Tag Archives: Jesus

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Sermon: Changing Lives for God in Christ

Jesus calls his disciples to a transformational mission.

The challenge for them was to capture the vision, scope, and heart of his plan. They often missed it. Let us not miss the life-changing mission that God has for us right under our noses if we will only have the ears to hear and the eyes to see.

https://vimeo.com/609062037
Changing Lives for God in Christ: Sermon on Mark 9:33-37

Sermon preached at St. John the Divine in Houston, TX on 19 September 2021. Come visit: https://www.sjd.org/

Mark 9:33-37 (ESV Version)

30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.

33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

Is Jesus challenging you today? What question are you too afraid to answer, and what answer are you too afraid to give? And what is the mission to which God is calling you to engage that is right under your nose?

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The Gospel: Jesus Messiah Yahweh!

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.  –Romans 1:1-4

And so Paul begins his great letter to the Roman church. Paul identifies himself as a servant, a slave, of Jesus Christ who has been uniquely called to deliver a message from God—a message of Gospel, literally Good News. The Epiphany is the Gospel of God in Jesus Christ.

The Gospel was foretold

In these first four verses we learn several very important truths about the Gospel which illumine the true meaning of Epiphany and its implications for us. First, the Gospel is something which was foretold in ancient prophecy. Five hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) The name “Immanuel” is Hebrew for “God with us”.

Through his prophetic spokesmen, God foretold that he would visit us as a man. Could you fathom hearing such a thing for the first time? The creator of the Universe is going to be born as a baby? Unbelievable really, and yet that is what the prophets promised beforehand in the Holy Scriptures.

Jesus is Israel’s long awaited Messiah King

Paul then goes on to say that Jesus was “a descendent of David” with regard to his “earthly life”. Being a descendant of David meant that Jesus was qualified to be the human king of the nation of Israel. David’s heirs would not only be the line of kings but everyone was expecting that the Messiah, THE KING, would be revealed as a descendant of David. In Luke 2 where we read the birth story of Jesus, Luke is careful to explain that the reason Jesus’ parents, Joseph and Mary, had to return to Bethlehem for the Roman census was because they are descendants of David. The Angel of the Lord announced the “good news of great joy” that “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

The message announcing Jesus’ birth was good news not only because the promise of a human heir to the royal line of David was born, but more! Paul says, “through the Spirit of holiness [he] was appointed the Son of God…” Before Mary was with child, she was told by the angels of God, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” —Luke 1:35

Any one who bears the title “Son of God” by declaration of God is to be acknowledged by Israel as the rightful heir to David’s throne and there for the Messiah King of Israel.

Jesus is Salvation for all who believe!

Jesus is not only fully human and an earthly King, he is Yahweh God the Lord. Yes, Jesus is an earthly human king, but he is also the divine King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the creator and sustainer of the entire heavens and the earth. When Paul inscribed the letter to the church in Rome, he had the advantage of connecting the prophets of old with the full life events of Jesus. Paul saw that not only would Jesus’ nature as Yahweh God be revealed in his miraculous birth, but that his divinity was climactically on display for all the world to see and believe in Jesus’ glorious resurrection from the dead!

And so, Paul summarizes the heart of the Gospel message in three words: Jesus Christ Lord. Or if we were to connect them with their Old Testament equivalents: Jesus Messiah Yahweh. Those three words contain the message of the Gospel in its simplest expression as they frame the announcement: Jesus is the long awaited earthly Messiah, Jesus is Yahweh God in the flesh!

The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to what Paul calls the “obedience of faith”. Once the Gospel message is heard, one cannot remain neutral about Jesus; it is to be believed in faithful action. The revelation of Jesus Christ as Lord of the World, means salvation for all who believe in that message.

Paul would go on to write in Romans chapter 1:16:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

The Gospel announcement is powerful. Those who believe in Jesus as Lord and God will find a glorious eternal salvation in Him. Indeed, salvation is found in no other name!

What is your response?

“Do you believe that Jesus Messiah is God? Does he reign over every aspect of your life? Do you obey him as your King and God? The invitation of the Gospel is for everyone, and everyone who calls upon Jesus Christ the Lord will be saved. That is the good news promised from the messengers of God to you, both old and new! Listen to the wonderful promise given in the Gospel of God:

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (NIV, Romans 10:9-13)

Today is the day, give your life to Him! Do not doubt, believe! Follow Jesus as your Lord and receive salvation in His Name!

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Christmas Sermon 2013: Jesus is the Wonder Counselor

Listen here for my 2013 Christmas sermon on Jesus the Wonderful Counselor, this year we will reflect on Jesus the Mighty God!:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.                                            –Isaiah 9:6-7

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What is the Jerusalem of the New World?

Follow the Clues of the First Builders

Yesterday was the National Day of Prayer. Like the celebration of Thanksgiving, these moments are reminders that the United States of America was founded around the cornerstone of God revealed in Jesus Christ. Whether we are talking about a nation, a business, an education system, a family or one’s personal life, there are fundamentally two ways to build: according to God’s blueprint or to according to man’s blueprint. To build according to human-centered blueprints is to reject the fundamental design of Jesus as the principle and only starting point for construction.

In my last post, I asked for reflection on today’s builders. Are the current leaders of our country building according to the divine blueprint or the human blueprint? From the earliest days, the people who pioneered this great nation sought to build according to the divine blueprint with worship of Jesus Christ as the Chief Cornerstone.

Consider the founding of the Jamestown Colony and the oldest remains of a Protestant church building ever discovered in the New World. For many years the site of the first fort at Jamestown
was believed to have been lost to water erosion by the meandering banks of the James River. However historian and archeologist, William Kelso did not believe the prevailing theory:

Almost all the archaeologists and historians told me it couldn’t be done: find the site of the 1607 James Fort on Jamestown Island. No way. Clearly, they said, the fort site—the place of England’s first permanent New World settlement—was long lost, washed away by James River shoreline erosion. The lost theory made perfect sense. After all, the first settlers chose the island to seat the Virginia Company of London colony because the river channel was close enough to the shore to moor their ships to the trees. Since the area near the channel had long eroded away, the conclusion that the fort site went with it was hardly illogical. (William Kelso, James Fort, Lost and Found)

Using the earliest maps and common sense understanding of the core values and commitments of the earliest settlers, Kelso explored a theory which began with the Church as the starting point. In his thinking, the colonists would have placed the church in the center of the fort.

Like any archaeological venture, digging had to start where there appeared to be the best chance for success. Where was that? The one remaining above-ground relic of seventeenth-century Jamestown is a brick church tower. Early records made it clear that the original church was “in the midst” of the fort. It followed that if that tower in any way marked the midst of the fort, then digging between it and the river shore might just intersect the remnants of a fort wall. It would take a dedicated group of experienced archaeologists and field school students that first summer season to prove it.

We did.

(James Fort, Lost and Found)

For hundreds of years, the ruins of a brick church building have been standing on James Island as a big “X” marking the exact location of James Fort. Prior to William Kelso, no other archeologist or historian ever thought to consider that the James Fort could actually be surrounding that very church structure. Just let that sink in, prevailing archeological wisdom could not find the remains of the old fort because they never thought to locate the church in the center of the colonial community–but not William Kelso!

The Jerusalem of the New World

By using the church as the key point of reference, Kelso has uncovered “Ground Zero” for the founding of the United States of America. The brick church structure was an newer, bigger and stronger version of the older wooden church building that was built in 1608 when the fort and colony were first established. As such, the brick tower was acctually not the center of the fort, but it provided direction and the needed starting point to find the once lost James Fort. There was an earlier church building that was the central structure of the fort complex. In 2010, the Jamestown Rediscovery team uncovered its most important find as they excavated the first church structure ever built in colonial America.

Then in 2010 excavations uncovered remains of Jamestown’s substantially built church, the first Protestant church in America, and the church where Pocahontas, chief Powhatan’s favored daughter, married tobacco planter John Rolfe. Remains of the church included enormous postholes with impressions of upright timber columns exactly twelve feet apart found near, but slightly southeast of, the center of the fort. The holes defined a rectangular pattern suggesting an overall twenty-four-foot building width and a probable sixty-foot length.

The Jamestown church, built in the spring of 1608, was described as “a pretty chapel,” with dimensions matching the archaeology. The discovery of four perfectly aligned graves at the east end of the post pattern left no doubt about the building’s identity. These have to be the church’s chancel burials, traditionally the place reserved for very high status people. (James Fort, Lost and Found)

As the first Protestant church, this 1608 church could rightly be called the first pioneer mission outpost of Protestant Christianity in the New World. As William Kelso says, “This place is hallowed ground to the history of the United States and is in a sense the Jerusalem of the New World.” Exactly 400 years ago this past month in April of 1614, the history books tell us that John Rolfe and an Indian princess named Pocahontas were joined in Christian Marriage at that altar. A visitor to historic Jamestown can stand in the very spot where Pocahontas would have been baptized and married. I know this because my wife, Brooke and I have stood there! It is quite likely that my 9th Great-Grandfather, Randall Holt, and his young bride, Mary Bailey, were married on that very spot around the Christmas season of 1626.

Jamestown is the crucible of the American system of governance and common life. On July 30, 1619, the first representative legislative assembly and government of the New World would be established with the founding of the House of Burgess—they assembled in the choir of the James Fort church! That day twenty-two representatives were chosen to represent the voice of the people of the colony. During their six day session, they passed several new laws including prohibitions against gambling, drunkenness, and idleness, and a measure that made Sabbath observance mandatory. Oh my, how our contemporary society’s priorities have changed!

A Modern Day Tragedy

The whole story of the rediscovery of James Fort illustrates the modern day tragedy of contemporary American life. So many of the current leaders and builders of our nation simply do not see, believe or comprehend the clear signs posts pointing the way. As a body, our nation cannot seem to find its way because we do not believe the markers that point to the central reference point—the worship of Jesus Christ as Lord. Without centering community life on the Chief Cornerstone, we have no bearings or point of common reference upon which to build a common life together in true peace, justice and freedom.

The assembled body of Christ no longer stands as the central unifying structure in American cultural life. As such, we have forgotten our history and our roots and are in grave danger of repeating many of the disastrous errors of human history. Like many self-focused false builders of the past, we will stumble and fall over the rock of Christ to our own detriment.

They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written,

Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. –Romans 9:32-33

We will either build with Jesus Christ as the Chief Cornerstone, or we will stumble and fall over him. God has established him as primary. It is for us to get with the program and align our lives properly around him. The founders and Ancient Planters of Jamestown, understood this simple fact of reality. For all of their own faults and failings, trials and tribulations, their own legacy in building remains clearly unearthed for all of us to see.

I am grateful for the good work and passion of William Kelso who has literally rediscovered for the people of this nation to see with their own eyes the foundational building stone of our country. Out of the ground, we can clearly see that the founders and pioneers of our nation put the worship of God through Jesus Christ as first order priority and central to their common community life.

William Kelso writes of his personal satisfaction in discovering the lost fort of Jamestown,

In fact, that rather crude and fragile English fort site is really my most treasured favorite artifact. From that place eventually grew the British Empire, spreading lasting traditions of democracy, rule of law, private enterprise, and the global English language. Life on a good part of the earth has never been the same. (James Fort, Lost and Found)

My history professor at the University of Florida, William Woodruff repeatedly taught our World History class that:

“The two most significant and pivotal events in all of world human history are the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the founding of the New World.”

Indeed, we see that these two key events of world history are intricately connected. The founders of the New World had Jesus Christ as their first principle. Faith in the Chief Cornerstone, Jesus Christ is what primarily made the first Adventurers of the New World the men and women that they were.

Today, the current builders of our national common life have lost sight and memory of the foundation of God upon which our nation found its early strength and character. Even when they look for direction in the history of the nation they often miss its the central foundation stone. The general population carries on with daily life with only 15% attending church on any given Sunday. We would do well to dig deeper following the reference points and markers that will lead us to unearth the core and central foundation stone of life.

While the dynamism and success of the Virginia Colony can be attributed to a lot of different factors and contingencies of history, the central component of the colony’s common life is now indisputable as simple matter of fact. At the center of it all, the Ancient planters and founders of the most exceptional nation the world has ever known set the worship of Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone of their lives and community. How can we reform and renew our communities and common life around the same Chief Cornerstone?

What does that knowledge of our nation’s foundational stone evoke in you? Leave your reflections and comments here.

For Further Reading: William Kelso, Jamestown, the Buried Truth, William Woodruff, A Concise History of the Modern World

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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.

 

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Royal Stone: How is your life constructed?

Power Proverbs

Some of the most profound truths in life are contained in simple power-proverbs. One such truth is quoted 7 times in the Bible. First, in the Old Testament Psalms and then 6 other times in the New Testament. When something is repeated that many times in God’s word, we should take notice and listen.

Here is the power-proverb:

The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. –Psalm 118:8

Homes built in the ancient Israel would often use cut stone for the foundation. Public buildings such as palaces, synagogues and temples, would also use stone to lay a foundation and build all the superstructure. The grandest stone building in all of ancient Israel was the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem. The Temple was originally the vision and dream of King David. He desired to build a House for the Lord. Only the Lord revealed that it was not for David to do so, but his son Solomon.

Solomon’s Temple was considered one of the 7 wonders of the Ancient World. Sadly, the temple constructed by Solomon was destroyed in 587 when the Babylonian Empire sacked Jerusalem. It would be rebuilt. In Jesus day, King Herod the Great had build a Temple complex to rival King Solomon’s in grandeur. In fact, many of the Jewish people of that day considered it more of a structure built to the glory of Herod, than God. Nevertheless, the foundation and walls of both Solomon’s and Herod the Great’s temples would have been made entirely out of stone.

There were several different professions of people that were involved in the constructing such an edifice: quarrymen, stone masons, builders and the master architect.

First, there were the quarrymen. These are the men who would labor to mine the rock out of the hills. They would mine huge pieces of uncut stone out of the ground. The largest quarry in Jerusalem is a five mile cavern that is located under what is now the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem. The first century Jewish historian Josephus called it the “Royal Cavern”. The stone when it was freshly removed was pure white in color and soft enough to cut with a knife, when exposed to air it becomes extremely hard.

Once the quarrymen extricated the stones from the ground, the stone masons would take over the work of shaping and dressing the stone. These men would cut and shape the stones to be used as building material in accord with the needs and specifications of the architect and builders.

The Royal Stone

The stonemasons highly valued the stone removed from the Royal Caverns. This material was excellent for shaping into massive blocks because of its superior strength, its ability to be carved without flaking and its resistance to erosion. Consider that the “Wailing Wall” in Jerusalem which is made out of this very stone has been standing for over 2000 years! It was a perfect material for shaping the massive building blocks fit to be used for all of Israel’s royal buildings. For this reason, the stonemasons called it “Meleke Stone” which comes from the Hebrew root for “kingly” or “royal”.

When the Psalmist writes that Jesus has become the Chief Cornerstone, he has in mind the Royal Stones that were used to build the Temple of the Lord. The implication being that Jesus ought to be at the foundation and center of the structure of our lives. That a builder would reject such a worthy stone is the height of foolishness!  He alone is the worthy and strong foundation stone and building block. The Psalmist sees the Messiah as the primary and principle building block of a life well lived. The resurrection of Jesus establishes him as the Messiah and therefore the Chief Cornerstone.

If you were to consider your life as a stone building, like a temple, ask yourself: “Is Jesus the primary foundation stone in the construction of my life?” He is far superior to any other building material that could be used. Is the Royal Stone the central foundation stone for you? Or is he a mere decorative add on? Perhaps he has not been incorporated in your life at all! Today, Consider the Royal Stone and where he fits in your life–or even better–consider where your life fits into his! God is the architect of your life, but you are the builder. The blueprint includes the Royal Stone as first importance!

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In Good Hands

In Good Hands

How is it that Jesus could willfully and obediently make such a commendation of Himself to such a difficult and brutal plan from the Father? Because He knew with faith and certainty that in entrusting of Himself to His Father’s will and obedience, He was in good hands –

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

We are all familiar with the commercials from Allstate Insurance advertizing slogan “You’re in Good Hands with AllState.” The slogan has served the company well since 1950.

In the spring of 1950 the youngest daughter of Allstate general sales manager Davis W. Ellis was stricken with hepatitis a few days before she was to graduate from high school. Arriving home from work one night shortly after she had been hospitalized, a worried Ellis was greeted by reassuring words from his wife, who told him, “The hospital said not to worry. We’re in good hands with the doctor.”

Later that year, Ellis and a marketing team were locked in an all-day brainstorming session to develop a slogan for the company’s first major national advertising campaign. When the group was about to give up for the day, Ellis remembered the reassuring remarks. It was then and there the slogan was born. (PR Newswire)

What does it mean to be in good hands? Do you believe that you’re in good hands with your insurance company? When we say that kind of thing – and this is the gist of the commercial – it means something like: This company is a good place for you to put your trust.

When we talk about a person in this way – you’re in good hands with him – it means something like this person is going to look after you and take care of you. They’re going to take responsibility. They know what they are doing. They are an expert in their field. You’ll be safe with them. They have your best interest at heart. They are going to be there for you when it counts. You can trust them with your life.

We put our lives in the hands of so many people that are finite and fallen, so many institutions, so many organizations – we put our trust into the hands of so many human, frail, and sinful people, and indeed, we do that with some pretty important things. We trust the good hands of the surgeons and doctors with our bodies. We trust the advice of the financial planners. We trust the minds of our precious children with teachers. We trust realtors with the sale of our most significant assets, our homes.

Do you see God, the Father, as imminently trustworthy? Would you commit your spirit into good care of His hands?

Do you trust him completely even when He asks you to do something difficult? Do you trust yourself to His care when He calls you to a calling that would demand of you your very life? Will you trust Him with your spirit? Do you believe that you are in good hands with the Lord?

Jesus did, completely. He trusted the Father for something that will never be asked of any of us.

Now, we’re called to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God, holy and pleasing in His sight. Our offering is of our lives in response to this sacrifice of Jesus, in light of His mercy and His grace. Is there something preventing you from fully committing your life to His hands? What would that be? Why do you not trust God with your life? Why do you not trust Him with your spirit?

He is good. He has done everything for you, so why would you trust people ahead of Him? Why would you trust your doctor before consulting the Great Healer? Why would you trust your financial planners before asking God what to do with your money? And why would you trust your teachers and your government ahead of God?

And yet, so many of us do. Not only do we fail to commend ourselves to the good hands of the One that is entirely trustworthy, the Lord, we also entrust our most precious jewels to sinful people who may inevitably trample those jewels under their feet?

What precious jewels do you need to entrust the Lord with today?

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The Innocence of Jesus

The Innocence of Jesus

One of the main emphases in the Gospel of Luke is the innocence of Jesus. In the other gospels this really isn’t as prominent a theme, but Luke really picks up this theme and the way that he tells the story, he emphasizes this over and over again. In the dialogues with Pontius Pilate he’s always emphasizing – “I find no basis of any charge on this man.” I want to release Him. Let me let Him go. Pilate and Herod – neither one of them, it says, find any basis for any charge. Jesus is innocent, is what Luke is trying to get across. Remember when the thieves are talking with one another on the cross and the one thief is deriding – “Save yourself. You saved others. Save yourself.”

But then the other thief corrects him and he says: “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” (Luke 23:40-41)

Consider even the Centurion at the foot of the Cross. In Matthew’s and Mark’s Gospel – do you remember what the Centurion says – “Truly this man was…” was what? “The Son of God.”But Luke has him saying this – “Truly this man was innocent.” But, why? Why the emphasis on the innocence of Jesus for the Gospel writer Luke?

Reflect on the name Barabbas. It literally means “the father’s son.” Bar is the word for “son” – in both the Hebrew and Aramaic language. Abba means Father. Jesus is the Bar Abba. He is the Father’s Son. But there are two “Father’s Sons” in this story. One is guilty as a murderer, an insurrectionist and a violent man. The Other is innocent. And yet, there is an exchange that takes place with these two men and it is the very exchange that we receive because of the freewill offering of the Father’s Son.

The Father’s Son, in giving up of Himself to His Father’s will, substitutes Himself in the place of the other father’s son, the murderer, the violent, the angry—and you and me. He takes our place and bears the punishment that we justly deserve by dying on a Cross in our stead.

Indeed, this is precisely what God, the Father, had prophesized that His Son would be called to do in Isaiah, Chapter 53. “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet did not open His mouth. He was led away by oppression, by a perversion of justice He was taken away. And who can speak of His descendants for He was cut off from the land of the living? For the transgression, which is the sin of my people, He was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in His death.”

Listen to this: Though He had done no violence nor was any deceit in His mouth…. In other words, though He was innocent, the prophet Isaiah says, it was the Lord’s will to crush Him, to cause Him suffering. Why? Because the Lord makes His life a guilt offering and for that reason He will see His offspring and prolong His days and in Him the will of Yahweh will prosper in His hand. Think again about what Jesus has said in his sixth last word from the Cross.

“Father, into your hand I commit My Spirit.”

Certainly, entrusting Himself to God meant that He was entrusting his Father to set things to right through this “perversion of justice.” He was trusting God the Father for ultimate vindication, as if to say, “I can go through with this because I know Abba Father will deal with it.”Jesus completely trusted the unjust scales and the unbalanced equation of the Cross knowing that somehow in the Divine economy all would be right, good, and correct.

Overlook an offence. Bear up under unjust suffering. Turn the other cheek. Go the extra mile. Love your enemies. Forgive those who trespass against you. Pray for those who persecute you. Jesus calls us to live the way that He lived. trusting God with the foolish way of love and forgiveness. There will be many times in this fallen world where the scales of justice will be unfairly tilted away from us. The call of the Christian is not just to passively accept it, but to see it as an opportunity to share in fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. All the while, we are taught to entrust ourselves to the justice of the One Who entrusted Himself:

But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.  For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.  He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. –1 Peter 2:20-25

It is never for another person to say, “Today is your day to suffer unjustly.” Such commitments are made with deep prayer between God and the Christian.

How are you being called today to love others in the exceptional way of Christ Jesus? Through your time of prayer ask God to show you the clear way though the inequities and injustices done to you in this life. The Lord knows your pain; He has been there too.