Heads…or Tails
A little different view today, Father – looking out on a putting green at a golf course. Thank You for Your watchcare over us as we traveled to get here, and I lay hold of Your hedge of protection as we head back home. Amen.
John 12:1-10 (<<click here to read the passage)
We are all pretty familiar with what a coin toss is. At some point, we’ve been part of making a decision that way.
Interestingly enough the coin toss goes back centuries. It existed during the rule of the Roman Empire and through the Middle Ages.
Today it is a permanent fixture in everything from high school football games up to the National Football League. (In fact, the coin toss has been a part of professional football since its start in 1892!)
It factored into which Wright brother got to take flight at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, in the first-ever powered aircraft in December 1903. (Wilbur won, by the way.)
And one more factoid, the naming of what now is Portland, Oregon, came down to a coin toss. Asa Lovejoy and Francis Pettygrove, who both owned the land that would become Portland, each wanted to name the new town after their respective hometowns: Boston, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine. Pettygrove prevailed in the 1845 coin toss, and the Oregon city was christened Portland.
Interesting tidbits but in those instances, it is pretty much chance.
Something else that has two possible outcomes, is our eternal destination. But in this instance, there is no chance whatsoever. It is each person’s choice…period.
In these first verses of John 12, we see an example that involves two people – Mary and Judas. Jesus was a part of each of their lives. He influenced each of them but prior to His interaction with them, they each had already established a propensity. It was not destiny. They had a choice.
Mary was thoughtful. She was not wasteful. She gave the best of herself to others.
Judas was deceitful. He was a liar and a thief. He looked out for himself and no one else.
Jesus saw them for who they were. And even knowing what Judas would do…He loved Him. Judas could have chosen – even at the last possible moment – to shift his loyalties. But he didn’t… In the end, he felt he had gone too far to be forgiven. He made his last choice, and no others could be made.
Each of us has a choice. The world and its “treasures” are passing into nothingness. May we choose wisely. Amen.
Aug 9th, 2021, Mon, 12:47 pm
Crossed Wires
A beautiful day away with Karen and Massey! Thank You, Father, for the adventure, such as it was – good exercise, good food, a good time all around!
John 11:45-57 (<<click here to read the passage)
It’s hard to believe, but we’ve been in our house now for over 30 years. When we moved in, it needed quite a bit of work.
One of the big challenges for me was electrical work. I knew the bare essentials, but not much more. So, when we got ready to renovate our backroom – someone had enclosed the attached carport years before we moved in – I was working from scratch. The main part of the room had no electricity at all. So, I installed four outlets, two on the right wall and two on the left.
Now I’m not foolish, so we got a real electrician to check out my work before we powered everything up. And I’m glad we did! Somehow, I had reversed every single outlet! It was simple for him to fix but what I had done would definitely have given us issues!
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, it was the last straw, as far as the Pharisees were concerned. And in the Father’s perfect timing, Jesus knew that His time was quickly coming to a close.
By this point, Jewish leadership had had enough. Because of their arrogance and the humiliation at the tongue of Jesus, they had become blind. A man had literally been raised to life after four days in the tomb, and their reaction was to freak out! All they saw was this whole “Jesus-movement” snowballing out of control. They jumped from Jesus’ many miraculous signs to the belief that everyone will believe in him to the Roman army coming to destroy both our Temple and our nation. vs47-48 NLT
It had been building for months, and now it was so “bad” in their minds and hearts that they were crossing wires left and right. They were so blind to the truth that they were prepared to do whatever it took to take Jesus out. They and all they held dear were quickly heading to total annihilation! They were losing it!
Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time, said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about! You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.” vs49-50
In his mind, Caiaphas was setting things in motion to ensure the future viability of his people. He knew that it was better to eliminate this troublemaker once and for all. He, for one, wasn’t going to let this carpenter-turned-“Messiah” take the whole nation of Israel down with Him. Caiaphas’ actions and mindset did not communicate that he was a man of God. Yes, he was a fool, but God used him…
…to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation. And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world. vs51-52
The stage was set. Jesus had lived His life preparing for what was ahead. In just a matter of days, he would do exactly what Caiaphas had foretold. And although Caiaphas knew nothing of it, because Jesus was ready to lay down His life God’s salvation would be made available for all of mankind!
Aug 6th, 2021, Fri, 8:38 pm
Righteous Anger
…let the godly rejoice.
….Let them be glad in God’s presence.
….Let them be filled with joy. Psalm 68:3 NLT
John 11:17-44 (<<click here to read the passage)
I know that I’m not alone, but anger is one of my biggest struggles – and unfortunately, I can’t always control it. One of the detriments in bottling up my anger is that it can get pretty intense when I do let it go. Anyone who follows my writings knows that it is an issue for me.
All in all, I grapple with anger that has nothing to do with what we would call righteous anger. But most assuredly, righteous anger does legitimately exist.
Let me stop for a moment and recommend a blog post written by Jeffery Curtis Poor, a young pastor and church planter. In researching Jesus’ anger here in John 11, I stumbled upon his writings. The post on Jesus’ anger led me to a post entitled Why Did Jesus Weep? It. Is. Excellent! I seriously considered sharing it here, but it would equal about four of my posts in its entirety. Click on the title and read it. You’ll be glad you did!
Quoting Jeffery Poor (from 6 Times Jesus Got Angry), “We often view anger as an emotion we should avoid – a sin. But our anger isn’t the problem, it’s what we do with our anger that determines if we sin or not.”
And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry… Ephesians 4:26 NLT
I bring this up because in this telling of Lazarus’ death and resurrection, in these short 27 verses of Scripture, it speaks of Jesus’ anger, not once…but twice.
When Jesus saw [Mary] weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. v33 (emphasis mine)
And then verse 38 states, Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb… (emphasis mine)
So, the question that comes to mind is, why was Jesus angry?
Jeffery Poor goes on to write,
Humanity exists in a broken state, a fallen world. That should come as no surprise, the evidence is everywhere. Kids are starving, people are dying, broken families are the norm, mental health crises abound, war is commonplace, and pain and turmoil exist around every corner. We are not okay.
And Jesus was angry about it.
This is most clearly seen in John 11:35, the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept.” Jesus was so overcome by the human condition, the death a friend faced, that he wept.
I think in this moment Jesus is reacting to the fallen condition of his people. He is distraught that people he cares for are experiencing pain. He was not overcome with grief over the loss of a friend. Why did Jesus weep? Because he feels empathy for his people.
Jesus feels empathy, but he responds with anger. In John 11:38, Jesus was deeply moved and yelled for Lazarus to come out. Jesus was mad over the human condition…Jesus feels empathy for what we are facing.
You would benefit from reading both of Poor’s posts, but I pray that this little snippet will stir your heart. Jesus was angry because of what we have allowed sin to do in and to our world – and to ourselves. He hurts because we hurt…and most importantly, He cares. Do I? …do you?
Aug 5th, 2021, Thurs, 8:09 pm
He Can Handle It
May your ways be known throughout the earth,
….your saving power among people everywhere.
May the nations praise you, O God.
….Yes, may all the nations praise you. Psalm 67:2-3 NLT
John 11:17-37 (<<click here to read the passage)
One of the hardest things for some people in life is to be truly honest with others. Some people don’t care at all about hurting someone with what they say, but many care so much that they sometimes don’t say what really needs saying. Then there are instances when we aren’t intentionally offensive when we answer honestly, but that is what ends up happening.
A few years back, I had a woman working with me at Kohls. She was very nice and was great with customers (though a little gullible). One day we were chatting and out of the blue, she asked me how old I thought she was. (A bit of advice here, never…ever answer that question!) I guessed about ten years older than myself, and she about hit the roof! Here we were just about the same age! I was shocked and she was pretty steamed. (Honestly, because of some of her life choices, she looked older – a fair amount more wizened, if you will.)
We have to be careful, in some instances, how straightforward we are with other people.
But there’s one person who can take whatever we have to say. He will never get mad. He will never storm off in a tiff. He will never stop loving us and caring for us and forgiving us. I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that it is Jesus.
He purposely delaying coming to Lazarus’ aid. He knew he was sick. Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, had sent Jesus a message telling Him so. But He held off. He waited. It was for a very specific, important reason but regardless of that fact, it didn’t mean Mary and Martha weren’t hurt by it all.
It’s interesting that in both the New Living Translation and the Amplified Bible, first Martha, and later Mary, say the exact same thing to Jesus when he finally gets to Bethany where Lazarus has now been in the grave for four days!
“Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” vs21, 32
It’s a pretty straightforward statement, don’t you think?
But was Jesus offended? No. Did He fire right back at them? No.
He spoke words of hope and promise to Martha and seeing Mary’s weeping He took action (…but more about that tomorrow.)
We need not hold back our questions and concerns. There’s no reason to reign in our anger, doubts, and frustrations. Jesus can take it. He has very broad shoulders and can handle absolutely anything we lay on Him. He can bear the weight of the yoke he shares with us. He tells us so in Matthew 11:28-30 – and it is still applicable today.
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” NLT
Don’t hesitate…go to Him…he can handle whatever you have to give Him.
Aug 4th, 2021, Wed, 10:12 pm
A Clearer Perspective
May God be merciful and bless us.
….May his face smile with favor on us. Psalm 67:1 NLT
John 11:16 (<<click here to read the passage)
In the middle of the whole Lazarus narrative, another character with a solitary line of dialogue speaks volumes.
In verse 16, once Jesus said it was time to go and see Lazarus, Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples, said something that I have never really caught before. Now it’s probably because the versions I primarily read and heard for a good portion of my life did not pointedly say what was being said. I’m sure that makes no sense to you whatsoever!
OK, here is how both the King James and the New International Versions translate what Thomas said in verse 16.
“Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Leading up to this statement Jesus had been speaking of Lazarus’ death.
In verses 14-15 Jesus…
…told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.” NLT
So, I have always thought that Thomas was speaking of Lazarus’ death. In my mind it made sense. To some degree, he understood Jesus’ line of thought and he desired to be a part of what Jesus was doing so he associated himself with Lazarus’ death
But when you read it in other translations, we see that the “him” is actually “Him”!
“Let us go too, that we may die with Him.” Amplified Bible
The New Living Translation literally spells it out.
“Let’s go, too—and die with Jesus.”
Understanding that puts a whole different spin on things!
As we’ve seen, Jesus had been threatened with bodily harm and arrest on numerous occasions for the “blasphemous” statements He made (John 8:59, 10:31, 10:39).
This is the note regarding verse 16 from my study Bible*.
We often remember Thomas as “the doubter,” because he doubted Jesus’ resurrection (John 20:24-25). But here he demonstrated love and courage. The disciples knew the dangers of going with Jesus to Jerusalem, and they tried to talk him out of it. Thomas merely expressed what all of them felt. When their objections failed, they were willing to go, even though it appeared they might have to die with Jesus. They may not have understood why Jesus would be killed, but they were loyal.
The disciples, much like ourselves, were very complex individuals. None of us are simple cardboard cutouts. Thomas was prepared to die with Jesus, much as Peter and the others proclaimed vehemently later in Matthew 26:35 following the Lord’s Supper,
“Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same. NLT
Lord Jesus, may we be patient and long-suffering in our thoughts of the disciples. It is so easy to point accusing fingers at their denial and fear…but we were not in their “sandals” and could very well have had the same response in the chaos and fear of that terrible night. With much clearer hindsight, may we be diligent in maintaining our relationship with You. Hold us close, we pray! Amen.
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Aug 3rd. 2021, Tues, 8:19 pm