Tag Archives: Jesus

Unfolding

Posted on by

I just finished reading Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. I enjoyed it very much, but through the whole book, I felt like I wasn’t getting the whole picture. The story unfolded gradually and kept me guessing until the end, when it all came together and made sense.

The two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus didn’t see the big picture quite yet. They had heard reports that very morning that Jesus’ body was missing. They didn’t know the stranger walking with them on the road was that body—alive and well. They had heard rumors about angels and empty tombs. It seemed like amazing things were happening.

So why were these two walking away from all the action?
Did they disregard as gossip the reports that Jesus was alive?
Why didn’t they stay and at least check it out?

All their information was second-hand. Somebody else saw the empty tomb. Somebody else witnessed the heavenly hosts. Other peoples’ amazing stories are easy to walk away from.

What these two didn’t know was that their own amazing story was unfolding as they walked on that road.

Sometimes we can’t see what God is doing,
but everyone who walks with Jesus
has a story that is unfolding.

When I am troubled, disappointed, or even feel like walking away,
I need to remember this:
I’m in the middle of my story
and someday it will all come together and make sense.

What is unfolding today for you?
Don’t stop, keep walking.

On the Loose

Posted on by

Did you know that the 40 day period between Jesus’ resurrection and His ascension is called “Eastertide”? In other words, Easter isn’t over—it’s just getting started!

Many people spend the 40 days leading up to Easter (Lent) preparing for Resurrection Sunday. All that preparation for a one-hour party? Nope. We’re supposed to spend the 40 days after Easter celebrating the risen Savior!

“He appeared to them over a period of forty days.” Acts 1:3

The resurrected Jesus kept showing up—unexpectedly, miraculously, joyfully.
That means from now until May 14th (Ascension Day) the Easter party keeps rolling.

Here’s why Jesus rising from the dead is worthy of a 40-day celebration:

An un-resurrected Jesus reduces Him to a historical figure, a wise teacher, a one-hit-wonder.
An un-resurrected Jesus can be dismissed as another dead philosopher.
An un-resurrected Jesus means we don’t have to believe His claims or obey His commands.

A resurrected Jesus changes EVERYTHING.

“In many respects, I find an un-resurrected Jesus easier to accept.
Easter makes Him dangerous.
Easter means He must be loose out there somewhere.”*

Jesus is on the loose!
He keeps showing up!
Come, join the dangerous celebration!

*The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey

The Glorious Middle

Posted on by

“They were on their way up to Jerusalem,
with Jesus leading the way,
and the disciples were astonished,
while those who followed were afraid.” 
Mark 10:32

 This is the picture that grips me during Holy Week:

Jesus, striding up to Jerusalem, determined to carry out his mission—
which would involve betrayal, mocking, flogging, crucifixion and death.

He led the way.

Four times, Jesus told His disciples what was coming.
He always included the final part—resurrection—
but they didn’t seem to hear it.

“The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.  
They will kill him,
and on the third day he will be raised to life.”  
And the disciples were filled with grief. 
Matthew 17:23

Jesus lost them at “they will kill him.”

The Twelve were full of fear,
perhaps wondering if death was also waiting for them in Jerusalem.

BUT THEY STILL FOLLOWED.

They did it scared.

I must remember,
when I am astonished at being led down the road marked with suffering,
that it’s a place He’s been before—
and He knows the way.

I can still follow.
I can do it scared.

The disciples thought the cross was the end of the story.
But it was the middle of the story.

Those things you’ve prayed about for weeks, months, and years?
Your story isn’t over.
You’re in the gory, glorious middle.
Because the cross is never the end.
The cross is always followed by the resurrection.
Always.

Sunday’s coming.

Big Ben

Posted on by

I have put off reading 1 and 2 Chronicles for years. It’s notorious for long lists and boring genealogies. Half of it is a remix of the previous books, Samuel and Kings. Some of it is repeated word for word, so I’ve skipped over Chronicles many times.

But no more.
Reading through it now is unearthing some delightful surprises.

Long before the Marvel Universe or the Avengers, there were some real-life super heroes. They were called David’s Mighty Men and their names are listed in 1 Chronicles 11. Among this group of warriors, was the “The Thirty”—known for great exploits and valiant fighting. Among “The Thirty” was “The Three”— they were the most famous of all. This trio once broke through enemy lines, drew fresh water from a well and brought it back to King David because they overheard him say he was thirsty. They risked their lives to get their beloved leader a cold drink.

One of David’s Mighty Men was particularly impressive.
A single 14-word sentence was written of Benaiah,
“He went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.”

This begs some questions.
Did he chase that lion into the pit?
Why did he jump into the pit with the lion?
Why was he out chasing lions on a snowy day?
How did he manage to kill the king of beasts all by himself?

This short sentence isn’t all we get of Ben’s life. When King David saw the man crawl out of that snowy pit with a lion skin rug, he said, “Make that man my chief body guard.” Good move.

Sometimes I wonder what will be remembered about me someday.
What 14-word sentence could sum up my life and times?

“She made really good chocolate chip cookies
and watched a lot of baseball games.”
Lord, have mercy.

Good thing snow is in the forecast.
I’ve got some lions to chase.

Crumbs

Posted on by

He gives thanks for the loaves,
hands the bread to his disciples,
and 4,000 people eat dinner.

The disciples pick up the scraps, but somehow forget to bring any along for the boat ride home.

Well, there is one little loaf—but that’s not enough to feed 12 hungry men. Right?

There is a discussion. “Why didn’t you bring some of that leftover bread?” “Nobody told me to.” “I thought he was getting some.” “I thought you were.”

The Master asks the next question: “Why are you talking about having no bread?” The embarrassed silence is followed by seven more rapid-fire questions. The men manage to answer two of the eight questions.

The easy ones:

“How many basketfuls did you pick up when I fed 5,000 with 5 loaves?”
“Twelve.”
“How many basketfuls did you pick up when I fed 4,000 with 7 loaves?”
“Seven.”

Then the hard ones:

“Do you have eyes but fail to see? 
Do you have ears but fail to hear? 
Are your hearts hard?
Do you still not understand?
Don’t you remember?”

I think I’m starting to understand.

Followers of Jesus are called to give and serve and feed and clean up after people. The task can appear overwhelming and some days it seems impossible to satisfy the needs of so many. And then Jesus speaks blessing over the paltry offering and a miracle takes place. It’s amazing, but it’s also exhausting. Servants go home tired and realize they didn’t get to eat the miracle meal.

Jesus says, “What do you mean, there’s nothing left for you? What’s in your hand?”

I say, “A few bread crumbs.”

And He says, “Don’t you remember? Don’t you understand?”

Jesus, the great multiplier, is in my boat, where crumbs become a feast.

I’m beginning to understand.

Thick and Thin

Posted on by

Lent always takes me by surprise.
It seems like we just packed away the Nativity scene
and here we are—already headed for the cross.

I always go into Lent with a sense of trepidation.
Like the disciples, I tend to drag my feet and want to lag behind.

“They were on their way up to Jerusalem,
with Jesus leading the way,
and as the disciples were following
they were filled with terror and dread.”
Mark 10:32 

Again this year, Lord? Really? Do I have to walk the road to Golgotha with You once more? Do I have to witness yet again the torture, the nails, the blood, the injustice of it all? Is it truly necessary to contemplate sacrifice and sorrow, surrender and selflessness? Must I enter the wilderness with You for forty days and forty nights?

Can’t we just meet up on Easter?

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on me, a sinner.

I need Lent.

“We need more than a Good Friday service two days in advance to get into the state of mind and heart to celebrate Jesus’ victory over death and hell. We cannot prepare for Easter over the weekend. No, we need to walk a longer pilgrimage to get ready.” Aaron Damiani, The Good of Giving Up

“Lent is about thinning our lives
in order to
thicken our communion with God.”
Alicia Britt Chole, 40 Days of Decrease

I’m in.
I’ll walk this pilgrimage to the cross again.
Through thick and thin.

Crowded

Posted on by

“Who do the crowds say I am?” Luke 9:18

Five thousand people were talking. News was out that five little loaves of bread and two measly fish somehow multiplied into dinner for a multitude.

two-fish

The throng was trying to figure out who Jesus was. And they were struggling.

  • John the Baptist, come back to life? Wrong.
  • Elijah, come back to life? Wrong.
  • One of the other Old Testament prophets, come back to life? Wrong.

The crowd was easily confused.

The word “crowd” is found 38 times in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus taught the crowd, He healed the crowd, He fed the crowd, He told the crowd stories, He answered questions from the crowd. And then the crowd disappeared, only to show up later, shouting, “Crucify him!” That’s the crowd for you.

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Luke 9:20

Ah. Now there’s the question.

Step away from the Instagram influencers
and the opinionated opinions
and the ego-centric philosophies.

The crowd is confused.

confused

What about you? Who do you think Jesus is?

It’s the most important question you’ll ever answer.

Take Charge

Posted on by

Sometimes I’m a take-charge kind of person.

If I see something that needs to be done and nobody is doing it, I don’t mind stepping up to the plate and gettin’ ‘er done. However, if there is someone in my midst who has more “take-charge-ness” than me, I am more than happy to step down and let somebody else get ‘er done.

Taking charge can be a good thing when there needs to be some leadership to accomplish a task. Taking charge can be a bad thing when it’s motivated by control and comes off as bossiness.

So, I had to smile when I read this scripture:

“Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.  When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’” Mark 3:20-21

Families are funny that way. We tend to think we have a right to interfere. As a mother, I’ve done my fair share of meddling. And I’m not proud of it. Jesus’ family seemed to think it was time to put an end to the craziness and take Him back to the carpenter’s shop where He belonged. But Jesus didn’t let His mother and brothers derail His mission.

Besides, who can take charge of Jesus?

I need Him to take charge of me.

I’m An Idiot

Posted on by

It’s true.
Are you one, too?
Before you answer that, read on.

“Now when they (the Pharisees) saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13

The Greek word for “untrained” is “idiotes” (id-ee-o’-tace) meaning someone who is an “unlearned, unskilled, common ignoramus.”

When Jesus was building His team of disciples, He didn’t go to the local synagogue to interview the students with the highest grade point averages. Jesus went to the lakeshore and called uneducated, untrained fishermen.

Jesus was looking for “idiotes”—just like me.

I’ve never been to seminary.
I don’t know Greek and Hebrew.
I can’t explain the Trinity or the impassability of God
or why He sometimes uses anthropomorphism to describe Himself.

God is not looking for any old idiot, however. God is looking for regular folks who have been with Jesus. He’s looking for people who will make others around them take note—the kind of followers who may not be the most intellectual, but have Holy-Spirit-wisdom gained from time with Jesus.

Like Peter and John.

Their boldness unnerved the Pharisees and sent them into a panic.
Then those “idiotes” went out and turned the world upside down.


Distracted

Posted on by

The other evening I was playing Wordle on my phone,
while working on a blog post on my laptop,
while watching the Brewer game on TV.

Was I being “distracted from distraction by distraction”?
(T. S. Eliot, “The Four Quartets”)
Sure I was.

The only time the word “distracted” shows up in the Bible is in Luke 10:40. “But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” In Greek, the word means “to be driven about or dragged all around.”

I wanted to know more.

So I put down my Wordle game and looked away from the ballgame so I could open up another tab on my laptop and look up the history of the word “distraction.”

One of the meanings of the word comes from a French term related to a cruel form of torture in the Middle Ages, reserved for the very worst of criminals. The offender’s four limbs were tied to four horses……and……well……they got dis-tracted.

The world tries to pull us in different directions
until we feel stretched and about to snap.

Jesus offers something different.
“In him all things hold together…
So that in everything He might have supremacy.”
Colossians 1:17-18

Lord, I invite You to rule and reign over my time today. Teach me to set aside worthless idols and be drawn to Your beauty, truth and goodness. Distract me away from distractions with Your loving-kindness. Help me keep my eyes on You.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.