Episode 171 - "Jesus Christ and him crucified" - 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

​​1Cor. 2:1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

I love this passage. I had the privilege of preaching in chapel at Dallas Theological Seminary a few years ago and preached from this text. I love it because it reminds Christians what is fundamentally important within our faith. Our churches argue and split over so many stupid things. We are not unlike these Corinthians to whom Paul is writing. We can allow our pride to evoke a spirit of elitism or become defensive of our views on lesser things.

Here Paul is arguing that nothing about him and his ministry warrants anyone elevating him to be the object of focus. Paul reminded them of when he had come to them personally to minister. He was there for 1.5 years. (Acts 18:11-12) Paul reminds them that he was not an eloquent speaker. He did nothing to impress them and even reminded them that he was scared. (v. 3) What made such an impact upon the people was not Paul. Paul wants them to understand that it was the message and the source of the message that made an impression and a difference in their lives.

The message is “Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (v. 2). Paul said, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” In the course of eighteen months, I’m sure they had other questions and things to talk about. However, Paul’s focus and priority were showing them from the Scriptures that this Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ (Anointed one). He is the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Secondly, Paul emphasized Christ’s death on the cross. Jesus’ willingness to go to the cross and die for our sins reveals God’s justice, righteousness, and grace. If God beforehand (Genesis) told people that disobedience leads to death, then we should understand that any act of our disobedience should justly receive the same outcome. But, what Jesus did on the cross was to experience that death for us, in our place. The just outcome still occurred. But Jesus Christ, being perfect, took the punishment for us. That is how Paul can say in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul is saying there is nothing more important for us to understand than who Jesus is and the significance of his death on the cross.

In addition to the message, Paul wants them to understand that he didn’t craft the delivery of this message in such a clever way to convince people. Despite his own fear and personal limitations, he trusted the Holy Spirit and the divine nature of the message to have power that would open their minds to receive this message. (v. 4)

Paul explains it was important for the effect of this message to be affected through the Holy Spirit so that they wouldn’t sit back later and say to themselves, “Wow! That Paul sure was a smooth talker. He really had us taking in every word.” Instead, they would look back and say, “There was nothing particularly impressive about that guy. But, his message sure rang true.” Verse 5 says, “so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

Paul is telling the Corinthians and, indirectly, us that the gospel message of Jesus Christ is the most important truth for our lives, and God’s power helps us understand and receive this message.

My question is, “Do we believe that?” Do we believe that the message of Jesus Christ and him crucified has supernatural power? If so, we should be like Paul and share it with people, correct? We don’t have to worry about being some kind of expert in the Bible or a great and clever speaker. We don’t even have to feel like we have all the answers to all religious questions. We can just share the message and pray that God will allow His power to draw people to believe it.

Prayer: Father in Heaven - Lead me to people who need to hear about Jesus Christ and him crucified, and may your Spirit open their hearts and minds to receive it.

Episode 116 - That they may be one - John 17:20-26

John 17:20   “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

The message in this part of the prayer has hit me more profoundly recently than it has any other time I’ve been through this. But, there is a sense in which it feels like Jesus keeps saying the same thing. If we are not careful, we might miss something profound.

Did you notice who Jesus is praying for? It’s you and I. We are the people who believe in Jesus through the testimony of these people close to Jesus. That is the point of verse 20. So what is Jesus’ request of the Father on our behalf? He prayed that all of us who believe in Jesus would be one. That means that at the very heart of Jesus is his desire for all people who follow him to be in harmony with other followers of Jesus. That is the explanation in verse 21. How is that possible? Certainly, he cannot expect us to agree on every little thing all the time. Fortunately, he doesn’t stop there. He explains the purpose or objective of unity among his followers. That objective of Christian harmony is expressed in two statements. The first is at the end of verse 21 where he says, “so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” The second statement in verse 23 echos that objective and adds more. “So that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (v. 23) 

Jesus prayed to the Father that we Christians would be unified and harmonious so that “the world” would believe the Father sent Jesus AND that the Father loves the world. That message echoes John 3:16 doesn’t it? “For God so loved the world . . .” God decided to love the world even though the world does not love God. In fact, Jesus points out in verse 25 that the world does not know God. Jesus is helping us understand an important point of sharing the Good News of Jesus in this prayer. It is critical that those who claim to follow Christ demonstrate love and strive for harmonious relationships with fellow believers. It reveals God’s love to the world and will draw people to Jesus.

Jesus’ prayer for his followers adds the request, “that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. (v. 26) The love that is to lead us to harmony is not from within ourselves and our own capacity. It is the love of Christ that he has shown to us that should, in turn, make a statement to the world that God’s love is available to them. We are going to have our differences. But, the love of Christ should be the primary consideration to keep us from dividing instead of being “one.”

Let us think about Christ’s love for us and pray that the Lord will help it be evident to others that the world may see it and want to receive God’s love toward them. 

Episode 34 - Doing God's will nourishes and sustains us

John 4:27-42

4:27   Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

4:31   Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

4:39   Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Now that the disciples have returned from the town with food, there are two stories going on within the greater story of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well. I could easily split this section up. But, I think it’s valuable to see how these two stories relate to each other.

The first part is Jesus’ interaction with his disciples when they’ve returned and are shocked to find him speaking with her. The second is what happens with the woman after Jesus reveals to her that he is the Messiah (the Christ). Concerning the disciples, even though they are shocked, they seem to have the sense to keep their mouths shut. They are about to get an important lesson. But, they have no clue as to what that might be. 

John mentions that the woman left her jar at the well. What’s the point of that? It quickly becomes apparent. She wanted to waste no time going to tell people in her community about Jesus and it’s obvious she intended to return to the well with or without other people. This woman who has had no apparent, previous knowledge of Jesus has come to believe his claim that he is the Christ. She immediately becomes a witness to that. The question is, “Will people believe her?” Understand that this woman is among the most marginalized of all people in that culture. She is a Samaritan. She is a woman. And, she is a woman with a reputation for sleeping around. In all likelihood, what is known about the culture, many people would not give her the time of day or trust what she has to say. Yet, here she is claiming to have found the Christ. Who would possibly buy that? Hold that thought. 

Returning to the disciples and Jesus, they are encouraging him to eat some food they’ve brought.  He responds that he has food that they do not know about. Similar to the Samaritan woman who thought Jesus was offering her literal water from a well, the disciples don’t immediately understand that Jesus is speaking in terms of a spiritual food that sustains him and that food is “to do the will of the Father.” If we learn nothing else from this text, we should learn that our priority in our life should be to do God’s will. God is the One who provides everything we need. Doing what He wants us to do nourishes and sustains us. 

When Jesus moves into the illustration of harvesting and tells them to lift up their eyes, what do you think they saw? I suspect they saw the people from the town beginning to come out to Jesus. He is not giving them a lesson in agriculture. He’s teaching them about doing God’s will and sharing the Good News of Jesus with others. We call this evangelism and discipleship. They are about to spend a few days with these Samaritan people and they will witness Jesus teach them and they will likely participate in answering questions and testifying themselves what they have witnessed about Jesus.

Let’s return to the woman who has told the people of the town that she’s met this man who has told her “everything she’s done,” we might expect them to disregard her because of her reputation. But, John tells us in verse 39, “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.” What!? The Jews who have seen him work miracles have refused to believe him. But, now this woman who had no previous knowledge of Jesus has come to faith in everything he has told her. So, what does she do? She just tells others and many of them believe because of her words; a woman whom they would not normally trust. What is happening here? Perhaps it is people being born from above. God has sent His Spirit to move them to respond and they’ve trusted in Jesus. 

This should tell us that evangelism is not something that we can only do if we’ve had a seminary degree or some special training. Why? Because the result is not based upon our intelligence or skills. It’s based upon the truth of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit. We are not responsible for the results. We just need to bear witness of Jesus and trust that God will bring people to him. Some will not believe him even if they see miracles. But, that is not our problem. Let us be nourished by telling others about Jesus.