Do you recognise Jesus for who He is. Do you recognise Him as your pastor has told you about Him. Do you recognise Him from the broken glass that is church or personal trauma.
Jesus and the Pharisees
”When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had arrived, they came and started to argue with him. Testing him, they demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.“ Mark 8:11 NLT
The Pharisees were critical, vigilant and obsessed with keeping the word of the law. This meant that they had lost all sense of the heart of the law, which is to foster a union between us and God.
The Pharisees, listened to Jesus, they followed up on Him and they talked to others who heard of Jesus. The issue was they listened as critics, not as students. Do you see yourself yet?
Which area of your life are you listening to other believers or non-believers as a critic. Lately we see that through social media everybody has an opinion on what every other preacher or pastor has said. Everyone is critical of what who said, what they wore or who they talked to.
”Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.” John 7:24 NLT
Remember Jesus told people if you wanted to live forever, eat my body and drink my blood. What?!
Jesus was sharing a tough and new message. Verbally it sounded outlandish, spiritually it was the key to our salvation. So what if we just listened? What if we listened to those who we may not agree with or those who may not phrase it well? Not everyone is a great speaker, or a great writer but there is a great Spirit within all of us.
So to the Pharisee in you, may it listen and love and not criticise and judge.
Jesus and Thomas
”They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” John 20:25
I am fond of Thomas because he always asked. He never hid behind the fact that everyone seemed to understand or that no one was asking. He asked.
Are you asking? It is not wrong to ask questions, especially questions directed to God.
What do you not understand about God, about the Bible or about the church?
One who asks is one who is interested. A question is an opportunity to grow in knowledge. What if Judas asked more questions. The other side of your questions, fears, doubts or concerns is reassurance from God.
Jesus and Peter
”“But why can’t I come now, Lord?” he asked. “I’m ready to die for you.”“ John 13:37 NLT
”Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he went away, weeping bitterly.“ Matthew 26:75 NLT
Remember the man who was blind and Jesus prayed twice and he finally saw. The first time the man saw people but they looked like trees. Then the second time his eyes were opened.
When we meet Jesus I assure you, you do not know who He is totally. You only have half the picture, sometimes a quarter of the picture. However as seen with the blind man who was with Jesus, if you stay with Jesus, you are assured to get a full picture.
Peter initially had half the picture, eventually he got the full picture of who Jesus was and is. So I implore you if you are a Peter, I am a Peter. Sometimes we erratically believe and make promises to God because of a transformative worship session. Sometimes we are swarmed by the worries, cares or opinions of others about us that we quietly do not acknowledge Jesus, in our lives and in public.
It is okay. If Jesus wanted us to get it right on the first go, we would all be dismissed. Continue to walk with Jesus, always walk with Jesus. This looks like continuing in prayer, the grunting prayers. Continuing in church, painfully and on the depressing days. Continuing in the word, in the early mornings and late nights even when you have no time. Put in the work.
Jesus and Judas
“How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.“ Matthew 26:15-16 NLT
We know Judas as the guy who betrayed Jesus. However I want to humanize Judas so that maybe we take a beat and realise a part of us is like Judas.
Judas was a stumbling follower who forgot to remember that Jesus loved Him regardless of His choices. How often do we stray away from Jesus because we forgot what He has spoken over us? The betrayal was not the beginning, it was the last point of a heart that had looked away from Jesus.
Where has your heart gone that your fire for Jesus is simmering and not bubbling?
I do not believe Judas hated Jesus, but again I believe Judas had half the picture. Judas never called Jesus anything but “teacher/ rabbi”. To Judas, Jesus was probably just but a teacher. And in betraying Jesus he probably thought he would get some money, and Jesus would be let go, after all Jesus had been questioned before and it turned to nothing.
To further humanize Judas, maybe he needed the money for family. A sick mother, a debt or a friend in need. Or like all of us, to secure a future for ourselves and families.
How many of us have taken questionable jobs or retained sources of income Jesus would not approve of?
My point is, the aim is to have to the full picture of Jesus.
Betrayal is easy when the one we should be loyal to is the one we do not know.
Jesus and You
So after all this, the question I have is who is Jesus to you?
The real point of this is not for some insight on who Jesus was to the disciples. Who is Jesus to you personally?
We can not afford to have half the picture of Jesus. We need to see Him completely and the way to do this is to spend time with Him, read about Him, pray about Him.
Thank you so much for reading and I will see you next week! I love you all.
Recommended songs for Jesus and You
Made For Jesus- John Mark Pantana, Olivia Dyer
Unexpected Roads- Mosaic MSC
Pharisee in Me- TEMITOPE
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