Do you ever feel like you are still waiting for a promise from God to be fulfilled?
I opened up facebook today to see one of those memory sharing opportunities. This time it was a post that I shared 4 years ago: "I passed Greek, Hebrew, German, and French....PhD here I come." That was a great day, I remember feeling the forward movement and the promise of what was to come. That day was also 4 years ago...
I have finished my class work, I have passed by comprehensives, and I have even submitted the first two chapters of my dissertation for review, but its been 4 years. I thought when I came here I would get my class work done in 2.5 years and then go back to full time work, perhaps as a Pastor of a church or dream of all dreams I would get hired to teach while I worked on my dissertation. Did I mention it has been 4 years...? I moved here to start this program on the providence of God and I still believe that Jesus spoke to me through scripture in my devotions moments before I went into my departmental interview to get into the program. I have an anchor point of reassurance that this is where I am supposed to be and I need it today more than ever, after 4 years...
In John chapter 18 the gospel writer tells the story of Jesus' arrest by the temple guard. They come in the middle of the night led by Judas who betrays Jesus with a kiss. John describes one of my favorite moments when Jesus asked who they have come for and when they say Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus proclaims, "I am he." The whole group falls back at the power of that statement, awesome! Jesus asks again who they have come for and they have the same exchange, then Jesus tells them to let the others go. John then points out that this is the fulfill what Jesus had said at a previous occasion, that not one of those you gave me would be lost.
There are two other times in this chapter when John references Jesus' words coming true. One is explicit and the other is implicit. The implicit moment happens first, Peter has been let into the courtyard of the high priest and he denies Jesus three times before the rooster crows. Jesus said this was going to happen back in John chapter 13. The explicit moment happens next when the Jews take Jesus before Pilate and Pilate tells them to judge Jesus themselves. The Jewish leaders reply that they don't have the ability to put someone to death. John then points out that this fulfills the words of Jesus about how he was going to die recorded by John in chapter 12.
John does not pull any punches about his purpose for writing his gospel. He tells us that he is writing these things in order that we might believe in Jesus as the Messiah. So he builds into his narrative the moments when Jesus spoke and then when those words came to fulfillment. At the end of chapter 18 Jesus is speaking to Pilate and he tells him that, "everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." The words of Jesus are true and John is demonstrating that within the narrative of his gospel.
Do I believe that Jesus had lead me to this place? Do I believe that he spoke to my heart through the scriptures that day, now more that 4 years ago and gave me the answers for the interview with the Theology Dept.? Yes I do. Well then...it's only been 4 years...and he has and will see us through.
May we listen to the voice of Christ today and believe that he speaks the truth.
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Loving those we have chosen to be different from. (John 17)
Have you ever noticed a time when the way that you think has set you apart from those around you?
This a pretty common occurrence in life if you think about it. Depending on how we think we are set apart in different groups or sometimes by ourselves. If you think a certain way you are set apart as a democrat or a republican. Depending on how you think you are set apart as a caregiver, a lawyer, a business person, a member of the armed forces. The way that we think, the instruction that we accept in our lives, and the opinions of different people that we choose to agree with changes who we are and sets apart from some people and brings us together with others.
I think this is what Jesus was getting at in John 17 when he prays that his Father would sanctify the apostles and those that come after them with the truth that is in the word of God. I was trying to figure out what it meant to be sanctified by truth and it seems that truth must change us in some way if we are to be sanctified by it. The word sanctified means to be set a part. So in some way when we accept the word of God they are set apart from others.
Jesus goes on to say that the world will hate his disciples because they are not a part of the world, just as he was not a part of the world and so the world hated him. It is the acceptance of the word of God that sets the disciples apart from the world. By believing in that Jesus is sent from God would naturally bring animosity between the disciples and the jewish community in which they lived. But its more than this because eternal life, according to this passage, is about knowing God and Jesus Christ whom he sent. So the disciples are also set apart for eternal life.
While they are set apart from the world they are brought together with one another and with God. Jesus prays that they would be one as he and the Father are one. He prays not only for the disciples but for all those who come after them that have believed in their message. Jesus prays that all believers, Christians, would be united together in his name and the love of the Father. Set apart from the world yet united in Christ as we accept his words, the words the Father gave to him and the same words which has passed on to us.
Jesus does not, however, pray that his disciples would be removed from the world. They are set apart by how they think and who they know, but they are not to be physically removed from the world. They are to spread the message so that the number of people united in Christ will grow. So the trick is to come to know God and be set apart from the world in the way that we think united with Christ and our fellow believers and yet not to withdraw ourselves from the world around us, but to invite them into this new mindset (even though they may hate us at first).
Wow, what a situation, no wonder Jesus is praying for us! At the end of the chapter Jesus prays that it will be through his name and through the love of the Father that believers will be united. So it comes down to love. The words that Jesus was given by the Father are words of love to a world that is lost and broken. We may be set apart by choosing to believe in Jesus, but we are still drawn to those who are different than us because of the love of God for the world.
May we be transformed, changed, sanctified, set apart in a new way of living, eternal life, united in Christ, and may we be drawn to those who are different from us by the love of God so they too can be united with Christ.
This a pretty common occurrence in life if you think about it. Depending on how we think we are set apart in different groups or sometimes by ourselves. If you think a certain way you are set apart as a democrat or a republican. Depending on how you think you are set apart as a caregiver, a lawyer, a business person, a member of the armed forces. The way that we think, the instruction that we accept in our lives, and the opinions of different people that we choose to agree with changes who we are and sets apart from some people and brings us together with others.
I think this is what Jesus was getting at in John 17 when he prays that his Father would sanctify the apostles and those that come after them with the truth that is in the word of God. I was trying to figure out what it meant to be sanctified by truth and it seems that truth must change us in some way if we are to be sanctified by it. The word sanctified means to be set a part. So in some way when we accept the word of God they are set apart from others.
Jesus goes on to say that the world will hate his disciples because they are not a part of the world, just as he was not a part of the world and so the world hated him. It is the acceptance of the word of God that sets the disciples apart from the world. By believing in that Jesus is sent from God would naturally bring animosity between the disciples and the jewish community in which they lived. But its more than this because eternal life, according to this passage, is about knowing God and Jesus Christ whom he sent. So the disciples are also set apart for eternal life.
While they are set apart from the world they are brought together with one another and with God. Jesus prays that they would be one as he and the Father are one. He prays not only for the disciples but for all those who come after them that have believed in their message. Jesus prays that all believers, Christians, would be united together in his name and the love of the Father. Set apart from the world yet united in Christ as we accept his words, the words the Father gave to him and the same words which has passed on to us.
Jesus does not, however, pray that his disciples would be removed from the world. They are set apart by how they think and who they know, but they are not to be physically removed from the world. They are to spread the message so that the number of people united in Christ will grow. So the trick is to come to know God and be set apart from the world in the way that we think united with Christ and our fellow believers and yet not to withdraw ourselves from the world around us, but to invite them into this new mindset (even though they may hate us at first).
Wow, what a situation, no wonder Jesus is praying for us! At the end of the chapter Jesus prays that it will be through his name and through the love of the Father that believers will be united. So it comes down to love. The words that Jesus was given by the Father are words of love to a world that is lost and broken. We may be set apart by choosing to believe in Jesus, but we are still drawn to those who are different than us because of the love of God for the world.
May we be transformed, changed, sanctified, set apart in a new way of living, eternal life, united in Christ, and may we be drawn to those who are different from us by the love of God so they too can be united with Christ.
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