Blinded

John 19:7 The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God."

If you had seen and heard all Jesus had done as He walked the earth, perhaps you might be looking into His claim He was the Son of God rather than simply dismissing Him as a blasphemer. But this has always been the mode of those who object to Christ. (It still is.) Rather than examining His claims, people reject Him out of hand - and often very vociferously.

Of course, the High Priest was blinded by jealousy, and Judas had been blinded by pride and lust for power, and now the Jews were seeking to blind Pilate with fear for his future position as governor of the region of Judea. “Crucify Him, or we will report you to Caesar!”

Blindness is a very strange thing in a “seeing” people. Especially in the presence of The Light of the World, Who has come to give sight to all men.

Physical sight is so precious, so fragile. There are so many ways physical sight can be blinded. In reality, it is a kind of wonder more people are not physically blind – especially with all the harmful ingredients to sight we are constantly exposed to in our daily lives.

But we will do anything and everything we can to preserve our physical sight. I cannot think of a single example in my entire life where someone intentionally blinded themselves. It is unheard of.

Yet, people go to such great lengths to blind themselves spiritually, and much of that blindness is self-inflicted. Is ignorance bliss?

Do some ignore the brevity of life? Do some ignore statistics on death? Do some ignore the sense of constant nagging emptiness?

At this point, the challenge is to examine the claims of Christ. (What the Sanhedrin was in no mind or temper to do.)

Can you sit down and read through the Gospels with an open mind? I am completely at rest with allowing anyone to examine the scriptures for themselves. In an hour or so, with an open mind, anyone can examine the claims of Jesus. There is no cajoling necessary for those who are willing to see for themselves.

“He makes Himself out to be the Son of God!” What say you? What do you see?

- Pastor Bill

Under Arrest

John 18:3 Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. 4 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, "Whom are you seeking?" 5 They answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am He." And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. 6 Now when He said to them, "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 Then He asked them again, "Whom are you seeking?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." 8 Jesus answered, "I have told you that I am He. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way," 9 that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, "Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none." 10 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. 11 So Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?" 12 Then the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him.

Silly to even think about arresting God isn’t it?

This is exactly what we see happening in John 18. Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, bound and led away. Found and identified by His betrayer, (Judas Iscariot,) captured by a regiment of Roman soldiers serving at the behest of the Sanhedrin, tied up like a common criminal and taken.

Only Jesus wasn’t taken against His will. He was taken according to His will, which was in complete accordance with His Father’s will.

Gen 3:22 Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"-- 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

The first Adam had been driven out of the garden God had created for him due to sin. Ever since, mankind wandered the face of the earth in toil, separated from the Father by his own defiled, sinful flesh and a wicked heart. And now Jesus had come to put an end to the enmity. An end to the brokenness. An end to fruitlessness. An end to blocked access to the Tree of Life. (Rev 22:12)

And so, behold, the invitation back into God’s Garden comes by way of the hand of The One who is likewise driven out of a garden – only through no fault of His own - but through the further fault of man. What love is this? What gentle, arrested glory!

- Pastor Bill

Pray Tell

John 17:1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

As Jesus entered the garden of Gethsemane, which appropriately means, “olive press,” He stopped to pray with and for His disciples, before going further.

This was a wonderful, audible gift rarely known of or received in the world before. God prays. God praying…

Just as the disciples not only heard but recorded this prayer for further study and recollection, we have the opportunity to do likewise. Some important questions are answered beyond doubt:

How does God pray? What does that look like? When does God pray? Why does God pray?

As confusing as it may seem to our tiny, finite brains, Jesus is in fact God in the flesh, and there are probably few more important lessons He can demonstrate for us than in telling us how to pray by watching and listening to Jesus - as He prays. Pray tell…

His posture? With open eyes He looks toward heaven. Silent or aloud? Jesus spoke these words so they may be heard and recorded. What did He pray for?

Here the answer is somewhat longer, but even more important because the heart of the Father is revealed in the words of the Son.

Praying is the most intimate form of communication known to man. In prayer, God is known to man, and through prayer, as God reveals the heart of man, man is known to himself. I have never known myself so well as I have when the Lord truly reveals what He sees in me. I have never known others so well as when God has revealed His heart for them to me.

In John 17, Jesus reveals the heart of God for His ministry on earth. Jesus reveals God’s desire through the spoken word of the Son – and this becomes primarily important to us, as we see the wondrous capability of God to speak through His people. Listen now to the voice of God speaking through you as you pray…

- Pastor Bill

Teach Me Your Ways

As parents, one of the greatest concerns we have is the legacy we instill in our children. How will they conduct themselves when they are apart from us – and how will they continue in their lives when we are gone?

What we are really speaking of is influence. In part, even worldly people desire to have influence over their children and against the world. For them the cause has more to do with temporal protection or family identification or reputation rather than eternal deliverance from evil.

“Like father, like son.” “The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.” “He’s a chip off the old block.”

These statements express what we are about in some sense as parents. We have a (I believe God-designed) desire to see ourselves in our children, and how closely our children resemble us – both physically and emotionally - often has a lot to do with how proud we are of our children.

So we have to do a lot of convincing along the way, don’t we? Because when we are gone our ability to convince goes away with the removal of our presence. We are at a disadvantage according to the world. We can no longer convince our children to do what we would do if we were with them. Jesus says something quite different to His ‘children’ (His disciples)…

John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

The advantage Jesus has is intensely Spiritual. He is going away that we might take our eyes off His physical presence and be convinced (convicted) by His Spiritual presence. If only we could instill ourselves in some sense into the hearts of our children to guide them in their day-to-day decisions. Jesus promises exactly that. He instills and installs His presence, essence and guidance immediately into our lives when we open our hearts to receive His saving grace. The advantage: His presence never fades or loses the influence we allow it to have in our lives. Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

- Pastor Bill

With – or Without?

Hebrews 12:3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives." 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Here we see Paul expounding upon what Jesus had to say to His disciples in John 15. When Jesus tells His disciples, “He is the true vine, and they are the branches,” He is speaking of the discipline and the devotion necessary to continue in relationship with Jesus Christ, in the manner He had also put forth in John 14:20, “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”

There is, of course, more to this than meets the eye – and because of the invisible nature of relationship with God in the Spirit, Jesus provides the necessity of continuing to abide, and Paul provides the assurance of the discipline you will surely receive from your loving Father, but ONLY as you continue to ABIDE.

John 15:2” Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” Jesus had said in John 15:1 that “My Father is the vinedresser.” He is The Caretaker.

So here comes one of those challenging questions: “Are you with - or without?” “With or without what?” Discipline. Chastening. Rebuke. Redirection. Pruning. Cleansing. All of which comes when you have not resisted sin unto bloodshed. All of which comes when your fruitfulness is either minimized by your actions, or at an end by your laziness. Hebrews 12:7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

Are you with – or without?

- Pastor Bill