Harmony #105: Jesus and Peter: Why Our History Is Not Our Destiny (John 21)

John 20 ends with two verses that wrap things up pretty nicely for the book of John.

“Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31)

But then there’s John 21. Peter, the Rock of the early church, is clearly singled out again in a story that is not entirely flattering. It is presented as a story after the big story, and it is intensely personal. It’s not like the end of the LOTR when softly glowing happy people hug and smile and cry as they gently say perfect goodbyes. So, we have several questions to ask this morning: Why is John wrapped up this way? What do we learn about Jesus? And why does it matter to us?  Here is today’s text.                              

After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way. Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee[1], and two others of His disciples were together.

Only 3 disciples of the 7 who are present are specifically named. If we keep assuming details matter, it’s worth looking at why these three are highlighted. It’s like John is saying, “Hey! Focus!”

·  All three also offered a clear confession of faith at some point in the John’s record. (Peter in John 6:69; Thomas in John 20:28; Nathanael in John 1:49) 

·  All three were “wrestlers” or skeptics of some sort. Thomas is the infamous doubting Thomas (John 20). Nathaniel asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth? (John 1) Peter had betrayed Jesus and is about to wrestle with shame (John 18).

·  Nathanial believed Jesus was the Son of God because Jesus gave him proof (John 1); Thomas believed Jesus had risen after Jesus gave him proof (John 20. We are about to see that Peter is back to his former job as a fisherman. Jesus is going to offer some proof that he still wants Peter to fish for people by going into all the world and preaching the gospel.  

John’s last story highlights what Jesus will do with the wrestlers and the doubters. It turns out that, just like the God of Jacob blessed Jacob when he wrestled, Jesus is going to bless the wrestlers yet again.

Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will also come with you." They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.  But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach.

 Darkness and daybreak set the stage for the story.  

John in the first chapter of his gospel wrote that “In him was life, and that life was the light of mankind; but the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.” (John 1:5)

The symbolism of daytime and nighttime stands out at various points in scriptures, and it does here as well. In Scripture, Night often represents the downside or chaos of life. Peter denied Jesus in the dark just before daybreak. Peter went to the tomb “while it was still dark.”  Here, Peter is fishing in the dark. Here, “the day was now breaking.” Something new and beautiful is dawning.

 The disciples did not know that it was Jesus. So Jesus said to them, "Children, you do not have any fish, do you?" They answered Him, "No." And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch."

So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.[2].  Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord."  

So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on and threw himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish. 

So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish which you have now caught."

Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three;[3] and although there were so many, the net was not torn.

This is the same sea on which Peter had tried to walk on the water and failed.  This time he didn’t even try to walk on the water; he just throws himself in. Maybe he thinks he can outswim the boat. Maybe he tried to walk on water again. I don’t know. Wither way, Peter’s enthusiasm is still there. Note the account says Peter pulled the net in by himself. Dude is pumped!

 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples ventured to question Him, "Who are You?" knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise.

This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.  So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these other disciples love me?"[4]

He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You " He said to him, "Tend My lambs." He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Shepherd My sheep."

 He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Tend My sheep.’”

Three times before the crucifixion, hiding in the darkness, huddled around a charcoal fire, Peter had not loved Jesus more than anything else.  Three times, now, in the light of the morning, huddled around a charcoal fire, by a sea that reminds him of his previous lack of faith, as the day is dawning, he is offered redemption. 

“He does not say ‘Peter,’ but ‘Simon,’ using his former name, as if to remind him of what he was before his calling and to show him that he has fallen from the steadfastness of the rock.”— St. John Chrysostom, Homily 88 on John

Notice Jesus doesn’t act as if nothing happened. Peter needs to experience what’s called kenosis (self-emptying humility). Peter must be humbled before being lifted up. But Jesus is going to once again model the God Creed: lovingkindness over consequences 1,000 to 3.

The first two times, Jesus askes Peter if Peter has agape love for him. Peter responds that he has phileo love. The third time, Jesus asks if he has phileo love, and Peter says, “You know all things. You know that what I have is phileo love.”

The first and second time Peter responds with, “Lord, you know…”  he is referring to knowledge based on perception. But the third time, when Jesus “lowers the bar” and asks if he has phileo love, Peter shifts to a word that means experiential knowledge: 

“Lord, you perceive ALL things; you have experienced my life; we know each other; you have experienced what kind of love I have for you.” I have read a bunch of commentary on this:  Is Peter offended?  Defensive? Exasperated?  Embarrassed? Confused? My sense is that Peter’s last response is a statement of resignation. Jesus is not letting Peter avoid reality. Jesus does know what kind of love Peter has, and it is not yet agape love. Imagine this scene, If you will.

[Setting: sunrises reflects across a sea that brings up a lot of memories for Peter. Peter shifts uncomfortably, the warmth of the coals also stirring old memories. Jesus finally silences the other excited disciples and turns toward Peter.]

Jesus, gently:
Simon, son of John, you once said you would stay faithful even if everyone else – your friends here - fled. Now, I ask you, do you still want to say that you have an unconditional, unwavering, self-giving agape for me more than the other disciples?

[Peter swallows hard). (More than the rest of them? I said I would never fall away, even if they all did. But I fell first. I said I would lay down my life. But I ran. Three times I denied him. In fear—in pride? In weakness. In shame.

Peter, quietly:
Lord… you know that I phileo you. I care for you, I care about you. You’re very dear to me.

Jesus:
Yes, I do know that, Simon. I would like you take care of the Good Shepherd’s sheep.

[Peter, surprised and unsettled, looks down at the fire. He remember how cold he was around that other fire. He remembers the denials and the humiliation and shame that followed. Jesus wants him to lead others now? With that history?]

Jesus – slow to anger and abounding in love – breaks the circle’s silence:
Simon, son of John, again, do you agape me? Are you ready to give me everything and follow me in the path of cruciform love?

Peter: (Am I even capable of that kind of love? Could I have been truthful about knowing him even if it cost me my life?  Could I have stood with him before Pilate? Could I have walked with him to Golgotha? Agape would have. But I didn’t.)

Peter - honest and hesitant:
I think you know that I phileo you. We are deeply connected, like brothers. I know you have great affection for me, and I have great affection for you.

Jesus, strong and kind:
I do have great affection for you. In fact, I want you to be the one who tends my flock of disciples.

[A longer pause. There must be some mistake. This should be the strong, the capable, the dependable – someone who actually is a Rock. Someone whose agape love for Jesus is overwhelmingly strong.)

Jesus breaks the silence again:
So, Simon, son of John, you have phileo love for me, the love of a good friend?

Peter (voice breaking):
Lord… you truly know all things. You have been with me for three years. You know that I don’t yet agape you. What is it you would have someone like me do for you?

Jesus (tenderly):
I would have you, Simon, son of John, to feed my sheep.

Ever have a conversation with someone when your relationship is at its worst?  You have said things or done things that have given the other person every reason to push you away, and when you finally see yourself for the kind of friend or spouse or parent or child that you are, the last thing you have to fall back on is, “I love you, though. I really do.  I have nothing else to say. I’m not very good at it sometimes, and I know when I let you down or hurt you I really let you down and hurt you. But I love you.”  

If I am understanding this correctly, Peter says, in essence, “You have experienced that I am cowardly, and impulsive, and self-centered, and doubting…but I love you the best I can right now.” Then Jesus speaks to Peter’s future, one in which he will show the self-sacrifical, life-surrendering nature of agape love:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go." Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me!"

It turns out that Chapter 21 is a victory song to conclude the gospels. Here we are shown, through Peter, that our shortcomings and failures can be forgiven, and that Jesus wants us broken and imperfect people to follow Him and build His kingdom anyway.   

Peter stands in for all of us in this story. 

·  Peter, who was afraid of servant girls around campfires, will preach to the masses in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell like fire. 

·  Peter, who cut off a man’s ear, will heal a man crippled from birth. 

·  Peter, the coward, will be called by the apostle Paul a "pillar" of the Church. 

·  If tradition is correct, for nine months, in absolute darkness, the Peter who denied Christ out of fear of the fallout will endure monstrous torture manacled to a post.  He will convert his jailers and forty-seven others.

·  Peter, who once rebuked Jesus for saying the Messiah needed to suffer, will be crucified upside down, and (if tradition is correct) will even speak words of comfort to his wife as she goes to her death.

 Peter’s death will show to all of us that our history does not have to be our destiny. Morning is now coming to be, because the Light Of The World has come.

“The world and the church are littered with smashed lives and vessels ground beneath vengeful, judging feet… cross the line of shame (we think) and there is no way back… Not so because of Easter.  The veil of death is parted; through it a hand reaches out to Peter, shamed and probably resigned to former routines.  

Wherever and however it happened, Peter was turned from death to life. The God who had not abandoned Christ in death would not abandon Peter in his. Against all odds…God proposed to love Peter again…yes, he will follow as once he declared he would.”

We are called from that night where Peter, giving up and back in his old life, fishing in the dark, could catch nothing.  Now, as the light dawns on us, resurrection means we are able to receive the love God proposes us.” (William Loader)

What do I learn about Jesus?

HE CALLS THOSE OF US HIDING IN DARKNESS INTO THE LIGHT.  

We all have a history of which we are ashamed. It has been this way since Peter. We didn’t deny Christ in the courtyard of the palace, but we have denied him with our tv’s, and our computers, and our budgets, and our priorities, and dating, and marriages, and family dynamics, and addictions, and words…. Jesus meets us in the darkness and calls us into the light of his truth, grace and healing.

HE WILL MAKE US FACE THE DEEDS WE DID IN THAT DARKNESS.

It is sometimes easy to put on a front that masks who we know we have been, but Jesus sees through masks. Anybody can come to church and talk it up, and impress people. And we might even believe our own PR campaign.  “Hey, I’m pretty good. Jesus is lucky to have me!”   

David says God desires a “broken and repentant spirit.”  If we want to fully follow Christ, and truly make an impact in His Kingdom, we must be willing to be broken. We must be willing to have the deeds done in darkness brought into the light of Christ. There is no other way.   

He might make this happen in front of other people, by the way. Peter wasn’t alone. Six of his best friends were there. I don’t think this is an accident. God designed His kingdom so that we do life in Christ with others. This is how testimonies work. 

HE WILL EMPOWER US TO FOLLOW HIM AND BUILD HIS KINGDOM.  

That last chapter of John is an encouragement to the church.  History is not destiny when Jesus enters the story.  Your story is not over, because Jesus is working in your life to shine His light into all the dark places, and take your weaknesses and fill them with His strength. 

____________________________________________________________________________

[1] This will include John.

[2] This mirrors the event when Jesus first called Peter as recorded in Luke 5.

[3] There is a lot of discussion about whether or not the specific number of fish matter. Considering how the Gospel writers use details, it’s tempting to think there is. If so, here is my preferred explanation. “The number cliii., is memorable. Jerome, on Ezekiel 47 : [9, 10, “There shall be a very great multitude of fish—their fish shall be according to their kinds”], “They who have written of the natures and peculiar qualities of animals, who have learned ἁλιευτικὰ, as well in the Latin as in the Greek language, of whom Oppian, a Cicilian, is the most learned poet, assert that there are one hundred and fifty-three kinds of fishes, all of which were taken by the apostles, and not one remained uncaptured; whilst both the noble and base-born, the rich and poor, and every class of men, are being drawn out of the sea of the world to salvation.” Comp. Matthew 13:47, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind.”—οὐκ ἐσχίσθη, was not broken)  (Bengal’s Gnomen)

[4] “Peter had professed to be ready to die for His Master (John 13:37) and had declared that though all the rest might deny Him, he would never do so (Matthew 26:33). Jesus recalls this boast by asking him whether he now professes to have more loyalty and devotion than the rest.” (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)

Harmony #104: Believe, Belong, Behave (John 20:30-31)

The Apostle John concludes his gospel in this fashion:

“Jesus performed many other wondrous signs that are not written in this book.[1] These accounts are recorded so that you, too, might believe that Jesus is the Anointed, the Liberating King, the Son of God, because believing grants you life in His name.” John 20: 30-31

Actually, that sounds like a conclusion, but it’s not. There is an epilogue. We will look at chapter 21 next week. John had one goal in writing his gospel: to convince his readers that Jesus was God in the flesh so that they would believe, because believing in what Jesus did for us grants life to us. A couple questions come to mind:

· What life did he come to share?

·  How do we know we are living in it?

That life’s eternal expression will be life that finds it fullness in the New Heaven and New Earth. Throughout the New Testament, the writers cling to the promise of a heavenly reality that points us toward the day when we will see Jesus fully and experience Kingdom life fully.

But that life also starts now. When Jesus said, “the kingdom of Heaven is like…” he gave earthly examples about how life looks when God’s Kingdom comes and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Life granted “in his name” happens now. We can participate now in a life in line with the character, nature and will of God. That’s a huge claim, but we can look at what Jesus said and did to get an idea of what that looks like.

·  preached peace, hope, love, gentleness, kindness, and forgiveness.

·  taught respect for authority even as he taught how to respond properly to corrupt or oppressive power.

·  called people away from sin and hypocrisy and into righteous integrity

·  taught generosity over greed.

·   preached repentance and modeled forgiveness.

·  claimed we could really know God and know the truth about how He wants us to live in holiness

·  said that knowing this could set us free from the bondage and wages of sin

·  argued that love included both justice and mercy working together for righteousness

·  demonstrated that God loves the world, not just one race, class, or sex.

·  treated even the most marginalized people with value, worth and dignity.

·  said the world was broken by sin, but He could fix it – at great cost.

·   explained that we were dead in our sins, but he could bring us back to life.

·   proclaimed we could be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven now and for eternity in the ages to come.[2]

This is good news, from top to bottom. The word got out relatively quickly. If we know anything about Rome or Babylon – or empires in general – the vision of the Kingdom lived rightly is really, really compelling.

In AD 100, there were about 25,000 Christians. In AD 300, there were about 20 million. As best I can piece together what historians have to say, the number of Christians went from about ½% of the populations they were in in AD 100 to 15% by AD 300.

Jesus was compelling (as revealed in the compelling presence of his transformed followers). But Jesus wasn’t the first thing outsiders saw. There was something about the life that He promised as expressed by his church body that drew people to join followers of Jesus and get introduced to Jesus.

In about 130 AD, Justin Martyr formalized what the early church was already noticing.  He noted that the Kingdom of God was exploding because followers of Christ were doing three very specific things: they were believing, belonging, and behaving[3] - three words we will need to clarify.  I want to revisit this today not as a formula that promises specific results, but as a general framework for how God intends to mold us into the image of Christ so that our life is truly ‘life in His name.’

BELIEVE

When we see ‘belief’ or “faith” in scripture, it might be helpful to substitute trust, reliance, or dependence. They were talking about placing our trust in Christ, about relying on him so much that we’re holding nothing back, and about a dependence that proves we’ve given up the need to control or be in control. So when we see John or Jesus talking about belief, they aren’t looking for us to merely agree with what they’re saying. They are pointing toward an entire reorientation of our life. Do we place our trust in the love of a crucified and risen Savior?

This belief /trust will only be as helpful as it is accurate. If we are really going to trust, depend, and rely on Jesus, we are going to want to make sure we have an image of Jesus that is true to the character and nature of God. In the years following Christ’s departure the early church revisited the teachings of Jesus and the writing of the apostles and agreed upon a number of things were crucial for Jesus’ followers to know so their faith would grow.

·   God is the personal Creator of the World

·    he Trinity reveals the relational, loving nature of God

·   God became human in Jesus Christ (the ‘incarnation’)

·   We learned what God is like in the most complete revelation in human history, because Jesus is God revealed, so God is just like Jesus.

·   Christ’s death and resurrection conquer the power of sin, death, Hades and the grave.

·   Jesus rose from the dead physically

·   Because of His resurrection, we can be raised to new spiritual life now and an embodied life in the New Heaven and Earth in the age to come

·   We experience salvation by His grace, not our works

Add all that to the earlier list of all the ways in which Jesus brings life. Here’s why believing all these things about Jesus to be true is so important: It is hard for our heart to embrace what our mind rejects. We may love someone or something we don’t fully understand, but it’s probably not possible to commit with genuine trust in a person or idea that our minds reject as untrue, unhealthy, or unsafe in some fashion.  If I don’t think the company I work for is a good company, it will be hard to emotionally really give my heat to my job.  If my mind harbors angry or resentful thoughts toward my wife, it will be hard for my heart to be for her. If I don’t believe that the revelation of Jesus in the Bible is true, why would my heart experience Scripture as comforting?

·If someone who was considering a relationship with someone who was not safe and good, we would never tell them to entrust their heart to that person. If I we don’t believe God is safe and good, why would we tell people to entrust their hearts to God?

Perhaps that is why Paul was so adamant when he wrote:

“I know (perceived; been made aware) whom I have believed (placed my faith in; trusted) and am persuaded (convinced; confident) that he is able to keep that which I have committed (entrusted; deposited) unto him...” (2 Timothy 1:12)

That sure sounds like his confidence in Jesus allowed him to entrust important things to him. That’s head and heart in sync.

If Truth is only some distant, abstract idea, it can become very cold and lifeless. Same with God. But God personalized himself through Jesus Christ. He made himself accessible and knowable by taking on a form we could understand. We obviously don’t experience him like Jesus’ contemporaries did, but John recorded all that he did so that his readers throughout the rest of history would be able to learn about Jesus so that they would but their trust and reliance on Him.

So believing – trusting, relying upon, leaning on – is the first part of following Jesus.

Belong

Step Two is a relational step. The opening line of the Lord’s Prayer reminds us that God is “our” Father, not just “my” Father. We are raised from spiritual death to life in community. It’s easy to think of salvation as an act that pulls us into a vague spiritual family, but that was not God’s intent. We are drawn into a very physical, messy, beautiful and sometimes startling family of other people who are also trying to follow Jesus. A church building is where we meet, but the church – the real church – is composed of a community of Christ followers who commit to doing life together through thick and thin.

I believe God instilled this need for community deep within us. Dartmouth Medical School and the YMCA did a study called “Hardwired to Connect.”  Their conclusion was that “from the moment a baby is born, their brain is physically, biologically, and chemically hardwired to connect with others in relationship.”[4] That’s something God put in place in His image bearers.

Communities matter. Belonging somewhere matters. This is why Cheers, Friends and Big Bang Theory resonate with so many people. Almost every show or movie has a group that matters. The Avengers. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. How To Train Your Dragon. Toy Story. I remember watching the Angry Birds movie with my kids and realizing that I was meant to feel bad for the really angry bird because everybody rejected him. The Joker movie with Joaquinin Phoenix put a magnifying glass on what happens when we have no friends. We are wired for community. That doesn’t mean being an extrovert is the default. It just means that we need other people in our relational village, large or small.

During adolescence, the brain seems most primed to address fundamental questions about life.  There seems to be a strong correlation between young people connecting with God and connecting with others.  One of Darmouth’s fascinating conclusions is that the healthier the human relationships, the healthier the God relationship. One Christian college teacher noted:

‘Some of my students were incredibly intelligent and even showed an interest in Christ, but they never seemed to make a breakthrough. I was trying to convince them of the evidence of Christ, and they just couldn’t get it. Looking back, I realize many of these students were emotionally wounded (or even abandoned) individuals who simply could not connect with what I was saying.”[5]

We are rational and relational beings – we think and we feel. Truth was meant to be given in the context of relationship so it sinks in not just intellectually but also emotionally. Paul noted in one of his letters:

“We cared so deeply for you that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” (1 Thessalonians 2:8)

This does not mean we are forced into a decision about God by how others interact with us; we have free will, and we will answer to God for our choices, not the choices of those around us.  Nevertheless, people in our communities can have a profound impact on our spiritual formation.

It’s often noted that people associate God the Father with their parental figures in their lives. Personally, I have found this to be true. But that doesn’t mean I should settle for that because the image I pick up of the Ultimate, Perfect Parent is going to be distorted. Just because my view of God the Father was influenced by Leon my father doesn’t mean that my view is correct or complete.

One of the important things about Christian community is that we are surrounded by fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, who help, through their relationship with us, to give us a broader, deeper, more complete understanding of God as a relational God who draws us into His family.

Growing together like this – growing up together like this? – is a key component in spreading the good news of “life in His name” so that others are drawn to belonging to Christ and His Kingdom. One historian noted how this has looked practically throughout church history:

“Christianity revitalized life in Greek and Roman cities by providing relationships able to cope with urgent problems. To cities filled with the homeless and impoverished, Christianity offered charity as well as hope. To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate basis for attachments.

To cities filled with orphans and widows, Christianity provided a new and expanded sense of family. To cities torn by violent ethnic strife, Christianity offered a new basis for social solidarity. And to cities faced with epidemics, fires, and earthquakes, Christianity offered effective nursing services.” ( Rodney Stark, “The Rise of Christianity”)

 Justin Martyr, whom I mentioned at the beginning, wrote to Emperor Antoninus Pius and described how the new Christian believers offered a spiritually and relationally compelling home:

"We formerly rejoiced in uncleanness of life, but now love only chastity; before we used the magic arts, but now dedicate ourselves to the true and unbegotten God; before we loved money and possessions more than anything, but now we share what we have and to everyone who is in need.

Before we hated one another and killed one another and would not eat with those of another race, but now since the manifestation of Christ, we have come to a common life and pray for our enemies and try to win over those who hate us without just cause."

So we begin with belief – trusting and relying on God -  and we add to it belonging – becoming embedded in a community of Christ followers who are not perfect, but who are being transformed into the image of Christ so that we increasingly “make real” to those within and without outside the church the abundant life that Jesus offers us by His grace.

If we do not send a message to others that they belong, that they have a place here, we will put a stumbling block in their way. One of the most important ways we build that faith of others is showing them that their trust in Jesus and his family is the right path, because his family demonstrates the love that drew them to Jesus.

Behave

“As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him and reflect (“mirror”) His glory even more.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

This is not “Behave!” like I would say to my students. This is short for “behavior.”  Just as Jesus embodied and lived the Truth, we should embody and live the truth. Our behavior will mirror what our mind and our hearts have embraced. It is in the behavior of our hands that we see what we believe in our head and love in our heart. Our lives will mirror what our mind and our hearts have embraced.

This is not to suggest we will reach perfection, or that the better we behave the more God is obligated to us. This also does not suggest that God’s love for us hinges upon our ability to be good. However, the Bible is pretty clear that our true beliefs and our true sense of where we belong are revealed in our commitment to embracing His plan for how we ought to live as a representative of Christ. “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Or like a popular Christian hymn from the 60’s said, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”)

Let’s put “believe, belong, and behave” together for a moment to see how all three are inseparable is we are wanting to follow Jesus.

What if we believe - but we don’t belong? What if we decide that we don’t need a community of Christians to help grow our faith since we have our own thoughts or an internet bubble that affirms us? As a result, we get lost in our own interpretation of Scripture and judgment of those who disagree with us because we aren’t participating in the ebb and flow of community church life in which the unity around Jesus is found in diversity of opinion and experience.

Now, sometimes community doesn’t look compelling because the people around us are unhelpful jerks or feel unsafe. Churches are not exempt from that. If that’s, that’s heart-breaking. That’s a topic for another time. I’m talking more about rejecting community because of pride (“I don’t need to be around those losers”) or self-sufficiency (“I already have it all figured out – better than any of them, for sure.”

If this is the case, we will come across as proud, aloof or distant – because we are - and we will remain baffled about why other people find their church family so meaningful. We never fully dive into a church because there’s always something wrong with it. We never let “iron sharpen iron” because we bail when someone challenges anything in our lives, so our maturity and character-building stalls.  We never allow ourselves to be fully known and loved by others; our relationship muscle is never developed, and it impacts our understanding of and relationship with God.

What if  we believe and belong -  but our behavior does not consistently reflect God’s will for our lives?Let’s be clear - good behavior won’t earn us salvation or attract the love of God, who simply loves us.  We will, however, harvest a practical reality in our life from what we have spiritually planted. If we plant holy living, we will harvest “life in his name.” But if we plant sin, we will harvest life in our name, and that’s a terrible thing. We will continue to be damaged by our sin even as we harm those around us – because that’s the way sin always works. It’s never just me and my sin. It’s us and my sin. Our actions have a communal impact. We don’t live in a bubble. When our behavior puts the lie to the beliefs we say order our lives, practical, relational, and maybe even spiritual fallout follows.

We belong and our behavior aligns with God’s path, but we have no beliefs that ground our faith. We don’t actually believe Jesus is who he claims, or we dismiss the Bible’s teaching on our sin and our need for salvation. Then church just becomes a self-help club.

We might feel good – we might embrace life principles that work (the Bible is full of them) – but there is no saving faith; there is no transformation by the Holy Spirit into the image of Christ. There is just ordering your life to live well so we are happy. But that will crumble – not because God failed, but because God was never embraced.

But… when these three things work together, the glory of God and the goodness of a life lived “in his name” becomes clear to a world in desperate need of a Savior.

“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved perfection (“I have not reached the final phase”). But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all the Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be.” (Philippians 3:12)

It’s work, but Paul doesn’t seem put off by it. He seems excited about the fact that God has a particular goal in mind for who he wants Paul to be: in this context, God wants Paul to be transformed into the image of Christ, so that his mind thinks God’s thoughts, his heart loves what God loves, and his hands do the things God would have him to do.  And to Paul, that final phase is well worth the spiritual fight. If you read about who Paul was before his life was transformed by Christ, you know why he is excited about this.

If you have experienced spiritual transformation in your life, you know the hard work is worth it.  True spiritual progress and healing builds its own momentum.

·  Maybe you were always angry, or resentful, or greedy. But you believed that Jesus had the answer; you trusted him; you confessed and repented in a church community where you belonged, and you committed to behavior that aligned with God’s will for your life. As God worked in you, you began to see what life was like on the other side of the chains of sins, and the sweeter that life looked, and the true glory and trustworthiness of Christ emerged from behind the cloud of doubt and sin.

·  Maybe your life was a series of heartbreaks because you kept repeating patterns of sinful behavior that looked so appealing in the moment but always brought you crashing down in the end. But then with God’s help you committed to truly dedicating your life to His will and His path, and as hard as it was to break those old patterns, a peace and freedom opened up in your life that you had not experienced before.

Experiencing this changes us. We taste the freedom that comes with surrender, and our behavior increasingly mirrors what our mind and our hearts have embraced. That once again is not just for us; it’s a profound opportunity to spread the gospel.

"According to the early Christians, the church doesn't exist in order to provide a place where people can pursue their private spiritual agendas and develop their own spiritual potential. Nor does it exist in order to provide a safe haven in which people can hide from the wicked world and ensure that they themselves arrive safely at an otherworldly destination...

The purpose is clearly stated in various places in the New Testament: that through the church God will announce to the wider world that he is indeed its wise, loving, and just creator: that through Jesus he has defeated the powers that corrupt and enslave it; and that by his Spirit he is at work to heal and renew it." ~ N.T. Wright

In a world in desperate need of a Savior, where community and relationships are shallow and fleeting or destructive, and hypocrisy splashes across the headlines, our best witness for Christ will be full of true belief, genuine community, and a passionate commitment to living with holy integrity. And when this happens, we experience and we proclaim “life in his name.”

I want to end with a song that invites you to believe, and belong, and let your life be changed by Jesus.

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[1] “Look at the synopsis of the miracles which exhibit the omniscience and omnipotence of Jesus Christ in the Harmony of the Gospels… He gave proofs of His omnipotence when He converted the water into wine, John 2:6, etc.: Purified the temple, ch. John 2:13, etc.; Mark 11:15, etc.: Removed fever, ch. John 4:47, with which comp John 4:52; Matthew 8:14-15 : Cleansed the leper (Matthew 8:2-3), nay, even ten lepers at the same time, Luke 17:12, etc.: Healed those sick of the palsy, Matthew 8:5, etc., Matthew 9:2, etc.: Restrained and cast out demons, Mark 1:23-24; Matthew 8:28-29; Matthew 9:32-33; Matthew 12:22; Matthew 15:22, etc.; Mark 9:17, etc.; Luke 11:14 : Applied His healing power to diseases of years’ continuance, John 12:18; John 12:38; Matthew 9:20, etc.; Luke 13:11, etc.; John 5:5, etc.: Bestowed sight on the blind (Matthew 9:27-28; Mark 8:22-23; Matthew 20:30-31), nay, even on one born blind (John 9:1, etc.): Restored the withered hand, Matthew 12:10-11 : Commanded the wind and sea (Matthew 8:26; Mark 6:51), also the fishes, Luke 5:4-5; Matthew 17:27; John 21:6 : Fed abundantly at one time five, at another time four, thousand with a few loaves, Matthew 14:18-21; Matthew 15:34-38 : Raised the dead, Matthew 9:18, etc.; Luke 7:11, etc.: John 11:1, etc.: Gave to the disciples also power to perform miracles, Matthew 10:1; Matthew 14:28-29; Luke 10:9; Luke 10:17; Luke 10:19; Mark 16:20. To these are to be added, the cursing of the fig-tree, Matthew 21:18 : The efficacy of His word, I am He—let these go their way (His enemies fell to the ground, John 20:6), John 18:4, etc.: The healing of Malchus, Luke 22:51 : The miraculous feast, John 21:9. Very often crowds of sick persons were healed, Matthew 4:23; Luke 5:17; Matthew 9:35; Matthew 12:15; Mark 6:5”  (Bengel’s Gnomen, biblehub.com)

[2] “And that believing ye might have life through his name: believers have their spiritual and eternal life through Christ; their life of grace, of justification on him, of sanctification from him, and communion with him; the support and maintenance of their spiritual life, and all the comforts of it: and also their life of glory, or eternal life, they have through, or in his name; it lies in his person, it comes to them through him as the procuring cause of it; it is for his sake bestowed upon them, yea, it is in his hands to give it, and who does give it to all that believe: not that believing is the cause of their enjoyment of this life, or is their title to it, which is the name, person, blood, and righteousness of Christ; but faith is the way and means in which they enjoy it; and therefore these signs are written by the evangelist for the encouragement of this faith in Christ, which is of such use in the enjoyment of life, in, through, and from him.” (Gill’s Exposition Of The Entire Bible, biblehub.com)

[3] I believe I first read about this in Josh McDowell’s book, The Unshakable Truth

[4] You can read a brief overview here: http://dartmed.dartmouth.edu/winter03/html/vs_connect.shtml

[5] This is recounted in Josh McDowell’s book, The Unshakable Truth

Harmony #103: Four Sightings After A Funeral

Sighting #1 The Women at the Empty Tomb: A Harmonized Resurrection Narrative[1]  (Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:7-8, Luke 24:9-11, John 20:1-17)

As the first light of dawn broke on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, Joanna, and other women prepared the spices they had brought to anoint Jesus’ body (Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1).  

Just before they set out, a great earthquake shook the ground, and an angel of the Lord descended from heaven. Dressed in robes white as snow[2], he rolled back the stone from the entrance of the tomb and sat upon it (Matthew 28:2-4). The guards, witnessing this, trembled and became like dead men.

Unaware of the earlier events, the women made their way to the garden, discussing along the way, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” (Mark 16:3). As they arrived, they saw that the stone had already been rolled away from the tomb (Mark 16:4; Luke 24:2; John 20:1).  

Bewildered, Mary Magdalene immediately left to inform Peter and John, exclaiming, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him!” (John 20:2). Meanwhile, the other women entered the tomb and saw two men in dazzling garments sitting where Jesus’ body had been. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground.

One of the angels said, “Do not be afraid. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He lay” (Matthew 28:5-6; Mark 16:5-6; Luke 24:4-5). The angels instructed the women to go and tell the disciples, especially Peter, that Jesus was going ahead of them into Galilee (Mark 16:7; Matthew 28:7).

As the women left, still trembling and in awe, Peter and John, alerted by Mary Magdalene, rushed to the tomb. John arrived first but hesitated at the entrance, while Peter went straight in. They saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head rolled up separately (John 20:3-7). Astonished, they returned to their homes, still uncertain of what had happened (Luke 24:12; John 20:8-10).

Mary, who had followed them back, remained outside the tomb, weeping. As she looked inside, she saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. [3] They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She replied, “They have taken my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him” (John 20:11-13).  

Turning around, she saw a man standing there whom she assumed was the gardener.[4] When he spoke her name, “Mary,” she recognized Him as Jesus and cried out, “Rabboni!”, or “Teacher” (John 20:14-16). Jesus said, “Do not continue clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:17).

As Mary went to deliver the message, Jesus also appeared to the other women on their way back to the city. They took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Jesus repeated the angel’s instruction: “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see Me” (Matthew 28:9-10).

As the news spread among the disciples and throughout Jerusalem, fear and doubt mingled with a glimmer of hope. The women, the first witnesses, carried the astounding news: “The Lord is risen indeed!” (Luke 24:34).

Note Jesus’ gentleness (“Greetings!”) and reassurance (“Do not be afraid!”). This will continue in the other sightings. He is not showing up in a huge flex of power (at least not as the people would expect the powerful to appear). Oh, he is strong, but he is not pompous, arrogant, and out to get revenge. To quote the title of a song I love, he is simply Jesus, strong and kind.

Many commentators have rightly noted that having women as the first to encounter the risen Jesus - particularly Mary Magdalene, whom he had delivered from demons - is striking in a cultural context where women’s testimonies were undervalued and considered unreliable. Jesus did not choose the powerful and privileged in his culture to be the first witnesses and the first evangelists. He chose the unexpected and overlooked.

It reminds me of how God was revealed last week in the stories of Hagar and Joseph: God cares for those others despise or dismiss. God stays with the powerless, those who are weak in the eyes of others. The God Creed is on display immediately after his resurrection.[5]

Sighting #2 Two Men on the Emmaus Road (Lk 24:28-32)

So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent." So he went in to stay with them.  When he was at table with them, he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 

And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight.[6] They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?"

One of those walking with Jesus was Cleopas, whom tradition says was Jesus’ uncle.[7] Tradition also says that Cleopas was like a father to Jesus after Joseph died. If this is true, that means Jesus left the tomb and immediately found his ‘earthly father,’ perhaps even going to his home to be with him and his wife and to break bread and bless them. I think that’s pretty cool.

The breaking of bread also reminds us of the Last Supper. If the other walker was Luke, I am guessing he had some déjà vu. But apart from that, notice how the risen Lord serves them: he breaks the bread for them. Remember the importance of meals together. They signify fellowship and belonging. They affirm the value and dignity of the people with whom you are eating. Jesus is pleased to be with these people, as “dull and slow of heart” as they were.

Sighting #3 The Disciples (John 20:19-23)

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them[8] and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”[9]

The word for ‘breathe’ is only used once in the New Testament, and that is here. The only other time it is found in the Bible is in the Greek translation of  Genesis 2:7 when God breathed life into Adam. Surely this is not a coincidence. We are supposed to hyperlink to Genesis 2:7.

Remember how the gospel of John started?

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… all things were made by him.”

John bookends his Gospel with a shoutout to the beginning.[10] The Creator is in the process of a New Creation, with the Spirit of God from the Second Adam being given to the children of the first Adam. The first time, God gave physical life. The second time, God gives spiritual life.[11] Soon, Jesus will send them on a Great Co-mission with a new command to be fruitful and multiply in a new way: making disciples of Jesus.

Sighting #4  Jesus Appears to Thomas (John 20:24-29)

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”[12] Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

What about those who find it hard to believe? How will Jesus treat them? Will he be dismissive? Impatient? Angry? Of course not.

Last week, the story of Jacob reminded us that God blesses, not punishes, the wrestler. Jesus patiently meets Thomas in his doubt, mirroring Jesus’ patience with his disciples all throughout the gospels. It turns out Jesus is slow to anger, abounding in mercy and loving kindness.

What We Can Learn Today

We, too, often don’t recognize Jesus. In the first two stories, Jesus was not immediately recognized. I wonder how often we don’t recognize Jesus being near to us?

Today this would happen in a different way, of course.  Jesus is with us, all the time. “Bidden or unbidden, God is present,” said Erasmus. Jesus is always walking with us – we just don’t always recognize his presence. I like the chorus of a song called “There Was Jesus”:

“In the waiting, in the searching
In the healing and the hurting
Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces
Every minute, every moment
Where I've been and where I'm going
Even when I didn't know it or couldn't see it
There was Jesus. [13]

Are we looking for Jesus in our own lives and in the lives of others? Are we attentive to his presence, even when it’s not immediately obvious? Are we looking at our stories – where we were, where we are – and looking to see where Jesus was with us, “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and faithfulness, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin”?

Jesus brings peace. It’s interesting to me how Jesus over and over keeps saying, “Be at peace.” I was taught that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and I am not here to dispute that. It’s just that there is some context that would have been helpful.

First, I will contend that ‘fear’ in that context ought to be understood as awe-filled reverence,[14] rather than a call to be terrified of my Heavenly Father. In fact, here’s the whole verse:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” (Proverbs 9:10)

This verse is saying the same thing twice, just in a different way. That reverential awe comes from knowledge of God, and the insight that awe brings starts us down the path to wisdom. Notice that even if this was about being terrified, it would still be the beginning of insightful wisdom about God, not the end.

John will specifically say in a letter to early Christians that the “phobos” kind of fear (from which we get the word phobia) had no place in our relationship with God:

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear (phobos), because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:16-19)

Jesus shows up after his resurrection, Perfect Love in the flesh, and drives out terror while building up reverence in response to cruciform love. Just like the angels pronounced when he was born, peace follows his favor.

 So I am wondering: in our quest to let Jesus work through us, do we bring peace where we go? That might be resolving conflict or injustice or stopping evil. That is one way to bring peace. It might be that when we show up, people know we aren’t going to create drama. It might be that we are a safe place for people to pour out their lives to us.

It just seems to me that if we are going to be like Jesus, we should be proclaiming the good news that a peacemaker has arrived when we show up as ambassadors of the Prince of Peace. “Thank God the Christians are here! We  were waiting for somebody to bring peace.”

Jesus invites us into Co-mission. Each sighting included a directive: go to Galilee, announce the ascension, continue his mission. These instructions prepared followers of Jesus for their post-resurrection roles.[15] They were commissioned in that they were on co-mission with Jesus.

What is our co-mission with Jesus? Well, there is the Great Commission (we will get to that soon). There is the Sermon on the Mount. There is the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). Then there is our more personal co-mission with Jesus, where he prepares us for something or someone or some place tailored for us. There is always a ‘go and tell’ that follows ‘whosoever will may come.’ It doesn’t have to be culturally grand. You don’t need a massive event or a huge social media platform. It can be your neighbor, your friend, a co-worker, a family member, a 3rd grader in Kid’s Ministry. But there is always a ‘go and tell.’

Jesus brings transformation. In the accounts we read today, encounters with Jesus shifted people from:

·       Fear to trust

·       Grief to joy

·       doubt to faith

·       confusion to recognition

·       self-preservation to commission

How is Jesus’ ongoing presence (and the presence of the Holy Spirit) transforming us? What has beenmade new? That’s a good testimony for ‘go and tell.’  What is being made new? Hmmm. That’s a good, honest testimony for ‘go and tell.’

If people can’t see Jesus clearly in our lives— compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and faithfulness, and forgiving —are we truly living as ambassadors of the good news of the saving power of a risen Savior? Who around you can tell it’s happening? Are there witnesses around you that can testify on your behalf?

Let’s be Jesus to those around us—present, tangible, transformative—just as Jesus has been for us.

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[1] This is based on Peter Ballard’s harmonization of the accounts in the four gospels. “Harmonizing the Resurrection Accounts.”  Peterballard.org

[2] The earthquake, the angel’s appearance “like lightning,” and white garments remind us of divine appearances (like in Daniel 10:5-6, Ezekiel 1:13-14, Exodus 19:18).

[3] The two angels at the tomb (one at the head, one at the feet) may allude to the cherubim over the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25:18-20), suggesting Jesus’ body as the new locus of God’s presence.

[4] This backdrop evokes the Garden of Eden, where the first Adam failed, leading to humanity's fall. In contrast, Jesus, often referred to as the "Second Adam," rises in a garden, symbolizing the restoration and renewal of creation.

[5] "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and faithfulness, maintaining loving kindness to thousands of generations, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” (Exodus 34)

[6] “He vanished out of their sight. — Probably, during their surprise, he took the opportunity of withdrawing from the place; leaving them to reflect and meditate on what they had heard and seen.” (Adam Clarke)

[7] Probably the ‘Clopas’ whose wife was at the cross with Jesus’ mother, Mary.

[8] “Only here in the New Testament. The act was symbolic, after the manner of the Hebrew prophets. Compare Ezekiel 37:5.” (Vincent’s Word Studies)

[9] “See the notes on Matthew 16:19; Matthew 18:18. It is certain God alone can forgive sins; and it would not only be blasphemous, but grossly absurd, to say that any creature could remit the guilt of a transgression which had been committed against the Creator. The apostles received from the Lord the doctrine of reconciliation, and the doctrine of condemnation. They who believed on the Son of God, in consequence of their preaching, had their sins remitted; and they who would not believe were declared to lie under condemnation.” (Adam Clarke) This perspective aligns with Jesus' earlier teaching in Matthew 18:20: "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." Here, the emphasis is on the collective authority of the Church community (that statement is about church discipline). In the same way, the Church is the means through which God's forgiveness is proclaimed. Some have described this as a declarative role rather than a judicial one. When the Church declares someone's sins forgiven, it's acknowledging a forgiveness that has already been granted by God.

[10] “This Gospel of the new Creation looks back at its close, as at its beginning (John 1:1), to the first Creation.” (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)

[11] The breathing of the Holy Spirit also recalls Jesus’ promise of the Spirit (John 16:7) and his earlier commissioning (Matthew 10). 

[12] “My Lord and my God,” echoes Psalm 35:23 and 86:15 – which is a God Creed verse 

[13] The version I heard was sung by Zach Williams and Dolly Parton.

[14] “In the context of worship, יִרְאָה is seen as a foundational element of faith, as illustrated in Proverbs 1:7, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge." This reverence is not only about acknowledging God's greatness but also about living in accordance with His commandments, as seen in Deuteronomy 10:12, "And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul." (Topical Lexicon at biblehub.com)

[15] Some have noted that Jesus telling Mary not to cling to him may reflect a shift from her prior dependence to a new mission as a witness.

Harmony #102: An Emmaus Road Reading of the Old Testament

“And he said to them, "O foolish men, and slow of heart (and mind) to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into the ‘weight’ of his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24)

 We mentioned last week that Jesus was prophesied, foreshadowed and revealed (#Godcreed) all along in the Old Testament, with a focus on how the God Creed described the character and nature of God over and over

Then Jesus arrived, and he perfectly embodied what God is like. To see Jesus is to see God; to know God is to know Jesus and vice versa, because they are one in Trinitarian essence. And since there is no shadow of turning in God (James 1), who is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13), we know that God has always been just like Jesus.

So, let’s try the approach of going back into the Old Testament to find God revealed this way in the Old Testament as we study the printed word through the lenses of the Living Word. I want to stress: this is a way to read the Old Testament. I just want to add a tool to our Bible study toolbox.

I am going to focus on Genesis today. Think of Genesis (“Beginnings”) as the prologue to the Bible. It’s going to tell hugely important stories about what God is like that set the stage for the rest of the Old Testament. Then, think of Genesis 1-11 as the prologue with stories that are going to be really, really important, because they are the foundation of the foundation that gives us the tools to understand what follows. They are going to clarify what God is like on the way to the full revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ.

When we read the Old Testament, it’s important to remember that every one of the five main stories in Genesis 1-11 - Creation, the Fall, Cain and Abel, the Flood, and Babel - have ancient Near Eastern (ANE) parallels in the stories and literature. Some people describe this as “historical cultural memory” of things that happened. This just means that history unfolded, and different cultures recorded it through their national and spiritual framework.

Others talk about how writers often told ‘archetypal” stories, which just means that the inspired biblical writers are going to tell real stories in a way that takes history and points to something bigger — like patterns or lessons about God, people, and the world.

So while Genesis 1-11 has ‘literary cousins’ all around, the writer of Genesis always reframes and redirects them to introduce the character and nature of Yahweh, the true God. And (hint) what they learn about what God is really like is going to point toward Jesus. We will take our time on these 5 stories because it will establish the pattern throughout the Old Testament.

Does anyone remember overhead projectors? You could put down layers of overheads if you wanted to and make very colorful pictures on the screen. Think of the biblical writers as sharing the first slide of “historical cultural memory” with their neighbors: creation, a Fall of some sort, increasing violence, Flood sent by God (the gods), a pride-filled Tower-building endeavor. On that foundation, the writers of the Old Testament are going to build a view of Yahweh that a) differentiates Yahweh from all the other gods, and b) reveals the God Creed, and c) points toward Jesus with those points of difference.

Creation: Genesis 1-2

·    Mesopotamian gods create through violence and struggle; Yahweh creates peacefully, orderly and purposefully by speaking.

·    Mesopotamian gods are part of nature and bound by it; Yahweh is outside of and sovereign over time and space.

·    Mesopotamian gods made human slaves as an afterthought; in Genesis, humans are the living image of God, the apex of his creation, sharing His role in ruling and stewarding creation.

·    Unlike gods who selfishly exploited their creation, Yahweh creates a world to be stewarded for humanity’s flourishing (Genesis 1–2).

So, how does this point toward Jesus?

·    His words calmed the stormy waters (much like Genesis 1);

·    He walks on water: he controls nature and is not bound by it.

·    God not only has living image bearers; He shows their value by becoming one of them.

·    Jesus does not exploit humanity; he provides for it. He gives not just a little, but the most one can give.

That‘s how an Emmaus Road reading works. We are looking very narrowly at how the inspired biblical writers a) differentiated Yahweh from all the other gods, and b) pointed toward a God who is just like Jesus with those points of difference.

Genesis 3: The Fall

ANE myths: Humans were once offered eternal life but lost it due to disobedience or deception. The gods are unforgiving and even more distant as a result. Humanity becomes increasingly troublesome and annoying to the gods.

Genesis: God is grieved at what happens, not annoyed. God seeks Adam and Eve out with a sad question, not angry one: “Where are you? Why aren’t you where you are supposed to be?” While there are consequences, Yahweh covers their shame (3:1) and protects the way to the tree of life (3:24).[1]

So, how does this point toward Jesus?

·    Jesus was grieved at sin (weeping over Jerusalem; woes to Pharisees)

·    Jesus seeks the lost (until he finds that last lost sheep!)

·    Jesus covers the shame of our sin with His blood

·    Jesus retains relationship (“He loved [even Judas] until the end…”)

·    God himself in the person of Jesus will reopen the gate to Eden on the Cross, (Luke 23:43; Revelation 22) for all of humanity.

Genesis 4: Cain and Abel

In the ANE, sacrificial rituals and sibling rivalries appear often, mostly involving earning and/or fighting for divine favor – which was often encouraged by the gods. The chaos that followed just made the gods push these pesky humans further away yet again.

In Genesis, God favors friendship, noting that Cain is not a rival with Abel: “If you do what is right, will it not be accepted?” People aren’t competing for the limited provision and attention of God.

God warns Cain before the murder: “Sin is crouching at your door… but you must master it.” Cain can resist, and God will help him. God is relational. Still caring…

After the murder, God doesn’t strike Cain down. Instead, God protects him with a mark so he won’t be killed as Cain experiences the fallout from his sin. The mark of Cain is not a curse but a mercy, a grace to restrain the vengeance of others.

How does this point toward Jesus?

·    People aren’t competing for the limited provision and attention of Jesus. He rebukes rivalry among the disciples and instead encourages loving friendship.

·    Jesus warns sinners repeatedly about the wages of sin out of care for them.

·    Jesus demonstrates mercy repeatedly, offering grace instead of vengeance.

Genesis 6–9: The Flood

First, in the earliest Mesopotamian version the gods flood the earth because the annoying humans are just too much. Meanwhile, Genesis says God’s heart was deeply grieved (as with Cain) by all the violence on the earth. It must be dealt with. God’s love is just.

Second, the ANE gods flooded the earth out of irritation and frustration; Yahweh deals with human evil purposely, with a redemptive intent for creation as a whole.[2]

Third, God Himself helps to bring provision; he basically gives Noah detailed blueprints and plenty of ‘heads up.’  In contrast, the Sumerian version of Noah had to trick the gods to get them to help.

Fourth, God makes a relational covenant afterward and hangs up his “bow” (a symbol of war) in the sky pointing upward and vows to never repeat the flood (9:13–17). It’s a commitment to mercy. At the start of Gensis 6, “God regretted making humanity because every inclination of the human heart was evil all the time.” By the end, God says, “Even though every inclination of the human heart is evil, I will not destroy the earth.” 

Finally, ANE gods regret human survival, fearing that humans will multiply again and become disruptive. But Yahweh blesses Noah, encouraging fruitfulness so humanity multiplies (Genesis 9:1). It turns out God likes people 

How does this point toward Jesus?

·      Jesus is grieved at sin and its consequences.

·      Jesus brings practical and spiritual provision.

·      Jesus initiates a new covenant from his own blood, a covenant of salvation and mercy for all.

·      Jesus clearly loves human beings. He blesses children; he shows hospitality to insiders and outsiders; he offers visions of the Kingdom as a huge feast to which all are invited.

Genesis 11: Tower of Babel

Temples (ziggurats) were like small pyramids built to connect heaven and earth by kings who wanted “to make a name for themselves” by their own apparently god-like strength. The response of Yahweh, will set him apart once again.

First, Marty Solomon notes that this scattering of people and fragmenting of languages is for their benefit. When God notes they can do anything they put their mind to, He is not surprised. He gave them their ability. They just lack patience, temperance, humility, and wisdom. How will God bring this about? Brilliantly.

“You cannot learn the language of another culture or a people without learning something about their perspective. Learning the diversity of perspectives always provides one with a sense of pause and consideration. It requires a sense of learning how to control one’s desires in order to reach a common goal together. In the confusion of Babel, God has not so much slapped our hands as He has given us a new redemptive project that will cause us to be the people that grow into the humanity that bears His image.” (Marty Solomon)

While ANE gods often acted to suppress human ambition out of fear of humanity’s strength, Yahweh is a God that doesn’t crush humanities God-given gifts and talents but redirects it with grace. He is there to fix a problem, not just punish them. This follows the story arc. God had just pointed the bow toward himself and not humanity, and established a covenant with them.

How does this point toward Jesus?

·    Jesus, God in the flesh, comes down to prideful people to intervene in such a way as to prevent further ruin and avoid the fallout of sin.

·    Jesus doesn’t crush humanity’s God-given gifts and talents but redirects it with grace. “Matthew, you’re a tax collector with a mind for money and budgets? Why don’t you join my group of disciples. The Kingdom needs that. Peter, you are full of zealous fire? Why not use that fire to spread the gospel? You guys know how to fish? Let’s fish for people.”
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So, that’s our intro to an Emmaus Road reading of the Bible. We see God separated from the other pretenders to the throne, but we also see God beginning the revelatory process to point toward Jesus.

        God’s Character Revealed

Creation   Orderly, good, calm

 The Fall relational, grieved, merciful

 Cain & Abel  just, involved, protective

 The Flood  covenantal, redemptive

 Babel   guides and directs

We will continue to see Yahweh being defined and differentiated from the gods of the ANE. Let’s do a more condensed flyover of the rest of Genesis. Once again, we are looking for specific ways in which Yahweh is being introduced to His people by highlighting what (to them) was new information about God.

The Call of and Covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12). God plans to bless the entire world and will use people to do it. Once again, he loves his image bearers and wants them to be fruitful and multiply.

Hagar and Ishmael (Genesis 16:7–13; 21:14–20). God cares for the marginalized and discarded with love and faithfulness. He does not simply care for the powerful and privileged. He offers provision to all.

Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19) In the ANE stories, the gods destroyed cities because they were annoyed.There reasons were often petty and unpredictable with no compassion, and they seem eager to punish.

The outcry against Sodom (Gen. 18:20) indicates that God’s action is a response to injustice, not random irritation. Then God listens to the intercession of Abraham and is abounding in mercy (for even 10 out of approximately 10,000? For just .01% righteous?).[3]

In ANE myths, when cities are destroyed, everyone—good or bad—perishes without distinction. God’s angelic messengers actively rescue Lot and his family (Gen. 19:15-16), emphasizing God’s commitment to the righteous even within a corrupt city.

The Test With Isaac (Genesis 22-23)

In the ANE, child sacrifice was common. The gods often demanded harsh, sacrificial offerings to appease their wrath or secure favor. When Abraham is asked to offer Isaac, this seems consistent with ANE expectations. However, God ultimately provides a ram instead (Gen. 22:13). This is radical new territory: God’s provision replaces human sacrifice.

Unlike distant ANE deities, God calls Abraham by name (Gen. 22:1), engages in dialogue (relationship), and then reaffirms His covenant.

Jacob Wrestles With God (Genesis 32)

In many ANE myths, wrestling with gods often resulted in death or punishment, as humans were seen as lesser beings unworthy of direct contact with the divine. Instead of smiting Jacob for challenge, God engages him.

Jacob does not receive wrath but a new name (Israel) and a blessing (Gen. 32:28-29). This encounter is transformative rather than destructive. God invites struggle rather than demanding blind submission, highlighting a relational rather than domineering nature.

Joseph (Genesis 32-47)

In ANE stories, the gods often favored powerful kings and rulers, not slaves or prisoners. Divine favor was associated with strength and dominance. Treachery and power plays were common if not expected.

God’s presence is evident with Joseph, even when he is a slave and a Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery,

Joseph rises to power not treachery or power plays but through God’s guidance and blessing. His integrity and faithfulness—traits valued by God.

Once again, we see God separated from the other pretenders to the heavenly throne, but we also see God beginning the revelatory process to point toward Jesus.

Abraham God loves His image bearers

Hagar  God cares for those others despise

Sodom God does justice, and loves mercy

Isaac’s Test  “I will provide the sacrifice”

Jacob God blesses, not punishes, the wrestler

Joseph          God stays with the lowly, blesses integrity, not treachery

 Sound like Jesus? Of course, because God is the same yesterday, today and forever. There is no shadow of turning. God is like Jesus. God has always been just like Jesus. The Emmaus companions of Jesus just didn’t always know that – and then they did. And now we do too. 

Jesus revealed that the story of the Bible—from Genesis to the prophets, from creation to the cross—is the story of a God who is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love. This is the God Creed, and it finds its fullest expression in Jesus, the one who took the wages of our sin upon Himself and offers us the gift of eternal life.

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[1] “Cherubs appear just twice in the entire Five Books of Moses. The only other time we find them is when their likeness adorns the top of the Holy Ark in the Tabernacle, where they guard the Tablets of the Law. Aptly, the Book of Proverbs describes these tablets, or the Torah they represent, as another Tree of Life, “a tree of life to all who grab hold of it” (Prov. 3:18). Evidently, the same cherubs who keep us away from one Tree of Life grant us access to another one. In a sense, the Torah may be seen as a replacement Tree of Life.” (The Beast That Crouches At The Door: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, And Beyond. By Rabbi David Fohrman)

[2] It’s a re-creation story: waters of chaos, land emerges, etc.

[3] Ezekiel’s declared restoration of Sodom (Ezekiel 16:53–55) and Isaiah’s universal vision (Isaiah 19:24–25) reveal a broader plan, where judgment serves restoration, not annihilation.

Harmony #101: The Emmaus Road (Luke 24:13-35)

That very day two of them[1] were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and reasoning together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 

And he said to them, "What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?" And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas (probably the father of James), answered him, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?"  And he said to them, "What things?" 

And they said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a genuine prophet[2] mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem/liberate Israel.” 

Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us.  They were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see.” 

And he said to them, "O foolish men, and slow of heart (and mind) to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into the ‘weight’ of his glory?"  And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

 It looks like Jesus kept pointing at the Old Testament saying, “Look, I am all over the place.” There could have been different ways in which Jesus did this. Here are two very common approaches, at least from the tradition in which I was raised (American Protestant Evangelicalism).

The first approach focuses on fulfilled Messianic prophecy.

·  From the tribe of Judah Genesis 49:10 – “The scepter will not depart from Judah... until he to whom it belongs shall come.”

·  Born of a virgin Isaiah 7:14 – “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

·  Born in Bethlehem Micah 5:2 – “But you, Bethlehem... out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel.”

·  A prophet like Moses  Deuteronomy 18:15 – “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you.”

·  Light to the Gentiles Isaiah 49:6 – “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

·  Zeal for God’s house Psalm 69:9 – “Zeal for your house consumes me.”

·  The Suffering Servant Isaiah 53  – “He was pierced for our transgressions... by his wounds we are healed.”

·  Sold for 30 pieces of silver  Zechariah 11:12-13 – “They paid me thirty pieces of silver...”

·  Silent before his accusers  Isaiah 53:7 – “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth.”

·  Hands and feet pierced Psalm 22:16 – “They pierce my hands and my feet.”

·  Mocked and insulted Psalm 22:7-8 – “All who see me mock me... ‘He trusts in the Lord,’ they say.”

·  Cast lots for his clothing  Psalm 22:18 – “They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”

·  Not one bone broken  Psalm 34:20 – “He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.”

·  Not abandoned to the grave  Psalm 16:10 – “You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.”

Christian apologists have had a field day with this, and rightly so. God gave prophetic insight to the writers of Scripture, and it’s one of the tools in our Defense of the Faith toolbelt that is really helpful.[3]

 The second approach points out that Jesus lived in such a way that there was an obvious connection with Jesus and revered people in Jewish history. Tim Keller liked to call this the “new and better” approach.

• Adam brought death through disobedience; Jesus brings life and resurrection (Romans 5:12–21)

• Abraham was the father of many nations; Jesus brought blessing to all nations (Genesis 22; John 3:16)

• Joseph was betrayed and sold by his brothers; rose to save them. Jesus was betrayed by his people; brings salvation through resurrection

• Moses led the Exodus; gave the Law from a mountain. Jesus leads a greater Exodus; gives the Law of love (Matt 5–7; Heb 3:3)

• Joshua brought Israel into the Promised Land. Jesu sBrings eternal rest in the Kingdom (Hebrews 4:8–9)

• David was a Shepherd and King; defeated Goliath. Jesus is the Good Shepherd; eternal King who conquers sin and death

• Elijah performed miracles; raised the dead. Jesus performed miracles, raises the dead – and raises himself.

• Elisha healed the sick; multiplied food; helped outsiders. Jesus heals the sick; feeds thousands; welcomes Gentiles

• Jonah spent 3 days in the fish; preached to Gentiles. Jesus 3 days in the tomb; brings mercy to all (Matt 12:40)

• Isaiah described the Suffering Servant; Jesus embodies the Suffering Servant

• Melchizedek was a priest and king; offered bread and wine. Jesus is the Eternal Priest-King; offers His body and blood (Hebrews 7)

Add that to the fulfilled prophecy, and you have an even more compelling way to look at Jesus as the one prophesied and foreshadowed in the Old Testament.

There is a third way, a Christological or Christ-centered reading, that’s going to expand this even more. Some call this an Emmaus Road reading of the Old Testament. This reading insists that if Jesus is using the Old Testament to point to himself, he is likely showing how God is just like Jesus. God has always been just like Jesus, because, as Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30) With this addition, Jesus was prophesied, foreshadowed and revealed all along.

When people ask us what God is like, systematic theology has given us a lot of definitions: omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, etc. When Moses asked to see God, God Himself tells us what God is like:

"The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and faithfulness, maintaining loving kindness to thousands of generations, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty absolved; visiting the consequences of the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6–7)

I mentioned several week ago that the point of the contrast between loving kindness for 1000 generations and just consequences for 3-4 generations is the contrast. What is God like? 1000 to 3, God favors lovingkindess. 

As I have said before, the “generational” language this was a Hebrew idiom, a way of speaking which notes the ripple effect of our choices. John Walton, for example, notes that “third and fourth generation” was like saying that the consequences of sin don’t last forever—but they are real and impactful for a time.  It wasn’t about guilt being inherited so much as patterns and consequences of sin carrying downstream effects—economically, socially, and spiritually. God does not make our actions consequenceless - but God is abounding in loving kindness and mercy to help us even in the midst of the messes we have created!!!

You will see this kind of “God Creed” language a lot in the OT.

·    Numbers 14:18: "The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished..."

·    Nehemiah 9:17 "But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them."

·    Psalm 86:15 "But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness."

·    Psalm 103:8 "The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness (love, mercy, favor)."

·    Psalm 145:8 "The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made."

·    Joel 2:13 "Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity."

·    Jonah 4:2 "I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity."

This is the God Creed, over and over. I wonder if Jesus was walking these men through how they could see this over and over, and then see it again in Jesus. Next week I am going to tiptoe with fear and trembling into the Old Testament to show how an Emmaus Road reading works on specific situations in the Old Testament. Today, let’s just look at how God’s language describing himself clearly applies to Jesus.

Jesus is Compassionate

·      In Matthew 14:14, when He sees a large crowd, “he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”  

·      In Matthew 15:32, He had “compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat,” leading to the feeding of the four thousand. 

·      In Luke 19:41–42, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, longing to gather its people “as a hen gathers her chicks,” as they prepared to follow the way of the Zealot to bring about the kingdom of God on earth. 

Jesus is Gracious (showing favor)

·      In Luke 15:1–2, Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners, followed by parables like the Lost Sheep and Prodigal Son (Luke 15:3–32), which is surely not coincidental. They both illustrate God’s loving and gracious pursuit and embrace of the lost.

·      Jesus showed grace to the woman caught in adultery. He welcomed tax collectors and Zealots into his band of disciples.  He cast demons out of those who scared everybody else away.

Jesus is Slow to Anger

·      After explaining the parable of the Sower, Jesus asked His disciples, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” (Mark 4:13). Then he explains it 

·      In Luke 9:51–56, when a Samaritan village rejects Him, the disciples suggest calling down fire, but Jesus rebukes them, choosing to move on peacefully, demonstrating restraint. 

·      In Matthew 18:21–22, when Peter asks how often to forgive, Jesus teaches forgiveness “seventy-seven times,” reflecting God’s patient forbearance with us.

Jesus is us Abounding in loving kindness for thousands of generations (vs. a punishment for guilt for three generations)

·      In Matthew 5:43–48, Jesus teaches, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” reflecting God’s expansive love.

·      He showed love beyond just Israel: he healed a Samaritan leper (Luke 17:11–19) and praised the faith of a Canaanite woman. He engaged the Samaritan woman at the well – who went and brought her whole village back.

·      The parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:15–24) depicts God inviting the marginalized and outcasts to His feast, illustrating His expansive love.

·      Luke 23:34, while being crucified, Jesus prays, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,” extending redemptive and hopeful love even to those who crucified Him. 

Jesus is Abounding in Faithfulness

·      Despite temptation and suffering, Jesus remains faithful to His purpose. In John 17:4, He speaks of “finishing the work [God] gave me to do.” 

·      Even when he knew Judas would betray him, he “loved him until the end.”

·      Paul will later say of Jesus, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful [true to His word and His righteous character], for He cannot deny Himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13)

Jesus is Just (does not leave the Guilty Unpunished)

·      Jesus holds religious leaders accountable for their hypocrisy. In Matthew 23:13–36, He pronounces “woes” on the Pharisees for their injustice and spiritual neglect, warning of judgment. 

·      He weeps for Jerusalem and warns the women on the way to the cross of the impending doom coming to Jerusalem and the Jewish people because of the Zealot love of the sword.

·      And then, in a cross-centered twist, Jesus Himself takes on the punishment for humanity’s guilt on the cross (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). His death satisfies justice while extending mercy, reconciling both facets of God’s love.

Jesus forgives Wickedness, Rebellion, and Sin

·      In addition to multiple times where Jesus told people their sins were forgiven, the crucifixion is the ultimate act of forgiveness, where Jesus takes on the sin of the world. Colossians 2:13–14 reflects this: “He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us.” 

·      He restores Peter. Tradition says Pilate and his wife became followers of Jesus, as well as some of the soldiers who crucified him. If the Easter view of the “harrowing of hell” is correct, Jesus presented himself as Christ Victorious to Judas before his Resurrection. We will read in acts that Jesus directly confronts and saves Paul, killer of Christians.

* * * * *

As the “exact representation of [God’s] being” (Hebrews 1:3), Jesus reveals a God who is compassionate, gracious, and just—perfectly aligning with the Old Testament God Creed and confirming that God is indeed like Jesus. So I’ve been thinking about that this week. I don’t have to wonder what God is like. I know what Jesus is like, and God is just like Jesus.

I’ve also been thinking about this: I want to be more and more like Jesus. I assume you do to  If that’s true, are we actually looking more like Jesus?

Compassionate. Do we see people -even whole crowds of people - and weep for them if they are hurting; do we give provision if they are lacking? Do we do this even if they are bad or wrong or hurtful or sinful?

Gracious (showing favor). Do we eat with today’s tax collectors and sinners? Do we push away those exposed and maybe lost in their sin or do we draw them into healing community? Do we bring healing and hope to those who have scared everyone else away?

Slow to Anger. Literally, “slow to flare the nostrils” like an angry bull. Do we ever see Jesus angry? Yes. Do we ever see him blow a gasket? No. His anger is not impulsive; it’s purposeful. It wasn’t merely reactive; it was redemptive. It wasn’t bitter; it was burdened. For Jesus anger was never vengeful or chaotic; it was always purposeful and hopeful, pointing toward a better and more holy way. His anger was not a tool to belittle shame, or control people; his goal was to convict with a godly sorrow that brings repentance. He sought to correct them toward righteousness.

Abounding in loving kindness (devotion, loyal deeds) When we are angry, does it last for a moment compared to our loving kindness? Do we show loving kindness to just those who are nice to us, or to everybody? Do we offer a Great Banquet on behalf of Jesus? Who all is welcome at our table both literally and spiritually? Is it every kind of person?

Abounding in Faithfulness. Will we love each other until the end? Will we love our neighbor until the end? Will we join in the search for the lost sheep until we find them? We will refuse to give up hope in the restorative power of Jesus in any situation or with any person?

Not Leaving the Guilty Unpunished (Justice) Do we call out hypocrisy and injustice to bring about integrity and justice? Does it begin at home – in the house of God? Does zel for the purity and holiness of the house of God consume us as it did Jesus? Do we have hearts burdened for justice in our community and our country? Then, do we step into the places where people are experiencing the consequences of “justice rolling down” and introducing them to the lovingkindness of Jesus in our words and our lives?

Forgiving Wickedness, Rebellion, and Sin. I’ve been wondering: if Jesus himself didn’t come to condemn the world[4] but to save it, maybe we should lead with what’s been modeled. The idea is not original with me.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)

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[1] One of them likely being Luke himself.

[2]  This has been considered as a Hebraism: "Who made thee a man prince (i.e. a mighty sovereign) and a judge over us! Exodus 2:14. And, the battle went sore against Saul, and the men archers (the stout, or well aiming archers) hit him, 1 Samuel 31:3.” (Adam Clarke)

[3] Many will note that not every passage seems to have been written consciously as a prophecy about Jesus; often they are about somebody else. Yet that very person was a foreshadowing of the true and greater person of Jesus. Either way, it’s pointing toward Jesus, and the New Testament writers have no problem pointing to those passages as prophecy.

[4] Jesus once said,“Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:31-32) What seems to be condemned here is the World Order and the power of Satan behind it, which was judged and condemned on the cross. We see the same idea elsewhere in John: “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” (John 16:7-11)

The Week After Easter

For those of us who are followers of Jesus, Resurrection Sunday is the day in which it all comes together. The bodily resurrection is foundational to the hope of the gospel.

1 Corinthians 15 (New English Translation)

 Now I want to make clear for you brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 

 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 

Then he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also... 

If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is futile and your faith is empty. Also, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified against God that he raised Christ from the dead, when in reality he did not raise him, if indeed the dead are not raised… 

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins. Furthermore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.  

The resurrection changes everything. We are not condemned to remain in our sins; more than that, we are being made alive in Christ. Our history is not our destiny. We followers of Jesus are now “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world.” (2 Peter 1:4). It was always God’s plan to conform His children to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29).

Resurrection Sunday reminds us that God has the power to stamp us with the image of Christ-like, cruciform love. We celebrate that on Easter. We post about it. We fly our Jesus flag high, as we should. He is risen! 

Then we go home. We return to work.

A month passes.

And I wonder—does the power of Resurrection Sunday linger? Do the claims we make on Easter translate into daily life with family, friends, co-workers? How often does our worship reflect a lifestyle of surrendered devotion, reminding everyone we meet that God is transforming us into the image of Jesus?

There’s a show called Severance in which employees undergo a procedure preventing them from recalling their work outside the office—or their outside lives while at work. They functionally live two separate lives: their Innie (inside work), and their Outie (outside work), with no awareness of connection between them.

If we aren’t careful, we risk living a spiritual life of Severance—walking into church, flipping a switch, saying and doing all the right religious things. Then leaving, flipping another switch, and practically becoming a different person in allegiance, priorities, and conduct. James calls this fresh and salt water flowing from the same spring (James 3:11). Jesus called it hypocrisy when confronting the Pharisees—who tithed very precisely in the temple yet practiced injustice throughout the week.

So I’ve been thinking about integrity—about consistency—about what it looks like when my life reflects the Christ-conforming power of cruciform love every day, not just on Easter Sunday. I invite you to contemplate this with me.

Let’s walk through some Christ-like qualities we celebrate at Easter. These are the things we love about Jesus—the perfect expression of God’s love. Since we’ve seen these attributes reflected in Scripture and history, let’s revisit them this morning. Because the power of Resurrection Sunday is meant for every day, not just one

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In the (day, week, rest of the year) after Easter…..

Will we speak truth with grace? Nathan spoke hard truth to David not just to condemn, but to call him back to life (2 Samuel 12:1–13); Jesus protected the woman caught in adultery, then gently called her to transformation (John 8:1–11). Peter boldly preached at Pentecost, calling out sin but offering salvation (Acts 2:36–41). How will we speak truth to those around us with such grace that it draws them closer to Jesus?

Will we display a love for compassionate justice? The prophets cried out for widows, orphans, and the oppressed (Isaiah 1:17, Micah 6:8); Jesus said God sent him “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4). How can we advocate for a more just world with the same compassion Jesus showed?

Will we "see" those struggling around us? Hagar called God “the One who sees me” when she was comforted in the wilderness (Genesis 16:13); Jesus saw Zacchaeus in the tree and called him by name (Luke 19:1–10). Peter and John stopped to heal a lame man others ignored (Acts 3:1–10). Who in our life might feel invisible, and how can we show them they are seen and loved by God?

Will we seek reconciliation where there is division? Jacob sought reconciliation with Esau to restore a broken relationship (Genesis 32:22–33:11). Jesus prayed for unity among His followers, asking that they be one as He and the Father are one (John 17:20–23). Where is division in our life or community, and can we appropriately help move ourselves and others toward reconciliation?

Will we look to help "the least of these"? Boaz welcomed an impoverished outsider, Ruth, and made room for her and her widowed mother-in-law (Ruth 2); Jesus welcomed little children, lepers, outcasts, and the poor (Mark 10:13–16, Luke 17:11–19, Luke 4:18–19). Tabitha served the poor and clothed widows (Acts 9:36–43). How can we serve someone society overlooks, treating them as we would Jesus Himself?

Will we call out hypocrisy, deception, and evil? Amos called for justice to roll like a river (Amos 5:24); Jesus wept over Jerusalem’s blindness and called out the Pharisees’ hypocrisy (Matthew 23, Luke 19:41–44). Stephen confronted the Sanhedrin at the cost of his life, and even as they stoned him, he forgave them (Acts 7:51–60). Where do we see hypocrisy or injustice in the world around us, and how can we confront it with courage and love?

Will we offer spiritual and practical hope to the hopeless? Elijah offered bread and a godly presence to the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17); Jesus gave well water and living water to the Samaritan woman at the well. Paul brought hope to a jailer about to take his own life: “Believe in the Lord Jesus” (Acts 16:25–34). Who in our life appears to be hopeless, and how can we offer them both practical help and the hope of Jesus?

Will we offer gospel-centered peace in the midst of strife? Isaiah’s vision of swords beaten into plowshares (Isaiah 2:4) offered a foretaste of the peace Jesus brings; Jesus calmed the storm and the disciples:“Peace, be still” (Mark 4:39). The church faced persecution with prayer and unity, not retaliation (Acts 4:23–31). In a world full of conflict, how can we bring the peace of Christ to those around us?

Will we forgive those who wrong us? Joseph forgave his brothers who sold him into slavery; the father of the prodigal son welcomed his wayward child with open arms (Luke 15:20–24); Jesus on the cross said, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34). Who has hurt us, and what does it look like to forgive them as Jesus forgave us?

Will we welcome the “other” without fear? Israel was to “love the stranger, for you were once strangers in Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:19); Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners, and praised a Roman centurion’s faith (Matthew 9:10–13, Matthew 8:5–13). Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch on the roadside (Acts 8:26–39). Who feels like an outsider to us, and how can we welcome them into the family of Jesus with the love of Jesus?

Will we listen to those who need to be heard? God heard the cry of His children in Egypt (Exodus 3:7-10); Jesus heard the questions of Nicodemus and the cry of blind Bartimaeus: “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” Who around us is longing to be heard, and how can we listen with the heart of Christ?

Will we speak for those who need a voice? Moses spoke for God’s people in slavery in Egypt; Jesus spoke up for the children, for the Samaritans the disciples wanted to firebomb (Luke 9), for the unclean nobody wanted to touch. Who in our orbit needs an advocate, and how can we speak up for them with boldness and love?

Will we mourn with those who are mourning? The psalmists cried and waited in the dark (Psalm 42, Psalm 88); Jesus cried at Lazarus’s tomb, even though He knew resurrection was coming (John 11:35). The church gathered to mourn the loss of Stephen and Tabitha (Acts 8:2; 9:39). Who is grieving near us, and how can we sit with them in their pain, reflecting Jesus’ compassion?

Will we practice generosity without expecting reward? The widow gave her last two coins, trusting God’s provision (Mark 12:41–44). Jesus multiplied loaves and fish to feed thousands, expecting nothing in return (John 6:1–14) and gave his life willingly even for those who would reject him. How can we live generously, trusting God to provide, no matter the response?

Will we practice patience with those still on the journey? God stayed with a rebellious Israel in the wilderness; Jesus kept restoring Peter (John 21:15–19). The apostles worked with new believers, teaching them gently (Acts 15). Who in our life needs our patience, and how can we walk with them as Jesus would?

Will we embody humble service in leadership? Gideon led Israel humbly, trusting God’s strength (Judges 6:11–16). Jesus took on the form of a servant, teaching that true greatness lies in serving others (Mark 10:42–45). How can we lead others by serving humbly, thinking of how to serve rather than be served?

Will we live with gratitude in all circumstances? Paul and Silas sang praises in prison (Acts 16:25). Jesus gave thanks before breaking bread, even on the night He was betrayed (Luke 22:17–19). In what difficult situation could we be choosing to give thanks, trusting God’s goodness even in the midst of difficulty?

Will we work to restore what has been broken? Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls (Nehemiah 2:17); Jesus healed broken bodies and hearts, declaring, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5). What broken relationship or situation beckons to us to be a part of restoration built on Jesus’ love and grace?

Will we disciple others with patience and humility? Moses guided Israel despite their complaints (Numbers 11:14–17). Jesus walked with His disciples, explaining truth step by step (Luke 24:27). Who needs our patient discipleship, helping them grow closer to Jesus through our faithful presence?

Will we offer generous hospitality? Abraham welcomed strangers and entertained angels (Genesis 18:1–8). Jesus dined with sinners and outcasts, creating space for transformation at the table (Luke 5:29–32). How can we open our home or heart to someone new, showing them Christ’s hospitality?

Will we stand firm when challenged? Daniel refused to bow to Babylon’s idols (Daniel 6:10); Jesus did not waver before Pilate, declaring His kingship (John 18:36). When our faith and trust in God is tested, how can we stand firm while showing Jesus’ love to others?

Will we persevere in prayer for others? Moses interceded for the Israelites; Jesus interceded for His disciples and all believers, even in His final hours (Luke 22:31–32). Who needs our persistent prayers, and how can we commit to lifting them up regularly?

Will we love others well even when they are hard to love? Joseph forgave his betrayers and provided for them in famine (Genesis 50:20–21); Jesus knelt to wash His disciples’ feet—even Judas’ (John 13:1–17). How can we love someone difficult in our life with the selfless love of Jesus?

Will we live with hope? Ezekiel saw dry bones rising again (Ezekiel 37); Jesus, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). The apostles faced death singing hymns, confident in resurrection hope (Acts 16:25; Acts 20:22–24). In what area of our life should we be clinging to the hope of Jesus, trusting He is making all things new?

Once again, will we live in hope? Not because the world is easy, but because Easter means the worst thing is never the last thing, and because God’s promise is to “make all things new” (Isaiah 65:17, Revelation 21:5). How can we live each day with the hope of Easter, sharing that hope with those around us?

The empty tomb isn’t just a story we tell once a year—it’s the reality that shapes who we are and how we live. Jesus, the risen King, invites us to embody His cruciform love, not just in our words but in our actions, not just on Sunday but every day.

Rather than settling for severed lives, let’s pursue integrated lives inside and outside these doors, a life that looks the same all week and all year long.

May we leave here today committed to being people who make the practical, day to day impact of the resurrection real: through our cruciform love, our service, our forgiveness, our hope.

He is risen, and that changes everything.

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QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER THIS WEEK/MONTH/YEAR

Where might I be living a “severed” life? Are there areas where my Sunday faith feels disconnected from my Monday actions?

Which aspect of Christ-like love feels most challenging right now? Is it forgiving, speaking truth with grace, seeing the struggling? What’s one practical step I can take this week to grow in that area?

Who in my life needs to experience the hope of Easter through me? Is there someone I can listen to, serve, forgive, or pray for in a way that points them to the reality of the risen Jesus?

How can I cultivate resurrection hope daily? What practices—prayer, gratitude, serving others, or something else—can help me stay anchored in the truth that “the worst thing is never the last thing”?

Harmony #100: The Pursuing God: From Eden to Easter (Easter, Sunday, 2025)

Here is today’s text.

Now at the place where Jesus was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden was Joseph’s own new tomb that he had cut in the rock, where no one had yet been buried. And so, because it was the  Jewish day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath), and the tomb was nearby, they placed Jesus’ body there. Then they rolled a great stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away.  

The women who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee followed,  Mary Magdalene and the other Mary the mother of Joses. Sitting there, opposite the tomb, they saw where the body was placed. Then they returned and prepared aromatic spices and perfumes. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.  

When the Sabbath was over,  Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought aromatic spices so that they might go and anoint Jesus.  While it was still dark, very early on the first day of the week, at sunrise,[Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to look at the tomb, taking the aromatic spices they had prepared.  

They had been asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”  Suddenly there was a severe earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descending from heaven came and rolled away the stone and sat on it.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.  The guards were shaken and became like dead men because they were so afraid of him.  

The women came to the tomb, and looking up saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away from the entrance to the tomb. When they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  Mary Magdalene went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”  

Meanwhile, the women remaining in the tomb were perplexed about this. Suddenly two men stood beside them in dazzling attire. The women were terribly frightened and bowed their faces to the ground.  But one of the angels said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.  

But why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, for he has been raised, just as he said. Come and see the place where he was lying. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,  that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”  Then the women remembered Jesus’ words.  

* * * * *

On Easter Sunday, we could talk theology (what happened on the cross?) apologetics (why should we believe that Jesus rose from the dead?) or even simply testimony (this is how Jesus has changed my life). All those are good. I think we have probably done all of those at some point in this church’s history.

I would like to do something different today. We are going to do a dramatic reading called THE PURSUING GOD: From Eden to Easter. You will hear a Narrator (that’s me).  Voice 1 represents the Old Testament,, and Voice 2 represents the New Testament/Jesus .

* * * * * 

PROLOGUE: The God Who Comes Looking

*Narrator*: From the first dawn, Scripture tells not just of humanity grasping for God, but of God pursuing us. God arrived in the flesh in the person of Jesus not to write off a world full of sin and evil but to redeem it, drawing all people towards His heart’s embrace. 

*Voice 1*: In Eden’s shade, God walked, calling through the silence, “Where are you? Why are you hiding from me?”¹ When shame hid Adam and Eve, He sought them still, reminding them that they were meant to be with Him in spite of their failure. 

*Voice 2*: In Galilee, that same God walked into the shadow of a Sycamore tree, looked up at a despised tax collector hiding there and said, “Zacchaeus, come down. I’m coming to your house today. I am here to be with people just like you.”² 

*Narrator*: From Eden’s green to Jerusalem’s dust, from the Tree of Life in Eden to a Tree of Eternal Life that was an old rugged cross, we see that God is the Pursuing God, whose love flows towards every soul. “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink,” said Jesus.³ 

ACT I: The Lost Are Not Left Alone

*Narrator*: When His children of Israel wandered in the desert and languished in exile, God did not turn away. His love pursued, relentless, seeking every heart, even the hears of those who forgot His name. 

*Voice 1*: “My sheep were lost, with none to seek them,” says Yahweh to the Israelites. “So I Myself will search, as a shepherd seeks his flock.”⁴ 

*Voice 2*: Jesus said to his disciples “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.”⁵ “I am the Good Shepherd, laying down My life for the sheep.”⁶ 

*Voice 1*: He found Hagar weeping in the wilderness. He met Moses in the desert’s flame. He pursued Jonah through the sea’s dark depths. 

*Voice 2*: He found the Samaritan woman, alone and looking for hope. He restored Peter, broken by fear and guilt in the glow of a Roman fire. Even now, He seeks, His mercy a tide that lifts our souls toward a heavenly home.⁷ 

*Narrator*: He descends into our valleys, our brokenness and confusion, our pain and sin.  He is not waiting for us to clean ourselves up to be sufficiently presentable to be loved. No, He finds us where we are and, like the shepherd that searched for the lost sheep until he found it , he carries us further and higher into the Kingdom of God on shoulders scarred by love.

ACT II: The Voice That Calls Us Home

*Narrator*: God’s call echoes through ages—now a thunder, now a whisper,  now a lion, now a lamb, now a dove —always love without remainder, inviting all to return, with no one so far gone that they are beyond the reach of His redeeming love. 

*Voice 1*: He called Samuel in the night’s hush. He comforted Elijah, hiding in a cave, with a still, small voice. He spoke through prophets who both thundered (“Return to Me, and I will return to you!”8)  and then comforted (“Though your sins be scarlet, they shall be white as snow.”9) 

*Voice 2*: He summoned Levi from a Roman tax booth, and Judas from a Zealot fortress. He beckoned fishermen from tangled nets. He invited all: “Come to Me, you weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.”10 

*Voice 1*: He did not demand a standard of purity before He moved close —His merciful sacrifice washed us clean. 

*Voice 2*: He did not wait for us to be ready—He ran, like a father to his prodigal son, arms as wide as eternity, filled with love, mercy and joy.11 

*Narrator*: His voice is not a distant decree of an uncaring monarch. His posture is not crossed arms and a haughty brow. God offers the love of a perfect Father:“ Let my children come to me.” His voice is strong and kind: “Come home,” he says, as if to draw every soul into love’s unending and restorative embrace.12  

ACT III: The Cost of Pursuing Love

*Narrator*: Love is costly, and God paid that cost willingly—not with mere words, but with His very life incarnated in Jesus the Christ, his blood poured out to bridge every chasm, his body broken to gather all creation close, to heal all the sickness of the soul, to bring that which is dead to life, to drown evil in the flood of cruciform love. 

*Voice 1*: Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for friends.”13 And then he did it himself: “I lay down my life as the bread of life, broken for you,”14 so that we all will have provision, and we are all invited to live. 

*Voice 2*: We turned, yet He pursued, undaunted by our rebellion. He came fully down to us—to a garden’s agony, to a cross’s shame, where love bled to set all free. 

*Narrator*: The cost was His life, given to shatter every chain of sin’s bondage and overcome evil so that we could have salvation, healing and restoration. 

ACT IV: The Cross – Love Triumphant

*Narrator*: To know what God is like, look to Jesus. To see the way in which God’s love will be victorious, behold the Cross—where evil’s grip was broken, and death’s dominion fell before the King of Life, the God of Love. 

*Voice 1*: “He was despised, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, pierced for our transgressions. Yet by His wounds, we are healed.”16 

*Voice 2*: “This is love: Jesus laid down His life for us.”17 On the Cross, He disarmed the powers of darkness, triumphing over them,18 setting captives free from the power of sin.19  

*Voice 1*: He gave Himself to overthrow sin’s tyranny with love’s cruciform power and mercy’s cruciform might. 

*Voice 2*: He died to rescue all creation,20 His arms stretched wide to gather every heart into His kingdom,21 beginning the process of reconciling all things to himself as He makes all things new.

*Narrator*: This is a triumphal, transformational power of God’s love—a victory where the Cross reveals the beauty of an infinite love that overcomes evil, death, hell and the grave, flooding the world with grace. 

ACT V: The Empty Tomb – Love Victorious

*Narrator*: The grave was not the end. The Pursuing God stormed through death, rolling back its stone to raise Jesus, the firstfruits of those who slept, and then to raise us with Him.

*Voice 1*: “On the third day, He took captivity captive, and ransomed us from the grave’s power,”22  and showed the world that love’s victory is no mere story—it happened, and it changes everything.”23

*Voice 2*: The tomb lay empty, the stone cast aside. Angels declared, “Why seek the living among the dead? He is risen!”24  His victory is the first note of a new song, a world reborn in love’s unconquerable light.

*Voice 1*: Death could not bind the Living, Pursuing God, nor silence His glorious gospel. 

*Voice 2*: He is risen—risen indeed!! His victory is a light that beckons all to the healing power of God’s love.25 

*Narrator*: In resurrection, love triumphs, not just for the righteous but for prodigals, skeptics, and wanderers. Christ’s rising is our dawn into new life, the firstfruits of a new creation where every shadow of doubt flees before His boundless mercy.26

ACT VI: The Spirit’s Pursuit Through Time

*Narrator*: Resurrection kindled a flame that spread through ages. God weaves His love into the fabric of history, calling every heart to feast at the table filled with His truth and grace. 

*Voice 1*: At Pentecost, His Spirit swept like fire, crowning the faithful.27 “My Spirit I give you, and you shall live.28 “ With the help of God’s Spirit, God’s kingdom grew, from Jerusalem to earth’s farthest corners.

*Voice 2*: Jesus promised, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am with you.29 You will never be alone.” His Spirit was seen in the martyrs’ bold courage and the saints’ patient silence, with the heartbeat of Christlike living keeping the Kingdom alive as a light in the darkness: sometimes faltering, never failing, always inviting us to join the life in the Kingdom of God.

*Voice 1*: When the church strayed, God called them back: “Return to Me,” He said, “for I am compassionate.”30 Through triumphs and failures, in a monastery’s hush or a city’s roar, in times of plenty and times of famine, in war and in peace, to the faith-filled and the doubt-full, His Spirit just. Kept. Calling.

*Voice 2*: Today, He moves—wherever hearts gather,31 where the gospel is preached, where the hungry are fed, where the poor are given provision, where the broken are healed, where the lost are found, in cathedrals and in coffee shops, in boardrooms, and slums. He is the vine, we the branches,32growing toward His light and bearing the fruit that gives life in all of these places.

*Narrator*: Through history, His always Spirit has been reaching and moving, drawing us all to respond to a love that will not let us go.

FINALE: Love That Will Not Let Us Go

*Narrator*: From the first Adam to the Second Adam, from the tree in a garden to the tree on a hill, from Eden to Easter, from the empty tomb of a Risen Savior to the Eternal City into which God invites all to live in full communion with Jesus in the Resurrection Life of the New Heaven and Earth, Scripture insists that God is love, and that His pursuit knows no boundary, moving into every corner of creation. 

*Voice 1*: He promised, “I will gather My children from earth’s ends, radiant in My goodness,”33fulfilling Israel’s hope and launching a new world where every tear is wiped away.”

*Voice 2*: And Jesus commands us to “Go into all the world,”34 for He came to reconcile all things, making peace through His cross’s triumph,35  knitting us together as one family in His love. We are now his ambassadors, participating in that hope-filled and life-giving ministry of reconciliation.

*Narrator*: He is risen, indeed. Let all the earth rejoice. The greatest story ever told is unfolding.

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CITATIONS

PROLOGUE

• “Where are you?” → Genesis 3:9 ¹

• “Zacchaeus, come down…” → Luke 19:5 ²

• “Let anyone who is thirsty come…” → John 7:37–38 ³

ACT I: The Lost Are Not Left Alone

• “My sheep were lost...so I Myself will search” → Ezekiel 34:6, 11 ⁴

• “The Son of Man came to seek and save…” → Luke 19:10 ⁵

• “I am the Good Shepherd…” → John 10:11 ⁶

• “The ends of the earth will remember…” → Psalm 22:27 ⁷

ACT II: The Voice That Calls Us Home

• “Return to Me…” → Zechariah 1:3 ⁸

• “Though your sins be as scarlet…” → Isaiah 1:18 ⁹

• “Come to Me, you who are weary…” → Matthew 11:28 ¹⁰

• “He ran to the prodigal son…” → Luke 15:20 ¹¹

• “God our Savior…wants all to be saved” → 1 Timothy 2:4 ¹²

ACT III: The Cost of Pursuing Love

• “Greater love has no one…” → John 15:13 ¹³

• “I am the bread of life…” → John 6:35 ¹⁴

• “I will not offer to the Lord that which costs me nothing” → 2 Samuel 24:24 (or alternatively Psalm 51:17 for “sacrifice”) ¹⁵

ACT IV: The Cross – Love Triumphant

• “He was despised and rejected…” → Isaiah 53:3–5 ¹⁶

• “This is how we know what love is…” → 1 John 3:16 ¹⁷

• “Disarmed the powers and authorities…” → Colossians 2:15 ¹⁸

• “Set the captives free…” → Luke 4:18 ¹⁹

• “To reconcile all things to Himself…” → Colossians 1:20 ²⁰

• “When I am lifted up…I will draw all people…” → John 12:32 ²¹

ACT V: The Empty Tomb – Love Victorious

• “On the third day He will raise us up…” → Hosea 6:2 ²²

• “Where, O death, is your sting…” → Hosea 13:14 or 1 Corinthians 15:55 ²³

• “Why do you seek the living among the dead…” → Luke 24:5–6 ²⁴

• “Every knee shall bow…” → Philippians 2:10–11 ²⁵

• “If Christ is risen…we too shall be raised…” → Romans 6:5 or Romans 5:18 ²⁶

ACT VI: The Spirit’s Pursuit Through Time

• “A sound like a mighty rushing wind…” → Acts 2:2–4 ²⁷

• “I will put my Spirit within you…” → Ezekiel 37:14 ²⁸

• “I will not leave you as orphans…” → John 14:18 ²⁹

• “Return to me…for I am gracious” → Joel 2:13 ³⁰

• “Where two or three are gathered…” → Matthew 18:20 ³¹

• “I am the vine; you are the branches” → John 15:5 ³²

FINALE: Love That Will Not Let Us Go

• “I will gather them from the ends of the earth…” → Jeremiah 31:12 ³³

• “Go into all the world…” → Mark 16:15 ³⁴

• “To reconcile all things…” → Colossians 1:20 ³⁵

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*Hat Tip to AI for helping to create this. I fed biblical text, message points, and online resources to Chat GPT and asked it to generate a dramatic reading for an Easter service. It offered one, which I then modified. It also provided picture prompts, which I modified as needed and fed to Grok until I got original images to use this morning. I’ve never tried this before. I hope you enjoyed it 

Love Enough for the Last Days

(Message by Julie Elliott-Eickenroth)

Well, to jump right in … this has been a rather challenging message to work through and share with you. The title is: “Love Enough for the Last Days”. Some of you who know me, you are probably familiar with that phrase. :) I’ll share more about that in a minute.

The subtitle could be “Making it to the finish line together.” OR: “Fighting for our love”. This is actually a message I’ve carried a passion for, for over 30+ years. Now more than ever. I feel quite vulnerable about sharing this word. All I ask is that you pray for me that I’ll be able to reflect the heart of God as best I can and stick with me to the end on this one. 

You may remember a month or so ago when Anthony shared his distress that our church could fracture over the clash of political views in this volatile and polarizing season we are in. It was a sad and sobering moment, wasn’t it? Maybe a little scary even. I was pretty heartbroken, both at the thought of how Anthony as our shepherd was hurting, and also how many of you are hurting.

I was encouraged, however, when I walked into MessagePlus that morning and saw the room was packed to the walls. Clearly this is something that people are worried about and wanted to talk about it. And so we did.

I am so thankful for M+ and for Anthony and our elders and others in our church family who set the example for us of what healthy, authentic and honest faith community can look like. Even when it feels scary, hopefully we can get through it together, right?

Anyway, when Anthony gave that message, God awoke in me again an intense urgency to sound an alarm - to strongly admonish us as a faith family to be aware of the very real dangers in these increasingly perilous times — if we don’t make a concentrated effort to learn to deal with this well.

It seems like one of the most volatile issue right now centers around our politics and cultural issues. Social media in particular, while it can be a fantastic forum for connection and healthy debate, to give a voice to the voiceless and vulnerable, and raise the alarm about injustice and corruption … can also be a toxic soup, a snare for our souls, a bottomless pit into which we may fall and disappear into unpleasant conflict.

Personally it’s quite a challenging place for me to navigate, for a long list of reasons. A lot of our younger generations have grown up on social media, it’’s their native habitat, and they seem to navigate it with ease. I, on the other hand, often find it distressing, confusing, and overwhelming. I have been working on discerning and respecting my own limits with social media. Not an easy process, by any means.

Most of all, it can be a flash point for offense that can threaten to blow apart our relationships and communities. The intense stress of our times —-politics, culture wars, etc.) is an absolute pressure cooker for offense. So how do we love each other — really love each other — in times like these?

 Because the stakes are high and this matters.

Here’s some context first … the “love enough” story. Some of you have heard me tell this story as I said. I hope it doesn’t bore you that I bring this up for the umpteenth time, but be patient with me. I feel it bears urgent repeating as many times as I can get it out of my mouth. Now more than ever before.

Over 30 years ago, God gave me a phrase: “love enough for the last days”. Out of nowhere, He just dropped it in my spirit like a bombshell. I wondered what it meant. Was it a book title or something? Over the ensuing years, God has faithfully imparted insight and understanding, leading right up to now, when it seems we really need it.

When we hear the phrase “last days”, it probably conjures up a lot of feelings, images, beliefs, controversy. My kids could tell you the impact those words had on their growing up years. Alot of us grew up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, hearing lots of sermons about the “last days”, the “endtimes”, the rapture … differing interpretations, predictions, all delivered with a breathless “it could happen any moment” urgency … it was exciting, bewildering, joyful, and dreadfully scary, all at the same time.

Let me pause here and be very clear: I do not study or teach eschatology (study of the endtimes). I have neither the skill nor the interest in parsing endtimes doctrine. That is for better scholars than me. For what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure Jesus’ return is “soon”. It could be tomorrow, could be a 100 years from now. Whenever that is, the Word says repeatedly that we must be ‘sober and alert’ to the times and guard our hearts as the day of His coming approaches. 

So for me, it’s not about timelines, it’s about finish lines. Here’s why.

About that same time God dropped that “love enough” phrase in my heart, He also directed my attention to Matthew 24:10,12:

10 At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 Because lawlessness [Iniquity] is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

 The Amplified Bible says it this way:

(AMP) 10 At that time many will be offended and repelled [by their  association with Me] and will fall away [from the One whom they  should trust] and will betray one another [handing over believers to their persecutors] and will hate one another … 12 Because   lawlessness is increased, the love of most people will grow cold.”

 This passage is talking about Christians, not unbelievers. As the chaos and lawlessness and sin increase all around us, we see things that dishearten us, frighten us … death and destruction all around us — baffling, shocking things we can’t get our heads around. As these things happen, we will be tempted to become deeply offended. Offended with God. Offended with each other. And when we’re offended, we may betray one another.

So here comes the TRAP.

Offense, and the judgments the inevitably seem to result, are the enemy of our soul’s primary strategy for blowing up our relationships and tempting us to forsake one another. The word “judge” in the Greek - “krino” means to “try, condemn and punish”.

Think of a courtroom scene in your brain … the act of judging can be a lightning quick process in our mind … essentially, we put the person we’re offended with “on trial” in our mind. We create a narrative about them, most often finding them “guilty” (condemning them), then instead of responding to the person, we respond to the narrative in our mind. Over and over and over.

 Then we “punish” … what does punishment look like?

 Well, it can be aggressive, in-your-face punishment — talking smack about them to others, something overt like getting in their face, maybe more extreme like, God forbid, yelling, insulting, or physically assaulting them.

 More often than not, though, we simply move away … we ABANDON THE RELATIONSHIP. We leave a friendship. We leave a church. We may not even physically “leave” a church or friendship, but we let our hearts grow cold.

 I call it “cold love” — we Christians are good at “smiling and lying”. Love in name only, while inside our hearts, real warmth, respect, affection have grown cold and distant. Our hearts harden. Relationships fracture. Community crumbles. You know this is true. Most of us have seen this a thousand times in the church. We saw a LOT of it during the pandemic. Tons of people leaving each other.

We need a love strong enough — tender enough — to navigate the last days a loyal, non-negotiable love that refuses to give up, refuses to let go of relationships. The good news is, God doesn’t just warn us — He shows us in His Word how to fight for our love. The true Gospel is not weak - its message of love is the MOST bold, the most challenging, the most muscular, the most resilient … but rarely do we test the strength of love through biblical peacemaking.

 Stress from these intense times can make us brittle — less patient, less gracious. We can harden our hearts or keep them tender. Which will it be? Each one of us has a responsibility to pursue peace … not as a vague Christian notion, but in specific, biblically mandated ways.

 Romans 12:18: If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people.

 These are what I call the two “bookend” scriptures for peacemaking:

 Matthew 5:23-24: "If you’re at the altar and remember your brother has something against you, go reconcile first." 

Matthew 18:15: "If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.”

 By the way, to “point out the offense”, or “show someone their fault”, as other translations say, is also known as a “godly rebuke”. That sounds harsh, but you may be surprised to find it actually means (in the original language) , “to set a value upon”. You reflect back to the person the impact of their actions on you.

So what is the common denominator between those two verses? The common denominator is GO.

 You either GO or you LET IT GO.

Jesus told us to GO - whether it is we who caused the offense, or to reflect back to our brother or sister their offense..The goal here is not to condemn or accuse or vilify — the goal is reconciliation and a deepening of love and understanding.

 Eph. 4:11-16 - “11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure (standard) of the fullness of Christ.

•  unity in our faith - not unity in our faith in politicians or policies

• unity in our knowledge of the Son of God - not in our knowledge of politics and current cultural issues

• the goal is mature love that will not yield. It doesn’t mean everything has to be sweetness and light … or that hard differences cannot be acknowledged.  

 It is steadfast love and hope that help us manage our own hearts in the midst of unresolved tension.    

1 Corinthians 13:7 -  “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Back to Ephesians:

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here                                   and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their                                                deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him Who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From Him the whole body, joined and held                 together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does                                   its work.”

My favorite phrase: “Speaking truth in love, we grow up …”

Most of us avoid confrontation because we think it’s painful or awkward or it’s going to be mean.    The word “confrontation” itself is scary, full of dread. You get a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach thinking about it. Don’t think of conflict resolution as “confrontation”. What if “conflict resolution” is the path to deeper love? What if courageous peacemaking is how we keep our hearts tender and deeply connected to one another?”

PRACTICAL STEPS.  As always, God’s ways aren’t just nice religious ideas. He wants us to put heart and feet to our faith. So here are some practical ideas for managing our hearts with regard to these intense times … thinking about the idea of managing ourselves with powerful and volatile social media:

•     If social media is your preferred method of engaging with the culture on topics you are passionate about, carefully craft the language that most honestly expresses your heart, while also considering personal relationships and possible impact on your faith community.

This is probably the toughest balancing act for the Christian… balancing expressions of personal conscience vs. wise restraint of our personal liberty. The Bible actually acknowledges and respects the grey areas of personal conscience. Many more nuances regarding liberty of conscience there than you may realize.  Romans 14 is a wonderful chapter for guidance on this matter.

•     If you find yourself becoming offended by people who differ from you sharing their views on social media - and in this case, especially if they are someone in your own church or local community -    I suggest you may need to take proactive steps to stop seeing their posts. Either mute or block them or take yourself off social media — but NOT to judge and dismiss them or withdraw your heart and abandon the relationship.

This is the critically important part. Simply determine to tightly hold love and respect for them without going down the road of judging their heart, their motives, etc. And when in doubt about having the conversation, ask for input from trusted wise friends/mentors, pastor/elders, etc.

Either way, whether your are expressing yourself on social media, or you are the person viewing others’ posts, do this for two outcomes: to guard your own heart and to protect the love you have for your fellow brother or sister.

•     3-for-3 Dinners: I really encourage us to dive into this 3-for3 dinner idea. This is a great chance to get to know people in the context of their real lives and for them to get to know you.

•     Intentionally invite people with whom you may have differences. 

•     BAN discussion of politics - at least at first - in favor of building real connection.

•     See them in context, not just as opinions. Ask about their growing up years,

•     where they went to school, their hobbies or favorite books or movies, why they

•     chose the career they did. Play with their kids, learn their names. Pet the dog.

•     Ask for Help: Again, if a peacemaking conversation feels too big or scary, lean on elders or other peacemakers in the church. You don’t have to do it alone!

    >> Caveat about conflict resolution: This does not necessarily apply to  relationships that may be unsafe. Again, seek wise counsel if you’re unsure.

•     This week, pick one relationship strained by differences. Be courageous … take one step — coffee, a dinner, a conversation — and fight for love.

Let’s make it to the finish line together.

Prayer: Ask God to soften our hearts, give us courage for peacemaking, and strengthen our love so we can all make it to the finish line together.

Harmony #99: The Crucifixion of Jesus (Luke 23:26-49; Mark 15:41; Matthew 27:32-56; John 19:16-37)

We are going to cover a lot of text today so that we are ready to talk about the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. The trial of Jesus is over: now, we enter the via dolarosa, the Way of Sorrow. I am going to work commentary into the text just to give us added context as we read. You will see my additions in bold print to distinguish it.

So they took Jesus, carrying his own cross. As they led him away, the soldiers forced a passerby to carry his cross, Simon of Cyrene, who was from a Jewish community in Northern Africa. (He was the father of Alexander and Rufus, who can confirm this account). They placed the cross on his back and made him carry it behind Jesus. [1] Two other criminals[2]were also led away to be executed with him.

A great number of the people followed him, among them women who were mourning and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem,[3] do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

For the coming destruction of the Temple and the decimation of the people is certain[4]: The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us! ’

For if such things are done when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”[5]If crucifixion is what Rome does to the innocent and righteous, how much greater destruction will Rome do against the guilty and unrighteous?

They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”) and offered Jesus wine mixed with gall (myrrh) to drink. But after tasting it, he would not drink it.[6]

At ‘the third hour,’ nine o’clock in the morning[7] the time of the morning sacrifice of the lamb in the Temple, they crucified him there, along with the two other criminals, one on his right and one on his left, with Jesus in the middle. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

Pilate also had a notice of the charge against him written and fastened to the cross above his head, which read: “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.” Thus many of the Jewish residents of Jerusalem read this notice, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the notice was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.

Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The king of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am king of the Jews.’ “Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” Now when the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and made four shares, one for each soldier, and the tunic remained.

 (Now the tunic was seamless like that of a High Priest, woven from top to bottom as a single piece.)[8] So the soldiers said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but throw dice to see who will get it.” And so the garment of the true High Priest remained untorn in accordance with the Law.

This took place to fulfill the scripture in Psalm 22 that says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they threw dice.” So the soldiers did these things and then sat down and kept guard over him there. The people also stood there watching.

Those who passed by defamed Jesus, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who claimed to be able to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,[9] save yourself! If you are God’s Son, come down from the cross!”  In the same way even the chief priests – together with the experts in the law and elders – were mocking him among themselves.

“He saved others, but he cannot save himself! If he is the Christ of God, his chosen one, the king of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, that we may see and believe in him! He trusts in God – let God, if he wants to, deliver him now because he said, ‘I am God’s Son’!”

The soldiers also mocked Jesus, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” The robbers who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. One of the criminals who was hanging there railed at him, saying, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

But the other rebuked him, saying, “Don’t you fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we rightly so, for we are getting what we deserve for what we did, but this man has done nothing wrong. ”Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.”  And Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” [10]

Now standing beside Jesus’ cross were his mother; his mother’s sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas; and Mary Magdalene. So when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, look, here is your son!” He then said to his disciple, “Look, here is your mother!” From that very time the disciple took Jesus’ mother into his own home.

Now when it was about noon, darkness came over the whole land[11] until three in the afternoon as the prophet Amos foretold, and the sun’s light failed.[12] Around three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which is the opening line from Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

When some of the bystanders heard it, they thought he had called for “Eli” and said, “Listen, he is calling for the return of Elijah!” [13]After this Jesus, realizing that by this time everything was completed, said (in order to fulfill the scripture)[14], “I am thirsty!” 

A jar full of sour wine was there, so someone immediately ran, soaked a sponge with sour wine, put it on a hyssop stick[15], and lifted it to his mouth to drink. But the rest said, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down and save him.”

When he had received the sour wine,[16] Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, “It is completed!” Then Jesus bowed his head, and calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And after he said this, he breathed his last and gave up his spirit.

Now when the centurion, who stood in front of him, saw how he died, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent!” Just then the temple curtain, which separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple and reserved an area exclusively for the High Priest, was split from top to bottom so that all could now enter into the holiest of holy places to worship God.[17] The earth shook and the rocks were split apart.[18]

Now when the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place, they were extremely terrified and said, “Truly this one was God’s Son!”[19] And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home in sorrow and repentance.

All those who knew Jesus stood watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses (Joseph), and Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee. When Jesus was in Galilee, they had followed him and given him support. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were there too.

Then, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not stay on the crosses on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was an especially important one. It was the Sabbath beginning the Feast of Unleavened Bread, in which the Israelites celebrated their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Because of the need to act quickly, the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to have the victims’ legs broken and the bodies taken down.

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men who had been crucified with Jesus, first the one and then the other. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out immediately.

The person who saw it has testified (and his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth), so that you also may believe. For these things happened so that the scripture in Psalm 22 would be fulfilled, “Not a bone of his will be broken.”[20] And again, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”[21]

* * * * *

There are a number of things we could focus on.

• Jesus’ deep care for other people even as he is going to the cross.

• His incredible forgiveness.

• The symbolism of the untorn robe (#truehighpriest) and the torn temple veil (no qualifications needed to be close to God)

• The timing of his death as a Passover Lamb kicking off the Jewish celebration of deliverance from slavery.

I would like to focus on what is happening with all the citations of Psalm 22. Jesus quotes the first line; the gospel writers keep referencing it. We are supposed to know this Psalm. So, here we go. This is David speaking about himself, so not everything will map perfectly with Jesus. But think about how Jesus and the gospel writers hyperlink to this passage as we read.

Psalm 22

 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me,
    so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
    by night, but I find no rest.

 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.  In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.  From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.  Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.

Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me.

My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

 But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me. Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

 I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! 2For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him, but has listened to his cry for help.

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him - may your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him -those who cannot keep themselves alive.

Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it! (“It is finished”?)

Growing up, I was taught that God had forsaken Jesus on the cross. We even sang the hymn: “The Father turned his face away.” Why? All the sin. After all,

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

No way could God look on all that sin, right? A key verse from which we get this idea is found in Habakkuk 1:13:

“Your eyes are too pure to even look at evil. You cannot turn Your face toward injustice.”

This is where we got the idea, that God the Father really had forsaken God the Son – He had turned His face away - as if the Trinity could be divided against itself. But the next line from Habakkuk 1:14 is often overlooked:

“So why do You watch those who act treacherously?”

It seems as if the first part reminds us of God’s holy and pure nature, and the second part assures us that God’s perfection does not mean he can’t be present and engaged with an imperfect world. Jesus is the fullest expression of that. If God couldn’t even look at evil and injustice, it would make no sense that God incarnated in Jesus into a world where he would be surrounded by evil and injustice. But God did that – and more. Paul reminded the church in Corinth that, on the cross,

“…God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them...” (2 Corinthians 5:19)

The Trinity was never divided. Yawheh was not the two-faced God Janus, with one face turned from us and another face turned toward us. Note where Psalm 22 leads us. After that opening cry about God forsaking him, David comes around.

“For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him, but has listened to his cry for help.”

What does God do when there is a world full of sin? He moves in closer. He makes himself more obvious. Jesus lovingly rubbed shoulders with sinful humanity on his way to saving them from the devastating wages of sin. He took our sin into himself and defeated it once and for all.

That’s not a Father who turns his face away and leaves in the presence of sin. That’s a Father whose love reaches through that mess of sin, grabs his children by the hand, cleans them up, heals them and sets them free from the bondage of sin and death, “so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:27)

This remains true today. The cross reminds us that nothing can turn the Father’s face away from us. On the cross, Jesus pulled us all closer to take care of the sin.

“And I, [Jesus] if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw (literally “drag”) all mankind unto Myself.” (John 12:32)

And he did this for us “while we were yet sinners.” (Romans 5:8) Our sin doesn’t make Jesus push us away. Our sin causes Jesus to reach for us to draw us to himself.

I don’t know what your past record of sin or current struggle with sin is.  I just know the Father has not turned His face away from you. Jesus is drawing you, me, everyone in the world, in whatever state of sin they are in, to gather at the level ground at the foot of the cross for salvation, healing, restoration, and communion with God and each other.

I don’t know what kind of evil is trying to or has seduced you and threatens to control you. I just know that Jesus is drawing you to himself, not pushing you away. God has not turned his face from you; God has always set his face toward you. (And if we want to be like Jesus, we will never turn our face away from those toward whom God has set his face.)

There may be shame (because sin is never something to be proud of), and hurt (because sin always leaves a mark), and hiding so that we are not exposed (#gardenofeden).

But God is the Perfect Father who runs with joy to embrace even his most prodigal children. God is the Good Shepherd who will search for that lost sheep until He finds it. God is the farmer who saw a treasure – you - in a field of the world, and He gave all that he had to get it. God is Jesus, who, while we yet sinners, finished the path of cruciform love: giving his life so that we could live, and so that all things could be reconciled to God, and so the Kingdom of God can be on earth as it is in heaven.

_________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Simon of Cyrene was likelys from a Jewish community in Libya. Church history says He became a disciple of Jesus and a missionary. Some speculate that the Rufus in Mark 15:21 is also in Paul's letter to the Romans.

[2] Likely Zealots, as crucifixion was the penalty for insurrection.

[3] Some women in Jerusalem “were in the habit of soothing the last hours of these condemned ones with narcotics and anodynes. These kindly offices were apparently not forbidden by the Roman authorities.” (Pulpit Commentary)

[4] Here comes a prophecy about the fall of the Temple and the death of a million Jews at Roman hands  in A.D. 70.

[5] “If Pilate could thus sentence to death One in whom he acknowledged that he could find no fault, what might be expected from his successors when they had to deal with a people rebellious and in arms. "If such sufferings alight upon the innocent One, the very Lamb of God, what must be in store for those who are provoking the flames?"

[6] Most commentators believe this was so that he did not avoid the full cup of pain and suffering.

[7] it aligns with the timing of the Jewish morning sacrifice in the Temple of a sacrificial lamb. 

[8] “Although the Old Testament does not tell us the high priest’s robe was seamless, Josephus does: “Now this vesture was not composed of two pieces, nor was it sewed together upon the shoulders and the sides, but it was one long vestment so woven as to have an aperture for the neck.”  John 19:24 tells us that the soldiers did not tear Jesus’ robe. Exodus 28:32 forbade the tearing of the high priest’s robe. John points out another quality of Jesus’ tunic in 19:23: it was woven from top to bottom, anōthen (ἄνωθεν)… Surely it is not by chance that John 19:23 tells us Jesus’ chitōn was woven from top to bottom (anōthen). It must mean something. This garment is not just any garment, but is drawing attention to some divine connection.  (“Jesus as High Priest: the Significance of the Seamless Robe.” Thomas Lane, stpaulcenter.com

[9] John 2:19

[10] There was no punctuation in the original manuscript. It could also read, “I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise. Church tradition, repeated by the likes of John Chrysostom and Augustine, claims that the two thieves were part of a band of robbers led by Gestas (the mocker) and Dismas (the believer) who held up Jesus’ family on their way to Egypt. The robbers were astonished to find expensive gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In the legend Dismas was deeply affected by the infant, and stopped the robbery by offering a bribe to Gestas. Upon departing, the young Dismas was reported to have said: “0 most blessed of children, if ever a time should come when I should crave thy mercy, remember me and forget not what has passed this day.” (https://beyondthesestonewalls.com/posts/dismas-crucified-to-the-right-paradise-lost-and-found)

[11] Most scholars connect this darkness with Amos 8:9-10: “And in that day, declares the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the daytime. I will turn your feasts into mourning (think the Passover festival) and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.”

[12] “An account of it is given by Phlegon of Tralles, a second century historian… who says that, in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was” a great and remarkable eclipse of the sun, above any that had happened before. At the sixth hour the day was turned into the darkness of night, so that stars were seen in the heaven; and there was a great earthquake in Bithynia, which overthrew many houses in the city of Nicaea.” Phlegon also mentions an earthquake…. Dionysius says that he saw this phenomenon at Heliopolis, in Egypt, and he is reported to have exclaimed, "Either the God of nature, the Creator, is suffering, or the universe dissolving." (Pulpit Commentary)

[13] There was a Jewish expectation that Elijah would return before the Messiah.

[14] Psalm 22 again.

[15] The hyssop may symbolize the cleansing and purification that Jesus' sacrifice provides. 

[16] Sour wine fulfills the prophecy in Psalm 69:21, which states, "They gave me vinegar to drink instead of wine." 

[17] No longer were only a few allowed into the ‘presence of God.’ Now everyone could access it.

[18] “And tombs were opened and, like Lazarus, many saints who had very recently died were raised out of their tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city, Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.” Since that happens after the Resurrection of Jesus, let’s save it.” It is probable that they were persons who had recently died, and they appear to have been known in Jerusalem.” (Barnes’ Notes On The Bible). In this sense, this was probably similar to Lazarus: they had recently died, but had not yet been properly interred.

[19] Tradition affirms that the centurion's name was Longinus, that he became a devoted follower of Christ, preached the faith, and died a martyr's death. (Pulpit Commentary)

[20] Psalm 34:20

[21] Zechariah 12:10

Harmony #98: Who Is Our King? (John 19, Mark 15, Luke 23)

When Pilate heard what they said, he was more afraid than ever, and he went back into the governor’s residence and said to Jesus, “Where do you come from?”[1] But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know I have the authority to release you, and to crucify you?”

Jesus replied, “You would have no authority over me at all, unless it was given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of greater sin.” From this point on, Pilate tried to release him. But the Jewish leaders shouted out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar![2] Everyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar!”

When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat in the place called “The Stone Pavement” (Gabbatha in Aramaic). (Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover, about noon [or nine o’clock]) Pilate said to the Jewish leaders, “Look, here is your king!”

Then they shouted out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked, “Shall I crucify your king?” The high priests replied, “We have no king except Caesar!”[3]Because he wanted to satisfy the crowd, Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.

He released, Barabbas, the man they asked for, who had been thrown in prison for insurrection and murder.  But he handed Jesus over to their will, to be crucified. [4]So they took Jesus, stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

In "Avinu Malkeinu" in the Talmud, a rabbi prays to God for rain (a metaphor for God’s provision) with these words:

“Avinu Malkeinu, our father, our king, we have sinned against you. Our father our king, we have no king other than You. Our father, our king, for your sake have mercy upon us.”[5]

Soooo….. we have a problem. The Jewish people knew that they had one King, God. They should have said, “We have no king but Yahweh.” Unfortunately, this misplaced allegiance is not new. It began with,

“Give us a king! Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” (1 Samuel 8:19-20)

God granted their request, with some guidelines:

“The king must not acquire great numbers of horses… for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” (military aggression) He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray (political alliances that introduce idolatry). He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold (greed and corruption). (Deuteronomy 17:16-17) 

But all of Israel’s kings, at least until Israel and Judah split, pursued at least some and sometimes all of those things. When the kingdom split, there was a wild rollercoaster of kings who followed God’s instructions and those who did not.

If you remember, the Sadducees asked Herod, the richest man in the world, to become the King of the Jews to act as a buffer from Rome. I suppose at that time they were acknowledging they had no king – or at least no trust in a king - but Herod. This led to a remarkable amount of corruption as the religious leaders got intertwined with Roman power and luxury.

When the Sanhedrin (the ruling body of the Jews) got concerned that Jesus was going to get them in trouble with Rome (John 11:48), they arrested him. Then they ask for the way of the Zealots when given a choice between a King of Peace and a King of War for protecting the children of God and advancing the Kingdom of God.  

“The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar! Our Messianic hope is dead, our national independence is at an end, our witness as a people to truth, our listening to the voice which would have gathered us together, are over. As before they had shouted, "Not this Man, but Barabbas!" so now, "Not the Lord of glory, but the demon lord of Rome; not this King of kings, but Tiberius Augustus." They elected Caesar to be their king; by Caesar they were destroyed. The kingdom of God, by the confession of its rulers, has become the kingdom of this world.” (Pulpit Commentary)

I have been thinking of different places in the Bible where we get a vision for what it looks like when Jesus - and only Jesus - is our King. Two passages came to mind: The Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. I’m going to try to combine the two of them. It’s not a perfect overlap, but as you might expect, the Bible has themes that are revisited a lot. Here is a sketch of 1 Corinthians 13 with some other biblical passages offered as support – most from the Sermon on the Mount. Also, this is a sermon not a book, so there a ton of nuance that is missing. Try not to get distracted by that. Soak in the main point before unpacking the complexities of life that are also relevant.

When we have no King but Jesus, we will have a love that is patient, especially while enduring difficulty or suffering (see also Matthew 5:38-42). We are going to need to define love. The agape love of the cruciform Christ has been defined this way:  

“[Agape love] devotes total commitment to seek your best no matter how anyone may respond. This form of love is totally selfless and does not change whether the love given is returned or not.” [6]

In other words, it’s about a posture of the heart that is for others, always. We never stop praying and desiring for the righteous flourishing of everyone, even those who bring us difficulty and suffering, and we participate in that as appropriate. When we can’t, we pray and hope that others will.

When Caesar is our king, we will be aggressive and hostile in the face of difficulty. We will be quick to give up and wish ill on others. When our King, Jesus, leads us, we are able to patiently endure through suffering as Jesus modeled for us, and we will never stop hoping and praying for the healing and righteous transformation of those who have brought us difficulty and suffering.

When we have not King but Jesus, we will have a love that is gentle and consistently kind in service to others (see also Matthew 5:7). Gentleness is not weakness; gentleness is using our strength and resources mercifully in service to others. It’s using our authority carefully.

When Caesar is our king, we will want to “lord it over others,” flex our authority and be served (Matthew 20:25). When our only King, Jesus, leads us, our love is determined to show a pattern in life that exhibits strength and authority under control such that those around us learn why it is the kindness of God that leads us to move closer to God. (Romans 2:4)

When we have no king but Jesus, we will have a love that is not envious or jealous when others are blessed. Someone is healthy when we are not? Someone has great vacations when we barely make it paycheck to paycheck? Someone eats anything they want and never exercises and looks like a model, and I can’t have tofu without it going right to my belly? When others are flourishing in true health and righteous blessing, we can rejoice for them no matter our own circumstances.

When Caesar is our king, our envy will want the good others have so much that their success will become our idol. We will do anything to get what they have, and if we don’t, we will hate them all the more. When our only King, Jesus, leads us, we can truly say, “Good for you. I’m happy for you,” because we trust that God can and does provide what we truly need from His glorious riches given to us through Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

When we have no king but Jesus, our love of God and others does not allow us to be proudly boastful about our own importance. (see also Matthew 6:1-8) Over and over, Jesus talks about those who pray and give alms in secret, who don’t let the left hand know what the right hand is doing (Matthew 6:3-4), and who are not like the Pharisees, who “loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (John 12:43)

When Caesar is our king, it is all about us: our accomplishments, our success, our comfort, our self-importance, much to the frustration of those around us. (It’s exhausting to pat the arrogant on the back sufficiently.) When our only king, Jesus, leads us, we don’t need to position ourselves to get noticed or applauded to find our validation, because, Jesus has grounded our value, our identity, our worth, and that is enough. We are able to release people from the need to admire us with sufficient awe, because we are humble, consistently focusing on bringing honor to others rather than ourselves. (Philippians 2:3)

When we have no king but Jesus, our expression of love is not dishonorable or improper; it takes on a form that is compelling and attractive (see also Matthew 5:3-10).In other words, our lives will offer a compelling witness to the hope of Christ in us, transforming us into the image of cruciform love. Acts 2 tells us of how the first Jesus followers found a way to do this in their context:

The community continually committed themselves to learning what the apostles taught them, gathering for fellowship, breaking bread, and praying. Everyone felt a sense of awe because the apostles were doing many signs and wonders among them. 

There was an intense sense of togetherness among all who believed; they shared all their material possessions in trust. They sold any possessions and goods that did not benefit the community and used the money to help everyone in need. They were unified as they worshiped at the temple day after day. In homes, they broke bread and shared meals with glad and generous hearts. 

The new disciples praised God, and they enjoyed the goodwill of all the people of the city. Day after day the Lord added to their number everyone who was experiencing liberation. (Acts 2:42-47)

When Caesar is our king, we are radically independent rather than inter-dependent. My stuff is mine; your stuff is yours; tough luck if you’re struggling. You should have pulled yourself up by your own bootstraps and made better choices and worked harder and, well, been more like me (is what it really boils down to). When our only King, Jesus, leads us, we will display God’s generous heart by displaying glad and generous hearts as we use the provision God has given us for the benefit of those in need.

When we have no king but Jesus, our love does not allow us to dishonor others with shame or disrespect (see also Matthew 5:27-30) Truth-telling? Yes. Shaming? No. Honesty? Yes. Disrespect? No. Remember: it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance, not the meanness of God. There is a godly sorrow that is good, but a shame-filled sorrow is not from God, and is not the fruit of love. (2 Corinthians 7:10)

When Caesar is our king, bullying, gossip, insults and derision are the tools we use to get our way and promote ourselves. When our only King, Jesus, leads us, we will pray, ‘O Lord, keep watch over the door of my lips!’ (Psalm 141:3) so that the righteous treasure in our heart put there by Jesus is revealed in how we say what we say. (Luke 6:45)

When we have no king but Jesus, our love does not allow us to selfishly seek our own honor or attempt to “get what’s mine” (see also Matthew 6:19-25). This is not about guarding our reputation, which is a good thing to do as much as is in our control. This is about greed for honor, fame, and things. When Caesar is our king, we are interested in taking rather than giving; having rights for ourself over having responsibilities toward others; thinking more about building our own honor and prestige than building up others.

When we follow Jesus and walk in love, “What do I owe others as image bearers of God?” will always be more important than, “What do others owe me?” When our only King, Jesus, leads us, we will be consistently asking how we can serve and honor others rather than how we can be served and honored. Ideally, we will create a community in which everyone buys in, so there is plenty of affirmation and honor to go around as we are all consistently offering it to those around us.

When we have no king but Jesus, our desire to love like Jesus loves does not allow us fly off the handle with anger quickly or take offense easily (see also Matthew 5:21-26).We will be slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and mercy, just like Jesus. (Exodus 34:6) We will practice hospitality of the heart and head, thinking the best of and feeling the best about others unless we are forced to think otherwise.

When Caesar is our king, we will look for perceived offenses and go ballistic to get what we are now owed (in our minds): an apology; an assurance that they were wrong and we are right; maybe just the satisfaction of getting someone to fight or take flight. When our only King, Jesus, leads us, we will not take offense easily. We will be hospitable in our heads and our hearts; if we take offense, we will ask questions (maybe we misunderstood?), and press in conversationally and relationally (maybe this says more about me than it does about you?), with a goal of truth, peace and restoration made easier by navigating our way there with grace and love.

When we have no king but Jesus, our love for others does not allow us to keep a punch list of wrongs we have endured (Matthew 5:43-48. I don’t think this means we have to erase what happened from our memory as if it didn’t happen, because that would be dishonest. It did happen. Memory can be really important so we learn from history. I think this means we won’t keep playing the “wrongs card” over and over as bitterness grows within us. Bengal’s Gnomen translates this phrase as,

“…does not meditate upon evil inflicted by another, with a desire to avenge it.”

There is a secondary meaning that pops up a lot. This is from Barne’s Notes On The Bible: 

“Thinketh no evil - That is, puts the best possible construction on the motives and the conduct of others. It means that a person under the influence of love is not malicious, censorious, disposed to find fault, or to impute improper motives to others. It is not disposed to "think" that there was any evil intention even in cases which might tend to irritate or exasperate us.

It is not disposed to think that there was any evil in the case; or that what was done was with any improper intention or design; that is, it puts the best possible construction on the conduct of others, and supposes, as far as can be done, that it was in consistency with honesty, truth, friendship, and love. 

We desire to think well of [those] whom we love… until we are compelled to [not] do so by the most unbreakable evidence. True religion, therefore, will prompt to charitable judging; nor is there a more striking evidence of the destitution of true religion than a disposition to impute the worst motives and opinions to [others].

When Caesar is our king, the offenses of others are always in our back pocket. We assume the worst of intent right out of the gate, then refuse to back down when we might be wrong. We will keep track, and not let it go. When our only King, Jesus, leads us, we will put the ‘best possible construction’ on the conduct of others until we have unbreakable evidence otherwise; we will practice forgiveness when genuine hurt has been done to us; and we will pursue restoration and fellowship as a hopeful goal.

When we have no king but Jesus, our love does not allow us to delight in unrighteousness or injustice and does not cheer when others are harmed (doesn't revel when others grovel) (see also Matthew 5:3-10). When we see people being harmed by sin or just by life; when we see abuse of any kind - dehumanization, exploitation, cruelty, people using other people, people being denied the dignity they deserve as image bearers of God - we are not okay with it and we certainly never applaud it. Ideally, it breaks our hearts.

When our king is Caesar, we will not only do unrighteous things, we will approve of those who do unrighteous[7] things (Romans 1). When our only King, Jesus, leads us, we won’t want to excuse or applaud that which breaks relationship with God and others, because it will break our heart. When we have no king but Jesus, our love causes us to celebrates honesty, truth, justice and mercy. We will seek first and foremost the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33), and applaud the pursuit of righteousness wherever we see it.

When we have no king but Jesus, our love gives a safe place of shelter for those bearing burdens (see also Galatians 6:2) When we love with the love of Jesus, we want people to be free of their burdens, be they of sin, or sickness, or a hard life.  We do not want the to feel they have to just get used to them, and we certainly don’t want to add to them. While we help them on this journey, we are called to be a safe place of shelter in a world that too often shames, dismisses or even punishes burden carriers.  

The opening lyrics from a song called “Gimme Shelter” say: “A storm is threatening my very life today. If I don't get some shelter, I'm gonna fade away.” Those with Jesus’ love in them say, “No, that is not okay. You will not fade away. I will bring the kind, loving shelter that Jesus has provided for us all.”[8]

When Caesar is our king, not everybody deserves shelter. Some people matter more than others. In the time of Jesus, the Romans left deformed or unwanted babies out to die, and women and slaves just didn’t matter as much as free men. In Judaism, it was free vs. slave, male vs. female, Jews over Gentiles (Galatians 3:28). Caesar will always have hierarchies of who matters, who deserves our investment, who we must classify as “our neighbor” to determine if they get our love and provision (Luke 10:29)

When Jesus is our king, we say, “Hey, you matter,” to everybody, and we mean it. We will want to not only protect human life from the moment it begins until the moment it ends, but also to help people to flourish, with a Christ-like focus on “the least of these.”  And if they matter – they really matter – they are never just a statistic, or irrelevant, or unimportant. They should matter deeply to us because they matter deeply to Jesus.

When we have no king but Jesus, our love and trust remains hopeful and faithful during difficult times (see also Matthew 5:31-32).

Hopeful (full of hope): believing that God really is Love, and that God is at work in the world in all people and places, and that miracles are real, that history is not destiny, that the Lamb’s cruciform love has overcome death, evil, pain and suffering, and God will restore all things to himself in the end. (Colossians 1:20)

Faithful (full of faith): doesn’t stop believing that and demonstrating our belief through faithful practices.

If we remain hopeful and faithful, God’s love will enable us to bear incredible loads without them breaking our ability to love. In other words, our love will never stop. No matter how near or far away from someone I am, whether relationally or physically (because sometimes boundaries and distance are necessary and healthy things), a love that looks like the love of Jesus is devoted to seeking and praying for God’s best for others no matter how they respond, and no matter if that kind of love given in return. This kind of love is good for others, but it might be just as important for the one giving it. This kind of love kills the root of bitterness; it calms anger and unforgiveness.

When our king is Caesar, that kind of love will always seem strange. Caesar’s love will have an expiration date because it’s dependent on our ability to be lovable or desirable on Caesar’s terms. When someone makes Caesar unhappy, whatever ‘love’ they experienced easily turns to either not caring if they suffer, or wanting them to suffer. This leads to those around Caesar living in fear of falling out of favor, but that’s the point. The fear of Caesar drives them to beg for the fickle love of Caesar.

When we have no king but Jesus, we will love him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19) not because we were good enough to love, but because God is love. It’s what God does. “We will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” (Psalm 46:2) Perfect love casts out fear, which is why cruciform love is never going to have a place in Caesar ’s palace. Nothing will separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39), so nothing can stop our love, which sends us relentlessly to others for their good on behalf of Jesus.
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[1] Likely not a question about earthly geography, but a question of divine origin.

[2] “Friend of Caesar” was a political honorific title bestowed by the Roman Empire. Coins of the realm depicting Herod the Great bore the Greek insignia “Philokaisar” meaning “Friend of Caesar.” (“The Chief Priests Answered, ‘We Have No King but Caesar.’ Beyondthesestonewalls.com)

[3] “Sooner than acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah they proclaim that a heathen Emperor is their King.” (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges) “This utterance is "the formal abdication of the Messianic hope." (Vincent’s Word Studies)

[5] I believe I got this info from Adam Clarke.

[6] https://www.ezilon.com/articles/articles/7675/1/God-is-Agape-Love

[7] Righteous: doing right in the eyes of God, which will mean we do the right thing for others.

[8] I used to sing a hymn, “Under His Wings I Am Safely Abiding.” “Under His wings I am safely abiding; Though the night deepens and tempests are wild, Still I can trust Him, I know He will keep me; He has redeemed me, and I am His child. Under His wings—what a refuge in sorrow! How the heart yearningly turns to His rest! Often when earth has no balm for my healing, There I find comfort, and there I am blest. Under His wings, under His wings, Who from His love can sever? Under His wings my soul shall abide, Safely abide forever.