A Fresh Look at Jesus Archive

"A Fresh Look at Jesus" is a weekly devotional based on the life of Jesus Christ that was sent out by e-mail from 1998-2001. This page contains some of the later devotionals. Some of the earliest devotionals in the series are found at the following links: #1-10 #11-20 #21-30 #31-36

All materials on this page are copyrighted (c) 2000 by Kenneth R. Wade. Permission to use them can usually be had just for letting me know you'd like to. I enjoy hearing from people who've visited and are interested in what they see.

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The Fresh Look at Jesus Archive

Recent installments in the Fresh Look at Jesus devotional written by Ken Wade

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Address of this page: http://www.tagnet.org/spiritquest/freshpa9.htm

08-19-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #124

Growing Faith--14

"Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?" And they were offended at Him (Mark 6:3*).

One of the difficulties of having faith in Jesus if you lived in Nazareth is hidden as a subtext in the question the people asked when Jesus spoke in their synagogue.

Jesus is by this time known to them as "the carpenter," not the "son of the carpenter." Apparently Joseph, His earthly father, is no longer living. Now Jesus comes to town, and the story goin’ round is that He has the power to heal the sick and even raise the dead.

If Jesus lived in Nazareth for 30 years or so, there were no doubt a lot of illnesses and deaths among His neighbors and relatives during that time. But there’s no record that He ever used His supernatural power to heal or raise them.

Here’s where faith gets really difficult for many people. How do you believe in God when He doesn’t make everything better for you?

Last week I shared the story of a little miracle with you--my chance to see Mt. McKinley on a recent trip.** Neat story--wonderful experience--answer to prayer. But what if I hadn’t seen it?

God often seems to keep Himself veiled behind the clouds of heaven. If you’ve been a Christian for long, I know you have prayed for a healing or blessing that didn’t come. In this week’s news, you no doubt heard of dozens of people whose homes were consumed in raging forest fires in the US, or others who suffered a disaster in your part of the world.

As always, mingled in with those stories of loss and suffering, you’ll find a few stories of people who were spared disaster, and they often say God answered their prayers and spared them.

And those who weren’t spared are left asking WHY. Why did God answer those prayers, and not mine?

Really, why would God shift the winds around Mt. McKinley so a couple of tourists can look at a mountain, but let the winds in Montana blow a fire right through another person’s life possessions?

There are no easy answers. There is both good and evil in the world, and the struggle between the two will go on until the day that Jesus returns to set everything right.

Nazareth faith is more difficult than Capernaum faith because it is more experienced in living with God. And that involves letting God be God. It involves surrendering my will and my vision of what’s best to His bigger, better plan.

The people of Nazareth could have had faith in Jesus, if they’d been willing to accept Him as the One who would decide where and when His miracles would occur. It’s when we start telling God what to do, instead of being willing to accept His plan, that our faith can most easily be destroyed.

It’s when we ask for a miracle, with no expectation that God has to supply it, that our faith can best grow.

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**Check out our pictures from Mt. McKinley, and the story "Our Vision of the Great One" at the SpiritQuest web page http://www.tagnet.org/spiritquest/ The link to the story is just a click or two down the page in the "Stories etc." section.

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08-26-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #125

Growing Faith--15

Nazareth Faith--Concluded

But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house" (Mark 6:4*).

Who should you believe in? It’s a question that’s not always easy to answer.

One day, several years ago, a man stopped by my office and told me that he believed there was a new prophet with a special message for the world, and invited me to listen to some tapes of the prophet speaking.

Maintaining an open mind, I took the tapes and listened. I’d be delighted if there was indeed a prophet with special messages for our day. But as I listened to the tapes and prayed about the messages on them, I was disappointed. There didn’t seem to be anything especially enlightening or inspired in what I was hearing, so I put the tapes aside and didn’t think much more about it.

A few years later the "prophet" became world famous as a cult leader. You’ve probably heard of him. He and many of his followers (including the man who visited me) died in a tragic fire near Waco, Texas in 1993.

This personal story is closely related to the issue of Nazareth Faith that I’ve been writing about for the past several weeks.

For the people of Nazareth, Jesus was neither the first nor the last neighbor to set himself up as a leader. No one in that little village could forget what had happened just up the road in Sepphoris--an hour’s walk away--about thirty years earlier. After the death of Herod the Great, a man named Judas son of Ezekias led a revolt and captured the royal palace in Sepphoris. When the Roman army arrived, they drove out the revolutionaries and then sold all the city’s inhabitants into slavery.

People would no doubt also remember that Joseph and Mary had been conspicuously absent from Nazareth during that troubled time--on a trip to Bethlehem and Egypt. Can’t you just hear the head of the synagogue reminding the people: "Look, just because Jesus and his family were conveniently out of town when things went bad up in Sepphoris, doesn’t mean we have to forget what happened to our neighbors! Where are they now? Dead. Or breaking their backs, living on starvation rations, tilling some senator’s wheat fields in Italy. We don’t want that kind of fate. We may need a lot of things here in Nazareth, but there’s one thing we don’t need, and that’s a local prophet or revolutionary gathering crowds and attracting the attention of the ATF and FBI!" (OK, there was no ATF or FBI in those days--but you get the point.)

The question comes down to us today. Who do you believe in? Who can you safely give your total loyalty to? Isn’t it risky to totally trust Jesus, or anyone else?

But Jesus still invites us--we who, like the inhabitants of Nazareth have known Him for decades--to abandon our doubts, be done with our questioning, give our fears to Him, and follow in full-fledged faith.

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Program 132 09-02-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #126

How Hard Is It?--1

And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff-- no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts--but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics (Mark 6:7-9*).

Is having faith in Jesus a simple, easy thing to do? Some may shout YES! Just believe! That’s all you have to do! Others don’t find the path of belief quite so simple, as we’ve noticed by looking at the reaction of the people of Nazareth.

There’s another way to look at this question as well. When we come to believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord of the world, does our life naturally become easier, less-complex, less stressful, and more peaceful?

Last winter when I was helping out at a homeless shelter, I met a man who had been traveling for several months with essentially just the clothes on his back, hitchhiking from place to place and attempting to share his faith in Jesus wherever he went. He sensed that the Lord had called him to leave all his worldly possessions behind and, at least for a time, be a vagrant missionary. And God had blessed him with several wonderful experiences. He had ridden for hundreds of miles with one truck driver, helping him sort out some major issues in his life and give his life to the Lord. Then, a few days later, in a different state, he’d been picked up again by the same driver, who needed further help.

This vagrant missionary was a divorcee who had already lost his family and most of his worldly possessions through bad business deals and bad habits, so we might rationalize that it wasn’t all that hard for him to abandon what was left of his life and hit the road for Jesus. But still, there’s nothing simple about never knowing where your next meal is going to come from or where you’ll be sleeping that night.

As the disciples followed Jesus from place to place, having faith in Him probably became easier and easier each day. Whatever need came up, He was the solution. Wake up with a sore throat? Just ask Jesus to heal it. Get caught in a storm on the lake? Just wake Jesus up, and everything calms down. Got demons? No problem, we’re traveling with the greatest Ghostbuster of them all.

But then there comes a day when Jesus calls Peter and Thomas and Thaddaeus and Judas and the other eight disciples aside and says “Ok, you’ve followed Me for quite a while now. You’ve seen how I deal with demons, illness, and even unbelief. Now it’s time for you to go out and do the same. You’re on your own, but I’ll be praying for you! And by the way, don’t take anything with you. You’re to depend totally on God and the kindness of strangers. Have fun!”

Longtime subscribers to this mailing may remember that more than a year ago we looked at Mark 3:13-19 and noticed that when Jesus first appointed the twelve, He empowered them to preach, heal, and exorcise, but that He didn’t immediately send them out to use their newly-acquired powers. He kept them with Him. I said it was kind of like a kid getting his driver’s license but still having to ride in the back seat while Dad drove.

By now the disciples had probably gotten comfortable riding in the back seat. But suddenly it’s time for them to launch out on their own. Time for their faith to go to work. Was it a frightening idea, or a thrilling one to them? Which would it be for you?

Is total belief in and commitment to Jesus always an easy thing?

We’ll look at several sides of this question in coming weeks.

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Program 133 09-09-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #127

How Hard Is It?--2

Also He said to them, "In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place” (Mark 6:10*).

This is not a reference to the Motel 6, nor does Jesus seem to be suggesting that His disciples take up residence in the Ritz Carlton and stay there as long as they were in town. Of course the options for lodging in those days were nothing like what we have today, and none of the places had a toll-free number where you could make advance reservations.

The book Jesus And His Times describes the lodging options like this:

“There was little choice in lodgings in ancient times. There were only modest inns, at best workaday, no-nonsense places designed to supply overnight shelter and a simple meal to the rank‑and‑file traveler and at worst lowly hostelries catering to sailors and carters and slaves. The owners of such establishments were the subject of special legislation in the Roman law, since a guest was completely at their mercy and the law was aware that, as a group, they were hardly noted for scrupulous honesty. Anyone who could, stayed away from public lodgings, even the best kind. Wealthy travelers put up at the homes of friends or people to whom they had been given introductions; government officials or important personages stayed at the homes of mayors or other town magistrates. . . .

“Roadside inns provided not only rooms for sleeping but a courtyard for handling vehicles and stables for the animals. There were also inns in town, but these catered only to travelers on foot, since they lacked courtyard or stable space.

“Whether an inn was outside of town or inside, guests could count on no more than a small room, which usually had to be shared with as many fellow guests as the innkeeper could cram in. The furniture was minimal: bedstead, sleeping mat, oil lamp or candleholder, and chamber pot. Experienced travelers would look the mat over carefully since bedbugs were so common they were known as ‘the summertime creatures of the inns.’ ”**

So it’s easy to understand why Jesus would instruct His disciples to find lodging with a friendly family rather than hiring a room in an inn. But there’s something more involved here too.

For several years I lived in the Orient, and when I traveled to small villages I often stayed in the home of a local church member. In larger cities I would stay in a guest room or occasionally in a hotel.

Staying with a local family has its challenges. You learn a lot about how the people in that area live. But they also learn a lot about you. They see you at your best and at your worst. They find out what you’re really made of--what you’re like when you’re not up on the stage.

Jesus modeled incarnational ministry--in-the-flesh ministry--to His disciples. About the only time He had any privacy was when He would get up way before daybreak and go out on the hills to pray. The disciples knew what He was really like. There was nothing hidden. And in His traveling instructions to them, He made it clear that they were to have the same sort of ministry. Out among the people--not cloistering themselves away and sallying forth only to preach a sermon or have a healing session.

Reality TV is the current fad in the US. Many people apparently enjoy watching programs like Big Brother, where cameras peer at the residents of a house 24/7, revealing how they behave in every situation.

Well, the whole universe was watching how Jesus behaved 24/7. He made Himself available for close inspection. And He instructed His disciples to do the same. Our message is not just a proclamation to be shouted in the town square or on TV or radio, it’s a whole life--your whole life, and mine.

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A Fresh Look at Jesus is a devotional based on the life of Jesus. To receive a copy once a week (sometimes more often), send a message with the word "subscribe" as the subject to freshlook@att.net Putting “unsubscribe” as the subject will get you off the list. Putting “subscribe” or “unsubscribe” in the message line is VERY important, as we will soon be moving to an automatic list maintenance program that will respond to those words.

If the message bounces back as undeliverable two weeks in a row, you will be removed from the list, but you can always subscribe again. If your address changes, please send an “unsubscribe” message from the old address and a “subscribe” message from the new address.

Please share these messages with friends around the Internet, and invite them to subscribe. Further materials and an archive of the most recent issues can be found at www.tagnet.org/spiritquest Please contact the author at k.r.wade@att.net for information about uses other than Internet distribution.

**Jesus and His Times (Pleasantville, New York: The Reader’s Digest Association, 1987), pp. 193, 194.

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Program 134 09-16-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #128

How Hard Is It?--3

Now King Herod heard of Him, for His name had become well known. And he said, "John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him" (Mark 6:14*).

King Herod heard of Jesus. Word of the miracle-working teacher made its way to the very top levels of local government. The man called “King Herod” here wasn’t technically a king, he was Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea.

Of course it was Herod’s job to know what was going on around him, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise that he heard about the miracle-working preacher. But government officials weren’t the only ones who took note of what Jesus was doing.

Mark tells us about the people in Nazareth who wouldn’t recognize Jesus’ power, then tells us that Jesus sent His disciples out to multiply His power and ministry. In His instructions to them, He told them how to deal with those who will not receive or hear them: “Shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them,” He says and then goes on to predict that the day of judgment will go very badly for any city that rejects them--worse than for Sodom and Gomorrah! (6:11).

Is this a veiled threat against Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth? Or is it simply a statement of fact: Anyone who fails to recognize the power of God working in Jesus’ and the disciples’ ministry is really missing the boat! How could they miss it? The stories that follow illustrate that it would be pretty hard.

In 6:14-29 we learn that even Herod recognized that there was something out of the ordinary going on here.

In 6:30-31 we find that so many people recognized Jesus’ powers that He had to plan an escape across the lake to get away from the multitudes.

Mark 6:32-44 reveals that so many thousands of people were enthralled with Jesus’ teaching that escape proved impossible. People just wouldn’t let Him out of their sight, and when they caught up with Him, they would stay and listen, forgetting about breakfast, lunch and dinner! Finally He had to miraculously feed them a late supper so they wouldn’t collapse from hunger on the way home.

Mark 6:45-52 reveals Jesus’ power over nature once again, as He walks on water and calms yet another storm.

Mark 6:53-56 reveals that Jesus’ fame was so great around Gennesaret that He was immediately recognized and thronged with adoring fans when His boat landed there.

Chapter 7 reveals that Jesus’ fame has spread as far as Jerusalem and even beyond the borders of Israel. The religious authorities in Jerusalem are impressed enough that they send representatives to check on things and try to bring Jesus into their camp--they try to impose their authority by pointing out His failure to obey one of their ritual laws. Jesus leaves that confrontation and tries to hide out in the non-Jewish area of Tyre and Sidon, but even there His fame is too great, so He heads for another foreign country--Decapolis. Last time He was there, the people chased Him away, but this time His fame has preceded Him, and He is soon pressed into service as a healer.

I once saw an interview with the movie star Mel Gibson, who was telling about a recent vacation in China. No one there recognized him, so was able to escape the throngs of adoring fans. But Jesus was too well-known to escape the mobs, even in a foreign country.

These stories all bring us back to the question, “How hard is it?” How hard is it to believe or disbelieve in Jesus? The point seems to be that it would be harder to disbelieve than to believe.

Do you find it to be that way in your life? Is faith easy or hard to come by? For me it’s sometimes easier than others. But when I look back at the things God has done in my own life and others’ lives, I conclude that it would actually be harder to disbelieve than to believe!

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Program 135 09-23-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #129

The Jesus Message

Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught (Mark 6:30*).

What had they done, and what had they taught? These are important questions for all Christians who want to carry on the ministry that Jesus gave to His disciples. The answer, in very basic form, is found back in verses 12 and 13, just before the excursus about Herod and John the Baptist: “So they went out and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.”

Their teaching/preaching (the two words seem to be interchangeable here) focused on the people’s need to repent. Jesus’ own teaching is summarized at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel in these words: “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’ ” (1:14-15).

I never noticed before the fascinating juxtaposition of Jesus’ and the disciples’ message with the experience of John.

Mark tells us that it was AFTER John ended up in the slammer that Jesus began to preach that people should repent. Then later he tells us that the message Jesus sent the disciples out to preach was “Repent!” and the very next thing he mentions is what happened to John for telling Herod that he should--“Repent!”

Repentance isn’t a particularly popular message these days. But then, it wasn’t all-that-well-received by some people in Jesus’ day either.

It involves having a change of mind and a change of direction, and most people don’t like to be told where to go.

“Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand,” calls people to quit living for the things of this world and to begin living for eternal things. In Herod’s case it called for some pretty drastic changes in his lifestyle that would affect other people as well. The one with the most to “lose” should Herod repent would have been his wife Herodias who, by her divorce from her uncle Herod Philip and her remarriage to her uncle Herod Antipas had been promoted from wife of an also-ran to wife of a ruler. (Herod Philip and Herod Antipas were both sons of Herod the Great, but Herod Philip never received any dominion.) If Antipas put her away, she would end up worse off than she had been when she’d been married to a mere prince without property.

Herod Antipas apparently took John’s message pretty seriously. He must have perceived the desert preacher as a prophet and given heavy consideration to what he should do about the man’s message. That’s why Herodias considered him such a threat and tricked Herod into killing him.

Wow! It was a strong and dangerous message that Jesus and His disciples preached. It’s not easy to preach repentance. And maybe that’s why it isn’t done much these days. We like to emphasize the love and forgiveness of God, but sometimes we forget to tell people why they need forgiveness and what they need to do to get it.

In fact, maybe we even forget to remind ourselves of that from time to time.

Repent! Turn around! Change your focus from things of earth to things of heaven! It’s Jesus’ message to my heart today. How about yours?

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Program 136 10-07-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #130

Catching Miracles

Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened (Mark 6:51,52*).

These verses come at the end of the well-known story of Jesus walking on the water to meet the disciples in their boat. The disciples had gotten caught out on the Sea of Galilee, trying to make it to shore, but always being opposed by the winds. Eight hours later they had not succeeded in crossing the small lake. They were about to give up all hope of ever setting foot on dry land again when things went from bad to worse. They suddenly saw what they thought was a ghost walking on the water—a definite bad omen for people already in fear for their lives.

But of course it was Jesus, and He came and got into the boat with them and immediately calmed the storm.

The disciples’ reaction is what caught my attention.

Suddenly they’re very amazed—taken aback—the Greek word is literally “standing outside oneself”—to be out of your mind. They’re completely “blown away” by this miracle of Jesus, but why?

It’s not like it was the first miracle they’d witnessed lately. Yesterday had been five loaves and two fishes day. Jesus had taken a little boy’s sack lunch and divided it up so that 5000 men plus women and children ate their fill, and afterward the disciples had gone around and picked up twelve baskets full of leftovers—a full basket of food for each and every one of them.

But that had all been just another day’s work for them. Didn’t seem unusual or remarkable at all, apparently. Verse 52 tells us “they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.”

They didn’t notice a miracle happening. Somehow the dividing of the loaves and fish just went down in their minds as some sort of ordinary event. It wasn’t until they were in a life-threatening situation and Jesus came strolling across the water and rescued them that they noticed the miracles happening around them.

Does anybody else out there relate to that? It seems odd at first glance, but there’s a lesson for us in it. We who have enough to eat every day seem to think that’s just our due in life. It’s just ordinary. In fact, most of us in America have to struggle not to eat too much. The miracle of God’s provision for us slides down our throats minute by minute without evoking the slightest touch of wonder, and we ask why we never see miracles anymore.

Well, maybe we just don’t notice them. Maybe we aren’t out in the middle of the lake where Jesus would have us be, so we don’t end up in danger and in need of rescue.

Out there on the lake the disciples were scared out of their wits, and it was then that they were finally able to get outside themselves enough to recognize the miraculous power of Jesus working in their lives.

Do I need to get scared out of my wits every once in a while to be able to see a miracle? I guess I’d rather learn to be more perceptive and remember to recognize God’s power in the small things. How about you?

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Program 137 10-09-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #131

Catching Miracles--2

Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded [John the Baptist’s] head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard of it, they came and took away his corpse and laid it in a tomb. Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught (Mark 6:27-30*).

Have you ever been cruising merrily through life, doing what you thought was the right thing, and suddenly been brought up short by a realization of the power you were handling and the danger you had placed yourself in?

We used to have off-white switches and plug-ins in our kitchen, but when my wife had the cabinets painted glossy white, the switches and plugs looked dingy. So, guess who got the assignment of changing them all a couple of weeks ago.

I checked the circuit breakers and determined that the plugs were on one circuit and the lights on another, so I shut off both circuits and went cheerfully (ha ha!) to my task. I’m certainly not the greatest handyman to have around, but I can do some electrical and plumbing when needed (or coerced).

I replaced several receptacles and a couple of switches, and was working on the third switch when, just before grabbing the wires, I accidentally flipped the switch. Instantly the garbage disposal started running.

I knew that. I knew it was on a different circuit. I’d installed a new disposal just a week earlier. But in the meantime I’d forgotten. I came this close [ ] to grabbing the hot wire while I was thoroughly grounded to the kitchen sink. In other words I came that close to frying myself.

It made me stop and think. What if I hadn’t “accidentally” flipped the switch? I was handling power that could quickly get me killed, and I thanked the Lord that I’d discovered my mistake before it was too late.

Now to our text for today. Remember, the disciples were out preaching repentance when the news came that John had gotten beheaded for doing that very thing. They’d been enjoying themselves, having a great time, exercising the marvelous power over demons and illnesses that Jesus had given them, and calling people to repent. And suddenly the switch got flipped, and they realized they were holding two hot wires.

When John’s disciples heard the news, they went and got their teacher’s corpse (minus the head, we must presume) and apparently retired from ministry.

When Jesus’ disciples heard, they high-tailed it back to their Master to see what He had to say about it. “Don’t You think we ought to lay low for a while?” I can hear Judas asking.

And the amazing thing is that Jesus agrees. "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while," He says (vs. 31).

But we know it didn’t work. People kept track of where Jesus went, so as soon as the boat landed, the place was no longer deserted. By the end of the day Jesus and crew were serving dinner to 5000 men plus women and children from someone’s sack lunch. (Even though the disciples had reminded Jesus that this was the deserted place they’d gone looking for and asked Him to send the people away so they could at last be alone with Him). The disciples didn’t get any quiet time until Jesus sent them out on the lake by themselves, and then they encountered strong headwinds and bone-rattling waves whatever direction they turned. And they felt all alone and abandoned by Jesus. How could they have kept their minds from dwelling on how John must have felt just before the ax came down? Eight or ten hours later they were still trying to row their way across a little lake, when Jesus strolled out on the water to meet them.

“Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened” (Mark 6:51-52).

I had wondered what in the world it was that made the disciples’ hearts hardened so that they didn’t notice the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Do you suppose fear for their future had numbed their ability to appreciate the present? Do you suppose they were bitter that their quiet time with Jesus had been robbed from them by a hungry pack of hangers-on? Do you suppose they begrudged the miracle Jesus worked on behalf of the multitude? And that the only miracle they could really appreciate was the one that saved their necks and freed their blistered hands from the oars?

But when they came face to face with Jesus, and He rescued them, suddenly the barriers to understanding broke down and they recognized the power of God that had been working in their lives all along.

I reckon we could all profit from a little shaking, a few headwinds, and some quiet (or perhaps tumultuous?) time alone to think about Jesus from time to time, couldn’t we?

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Program 138 10-21-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #132

Catching Miracles--3

"There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?" Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted (John 6:9-11*).

In _The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah_, Alfred Edersheim points out that the story we’ve been looking at--the feeding of the 5000--is the only story from Christ’s life before His final visit to Jerusalem that is told in all four Gospels. John’s Gospel gives us a little detail that adds an important dimension to the topic of Catching Miracles.

John reveals the source of the bread--a young boy’s sack lunch--and what type of bread the lad was carrying.

Not being a farmer, about the only time I’ve encountered barley was in vegetable soup, and I really like a few grains of it thrown in--they swell up and add a nice texture. I just checked my Oroweat seven-grain bread and found that “malted barley flour” is the second ingredient, so I guess I’ve been eating some barley. But I can’t recall ever having plain barley bread.

In Bible times, barley was mainly used as food for horses and donkeys. Only the poor would make bread of it. As Edersheim explains, “barley-bread was, almost proverbially, the meanest. Hence, as the Mishnah puts it, while all other meat-offerings were of wheat, that brought by the woman accused of adultery was to be of barley, because (as R. Gamaliel puts it), ‘as her deed is that of animals, so her offering is also of the food of animals.’ ”

With that in mind, if you were going to ask Jesus to miraculously feed you, what would you ask for? I’ve seen preachers and evangelists on television proclaiming something like this: “God don’t make no junk, so if you’ll just be faithful and send your finest gifts to my ministry, I guarantee that God is going to send great things your way and you’ll be able to live in opulence just like I do!”

But then I read my Bible and I discover that when God sent His Son to live in the world, He didn’t set Him up on a golden throne and feed Him manna and marinated lamb three meals a day.

Jesus lived out with the people who ate barley bread.

And when He worked a miracle, He didn’t always provide the people with the finest. Yes, there was the wedding at Cana when He made better wine than the host had provided. But beside the sea of Galilee, He fed the 5000 with poverty bread.

Still, it was a miracle. It provided what the people needed.

Now, what about the 12 baskets of bread that were left over after this miracle? Do you suppose Jesus made more bread than was needed? Why wouldn’t He stop when everyone had been served? Did He just get carried away and keep multiplying loaves like some sort of out-of-control miracle machine?

Or could it be that a whole lot of people turned up their noses at the bread He provided? That it wasn’t a good enough miracle for them?

Lord, help me to catch the miracles You send my way today, and not toss them in the basket like leftovers!

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Program 139 10-28-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #133

Catching Miracles--4

As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him (Mark 2:14*).

I revisited chapter 2 of Mark this week and learned about a miracle I hadn’t really noticed before.

You’ll soon figure out that I picked up a copy of Edersheim’s _Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah_ ** on a recent foray into a used book store, because I’ll no doubt be sharing insights gained from the books (2 vols.) from time to time.

The chapter on the call of Levi (Matthew) fascinated me, because it deals at considerable length with the topic of repentance, which is the message Jesus and the disciples went out preaching. E. points out the strong contrast between Jesus’ attitude toward repentance and that of the rabbis, Pharisees, and for that matter all other religions in the world. Everyone but Jesus “would first make [the sinner] a penitent, and then bid him welcome to God; Christ first welcomes him to God, and so makes him a penitent.”

E. also goes into some detail on the profession of Matthew: “Although both classes [of tax collectors] fall under the Rabbinic ban, the douanier--such as Matthew was--is the object of chief execration. . . . “one of the class to whom . . .repentance offered special difficulties.”

Matthew, you see, was in a special class--a group of people who were considered to be teetering on the brink of destruction. Repentance was regarded as being almost impossible for such a person who had both betrayed his people, and had gone into a profession that was synonymous with dishonesty.

In my mind’s eye, I see Matthew sitting there in his tax office--surely one of the darkest and dreariest places on earth. Not a note of joy would ever come his way. No one would wish him “Have a nice day,” after paying their taxes.

The tax collecting business yielded a good income for him, but at the cost of alienation from everyone else in town. And even alienation from God. He’d been told over and over that he was too low of a slime-dweller to even be able to repent!

But then one day Jesus came by. Jesus of a different attitude. Jesus who preached repentance, but ministered it with a strong dose of forgiveness instead of a bitter pill of condemnation.

And Matthew caught a miracle.

His life was changed from one of condemnation, hatred, and darkness, to one of forgiveness, love, and light in an instant, when “he arose and followed Him.”

The greatest miracle of all is a changed life. And being around Jesus changes me every day. How about you?

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Program 140 11-04-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #134

Catching Miracles--5

As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." (Mark 2:14*).

What do you say, Matthew, to an invitation like that: Matthew, drop everything. Come out from behind your tax table, and follow Me. Forget about who will pay the bills. Don’t worry about what will happen to your family. The money in the cash register--just leave it. Someone who needs it more than you will come along and take it. Your job from now on is to follow Me.

Well, what do you say?

If you’re the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus later looking for that one magic deed he can do to get to heaven, and Jesus gives you the same invitation, you respond in sorrow, unwilling to leave behind what you’ve had in order to move forward into a future with Jesus.

But Matthew is different.

Somehow he’s come to realize that the road he’s on, prosperous and comfortable as it is, is still a dead end road. If he’s going to get anywhere worthwhile in life, he’s got to turn around and head the opposite direction. That’s what the word “repent” means at its roots.

He can’t stay behind the table and follow Jesus.

Has he lurked on the edges of the crowd, watching Jesus, listening to Him from time to time? Has he perhaps heard those words he included in the story he later wrote about Jesus:

" ‘No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon’ ” (Matthew 6:24)? Has he known that someday he will have to make the choice? Has he dreaded that day, or looked forward with eager anticipation?

There were lame people who, when they heard the words of Jesus bidding them stand up and walk, leaped to their feet and went dancing through the crowds, shouting the praises of God for deliverance from the infirmity that had held them down for so long.

But could Matthew recognize his addiction to money, his workaholic long days in the tax booth as an infirmity? Or would he cling to them as the only thing he has, like an invalid, clutching his sick bed as the one secure thing he knows?

Did it take a special dose of courage? Did it take a long minute of pondering, considering the options? Or did Matthew simply leap to his feet, eager to be shed of the trappings of his old life? Mark doesn’t tell us. He simply writes that Matthew “arose and followed Him.”

Yes, it must have required a special dose of courage. But Matthew was ready to exercise that courage.

Are you? Am I? It’s a question we must answer each and every day.

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Program 141 11-11-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #135

Catching Miracles--6

Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.

Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him (Luke 5:29; Mark 2:15*).

What should you do with a miracle after you catch it?

Levi-Matthew knew the answer: Share it!

Imagine him waking up the morning after he decided to follow Jesus--the morning after his miraculous transformation from despised outcast and spiritual reprobate to one of Jesus’ inner circle. Has he had the best night’s sleep of his life? Or perhaps the worst?

I usually sleep pretty soundly, but there have been times when night after night I’d awake in a cold sweat and lie awake pondering “what next?” Usually when I’ve been at a major transition point, when I’ve made a decision to move from one place to another. Probably the hardest time was when my wife and I decided to move back to the US after spending several years in Singapore. We sensed the Lord’s leading, but didn’t know where He was leading to--where we’d live or how we’d earn a living.

Transition points can make us nervous, jumpy, worried. But it doesn’t seem like Matthew felt that way.

The very next thing we find him doing after standing up and walking away from his livelihood is throwing a party.

If he’d had any doubts about his decision, I think you’d find him trying to conserve resources, calling in old debts, and trying to make sure his nest egg was large enough to hold the family over for a few months while he tried out this new lifestyle.

But instead we find Matthew spending lavishly, calling in old friends, breaking the nest egg and making an omelet.

Suddenly his treasure isn’t his money, but his new Friend. And he wants to share both with his old friends.

And Jesus was glad to be a part of that celebration. What an opportunity to meet and share with the people who most needed a Savior!

How many more sinners found joy and deliverance because of Matthew’s party? The Bible doesn’t tell us. The thing that stands out at the end of the story is the people who didn’t. The religious authorities were neither pleased nor joyful to see Jesus celebrating with the lowlife of the town. They thought religion should be reserved for the pious, and that it ought to be a bit sterner than that--something to be taken seriously, not celebrated at parties.

And religion would be stern and difficult for Jesus and His disciples somewhere down the road. But for now it was a time of joy. A miracle had happened to Matthew, and it was time to share that miracle and spread it as far and wide as possible.

What do you do with a miracle? Share it!

Knowing Jesus, really following Him, ought to put a smile on your face--and maybe even a party in your plans!

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Program 142 11-18-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #136

Balance

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast (Mark 2:18-19).

On first glance you might think that there are two opposing views of religion meeting head-on in this question-and-answer session. On the one side are the stern and stolid Pharisees, accompanied by the disciples of the imprisoned John the Baptist, and on the other side you find the happy-go-lucky Jesus and His disciples, who manifest a very different attitude toward life and religion.

But that’s just a surface view. Take a closer look.

In the first place, does anything strike you as odd or unusual when you read about an alliance between John’s disciples and the Pharisees? Remember how John responded when the Pharisees came to him for baptism? “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’” (Matt 3:7)

John wasn’t particularly impressed with the Pharisees’ style of religion, but now we find his disciples allied with them in questioning Jesus. Apparently the two groups agree on at least one thing: A relationship with God ought to involve a healthy dose of self-sacrifice and penitential self-denial. The Pharisees and other devout Jews fasted two days per week (Thursday and Monday on our calendar) in commemoration of the tradition that Moses went up to Mount Sinai on a Thursday and came down on a Monday the second time he received the Ten Commandments.

Jesus’ disciples didn’t partake of that particular form of piety. Remember, Jesus hadn’t chosen these fellows because of their religiosity, but because of their openness and willingness to follow and learn from Him.

So, at first glance, it might appear that Jesus advocated a happy-go-lucky, party type religion in opposition to the dour and sour religion of the established leadership.

I know of churches that are split right down the center aisle on this very type of issue. Some of them have gone to having two separate worship services--one for those who like a lot of praise singing, hand clapping, and hallelujahs, and another, more traditional service for those who like hymns and long, solemn, penitential prayers.

Which service would Jesus attend if He were on earth today?

If you stop reading Mark 2 at verse 19, the answer is obvious. The hallelujah service. But read on to the next verse: "But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”

Jesus was well-balanced. There was a time for fasting in His religious experience--not just two days, but 40 days in the wilderness. There would come a time for His disciples to fast as well.

I’ve been challenged recently to try to achieve this kind of balance in my own life. By nature and nurture, I suppose I lean more toward the serious side. The picture of Jesus joyfully eating and drinking at Matthew’s feast challenges me to lighten up a bit.

On the other hand, I don’t find fasting a particularly appealing form of religious exercise. But there’s a time for that as well.

Whatever Jesus did, He did with intensity--whether it was celebrating the conversion of a tax collector or devoting Himself to fasting and prayer. He took His relationship to His Father seriously, but that didn’t mean He couldn’t be light-hearted and joyful in dealing with people. I’m asking Him to help me find that kind of balance and devotion in my own life.

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Program 143 11-25-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #137 (last week’s was mistakenly numbered 135)

The Art of Thankfulness

Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" So when He saw them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. (Luke 17:12-16)

In the United States we’ve just finished our annual Thanksgiving Day celebration--one of our favorite holidays. It always comes on a Thursday, so we learn to especially appreciate this day early in our lives because school is out on both Thursday and Friday. Most kids are quite thankful for the four-day weekend.

Many businesses and government offices also stay closed on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and Americans flock to the shopping malls in droves to begin their Christmas shopping. This gives the retailers and credit card companies something to be thankful for.

This weekend is also a time when extended families try to get together for a special meal, so airline executives and stockholders can be thankful for large ticket sales and full airplanes.

But having something to be thankful for and being thankful are two different things. There’s an art to being thankful, and it takes some practice.

It’s intriguing to me to realize that the first time Thanksgiving Day was made an annual holiday was in 1863, by proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln. Our nation was at that time right in the middle of the bloodiest war of its history, and the official proclamation Lincoln signed acknowledged that, but spent many more words recognizing the things the nation could be thankful for.**

Of the ten lepers Jesus cleansed that day, only one had learned the art of thankfulness well enough to express his gratitude to his Benefactor. The ability to be thankful seems to me to be related to the ability to accept grace. If you think that everything you have and all the good things that come to you are just something the world owes you, or something you’ve earned by your hard works or good looks, then there’s no need to be thankful.

It takes humility to admit that life has treated you better than you deserve and to offer thanks. The Samaritan leper had that ability, and Jesus appreciated it. “ ‘Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well,’ ” He told him (verse 19).

The other ten lepers were also healed. So the thankful man didn’t receive any greater gift than the others. But he appreciated it more. And so in the end he did receive something more: A larger dose of joy. Because joy and thankfulness multiply like loaves and fishes when they’re shared.

It seems hard to believe that nine out of ten would accept such a gift and then just go merrily on their way without saying thanks. But then I wonder about myself--would I have been one of the nine?

Lord, help me to be thankful, and to share the joy You bring into my life every day!

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**Abraham Lincoln’s original proclamation can be read online at http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm

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Program 144 12-2-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #138

Catching Miracles--7

Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; (Mark 6:48, 49*).

I began this series on catching miracles about two months ago, by looking at this same story from Mark 6:45-52, then jumped back to look at the miracles surrounding Matthew’s conversion. But now I’m back out on the water with Jesus and the disciples.

I find I get the very most out of Bible study by dwelling on one passage for a while, then digressing--looking at something related or unrelated, then coming back again to the passage I was looking at before.

When I do that, something new almost always jumps out at me--a little detail in the story that I hadn’t noticed before. And I start asking questions about what I’ve noticed.

This time it was the phrase “and would have passed them by.”

I’ve always thought of this story like this: Jesus feeds the 5000; Jesus sends crowds away; Jesus sends disciples out on lake; Jesus goes up on mountain to pray; Jesus sees disciples in trouble and walks out on the water to save them; Jesus calms the storm.

But that phrase “would have passed them by” puts a whole new spin on the story.

Where was Jesus going? Was He just taking a shortcut across the stormy waters to the spot He’d told the disciples to go to? Was He planning to stroll right past and leave them to their own devices, maybe find a nice rock to sit on over on the other side, where He could continue to watch their life-and-death struggle against wind, wave, and exhaustion?

And by the way, if you have miraculous power that will allow you to walk on water, why bother? Why not just work a little bigger miracle and fly to your destination? That water was rough. A person could get seasick walking on it--and your clothes would probably get pretty wet from the whitecaps and spray.

There’s got to be a reason why Jesus chose to walk across the water.

Do we find it in the phrase “they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out”?

Is this the reaction of a group of men who suddenly realize their need of a savior and cry out to Him from the depths of their despair?

No, actually it’s the reaction of a group of men who think they’re about to die. They simply cry out in fear. Notice it doesn’t say they cried out “Lord save us!” They didn’t know the Lord was anywhere nearby. They were just screaming in abject terror. Maybe there was a prayer mixed in with their cries, but if so, Mark doesn’t mention it. He simply tells us “they all saw Him and were troubled” (vs. 53).

It seems to me that there are three elements of this story that teach an important lesson:

1. Jesus sent the disciples out into the storm and let them struggle with it.

2. Jesus made Himself available to them, but didn’t force Himself on them.

3. When all seemed lost, Jesus was there for them and rescued them.

Later, after Jesus had ascended to heaven, did the disciples recount this story as they faced stormy blasts of opposition and persecution? Did they go on with the assurance that Jesus would always be nearby, and that in the end He would rescue them?

Remember, they all died eventually--some of them at the hands of opposing “winds.” But they died in faith, knowing that Jesus was nearby and they’d soon be in the boat, on calm water with Him again (or maybe walking on the water as Peter did cf. Matt. 14:22-33).

“And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God” (Revelation 15:2).

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Program 145 12-9-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #139

Noticing Jesus

And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out (Mark 6:49*).

The disciples cried out when they saw Jesus. This was a common reaction to Jesus' presence. I found 18 instances in the four Gospels where the Greek word for "cry out" is used to describe people's reaction to Jesus, and I only looked up the root word krazo, not the other words such as apokrazo that is used in this story.

Whenever Jesus was in town, people noticed. Many cried out to Him for help. Blind people, those being tormented by demons, Peter when he started to sink while walking on water, the halt, the lame, the blind, all called out to Jesus: "Notice me! Do something to help me!" They wouldn't let Him just pass them by without crying out for help.

Demons also noticed when Jesus came to town. They'd cry out things like "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?" (Matthew 8:29). Mark tells us that "the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, 'You are the Son of God' " (3:11).

At the end of Jesus' earthly life, people also noticed, and cried out against Him: "Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they cried out all the more, 'Crucify Him!' " (Mark 15:14).

But we're now in the season of year when people think more about the beginning of Jesus' life. Have you noticed that even angels couldn't keep silent when Jesus came around? They just had to tell someone, so a group of shepherds witnessed one of the greatest angelic spectacles ever to occur on earth: "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!' " (Luke 2:13-14).

Some Christians argue that December is not the time of year that Jesus was born, and they're probably right. Others point out that Jesus never told us to celebrate His birthday, and they're right too. Some point out that the Christmas holiday has some definite pagan roots, and there's no doubt about that. Others shake their heads, cluck their tongues, and bemoan the horrid commercialization of a religious holiday, and we all can no doubt sympathize with their sentiments.

But let's take heart in one thing. In the Christmas season, Jesus is at least passing by. He may be overshadowed by Santa Claus and The Grinch in some places. But He's passing by, and we can hope that many people will be affected by His presence. Let's do what we can to help people notice and cry out to Him for salvation during the Christmas season.

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Program 146 12-16-00

A Fresh Look at Jesus, #140

Catching Miracles--8

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine" (John 2:1-3*).

These verses are at the beginning of the story of Jesus' first miracle. They describe how Mary "caught" that miracle. She just asked for it.

Or did she?

I like to try to read these old stories with new eyes. One way of doing that is to listen to someone else read them. Often they'll put the emphasis in a different place, or just the act of hearing instead of reading may call something new to your attention. Recently I purchased a set of tapes of the whole Bible, and now I take them with me to the gym and when I go jogging. I can even listen to the Bible while mowing the lawn or doing other chores around the house. Listening while doing something else seems to have a special value too, because you might get distracted for a moment and then refocus your attention just at the right time to pick up some new insight from a passage you've heard a dozen times before.

It's important, when reading a story you've heard before, to focus on each individual part or action in the story, putting the end of the story out of mind until you get there. Try to read it or hear it like you've never heard it before.

Now, picture Jesus' mother finding out that there's no more wine at the wedding celebration. What does she expect Jesus to do about it? Because we know the end of the story, we assume she wants Him to work a miracle. But how do we know that's what she had in mind?

Verse 2 tells us that both Jesus and His disciples (only five by this time) had been invited to the wedding. But do you really think that Jesus had gotten a printed invitation saying "Come to the wedding and bring your disciples"? If you go back a few verses into John 1, you'll discover that this whole disciple thing is brand new with Jesus. He's only had disciples for the past three or four days! It seems doubtful that those five fellows were on the original invitation list. But Middle Eastern hospitality would dictate that if they showed up with an invited guest, they couldn't be turned away--they would automatically be invited in.

Jesus and His followers must have had to double-time march to make it from down by the Jordan to Cana in three days, so the unexpected guests probably arrived at the party very hot, tired, and thirsty.

Could it be that Mary's real intention in speaking to Jesus was simply to say "You know, You brought these extra guests, and now the wine's run out early. Don't You think You ought to go buy some more or at least tell the servants to go get some more and put it on Your bill?" Even her comment to the servants standing by "Whatever He says to you, do it," could simply have been her way of saying "Whatever my oldest son says is fine with the family, we'll foot the bill."

It seems quite likely to me that Mary wasn't expecting a miracle when she spoke to Jesus. But she got one anyhow, because she spoke to the right Man.

Try talking to the Man every morning, and see what miracles catch up with you!

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