Tag: Jesus Christ

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Reliving Jesus’ Resurrection & Seven Sayings

Gill and I had a wonderful Passover-Easter weekend and were invited to teach three services at Immanuel Church in Umhlanga Rocks (South Africa). What a joy and privilege to do the theme of “Reliving with Jesus…”. 

On Thursday night I taught “Reliving the Passover Meal and Gethsemane with Jesus and his Apostles” 
https://youtu.be/yFmpU5yoDZg

On Friday morning I taught “Reliving the Crucifixion with Jesus“
https://youtu.be/Y7m1N7aaHyA

And Sunday morning I taught on “Reliving the Resurrection with Jesus“
https://youtu.be/MhddUFXk91A

You are welcome to watch these three (3) videos if you like and to pass on the links to whoever may be interested.

As followers of Jesus, God’s (Jewish) Messiah, we relive the Passover meal (Pesach) with Rebbe Y’shua HaMoshiach and his disciples (see Mark 14:12-26, Matt 26:17-30, Luke 22:7- 23, 1 Cor 10:15-17 cf. 11:23-26) – when he enacted the prophesied the new covenant (Jer 31:31-34, Ezek 36:24-27), which he made with YHWH for all who believe through him.

Download the Messianic Passover Seder to follow along.

Seven Saying of Jesus on the Cross

The Gospels record that while hanging on the cross for six hours, until his death, Jesus spoke seven times. We do not know the exact order in which each of his ‘sayings’ took place. But reading the context of each of them, I have put them in a possible/probable order from nine till his death at three in the afternoon.

In your time of meditation, picture the entire scene. See yourself standing there before the cross with John the beloved disciple, and Mary, Jesus’ mother. Relive what happened during those six hours. Listen carefully… hear what Jesus says. Receive his words from the cross… what do they mean to you? What is he saying to you… personally? What is your response to him? Do you need to do anything? Use your imagination by the Spirit to be with Jesus, hanging on the cross… how you can be with him in his suffering.

Whichever saying ‘speaks’ to you, or grabs your attention, stay with it, meditate on it. Answer Jesus… dialogue with him… do what you must to do to respond to him. Read the particular text and its context in your Bible so as to personalize it more.

You could also print out a PDF copy to use during meditation…

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”
Luke 23:34. Words of Forgiveness.

“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise”
Luke 23:43. Words of Salvation.

“Dear woman, here is your son… and… here is your mother”
John 19:26-27. Words of Relationship.

“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Mark 15:34, Matthew 27:46. Words of Rejection and Abandonment. 

“I am thirsty”
John 19:28. Words of Distress. 

“It is finished”
John 19:30. Words of Triumph

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”
Luke 23:46. Matthew 27:50. Words of Reunion.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Those who Grasp for Power

Grasping for power divides people, especially leaders.
It reveals character – both bad and good character.

This was the essential message of my morning meditation today, from 1 Kings 1:5-10.

Adonijah was 35 years old when he made himself king.
Why? Because, the text says, he was…
a) “very handsome”,
b) and next in line (King David’s fourth son, 2 Sam 3:4, after Absalom).

What did he do? Promoted himself by…
a) public displays of power (getting chariots and horses, and sending 50 men to run ahead of him),
b) manipulative lobbying with leaders,
c) threw a coronation party, inviting those whom he knew would support him.

BUT some respected leaders did not support him. The two ‘buts’ in v.8 & 10 show that Zadok the chief priest and Nathan the prophet, among other leaders, did not support Adonijah. They sought to confront and undo his wrongdoing.

Adonijah’s ego-driven attitude and actions divided the people, especially the leaders in Israel. This exposed bad character (those who supported him) and good character (those who did not). That’s what happens whenever anyone, especially leaders (spiritual, civil, business, and political), grasp for power. And God allows it to reveal character, exposing people for who they are.

The Hebrew name Adonijah means “my Lord (Master) is Yahweh (God)”. In 35 years of formation, Adonijah had not learnt to submit his will to God, to make Yahweh his real Lord and Master. Adonijah’s father, King David, “never interfered with him by asking, ‘why do you behave the way you do?’” (v.6, sadly, a lack of fathering). By grasping for power he rejected his God-given identity and purpose embodied in his name. His self-serving behaviour showed that he ‘self-identified’ as “my Lord is Me”.

Have you been tempted to power, to make yourself a leader, to be king?

IN GOD’S KINGDOM, power and leadership is always given, never ever taken. One is only and always invited and appointed by others, those above you, by God. There is NO self-promotion, let alone self-appointment, in God’s Kingdom.

Adonijah followed Lucifer, who grasped for ultimate position and power: God’s throne, to be God. All who grasp for power and all who support such leaders reveal the character of Lucifer, whether they know it or not. Such leaders and people do the will of Satan on earth as it is in hell.

The ultimate reversal – undoing of this corrupt and evil way – is through Jesus. Though equal with God, he did not consider equality with God something to grasped or held on to. Rather, he stripped himself of position and power and made himself nothing. Taking on the nature of a slave, he selflessly served, obeying God all his life: “not my will but yours be done”. To the point of death. Even death on a cross. Therefore God highly exalted him, giving him all authority and power in heaven and earth. He is the true Adonijah, “my Lord is (really) God”. All true followers of Jesus do God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.

Posted on by — 3 Comments

A Christian Response to Jihadist Violence & Donald Trump

Following the Paris and Beirut massacres and the social media discourse that ensued, as a reasonably regular twit I tweeted the following on 21 November: “In all the jihadist killings and hatred, WE MUST SEE JESUS – a King who does not kill anyone, but gives himself in love to die for everyone”

Then I was stimulated by Fr Francesco Follo’s meditation on ‘King of Truth and Love’ (in John 18:33-37) and I thought more about what I tweeted. So I wanted to elaborate and I posted this on my FaceBook page on 21 November 2015:

Jesus didn’t impose his Caliphate as a domain of lies, hatred & violence. He witnessed to the truth as an inviting Kingdom of self-giving love. His Royalty was exercised NOT as an imposition of an intolerant cruel domain, but as a witness (a martyr) to the truth of love – for this very reason King Jesus was born and came into the world (John 18:37). And everyone who is of the truth, who seeks truth, will hear his voice, his message of love.

What is the truth of love? Jesus didn’t spill the blood of anyone, adding to sin, but shed his own blood for everyone, atoning for sin. He does not violently sacrifice anyone, but sacrifices himself, absorbing all violence for everyone. He takes a cross as his throne, thorns as his crown, to rule not by the sword to behead or the Kalashnikov to massacre, but by the truth of love to save and set free. THIS love, and its truth, is the greatest power known in all created reality. It will ultimately conquer all and reign over all. Continue reading A Christian Response to Jihadist Violence & Donald Trump

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Why Celebrate Christmas?

Why celebrate Christmas? Are you not sick and tired of the crass commercialisation of this festival? All the marketing of goods that say “buy me!” All the stressful shopping, all the food and drink, the glitzy lights, the expenditure and debt. What do we mean when we say “Happy Christmas”? Is it over indulgence and unhappy hangover?

What does this have to do with “Christ’s mass” – the Christian celebration (“mass”) of the historic birth of the “Christ” (Messiah-King)? Jesus was born as God’s promised King to save the world. Jesus (Hebrew Yeshuah) means “The Lord saves” from sin and consequential judgment. All who trust him by coming under his Kingship are saved.

How can we recover and celebrate THAT historic event, THAT message? Was Jesus really born on 25 December? When and how did contemporary Christmas originate?

Jesus’ first followers spread the good news of his birth and life, death and resurrection, by presenting their message in the cultural forms they came into contact with. E.g. they re-interpreted pagan festivals by infusing the symbols with Christian meaning to convey the good news of Jesus. There is no historic/biblical record of the date of Jesus’ birth. No one knows. The earliest record of Christmas is in the Philocalian Calendar of 354, citing its celebration on 25 December 336 in Rome. Scholars say it was the Christianization of the Roman festival of The Birthday of the Unconquered Sun: at the winter solstice (25 December) the sun began to show an increase in light. Motivated by evangelism (and political power!) the Church in Rome re-interpreted it as The Feast of the Nativity of the Sun of Righteousness: the birthday of God’s Light that drives back the darkness of sin and evil. This particular “Christ’s mass”, with the four weeks of advent added later, gained acceptance in the Christian west (Eastern Orthodox celebrate on 6 January).

And the customs/trappings of Christmas? The merry making and exchange of gifts came from the Roman Saturnalia Festival (17-24 December). Christians used it to celebrate Christ’s birth as God’s ultimate gift of himself to the world. The greenery and lights came from the Kelands of January and its solar associations (1 January, the Roman new year). Christians used these symbols to say Christ’s birth brings light and new life. Santa Claus and his reindeers derive from Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra (4th century). Little is known of him except that he brought gifts on his sled to children on his feast day, 6 December. He became the patron saint of Russia, of children and of sailors. So giving gifts to children and feeding people in need became associated with Christmas. Continue reading Why Celebrate Christmas?