Freedom is Good News Part 130

I was looking at a scripture yesterday that got me to thinking.  It is not an unusual or obscure scripture but one that should be quite familiar.  It is found in the Gospel of John chapter 14:1.  But before I type it out, let’s fill in a little background.

Jesus has just spent approximately thirty-three and one half years on this earth.  Of those years, He has been with the twelve apostles for about three and one half years.  When we get to chapter 13 of John we encounter Jesus partaking of His final Passover on this earth and the twelve are gathered around Him. 

I’m not sure if the events leading up to this Passover were any different than the others He had spent with the twelve but He alone knew that this would be a very special Passover; He would be the true Passover Lamb – “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”. 

He had been giving the Apostles clues about what was to happen.  Four times in the book of Matthew He mentions to them that He would have to suffer and be crucified (16:21, 17:22, 20:18 and 26:2), but they never really comprehended His words.  And now in the book of John 13:1 we are told, “It was just before the Passover Feast.  Jesus knew that the hour had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father.”

It is appropriate for us to examine this part of scripture at this time of year, for we are headed toward the time of Passover.  The next line in John 13:1 reads, “Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love.”  Wow!!  The full extent of His love!!  And it is that line that leads me into the scripture that I was about to type at the beginning of this article.

Jesus is confronting His imminent death – a most torturous, hideous and painful type of death; death by crucifixion.  But at this last Passover meal, His thoughts are upon His disciples and not upon Himself.  He takes time to comfort His friends.  John 14:1, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many abodes; if it were not so would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?”

Jesus had just washed His disciple’s feet.  He shared a meal with them and He brought forth the symbols of His own life – the bread (“Take and eat; this is my body.”)  And the cup (“Drink from it all of you, this is my blood of the new covenant.”)

And so He now takes advantage of this precious time with the twelve and begins to teach them some of the most profound things He could ever share with them!!  (Read John 14, 15, 16 and 17)  And yes, He begins by saying, “Do not let your hearts be troubled”.  I am reminded of the words of a song, “Hallelujah, what a Savior”.

Yes, there is more to come on this subject.

Freedom is Good News Part 36

In the previous article I mentioned that my favorite season of the year is spring.  I also must not fail to mention that it can be the busiest time of the year; with mowing the lawn, planting and weeding the gardens, spring cleaning and just plain getting ready for outdoor activities.

But what about spiritual activities?  For our Savior, the time in that spring when He was about to give His life for us sinners became extremely busy.  We don’t often consider His time frame that led up to His week of passion.  As I see it, His journey begins in the region of Caesarea Philippi, an area some 120 miles north of Jerusalem.  We see this in Matthew 16:13.  This is where Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  I believe we know the story – some said John the Baptist, some said Elijah, still others said Jeremiah or perhaps one of the prophets.  Once Jesus got all the rumors and common scuttlebutt out of the way, He got to the crux of the matter:  “But what about you?  Who do you say that I am?”  The disciples, who have now spent almost three and a half years with Him, had to answer differently.  Peter bravely said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  And we sit here with 20/20 hindsight and say, “no kidding Peter”.  But this was a bold statement for Peter to make and Jesus knew that he had stepped out in faith to say it.  Jesus told Peter that this was revealed to him by the heavenly Father.  But the line we are looking for in all of this is found in verse 21, “From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and scribes, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”  (Again, this was spoken 120 miles north of Jerusalem.)

Long story short, they make their way south to Galilee; about a fifty mile journey.  They are now 70 miles north of Jerusalem.  Chapter 17:22 tells us, “When they came together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, the Son of Man is going to be handed over into the hands of men.  They will kill Him and on the third day He will be raised to life.”  This is the second pronouncement of His suffering.  Now they resume their journey to Jerusalem and on the way (chapter 20:17) Jesus takes the 12 aside and says, “We are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes.  They will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified.  On the third day He will be raised to life.” 

The fourth and final pronouncement of His sufferings comes while they are in Jerusalem.  Again He takes aside His disciples and says, “As you know, the Passover is after two days and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”  These 4 pronouncements are made over the course of a long journey, a walk of over 120 miles.  He knew His destination and He knew His Father’s will.  During this journey He was mindful of you and me.  We are given freedom from the bondage to sin because of His sacrifice.

But we’ll talk more on this in the future – God willing.

Freedom is Good News Part 35

Do you have a favorite season of the year?  There are only four to choose from so we haven’t many choices.  The answer to this question depends, of course, upon who is asked, what the weather is like when the question is asked and where the one who is asked lives.  OK, so we live in Iowa.  The weather this day (that I am writing) is beautiful.  And since you can’t answer, I’m going with spring!!

Have you noticed the green lawns?  Sally and I have dozens of beautiful yellow daffodils at our front step.  Oh, the rhubarb is up and will be ready for pies in about another week!  I could go on and on – I like spring.  But there is a better reason to like spring.  Yes, there is a more marvelous, more wonderful, and a more spectacular reason.  This time of year brings to us a reminder of the greatest event; yes, the greatest miracle in the history of mankind.  The death, burial and resurrection of the Son of God!

Do you believe that?  If you do, do you live your life in accordance with that belief?  Let us take a look at the time frame surrounding this event that took place approximately 1987 years ago (give or take a couple years)?  Let’s begin in the book of Luke, chapter 22.  In verse 8 we read, “And Jesus sent Peter and John saying, ‘Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.’”  The Passover was the most important time of year for the people living in Judea.  This was for them a celebration and a memorial of the time when God brought their forefathers out of bondage in Egypt.  Jesus was getting ready to bring people out of bondage to sin. 

In verse 15 Jesus says to His disciples, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”  Did your catch that?  Jesus was about to experience a most excruciating death with beatings, insults, floggings, mockings and the torture of having His hands and feet nailed to a cross and still He says He was “eagerly desiring” to eat this Passover. 

He sat in that upper room with the twelve; and in the book of John 13:1 we read, “He knew that the hour had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father.  Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love.”  Picking it up in chapter 14:1 Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled”.  He was going to His own death and He was comforting His disciples; not just once but 3 separate times (see verse 27 and 16:7). 

Jesus knew what was coming and He knew what He was doing.  “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying, ‘take and eat; this is my body; do this in remembrance of Me’.  In the same way He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’”  (see Luke 22:19-20 and 1 Corinthians 11:24-25)

There is a lot more to come.