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Friday, January 25, 2013

Becoming an Expert on Jesus

One of the captivating realities about Jesus is that He was an expert in the Scriptures. As a child and a young man, He had to learn the Scriptures just like anyone else who set out to learn them. He had to read them, memorize them, wrestle with their meaning and figure out how to apply them to everyday life.

When Jesus was 12 years old His family traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. After the Feast was over, Mary and Joseph, assuming that Jesus was with them, started the long trip home. After a day’s travel they began to look for Jesus, thinking that He had started home with them. Jesus was nowhere to be found. They turned around and headed back to Jerusalem where they found Jesus. He was in the Temple listening to the teachers and asking questions about the Scriptures.

When His parents asked Him about what He was doing, He responded that they should have known where He would be. Implication? When He was missing, He could be found among the teachers listening and asking questions. (Luke 2)

Even before He began His ministry, He taught in the synagogue. (Luke 4) The common practice in that day was to have a man, especially any rabbi that was present, to read from a scroll and give a lesson. When Jesus started his ‘official’ ministry, He was already a familiar face and voice to those in the synagogue, so they invited Him to read and to give a teaching from the scrolls. He picked the scroll of Isaiah and read from it. It was the portion of Isaiah that described what His ministry would be like. (Isaiah 61)

When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for forty days, He withstood temptation by quoting the Scripture. Over and over He said: ‘It is written…’ and then quoted from the Scriptures.

How did Jesus become an expert in the Scriptures? The same way that you eat an elephant – one bite at a time. Jesus dug into the Scriptures regularly. He did so hour by hour, day by day, year by year. Over time, He became an expert.

You and I can become experts on Jesus! Becoming an expert on Jesus takes place ‘one bite at a time.’ Hour by hour, day by day, year by year!

Jesus, teach us about You and show Yourself to us!

Friday, January 18, 2013

Jesus - A Different Kind of Rabbi

Jesus was often referred to as ‘Rabbi.’ Rabbi was a title given to someone who was a teacher. There were many rabbis teaching throughout Israel in Jesus’ day.

Education was quite different in the first century. Students did not go to a school to learn. Students went to a teacher. They would commit themselves as students of that teacher. They would travel wherever he went. They would live like he lived. Over time it became obvious to outsiders what teacher a person was following based on beliefs, vocabulary and lifestyle.

Rabbis did not go looking for students. To look for or recruit a student would have been seen as demeaning or beneath the rabbi. Instead, students sought out the rabbi and if they were found to be a worthwhile student, they were allowed to study with the rabbi.

Jesus handled being a rabbi differently. He is the first rabbi on record to recruit his students. He actually recruited students who most likely had no intention of becoming students of a rabbi. They were fishermen, tax collectors and political activists. They had not sought out a rabbi to study under and follow. They appeared to be quite content to live ordinary lives.

Jesus saw something in them. Jesus ‘called’ them to follow him. Jesus ‘called’ them to commit themselves to a completely different way of living.

It is no different today. When someone begins to follow Jesus, it is not because they started looking to follow Him. People begin to search and follow after Jesus because HE comes to THEM, tugging at their heart and recruiting them to a different way of life.

Now people go to a school. Then people went to a teacher – rabbi.

Go to the Rabbi and learn from Him!

Friday, January 11, 2013

The Bible from Scratch

At different times over the years, when reading through the Bible, I have had the feeling that trying to grasp what had been written was a lot like making pumpkin pie from scratch. Both grasping what the Bible says and making pumpkin pie from scratch can be a lot of work. They can both be messy and sometimes they don’t turn out the way you want.

Wouldn’t it be easier if understanding what is in the Bible was more like going to Costco and buying an already made pie? At least let me use a can opener and some of that canned pumpkin goop!

Instead, I have to cut off the top, take out the seeds, and deal with all of the stringy stuff, pulp, slime and smell. Then you have to cook it, peel it and prepare it just to start making the pie. It is still a long while before the pie can be enjoyed!

Reading and understanding the Scriptures can at times be like that. Even the Apostle Peter referred to some of what the Apostle Paul wrote as containing ‘some things that are hard to understand.’ If Peter, who lived in the same time period, culture, setting and experiences that Paul lived found some things hard to understand, what chance do I have?

Though the Book of John was not written by Paul, there are parts of the Gospel of John that fit the description of ‘hard to understand.’ The ‘hard to understand’ nature of the Scriptures sometimes discourages people from reading, studying and thinking. It is easier to either not have ‘pumpkin pie’ or at least eat pumpkin pie that someone else has fixed.

I want to encourage you to ‘make pumpkin pie from scratch.’ Don’t just depend on someone else doing all of the work. There has never been a time in history when there were more resources than right now. Either by print, media or the internet, the tools necessary for studying and understanding the Bible are available.

During early 2013, as you read through the Gospel of John, do more than depend on someone else to dig out the ingredients to understanding. Do some of the work yourself. The ‘pie’ will taste better and you’ll experience the reward of discovery. Jesus is waiting to make the Word become real. He doesn’t always let understanding come easy, but then again nothing in life that is worthwhile comes easy.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Jesus is Supreme

Human beings have always had a hard time valuing life and the various aspects of life the way that they are intended to be valued. From the very beginning, as recorded in the book of Genesis, people messed up the world based on a faulty value system.

Adam and Eve didn’t see eye to eye with the value that God put on the trees of the garden and did what they wanted. Cain didn’t concur with God’s evaluation of his offering, got mad at Abel and killed him. The angels and people before the flood valued things differently than God. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah disagreed with God’s value system. The list could go on and on and on through the centuries with more entries being added by the day and by the minute.

Paul wrote the followers of Jesus in the city of Colossae about the value system of God since Jesus’ entrance into human history.

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him. He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together. (Colossians 1:15-17 NLT)

Paul says that Jesus is ‘supreme’ over all creation. Jesus is higher on the value system than anything or anyone else. He is ‘supreme’ over things ‘we can see and things we can’t see.’ Jesus is supreme.

I am so excited about this next teaching series. I’ve been learning more and more everyday about Jesus, the world in which Jesus lived, how He interacted with people, what His heart is and so much more. I can’t wait to tell you about Jesus and help you see Him all the more clearly.

Fall in love with Jesus again!