Bible Talk

I Stand Amazed In The Presence of Jesus

I am sitting here this morning reflecting on a song that I am listening to. It’s off the new Passion CD. I guess it isn’t a new song but its sung by Chris Tomlin

Verse 1:
I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.

Chorus:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

Verse 2:
For me it was in the garden
He prayed: “Not My will, but Thine.”
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.

Verse 3:
He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary,
And suffered and died alone.

Verse 4:
When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see,
’Twill be my joy through the ages
To sing of His love for me.

Chorus:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

I think I have listened to it about 3 times this morning, now 4…The thoughts it brings across especially at this time of the year. I got the email from Pastor Kevin last night I have decided to take today and fast for this weekend. I am committing to God that I when I feel hungry, I will reflect on the cross of Christ. My time this morning before that cross was sweet!

Still in Romans 6. Starting in v. 5 we have been united in Christ. How? Through his death. The death of Christ was the death of our sin. We no longer live it but in the resurrection. The resurrection in Rom 6:5 shows that our union with Christ assures our future resurrection. But in v.4, it teaches we can share in the resurrection power today!!! What is this resurrection power? Living a life by grace. Sin is no longer my master (v.14). Sin is no longer the name of my life. Grace is!! So how do I live by grace? 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil. 23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

For Comic Relief

This is why some fundamental Baptist churches stay at 80 people, all related to the 3 pastors that are cousins, who married eachother’s sisters and only grow by bringing in all 14 of their kids. Out of touch with the world. Be sure to check out the section about called the Beatles “God-hating communist devils.” That will bring Paul McCartney to the feet of Jesus.

Who is Jesus to Me?

This question has plagued me for the last two weeks and guess who asked it. Me! How could I ask such a question? Especially if I have to ask it to myself! Honestly I wish I could say that Jesus is my buddy, my pal. Someone that I spend all my time and thoughts with. But I don’t! Actually far from that. Why? Who is Jesus to Me?

Is He my Lord? Is He the creator of my Life? Sure He is…but do I let Him?

Is He my Savior? Is He my sacrifice for my SIN? Yeah…but do I keep crucifying Him by my continual ungodly living?

Is He my Abba? Is He my kin? Of course…but do I push Him from my mind?

It has been way to long…Where are you searching for Jesus?

Luke 2:29 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

I have been pondering this verse and passage for the last few days, really trying to understand it. I have always been fasinated with Luke 2:51 (But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.) What did Mary treasure in her? I so wish Luke would have just expounded on these verses a little more. But we are left wondering what Mary was thinking at end of this encounter with Jesus.

Since I am known for giving background to what I am talking about, and knowing the background generally helps us know what is going on, here I go…

In the book of Luke, Dr. Luke (the author) goes out of his way within the first 2 chapters to show the devotion of Jesus’ family to Judaism. For instance, Dr. Luke does his homework and I believe Jesus’ family spirituality was known through out the Palenstinian world. He shows the devotion of Jesus’ family to Judaism by the presentation of Jesus before the high priest after the 8th day of his birth, something which was laid out in the old testament. This made Jesus a Jew of Jews as He was of pure Jewish decent, which we see in the geneology at the beginning of the Book of Matthew. We next see Jesus’ family’s devotion to Judaism starting in Luke 2:41. It says that “Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.” Adults were to attend the three major feasts in Jerusalem annually- Passover, Pentacost, and Tabernacles. For many it was impossible, but as effort was made to at least go to Passover.

Now because they didn’t go to all three feast a year, doesn’t mean they weren’t devoted. They lived 65 miles from Jerusalem, and with Jesus’ family being poor there was no way they could afford a minivan for Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and the other 6-8 kids they had (Mark 6:3). They actually had to travel in caravan’s (remember not a Dodge Caravan) and we know from the end of Luke 2 that it took longer than 1 day to go from home to Jerusalem. How many of you out there have more than 5 brothers and sisters and have gone on a vacation or even out for a family night? Or you have this many children the joy of getting them all ready for church in the morning? Plus they probably weren’t the only family going down there. So that resources were maximized and there were enough supervision for all the children, families probably traveled togethered (Luke 2:44). You should then understand why it was impossible to get all those kids together for a trip to a place that is at least a 2 day walking journey 3 times a year. And when they traveled it was common that families traveled with the younger children with the woman and the older boys with the men. Jesus was 12 and at this intermediate age, Jesus could have been traveling with the women or the men. Each parent might have supposed He was with the other not that they just forgot Jesus in Jerusalem. So after 1 day of traveling they realized Jesus wasn’t with either of the parents and they turned around and traveled another day to get back to Jerusalem and then they spent 1 more day looking for Jesus. Sorry Jerusalem isn’t a small town.

This is where we pick up in the story. When they find Jesus, His is “in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” He was in His Father’s house. He was in an area of safety conversing with the teachers of the day. His wasn’t just listening to them but asking questions and even giving answers and they were literally displaced, out of their mind by the answers that Jesus was giving them. Our God is Cool!

Now Joseph and Mary find Jesus and pull Him aside and really give Him a tongue lashing. They were upset. The word “anxiously” means “to cause or suffer pain.” I mean they were sick to their stomach because they thought they had lost Jesus. But what does Jesus say, “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” The word “Father” here in the greek is “pater,” on that is the generator or male ancestor. Jesus wasn’t referring to Joseph (His earthly father) otherwise He would have been in the woodshop back in Nazereth. Joseph and Mary were hit with the reality that this was the Son of God.

Have you ever been hit with that reality? Do you ever look for Jesus and He isn’t in the places you are looking, and when you find Him, He say’s “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” The King James translates this “Don’t you know I must be about my Father’s business?” What a wake-up call. Are you doing the Father’s buisness or are you worried about everything else? This is what I believe Mary was trying to ponder in her heart in verse 51. What about the Father’s buisness was she trying to “be about”? How was she living for God right now? Good questions to think about. How about you?

“Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

NIV John 8:1-11 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Have you ever been caught doing something you knew you weren’t suppose to do? Such as when you were a kid, putting that infamous hand with the jar of delightful cookies. Here’s one for those who can drive. Minding your own business as you stroll down the highway and are greeted by a friendly man in a hat with with cool car that has lights on it, and to taunt you, he turns them on right in your rear view mirror. I have been in both situations, but to be honest, I can’t imagine being in the situation of the woman in John 8:1-11. This woman had just been caught in the very act of adultery. I’m to talkin the scribes (And why a bunch of authors thought they needed to be there I will never know. Maybe they were the Pharisee’s puppydogs.) and the Pharisees stormed into where ever this “lady of the night” was having her affair and they pulled her out of the very bed and right in the middle of the very act of having sex with whoever this dude is, because he is never once mentioned in this passage. He could have been on of the Pharisees for all we know. Last I knew it took two to tango. Why isn’t he strung up for the humiliation?

Here is the back ground to what is laid out in the Old Testament. Leviticus 20:10 says, “‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife– with the wife of his neighbor– both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.” Also, Deuteronomy 22:22 says, “If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.” I don’t make the rules. This is the way that God purged sin from the nation Israel. Deuteronomy 17:7 says, “The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you.” So technically the scribes and the Pharisees “witnessed” this adultery act and it is their job now to begin the stoning of her and the guy. Again the guy is not in this picture. Back to the background, then why does God do this? Leviticus 20:8 says, “Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy.” Also looking back at Deuteronomy 17:7 and Deuteronomy 22:22, it says, “You must purge the evil from among you.” Holiness is the key. God does not want His people to sin but to be holy as 1 Peter 1:16 says, “Be holy, because I am holy.”

So back to John 8. Lets start following this story. We pick up in John 7:53 where it says that Jesus was on the Mt. of Olives. The same Mt. of Olives that Jesus later ascended to heaven after His resurrection. The same Mt. of Olives that Jesus will descend to and split in two at His second coming. And very early in the morning (a Jewish day began at 6 a.m. which was considered morning, so assume that this is sometime between 6-7 a.m.), He came to the temple and the people that met him there, he began to teach. And in verse 3 it says “then.” “Then” the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. We can probably still assume that it is sometime between 6-7 a.m. or just a little after. So it is believable that they have literally caught this woman having sex with this guy. She probably stayed over at his house the night before. Coming into the temple with this woman in sin, they call Jesus “Teacher.” The irony in this statement is more than I can even tolerate. The disrespect in that statement, had I been there, would have caused me to deck one of these Pharisees. Think about it…They are saying, “Teacher, one who teaches concerning the things of God, and the duties of man, one who is fitted to teach the Jewish religion, who draws crowds around himself so that he may show men the way of salvation.” What a lie? What a big fat lie? How do I know this is a lie? Go back 17 verses and start reading in John 7:40. The Pharisees are trying to figure out who this “prophet” is and they don’t have a clue. They are confused and some already want to imprison Him (v.44). How do I know it’s the Pharisees that want Him imprisoned and not some random “Joe-schmos” from Israel? The very next verse says “Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, ‘Why have you not brought Him?” Why hadn’t they brought Him? Because it wasn’t His time yet!

Now remember we have already looked at what the actual Law says about someone caught in adultery; they are both to be stoned. For this very reason that they only brought the woman to Jesus and not the male still makes me believe that the guy was a Pharisee, as they were trying to cover him but leave this woman to death. But Jesus does something remarkable. Have you ever been in a situation where you are talking with someone…ok not talking but yelling at someone, such as someone behind a customer service desk or phone line, at a buisness (because obviously that person you are talking with was the direct cause of your inconvience), and that people talks a great talk and all of sudden you are no longer yelling but listening with great intent at what this person is talking about and understand and then agree with their side of things. That is what Jesus does here. He bends down and starts writting in the dirt with His finger. What does He write in the dirt? We don’t know for sure but here is what one person that about it:

Scripture makes no definitive statement as to what Jesus wrote in the dirt. Here is a thought: There are only 2 other times in Scripture where God is shown to write something with His hand or finger, and both times what was written condemned those to whom He wrote. The first time was when God wrote the Law on tablets of stone, the second time was when He wrote on the wall of King Belshazzar. Morris said, “An ancient opinion is that he wrote the sins of the accusers.” Note Job 13:26 - “For you write down bitter things against me and make me inherit the sins of my youth.”

I tend to agree with this statement. The same comentator says:

This self-righteous, self-appointed group of Pharisees were acting as judge and jury and wanting to stone this woman; but don’t mistake it, their ultimate goal was the death of Jesus. They were filled with self-righteous hatred toward Jesus. They kept stressing their point. “They persisted in asking Him” (v. 7a). They kept the pressure on Jesus. “Come on, tell us teacher, what do You say? Will you kill the woman or kill the Law?”

Can you imagine the position Jesus was in? John MacArthur, Jr. says, “If Jesus rejected the law of Moses, His credibility would be gone. If He held to Mosaic law, His reputation for compassion and forgiveness would have been questioned.” So to use a baseball term, Jesus is in a pickle. But in my conclusion that Jesus was probably writting the sins of the accusers in the dirt, He was condemning each and every “judge” there. And Jesus says, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” Remember Deuteronomy 17:7 says, “The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people.” The commentator from above says, “As these religious leaders persisted in questioning him, Jesus stood up and invited any one among them who was sinless to throw the first stone. By this statement they could not possibly say Jesus rejected the law. Jesus specifically told them to throw the first stone. Go ahead, you are right, the Law says stone her. She is guilty. Now, you, who among you is sinless?” Jesus put it back on them. John MacArthur, Jr. describes Jesus’ writting in the dirt “a delaying device, giving them time to think.” Then verse 9 starts the showing the greatest gift of grace that anyone can receive. It says, “Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.” The King James and New King James Versions are the only ones that mention “those being convicted by their conscience.” The New American Standard, New International, English Standard, even the New Living Versions do not mention anything about their consciences being convicted. But if Jesus was writting their sins in the dirt, it would make sense, since Jesus’ words are truth (John 17:17) and His truth pierces to the soul of individuals (Hebrews 4:12).

The story doesn’t stop there, though. After all the accusers were gone, who was left? Jesus and the woman. You know this is exactly how a Christians life looks like right before they get saved. Think about it. We are trapped deep in our sin, and our accusers are laying it on. I don’t know your accusers but they could be pornography, alcohol, drugs, habitual lying, discontentment, or maybe even just disrespect for your parents. Whoever your accuser is, Jesus is standing right in front of you. He has called off all of your accusers and it is you and Him, and all He is saying is, “______________, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” What are you going to say? Do you look at His face, the face of the Son of God and say, “They’re gone now, but they will be back. You can’t help me.” Or do you say what the woman in John 8 said, “No one is left but you, Lord.” I pray that the second answer is yours as it is mine daily. Because when all of our accusers are called off, all that is left is Jesus standing in front of us saying, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin. For I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”

Do you have something to get off your chest and want somebody to talk with? Email me at willupraywithme@gmail.com