We Have to Learn How to Love. We Have to Learn How to Live/ 1 Kg 21:1-21 NKJV

We Have to Learn How to Love. We have to Learn How to Live

1 Kg 21: 1-21 NKJV

Purpose:         To learn how to live lives that please God.

21 And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

² So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard better than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money.”

³ But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”

⁴ So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food.

⁵ But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?”

⁶ He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”

⁷ Then Jezebel his wife said to him, “You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

⁸ And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. ⁹ She wrote in the letters, saying,

Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people;

¹⁰ and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, “You have blasphemed God and the king.” Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.

¹¹ So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them.

¹² They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. ¹³ And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died.

¹⁴ Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

¹⁵ And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.”

¹⁶ So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

¹⁷ Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

¹⁸ “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it.

¹⁹ You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Have you murdered and also taken possession?”’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.”’”

²⁰ So Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?”

And he answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord:

²¹ ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free.

This Is the Word of God

For the people of God.
Praise be to God

Amen

We Have to Learn How to Love. We have to Learn How to Live

1 Kg 21: 1-21 NKJV

Purpose:         To learn how to live lives that please God.

          Last week I was pretending with Toreigh that she was a genie, who was able to give me as many wishes I wanted. Later this game brought back many memories of my childhood. I remember playing the same game with my little sister, about a genie who was able to give me everything that I wanted. No matter what people say, it would have to be wonderful to have a personal genie who could give us everything that we wanted and in the place and time that we wanted it. No efforts. No sacrifices. No sufferings for what we want. It would just have to be amazing. I want a genie. Then, the game with Toreigh made me think of the desires of my heart, which are many. And how through all my young life, and early adulthood, I was so focused and determined to reach and accomplish all my desires that I never paid attention to other people’s wishes. I also couldn’t enjoy the present moment because always I was thinking in the next step to get the next desire I wanted to get. The desires of my heart were so important and so loved for me that I thought that they were the same for everybody else. In fact, when I became a mom, my children started asking for things with the prefix words “I WANT” I want a doll, I want a ball, I want an ice cream, I want to watch a cartoon. I thought that my job as a mom and caregiver who loved them deeply was to provide, to afford, and to give them everything that they wanted because again and of course, I love them. I wanted them to be happy. I wanted them to be pleased and comfortable in life and with me. I want them to trust. I wanted them to believe that mommy loved them so much that I was here as the genie to provide everything that they wished. I thought it was the right way to love my children. I loved them so much. The more love the more giving of the wishes for them.

          Have you been there? Have you thought that the right way to live and to love is to give and to get the wishes of our hearts and to give the wishes of our beloveds? How many times have we forced situations for our own benefit or the benefit of someone who we love and we don’t consider, much less ask God if the object, situation, or person we desire is lined up with His will for our lives?

          In the story of today, it is obvious that king Ahab, who had the means to get whatever he wanted, and Naboth, a person who didn’t have as much as the king, enter in a conflict. Naboth was very confident of the desires of his heart and how to live a peaceful life. Actually, it sounds childish that the king wanted a vegetable garden. However, the point here is not the vegetable garden. It is the intentions of the human heart. To want or to desire something is not bad. Otherwise, how can we strive to reach our goals in life? The very wrong was the intensity of the desire for something. The text tells us that the desire of the king was so intense that he became depressed and angry. When one wants something or someone so badly to the point of not functioning in a right and healthy way, then something is wrong. Not with the wish. Something is wrong with our attitude. I need to have this. These five simple words can lead us easily to sin. The same happens when we want to give to one of our beloveds the desire of their hearts.  Do we stop and think whether such and such thing, situation, or person is good for my beloved? Does God want me to strive and try to get it because it is what God wants and intends for their lives?  

          In Ancient Israel tradition it was considered a blessing from the LORD to have land and pass it on to the next generations. It was a given blessing from the LORD. Just listen to the answer of Naboth when the king asks him to sell or to exchange the vineyard, in v. 3 “The LORD forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!!!” For Naboth, the owner of the vineyard, it was important to follow the LORD’s desires, wishes, commands. Noboth knew how to live and he knew how to love. He loved the land that God gave it to his ancestors. Remember that everything belongs to God.

              How many times have we agreed to do something, have we gotten into an argument, or have we even gotten into a debt because we wanted to show our love to someone? Well, I think we need to learn how to live and how to love.

          When Jezebel, the queen and wife of Ahab, came and discovered that he deeply wished the vineyard of another person, what did she do? She went and arranged a lie, a plan on how to get what her beloved wanted. How many times can we compromise our integrity, our ethical and moral behavior for something or for someone? How far are we able to carry the accomplishment of desires and wishes “in the name of love”? How many times have we been content when life says “NO” to us?

          You know what the problem is, that we really believe that to get, to say, to do whatever our beloveds want is the right way to live and it is the right way to love. We can easily lose the right direction and the right perspective, that are God’s perspective and direction, when the desires, the wishes of our hearts consume us. Because in reality what should consume us is the love and obedience for our God.

          And you know what is ironic, when the intensity of the wishes and desires of our hearts take over us, we do not enjoy the process because it becomes an obsession. It becomes an obsession because we elevate material things or people to the level of gods. When we do that, we don’t experience permanent fulfillment when we reach the desire object or person or situation.

          So, my dear ones, what is the solution? The solution is to learn how to love and is to learn how to live. The only way we can learn such important lessons is through our personal and communal relationship and obedience with God.

Let us pray

Dear and Good Father

Thank You so much for the desires and wishes of our hearts and the desires and wishes of our beloveds. Help us to avoid raising people, situations, or things to Your level. We want to learn how to love rightly. We want to learn how to live well.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

What Is Wrong, What Is Sin? John 8:1-12 NKJV

What Is Wrong, What Is Sin?

John 8: 1-12 NKJV

 

Purpose:         To know what is sin and wrong according to God’s standards mentioned in the Bible.

8But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

² Now early^[a] in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.

³ Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,

⁴ they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught^[b] in adultery, in the very act. ⁵ Now Moses, in the law, commanded^[c] us that such should be stoned.^[d] But what do You say?”^[e]

⁶ This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.^[f]

⁷ So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up^[g] and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” ⁸ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹ Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience,^[h] went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

¹⁰ When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her,^[i] “Woman, where are those accusers of yours?^[j] Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and^[k] sin no more.”

¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world.

He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Footnotes:

a.John 8:2 M-Text reads very early.

b.John 8:4 M-Text reads we found this woman.

c.John 8:5 M-Text reads in our law Moses commanded.

d.John 8:5 NU-Text and M-Text read to stone such.

e.John 8:5 M-Text adds about her.

f.John 8:6 NU-Text and M-Text omit as though He did not hear.

g.John 8:7 M-Text reads He looked up.

h.John 8:9 NU-Text and M-Text omit being convicted by their conscience.

i.John 8:10 NU-Text omits and saw no one but the woman;

M-Text reads He saw her and said. 

j.John 8:10 NU-Text and M-Text omit of yours.

      k.John 8:11 NU-Text and M-Text add from now on

                                                                                                 

This is the Word of God

for the people of God.

Praise be to God.

Amen.

What Is Wrong, What Is Sin?

John 8: 1-12 NKJV

Purpose:         To know what is sin and wrong according to God’s standards mentioned in the Bible.

       In this part of the Gospel, John is telling us that is morning and Jesus is coming to the temple, to keep teaching people about the right interpretation of the Scriptures, God, and the Kingdom. Remember that the New Testament was not written yet. The Scriptures that Jesus was teaching were the Torah, our Old Testament. The Scriptures had authority; that is why Jesus taught and instructed them. Scriptures have authority because they are based on the power and universal truth that reflects the character and desires of their author, God. God has given us His written Word in order to know what is wrong, what is sin. In order to know how we can change from sinners to saints, from sin to obedience to His Will. Jesus knew the importance of Scriptures.  That is why He taught about them. He was always talking about the Law; that is, our Old Testament.

        Actually, it is not an easy task to understand Scriptures. It takes a lot study, prayer, and discernment. It was the same in those times. It was very difficult to understand the Torah, our Old Testament. In fact, people in those times took the difficult questions about religion to Rabbis for clarification and enlightenment. Nowadays it is the same: we approach to our pastors and Bible school teachers with difficult questions for the same reason, clarification, in order to be better educated and make the right choices, and be enlightened. We want to know the Holy Scriptures, because they are the first-hand way to get to know God, our Lord and Creator. However, in this case, Jesus’ enemies, the scribes and the Pharisees, approached Him with the evil intentions to discredit Him and to shame Him in front of the people who respected Him. They came with a difficult situation with a woman caught in adultery.

       In the eyes of the Jewish law, adultery was a very serious crime.[1] The Rabbis said: “Every Jew must die before he/she will commit idolatry, murder, or adultery.”[2] Adultery was one of the severest sins, and its punishment was death for both who were caught in adultery, the man and the woman. It is remarkable how the genuine and committed Jews were willing to die before offending God with such actions: idolatry, murder, or adultery. So in the pure sense of the Law, the scribes and Pharisees were perfectly correct. This woman was guilty of adultery and she met the criterion of being stoned until she died.

       The situation or the dilemma with which the scribes and Pharisees wanted to confront Jesus was, if He, Jesus, agreed with them to stone the woman, two things would follow Him. He was going to contradict Himself because he was teaching, preaching, and practicing mercy and love for sinners. Remember that Jesus was called the friend of sinners. Second, Jesus could come into a serious problem with the Roman authorities because the Romans were the only ones who had the right to pass the death sentence on anyone. The Jews didn’t have the right to do it. On the other hand, if He said that the woman should be pardoned, then His enemies could accuse Him of breaking the Law of Moses, and of course they would say that He was ignoring and even encouraging the sin of adultery.[3] Can we understand what kind of people and how low their morals and ethics were? They wanted to trap Jesus. The scribes and Pharisees wanted not just to erase Jesus from their lives. They wanted to do it with cruelty, nastiness, and meanness. My dad used to say that man, referring as humanity, man is the only creature who can destroy himself/herself just for pleasure.  I think the scribes and Pharisees were enjoying the idea of the massacre and the destruction of Jesus. Have we been in a position where we wanted to stone someone for something wrong but didn’t see our own wrongdoings that the majority of times are similar to or the same as we point out in people?  On the other hand, when we have been redeemed and Jesus has changed our hearts and consequently our actions, there is something new inside us, the righteousness of God which through the Holy Spirit is telling us what is sin and what is wrong and not to do it.

       Here is where a lot of people get confused. There are mean and cruel people out there, or maybe at some point in our lives, we were the scribes and Pharisees of other people. It is one thing is to judge and another to condemn. We as humans are always judging. The act of judging means that we are assessing, we are evaluating the situation, the behavior, the intentions of someone. If we don’t judge, we cannot discern what is right and what is wrong. Judging is part of our humanness. We need to judge in order to discern what is morally and ethically right. To judge is important because we need to draw concrete and clear conclusions for our lives.[4] To judge is important in order to please and obey God. Now it is different to condemn. To condemn is to censure and to criticize. It is to pronounce a verdict.  In the specific sense of our Christianity, to condemn means to say if someone is or is not going to hell. It is the role that belongs only to God.

       I need you to notice how God connects everything. God, throughout Scripture, talks about the intentions of the heart. The intentions of the human heart are closely linked or connected to the thoughts and ideas of our human minds. We don’t need to be confused about doing the morally and ethically right things expected from God. In the case of this part of Scripture, the intentions of the hearts of the scribes and the Pharisees were cruel and mean because they wanted to condemn. They didn’t want to be better persons in order to please YAHWEH, that is, God. They didn’t want to help others to be better Jews. They were self-centered, focusing on their own agendas, not on God’s agenda. They wanted to kill the woman caught in adultery.

       Yes, the scribes and Pharisees were right when they accused her, but the intentions of their hearts were wrong. They wanted to kill Jesus and on the way to doing it they didn’t care about others. In this case, they wanted to kill the woman as a scapegoat in order to trap Jesus.

       This story is very difficult because it can easily be misunderstood. If we are not careful, we can get the impression that Jesus was easy on sin. We have to understand how Jesus treated this woman and how He applied His authority. In verse 11 Jesus is telling her that He doesn’t condemn her, that she is free, BUT there is a big, huge condition: SIN NO MORE. As William Barclay has noticed, “In effect what He [Jesus] was doing was not abandoning judgment and saying, “Don’t worry; it’s quite all right.” What He [Jesus] did was to wait for the verdict.” In other words, Jesus with His attitude and His words at this moment was not passing verdict. Jesus was saying, go and prove that you can do better that this. I am with you always and I am going to help you to stop doing this sin of adultery. At the end of the day, your behavior will tell if you stop offending God or not.

       I think that it is important to refresh in our memories what sin is. First the concept of sin is related to religion and Christianity. So according to the Bible dictionary, sin is, in Hebrew or in the Old Testament, a revolt or transgression, and it signifies an intentional and careless act of disobedience against God. In the New Testament, is the same, it is the act of disobedience toward God’s will.

     So, my dear ones, this story in the Bible has so much to teach us today, as does the rest of the Bible. It is still very important and relevant to be clear when Jesus comes and commands us to obey God, because when we don’t obey, then we clearly sin. Jesus was clear, and Jesus is clear to us today. He is telling us the same thing that He told the woman: I am not going to pronounce verdict yet, but go and SIN NO MORE. Go and prove that we can do better than what we have been doing. Go and be a better Christian. Go and be a better spouse. Go and be a better mother, father, daughter, son, a better person. Today, we are sure as the woman caught in adultery that Jesus is going to help us to stop sinning, to quit doing what is wrong, sin no more and obey God. At the end of the day God and the world will see how we have lived.

Let us pray,

Dear and Good Father

Thank You so much for The Holy Scriptures. It is through them that we know what is wrong, what is sin, and what pleases You. Help us to stop doing what is wrong, what is sin, and obey You. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

---

[1] Barclay William, The Daily Study Bible Series. The Gospel of John. Vol. 2(Philadelphia, PN. Westminster Press: 1956), 2.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] http://www.definitions.net/definition/judgment (Accessed on 4.29.2016).

Where Is the Limit? Psalm 148 NIV

Where Is the Limit?

Ps 148 NIV

Purpose:     To reinforce the trust in the Only trustworthy, unfailing, and faithful person in the   entire world: God.                                                                         

¹ Praise the Lord.^[a]

Praise the Lord from the heavens;
    praise him in the heights above.
² Praise him, all his angels;
    praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
³ Praise him, sun and moon;
    praise him, all you shining stars.
⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens
    and you waters above the skies.

⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for at his command they were created,
⁶ and he established them for ever and ever—
    he issued a decree that will never pass away.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
⁸ lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
    stormy winds that do his bidding,
⁹ you mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars,
¹⁰ wild animals and all cattle,
    small creatures and flying birds,
¹¹ kings of the earth and all nations,
    you princes and all rulers on earth,
¹² young men and women,
    old men and children.

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
¹⁴ And he has raised up for his people a horn,^[b]
    the praise of all his faithful servants,
    of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the Lord.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 148:1 Hebrew Hallelu Yah; also in verse 14

     2.      Psalm 148:14 Horn here symbolizes strength.

This is the Word of God

For the People of God.

Praise be to God.

Amen.

Where Is the Limit?

Ps 148 NIV

Purpose:     To reinforce the trust in the Only trustworthy, unfailing, and faithful person in the   entire world: God.                                                                         

       This week God directed me to study the Psalms. We need to remember that the Bible is a book of theology, a collections of books that talk about the divinity and holiness of God. Of course, in reading of the Bible, we will find archeological and historical indications and signs of some of the events that the Bible contains. God allows this to happen because it is an evidence of the authenticity of the dealing of God with humanity. As I have said, it is very difficult or impossible to argue against facts. With that said, the Psalms are compositions that talk about God’s character and deliverance of the people when they are in distress. Some of the Psalms are prayers for liturgy when the Israelites were in exile.

        Have you ever been out of our country, America? I need to clarify something; I am not referring to go on vacations overseas or to Canada or to other countries in the continent. Have you left your country because it is hard to live in it? For example, Mexico is a very corrupt country and the society reinforces the biased or unfair treatment of women and the poor. That is, for some people, circumstances force them to leave their mother country and become exiles. It is also the case that for other people the government, the authorities have forced them to leave their mother land for political persecution. And for others, as in the case of the Israelites, they had to leave their country because they were conquered ----- the best educated and rich, the priests were included - were taken away from their land to the Babylonian exile. Before the exile happened, the prophet Jeremiah had urged the last Davidic king to surrender to Babylon because God was using Babylon as a tool for His judgment. The people had gone astray from God’s will and they were greatly sinning, doing just what was displeasing God. The king refused to surrender to Babylon. When the Babylonians came to take them, after they killed the king’s sons and made him blind, he, the king, was led to Babylon in chains as Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and burned the temple.[1]

       Can you imagine losing your home, losing your church, losing your job, losing your country, and losing your independence? They lost everything material and their identity. They were lost in a foreign country. They also assumed that God had left them alone to their horrible fate. It is difficult to lose everything, but the most difficult to lose in one’s identity. It is very, very painful and hard to lose one’s identity because one needs to redefine, to re-evaluate, and to rediscover oneself. It is a radical change of oneself.  It is difficult because once one has understood who one is and we think that we have figured out about life, here come unexpected life events and mess with our identity and lives. One’s identity is very closed tied to one’s beliefs, because what we believe makes us who we are. So, when something has jeopardized our identity, we need to find it again; if not, we are nobody. When we don’t know our identity, we don’t know who we are. Have you ever experienced an exile of the soul? This happens when we are confused with God about the events in our lives or when we see that our plans and projects in our lives are not taking the direction that we expect or we want. What about when tragedy surprises us in our lives, and fears and questions take over our minds and attitudes? But there is something very peculiar about tragedy and hard times in our lives. Are you familiar with the saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention”?

        Old Testament scholar Dr. Mark Throntveit recognizes, “This was the most productive period of Israel’s history; it fostered the birth of Judaism. . . Without a king, Israel remembered that Yahweh had always been their true king”[2] Have you noticed that in the hardest part of our lives, our real character comes alive or doesn’t come at all. It is when we discover of what we are made of, if we are weak or strong people. If we endure the circumstances facing them or we run away trying to hide or deny that such thing is happening to us.  When hardship happens in our lives, one of two attitudes happens: either we become closer to God or we distance ourselves from Him. That is when we try to find the solution asking God for answers and guidance or we blame Him and don’t take responsibility for our own actions. Do you know that through the exile most of the Old Testament was written, compiled, or edited?[3]

       The time of adversity is when we grow the most. It is when we reflect the most. It is when we have the opportunity to change fear for boldness. In other words, the time of misfortune is when the real change and building of character in our lives take place.

         In this psalm, the author is commanding the entire creation to praise God, to recognize who He is, to acknowledge that God is bigger than any problem, circumstance, or condition in life. The psalmist is inspiring us to embrace adversity. The psalmist is telling us that deliverance is part of the character of God. God is not going to leave us or abandon us in the middle of the problem! That is why He needs to be praised, because again we can start focusing on the solution instead of focusing on the problem. The first step is recognizing that the Only One who can help us is God; praise Him.

       For some it may sound silly, for others maybe it sound like a waste of time, for real Christians, it sounds hard and scary. It sounds scary because we don’t want to hear what we have done wrong. However, I have discovered that if we cannot stop, if we cannot control, if we cannot avoid, if we cannot skip, ignore, or scape adversity, then the obvious thing to do is the contrary. The contrary is to embrace it. I am not saying that we have to look for adversity or create adversity in our lives. No, that would be the aim or the purpose of a psychopath, a disordered mind. I am saying that sooner or later, adversity and serious problems are part of any human life. So what do we do, how do we approach them? The farther we are from God, the more difficult is to resolve them, because we are going to try to resolve them on the basis on our own efforts and our own knowledge, trying to guess what is the best move to make in such situations. And we are going to finish just weary, angry, and more confused than in the beginning.

       The best action, the best attitude to approach adversity, is to accept it. We should accept the adversity in our lives instead of running around the problem trying to find the whys. We should accept it in the knowledge of our Christian identity. With the strong belief that God is now and here for us, we will be able to rest and to place the heavy burden in God’s Hands. We will be able to witness and fully experience God’s deliverance. We will be aware of our growing, of how we become mature Christians and better human beings. We become better people through these adversities. Through the divine deliverance that God does in our lives, we become closer to Him and better equipped for the next round of problems in life. Again, I am not preaching that we have to create problems. I am saying that hard situations in life are out of our control and are inevitable.

Many times, we cannot even see them coming. We cannot prevent or stop them. But we can face them with the assurance that the divine and strong presence of God is with us each step of the hard road, telling us what direction to take. Then we will be able to even appreciate them because for the authentic believer, everything works according to God’s Will which is perfect and good. 

Let us pray,

Good Father

       Thank You for Your presence in every easy, happy, and hard situation in our lives. Help us to accept adversity when it comes to our encounter. Help us to rest in Your good will for our lives. And help us to develop an authentic Christian identity which is going to help us to build a strong and healthy Christian character.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.

Amen.   

---

[1] https://www.enterthebible.org/periods.aspx?rid=907 (Accessed on 4/21/2016).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

I Got Your Back, John 20: 19-31 NIV

I Got Your Back

John 20: 19-31 NIV

Purpose:         To trust in Jesus when He commands us to do something

¹⁹ 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!”

²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.                

²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus^[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.

²⁵ 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.”

²⁶ 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!”

²⁷ 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.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.

³¹ But these are written that you may believe^[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Footnotes:

1. John 20:24 Thomas (Aramaic) and Didymus (Greek) both mean twin.

2.       John 20:31 Or may continue to believe

This is the Word of God

For the people of God.

Praise be to God.

Amen.                                                            

                                                        I Got Your Back

John 20: 19-31 NIV

Purpose:         To trust in Jesus when He commands us to do something

Outline 

  

I.                  Introduction

What is Obedience?

II.               Why don’t we want to obey?

III.           Explanation of the text, John 20:19-31

IV.            Conclusion[s]

V.               Prayer

                    We have learned that the death of Jesus shocked all of His disciples, friends, and followers. They were terrified that they could easily be the next in line to be executed. They were in the locked upper room. It has to be very hard to understand and to live such experiences. Their minds didn’t have enough time to process all the events. Their Master had been massacred before their eyes. It was chaos and panic in their hearts and minds. It was a very shocking period for them. After they witnessed the suffering and cruel treatment and death of Jesus, they were terrified. No one in a healthy mind wanted to suffer the same fate. Have you been so scared in your lives that you cannot function? Have you had the impression that someone is going to assault or to attack you but you cannot react or defend yourself? Or maybe you are in constant alert of your surroundings that you cannot enjoy your life. For instance, nowadays, do you live in fear that ISIS and/or terrorism is going to reach America? Or are you scared that someone is going to shoot at the schools of our children? Have we reached the point of being alert as to where our children go to school, where we go on vacations, and where we go shopping, that we have to be praying the entire time when we get in our cars, or in a plane, or in a train?

Well, the disciples and the followers of Jesus were very afraid as British Bible scholar William Barclay has pointed, “Of the bitterness of the Jews who had put Jesus to death.”[1]  Ok, they were so scared and then, Jesus came and told them, “Peace be with you.” That means, “May God give you every good thing.” Once they had recognized Jesus in their midst, they were at peace. They were in the presence of Jesus, they changed. Their fear changed into joy, their Master, their friend, and their mentor was there with them. He was alive. He didn’t remain in the tomb. Intentionally, Jesus gave them the common greeting among them, “Peace be with you.”  Have you heard the greeting of Jesus this morning? Actually, have we heard His greeting every morning of our lives? May God give you every good thing, Peace be with you Claudia, peace be with you Beth, peace be with you Addi. I know that we, this church, are serious about Jesus and His presence in our lives, but maybe sometimes we forget to continue to wish each other well. We are the living church. I want you to notice something about Jesus, He was/is so kind and loving, but He never beat around the bush. He was very clear. He demanded. He commanded. He wished. And He expected obedience from each one of His disciples.

Now the church in some way was established at this point. Everybody was gathered there and they were communicating each other their thoughts and feelings. Of course, they were praying also. Then, when Jesus appeared, he told them that He was sending them as the Father had sent Him. Someone can ask, but where was Jesus sending them? Jesus was sending them out, to the world, to our homes, to our jobs, to our schools, to our neighbors. Even when we are afraid, or tired, or frustrated, we need to go.

In this part, we need to pay attention how Jesus has chosen to depend on the earthly church to spread His kingdom because, if is not the church which spreads the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who other person or organization is in charge? And the church with no doubt has to depend on Jesus for everything. If we have to depend on Jesus for everything, then the obvious, is to obey in everything that He has commanded us to do.

Here is when things start becoming difficult and we have to be very careful to be obedient. There is a great parallel between the relationship of Jesus and the Father and Jesus and us. Jesus loved the Father in such a way that He was willing to obey in everything that Father commanded Him, because Jesus loved so much God that He knew that everything that the Father said was for His own good and for the good of others. Are our lives in this way? Is our church in this way? Do we love Jesus so much that we don’t hesitate to obey Him? Or do we doubt? And question Him? What about when we delay intentionally and we don’t want to hear what Jesus is telling us to do? What about when we are afraid of what Jesus is directing us to do, or what about when we don’t like what He is telling us to do, or what about if the actions that Jesus is commanding us are not according to our own plans, or what about when we are resisting His will? Jesus was always so competent and efficient in everything He did because His obedience was supported in His perfect and devoted love and confidence on the Father.  Do we love Jesus in this way? Do we love Jesus in such a way that we know, He has a good future already planned, and planned for the good of us?

In this encounter Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit in His disciples. There is a great parallel with the creation story in Genesis. When God created man and breathed on him in order to give him life (Genesis 2:7). Jesus was giving the Holy Spirit to the church.  The Holy Spirit already lives inside us. We have the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us to be obedient and surrender/submit our life to God and be obedient as individuals and as a church. Are we doing it? Are we being obedient to Jesus?

Without delay, after Jesus gives the Holy Spirit, He talks about the authority to forgive sins. We have to be careful how we understand this part of the Gospel. The meaning is NOT that man can forgive sins, only God when we have a repentant, sorrowful heart. Jesus was referring to us as the church, His church. The church has the privilege and the responsibility of carrying the message to let the world know how God can forgive sins. In other words, God has entrusted the message of salvation to us, the church, and it is going to depend on us how well we obey Him to carry this message efficiently and well. If our relationship with God is profound, serious, and honest, then our message to the world is going to be the same way. We, the messengers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, are not going to hesitate in how we present to the world the message of salvation, on how well we represent the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ in our own personal life and as a church.   

Next the text is telling us that Thomas was not there, and when he came, the rest of the disciples told him that they had seen the Lord. However, he didn’t believe. It was not a surprise that Thomas didn’t believe. After all the turmoil, chaos, and killing, of course he was not going to believe. Then, a week later, they were gathering again, and Thomas was there, the context was the same, the door was locked and Jesus appeared to them. Then He referred to Thomas and commanded him to put his finger and his hand into his hands and his side. Thomas believed. Jesus exclaimed, stop doubting and believe!

I need you to notice how things happened in this narrative. When they were together, even with fear and chaos, amazing things happened. When we gather in the church, amazing things will happen, that maybe we cannot understand if we are alone or isolated.

My dear ones when we doubt something that Jesus commands us to do, come to the church and talk about it. We are here all of us together in the good, in the bad, and in the ugly. We are no different that the first disciples. Here, in the church, we can find comfort and an honest ear that will listen to our discernment. We can find support and encouragement when we are struggling to accomplish the Will of God. And we can find peace because God always is going to let us know that the Holy Spirit is inside us guiding us.

The great challenge for each one of us today as individuals and as a church is to stop doubting and start believing.

Let us pray,

Good Father,

Thank You for being so good to us. Thank You because everything that You command us to do is for our good. Thank You for the Holy Spirit who lives inside us and helps us to understand Your will better. Help us to stop doubting and start believing.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.

Amen.

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[1] Barclay William, The Gospel of John. Volume 2(Westminster Press. Philadelphia, PN.: 1956), 272.