Category Archives: Jesus

Square Bidness

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Square bidness.  Translation?  I am telling you the absolute truth.  I learned that expression from New York slum street kids back in the 60’s.  Don’t know if they still say it, but God does.  Check this out:

18 For this is what the Lord says—
he who created the heavens,
he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth,
he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty,
but formed it to be inhabited—
he says:
“I am the Lord,
and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in secret,
from somewhere in a land of darkness;
I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth;
I declare what is right.  (Isaiah 45:18-19)

Sometimes I underline or highlight the main ideas in long Bible sentences, as I have done above.  That’s so I can hang on the main thrust of what is written.  In this passage, the main idea is that God, the only One Who is real, made the earth to be inhabited by us and has clearly told us in His Word how to find Him.  If we seek Him, He said, it won’t be in vain.

Think about how much effort around the world goes into the pursuit of God, most of it in vain because the method of seeking has been designed by what people have imagined would work.  But God said, “Look, if you want to truly find me you have to seek in the way I have clearly told you.  It’s not some secret knowledge but is clearly laid out in My Word.  Seek Me in that true way and it won’t be in vain.”

And Jesus added,

45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.”  (John 6:45-48)

Square bidness.

To Know Better

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We’ve known each other for years, but just the other day, over hot coffee and breakfast burritos, down at Janie’s Cafe, I got to know him better.  Mack (not his real name) is a guy I can talk naturally with – no pretense.  Breakfast at Janie’s was a rich time.

Paul writes that one of the things he strives for most is to know Jesus better.

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord... (Philippians 3:8a)

10 that I may know him…  (Philippians 3:10)

He probably knew Jesus better than most, but not well enough for his own satisfaction:

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (Philippians 3:12)

This morning, after reading those lines, I asked Jesus to show me something about Himself that I didn’t understand well enough.  Kind of looking forward to how He answers that request…

The Trick with Puzzles

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The most obvious solution for a puzzle is wrong and leads you astray.  The one that works is counter-intuitive.  You think you should slide the ring over the post, but in reality, doing so actually makes the puzzle harder to solve.  Life here on earth is like that.  The most obvious solutions to our problems often make the problems worse.  Just ask the Hatfields and the McCoys.  Their feud could have been avoided if they had responded to each other in ways that, at first, would have seemed crazy to them.

That’s the principle behind this well known teaching of Jesus: “… the truth will set you free.”  That phrase is often quoted, but what came before it is less well known or understood.  Here is the whole thing:

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

Jesus’ “word” is not simply a collection of Scrabble letters, it is the Greek word, “logos,” from which we get our word, logic.  It means the whole way in which one understands reality and interacts with it.  For example,  You see a gathering of people and don’t think much about them.  But if you understand their logos, realize they all served in the same outfit in WWII, then your understanding and interaction with them is changed by that logos.  Jesus invites us to do more than simply know His logos, He invites us to “abide” in it, to make our permanent residence within His way of understanding and interacting with reality.  It is only when we abide in His logos, that we then know the truth that will set us free.

The Sermon on the Mount is full of counter-intuitive teaching that lines up with Jesus’ logos. Such as, forgiveness solves interpersonal problems when the most obvious solution seems to be revenge.  It is only when we makes our home within Jesus’ way of seeing reality that His teaching,  “… if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well”  (Matthew 5:40), makes sense.  But, as happens with frustrating puzzles, once you try the counter-intuitive solution, it seems easy.  It sets you free.

To the Full

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Black Friday just isn’t what it used to be.  They ruined all the fun by starting it, in some cases, back at the beginning of November. Not the way the pilgrims observed it. No more standing all night in line and then smashing and pushing to get in the door.  Maybe I’ll take up roller derby.  But speaking of getting in the door, consider this, somewhat more peaceful, analogy from Jesus:

9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  (John 10:9-10)

The frenzy on Black Friday, I suspect, is largely driven by people who are desperate for life “to the full.”  If I can score that toaster oven at a ridiculously low price, then I’ll be really living.  Nothing wrong with a new toaster oven, but it is not the “gate” to a full life.

Life “to the full” comes only by having the life of the Holy Spirit in our souls.  The Spirit is given to all who, as Jesus says, “enter through Me,” by faith.  Those who find this full life, “come in and go out and find pasture.”  Their lives are not locked up in church but are lived out in the world, led by Jesus, to “pastures” for sustenance and rest.  Compare the peace of that image with the mindset of those who smash and push their way into Black Friday sales.  You can see how the “thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” the full life he falsely promises.

Constant Blessing

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Have you ever had a love grow cold?  Was it your fault?  You probably didn’t mean to mess it up.  Maybe you didn’t even know and got blindsided with, “It’s over; I don’t love you anymore…”  Remember how empty that felt?  Helpless, maybe?

Here’s some good news.  That’s not going to happen between you and God.  No matter what.

1 Praise the Lord.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever. (Psalms 106:1)

Whatever else you celebrate at Thanksgiving, remember that promise, consider the implications it has for someone like you and be thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!  I’m grateful for your interest.

What do You Know?

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Nick was a wimp, and yet more courageous than the others.  Consider what these verses tell us about Nicodemus:

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”  (John 3:1-2)

He was a ruler, a man of extraordinary power and authority.  Moreover, he was not alone in that position but was one of a group of rulers (he said “we…”).  This group of “rulers” knew that Jesus came from God, they saw the evidence of it.  Pharisees were highly educated experts on the Scriptures.  Presumably, what they saw and “knew,” corresponded to what they had studied in Scripture.  And this group of powerful “rulers” had come to a consensus.  They knew Jesus had come from God.  And yet, when they wanted to know more, they sent Nick, under the cover of darkness, so no one would see, no one would know.  Nick at night.  Why such a wimpy approach?

Perhaps they thought experts should already know all the answers and didn’t want to show their confusion and curiosity.  Maybe they were afraid to lend credibility to Jesus thereby weakening their positions of authority.  We can’t be sure why he went at night.  But, of this we can be sure: This powerful group of experts, who knew Jesus was from God, eventually conspired to eliminate Him.  Despite what they knew.

As we find ourselves drawn to Jesus, perhaps curious, confused or genuinely interested, we may also feel pressure to hide our interest from our peers.  We may fear ridicule or rejection.  We may creep to Jesus under the cloak of darkness.  But eventually, what we know must direct what we do.  There are many reasons people suppress what they know at this point.  But don’t wimp out; to do so is eternally dangerous.

 

P.S.  Because Nicodemus helped prepare Jesus’ body for burial, it is likely he had a change of heart.

In Spirit and Truth

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Tucked in among all the junk mail in the box is an actual letter.  It’s rare enough these days that it warrants special treatment: another cup of tea, some jazz on the stereo and a yank on the recliner lever.  My old friend writes, “Here’s something that made me think of you…”  His words reawaken memories of our friendship. Some people stimulate the best of who you are and he was one of those.  I reread…

Jesus said God isn’t interested in regligious ritual.  He doesn’t care for mumbo jumbo.  What He wants is people who worship Him in “spirit and truth” (John 4:23).  Think of His Spirit, given to you personally, as a living letter.  When you read it, so to speak, when you pause to pay close attention to what He says to you, it reawakens your appreciation of His amazing character and personality.  And makes you really wish you could be closer. It nudges the best of who you are.

I think that’s sort of what Jesus had in mind.

The Good Stuff

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Can you imagine the laughter back in the kitchen?  When Jesus turned water into wine the only people who were in on the secret were the servants.  They knew because they had taken the foot-washing pots and filled them up with water, as instructed.

When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”  (John 2:9-10)
How they must have laughed.  But it is worth noting that the only people who got to experience the power of Jesus were the ones who humbly worked with Him, doing what He said to do.  The others got to taste the wine, but they missed the good stuff.

Unbridled Power

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​They had lived by that river for decades and thought they knew it.  But when the St. Vrain ripped through town, uprooting and destroying rouses, roads and utility plants, they realized they didn’t know the half of it, not really.  Because it happened in the dead of night, most could only hear it.  Sounded like the roar of an enormous frieight train, they said.  The sound of unbridled power.  Like the voice of Jesus. 

Nobody knew Jesus better than the Apostle John.  But he didn’t know the half of Jesus’ power.  And when Jesus gave him more of a glimpse, John collapsed in fear.  He recalled the experience like this:

The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.  (Revelation 1:14-15)
“The roar of many waters…”   That phrase grabs me, stops me, pulls me back to try to grasp what John was expressing.  Hmmm…  Perhaps this: If you think you know Jesus, remember that we cannot know the half of Who He really is, the half of His unbridled power.  

Blinded by What We Think We Know

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The best place to hide something of great value is in a container that looks so common and mundane that nobody would mess with it.  Because they already think they know what it is, they won’t discover what is really inside.  That principle explains why Jesus couldn’t get much understanding from His hometown folks.  They thought they already knew all about Him.  They’d seen Him as a little kid, chucking rocks into the lake.  They’d seen Him as a teenager, getting used to feet that suddenly grew too big.  It was very hard for them to get past what they thought they knew and see Who He really was.

And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief.   (Mark 6:4-6a
I think we have the same problem.  We hear so much about Jesus over time, we think we have Him all figured out.  As a result, many people never get to know Him.  And really miss out.