Tag: jesus

Luke 18:31-34

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Soon Holy Week will be upon us, the most significant time in the Christian Year.  As we approach the unfolding of Christ’s redemptive events of that week, today’s Gospel lesson informs us of Jesus’ words to his disciples concerning that week.  “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.  For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon.  And after flogging, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.”
 
            But the disciples only scratch their heads in response.  They did not understand what Jesus was saying to them.  The meaning was hidden from them for a simple reason:  the disciples tended to only hear what they wanted to hear.  All this talk of death and suffering did not fit their understanding of what Messiah was really all about and should be doing – so, they filtered it out like a bad glass of water.
 
            From our perspective on this side of the cross, it is much too easy for us to get down on the disciples for their dense and obtuse minds.  But when we want to rush through Holy Week as if it did not even exist in order to get to the triumphant day of Easter, we are more in company with the disciples than we might want to admit.  It makes me wonder if I approach God’s Word and the ways of Jesus with a jaundiced view, with a certain set of glasses that skew what is really there right in front of my face.  I don’t think Jesus could have had any more clarity about what was going to happen, yet the disciples missed it. 
 
            In light of these few penetrating verses of Luke’s Gospel, here are some sage questions to ask of ourselves:
·         When Jesus speaks, do I hear what he is really saying to me? 
·         Do I approach Jesus with a set of assumptions and pre-suppositions that prove to be obstacles in understanding his words? 
·         Am I so convinced about who Jesus is and what he should be doing that when he speaks and acts in ways different than my expectations, I am dumbfounded? 
·         Have I placed spiritual blinders over my eyes to only see what I want to see? 
·         How often do I walk away scratching my head after listening to the words of Jesus?
·         Will I sit and dwell with Jesus and his words to me instead of just moving on with my life?
 

 

Gracious Lord Jesus, you moved with purpose toward your passion.  Give me insight into your words and works so that I might fully embrace what you have done, are doing, and want to do in your church and in the world.  Amen.

John 11:45-57

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            We are moving inexorably toward the cross and Good Friday.  The season of Lent marches on and within a few weeks we will be considering if we were there when they crucified my Lord.  Today’s Gospel lesson chronicles the forward progress to the ultimate suffering and death of Jesus.  Within the Apostle John’s account, two streams run parallel with one another.  There is a group of Jews who observed Jesus, listened to his teaching, saw his miraculous works, and believed in him.  Alongside them is another group of Jews who experienced all the same events and heard all of the same words of Jesus.  Yet, they respond in a very different manner by plotting how Jesus might be arrested and killed.
 
            Caiaphas, the high priest, spoke to his fellow Jewish leaders perhaps without even knowing the truth and deep import of his prophetic words:  “You know nothing at all.  Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”  Indeed, not only did Jesus die for the nation of Israel, but on behalf of all nations, and all people. 
 
            Now is the time to begin in earnest a consideration of the cross of Christ.  The implications of his death are magnanimous.  The extent of his atonement for the people includes redemption from the slavery of sin; reconciliation between us and God; satisfaction of God’s wrath against the sin of the world; and, victory over Satan, death, and hell.  March Madness for the Christian is setting aside some significant time for prayer, confession of sin, repentance, contemplation, spiritual conversation with other believers, and fasting as we anticipate the holiest week of the year.
 

 

            Precious Jesus, you endured the machinations of people and the plots of others so that you might face the cross in all of its foulness and degradation.  Enable me to walk with you along the road of suffering.  In doing so, may I know you better and better and know the life that is truly life.  Amen.

Luke 15:1-10

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Lost people matter to God.  They matter so much to him that one lost soul found is the grounds for a big celestial party.  Please note this observation of the text:  if there is rejoicing in the presence of angels over one sinner who repents, then who is doing the rejoicing?  God!  He is absolutely giddy with joy over a lost person being found.  These parables of Jesus are meant primarily to give us a glimpse of God’s own heart.  He would do anything to find a lost person, to restore and reconcile a person back to himself.  God would go dumpster diving and wade through the stinky nasty garbage to find that one lost valuable person.
 
            Why should reaching others for Jesus Christ be a high priority?  Because restoring lost people is a high priority to God.  Lost people matter to him.  They matter so much to him that he sent his Son, the Lord Jesus, to this earth.  Jesus paid the ultimate price of a cruel death on a cross in order to reconcile a broken lost relationship between people and God.
 
            I still remember what it felt like to be separated from God, and estranged from the church – it was lonely and awful, like being in a deep black hole with no way of getting out and no one around to help.  But God, in his great mercy, sent people into my life to share the message of salvation with me.  In leaving the ninety-nine and going after the one sheep, God gave preferential attention to the lost.  Can you live with that?  I sure can, because I was once that one lost sheep.
 

 

            Jesus, you are the Good Shepherd.  Thank you for going after me when I was lost.  Help me to remember that you will often leave to go after others.  I’ll go with you when you do.  Let’s take the Spirit with us.  Amen.

Luke 13:18-21

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Seeds are small.  They seem quite unimpressive.  But we know better.  When planted, watered, and cultivated, those seeds turn into amazing plants.  Yet, it takes time.  The kingdom of God, Jesus told us, is like a mustard seed – a very small seed which can grow into a tree big enough for birds to nest.  Unlike the mighty Roman Empire, or our powerful national governments, the kingdom of God had humble beginnings and grows over time to become a force greater than anything the world can produce.
 
            While our world races on with the speed of the hare, Jesus is carefully and patiently building his church at the pace of a tortoise.  Yet, in the end, the kingdom of God will rule over all creation while the kingdoms of this world shall be no more.  Even though we live in a society where the quick, fast, and strong dominate, still the best things in life come as a result of tedious perseverance over a long period of time.  We as people are in such a hurry to accomplish our goals, make as much money as we can, and keep constant vigilance over our work, for what purpose?
 
            An old 20th century German theologian, Helmut Thielicke, reflected on the parables of Jesus and said:  “What an unspeakable comfort it is to know that in the midst of man’s mischief, in the midst of his scheming and bad speculations, his shaping and misshaping, his activism and his failures, there is still another stream of events flowing silently on, that God is letting his seeds grow and achieving his ends.”  Quiet, humble submission to King Jesus is at the heart of the kingdom.  God is working-out his purposes in and through us with all the care of the farmer expecting to eventually reap a harvest.
 

 

            Lord God, everlasting Father, you have brought me to this point in time.  Preserve me according to your unassuming power so that I might not be seduced by worldly might, nor be overcome by the rantings of politicians, but in all things daily direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose, through Jesus Christ, my Lord.  Amen.