Gospel Journey: Part 3
I finished the Gospel of John yesterday. I'll jump into Luke's gospel today. I'm reading backwards. Here are a few of the thoughts really jumped off the page and into my spirit.
John 17:4 says, "I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do." I think we tend of think of glorifying God in thin slices of time where we're singing worship choruses. That's like confusing the halftime show at the Superbowl for the actual game. The game is what we do with our lives day in and day out. "Worship" is halftime where we re-group get ready for the next quarter. John 17:4 is a time-lapse definition of worship. Worship is finishing the work God has given us to do.
Jesus asks Pilate a great question in John 18:34: "Is this your own idea or did others talk to you about me?" I think most of our ideas aren't are own. That includes what we hear a pastor preach. We've got to own truth so it becomes more than second-hand truth. It has to be internalized or personalized so it becomes a conviction. That typically means finding a metaphor that makes sense to us or simply putting it into our own language.
Did Pilate accept Christ? I know he washed his hands and wimped out. But he also had a sign posted over Christ that could be considered a declaration of faith. He wrote "King of the Jews" in three languages. Why would he write that if he didn't believe it? In fact, when the Jews complained Pilate said, "What I have written I have written." It's seems to be a "here I stand" statement of faith. Just a thought. That doesn't excuse his non-action. But it sure is a testament to God's grace. The one person who could have stopped the crucifixion and didn't may have been the beneficiary of it. In some twisted way, that is a testament to God's amazing grace.
One last thought. In John 21:21, Peter says, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus has just revealed how Peter would die and Peter asks about John. Jesus says, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?" We have a saying in the Batterson family: you worry about you. I think that's what Jesus was saying to Peter. In fact, it's what he'd been saying to his disciples all along!
John 17:4 says, "I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do." I think we tend of think of glorifying God in thin slices of time where we're singing worship choruses. That's like confusing the halftime show at the Superbowl for the actual game. The game is what we do with our lives day in and day out. "Worship" is halftime where we re-group get ready for the next quarter. John 17:4 is a time-lapse definition of worship. Worship is finishing the work God has given us to do.
Jesus asks Pilate a great question in John 18:34: "Is this your own idea or did others talk to you about me?" I think most of our ideas aren't are own. That includes what we hear a pastor preach. We've got to own truth so it becomes more than second-hand truth. It has to be internalized or personalized so it becomes a conviction. That typically means finding a metaphor that makes sense to us or simply putting it into our own language.
Did Pilate accept Christ? I know he washed his hands and wimped out. But he also had a sign posted over Christ that could be considered a declaration of faith. He wrote "King of the Jews" in three languages. Why would he write that if he didn't believe it? In fact, when the Jews complained Pilate said, "What I have written I have written." It's seems to be a "here I stand" statement of faith. Just a thought. That doesn't excuse his non-action. But it sure is a testament to God's grace. The one person who could have stopped the crucifixion and didn't may have been the beneficiary of it. In some twisted way, that is a testament to God's amazing grace.
One last thought. In John 21:21, Peter says, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus has just revealed how Peter would die and Peter asks about John. Jesus says, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?" We have a saying in the Batterson family: you worry about you. I think that's what Jesus was saying to Peter. In fact, it's what he'd been saying to his disciples all along!
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