Tag: Christ

After: Living the Resurrection

The Easter holiday is gone by, we celebrated it in a strange and different way this year. But still Jesus is risen and we shout hallelujah! But now that the day is over, and we are back to semi-normal lives, were does that leaves us? Now that we have celebrated the resurrection of Jesus, we have to decide what to do with it in our lives.

It was the same for Jesus’ followers as well. What would they do after the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus? What would they do now with the news of the empty tomb spreading among them? They all had differing expectations of who Jesus was and how his life would play out with them in it. Even after Jesus told them what would happen, they did not expect this. Like us, they all had to decide what to do with the narrative of Easter.

I want to look specifically at Judas and Peter. Both were Jesus disciples, both betrayed him, yet Bothe responded on different ways. one of the things we learn from both Peter and Judas is this: Jesus knows we will let him down sometimes, He still brings us with Him.

Jesus knows we will let him down sometimes,

He still brings us with Him.

Let’s start with Judas.

Judas betrayal began long before his secret meeting with the Pharisees. Let me say this, I believe Judas loved Jesus. When he began following him, he believed in him, believed he was the Messiah, at least what Judas expected the Messiah to be.

When it was clear that Jesus did not come to establish an earthly kingdom, when Judas expectations were shattered, and he had no problem stealing from Jesus

And then when it became clear that Jesus wasn’t going to meet any of those expectations the relationship shifted – Judas had moved from loving Jesus, to try to benefit from him, to having no use for him at all. In the end he didn’t even make a demand for the payment he received, he simply asked ‘what will you give me?”

Judas betrayal shows us that even the closest followers of Jesus can fall over time.

Then there’s Peter.

Peter was the rock. He was outspoken, loyal and had a bit of a temper. The last one that we think would betray Jesu. “Even all fall way on account of you, I never will (Matt. 26:33)” He remain loyal even to the moment of Jesus arrest, cutting off a man’s ear when they came to arrest Jesus.

So when Jesus tells Peter that he would openly deny that he knew Jesus, not once, but three times, Peter was astonished. After all he was Peter, the rock.

Peter never intended to betray Jesus, but he let fear rule his heart in the moment. Peter doesn’t want to be arrested too, fear overpowers him and causes the rock to turn to sand.

Peter shows us that even the strongest of believers can waiver in fear and doubt, and fail.

Judas like Peter, walked with Jesus. Like Peter he saw the miracles, experienced the teachings and saw amazing things happen. Peter failed in the moment and denied Jesus. Judas failed in his walk with Jesus and betrayed him unto death.

We like it when the villain gets what he deserves, which is why we often don’t shed a tear when we read how Judas died. But by doing so, we miss an important chance to learn from his life.

Judas, like Peter, walked with Jesus. Like Peter he saw the miracles, and experienced the teachings. Peter failed in the moment and denied Jesus. Judas failed in his walk with Jesus and betrayed him unto death.

Both made mistakes, but Peter was restored, and Judas died a horrific death.

Peter never let his heart grow cold to Jesus. His denial was out of fear. Judas had let his heart harden towards Jesus, a betrayal driven by greed and bitterness.

When Judas betrays Jesus (Matt. 26:49), he greets him as Rabbi. Not Lord, not even Jesus, just rabbi. Judas had reduced Jesus to being a mere teacher, a good man.

But when we find Peter in the same moment he shouts “Lord, shall we strike with the sword? (Luke 22:49) and he does. He calls Jesus Lord in the moment of Judas’ betrayal, Jesus is still Lord to Peter.

And then we find Jesus and Peter, sitting on the shores of the Sea of Galilee (John 21:15). Jesus asks Peter if he loves him, and Peter responds “Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus is still Lord to Peter.

We all have our own expectations of Jesus. Sometimes (oftentimes), they don’t match up with who he is, or what is best for us. We get frustrated, we doubt, we have fear.

If we let our doubts, frustrations, fears, and pursuit of earthly things cloud our judgment, we can begin to deny the reality of who Jesus is.

Each us need to choose what to do with the new of Jesus’ resurrection. Will we Jesus as just a good teacher and discount the glory of his resurrection. Or will we see Jesus as the glorified Christ, risen and ready to welcome you with open arms.

Jesus was still Lord to Peter, and Jesus is still Lord today.

 

 

 

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Diving Deeper – A Life Call to Missions

When I was about 10 years old, I visited my sister Jean who lived about an hour away from us. It was in the summer and it was hot, so we all went to the community pool to swim and to cool off a little.

I want you to understand something about me and water. As a child I was like a fish. If there was a pool I was in it. If there was a beach, I begged my parents to spend time there. I LOVED the water. But there was a problem, I was not a very good swimmer. I hadn’t taken any lessons, my Mom had taught me how to float and to swim a little, but that was it. Back to my story.

I was having a blast, fooling around and splashing in the shallow end, and then I had a great (stupid) idea. Why not try my hand at the deep end of the pool. My nephew was over there, so why can’t I be too? So I made my way to the side, I crept along the ledge of the pool, I made it all the way to the divider, went underneath it. And bam, I was in the deep end. Than I proceeded to slip off the ledge and suddenly I was in trouble. What seemed like an awesome idea turned out to be a bad one, I remembered that I couldn’t swim. I struggled, and splashed, I must have swallowed half of the pool. The lifeguard didn’t even jump in the pool, he just kept trying to get me to grab the rope on his whistle. Finally my nephew, Nick,  shoved me to the edge of the pool, and I was lifted out. Needless to say, it was a long time before I ever went back to the deep end.

Learning to swim is a natural part of our childhood and development, and at some point we make the move from staying in the shallows to being able to go to the deep end, where the ultimate reward awaits us – the diving board. In our walk with Christ it is the same way, we spend our formative years as Christian’s learning to splash about in the shallow end, soaking in the grace and mercy of God. But as we grow and mature, we need to be able to take that step, and move into the deeper things of God, and take a dive into the mission that Jesus gave us.

Matthew 28:19 NLT

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

This is our life call to missions. A call that in order for us to obey, is going to take “deep-end” living.

The shallows are great, it’s where we get in the pool, it’s where we discover who we are in Christ, and how much He loves us. But the deep-end is where we need to be headed. That’s where we can dive into what God has for us, and where He wants us to go.

Over the next few days I want to share with you some important ways that we can start to learn to swim, and move from the shallows, to the deep end of God’s purpose and plan for our lives.

Source Material: The Fifty Two, Volume 4  Produced by national youth ministries Copyright ©2010 Gospel Publishing House.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.