Therefore

A Series on Lent
The stories of Passion Week - the religious leaders
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 20:1-26 

[Lent is a 40-day season of personal reflection with the purpose to prepare your heart to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection at Easter. In this series on Lent, we will be looking into the stories of Passion Week. How the people who were directly involved were impacted and how that applies to us today.]

  

During my junior year of high school, I was the campaign manager for a friend of mine who was running for Student Council President. Since we didn’t have much of a budget for advertising, we used pictures from my parent’s old Life magazines and mounted them on poster board.

 

In the wisdom that only sixteen-year-old boys could manage, one such picture was of a girl in a two-piece bathing suit. The caption that we decided would make perfect sense was: “My belly button is voting for Pete”.

 

The next day as we were taping the picture to the wall at school, the principal came up and said, “That would only appeal to stupid people”. My friend who was helping me immediately quipped, “Even stupid people vote”. Without saying another word, the principal turned around and walked away. The poster stayed on the wall.

 

Like my school principal, Jesus’ authority was also challenged. It was during Passover week. The streets were crowded with pilgrims from across Judea. Jesus had entered Jerusalem like a king. Recently, he had raised Lazarus from the dead and everybody was talking about it, much to the dismay of the religious leaders.

 

The day after entering Jerusalem, Jesus went into the crowded Temple and drove out the merchants, knocking over tables and scattering coins and animals that were being sold for Temple sacrifice. The religious leaders couldn’t find a way to stop him, so Jesus continued to teach and heal in the Temple defying their authority.

 

One day while Jesus was in the Temple courts, a group of religious leaders, who were members of the Sanhedrin, approached him. The Sanhedrin was the prevailing authority for all things related to the Jews. They viewed Jesus as a threat. Therefore, they challenged him.

 ² “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”               NIV

 

Instead of answering their question, Jesus told them a parable about a vineyard owner and his tenants. It was aimed directly at the religious leaders to condemn them. When he was done they tried to find a way to have Jesus arrested right then. But because of his popularity, they were too afraid.

 

Challenging authority is an age old past time. Students challenge principals. Children challenge parents. Employees challenge employers. Fans and players challenge referees. All of us challenges authority at some time. It all started with Adam and Eve challenging God.

 

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  NIV           Matthew 28

 

In his final words to his disciples, Jesus claimed his ultimate authority. He followed this by saying, “Therefore”. This means that because of his authority, he gave his disciples a mission that would turn the world upside down. Therefore, that mission still applies to us.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Are You a Fan or a Follower?

A Series on Lent
The stories of Passion Week - the Palm Sunday crowd
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
John 12:12-19 

[Lent is a 40-day season of personal reflection with the purpose to prepare your heart to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection at Easter. In this series on Lent, we will be looking into the stories of Passion Week. How the people who were directly involved were impacted and how that applies to us today.]

  

On Saturday, December 9, 2023, the Columbus Crew won their third MLS Cup by defeating the Los Angeles Football Club 2-1. The following Tuesday there was a huge victory celebration in downtown Columbus.

 

My daughter and her family had season tickets and actually went to the championship game! On the day of the victory parade and Championship Rally, they were there chanting and yelling along with all the other Crew fans.

 

Palm Sunday was a victory parade for Jesus. After raising his good friend Lazarus from the dead, Jesus made his grand entrance into the city of Jerusalem. It was Passover, so throngs of people had made the pilgrimage from all across Judea.

 

With news of Jesus’ expected appearance, the roads were jammed. He had instructed his disciples to go into a village to find a donkey that had never been ridden. The symbolism of this was humility and suitability for religious purposes.

 

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, a “very large crowd” embraced him by laying down palm branches which was a sign of the celebration of victory and a symbol of Jewish nationalism. They welcomed him as a victorious king.

 

¹³ They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”       NIV

 

Hosanna is a Hebrew expression meaning ‘save!’ The second line is a quote of Psalm 118:26, which is about the one who defeated the enemies of the Lord. The third line is a reference to the royalty of King Jesus.

 

Make no mistake about it! Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem was his public declaration of who he was. That’s why he rode a donkey. The significance of this goes far beyond the symbolism of humility and suitability. It was the fulfillment of prophecy about the Messiah quoted from Zechariah 9:9.

 

¹⁵ “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem.
Look, your King is coming,
    riding on a donkey’s colt.”       NLT

 

Like the Crew fans, the great crowds that greeted Jesus and gave him a king’s welcome soon returned to their daily lives. With time, they may have told their grandchildren how they were amongst those who welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem. But the real question is, would they have understood who he was.

 

As we enter the season of Lent, it is important to ask ourselves the same question and not just be a fan of Jesus, but a follower. Do you understand who Jesus is? Are you a fan or a follower?

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

Serving Justice

A Series on the Psalms – a collection of prayers
Feeling wronged
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 35 

[Life is full of emotions. The book of Psalms is a collection of prayers that express our emotions which are the cry of our soul for hope. In this series, we will be looking in the mirror of the Psalms, to learn more about ourselves and our Lord.]

  

The summer after I graduated from high school, I had a job at a Jerry’s Restaurant as the bus boy and dishwasher for the evening shift. There were probably twenty-five tables and I kept all of them bussed and all the dishes washed, even during the dinner rush. Basically, I did the job of two people for the lofty wage of $.88 per hour.

 

At the end of the summer on a Friday night, the general manager invited the local high school football team to the restaurant for a steak dinner after their game. This was the first time that I’d seen him all summer. As far as I knew, he didn’t do any work at the restaurant.

 

While we were waiting for the team to arrive, I made some small talk to him. He turned and looked at me and said, “You know, if you worked as good as you talked, you’d be a good worker.” I wanted to walk out of the restaurant right then! Let him clean the tables and dishes! Justice would be served.

 

The feeling of being wronged has been around since Adam and Eve. Although there are certainly times when a person is unjustly wronged, it’s very easy to slip into a mindset of mistreatment. Then the natural reaction of feeling victimized leads to rationalizing and justifying and seeking our own justice.

 

However, that was not the case for David. Even though he was being pursued by Saul and his army who were trying to unjustly kill him, David did not respond with the intent of retaliating to enforce his own justice. Instead, he cried out to the Lord and expressed his faith and desire for God’s justice to be served.

 

¹⁷ How long, O Lord, will you look on and do nothing?
    Rescue me from their fierce attacks.
    Protect my life from these lions!
¹⁸ Then I will thank you in front of the great assembly.
    I will praise you before all the people.            NLT

 

The easiest thing to do when we feel like we’ve been wronged, is to lash out; to make somebody else pay; to serve justice as we see fit. For me, the easiest thing to do would’ve been to walk out of the restaurant just to spite the pompous general manager. But that isn’t the example that we’ve been given.

 

²¹ To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps.

²² “He committed no sin,
    and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

²³ When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.           NIV    1 Peter 2

 

“He entrusted himself to him who judges justly”.

 

This is the standard that we’ve been called to follow. It’s not easy. But if we do follow it, we will have taken a huge step towards loving God and serving justice.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

How Long?

A Series on the Psalms – a collection of prayers
Feeling ignored
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 13 

[Life is full of emotions. The book of Psalms is a collection of prayers that express our emotions which are the cry of our soul for hope. In this series, we will be looking in the mirror of the Psalms, to learn more about ourselves and our Lord.]

 

Nobody likes being ignored!

 

Some children grow up in a family where the adage, “Children should be seen and not heard”, is the modus operandi. Even when they try to get their parent’s attention they can’t. Being ignored doesn’t feel good.

 

David experienced that same feeling. Only he felt ignored by God. The NIV study Bible suggests that David had a life threatening illness, and felt that God was ignoring his pleas for help. Whatever his situation, here is his opening cry.

 

¹ O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?
    How long will you look the other way?
² How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
    with sorrow in my heart every day?
    How long will my enemy have the upper hand?      NLT

 

Author Philip Yancey wrote a pertinent book titled “Reaching for the Invisible God”. Here is a summary of his book.

 

“Life with God doesn’t always work like we thought. High expectations slam against the reality of personal weaknesses and unwelcome surprises. And the God who we’ve been told longs for our company may seem remote, emotionally unavailable.”

 

Quite possibly, David wondered how a relationship with God worked without being able to see, hear or touch Him. It seemed like David felt invisible to this invisible God. However, that wasn’t his final word.

 

⁵ But I trust in your unfailing love.
    I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
⁶ I will sing to the Lord
    because he is good to me.           NLT

 

Even with all his doubts, David clearly states that he was now trusting in God’s unfailing love. Then, because of his faith, he declared that he will rejoice and sing to the Lord.

 

When we’re in the middle of a significant struggle, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. All we can see is the struggle in front of us. That’s when we call out to God and ask, “How long Lord”?

 

Like David, the answer for us starts with a small step of faith in who God is. Faith in His unfailing love for us. Faith that He is with us. Faith that he will take action. Faith in the Living God.

 

The author of Hebrews describes faith like this.

 

¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.                         Hebrews 11   NIV

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com