Jesus meh Pengangkat enggau Pengidup: "Anang Takut, Arap Aja" (Mark 5:21-42)

“Jairus, siko pemesai ti gawa ba kanisa di menoa nya datai lalu leboh iya meda Jesus iya nyungkor ka diri ba kaki Jesus, lalu bebendar minta kasih ka iya, ko iya, ‘Anak indu aku ti agi biak balat bendar sakit. Aku minta nuan enggau aku, lalu ngengkah ja jari nuan atas iya, awak ka iya tau gerai!’ Udah nya Jesus lalu enggau iya. Orang mayuh bendar nitih ka iya. Laban orang bangat mayoh sida ngenjing bebalut ngelingi Jesus”
(Mark 5:21-24, Berita Manah Ka Rebak Diatu).

Jerita anak indu Jairus tu ngajar kitai ngenang ka pengarap; pengarap ka pengangkat ari pemati. Ketegal pengarap Jairus “nyungkor ka diri ba kaki Jesus.” Iya minta kasih ari Jesus enggau pengabis ati. Maya nya anak iya igi idup. Kati pengarap iya ka Tuhan Jesus chukup kering lepas iya nemu anak iya udah mati? Ko sida ari rumah Jairus, “Anak nuan ti indu udah mati. Nadai guna nuan ngiroh diri mai Pengajar kin” (Mark 5:35). Kati Jairus enda pechaya ka Jesus agi? Maya brita nya pansut, Jesus ngering ka pengarap Jairus, ko Iya, “Anang takut, arap aja.”

Pia ko Tuhan Jesus madah ngagai kitai mega: “Anang takut, arap aja.” Enti kitai udu besampi tang utai ti dipinta kitai enda nyadi baka ti dipinta, anang kitai badu arap ka Tuhan. Enti kitai dituntong penusah, anang badu arap ka Jesus. Enti bisi kaban sabilik mati, anang badu arap ka Tuhan Jesus. Ko Jesus, “Anembiak tu enda mati – semina tindok aja” (Mark 5:39). “Anang takut,” Iya ngering ka pengarap kitai, “arap aja.”

Ba penemu orang ti nadai bepengarap, orang ti udah mati enda tau idup agi belama-lama iya. Tang orang ti bisi pengarap, sigi nemu pemati tuboh kitai semina sementara aja, baka orang ti tindok. Dudi ari ila Tuhan deka ngerak ka kitai baru, lalu kitai deka angkat idup baru. Anang sesekali kitai putus pengarap, bagi kitai orang ti arap ka Tuhan Yesus, kitai patut nemu penusah enggau pemarai enda ulih menang agi – pengidup aja menang! Ketegal siapa? Ketegal Tuhan Jesus Kristus. Iya nyebut: “Aku tu ti pengangkat enggau pengidup. Barang sapa ti arap ka aku deka idup, taja iya mati; lalu barang sapa ti idup lalu arap ka aku – enda tau mati” (John 11:25). Iya mega nyebut: “Anang takut! Aku tu ti terubah enggau ti penudi. Aku meh iya ti idup! Aku udah mati, tang peda diatu aku idup belama-lama. Aku bisi kuasa atas pemati enggau dunya pemati” (Pemandang 1:17-18).

Nya alai, pengarap kitai ti bendar sigi enda tau enda bepanggai ba pengarap ngagai Tuhan Jesus ti ulih ngangkat kitai ari pemati ngagai pengidup ti baru. “Anang takut, arap aja,” ko Iya. Maya Jesus datai ba rumah Jairus, Iya megai jari anembiak nya ti udah mati lalu bejako, ko Iya, “Talitha, kumi!” reti nya, “Endun, angkat nuan!” Kemaya nya anak indu Jairus nya angkat lalu bejalai kia-kia (Mark 5:42). Pia mega, Tuhan deka amat selalu megai jari kitai ti dituntong pemusah, lalu bejako, “Anang takut, arap aja”; “Angkat nuan!”

Sembiang

O Apai kami ti di serga, maya kami dituntong penusah sekalika bisi kaban ti mati, tulong kami enda putus asa. Beri ka pengarap ngagai kami awakka kami enda takut agi. Nyadi meh Pengidup ti meruan dalam kami. Kami pechaya ka Nuan siko aja, Tuhan Jesus Kristus ti pengangkat enggau pengidup dunya. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus on Divorce: Glued Together, No One can Separate It (Mark 10:1-9)

“Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ ‘What did Moses command you?’ he replied. They said, ‘Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.’ ‘It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,’ Jesus replied. ‘But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate’”
(Mark 10:1-9, NIV).

The subject of divorce was a hot issue in Jesus’ day as it is today. According to the Old Testament, a man could divorce his wife if she “displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her” (Deuteronomy 24:1). But by the time Jesus came there were two conflicting views about divorce among the Jews, all because of two ways to interpret the word “indecent” in Deuteronomy 24:1. Mostly the Pharisees said that indecency referred only to sexual unfaithfulness, meaning, a man could divorce his wife only if she became sexually involved with another man. A second view interpreted it as anything that displeased the husband. For example, a man could divorce his wife if she displeased her husband by burning his toast!

The Pharisees, wanted to find some reason to accuse Jesus and get rid of Him, asked Him what was His interpretation of divorce. They were probably hoping that Jesus held the more ‘open’ view of divorce; that way they could discredit Him among the religious community for His liberal interpretation of Scripture. But Jesus doesn’t sided with any one of the two views, Jesus said that in God’s view of marriage, divorce is not mention. When Jesus quoted Genesis 2:24, he implied that in God’s original blueprint for marriage in the Garden of Eden, husband and wife were to be glued (“become one flesh”) into one, inseparable unit. That’s it! Divorce wasn’t even in the vocabulary. “What God has joined together, let no one separate.”

So, why did God allow Moses to include a divorce certificate in the Old Testament law? Jesus answered: “It was because your hearts were hard.” When sin entered the human race as described in Genesis 3, men became basically selfish, unloving and reluctant to forgive in all of relationships – including marriage. The life of “one flesh” God intended husband and wife to enjoy often end up with two self-centred individuals. Instead of caring for each other selflessly, individuals care for themselves first. So for the man who was too hard-hearted to forgive his wife, for example, for being unfaithful, God allowed divorce. Because once sin entered the picture, nothing will be the same. But we must remember that God’s number one plan for marriage is that they commit themselves to each other with selfless love and forgiveness.

Now, I’m not married yet. Soon. But as I read this text in Mark 10 long time ago, I have to consider and equip myself for marriage. This is what I learned: The only kind of glue (to be “one flesh” means to literally glue two objects into one) that holds a marriage together is the glue of commitment. Commitment means that you give yourself to your partner in marriage as a permanent gift; and the two of you give yourselves to God as one. This kind of glue bonds people together so that they can endure all the pressing, pulling and stretching that life can inflict on them. Commitment to one another is above the romantic feelings; it is a committed-choice to stick with one another no matter what happen. If I may respectfully paraphrase Jesus’ words this way: “What God has glued together, man won’t want to separate by divorce.” Amen.

If you try to separate two objects that are glued together,

It’s hard to do, and it ‘hurt’ because each will never be the same again.
That’s the effect of divorce

(P.s: I know it’s hurt, my parents divorced few years ago)

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Ezekiel on Prophets Who Give False Prophesies, Visions and Divinations (Ezekiel 13:1-6, 10-12)

“The word of the LORD came to me: ‘Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! Your prophets, O Israel, are like jackals among ruins… Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. They say, ‘The LORD declares,’ when the LORD has not sent them; yet they expect their words to be fulfilled… They lead my people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash… When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, ‘Where is the whitewash you covered it with?’”
(Ezekiel 13:1-6, 10-12, NIV).

From his vantage point in Babylon, the prophet Ezekiel could see that everything was decidedly not all right.  Back in Judah, there were so-called prophets who kept telling the people everything was going to be okay. They said things were going to get better, there would be peace instead of war (If today, it would sound like this: “I declare prosperity and health are coming your way…”).

Ezekiel knew better; the Lord told him greater judgment was coming. The false prophets’ message didn’t match with what the Lord had already said, that the people would be punished for their (conscious) rebellion against Him. The people hadn’t repented, so why should things change?

It’s easy to say, “Thus says the Lord…” It’s even easy to convince yourself that something is truth when you’ve just wished it or made it up. Ezekiel marveled at the prophets who prophesied out of their own spirit and imagination, and then expected their words to be fulfilled. As yesterday, even today, there are false prophets who want to “lead [God’s] people astray.” Be careful what you hear and read today. In the end, the Word of God is the only reliable basis for what is true and what is not. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Ezekiel prophesies that God will Give New Hearts for Old (Ezekiel 11:16-20)

“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the counties where they have gone… I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again. They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God”
(Ezekiel 11:16-20, NIV).

The people of Israel had a long history of rejecting the Lord. God sent judges and prophets to warn them and foreign kings to punish them. And they reformed… for a while. When the threat was gone, Israel always fell back into their old patterns of sin.

Now in exile, the people finally understood what they had done. But could they ever get back again? Could they reform themselves enough that God would have them again?

The answer, of course, was no. Sinful people cannot improve or clean themselves up well enough to be received by God. But as God revealed thru the prophet Ezekiel, it doesn’t start with us. Even when His people were under punishment, God was “a sanctuary for them.” He will gathered up the scattered and brought them home again. Most important, He will changed them from the inside. He will gave them undivided hearts of flesh to replace their cold, dead hearts of stone. God, do this to us.

We can’t reform ourselves either. We don’t have to. God gives us new hearts in Christ, calls us His children, and brings us home. God, do this to me. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Ezekiel saw Visions of God during the Exiles (Ezekiel 1:1-4)

“In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month of the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. On the fifth of the month – it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin – the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the LORD was on him. I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north – an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light”
(Ezekiel 1:1-4, NIV).

The prophet Ezekiel was among the first of the exiles, carried off to Babylon more than ten years before the final siege and fall of Jerusalem. He had been taken away with the King Jehoiachin, the royal family, and the leading men of the land. They were alive and maintained some status. But they were captives in a foreign land (*thank you Bible handbook).

I imagined, what a joy and relief it must have been to Ezekiel to see visions from God. As a priest, he would have been spiritually sensitive to the reasons the Jews had been exiled. He would have understood that their punishment was a direct result of God’s anger (after many warnings) with them. As far as Ezekiel knew, God might never talk to them again. But then came God’s visions to him. God appeared in awesome power, with a windstorm, a flashing lightning and brilliant light.

We all go through spiritual valleys and dark places, sometimes because of our sins, sometimes for reasons we do not understand. Sometimes because we walk away from God. But He is there, even when we don’t see Him. And every now and then – by God’s grace – He gives us a little glimpse of Himself. At that time, listen to Him.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

J.C. Ryle on Eight Symptoms of False Teaching

Over 100 years ago, Bishop J.C. Ryle shared a similar list that focused on symptoms of false teaching that still has tremendous relevance for the church today.

Here are the 8 symptoms of false teaching:

1.     There is an undeniable zeal in some teachers of error–their “earnestness” makes many people think they must be right.

2.     There is a great appearance of learning and theological knowledge–many think that such clever and intellectual men must surely be safe to listen to.

3.     There is a general tendency to completely free and independent thinking today–many like to prove their independence of judgment by believing the newest ideas, which are nothing but novelties.

4.     There is a wide-spread desire to appear kind, loving, and open-minded–many seem half-ashamed to say that anybody can be wrong or is a false teacher.

5.     There is always a portion of half-truth taught by modern false teachers–they are always using scriptural words and phrases, but with unscriptural meaning.

6.     There is a public craving for a more sensational and entertaining worship–people are impatient with the more inward and invisible work of God within the hearts of men.

7.     There is a superficial readiness all around to believe anyone who talks cleverly, lovingly and earnestly, forgetting that Satan often masquerades himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14).

8.     There is a wide-spread ignorance among professing Christians–every heretic who speaks well is surely believed, and anyone who doubts him is called narrow-minded and unloving.

All these are especially symptoms of our times. I challenge any honest and observant person to deny them. These tend to make the assaults of false doctrine today especially dangerous and make it even more important to say loudly, “Do not be carried away with strange doctrine!”

Source: UnlockingTheBible.org

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Abram Let God Makes the Decision (Genesis 13:5-11)

“Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s… So Abram said to Lot, ‘Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.’ Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt… So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east”
(Genesis 13:5-11, NIV).

When there was a conflict between Abram’s servants and Lot’s, Abram extended a graciousness that was similar to the grace he had received from God. The two households (uncle and nephew) would have to go their separate ways. As the elder relative, Abram had every right to dictate to his nephew the terms of the separation. But he didn’t. He let Lot choose which land to take. Wow!

Why was Abram willing to leave that most important decision to another? Perhaps he understood that neither he nor Lot was making the decision. God was at work, and God was the One who would be giving Abram the land he wanted Abram to have.

As it turned out, Lot’s choice to settle in the “well-watered” plains of the Jordan didn’t make him a great patriarch. Life among the wicked cities of the plains – including Sodom and Gomorrah – wrecked Lot’s family (read Genesis chapter 18 and 19). God rewarded Abram’s act of faith, on the other hand, with a renewal of His promise: “All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever” (Genesis 13:15). That land, by the way, included the Jordan Valley, which Abram had just given to Lot!

I like what Ray Stedman writes, “Everyone dwells in a world exactly like that of Abram and Lot. A world in which material values constantly clamor for us to make a choice. We have only so much time to invest, so much life to spend, and we are pressured to try to grab the best for ourselves while we can. We can say with Lot, ‘I want what the world can offer me now, I want the cities of the plain.’ Or we may wait with Abram, content with our tent and altar, enjoying the blessings of the land by faith now, and waiting for God's fulfillment of all His promises in that wonderful age yet to come. The Christian who is content to let God make his choices finds it easy to fulfill the New Testament word: ‘Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.