The Legacy of Abraham

One of the most significant, if not the most significant, figures of the Old Testament is Abraham.  He is described in Hebrews chapter 11, the chapter of faith in the New Testament.  A number of different people of faith are named in this summary chapter, but the most acclaim is given to Abraham.  The two main reasons cited for Abraham's noteworthiness are: 1) Abraham was willing to follow the instruction of God to leave his country and go to a new land, all at the direction of God.  "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tents...."  This took great faith.  And 2) At the instruction of God, he was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac.  God stopped him before he took the life of Isaac but not before God could be sure of the faith of Abraham.

It is interesting that Abraham is considered the founder of three religions.  He was the founding father of the Jewish race and religion.  As such, he was in the lineage of Christ, Christ being a Jew and a direct descendant of Abraham.  But the Muslim religion looks to Abraham as its founder as well in that Abraham had another son, Ishmael, who went on to be the beginnings of the Arab nation from whence came the Muslim religion.  So we see that Abraham was a key figure in Christianity, Judaism, and the Muslims.

It might should be noted that Ishmael is described in the Bible as a "wild donkey of a man," and it says that there will always be a problem between his people and the Jewish people.  We, of course, see that this is still true today.  There has always been friction between the Arab nations, often called Palestinians, and the Jewish nation, Israel.  While peace talks are a noble gesture, there will never be a lasting peace there....and the Bible says so.

Abraham was a great man of faith and likely the most important of all men in the Old Testament.  There are others of great significance such as Adam, the first man, and king David, perhaps Moses or the prophets.  But there was none like Abraham.  We can follow his example of faith, dedication to God.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!

Carrying the Cross

We all know the story of the day that Jesus was made to carry His own cross, headed toward His crucifixion.  And we know about the man who was made to carry the cross of Jesus when Jesus could go no further with it.  But in this lesson we will examine this latter man a little closer and the circumstances of his involvement.

The accounts of this event are found in the first 3 gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke and can be found one chapter back from the end of each book; thus, Matthew 27,  Mark 15, and Luke 23.  Note Mark 15:21, "A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way  in from the country; and they forced him to carry the cross.  They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha....."  One can see that not a great deal is said about him in the New Testament.

So the man's name was Simon the Cyrene.  Cyrene is a city in Libya, in northern Africa, so this man was a long way from home.  We see that he just happened up on this scene and suddenly found himself carrying a heavy load.  He was "forced" to do this by the Roman soldiers.  They were in power at the time and had the right to grab a citizen and force him to do a job.

It might be significant that it says that he was the father of Alexander and Rufus.  The implication is that the writer mentioned these names because the reader might already be aware of these guys.  There is a good likelihood that these men were Christians, making the reference to the father of them meaningful to those who read the account, particularly at that time when these men were still alive.

Imagine what it must have been like to be forced into carrying a heavy load like this, leading a man to His death.  Then imagine what feelings he must have had later when he realized what a significant event this was.

And we can extend this story to ourselves.  The Bible teaches that we must carry our own crosses.  And if we sacrifice, if the load is heavy, we can remember the love of Jesus and the reward that awaits us.

Again, thanks for reading and have a great week!

Large Crowds

The central figure of all the Bible is Jesus Christ.  We read in the Bible that Jesus was there at the creation of the world, participated in the creation.  But He wasn't on the earth until the time came for the Father to send Him.  But all through the Bible we read that it was in the plan of God for Jesus to come and bring salvation to the earth, to all who would follow Him.  It was made clear that this would include all people, Jew and Gentile, men and women, slave and free.

It is interesting to see the reaction of people to His coming.  Jesus was born in a lowly estate, born to poor parents in a barn among animals; and yet He was a king....and His arrival as a baby was noticed by the shepherds and the wise men and many others.  But as time progressed He was simply a carpenter's helper in an unimportant town like Nazareth, unnoticed, with no following.

When the time came for Jesus to start His ministry, everything changed.  Note this passage at the end of  Matthew 4: "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.  News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and He healed them.  Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed Him."

Think how significant these large crowds must have been.  These people were from a broad area.  He was in Galilee, but the crowds were coming from all over Syria to the North, and from Judea to the South and from Jordan to the East.  The word was spreading about Him and about what He was doing.  People were traveling great distances to be with Him....and to receive the healing that He was doing...and even to hear the news that He was bringing.

As He approached the end of His life, Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey with people, crowds cheering Him on, throwing palm branches down in front of Him in tribute, and shouting "Hosanna."  He was Lord; He was their King!

But we know that this mood didn't last.  As Jesus spent His last days in Jerusalem, the crowds vanished.  As He was brought to trial, there was only shame and disbelief.  And the followers dissipated, the crowds no longer were there to support Him.  That is how we are; far too quick to desert, to fall away.  But Jesus triumphed over death, brought new life to His followers, and brings life to us today.  We must now be committed to Him; to be His followers whether we are among crowds or standing alone.

Thanks for reading again.  May God bless you!

Optimism

Many people look at religion, Christianity, in a negative way.  We can't do this; we can't do that. But in fact, the New Testament is an extremely positive book with a positive message.

We should begin with Jesus.  One might say that the crucifixion of Jesus was the worst; was the worst event that could be imagined.   Jesus was to be the king, the savior, the ruler of the world.  But He endured the worst of punishment from the Jews, His own people, and from the Romans.  After suffering greatly, He was put to death on a cross in the worst way.  But even in this awful circumstance, we see redemption.  We see Jesus being raised from the dead, triumphing over death.  And as a result, we too have confidence that we triumph...or will triumph.  Jesus didn't lose; he won; and we too will be winners if only we follow Him.  He told His disciples right before His death, "But take heart!  I have overcome the world."

Paul wrote in Romans 8:18, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."  And further down in the chapter, he tells us, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.......What, then, shall we say in response to this?  If God is for us, who can be against us?"

And Philippians 4:7 says, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

And one of my favorite passages is in Hebrews 11.  He begins with a definition of faith; but notice that it is positive.  "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for....."  As Christians, we have confident hope in the future.  That is OPTIMISM.  We are optimistic people.  We are confident, trusting in our God, assured that our efforts are not in vain.  We tell others about the Good News because we believe that it is the answer.  And we know that there is a better life awaiting.  Life!  Real life....life forever.  Let's be sure that we follow our Lord.....right into heaven.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!

True Wisdom

True wisdom only comes from God.  Wisdom of man, even from the best minds we can find, is weak, untrustworthy.  We read about this in 1 Corinthians 1: "Where is the wise?  Where is the scribe?  Where is the disputer of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? ....For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men...."

We all know that God is wiser than man; and we know that there really is no comparison since He is the creator and we are the creature.  Let's look at a few passages in the Bible that demonstrate the wisdom of our Creator.

Proverbs 1:7  "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Proverbs 2:6  "For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly..."

Prov. 23:15  "My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will rejoice--indeed, I myself; yes, my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak right things.  Do not let your heart envy sinners, but be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day; for surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off.  Hear, my son, and be wise..."

Proverbs, as well as many of the teachings of the Bible, are full of wisdom...and it is wisdom from God, Himself.  Let us heed the great teaching of our God!

Thanks for reading and keep the faith!

Controversy

There are a lot of situations in the New Testament that give insight into how Christians deal with controversy.  In this article, we will look at some of the ways that controversy is handled in the Bible.  

Initially we will look at how Jesus dealt with difficulties that were presented to Him.  We recall that Jesus became angry with the money changers, driving them out of the temple.  He also became angry with the Pharisees in the temple as recorded in Mark 3:5, "And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts...."  So we see that Jesus had His angry moments, what we might call 'righteous indignation.'  But we also must note that under great challenge, Jesus kept His cool. 

Matthew 22 is an interesting chapter that we could describe as a day of controversy.  We see the Pharisees challenging Jesus, asking if it is lawful to pay taxes or not.  Later the Sadducees tested Him by asking who a man would be married to in heaven if he had married multiple wives on earth.  Then a lawyer asked Him what the great commandment was in the law.  In all of this, Jesus stayed calm and gave brilliant answers, destroying any possibility of controversy before it could become a problem.  

In Acts 15 we find a controversy arising over the teaching by some who insisted on the practice of circumcision by Christians, wanting some to keep some aspects of the Jewish Law.  "Therefore, when Paul and Barnabus had no small dissension and  dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabus and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question."  Later, Paul and Barnabus had quite a disagreement about whether to take John Mark with them on the 2nd missionary journey.  It is noteworthy that strong Christians had controversies, serious ones, that had to be resolved.  We see that solutions were found without further trouble.

Then there is a lot said about the importance of Christians being of the same mind, cooperating, unifying and doing all things in love.  We can learn a lot about how to handle controversies when they arise.  They will arise....and we should act appropriately to avoid a further problem.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!  

Sayings of Jesus on the Cross

Some people would recognize some of the sayings of Jesus on the cross.  Few people could tell you how many different sayings He made there.  So today, in the interest of learning something you never knew, I will briefly review these sayings.

Firstly, I should say that there were 7 different sayings that Jesus made while on the cross.  I never knew this before; I simply went through and counted them.  They are recorded in the 4 gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  They are scattered throughout the 4 books; no one book contains all of the seven sayings.  It seems that more are recorded in Luke and John than elsewhere.

Here are the 7 sayings, recorded not necessarily in order.  Because they are distributed throughout the 4 gospel books, it seems impossible to determine the exact order of His speaking.

"Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

To the thief: "Today you shall be with me in Paradise."

To His mom, regarding John: "Mother, behold your son."  Then to John, "Behold your mother."

"My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"

"I thirst."

"It is finished."

"Father, into your hands I commit my soul."

So you may be saying, "I knew all of these sayings."  But I'll bet you didn't know there were 7.  And if you did know that there were seven, you are smarter than me, and you should be writing this blog.  OK, enough smart talk.  Thank you for staying with me, for taking the time to read.  May God bless you!