Alternate Plans
Bible Order: Num 5–6
Chronological Order: Exod 38–39
What Will You Do With Jesus
In human terms Jesus must seem like a complete failure in today’s reading. At the culmination of His life and ministry one of His closest followers betrayed Him and the rest ran away in His greatest hour of difficulty. Judas brought a mob to arrest Jesus. Peter, a rather incompetent swordsman, attempted to slay a member of the mob, but only managed to cut off an ear; an ear Jesus quickly reattached. When this feeble attempt to defend Jesus failed they all ran for the hills. These disciples did not go with Jesus into His ordeal. They barely managed any resistance to the mob at all.
Think about some of the great figures in human history, how they could rally men to their cause. How some of these men would be willing to die to not only save their leaders life, but to further that leader’s cause. Three years of teaching these men and performing miracles and His followers ran away. Each of these men, with the exception of Judas, acknowledged who He was, and yet they ran. Yes, in human terms Jesus failed; or did He? Jesus faced evil by Himself. He had no assistance from His followers. All of the sin of all humanity was laid upon His shoulders and He was crucified unto death upon the cross.
If that were the end of the story Jesus would have been a failure, but it wasn’t the end. Not only did Jesus triumph over those who led Him away and condemned Him to death, He was also victorious over sin and death itself! No one helped Jesus secure this victory. No followers supported Him or carried Him to victory. The victory was His and His alone. Did Julius Caesar win His victories alone? Did any great general, admiral, dictator or king win any victory on His own? No, not one of them won such a victory, and all of them lost to death. Well that is not exactly true is it? Those generals, admirals, dictators and kings could have escaped death, at least eternal death, if they submitted their lives to Jesus Christ but then that victory still wasn’t theirs was it?
Another point about this story concerns Judas. I’ve heard men who consider themselves wise complain that Judas was no more than a victim to God’s plan. Betrayal had been foretold and so Judas had no choice but to betray Jesus and thus be forever cursed. This notion is idiotic. God didn’t command Judas to betray Jesus. God simply knew that Judas would do so. Knowing what will happen and commanding that it be done are two very different things. One might say that Judas was heartbroken by his betrayal and, unable to live with his act, hung himself.
Judas did hang himself but he did have another option. Jesus had been teaching Judas about this option for three years. At any time before or after the betrayal, Judas could have repented, asked for forgiveness, and submitted his life to Christ. Did Judas cast himself upon the ground and sincerely ask for forgiveness? No he did not. He would rather kill himself and accept eternal damnation than confess and submit.
My friends, when sin breaks our heart, as it should, the answer isn’t suicide; the answer is Jesus. We are so willful, we so much wish to be our own god, that we would rather suffer eternal damnation and separation from God than confess, repent, and submit. I’m sorry but that is just sick and twisted. Did you notice what Jesus said to Judas when he came with his mob?
Matthew 26:50 ESV
“Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, do what you came to do.’…”
Friend! Jesus called his betrayer friend! It was not Jesus’ desire that Judas hang himself. Even after betraying Christ he could have sought forgiveness and salvation. He was not willing to do so. He could not live with himself and he would not live with Jesus. What was left?
It saddens me to see so many people today like Judas. As much as they hurt, as much as they need Him, they will not bend their knee to Him, they will not ask for His forgiveness and mercy. They are being crushed beneath the chains they placed upon themselves. Their lives are empty and full of pain. They could be set free, they could be healed, but they would rather die in misery than submit to the One True God. I do not mourn for Judas. Jesus called him friend even at the end and Judas still rejected Him.
And what of the other disciples that ran away? Thankfully our salvation does not depend on us being fearless pillars of strength. Our salvation depends upon Jesus. We can fail and still be restored. Peter denied Christ three times. The difference between Peter and Judas is that Peter returned and bowed his knee to the One True God. Two men, both imperfect, both failed Jesus, but each responded to Him in different ways. One returned and submitted and one chose eternal damnation. What will you do with Jesus?
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Alternate Plans
Bible Order: Num 3–4
Chronological Order: Exod 35–37
Not As You Will But As He Wills
Today we read of the Last Supper and Jesus’ time in the Garden of Gethsemane. I have always found Jesus’ time in Gethsemane painful to read. Here is the pure and Holy Son of God – God Himself – preparing to take on the sin of the world. Remember that He was without sin. How horrifying it must have been for Him to contemplate taking on something that was so repugnant to Him. It is in this place that Jesus shows us exactly what it means to submit to His authority for we are to submit to Him as He submitted to God.
Do you think that Jesus wanted to be crucified? Do you think He wanted to become sin?
Matthew 26:39 ESV
“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’”
Jesus did not want to be crucified and He didn’t want to become sin. In fact, He was extremely distraught about the prospect but He denied Himself and determined not to do as He would like but as God desired. Earlier Jesus had told His disciples that this in fact was what was needed to be His follower. Jesus hasn’t asked us to do anything He wasn’t willing to do Himself. He died to Himself in order to be obedient to God.
Luke 9:23 ESV
“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Brothers, it is not easy to be a follower of Christ. He tells us that we must, like Him, deny ourselves and obey God. In your own power you cannot obey God any more than you can deny yourself but with the Holy Spirit of God residing in your heart you can do exactly that. What is needed is the commitment to do so. God has made it possible now you must use that power to His purpose. Remember, not as you will but as He wills.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Alternate Plans
Bible Order: Num 1–2
Chronological Order: Exod 32–34
The Value Of A Wife
Well, here we are brothers, the beginning of the end; or is it the beginning of the beginning? While today’s reading is short it actually covers two days. We see the chief priests plot to kill Jesus, we see Judas make his filthy deal with them, and finally we see Jesus calling out His betrayer. In the midst of this is the story of the woman with the alabaster flask who poured expensive ointment upon Jesus’ head. Something finally jumped out at me as I read this story for the umpteenth time.
Matthew 26:6 ESV
“Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper”
Did you ever stop to think about the fact that Jesus was staying at the home of a leper? Lepers were outcasts; fear of contagion kept everyone far from a leper. Jesus clearly healed this leper at an earlier date as none could have dined with him safely otherwise. This is a great picture of what salvation means. Sin is contagious and it eats away at those who are infected. Such an infection keeps us separated from God but He has provided a cure and once accepted the patient is healed and able to sit in God’s presence in fellowship with Him.
There seems to be much confusion about this instance, for Jesus seems to have been anointed by women three separate times. I believe my favorite commentator, J. Vernon McGee, gets it wrong when he equates the anointing in today’s reading with one described in John 12. If you read both passages carefully you will see that these anointings actually occurred a few days apart and by different women although the woman in today’s passage is unnamed.
You will remember that Jesus never had His body anointed after His crucifixion; the women that came to do so found Him already risen. The three anointings performed by these women in His final days of life accomplished the task beforehand. Jesus had been telling His followers for some time now that He would be crucified. The male disciples seemed to hear Him but not understand. The women, in anointing Him, appear to have been more spiritually in tune with what He was saying; they were preparing Him for what was to come.
The Bible tells us that the men are to be the spiritual head of the home but far too many of us wear that responsibility rather badly. Some men believe they must determine the direction of the family based on their own spiritual awareness and then insist that the rest of the family follow their lead. This is foolish. Our spouses are our partners and a gift from God. If we are honest we all have seen from time to time how our mothers or sisters or wives have had a spiritual insight that others had missed. Perhaps this is what is sometimes called “women’s intuition”. Whatever you call it you cannot deny that it exists.
The distinguishing characteristic of the spiritual head of the house is not infallible spiritual insight but self-sacrifice. This isn’t to say that a man should do whatever his wife might demand, but that his approach to leading his home should be that of putting the wellbeing of everyone in his home above his own. To do this a man must listen to the members of his household. He must seriously consider the counsel of his wife. He must seek the wellbeing of all by determining what is right. A man cannot determine what is right by putting his own desires first and ignoring the wisdom and insight of his wife; she is his partner and counselor and should be valued as such.
I truly believe a man is incomplete without a wife and a women incomplete without a husband. It is rather sad that many women will be upset by this notion but encouraging that few men would. Perhaps someday men and women will be able to appreciate the wonderful, God given value of the opposite sex and the ridiculous notion that one is somehow better than the other can finally be put away. We should not rail against the differences of man and woman but rather celebrate those differences for when man and woman are united in holy matrimony and fulfill their roles self-sacrificially they are truly more than the sum of their parts.
I’m reminded as I think on this that turmoil in marriage is not how God designed it but is actually a result of the fall in the Garden of Eden. Upon disobeying God, all of creation fell, mankind fell, and marriage fell with it. In sending Adam and Eve out of the Garden God said to Eve in part:
Genesis 3:16
“…Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
Do you hear the conflict built into this verse of Scripture? From that point on the desire of a wife would be to be in control of her husband and the desire of a husband would be to rule over his wife. The power struggle began then and has never ended. Now you may say to me that this means there will never be peace in a marriage. Some may even wish to blame their wife for the conflict in their marriage. The truth is that when each of us puts our life under the authority of Christ we are able to live as God intended. To do this we must deny ourselves and follow Him. If both a husband and wife will do this there will indeed be peace in a marriage.
What if a husband does deny himself but a wife does not? Brothers, you cannot control what others do or don’t do. God has given you responsibility for your own conduct and no one else’s. What others do or don’t do should have no bearing upon your behavior. Just the thought “But my wife…” shows that you are not denying yourself. You should care about your wife’s spiritual growth and do all in your power to promote that growth, but she cannot be used as an excuse for your own behavior. Be self-sacrificial in heart, mind, and action and your life will be infinitely better no matter what others do. Cherish your wife as the gift from God she is and consider wisely her counsel.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Alternate Plans
Bible Order: Lev 26–27
Chronological Order: Exod 29–31
Don’t Be A Goat!
Many years ago as a sophomore in high school I performed in our school production of Godspell. This musical was based on the Gospel of Matthew and I remember vividly the moment in the play that corresponds with today’s reading. Jesus was separating the sheep from the goats; I unfortunately was a goat and attempted to sneak over to the right side with the sheep. Jesus caught me and said “No, no Billy, you’re a goat. Hey you’re a Billy goat!” A small chuckle was heard from the audience as I sadly slunk back to the left side where I belonged. Funny then, but how awful it will be when Jesus really does come and separates the saved from the condemned.
Now what was the difference between the lambs and the goats? Well the lambs fed the hungry, watered the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, and visited the sick and imprisoned while the goats did not. This seems to be a pretty clear analogy about what Christians are supposed to do, and certainly having compassion on the poor and hurting is a natural thing for a person whose heart belongs to Christ to do. I think, however, that we are missing an important part of this analogy.
Man does not live by bread alone. Jesus said that to Satan while being tempted in the wilderness. In fact Jesus is the Bread of Life and Living Water. While it is good for Christians to meet the physical needs of needful people, they have even greater needs. They are dying of spiritual thirst and hunger. They are estranged from God and their sin is laid bare before Him. They are sick in their souls and their sin has imprisoned their future in Hell. A Christian’s job is to offer the spiritually hungry the Bread of Life, and the spiritually thirsty Living Water. A Christian is to not only welcome but call the lost to the House of God so that they may know Him as their Savior and be clothed in snow white robes. A Christian is to point the lost to the Great Physician so that they me be made free of the sin that sickens and imprisons them.
When you do this for the least of our fellow man it is as if we were doing it for Christ.
Matthew 25:40 ESV
“…Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”
Brothers, don’t make the mistake of thinking that if you volunteer for the soup kitchen once a year or donate clothing to Goodwill or shoved a couple of bucks out the window to the guy with the “will work for food” sign that you’ve met your responsibilities as a child of God; you haven’t. You should meet the needs of the poor but do not neglect the bigger issue. Invite people to church. Tell people about the hope that you have found in Jesus Christ. Share the Bread of Life with a starving world. Don’t be a goat!
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Alternate Plans
Bible Order: Lev 24–25
Chronological Order: Exod 27–28
What Have You Done With Your Talent?
There are two parables in today’s reading and of course they are related. The first is the Parable of the Ten Virgins, and the second is the Parable of the Talents; both are about being ready when Jesus returns to establish His Kingdom. In the first parable ten virgins take their lamps to wait for the bridegroom. Five of them were wise and brought extra oil while the other five were foolish and did not bring oil. You know the story; the foolish five run out of oil and leave to go get more. While they are gone the bridegroom comes and those five are left out of the marriage feast.
Oil in the Bible is often a symbol for God’s Holy Spirit. This parable seems to be saying that there are those who pretend to be children of God but are not really since they do not have His Holy Spirit. These individuals could be like those in Jesus’ earlier parable of the Sower where those who are the seed sown on rocky ground and seed sown among the thorns, fall away or are choked (Matthew 13:1-23). Following Jesus is not easy and if you have not truly submitted your life to Him you will not be able to withstand the persecutions and hardships that will come. If you are one of these individuals your light will go out because your lamp is filled with something other than God’s Holy Spirit.
Those of you who have read this blog for a time know that the parable of the talents is one of my favorites because it speaks to how a follower of Jesus Christ should act. In this parable the master has given his servants responsibilities based on their abilities. He is not expecting more from them than they can achieve. Now I love the fact that while the word “talent” in this parable refers to money, in English it refers to a person’s abilities. Of course, this parable applies to our money as well as our abilities so I just love how that word works as a double-entendre (look it up).
Each of these servants were given a portion of money and told to use it profitably. The first two not only invested the talents but doubled the sum. They earned a 100% profit! They were truly fruitful. The third fellow was given the least amount to work with and he did nothing with the talent he had. Oh he returned to the master what he was given, but the master would have had a better return if he had simply put the money in the bank. In this sense returning what was given him was actually a loss.
Okay, now the uncomfortable part, personal application. What talents has God given you? He has given you an income, are you tithing? He has given you talents, are you using them to His purpose and glory? You may not be able to stand up in front of a church and preach the Gospel, few are given this ability and responsibility, but God has given you some abilities and He didn’t intend for you to hide them in the dirt. Are you being fruitful? Are you using what He has given you? Maybe you feel that what He has given you is closer to the one talent than the ten, but still, are you using it or burying it?
Brothers, I feel at times like our churches are dying on the vine because a vast majority of Christians have buried their talents in the dirt. You’ve heard of the 80/20 rule haven’t you? That is the idea that 20 percent of the church members do 80 percent of the work. This concept is way off. I only wish the real numbers were that good! The sad thing here is that it isn’t just the church or the lost that are hurt by this. Those who bury their talents are not living the fullness of life Christ came to give them. The ones who use their talents for God’s purposes will hear “Well done good and faithful servant”; those who don’t will hear “You wicked and slothful servant!”
So, let me ask you, what are you doing with your talent?
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Alternate Plans
Bible Order: Lev 21–23
Chronological Order: Exod 25–26
What Will You Be Found Doing When Jesus Comes?
I want to address one issue before I get into my main comment on today’s reading. Verse 34 in today’s reading says the following:
Matthew 24:34 ESV
“Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”
This is another one of those places that can confuse people. Did Jesus mean to say that the generation to which He was speaking would still be alive at the end of the age? No, He was speaking about the generation that will be alive when the Gospel has been preached to all the world. We have to be very careful when considering the Word of God. We need to remember that verses that came before and after have bearing on the meaning of a given verse.
Now, Jesus tells us today that the end will come much like the Great Flood. People were going along with their life when suddenly, out of nowhere, it started to rain, and didn’t stop for 40 days and 40 nights. What I find interesting about this comparison by Jesus is that Noah did know the flood was coming and prepared for it by way of obeying God and building an ark over while others scoffed at him. Jesus’ example is about more than how sudden the end will be. He has been telling us how to discern the end of the age. He is telling us to be prepared. We are to be like Noah who, because of his close relationship with God, knew the end was near and got to work doing what God asked of him.
How is your relationship with God? Is yours more like Noah’s or more like those who drowned? I have often mentioned that having submitted our lives to Christ we have become His stewards on Earth. We are to be taking care of His business. This includes developing the skills, talents, and spiritual gifts He has given us as well as the dollars and families He has placed in our care. This also includes telling a lost and dying world about Jesus Himself. Jesus poses the essential question Himself.
Matthew 24:45-46 ESV
“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.”
Are you a faithful and wise servant? What will the Master find you doing when He comes?
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Matthew 26:47–68
