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“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23
A few months ago now, a friend of mine had a baby. As held that newborn I was once again amazed at the beauty of new life. The tiny little fingers. The soft, supple skin. The complete and total helplessness of this creation of God. Amazing.
My mind shot ahead. I’m a bit of a sap at times I guess. I thought of my own children and how every day became a new adventure in exploration and discovery as they grow older. Sometimes they get themselves in trouble. There are times when the ordinary and mundane to us is a complete and exciting adventure to them. And have you ever noticed how a little baby can turn even the most refined adult into a babbling idiot making all sort of gibberish to elicit a smile or a giggle?
I wonder if Mary thought about those things as she watched the events surrounding Passover the year of Jesus’ crucifixion. He was her first born. Together she had shared the wonder of new life with him. For him, a new life in a human body. For her the wonder of her very own newborn baby. The Bible says she treasured ‘all these things’ in her heart. The message of the angels; the events leading up to his birth; the visit from the strange nobility from the East; the tragic news of the slaughter of her friend’s children at the hands of a greedy, ruthless King.
Did she stand at the foot of the cross and wonder, “When did he grow up?” To a mom her first born is always her baby. Always holds a special place in her life.
There are a lot of things we don’t know about Jesus. Many events of his growing up years and his ministry that have been locked in the annals of time. Some perhaps far too mundane to even be mentioned. He was, to many after all, just a good guy, a great teacher, a friend who was closer than a brother.
Oh, but he was so much more than that! He was a king who never lost sight of the leper or the cripple. He was a gentle father who never forgot the true identity of the prodigal son or the woman caught in adultery. He was God and he came to earth to die for the undeserving and grant eternal life to the eternally hopeless. God with us. The true story of Grace. The true story of Easter.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. In light of your miracles and deity it’s so hard to remember that you were also a baby, a child, a man. You experienced all the tragedies and victories of life as I have. Thank you for giving your life so I can live forever. Thank you for taking my sin so I can live free of guilt. In your holy name I pray, Amen.
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT)
“Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!” (Genesis 1:31)
Throughout the Biblical account of the creation, whenever God finished one aspect of creation he would exclaim, “It is good”. There was, however, one time when he not only said “it is good”, he added it is ‘VERY good’. That time was just after he created mankind. The rolling plains and majestic mountains were good. The sea life and land life was good. But man and woman? They were very good. The crown of God’s creation. His masterpiece
We aren’t told how long it was before we failed God. Was it a day? A week? A month? No one knows. But a time came when man and woman made a choice to disobey God and act on their own wisdom. Wisdom they were deceived into thinking was better and wiser than God’s wisdom.
Up until that time, God came in person to walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening. They were naked and not ashamed, completely open to God. They were perfectly comfortable with who they were, and God was completely open with them about life and goodness.
When sin entered the world everything changed except for one thing. The once fertile ground now grew thorns. Animals once tame became wild and dangerous. The shameless nakedness of man and woman was now covered physically, emotionally and spiritually. The joy of childbirth would be tarnished with the pain of labor. The only thing that didn’t change that day was God’s love for mankind.
Even though man would hide from him, God still longed for the companionship and open relationship he had with man. That’s why Jesus came. He came for the sole purpose of renewing a relationship that once was open but had now become distant.
Paul writes that Jesus came ‘so that we could be made right with God through Christ’. The word for made right is really the root word of ‘reconciled’. Jesus death and resurrection allows us to be reconciled to God. The word reconcile has its origin in a word that means ‘to make good again.’
Let that sink in. Because of Jesus, the once broken relationship we have with God is made good again! It’s not repaired. It’s not as though God is changing anything about him to stoop to our level. Jesus allows us to have the same relationship with God Adam had in the Garden of Eden. For now that means spiritually through his Spirit, but someday, physically as we spend eternity with him!
PRAYER: Father God. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for Adam to be able to walk side by side with you in the garden. I can’t wait to find out what that is like. For now, I praise you and worship you because Jesus allows us to have the relationship restored to its original condition through the cross. Empower me by your Spirit to live in the realization of the fact that you long to have a passionate love relationship with me. In Jesus name, Amen.
Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus. John 12:10-11 (NLT)
There is no indication that he did anything to raise their ire. But the simple fact that he was up walking around was the only reason they needed. His very presence on the streets provided the proof that he was a follower of Jesus. Every breath he took was provided the evidence needed to convict Jesus of having the power to raise people from the dead.
“What?” You may ask. “Convict someone for raising a loved what from the dead? What crime kind of crime is that?”
But it wasn’t the fact the Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead that bothered the Pharisees. It was the fact that he did this miracle outside the controls of the current religious system. Whenever you do God’s work in disregard of tradition you risk being misunderstood, maligned, outcast and, in a word…hated.
After all, there are doctrinal and denominational distinctives to follow. There are ‘proper channels’ to adhere to. God only works in certain ways, at certain times, in certain situations. Right?
Not the Jesus I follow! Not the Jesus Lazarus followed either. Lazarus didn’t need to say a word to witness for Jesus. He didn’t need a degree. He didn’t need a piece of paper proving his ‘ordination’ into kingdom work. And, even though he most likely was baptized (according to tradition) there’s no indication of that in scripture.
Lazarus wasn’t hated for his lifestyle, his theology or his denominational affiliation. He wasn’t judged on his marital status, his occupation or his race, gender and ethnicity. He was judged because he’d been with Jesus and his very life testified to it with every breath he took.
Can we say that? Can I say that? Being hated for being offensive is no glory. Being disliked for our firm doctrinal stand isn’t that admirable. Lazarus was a more effective testimony for Jesus without saying a word than a library full of sermons.
Live life. Live life to the fullest. But in doing so live so closely to Jesus that people will know, without a single word from your lips that you’ve been with Jesus.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I pray that you would help me to be a Lazarus. Forgive me for the times my words and actions have brought shame to your name. Empower me with your spirit to live in such a way that my life betrays my allegiance to you. I will not fear being hated for my life built on you. In your name I pray, Amen.
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. Luke 24:1
Every year about this time I’m drawn, for obvious reasons, to the end of the Gospels to read the account of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. I never want to miss the emotion of that time in the lives of those who knew Jesus personally.
We as Christ-followers must never lose sight of the emotion of that time in the lives of Jesus close personal friends. As I grow older and hopefully wiser and as more and more of my loved ones have gone on before me I get just a glimpse of the pain, the agony, the sorrow and confusion of the days leading up to ‘Resurrection Day.’
I’ve felt the heartache of losing a brother who died ‘too soon’. I stood by the bedside of my mother as she breathed her last. I’ve held a mother as she sobbed over the body of her little boy. I’ve stood by the gurney of a friend who’d been ushered into glory just hours after I’d talked with him.
Painful as those times were, none of my anguish could compare to those who watched Jesus get beaten, humiliated, stripped naked and hung on a piece of wood for all the world to watch his slow, painful death. As I write this I get goose bumps just thinking of it.
In the midst of all that trauma. In the midst of all that pain. What drove the women to the tomb before sunrise on that Sunday morning? They’d watched him be placed in the tomb. They knew there was a huge stone covering any hope of access to the body. Why didn’t they get some men to go with them? Did they try to solicit help or were the guys too broken up and scared to go out so soon after their master was murdered by a power hungry mob?
I may never know the answer. It may not even be important. In reality I have an idea what one of the reasons was for their early morning mission. It was love.
The ‘Mary’s’, and perhaps a few others, couldn’t let Jesus body be cast aside without the proper spices. They couldn’t bear to let the one who never neglected their needs be neglected at his time of biggest need. Dangerous? Perhaps. Futile? Maybe. But this was Jesus. It had to be done.
Then I ask myself this question. Where would I have been that morning? Would I have held the lantern to light the path? Would I be ready to lift the stone or fight off some Roman Guard? Or would I cower on my mat and be afraid at every noise in the night.
I hope I’d do the former. I pray that I’d be leading the way, because like the adulteress I’m not condemned. Like the blind man, I’ve received sight. My hunger is filled, my thirst is quenched. A risky walk in the dawn mist is the least I can do for my Jesus.
PRAYER: Jesus at this season of the year I’m in awe of your love and compassion for me. I’m reminded of how much you’ve given and how little I deserve. I worship you for all you have done for me. I praise you for your grace, your mercy and your forgiveness. Help me to be like the women who set aside everything else to tend to you. In your wonderful, marvelous and most holy name, Amen.
Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Matthew 28:1 (NLT)
There was no reason to go there. It was early in the morning, long before most people were up. They’d no doubt spent a sleepless night. Sabbath must have been unbearable. Did the two Mary’s go to the synagogue that day? Were they reminded constantly of Jesus throughout the service? After all, it was just a week ago they’d sat with him. Just over a week ago that the crowds had given him a parade any championship team would have envied.
But now he was gone. They’d stood at a distance and watched him die on the cross. His final words still ringing in their ears. It was early Sunday morning as they made their way down the quiet streets and through the garden to the tomb. What could they possibly expect to see? A huge stone covered the entrance to the tomb. They’d heard that a whole company of Roman soldiers were standing guard. There was certainly no hope of seeing Jesus and a good chance they wouldn’t even be able to get close to the tomb. So what sent them there?
Duty driven by love.
They didn’t go because they had to go. They didn’t go because there as any chance of them gaining something from the visit. They went because they loved Jesus and wanted to be near him one more time. They weren’t going with the expectation of recieving anything. They were going to give.
That’s true discipleship. That’s what it means to follow Christ. We do what we do for Jesus because he’s already given us everything he can give. All we have to give in return is our love and allegiance. He doesn’t demand anything from us. He knows we could never repay him for what he has done for us.
So we climb the mountains of our journey. We trudge through the valleys of our existence. We don’t know what lies ahead. We only know that someday, somehow we want to get closer to Jesus.
PRAYER: My dear Jesus. There are so many times I catch myself doing things to win your approval. So many times I measure my spirituality by the things I do rather than what you have done for me. Thank you for loving me even though I fail you. Help me to love you and others the way you have shown us love. Empower me with your Spirit to walk with you in love driven duty. In your name I pray, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 