Jesus: Master of God's Domain

God hasn’t kept the ending a secret. He wants us to see the big picture. He wants us to know that He wins. And He also wants us to know that the evil we witness on the stage of life is not as mighty as we might think.

Many passages teach these truths, but my favourite is a couple of verses recorded by Luke. Jesus speaks the words on the night before His death. He is in the upper room with His followers. They are shocked to hear His prophecy that one of them will betray the Master. Their defensiveness leads to an argument, and the argument leads to Jesus to exhort them to servanthood.

Then in an abrupt shift, Jesus turns to Simon Peter and makes this intriguing statement: “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:31-32, NKJV).

This passage gives us a glimpse into an unseen world. It raises many questions, but it also affords many assurances, the chief of which is the chain of command. God is clearly in control, and the devil is on a short leash. Did you notice the verb that followed Satan’s name? Ask. “Satan has asked…”

The devil didn’t demand, resolve, or decide. He asked. Just as he requested permission to tempt Job, he requested permission to tempt Simon Peter. Sort of recasts our image of the old snake, doesn’t it? Instead of the mighty Darth Vader of Gloom, a better caricature is a skinny, back-alley punk who acts tough, but ducks fast when God flexes. “Uh, uh… I’d… uh… like to do a number on Peter – that is, if you don’t mind.” The chain of command is clear. Satan does nothing outside of God’s domain, and God uses Satan to advance the cause of His kingdom.

[Taken from When Christ Comes by Max Lucado]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus, the One Who Kept His Focus

One of the incredible abilities of Jesus was to stay on target. His life never got off track. Not once do we find Him walking down the wrong side of the fairway. He had no money, no computers, no jets, no administrative assistants or staffs; yet Jesus did what many of us fail to do. He kept His life on course.

As Jesus looked across the horizon of His future, He could see many targets. Many flags were flapping in the wind, each of which He could have pursued. He could have been a political revolutionary. He could have been a national leader. He could have been content to be a teacher and educate minds or to be a physician and heal bodies. But in the end He chose to be a Saviour and save souls.

Anyone near Christ for any length of time heard it from Jesus Himself. “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

The heart of Christ was relentlessly focused on one task. The day He left the carpentry shop of Nazareth He had one ultimate aim – the Cross of Calvary. He was so focused that His final words were, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

How could Jesus say He was finished? There were still the hungry to feed, the sick to heal, the untaught to instruct, and the unloved to love. How could He say He was finished? Simple. He had completed His designated task. His commission was fulfilled. The painter could set aside his brush, the sculptor lay down his chisel, the writer put away his pen. The job was done.

[Taken from Just Like Jesus by Max Lucado]

How focus are we as Christians to be Christ-like?

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Jesus Shows What Love Does

Would you do what Jesus did? He swapped a spotless castle for a grimy stable. He exchanged the worship of angels for the company of killers. He could hold the universe in His palm but gave it up to float in the womb of a maiden.

            If you were God, would you sleep on straw, nurse from a breast, and be clothed in a diaper? I wouldn’t, but Christ did.

            If you knew that those you loved would laugh in your face, would you still care? …Christ did.

            He humbled Himself. He went from commanding angels to sleeping in the straw. From holding stars to clutching Mary’s finger. The palm that held the universe took the nail of a soldier.

            Why? Because that’s what love does. It puts the beloved before itself.

            Love goes the distance… and Christ traveled from limitless eternity to be confined by time in order to become one of us. He didn’t have to. He could have given up. At any step along the way, He could have called it quits.

            When He saw the size of the womb, He could have stopped.

            When He saw how tiny His hand would be, how soft His voice would be, how hungry His tummy would be, He could have stopped. At the first whiff of the stinky stable, at the first gust of cold air. The first time He scraped His knee or blew His nose or tasted burnt bagels, He could have turned and walked out.  

            When He saw the dirt floor of His Nazareth house. When Joseph gave Him a chore to do. When His fellow students were dozing off during the reading of the Torah, His Torah. At any point Jesus could have said, “That’s it! That’s enough! I’m going home.” But He didn’t.

            He didn’t because He is love.

[Taken from 3:16 by Max Lucado]

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Jesus: The Foundation of the Church

Could someone build a temple and forget why? Could someone construct a palace, yet forget the king? Could someone sculpt a tribute and forget the hero?

            You answer those questions. Answer them in a church. The next time you enter an assembly of worship, position yourself where you can see the people. Then decide.

            You can tell the ones who remember the slain One. They’re wide-eyed and expectant. They’re children watching the unwrapping of a gift. They’re servants standing still as a King passes. You don’t doze in the presence of royalty. And you don’t yawn while receiving a gift, especially when the giver is the King Himself!

            You can also tell the ones who see only the temple. Their eyes wander. Their feet shuffle. Their hands doodle, and their mouths open – not to sing, but to yawn. For no matter how hard they try to stay amazed, their eyes start to glaze over. All temples, even the Taj Mahal, lose their luster after a while.

            The temple gazers don’t mean to be bored. They love the church. They can cite its programs and praise its pastors. They don’t mean to grow stale. They put on hats and hose and coats and ties and come every week. But still, something is missing. The One they once planned to honor hasn’t been seen in a while.

            But those who have seen Him can’t seem to forget Him. They find Him, often in spite of the temple rather than because of it. They brush the dust away and stand ever impressed before His tomb – His empty tomb.

            The temple builders and the Savior seekers. You’ll find them both in the same church, on the same pew – at times, even in the same suit. One sees the structure and says, “O what a great church.” The other sees the Savior and says, “O what a great Christ!”

Which do you see?

[Taken from The Applause of Heaven by Max Lucado]

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Jesus on the Impossibility of Men and the Possibility of God

Jesus and the rich young ruler in Mark 10

Max Lucado, my favourite author commended on Mark 10:17-31, in his book The Applause of Heaven (1990). Title above, mine. He wrote:

Jesus gets to the point. “If you wants to be perfect, then go sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.”

The statement leaves the young man distraught and the disciples bewildered.

Their question could be ours: “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus’ answer shell-shocks the listeners, “With man this is impossible…”

Impossible.

He doesn’t say improbable. He doesn’t say unlikely. He didn’t even say it will be tough. He says it is “impossible”…

Does that strike you as cold? All your life you’ve been rewarded according to your performance. You get grades according to your study. You get commendations according to your success. You get money in response to your work.

That’s why the rich young ruler thought heaven was just a payment away. It only made sense. You work hard, you pay your dues, and “zap” – your account is credited as paid in full. Jesus says, “No way.” What you want costs far more than what you can pay. You don’t need a system, you need a Saviour. You don’t need a resume, you need a Redeemer. For “what is impossible with men is possible with God.”

…You see, it wasn’t the money that hindered the rich man; it was the self-sufficiency. It wasn’t the possessions; it was the pomp. It wasn’t the big bucks; it was the big head…

Astounding. These people are standing before the throne of God and bragging about themselves. The great trumpet has sounded, and they are still tooting their own horns. Rather than sing His praises, they sing their own. Rather than worship God, they read their resumes. When they should be speechless, they speak. In the very aura of the King they boast of self. What is worse – their arrogance or their blindness?

…God does not save us because of what we’ve done…

And only a great God does for his children what they can’t do for themselves.

That is the message of the first beatitude.                                               

“Blessed are the poor in spirit…”

The jewel of joy is given to the impoverished spirits, not the affluent. God’s delight is received upon surrender, not awarded upon conquest.

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Jesus' Economy is Upside Down: The Woman's Faith is Big but Her Part is Small

[Based on Mark 4:24-34]

A chronic menstrual disorder. A perpetual issue of blood. Such a condition would be difficult for any woman of any area. But for a Jewess, nothing could be worse. No part of her life was left unaffected.

Sexually… she could not touch her husband.

Maternally… she could not bear children.

Domestically… anything she touched was considered unclean. No washing dishes. No sweeping floors.

Spiritually… she was not allowed to enter the temple.

She was physically exhausted and socially ostracized.

She had sought help “under the care of many doctors”…

She was bruised reed. She awoke daily in a body that no one wanted. She is down to her last prayer. And on the day we encounter her, she’s about to pray it.

By the time she gets to Jesus, he is surrounded by people. He’s on his way to help the daughter of Jairus, the most important man in the community. What are the odds that he will interrupt an urgent mission with a high official to help the likes of her? Very few. But what are the odds that she will survive if she doesn’t take a chance? Fewer still. So she takes a chance.

“If I can just touch his clothes,” she thinks, “I will be healed.”

Risky decision. To touch him, she will have to touch the people. If one of them recognizes her… But what choice does she have? She has no money, no clout, no friends, no solutions. All she has is a crazy hunch that Jesus can help and a high hope that he will… There was no guarantee, of course. She hoped he’d respond… she longed for it… but she didn’t know if he would. All she knew was that he was good. That’s faith.

Faith is not the belief God will do what you want.
Faith is the belief that God will do what is right.

“Blessed are the dirt-poor, nothing-to-give, trapped-in-a-corner, destitute, diseased,” Jesus said, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:6, Max’s translation).

God’s economy is upside down (or rightside up and ours is upside down!) God says that the more hopeless your circumstance, the more likely your salvation. The greater you cares, the more genuine your prayers. The darker the room, the greater the need for light.

A healthy lady never would have appreciated the power of a touch of the hem of his robe. But this woman was sick… and when her dilemma met his dedication, a miracle occurred. Her part in the healing was very small. All she did was extend her arm through the crowd.

“If only I can touch him”…

Healing begins when we do something.

Healing begins when we reach out.

Healing starts when we take a step.

[Taken from He still Moves Stones (1993) by Max Lucado]

                                                THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus knows the Cost of Grace, He Offers It Anyway

"Seeing [the four friends'] faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man,
'My child, your sins are forgiven'" (Mark 2:5).

Max Lucado retelling a story in Mark 2:1-5 in his book He Still Moves Stones (1993): “Whether he was born paralyzed – the end result was the same: total dependence on others… When people looked at him, they didn’t see the man; they saw a body in need of a miracle. That’s not what Jesus saw, but that’s what the people saw. So they did what any of us would do for a friend. They tried to get him some help…

By the time his friends arrived at the place, the house was full. People jammed the doorways. Kids sat in the windows. Others peeked over shoulders. How would this small band of friends ever attract Jesus’ attention? They had to make a choice. Do we go in or give up?

What would have happened had the friends given up? What if they had shrugged their shoulders and mumbled something about the crowd being big and dinner getting cold and turned and left? After all, they had done a good deed in coming this far. Who could fault them for turning back? You can only do so much for somebody. But these friends hadn’t done enough.

One said that he had an idea. The four huddled over the paralytic and listened to the plan to climb the top of the house, cut through the roof, and lower their friend down with their sashes.

It was risky – they could fall. It was dangerous – he could fall. It was unorthodox – de-roofing is antisocial. It was intrusive – Jesus was busy. But it was their only chance to see Jesus. So they climbed to the roof.

Faith does these things. Faith does the unexpected. And faith gets God’s attention… Jesus was moved by the scene of faith. So he applauds – if not with his hands, at least with his heart. And not only does he applaud, he blesses. And we witness a divine loveburst.

The friends want him to heal their friend. But Jesus won’t settle for a simple healing of the body – he wants to heal the soul. He leapfrogs the physical and deals with the spiritual. To heal the body is temporal; to heal the soul is eternal… So strong was his love for this crew of faith that he went beyond their appeal and went straight to the cross.

Jesus already knows the cost of grace. He already knows the price of forgiveness. But he offers it anyway. Love bursts in his heart… And though we can’t hear it here, the angels can hear him there. All of heaven must pause as another burst of love declares the only words that really matter: “Your sins are forgiven.””

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Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life, Why?

Can you see why Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life?

I can think of one other similarity. Consider how bread is made. Think about the process. Wheat grows in the field, then it is cut down, winnowed, and ground into flour. It passes through the fire of the oven and is then distributed around the world. Only by this process does bread become bread. Each step is essential. Eliminate the plant, and you have no wheat. Eliminate the winnowing, and you have no flour. Eliminate the fire, and you have no product. Eliminate the distribution, and you have no satisfaction. Each step is essential.

Now, consider Jesus. He grew up before the Lord “as a tender plant” (Isaiah 53:2). One of millions of boys on the planet. One of thousands in Israel. One of dozens in Nazareth. Indistinguishable from the person down the street or the child in the next chair. Had you seen Him as a youngster, you wouldn’t have thought He was the Son of God. You might have thought Him polite or courteous or diligent, but God on earth? Not a chance. He was just a boy. One of hundreds. Like a staff of wheat in the wheat field.

But like wheat, He was cut down. Like chaff He was pounded and beaten. “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). And like bread He passed through the fire. On the Cross He passed through the fire of God’s anger, not because of His sin, but because of ours. “The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

Jesus experienced each part of the process of making bread: the growing, the pounding, the firing. And just as each is necessary for bread, each was also necessary for Christ to become the Bread of Life. “Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:26).

[Taken from A Gentle Thunder by Max Lucado]

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In Relationship put Holiness before Happiness

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6, NIV).

Because you are an imperfect human being, you are not “perfectly” happy, and you won’t have “perfect” relationships – and that’s perfectly okay with God. He is far less concerned with your happiness than He is with your holiness. Max Lucado writes, “You don’t have to be like the world to have an impact on the world. You don’t have to be like the crowd to change the crowd. You don’t have to lower yourself down to their level to lift them up to your level. Holiness doesn’t seek to be odd. Holiness seeks to be like God.”

God continuously reveals Himself in everyday life, but He doesn’t do so in order to make you contented; He does so in order to lead you to His Son. So don’t be overly concerned with your current level of happiness: it will change. Be more concerned with the current state of your relationship with Christ: He does not change. And because your Saviour transcends time and space, you can be comforted in the knowledge that in the end, His joy will become your joy – for all eternity. This is more important than seeking happiness in relationship (though it is praiseworthy to do so). Holiness is more permanent. His joy will surely be yours.

God is Holy and wants you to be holy.

Christ died to make you holy.

Make sure that you response to Christ’s sacrifice is worthy of Him.

So when you think of relationship, please included holiness.

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Jesus took a Common Name and Made It Holy

He lived among us. He donned the costliest of robes: a human body. He made a throne out of a manger and a royal court out of some cows. He took a common name – Jesus – and made it holy. He took common people and made them the same. He could have lived over us or away from us. But He didn’t. He lived among us.

He became a friend of the sinner and brother of the poor. He touched their sores and felt their tears, and paid for their mistakes. He entered a tomb and came out and pledged that we’d do the same. And to us all, and to all the frightened Freds of the world, He shared the same message. “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me… I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3, NKJV).

And how do we respond?

Some pretend He doesn’t exist. They occupy themselves with a study of the piano and ask no questions about the Maestro.

Others hear Him, but don’t believe Him. It’s not easy to believe that God would go so far to take us home.

But then, a few decide to give it a try. They venture out of their corners and peek up through the opening. Each day they look toward the sky. They, like Simeon, “wait for” and “look forward to” the day Christ comes (2 Peter 3:11). They know there is more to life than the belly of a piano, and they want to be ready when Christ comes.

[from When Christ Comes by Max Lucado]

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Why Listen to the Mockers... When You Can, with the Same Ear, Listen to the Voice of God?

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Jesus: A Personal Shepherd Provides His Presence and Rest

Years after David wrote (Psalm 23), another Bethlehem Shepherd would say: “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3).

Note the promises of Jesus. “I will come again and receive you to Myself.” He pledges to take us home. He does not delegate this task. He may send missionaries to teach you, angels to protect you, teachers to guide you, singers to inspire you, and physicians to heal you, but He sends no one to take you. He reserves this job for Himself. “I will come back and take you home.” He is your personal Shepherd. And He is personally responsible to lead you home. And because He is present when any of His sheep dies, you can say what David said, “I will fear no evil” (Psalm 23:4).

…And when God calls us into the deep valley of death, He will be with us. Dare we think that He would abandon us in the moment of death? Would a father force his child to swim the deep alone? Would the shepherd require his sheep to journey to the highlands alone? Of course not. Would God require His child to journey to eternity alone? Absolutely not! He is with you!

What God said to Moses, He says to you: “My Presence will go with you” (Exodus 22:14)

[From Travelling Light by Max Lucado]

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Jesus: the One Who Gave Himself for Us

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16, NKJV).

A twenty-five-word parade of hope: beginning with God, ending with life, and urging us to do the same. Brief enough to write on a napkin or memorize in a moment, yet solid enough to weather two thousand years of storms and questions. If you know nothing of the Bible, start here. If you know everything in the Bible, return here. We all need the reminder. The heart of the human problem is the heart of the human. And God’s treatment is prescribed in John 3:16.

He loves. He gave. We believe. We live.

The words are to Scripture what the Mississippi River to America – an entryway into the heartland. Believe or dismiss them, embrace of reject them, any serious consideration of Christ must include them. Would a British historian dismiss the Magna Carta? Egyptologists overlook the Rosetta stone? Could you ponder the words of Christ and never immerse yourself into John 3:16?

The verse is an alphabet of grace, a table of contents to the Christian hope, each word a safe-deposit box of jewels. Read it again, slowly and aloud, and note the word that snatches your attention. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

“God so loved the world…” We’d expect an anger-fuelled God. One who punishes the world, recycles the world, forsakes the world… but loves the world?

The world? This world? Heartbreakers, hope-snatchers, and dream-dousers prowl this orb. Dictators rage. Abusers inflict. Reverends think they deserve the title. But God loves. And He loves the world so much He gave His:
Declarations? Rules? Dicta? Edicts?

No. the heart-stilling, mind-bending, deal-making-or-breaking claim of John 3:16 is this: God gave His Son… His only Son. No abstract ideas but a flesh-wrapped divinity. Scripture equates Jesus with God. God, then, gave Himself. Why? So that “whoever believes in His should not perish.”

[From 3:16 by Max Lucado]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.