letter is Paul’s most clear and dynamic presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

While a deep theological work, it is also deeply personal. For this reason, it has proved to be life changing in its application for everyone who has undertaken to study it with faith in Jesus and a desire to receive the power available in the great Gospel of God.

Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ….

Including YOU!

May the Gospel of God speak to your heart and mind by Word and Spirit that you might experience the fullness of power of God for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, The Lord. Amen.

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Prayer in the midst of the Insurmountable

Hezekiah’s Prayer Against all Odds

(Read: 2 Kgs 18:13-19:37)

Prayer in the midst of the Insurmountable

So now, O LORD save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone. 2 Kings 19:8

By studying the prayers of Scripture, we can learn a lot about how to pray effective prayers. Constantly through out the Bible we see prayers like the one Hezekiah offers to the LORD.

Things are looking bleak for Judea and Jerusalem. The hoards of the Assyrian army are mocking YHWH God and his people, threatening at the gates. Yet, Hezekiah does not resort to bravado; no, he encourages his men NOT to answer the Assyrian mockers (2 Ki. 18:36).

He does resort to prayer. THAT he prays in this situation is instructive in and of itself. The forces outside the gate of Jerusalem appeared to be insurmountable in shear numbers. Why even hope? Why even pray? There is not a chance. But that is precisely the moment to pray!

The LORD loves to show his hand on behalf of his people in seemingly insurmountable situations. Hezekiah knows the LORD well enough to understand that if he so chooses he can overcome such odds and forces. But notice the way Hezekiah makes his appeal to the LORD to act. His humble request for salvation comes with a purpose or motivation for the LORD– “…that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”

When the LORD acts on behalf of his faithful people by overcoming insurmountable odds in spite of their weakness, his strength is revealed, his name is glorified.

The LORD desires to be worshiped and obeyed to the ends of the earth. Human beings are made to do that very thing. In your prayers appeal to the LORD’s preeminence over all other powers and forces. God loves an opportunity to reveal his power and glory through the weakness of his faithful people. When we are at our weakest, God delights to show himself strong. Pray to that end.

LORD, I am not able to save myself, but you alone have the strength and power to forgive, to heal, to restore. Please show your strength in my life that others may see that you alone are God and that Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen.

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Everlasting Love

Psalm 136: Everlasting Love

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good” (v.1) Psalm 136 asks us to take a moment and thank God for His goodness to us.  The repeated phrase, “His love endures forever,” answers our question of why we should give thanks.  God’s love is an everlasting love.  It is eternal.  It has no beginning or end.

The psalmist gives two illustrations of God’s love.  The first is the story of God creating the cosmos.  Do you know that God created the heavens and the earth, the stars, sun and moon out of His love?  He lovingly created an entire cosmos.  Just think of it!  “His steadfast love endures forever” (v.9b).

But that was just the start of God’s expression of His love.  The God of gods specifically loved the nation of Israel.  He loved them so much that He rescued them out of slavery in Egypt and gave them a special land in which to dwell.  God’s love is huge in that it is directed toward His entire creation, yet it is also directed toward a chosen people in a special way.

Today the Church is that chosen people.  God has saved us out of bondage to sin and death.  He has rescued us from His own righteous anger through the death of His only begotten Son on a wooden cross.  Paul says in Romans: “God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (v.5:8).  “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).  Truly God’s love does endure forever.  “Give thanks to the God of heaven.  His love endures forever” (v.26 NIV).

Prayer:  I thank you, Lord for your creation and your loving hands which shaped it.  I thank you for your great love in choosing to have mercy on me and giving me a great inheritance when I did not deserve it.  Thank you for the death of your son for my sins.

Psalm 136:1-26

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
4 to him who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
5 to him who by understanding made the heavens,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
7 to him who made the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
8 the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
11 and brought Israel out from among them,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
13 to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
17 to him who struck down great kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
18 and killed mighty kings,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
20 and Og, king of Bashan,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
21 and gave their land as a heritage,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
22 a heritage to Israel his servant,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
24 and rescued us from our foes,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
25 he who gives food to all flesh,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

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Here is the Church and Here is the Steeple…

Little Lies We Learn as Children

There is a little children’s rhyme that we all learned as children. It uses hands to creatively teach about the church:

Here is the Church
And Here is the Steeple
Open the Doors
And see all the People!

The childhood rhyme is Biblically incorrect! While we often call the physical building and place of worship for the people of God, a Church, that is a misnomer. I go so far to call it a little lie. Little lies like this have been taught to us as children, and they have done great damage. Subtly and powerfully, they shape our vocabulary and thus our thinking and values as the people of God. The Church is NOT a physical building with a steeple and doors. Yet, we persist in using the word with that reference and meaning.

The institutional church itself has reinforced the vocabulary. A couple of years ago, the Bishop corrected me when I referred to St. Peter’s worship space as “the Sanctuary”. He said, “Properly, the sanctuary is the space behind the altar rails and building should be referred to as ‘the church’.” From a technical architectural vocabulary perspective, he was not wrong.

The reforming instinct in me cannot accept his correction. I have worked hard to never refer to a physical building as “The Church” because of the misaligned priorities on buildings, programs and institutions.

Empty Tombs

In the New Testament parlance, the Church is the gathered worshiping People of God. Rather than the building, the Church would be what you see when you open the doors and look inside the physical building. Monday through Saturday, the Church has left the building! Without the resurrected People of God gathered, the building stands vacant like an empty tomb!

As the angel who told the women looking for Jesus inside the rock-hewn tomb, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, he is risen!” Yes, there are many beautiful “church” buildings built around the world, with wonderful architectural features and gorgeous stain glass windows. They are built to the Glory of God! However, without a vibrant Holy Spirit filled, worshiping body of Christ, they are empty albeit beautiful sepulchers.

Whenever the New Testament uses the term “church”, it is always referring to the redeemed and holy people of God. It does describe church in terms of building and structure but always as a building made with living stones on the divinely appointed cornerstone.

The church building is alive!

Biblically, we should not say we go to church as so many of us are apt to say, but rather we should say we are the church! The church is a community of people whose lives are completely centered on Jesus, living stones built into the precious cornerstone.

Paul used this same imagery in his letter to the Ephesians. He says,

“You are being built into a holy temple, one stone placed upon another, incorporated with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. In him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a Holy Temple in the Lord. In him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

So does that mean that we should not build physical buildings for the church? Not at all! Yet, the institutional tools and structures that we have created with human hands out of wood, metal, bricks and mortar are merely tools and institutional supports for the spiritual living Church, the body of Christ. This is an incredibly important distinction for us. Why? Our primary focus is properly on the living organic Temple of the Lord.

The resurrected life is centered on the Person of Jesus Christ and the community and people that have been incorporated into the New Temple that is his Body. As in times of the Old Testament, the People of God find themselves serving worldly physical and institutional structures, rather than the physical and institutional structures supporting the people of God.

This was the corruption of the political, religious and economic systems which Jesus confronted in his day when he overturned the tables of the money changers in the old Temple.

The challenge in our day is to renew our emphasis on the True Church, the Living Stones, the New Spiritual Temple, The Body of Christ. The people of this world value the physical stones, but the Lord values the living stones. As the Apostle Peter writes, they are chosen by God and “precious to him.”

Question for thought and discussion: Do you agree that the people of this world place more value on worldly structures and institutions than people? Do you see this happening even with the Church? How do we get back to the right emphases?

Express your thoughts and comments here!

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What am I doing with my life?

Here is a Personal Question

“What am I doing with my life?”

The question strikes close to home. As you consider your family and your personal life ask, “what I am building?” Personally, as an individual, have you accepted Jesus Christ as the Chief Cornerstone of your life? Are you constructing your life around His Name? Or, are you simply making a name for yourself?

If you have said “Yes” to Jesus then what you have said is, “That stone right there is the number one marker, and from that place I will lay every other brick in my life. Every little piece of the edifice, I will center and align upon him, because he is the plumb. He is the Chief Cornerstone.”

Have you done that in your life as you have built your career and financial life; as you have built your marriage; as you have built your home; as you have raised your children? Have you aligned every aspect of your life, your vocation, everything, with Jesus Christ as your Chief Cornerstone? Now that’s a tough question.

It is not a hard question to ask, but it is a hard question to answer honestly. Why? Because more often than not, the answer is “No.”

As I argued in the last post, we live in a nation that, in these last days, has built according to the human blueprint rather than God’s blueprint (even contrary to its own pioneers and founders). The pressure is on every one of us to conform to the pattern of this world and give up core values aligned on Jesus Christ. The culture may be OK with Jesus being a “decorative fixture” in your life. But, make Jesus the center of all you are and all you do, and you will find yourself at odds with the prevailing winds and tide.

Some people do say, “Yes to Jesus.” But then merely make him a fixture and an add on to a self-focused and self-constructed life. As if to say to the Lord:  “I’m going to put you up here as a decorative stone; as something that is attractive that I like to look at occasionally.” But that is not the way God has ordained things, is it? Jesus is not to be the decoration on an existing structure but rather the foundation and starting point. He is the Chief Cornerstone! While the builders of our day may reject that, and while we may even be some of those builders, God has ordained his plan for our lives. His plan is ultimately for our good.

Wise and Foolish Builders

Jesus taught that there are really only two types of builders in this world, wise and foolish. He illustrated his comparison of the two with a parable known as “The Wise and Foolish Builders”:

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. –Matthew 7:24-27

Looking on from the outside, the two buildings which these two builders constructed could have appeared quite similar. However, one was built like a house of cards and the other built to last. The difference in the two structures lay not in what was seen above the surface, but what was unseen and hidden. The difference lay in the deep foundation. Notice that Jesus identifies the wise builder as the one who “hears these words of mine and puts them into practice”.

GK Chesterton once opined, “It is not as if Christianity has been tried and found wanting, it is that it has not been tried.” Actually, Christianity has born tremendous fruit for life and blessing in the life of everyone who has tried it. Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone, he has been set in place for our guidance to offer a life of blessing and goodness.

What am I doing with my life?

Without him as our foundation stone, we have no direction and are endanger of being washed out. Our society promotes a philosophy called “secular relativism”. Its only and highest value is tolerance. The result of this philosophy is a society where people do whatever they want in their own eyes. The Lord would have the peace of Christ rule and govern our hearts. Instead, the spirit of the age promotes self-rule. The pressure is on for you to construct a life according to the pattern of this secular world according to your own self-constructed plans. Ask yourself: What am I doing with my life?

As Jesus warned, it is just a matter of time before a structure constructed without a proper foundation will be tested. The storms of life will come. The home of a foolish builder will fail the structural challenge–and it will fall with “a great crash”!  Sadly that has been the tragic story for so many individuals, marriages and families in our day.  The trial of faith will come to all of us personally…the strength of a structure will be proven by the deep foundation of a personal life built on the Rock. Again, Jesus identifies the wise builder as the one who “hears these words of mine and puts them into practice”. In Jesus’ parable the storm came to both houses, but the house built on the rock–it did not fall!

For discussion: In the comments, offer an encouragement or some ideas to someone who may be wondering what personally needs to be done in order to rebuild a life on the rock…post your thoughts here!

 

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Marvelous Manifestation of the Lord

A Miracle in the Temple

After Jesus’ death, the Apostle Peter was preaching in the temple complex and a crippled man (he was lame from birth) was presented before the Apostles. In the name of Jesus, they healed the man and he immediately stood up and began to walk. When the chief priests and scribes heard news of the miraculous healing, they arrested the Apostles. Then, they brought them before the courts of the chief priests and all of them were gathered together, and they questioned them.

Here is the story from Acts:

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them,

“Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” –Acts 4:1-12

Like Jesus with the Parable of the Tenants (see the last post), Peter connects the power-proverb of the builder’s rejection (Psalm 118:22) with the Jewish leadership’s rejection of Jesus. Where Jesus
was more subtle, Peter makes the point absolutely explicit: “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders.”

He takes the connection even further. Compare the proverb to the sentence which immediately precedes it:

Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders which has become the chief cornerstone.

The good news of Peter’s message in the Temple is that the chief cornerstone has been established, set in place by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. If the crucifixion of Jesus is the rejection of the stone, Jesus’ resurrection establishes Him as the Chief Cornerstone! In the last post, I concluded by asking the question. “But, what exactly did the Lord do that is so visibly marvelous?” The answer is: “God raised Jesus from the dead!” 

Peter teaches that for this reason there is “salvation in no one else–for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Following the resurrection, Jesus now has become the primary reference point and marker for the proper placement all other building blocks in society and life. His life is the starting point for all who would have life. By finding true alignment with the Chief Cornerstone, the risen Jesus Christ, people are saved–indeed the world is saved!

The establishment of the chief-cornerstone in the risen Jesus Christ provides a particular and exclusive means of salvation for the entire human race. For Peter and the Apostles it meant that their lives and their fundamental loyalties would be governed by Jesus Christ over the command of men. The Jewish priest forbade their continued preaching in Jesus name: Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied,

“Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” –Acts 4:18-20

The implications of God’s establishment of the Chief-Cornerstone are dramatic and absolutely significant for every person on the planet. It means that each one of us must ask critically important questions of our selves and the culture that is built up around us.

Today’s Builders

So let’s ask some important questions about our own community.  Think about and evaluate the current structures and systems that have been constructed in our modern day society. Consider the works of today’s leaders and builders. In considering the political systems, the education systems, the economic systems, businesses and corporations, have the builders of our day taken their reference point and bearings from the risen Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone?  Have the builders of our day said, “we will use Jesus as our singular point of reference for every single thing we construct? Can you identify positive and negative examples?

Where do you see examples of structures and systems that center on Jesus as the Chief Cornerstone? Do you see examples where the builders have sought to establish systems around alternative cornerstones? Can you identify the alternative cornerstones, even name them? Join the discussion and post a comment by clicking here.