Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
Our Countdown to Calvary has one more day to account for. The day of silence when the disciples have all been scattered – they have gone their own ways for fear of being hauled away from the homes, livelihoods, arrested, found guilty of being a follower of Jesus and crucified. Who knows where they are hiding now?
While they are in their very best hiding places, what we do have is the location of the Chief Priests and the Pharisees as they walk into Pilates Palace. They too are in fear of their future – What if Jesus actually rises from the tomb? What will become of them? Will the people arise against them, demand their crucifixions? What will happen to the Temple, its community, its role and its religious order?
Yes! They are afraid for the future of what they have worked hard to out into its place and the life of the people who have relied on them for being taught about God, facilitating their God-covenanted commitments, righteous community according to all the Laws of Moses and to the teachings of the great Prophets. There has been much invested by them here. They have too much to protect not the least of which is their positions of power and prestige and great influence.
But, instead of hiding away, they’re acting decisively, with great determination. We cannot find any of the disciples so we will now walk with the Chief Priests and the Pharisees to see what their intentions are in this very critical moment. We will walk alongside of them to learn just how the establishment responds.
Matthew 27:62-66 New Revised Standard Version
The Guard at the Tomb
62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard[a] of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” [b]66 So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
It’s the Sabbath, the day of rest for the Jewish people. Jesus’s followers, hiding, devastated by his death, are resting: “On the Sabbath day they rested according to the commandment” (Lk 23:56).
But “the Chief Priests and the Pharisees” are busily at work. They have insisted on having an appointment with Pilate. They demand that he set people to work securing Jesus’s tomb. When Pilate tells them to use their very own “guard of soldiers” for the task, they don’t hesitate. They supervise the Jewish soldiers’ labor in “sealing the stone and setting a guard.”
These are the same religious leaders who got so mad at Jesus if he so much as healed anyone or even plucked heads of grain on the Sabbath. What’s got into them that they’re now so ready to work and to put other people to work on this obligatory day of rest?
The reason they give is inadequate: “Lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’” Well, yes, but a fraud like that would be exposed fairly quickly by the discovery of the stolen body, or it would just fade away when the risen Jesus himself remained an embarrassing absence, failing to appear in person.
So, what do the religious leaders really fear?
Let’s look at some of what’s happened in the last twenty-four hours or so.
For three hours, while Jesus was on the cross, “there was darkness over the whole land …, while the sun’s light failed” (Luke 23:44-45).
Whether or not this was a solar eclipse or divine intervention of another sort, it would have been deeply unnerving. Solar eclipses were read as threatening omens back then and for many centuries afterward.
There was also an earthquake, apparently with a specific target.
At the moment of Jesus’s death, “the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Mark 15:37-38).
This was the curtain that blocked entrance to the Holy of Holies at the heart of the temple to anyone but the high priest on the Day of Atonement.
With Jesus’s death, the barrier was removed. Tombs were opened, as well, and “many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.” Although the risen saints did not “appear to many” in Jerusalem until after Jesus’s own resurrection, rumors of resurrection must have been heavily in the air.
All this was enough to persuade at least one centurion that Jesus was both “innocent” (Lk. 23:47) and truly “the Son of God” (Matt. 27:54), but it must have given “the chief priests and the Pharisees” the exalted heebie-jeebies.
Is it possible they are afraid of more than the theft of a body? They don’t admit this to Pilate. They probably haven’t voiced the fear to one another or even, perhaps, allowed themselves to be conscious of the true reason for their fear.
But is it possible that they were terrified that they’d made a dreadful mistake and that Jesus really would rise from the dead and prove himself to be the Christ, the Son of God? Given all that had happened, it wouldn’t be an irrational fear. And only an unspoken fear of such magnitude would plausibly explain their demand, on the Sabbath day, that soldiers work to seal the tomb and guard it against not just body snatchers but—God forbid! —a resurrection.
If that’s what’s making their stomachs churn, they do not have many options.
Do they really think that sealing the tomb will keep a risen Christ inside?
Or that a guard of armed soldiers might arrest and conceal the risen Christ?
These are desperate and inadequate measures. The portents of imminent supernatural intervention are staring them in the face, and they are flailing helplessly. Even Pilate has no confidence in their efforts. He says, “Go, make [the tomb] as secure as you can.” He’s being more than just a little bit ironic. He knows they can never make it secure. Not against what’s about to happen.
The fears of these religious leaders may be profoundly characteristic of fallen human beings in general. Even in our times, those who minimize or deny the resurrection of Christ may, at some level, be afraid that it might just be true.
They would readily deny their doubt, of course, certainly to us and probably to themselves. But if, as we believe, Jesus really did rise from the dead on that first Easter Sunday, then his resurrection threatens a spiritual earthquake in the life of anyone who prefers not to answer to (or even to be loved by) a risen Christ. It must seem easier to guard against perceived threats to their established faith.
Many today are still incredibly uncertain of what to make of the resurrection. Many today still prefer to remain “restful” and in hiding from the reality of the moment. They prefer to acknowledge more truth to the fact the tomb is now heavily guarded “by the guards of the temple establishment” and see no viable reason to raise themselves up challenge it or to question it or protest against it.
With the humility we have been taught by the man, Rabbi Jesus, we’ll go ahead, gracefully acknowledge they have their questions and legitimate concerns. We meet with them as Jesus met Levi/Matthew as the Tax Collector. We will “walk” across their paths in the prayerful hope they will freely engage us as Levi did. In the prayerful, faith-filled, living hope that we will be invited into their ‘homes.’
God invites all of us to have an abiding relationship with Him. He extends His invitation in His time and in His own way. This “day of our silence” is His way. This day of silence is His time for us to walk across that “Levi/ Matthews path.”
It is an enormously powerful moment to receive the skeptic and their questions.
While they may only see the “heavily guarded tomb,” God is busy working His miracle of resurrection beyond the guards, beyond the rock, inside the tomb. We just need to be ready to invite the skeptics to come back with us tomorrow.
We who, by God’s grace, have been allowed to believe that Christ not only died for our sins but was also “raised for our justification” (Rom. 4:25) are blessed to await Easter Sunday morning not with fear but with sure hope and great joy.
May we each take time today to “accidently” cross paths with, pray for those who minimize, question, deny the resurrection. May we pray that their fear, too, might be replaced with a joyous living faith in the love of God in Christ.
For tomorrow, COMES THE SON RISE ….
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
ABBA Father, today we pray we would have a refreshed perspective of all that has Jesus endured for us. He humbly served those He loved, even His betrayer. We pray that if we have become too callused or familiar with His suffering that our hearts would be softened again. We pray that His resurrection would give us a renewed, empowered and inspired and inspiring confidence all things are still possible, and that greater things are surely yet to come. Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
The question beckons us today as we continue our countdown to Easter,
Was Jesus’ coming crucifixion the most agonizing moment of his life?
Surely it must be ranked among the very highest we read of in the bible. Death on a Roman cross was excruciating pain, and none of that was spared to Jesus.
Perhaps considering the magnitude of this moment, for Jesus, what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane was suffering just as great as crucifixion.
When the Passover meal was eaten Jesus left with his disciples, except Judas, who had already gone to fetch soldiers to arrest Jesus.
Jesus and the other disciples went to Gethsemane, an area filled with olive trees. The man, Rabbi Jesus needed his time and space to pray, to pour out his heart to His Father God, and he took along three of the disciples to stay close to him.
In the hour or two that follows, we read from our incoming text, Jesus bares the unbelievable weight of his grief in his soul, and we see pain beyond imagining.
Matthew 26:36-46 New American Standard Bible
The Garden of Gethsemane
36 Then Jesus *came with them to a place called [a]Gethsemane, and *told His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 And He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with Him, and began to be grieved and distressed. 38 Then He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” 40 And He *came to the disciples and *found them sleeping, and He *said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? 41 Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is [b] willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink from it, Your will be done.” 43 Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. 45 Then He *came to the disciples and *said to them, “[c]Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour [d]is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up, let’s go; behold, the one who is betraying Me is near!”
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Three things mark out the time in Gethsemane.
1. It is a time of deep agony.
Several of the words in verses 37 and 38 are filled with appalling pain and anguish for Jesus. He was “sorrowful” and “troubled.” He told the disciples: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”
The gospels don’t often describe any emotion of Jesus other than compassion.
So, the gospel narrators saw this time and this experience in Gethsemane as something almost unique and certainly important to record.
There are martyrs who have gone silent or with brave words to their death, as if it is nothing to them that they will be burned at the stake or torn by wild dogs or executed with a sword.
Not Jesus. Inside him is a sorrow and an agony so strong, so all-consuming that he feels he might die there and then, and he pours out that sorrow to God.
Why such pain?
Above all, perhaps two reasons.
For one thing, Jesus knew that crucifixion lay ahead.
Death on a cross was death by prolonged torture.
The piercing of hands and feet with nails, the exposure to burning sun or bitter cold, the humiliation by mocking crowds, the near-impossible strain of lifting the collapsed body to breathe, the physical frame becoming weaker, the mind becoming delirious… all excruciating pain.
And it lasted a very long time, maybe hours, maybe days. Crucifixion was an intentional slow death, so the condemned person experienced maximum agony and so those who watched learned the lesson – never to rebel against the state.
Crucifixion was so cruel that the Romans usually crucified only slaves, pirates, or their enemies and not their own citizens.
Jesus knew crucifixion lay just ahead. Who would not be in an agony of soul?
For another thing, Jesus’ death would be no ordinary death.
Yes, he would suffer and die like any man. But he would be the man whose suffering included bearing the sins of the whole world in his own body.
No one can know all that meant for him – perhaps more intensified pain, perhaps separation from his perfect communion with his Father.
Whatever exactly was before Jesus, it was a ‘cup’ he dreaded drinking. Bishop N.T. Wright says: “He had looked into the darkness and seen the grinning faces of all the demons in the world looking back at him. And he begged and begged his father not to bring him to the point of going through with it.”
Whatever the trials or suffering of our lives, whatever the reality is, however great our darkness or our pain, Jesus understands. He knows deep agony, he knows what it is to dread what lies ahead, he knows the need to get down on the ground and cry out to God to be released. He knows what we all need to know!
2. It is a time of wrestling and resolution.
Jesus’ prayer in the Garden is remarkable for its straightforward honesty.
“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (v. 39).
We have all known people who prayed for a dreadful future to go away:
The person diagnosed with an incurable neurodegenerative disease, or with an inoperable cancer or severe cardiac disease which will lead inevitably to death.
The mother who was just told by their doctor that the baby in her womb was anencephalic, and without full development of the child’s brain and skull the baby could not and in fact would not live for more than a few hours after birth.
The parents of any beautiful seven-year-old boy or girl diagnosed with a brain tumor, or in a severe auto accident, life supported only by medical equipment, waiting for the inevitable day the child’s time in this world would certainly end.
The Husbands or Wives who were just told that their spouses had Alzheimer’s.
Ask any Ukranian Citizen who just had their lives upended by bullets flying in and through their kitchens or living rooms or bedrooms where they were just going to sleep, watching TV, listening to music with the children close at hand.
For these people and so many others like them, their deepest longing was that somehow that unimaginably dreadful future would not exist. If only somehow – by a miracle of miracles – what they know will happen will not happen. If only the impossible could become possible. How can we or they not pray for any of that?
So, the man, Rabbi Jesus went off to be alone and he prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” Is Jesus simply voicing his agony and his longing? Or did Jesus truly think the cup of suffering could be taken away?
When Jesus prays the prayer the second time, he seems to know the answer.
The words are slightly different. “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done” (v. 42).
Had Jesus sensed the answer to his prayer was ‘no’?
Perhaps that is reading too much into the slight change of words, because Matthew records that Jesus prayed the same prayer a third time (v. 44).
But it sure makes sense that Jesus would ask if he could be released from the appalling suffering of death on the cross. There is a deep inner wrestling here.
But Jesus was not rejecting God’s will.
He was not trying to avoid the will of His Father God; he was ensuring this cup of suffering was the will of God. Certainly, his flesh recoiled from the prospect of dying in agony, and certainly it was an unimaginable burden to absorb the pain and sin of the world in his body, but the heart of his prayer was always “may your will be done.” He wanted nothing other than what His own Father wanted for him. He had no alternate agenda other than to do the Father’s will.
And as he rose from prayer and returned to his disciples, the matter was settled.
There was no more time for questioning. It was resolved, and Jesus would go forward into the hands of those who would betray, arrest, beat and crucify him.
3. It is a time of weakness and failure.
The disciples persistently let Jesus down. At the start he told them to keep watch with him (v. 38).
After his first time of prayer, Jesus returned to them, found them sleeping and urged them again to watch and pray (v. 41).
A short time later he came back to them again, and again found them sleeping (v. 43). And when his prayer was then finished and he rejoined them, it was no different. “Are you still sleeping and resting?” he asked them (v. 45).
It was the night and therefore no surprise they were tired and fell asleep.
But Jesus needed them.
One of the greatest struggles of all human history was happening only a few paces away, but these men curled up and went to sleep. Even though they were asked several times to stay awake, still they slept. What Jesus wanted was not very difficult to understand and not impossible to do. But they let him down.
We are no different. We don’t sin out of ignorance. We sin because of weakness, unwillingness, selfishness, or carelessness. At times when the deep spiritual battles are at stake, we’re not on the alert, not at our posts, not playing our part.
Thankfully Jesus did not give up on these disciples, just got them to their feet since the force coming to arrest him was in sight (v. 46).
Jesus does not give up on us either.
That does not mean our failures don’t matter, only that Jesus won’t let us wallow in past mistakes for there are new challenges to face just ahead.
What then shall we say of this walk through the Garden called Gethsemane:
A time of deep agony.
A time of wrestling and resolution.
A time of weakness and failure.
There are three short but important lessons.
1) Prayer is not always answered as we might wish.
Jesus, the perfect Son of God, poured out his heart.
There is no doubt he longed to escape the cross. But God said ‘No.’
There was no fault in the person praying.
There was nothing wrong with the prayer. It would have made no difference if the prayer time had lasted all night, or if the prayer had been repeated a million times by a million people. The answer from God would still have been ‘No.’
The lessons?
We can and should pour out our hearts to God, but with humility and meekness let us recognize that the will of God we find may find on the door stops of our hearts may not be the same as the will we agonizingly brought to the prayer.
The deepest of inner agonies can be shared with God.
Jesus was troubled, and he tells his disciples his soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.
Some Christians believe any form of depression as weakness of faith.
If that were true, then many of the Bible’s greatest saints were weak. And Jesus was weak in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was, but it was no sin.
Weakness is common to human experience, and, at times, it is the very thing that drives us to God.
There is no sin in being real about our feelings, and no sin in coming to God confessing our struggles. God copes very well with honest people. Cures are rarely instant but being open before God is always the right start.
3. God’s will does get done.
Jesus prayed for that: “…not as I will, but as you will” (v. 39). And God’s will was done.
We may never face death on a cross, but we may see some other appalling future that sends dread through our whole being. At times like that we are tempted to say: ‘How can God be so absent or impotent?
Where is God at a time like this?’
The answer is God is right there. Just as he was in Gethsemane, as he was at the cross, and as he was at the tomb raising Jesus back to life.
Through all of it, God was there.
Our challenges and our agonies overwhelm us, and we feel so alone.
But God is there, always there. He is not hiding, not gone astray, not become unwilling. And God is at work, and his work is always good.
When Jesus left Gethsemane, the challenge of the future was still there.
The agony of the cross was still ahead. Easter was about to come.
But Jesus came through Gethsemane strengthened in knowing God’s will more certain and surer and he could face anything God allowed in his life. Because of what happened in his Gethsemane, he was now prepared even for the cross.
As we walk around and through the Garden, observing the events of that day,
May God also make us all more ready for his perfect will, whatever it may be!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Eternal God, your power is unlimited, and your strength has no end. You have said that faith, hope and love as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. Fill me with the measures of faith, hope and love for a breakthrough in my own circumstances. I believe You are able to do far more than all that I ask or can even dare imagine, according to the power at work within me. To you be glory throughout all generations, forever and ever. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Today is Holy Thursday, also called Maundy Thursday, one of the holiest days in the Church year. We are in the Upper Room with the man, Rabbi Jesus and his disciples. We will celebrate Passover. We will recite the ancient story and we will sing the ancient hymns all over again. But as we sit with our Rabbi, we become surprised at sone of his words – he takes the bread and says, “this is my body broken for you” and then he takes the cup of wine and says, “this is my blood poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin.” What is all this?
In just a short while, he will raise from the table with a pitcher of water and a bowl and a towel. He kneels at our feet, and as the lowest of house slaves, he washes our feet. Soon after that, he will cry tears of red. We will next watch him be betrayed and arrested and given a sham trial. He will be condemned to die on a Cross he will have to carry on his back and wide across his bloodied shoulders.
He will be raised up, nails hammered into his body to suffer. We will watch him suffer humiliation as no other man ever has in history. We will celebrate the greatest act of love ever performed: Jesus’s death on the cross for our salvation.
But first, in our Gospel text for today, Jesus demonstrates for us the humbled, humbling act of the washing of the disciples’ feet. He is the example for all Christian acts of servanthood, but more importantly, servants of their people. That being said, this reading really made me think about humility, love and service—not just on this single day of the Christian Calendar but every day.
John 13:1-17Easy-to-Read Version
Jesus Washes His Followers’ Feet
13 It was almost time for the Jewish Passover festival. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go back to the Father. Jesus had always loved the people in the world who were his. Now was the time he showed them his love the most.
2 Jesus and his followers were at the evening meal. The devil had already persuaded Judas Iscariot to hand Jesus over to his enemies. (Judas was the son of Simon.) 3 The Father had given Jesus power over everything. Jesus knew this. He also knew that he had come from God. And he knew that he was going back to God. 4 So while they were eating, Jesus stood up and took off his robe. He got a towel and wrapped it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a bowl and began to wash the followers’ feet.[a] He dried their feet with the towel that was wrapped around his waist.
6 He came to Simon Peter. But Peter said to him, “Lord, you should not wash my feet.”
7 Jesus answered, “You don’t know what I am doing now. But later you will understand.”
8 Peter said, “No! You will never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “If I don’t wash your feet, you are not one of my people.”
9 Simon Peter said, “Lord, after you wash my feet, wash my hands and my head too!”
10 Jesus said, “After a person has a bath, his whole body is clean. He needs only to wash his feet. And you are clean, but not all of you.” 11 Jesus knew who would hand him over to his enemies. That is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 When Jesus finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and went back to the table. He asked, “Do you understand what I did for you? 13 You call me ‘Teacher.’ And you call me ‘Lord.’ And this is right, because that is what I am. 14 I am your Lord and Teacher. But I washed your feet. So, you also should wash each other’s feet. 15 I did this as an example for you. So, you should serve each other just as I served you. 16 Believe me, servants are not greater than their master. Those who are sent to do something are not greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, great blessings will be yours if you do them.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
The Humbled, Humbling Humility of His Great Love for US! …….
We live in a very proud and egotistical generation.
It is now considered acceptable and even normal for people to promote themselves, to praise themselves, and to put themselves first. Pride is considered a virtue by many. Humility, on the other hand, is considered a weakness. Everyone, it seems, is screaming for his or her own rights and seeking to be recognized as someone important.
The preoccupation with self-esteem, self-love, and self-glory is destroying the very foundations upon which our society was built. No culture can survive pride run rampant, for all of society depends on relationships. When all people are committed first of all to themselves, relationships disintegrate. And that is just what is happening, as friendships, marriages, and families fall apart.
Sadly, the preoccupation with self has found its way into the church.
Perhaps the fastest growing phenomenon in modern Christianity is the emphasis on pride, self-esteem, self-image, self-fulfillment, and other manifestations of selfism. Out of it is emerging a new religion of self-centeredness, pride—even arrogance. Voices from every part of the theological spectrum call us to join the self-esteem cult.
Scripture is clear, however, that selfism has no place in Christian theology.
The man, Rabbi Jesus repeatedly taught against pride, and with His life and teaching He constantly exalted the virtue of humility. Nowhere is that clearer than in John chapter 13.
John 13 marks a turning point in John’s gospel and the ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ public ministry to the nation of Israel had run its course and ended in his complete and final rejection of Him as Messiah.
On the first day of the week, Jesus had entered Jerusalem in triumph to the enthusiastic shouts of the people. Those people nevertheless misunderstood His ministry and His message. The Passover season had arrived, and by Friday He would be utterly rejected and executed. God, however, would turn that execution into the great and final sacrifice for sin, and Jesus would die as the true Passover Lamb.
He had come unto His own people, the Jews, “and those who were His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). So He had turned away from His public ministry to the intimate fellowship of His disciples.
Now it is the day before Jesus’ death, and rather than being preoccupied with thoughts of His death, sin-bearing, and glorification, He is totally consumed with His love for the disciples. Knowing that He would soon go to the cross to die for the sins of the world, He is still concerned with the needs of twelve men, including his betrayer! His love is never impersonal—that’s the mystery of it.
In what were literally the last hours before His death, Jesus kept showing them His love over and over. John relates this graphic demonstration of it:
Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
So He came to Simon Peter. He said to him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.”
Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!”
Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”
Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason, He said, “Not all of you are clean.”
So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent Him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” (John 13:1-17)
It is very likely that Jesus and the disciples had been hiding at Bethany during this final week before the crucifixion. Having come from there (or from anywhere near Jerusalem), they would have had to travel on extremely dirty roads. Naturally, by the time they arrived, their feet were covered with dust and Lord knows what else from the road.
Everyone in that culture faced the same problem. Sandals did little to keep dirt off the feet, and the roads were either a thick layer of dust or deep masses of mud. At the entrance to every Jewish home was a large pot of water to wash dirty feet. Normally, foot washing was the duty of the lowliest slave.
When guests came, he had to go to the door and wash their feet—not a pleasant task. In fact, washing feet was probably his most abject duty, and only slaves performed it for others. Even the disciples of rabbis were not to wash the feet of their masters—that was singularly and most uniquely the task of a lowly slave.
As Jesus and His disciples all arrived in the upper room, they found that there was no servant to wash their feet.
Only days before, Jesus had said to the twelve, “Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave” (Matthew 20:26-27).
If they had given mind and heart to His teaching, one of the twelve would have washed the others’ feet, or they would have mutually shared the task. It could have been a beautiful thing, but it never occurred to them because of their selfishness. A parallel passage in Luke 22 gives us an idea just how selfish they were and what they were thinking about that evening:
And there arose also a loud dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.” (vv. 24-26)
What a sickening picture this is! They were bickering about who was the greatest. And in an argument about who is the greatest, no one is going to get down to the ground and wash feet. The basin was there, the towel was there, and everything was ready. But no one moved to wash the others’ feet.
If anyone in that room should have been thinking about the glory that would be his in the Kingdom, it was Jesus. John 13:1 says that Jesus knew His hour was come. He was on a divine time schedule, and He knew He was going to be with the Father. He was very conscious of the fact that He soon would be glorified:
“Jesus [knew] that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God” (v. 3).
But instead of their being more concerned with His glory, and in spite their selfishness, He was totally conscious of revealing clearly His personal love to the twelve that they might be secure in it. They might be a part of His Kingdom.
Verse 1 says, “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
“To the end” in the Greek is ‘eis’ telos, and it means this:
He loved to them to perfection. He loved them to the uttermost. He loved them with total fullness of love. That is the nature of Christ’s love, and He showed it repeatedly—even in His death.
When He was arrested, He arranged that the disciples would not be arrested.
While He was on the cross, He made sure that John would give Mary a home and care in years to come.
He reached out to a dying thief and saved him.
It is most amazing that in those last hours of carrying the sins of the world, in the midst of all the pain and suffering He was bearing, He was conscious of that one would-be disciple hanging next to him.
He loves humbly, utterly, absolutely, to perfection, totally, completely, without reservation. At the moment when most men would have been wholly concerned with self, He selflessly humbled Himself to meet the most basic needs of others.
Genuine humble, humbled, humbling love is EXACTLY like that.
And here is the great lesson of this whole account:
Only absolute humility can generate absolute love.
It is the nature of love to be selfless, giving. In 1 Corinthians 13:5, Paul said that love “does not seek its own.” In fact, to distill all the truth of 1 Corinthians 13 into one statement, we might say that the greatest virtue of love is its humility, for it is the humility of love that proves it and makes it visible.
Christ’s love and His humility are inseparable.
He could not have been so consumed with a passion for serving others if He had been primarily concerned with Himself.
“Love…in Deed and Truth”
How could anyone reject that kind of love? Men do it all the time. Judas did.
“During supper, the devil [had] already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him” (v. 2).
Do you see the tragedy of Judas?
He was constantly basking in the light, yet living in darkness, experiencing the love of Christ, yet hating Him at the same time.
The contrast between Jesus and Judas is striking. And perhaps that is the very reason the Holy Spirit included verse 2 in this passage. Set against the backdrop of Judas’ hatred, Jesus’ love shines even brighter. We can better understand its magnitude when we understand that in the heart of Judas was the blackest kind of hatred and rejection.
The words of love by which Jesus gradually drew the hearts of the other disciples to Himself only pushed Judas further and further away. The teaching by which He uplifted the souls of the other disciples just seemed to drive a stake into the heart of Judas.
Everything Jesus said in terms of love must have become like chafing shackles to Judas. From his fettered greed and his disappointed ambition began to spring jealousy, spite, and hatred—and now he was ready to destroy Christ, if need be.
But the more men hated Jesus and desired to hurt Him, the more it seemed He manifested love to them. It would be easy to understand resentment. It would be easy to understand bitterness. But all Jesus had was love—He even met the greatest injury with supreme love. In a little while He would be kneeling at the feet of Judas, washing them.
Jesus waited until everyone was seated and supper was served. Then, in a devastating act of humility that must have stunned the disciples,
[Jesus] got up from supper and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. (Verses 4-5)
With calmness and majesty, in total silence, Jesus surprised everyone except himself, stood up, walked over and took the pitcher, and poured the water into the basin. He then removed his outer robe, His belt, and very likely His inner tunic—leaving Him clothed like a slave—put a towel around His waist and knelt down to wash the feet of His disciples, one by one – without exception!
Can you imagine how that must have stung the disciples’ hearts? Do you feel the pain, the regret, and the sorrow that must have shot through them? One of them could have had the joy of kneeling and washing the feet of Jesus. I’m sure they were dumb-founded and broken-hearted. What a painful and profound lesson this was for them!
We, too, can learn from this incident.
Sadly, the church is full of people who are standing on their dignity when they ought to be kneeling at the feet of their brother. The desire for prominence is death to love, death to humility, and death to service. One who is proud and self-centered has no capacity for love or humility. Consequently, any service he may think he is performing for the Lord is a waste.
When you are tempted to think of your dignity, your prestige, or your rights, open your Bible to John 13 and get a good look at Jesus—clothed like a slave, kneeling, washing dirt off the feet of sinful men who are utterly indifferent to His impending death.
To go from being God in glory (v. 3) to washing the feet of sinful, inglorious disciples (vv. 4-5) is a long step. Think about this: the majestic, glorious God of the universe comes to earth—that’s humility. Then He kneels on the ground to wash the feet of sinful men—that’s indescribable humility.
You see, for a fisherman to wash the feet of another fisherman is a relatively small sacrifice of dignity.
But that Jesus Christ, in whose heart beats the very pulse of eternal deity, would humbly stoop down and wash the worse than filthy feet of lowly men, that’s the greatest kind of humiliation.
And that is the nature of genuine humility, as well as the proof of genuine love.
Love has to be more than words. The apostle John wrote, “Let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). Love that is real is love expressed in activity, not just words.
“If I Do Not Wash You, You Have No Part with Me”
Here we have one of the most interesting insights into Peter we see anywhere in Scripture. As Jesus loves from disciple to disciple, He finally arrives at Peter, who must have been completely broken.
He said with a mixture of remorse and incredulity, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” (v. 6), and perhaps he pulled back his feet.
Jesus replied to Peter, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter” (v. 7).
At this point, Peter was still thinking that the Kingdom of God was coming, and Jesus was the coming King of that Kingdom. Exactly how could he ever allow the King of kings to leave his throne and be seen stooping down and wash his feet?
It wasn’t until after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension that Peter understood the total humiliation of Jesus.
Peter got bolder. In verse 8, he says, “Never shall You wash my feet!”
To emphasize his words, Peter uses the strongest form of negation in the Greek language. He calls Jesus Lord but acts as if he is lord. This is not praiseworthy modesty on Peter’s part – this is Peter’s overzealous over-protective selfism.
Jesus bluntly answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” (vv. 8-9)
That is typical of Peter—he goes from one extreme (“Never shall You wash my feet!”) to the other (“Not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”).
There is profound meaning in Jesus’ words, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
You see, the typical Jewish mindset could not accept the Messiah humiliated. In Peter’s own mind, there was no place for the coming Christ to be humiliated like this. He must be made to realize that Christ came to be humiliated.
If Peter could not accept this act of humiliation, he would certainly have trouble accepting what Jesus would do for him on the cross.
There is yet another, more profound, truth in Jesus’ words. He has moved from the physical illustration of washing feet to the spiritual truth of washing the inner man. Throughout John’s gospel, when He dealt with people, Jesus spoke of spiritual truth in physical terms. He did it when He spoke to Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well, and the Pharisees. Now He does it with Peter.
He is saying, “Peter, unless you allow Me to wash you in a spiritual way, you are not clean and you have no part with Me.”
All cleansing in the spiritual realm comes from Christ, and the only way anyone can be clean is if he is washed by regeneration through Jesus Christ (Titus 3:5).
No man has a relationship with Jesus Christ unless Christ has cleansed his sins. And no one can enter into the presence of the Lord unless he first submits the whole of his and her heart and soul unto that humble, humbling cleansing.
Peter learned that truth—he preached it himself in Acts 4:12: “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
When a man puts his faith in Jesus Christ, he’s clean, and not until then.
“He Who Has Bathed…Is Completely Clean”
Thinking that the Lord was speaking of physical cleansing, Peter offered his hands and head—everything.
He still did not see the full spiritual meaning, but he said in essence, “Whatever washing you’ve got to offer me that makes me a part of You, I want it.”
Jesus, still speaking of spiritual washing, said, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean” (v.10).
There is a difference between a bath and a foot washing. In the culture of that day, a man would take a bath in the morning to get himself completely clean. As he went through the day, he had to wash his feet from time to time, because of the dusty roads, but he didn’t have to keep taking baths. All he needed was to wash the dust and the dirt off both his feet when he entered someone’s home.
Jesus is saying this: once your inner man has been bathed in redemption, you are clean. From that point on, you do not need a new bath—you do not need to be redeemed again—every time you commit a sin.
All God has to do is daily get the dust off your feet. Positionally, you are clean (as He told Peter in 13 verse 10), but on the practical side, you need washing every day, as you walk through the world and get dirty feet.
That spiritual washing of the feet is what 1 John 1:9 refers to:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us [literally, keep on cleansing us] from all unrighteousness.”
Jesus knew which of the disciples were truly cleansed by redemption.
Furthermore, He knew what Judas’ plans for the evening were: “For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason, He said, ‘Not all of you are clean'” (v. 11). That should have pricked the darkened heart of Judas.
Judas knew what He meant. Those words, combined with Jesus’ washing his feet, constituted what would be the last loving appeal for Judas not to do what he was planning to do. What was going through the mind of Judas as Jesus knelt washing his feet? Whatever it was, it had no deterring effect on Judas.
“You also Ought to Wash One Another’s Feet”
Notice what happened after Jesus finished washing their feet:
So, when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” (vv. 12-17)
Having inserted a parenthetical lesson on salvation—a sort of theological interlude—Jesus gets back to the real point He is teaching His disciples: that they need to begin to experience, practice, operate on the basis of humility.
He argues from the greater to the lesser.
If the Lord of glory is willing to gird Himself with a towel, take upon Him the form of a servant, act like a slave, and wash the dirty feet of sinful disciples, it is reasonable that the disciples might be willing to wash each other’s feet.
The visual example Jesus taught surely did more good than a lecture on humility ever would have. It was something they never forgot. (Perhaps from then on they had a contest to see who got to the water first!)
Many people believe that Jesus was instituting an ordinance for the church.
Some churches practice foot washing in a ritual similar to the way we have baptism and communion.
I have no quarrel with that, but I do not feel that it is being taught in this passage. Jesus was not advocating a formal, ritualistic foot washing service.
Verse 15 says, “I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.”
The word “as” is a translation of the Greek word kathos, which means “according as.”
If He were establishing foot washing as a pattern of ritual to be practiced in the church, He would have used the Greek word ho, which means “that which.”
Then He would have been saying, “I have given you an example that you should do what I have done to you.”
He is not saying “Do the same thing I have done”; He is saying, “Behave in the same manner as I have behaved.”
The example we are to follow is not the washing of feet, it is His humility. Do not minimize the lesson by trying to make foot washing the important point of John 13. Jesus’ humility is the real lesson—and it is a practical humility that governs every area of life, everyday practice of life, in every experience of life.
The result of that kind of humility is always loving service—doing the menial and humiliating tasks for the glory of Jesus Christ. That demolishes most of the popular ideas of what constitutes spirituality.
Some people seem to think the nearer you get to God the further you must be from men, but that’s not true. Actual proximity to God is to serve someone else.
In terms of sacrificing to serve others, there was never anything Jesus was unwilling to do. Why should we be different? We are not greater than the Lord:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed [happy] if you do them” (vv. 16-17).
Do you want to be blessedly fulfilled and happy? Develop a servant’s heart.
We are His bondservants, and a servant is not greater than his master.
If Jesus can step down from a position of deity to become a man, and then even further humble Himself to be a servant and wash the feet of twelve undeserving sinners, we also ought to be willing to suffer any indignity to serve Him.
It should then come to be a surprise to no one ……
that is truer than true love, and truer than true humbled, humbling humility.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Heavenly Father, thank You for this precious picture in the upper room, when in humble submission to the Father’s will, the Lord Jesus laid aside His garment and began to wash the feet of His bewildered disciples. Lord there are too many times in my finite life I simply do not understand the reason that You would allow certain things to happen but help me to simply trust You in all things and enable me to pray, thy will not mine be done. Open my understanding to all You are seeking to teach me, and may I grow in grace as I submit to Your will for my life – in Jesus’ name I pray, Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! AMEN.
Today, we are walking alongside Peter. We are curious to what he is thinking.
Calvary is before us, though we realize it not. If we are in realization, we are not yet in a place where we can even begin to comprehend its awesome magnitude.
Three times, our Rabbi Jesus has told us of his having to suffer at the hands of his betrayers. He has prophesized that he must suffer unbelievable humiliation at the hands of the people – that he will be crucified, and he will be killed. We do not believe this is possible for such a one as our Rabbi – we will never allow it to happen as long as we are alive, can expend all strengths, and able to prevent it.
But, to our surprise, our Rabbi sharply rebukes us. He tells us we are to get out of his way – do not try to prevent his coming suffering. It is ordained by God! I cannot wrap my head or my heart or my suffering soul around such a notion. I am struggling with the notion that Rabbi suffering is a God ordained necessity.
I understand what it means to struggle and suffer – I have spent many days in my father’s boats – struggling and suffering to bring in the nets filled with my days catch. I also understand what it means to suffer and to struggle when the nets are empty at the end of the day, and that I have no fish to sell in the local market or to feed my family, friends and neighbors or donate to the Temple. I am used to such days and count them as the cost of doing what I choose to do.
But now, with these words of my Rabbi, weaving into and out of my soul, I do not believe I really know, nor comprehend what suffering he is referring to. I have seen people being crucified – and it frightens me to the core of my being. My own Rabbi tells me he must absolutely experience this for my greater good. These are strange words to me! These are surprising words to me! What now?
So, I continue to walk with my Rabbi as we prepare to celebrate the Passover ….
1 Peter 4:12-19 Easy-to-Read Version
Suffering as a Follower of Christ
12 My friends, do not be surprised at the painful things that you are now suffering, which are testing your faith. Do not think that something strange is happening to you. 13 But you should be happy that you are sharing in Christ’s sufferings. You will be happy and full of joy when Christ shows his glory. 14When people say bad things to you because you follow Christ, consider it a blessing. When that happens, it shows that God’s Spirit, the Spirit of glory, is with you. 15 You may suffer, but do not let it be because you murder, steal, make trouble, or try to control other people’s lives. 16 But if you suffer because you are a “Christ-follower,” do not be ashamed. You should praise God for that name. 17 It is time for judging to begin. That judging will begin with God’s family. If it begins with us, then what will happen to those who do not accept the Good News of God?
18 “If it is hard for even a good person to be saved, what will happen to the one who is against God and full of sin?”
19 So if God wants you to suffer, you should trust your lives to him. He is the one who made you, and you can trust him. So, continue to do good.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
What ought we to learn from such a lesson as Peter dictates to us?
I want to highlight important four truths from this text.
First, don’t be surprised when you suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ (v. 12).
Second, rejoice, and glorify God when you suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ (vv. 13-14).
Third, don’t be ashamed to suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ (vv. 15-18).
Fourth, trust God when you suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ (v. 19).
In order to understand vv. 12-19, I will first discuss two introductory points about the context of our text.
1. Context of 1 Peter 4:12-19.
First, in my own personal view, Peter wrote this letter to exhort Christians who have suffered for their faith in Jesus Christ to be holy and to hope in God as they suffered for their faith in Christ.
For example, in 1:6-7, Peter states that these Christians should rejoice although they suffer “various trials” so that their faith would be tested (i.e., refined) and proven to be real at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
In 1:13, he exhorts them to hope in the saving grace of Jesus Christ, grace that will be offered to them when Jesus returns (see also 1:13-16).
In 2:18-25, he exhorts Christian slaves to endure their suffering at the hands of both unjust masters and just masters in a manner that honors Christ.
In 3:14, Peter exhorts these Christians not to fear their oppressors if they suffer for righteousness (i.e., if they suffer as a Christian).
Finally, in 4:12-19, Peter exhorts these Christians to honor Christ even if they are insulted, reviled, and ridiculed for their Christian faith.
Thus, in my view, Peter wrote this letter to exhort Christians who suffered for their faith in Jesus to be holy and to hope (i.e., trust/wait) for their salvation in Christ as they suffered for Christ.
Second, Peter grounds his exhortations to be holy and to hope in God and God’s sovereign work of salvation in Christ.
For example, in 1:1-2, Peter calls these Christians, scattered throughout Pontus, Cappadocia, Asia, Galatia, and Bithynia, elect (chosen by God) in accordance with his foreknowledge (i.e., in accordance with his covenantal love that he chose to place on them before the foundation of the world).
In 1:2, Peter further states that these Christians are the people of God when he refers to their conversion with the words elect by the sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ.
In 1:3-5, Peter further explains to his audience they are the people of God by emphasizing God himself has reached down from heaven and supernaturally entered their lives by causing them to be born again to a living hope according to his great mercy by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead unto an incorruptible, unfading, and undefiled inheritance,
which is being kept in heaven for them, who are being kept by the power of God for an eschatological salvation that has invaded this present evil age and that will be revealed on the last day.
Then, Peter says, in verses 6-12, although they suffered various trials in this life, they should rejoice, because they would receive the goal of their faith, namely, the salvation of their souls.
Their suffering was a means by which their future salvation would be realized.
Based on Peter’s brief doxology about God’s sovereign work of salvation on behalf of his people in 1:3-12, Peter then exhorts these Christians in 1:13 until the end of the letter to be holy as they are suffering for their faith in Christ.
Therefore, before considering 4:12-19, we must remind ourselves that Peter grounds his gospel imperatives to be holy and to hope in the gospel indicatives of God’s own sovereign work of salvation in the lives of his people who were suffering for their faith in Christ.
This reminder takes me to my first point from 4:12-19.
First, don’t be surprised when you suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ (v. 12).
Don’t be surprised by the fiery trial (12): Peter begins verse 12 by exhorting his audience not to be surprised/shocked by this fiery trial that has come upon them as though something strange/foreign has come upon them. The fiery trial refers to suffering for their faith in Jesus Christ.
More specifically, it refers to suffering insults, revilements, social ostracism from the society in which these Christians lived, because Peter states in verse 14 these Christians are blessed if they are reviled/insulted for the name of Jesus. This latter point is supported elsewhere in 1 Peter (e.g., 1 Pet 2:12, 18-25; 3:14).
Peter calls this trial “fiery” because he associates it with God’s chastening or judgment of his people for the sake of purifying their faith.
In 1 Peter 1:7, Peter refers to the suffering of these Christians with an analogy of gold being refined through fire. He asserts in 1:7 that their tested faith, is more precious than gold refined by fire, will be proven to be real when Jesus returns.
Furthermore, in 4:17-18, Peter associates this fiery trial with God’s judgment and chastening of his people when he states that judgment begins with God’s people at God’s house first and that the righteous will be saved by means of difficulty (i.e., by means of suffering).
In 4:19, he declares that it is God’s will for Christians to suffer.
Consequently, if we read 1:7 beside of 4:12-19, we can infer that God brings the fiery trial of suffering for faith in Jesus Christ upon these Christians through evil antagonists of the Christian faith to be a means by which he keeps them in order to strengthen the faith of these Christians so that they will be saved from God’s eschatological wrath when Jesus returns.
Second, rejoice when you suffer for your faith in Jesus (vv. 13-14).
The tension between suffering and joy (13):
This verse introduces us to one of the many tensions of the Christian faith: namely, the tension of joy co-existing with suffering.
Peter says if “you participate in the sufferings of Christ” (by which I think he mentions you suffer for righteousness as a Christian), “then rejoice.”2 I do not expect Peter to say “rejoice” when you suffer!
Honestly, in light of verse 12, verse 13 comes as a shock to me since Christians who heard this exhortation and who have read this exhortation throughout history have suffered severely.
Nevertheless, Peter’s exhortation to rejoice is not a contradiction, but it is an exhortation to hope in God’s promise of eschatological salvation.
That is, he is exhorting these Christians to look to the eschatological salvation for which they have been saved and which God will reveal to them on the last day when Jesus returns.
In the midst of the certainty of their suffering for their faith in Jesus Christ, Peter reminds these Christians of the certainty of their future salvation, which has invaded this present evil age.
This interpretation seems right for the following reasons.
First, in the first half of verse 13, Peter says “but to the degree that you share/ participate in the sufferings of Christ, you rejoice!” In the second half of verse 13, he gives the reason for the command: “so that at the revelation of his glory” (i.e., at the second coming) “you may rejoice with much exultation.”
Second, in 1:6-9, Peter exhorts these Christians to hope in their various trials in this life because their suffering is a direct means by which they will truly inherit future salvation.
Finally, in 1:13, Peter exhorts these Christians to hope in their salvation that God will give to them when Jesus returns.
Therefore, in 4:13, Peter exhorts these Christians to hope in the certainty of God’s eschatological salvation in the midst of the shame and dishonor that their persecutors brought upon them for their faith.
Instead of being ashamed of suffering for Jesus, they should be rejoicing because they will be saved from their suffering and from God’s wrath when Jesus returns since they are the people of God.
The Spirit of God and of glory rests upon those who suffer (v. 14):
I believe verse 14 further supports the preceding interpretation. The Spirit rests upon the people of God in 1 Peter.
In 1:2, Peter states these Christians have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit: i.e., they have been converted.
Thus, Peter’s point in 4:14 seems to be when Christians suffer for their faith in Christ, this particular suffering proves they have the Spirit, it proves they are the people of God, and their suffering for Christ proves they will be saved on the last day when Jesus returns. Therefore, Christians should rejoice (i.e., hope in Christ’s salvation) when they suffer, because we are indeed blessed by God.
Third, don’t be ashamed when you suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ (vv. 15-18).
In verses 15-18, Peter further explains the argument he has been making in verses 12-14.
Namely, in verses 12-14, the argument is don’t be shocked/surprised when you suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ as though this is a strange thing.
But instead rejoice now when you suffer for your faith in Jesus Christ, so you will rejoice on the last day when Jesus returns in his glory, because if you suffer for your faith in Christ, then such suffering proves that you are converted.
In verse 15, Peter now says be ashamed to suffer for unrighteousness because that kind of suffering brings dishonor in God’s eschatological law-court.
There is no honor when one suffers as a murderer or as a thief or as a busy-body or as an evil-doer, for these acts bring shame in society and in God’s eschatological law-court (v. 15).
But Christians should not be ashamed to suffer as a Christian (i.e., for their faith in Christ) because suffering for Christ brings honor in God’s eschatological law-court although it brings shame in this life.
Christians should, nevertheless, glorify God by suffering for the name of Jesus Christ when non-Christian’s dishonor and shame them for their faith in Christ.
In v. 16, the command to glorify God by the name of Christ is another way of talking about hoping in God (cf. 1:13) and trusting God (cf. v. 19).
In verse 17-18, with an appeal to Proverbs 11:31 from the Septuagint (LXX), Peter specifically offers a reason why Christians should not be ashamed to suffer for their faith in Christ.
Namely, God judges his people in the current evil age by means of suffering via evil opponents of the Christian faith (v. 17).
In v. 18, he confirms this interpretation by asserting that the righteous (i.e., Christians [v. 16]) will be saved by means of difficulty, whereas the ungodly and the sinner (i.e., the non-Christian) will experience God’s wrath (vv. 17-18).
Although vv. 17-18 do not explicitly state the latter point, the context supports it since Peter has emphasized throughout the letter up to 4:18 that Christians are the people of God and that they will be saved from God’s future wrath.
The implication of 4:17-18 is that non-Christians will not escape God’s wrath since they reject Christ, which they demonstrate by persecuting Christians.
Fourth, trust God when you suffer for Christ (v. 19).
Peter concludes 4:12-19 with v. 19 by exhorting these Christians to implicitly trust God when they suffer in accordance with his will (i.e., when they suffer for righteousness as Christians) as they live righteously. (Consider Isaiah 43 here!)
The Long and the Short of this text is this …. against our 21st Century context,
Any “Suffering” sucks. Suffering for Christ is something else altogether.
To suffer for Jesus is something we should expect according to Jesus Himself.
He said that the world would be hostile to His followers and suffering through persecution was something we needed to prepare for. (Consider John 17)
That is because Christians were meant to shake up the world with a message of radical love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, salvation, and transformation.
But, WHERE IN GOD’S KINGDOM DO WE NOTE SUCH RADICAL BEHAVIOR?
Even though the world needed to know the truth, it would not take it easily.
There would be resistance and even fear, all directly and decisively, maliciously aimed at the messengers of The Gospel Message.
If we are honest, we do not want this to be our common faith experience.
Yet, we must absolutely acknowledge the struggle and suffering of churches in countries where communicating the message of the Gospel comes with a heavy price – imprisonment, torture, public humiliation, even worse is their death.
We must pray for the “underground churches” their leaders and congregants.
Where and when possible, support them with our abundance of resources.
We have more freedom here in America to follow Jesus, but unfortunately, I don’t know if that has made us bolder or more urgent with God’s message.
If anything, the culture is indifferent to Christians, because sadly, maybe that is how indifferently we live for Jesus too.
We are in a weird situation. We can be free to be faithful.
The prospect of suffering for our faith is low.
You would think the church would be thriving and believers emboldened and on fire for God’s work.
That is not the case at all.
If anything, Christians seem to blend in with the secular culture more and more.
The church does not struggle with suffering, rather, things like a how to have a more convenient and comfortable faith.
We have lost the edge that can only be sharpened through pressure and testing.
The irony is that the world around us is suffering.
People are struggling and broken without Jesus.
They are looking for hope and a way out.
While that is not pleasant, suffering for being a Christian would at least mean people recognize you are a Christian and you are living in a way that stands out.
However, persecution is not really a threat or reality for most of us.
I can’t say if that a good or bad thing.
What I can say is that a faith that you have to fight and stand up for is a stronger and more enduring faith, simply because it has been tested.
I firmly believe some of the believers reading this devotion right now would identify more with today’s Word because they would have come from countries where living for Jesus has a real price and potentially lethal consequences.
We need those stories and that faith experience to impact our churches here.
We know, or should make a point to know, that there are believers suffering for Christ all over the world.
We are richer for those who have suffered for Christ and come up the other end still standing.
Perhaps, a first step and response to a faith that is relatively free, is to wake up and seize that God-given opportunity by living boldly and recklessly for Jesus.
Believe thou this!
Think about that.
Pray without ceasing about that.
Do something ASSERTIVE about that ……
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Heavenly Father, thank You for the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He has done for me. Thank You that in Him, I have eternal life and am secure in Your hands, no matter what I may have to suffer in this life. Thank You that by His blood, I have been fully and finally redeemed and forgiven of my sin. I pray that those who abuse me and cause me to suffer because of my faith in Jesus, may then be convicted of their sin and come to a saving faith in Christ. Thank You that Your grace is sufficient for everything I may have to face. May my life bring honor to You and Your Son’s suffering. In Jesus’ name, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! AMEN.
Today, I want to try to tell you a short story about two men and their wheat.
One man had a grain of wheat and he loved it very much. He spent the majority of his time and energies on securing the best possible container for his wheat.
When it came to moving his wheat from one place to another, he spared no expense. He loved his wheat, so he bought the best. He made sure his grain of wheat stayed out of harm’s way; if wheat gets wet you know it will quickly spoil.
So, he was very careful to be sure to always do what the wheat experts told him to do in order to see his grain of wheat stay strong even into old age. This man was sold out for his wheat, and it showed. Then the man died.
The other man also had a grain of wheat but what he did was very different.
He went out into the backyard, dug a hole, threw his wheat in to it, covered it with dirt, and poured water all over it thus completely ruining the wheat.
Then the man died.
Sometime after both men were dead and buried a news reporter got wind of these two unusual men and their wheat. The reporter decided to do a follow up.
Where the first man had lived the grain of wheat was easily spotted surrounded by the best. But when the lid was removed, and the cameras pulled in close the sight was saddening; that grain of wheat though greatly prized and protected had been ruined. Stuck away in the dark of selfishness that wheat had spoiled
The reporter got back in her car and assumed she was about to go from bad to worse. If the first man had done everything to protect his wheat and it had all been for nothing, then what would there be to show for the other man who just threw his in the ground and wasted it?
As she drove closer, she noticed these tall and vibrant green plants along the side of the road; very strange. As she pulled into the driveway the entire yard of the second man was covered in three-foot-tall green grass. Now filled with curiosity the reporter asked the neighbor, “What are all these plants.” And he responded, “It’s this man’s wheat”
One man protected his wheat and lost it all.
The other man threw his wheat into the ground, and it produced much fruit.
Christ’s life is that single grain of wheat. He is glorious and he has done many glorious things. But if he doesn’t die there is no salvation for you or for me. If Jesus is not the suffering Servant/Savior of Isaiah 53, then he is no savior at all.
But if he did come to die and if he did die and rise again, then he will produce much fruit. There will be lives changed. There will be a great harvest of joy-filled Christ-followers. Jesus came to die, and he died so to bear much fruit.
John 12:20-26 Holman Christian Standard Bible
Jesus Predicts His Crucifixion
20 Now some Greeks were among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 So they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.”
22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus replied to them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
24 “I assure you: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces a large crop. [a]25 The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me. Where I am, there My servant also will be. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
I. Eternal life requires more than fearing God and being interested in Jesus (20-23)
As we look into these verses from John, we need to realize that we are at a turning point in salvation history. God’s plan to reconcile the world to himself through the seed of the woman is about to advance at a rapid pace.
Here’s the point
A. The glorification of Jesus Christ is required for the salvation of the nations.
The Pharisees in verse 19 make the observation that, “the world has gone after [Jesus].” In the triumphal entry and in the people’s loud praises the Pharisees see the popularity of Jesus. That confession in verse 19 leads us to the account of “some Greeks” in verses 20-22.
Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Literally the people and nations are coming to Jesus. They want to see him. Now this phrase means more than look at him. These Greeks want to talk with Jesus.
They are hesitant. Possibly because they have just witnessed Jesus clean out the court of the Gentiles when he cleansed the temple; that’s a bit intimidating. So, they instead go to Philip who probably spoke Greek and asked for an audience with Jesus. The people and the nations are mightily curious coming to Christ.
And Jesus responds with a surprising and an unexpected word, verse 23, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
Up to this point in the life of Christ when Jesus has spoken of “his hour” it has always been in the future tense.
In John 2:4 he told Mary, “My hour has not yet come.”
In John 7:30 we read, “So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.”
In John 8:20 we read, “These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.”
From here on, from the coming of the Greeks on, Jesus will emphasize the fact that his hour is here.
In John 12:27,“Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose, I am come to this hour.”
Using the language of the time to glorify the Son Jesus says in John 13:31, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.”
It is possible that Jesus is only 4 days from the cross. Jesus is fully aware that his death his required for the salvation of the people and the nations.
And Jesus is fully aware that now is the appointed time of his glorification. He must be glorified in order for these Greeks to be saved. He must be glorified in order for you, me to be saved. No one from Adam to the last of God’s children will see eternal life if Jesus does not fulfill the Father’s plan of redemption.
Let’s drive this point home
B. Your salvation depends upon Jesus’ glorification
Let’s bring in some of the terminology from verse 23. Unless Jesus is glorified, unless the grain of wheat is put into the ground, he will not bear fruit. Unless Jesus be glorified no one will be saved.
That’s how crucial the cross is. That’s how important this hour is; salvation depends on it.
We should expect the theme of glory to be central from here on in John and it is. We’ll unpack this more, Lord willing, I just want you to see what glorification is.
Look down to verses 28-33.
‘Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again… verse 31…’Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself’ He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
The glorification of God is displayed through the judgment of sin when God’s wrath for poured out on Jesus. The glorification of God is displayed through the defeat of Satan when his power is broken through the resurrection of Jesus.
The glory of God is about to be displayed through Jesus’ finished work on the cross, resurrection from the grave, ascension back to God’s glorious right hand, and the salvation of the people and the nations who come to Him.
Our salvation and the salvation of the nations, depends on the Son of man being glorified. The death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus do not just show us something they secure something. The glorious work of Jesus Christ on your behalf secures your salvation.
If this hour doesn’t ever come, then we are lost and hopeless but if Jesus has been glorified then we are saved and we are all born again into a living hope.
These Greeks in John 12 were God-fearers who were willing to submit to God’s laws. They were interested in meeting and learning from Jesus.
But that’s not what is required for salvation. We must be connected by faith, by hope and by love, to the glorified Jesus crucified, resurrected, and ascended.
Where are you today? Does our religion consist only of some rule keeping and occasional interest in Jesus?
If so, you and I would do well to fear that we are missing salvation all together (Hebrews 4:1). Salvation depends on you being connected to the glorified Jesus.
By faith you and I are joined to him. And with him we are as righteous as God and have power over the grave. Jesus has been glorified. There is salvation and eternal life for you. But you and I must absolutely be connected to him by faith.
Salvation is a promise because salvation depends on the completed work of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ death is a necessity. – The Single Seed must Be Planted!
II. Nature proves that a harvest requires death (24)
A. Jesus illustrates the necessity of his death by pointing to the planting and harvesting of wheat. Verse 24
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
We grow vast fields of wheat to make bread.
Here is what a grain of wheat looks like.
If you do nothing with this single wheat, then as a whole, it is 100% worthless.
But if you plant that wheat there comes a miracle. By continual harvesting and sowing, one grain of wheat can produce millions of grains of wheat. But what is required to make that harvest happen? You absolutely have to plant the wheat.
You must make it for the moment ruined. Once that grain of wheat is put in the ground and watered you cannot dig it up, grind it up, and make bread out of it.
But when it dies it bears much fruit.
Jesus obviously isn’t giving us instructions for our gardens.
He’s giving us hope for our souls.
If Jesus skips the cross, if he does not die, then there is no salvation.
But since Jesus endured the cross dying in our place then there is salvation.
Just as millions of grains of wheat come from the death of one grain so the salvation of the people, the nations, comes from the death of the only Son of God. Eternal life depends on the death of Jesus Christ.
All of the Realm of Nature illustrates this clearly.
Here’s our third point that comes out of Jesus’ death on our behalf.
III. You are the fruit (24-25)
A. God, The Father is the Lord of the harvest, Jesus the Son is the single grain which starts the harvest, and all that we are and do is a part of the harvest
You and I must fight to keep the call of verses 25 and26 grounded in the work of Christ explained in verse 23 and 24. You and I will live life rightly, enjoy eternal life, serve Jesus, follow Jesus, be with Jesus, and be honored by God as we cling to the glorified Jesus.
All that we are as a Christian is a direct product of all that Jesus has done. God doesn’t demand our death for your salvation. God saves only those who have the glorification of Jesus credited to their souls.
B. I was quite surprised! Verse 25 is not what I expect
I thought verse 25 should read, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world bears much fruit.”
But the teaching here is not that you and I should die to bear fruit.
That is true and Jesus is going to teach us all about that in John 15.
But before we get to chapter 15, we need to get this point.
Our redeemed life, our experience of eternal life this very moment, is the produce of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension.
If we get our place wrong when you think about God’s will for all of creation, then we’ll get our life wrong, and we’ll be frustrated by a lack of fruit bearing.
Let’s lay a foundation and hold fast to it. Our salvation and the salvation of others realized through our good works is ultimately the result of Jesus’ work.
Since Jesus is the grain of wheat that fell into the earth and died, and since Jesus bears much fruit, we are saved and so are others. Eternal life today is the result of the glorification of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago.
C. Your Christian Life is “found” not by protecting yourself but in your gaining the Life of Jesus Christ
Look at John 12:25, Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
When we read the bible there is a repetition of someone loving a person and hating another person.
Romans 9:13 reiterates the facts that God loved Jacob and hated Esau.
Now let us read and study and pray over Genesis 29:30 – 32
30 So Jacob…loved Rachel more than Leah and served Laban for another seven years. 31 When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
Hate is not necessarily the emotional disgust that we feel when we say we hate something. Love and hate in this context have more to do with priorities.
Think about it this way, “Whoever focuses on his life loses it, and whoever forgets his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
Have you and I ever been so focused on one thing that we completely forget everything else? That’s the idea. If you focus on your life, your wants, your plans, and yourself then you will also forget, lose your focus on Christ.
But as we focus on Christ, his wants, his plans, and his self then we will forget our life.
Look at God’s promised product: if we love our life, we will destroy our life.
We are like Lennie from Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.
Our thinking is off and so we end up destroying the thing we love the most.
By protecting ourselves and looking out for ourselves and taking care of numeral uno we ultimately end up destroying ourselves. That is warning.
But here is the promise of John chapter 12: whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
I believe it’s important that the verbs loving, loses, hating, and keeping are present active indicatives. That means they keep right on happening.
These are not one-time events but characteristics, a way of living.
A life primarily focused on Christ will necessarily be a life which neglects self.
You can’t love yourself and Christ. You will love the one and hate the other.
Please do not be fooled into thinking there is a healthy balance between loving self and loving Jesus. There is no such place as a “middle ground.” To attempt to be there is to be disgusting. Jesus promises to vomit you out of his mouth.
We love Jesus.
So, here’s how to pursue this self-hating Christ loving life: follow Christ.
We must never set out to hate or neglect our lives.
What we must set out to do is focus on, prioritize, and follow Christ.
This is the connection between verses 25 and 26. It leads to our final point.
IV. Following Christ entails serving now, and gaining heaven and honor then (26)
A. Following Christ is forgetting self
You can’t protect yourself and follow Christ because going after Christ means following the One who came to die.
Look at verse 26, “If anyone serves me; he must follow me.”
This is Christianity: finding life not in yourself but in the glorified Jesus.
Adopt his plans as your plans.
Do the things he did. Care about the things he cared about.
Christianity is not keeping the rules and being somewhat interested in Jesus.
Please notice something.
Twice the word ‘serve’ is repeated in these two verses.
Christians are those people who see the glorified Jesus and serve him.
We are those who are changed by the work of Christ so that we give ourselves to the work of Christ.
Christians work the works God sent Jesus to do.
Christians serve Christ and follow Christ by joining in the grain harvest. Serving and following Jesus demand our everything.
This is why in a similar passage Jesus tells us to count the cost (Luke 14:25-33).
Notice, eternal life is not something we get after we die because of a decision we made as a kid with little consequence for the time in between.
Eternal life is the time span in which we will enjoy the life Christ has given us.
When we forget ourselves and follow Christ, we will gain a life that is worth living and enjoying for all of eternity. Our self-centered lives would make for a miserable eternity. God’s Christ-centered life makes for an amazing eternity.
Here’s the promise of heaven, verse 26, “and where I am, there will my servant be also.”
Jesus said in John 14:3, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
The promise of heaven, everlasting life and joy in the presence of God, is held out to both you and to me today.
Follow Christ.
Serve Christ.
Ground yourself in the glorification of the only Son.
Heaven is for you.
Plant your hopes in the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.
You will not be disappointed.
There’s more.
Verse 26, Jesus promises, “If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”
Jesus knows nothing of bait-and-switch. Hating your life is not going to turn out to be a bad idea. If you trust Christ and let him shape your desires and your direction, then look what you’ll get.
Do you see it in verse 26? God himself will honor you.
Every honor bestowed on man by man goes no farther than this earth and our graves and that appointed day we are all laid therein – never to be seen again.
But every honor bestowed on the servants of Christ is eternal and unceasing.
The honor given by God to you because of Christ cannot be taken away, revoked, or destroyed. There is a meaningful substantial life for you and for me,
and it all depends on Jesus.
V. Imagine with me that your lunch plans have changed and instead of what you had planned you’re going to sit down with Jesus on a public park bench and review your life
Would it become evident that the reason you do what you do and have a family and come to worship and live where you live is so that you can get something for yourself?
Or would it become evident that the reason for everything you do is because you are caught up in the great harvest that depends on the glorified Jesus?
Do you do what you do because of you?
Or do you do what you do because Jesus has been glorified?
Jesus has been glorified. Your salvation, your life, and your future can be secure but only if you give your life over to him. Turn from your sin and insufficiency and utterly trust in the Jesus who makes you pure and is himself Sufficiency.
There is an amazing harvest going on all over this globe and in our community.
We are a people who have faith in the work of Jesus and will get engaged in his works. Because Jesus is glorified giving us eternal life we serve him, follow him, and look forward to the honor of eternal life.
Look around your neighborhood and your work and the grocery store. the fields are indescribably vast and white for harvest. Let’s plant the seed of Jesus! Let’s praise the Lord of the harvest and go from this place to be a part of the harvest.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Dear Heavenly Father, how I praise and thank You for Your amazing plan of redemption and that the Lord Jesus was ready and willing to forgo all human glory and praise and be led as a lamb to the Cross, so that His death could pay the price for my sin and the sin of the whole world.
Thank You that Jesus lived a perfect life, foregoing any honor, in order to be made sin on my account and died a cruel death on Calvary’s Cross so that by faith in Him I might be forgiven of my sin and receive life everlasting. Praise Your Holy Name, and thank You, Lord Jesus, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! AMEN.
We begin our countdown. We count down the days to our Calvary. We have just followed our Rabbi Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. We behold all the sights and sounds of a great city in preparation for their greatest celebration of Passover. There is so much to see and so much to take in. We walk close by our Teacher.
Our natural inclination is to place ourselves in the centre of everything and to think how we are going to be affected by it all, before we consider the needs, necessities or feelings of others – before we consider the desire of God’s heart.
Indeed, even when we do try our best to exhibit the ‘caring concern’, our Rabbi has taught us these past three years, how often our choices are rooted in selfish pride, knowing our ‘thoughtful’ actions will excite the applause of others and feed our ego, which only results in a selfish smugness or a self-absorbed pride!!
We are so incredibly self-centered. And yet, his was not the attitude of the Lord Jesus Who set aside His heavenly glory in order to be made in the likeness of sinful man. Jesus looked to the needs of others before He considered Himself.
We see the man, the One Who is the very essence of God, and Who is complete in Himself considered our needs and mine before His own, when He emptied Himself… and took upon Himself the form of a slave – for He knew that the sacrifice of Himself was the only way that we could be saved from our scarlet sins; our gross sinfulness; our selfish smugness and our self-absorbed pride.
We walk with the man and we do not think about, know how or why God the eternal Son and divine Creator did not try to keep hold of all that is His by right of His unique position and person, but humbled Himself on the back of a foal and laid aside His kingly glory, in order to become subject to His Father and live as man was originally created to live – only doing those things that He heard from His Father and only acting only on the instructions of the Holy Spirit.
These things are not in our minds. But they should be. They should be focused on the lessons yet to be learned, on the life yet to be lived in these coming days. There is so much left to be grasped – we cannot comprehend even .001% of it. There is so much going on around us – too much “traditional preparation” to consider – to be sure we get everything our Rabbi needs to recount the Passover.
But what lessons are being lost in our impossible haste to make all preparation? What are we too busy to see? What ‘things of man’ do we scramble around for? What things of heaven are we “stepping over” as we prepare for our Passover? In those ancient moments these Disciples lived, what were they interested in?
We have the benefit of history – they the unrecognized blessings of the moment as each moment proceeded. They were focused on following in the dust of their Rabbi – How were they to know, prepare themselves for the reality of Calvary? What did they “know” of their Rabbi? What did they accept of these moments?
So, we enter into our own countdown of days to our Calvary. We are challenged daily to let THIS mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus… to choose to follow the path of the cross by setting aside our own natural inclination to place self on the throne of our lives – and in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit… by means of the new life of Christ – to finally empty ourselves of ‘Self’ become a servant of all – for His sake Who loved us so much that He died that we all might live.
I just want to speak the name of Jesus ….
I just want to think with the mind of Jesus ….
I just want to live life as Jesus teaches us to live ….
I just want to love God as Jesus teaches us to Love God ….
I just want to love my neighbor as Jesus taught me to love my neighbor ….
I just want to love life as Jesus teaches us to love life ….
I just want to serve as Jesus teaches us to serve …..
But first, I must make my walk to my Calvary as Jesus did ….
Let the countdown of days begin ….
For the JOY which was before Him ….
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
God who is my Father, by your grace, teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your Holy Spirit lead me on level ground. I see your faithfulness and goodness in what you have done for me throughout my life. I think about these things, and I thirst for you. Let me hear of your unfailing love every morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you. Keep me on firm footing for the glory of your name. Gloria! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
The Twelve Disciples standing behind Jesus as he rides the donkey?
The crowd which is before Jesus as he is about to enter the city gates?
The small man in the tree – remember the newly repentant Zacchaeus?
The small man in front of the donkey holding the palm in his hand?
The donkey itself as it carries Jesus on its back with a small smile on its face?
The owner of the donkey who gave his ascent to his animal being taken away by men he never met before who told him simply: “The Lord Hath Need of It?”
The City of Jerusalem itself now in the midst of celebrating the Passover?
The citizens of Jerusalem aware and/or unaware of Jesus’ arrival?
The Priests and Workers of the Temple – the Center of Religious Life for the Jewish people. Where people come to worship and sacrifice as God requires?
How about the mountain – “The Mount of Olives?”
How about the rocks on the ground which the people and donkey walk on?
How about the man, Itinerant Master Rabbi Jesus Himself?
A whole lot of revelation is going on here – each one singularly unique!
Each one saying to themselves ….
Each one shouting unto and into the heavens ….
“MY GOD! MY GOD! THE LORD HATH NEED OF ME!”
“MY GOD! MY GOD! THE LORD HATH NEED OF ME?”
And so, Jesus comes unto the city …. on the back of a donkey ……
This is the moment they were living in, as the events unfolded.
It is now the 21st Century, the year of our Lord and Savior 2022.
Today is Palm Sunday – we will gather for worship this morning.
We will have our families with us.
Those who only come once or twice a year – will miraculously appear.
We have those who cannot or will not come to church – but have some connection to a social media site – Facebook, or You Tube, or ZOOM.
God will (hopefully, prayerfully) have their undivided attention again.
We still have the ancient stories of the Gospel narratives.
We have the benefit of history.
We have the benefit of their struggles and the fruits of their labors.
We have the benefit of the full Biblical Canon, God’s Holy Scriptures.
We have the benefit of commentaries and sermons and devotions.
We read, re-read these Gospel Narratives year after year after year.
As we consider one angle after another trying to be original, trying to reach the older generations and communicate to current and coming generations of both believers and non-believers alike – unto into those “great clouds of witnesses,” “MY GOD! MY GOD! THE LORD HATH NEED OF ME!?!
What are we to anticipate in the coming minutes and hours ahead?
As we consider the words – “THE LORD HATH NEED OF ME ….”
Relevant or Irrelevant?
Absolutely Meaningful or Utterly Useless?
Are we exclaiming it or are we questioning it?
Are we accepting the possibility or are we brushing it away and denying it?
Is anybody even seriously reading or studying, listening or praying, teaching or preaching the critically true meaning and absolute importance to the words?
“MY GOD! MY GOD! THE LORD HATH NEED OF ME!?!
Luke 19:28-40 Amplified Bible
The Triumphal Entry
28 After saying these things, Jesus went on ahead [of them], going up to Jerusalem.
29 When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a [donkey’s] [a]colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anybody asks you, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ you will say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32 So those who were sent left and found the colt just as He had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.”35They brought it to Jesus, and [b]they threw their robes over the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As He rode along, people were spreading their coats on the road [as an act of homage before a king]. 37 As soon as He was approaching [Jerusalem], near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the entire multitude of the disciples [all those who were or claimed to be His followers] began praising God [adoring Him enthusiastically and] joyfully with loud voices for all the miracles and works of power that they had seen, 38 shouting,
“Blessed (celebrated, praised) is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory (majesty, splendor) in the highest [heaven]!”
39 Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples [for shouting these Messianic praises].” 40 Jesus replied, “I tell you, if these [people] keep silent, the stones will cry out [in praise]!”
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
The Lord Needs It – Luke 19:34
I wonder how much our faith, hope and love would affect our daily lives if we lived to exclusively serve Christ’s needs instead of our own?
Is that even possible? Would our churches be filled with people on Sundays because the Lord needed them to be there? Would missions throughout the world be fully funded because the Lord needs affluent Christians in the West to ‘pony up’ and provide from their ample resources all that is needed by Christ to medicate, educate, feed and clothe people living in poverty across the globe?
If we are 100% comfortable doing religious things without being challenged by the radical nature of the surprise and scandal of the Gospel, then we are going to go through life as spiritually shallow people.
However, if we take time to really think about what Christ needs us to do with our lives and resources, then everything will change about how we ‘do’ church and how we share our faith.
The owners of the colt in today’s Gospel passage (Luke 19:28-36) could have told the disciples to “get lost or I will call the cops”, or that it was inconvenient, or that it would be okay the next day. They didn’t do that; when they heard the words “The Lord Needs It,” they gave over the colt freely and perhaps gladly.
In these 21st century times, would we be so accommodating or dismissive?
The Lord hath need of many things from each and every one of us ……
YEA OR NAY ……
21 So get rid of all uncleanness and [a]all that remains of wickedness, and with a humble spirit receive the word [of God] which is implanted [actually rooted in your heart], which is able to save your souls. 22 But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth]. 23 For if anyone only listens to the word [b]without obeying it, he is like a man who looks very carefully at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he immediately forgets [c]what he looked like. (James 1:21-24 Amplified)
Questions for personal reflection
What does the Lord need of me?
Am I willing to give my time, talents, and resources to Him for His work?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Lord Jesus, Your Gospel brings goodness and forgiveness, strength and love into our lives. It also presents us with unique challenges and causes us to reflect upon our daily choices. Help us so to live according to Your needs and liberate us from our insecurities, as well as our desires. In Your Holy Name, we cheerfully pray. Amen.
When you and I see God as He really is, we will Worship Him in the beauty of His Holiness and not ours. We’ll truly worship Him as He desires to be worshipped. We shall have Communion with Him. We’ll all share in this surprising moment.
When Moses saw God and worshipped Him, He ended up giving us the Law – the Ten Commandments. When Job saw God as He really was and worshipped Him, his whole family and estate was magnified and restored to him, Job received his second chance at living life. When Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, he was given a glimpse of His throne room, inducted into the role of a Prophet of God.
I introduce you to the Pharisee Saul, in his zealousness when he was blinded by the holiness of God on the Damascus Road, he repented, was healed and became Paul, the greatest missionary evangelist who ever lived and gave us the bulk of the New Testament Writings from which we study and learn who Jesus really is.
And when John saw God and fell down before him as dead, he got up and wrote the Book of Revelation, the great Apocalyptic story of the New Testament. As he himself walked behind and alongside his Rabbi for three years with the twelve disciples, he looked upon Jesus as He really was, hung upon the cross and dying. With Peter, He looked into the empty tomb and witnessed to the power of God.
When we finally see God as He really is, we will look forward to the day when we too will be like Him. In the New Testament we are told that someday we shall be like Him because we will see Him as He really is. On that day, we will be holy in perfection. We will be changed, and the sins of our lives will be taken away. We are going to be beautiful in our worship because God is beautiful in His holiness.
Romans 5:1-8 Authorized (King James) Version
5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 and patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
6 For when we were yet without [inner] strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Unconditional love! WOW! This is the “LOVE” God has for us.
A PICTURE OF GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR HUMANITY is found in John 3:16-For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
In spite of the wrong and sinful things we have done, the unclean places we have gone in our deeds, the unpleasing sinful acts we have committed and continues to commit, the ugly things we have said or the evil thoughts that crosses our minds can, surprisingly, God’s love never leaves us.
God’s love for humanity transcends our sinful condition because even in the midst of them, He showed us His unconditional love.
In other words, there is nothing we can do to make God stop loving us.
There are a vast multitude of sinful things, i.e. (idolatry and unbelief) that we can do to cause us to be separated from a personal relationship with God, but not from His love for each one of us.
Nothing we do can stop God from loving us. Calvary proved that! Yes, it was at Calvary where the “LOVE” of God for humanity was put on display.
Even after salvation, regardless of what we may have to endure through long suffering, hardship, etc., Apostle Paul surprisingly declares this concerning God’s love for us in Romans 8:38-39For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities nor powers, neither things present nor things to come, 39 neither height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Surprisingly, regardless of my diverse tests and trials, I am “PERSUADED” that NOTHING can separate me from the Love God has for me through Christ Jesus!
It comes as no surprise to me then that I can read and study and pray through the full length and breadth of God’s Holy Scriptures and just want to worship!
My living hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Blood and His Righteousness.
Romans 5:5 This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to us.
If you are saved and have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior by faith, you are daily tasting the outpouring of God’s “LOVE” in your hearts through God’s Holy Spirit whom He was given to us at our point of salvation.
If you do not know Jesus for the pardon of your sins, invite Him in on today by first asking Him to forgive you of your sins and to open the eyes of your heart to His “UNCONDITIONAL LOVE” for you.
When you have made your confession of your desperate need for God, not only is He faithful and just to forgive you, but He is willing to lead, guide and direct the rest of your life by the leading of His Holy Spirit.
Not surprisingly Warrior, King, Master Poet, even master sinner, David declares these words concerning God “LOVE” in Psalm 34:8-Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
It should not come as such a surprise that God’s “LOVE” is an everlasting love.
New life in the “SPIRIT” is available to you on today.
The Great Exchange is God’s love for our sins. WOW! What an exchange.
Unconditional “LOVE” is found at the foot of the cross.
Run to Jesus for He alone offers you UNCONDITIONAL LOVE!
This kind of love cannot be found in nothing or no one else.
When nothing else could help me, “LOVE” was broken for me!
When nothing else could help me, “LIVING LOVE” lifted me!
JESUS IS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE!
DO NOT LET THIS BE SUCH A SURPRISE TO YOU!
SHARE COMMUNION WITH GOD AS HE FIRST SHARED IT WITH US!
God bless.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
God of enlightenment, help me to read, study and understand your word. Give me insight into the meaning of your commandments and how I should follow them in their beauty and their truth. As I meditate on your wonderful miracles, As I search your beauty, wonder who you really are, may I be encouraged and empowered. As I study how you have fought our battles from the stories in the Bible, may I be built up and strengthened. Help me to know how you want me to put the hope of your word into real practice. Assist me to know you more fully through your word, be pleasing to you. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Wonderful Words of Life (Philip P. Bliss, 1838-1876)
1. Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life; let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life; words of life and beauty teach me faith and duty. Refrain: Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.
2. Christ, the blessed one, gives to all wonderful words of life; sinner, list to the loving call, wonderful words of life; all so freely given, wooing us to heaven. (Refrain)
3. Sweetly echo the gospel call, wonderful words of life; offer pardon and peace to all, wonderful words of life; Jesus, only Savior, sanctify forever. (Refrain)
Joshua 1:7-9 English Standard Version
7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success[a] wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Someone, somewhere at some point in time, began to ponder and pray …..
They have probably been pondering these questions for quite some time …..
So, we have been gazing at the unsearchable beauty of the Lord our God.
We have been craning our necks upward – mightily focusing on His face.
We have been craning our necks and eyes upwards until it now hurts us.
Not just our necks hurt, not just a struggle against keeping our eyes open,
But now we also find steadily creeping into our heads – new thoughts we do not recognize – or as much as we recognize them – we deem them 100% unwanted.
We search for God, turning our faces and our thoughts away from the world.
Now, without our permission, our day-to-day thoughts are being muddled.
We like it- we like it (maybe) – we like it not – we realize it – we are not sure?
We cannot stop these thoughts – we try to re-shape them – but no success?
Are we struggling against our worldly thoughts leaving our heads?
Might this be true?
Without realizing – are we struggling against God trying to get into our heads?
Struggling with negative thoughts? Maybe low self-esteem? Self-putdowns?
When I think about these thought struggles, I am both awed, amazed and (gasp) very scared at how easy it is to adopt or fall into a bad thought habit.
That’s right I said it, “habit.” All our thought patterns are, in fact, habits.
Our whole lives, we have all been taught, trained on how to think and what to think and why to think what we should think until they become 100% natural.
And these habits can even impact our ability to problem solve and our ability to decide how, what we use to filter truth vs untruth. Even learned helplessness is copied and can gradually develop into (negative) thought and behavioral habits.
Sometimes, these thoughts become a significant burden we know not what to do with the breadth of them. Scratch heads? Move forward? Stand still? Retreat?
We are looking for the indescribable, unknowable, unsearchable, face of God anywhere and everywhere we can. We want to cannot look upon His face, to look upon His visage, crawl or walk up to Him – look directly into His eyes!
But that is not possible to do and survive.
But survivability is not our concern – we only want to be eye to eye with Him.
Beholding His face – Looking into His eyes – knowing His thoughts for us, is very much where we all prefer to be. We will brave everything for this chance.
We cannot know the thoughts of God for us and that disturbs us – we are all called to look upon Him, but reality is we cannot do so – but our thoughts are still on God – YET our eyes and our souls our thoughts remain 100% fixated.
We are now fixated on God despite our thought habits! This is great news because just as we develop bad habits, we can retrain our thinking and learn new habits. It’s really pretty simple but requires truth, faith, commitment.
Let me introduce you to the one presenting us with this array of questions.
He is Joshua, Son of Nun …. His reality has just been seriously altered ….
Before him, the prospect of replacing Moses as leader of millions of people.
Prepared to lead? Prepared to stand still? Prepared instead to retreat?
Prepared to think, act and believe according to his understanding?
And what would that accomplish for him, his family, his people, His nation?
God knows all of our thoughts before we even have them – but in the midst of our sorting out our own stuff – are we realizing that God is trying to overcome, overwhelm the unrelenting burden of our thoughts at the exact same time?
How? God persistently speaks His greater thoughts over our lesser thoughts …
“7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success[a] wherever you go.(Joshua 1:7 ESV)
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8, ESV)
What are we to make of this seldom considered, thought-provoking revelation?
Whatever the time, whenever the season of life, it’s 100% safe to say we are the sum total of our habits. If you want to know your future, just look at your habits today! It will show you where your thoughts and behaviors will be tomorrow.
God says ….
“8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.(Isaiah 55:8-11 ESV)
The finite Mind and wayward Thoughts of Man Repeat ….
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your flesh[a] and refreshment[b] to your bones.(Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV)
5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. 6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.(Proverbs 22:5-6 ESV)
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2)
When I allow myself to think about setbacks, hurts and the many different pains of life we experience through people, places, things or events, I realize there is ever a choice we can make; there is a crossroad before us; a decision:
Do I hand myself and my emotions over to my own thoughts, hardships of life and allow them to define me? To permit my thought to dictate how I should feel and ought to live? Or do I, in my pain, bring it to God and find healing and rest?
I guess that’s the difference between freedom and chains. You may be afraid and have it in great abundance, but fear doesn’t have to have abound in you.
Over seasons. the stories and scripts we tell ourselves are powerful. What we tell ourselves not only threatens to define our behavior but also predicts our future.
Do we speak negativity and lies in opposition to the Word of God, or do we speak the truth of God as medicine over our hurting souls and against the lies and narratives we have been taught? Being set free is to experience the truth of the gospel showing up in every area of our lives, even in our thought life.
To fight my thought battles, I use Scripture to correct false assumptions and to confront bad behaviors. When our experiences and thoughts don’t line up with biblical truth, we should always yield our thoughts and accept the 100% truth of Scripture in all its authoritative truth. Make it our filter and meditate on it over and over until God develops our new thought habits. It will replace the old one!
The Truth Will Set You Free (John 8:31-32 ESV)
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Our thought habits can be such a pervasive trap. Or they can be the source of a pure spring that flows from the Word of God, deposited deep into our lives.
We are not to be continuously chained to negative thinking anymore. Living Word of God: We no longer have to be. Yield to the truth that can set you free.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
God, my Wisdom, Speak, them over again to me, thy Wonderful Words of Life ….
Lord of wisdom, I sometimes finding understanding the Bible to be difficult. I know you want me to apply your word to my life. I thank you for giving me your word so I can grow in my relationship with you. Help me grasp what you want me to know as I read your revealed word. Open my eyes so to see the wonderful truths in your instructions. Be my teacher, be my wisdom, be my truth, so I can live and obey your word. Thank you for your wise advice. Gloria! Alleluia! Amen.
A goal of mine has always been to grow closer to my God, so I began researching verses and passages relating to this vision. Throughout my long and prayerful search for the “perfect” verse, I came across Psalm 27:4, which yet proclaims,
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.(AKJV)
This hit me like a ton of living stones. The vision of dwelling in the house of the Lord and gazing upon His unseeable unknowable face, His unsearchable beauty. At that precise moment of prayer, God answered! He struck a deep chord in my heart. He strummed the heart right strings which started my soul unto singing.
From this, I knew that now was the moment where I should live in such a way that I actively seek God. I came to realize that God was teaching me to seek Him and gaze upon His beauty despite the rocky road of life, which has transformed my sinfully limited and skewed perspective on the current events of the world.
It has granted me the ability to envision perseverance through trying times, the ability to envision my developing a godlier character, and the ability to have and believe I can actually grasp, hold onto, a hope which lasts longer than 1 minute.
Little did I realize God had given me this simple verse which I have read 1,000 times to radically change the way I envision pursuing the Lord. This leads me to say God does not always roar in our lives in the way we would expect; rather, He quietly nudges us back to the basic, simple principles in which we should rest. It is in looking for God in all the places we see every moment of every day, we live!
God struck a new musical chord deep in David’s heart at the exact moment he needed it. From this, I can testify! We have these amazing words which found my heart at the exact moment, three thousand some odd number of years later.
Pray! what place in His Holy Scriptures is He nudging you back to envisioning?
Psalm 27:1-4 AKJV
Psalm 27
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. 4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Affirm and Pray,
I Believe
In spite of many unanswered questions, I believe.
I believe I see in the living God, the joy of the universe,
who is the pulse and purpose of all things seen and unseen,
who from the dust of earth calls up living beings to be children of eternity,
who through countless ages has provided for us many liberators
and tirelessly seeks to bring victory out of defeat and life out of decay.
I believe I see in Jesus the Christ, God’s true Son,
who is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh,
who took upon himself the healing of the human race,
who bearing the burden of our sins went to Golgotha carrying his cross,
who was betrayed, crucified, dead and buried in a borrowed tomb,
who on the third day was found to be gloriously alive,
meeting with those who trust him and serve him to the end of the world.
I believe I see in the Holy Spirit of God,
within and among all who cherish Christ and his way,
who brings hope out of despair, love out of apathy, and joy out of sorrow,
who unceasingly regenerates and reforms the church
that it may always be the contemporary body of the risen Christ,
loving the world through prayer, word and deed.
I believe that even I am caught up in the resurgent life of Christ Jesus,
and that nothing in life or death can separate me from his love and joy.
In spite of unanswered questions, YES! I believe I YET see the face of God.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 