Saturday, a New Year's Eve

In thinking of another year...what's it hold?
All in all He is enough.
Thankful 2011 finishes and our family is healthy.
Hope in Jesus' finished work is a continual state.

In-Dwelling by Holy Spirit -- a real time streaming--
a continual lesson in peace and contentment,
The power of heaven's love is a goodness beyond all man's wisdoms.

Have I had an obstacle in my soul?
It's a burden cast on Him

Embrace spirit...there is no better hug!

Eyes upward into the grace of the Father,
by an act of will, I choose His righteous leading,
He holds my family and me,
Come 2012, Come Lord Jesus!

Witnesses, Part Three

I imagine some will think I over simplified in the last post that three types of people and their reactions to Jesus are the whole of what's wrong with the world. 
    
     "What about murder and sexual immorality?" asks the mom without taking her eyes off twin daughters catching and eating or chasing the missed flying candy from a Christmas parade float.

     "What about the loss of our national heritage as a Christian nation?!" the Tea Partier demands.

     "What about greed and injustice?" queries the lawyer from the local Legal Aid Society.

If the John 12 refection is viewed in comparison with the following verse:

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.  1 John 2:16 NAS
      
...and the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is factored into this study, a masterful unity of thought is clear. (See Matthew, chapter 4)


The Lust of the Flesh
At the height of a forty-days-fasting hunger, Satan tempts Jesus to turn stones into bread. Jesus refuses to do so stating life is not in bread alone but in the words, the meaning, found in God. In so doing He ruled over the desires of the body in favor of obedience demonstrating authority over the lust of the flesh. Thus Jesus both models and explains the ability to make meaningful decisions in line with life in God in contrast with succumbing to innate physiological drives of the human body we fallen humans like to justify as our basic needs. Seeking gratification of the body as the point of life through the varied sensual measures of the palate, a sated stomach or fulfilled loins are the "lusts of the flesh".

The crowds or masses in John 12 represent the wild swings of opinion that ride on this lust. When one lives for body gratification as the meaning of life, highs bounce up with expectation, lows deepen with deprivation and manipulative behaviors of appearing interested in what is expected while secret motivations protect one's love of the dark abound.

The Lust of the Eyes (do not confuse as what lust of the flesh wants to view)
Next Satan invites Jesus to prove His value in the eyes of God. Satan tells Jesus to throw Himself from the top of the temple that God would then send angels to protect Him. Jesus refuses and states that would be a test of God. Religious Christian behavior  attempts to raise the value of the adherent through self-righteous works. If the adherent has achieved the level of holiness demanded by men, it is falsely believed the individual can expect God to save or protect. People surrendering to this sin also expect to be honored for their piety. This is a "lust" of the eyes, since it means that the person so inclined "sees" him or herself as valuable for their religious practice. The heart of such a person is idolizing the self.


Clearly the Pharisees of John 12 are afflicted by this area of sin.

The Pride of Life
 Last, Satan asks Jesus to receive payment of the wealth, beauty, and power of the "kingdoms" on earth by holding out to Him the "glory" of these. Kingdom is a political term that refers to the way in which organization of political power can maximize the productive power of the people within the kingdom. The modern state or nation is a "kingdom" whether it is an absolutist-leaning government such as Saudi Arabia, a constitutional monarchy such as the United Kingdom, or a democratic republic such as our own US. 

The Greeks in John 12, who are today regarded as the primary root of Western Civilization,  represent the Pride of Life sin. From the Greeks, Western Civilization derives its respect and love of analytical thought, the arts, and the power of organization of an involved constituency. The Greeks produced direct democracy as the means of political power and organization of society; they gave voice to ideas of scientific observation and philosophic expression of wisdom, and crowned it with a symmetrical and expressive art in architecture, sculpture and theater. In our modern corporate world, this power of organization is tied to profit. Greed and glory of achievement are the fruit of this sin.


All that is wrong with world, indeed, is in the story where Jesus starts His walk of passion to the Cross.

He did it for all of humanity.

Think about this: In the story He made no attempt to "minister to" or evangelize any of the groups represented.

Part Two of Witnesses

In the previous blog, I looked at various responses of types of people to Jesus found in John 12.  As just some guy thinking about what it says, I find this moment in the life of Jesus hugely significant, a bit like finding $1,000.00 missing from the checking account. This has to be figured out!

This is the prelude to John's view and insights into the Crucifixion, after all. It's not a stretch of basic logic to infer the following: if my faith is ultimately an acknowledgement that the One who dashed off a few billion galaxies across a mind-bendingly expansive universe authored this through John; and if He thought so much of this moment in the life of Jesus as to invade the temporal and voice Himself aloud to these folks—and to you and me by extension—then there must be profound revelation laid bare within these verses.  Not that any other scripture is less profound given Who is the writer, mind you, but if we open our heart's eyes just a bit more than usual…

Jesus is about to proceed through the great Passion of God, the redemption of His fallen creation through an act of supreme love and grace. The Father will have to heap all the sin of the world upon the shoulders of His Son, then turn and punish this holy and wholly awesome man for everyone else's multiple and often vile wrong-doing.

All the sinners of the world are watching in the story and all turn away from Him rather than accept Him. I don't mean "all" by inferring all who are watching by reading the scriptures across time. Right there in the story, every sinner and every root of sin are displayed in the characters who are present.

The events begin as Jesus enters Jerusalem and the "crowds" rush to watch. They get a little emotional and heap upon Him praise hosanna's and palm fronds. Next, the Pharisees grumble their complaints having rejected Jesus from the first; the Greeks come poking in to ask Jesus a couple of things, as they ponder if He, in fact, holds any truth needing consideration; and the crowds come round again in the end with the truth revealed--they are not nearly so full of praise once it's realized Jesus is not giving out what they want.

There you have it: What's wrong with the world described in a handful of short verses.

Think about it.

Witnesses of the Beginning of Christ's Passion

John 12:12 – 50 is a very public moment in the life of Jesus as He enters Jerusalem at the beginning of Passover week. In this event, the Father audibly speaks over him (vs 28). This revelation by the Father speaking over Jesus swings the story of Jesus as told by John fully toward the passion of Christ and His crucifixion and resurrection.

However, before the voice of God is heard, we see three distinct groups interact with Jesus. These who enter the scene are in order: Pharisees, Greeks, and the crowd. 

The Pharisees speak first to one another with,

       "You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world is going after Him (vs. 19)." This is spoken in reaction to Jesus' triumphal entry into the city with many crying out, "Hosanna!" The reader confronts a face worn by the hardened heart. These who trust in their religious traditions reject Christ as the all in all. Such folk are around today from many religious traditions including ones labeled Christian.

Next enter the Greeks. This group seeks to meet with Jesus. Their request is relayed from Philip to Andrew to Jesus who answers them by speaking of a grain of wheat which falls to the ground and dies. He speaks the principle that all who seek life in Christ must be willing to die to the life of this world. For those who would meet Christ out of an honest desire to know--these Greeks in the story represent a valid intellectual inquiry into who Jesus is--there is but this response: Understand the life one knows must end for the true spiritual life in Him to come forth (vs. 20-26).

Jesus then speaks from a place of trouble in His heart regarding the events soon to come and places Himself in the trust of the Father, 

      "Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came out of heaven:

      "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again (vs. 28)."

The crowd reacts with unsure and doubting words. Jesus next speaks to these who have heard the voice from Heaven with, 

       "This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes (vs 30)." Jesus verifies the Father's voice as for the sake of these witnesses, and logically then for all readers across time, as well (assuming a regard for all biblical accounts as one great spiritual message from the Creator God to the shared humanity on Earth).

Next, "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out." (vs. 31)  

Isn't there some significant understanding about where the spiritual line is drawn here? The ruler of this world is cast out is stated as a present tense marker. Something of the domination of Satan over humanity is forever altered. The Kingdom has come for those who will see it.  (see 2 Cor. 4:1-5 - those who do not see it are blinded to it.)

The focus shifts to "the crowd."  The crowd then answered Him,

       "We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this Son of Man?"  

       So Jesus said to them, "For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.  "While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light (vs 30-36)."

The inquiry of the crowd is in sharp contrast to both the Pharisees and the Greeks.While the crowd is not in open rejection like the Pharisees, neither is the crowd honestly seeking any answers to questions like the Greeks. The crowd's questioning is a challenge intended to shield those asking from Truth. Much like the challenge of adolescents to parents, this technique uses a question in anger or distrust or from a selfish desire of freedom from authority to blunt whatever answer may come.

Jesus cuts to the heart of the matter; the masses love darkness, resist vulnerability to truth, and consequently, the change of finding the Light of God.

Reflections on John 12

The events of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as told by John begin in chapter 12. Jesus is anointed by Mary, ostensibly for His burial. Then an interesting event occurs, and we have the opportunity to examine a revelation by God and some core words of Jesus as experienced and reacted upon by three different types of people: Pharisees, Greeks, and the crowds. As readers after the fact, we have the opportunity ourselves react to Jesus.

I'll share some observations over the chapter in the next few posts. Take some time to read the chapter and think it through. We can benefit from sharing our thoughts together.

The Love ... and Holiness of the Father

As a young Christian, I had questions about the meaning and purpose of the Old Testament. Now I realize that my questions were really about the way I heard the Old Testament being used. I have determined I enjoy the Old Testament even as I hear many of my contemporary Christian brethren questioning  its meaning and purpose. The problem, of course, is that God appears angry and vindictive to them in the Old as compared to loving and compassionate in the New Testament. The solution to reconciling these is to realize that as Christians, we read and live in the meaning of the New Testament. The Old gives insight and understanding into deeper truth, but none of these insights cancel or alter the New Testament reality.

Do not read the OT as if it was intended as the source of commands in the spiritual walk with God. One and two hundred years ago, the OT and specifically the Ten Commandments were regularly held up as commands for the Christian here in America. So much so, that a legalism persisted in the church which on multiple levels permeated and shaped the social order. I believe this has brought much harm to the gospel message and has often skewed understanding faith for individuals, whole families, and the church at large.

In making the above assertion, I do not suggest that God is not a holy God, nor that “holiness” should be abandoned as a goal of being a believer in the Living Christ. In fact, His holiness is the point of this post.

There is certainly a place for reading and understanding the OT. It is wise to read it. However, we do not live by it, and that is where many go astray. The OT is often used as a proof text for perspectives or actions. Is it wrong to do so? That depends, I would say, on what one is trying to prove!

1 Corinthians 10: 6-11 reads, “6 Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, "THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY." 8 Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. 9 Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. 10 Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”

Paul has used examples of idolatry, immorality, presumption and complaining to illustrate specifically what those actions look like and to remind the readers of God’s attitude to those behaviors. He does so to warn us about acting on our cravings, but He never states, “Beware, the Lord will do the same to you!” The OT does show God enacting punishments on men, both the children of Israel and their enemies. However, the NT does not give any reason to believe that God so acts under the new covenant of faith. Rather, it specifically says something different. We live under the Truth of Jesus as revealed by Him when He walked on the earth. We know of the atonement through the crucifixion (an understanding developed using the OT example of sacrifice in the altar), and we have been renewed to spiritual birth and life based upon and revealed by faith in the resurrection of our Lord. 

In John 3: 17 we read, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”  And in John 12: 47 & 48, "If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.”

I believe God’s loving-kindness and compassion is the basis for the coming of His Son. In the OT, we see examples of His position on the sin nature and human behaviors of depravity and hatefulness. However, we live by and trust in the NT revelation of God’s plan of redemption, which is offered to all of humanity. Based on what Jesus taught, judgment is that comparison between our choices and actions held up against the words Jesus brought to us. 

I think post-modern Christianity wants to focus wholly on the feel-good aspect of God's love. His love is unlimited, wondrous, and beyond all that we might think or imagine, of course! Yet, if we limit the character of God to simply His great love, we not only do Him an injustice, we fool ourselves based on our own limited desire to have God be as we imagine Him. To wholly focus on God's love can begin to deny His Holiness, and that is a serious error! Love which offers us grace to enter into His presence--when we are depraved and base beyond what we will admit--was never intended to blind us from the fullness of His holy character. Rather, that love and grace enables us to embrace something totally foreign to our fallen natures, the Divine Nature -- pure and just beyond all that we can think of or imagine, as well!

Read the OT and do not be put off by the actions of the Lord there. Neither embrace it for the law it records! Consider it carefully, looking for the way in which it reveals the heart of God and foreshadows the life of Jesus and His teachings. Where it clearly is a history of the law of God ruling over people, their failure to respond, and the Lord addressing their failure, read and learn. However, it is not our mandate or the way the Lord responds to us.  Always recognize the new covenant of faith in the crucified and resurrected Jesus as a spiritual paradigm that began with God’s response to the faith of Abraham. 

That paradigm counted righteousness based on a condition of faith in Abrahan, and so now it is counted the same towards us. It is a paradigm developed across time, and the paradigm went through the Law period producing the OT record.  This record of the period of law is used to help us see and understand the fullness of what the Lord has done for us. Under the law, the Lord sanctioned actions  motivated by an intent to reveal the wonder of His justice, yes, and this justice intended to lift us into His holiness. All for the purpose of having us be able to receive His love. The OT is a blessing that brings to full light the wonder of the life in the spirit which is the fulfillment of the covenant given to Abraham. A fulfillment of that promise is now upon us living at the end of the age of man. We live by faith in Jesus and in Him we move and have our being.We live in His love, and the wonder of His holiness and justice, as well.

Praying for All of You in Christ

Receive the blessings of these words from 1 Corinthians.    Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.   I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,   that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge,   even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you,   so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,   who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.