The divine identity is revealed in authority to forgive sins

Things are not always what they seem. In Jesus’ time people asked the question ‘Who is this man?’ This was because of the miracles which he performed … especially healing. People wanted to bring their sick friends to Jesus.

In this passage they even go to the extent of opening a hole in the roof to get a paralyzed man to Jesus for healing. What Jesus does however surprises them. He says ‘your sins are forgiven.’ The Pharisees were upset and said ‘only God can forgive sins’ and accuse Jesus of blasphemy. They didn’t realize that Jesus is God.

Jesus knew what they were thinking and challenges their view that he doesn’t have the authority. He tells the man to get up, take up his mat and go home. This the man does and it shows that Jesus does have the authority to forgive sins because he is God. Jesus conquered even death through His death on the cross and resurrection. We receive forgiveness and new life through trusting in what he has accomplished for us.

 

 

 

 

 The Spirit glorifies Jesus as we tell the gospel to the world

Having someone to help you in a time of need is wonderful. In this passage we find out some things about the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity who mediates Christ’s presence to believers. Because of the Spirit they know that they are not alone and can testify about Jesus to the world. It’s the role of the Spirit to point people to Jesus … only the Spirit can make the unbelievable, believable.

The Lord calls his people to join with the Spirit in testifying about the Jesus they know. Jesus soon leaving them is therefore a good thing. Jesus further tells the disciples that it is the Spirit who convicts the world of sin (especially the sin of unbelief), righteousness and judgement.

Jesus concludes by telling the disciples that the Spirit will guide them into all truth. What does that mean? It means understanding more and more about who Jesus is in relation to the Gospel, the Good News of his death and resurrection for sinners as a free gift through faith, and the truth of God’s Word the Scriptures.

 

 

 

  A very important question with a simple answer

This is a very valid question to ask for someone who has been thinking about the gospel (‘good news’) but not understanding the Christian life. Most Christians can identify with a person who may be considering this question, ‘how do I get faith’, because there was a time in their life when they didn’t believe either. There was a time when they had some knowledge of God and the gospel but it didn’t seem to make sense to them.

The simple answer to the question is that ‘faith comes by hearing’ …… i.e. reading the Scriptures (the gospels are a good place to start) and especially listening to the preaching of the gospel. One of the Links from this site goes to a church website for listening to sermons on line.

It should also be said that believing in Jesus is connected to having a sense of need. The prodigal son, in the well-known parable, returned to the father out of a sense of need. Jesus name means ‘saviour.’ He came to save people from their sins. Here is another reason to read the Scriptures or listen to sermons because in them we begin to see that we are very needy people.

 

 

 We all like sheep have gone astray because each has his own agenda

This passage speaks of the suffering and salvation of our Lord Jesus … the ‘good news’. Even though recorded about 700 years before Christ came it’s as though these words were written at the foot of the cross. Jesus suffering only increased with his age ‘he was despised and we held him in low esteem’. His opponents were constantly looking for a way to kill him and eventually they succeeded. Even though completely innocent, Jesus did not reply to any of the charges brought against him.

The horror of how he suffered helps us appreciate the why. Two reasons are given here. The first is that it was because of us … ‘he was pierced for our transgressions’. The second is that it was God’s will that he suffer. It was the Lord who laid the iniquity of us all upon him. If we cannot accept the horror of the solution then we cannot accept the ‘horror’ of God’s love.

It is hard to see how any good could come to the suffering servant but we find that he will be raised up and highly exalted. It is not only the Father himself who is pleased but the Servant also and, as believers, we share in the ‘spoils’ of his victory.

 

 

 

 Following the Lord means facing similar opposition.

What would bring a person to the point where they say ‘I hate you’? Why did they say this about Jesus who only did good and was gracious? In this passage we find Jesus telling his disciples not to be surprised at opposition because he had already predicted it. Here he says ‘If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also’.

In the West the church has been blended with the state and has entered a ‘marriage’ which has weakened the witness of God’s people. It was not always like that. Opposition invariably happens when the church is faithfully following Jesus. Western churches have also become divided in their commitment to Jesus Christ. Luke-warmness is the result of worldliness.

People outside the church, however, have no excuse for hating Jesus’ disciples because Jesus has come and spoken to them. Rejecting Jesus is the same as rejecting God. Their opposition fulfills God’s word which says ‘They hated me without reason.’ The irony is though that the chief instrument of Jesus sufferings, the cross, which his persecutors thought would destroy him, became the very means of his peoples’ salvation.

 

 

 

Anyone who lives in fear and comes to God will find that his redemption is beautiful

How has 9/11 changed the world? Perhaps the most profound way is how it has heightened fear. How then do you deal with fear? God’s people in Isaiah’s time were in fear of the Babylonians. In this passage we see how they were to respond. Firstly, God speaks of his favour, next his justice and then his power.

God tells his people to look to Abraham, their father, from whom they are descended. God’s justice is in that their sin has been either dealt with in Christ, Abraham’s Savior, or will be dealt with in them. He also reminds them that, whilst the Babylonians may have been a formidable enemy, they are as nothing in relation to God’s power.

How do you see your troubles? Do you see them as occasions of spiritual learning or as occasions to step away … to avoid others? Isaiah says no. Let your troubles lead you to salvation. Let them be an instrument to wake you up. Consider them as occasions to see with even greater clarity that God is in the midst of it all. We find in this passage that God is saying to his people they will be redeemed without money. This was accomplished in Jesus at the cross.

 

 

 

No righteousness of our own and all of grace

The ‘what’ of the Christian message is familiar to most people. The ‘why’ and the ‘how’ however are much less well known.

In Romans, Paul begins by putting his name to the letter and then briefly telling about  the ‘what’ before he goes on to the ‘why’ and the ‘how’. We find that the gospel (good news) was promised in the Old Testament Scriptures, it is about God’s Son, descended from David (in one sense) and resurrected from the dead.

We also catch a glimpse of Paul’s heart, addressing the believers in Rome as ‘beloved’ …… showing his care and concern for them and hope to visit them.

This first part of Chapter 1 finishes with Paul giving a glimpse of the ‘why’. He says he is not ashamed of the gospel, the momentous truths about Jesus dying on the cross and rising again from death, because it is God’s way of saving people and we now get a glimpse of the ‘how’ …..  it is by faith. Faith is simply ‘confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see’.

Verse 17 is the key …….. it contains a quote from the Old Testament “the righteous man shall live by faith”. Another way of saying this is ‘the one who through faith is righteous shall live’. Its not about what we have accomplished but our participation, by faith, in what has been accomplished for us by Jesus Christ on the cross.

 

 

The circumstances of our lives need to be viewed in the light of faith which inspires faith

In this chapter we find that there was more tension for the people of God. It seemed as though his promises were under threat. They send out spies to the city which they were to capture. The spies were found out and became anxious. Rahab, an adulterous woman living in the city, comes up with a plan to protect them.  This ultimately enables them to escape and return to their camp.

The important thing to note here is that whilst Rahab had told a lie to protect the spies and was guilty of adultery herself. She believed that God was going to destroy the city and her actions in relation to the spies meant that she had changed from the wrong side to the right side … the Israelite army captured the city of Jericho. Rahab and her family, however, were saved.

The spies had told Rahab to let down from the window of her house a scarlet cord. This was so that the army of Israel would recognize this and know that this family was to be spared. In doing this, Rahab had given a sign that she had taken refuge in God and his mercy. It is a gospel sign that those who take refuge in Jesus, the lamb of God whose blood was shed at the cross, are saved from their sins.

 

 

To produce fruit you must remain in Jesus

Vines are pruned so that they will produce fruit. In this passage Jesus tells us how we can produce fruit. A branch on its own has no life because it is not connected to the vine which is the source. In human terms this shows us that we must be connected to Jesus by leaving our sins (being pruned) and trusting in what he has done for us. In this way we live. We are ‘born again’, respond to his control of our lives and produce lasting fruit for God’s kingdom.

 

 

 

  The prophet points us to the greatest example of both obedience and servanthood

Isaiah had to confront God’s people with their sin which was very serious because they had rejected God and gone their own way. He, however, had been faithful. He had been obedient and not rebelled against the one who had saved him and called him.

The consequences of Isaiah’s faithfulness, as is often the case, meant suffering for him at the hands of those who would reject his message. In spite of this he continued to look to God as the one who would ultimately vindicate him. He also exhorts the people to ‘trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God’. In our day this points us to Jesus, the ‘obedient servant’ who suffered to death on the cross for the forgiveness of those who had rejected him.