What Did Jesus Do?
“All the Father gives me will come to me,
and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
John 6.37
Jesus supplied food that didn't perish (see WDJD for 2/23/11), and he brought what he had to give to where the people were (see WDJD for 2/24/11). But unless those who hunger and thirst come to him, they will remain hungry and thirsty. The good thing, for all of us who are perishing, is that the Father leaves nothing to chance. The Father delivers into the hands of the Son all those whom he has predestined, and the Son is sure-handed—he holds onto all the Father gives him.
The thing is, regardless of how much “horse sense,” or any other kind of smarts, any of us has, not one of us is any better than a horse that is led to water yet refuses to drink. On our own we would stand right beside the watering trough and die of thirst. On our own we could sit at the banquet table and starve to death. Thankfully, the Father gives all who will be saved eyes of faith with which to look upon the Son and to see, and to believe, that in the Son alone is there food and drink to sustain us unto eternal life (John 6.40).
For the Father gave the Son a mortal body, which would be the Bread of Life. The Son came into the world, and said to those perishing from hunger, “Take, eat; this is my body.” (Matthew 26.26). To those dying of thirst the Son said, “Drink of this, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26.27-28) And all who the Father has given to the Son hear the Son's invitation, and see in him true food and true drink, and they come to him. And not one who comes to the Son will ever be cast out, but rather, on the last day, they shall all be raised up to eternal life (John 6.39-40).
The world is yet filled with people perishing of a spiritual hunger and thirst that only Jesus can satisfy. But people today can nor more be forced to eat or drink than they could twenty-one centuries ago. As Jesus freely offered to the world that which he had received from the Father, his body and his blood, in order that he would receive from the world all those whom the Father would give to him, so too we, who have received, are to freely offer what we have received to the world, trusting that all those whom the Father has given to the Son will come to him. The apostle Paul understood well the business of passing on what we have received (see 1 Corinthians 11.23-26).
In the end, it is not our doctrine, or our traditions, that bind us to Christ and make us one in his body (the Church). Rather, it is the fact that the Father charged the Son to receive all whom he would give to him, and then hold onto them. We are part of the Body of Christ, individually and corporately, because that's what Jesus did—he received us from the Father, and holds onto us forever.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Monday, February 28, 2011
Jesus Tested the Faith of Followers
What Did Jesus Do?
Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread,
so that these people may eat?”
John 6.5b
An exclamation point puts emphasis on what has occurred. Two exclamation points tell us it's really important. Three exclamation points and we begin to realize that it was something very special. Four exclamation points and our attention should be arrested, and we would do well to take a closer look at the details. The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle performed by Jesus which is recorded in all four Gospels (Matthew 14.13-21;Mark 6.30-44;Luke 9.10-17; John 6.1-14); if this doesn't make it stand out, we are definitely missing something. If we were to somehow overlook John's account of the miracle of the loaves and fish we would miss this detail:
He [Jesus] said this [6.5b] to test him [Philip]. (6.6)
John's is the only account to include this little detail of testing. And, as I said above, with the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand appearing in all four Gospels, we need to look at the details. The “need” for the miracle arose because, in addition to the twelve apostles who had been accompanying him for some time, quite a sizable throng had begun to tag along after Jesus. Drawn after him by the works he had done, the multitude was anxious to witness more miracles. But it was one thing to believe in the miracles, and quite another to believe in the man. And so, Jesus tested the faith of followers.
The Greek word for test which John used in this instance would often have been used to describe how the quality of a precious metal would have been proved. Jesus was not in any doubt about how he would deal with the hunger of the five thousand, but he was anxious to see how far the faith of the apostles had come. Had Philip and the others grown beyond their astonishment and fascination with miracles to begin to have a genuine appreciation of just who it was who was performing the signs and works? Faith sustained only by miraculous signs is faith that will falter when no signs are to be found. Belief in a miracle worker evaporates with he performs no miracles. Belief in the Son of God is not built upon works, yet from faith works will come. So Jesus tested the faith of followers.
The Lord well knew that in the future there would be no miracle to spare him from arrest and trial, from beating and scourging, and from the cross. In the coming crucible of the Passion the faith of the apostles would be tested, its quality would be proved. Now, beside the Sea of Galilee, when nothing more threatening than empty stomachs impended, what did the apostles believe about Jesus? Would a mere lack of funds confound the Lord when presented with the challenge of feeding the multitude? If Philip, and the other apostles, lacked the faith to trust that Jesus could overcome something as simple as hunger, how could they believe that he could ever overcome sin and death? So Jesus tested their faith.
The truth is, not one day passes but that there are many occasions when our faith is proved and tested. If we doubt that Jesus is able to deal with what comes our way day in and day out, how can we trust him when we face death and eternity? Faith that is daily tested and proved is not free of doubt, but it overcomes all doubt by trusting in the Lord. Rather than bemoan that we are tested, we may be confident in Christ, that our faith will be proved.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread,
so that these people may eat?”
John 6.5b
An exclamation point puts emphasis on what has occurred. Two exclamation points tell us it's really important. Three exclamation points and we begin to realize that it was something very special. Four exclamation points and our attention should be arrested, and we would do well to take a closer look at the details. The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle performed by Jesus which is recorded in all four Gospels (Matthew 14.13-21;Mark 6.30-44;Luke 9.10-17; John 6.1-14); if this doesn't make it stand out, we are definitely missing something. If we were to somehow overlook John's account of the miracle of the loaves and fish we would miss this detail:
He [Jesus] said this [6.5b] to test him [Philip]. (6.6)
John's is the only account to include this little detail of testing. And, as I said above, with the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand appearing in all four Gospels, we need to look at the details. The “need” for the miracle arose because, in addition to the twelve apostles who had been accompanying him for some time, quite a sizable throng had begun to tag along after Jesus. Drawn after him by the works he had done, the multitude was anxious to witness more miracles. But it was one thing to believe in the miracles, and quite another to believe in the man. And so, Jesus tested the faith of followers.
The Greek word for test which John used in this instance would often have been used to describe how the quality of a precious metal would have been proved. Jesus was not in any doubt about how he would deal with the hunger of the five thousand, but he was anxious to see how far the faith of the apostles had come. Had Philip and the others grown beyond their astonishment and fascination with miracles to begin to have a genuine appreciation of just who it was who was performing the signs and works? Faith sustained only by miraculous signs is faith that will falter when no signs are to be found. Belief in a miracle worker evaporates with he performs no miracles. Belief in the Son of God is not built upon works, yet from faith works will come. So Jesus tested the faith of followers.
The Lord well knew that in the future there would be no miracle to spare him from arrest and trial, from beating and scourging, and from the cross. In the coming crucible of the Passion the faith of the apostles would be tested, its quality would be proved. Now, beside the Sea of Galilee, when nothing more threatening than empty stomachs impended, what did the apostles believe about Jesus? Would a mere lack of funds confound the Lord when presented with the challenge of feeding the multitude? If Philip, and the other apostles, lacked the faith to trust that Jesus could overcome something as simple as hunger, how could they believe that he could ever overcome sin and death? So Jesus tested their faith.
The truth is, not one day passes but that there are many occasions when our faith is proved and tested. If we doubt that Jesus is able to deal with what comes our way day in and day out, how can we trust him when we face death and eternity? Faith that is daily tested and proved is not free of doubt, but it overcomes all doubt by trusting in the Lord. Rather than bemoan that we are tested, we may be confident in Christ, that our faith will be proved.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Jesus Started Where the People Were
What Did Jesus Do?
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;
repent and believe in the gospel.”
Mark 1.15
Have you ever had stranger thoughts go through your mind when you're lying in bed at 4 A.M.? We've all heard the impossible to answer question, “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one hears it, does it make a sound?” This morning this popped into my head, “If we preach, and no no one hears, is the gospel proclaimed?” Is the business of proclaiming the kingdom accomplished when the Word is spoken to all but empty pews? If faith comes by hearing (see Romans 10.17), and no one hears, where will faith arise from?
Here's the thing, and this is a very brief WDJD because I am about to run out the door, but Jesus didn't sit and with for people to come to him. The Lord got up and “came into Galilee” (Mark 1.14) and brought the proclamation of the kingdom to where the people were.
I used to pastor a church that predated the American Revolution. The community had literally grown up around the church. But, when I suggested the church needed to be more intentional about getting out and bringing the gospel to people, the response was, “They know where we are, we've been here forever. We don't need to go, we just need to wait.” I've moved on from that church to accept another call years ago, but the last time I checked with a friend who still attends, they're still waiting, and the people of that community still aren't hearing. So, I have to ask, is the gospel being proclaimed.
Before anyone complains that I'm being unfair, I will admit that I often wonder as I write these WDJDs, “If no one reads them, am I proclaiming the gospel, or just talking to myself?” I realize that there is a small audience who sees the emails, but there are literally hundreds of folks within a mile of where I now sit, most of whom are not hearing the gospel from anyone. I could go knocking on doors I suppose, but I would probably be suspected as a “revenuer” and get shot.
Seriously, don't all of us have a responsibility to do what we can to see that the gospel has an audience, at home, at work, in school, in the neighborhood? I'm not sure of the best way to do it, but I believe we have to start where the people are. That's what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;
repent and believe in the gospel.”
Mark 1.15
Have you ever had stranger thoughts go through your mind when you're lying in bed at 4 A.M.? We've all heard the impossible to answer question, “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one hears it, does it make a sound?” This morning this popped into my head, “If we preach, and no no one hears, is the gospel proclaimed?” Is the business of proclaiming the kingdom accomplished when the Word is spoken to all but empty pews? If faith comes by hearing (see Romans 10.17), and no one hears, where will faith arise from?
Here's the thing, and this is a very brief WDJD because I am about to run out the door, but Jesus didn't sit and with for people to come to him. The Lord got up and “came into Galilee” (Mark 1.14) and brought the proclamation of the kingdom to where the people were.
I used to pastor a church that predated the American Revolution. The community had literally grown up around the church. But, when I suggested the church needed to be more intentional about getting out and bringing the gospel to people, the response was, “They know where we are, we've been here forever. We don't need to go, we just need to wait.” I've moved on from that church to accept another call years ago, but the last time I checked with a friend who still attends, they're still waiting, and the people of that community still aren't hearing. So, I have to ask, is the gospel being proclaimed.
Before anyone complains that I'm being unfair, I will admit that I often wonder as I write these WDJDs, “If no one reads them, am I proclaiming the gospel, or just talking to myself?” I realize that there is a small audience who sees the emails, but there are literally hundreds of folks within a mile of where I now sit, most of whom are not hearing the gospel from anyone. I could go knocking on doors I suppose, but I would probably be suspected as a “revenuer” and get shot.
Seriously, don't all of us have a responsibility to do what we can to see that the gospel has an audience, at home, at work, in school, in the neighborhood? I'm not sure of the best way to do it, but I believe we have to start where the people are. That's what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Jesus Supplied Food That Endured
What Did Jesus Do?
“Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that
endures to eternal life.”
John 6.27
I can remember when I was a young boy, my mother once said to me, “Don't feed that stray cat. If you do it will keep coming to our door.” When a cat finds a free meal it's found a home. Many in the crowd of five thousand which Jesus had fed with the loaves and fish (see John 6.1-14) apparently thought they had found a good thing, and went to the trouble of crossing the Sea of Galilee to seek after the Lord in Capernaum in hopes of more handouts (6.24).
Jesus saw in the crowd the kind of behavior one often sees in strays—they followed after one who had filled their bellies. But, rather than supply them with more of the perishable food for which they had crossed the Sea, Jesus encouraged them to work for something different, something more, something enduring, “Don't spend all your effort on the food and the things of this world that will all too soon spoil and waste. Work for that which lasts, that which comes from the Father.” (6.27) I give the folks in the crowd credit, they didn't insist on more handouts, but instead asked what kind of work could “earn” that which endures (6.28). So Jesus told them the one thing necessary to receive the imperishable “wages” of the Father—believe in the one the Father sent (6.29).
We might think that the crowd, having been both witnesses to, and beneficiaries of, the miracle of the great feeding, would already have been inclined to believe. But the Lord had been right, they had followed him looking for another free meal, not because they had at all understood who it was who had fed them. Their bellies were again empty, and they wanted to eat! Bread and fish were fine for empty bellies to be filled, but if the crowd was to believe, they wanted something more, something like what their ancestors had received from Moses—“bread from heaven.” (6.31)
While it was true that the Israelites had survived on manna during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the manna itself was quite perishable, spoiling in a day (With the exception of what fell on Fridays, when enough manna was provided for the Sabbath as well.). The manna the people had eaten during the time of Moses was not the true bread from heaven, which the Father alone supplies (6.32). Then Jesus said something that had to have sounded quite strange: the bread of God was not something that came down from heaven, but someone (6.33). This was bread that was truly the staff of life—eternal life—and, still not comprehending who the someone was who was speaking to them, the crowd immediately clamored for it (6.34).
We've all heard it said that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Far more tragic than the thirst of stubborn horses is the famine of those who, though they may be led to the very bread of life, are perishing because they refuse to receive it. People die every day, having labored and striven all their lives for all sorts of things that perish, when, by believing, they could have received him who will never die, and who alone gives eternal life.
Certainly, the Church must do all it can to supply bread for those who will die today without it. The same can be said for supplying clothing and shelter and medicine to those in need. But, like those who ate manna in the wilderness, the day will come when they will perish if they never receive the true bread from heaven. What kind of food are we supplying to our families, our neighbors, our community, our world? Jesus has supplied us with food that endures, and we must offer nothing less to the world.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
“Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that
endures to eternal life.”
John 6.27
I can remember when I was a young boy, my mother once said to me, “Don't feed that stray cat. If you do it will keep coming to our door.” When a cat finds a free meal it's found a home. Many in the crowd of five thousand which Jesus had fed with the loaves and fish (see John 6.1-14) apparently thought they had found a good thing, and went to the trouble of crossing the Sea of Galilee to seek after the Lord in Capernaum in hopes of more handouts (6.24).
Jesus saw in the crowd the kind of behavior one often sees in strays—they followed after one who had filled their bellies. But, rather than supply them with more of the perishable food for which they had crossed the Sea, Jesus encouraged them to work for something different, something more, something enduring, “Don't spend all your effort on the food and the things of this world that will all too soon spoil and waste. Work for that which lasts, that which comes from the Father.” (6.27) I give the folks in the crowd credit, they didn't insist on more handouts, but instead asked what kind of work could “earn” that which endures (6.28). So Jesus told them the one thing necessary to receive the imperishable “wages” of the Father—believe in the one the Father sent (6.29).
We might think that the crowd, having been both witnesses to, and beneficiaries of, the miracle of the great feeding, would already have been inclined to believe. But the Lord had been right, they had followed him looking for another free meal, not because they had at all understood who it was who had fed them. Their bellies were again empty, and they wanted to eat! Bread and fish were fine for empty bellies to be filled, but if the crowd was to believe, they wanted something more, something like what their ancestors had received from Moses—“bread from heaven.” (6.31)
While it was true that the Israelites had survived on manna during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the manna itself was quite perishable, spoiling in a day (With the exception of what fell on Fridays, when enough manna was provided for the Sabbath as well.). The manna the people had eaten during the time of Moses was not the true bread from heaven, which the Father alone supplies (6.32). Then Jesus said something that had to have sounded quite strange: the bread of God was not something that came down from heaven, but someone (6.33). This was bread that was truly the staff of life—eternal life—and, still not comprehending who the someone was who was speaking to them, the crowd immediately clamored for it (6.34).
We've all heard it said that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Far more tragic than the thirst of stubborn horses is the famine of those who, though they may be led to the very bread of life, are perishing because they refuse to receive it. People die every day, having labored and striven all their lives for all sorts of things that perish, when, by believing, they could have received him who will never die, and who alone gives eternal life.
Certainly, the Church must do all it can to supply bread for those who will die today without it. The same can be said for supplying clothing and shelter and medicine to those in need. But, like those who ate manna in the wilderness, the day will come when they will perish if they never receive the true bread from heaven. What kind of food are we supplying to our families, our neighbors, our community, our world? Jesus has supplied us with food that endures, and we must offer nothing less to the world.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Jesus Rescued Rowers
What Did Jesus Do?
When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat,
and started across...and Jesus had not yet come to them.
John 6.16-17
If I had been one of the disciples I believe the violent tempest on the Sea of Galilee would not have frightened me nearly as much a the realization that it was a big mistake to launch out and leave Jesus behind. I wonder what they could have been thinking when they started to row towards Capernaum while the Lord was still off by himself on the mountain (John 6.15)?
In 6.4 John mentions that Passover was about to begin—were the apostles hurrying home for the holidays, so to speak? Even if they were, why should that lead them to take off without the Master? Perhaps, excited by witnessing the feeding of the five thousand, they were anxious to be the first to tell the story in Capernaum. There is, after all, a certain celebrity attached to being the bearer of big news. I really cannot come up with a valid reason why they had to take off and get ahead of the Lord.
What I do see, is a message to all of us: it's dangerous to run (or row) off by ourselves and get ahead of Jesus. We might not run into a gale, but there are all kinds of storms in life, and none of us is well equipped to weather them on our own. Confident, excited, full of ourselves, and all too often impatient, many of us act on our own. Frequently, such miscalculated initiative leads to our praying to the Lord to bless the mess we've made, or to get us out of a jam we've gotten ourselves into. Either way, we really have no one to blame but ourselves. Personally, I have to confess that I am guilty of impatience and of imposing my own timetable on the Lord, with the result that I disconnect myself from his sovereign will. Like launching out into the middle of a wind-blown sea, separating ourselves from the Father's will is not a good place to be.
Granted, there are times when we get ahead, not so much by intention, but by inattention. In these cases it isn't so much a matter of running ahead as it is of wandering off without realizing that we've strayed. This is more likely to happen in the midst of calm, rather than calamity. When the skies are blue, the breezes gentle, and everything seems to be going our way, most of us are liable , almost without thinking, to do just that—go our own way. Oops! We look around and cry out for Jesus—where could he have gone, he was just here? Of course, it is never that the Lord who will never leave or desert us goes anywhere. Rather, we, like sheep, are so good at going astray! Thankfully, Jesus rescues rowers, and runners, and strayers.
As many of us as there are who are prone to get ahead of the Lord, I believe there may be even more who are guilty of lagging behind. A great many Christians get to a place spiritually where they are so comfortable and secure that they simply want to stay put. The only problem with this is that the kingdom doesn't advance by sitting in a pew, so to speak; neither do we grow spiritually by merely holding on. The Lord is on the move, if not constantly, certainly most of the time. Jesus never spent a lot of time enjoying the view, basking in recent triumphs. He was most definitely a man on a mission. And we should be men and women on a mission too, for there are many still in need of rescue. Ponder for a moment: where would we be if Jesus hadn't rescued us when we've “rowed” away?
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat,
and started across...and Jesus had not yet come to them.
John 6.16-17
If I had been one of the disciples I believe the violent tempest on the Sea of Galilee would not have frightened me nearly as much a the realization that it was a big mistake to launch out and leave Jesus behind. I wonder what they could have been thinking when they started to row towards Capernaum while the Lord was still off by himself on the mountain (John 6.15)?
In 6.4 John mentions that Passover was about to begin—were the apostles hurrying home for the holidays, so to speak? Even if they were, why should that lead them to take off without the Master? Perhaps, excited by witnessing the feeding of the five thousand, they were anxious to be the first to tell the story in Capernaum. There is, after all, a certain celebrity attached to being the bearer of big news. I really cannot come up with a valid reason why they had to take off and get ahead of the Lord.
What I do see, is a message to all of us: it's dangerous to run (or row) off by ourselves and get ahead of Jesus. We might not run into a gale, but there are all kinds of storms in life, and none of us is well equipped to weather them on our own. Confident, excited, full of ourselves, and all too often impatient, many of us act on our own. Frequently, such miscalculated initiative leads to our praying to the Lord to bless the mess we've made, or to get us out of a jam we've gotten ourselves into. Either way, we really have no one to blame but ourselves. Personally, I have to confess that I am guilty of impatience and of imposing my own timetable on the Lord, with the result that I disconnect myself from his sovereign will. Like launching out into the middle of a wind-blown sea, separating ourselves from the Father's will is not a good place to be.
Granted, there are times when we get ahead, not so much by intention, but by inattention. In these cases it isn't so much a matter of running ahead as it is of wandering off without realizing that we've strayed. This is more likely to happen in the midst of calm, rather than calamity. When the skies are blue, the breezes gentle, and everything seems to be going our way, most of us are liable , almost without thinking, to do just that—go our own way. Oops! We look around and cry out for Jesus—where could he have gone, he was just here? Of course, it is never that the Lord who will never leave or desert us goes anywhere. Rather, we, like sheep, are so good at going astray! Thankfully, Jesus rescues rowers, and runners, and strayers.
As many of us as there are who are prone to get ahead of the Lord, I believe there may be even more who are guilty of lagging behind. A great many Christians get to a place spiritually where they are so comfortable and secure that they simply want to stay put. The only problem with this is that the kingdom doesn't advance by sitting in a pew, so to speak; neither do we grow spiritually by merely holding on. The Lord is on the move, if not constantly, certainly most of the time. Jesus never spent a lot of time enjoying the view, basking in recent triumphs. He was most definitely a man on a mission. And we should be men and women on a mission too, for there are many still in need of rescue. Ponder for a moment: where would we be if Jesus hadn't rescued us when we've “rowed” away?
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Jesus Evaded Excited Enthusiasts
What Did Jesus Do?
Perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king,
Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
John 6.15
A huge crowd had assembled. With mouths agape, they had grown more and more excited with each wondrous deed they witnessed. There wasn't anything the man couldn't do! He defied death itself. The applause and the shouting and the praises of the enthusiastic throng would have been deafening, if anyone could have heard it. But the roar of the falls drowned out all else.
The scene was New York state. The time was the middle of the 19th Century. And the crowd was enraptured by the feats of one Jean Francois Gravelet-Blondin, who was better known simply as “The Great Blondin.” The roar that masked the cheers of the crowd was the thunder of Niagara Falls. Blondin was a French tightrope walker whose greatest fame accrued as a result of daring-do performed above the churning, deadly cataract of perhaps the most famous waterfall in the world.
Blondin first walked across a rope with benefit of his balance pole. Then he did it blindfolded. Then he hopped across in a sack. Next he pushed a wheelbarrow across. The crowd was apoplectic by now! But Blondin wasn't done. Breaking out some stilts Blondin crossed the treacherous gorge yet again. All his traversing back and forth across the Niagara River caused Blondin to work up quite an appetite. So he proceeded to bring a stove out with him and sat on the rope and prepared and ate an omelet. Hardly able to believe their own eyes, the multitude affirmed that there was no balancing miracle that Blondin couldn't perform. So Blondin asked the crowd, “Who believes that I could carry a man across on my shoulders?” The crowd replied, “Yes! There's nothing the Great Blondin can't do!” “Hooray for Blondin!” Then Blondin asked, “Who will volunteer to be that man?” Silence. Were it not for the water's tumultuous plummet over the Falls one could have heard a pin drop. In a moment all the faith of Blondin's excited enthusiasts evaporated like the mist rising from the base of Niagara.
Some nineteen hundred years before the time of Blondin, a similar crowd of excited enthusiasts had gathered on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, to witness the miraculous works of a man named Jesus (John 6.1-2). So taken was the multitude by the signs and wonders that Jesus performed that they wanted to seize him and acclaim him as their king, and they might have done so had not Jesus evaded them.
Excited enthusiasm may be fine for a stuntman, though Blondin's challenge clearly exposed the limit and fickle nature of excited enthusiasm. The Savior came searching for something much more than excited enthusiasm, he was looking for faith. For faith abides long after excited enthusiasm has dissipated or moved on.
You see, the chasm across which Jesus carries the faithful is far more deadly and frightening than the Niagara gorge. And, while a stuntman might serve to transport us from one side of a river to the other, none but the Son of God can safely shepherd us over the span of sin and death which separates us from the Father. If all we possess is excited enthusiasm when we stare into the abyss, our trust in the Savior may vanish as quickly as the confidence of the crowd that would not put itself in the hands of Blondin. While Jesus evades excited enthusiasts, he never fails to find the faithful, and carry them safely home.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king,
Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
John 6.15
A huge crowd had assembled. With mouths agape, they had grown more and more excited with each wondrous deed they witnessed. There wasn't anything the man couldn't do! He defied death itself. The applause and the shouting and the praises of the enthusiastic throng would have been deafening, if anyone could have heard it. But the roar of the falls drowned out all else.
The scene was New York state. The time was the middle of the 19th Century. And the crowd was enraptured by the feats of one Jean Francois Gravelet-Blondin, who was better known simply as “The Great Blondin.” The roar that masked the cheers of the crowd was the thunder of Niagara Falls. Blondin was a French tightrope walker whose greatest fame accrued as a result of daring-do performed above the churning, deadly cataract of perhaps the most famous waterfall in the world.
Blondin first walked across a rope with benefit of his balance pole. Then he did it blindfolded. Then he hopped across in a sack. Next he pushed a wheelbarrow across. The crowd was apoplectic by now! But Blondin wasn't done. Breaking out some stilts Blondin crossed the treacherous gorge yet again. All his traversing back and forth across the Niagara River caused Blondin to work up quite an appetite. So he proceeded to bring a stove out with him and sat on the rope and prepared and ate an omelet. Hardly able to believe their own eyes, the multitude affirmed that there was no balancing miracle that Blondin couldn't perform. So Blondin asked the crowd, “Who believes that I could carry a man across on my shoulders?” The crowd replied, “Yes! There's nothing the Great Blondin can't do!” “Hooray for Blondin!” Then Blondin asked, “Who will volunteer to be that man?” Silence. Were it not for the water's tumultuous plummet over the Falls one could have heard a pin drop. In a moment all the faith of Blondin's excited enthusiasts evaporated like the mist rising from the base of Niagara.
Some nineteen hundred years before the time of Blondin, a similar crowd of excited enthusiasts had gathered on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, to witness the miraculous works of a man named Jesus (John 6.1-2). So taken was the multitude by the signs and wonders that Jesus performed that they wanted to seize him and acclaim him as their king, and they might have done so had not Jesus evaded them.
Excited enthusiasm may be fine for a stuntman, though Blondin's challenge clearly exposed the limit and fickle nature of excited enthusiasm. The Savior came searching for something much more than excited enthusiasm, he was looking for faith. For faith abides long after excited enthusiasm has dissipated or moved on.
You see, the chasm across which Jesus carries the faithful is far more deadly and frightening than the Niagara gorge. And, while a stuntman might serve to transport us from one side of a river to the other, none but the Son of God can safely shepherd us over the span of sin and death which separates us from the Father. If all we possess is excited enthusiasm when we stare into the abyss, our trust in the Savior may vanish as quickly as the confidence of the crowd that would not put itself in the hands of Blondin. While Jesus evades excited enthusiasts, he never fails to find the faithful, and carry them safely home.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Jesus Assembled Witnesses
What Did Jesus Do?
“There is another who bears witness about me.”
John 5.32
There is a wide gulf between self-promotion and independent affirmation and testimony. Anyone can put a resume together that makes all kinds of claims about one's educational and vocational history. But without the testimony of transcripts, and employment and personal references, even the most impressive resume isn't worth more than the paper it is printed on. A record of our grades, degrees, and diplomas bears witness to our academic accomplishments. And the reports of former employers or customers supply a similar witness to our work history. Jesus was not a self-promoter, rather, he assembled witnesses to the truth about who he was. In John 5.30-47 the Lord talks of five witnesses who testify on his behalf.
There was a witness in the form of a “beacon” shining in the darkness. The testimony of John the Baptist was as the illumination of a burning lamp (5.35). Many indeed rejoiced, for a time, in the truth John testified to regarding the Messiah. But Jesus did not want to merely direct people to the testimony of men, for there were greater witnesses which Jesus had assembled.
More convincing than even the powerful proclamation of John were the works Christ was doing. These works, which the Father had given to the Son to accomplish, were eloquent and powerful witnesses to about Jesus (5.36). As John's preaching offered testimony for ears to hear, so the works Jesus did supplied testimony for eyes to behold.
There was also a witness whose voice many would never hear, whose form many would never see—the witness of the Father himself. Tragically, the testimony of the Father was not received because people, in their rejection of Jesus, refused to believe the Incarnation of the Father's testimony in their midst (5.37-38).
The testimony of the fourth witness which Jesus assembled had been compiled over a thousand years, and carefully preserved. The Hebrew Scriptures bore comprehensive and compelling evidence to the person and work of the Christ. Unfortunately, though they were diligently searched, those who scoured the Law and the Prophets searched with blind eyes, and never saw nor understood who Jesus was (5.39-40).
The fifth witness was Moses, who would also fill the role of a prosecuting attorney, bringing accusations against all those who neither believed Moses's writing, nor the words of the One about whom Moses wrote (5.46-47). Jesus assembled witnesses, but many simply did not accept their testimony.
Those of us who today are believers have embraced the testimony of witnesses to Christ who literally surround us (see Hebrews 12.1). The Father gives disciples of Jesus ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to receive and accept what witnesses testify about the Son. Having believed the witnesses, we in turn are called to add our own testimony, for Jesus is still assembling witnesses. And many still remain, at home, at school, at work, even in church, who need to hear from us. Can Jesus include us among his witnesses?
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
“There is another who bears witness about me.”
John 5.32
There is a wide gulf between self-promotion and independent affirmation and testimony. Anyone can put a resume together that makes all kinds of claims about one's educational and vocational history. But without the testimony of transcripts, and employment and personal references, even the most impressive resume isn't worth more than the paper it is printed on. A record of our grades, degrees, and diplomas bears witness to our academic accomplishments. And the reports of former employers or customers supply a similar witness to our work history. Jesus was not a self-promoter, rather, he assembled witnesses to the truth about who he was. In John 5.30-47 the Lord talks of five witnesses who testify on his behalf.
There was a witness in the form of a “beacon” shining in the darkness. The testimony of John the Baptist was as the illumination of a burning lamp (5.35). Many indeed rejoiced, for a time, in the truth John testified to regarding the Messiah. But Jesus did not want to merely direct people to the testimony of men, for there were greater witnesses which Jesus had assembled.
More convincing than even the powerful proclamation of John were the works Christ was doing. These works, which the Father had given to the Son to accomplish, were eloquent and powerful witnesses to about Jesus (5.36). As John's preaching offered testimony for ears to hear, so the works Jesus did supplied testimony for eyes to behold.
There was also a witness whose voice many would never hear, whose form many would never see—the witness of the Father himself. Tragically, the testimony of the Father was not received because people, in their rejection of Jesus, refused to believe the Incarnation of the Father's testimony in their midst (5.37-38).
The testimony of the fourth witness which Jesus assembled had been compiled over a thousand years, and carefully preserved. The Hebrew Scriptures bore comprehensive and compelling evidence to the person and work of the Christ. Unfortunately, though they were diligently searched, those who scoured the Law and the Prophets searched with blind eyes, and never saw nor understood who Jesus was (5.39-40).
The fifth witness was Moses, who would also fill the role of a prosecuting attorney, bringing accusations against all those who neither believed Moses's writing, nor the words of the One about whom Moses wrote (5.46-47). Jesus assembled witnesses, but many simply did not accept their testimony.
Those of us who today are believers have embraced the testimony of witnesses to Christ who literally surround us (see Hebrews 12.1). The Father gives disciples of Jesus ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to receive and accept what witnesses testify about the Son. Having believed the witnesses, we in turn are called to add our own testimony, for Jesus is still assembling witnesses. And many still remain, at home, at school, at work, even in church, who need to hear from us. Can Jesus include us among his witnesses?
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Jesus Summoned the Dead to Life
What Did Jesus Do?
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here,
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,
and those who hear will live.”
John 5.25
It may come as something of a shock to some of you, but the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is not intended for a lively audience. I know, most people these days want to attend a congregation that “rocks,” but the Gospel doesn't need to be broadcast to the those alive and on fire so much as it must be heard by those who are cold and dead. The truth is, everyone who has not heard the Gospel and responded to it is, there's no other way to put it, dead. Dead in sin.
And, if those who are dead in their sins don't get to hear the voice of the Son, well, they will remain dead from here thru eternity. But the hour has already struck when the preaching of the Gospel has gone forth, and as long as the Good News is proclaimed there is the chance that those who are dead will yet hear it. This is why the preaching of the Gospel is so important, so absolutely central to the mission of the Church in this age—the hour is now here for the dead to hear!
There are others who are dead today, not dead in their sins, but rather “asleep” in the grave, if you will. The saints who have finished their race and now enjoy their rest (see Revelation 14.13), will hear the voice of the Son one day, calling them to rise and live again and forever in the eternal kingdom of God. Those now in the grave, who have died without the atoning sacrifice of Christ being credited to them, will also hear the voice of the Son and rise, but rather than rising to life they will rise to judgment and eternal condemnation (John 5.29). Be assured, this hour is coming as certainly as the sunrise is coming tomorrow morning, and at that hour there will be a resurrection of all who are in the grave.
Here's the thing, if our congregations are merely convocations and celebrations of those who, having heard the Gospel, are now alive in Christ, and our proclamation of the Gospel never reaches the ears of those who now quite dead spiritually, we are failing to fulfill the Church's primary mission—to seek and save the lost.
I believe that there needs to be a far greater sense of urgency for the bearing of the Gospel out into the world, the world full of the dead who desperately need to hear the voice of the Son. If our worship services aren't commissioning and sending us out each week into the fields already white for the harvest, there will be fruit that will perish every day.
The hour has now come for the Body of Christ to go out and summon the dead to life. That's what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministrie.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here,
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,
and those who hear will live.”
John 5.25
It may come as something of a shock to some of you, but the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is not intended for a lively audience. I know, most people these days want to attend a congregation that “rocks,” but the Gospel doesn't need to be broadcast to the those alive and on fire so much as it must be heard by those who are cold and dead. The truth is, everyone who has not heard the Gospel and responded to it is, there's no other way to put it, dead. Dead in sin.
And, if those who are dead in their sins don't get to hear the voice of the Son, well, they will remain dead from here thru eternity. But the hour has already struck when the preaching of the Gospel has gone forth, and as long as the Good News is proclaimed there is the chance that those who are dead will yet hear it. This is why the preaching of the Gospel is so important, so absolutely central to the mission of the Church in this age—the hour is now here for the dead to hear!
There are others who are dead today, not dead in their sins, but rather “asleep” in the grave, if you will. The saints who have finished their race and now enjoy their rest (see Revelation 14.13), will hear the voice of the Son one day, calling them to rise and live again and forever in the eternal kingdom of God. Those now in the grave, who have died without the atoning sacrifice of Christ being credited to them, will also hear the voice of the Son and rise, but rather than rising to life they will rise to judgment and eternal condemnation (John 5.29). Be assured, this hour is coming as certainly as the sunrise is coming tomorrow morning, and at that hour there will be a resurrection of all who are in the grave.
Here's the thing, if our congregations are merely convocations and celebrations of those who, having heard the Gospel, are now alive in Christ, and our proclamation of the Gospel never reaches the ears of those who now quite dead spiritually, we are failing to fulfill the Church's primary mission—to seek and save the lost.
I believe that there needs to be a far greater sense of urgency for the bearing of the Gospel out into the world, the world full of the dead who desperately need to hear the voice of the Son. If our worship services aren't commissioning and sending us out each week into the fields already white for the harvest, there will be fruit that will perish every day.
The hour has now come for the Body of Christ to go out and summon the dead to life. That's what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministrie.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Monday, February 14, 2011
Jesus Received A Name (So He Didn't Need to Make a Name for Himself!)
What Did Jesus Do?
...God bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
Philippians 2.9
Unlike most people, Jesus never felt any need to make a name for himself. In fact, one of the things Christ is most noted for is how he made himself nothing (Philippians 2.7) Can you imagine anyone today intentionally setting out to humble themselves, to willingly surrender any and all privileges and rights, and, though they were Lord of all, become the servant of all? Unimaginable. In a world that teaches people they need to look out for #1, what kind of fool would make it his goal to look after everyone but himself? But, when you've been given a name, the name in fact, that is above every name, you don't need to be at all concerned about making a name for yourself.
Here's the thing, believers have been given the same name, or hadn't you noticed that believers are called Christians? It's true. Beyond all reasoning, the Father looks upon us, unworthy sons and daughters that we are, and sees the Son. Incredible! So, why is it that most of us, and I definitely, though ashamedly, count myself in the herd, why is it that most of us spend so much of our energy on making a name for ourselves, on building and polishing our reputation? I know I have said that there is really no such thing as a “Lone Ranger” Christian, but it would be good if we all would simply do the right thing and then, with a hardy “Hi-ho Silver” rode off into the sunset before anyone had a chance to find out our name or thank us.
The thing is, making a name for ourselves is really stealing credit that we definitely do not deserve. Think about it, on our own all we can do is make a mess. Isaiah nailed it when he declared that our righteousness amounts to nothing more than a filthy, stinking garment of rags (Isaiah 64.6). All the credit, all the praise, belongs to the One upon whom the Father bestowed the name. In other words, it is all about Jesus, not us.
Given that so many Christians are into making a name for themselves, it should come as no surprise, although it is deeply disturbing and disappointing, that a lot of churches are pursuing making a name for themselves these days. In fact, I believe one of the reasons that there are so many different denominations and sects, to say nothing of cults, is because congregations, and larger ecclesiastical bodies, are more concerned in making a name for themselves than they are with exalting the name of Jesus.
If lifting up the name of Christ was job 1, and humbling ourselves, individually and corporately, was something the Church actually practiced, I believe we might see the Body of Christ, which we've drawn and quartered, come together as one. Wouldn't that be something! Sadly, the name of Jesus just doesn't seem to be enough for most Christians and for many of churches. So we misspend so much time and effort on name building for ourselves, and, in an effort to help ourselves feel better about our name, in calling others names. Ugh.
Maybe we need to remember how Jesus was given the name above every name by becoming the humble servant who was willing to die for us. Maybe we need to recall who and what we become when we die to self and are reborn in Christ. Maybe we need to remind ourselves that, being reborn, we have received a new name, and have no need to strive to make a name for ourselves. Maybe, instead of trying to make something of ourselves, we need to make ourselves nothing. That's what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
...God bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
Philippians 2.9
Unlike most people, Jesus never felt any need to make a name for himself. In fact, one of the things Christ is most noted for is how he made himself nothing (Philippians 2.7) Can you imagine anyone today intentionally setting out to humble themselves, to willingly surrender any and all privileges and rights, and, though they were Lord of all, become the servant of all? Unimaginable. In a world that teaches people they need to look out for #1, what kind of fool would make it his goal to look after everyone but himself? But, when you've been given a name, the name in fact, that is above every name, you don't need to be at all concerned about making a name for yourself.
Here's the thing, believers have been given the same name, or hadn't you noticed that believers are called Christians? It's true. Beyond all reasoning, the Father looks upon us, unworthy sons and daughters that we are, and sees the Son. Incredible! So, why is it that most of us, and I definitely, though ashamedly, count myself in the herd, why is it that most of us spend so much of our energy on making a name for ourselves, on building and polishing our reputation? I know I have said that there is really no such thing as a “Lone Ranger” Christian, but it would be good if we all would simply do the right thing and then, with a hardy “Hi-ho Silver” rode off into the sunset before anyone had a chance to find out our name or thank us.
The thing is, making a name for ourselves is really stealing credit that we definitely do not deserve. Think about it, on our own all we can do is make a mess. Isaiah nailed it when he declared that our righteousness amounts to nothing more than a filthy, stinking garment of rags (Isaiah 64.6). All the credit, all the praise, belongs to the One upon whom the Father bestowed the name. In other words, it is all about Jesus, not us.
Given that so many Christians are into making a name for themselves, it should come as no surprise, although it is deeply disturbing and disappointing, that a lot of churches are pursuing making a name for themselves these days. In fact, I believe one of the reasons that there are so many different denominations and sects, to say nothing of cults, is because congregations, and larger ecclesiastical bodies, are more concerned in making a name for themselves than they are with exalting the name of Jesus.
If lifting up the name of Christ was job 1, and humbling ourselves, individually and corporately, was something the Church actually practiced, I believe we might see the Body of Christ, which we've drawn and quartered, come together as one. Wouldn't that be something! Sadly, the name of Jesus just doesn't seem to be enough for most Christians and for many of churches. So we misspend so much time and effort on name building for ourselves, and, in an effort to help ourselves feel better about our name, in calling others names. Ugh.
Maybe we need to remember how Jesus was given the name above every name by becoming the humble servant who was willing to die for us. Maybe we need to recall who and what we become when we die to self and are reborn in Christ. Maybe we need to remind ourselves that, being reborn, we have received a new name, and have no need to strive to make a name for ourselves. Maybe, instead of trying to make something of ourselves, we need to make ourselves nothing. That's what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Jesus Followed the Father's Lead
What Did Jesus Do?
“...the Son can do only what he sees the Father doing.”
John 5.19
Considering that he was King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus was incredibly submissive. Typically we think of kings and lords as being rather independent, able to do pretty much whatever they please. But then, the kingship and lordship of Jesus must be understood in the context of his Sonship. The kingdom of which Jesus was Lord was the Father's kingdom. The Son reigns only in the name of, and perfectly following the lead of, the Father.
That Jesus was on earth, and in particular in Jerusalem, was not at all his own doing, not of his own accord. As a discerning Roman Centurion would observe, Jesus operated under authority (see Matthew 8.9), and not at all independently. Jesus could give orders which would be instantly obeyed; though the centurion could not see the troops that Jesus commanded, he recognized one in a position similar to his own. Under the authority of Rome the centurion had the authority and the resources to carry out whatever Caesar commanded of him. So too, the centurion saw in Jesus one who had the authority and the resources to carry out whatever God commanded of him. Jesus, of course, was no centurion, but the Son. And he followed no Caesar, but the Father.
And Jesus was eminently aware of all that the Father did. The Son never took his eyes from the Father, never listened to any voice but that of the Father, so that whatever the Father did, whatever the Father said, the Son did and said likewise. Because of the Father's incomparable love for the Son, he showed the Son everything he did. What Jerusalem saw Jesus do, and what Jerusalem heard Jesus say were the very deeds and words of the Father. And Jerusalem would behold far more marvelous deeds of the Father and the Son (John 5.20).
Now, if the Son did not do “his own thing” but rather acted in perfect and complete submission to the Father in all things, how much independence do you think we should have as disciples? What work should we do, what mission should we undertake, according to our own counsel? What words should we speak on our own, as if we held some authority of our own? This is why it is so important for us to continually ask the question, “What did Jesus do?” As the Son closely watched and listened to the Father, so that he could do what the Father did, so we must keep our eyes on Christ, must strain our ears to hear his voice, that we may do what Jesus did.
To speculate on what Jesus would do is ultimately to decide to act on our own accord, “Well, I think Jesus would...” But ours is not a speculative faith. We do not have wonder, we do not have to act upon a hunch or best guess, we have the Bible and the very clear example of the life of our Savior, and we have the ongoing instruction and guidance of the Holy Spirit to inform our every thought, direct our every step, inspire our every word. All we need to do is to follow Jesus, even as the Son followed the Father's lead.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
“...the Son can do only what he sees the Father doing.”
John 5.19
Considering that he was King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus was incredibly submissive. Typically we think of kings and lords as being rather independent, able to do pretty much whatever they please. But then, the kingship and lordship of Jesus must be understood in the context of his Sonship. The kingdom of which Jesus was Lord was the Father's kingdom. The Son reigns only in the name of, and perfectly following the lead of, the Father.
That Jesus was on earth, and in particular in Jerusalem, was not at all his own doing, not of his own accord. As a discerning Roman Centurion would observe, Jesus operated under authority (see Matthew 8.9), and not at all independently. Jesus could give orders which would be instantly obeyed; though the centurion could not see the troops that Jesus commanded, he recognized one in a position similar to his own. Under the authority of Rome the centurion had the authority and the resources to carry out whatever Caesar commanded of him. So too, the centurion saw in Jesus one who had the authority and the resources to carry out whatever God commanded of him. Jesus, of course, was no centurion, but the Son. And he followed no Caesar, but the Father.
And Jesus was eminently aware of all that the Father did. The Son never took his eyes from the Father, never listened to any voice but that of the Father, so that whatever the Father did, whatever the Father said, the Son did and said likewise. Because of the Father's incomparable love for the Son, he showed the Son everything he did. What Jerusalem saw Jesus do, and what Jerusalem heard Jesus say were the very deeds and words of the Father. And Jerusalem would behold far more marvelous deeds of the Father and the Son (John 5.20).
Now, if the Son did not do “his own thing” but rather acted in perfect and complete submission to the Father in all things, how much independence do you think we should have as disciples? What work should we do, what mission should we undertake, according to our own counsel? What words should we speak on our own, as if we held some authority of our own? This is why it is so important for us to continually ask the question, “What did Jesus do?” As the Son closely watched and listened to the Father, so that he could do what the Father did, so we must keep our eyes on Christ, must strain our ears to hear his voice, that we may do what Jesus did.
To speculate on what Jesus would do is ultimately to decide to act on our own accord, “Well, I think Jesus would...” But ours is not a speculative faith. We do not have wonder, we do not have to act upon a hunch or best guess, we have the Bible and the very clear example of the life of our Savior, and we have the ongoing instruction and guidance of the Holy Spirit to inform our every thought, direct our every step, inspire our every word. All we need to do is to follow Jesus, even as the Son followed the Father's lead.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Jesus Kept His Father's Schedule
What Did Jesus Do?
“My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
John 5.17
It probably sounds like a rather odd question to us, asking a man who has been an invalid for thirty-eight years if he wants to be healed (John 5.6). The answer would clearly be an unequivocal “Yes!” But, rather than answer the question. the man offers up an excuse as to why he has never been healed—apparently it was a transportation issue (John 5.7).
Actually, Jesus might well have wondered about the man's motivation, thirty-eight years is an awfully long time to lay inches from healing and not do anything about it. I mean, the man had managed to survive all those years, to secure food and shelter and clothing, but he couldn't arrange for getting himself into the pool of Bethesda? Perhaps, for some reason, he really didn't want to be healed, and his friends and family had been enabling him in his invalid state all that time. In any event, Jesus acted without the man in fact saying that he wanted to be healed, and commanded him to stand up and pick up his bedroll and walk, a command the man instantly obeyed (John 5.8-9). Sadly, this story did not end here with people glorifying God, as in Mark 2.12.
No, this time was different because the action took place in Jerusalem and not in Capernaum, and on the Sabbath as well (John 5.9b). It seems that the poor man who could now walk after all those years, had broken a Pharisaical rule against doing unnecessary work, for carrying one's bedroll was forbidden! The piety police were right on it, and immediately commenced an investigation (John 5.10-16). The “cops'” argument was that since there were six other days to perform works of healing and ordering invalids to carry their bedrolls, that sort of thing was simply inappropriate on the Sabbath. Surely, Jesus should keep to the schedule like everyone else.
The thing was, Jesus was not like everyone else, the Son had to keep the Father's schedule (John 5.17). When the Father was working the Son needed to be working (the kingdom was a family “business,” after all). Jesus could hardly take a day off while the Father had a schedule to keep, people to save, cripples to heal. Unfortunately, those in charge of Sabbath security could not grasp this concept. Even worse, they just about went ballistic when Jesus had the chutzpah to call God his Father (John 5.18). Though there would be a very special “Sabbath” when the Son finished all the work the Father had given him (John 19.30), Jesus knew there was much Sabbath work that yet needed to be done if the Father's schedule was going to be met.
Days and seasons and Sabbaths are all alike subject to the Father's schedule, for God alone sovereignly rules over all time itself. After thirty-eight years, the time had arrived for the wretched man to finally be healed, though the Jews would have had him wait, but God waits for no man. The work of the Father's kingdom still progresses according to the schedule he has set. And Jesus, the Son, still keeps his Father's schedule. I know it is Sunday, but I am sure the Father is working, and if he is working so is the Son. We who claim to be the Son's disciples would do well today and every day to keep their schedule.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
“My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
John 5.17
It probably sounds like a rather odd question to us, asking a man who has been an invalid for thirty-eight years if he wants to be healed (John 5.6). The answer would clearly be an unequivocal “Yes!” But, rather than answer the question. the man offers up an excuse as to why he has never been healed—apparently it was a transportation issue (John 5.7).
Actually, Jesus might well have wondered about the man's motivation, thirty-eight years is an awfully long time to lay inches from healing and not do anything about it. I mean, the man had managed to survive all those years, to secure food and shelter and clothing, but he couldn't arrange for getting himself into the pool of Bethesda? Perhaps, for some reason, he really didn't want to be healed, and his friends and family had been enabling him in his invalid state all that time. In any event, Jesus acted without the man in fact saying that he wanted to be healed, and commanded him to stand up and pick up his bedroll and walk, a command the man instantly obeyed (John 5.8-9). Sadly, this story did not end here with people glorifying God, as in Mark 2.12.
No, this time was different because the action took place in Jerusalem and not in Capernaum, and on the Sabbath as well (John 5.9b). It seems that the poor man who could now walk after all those years, had broken a Pharisaical rule against doing unnecessary work, for carrying one's bedroll was forbidden! The piety police were right on it, and immediately commenced an investigation (John 5.10-16). The “cops'” argument was that since there were six other days to perform works of healing and ordering invalids to carry their bedrolls, that sort of thing was simply inappropriate on the Sabbath. Surely, Jesus should keep to the schedule like everyone else.
The thing was, Jesus was not like everyone else, the Son had to keep the Father's schedule (John 5.17). When the Father was working the Son needed to be working (the kingdom was a family “business,” after all). Jesus could hardly take a day off while the Father had a schedule to keep, people to save, cripples to heal. Unfortunately, those in charge of Sabbath security could not grasp this concept. Even worse, they just about went ballistic when Jesus had the chutzpah to call God his Father (John 5.18). Though there would be a very special “Sabbath” when the Son finished all the work the Father had given him (John 19.30), Jesus knew there was much Sabbath work that yet needed to be done if the Father's schedule was going to be met.
Days and seasons and Sabbaths are all alike subject to the Father's schedule, for God alone sovereignly rules over all time itself. After thirty-eight years, the time had arrived for the wretched man to finally be healed, though the Jews would have had him wait, but God waits for no man. The work of the Father's kingdom still progresses according to the schedule he has set. And Jesus, the Son, still keeps his Father's schedule. I know it is Sunday, but I am sure the Father is working, and if he is working so is the Son. We who claim to be the Son's disciples would do well today and every day to keep their schedule.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Jesus Took Account of Faith
What Did Jesus Do?
The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.
John 4.50b
When Abram (Abraham) believed the word the LORD spoke to him, his believing (faith) was reckoned to him as righteousness (Genesis 15.6). As an accountant or bookkeeper would make an entry of a credit or debit in a ledger, God records all evidence of faith. Like the Father, Jesus the Son also took account of faith.
A desperate man, whose son lay near death, sought out Jesus when he learned that the Lord had returned to Galilee from Judea (John 4.47). “Please, come to Capernaum and heal my son” the father pleaded. But Jesus, already growing somewhat frustrated with those who would not believe in him because of the words of truth that he spoke, but required signs and miracles to be performed before they would believe, responded to the man (and all those within hearing) accusingly, “Unless you see signs...you will not believe” (John 4.48). As we can well imagine, the rebuke did not dissuade the anxious father, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” (John 4.49)
Now, we must not presume to say that the man had no faith; he would not have come up from Capernaum to Cana in search of Jesus if he did not believe the Lord could heal his son. In this light, the rather rough initial answer of Jesus may be understood to have been directed more to those in the crowd who might have wanted to follow along to see if Jesus was as good as his word, so to speak. It wasn't that these people cared about the man's son, they wanted to see a miracle before they would believe. To the man's repeated summons to come and heal his son Jesus did not assent, but rather, taking account of the man's faith, said, “Go, your son will live.” (John 4.50a) The Lord always takes note of faith, records it, and rewards it. In this case the man believed, not a sign which he had seen performed, but the word that Jesus spoke to him (see the above captioned verse at the beginning of this WDJD).
As the man learned from his servants, his son began to recover at the very hour when Jesus had declared that the boy would live (John 4.53). Jesus took account of his faith in the word, and a sign was given which confirmed his faith. And by the word of the man's testimony, and the power of the confirming sign, all in his house believed (John 4.53). Jesus took account of faith. He still does.
Signs and miracles are curious things. They can, as we have just seen, confirm faith. But what about when no sign is given? What about when the child who is prayed over dies? What about when the plant closes down? What about when the hurricane doesn't veer off the coast but slams directly into the city? What does the absence of signs and miracles reveal about our faith? Do we believe, in spite of the evidence seemingly to the contrary, that Jesus will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13.5)? Do we move forward in faith, though the way appear difficult and dark? Do we live by faith in the Word, or does our faith hang on a sign?
Faith believes that the child who has died yet lives. Faith believes there is work to do for the Lord no matter how many plants close down. Faith believes Jesus is present and active where the hurricane hits even more than where the hurricane misses. Faith believes, and Jesus takes account of faith. Love may be the greatest of spiritual gifts (See 1Corinthians 13), but faith gives love arms and legs, if you will, to work the will of God. Jesus takes account of faith.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.
John 4.50b
When Abram (Abraham) believed the word the LORD spoke to him, his believing (faith) was reckoned to him as righteousness (Genesis 15.6). As an accountant or bookkeeper would make an entry of a credit or debit in a ledger, God records all evidence of faith. Like the Father, Jesus the Son also took account of faith.
A desperate man, whose son lay near death, sought out Jesus when he learned that the Lord had returned to Galilee from Judea (John 4.47). “Please, come to Capernaum and heal my son” the father pleaded. But Jesus, already growing somewhat frustrated with those who would not believe in him because of the words of truth that he spoke, but required signs and miracles to be performed before they would believe, responded to the man (and all those within hearing) accusingly, “Unless you see signs...you will not believe” (John 4.48). As we can well imagine, the rebuke did not dissuade the anxious father, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” (John 4.49)
Now, we must not presume to say that the man had no faith; he would not have come up from Capernaum to Cana in search of Jesus if he did not believe the Lord could heal his son. In this light, the rather rough initial answer of Jesus may be understood to have been directed more to those in the crowd who might have wanted to follow along to see if Jesus was as good as his word, so to speak. It wasn't that these people cared about the man's son, they wanted to see a miracle before they would believe. To the man's repeated summons to come and heal his son Jesus did not assent, but rather, taking account of the man's faith, said, “Go, your son will live.” (John 4.50a) The Lord always takes note of faith, records it, and rewards it. In this case the man believed, not a sign which he had seen performed, but the word that Jesus spoke to him (see the above captioned verse at the beginning of this WDJD).
As the man learned from his servants, his son began to recover at the very hour when Jesus had declared that the boy would live (John 4.53). Jesus took account of his faith in the word, and a sign was given which confirmed his faith. And by the word of the man's testimony, and the power of the confirming sign, all in his house believed (John 4.53). Jesus took account of faith. He still does.
Signs and miracles are curious things. They can, as we have just seen, confirm faith. But what about when no sign is given? What about when the child who is prayed over dies? What about when the plant closes down? What about when the hurricane doesn't veer off the coast but slams directly into the city? What does the absence of signs and miracles reveal about our faith? Do we believe, in spite of the evidence seemingly to the contrary, that Jesus will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13.5)? Do we move forward in faith, though the way appear difficult and dark? Do we live by faith in the Word, or does our faith hang on a sign?
Faith believes that the child who has died yet lives. Faith believes there is work to do for the Lord no matter how many plants close down. Faith believes Jesus is present and active where the hurricane hits even more than where the hurricane misses. Faith believes, and Jesus takes account of faith. Love may be the greatest of spiritual gifts (See 1Corinthians 13), but faith gives love arms and legs, if you will, to work the will of God. Jesus takes account of faith.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Jesus Offered Something Greater
What Did Jesus Do?
“...whoever drinks of the water that I give will never be thirsty again.”
John 4.14
Nowadays we have literally dozens of drinks that vie for the title of greatest thirst quencher. One soft drink has assured us for years that it is “the real thing.” Another claims to be “the choice of a new generation.” There are sports drinks, and power drinks, and herbal drinks, and fruity drinks. There are beers manufactured by giant corporations, and “micro-brews” bottled by small entrepreneurs in most every village and hamlet across the land. Even water, which I grew up simply getting from the kitchen sink, now comes in enough different bottled versions to support a billion dollar industry. The thing is, the claims of all the myriad beverages aside, I still get thirsty, and I bet you do to. Don't you just wish that someone would come along with something truly greater, that could satisfy your thirst once and for all? Jesus offered something greater.
In arid lands, like ancient Palestine, thirst quenching wasn't an industry, but it was essential to life. No village could survive without a reliable source of water. Sychar, in Samaria, was one such place, where a village had been established around a well dug by the Jewish Patriarch Jacob (John 4.6). For more than a thousand years Jacob's well had been supplying water for the thirsty people of the village. Yet, after all those years, the people were still thirsty for something more. Jesus offered something greater.
The person who encountered the greater “thirst quencher” was a woman with a rather questionable past who, after having had five husbands had apparently given up on marriage, because she evidently didn't bother to marry number 6 (John 4.16-17). The promise of water that could so satisfy that one would never be thirsty again intrigued the woman who obviously was not easily satisfied (remember, she had already gone through five men and was working on the sixth). Though she desperately desired a drink of this “thirst quencher,” no well, no jug, no cup could hold the “living water” she now desired. Jesus offered something greater.
Only the wellspring of a new heart, a heart so filled with the love of Christ that it overflows in worship of the Father in spirit and in truth (John 4.23-24), can satisfy throughout this life and unto eternity. Not only the woman, but many of her fellow villagers eagerly received the water of life (John 4.39-41). Jesus offered something greater, and they quickly accepted his offer.
Now, the well where the Samaritan woman encountered Jesus still exists. An Orthodox priest mans it, and will gladly sell you a flask of water from Jacob's well. I suppose there must be enough folks who travel to Israel today who have a hankering for the water from that well, otherwise the priest would probably have found something else to do by now. Me? No, I didn't get any of the water from the well, because, years ago, when Jesus offered something greater to me, I had tasted that which truly satisfies the thirsty soul.
How about you, are you thirsty? I know there are a lot of thirst quenchers to consider. May I suggest that, if you haven't yet accepted, today would be a great day to receive the something greater only Jesus offers.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
“...whoever drinks of the water that I give will never be thirsty again.”
John 4.14
Nowadays we have literally dozens of drinks that vie for the title of greatest thirst quencher. One soft drink has assured us for years that it is “the real thing.” Another claims to be “the choice of a new generation.” There are sports drinks, and power drinks, and herbal drinks, and fruity drinks. There are beers manufactured by giant corporations, and “micro-brews” bottled by small entrepreneurs in most every village and hamlet across the land. Even water, which I grew up simply getting from the kitchen sink, now comes in enough different bottled versions to support a billion dollar industry. The thing is, the claims of all the myriad beverages aside, I still get thirsty, and I bet you do to. Don't you just wish that someone would come along with something truly greater, that could satisfy your thirst once and for all? Jesus offered something greater.
In arid lands, like ancient Palestine, thirst quenching wasn't an industry, but it was essential to life. No village could survive without a reliable source of water. Sychar, in Samaria, was one such place, where a village had been established around a well dug by the Jewish Patriarch Jacob (John 4.6). For more than a thousand years Jacob's well had been supplying water for the thirsty people of the village. Yet, after all those years, the people were still thirsty for something more. Jesus offered something greater.
The person who encountered the greater “thirst quencher” was a woman with a rather questionable past who, after having had five husbands had apparently given up on marriage, because she evidently didn't bother to marry number 6 (John 4.16-17). The promise of water that could so satisfy that one would never be thirsty again intrigued the woman who obviously was not easily satisfied (remember, she had already gone through five men and was working on the sixth). Though she desperately desired a drink of this “thirst quencher,” no well, no jug, no cup could hold the “living water” she now desired. Jesus offered something greater.
Only the wellspring of a new heart, a heart so filled with the love of Christ that it overflows in worship of the Father in spirit and in truth (John 4.23-24), can satisfy throughout this life and unto eternity. Not only the woman, but many of her fellow villagers eagerly received the water of life (John 4.39-41). Jesus offered something greater, and they quickly accepted his offer.
Now, the well where the Samaritan woman encountered Jesus still exists. An Orthodox priest mans it, and will gladly sell you a flask of water from Jacob's well. I suppose there must be enough folks who travel to Israel today who have a hankering for the water from that well, otherwise the priest would probably have found something else to do by now. Me? No, I didn't get any of the water from the well, because, years ago, when Jesus offered something greater to me, I had tasted that which truly satisfies the thirsty soul.
How about you, are you thirsty? I know there are a lot of thirst quenchers to consider. May I suggest that, if you haven't yet accepted, today would be a great day to receive the something greater only Jesus offers.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Monday, February 7, 2011
Jesus Enlightened the World
What Did Jesus Do?
Jesus Enlightened the World
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world,
and people loved the darkness rather than the light because
their works were evil.
John 3.19
Jesus came to rescue those who “dwelt in a land of deep darkness” (Isaiah 9.2), and to liberate those held captive by lies (see John 8.32). The contrast could not be sharper—light vs. darkness, truth vs. lies—black and white. The judgment will separate the lovers of light from the lovers of darkness (John 3.19-21). All who come to the light will be saved, all who remain in the dark will be condemned. There will be no gray area.
To inhabit a gray area is to either step from the light towards the darkness, or to come only part way towards the light from the darkness. Gray areas are all about indistinct shadows and fuzzy borders. In the judgment all shadow will be banished forever, and the demarcation between salvation and condemnation will stark and eternal.
One cannot be partly saved or mostly saved. One either comes into the light where one's works can be clearly seen, or one hides in shadow or remains in utter darkness, the better to conceal one's sins. Except there is no concealing sin, all will be exposed (see Mark 4.22; Luke 8.17).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3hkmFu1JCM
Thus, there is no room for ambivalence, no gray area, about Jesus. We either do wickedness, and hate the light, or we do what is true and come into the light (John 3.20-21). A lot of people are sadly mistaken in not taking Jesus seriously, believing that they can somehow maintain some kind of neutrality on the matter of who Jesus is. Either we believe he is who he claimed to be, whom the Scriptures testify about, and whom the Holy Spirit reveals, or we do not. Believers come into the light and abide in the light, while non-believers embrace the darkness. It could not be more black and white.
The author of the fourth Gospel later penned these words:
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you,
that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all...if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and
the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1John 1.5, 7
So, where do we dwell? In darkness? Or in the light? Jesus enlightened the world. If he doesn't light up our life, make no mistake, there is only condemnation and darkness. If our surroundings are looking rather gray it's time to start to walk in the light, it's time to come to Jesus.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Jesus Enlightened the World
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world,
and people loved the darkness rather than the light because
their works were evil.
John 3.19
Jesus came to rescue those who “dwelt in a land of deep darkness” (Isaiah 9.2), and to liberate those held captive by lies (see John 8.32). The contrast could not be sharper—light vs. darkness, truth vs. lies—black and white. The judgment will separate the lovers of light from the lovers of darkness (John 3.19-21). All who come to the light will be saved, all who remain in the dark will be condemned. There will be no gray area.
To inhabit a gray area is to either step from the light towards the darkness, or to come only part way towards the light from the darkness. Gray areas are all about indistinct shadows and fuzzy borders. In the judgment all shadow will be banished forever, and the demarcation between salvation and condemnation will stark and eternal.
One cannot be partly saved or mostly saved. One either comes into the light where one's works can be clearly seen, or one hides in shadow or remains in utter darkness, the better to conceal one's sins. Except there is no concealing sin, all will be exposed (see Mark 4.22; Luke 8.17).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3hkmFu1JCM
Thus, there is no room for ambivalence, no gray area, about Jesus. We either do wickedness, and hate the light, or we do what is true and come into the light (John 3.20-21). A lot of people are sadly mistaken in not taking Jesus seriously, believing that they can somehow maintain some kind of neutrality on the matter of who Jesus is. Either we believe he is who he claimed to be, whom the Scriptures testify about, and whom the Holy Spirit reveals, or we do not. Believers come into the light and abide in the light, while non-believers embrace the darkness. It could not be more black and white.
The author of the fourth Gospel later penned these words:
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you,
that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all...if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and
the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1John 1.5, 7
So, where do we dwell? In darkness? Or in the light? Jesus enlightened the world. If he doesn't light up our life, make no mistake, there is only condemnation and darkness. If our surroundings are looking rather gray it's time to start to walk in the light, it's time to come to Jesus.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Jesus Slayed Sinners That Saints Would Be (Re-) Born
What Did Jesus Do?
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3.3
Poor Nicodemus, he came to Jesus secretly by night to speak with the Lord about what he (actually he said “we”) knew about him (v. 3.2). And then Jesus proceeded to explain that Nicodemus, and whoever else he spoke for (other teachers of Israel?) knew essentially nothing about the kingdom of God (v. 3.10). Nicodemus, like many, was impressed by the signs Jesus had been performing. But signs were of no use to someone who was not willing to die. Unless one is prepared to surrender all, including one's very life, the kingdom of God will remain closed to them. Dying to sin and self is absolutely essential if one is to be born again. Jesus came to slay sinners so that Saints would be born.
Nicodemus, who knew nothing of birth other than that which everyone experiences by virtue of being conceived in, and born of, their mother's womb, was totally blown out of the water when Christ told him that re-birth was necessary to enter the kingdom of God, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb?” The only birth Nicodemus understood involved the flesh, and nothing more. Jesus was trying to teach the aged Pharisee that the kingdom of God requires birth by the Holy Spirit, and nothing less.
The old teacher of Israel had come seeking to speak with Jesus about what we (the Pharisees and teachers of Israel) knew, only to be disabused of his vanity—he knew nothing of the kingdom—they spoke, or sought to speak, of what in fact they did not know. In contrast, the Lord could truly (actually truly, truly) speak of what we (the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) had seen and knew—his witness was true—but Nicodemus could not yet receive it, he was not yet born again. The truth is, Jesus came to slay sinners so that Saints would be born.
Though Nicodemus drops out of the narrative after his troubling encounter with Jesus, the old man re-enters the Gospel on the far side of the cross, after the Lord has been crucified (John 19.38-42). I find this very encouraging, because all of us (Nicodemus included) must come to the cross and surrender all, including our life, that we might be born again by the Holy Spirit in the power and truth of the Resurrection. For Jesus came not only to slay sinners, but, of course, to be slain himself for sinners' sake, that in and through his Resurrection sinners should and could be re-born as Saints.
Only the Holy Spirit can induce sinners to surrender their lives; only the Holy Spirit can give new life through Christ. Only when the flesh is put to death can the spirit live, and live eternally. Dying to self is the biggest barrier to salvation, and it can only be overcome by the Spirit. No decision, no effort on our part, can accomplish what is necessary. If there was another way, Jesus would never have had to endure the cross and the grave. Jesus slayed sinners so that Saints would be born.
And what is re-born of the Spirit is not any kind of new and improved version of the old self. Those who are reborn in Christ are wholly new creations; the old has passed away, and the new has come (see 2Corinthians 5.16-17). This is THE truth about what Jesus did, and what must happen in order for anyone to be saved. Only by sharing in Christ's sufferings and death is it possible to attain resurrection (rebirth) from the dead (see Philippians 3.10-11).
Let's not hold on to what we think we know, but take hold of Christ alone. Let's let go of our life and receive new life in Jesus. After all, he did come to slay sinners like us, that we should become Saints of God.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3.3
Poor Nicodemus, he came to Jesus secretly by night to speak with the Lord about what he (actually he said “we”) knew about him (v. 3.2). And then Jesus proceeded to explain that Nicodemus, and whoever else he spoke for (other teachers of Israel?) knew essentially nothing about the kingdom of God (v. 3.10). Nicodemus, like many, was impressed by the signs Jesus had been performing. But signs were of no use to someone who was not willing to die. Unless one is prepared to surrender all, including one's very life, the kingdom of God will remain closed to them. Dying to sin and self is absolutely essential if one is to be born again. Jesus came to slay sinners so that Saints would be born.
Nicodemus, who knew nothing of birth other than that which everyone experiences by virtue of being conceived in, and born of, their mother's womb, was totally blown out of the water when Christ told him that re-birth was necessary to enter the kingdom of God, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb?” The only birth Nicodemus understood involved the flesh, and nothing more. Jesus was trying to teach the aged Pharisee that the kingdom of God requires birth by the Holy Spirit, and nothing less.
The old teacher of Israel had come seeking to speak with Jesus about what we (the Pharisees and teachers of Israel) knew, only to be disabused of his vanity—he knew nothing of the kingdom—they spoke, or sought to speak, of what in fact they did not know. In contrast, the Lord could truly (actually truly, truly) speak of what we (the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) had seen and knew—his witness was true—but Nicodemus could not yet receive it, he was not yet born again. The truth is, Jesus came to slay sinners so that Saints would be born.
Though Nicodemus drops out of the narrative after his troubling encounter with Jesus, the old man re-enters the Gospel on the far side of the cross, after the Lord has been crucified (John 19.38-42). I find this very encouraging, because all of us (Nicodemus included) must come to the cross and surrender all, including our life, that we might be born again by the Holy Spirit in the power and truth of the Resurrection. For Jesus came not only to slay sinners, but, of course, to be slain himself for sinners' sake, that in and through his Resurrection sinners should and could be re-born as Saints.
Only the Holy Spirit can induce sinners to surrender their lives; only the Holy Spirit can give new life through Christ. Only when the flesh is put to death can the spirit live, and live eternally. Dying to self is the biggest barrier to salvation, and it can only be overcome by the Spirit. No decision, no effort on our part, can accomplish what is necessary. If there was another way, Jesus would never have had to endure the cross and the grave. Jesus slayed sinners so that Saints would be born.
And what is re-born of the Spirit is not any kind of new and improved version of the old self. Those who are reborn in Christ are wholly new creations; the old has passed away, and the new has come (see 2Corinthians 5.16-17). This is THE truth about what Jesus did, and what must happen in order for anyone to be saved. Only by sharing in Christ's sufferings and death is it possible to attain resurrection (rebirth) from the dead (see Philippians 3.10-11).
Let's not hold on to what we think we know, but take hold of Christ alone. Let's let go of our life and receive new life in Jesus. After all, he did come to slay sinners like us, that we should become Saints of God.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Jesus Looked Inside
What Did Jesus Do?
...he himself knew what was in man.
John 2.25
Jesus signed on (see WDJD for 2/3/11), and many who beheld the signs he was doing accepted the testimony of their eyes and believed in his name (John 2.23). But signs themselves are an uncertain foundation for faith. Sure, of the great crowd in Jerusalem for the Passover, many were exhibiting no little excitement over the works being performed by the rabbi from Nazareth. The problem with all the buzz that is generated by a crowd, is that crowds can, and usually are, fickle things. People were beginning to believe in Jesus, to put their trust in him, but the Lord did not reciprocate; Jesus did not put his trust in people (2.24). Why? Because Jesus looks inside us.
I remember when I was in graduate school, one of my professors brought some delicious looking little bite-sized cookies, all covered with confectioner's sugar, to class. When the time came I eagerly popped one into my mouth, and chomped down on the driest and most tasteless baked good I have ever experienced. It turned out the appearance of the cookie did not hold up when what was on the inside was revealed. Actually, even the outside of the cookie proved to be deceiving. The powdered “sugar” was actually just white flour (Ugh!). And the cookie itself was absolutely sugarless, just flour and water baked to far from perfection (Yuck!). I learned that day that cookies should never be judged by their looks, it's what's on the inside that counts. We have all heard the same about books, whose covers don't always indicate the quality of what one will read. It is no different with people, what we see may well not end up being what we get. Unlike us, Jesus looks inside, and knows what is in us.
Science has invented all manner of machines to look inside people. X-rays take wonderful pictures of our bones. CAT-scans, and EEGs, and EKGs, and PET-scans, and MRIs offer incredible insights into what is going on inside of us. Yet even all these do not tell the whole story. People do all kinds of amazing and surprising things every day. People also do all kinds of disappointing and unexpected things every day. All too often, people do shocking, hurtful, even destructive and deadly things. And none of this has ever been revealed by either medical technology or psychological study. Much of what is inside a person remains an absolute mystery. But not to Jesus, “for he himself knows what is in man.” Jesus looks inside, and sees everything, even much that we don't even know about ourselves.
While we might squirm a bit at the thought of being so completely transparent before God, there is nothing we can do about it. We cannot hide anything from the Father, for the Son has come and looked inside, and by the Holy Spirit all is revealed. The LORD has searched us and known us; any and all efforts to deceive and evade him are useless. So we would all do well to acknowledge this, and invite the closest possible scrutiny, that he might lead us in his everlasting way (see Psalm 139).
In truth, we have already been totally searched out and fully known. Amazingly, in spite of what was known about us, and EVERYTHING was known, the Father sent the Son. And, incredibly, the Son, though he knew better than to entrust himself to us, gave himself for us. This is because when God made us, so fearfully and wonderfully (see Psalm 139.14), it was a labor of love. And, perceiving us with eyes of love, as it were, the Father sees something no human eye can perceive, no machine can detect, something we cannot fully comprehend this side of eternity: that we are worth saving, even at the cost of the life of the Son.
I do not believe there is any more awesome truth in all the universe than this—Jesus looked inside and, even knowing what is in us, loved us. That's what Jesus did. That's what Jesus does. That's what Jesus forever shall do—know us and love us.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
...he himself knew what was in man.
John 2.25
Jesus signed on (see WDJD for 2/3/11), and many who beheld the signs he was doing accepted the testimony of their eyes and believed in his name (John 2.23). But signs themselves are an uncertain foundation for faith. Sure, of the great crowd in Jerusalem for the Passover, many were exhibiting no little excitement over the works being performed by the rabbi from Nazareth. The problem with all the buzz that is generated by a crowd, is that crowds can, and usually are, fickle things. People were beginning to believe in Jesus, to put their trust in him, but the Lord did not reciprocate; Jesus did not put his trust in people (2.24). Why? Because Jesus looks inside us.
I remember when I was in graduate school, one of my professors brought some delicious looking little bite-sized cookies, all covered with confectioner's sugar, to class. When the time came I eagerly popped one into my mouth, and chomped down on the driest and most tasteless baked good I have ever experienced. It turned out the appearance of the cookie did not hold up when what was on the inside was revealed. Actually, even the outside of the cookie proved to be deceiving. The powdered “sugar” was actually just white flour (Ugh!). And the cookie itself was absolutely sugarless, just flour and water baked to far from perfection (Yuck!). I learned that day that cookies should never be judged by their looks, it's what's on the inside that counts. We have all heard the same about books, whose covers don't always indicate the quality of what one will read. It is no different with people, what we see may well not end up being what we get. Unlike us, Jesus looks inside, and knows what is in us.
Science has invented all manner of machines to look inside people. X-rays take wonderful pictures of our bones. CAT-scans, and EEGs, and EKGs, and PET-scans, and MRIs offer incredible insights into what is going on inside of us. Yet even all these do not tell the whole story. People do all kinds of amazing and surprising things every day. People also do all kinds of disappointing and unexpected things every day. All too often, people do shocking, hurtful, even destructive and deadly things. And none of this has ever been revealed by either medical technology or psychological study. Much of what is inside a person remains an absolute mystery. But not to Jesus, “for he himself knows what is in man.” Jesus looks inside, and sees everything, even much that we don't even know about ourselves.
While we might squirm a bit at the thought of being so completely transparent before God, there is nothing we can do about it. We cannot hide anything from the Father, for the Son has come and looked inside, and by the Holy Spirit all is revealed. The LORD has searched us and known us; any and all efforts to deceive and evade him are useless. So we would all do well to acknowledge this, and invite the closest possible scrutiny, that he might lead us in his everlasting way (see Psalm 139).
In truth, we have already been totally searched out and fully known. Amazingly, in spite of what was known about us, and EVERYTHING was known, the Father sent the Son. And, incredibly, the Son, though he knew better than to entrust himself to us, gave himself for us. This is because when God made us, so fearfully and wonderfully (see Psalm 139.14), it was a labor of love. And, perceiving us with eyes of love, as it were, the Father sees something no human eye can perceive, no machine can detect, something we cannot fully comprehend this side of eternity: that we are worth saving, even at the cost of the life of the Son.
I do not believe there is any more awesome truth in all the universe than this—Jesus looked inside and, even knowing what is in us, loved us. That's what Jesus did. That's what Jesus does. That's what Jesus forever shall do—know us and love us.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Friday, February 4, 2011
Jesus Cleaned House
What Did Jesus Do?
...he drove them all out of the temple,
John 2.15
I have to admit the irony, as I sit at my computer and write about Jesus cleaning house at the outset of his ministry, I survey a desk top and office desperately in need of being cleaned up and organized. It's not that I like a mess, but paper just seems to accumulate no matter how many times I shred it and tear it and deposit it in the trash. I've got piles on my desk, piles on top of file cabinets, piles on top of chairs, piles spilling off of bookshelves. Though I'll get it all cleaned up, organized, and filed away one of these days, I have no doubt that it won't belong before I have piles again, if you'll excuse the expression. It's part of my fallen condition.
When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover, and surveyed the awful mess that had been made of the temple he wasted no time in getting it cleaned up and cleaned out (see John 2.13-22). John doesn't exactly tell us that Jesus lost his temper, but I have to believe that the zeal (v. 17) exhibited by the Lord included no little righteous indignation over what had been made of his Father's house of prayer.
Having mentioned irony at the top of this piece, it was ironic that the Jews came to Jesus, quite indignant themselves, demanding that the Lord produce some sign to authorize his drastic house cleaning. Hello! The house cleaning was your sign. Who else besides the Messiah did they think would take such personal offense at the state of the temple? Who else but the Christ would refer to the temple as “my Father's house.” (v. 16) Where else to begin the work of ministry but in the home, so to speak?
Now, Jesus did oblige the Jew's request for a sign, though they misunderstood him. In effect, Jesus replied to the blind fools who did not recognized what was right in front of them by saying, “You want a sign? All right, I'll give you a sign. Destroy THIS temple,” referring to himself, “and in three days I will raise it up!” Again missing completely what was happening and what was being said, and who would so act and speak, the Jews derisively dismissed Jesus (v. 20). People who do not get it/him still dismiss Jesus. People who do not get it/him still make a mess of the Father's house. I need to briefly reflect on two important levels of looking at this issue.
There are some folks today who are trading, and quite profitably, in the Father's house. There are ministers and ministries that, while not selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, will sell you just about anything else. Of course, most times they try to soften their mercantilism by calling our purchases “donations,” but make no mistake, many of them are out to make a dollar, actually millions of dollars, by trading on the name of Jesus. None of this is to take away from the legitimate expenses of the honest work of ministry. But there is a difference between keeping up with what is necessary to run God's household, and supporting one's own lavish living by being a latter day money-changer.
What needs to be of even greater concern to all of us than the actions of profiteering preachers is the state of an altogether different temple, a temple where, according to the New Testament, the Holy Spirit resides. Even as Jesus referred to his body as a temple, so too should believers understand that God would take up residence, so to speak, within our heart through the Holy Spirit, whom we receive by faith in Jesus Christ the Son. This is not to say that our life, our “house” if you will, must be spotless and in perfect order to receive Christ. If that were true none of us would ever have a hope. But once coming to faith in the Son we should realize that the Father sends the Holy Spirit to do an “extreme makeover” of us, from the inside out, cleaning up the house where he has chosen to abide for eternity.
As Spring, and Lent, approach, it might be a good idea for each one of us to take a good look at the state of our “house.” Is a good cleaning needed? If so, don't call the Merry Maids, call on Jesus. You see, Jesus cleaned house. And he still does.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
...he drove them all out of the temple,
John 2.15
I have to admit the irony, as I sit at my computer and write about Jesus cleaning house at the outset of his ministry, I survey a desk top and office desperately in need of being cleaned up and organized. It's not that I like a mess, but paper just seems to accumulate no matter how many times I shred it and tear it and deposit it in the trash. I've got piles on my desk, piles on top of file cabinets, piles on top of chairs, piles spilling off of bookshelves. Though I'll get it all cleaned up, organized, and filed away one of these days, I have no doubt that it won't belong before I have piles again, if you'll excuse the expression. It's part of my fallen condition.
When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover, and surveyed the awful mess that had been made of the temple he wasted no time in getting it cleaned up and cleaned out (see John 2.13-22). John doesn't exactly tell us that Jesus lost his temper, but I have to believe that the zeal (v. 17) exhibited by the Lord included no little righteous indignation over what had been made of his Father's house of prayer.
Having mentioned irony at the top of this piece, it was ironic that the Jews came to Jesus, quite indignant themselves, demanding that the Lord produce some sign to authorize his drastic house cleaning. Hello! The house cleaning was your sign. Who else besides the Messiah did they think would take such personal offense at the state of the temple? Who else but the Christ would refer to the temple as “my Father's house.” (v. 16) Where else to begin the work of ministry but in the home, so to speak?
Now, Jesus did oblige the Jew's request for a sign, though they misunderstood him. In effect, Jesus replied to the blind fools who did not recognized what was right in front of them by saying, “You want a sign? All right, I'll give you a sign. Destroy THIS temple,” referring to himself, “and in three days I will raise it up!” Again missing completely what was happening and what was being said, and who would so act and speak, the Jews derisively dismissed Jesus (v. 20). People who do not get it/him still dismiss Jesus. People who do not get it/him still make a mess of the Father's house. I need to briefly reflect on two important levels of looking at this issue.
There are some folks today who are trading, and quite profitably, in the Father's house. There are ministers and ministries that, while not selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, will sell you just about anything else. Of course, most times they try to soften their mercantilism by calling our purchases “donations,” but make no mistake, many of them are out to make a dollar, actually millions of dollars, by trading on the name of Jesus. None of this is to take away from the legitimate expenses of the honest work of ministry. But there is a difference between keeping up with what is necessary to run God's household, and supporting one's own lavish living by being a latter day money-changer.
What needs to be of even greater concern to all of us than the actions of profiteering preachers is the state of an altogether different temple, a temple where, according to the New Testament, the Holy Spirit resides. Even as Jesus referred to his body as a temple, so too should believers understand that God would take up residence, so to speak, within our heart through the Holy Spirit, whom we receive by faith in Jesus Christ the Son. This is not to say that our life, our “house” if you will, must be spotless and in perfect order to receive Christ. If that were true none of us would ever have a hope. But once coming to faith in the Son we should realize that the Father sends the Holy Spirit to do an “extreme makeover” of us, from the inside out, cleaning up the house where he has chosen to abide for eternity.
As Spring, and Lent, approach, it might be a good idea for each one of us to take a good look at the state of our “house.” Is a good cleaning needed? If so, don't call the Merry Maids, call on Jesus. You see, Jesus cleaned house. And he still does.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Jesus Signed On
What Did Jesus Do?
This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee,
and manifested his glory.
John 2.11
John would begin to sum up his gospel in Chapter 20 by admitting that Jesus did “many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book” (20.30), but that his account of the signs the Lord performed was written so that his readers would believe that Jesus is the Christ, “and by believing have life in his name.” In Chapter 21 John declares that the world is not big enough to hold all the volumes that would need to be written to record all that Jesus did. (see John 21.25) What is amply evident in John is that Jesus signed on...and on, and on, and on.
“Signing on” today usually involves entering one's username and password. When I turn on my computer I have to go through these steps. When I go to open my yahoo mail I have to do the same thing. Like many people today I have a book where I have all my many usernames and passwords for signing on to all kinds of websites and programs. Millions of people today can not do any work if they don't sign on. If one does not sign on in today's world they are, to a great extent, locked out of much of what is going on in the world, or so it seems to those of us who are in technological bondage. Signing on is important. At a wedding in Cana Jesus, with some apparent reluctance, signed on. A good thing too, because John tells us that after Jesus signed on his disciples “believed in him,” and, again, we know from the summary of John's gospel that believing is the key to life itself.
There has been much debate over what went on between Jesus and his mother Mary at the wedding in Cana. Was Mary trying to shove her son into the spotlight? Did Mary think that Jesus needed some prodding to step out and begin his ministry? Or was Mary simply motivated by a desire to help some friends save face by keeping the wine flowing? What did the Lord mean when he said, “My hour has not yet come”? Was this an example of Christ's desire to preserve the so-called Messianic Secret? Was Jesus, for some reason, not quite ready to have a lot of new disciples? Or was he concerned about people being so distracted by the miracle that they would fail to truly see him and listen carefully to what he had to say? Regardless of what was really going on, Jesus “signed on” that day at the wedding when he changed the water into wine, there was no turning back short of the Cross.
But, even if the Lord would have preferred to shy away from preforming miracles, there was an undeniable mark of authenticity that attached itself to the signs Jesus did. The signs did contribute to the belief of the disciples, though faith, then as now, is a much better foundation for miracles than miracles are for faith. And signs, like turning water to wine, or healing a cripple beside the pool of Bethesda (John 5.1-9), or feeding five thousand (John 61-5), or walking on water (John 5.16-21), or raising the dead (John 11) were a significant part of the testimony of the eyewitnesses whom John employs as the framework for his gospel narrative. While those who saw and believed were privileged to be the first disciples, Jesus specially blessed all who would come to believe without benefit of ever seeing a sign (John 20.29). For when Jesus signed on at Cana, it was as the Christ, the Lord who was, who is, and who ever shall be at work giving everlasting life to the ones who, in all ages, believe in his name. Jesus signed on, and he will never sign off.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee,
and manifested his glory.
John 2.11
John would begin to sum up his gospel in Chapter 20 by admitting that Jesus did “many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book” (20.30), but that his account of the signs the Lord performed was written so that his readers would believe that Jesus is the Christ, “and by believing have life in his name.” In Chapter 21 John declares that the world is not big enough to hold all the volumes that would need to be written to record all that Jesus did. (see John 21.25) What is amply evident in John is that Jesus signed on...and on, and on, and on.
“Signing on” today usually involves entering one's username and password. When I turn on my computer I have to go through these steps. When I go to open my yahoo mail I have to do the same thing. Like many people today I have a book where I have all my many usernames and passwords for signing on to all kinds of websites and programs. Millions of people today can not do any work if they don't sign on. If one does not sign on in today's world they are, to a great extent, locked out of much of what is going on in the world, or so it seems to those of us who are in technological bondage. Signing on is important. At a wedding in Cana Jesus, with some apparent reluctance, signed on. A good thing too, because John tells us that after Jesus signed on his disciples “believed in him,” and, again, we know from the summary of John's gospel that believing is the key to life itself.
There has been much debate over what went on between Jesus and his mother Mary at the wedding in Cana. Was Mary trying to shove her son into the spotlight? Did Mary think that Jesus needed some prodding to step out and begin his ministry? Or was Mary simply motivated by a desire to help some friends save face by keeping the wine flowing? What did the Lord mean when he said, “My hour has not yet come”? Was this an example of Christ's desire to preserve the so-called Messianic Secret? Was Jesus, for some reason, not quite ready to have a lot of new disciples? Or was he concerned about people being so distracted by the miracle that they would fail to truly see him and listen carefully to what he had to say? Regardless of what was really going on, Jesus “signed on” that day at the wedding when he changed the water into wine, there was no turning back short of the Cross.
But, even if the Lord would have preferred to shy away from preforming miracles, there was an undeniable mark of authenticity that attached itself to the signs Jesus did. The signs did contribute to the belief of the disciples, though faith, then as now, is a much better foundation for miracles than miracles are for faith. And signs, like turning water to wine, or healing a cripple beside the pool of Bethesda (John 5.1-9), or feeding five thousand (John 61-5), or walking on water (John 5.16-21), or raising the dead (John 11) were a significant part of the testimony of the eyewitnesses whom John employs as the framework for his gospel narrative. While those who saw and believed were privileged to be the first disciples, Jesus specially blessed all who would come to believe without benefit of ever seeing a sign (John 20.29). For when Jesus signed on at Cana, it was as the Christ, the Lord who was, who is, and who ever shall be at work giving everlasting life to the ones who, in all ages, believe in his name. Jesus signed on, and he will never sign off.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
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