Proof!
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- Published: Thursday, 31 March 2016 13:25
- Written by James Dean
"...Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe." (John 20:25)
That was Thomas' claim when the other disciples told him they'd seen Jesus. He'd appeared to Mary outside the tomb earlier that day (v11f) and then that evening he entered the upper room where the 10 disciples had locked themselves in hiding (v19f): but Thomas hadn't been there. Thomas wasn't going to take the other disciples' word for it - he wanted to see Jesus for himself; know the truth for himself. Thomas gets a bad rap for this. He's known by many today as "doubting Thomas", but he doesn't stay "doubting" for very long.
Eight days later and again the disciples are locked in the Upper Room (v26) but this time Thomas is with them as well. Sure enough, Jesus somehow appears right in the middle of them. He ignores all the others and immediately says to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe." (v27).
For all his disbelief, scripture doesn't record for us that Thomas stopped to conduct a thorough medical examination. It doesn't even tell us that he touched Jesus' wounds at all. Thomas just exclaims those wonderful words, "My Lord and my God!" When you think about it, those are incredible words for a Jew to exclaim about another human being. However, the "doubter" is no longer in any doubt about who this is. It's Jesus. It's the Lord. It is God incarnate. He is risen!
"Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (v29) Jesus' words give a wonderful blessing for the likes of you and me. So how about it? Have you believed? If not, what's holding you back?
John doesn't record exactly what happened next but I feel sure that as the truth and wonder of the situation sank in, Thomas ran into Jesus' arms and hugged him. I know that's what I would have done. As we sang on Resurrection Sunday:
Not even death could crush this King of love!
The price is paid, the chains are loosed, and we're forgiven,
And we can run into the arms of God.
—
/ Stuart Townend & Keith GettyWho is like our God?
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- Published: Wednesday, 23 March 2016 03:07
- Written by James Dean
With the excitement of the Passover still ahead, Jesus entered Jerusalem to the acclaim of the crowds as they sang the "Hallel" or "Praise" songs found in Psalms 113-118. Singing them reminded the Jews of God's greatness, hisother-ness. Psalm 113 reads:
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
As I read those words I was reminded of the words of Isaiah that we heard this last Sunday morning from chapter 55:
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As Jesus travelled into Jerusalem the people thought they were welcoming a great leader; someone who would free them from the Romans. They thought they understood what God was going to do, that he would once again make Israel great. But their thoughts were too low, too rooted in earthly thinking.
God's plans reached far above and beyond what anyone understood. His wayswere higher, his thoughts were higher. He wasn't just going to save one nation. His Saviour would save people from all the nations! Psalm 118 reads:
25 Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
Jesus was the one that these Psalms anticipated. He was the one who came in the name of the Lord. But what the people missed was that it was the Lord HIMSELF who came, and the victory he would win would be not simply over the Romans but over death!
As we again consider all the events of Easter let's not lose any of the wonder and amazement of what actually happened in Jerusalem all that time ago:Jesus, God's own son, gave his life that we might live. Whatever you're doing, just pause for a moment, reflect on that wonderful truth and then praise God for Jesus!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
in my place condemned He stood;
sealed my pardon with His blood;
hallelujah! what a Saviour!
Guilty, vile and helpless we;
spotless Lamb of God was He:
full atonement – can it be?
hallelujah! what a Saviour!
Lifted up was He to die,
‘It is finished!’ was His cry;
now in heaven exalted high;
hallelujah! what a Saviour!
Philip Paul Bliss (1838-76)
Our vision
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- Published: Wednesday, 23 March 2016 03:04
- Written by James Dean
Some time ago the question was asked, "What is the vision of BEChurch?" I'm going to stick my neck out and suggest that question wasn't answered as clearly as it could have been because we weren't all that clear on the answer ourselves.
It's time we changed that.
Taking some very simple directives of scripture, as a Christian church we are called to:
- "Love the Lord your God" (Deut 6:5 / Matt 22:37)
- "Make disciples of all nations" (Matt 28:19)
- "Love one another" (John 13:34-35, Rom 12:10, Heb 10:24...)
- "Love your neighbour" (Lev 19:18, Matt 5:43-45; 22:39)
With those scriptures in mind, and keeping it simple and easy to remember, I'm going to suggest that the Biblical vision of every Christian church - ours included - is to:
Love God. Love each other. Serve the world.
I'm not the first to use this and I'm sure I won't be the last. But if that is our vision - and I'm strongly suggesting it should be - then we have to ensure that we know how we put that vision into practice. We need to understand the method for living that out. That too is simple, because it's the same thing.
We love God. We love each other. We serve the world.
Everything we do as a church naturally pours out of those three things. Everything we plan to do as a church should naturally hang from one of those three pegs. Nothing we do as a church should fall outside these areas.
I'll write further on this another time, but expect to hear this a lot more. I want to ensure that we all get this. I want us all to ensure that we all understand it. Love God. Love each other. Serve the world. That's us. That's our BEChurch.
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