Who is Jesus?

Who is Jesus? He is described in many places as the Son of David. We know that King David was a major figure of the Old Testament; the most noteworthy of the Old Testament Kings; the most powerful ruler, a man with weaknesses, but a "man after God's own heart."' So when Jesus was born, He was a disappointment to many, especially the Jews who wanted a King like David, powerful, ruling, dominant on this earth. Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this earth." He was born in poverty, lived like a common man, or less, associated with common men, often "sinners" or the hated, like tax-collectors and such. Jesus just didn't fit the mold of the Messiah that the Jews were expecting. So He was rejected.

In the New Testament, when Jesus was selecting His apostles, in John 1:45, Phillip finds Nathaniel and says, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. After some convincing, Nathaniel says, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"

In Matthew 16:13, Jesus asked His disciples saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" After some discussion, Peter says, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus points out that God the Father has revealed this to him, Peter.

And this is exactly what Jesus is. He is all these things and more; the great King, greater than David by far. And yet Jesus had no glory on this earth because people misunderstood Him to a large extent. His glory now, here on this earth, is through us. We must glorify Him in our lives and live for Him, just as He died for us. And one day we can share in His glory in heaven. Let's do it!

Different Roles for Men and Women

Examining the Bible to see the roles of men and women is not a particularly popular thing to do, especially in modern day America. But the Bible is clear on this matter.

First, we note that men and women are equal in God's sight. Galatians 3:28 says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." God loves all of His people, sent Jesus to die for all. But contrary to what many believe in the world today, the roles are different.

Genesis 2:18 tells us that in the creation, "the Lord God said, 'It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.' " Some translations say "a help meet for him" or "a helper suitable for him." The Lord has given leadership roles in the church to the men. Note 1 Timothy 2:12; "..I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve." There are a number of passages that talk about the role of men in the church, where men are given the leadership roles there; note Acts 6:3, 1 Corinthians 14:34, and Titus 1:5. But we see the valuable role of women in so many ways in both the Old and New Testament. Proverbs 31 talks about the value of a worthy woman. Her price is "far above rubies." Paul comments on the faith of Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:5, "when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also." In Acts 18, Aquila and his wife Priscilla taught a man who needed some correction in his beliefs. On and on we see the valuable contribution of women.

But the roles are different. We need only to accept His truth and serve Him in His way. Thanks for reading. May God bless you!

Jordan River

The Bible, both Old Testament and New Testament, talks a lot about the Jordan River. And from some of the passages we know that the river has never been a particularly clean one. Note the story of Naaman in 2Kings 5. Having had the opportunity to see the Jordan River recently, I thought I should share a few pictures as well as some observations.

The first thing of note is that the river is not very large. The width must be about 50 feet to maybe 100 feet at it's widest. The pictures shown here give some indication of size. Secondly, the river is extremely dirty. Many rivers look dirty but aren't necessarily as dirty as they look. The Jordan, however is dirtier than it looks. I took off my shoes and waded, just on the edge. Had I gone out into the river, it would have been too deep for me to stay dry, to wade across. But the river is thick with mud; not just a muddy bottom, but muddy water, like mud soup. coming out of the water was to bring a lot of that with me on my feet. It was a muddy mess.

In these pictures you will see several views. Note that the picture with the rapids is at the headwaters of the Jordan, high in the hills, flowing down to the flat lands and valleys below.

That is it for this week. Thanks for viewing...... and see you next week!

Send Me!

Maybe this is your time, your place, your breakout. Maybe God wants you to take on a special challenge. In Isaiah 6:8, Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord say, " 'Whom shall I send?' Then I said, 'Here am I, send me'...."

A great example of meeting the challenge is shown in Esther chapter 4. Esther was a Jewess who had been made queen of Persia. Through interesting circumstances (go back and read the book of Esther if it has been awhile--great reading), the Jews are condemned, and Esther is challenged to take a stand before the King. Esther's cousin in Esther 4:14, says, "Who knows whether you have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this." Esther had one chance to save her people and now was the time.

Maybe now is the time for you and me to step up to meet some special challenge. Ecclesiastes 3 says, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven."

Maybe now is your time....and mine.

Thanks for reading. Have a good week!

What God wants from us

Sometimes we make Christianity very complicated........perhaps too complicated. But Jesus gave us some very simple and direct instructions for living the Christian life. Note these verses:

John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." This was Jesus' instruction to His followers as He prepared to leave them for the last time.

And this one, a question from a lawyer testing Him: " 'Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?' Jesus said to him, ' You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.' "

When we look closely at what God wants from us, it can be reduced to this: he wants our HEART. Included in that is our love, our obedience, our worship to Him, our remembering and appreciating Jesus (including taking the Lord's Supper--communion), our love for the Word of God, the Bible, and perhaps more. But simply, He wants our Heart.

Now if all this seems too simple, remember that He gave us 21 letters (epistles), Romans through Jude, which are written to give us detailed information as to how to live the Christian life. And, of course, Jesus did a lot of teaching as recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John regarding how we are to live. But if we just give Him our heart and truly seek to follow Him, the rest will fall in place. We need to put our trust in Him and in the Word, the Bible, and we will be ok.

Thanks for reading this week. See you in the next message.......or maybe the next life. So I'll just say "see you.............and feel the love!"

2 Interesting Bible Verses

Here are two intriguing Bible verses that I have memorized and enjoy having with me all the time:

Ephesians 3:20, "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

The other sounds a lot like the first one:

From the end of the book of Jude: "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."

Both of these passages are a praise to God, attempting to describe in human terms how great He is. And, after all, everything is about Him; not about us. Our lives need to be about worshipping Him and praising Him......so that someday we can be with Him forever. Thanks for reading! See you next week. And, as Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. loved to say with great exuberance, (you have to be old to remember him. And I disclaim now that I wasn't a supporter of his), "Keep the faith, Baby."

Jerusalem

In my recent trip to the middle east, I was most fascinated with the old city of Jerusalem. In many of the Bible scriptures, mention is made of "going up to Jerusalem." The "going up" related to the fact that Jerusalem sits at a high elevation on a high hill. My most interesting view of the city was my first one when I was standing on the Mount of Olives looking across the Kidron valley which included the Garden of Gethsemane, looking up at the city of Jerusalem. You will see a picture of this here, but it won't have the impact of seeing it in person, of course. One thing that is noteworthy is that everything is close; it isn't far across the valley to the city. You can see the Dome of the Rock in the center of the city, of the old Jewish temple area, which is occupied by the Muslims now. In the other picture, you can see a more close up picture of the valley containing the Garden of Gethsemane. It is in this garden, or one similar, that Jesus went with His apostles to pray, just before His death.

Next week I hope to be back to our regular Bible lesson. But this week I wanted to show you these pictures of Jerusalem; it is such a fascinating place with so much Bible history. Have a good week!