JESUS SPEAKING

             Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said:  “Father, the hour has come.  Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17: 1-4.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

            Throughout the ministry of Jesus Christ, he continually referred to an hour; a time that had not yet come.  None of his disciples knew what he was referring to in this scripture; it wasn’t until after his resurrection that they understood he was speaking about his crucifixion.  Jesus accomplished all of his works; the healings, the miracles, but his greatest work would be the cross; he is looking to God to raise him up to a place of honor.  Jesus says, “and this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”  The cross tells us about God; the cross is an invitation; a love-letter sent out to every human being, inviting them to fall in love with the creator of all things.  Have you accepted that invitation? 

             As an oil painter, when I paint I don’t paint only for my own pleasure, but I am always keeping in mind those who will see the painting when it is finished.  Every sculptor who sculpts a masterpiece, doesn’t put it in a storage locker when he completes it; rather, he puts it on a pedestal, or places it on display in a museum, or in the center of some fountain in a city square.  I assure you that the man responsible for designing the statue of liberty was very motivated to please those in the future who would lay their eyes upon ‘lady liberty.’  All of the millions that would see her arms, her face, her wide stance, her crown, and her flowing robes would undoubtedly be admiring the man who designed her.

             When the Hubble space telescope captured the first images of the distant Galaxies, with their beautiful colors, nebulae, and gas clouds large enough to swallow the sun, we saw first hand, some of God’s creation.  When the electron microscope was pointed into a cell, we discovered that it was more complex than the space shuttle.  When we see a brand new baby most don’t realize they began as a single cell, no bigger than the period at the end of a sentence; all of the information on how to build your dad, your grandmother, your son or daughter, was held within that single cell; a genetic blueprint from which even you were formed.  God created those blueprints.  Yet, within this enormous universe, out of every work ever displayed, Jesus Christ upon the cross is God’s masterpiece.  We can still look to that masterpiece today and admire God.  He loves us, and his work of love was accomplished by way of the crucifix.

             “Lord Heavenly Father, we praise You.  Your work upon the cross is what we look too, and we see Your glory, and we thank You.  Father, continue to help us to look to You in love.  Help us to pick up our crosses so that others would see Your Glory in our sacrifice as well.  We love You Father, and we ask and pray all of these things in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”

JESUS SPEAKING

            Then he came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to him, and begged him to touch him.  So he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”  Then he put his hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then he sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town” (Mark 8: 22-26.)

 

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

            A blind man who could see nothing had to be led to Jesus, but Jesus does something unexpected.  He leads him out of the city.  And for what reason?  (POSSIBLE INTERPRETATION:  Possibly because the city of Bethsaida was wicked and refused to believe in him.  In another scripture Jesus says, “Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes” (Luke 10: 13.)  Jesus is comparing these two modern cities to a couple of ancient cities.  Tyre and Sidon were cities that God destroyed because they had refused to turn away from evil.  It appears as though Jesus has finished ministering to Bethsaida at this point, and so he leads the man out of the city to do his miracle.  He further tells the man not to return to the city and not to tell them about the healing.  It is interesting to note that the man was not instantly healed.  Jesus could have healed him right away, but there might be a lesson to learn here.  First, every human being needs to meet Jesus, and admit that they are completely blind to the things of God.  Next, they need to trust Jesus and take him by the hand, and allow him to lead them.  The blind man came to Jesus to receive his sight, and the first thing Jesus did was to begin to lead him somewhere else.  The man didn’t ask why, he just followed.  Jesus leads many people out of the life of sin they are in, symbolized in this scripture by Jesus’ leading of the man out of the sinful city.  He then warns the man not to go back in to the city, as Jesus warns those he leads out of a life of sin to not return to that life again.  There are two healings wrapped in to one; the partial healing and the full healing.  The first healing takes place when we follow Jesus, symbolized by the man’s initial healing when he sees trees walking around.  The second healing of the blind man may symbolize the second coming of Jesus Christ.  In other portions of scripture it is said that in this life we see dimly, but in the next we will see clearly.  We have had the first experience with Jesus, but still we are awaiting the second.

            Interestingly enough, I recently broke one of my molars.  The pain was severe, so I went in to see a dentist.  Apparently half of my tooth had broken off.  He went in and did a root canal.  The pain stopped immediately, and my troubles seemed all but over. The only difficulty was, I still had half a tooth and no dental coverage.  I waited a couple of months until I received my insurance and now I have a second appointment with a dentist to receive a crown and to have my tooth restored to ‘as good as new.’  In this life, those of us who come to Jesus Christ and put our faith and hope in him have whatever pain we feel inside relieved.  We come to know a peace that surpasses all understanding.  Yet, we are still afflicted by things because we have bodies made of flesh.  We know hunger, we know thirst, we know physical pain; some people contract diseases, some people suffer the losses of loved ones.  Christ has touched our hearts and our lives and we have received his Holy Spirit, and that Spirit leads us through this evil world to place where we will be healed completely.  We see with limited vision in this place and our understanding of heavenly things is blurred.  Yet, there is time that is coming when we will receive new bodies, that don’t grow old, in a place where there is no more pain and suffering.  We will never thirst, or hunger, or want for anything.  In that day, when Christ returns, we will see clearly, and we will be made perfect.

            Our goal as Christians is to bring blind people to Jesus Christ, that he may take them by the hand and lead them through this world, and in to the world to come.  We can do this by being his messengers.  We represent Jesus Christ in this place.  He is our teacher, and we are his students.  Knowing who he is not enough, we must be doing what he does.  Jesus continues his work in this place through all those who lay down their lives to take up the cross.  May God bless you as you reach out to those who are lost, and as you bring the blind to the only one who can help them to see.)

            “Lord heavenly Father, we come before You today and ask and pray that You would reveal the truth of this scripture to us.  Help us Lord to Look forward to your return and to put our trust and faith in Your leading.  Father, also we pray that You will bring blind people our way that we can lead them to You.  We love You, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things, in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”

JESUS SPEAKING

            Then the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”  So he spoke this parable to them, saying:

            “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15: 1-7.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

             Jesus ate with social outcasts.  This type of behavior was not only unorthodox, it was ‘downright’ shocking.  The religious leaders were absolutely infatuated with ritualistic purity.  They avoided the impure as if they had leprosy.  Middle Eastern Dining consisted of tearing pieces of bread apart and dipping them in to communal bowls.  ‘Double dipping’ was unavoidable.  The Jews believed that if you ate with sinners and ingested their saliva you would become one with them.  Much of the Levitical Law (Old Testament teaching) was focused on proper dietary habits.  Pigs were considered unclean animals because they consumed their own feces.  Anyone who ate bacon for instance would become one with the pig, and they would be unclean and separated from God.  The religious leaders were likening Jesus to someone who was eating with pigs, because they saw sinners as dirty animals.  Jesus reveals to them that God loves every human being unconditionally, and morns for the lost; he doesn’t hate them. 

             Jesus goes on to use the illustration of the Sheppard and his sheep to show God’s relationship with man.  God is the Sheppard and human beings are his sheep.  Just as a Sheppard loves his sheep, so God loves all of his children.  Jesus was speaking to a group of people who were familiar with Sheepherding, which was one of the main industries in the region.  The religious leaders had become so twisted that they valued animals above other human beings.  They’d go after an animal that had wandered in to the wilderness to save it from a predator, but to chase after a human being that had wandered away from God was out of the question; and these were supposed men of God.  Instead of rejoicing with Jesus for all those who were returning to their Father, they attacked Jesus and tried to make him out to be God’s enemy.  They failed to represent God because they themselves were evil.  They were fighting against the working God amongst his people.

             In our society today, we have very little idea of the course of the natural things that surround us.  We’ve never had to dodge a hungry predator, or travel great distances to find food or water.  Most animals survive because they are able to stay in places that protect them from danger.  Birds make their nests in trees, and snakes make burrows for themselves under the ground.  Sheep are animals that have no natural protection; like baby bear cubs who rely on the protection of their mothers, so too, sheep are dependent upon the protection of their Sheppard.  When a baby bear wanders too far away from its mother, it is vulnerable.  The same is true of people, when they wander away from God.  God asks that we come to him because he loves us, not because he needs us to worship Him.  His love is so strong that he sent out his only son to gather his children together, allowing all who have wandered away to return to Him again; to know His love, His protection, and the eternal life that He has provided for all who are willing.

             We must recognize that there are two kinds of human beings, the Lost and the Found.  As Christians it is our ‘labor of love’ to reach out to those who are lost and wandering.  We are charged with the same task as our teacher.  How can we reach out?  We can eat a meal with someone who is not saved, or sit and have a conversation with a person who is in distress; we can plant seeds in the hearts of all of those around us.  We can let others know how warm and peaceful it is inside of God’s arms.  We are not to knock down anyone who has not received Christ, but we are to love them, and let them know that God loves them and wishes to have a relationship with them.  We should rejoice in our hearts when we see others come to Jesus Christ.  Do we have a heart for the Lost that reflects God’s heart?  If we do, then God can use us to go after those who have strayed, and we can lead them out of danger and back to their Father.

             “If you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, I encourage you now to sit down in a quiet place and ask him in to your heart, and in to your life.  Ask him to be the Lord of your life, and turn to Him, and know that in heaven the angels are shouting and rejoicing because you’ve chosen life, love, and a family united under a loving Father.”  God bless all of you.