“Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, ‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!’” – Matthew 20:17-19
Have you ever known you had to do something hard, but it was still days away?
In the movies we see people sacrifice themselves in the moment, but every now and then we see someone go ahead with a plan knowing they won’t survive.
It’s agonizing.
It’s easy to read through the final days and weeks of Jesus life in the Gospels as if you or I were going through it. When we do that, we imagine what it would be like walking the road toward Jerusalem or entering the city on Palm Sunday or going to the temple on Tuesday.
There’s a big difference though between Jesus and us. We would either be blissfully unaware of what was coming or, if we suspecting something bad was going to happen, still have some hope that we would be able to escape the danger somehow. That’s just how we are. We don’t know the future.
Jesus Knew Jesus, however, knew. As He set His face towards Jerusalem and started walking, He knew He would be arrested in a couple of weeks. As He entered Jerusalem and everyone cheered and praised Him, He knew He would be flogged and beaten in a few days. As He and the disciples prepared for the Passover, He knew He would soon be nailed to a cross.
Jesus Walked Jesus knew. He knew exactly the pain, suffering, and death that was coming. There was no way out. Yet, He walked. Day after day, He walked toward Jerusalem. He rode in on a Donkey, He taught in the temple, and He sat down with His disciples.
I can’t imagine it. It’s terrible. It’s agonizing. Yet, our Lord did it. He did it also knowing that He would be raised again. He did it knowing His death and resurrection would bring life and salvation to us all. He did it because He loved and still loves you.
Dear Jesus,
You gave Your life for mine. You willingly and knowingly suffered for me. I can never thank You enough.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” – Colossians 1:15
Have you ever wanted to see God?
I grew up loving Michael W. Smith. I remember the first time I got to see him in concert. It was a great concert. Up until that point, I had only been able to listen to his music. At the concert, I was able to see him. Beyond that, they did some really great, original things with his music.
Have you ever wanted to see a personal hero in person? Maybe it was a musician or an actor or someone who did amazing things in a field you loved.
What about God? Would you want to see God?
For me, the answer is, yes…and no.
I long to see God. I would love to physically be in His presence. At the same time, though, I know it wouldn’t be quite how I would like. I can’t think of a single example in the Bible where someone comes into the immediate presence of God the Father and it doesn’t result in absolute fear. Think of Moses.
“Moses said, ‘Please show me your glory.’ And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.’” – Exodus 33:18-20
Man cannot stand the full glory of God in our present state. However…
People have seen the image of God.
Jesus is the image of the Father. Jesus even said,
“Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.’” – John 14:8-10
Such is the unity of the Trinity. If you’ve seen the Son, you’ve seen the Father and Spirit. If you have heard the Son, you have heard the Father and Spirit.
We could not be in the presence of the full glory of God and live, but God came to us as man, Jesus. This is why the Father keeps telling us to “listen to Him.” When you listen to Jesus, you listen to the Father and the Spirit. When you believe in Jesus, you believe in the Father and Spirit. They always come together.
You will see God in all of His glory one day.
For those who do not believe in Jesus is will be a day of great fear and death. However, for those who are in Jesus Christ, it will be a day of great joy and celebration. On that day, all those who are in Christ will be able to be in the presence of God in all of His glory as we are raised uncorrupted by sin.
So, yes, some people have seen God in the form we could survive, but one day we will all see Him. By the grace of God, I pray you and I will see Him with joy and celebration.
Dear Jesus,
You have revealed the Father and the Spirit to us. Hold me steadfast in the faith You have given me that I would, one day…and every day after, see You, the Father, and the Spirit in Your glory and do so with great joy, forgiven of my sins and made fully righteous by Your grace.
“When King Herod had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. ‘In Bethlehem in Judea,’ they replied, ‘for this is what the prophet has written: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’” – Matthew 2:4-6
Have you ever looked at a situation and felt like you were too insignificant to do anything about it?
Mother Teresa was a nun teaching in Calcutta when, disturbed by the poverty all around her, she decided to help. She left the convent, got some basic medical training, and went to live with the poorest of the poor. She didn’t set out to become famous or start a movement. She simply set out to care for the poor as best she could.
I can’t find the source, but I remember hearing a story about a man visiting Mother Teresa at her mission. At one point, someone brought in a baby girl that had been horribly neglected and was near death. Desperate, he took the child to Teresa and asked what he should do. She told him to hold her in his arms and love her.
He held her and tried to give her some milk, but she died soon after. He told Teresa what had happened and said he wished he could have helped the girl. Teresa told him he had helped her. She died knowing she was loved.
By No Means The Least Bethlehem was a small town. It wasn’t a seat of power or wealth. There was no reason to expect anything great to come from Bethlehem, but it did. The king and savior of the world was born in Bethlehem.
We may not be the greatest, most powerful, or wealthiest, but God can work amazing things through even the smallest and least among us. It may seem small at the time and we may never even realize the significance of what happens, but we should never underestimate what God can do through our simple and broken obedience and love.
What Can One Person Do? I’ll finish, today, with this. I used to have a shirt when I was in high school. On the front, it showed a single person asking, “What can one person do?” Then, on the back, it showed a crowd of people, each asking, “What can one person do?”
With God and together as the church, I think the answer may surprise us.
Heavenly Father,
You brought Your Son, our Lord and Savior into the world in the little town of Bethlehem. Remind me that no act of love is insignificant and that You can take my feeble effort and do amazing things. Help me to act. Help us, as Your church, to act, by showing Your love and sharing Your Gospel knowing it can change lives and change the world.
“The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” – Isaiah 7:14
Who do you like to spend time with?
It’s a word we hear quite frequently in the church, especially around Christmas time, Emmanuel. It means, “God with us.” As with many names in the Bible, it’s not simply a name, it tells us something. It tells us Jesus is God and God is with us.
The Uniqueness of Jesus as Emmanuel When we talk about the use of the name/title Emmanuel, we tend to make a big deal over it. Jesus is God made flesh. God dwelled among us! How awesome must it have been to be Mary or Joseph or the shepherds or Peter or James!? They got to be with God.
Where does that leave us, though?
Don’t misunderstand. I think it is amazing that God became man and there’s a lot that it tells us about God, but we weren’t alive 2000+ years ago. I think it would be understandable for those of us who lived after 30 A.D. or so (or those who lived before Christ) to not quite feel so excited that someone 2000 years ago got to be in the presence of God.
What if it wasn’t so unique?
What if the concept of God dwelling with us wasn’t the exception, but the norm?
Think about it. When God created Adam and Eve, what did He do? Did He create them and leave? Did He just sit back and watch from a distance? No. He came and walked and talked with them every day!
That’s not the only time, either.
The Angel of the Lord, who many think may be the pre-incarnate Christ, makes several visits.
God visits with several people called prophets throughout the Old Testament. He even spoke with Moses face to face.
When leading the people through the wilderness, God led them with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
When God made the Children of Israel His chosen people, He had them set up a Tabernacle and He dwelt among them. He did the same with the Temple, later.
Jesus is God in flesh dwelling among us.
After Jesus, God poured out His Holy Spirit upon His church and says His Spirit lives in us.
After Jesus returns on the last day. He will create a new heaven and new earth and we will dwell with Him forever.
He’s With You, Now Yes, the way Jesus dwelt with humanity was unique, but the fact that God was dwelling with us wasn’t. In fact, God dwells with all those who have faith in Him every day of our lives, and His plan of redemption was always to return us to a perfect existence of living with Him for all eternity without sin or separation.
Heavenly Father,
You are not a distant God, but one who is near to His people. Thank You for sending Jesus. Thank You for living in me. Bring me to that day when I shall live with You forever without sin or separation.
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me [Moses] from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” – Deuteronomy 18:15
What is your favorite parable or analogy from the Bible?
One of the challenges of teaching the Bible to a congregation is the wide range of age, experience, and education. For example, I may read a picture book to children, but have a discussion group with adults, even though I’m teaching on the same topic to both. The challenge is finding the best way to help the people to understand.
It should go without saying that God is a great teacher. He knows His students well. So, he employs many different teaching techniques to help us to understand what He is teaching. One of God’s teaching techniques is examples in history.
In our passage for today, Moses is connected to Jesus. God would be raising up another prophet like Moses.
So, what does the historical figure of Moses teach us about Jesus?
Moses was a unique prophet. What made him special?
Moses led Israel out of slavery in Egypt.
Moses was the prophet by which God entered into a covenant with Israel.
Moses was able to enter the presence of God.
“The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” – Exodus 33:11
Moses delivered the Word of God to the people, but differently from other prophets. Since he spoke with God face to face, he was able to ask questions and get answers.
Moses led the people to the Promised Land.
Moses performed miracles.
Do you see how connecting Moses to Jesus helps us to better understand Jesus?
Jesus leads us out of the slavery of sin.
It is through Jesus that God entered into a new covenant with us.
Jesus was able to enter the presence of God.
Jesus spoke to the Father and only said to the people what the Father told Him. “The word that you hear is not mine [Jesus’] but the Father’s who sent me.” – John 14:24
Jesus leads us to the Promised Land of Heaven.
Jesus performed many miracles.
The More You Know There is a common saying, “Scripture interprets Scripture.” The more we read the Bible, the better we understand it. As we read about Moses, we can learn about Jesus. As we read about Israel, we can learn about ourselves.
The more we read the Bible the more we see the richness of God’s plan of salvation which was worked out over thousands of years of history and enters our lives, even now.
Heavenly Father,
Create in me a burning desire to read Your Word. As I do, open my eyes and my mind to understand Your Word, to see the many connections throughout Your Word, and to have my faith strengthened by Your Word.
“Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.” – John 8:56-59
In your life, do you hide who you are or are you unapologetically you?
Most people hide certain aspects of their lives. It may be certain interests which they think others would laugh at, like the big, muscular guy who secretly likes to knit, or maybe it’s something they are ashamed of. Jesus, on the other hand, didn’t. He was who He was. We tend to hide things out of insecurity, but when you are the Son of God, you don’t need to be insecure.
Blasphemy!! Jesus let us know that He is the Son of God in several places in the Bible and in different ways. One of my favorite ways is today’s passage.
The Jewish religious leaders didn’t like what Jesus taught, so they sought to discredit Him. This wasn’t easy since He was performing miracles. So, they started saying He was performing the miracles by the power of the devil. Matthew chapter 8, this comes to a head and Jesus tells them who He is…and it makes them even angrier!
How did He do it?
He said this:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
For us, today, we may gloss over this and miss the significance of what He said, but the Jews heard it loud and clear, which is why they picked up stones to throw at Him.
Jesus said, “I Am.”
Why is this significant?
When God was telling Moses to go bring Israel out of Egypt, Moses asked God His name, God responded,
“I AM that I AM.”
So, when Jesus said, “I Am.” the Jews knew exactly what He was saying, “I Am God.” They accused Him of blasphemy, which is why they tried to stone Him.
I Am John 8 isn’t the only time Jesus says this. Over the past week or so our daily devotions looked at several passages where Jesus used the phrase, “I am the …” (I am the gate, I am the Good Shepherd, etc.). Jesus used the phrase over and over again as a not so subtle hint that He is God.
The fact that Jesus is I AM lets us know that we can trust what He says and that He has the power to accomplish all that He promises. No matter what problems we may face, they aren’t greater than the Great I AM.
Dear Jesus,
All authority in heaven and on earth is Yours. Protect me, guide me, save me, and help me to trust You no matter what.
“[Jesus said,] ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.’” – John 15:5,8
What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?
I was listening to a podcast, today, that was all about spiritual discipline. The question they were addressing is what spiritual discipline is and whether it’s a Biblical concept. In the podcast, they quoted Donald Whitley, the author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, who said,
“The only road to Christian maturity and Godliness passes through the practice of the Spiritual Disciplines. “
Is that really true?
A lot has been written on spiritual discipline and many Christians spend a lot of time and effort trying to achieve spiritual maturity through spiritual discipline. You can find hundreds of books written on the subject. They give dozens, even hundreds, of things you can do which they say will cause you to become more godly and mature.
Some you may recognize, such as prayer, reading the Bible, and worship, and others which are less common, such as almsgiving, journaling, watching, silence, simplicity, and more.
Rather than making people more mature in the faith, however, it leads many to become frustrated and less sure of their salvation and others to become prideful about how “godly” they are. Simply put, rather than resting in the grace of God, we look to ourselves and our works for maturity and salvation.
So, what do we do?
Our passage for today keeps it really simple,
“Remain in [Jesus].”
This is one of my favorite descriptions of our life of faith. We are branches. As such, we can only live if we remain in the vine. We can only produce fruit if we remain in the vine. A branch doesn’t will itself to produce fruit. It does so naturally because it is part of the vine.
So, what do we do? We remain in Christ. Don’t cut yourself off from Him. He will give the spiritual water and nutrients we need to live and grow. He does this through His Word and Sacraments (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper). By these means of grace, God strengthens our faith, forgives our sins, and draws us to Him.
It’s all the work of God.
So, we can rest in the grace of Jesus Christ. We can take His yoke upon ourselves for his burden is light.
It’s not that discipline is bad or we shouldn’t do things like reading the Bible and praying. Rather, it’s the difference between thinking we need to do these things to become godly verses thinking we do these things because we get to, we love to, and we know God has given these things to us as a gift, all the while rejoicing in the fact that we have been saved and made holy by God’s work.
Then reading the Bible or praying become a joy rather than a burden and you can rest.
Dear Jesus,
You have grafted me into Yourself, the vine. Keep me firmly attached to You. Feed me with Your supper. Strengthen me by Your Word. Produce Your fruit in my life by the power of Your Spirit and help me to rest in Your grace rather than place myself under the yoke of my own works.
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” – John 14:6
Where do you go to find the truth?
Walter Cronkite used to sign off the evening news broadcast by saying, “And that’s the way it is.” He was a trusted source of news in the country. We don’t have that anymore. According to Gallup, as of September 30, 2020,
9% of U.S. citizens trust mass media “a great deal”
31% “a fair amount”
27% have “not very much” trust and
33% “none at all”
In case you don’t feel like doing the math, 60% of people have a serious distrust of the mass media. It makes is very difficult to know what is true when you have no sources of information that you trust. That’s a very stressful situation.
Truth is Dead While it’s disheartening not to be able to trust your evening news, our society has taken things even further. Have you ever had someone say this to you?
“That’s my truth.”
The implication is that what the person is saying is true and there’s no disagreeing. This has been taken so far as to where many people argue that truth is dead, there is no such thing as objective truth. Whatever you want to believe is true for you even if it goes against all observable facts. This isn’t just stressful or disheartening, it could almost cause one to go insane.
Jesus Would Disagree In our passage for today, Jesus makes it clear. Not only is there such a thing as truth, He is truth. In this case, there really is no arguing with Him.
How do you argue with truth, itself? How do you argue with God who literally defines reality by what He says? If He says there is light, there is. If He says this is right and this is wrong, it is. If He says He is the salvation of mankind, He is.
There Is Truth Jesus tells us the truth. His Word, the Bible, tells us the truth. It is objective truth. When we read it, we can know it is absolutely trustworthy. When we disagree with it, we can’t just tell God what our truth is, we have to change what our truth is to what THE truth is. It’s not always easy and sometimes it’s painful, but the truth is always good.
The Death of Truth We can also trust all of God’s promises…every one. We can trust that God loves us, that He listens to our prayers, and that He came to save us. We can trust Him because He makes those promises come true and nothing can stop Him. We can trust Him because the one who is truth, truly died for us, defeated death and hell, and truly rose again.
This is most certainly true.
So, next time you are seeking the truth, rather than turning on the news or surfing the web, open your Bible and see what Jesus, the truth, has to say.
Dear Jesus,
Truth is so hard to come by in our world, today, but I know that You are truth and Your Word is true. Teach me the truth. Correct where I am wrong. Give me confidence in what You say even when the world tries to tell me their “truth.” Hold me firmly in the truth that I would not be decieved.
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” – John 14:6
When was the last time you used a physical map?
After graduating from college, I moved to Atlanta, GA. I had no job and was broke. Thankfully, a friend of a friend offered me a place to live and another friend of a friend offered me a job. What was the job?
A Courier.
The only problem was that I had never lived in Atlanta before. Now, I had a job that required me to know how to efficiently get around the city. Keep in mind, this is before Google Maps and GPS maps. To make it even more challenging, the owner of the company awarded “runs” (deliveries) based on how quickly the drivers made the deliveries.
So I bought a map of the city. A physical map book (it’s a big city) and went to work.
That map was my life-blood.
It showed me the way for every delivery.
Jesus said, “I Am the way.”
What does this mean?
This means there is no other way to the Father, no other way to eternal life and heaven.
All religions are not the same. There is no other way to the Father, but by faith in Jesus. It’s a hard thing to say, today. You may be called a bigot, intolerant, an islamophobe, or worse. However, it is true…no matter how many people are offended. It is important for you to know, so you are not deceived. It is also important to say so others are not deceived. Who knows. Maybe instead of being offended, the person may believe and be saved. It’s worth risking the insult.
You are not the way. Even as a Christian it’s easy to start to think that your obedience plays a role. It can sneak up on us. I haven’t done x in weeks. I’m definitely good with God! Or…I’ve been struggling so much lately. Am I even a Christian? Either way, you need to hear Christ’s words. He is the way, not you. That’s one of the reasons it’s so important for us to hear that each week in church and in our daily time in God’s Word. We need to keep hearing it.
So, hear it again, today.
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” – John 14:6
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for saving me. I could never have saved myself. Continue to remind me of that. Protect me from false teachings and false religions and give me the boldness to tell others about You.
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’” – John 11:25-26
How far would you go to avoid death?
Death can be a very scary thing. Though, if a 1973 survey is to be believed, people are more scared of public speaking than death. Or, as Jerry Seinfeld put it,
“According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”
But seriously, death scares a lot of people. In fact, some have allowed the fear of death to prevent them from truly living and living boldly. What Jesus says in John 11:25-26 should affect our perception of death and our fear of death.
Two Kinds of Deaths If death wasn’t scary enough, the Bible actually talks about two deaths.
Physical Death – This is when our body dies.
Spiritual Death – This is what will happen after judgment day for those who do not believe in Jesus. They suffer eternal death (as opposed to eternal life). This is not eradication. It’s suffering condemnation for all of eternity.
Both of these types of death are referenced in John 11:25-26.
Three Kinds of Life In Greek, there are three words for life, one for physical life (body), one for mental emotional life, and one for spiritual life. The word Jesus uses in John 11:25-26 is spiritual life.
With these understandings of life and death in mind, we could translate John 11:25-26 this way,
I am the resurrection and the spiritual life. He who believes in me will live spiritually, even though he dies physically; and whoever lives spiritually and believes in me will never die spiritually.
Life Beyond Life and Death Through faith in Jesus, we receive a spiritual life that is greater than our physical life and which physical death cannot overcome.
So, why do we still die physically?
The simple answer is sin. Death is the result of sin. Since our bodies are corrupted by sin, they are mortal. They will die. However, while we still die physically, when we have spiritual life from Jesus, we will never suffer spiritual death. In fact, the spiritual life we have in Christ will overcome physical death and we will be raised again and given new, immortal, physical bodies, uncorrupted by sin. It’s like a seed dying and springing forth a new living plant.
No Fear of Death Because we know that through faith we have spiritual life in Christ, we do not need to fear death anymore. Jesus very clearly demonstrated how little power death had compared to Him at the time he spoke what we read in John 11:25-26. Shortly after saying this, he raised Lazarus from the dead. Death has no power over Jesus.
So, we do not need to fear physical death. I’m not saying to live recklessly, but rather not to live in fear. There are things more important than not physically dying. When we realize that Christ delivers us through death into eternal life, we can boldly live for those more important things
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for my life, both my physical life and my spiritual life. Thank You for overcoming death and give me eternal life. Help me to always remember that You are greater than death. Remove my fear of death that I may live boldly in faith towards You and love towards others.