Matthew 9:1-17 - What's Wrong with Jesus?

Jesus says blasphemous things.
Jesus hangs out with the wrong people.
Jesus doesn't do religion according to tradition.

What's wrong with Him?

Well, the only reason Jesus' words are considered blasphemous - words like, "Your sins are forgiven" - is that His accusers don't believe in His deity. If you believe He's God, then there's no problem with Him speaking and acting like God.

Jesus hangs out with the 'wrong' people because some people think God shouldn't care about all people. But Jesus knows we all need a relationship with God. No exceptions.

Jesus doesn't do 'religion' because our purpose isn't to preserve tradition; our purpose is to celebrate the Lord.

What's wrong with Jesus?
Is that really the question?

We try to tame Jesus - fit Him into our flimsy little box. "Don't say that, Jesus!" "Get away from those people, Jesus!" "Get with the program, Jesus!"

Hmmm. Isn't the question really, "What's wrong with you and me?"

Pray: Lord, shut my mouth and open my eyes, my mind, my heart to receive You as you really are.

Revelation 1:1-20 - Don't Miss the Forest for the Trees

A journey into the book of Revelation can transform us all into those suddenly befuddled seniors who stop short and ask themselves, "Why did I come in here?" It is so easy to get caught up in the details, and the symbolism, the fantastic imagery and the speculations about meanings and timetables and historical parallels, that we lose sight of what the book is actually intending to communicate. We forget that the title of the book is 'Revelation,' which means an unveiling, a making plain, a throwing back of the curtains, showing us what's really going on. So let's just look at the words and absorb what they are revealing to us, and not plunge headlong into trying to unpack the mystery hidden in a riddle wrapped in an enigma.

"The revelation from Jesus Christ, ... that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads ... blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it ..."

"Jesus Christ, who is
the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To Him who loves us 
and has freed us from our sins 
by His blood, 
and has made us to be a kingdom 
and priests to serve his God and Father- 
to Him be glory and power for ever and ever!"

"... with a golden sash around
His chest. The hair on 
His head was white like wool, as white as snow, and 
His eyes were like blazing fire. 
His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and 
His voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In 
His right hand He held seven stars, and coming out of 
His mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. 
His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance...

He placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!"


Just let that wash over you.
Jesus is being revealed.
Look at Him. LOOK at Him!


Behold.
Your God.

October 30 - Hebrews 1:1-14 - Oh, Yes He Is!

During the Cold War in 1950, Richard Patterson, Jr., United States ambassador to Guatemala, accused the Jacobo Guzmán government of being Communist. Patterson explained his reasoning as follows:

“Suppose you see a bird walking around in a farm yard. This bird has no label that says 'duck'. But the bird certainly looks like a duck. Also, he goes to the pond and you notice that he swims like a duck. Then he opens his beak and quacks like a duck. Well, by this time you have probably reached the conclusion that the bird is a duck, whether he's wearing a label or not."

This has come to be known as the “Duck Test.” One way of explaining this approach would be… rather than doubt that things are as they appear to be until proven so, accept things as they appear to be until proven not so. If it looks, swims and quacks like a duck, accept that it’s a duck! Or prove that it is an impostor.

The author of the book of Hebrews describes Jesus, and the description is of God. Look what it says about Him: the universe was made through Him (v. 2); He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of God’s being; He sustains all things by the power of His Word (v. 3); He laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of His hands (v. 10); the angels worship Him (v. 6); He is called “God” (v. 8) and “Lord” (v. 10) and He and His throne will last forever and ever (vss. 8,11,12).

Jesus looks like God, swims like God and quacks like God. So, I’m not going to worry myself over those who challenge me to prove that Jesus is God. I’m going to accept that He IS God and let others try to prove that He is not. 

Some folks point to the fact that Jesus never explicitly says that He is God. That’s like Patterson’s statement that the bird has no label that says ‘duck.’ It doesn’t have to have a label for us to see clearly that it’s a duck. Jesus doesn’t have to have a nametag that reads, “Hello, my name is God” for us to know that He is God. But read the gospels carefully. Study the New Testament in light of its Old Testament antecedents. Jesus did indeed declare His divinity in the language and context of His culture. 

So then, if Jesus is one who claims to be God when He knows that He is not – he's a liar, or if He truly believes He is God when He isn’t – he's a lunatic,  but if He is who He says He is – he's the Lord God Almighty. Some solve this ‘trilemma’ with the proposal that Jesus’ followers make Him out to be God when He isn’t – he's a legend. But that also causes the claim to fall into the category of ‘lie’. All this calls the question, “Can a myth, a madman, or a misrepresentation transform the lives of millions over two millennia?”

That looks, swims and quacks like divinity to me.

Pray: Jesus, if you are who you say you are, then you are a living God with power to speak today, to move today, and to transform lives from the inside out. I have seen that. I have experienced that. I am convinced. Continue to show yourself worthy of faith and worship. Thank you that you are alive and living in me. Use me as an instrument of revelation. May others see You in me.