80 Sermon Illustrations on Jesus

It is related of San Bernardino, that, when preaching, he was accustomed to hold in his hand a tablet, on which was carved, within a circle of golden rays, the name of Jesus. A certain man, who had gained his living by the manufacture of cards and dice, went to him, and represented to him, that, in consequence of the reformation of manners, gambling had gone out of fashion, and he was reduced to beggary. The saint desired him to exercise his ingenuity in carving tablets of the same kind as that which he held in his hand, and to sell them to the people. A peculiar sanctity was soon attached to these memorials; the desire to possess them became general; and the man, who, by the manufacture of gaming-cards could scarcely keep himself above want, by the fabrication of these tablets realized a fortune.

— Mrs. Jameson

Chuck Colson, the founder of Prison Fellowship, visited a prison in Brazil that is operated by Christians and founded on Christian principles. This is what he found:

When I visited this prison, I found the inmates smiling, particularly the murderer who opened the gates and let me in. Wherever I walked, I saw men at peace. I saw clean living areas, people working hard. The walls were decorated with biblical sayings from Psalms and Proverbs. My guide escorted me to the notorious prison cell once used for torture. Today, he told me, that area houses only a single inmate. As we reached that cell, he paused and asked, "Are you sure you want to go in?"

"Of course," I replied impatiently. "I've been in isolation cells all over the world." Slowly the guide swung open the massive door and I saw the prisoner in that punishment cell: a crucifix, beautifully carved by the inmates -- the prisoner Jesus, hanging on a cross.

"He's doing time for the rest of us," the guide said softly.

Kidd lost her son on a shopping trip, almost panicked, then thought of passage in John and "cast her net on the other side of the boat" - i.e., she thought like a three-year-old and found him by a Big Bird display in a shoe store.

Jesus used unconventional methods to reach people. Parables are an example. He amazed people. He also had unconventional relationships: Zacchaeus, Samaritan woman. He washed their feet.

He bucked the establishment. He loved them enough to confront them.

Shusaku Endo is a Japanese writer who is a Christian, which is rare. He felt religiously alienated in Japan, and racially rejected in France. He had a crisis of faith. "He spent several years researching the life of Jesus in Palestine, and while there he made a transforming discovery: Jesus, too, knew rejection. More, Jesus' life was defined by rejection." Endo had seen Christianity as a triumphant faith, but now saw that Jesus had not avoided "disgrace."

To Endo the most powerful message of Jesus was his unquenchable love, even for - especially for - people who had betrayed him. He thinks Japan has not listened to Jesus because it has only heard one side of the story. Japan understands authoritarian love but not motherly forgiveness.

Christianity has two great symbols to offer the world: a cross and an empty tomb. An empty tomb without a cross would miss the central message of the gospel. But a cross without an empty tomb would be merely tragic. Anything less than a risen, crucified Christ is not enough.

[Letter writer in following issue says Endo's novel, "Silence," does not show God is present and active, but is absent as in Beckett's humanist play "Waiting for Godot"]

"If Jesus were a football player, he'd play fair, he'd play clean and he'd put the guy across the line on his butt."

[Liberty University football player Barry Rice, on how Gospel and gridiron coexist at the Baptist school founded by Jerry Falwell.]

Wilcox’s daughter wanted to know what the tooth fairy looked like. Later she wanted to know what God looks like. She decided the best explanation is that Jesus shows us what God is like. In another sense, our love for our children shows them what God is like, too.

Three new books look at Jesus through the Old Testament.

John’s gospel tells us that the Pharisee Nicodemus once stood up for Jesus by reminding a group of his colleagues that they could not arrest the Galilean rabbi without giving him a hearing. They were not pleased with this reminder. “Search the scriptures,” they retorted, “and observe that no prophet comes from Galilee” (John 7:52).

That was one of the earliest recorded salvos in a battle that has continued for many centuries over precisely how, if at all, Jesus fulfills the Old Testament. Today most Jews do not believe that Jesus fulfilled their Scriptures in any sense, and many view Christian claims that Jesus fulfilled this or that verse in the “Old” Testament as attempts to wrest Jewish traditions from their rightful owners. Christians, on the other hand, agree that Jesus and the church represent God’s faithfulness to his promises in the Old Testament, but they often disagree on the specifics.

Have God’s promises to Israel in the Old Testament been fulfilled in Jesus and the church in some way not immediately obvious to the authors of the Old Testament themselves? Or do some promises concerning Israel still await precisely the fulfillment that the authors of the Old Testament seem to have intended?

Three recently published books address these important issues. In “Jesus and Israel: One Covenant or Two?” David Holwerda tackles both Jewish concerns about Christian “plundering” of Jewish tradition and the debate among Christians over the relationship between Israel in the Old Testament and the church in the New Testament.

In the first chapter, Holwerda surveys recent assessments of Christian fulfillment theology and expresses dissatisfaction with each assessment; but here he only hints at his own understanding. Other issues demand discussion before he can describe his own provocative perspective in detail.

Holwerda begins discussion of these issues with the critical question, “Who is Israel?” and claims that the New Testament, Matthew in particular, has a ready answer. Israel is Jesus. Jesus broadened God’s redemptive work to include all ethnic groups, not simply physical descendants of Abraham. In doing this, he fulfilled the promise to Abraham that through him all nations of the earth would be blessed and so became Abraham’s true son, the true “Israel.” Matthew’s subtle identification of Jesus himself with Israel confirms this understanding: both came out of Egypt, both were God’s servant and son, and both were tested in the wilderness.

Other parts of the New Testament extend Jesus’ work of fulfillment to the prophetic visions of a restored temple in Israel’s future. Jesus becomes this temple as he forgives sins, purifies the unclean with his touch, and heals the sick, all functions of the temple’s sacrifices and priests. In addition, the New Testament teaches that the followers of Jesus have taken over the role of the glorious temple of prophetic prediction by showing that Jesus’ followers in some sense take their master’s place (John 17:22) and by explicitly identifying the local expression of the church with the temple (1 Cor. 3:16).

Holwerda then turns to the Old Testament promises that one day God would give back to scattered and exiled Israel the land that they had once won from the Canaanites and occupied during the monarchy. The New Testament, he says, does not spiritualize these promises so that they become mere allegories of some “higher” reality but instead universalizes them so that they apply to more than a single ethnic group. Thus Paul calls Abraham the inheritor not simply of Judea and Samaria, but of the world (Rom. 4:13); and when he quotes the promise section of the commandment to honor father and mother, he transforms it from a promise that all might go well in the land that God was giving to Israel (Deut. 5:16) into a simple promise that the believer might live long upon the earth (Eph. 6:2-3).

The church is also the recipient of the Old Testament law, although in a new form that removes its ethnic distinctiveness and makes it valid for all who believe the gospel, regardless of national affiliation. In addition, believers follow this new form of the Old Testament law by imitating Christ. This less specific ethical demand provides a helpful safeguard against legalism.

Does all this mean that unbelieving Jews have no place in the gracious plan of God? Holwerda, surprisingly, argues that despite the identification of Israel in the Old Testament with the church in the New, and despite the “universalizing” in the New Testament of many Old Testament promises to ancient Israel, unbelieving Jews continue to hold a special place in God’s saving work. “Disobedience,” he says, “need not cancel future hope rooted in God’s electing grace.” And so in Paul, he finds hope extended to unbelieving Jews that God, in faithfulness to his Old Testament commitment to his people, will extend mercy to many by opening their hearts to Messiah Jesus (Rom. 11:25-27).

Although the purpose of Christopher Wright’s “Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament” is different, his own approach to the Old Testament frequently coincides with Holwerda’s. Wright hopes to explain Jesus’ person, mission, and theology in terms of the Old Testament, for “without the Old Testament,” he says, “Jesus quickly loses reality and either becomes a stained-glass window figure colourful but static and undemanding, or a tailor’s dummy that can be twisted and dressed to suit the current fashion.” Like Holwerda, Wright believes that Jesus viewed himself as the inheritor of Israel’s sonship, and that where Israel failed in its mission to be the vehicle of blessing to the Gentiles, Jesus succeeded.

Also like Holwerda, Wright is not happy with the notion that every prophecy about the future restoration of Israel must be literally fulfilled in national Israel. The Old Testament is more a book of promise than of prediction, he argues, and, unlike predictions, promises can be fulfilled in ways that people alive at the time of the promise may never have imagined. Thus the promise to Abraham was fulfilled provisionally in the Exodus and at Mount Sinai when God constituted the nation of Israel and declared them to be his special people. The promise was reissued at Sinai in terms of settlement in the land, and fulfilled provisionally again in the next generation’s conquest of Canaan. It was reissued again at the time of David with the promise that David’s son would reign on the throne eternally, and that promise received fulfillment in the coming of the Messiah Jesus. Thus, the promises of the Old Testament have a “transformable quality” that allows them to be fulfilled in ways different from those in which they were originally understood.

If Wright is correct about this, he provides some basis for Holwerda’s approach. Holwerda’s claim that the New Testament “universalizes” the prophetic promises of a geographically restored Israel and a gloriously restored temple may be examples of how the Old Testament promises could be fulfilled in ways that were not readily understood at the time they were given.

Wright’s book is much more than a discussion of how the New Testament uses the Old, however. It is a brief theology of Jesus and his teaching in light of the Old Testament. It begins with a survey of the prominent theological themes of the Old Testament and includes, along with a discussion of the theoretical relationship between the Old Testament and the New, chapters on Jesus’ “identity,” “mission,” and “values.”

Jesus is God’s Son in the Gospels in the same way that Israel is God’s son in the Old Testament, with the crucial difference that whereas Israel rebelled against its Father, Jesus was obedient. Jesus’ mission is best comprehended under the Old Testament categories of Son of Man and Suffering Servant, again titles applied to Israel in the Old Testament, but melded together in Jesus’ mind so that Jesus as the Son of Man is not only the victorious Savior and coming Judge, but one who suffers in place of others and in obedience to God.

Jesus’ “values,” by which Wright seems to mean his ethical teaching, are also drawn from the Old Testament, whose emphases can be summarized in three statements: “God comes first,” “persons matter more than things,” and “needs matter more than rights.” Far from abrogating the Jewish law, Jesus emphasized precisely these issues and so brought “into full clarity the inherent values and priorities of the Torah.”

Walter Kaiser’s “The Messiah in the Old Testament” focuses upon every passage in the Old Testament that Kaiser considers a “direct prophecy” of the messianic age. Kaiser’s interpretive perspective stands in contrast to that of Holwerda and Wright. He believes that each of the passages he considers was intended to refer to the Messiah by the author who penned it and could have been understood as messianic by those who first read it. Modern readers of the Old Testament who fail to see how the original authors and readers of such texts could have understood them to be messianic are, like the two on the Emmaus road, “ignorant and slow in heart to believe everything the prophets spoke” (Luke 24:25).

After explaining this approach, Kaiser’s book engages in a thorough, and often technical, commentary on each direct messianic prophecy in the Old Testament. He proceeds chronologically through the Pentateuch, to passages written before and during the Davidic monarchy, to the rest of the Psalter, and finally to the Prophets.

Many readers will remain unconvinced that every passage in Kaiser’s volume was understood to be messianic by its original author and readers. It is particularly hard to see how the enmity between serpent and woman in Genesis 3:15 could have been understood this way by its author, or how David’s imprecations upon an enemy in Psalm 109:6-19 could have originally referred to the opponent of the last of David’s line (Judas). The difficulty in seeing such texts as references in their original contexts to the Messiah and the circumstances of his life seems to demand some other approach, and the perspective of Holwerda and Wright fits the exegetical facts without sacrificing Scripture’s trustworthiness. Their perspective will probably prove more satisfactory to most readers.

All three books, however, make a significant contribution to the evangelical debate over how best to understand Jesus’ fulfillment of the Old Testament. Each comes from a senior evangelical biblical scholar whose experience in the classroom and years of learning lend maturity to his work. There is no youthful extravagance here, no experimentation, simply the fruit of years of thinking about a critical theological issue. Students, pastors, and laypeople interested in the relationship between Old and New Testaments will benefit from thinking through Kaiser’s perspective and learning from his detailed analysis of the relevant passages, from Wright’s illuminating examination of Jesus’ person and teaching in light of their Old Testament background, and from Holwerda’s fresh perspective on the age-old problem of Jesus and Israel. All three books illuminate Jesus’ person and identity. All three are worth buying, reading, and keeping handy for future reference.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Jesus and Israel: One Covenant or Two?” by David E. Holwerda (Eerdmans, 193 pp.; $12.99, paper)

“Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament,” by Christopher J. H. Wright (InterVarsity, 256 pp.; $14.99, paper)

“The Messiah in the Old Testament,” by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. (Zondervan, 235 pp.; $17.99, paper).

Reviewed by Frank Thielman, associate professor of divinity, Beeson Divinity School, Birmingham, Alabama.

Copyright (c) 1996 Christianity Today, Inc./CHRISTIANITY TODAY Magazine ctmar96mrj6T30586222

#3661

*

The Jesus Model of Transactional Discipleship:

1. MODEL: He did it.

They watch as observers, uninvolved, from a distance.

2. MENTOR: He did it and they were with Him.

They are involved.

3. MONITOR: They did it and He was with them.

They take the lead with His help.

4. MOTIVATE: They did it and He was in the background encouraging them.

5. MULTIPLY: They did it.

Someone else observes, uninvolved, from a distance.

(1 & 5 are identical, 2 & 4 are complementary opposites)

[see also #2851]

Sermon in Fresh Look at Jesus series. Jesus confronts sins. Matt 21:8-14

[full text at end]

==========

HARD JESUS

==========

I. Does Christmas bring out the worst in you?

A. Our sentimental image of Jesus.

B. Sometimes Jesus was ticked off, too.

II. Jesus could be confrontive.

A. His anger against religious leaders grew over the years.

B. An example of quieter confrontation. Luke 14:1,16-24

C. Jesus took a stand against the status quo.

III. What Christians should be ticked off about.

A. Taking a stand against sin.

B. There is a place for anger.

IV. But Jesus does more than speak against wrongs.

A. Kindness was his usual reaction, instead of anger.

B. Right after cleansing Temple, Jesus heals a blind man. 21:14

C. Taking a stand for righteousness and compassion.

V. Encountering the real Jesus.

A. How would Jesus react to YOU?

B. Meeting Jesus should change us.

#4427

==============================================================================

Full text sermon:

Rev. David Holwick ZP "A FRESH LOOK AT JESUS" sermon series

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

December 13, 1998

Matthew 21:8-14

==========

HARD JESUS

==========

SERMON SUMMARY: Most people have a soft, stained-glass image of Jesus,

but he could be hard and confrontive. Christians should take stands

for righteousness, but with compassion.

I. Does Christmas bring out the worst in you?

A. Putting up tree, relatives, standing in line in cold only

to find out it is the line for Santa.

1) Royal fights and hard feelings.

2) What about peace on earth?

B. Sometimes Jesus was ticked off too.

1) But in a different way than us.

2) An importantly different way.

II. Our sentimental image of Jesus.

A. It is easy to picture him as kind and loving.

1) Looking at our stained glass windows you can almost hear

organ music.

2) Matthew 21 paints an entirely different picture, however.

a) It is challenging to visualize an angry Jesus.

B. Jesus, enraged and impassioned, took a stand.

1) No one was going to turn his Father's house into a den

of con artists.

2) He squared off against sin.

C. Various reactions.

1) Vendors not thrilled.

2) Management wanted to check his credentials.

3) Disciples not embarrassed - all four gospels mention event.

III. Why was it such an unforgettable moment?

A. Jesus normally shows remarkable self restraint.

1) "My yoke is easy and my burden is light."

2) This makes his anger all the more remarkable.

B. How would Jesus feel about Christmas?

1) Temple merchants were saints compared to us.

a) Toy stores do 80% of business this month (?)

b) Many families end up in crushing debt for stuff that will

be broken or forgotten in a matter of weeks.

2) Lots of commerce, little spirituality.

a) Jesus wouldn't be thrilled.

IV. Jesus could be confrontive.

A. His anger against religious leaders grew over the years.

1) Blind guides, vipers, wicked generation, Sodom & Gomorrah.

B. An example of quieter confrontation. Luke 14:1,16-24

1) Dinner at Pharisee's house, command to invite beggars.

2) Harsh punch line - "Not one of those men who were invited

will get a taste of my banquet."

C. Jesus took a stand against the status quo.

1) He smashed Temple courtyards.

2) He spoiled parties.

3) He made people very uncomfortable.

V. What Christians should be ticked off about.

A. Taking a stand against sin.

1) Hard to do when we don't feel adequate ourselves.

2) We would rather drop broad hints and let Spirit do the rest.

Henry David Thoreau once said:

"For every thousand hacking at the limbs of evil,

there is ONE cutting at its root."

#2517

3) Yet where would America be if a handful of people had

not gotten angry against slavery, child labor, drunk

driving?

B. There is a place for anger.

1) Church should have anger against moral & spiritual decay.

2) That anger should begin with us.

VI. But Jesus does more than speak against wrongs.

A. Kindness was his usual reaction, instead of anger.

1) Astounding that where we would justify rage, Jesus is kind.

a) Judas greeted as, "Friend." Matt 26:50

b) Arresting servant/soldier healed. Luke 22:51

c) On cross he forgives his enemies. Luke 23:34

2) His blood washed away rage.

B. Right after cleansing Temple, Jesus heals a blind man. 21:14

1) Jesus did not miss a beat, changing from wrath to

compassion.

2) He could have played it safe.

a) It takes courage to challenge the status quo.

b) It also takes courage to do good.

3) Taking a stand is more than opposing sin.

a) It also requires ministering to the hurting.

b) Jesus spoke out AGAINST stuff, but also spoke up

FOR stuff.

VII. Taking a stand for righteousness and compassion.

A. We don't feel adequate here, either.

1) Easier to drop coins in the Salvation Army kettle.

2) How to deal with people like Jesus did.

Daniel Brown is pastor of The Coastlands Church in Aptos,

California.

He says one of the great challenges of leadership is

learning to confront people.

He gives these six principles:

a) Avoid avoidance.

Often we think, if I just ignore the problem, it

might go away.

However, most problems that require confrontations

are infections: if we ignore them, they get worse.

b) Focus on prevention.

Try to address problems before they become crises.

c) Receive permission.

I may ask, "Do you want everything Jesus has in mind

for you?" Or, "Would you like to know what I see

in your life right now?"

The person is more likely to receive the correcting

advice since he or she has already agreed to hear it.

d) Build on people's strengths.

If we tell people only where they're wrong, they'll

become discouraged.

We need to show people where they're right, at the

very least affirming them as unique, beloved

creations of God.

e) Instill hope.

Have a clear sense of the bright future Jesus Christ

has for people.

Then we'll have less trouble confronting them for

their spiritual benefit.

f) Wrap truth in mercy.

A verse that transformed Pastor Brown's ministry was

Proverbs 3:3; in the King James version it says,

"Let not mercy and truth forsake thee."

3) Confronting others will never be easy or pleasant.

But if we want to see people change, we will have to develop

the courage and skills to do it as well as we can.

#3280

B. Paul felt the tension himself. Eph 6:19-20

1) Jesus is our guide.

2) He is our source for fearlessness and courage.

3) His Spirit helps us discern the motives and needs of those

around us.

4) His Spirit gives wisdom, guiding us as to the what, when,

and how of taking stands.

VIII. Encountering the real Jesus.

A. How would Jesus react to YOU?

1) Jesus confronts us with our true selves.

2) He makes us aware of sin in our lives.

3) Woman at well: "Come meet the man who told me everything

I ever did." John 4:29

B. Meeting Jesus should change us.

===========================================================================

SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:

This series was inspired by Issue 56 of Discipleship Journal, March 1990,

and this sermon is modelled on the article "The Intruder," by

Joni Eareckson Tada, page 25. [summary below]

#2517, Henry David Thoreau, quoted in the Baptist Peace Fellowship

Newsletter, April 1993

#3280, "When You Need To Confront," by Daniel Brown, Leadership magazine,

Spring 1995, pages 136-91.

These and 4,300 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,

absolutely free, at http://users.nac.net/wdh2000/illust.html

=======================================================================

ARTICLE SUMMARIES:

Joni Eareckson Tada, "The Intruder," Discipleship Journal #56,

March 1990, page 24.

==============================================================

I. Our image of Jesus.

A. It is easy to picture him as kind and loving.

1) Looking at our stained glass windows you can almost hear

organ music.

2) Matthew 21 paints an entirely different picture.

3) It is challenging to visualize an angry Jesus.

B. Jesus, enraged and impassioned, took a stand.

1) No one was going to turn his Father's house into a den

of con artists.

2) He squared off against sin.

C. An example of quieter confrontation.

1) Dinner at Pharisee's house, command to invite beggars.

2) Harsh punch line - "Not one of those men who were invited

will get a taste of my banquet."

3) He took a stand against the status quo.

a) He smashed Temple courtyards.

b) He spoiled parties.

c) But he does more than speak against wrongs.

II. Right after the cleansing, Jesus heals a blind man.

A. Jesus did not miss a beat, changing from wrath to compassion.

1) He could have played it safe.

2) It takes courage to challenge the status quo.

a) It also takes courage to do good.

B. Taking a stand is more than opposing sin.

1) It also requires ministering to the hurting.

2) Jesus spoke out AGAINST stuff, but also spoke up FOR stuff.

III. What does it mean for us to be Christ-like?

A. Taking a stand against sin.

1) Hard to do when we don't feel adequate ourselves.

2) We would rather drop broad hints and let Spirit do the rest.

B. Taking a stand for righteousness and compassion.

1) We don't feel adequate here, either.

2) Easier to drop coins in the Salvation Army kettle.

C. Paul felt the tension himself. Eph 6:19-20

1) Jesus is our guide.

2) He is our source for fearlessness and courage.

3) His Spirit helps us discern the motives and needs of those

around us.

4) His Spirit gives wisdom, guiding us as to the what, when,

and how of taking stands.

D. We must take a stand, no matter what.

1) Righteous anger to correct a "wrong."

2) Sensitive compassion to help make a "right."

James Long, "When Blood Washed Away Rage," Discipleship Journal #87,

May 1995, page 39.

====================================================================

I. Jesus died without anger.

A. We live with anger.

1) Wars, abuse, road rage.

2) Personal irritations.

B. Jesus showed self-restraint.

1) He is like us, and yet in contrast to us.

2) He was tactful in tricky situations.

3) He went about doing good.

4) He held his temper. (cleansing temple)

a) He was in total control, even when angry.

b) Offended by commercialism in temple area.

II. Various reactions.

A. Vendors not thrilled.

B. Management wanted to check his credentials.

C. Disciples not embarrassed.

1) All four gospels mention event.

2) Why was it such an unforgettable moment?

III. Jesus was different than us.

A. Jesus was angry for us, on our behalf.

B. His anger against religious leaders grew over the years.

1) Blind guides, snakes, wicked generation, Sodom & Gomorrah.

C. Anger can be O.K.

1) Church should have indignant urge against immoral society.

IV. Kindness instead of anger.

A. Astounding where we would justify rage, Jesus is kind.

1) Judas greeted as, "Friend."

2) Arresting servant/soldier healed.

3) On cross he forgives his enemies.

B. His blood washed away rage.

#4460

*

*

"A FRESH LOOK AT JESUS" sermon series Luke 8:26-39

WHAT CAN JESUS DO TO YOU?

=========================

SERMON SUMMARY: A short communion sermon. Jesus was in the business of

changing people, including "hard cases." We tend to be skeptical but

Jesus can even change us.

I. Jesus changed people.

A. Jesus had a way of getting people's attention.

1) He got noticed by religious types.

2) The "sinners" didn't just notice him, they followed him.

a) It usually brought a drastic change in their life.

B. One of most dramatic conversions - the Crazy Man of Gerasenes.

1) He was the ultimate outcast.

a) He didn't wear clothes or live in society. 8:27,29

b) He was violent and psychotic.

1> Chained and guarded, but still broke free.

2> Self-mutilation. (Mark's version)

c) Jesus' diagnosis is demon-possession.

1> Symptoms are similar to mental illness, but not

identical. Luke 4:40-41

2> Note the supernatural knowledge -and fear- of Jesus.

3> He was enslaved by evil.

2) Jesus delivers him. 8:35

a) The demons vacate.

b) The man returns home as an evangelist.

1> He simply tells what Jesus has done for him.

C. A great story - can it happen today?

II. Our skepticism.

A. Are some people beyond help and redemption?

In 1975 at the old prison at Windsor, Vermont, a particular

prisoner applied for parole.

The mood of society at the time leaned toward prisoners and

questioned - even challenged - authorities.

To all who knew him the inmate in question seemed an intensely

dangerous man.

One day in his cell in the oldest part of the prison, in the

basement, the prisoner lit lighter fluid over himself.

A brave and determined guard rushed in and saved him.

The incident came to the attention of a Windsor minister and

his wife.

It seemed to them that kindness might affect something here.

They asked that the prisoner be paroled in their custody.

Every employee at the prison was utterly against the idea.

The parole board voted for it.

Guard Mike Coxon called the area superior of the minister and

begged him to tell the pastor not to take in the prisoner.

He told the bishop that the minister and his wife had neither

the knowledge nor the experience to deal with such a person.

The bishop would not be moved.

"We'll hear about this sooner rather than later," Coxon said

when he saw it was no use going on.

The prisoner went to live with the minister and his wife, and

in a little while he entered the home of a Windsor family.

The parents were away, and their nine-year-old son was being

baby-sat by his seventeen-year-old aunt.

The prisoner assaulted the teenager.

He stabbed the child to death.

Coxon was home in bed when Windsor's police chief

called with the news.

#962

1) Can we rise above Nature - above our genetics, upbringing?

B. Many feel religion gives us comfort but we remain the same.

1) Jesus disagreed.

III. How Jesus does it.

A. Jesus gives us a new position with God.

1) He justifies us. No one can take it away.

B. He begins a moral revolution in our souls.

[expand...]

C. He places us in fellowship of like-minded believers.

1) Christians should sharpen other Christians.

2) We should be an inspiration to others.

Johnny Hart is one of the best-known cartoonists in America,

drawing "B.C." and "The Wizard of Id" every day.

If you follow those strips, you know that Hart is a

born-again Christian.

At Christmas, Easter and even Halloween his cartoons speak

directly of the good news of Jesus.

Yet Hart admits that for years he was anything but serious

about his walk with God.

He sought pleasure, enjoying the luxuries his successful

career offered.

Johnny had made a commitment to Christ in his earlier years

but never lived it out.

"My wife Bobby and I had backslidden and fallen into a life

of drinking and partying," Johnny recalls.

They ran with the "Hollywood types," yet he was becoming

less and less satisfied.

Then Hart had a satellite dish hooked up at his estate.

A Christian father-and-son team installed it, and temporarily

lived on-site with the Harts.

The two workers were always flipping the dish to a Christian

channel.

Hart jokes that they "used PTL as their test pattern."

He began viewing the shows as well.

Challenged by what he was hearing, Johnny and Bobby began

going back to their Bibles.

With time, the couple's commitment to the Lord solidified.

"Probably the biggest realization -- and it came to me very

subtly -- was that the Bible is the Word of God.

Johnny and Bobby now have set their lives on a course of

service.

Both teach Sunday school at the Presbyterian church in a

small town in upstate New York.

All because a Christian satellite dish installer didn't

hide his faith.

#4465

IV. We must decide to change.

A. Others can't save you.

1) The villagers tried to help "Legion" but couldn't.

a) Even your own family can't save you.

2) Legion's encounter with Jesus is what made the difference.

B. It is never too late. [below not given in actual sermon]

The story of "Wrong Way Riegels" is a familiar one, but it

is worth repeating.

On New Year's Day, 1929, Georgia Tech played UCLA in the

Rose Bowl.

In that game a young man named Roy Riegels recovered a fumble

for UCLA.

Picking up the loose ball, he lost his direction and ran

sixty-five yards toward the wrong goal line.

One of his teammates, Beeny Lom, ran him down and tackled him

just before he scored for the opposing team.

Several plays later UCLA had to punt.

Tech blocked the kick and scored a safety, demoralizing the

UCLA team.

The strange play came in the first half.

At halftime the UCLA players filed off the field and into

the dressing room.

As others sat down on the benches and the floor, Riegels put

a blanket around his shoulders, sat down in a corner, and

put his face in his hands.

A football coach usually has a great deal to say to his team

during halftime.

That day Coach Price was quiet.

No doubt he was trying to decide what to do with Riegels.

When the timekeeper came in and announced that there were

three minutes before playing time, Coach Price looked at

the team and said,

"Men, the same team that played the first half will start

the second."

The players got up and started out, all but Riegels.

He didn't budge.

The coach looked back and called to him.

"Roy, didn't you hear me? The same team that played the first

half will start the second."

Roy Riegels looked up, his cheeks wet with tears.

"Coach," he said, "I can't do it.

I've ruined you.

I've ruined the university's reputation.

I've ruined myself.

I can't face the crowd out there."

Coach Price reached out, put his hand on Riegels' shoulder,

and said, "Roy, get up and go back.

"The game is only half over."

Riegels finally did get up, and he played hard and well.

All of us have run a long way in the wrong direction.

Because of the forgiveness offered in Jesus Christ, however,

the game is only half over.

#2090

V. Have you been changed?

A. Does your faith feel like the real thing?

1) Do you sense the presence of God, when you are in church,

or personal prayer or Bible study?

B. Is your lifestyle along the lines of Jesus' commands?

C. Are you open about your faith?

1) Be a witness where you live.

=======================================================================

SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:

This series was inspired by Issue 56 of Discipleship Journal, March 1990.

#962, "In Windsor Prison," by Gene Smith, American Heritage Magazine,

May 1996, page 108.

#2090, "To Illustrate: Forgiveness," by Wayne Rouse (Astoria, Illinois),

Leadership Magazine, Spring 1992.

#4465, "Johnny Hart: Not Caving In," by Joe Maxwell, Online Christian

Reader Magazine, March 1997.

These and 4,500 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,

absolutely free, at http://users.nac.net/wdh2000/illust.html

#4462

*

Every few months, it seems, a new article pops up claiming that Jesus was racist.

The claim is based on the story of Jesus healing the daughter of a Syrophoenician woman (Matt. 15:21–28; Mark 7:24–30). When the woman asks Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter, he says, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” The woman responds, “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table,” at which point Jesus commends her faith and heals her daughter instantly. Until now, the argument goes, Jesus has been racist, dismissing foreign people as “dogs.” Supposedly, this encounter shows him the error of his ways.

We could respond at several levels. Theologically, we know Jesus was without sin (Heb. 4:15). Exegetically, the Syrophoenician encounter resembles many other healing stories in the Gospels that take the same broad shape: a request for healing, followed by a dialogue where Jesus raises the stakes (“Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Who touched me?” “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”), with the miracle completing the sequence.

Canonically, we should note the Gentiles Christ has healed already (Matt. 8:5–13, 28–34), not to mention his conversation with a Samaritan woman, which scandalized his disciples (John 4:1–42). And historically, talking about “race” in this period is anachronistic in the first place. It’s also implausible that Matthew, who opens with Gentile Magi worshiping the newborn King and finishes with a commission to go and make disciples of all nations, would include a story meant to portray Jesus as motivated by ethnic prejudice.

These are powerful arguments against deeming Jesus a racist. But ultimately, the best reason to resist this verdict is contextual. When we consider the Syrophoenician encounter within Matthew (and Mark) as a whole, we realize that Jesus’ provocative dialogue is making a crucial point about the breadth of his mission.

Much of Matthew 13–16 is about bread. There are parables about seeds, wheat, yeast, and flour (13:1–43), followed by Jesus providing bread for 5,000 people (14:13–21) and a debate about washing hands and eating meals (15:1–20). Then comes the Syrophoenician healing story, with its images of “bread” and “crumbs.” From there we have another story of Jesus providing bread, this time for 4,000 (15:32–39), and another debate about bread and the “leaven” of the Pharisees and Sadducees (16:5–12, ESV).

Together, these passages use food to explore the boundaries of God’s people. Are the Gentiles defiled by failing to observe Jewish food laws? And are they welcome to eat the “crumbs” that fall from the Jewish table? The answers to both questions reveal the widening scope of God’s welcome. What makes people clean is not the food that goes in but the behavior that comes out (15:11). And Gentiles who approach Christ in faith receive what they desire (15:28).

The two miraculous bread stories illustrate God’s plans for a multiethnic kingdom. The 5,000 at the first meal were Israelites; there were 12 basketfuls left over, one for each tribe. By contrast, the feeding of the 4,000 — occurring immediately after Jesus heals the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter — takes place in the Decapolis, which is Gentile territory (Mark 7:31). Even though Israel eats first, the Gentiles are fed too. The “children” are provided for, but the “dogs” receive bread as well. This fits the message of Matthew as a whole: Christ’s mission is first to the Jews (Matt. 10:5–6) and then to the Gentiles (28:19).

One other layer to this story is worth mentioning. Jesus is the second example in Scripture of a prophet running from the official king and queen of Israel, encountering a desperate Gentile woman, having a conversation about food, and healing her child. In Elijah’s case (1 Kings 17:7–24), the woman provides food for the prophet. But the Bread of Life is different. He provides the food himself — not just for one person (or people group), but for the starving thousands, and indeed the world.

________

Andrew Wilson is teaching pastor at King’s Church London

Christianity is Jesus.

God didn't drop a scroll of theology from heaven. He

came Himself. Finishing the course on the New Testament, a Greek

professor told his class: "You have studied Christ himself, the whole Christ,

all of Christ. When you study the Bible, you are studying the Lord himself.

For all

we know of the Lord is encompassed in these sacred pages." Believers

study to understand Jesus.

One Guy Didn't

Three guys were tried for crimes against humanity.

Two guys committed crimes.

One guy didn't.

Three guys were given government trials.

Two guys had fair trials.

One guy didn't.

Three guys were whipped and beaten.

Two guys had it coming.

One guy didn't.

Three guys were given crosses to carry.

Two guys earned their crosses.

One guy didn't.

Three guys were mocked and spit at along the way.

Two guys cursed and spit back.

One guy didn't.

Three guys were nailed to crosses.

Two guys deserved it.

One guy didn't.

Three guys agonized over their abandonment.

Two guys had reason to be abandoned.

One guy didn't.

Three guys talked while hanging on their crosses.

Two guys argued.

One guy didn't.

Three guys knew death was coming.

Two guys resisted.

One guy didn't.

One.

Two.

Three guys died on three crosses.

Three days later.

Two guys remained in their graves.

One guy didn't.

Professor W. G. Moorhead of Xenia Theological Seminary told me that one day that he was returning to his home from one of his journeys, and wanted to take with him some present for his children. He decided at last that the present should be a dissected map. When he gave it to his two girls he said, “Now if you can put this together you will know more of geography than if you studied a book.”

They worked very patiently, but at last one of them rose to her feet, saying, “I cannot put it together,” and said the great Bible teacher, “it was an awful jumble.” They had a part of North America in South America, and other mistakes quite as serious were made.

Suddenly, however, the larger one who was still on her knees, discovered that the other side of one piece of the map was a man’s hand. Curiosity prompted her to turn over the other piece and there was a part of his face, and then her fingers working rapidly she turned over every piece of the man, and called to her sister saying, “Come back, there is a man on the other side, let us put the man together first.”

Almost instantly, said the father, the figure of the man was completed, and when the map was turned over every river and lake, every mountain and plain was in the proper place.

And this said Dr. Moorhead, is the secret of Bible study. Put the man, Christ Jesus, together first. Jesus in Genesis is the same as Jesus in the Revelation. The fact is there is one name that binds the book together. Learn the meaning of that name, and you have gotten hold of the power of the Bible.

________

From “Present Day Parables” by J. Wilbur Chapman

The White House Press Briefing Room seldom allows for theological debate, but a last-minute question from an “unbiased” journalist turned the White House press corps into unsuspecting seminary students.

As Press Secretary Ari Fleischer finished his work on Feb. 6, 2003, a final question flew toward the podium. A reporter referenced a letter sent to President Bush from the National Council of Churches expressing “unease” regarding the president's “moral justification for war on Iraq.” Fleischer responded that the president was a “deeply religious man” and would act to protect the nation as commander-in-chief.

Stepping up to the pulpit, the presumptuous reporter began his sermon: “You just said the president is a deeply religious man. Jesus Christ was an absolute pacifist. How does the president square his militarism with Jesus' pacifism?”

Several of his colleagues erupted in protest. “No, he wasn't,” one reporter shouted. Another sought to educate the uninformed. “How about the time at the temple with a whip, where he beat those money-changers? Does that sound like he's an absolute pacifist?”

Journalism as theology aside, was Jesus a pacifist?

Holy Scripture teaches that Jesus did not ultimately seek to bring about a better version of a fallen world, but to inaugurate a new kingdom where the present heavens and earth would be re-made with no trace of sin at the end of time. The nations will be his inheritance as all mankind bows to his authority. The drama of history marches on to bring to fulfillment all Christ accomplished in his life, death and resurrection.

Jesus achieved his goal through unconventional war. He came not to battle the visible pawns of power -- the governmental leaders and tyrants of his time or ours -- but the invisible principalities and powers of the world as presided over by Satan. Undoing the impact of mankind's fall in the Garden of Eden demanded that he destroy not the fruit but the root of sin. Spiritual force had to be used to cast out sinful power -- the sole source of all earthly tyranny, murder and war.

In the proper light, Jesus is seen as a mighty warrior who stopped at nothing to conquer evil. Jesus is revolutionary.

To suppose that this present age understands Jesus in ways contrary to John the Baptist and the apostles Paul and Peter is to think that eyewitnesses to Christ's words and actions are less reliable than the opinions of modern theologians. C.S. Lewis said, “If Our Lord's words are taken in the unqualified sense which the Pacifist demands, we shall then be forced to the conclusion that Christ's true meaning, concealed from those who lived in the same time and spoke the same language, and whom he himself chose to be his messengers to the world, has at last been discovered in our own time.”

The very idea that Jesus was not a pacifist goes against the grain of prevailing liberal myths. He did instruct his followers to live peacefully with one another without vengeance, for God has delegated the power of the sword to the state as his authorized agent against the evil powers of the age. Yet many modern theologians and pastors tell the story of evil as the saga of vast impersonal forces at work with only the church to speak up for peace. War, a remnant of the fall, will remain constant in human existence until the end.

As tragic and horrible as war is, those ordering or involved in conflict with a moral justification can be assured that God is not against them.

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #4080]

The Sunday school lesson for the day was about Noah's Ark, so the preschool teacher in our Kentucky church decided to get her small pupils involved by playing a game in which they identified animals.

"I'm going to describe something to you. Let's see if you can guess what it is. First: I'm furry with a bushy tail and I like to climb trees."

The children looked at her blankly.

"I also like to eat nuts, especially acorns."

No response. This wasn't going well at all!

"I'm usually brown or gray, but sometimes I can be black or red."

Desperate, the teacher turned to a perky four-year-old who was usually good about coming up with the answers. "Michelle, what do you think?"

Michelle looked hesitantly at her classmates and replied, "Well, I know the answer has to be Jesus - but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me!"

________

By Susan Webber from Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul, Copyright 1997 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubery and Nancy Mitchell

(ACCEPTING HIM)

The very wealthy English Baron Fitzgerald had only one child, a son, who understandably was the apple of his eye, the center of his affections, an only child, the focus of this little family's attention.

The son grew up, but in his early teens his mother died, leaving him and his father. Fitzgerald grieved over the loss of his wife but devoted himself to fathering their son. In the passing of time, the son became very ill and died in his late teens. In the meantime, the Fitzgerald financial holdings greatly increased. The father had used much of his wealth to acquire art works of the "masters."

And with the passing of more time, Fitzgerald himself became ill and died. Previous to his death he had carefully prepared his will with explicit instructions as to how his estate would be settled. He had directed that there would be an auction in which his entire collection of art would be sold. Because of the quantity and quality of the art works in his collection which was valued in the millions of English pounds, a huge crowd of prospective buyers gathered, expectantly. Among them were many museum curators and private collectors eager to bid.

The art works were displayed for viewing before the auction began. Among them was one painting which received little attention. It was of poor quality and done by an unknown local artist. It happened to be a portrait of Fitzgerald's only son.

When the time came for the auction to begin, the auctioneer gaveled the crowd to attention and before the bidding began, the attorney read first from the will of Fitzgerald which instructed that the first painting to be auctioned was the painting of "my beloved son."

The poor quality painting didn't receive any bidders…except one! The only bidder was the old servant who had known the son and loved him and served him and for sentimental reasons offered the only bid. For less than an English pound he bought the painting.

The auctioneer stopped the bidding and asked the attorney to read again from the will. The crowd was hushed, it was quite unusual, and the attorney read from the Fitzgerald will: "Whoever buys the painting of my son gets all my art collection. The auction is over!"

In today's world, everyone wants the Father's blessings. They want God to heal them of their physical aliments, provide them with nice things, give them good jobs, and guarantee them salvation. They want all of God's blessings, but they are not interested in God's son. They have no use for Jesus. But unless people accept and embrace the son, there are no blessings from God. All of God's inheritance and blessings are given to only those who love and bid for His son!

More Stories From The Heart

Alice Gray, Multnomah, pp. 126-127.

JESUS

(LOVE OF)

I hurried into the local department store to grab some last minute Christmas gifts. I looked at all the people and grumbled to myself, "I am going to be in here forever."

Christmas was beginning to become such a drag. I kinda wished that I could just sleep through Christmas. But I hurried the best I could, and finally made my way to the toy department. Once again I kind of mumbled to myself at the prices of all these toys, and wondered if the grandkids would even play with them.

I found myself in the doll aisle. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a little boy about 5 holding a lovely doll. He kept touching her hair and he held her so gently. I could not seem to help myself. I just kept looking over at the little boy and wondered who the doll was for. I watched him turn to his aunt and say, "Are you sure I don't have enough money?" She replied a bit impatiently, "You know that you don't have enough money for it." The aunt told the little boy not to go anywhere that she had to go get some other things and would be back in a few minutes. And then she left the aisle.

The boy continued to hold the doll. After a bit, I ask the boy who the doll was for. He said, "It's the doll my sister wanted so badly for Christmas. She just knew that Santa would bring it." I told him that maybe Santa was going to bring it. He said "No, Santa can't go where my sister is, I have to give the doll to my Momma to take to her. I asked him where his sister was. He looked at me with the saddest eyes and said "She has gone to be with Jesus. My Daddy says that Momma is going to have to go to be with her."

My heart nearly stopped beating. Then the boy looked at me again and said, "I told my Daddy to tell Momma not to go yet. I told him to tell her to wait till I got back from the store." Then he asked me if I wanted to see his picture. I told him I would love to. He pulled out some pictures he'd had taken at the front of the store. He said "I want my Momma to take this with her so she don't ever forget me. I love my Momma so very much and I wish she did not have to leave me. But Daddy says she needs to be with my sister."

I saw that the little boy had lowered his head and had grown so very quiet. While he was not looking I reached into my purse and pulled out a hand full of bills. I asked the little boy, "Shall we count that money one more time?" He grew excited and said, "Yes, I just know it has to be enough," so I slipped my money in with his and we began to count it. And of course it was plenty for the doll. He softly said, "Thank you Jesus for giving me enough money." Then the boy said, "I just asked Jesus to give me enough money to buy this doll so Momma can take it with her to give to my sister. And he heard my prayer. I wanted to ask him for enough to buy my Momma a white rose, but I didn't, but he gave me enough to buy the doll and a rose for my Momma. She loves white roses so very, very much."

In a few minutes the aunt came back and I wheeled my cart away. I could not keep from thinking about the little boy as I finished my shopping in a totally different spirit than when I had started. And I kept remembering a story I had seen in the newspaper several days earlier. In the story, a family was deciding on whether to remove the life support. Now surely this little boy did not belong with that story. Two days later I read in the paper where the family had disconnected the life support and the young woman had died.

I could not forget the little boy and just kept wondering if the two were somehow connected. Later that day, I could not help myself. I went out and bought some white roses and took them to the funeral home where the young woman was. In the casket, the young mother was holding a lovely white rose, the beautiful doll, and the picture of the little boy in the store. I left there in tears, my life changed forever.

The love that little boy had for his little sister and his mother was overwhelming. It is the same kind of love that Jesus has for you and me.

Written By V. A. Bailey

JESUS

(OUR SUBSTITUTION)

A particular church recently received personal greetings from the Kejave Medical Center staff in Kenya and read of the following amazing story.

Eight-year-old Monica broke her leg as she fell into a pit. An older woman, Mama Njeri, happened along and climbed into the pit to help get Monica out. In the process, a dangerous black Mamba snake bit both Mama Njeri and Monica. Monica was taken to Kejave Medical Center and admitted. Mama Njeri went home, but never awoke from her sleep.

The next day a perceptive missionary nurse explained Mama Njeri's death to Monica, telling her that the snake had bitten both of them, but all of the snake's poison was expended on Mama Njeri; none was given to Monica. The nurse then explained that Jesus had taken the poison of Monica's sin so that she could have new life. It was an easy choice for Monica. She became a Christian.

The Tale Of The Tardy Oxcart

Charles R. Swindoll, Word, p. 541.

Boldness/Jesus

Regardless of your political views or preferences, you have to respect an individual who takes a bold stand for the Lord, at a time when that is politically incorrect. George W. Bush was asked in the Republican debate in Iowa on December 13, 1999, what philosopher had affected his life in the greatest way. Bush replied, "Christ-because He changed my heart."

Christ is the Word of God. It is not in certain texts written in the New Testament, valuable as they are; it is not in certain words which Jesus spoke, vast as is their preciousness; it is in the Word, which Jesus is, that the great manifestation of God is made.

... Phillips Brooks

The Revelation of God is not a book or a doctrine, but a living Person.

... Emil Brunner

A FILM crammed with references to sex and drugs and featuring Jesus as a 15-year-old schoolboy and Mary Magdalene as a single mother is the latest ploy to woo young people back to church.

In an effort to curb the decline in young church-goers, a missionary agency has made a 30-minute film on an £8,000 budget with teenagers playing the leading parts.

Called An Absence of Stones, the film will be screened in secondary schools this autumn with the aim of convincing teenagers of the relevance of the Bible to their lives. It contains references to drugs and violence with the Judas figure portrayed as a drug-taking schoolgirl who betrays Jesus for a "hit" of cocaine.

At one point Jesus accompanies Mary Magdalene to an abortion clinic, although he says he "hates" what she has done. In the end she decides to keep the baby.

Instead of a crucifixion scene, Jesus is murdered by a schoolfriend and is resurrected in a Leicestershire beauty spot. Nigel Roberts, scriptwriter and producer for Youth for Christ, said his aim was to defy the Church's "stuffy" image.

Anthony Kilmister, spokesman for the Prayer Book Society, which has the Bishop of London as its patron, attacked the film as "a distortion" of the Bible and "harmful" to young people.

c Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2001.

We have seen over the past two days how Jesus, when faced with the news that some Greeks wanted to interview Him, appeared to be precipitated into a spiritual crisis. Whatever we make of this incident in the life of our Lord, it is fairly obvious that some deep struggle is going on inside Him. And the terms of that struggle are also clear: "What shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour" (John 12:27). This passage in John 12 underlines most powerfully the humanity of Jesus. We see Him recoiling for a moment D and only for a moment - from the grim ordeal that He was about to face on Calvary, but He comes through to reaffirm His unswerving commitment to His Father's eternal will and purpose. Note once again the truth that seemed to sustain Him in this dark and crucial hour: "I must fall and die like a grain of wheat that falls between the furrows of the earth. Unless I die I will be alone - a single seed. But my death will produce many new wheat grains - a plentiful harvest of new lives" (John 12:23-24, TLB). He gave a blank cheque to God signed in His own blood. He would fall into the ground and die and bear a rich and bountiful harvest. He aligned Himself with self-giving and not self-saving. The momentous issue with which our Lord struggled in that hour is similar to the one which you and I are being called to face in these meditations - to die or not to die. The way we respond to it will determine our life-direction.

PRAYER: Father, I sense that quietly things are heading toward a moment of crisis in my life - a crisis of commitment. Help me to see these things, not merely as a matter for discussion, but a matter for decision. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY: Phil. 2:1-8; Psa. 40:8; 143:10; Eph. 6.6

1. What was God's will for His Son?

2. How did Jesus respond?

Under the commonly held concept of the balanced life, Jesus was often out of balance. He missed meals, worked long hours, and seemed to have many short nights. We find Jesus getting up early to pray when He probably could have used the sleep (Mark 1:35). He even spent forty days praying and fasting, to the point that the angels had to minister to Him.

Yet as we read through the gospels, we don’t get the impression that Jesus was always pressing Himself and His disciples to the outer limits, continually neglecting physical rest and nourishment. It is interesting to note that it was Christ — not the disciples — who was concerned about the hungry five thousand.

How did Jesus decide when it was time to minister and when to rest? His statement in John 4 gives us a clue.

Jesus and His disciples, on the way from Judea to Galilee, were tired and hungry when they stopped in a small Samaritan village. Yet Jesus set aside His needs in order to lead an adulterous Samaritan woman to the “Living Water.” As His disciples joined Him by the town well, they were concerned about His need to eat, but He wasn’t. Christ responded, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work” (John 4:34).

Jesus determined when to eat and when to abstain, when to work and when to rest by seeking His Father’s guidance. Christ’s drive was not to achieve balance, but to do the will of the Father.

”The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. He lets me rest in green pastures. He leads me to calm water. He gives me new strength. He leads me on paths that are right for the good of his name.” — Psalm 23:1-3

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. … I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, as the Father knows me. And my sheep know me, as I know the Father. I give my life for the sheep.” — John 10:11,14

“God raised from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, because of the blood of his death. His blood began the eternal agreement that God made with his people.” — Hebrews 13:20-21

Sheep aren’t smart. They tend to wander into running creeks for water, then their wool grows heavy and they drown. They need a shepherd to lead them to “calm water” (Ps. 23:2). They have no natural defense — no claws, no horns, no fangs. They are helpless. Sheep need a shepherd with a “rod and . … walking stick” (Ps. 23:4) to protect them. They have no sense of direction. They need someone to lead them “on paths that are right” (Ps. 23:3).

So do we. We, too, tend to be swept away by waters we should have avoided. We have no defense against the evil lion who prowls about seeking who he might devour. We, too, get lost.

We need a shepherd. We need a shepherd to care for us and to guide us. And we have one. One who knows us by name.

Father, thank you for giving us a Shepherd to guide us, to feed us, to anoint us. A Shepherd who loves us and cares for us. Help us not to go astray but to follow him.