Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

Jane cut up some summer delights for our picnic, marking her birthday. Mmm.

Again, Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

John 20:21 – 23

Jesus appears among them.   He is using a greeting that must have been familiar to his disciples, Peace be with you.  This is Jesus after his death and resurrection!  His word is the same as it always was – peace.  They knew it was Jesus!  All is new.

Jesus had an eternal word for his beloved disciples, and for us today, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  Jesus made it very clear, he was sent by his Father in heaven and will continue to send believers forever, just as he was sent.

I never thought very much about the word “sent.”  When I became a follower of Jesus, I was not really aware of this aspect of my salvation, to be “sent.”  It certainly means that it was not of my doing but God’s.  He is, after all, God!

The word is clear, as I follow Jesus he chooses the path for me.  He does not ask me whether this suits me or is something that might interest me.  No!  He sends me!   I cannot send myself.  My new life is in the hands of Almighty God!

I quake when I hear this, who can do that?  Jesus quickly answers our unspoken question, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  We can not possibly live as a follower of Jesus – sent ones – without a new power.  That is the whole point, the Holy Spirit is now in control.

I am impressed with the way Jesus related this being sent to receiving forgiveness and offering forgiveness.  This is the oil that lights the room, forgiving, being forgiven and knowing God’s forgiveness.  Is this not the summary of the way we walk as followers of Jesus!  I pray it is true of me.

That is the way of true peace!

Some of our sunflowers now soar about 10 feet into the sky.  I am amazed by the beaury and complexity of this plant.  A joy of God’s creation, to be sure.  What a feast this will be for the insects.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

John 20:19 – 20

I need to read this again and ponder its meaning.  It begins with the disciples getting into a room in Jerusalem to escape the fury of the Jewish leaders.  They made sure the doors were locked because they feared what might happen, I imagine, like what happened with their Jesus, now gone.

Fear filled the air.  What terrible thing will happen next?  The Jewish rulers had just had Jesus killed.  Now, how about them?   When will the Jewish authorities knock at the door, seeking them, the distraught followers of Jesus?  It was a dreadful time.  This was not a village in Galilee, but the stronghold of Judaism, Jerusalem.  Fear reigned, rightfully so.

Then, Jesus himself came, stood among his terrified apostles and said words that changed everything, “Peace be with you.”  Peace?  Peace when the whole world seems to be against you?  Yes, a thousand times yes! It is Jesus, alive and right there.  He found them, they did not find him.

Everything changed – from fear to hope, from despair to joy!  Jesus came.  This is my story, fearful and lost, found Jesus there with me asking me to love him and to give my life to him.  My night turned to day.  My dismay vanished in a moment.  This is common to all of us who believe.

Praise God!  He is our peace.  I am overjoyed when I see Him!

The hybiscus that shows sperm and ova dazzles the eye.  The colors are so marvelous.  I do enjoy this plant, at our pond.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.  But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”  “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.  “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

Matthew 19:14 – 15

Am I reading correctly?  Are these the descendants of King David, King Saul and one king after another?  Did not God provide a king for his people – a king from among his people?  That is what I read of Jewish history.

Then we hear the leaders of the Jews, the priests who are supposed to know these things, shout, “We have no king but Caesar.” 

Little did they know that this Jesus is God in the flesh.  He is not only King, but the Son of God!  All authority is in his hands.

I see this temptation pulling us today.  Nations come and go, politicians are but for a moment, power is elusive.  Yet this is what we fuss over.  Is it because we have no king but Caesar?  It looks like that.  So, this conversation the Jewish leaders had with the Roman leaders continues to today.  Is Jesus our king?  Or is nationalism or some other “ism” our king?

I appreciate our government and pray for our national leaders, as should all believers everywhere at all times. But reality halts me and reminds me of the fact that the followers of Jesus owe allegiance to Him alone.  Forbid that I should believe, for even a moment, that my king is Caesar!  My king is Jesus.

I had a pesky weed this year that I tried to kill with weed killer.  Evidently I made a horrid mistake in using a weed killer that also sent the grace reeling!  The result?  A big patch near the street that could only be fixed by laborious spading, etc.  Here it is, about to be seeded.  Will I never learn??

From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.  But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

John 19:12, 14 – 16

Pilate could not withstand the demand of the Jewish leaders who insisted that Rome kill Jesus.  Only Rome had that power.

The Jews shouted, “Crucify him.”  They turned to Rome to do the deed that they would have preferred to do themselves – kill Jesus.

What is going on here?  I think it has to do with who is king.  Caesar was the Emperor, the king, so to speak.  Pilate said as he pointed to Jesus, “Here is your king.”  By saying that Pilate struck the issue, “Can there be more than one king?”  Of course not.

The Jewish rulers said Caesar is their king, not this powerless Jesus.  There is no place for Jesus!  The Jews declared, “We have no king but Caesar.”  There it is.  The Jews admitted that their king is Caesar, they have no other king over them.

Do I hear that?  I hear many Christians of today say, “We have no king but Caesar.”  What, may I ask, happened to Jesus?  Can he compete with the power of nations?  He is simply left out of the picture.

Once again, I pause and ask, what do I believe about ultimate power?  Is it the power of nations or the power of Jesus?

 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”  Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

John 19:10 – 11

Pilate was at his wits end.   He was about to do something that he did not want to do, side with those who wanted to kill Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  He was caught in a dilemma, try to set Jesus free or bow to the demands of the Jewish leaders to kill Jesus.  In the end he conceded to the demands of the Jews who lived under his control, Roman control, to have Jesus condemned, out of hand, and killed.  Without a trial!

Do you feel the drama of this exchange between Pilate and Jesus?  Pilate claimed to have the power of the Roman Empire to condemn and kill Jesus.  There was no higher authority on earth at the time, Pilate was in charge.

Jesus turned to the troubled Pilate with a simple word – the power of God is driving these events, not you, not politics or religion, but God himself.   Sorry, Pilate, you do not have the power that you think you have.   Furthermore, the Jews who were handing Jesus over to the Roman rulers, to Pilate, is committing the greater sin.  Now, Pilate, whether you represent Rome or yourself, you are not in control at all.  If you hand Jesus over to the Jews to be killed, you will be committing a great sin, but the greater sin is committed by the Jews who are demanding all this.

The greatest power on earth at that time was the Roman Empire.  That power met the power of God, as we see here.  Behold, the power of God was greater than the power of the Empire – All empires!

Here I am, living in a world driven by power.  The nation in which I live claims to be the greatest power there ever was on the earth.

Considering the conversation between Pilate and Jesus I rest in the knowledge that the power of God knows no equal.  Nations come and go.  God is forever.