Puzzled Over Jesus

 

 Jn 7:40-53

Divided

Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? ⁴² Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” ⁴³ Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. ⁴⁴ Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders

⁴⁵ Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

⁴⁶ “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.

⁴⁷ “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. ⁴⁸ “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹ No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

⁵⁰ Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, ⁵¹ “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”

⁵² They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”

We look at Jesus through the eyes of Faith, so accepting him as the Son of God is not a problem; but for those who believed in ONE God, to hear someone proclaiming to be God is unacceptable. Thus the dilemma described in today's passage. Nicodemus, who had a private and enlightening conversation with Jesus calmly attempts to defend him and gets immediately dismissed.  Today's world also has come either to ignore or to reject Jesus. Where do I stand? Is my faith growing stronger, or am I drifting with the crowd? Let us remain faithful to our daily prayer and reflections in order to remain firm disciples. Jesus needs us more than ever.

Bro. Rene

Dear God, help me to remain strong in my faith in this world that ignores him more and more. Amen.

Do I Know Him?

 

  Jn 7:1-3, 10, 25-30

Jesus Goes to the Festival of Tabernacles

7 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. ² But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near ³ Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do.

¹⁰ However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.

Division Over Who Jesus Is

²⁵ At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? ²⁶ Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? ²⁷ But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

²⁸ Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, ²⁹ but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

³⁰ At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

Things are getting more and more threatening as opposition to Jesus increases. He stands fast and continues to antagonize the authorities.  He has a mission to accomplish and he remains faithful to it. He challenges his opponents fearlessly, paving the way to the cross, the instrument of our redemption.  This is why he came.  Do I know him? Do I accept him? Do I try to follow him as best I can?  Food for thought as we move closer to the fifth week of Lent and Good Friday in two weeks.

Bro. Rene

Dear Jesus, increase my faith and loyalty to you as I witness your steadfast determination to accomplish your mission. Amen.

 

Where Do I Stand?

 

 

 Jn 5:31-47

Testimonies About Jesus

³¹ “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. ³² There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true.

³³ “You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. ³⁴ Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. ³⁵ John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

³⁶ “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, ³⁸ nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. ³⁹ You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, ⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

⁴¹ “I do not accept glory from human beings, ⁴² but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

⁴⁵ “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. ⁴⁶ If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. ⁴⁷ But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

With strong words, Jesus describes  his opponents as loveless, stubborn, proud and unaccepting.  Even Moses would accuse them. How condemning are his words!  As we make our way through Lent, my we take time to examine our hearts to see if any of these traits are present and humbly ask God to remove them. May he replace them with open, accepting and humble hearts as well as a clearer vision of who Jesus is.

Dear God, remove pride and arrogance from my heart and bless me openness and humility. Amen.

What Is The Father Asking of Me?

 

 

 Jn 5:17-30

Jesus Does His Father's Will

¹⁷ In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” ¹⁸ For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

¹⁹ Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. ²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. ²² Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

²⁴ “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. ²⁵ Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

²⁸ “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. ³⁰ By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Jesus speaks strongly of his dedication to his Father's will despite the opposition of the Jewish leaders who constantly challenge him.  He does not succumb to their criticism and opposition but further clarifies his mission. Jesus seeks to do the will of his Father and nothing will stop him.What is the Father asking of us this Lent, today?  May we remain steadfast in our "mission" despite our limitations or the opposition of others. May our time in prayer so strengthen us.

Bro. Rene

Dear Jesus, may I remain faithful to you despite the many obstacles I face. Amen.

Sin No More

 

John 5:1–16

 The Healing at the Pool

5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. ² Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³ Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.   ⁵ One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, ¹⁰ and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

¹¹ But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

¹² So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

¹³ The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

¹⁴ Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

¹⁶ So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him.

Jesus cured the long-time invalid and urged him to sin no more: a total healing. He could say the same to us, especially during Lent when we are trying to clean up our spiritual lives, get back on track, and draw closer to Jesus. We began Lent with good intentions, and now at the half-way point we might take stock and tighten up any loose ends that have crept into our prayer and spiritual lives. Jesus is our healer and savior, Let us reach out to him for the grace and energy to hold fast to our Lenten prayers and sacrifices. Like the cripple, we need the healing hand of Jesus to make us well.

Bro. Rene

Dear Jesus, say but the word, and my soul will be healed. Amen.  

Increase My Faith

 

  Jn 4:43-54

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

⁴³ After the two days he left for Galilee. ⁴⁴ (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) ⁴⁵ When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there.

⁴⁶ Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. ⁴⁷ When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

⁴⁸ “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”

⁴⁹ The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

⁵⁰ “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”

The man took Jesus at his word and departed. ⁵¹ While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. ⁵² When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”

⁵³ Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed.

⁵⁴ This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.

Early in his ministry Jesus worked this second sign for a man whose faith would not take any hesitation for an answer. He repeated his plea in faith and trust and Jesus granted his wish.  How often in our prayer do we "give up" when we don't receive an immediate and favorable answer?  We are not like this royal official, but should be.  May our Lenten focus on Jesus, who he is, what he wants, and what he can do,  increase our faith.

Bro. Rene

Dear Jesus, I have to admit that my faith is weaker than it should be. I do believe, help my unbelief! Amen.

Choose Light

 

  Jn 3:14-21

Live In The Light

¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Light, darkness, truth, life, belief, love. These few verses are full of food for our Sunday reflection. The familiar 3: 16 leaps out at us and invites us to consider the depth of God's love, the sending of his Son to be with us, teach us, show the way, and give up his life for us that we might rise with him and live. Certainly this far surpasses human love and gives us the model we need to follow if we are to choose and live in the light.

Dear Jesus help me to choose light, truth and life over darkness, lies and death. Amen.