The religious leaders are at it again in Luke 20:27-47. They just don’t seem able to help themselves. Oh, how badly they must have wanted to trap Jesus! This time it’s the Sadducees up at bat and they seem pretty sure they’ll hit a home run. They go into this long drawn out story about a woman whose husband dies before giving her children but the husband had six other brothers and each tries to fulfill the law by taking the woman as wife but each dies childless. And finally the woman also dies. At the conclusion of the story, the Sadducees asked Jesus, “Now in the resurrection whose wife will the woman be? For the seven married her.”

What a strange question considering the Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. But Jesus didn’t bat an eyelash. Instead, He calmly tells them that those who are “worthy” to go to heaven will “neither marry nor are given in marriage,” that they will be equal to angels and that God “is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all men are alive whether in the body or out of it and they are alive not dead unto Him in definite relationship to Him.” (Luke 20:38 Amplified)

Luke goes on to tell us that some of the scribes speak up and tell Jesus “you have spoken well and expertly so that there is no room for blame,” thus defeating the whole purpose of this question and answer session, and leaving them all afraid to question Him further.

Then it’s Jesus’ turn to ask the questions. “How is it that people can say that the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed one) is David’s Son? For David himself says in the Book of Psalms, the Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet. So David calls Him Lord; how then is He his Son?” What was Jesus telling them? Well . . . to study the scriptures and think! Then they’d understand that He was the Messiah!

What began as an effort to trap Jesus ended with an indictment against the-would-be-trappers with Jesus having the last word in this scenario. “Beware of the scribes,” He says, before going on to list their many failings. And that’s a lesson for us all. When we try to trap Jesus with things like, “You really couldn’t mean I’m supposed to forgive everyone,” or “surely I’m not to love this enemy.” When we try to bend or twist God’s word to suit ourselves or because we don’t like what it says or because it’s inconvenient, we need to go back and “study the scriptures and think!” and ask God to help us see things His way. Because like it or not, God will always have the last Word. 

Until next time,

Sylvia

Well, the Pharisees and scribes are at it again in Mark 12:13-17 and Luke 20:21-26, trying to trip Jesus up and cause Him to fall in disfavor with the people so they could dispose of Him. This time they ask Him if it’s lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. But first they flatter Him by telling Him they know He’s an honest man and couldn’t lie, and that He didn’t have any personal bias so He couldn’t be influenced. Obviously they were trying to use His integrity against Him, hoping to force Jesus to answer in such a way that He was seen as either siding with the hated Romans or siding with the people who abhorred paying taxes to Roman thus putting Jesus at odds with the Empire.

But at once Jesus asks to see a coin. Then He asks them, “Whose image is this.” When they answer the obvious by saying “Caesar’s” He floors them with His famous line, “Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” What could they say to that? Nothing. And so they remained silent.

As followers of Jesus there will be times when the world will test our integrity, too: The boss who wants us to fudge some numbers, the friend who wants us to lie to cover his misdeeds, the family members who insist we see that objectionable movie, etc. And at those times we must choose between maintaining our integrity or coming down on the wrong side of an issue. I remember a relative who would deliberately bring up controversial subjects to try to make me look ridiculous. After all, how could any modern-thinking person with any ounce of sense actually believe the Bible is real? Or that it should guide our thinking and behavior?

I learned a lot during those encounters. I learned that sometimes maintaining integrity meant forsaking pride and being willing to look foolish as well as to be disliked or vilified. I wish I could say I passed every test that came my way, but I didn’t. But those times I failed I was left with such an unhappy feeling that I would have traded it for any amount of scorn I would have received had I not succumbed. When we forsake our integrity we wound our soul and end up diminishing ourselves.

As Christians it’s unrealistic to think we will not be called to make choices or that we can remain “neutral.” Jesus has a way of taking us out of our comfort zone and bringing us face to face with unpleasant situations. And remember this: Because the world hates Jesus, it will hate us, too. But we’re not here to court the love of the world. We’re here to glorify our wonderful Lord and be salt and light, and when we do, Jesus is right there waiting to strengthen us and see us through.

Until next time,

Sylvia

Continuing to follow Jesus we finally get to Matthew 21:23-46. By this time the chief priests and elders are desperate to silence Jesus. But fearing the people they can’t chance doing this openly. If only they could discredit Him! Show Him up as a charlatan, then the people wouldn’t care what they did with Him. And how better to do this than by asking trick questions? Jesus must have become weary of this because He tells them two parables which reflect Him opinion of them. The first is the story of the man who asked his two sons to go into the vineyard and work. The first son refused, the second said he’d go. But the exact opposite happened!

In the second parable Jesus tells them the story of a rich master who planted a vineyard then rented it to tenants while he journeyed to another country. When it came time to get his share of the harvest, the master sent his servants to collect the fruit but they were badly mistreated: one was beaten, one killed, the other stoned. The master then sends additional servants but the same thing happens. Finally, he sends his son, the heir, thinking that surely these tenants will respect him. But no. Instead of being respected, the son is killed.

Jesus ends by asking the chief priests and elders what will the master do to these tenants? They answer: “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and rent the vineyard to other tenants” of better character. At least they got that right! Jesus responds with “Have you never read in the Scriptures: the very Stone which the builders rejected and threw away has become the Cornerstone . . . for this reason the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce the fruits of it.”

Of course the chief priests and Pharisees knew right away that Jesus was talking about them, and instead of repenting, they become angry and more determined than ever to arrest him.

What a sad picture! And how it must have broken God’s heart! God had poured out such grace upon His people, the Jews, and their nation, and still they refused to listen to the prophets. And now they refused to listen to the very heir to the throne, the King of Kings. It would prove tragic for the nation. It solidified their decline. They would be scattered and abused; doomed to suffer greatly at the hands of the gentile nations. But praise God, He isn’t finished with them yet. He has returned them to their land and has promised that nothing will ever remove them again. And in the coming years He will begin preparing Israel to become the “Head of Nations.”

These scriptures touch my heart on many levels. First I rejoice that God is so merciful and kind, so long suffering and willing to forgive. But I also shudder at His need for justice, and I fear greatly for my beloved America. God has poured out grace after grace upon the U.S.. We have been blessed above all other nations. His Word, as revealed in the Bible, has been freely available to all who care to hear or read it. He has truly made us the head and not the tail. But all that is changing. We are declining, and I believe it can be traced directly to our rejection of God. More and more our “Pharisees” our leaders, those in authority on many levels, are pushing God aside. They, too, are desperate to silence Jesus. Many are overtly hostile to Him, while others try to mock Him by “testing” Him, His Word through foolish devices. Good is condemned as evil and evil is declared good.

God has planted a rich vineyard in America, but where are His fruits? And what will happen when the master of the vineyard comes to collect? Who can say for sure, but this I know, it won’t be a pretty picture.

Something to think about.

Until next time,

Sylvia

After Lazarus’ sister, Mary, anoints Jesus’ feet with costly perfume and He enters triumphantly into Jerusalem, Jesus again speaks of His coming death. Only if a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies will it produce a great harvest, Jesus tells his disciples in John 12:24. This was surely not what the disciples wanted to hear. Hadn’t Jesus just announced Himself as King? “Do not fear, O, Daughter of Zion, Look, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” And didn’t He tell them not to fear? What was this talk of death? No, that’s not what anyone wanted to hear. It was the Kingdom He should be talking about. A Kingdom where they no longer had to fear the Romans, poverty, hunger, sickness, disease. So why was Jesus talking about death? And telling them “Anyone who loves his life loses it, but anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.” (John 12:24 Amplified)

Many of the bystanders heard it too. No, no, no! This is not what was promised. “We have learned from the Law that the Christ (Messiah) is to remain forever; how then can You say the Son of Man must be lifted up (on the cross)? Who is this Son of Man?” they say, feeing, I’m sure, taken back and angry and cheated. Thrones, crowns, riches, that’s what they had signed up for. A life of peace and safety. A life of prosperity. Although the disciples didn’t voice their own objections, I’m sure they had negative feelings of their own: disappointment, fear, confusion. After all, Jesus was telling them that He—the Light—would soon be taken away from them and that they had to be prepared to lose their own lives if they wanted to follow Him.

In some ways this is how we Christians often function today. We want the salvation Jesus offers and all that it implies. We want the “life and life more abundantly,” but sometimes we want the kingdom without a king, life without death, triumph without trials. And it’s not to be had. I truly want to be an over-comer, but in my heart I really don’t want anything to over-come; no trials, no sorrows, nothing unpleasant. But Jesus never promised us that if we follow Him, life would be easy. Or full of earthly riches. Or health. Or always happy. Indeed, many times life is hard. And sometimes this makes us question our King. Why isn’t He coming through for us? Where is His kingdom?

In all fairness, if one looks around the world today and sees the staggering number of Christians, especially in Muslim countries, being slaughtered, crucified, beheaded; their churches, homes and businesses destroyed, it’s easy to ask, “Where is the kingdom?” An insidious rise of anti-Christian sentiment is beginning to blanket the globe, and yes, even here in America. And it will only increase. I don’t believe life is going to be easy for a Christian in the coming years, and it’s best we understand that. But there really is a Kingdom. Jesus said it was “within us.” And even in the hard times we can experience that Kingdom for the King Himself resides there. We can experience His peace, joy and love in the measure that we allow Him to control and influence our lives. And we can do this while we await that larger Kingdom that is to come, when our King returns and sets it up on earth and brings everything under His just rule.

But in the meantime we need to remember that we are children of God and joint heirs of the King, a real King who rules a real Kingdom. And that’s no small thing.

Until next week,

Sylvia

Mark 11:12-14 says Jesus was hungry and when he went up to the fig tree it had only leaves but no fruit because “the time of the figs was not yet” so Jesus cursed it. It didn’t seem reasonable to me that Jesus would do such a thing. It is true that Hosea 9:10 likens Israel’s forefathers to a “ripe fig tree” and I understand about the restoration of Israel, but I was sure there was something more to this though I didn’t know what. That is until I took a closer look. In fact, I had to go all the way back to Adam and Eve.

In Genesis 3:7 after Adam and Eve sinned they saw for the first time they were naked. The glory of God that clothed them had lifted and they could clearly see themselves as they were. Their remedy was to cover themselves with fig leaves.

Next we need to look at the Song of Solomon 2:8-13.  It is a picture of the Shepherd (Jesus) coming for his beloved (His bride, the believers) and tells her to rise up and come away with Him. He describes the time of His coming. The “winter has past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth and ripens her green figs, and the vines are in blossom and give forth their fragrance.” Then He again tells His bride to arise and come away with Him.

If we go back to Mark 11 and put all these things together a picture emerges. First Jesus was hungry. That word “hungry” in Greek is peinao and means famished. He goes to the fig tree, and that word “fig” is suzao and means to live in union with, together. So what this is saying is that Jesus was hungry for his people, hungry to live in union with them, to have once again that precious and beautiful relationship He enjoyed with Adam and Eve, restored, but it wasn’t time. There was no fruit for Him to enjoy, only the same fig leaves that Adam and Eve used to cover up their sins and pretend their relationship with God was not broken. But like the Shepherd in the Song of Solomon, he so yearned for His beloved bride to come away with Him, to recognize the day of her visitation.  But it was not to be. Not yet, anyway. First there had to be the battering of His body, the shedding of His blood, His death and resurrection, and then the fig tree could bring forth its fruit.

In Mark 11 when the disciples later saw the cursed tree all withered they point it out to Jesus, and Jesus returns with a curious statement. “Have faith in God.” Then He goes on to talk about moving mountains and praying and forgiveness. There is so much here. Too much to cover in one blog, but part of what Jesus was telling His disciples was that yes, the fig tree is dead, its leaves unsuitable to cover sin, but God had an answer. He had a remedy all worked out, the blood sacrifice of Jesus. But also He was saying that God always has an answer, a remedy. Even when our problems are as big as mountains, our faith in God’s ability can move them. And yes, in a broader sense, the nation of Israel would be restored to Him. They, too, as His beloved, would, as a nation, bring forth fruit for Him to enjoy. There would come a day when they would recognized their Good Shepherd, their Messiah.

I see in Mark 11:12-14 the broken heart of God as He hungers to love and fellowship with His people. That hunger is still here today. How He desires that none should perish! He is that beautiful Shepherd who says to each of us “come away with Me.” The fig tree bears fruit, the time in now.

Until next time,

Sylvia

This is a repost but it still applies. Next week back to following Jesus' footsteps.

This week an unexpected trip to the dentist to re-glue a temporary cap made me feel a bit like a vintage car in need of some new parts. I suppose that’s common when growing older.  In restaurants, I’ve sat close to enough seniors to learn that much of their conversation is filled with ailments and meds.  Not a happy prospect, or is it?

Actually, I’m learning that getting older has many advantages.  The foolishness and impetuous nature of youth is long behind you. The disappointments of middle age where one comes to grips with the fact that he or she has NOT changed the world, is forgotten.  What’s left?  Contentment, and hopefully some wisdom:  the contentment to enjoy life for what it is, and the wisdom to separate the extraneous from the vital.

Everyone who comes to this place must decide for themselves what fits under their “vital” column.  For me, it’s God and family and friends.  So simple, isn’t it?  But then, when you strip everything away, life really is simple.

Here’s to getting older!

Until next week,

Sylvia

I posted this over two years ago and am astonished that this is truer than ever, so I’m reposting. Enjoy!

Lately, I’ve been struck how the world is changing at an alarming rate. What was “in” yesterday is out today. Up is the new down, and down the new up. The unthinkable has become thinkable. Not that many years ago it would have seemed absurd to think our public schools would teach sex education to first graders. Or that our government would be bent on spending us into bankruptcy in spite of our objections. Or that a Libyan mass murderer would be released from prison as part of an oil deal. Or that the teachers we entrust with our children would molest them. And the list goes on. It’s enough to make your head spin.

There are some who’d like us to believe that we are in the enlightened age, that all this change is just part of progress, that the world has become smaller and we just need to get in step and go along for the greater good. And that if we do, we’ll be marching into a better world.

Odd how the Bible differs in this. It says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes, and that means neither does His precepts. What He valued yesterday He values today. What He said was right yesterday is still right today. So why are so many Christians buying into the changes we see? Two words: double mindedness. Believe me, it’s not an enviable position because the Bible says that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways, that he will be tossed to and fro like a wave by the wind, and that he should not expect to receive anything from God. (James 1: 6-8)

Still, the temptation is great to cleave our minds in two, one half conforming to the world, the other half to the things of God. Even if we don’t want to, we are pressured on every side. And I believe this pressure will only intensify as the world worsens. And the world is sure to get worse before it gets better. That means more than ever Christians must remain single minded, and be “not conformed to this world but transformed” if we hope to live lives blessed by God and firmly under His care.

Oh, LORD, that we may be single minded!

Until next week,

Sylvia

When the disciples ask Jesus in Luke 11:1 to teach them to pray, Jesus tells them, “When you pray, say . . .” and then He goes on to pray the most widely known prayer of all times, the one called the “Lord’s Prayer.” But what exactly was Jesus saying? Did He mean for us to memorize this prayer and then, in mindless repetition, mumble it over and over again? Certainly not! In reality Jesus was laying out a pattern for all our prayers as well as conveying deep spiritual truths.

First, Jesus opens the prayer with “Our Father.” That right there is a stunner! Jesus had often told His disciples and the crowd that God was His father, but now He was saying that God, the very Creator of the Universe, was our Father, too! And that comes with all that’s implied in a father: loving parent, caring, strong, kind, protective, interested in us, etc. Now that’s jaw dropping! Then Jesus goes on to add to the picture of “Father.” In addition to being the Father described above He’s also the Father who is in heaven, and who is holy (hollowed be thy name). In the Old Testament a name often described that person’s character and nature. Here we see that the very nature of our God, our Father, is holiness. Thus, while we approach our loving Father with a tender intimacy we also need to approach Him with reverence and respect and humility, not as though He’s our pool room buddy, “Yo, Lord, I got this problem that needs fixing!” which is so fashionable in the movies nowadays. And because God is holy, He wants us to be holy, too.

The next thing Jesus says is “thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” A kingdom implies that God is king, and a king is an absolute ruler. And if God’s will is to be done on earth that means it must be done in our life as well. It literally means that as King, God is absolute ruler over our life, and we are praying for His absolute will to be manifested in us. Whew! That’s a tough one!

Jesus goes on to say, “give us this day our daily bread,” implying that God is our source. And we need to rely on Him. Of course we need to do our part such as hold a job and do our best at it, etc., but we need to know that God is our provider. It is He that opens the doors of opportunity for us, the One interested in every aspect of our lives. That’s easy to forget when things are going well.

Then follows: “and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us.” It’s really clear here. We cannot expect God to forgive us if we don’t forgive those who have hurt us, or insulted us, or misused us. It just ain’t going to happen. I know some Christians who actually say they don’t have to forgive someone who has really hurt and abused them because God understands what a terrible thing that other person has done. But scripture doesn’t support this. In fact it says just the opposite. One good example is Mark 11:26 where Jesus says, “if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” So, we cannot expect God to forgive us if we don’t forgive others. It’s that simple. We need to walk in an attitude of instant forgiveness and ask God to help us not be easily offended. I don’t think that’s possible without the Holy Spirit. But with Him all things are possible. Praise God for that!

Jesus finally ends His prayer with these words: “And lead us not into temptation but deliver (rescue) us from evil.” The implication here is that there is evil in the world. We know him as the devil and his minions. And yes, he’s real. Just ask anyone who has come out of the occult! And in order to overcome evil and all the temptations this world has to offer, we need God’s help. Again, this points us to the Holy Spirit. We simply cannot live the Christian life on our own. God know this. That’s why He sent His Spirit. And with His Spirit we can be overcomers, we can live the life God desires for us, a life rich in love, and joy and peace.

What a wonderful prayer! What a wonderful God!

Until next time,

Sylvia

Jesus knows the end is near. Soon He will fulfill His role as the “Lamb of God” and sacrifice His life for all. But before He does, something interesting happens. In Matthew 21:1-11 He tells his disciples to get a certain donkey with its colt, and then He rides that donkey into Jerusalem. The crowd is beside themselves as people spread their garments on the road before Him. “Hosanna,” they shout. “Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.”

What was going on? Verse 5 tells us that this was in fulfillment of a prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, “Say to the Daughter of Zion Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” So this was Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem acknowledging Himself as King and being acknowledged by the crowd as king for that was what they meant by calling Him “son of David.”

But it wasn’t the first time Jesus had been acknowledged as King. It happen when the Magi followed the star to Bethlehem in order to kneel before Jesus and lay their gifts at His feet. The Magi were considered “kingmakers” and in the Medo-Persian Empire no one became a king unless the Magi elected and crowned him. It was here in Bethlehem that Jesus was elected King, even though no such election was necessary for God, But it was a sign to us. And soon, after this entry into Jerusalem, Jesus would be crowned King—with a crown make of thorns.

It wasn’t unusual for a king to ride a donkey, either. Solomon did it in 1Kings 1:33 when he rode a mule to Gihon to be anointed by the prophet, Nathan, as king over Israel. It was a sign of humility but also a sign of peace. Kings rode donkeys when coming in peace and they rode war horses when going into battle.

So here we see a picture of Jesus, the King of Kings, entering Jerusalem in peace; humble and meek and ready to die for each of us. What a picture of the heart and character of God! But there’s another side of Jesus’ Kingship. When He returns He’ll not be riding a donkey. Revelation 19:11-16 tells us that He will be riding a white horse, with His vestures dipped in blood, “and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORD.” He will not be a King of Peace, but a King coming to do battle with the unsaved of the world. What a contrast to King Jesus in Matthew!

Oh what a cautionary tale this is for us. Let us submit ourselves to our meek, gentle King for if we don’t, we will eventually be forced to submit to the King whose vesture is dipped in blood.

Until next time,

Sylvia

Lazarus, a “certain man . . . of Bethany,” and a friend of Jesus, falls ill (John 11:1-54. At once his sisters, Martha and Mary, send for Jesus. Who else could heal their brother? Who else could turn this trouble from their home?

The Bible clearly states that Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters. But what does He do? Instead of rushing to their aid, Jesus delays for several days. The reason: “to honor God . . . to promote His glory, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”  By the time Jesus reaches Bethany, Lazarus has been dead for four days. That means rigor mortis and decay has already set in.  

The stage was now set.

When Martha sees Jesus she blurts, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” It’s curious that she immediately follows this statement with, “even now I know that whatever You ask from God, He will grant it to You.” What did she expect Him to do? Raise Lazarus from the dead? I don’t think so because when Jesus tells her that her brother will rise again, she says she knows he’ll rise “again in the resurrection at the last day.” And even after Jesus responds with “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in me although he may die, yet he shall live,” then tells her to have the gravestone removed, she protests, “Lord, by this time he stinketh.”

We all know the dramatic ending. After the stone is rolled away, Jesus shouts, “Lazarus, come forth.” Just those three words, “Lazarus, come forth.” And then there comes Lazarus stumbling out of his grave “bound hand and foot with grave clothes” and his face “bound about with a napkin.” What a sight he must have been!

There is so much here it would take more than a single blog to cover it all, but I will make three points. The first is that Jesus truly is the resurrection and the Life. Like Martha, those who believe in Him have the assurance they will be raised to life after their death to be with him for all eternity. But there’s more. What Martha didn’t understand is that Jesus can resurrect our life right now. And that’s my second point. Before we come into the knowledge of Jesus we are like one “dead.” But after we become His, we have new, resurrected life right here on earth.  And finally, after we’ve come into the saving knowledge of Jesus, like Lazarus we are still covered with smelly grave clothes. Though the Bible tells us we are a new creature, it also tells us we must renew our minds. There are still issues or habits that need to be removed, parts of that old former dead life that continues to cling to us, to our way of thinking, to our mindset. It’s these still-clinging “grave clothes” that often create frustration in a new believer. But removing those grave clothes is a process, not usually completed in a day.

It’s interesting that Jesus commands those around Him to ‘loose” Lazarus and “let him go,” indicating our need for others in the body of Christ and showing the importance of being connected to a church, a Bible study, and other believers, though none of these can ever take the place of the Holy Spirit, Who will lead us into all truth, Who will guide and direct us, and ultimately conform us into the image of Jesus Christ, an image of resurrected life without grave clothes.

Until next time,

Sylvia