Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

I found this 3 inch cluster of bubbles on our oak tree this morning and was stumped by what it might be.   Any ideas?  If so, let me know.

Jesus left the temple and was walking away ­when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Matthew 24:1, 2

Chapter 24 of Matthew opens with Jesus leaving the Temple.  We read, as he was walking away his disciples tried to impress Jesus with the beauty and power of the newly built Temple.  It must have been a glorious sight, there on that holy hill.

What amazed the disciples was that Jesus did not seem to be impressed by the glory of the Temple at all.  Jesus spoke openly in the Temple but did not point to its excellence.  Upon leaving the Temple his disciples asked him why he is not impressed by this glorious building. His answer must have caused them serious dismay – “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

That must have stunned the amazed disciples.  It took 42 years to build the Temple and at great cost.  Was it not to be permanent?  How could Jesus not be impressed?  Enough said. They walked away confused by what was happening.  Jesus had not one word of thanks for those who labored hard to build the impressive Temple.  His teachings there did not refer to the Temple much at all.

Jesus continues to teach us what his purposes are today.  We have our innate hopes and dreams that come from our inherent desires.  When we begin to see what God’s plans are, it is quite confusing.

As we see thousands of people coming to faith each day around our world we stand, as did the disciples, and try to grasp what God is doing!  Has God no regard to the temples we erect – our hopes and dreams?  Not really.  He is building His Kingdom right now, can we not see it?  People from all cultures love Jesus!  Our common love of Jesus binds us together as one.   The New Temple is here!  It is those who love and follow Jesus.

Every year about now the snow geese arrive at Middle Creek Game Management lake.  Yesterday, Sunday, Alan and Lisa took Anna Ruth and me to Middle Creek to see the flocks of snow geese that come to the lake every year about this time.   I am always amazed by this natural spectacle.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.  Look, your house is left to you desolate. 

Matthew 23: 37- 38

The Old Testament exalts Jerusalem above all places on the earth.  It is the apple of God’s eye.

Then we see Jesus standing in that revered city with the Temple of God as its center – he is lamenting over that great city of promise, the city of David!  Note – the time has come for elders of Jerusalem to arrest and kill Jesus.  What shall he say?

Jesus pronounces seven “woes” over the city and ends it all with these words, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you.

Of course, Jesus was the latest to be killed – on a Roman cross just outside Jerusalem’s mighty walls.  He wanted to gather Israel under his wings, but they refused him, preferring to kill him.

We then hear those words of lament – Look, your house is left to you desolate.  They had the house, splendid and glorious, but it was empty!  Just a house!  An uninhabited one.

Jesus will build a new house in which God will be honored.  It will be called The Kingdom of God.  The church!  This was the heart of Jesus’ ministry.  He will fill that church with his fulness.

That is us!  May we respond with shouts of hallelujah!

Our white lilac at the pond is eager for warm weather.  They are ready!

Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Matthew 26:14-16

A few thoughts on Judas Iscariot.  As far as I know, we are not told how Jesus chose him to be one of his twelve disciples. We do know, however, that Judas was the only Judean among the eleven Galilean Disciples.  The rulers of the Jews in Judah obviously saw Judas on their side regarding Jesus.  More than that we do not know.  We do know that the Jews of Judah, in general, looked down on the Jews who lived in Galilee.

Further, Judah tended to me more nationalistic than the Galilean Jews.  The Jews of Jerusalem dreamed of the day when the Messiah would come to establish his kingdom there in the heart of ancient Judaism, Jerusalem.  Their newly constructed temple was to be the center of it all!

Is it going too far to believe that Judas was distressed by the fact that Jesus’ kingdom had little to do with Jerusalem?  Jerusalem did not figure much in Jesus’ Kingdom vision. Jesus did not teach that Jerusalem was to be the center of the kingdom that he kept talking about.

I am aware of the tendency to try to fit Jesus into our nationalistic hopes.  We find it difficult to believe that Jesus came to bring the entire world, with its many cultures, into the Kingdom of God on the earth.  One of the most difficult things to believe is that Jesus came to save all kinds of people, from all cultures and peoples of the earth. Our ethnocentrism blinds us at times.  Was it so with Judas?  I tend to think so.

Jesus sees all people as needing salvation, no matter who they are.

Friday noon is a special time at our place.  The sibs plus Dwayne settle down to a nice noon meal at the old oak kitchen table.  In addition to the other goodies, Anna Ruth made a couple of vanilla pies yesterday.  Just the thing to finish a meal.

Ferr

Three pictures:

1. Jesus turned to his disciples as he faces the Cross – Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. John 14:1 So many terrible things were about to happen that it seems this statement of Jesus seems out of place, impossible?  Jesus spoke these words as the hour had come when his suffering was heavy as midnight.  The disciples had no idea what was about to happen.

2. But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples deserted him and fled. Matthew 26:56. The Last Supper, with its unbelievably tempestuous interactions ended.   Jesus took with him close disciples and prayed that agonizing prayer among the olive trees, “Father, if there is some other way…”   We recall the scene.  The Temple guards apprehended Jesus and took him away.  We read, Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.  Jesus, the Lord of All is alone, alone, alone!

3. After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb…The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.

Those few hours in Jerusalem were tumultuous!  Judas’ betrayal, Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, the bread and the cup!  Then the Jesus’ words as he faced the Cross… “Not my will but yours be done!” It is too much to take in.  What followed is an upheaval of the powers of hell, hours when Jesus was condemned by his own people, then hung on a Roman cross to die!  Then, after hours in the tomb is raised from the dead and is alive forever more.

I bow my head, and wonder, again, at the grace of God.  Do you feel like I do?

(God) appointed him (Jesus) to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Ephesians 1:22, 23

Yesterday, Sunday at Chestnut Hill Mennonite Church, along the Marietta Pike here in Lancaster, Anna Ruth and I met, as usual, with our soul-mates, young and old, to once again ponder how we are blessed beyond measure.  Our earth is covered by fellowships of believers of all sorts, all under the headship of Jesus.

Sitting there under the influence of the Gospel my mind returned to the last words of the first chapter of the letter to the Ephesian church, like ours here February 11, 2018.  We are reminded that we are members of the Body of Christ on the earth just like all fellowships of believers today or in the past.  It takes a little time to grasp this extraordinary truth, difficult to believe but as life changing as ever.

Jesus is the head, we are his body!  My head and my body are one thing!  This is the mystery of life as a disciple. All of us believers have the same Head, Jesus.  That is what makes us one!

Said another way, Jesus is not an occasional guest in our lives but a permanent resident who has no intention to leave.  He is there always.

Jesus does not tantalize us, he settles us and assures us of his presence now and forever.

As I read these words of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul, I am impressed once again with the truth that Jesus is my Head!  As my head controls my body, so Jesus fills me with everything in every way.  I live in that marvel.

Once again, four beautiful loaves, using Anna Ruth’s multi-grain recipe.  One of life’s small but meaningful joys!  Basic goodness.  Like our love for one another.