John 11:17-27: Giving Hope Today

Presented to the Nipawin Corps, 25 January 2009

614 Warehouse Mission Corps, 02 April 2017

Alberni Valley Ministries, 21 September 2025
By Major Michael Ramsay

 

This is the 2025 Version, to view the original click here:

https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/01/john-1117-27-giving-hope-today.html

 

Della’s memorial service is October 18^th. The passage of Scripture that we are looking at today takes place around a memorial service, a funeral. Funerals are an important part of life. I say life because they are really for the living rather than the dead. Funerals are for those of us who are left behind rather than for those of us who go on ahead, of course. They are where we comfort those who mourn and celebrate the hope of the future resurrection (Matt 5:4; Acts 23:6; 24:15, 25; 1 Cor 15, Phil 3:11,12; 1 Pet 1:3, 3:21;Rev 20:4-6).

 

Funerals are a way for us to grieve our own loss even as we recognise that the ones we love who love the Lord are bound for a better place. We can share the hope for the future resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6; 24:15, 25; 1 Cor 15, Phil 3:11,12; 1 Pet 1:3, 3:21;Rev 20:4-6).

 

What is happening in our text today is not unlike today’s funerals but it takes place in first century Palestine. The family and friends have all gathered. It has some things similar to contemporary services. It takes friends and family a while to arrive at the home of the bereaved. In our day people usually have a lot farther to travel but, in those days, instead of catching the ferry to Bethany or the first flight out of Nazareth, they had to walk; so, it took a while for some people to get there. Because of travel time and other factors, they would gather for a period of days.

 

Like we sometimes hire pianists or funeral directors, people in first century Palestine sometimes hired professional mourners so there may have been professional mourners present. If there were, they are already at the house with everyone else. The home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, is full of friends and family and others; they are just waiting for the teacher. They are just waiting for their friend – their very close friend. They are just waiting for Jesus and his entourage (companions) to arrive.

 

Now Jesus wasn’t very far away (10:40-42) – about 20 miles[1] - the distance between here and Cameron Lake - when he heard the news that his friend was ill but he didn’t rush to see him (11:1-6). He had his reasons for this (11:15) and his disciples are certainly concerned that if Jesus does go back to Bethany now, where Mary and Marth live and where Lazarus is buried, he might be killed (11:8) but to his credit, the disciple Thomas is willing and eager to lay down his life with Jesus since Jesus (in his own time) is determined to go to see Mary, Martha (his friends) and their family (11:16). It is in this context that our story opens up today, John 11:17-20:

 

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

 

We can picture this; we can identify with this, can’t we? The crowds are all at the house. Mary and Martha are there. There are inevitably people preparing food, people talking, people eating. There are all sorts of people going in and coming out, offering their support and comfort. Most people are probably at Mary and Martha’s home already but family and friends are still arriving – then like now some people are later than others.

 

In our world today it would be as if, with all this going on, they hear that Jesus and his companions have just arrived at the ferry terminal or the airport and Martha goes out to meet them while Mary stays home to keep an eye on all the friends and family and everything else that is happening at the home front. But look how Martha greets Jesus. Jesus has just arrived to see his friends and the friends and family of his recently deceased friend and how does Lazarus’ sister, how does Jesus' friend Martha, greet him?[2]

 

Verses 21 and 22: “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask of Him.” At first she reproaches Jesus[3] – she says, Vs. 21, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

 

This is interesting. It really expresses two things. 1) She had the hope, she has the faith that Jesus could have saved her brother from dying – you know that she and her sister have probably been praying for that. And 2) she is angry, upset, or not happy anyway that Jesus did not come right away even though they sent for him in plenty of time.

 

He did not answer her request right away. His friend and her brother was dying. Martha, Mary and Lazarus all have a strong personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Mary and Martha don’t want their brother to die but Jesus doesn’t come when they want him to come. Jesus doesn’t come to heal Lazarus, their brother (11:6), who loves him (11:5). Jesus, who could have saved him, let her brother die (11:14,15,21).

 

Today this is not an uncommon charge against our Lord is it? Particularly when young people are affected; I have certainly heard of people who ask this very question: ‘How can a loving God let this sort of thing happen?’ These are the kind of things that Martha is demanding of Jesus. She asks him, ‘How could you – who say that you love me – how could you let my brother die?’ She reproaches him. She is grieving.

 

When I first preached on this text 16 years ago, in 2009; there was a significant story about grieving in the news that has some chilling parallels to what is going on in the world today. It was all over the media. I read the tragic story of Dr. Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish[4] on CBC.ca.[5] The following is a paraphrase of that account.

 

Dr. Abu al-Aish,a peace activist and a Palestinian doctor in Gaza, openly spoke to Israeli television as his community was being invaded by the Israeli forces. He reported the suffering there in nightly interviews with Israel's Channel 10.

 

Friday night, he was speaking with an Israeli news correspondent when Israeli soldiers launched two shells directly into his own home. Everyone listening could hear him wail. "My daughters!" he screams. "Oh, God, my daughters!" he cries as the Israeli forces kill his niece and his three daughters live on TV.

 

Before his community was invaded, Dr Abu al-Aish had already been planning to move his family for start fresh in Canada, but not soon enough as no one in Gaza is immune to the brutality of the invasion which left in excess of six thousand Palestinian causalities – more than 1800 of those children.[6] (this was in 2009 remember – in the last few months. Isreal has murdered more than ten times that number of people)

 

The horror and the terror of this event does not end here for the good doctor. Eighteen members of his extended family were in the house at the time it was attacked. [on live TV by the Israeli Army]

 

An Israeli television correspondent choked up as the doctor's cries were broadcast across the nation. The cameras followed the reporter as he appealed to the soldiers to get an ambulance to the scene, at least to help the others who were wounded. They don’t usually help Palestinians in this way but Dr. Abu al-Aish was able to transfer two of his injured daughters to an Israeli hospital.  Probably because of the media presence, the Israeli army for the first time allowed a Palestinian ambulance to go straight to the Erez border crossing, where they were then transferred to be taken by to a hospital in Tel Aviv.

 

Now much of Abu al-Aish's world has been shattered. His wife had died six months ago but then there was hope for the future of the rest of the family, and he said that at the very time of the attack, he was sitting there with them, his daughters, planning, because he got an offer in Canada, from the University of Toronto.

 

Now they are dead and even while he was in the hospital grieving for his daughters and speaking - even on TV calling for peace instead of war - even while all this is happening an Israeli man visiting the hospital begins to verbally attack at him – blaming Dr. Abu al-Aish and his countrymen for the loss of his own daughters. Even as this man was forgiving the killers of his children, a bigot was blaming him for his troubles.

 

Where is God in all this? Why did God not come and save this man's family?

 

Why did Jesus not come and save Lazarus? This is what Martha is asking Jesus in her distraught state after having just lost her only brother. But this isn't where she leaves her questioning.

 

This is important. Even in her grief, even in her distress she doesn’t end her approach with this reproach. Instead, after she says, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died,” she says, “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask of Him.”

 

This is important. Even now, in the midst of her grief, even now in the midst of her suffering even now, Martha believes; even now Martha has hope; even now Martha has faith in God and she even now believes that God will give Jesus whatever he asks of Him.

 

Now Lazarus has been dead for four days. Respected Johnine scholar Gail O’ Day tells us that, “according to popular Jewish belief at the time of Jesus, the soul hovered around the body in the grave for three days after death, hoping to re-enter the body. But after the third day, when the soul ‘sees that the colour of its face has changed;’ the soul leaves the body for Good.”[7] It is now that fourth day. All those present know that Lazarus is indeed dead.

 

Verse 23: Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha does believe in Jesus but she knows that Lazarus is dead and she is sad so it is no wonder that she interprets Jesus’ words as comfort and a hope in the final resurrection (as opposed to an immanent resurrection) – and she is not yet fully realising (how could she?) what is about to happen. Verse 24, Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

 

The people of first century Palestine – with the exception of the Sadducees – knew that there would be this resurrection “on the last day.” Martha knows that on the last day the dead will rise, like we know that on the last day the dead will rise and the dead in Christ will be the first to be raised. Martha here, you will notice, even in her grief, even in her distress, Martha shows her belief, her faith, her hope in God. She doesn’t just believe in a nebulous idea that Lazarus is in some unknown ‘better place’ or that he has gotten wings or a harp or something like that. Martha hopes that – like all of us – She knows that Lazarus will rise on the last day. Martha has this hope in the resurrection of the dead.

 

Now, of course, we know that this truth isn’t all that Jesus is speaking about. Jesus is speaking about something different and even more immediate as well - but Martha, who couldn’t possibly be expected to know that, is showing that she believes in Christ in the midst of her suffering.

 

Verses 25 and 26: ‘Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"’

 

To this she responds with the clearest declaration of faith to this point in John’s account of the gospel. Verse 27: "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

 

Martha believes in Jesus and we know that Jesus will do even more. We know that he will even raise Lazarus before the final day. Jesus reveals to us the truth that indeed he is the resurrection. He is the one who gives us hope and he is the one in whom we should place our hope.

 

Do we believe? Do we have the faith of Martha (and of Mary)? Do we have the same hope in the resurrection of the dead? Do we believe that even now, in the midst of our own sufferings, that Jesus can pull us through? Do we have this hope today? Do we believe? Do we believe in Jesus?

 

For those who remember the story of Job, you know how everything that Job could have ever of hoped for was realised in the end: he had possessions, status, and family restored unto him - even more than before - and a renewed spirit, a renewed hope and faith in God.

 

Jesus, as we read in the rest of this chapter, raises Lazarus from the dead fulfilling more than they could possibly hope for.

 

And Dr. Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish leaves us with these thoughts even as he was being verbally assaulted on live TV: He says, "From our pain we can learn," he said. "We may disagree, but we should learn from that… It's beneficial to us all."

 

During the whole invasion to that point, the invaders had remained largely unmoved by the death of women, children, men, and the destruction in Gaza, but as Dr. Abu al-Aish's story was followed closely by every Israeli news agency, it struck a chord: A man who has lost almost everything still has hope that Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace.

 

"Maybe the blood of my daughters was the price," he said, "and if it was, I am happy about it. The cost of ceasefire to save lives to be my daughters' and my niece's blood — honestly, I am proud of it. I am fully proud of it."

 

Now we know that this ceasefire didn’t last. Israel persists in killing children and others today, 16 plus years later, the genocide continues. He paid the price of his daughters for a temporary peace.

 

And Lazarus died again. Even after the miraculous resurrection. Lazarus died.

 

God’s Son, Jesus, died too but He did not die for a temporary peace. He died for a permanent peace. Jesus will not die again. Jesus rose from the dead so that one day, we may all raise to eternal life – where there is no more death, no more sin, no more sadness, no more injury, no more illness, no more pain.

 

God, Jesus, died and rose again so we now have that hope and, as followers of Jesus, since we have that hope, it is our responsibility to live in that hope and to share hope – Just like the good doctor did. May we all do that. And as we do, may we all experience the love and peace of Christ for evermore.

 

John 11:24-25: Jesus said "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"’

 

May we all believe and respond like Martha, Verse 27: "Yes, Lord, … I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

 

Let us pray.

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[1]Merrill C. Tenney. The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:John/Exposition of John/ The conversation with Martha and Mary (11:17-37), Book Version: 4.0.2: the death of Lazarus must have occurred not long after Jesus was first informed of his illness. The trip each way would have taken not much less than a day's travel since Bethany was more than twenty miles distant from Jesus' refuge in Perea.

[2]Cf. , Gail O’Day, “John” in NIB IX, Ed. Leander E Keck (Abingdon Press Nashville, 1995), 688.

[3]Cf. Gail O’Day, 688, and Merrill C. Tenney, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:John/Exposition of John/ The conversation with Martha and Mary (11:17-37), Book Version: 4.0.2.

[4] Live video: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=655_1232202860

[5]Before ceasefire, Gaza doctor's grief was heard on live Israeli TV 'Oh, God, my daughters!' he cried after Israeli shells hit house Last Updated: Sun, Jan 18/09 10:29 PM ET With files from AP: www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/01/18/gaza-doctor.ht

[6] UN: …the death toll stood at 1,003, with 4,482 people wounded. Mr. Ging has previously called Palestinian casualties figures credible, with 42 per cent of the dead and nearly 50 per cent of the injured listed as women and children – mostly children. (http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=29543&Cr=gaza&Cr1=&Kw1=palestinian&Kw2=deaths&Kw3=)

[7]Gail O’Day, “John” in NIB IX, Ed. Leander E Keck (Abingdon Press Nashville, 1995), 687.

Romans 7&8: Holiness Odyssey.

Presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, 19 May 2019 by Captain Michael Ramsay

Originally presented to Warehouse Mission 614 afternoon service, 04 February 2018 by Captain Michael Ramsay Click here to read the earlier version: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2018/02/romans-7-holiness-odyssey.html

This last week I have been at Jackson’s Point near Toronto with Salvation Army Officers from around this country. It was great to see some old friends, get some great teaching and chat with the Commissioner of The Salvation Army in Canada, Bible teachers Bill and Di Ury and more. I was there for a ‘Holiness Institute’.

My sermon today is entitled ‘Holiness Odyssey for the Holy Christian life is certainly an interesting one. Some of us who have been Christians for a while have noticed a few patterns as people come to know the Lord. Some new Christians can become very rigid at first: they don't seem to do anything wrong: they don’t smoke, don't drink, don't swear, don’t do this, don’t do that… but then sometimes this can lead to criticising others who they don't think are living the way they think Christians should live; they may even force their opinions on others about, for example, abortions or gay marriage or divorce and remarriage, or smoking and drinking or, when I was a kid, heavy metal and even rock 'n roll music. They can develop quite rigid opinions with which they don't hesitate to bless others, with fervour and without compassion. Eventually as these Christians usually run into trouble with this. They then leave a congregation or two, or distribute metaphorical torches to run their clergy screaming from the pulpit… and then sometimes these Christians will even go to Bible College or Seminary themselves.

And this can be quite troublesome for someone who has been trapped by legalism. When a young legalistic mind that has internalized self- or other-imposed rules on oneself and everyone else, runs up against someone they respect in authority over them with a very different opinion, it can cause a few challenges. I have actually heard of more than one person who has walked away from the faith of their youth when they went to Bible school. The child grows up in the church and holds onto all the rules and traditions of their denomination or their parents as if they were gospel and then when they find out that they are not, the child is disillusioned and confused and if the professors aren’t discerning of what is happening, their students walk out of their classroom and possibly even out of their own salvation.

I have seen the tragedy of people leaving the unlawful confinement of a strict rule-based religion and instead of experiencing the freedom of Christ, they choose to ignore the Spirit’s signs pointing to salvation and go their own hedonistic way only to be immediately run over and killed by self-indulgent sin.

This passage is sort of addressing this problem of what about the rules and our relationship to them. Paul spoke about hedonist that gets run over by sin in Romans 1:18-32 and the rigid Law bound person in Chapter 2.  Paul is now talking about how each of us reacts when we do know that there are things we should or should not do but we feel this strange compulsion to do them anyway. Paul knows that sometimes even when we do understand that there are some things that are not beneficial for us we still do them. Has anyone ever been there? Paul says, Romans 7:15-24:

15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

       21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

Romans 7:18b-19: “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” Any of us ever been there?

This is an old problem. People smarter than us and people older than others have wrestled with this one for a long time. Horace said, ‘I pursue the things that have done me harm; I shun the things that will do me good’ (Epistles 1.8.11). Plato said, ‘one may acknowledge evil things to be evil, and nevertheless do them’ (Protagoras). Ovid said ‘I see and approve the better course, but I follow the worse one’ (Metamorphoses 7.20ff). The Apostle Paul said, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

 I don't know if anyone has ever read Homer - he wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Iliad is about the Greek and Trojan War and the Odyssey is about the warrior Odysseus' journey home. During his journey home, the main character Odysseus is warned about the Sirens. In Greek mythology, Sirens are creatures with the head of a woman and the body of a bird. (Sometimes they are portrayed as mermaids.) They live on islands and with their irresistible song lure mariners to their destruction as they crash on the rocks near their island. The mariners know they shouldn't steer their ships to their death but once they hear the Siren's songs they seemingly can't help themselves.

This reminds me of the dilemma before us today - and particularly of struggles with addiction. In our time with The Salvation Army, relating to addiction, we have had many friends, some as young as elementary school age who have been tempted by this Siren song to a slow (or quick) slide into destruction due to getting hooked on various substances and many of my friends from my time at Stoney Mountain Penitentiary wound up there, in part, because they succumbed to addictions’ Siren song; for them addictions' Siren song ended in the song of sirens coming to take them away.

The Siren's song is not only calling us to addiction, it can call us to any sin - in the full range from licentiousness to legalism - to which we are susceptible. Romans 7:18b-19, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” So what can we do? What can we do when we are trapped by licentiousness, legalism, struggles, temptation… sin?

Paul talks about the Law being good ropes to tie us up as Odysseus to the mast of his ship but not so good that we no longer have that struggle, that compulsion within us, so that we may even in our tied up state find some way steer our life out of the ocean of holiness and salvation and crashing our lives on the rocks on sin. So what can we do? What can we do?

What can we do when desire to the destruction of sin is pulling harder and harder upon us, like a giant magnet moving ever so slowly towards us? Sometimes we grab hold of rules or laws tightly and even make more for ourselves. Sometimes we try really hard, so hard to avoid an addiction or a sin that that all we think about is that sin. Whether we are trying to stop lying, lusting, or smoking crack cocaine; the more we think about ways to avoid it, the more we wind up pondering ways to imbibe it. Soon our every thought is consumed with that sin that we are trying to flee. It is everywhere! It is even in our very flesh…and then it has us.

Horace said, ‘I pursue the things that have done me harm; I shun the things that will do me good’ (Epistles 1.8.11). Plato said, ‘one may acknowledge evil things to be evil, and nevertheless do them’ (Protagoras). Ovid said ‘I see and approve the better course, but I follow the worse one’ (Metamorphoses 7.20ff). The Apostle Paul said, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

This brings us to the Christians' secret weapon for holiness and seeing sin defeated even as it is in our flesh. Now I am not saying that if you are a Christian you will never have given into sin. God knows I have sinned. I know many Good Christians who have fallen prey to sin but here is the path to freedom, should we choose to take it. Paul says, Romans 7:24-8:5

7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, [He] delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!…8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death...5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

The one who can deliver us from all of this is Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God Himself will transform us. Instead of wrestling with our sins, we can know that Jesus has defeated sin and death between the cross and the empty tomb. We can seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and then God will add to us everything else we need.

We've all heard the analogy about how one spots a counterfeit bill. It is not by studying fake money, it is by studying the real thing. Likewise we do not avoid sin by focussing on sin, rather we avoid sin by focussing on God. They say that as a husband and wife are a long time in a good marriage they become more like each other and maybe even finish each others sentences. Likewise as we spend more time with God, we find that we know what He is saying and He can finish our sentences.

I truly believe with everything in me that there in nothing that you or I or anyone else can do to defeat sin, only Jesus has done that. But we can experience a life holy, free of sin. God is Holy. As we spend more and more time with Jesus, we will naturally sin less and less for we will become be more and more like Him. As we pray and read our Bible, as we sing our songs, as we come to Church, as we serve God by serving others in Jesus' Name, as we tell others about the Gospel of Salvation we will be transformed into the very likeness of God Himself! Focus on God and His Holiness and that will be reflected in our life! And this, I think, is a good encouragement for everyone of us today! What can we do to defeat sin? Nothing, Jesus has already done that! What can we do to experience our life free from indulgence in sin and instead living out the joy of Salvation with our Lord and Saviour? Spend time with the Lord. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and holiness and everything else will be added unto us!

Let us pray. This prayer for us from 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, ‘May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you (us) through and through. May your (our) whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.’

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] F.F. Bruce, The Letter of Paul to the Romans. Tyndale NTC (Leicester, UK: IV Press, 1985),146.

[2] Cf. NT Wright, Romans for Everyone Part 1: Chapters 1-8 (Louisville, US: WKJ, 2004),122-123. He uses a great analogy relating to a neighbour installing a good alarm system in one's house to explain how the Law is indeed good.

[3] F.F. Bruce, The Letter of Paul to the Romans. Tyndale NTC (Leicester, UK: IV Press, 1985),146.

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John 13:21-14:31: Where are you going?

Presented to Warehouse Mission 614 Toronto on 10 June 2018 and Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army on 03 May 2015 by Captain Michael Ramsay  

This is the 2018 version, to view the original sermon click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2015/05/john-1321-1431-where-are-you-going.html

Recently in The Salvation Army we had move announcement day. All the Officers who, like ourselves, are moving were told we are going to farewell and our farewell service will be in a couple of weeks, on June 24^th. Appropriately enough the scripture we are looking at today has been referred to as 'the farewell discourse’.

In our text today, Judas leaves the room and when he does the eternal moves are announced. Jesus lets his disciples know that very soon – as they knew would happen someday - Jesus is being transferred from his current appointment. He then gives them some instructions about what to do when he leaves and a number of his disciples ask him some questions. They enquire about where he is going and Jesus tells them also about who is coming when he goes. We don’t have time today to get into the details of the one who is coming: the Advocate, the Paraclete, the Helper, and the post-resurrection role of the Holy Spirit but we will address some of the other questions the apostles have about Jesus’ pending move.

Picture this with me. Jesus and his disciples are having their farewell dinner upstairs in a rented room – probably no bigger than this room here where we will be having dinner soon. Jesus has conversations with John and Judas and then Jesus knows, allows; even enables, prompts or provokes Judas to do what he is going to do. This will be Jesus’ last evening with his closest companions in ministry. After Judas leaves, Jesus turns to his friends and he breaks the news to them, among other important things that, v. 33-35: “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Jesus is moving and he tells his disciples what he wants from them when he is gone is that they love each other. And I think this is important. I know that as we are moving this is the same thing we want for all of you: that you love each other. I know that when I see pictures on Facebook, receive emails, or a visit from Toronto here, that will be one of the first things I will ask: how is everyone getting along? Are we still a good little group fighting together for the gospel of Christ? Who has visited someone we haven’t seen in a while here this past week? Have we called them not to lecture them saying, “haven’t seen you in church in a while” but rather to say that we have been praying for you and would like to offer you a word of encouragement. “By this everyone will know you are my disciples”, Jesus says, “if you love one another.” I love you guys and I will miss all of you and there is even more to this command that Jesus has for us to love one another. As part of this same farewell discourse Jesus says that greater love has no one than to lay down his life for his friends. That is what Jesus did for us. That is what the apostles did for him. That is what we must do for each other. Call or visit someone from our flock here this week and spend some time with them – especially someone you haven’t seen in a while. Jesus says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Simon Peter cues not as much on the instruction to love his comrades and colleagues as the fact that Jesus is leaving. He asks Jesus, in essence, ‘Where are you going? What do you mean that we can’t come with you? Why not? I’d die for you!’ Jesus response to this is really quite interesting; he tells Peter in essence, ‘Really? You’ll die for me? I tell you the truth even before tonight is over you will deny me not once, not twice, but three times. You say you’ll die for me’? This is not the sort of response one expects to give to a grieving person who is coming to terms with the impeding move. It is certainly not the response that we are instructed to give in the ESC courses I have taught. Now, of course, we know that Peter is later repentant of these actions and Jesus, after he rises from the dead, forgives, reaffirms, and/or reinstates Peter and we know that according to tradition Peter is good to his word and God does award him his martyr’s crown. And this exchange isn’t as lacking in pastoral care as it appears. As you read on, verses, 14:1-4, Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many mansions; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

As Peter and the others try to figure out Jesus’ somewhat confusing answer to this simple question, ‘where are you going?’ Thomas tries to help get a clear answer. He re-asks, re-phrases, re-articulates, adds to Peter’s question his own words, Verse 5, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answers, Verse 6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.”

Thomas was trying to help, by rephrasing Peter’s simple question ‘where are you going’? And now Thomas, like Peter, is left to ponder Jesus’ somewhat less straightforward responses. Jesus answer to, ‘how do we get to where you are going?’ is ‘I am the way to where I am going’. This probably isn’t all that helpful for Thomas and Peter.

Jesus does give them some very important information though. He says point plank that the ONLY way to get to God the Father is through Jesus Christ. There is no other way. There is no other truth. Jesus is the only way to life and the only way to the Father. This is important and while Thomas and Peter may not understand this in the moment they do later and we should now, right? Basically in layman’s terms: if your mother, brother, son or daughter do not enter into a relationship through Jesus Christ, they are not going to inherit eternal life with the Father. This is significant. Jesus is telling Thomas, Peter, and the others that there is no other way to be a part of the Kingdom of God than to come through Jesus Christ. So, for us here today, if there is someone you claim to love and you don’t tell them about Jesus, do you really love them? If there is someone you claim to like and you don’t tell them about Jesus, do you really like them? If the only way to not perish is to go through Jesus Christ, and there is someone that you do not loathe and despise, if you do not at least try to introduce someone you know to Jesus, is it not true that in reality you do loathe and despise them? This is what Jesus is saying – salvation is easy. There is only one way but that way is easily accessible. Jesus provided salvation for everyone and if you love Jesus and if you love your friends then you will point them to the way.

Peter’s simple question ‘where are you going?’ still seems unsatisfied though even as Thomas has re-stated it as ‘which way do we go?’ So now Philip takes a crack at getting an answer as he asks for further clarification, Verse 8, “Lord show us the Father and that will be enough.” Jesus’ answers here are hardly any more straightforward and concise but Jesus does give them more important information: Jesus offers them a free introductory course - Trinity 101 [5] - so to speak. Jesus says that he is in the Father and the Father is in him. Jesus speaks about the coming of the Advocate, the Paraclete, the Helper, as well as the post-resurrection role of the Holy Spirit and the importance of obeying Christ.[6] He says that they will know that Jesus is in the Father and that we will be in Him so long as we simply obey His commandments and then He will reveal himself to us as he is in us.

So we are starting to make some ground in the conversation here. Remember that this is after dinner and Judas Iscariot has already left. And this has led to a long conversation as the disciples are repeatedly asking Jesus, ‘where are you going?” So now we have Judas (not Judas Iscariot, the other Judas), as they are starting to understand the answer to ‘where are you going’? He ultimately asks, 14:22, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus then more fully explains to his disciples that He is going away but He will come back (15:28) and when He comes back those who love Him and keep His commands will be eligible to receive that mansion that He has prepared for us (14:2).

So the answer to the question, ‘where is Jesus going?’ After dinner, Jesus and his disciples will leave and then this very night in our text, Jesus will be arrested. He will be tried. Jesus will be executed. Three days later He will rise from the dead and come to his disciples, then later he will ascend to the Father.

That is where Jesus is going now in our text and then sometime very soon now in our world he is coming back and before that happens we will all need to answer a most important question and that question is, where are WE going? Jesus is going to the Father and the ONLY way to the Father is through the Son. Everyone who loves Jesus (as shown by obeying His commands) will go to be with Jesus in our eternal mansion. So the question for us today is not where is Jesus going – we know that - but rather the question for us today is where are WE going? 

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

daily blogs at

www.blogspot.salvogesis.com

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[1] The Salvation Army, Boundless: the International Bible Reading Challenge (2015). Available on-line: http://www.salvationarmy.org/biblechallenge

[2] Gail R. O’Day, The Gospel of John, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 9, ed Leander E. Keck, et. al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995),740 also  N.T. Wright, John for Everyone Part 2 (Louisville, Kentucky, USA: WJK, 2004),58.and Colin G. Kruse,  John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 2003 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 4), S. 292

[3] Cf. Lincoln, 390.

[4] Cf. Gerard Sloyan, John, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, ed. James L. Mays, et. al. (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988),179.

[5] Cf. Gerard Sloyan, John, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, ed. James L. Mays, et. al. (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988), 185ff.

[6] Merrill C. Tenney, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:John/Exposition of John/III. The Private Ministry of the Word (13:1-17:26)/B. The Last Discourse (13:31-16:33)/1. Questions and answers (13:31-14:31)/e. The promise of the Spirit (14:16-21), Book Version: 4.0.2

Matthew 5:43-38, 18:1-5 and Hosea 1:21-23: Lessons from Star Wars.

Presented to Warehouse 614, 03 June 2018 and Alberni Valley Ministries, 05 May 2024, by Captain (Major) Michael Ramsay

This is the 2018 Toronto version. To view the 2024 BC version click here:

https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2024/05/matthew-543-38-181-5-and-hosea-121-23.html

 

Last Sunday after church my daughters and I went to see SOLO. Has everyone who wants to see that movie seen it yet? If you haven’t I may need to remember to give you a couple of spoiler alerts in the sermon here.

My two eldest girls and I have seen most of the newest ones in the theatres. ROUGE 1 was definitely the best of the newest ones but all of them are surprisingly good. I say surprising because I remember watching the prequels. Before I was an Officer, one of the businesses that I ran was publishing the Journal of International Education. One of our sponsors was the IMAX; so we often were able to watch shows fro free on these great big screens. I remember watching the first prequel on the big screen and walking away wondering what just happened. Some things seemed not quite right. I was working in the field of international education at the time and I was even left wondering: was this racist? There have certainly been those who have suggested that Japanese and Jamaicans cultural stereotypes were exploited for the film.

Even given the fact that the original 3 films are classics and all of the latest films have been very good, I still head out to any new Star Wars movie with a little bit of hesitation.

SOLO, however, was a good movie. It can even be seen as a stand alone movie for people who like action-adventure movies, of course. There was one scene in the new movie that stuck in my mind. Han was emigrating from his home planet and a customs official asked him his name and he said, ‘Han’ and then he asked Han who his people were so he could assign him a last name. Hans replied that he didn't have any people; so, after the customs official though for a while, the surname 'Solo' was awarded to him. Thus we have Han Solo.

LESSON 1: WHO ARE MY PEOPLE?

Hosea 1: 21-23

“In that day I will respond,”

declares the Lord—

“I will respond to the skies,

and they will respond to the earth;

22 and the earth will respond to the grain,

the new wine and the olive oil,

and they will respond to Jezreel.

23 I will plant her for myself in the land;

I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’

I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’;

and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

Who are your people? When I was studying restorative justice at Simon Fraser University, my instructor asked us the same question for one of our papers. I pondered this for a while and wrote a long essay claiming many people as my people: my family, the people I grew up with, those in The Salvation Army, those in the community in which I lived at the time and all the communities in which I had lived previously, people in the courts and the prisons where I have and was ministering at the time, my colleagues, associates, friends, clients, neighbours; anyone I could think of I claimed as my people. And now of course, if I were asked that question today, ‘who are my people?’ the first thing to come to my mind would be all of you. You are my people. You are my friends.

I am your people. Furthermore, as we submit to the Lord, we are all His people. We are part of the family of God. Even if at one point in our lives we were not part of God's family, He wants us to be part of His people and when we accept Him as Father we join his family. When we accept Him as Lord we become one of His people. When this is the case, we are no longer solo but we always have the Lord to turn to and to lean on in times of crisis, Therefore, if you haven't already, I invite you to accept the LORD's invitation to be one of His people today.

When we do become his people, He will transform us from darkness to light, from secrets to honestly and from hatred to love.

LESSON 2: LOVELY LIGHT SABERS

Matthew 5:43-48:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

These days we see a lot of hatred in the news and in social media. People hate this person. People hate that person. People hate this person for hating that person and people hate those people because they all hate these people.

Harbour Light has been showing a number of the original Star Wars films this past moth. The Lieutenants there are big Star Wars fans. Rebecca, Sarah-Grace, Heather and I joined them to watch Star Wars. Heather even dressed up as Darth Vader and the day we joined them fo see a movie was on the ultimate Star Wars day. Do you know when Star Wars Day is every year? May the fourth – May the Fourth be with you.

There is a pivotal moment in the original movie franchise, where Darth Vader is trying to turn Luke from good to bad, from truth to secrecy, from the Light to the Darkness; how does he try to do this? He tries to do this by making him hate. He tells Luke that only his hatred can destroy his enemy: this is a lie of Darth Vader and this is also a lie of our enemy, the Enemy, the devil. In the real world, hate cannot defeat evil; hate can only become evil. Hate is what turns a good person, bad; it is love, Jesus’ love, which redeems us.

Martin Luther King Jr said, “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.” “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.” “I have decided to stick to love...Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

‘Do you know what the stupidest expression in the world is?’ - a firefighter once asked me - ‘fight fire with fire;’ ‘you don’t fight fire with fire; that just causes a bigger fire!’ It is the same with hate. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. If I get drawn into hating someone because they hate something or someone than I have just caused love to shrink and hate to grow. If on the other hand we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, then even we may be called children of our Father in heaven. If we love more than just those who love us than indeed we may even be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. Therefore let us resolve to love one another and let us wish each other well - even those who may wish us ill.

What does it look like to love our enemies?

LESSON 3: NEW REVISED EDITION

Matthew 18:1-5:

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Our life can't be edited. It can be changed. I remember watching the original Star Wars in the theatre in 1977. In 1981 one of my friends had this neat new machine: a VCR. It was really quite something. We could actually pause shows and even rewind parts of them and watch them over and over again. I saw Star Wars and The Empire Strikes back more than once or twice.

Many years later, early this century, a friend lent me DVDs of the trilogy. I couldn't believe it. The movies had actually changed! They weren’t the same movies that I saw in 70s and 80s. I was sort of in shock: Why was Jabba the Hutt in Star Wars? Who was this new Darth Vader at the end of Return of the Jedi? I don't remember Storm Troopers on lizards and I am pretty sure that Hans shot first in that very famous bar scene. I asked my friend why the movies were different from when I first saw them; he replied that he hoped that the changes didn't ruin the movies for me.

A while later, when I was able to look on-line for movies, I looked for copies of the Star Wars movies as I would have seen them in the 1970s or 1980s. I couldn't find them anywhere. I tired every way I could think of to find them but I could only find the revised versions of these movies. The originals are forever in my memory and have made an impression on me; the original versions of the movies have left significant impressions on many people. The movies, however, are no longer like that.

This is like our life. There are things that some of us may have done that we wish that we had never done. Maybe our actions have caused someone physical injury that has not healed. Maybe our actions have caused someone emotional or psychological pain that has not healed. Maybe our actions have changed circumstances in such a way as nothing will ever be the same again. There is now a new normal. The repercussions of past actions may stick with us and others like the memory of an original version of a movie or an old song that we cannot find anymore. We cannot change what has happened or how it has affected us.

However, we can be changed so that these things from the past never happen again. God can take all the bad things in our life and make sure that they never replay again. God can change us even more than George Lucas can change his movies. God can forgive our sins, transform our stories, and make us brand new today. He can take out the parts that hurt and hinder us and rewrite our script so that we are a blessing to others. So, to that end today, If there is anything that we want rewritten in our story, if we haven't offered our life up to the Lord for changing yet, I invite us to do so this very day.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com  

daily blogs at

www.blogspot.salvogesis.com

Mark 11:27-12:12 (Mt 21:31-46): Resentful Tenancy Act

Presented to Warehouse Mission 614 in Toronto, 20 May, 2018; Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 08 March 2015, 25 July 2010; and Nipawin 21 June 2009 by Captain Michael Ramsay

Click here to read the Swift Current version: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2015/03/mark-1127-1212-mt-2131-46-tenant-farmers.html

Click here to read the Nipawin version: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2009/06/matthew-2133-46-john-31617-tenant.html

This is the Toronto version:

When Sarah-Grace was about four she played soccer. I was one of her coaches. We actually won the whole tournament one year. It was good. I`d think of my role, when I was coaching, as more of an encourager than a coach per sae. I`d like to try to rally the troops and cheer the team on - celebrate their successes with them. I find myself often calling out from the sidelines ‘Go so-and-so go!’ ‘Go score a goal!’ or ‘pass to so-and-so, she’s open’ or more commonly, ‘Goalie wake up!’ ‘Goalie, don’t lie on the ground!’ or ‘Goalie, stop talking to your friend and untangle yourself from the net – the ball is coming’… encouragements like that.

I remember this one game. Sarah-Grace made an excellent header. The ball came right to her and she headed it to her teammate – that was really quite something, particularly at this age, so at the break I complimented her on her head ball and she, in front all the parents, told me her secret. She said, ‘Dad, you know how I did the head ball? …I saw the ball coming to me but I forgot to move out of the way’. I like being a dad. It is a lot of fun. And being a coach of your kids’ teams can be fun and it can be a bit of work too.

Here in Mark (cf. Mt 21:31b-46, Lk 20:1-19) we read about an employer who, as Jesus tells us, has a bit of a challenging team working for him. This businessman is in the grape business. He is farmer of sorts and it is recorded in Mark 12:1 that he put a bit of work into his farm. (He must love it!) It says that he plants his vineyard, he puts a wall around it, he builds a pit for a wine press, and he even builds a watchtower (cf. Isa 5:1-7 and Ps 80:6-16). It sounds like it is a pretty good setup that he has here. It says here that he could even afford to go on vacation or a family trip or a business trip of some sort; it says that he had enough time and money that he could leave the vineyard. This is pretty good especially remembering that all this is happening in first century Palestine. It says that he could afford to go away and hire the fields out to some tenant farmers not unlike a number of farmers here in Canada.

Now the absentee landlord’s fields, his vines, are doing pretty well. He is still away doing whatever he is doing – sitting in his big corporate office or on the beach in Florida or wherever it is that the rich folk spend their time when they aren’t at home. The landlord is away and it is time to collect his rent. The harvest is in and he wants his payment so he sends some of his employees up from the big city (or wherever) to collect the rent and it says in Verses 3-5 that the tenant farmers, the fruit pickers, the contractors working the land, want to renegotiate their contract or something like that…it says in Verse 4-5 that they seize his employees, they grab his servants and they beat some severely, wound others and they even kill some. These farmers aren’t very nice to the landlord’s employees at all.

Now when the landlord hears about all this, what does he do? Well, what would you do? What would you do if you owned land and rented out your land for a season and you pay some property management company to go get the rent and they not only don`t get your money but they are beaten and killed? What are you going to do? Call the police, right? Get the authorities. You’re going to want to do something!

What does the landlord do? This landlord just keeps sending more of his own servants; his own employees (12:5). Now I don’t know how keen I would be to head out to collect the rent after hearing what had happened to the others. Nonetheless these employees are good employees. The Landlord sends more and more of them to get the rent from these tenant farmers and just like their predecessors; they are met with resistance, beatings, and death.

I don’t know about you but if I were the employer I would be getting quite upset right now. I have been a landlord before. I know what it is like when your tenants try to pull the ‘midnight move’. I know what it is like when they don’t want to pay their rent. I also used to be a magazine publisher and I know what it is like when your clients give your employees a really bad time and don’t want to pay them – It isn’t good. After all, good help isn’t all that easy to come by – and in our story today the tenant farmers are even killing them off. So what does the landlord do? Does he call the residential tenancy board? Does he call the police or the SWAT team to storm the compound? Does he act like a US President and order a drone attack on the vineyard or an air strike on their families? This landlord is a powerful landlord. He can do the ancient equivalent to all that. He can literally have their heads but what does he do?

Remember that Jesus, God’s son, is telling the story. We read that this landlord is a loving father who has absolute faith in the ability of his son. Verse 6: he says, ‘they will respect my son.’ They don’t. The tenant farmers don’t respect his son. Verse 7: “But the tenants said to one another ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” Verse 8, “So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.”

Jesus stops the story here and he asks those listening to the story, Verse 9, “‘what then will the owner of the vineyard do?’ He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others” He will kill the tenants and give the land to others who will pay the rent and will give him what is due.

Jesus is telling this parable to the Jewish leaders who are in the crowd he is addressing, Mark 11:27: The chief priest, the teachers of the law and the elders of the people - and Matthew 21:41: the Pharisees - have all asked Jesus upon what authority he is doing his ministry.[1] This parable is part of his answer and he tells the elders and he tells the chief priests and he tells the Pharisees who are present  – The Matthew version of this story is quite specific – he tells them plainly 21:43

“…the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who would produce its fruit.” Mark 12:12, “Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.”[2]

They knew what he was talking about. Do we know what he is talking about? God, the landlord, sends his prophets, the servants, to check up on the tenants and how they are doing at looking after his vineyard and -as we know- the Israelites and their leaders stoned and even killed many of the prophets of God (cf. 1 Ki 18:4, 13; Jer 26:20-23; 2 Chr 24:21-22; and Matt 23:37; Heb 11:37). God, the landlord, then sends his own son to the people chosen to tend his vineyard and the Israelites and their leaders kill him and because they kill him, those who reject the landlord and his son, those who reject Jesus die outside of the vineyard and the vineyard is given to others.[3]

You and I here today, how are we doing with what God is entrusting us?[4]  Do we heed his servants when they are sent with messages or to collect our rent? What do we do when Jesus shows up to tell us what we need to do? Do we obey him? Do we pay our rent?

This is an important question. Jesus is the ultimate authority. He is God’s only begotten son who was killed (and raised from the dead) and if we reject him like many leaders and other Judeans in the first century, we will not have the blessing of remaining in the eternal vineyard; we will die. As this is the case, let us make sure that we submit to our master, that we serve him faithfully now and forever.

There is even more to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We know that God knows that Jesus is going to die before he ever sends him into the world (Cf. Jn 3,15). We know that Jesus’ death is necessary so that anyone can live and have eternal life. We know that He chooses to send His son to die so that we can live. Still some will hear even this story and instead of concentrating on the authority of Jesus and the sacrifice of God they will fixate on the fact that God punishes these farmers and ask how come there is so much death? How come God punishes some people? In our world today we often hear the question, how can a supposedly loving God arbitrarily punish people and even condemn some to Hell?”

He doesn’t. Listen carefully to what I am saying here… Jesus doesn’t condemn people to Hell (Jn 3:17). Hell is real but Jesus does not send people there. Those who are going there, like the tenant farmers in our story today who lose their lives and our removed from the vineyard, they make that decision all on their own. Those who stand condemned, condemn themselves by denying (like the Apostle Paul makes clear in Romans 1 and 2) what is plainly obvious to everyone.[5] I truly believe that God gives us all we need to know in this life from our experiences and even creation itself (cf. Ro 1:18-24) just like he sent more and more servants to give the tenants more and more opportunities to repent and submit to His authority and indeed there will actually still be a time when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Ro 14:11, Phil 2:10) and then some, some who believe in the Lord and obey His commandments will spend eternity with Him in His vineyard and some, some who deny Christ (Mt 10:33) and do not obey His commandments (Jn 14:15), some who simply refuse His love will go off to the hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt 25:31ff). This is sad.

This is particularly sad because we know that God loves us. John 3:16 says that He loves the entire ‘Kosmos’. He loves us so much that He laid down His life for us (Jn 15). God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten, his only natural, his only sired Son to die so that we may live.

I can’t imagine how much this must hurt God that some of us do actually perish. I am a father. Many of us are parents here. Can you imagine if you send your child and he dies to save others but still they decide to perish anyway?

God sent His Son and His Son died so that we may live but yet some still refuse His love and some still reject His Salvation. God sent Jesus not to condemn us (Jn 3:17) but to save us but some of us refuse to obey Him. Some of us simply refuse to be saved. John 3:18: “Those who believe in Him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already…” of their own accord because, John 3:19, “people loved darkness rather than light.”

This reminds me of some religious leaders (even in our organization!), who try to do things in secret, confidentially, under the cover of darkness rather than in the light.

But today we are each in the vineyard of that parable that Jesus told 2000 years ago. We are in the privileged position of knowing the truth that the religious leaders of Jesus day were. We have access to the light. We have knowledge of our salvation; so, I ask us in our own lives, when Jesus comes back, when God returns to the vineyard will we experience the same fate as the tenant farmers, those religious leaders in Jesus’ day? Will we experience the same fate of those who chose to perish by serving themselves instead of God or will we accept salvation that Jesus provided and live our life tending to his perfect vineyard. He is even now standing at the gate. It is time for us to decide. What will we do? Will we attack, deny, or ignore Him and die; or will we meet him with open arms, welcome him in, and live? It is time to decide.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com  

daily blogs at

www.blogspot.salvogesis.com

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[1] M. Eugene Boring, Matthew (NIB 8: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 409: “by adding two additional parables [he incorporates] the woes into the full-blown speech (23:1-25:46).”  This parable is not meant to stand in isolation.

[2] Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 14-28. (WBC 33B: Dallas, Texas: Word Books, 1995), 612. The purpose of this series of parables then is “the depiction of the unfaithfulness of the Jewish leaders. It is for this reason Jesus asks the Jewish leaders for their opinion concerning which of these two sons was the faithful one.” The religious leaders’ response in the affirmative to Jesus question is then, through typically parabolic procedure, a self-indictment.

[3] Cf. NT Wright, “The Law in Romans 2,” Paul and the Mosaic Law, ed. James D. G. Dunn (WUNT 89; Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1996), republished with English translations of German essays (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001): 136. The equality of the Gentile to the Jew before God, as expressed by Paul in Romans in no way negates the primacy of the Jews (cf. Romans 11:7, 11). Cf. Romans 11:12-13, where it is recorded that it was only “through their stumbling [that] salvation has come to the Gentiles…Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!.”

[4] It is important to note as Douglas J. Moo does that, “contrary to popular Jewish belief, the sins of the Jews will not be treated by God significantly different from those of the Gentiles.” Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans (NICNT 6: Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996), 126. Cf. also NT Wright, The Letter to the Romans (NIB 10: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 440

[5] Cf. Michael Ramsay. “Paul and the Human Condition as Reflected in Romans 1:18-32 and 2:1-16”. Available on-line at: http://www.sheepspeak.com/NT_Michael_Ramsay.htm#Paul%20and%20the%20Human%20Condition