The Curse is Broken

Galatians 3: 10 - 14 (NIV): 10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them." 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

    I knew Pentecost was called "The Feast of Weeks", but I didn't realize it was also called Shavout and is celebrated by Jews as the day God gave the Law to Moses on Mt. Horeb. Originally, it was a celebration of the first wheat harvest. It fell 50 days after Passover (Pentecost is Greek for "fifty"). Israelites would bring their first fruits to the Temple of God and celebrate his goodness. But during the Exile in Babylon in 605 B.C., Israelites began to celebrate the day, not so much for the first harvest, but because it was the very day God gave Moses the law. After all, they had lost their land and could no longer plant and harvest wheat crops.

    The similarities between Mt. Horeb and Pentecost in Acts 2 are remarkable: On Mt. Horeb, there was a loud trumpet, smoke covered the mountain, the earth shook, and fire from God came down. At Pentecost there was the sound of a rushing wind, the earth shook and tongues of fire came down on those present. At Horeb, the people rebelled and created a golden calf. God punished them and "three thousand died that day." (Exodus 32: 35). At Pentecost, Peter preached and three thousand were saved.

    The law brings a curse, Paul says, because we cannot fully keep it. It is faith that saves us and always has been. Jesus broke the curse and offers life for all who believe. Now we celebrate Pentecost as the day we received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost

Acts 2: 1 - 4 (NIV): 1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

    Pentacost was also called "The Feast of Weeks". It was fifty days after Passover and was a Jewish celebration holiday. It celebrated the first harvest of the year. It was one of three major Jewish Holidays that required Jewish men to travel to Jerusalem to celebrate.

    It is a major event in the life of Christian believers because it was the day the Holy Spirit came in power and the church age began. Jesus appeared on and off for 40 days after his resurrection, then ascended back to heaven.  Ten days later, the Holy Spirit came during Pentecost. After the Holy Spirit came upon the believers, Peter stood and preached to the international crowd that had gathered for the holiday. Three thousand believed in Jesus and the age of the church began. We are still in the church age and waiting for the next great event - the second-coming of Christ.

    Pentecost is a celebration of harvest, and the harvest of people's souls began on that day and continues to this one. Jesus had promised that when he went back to heaven, he would send the Holy Spirit to live in us until he comes again (John 16:7). The Holy Spirit appeared as "tongues of fire" which was symbolic of speaking God's purifying truth. A fire begins small and spreads. In the same way, the Gospel began with the disciples and continues to spread around the world. The disciples spoke in other tongues as a demonstration of God's power, and that power is still alive and active today as we wait for Jesus' return.

Mother's Day

2 Timothy 1: 5 - 7 (NIV): 5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 

    The faith lived in Timothy's grandmother and then his mother and now in him. Is anyone surprised by this? Is anyone surprised that Lois passed her faith to her daughter and then Eunice passed it to her son? Isn't that how it works?

    The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. This is true because our mothers have such a tremendous influence on us. Timothy was a young preacher and Paul wrote this to encourage him as he faced the challenges that come with that. Paul, in fact, was in prison for preaching the gospel. This is undoubtedly his very last letter, just before he was executed for his faith by Nero.

    Paul says Timothy received the "gift of God" from Paul himself. This may mean Paul had ordained him to preach the Word and was letting him know that he was behind him, supporting him and praying for him as he ministered. And Paul wanted him to be brave, strong, and true to the faith. He knew that Timothy had learned to stand for his faith from his mother and grandmother. He states later in this letter (3:15), "and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." Timothy had been taught the Bible since childhood and now he was a minister. Mothers and grandmothers can influence their children more than they could ever know. It's a privilege and a responsibility to teach them the Word.

    What about Timothy's father? All we know is that he was a Greek. Apparently he was not a believer. One thing we do know, though, is that it was Timothy's mother and grandmother who taught him the faith. I'm so thankful for my mother and grandmothers who showed me from infancy how important their faith was in their lives.

The Great Commission

Matthew 28: 16 - 20 (NIV): 16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

     I can't help but notice the first thing Matthew says here, that when they saw Jesus and most worshiped him, some doubted. There will always be doubters. Even in the face of overwhelming evidence. Even when seeing something for themselves. Not everyone is ever going to believe, at least here on earth.

    The doubters Matthew mentions may be part of the group of 500 that saw Jesus after his resurrection. Paul tells us this in 1 Corinthians 15:6. When the eleven disciples went to the mountain to see Jesus, they may have had a mob of people with them. We can't be sure. The Bible pulls no punches about this: faith is messy and always was and always will be. Perhaps this is because it is impossible to please God without it (Hebrews 11:6). Perhaps God wants it this way -- at least for now.

    Then Jesus gives his marching orders to the believers: to make disciples around the world. Not just to evangelize people, but to make followers out of them. The disciples did pretty good! The gospel soon reached all around the world. Jesus told them to baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity -- one God, three persons. I can't fully grasp this, but Jesus is clearly teaching it here. This great commission still stands today. This is our marching orders. It is up to us to disciple the world and there is no plan B. But we have the assurance that Jesus is with us and we can do it in his power.

Finding Our Purpose

Ephesians 2: 1 - 10 (NIV): As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Notice that we are not saved by doing good works, but we were created to do them. We are God's workmanship, his masterpiece if you will, created to do good things that God has planned in advance for us to do. To fulfill some good purpose. But what?

First, we see in this passage that we are made alive in Christ and even seated with him in the heavenly realms. So our first purpose is to be Christlike. Jesus proved when he was tempted that he lived by faith, not by sight. This is our purpose as well. To walk humbly with God, trusting in him each and every day for our needs and desires. Everything is a gift from God and we must realize this. Even our salvation is given to us because of God's great love and the riches of his grace and mercy and kindness. It is not something we earned or could ever earn if we tried.

Second, we find our purpose by walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8). This means we spend time in prayer and reading God's Word. When we do this, we will not follow the ways of the world, but will live by faith and obedience to Christ instead.

This brings us to the third way we find our purpose. We must be faithful. We need to live up to where we are in our spiritual journey. Part of this is being obedient to what God commands. This takes faith, but God will give us the faith we need to obey him. Jesus said we will obey him if we love him (John 14:23). God will show us what he wants us to do when we show him we are willing.

Jesus Reinstates Peter

John 21: 12 - 17 (NIV): Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord.  Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.  This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

     When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."  Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."  The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. 

     Jesus was facing a dilemma: he had told Peter that he would build the church on him in Matthew 16:19, but Peter had just denied that he even knew him. Not once, but three times. Jesus had less than 50 days until Pentecost and the man who would preach the sermon that would usher in the church age felt like a complete failure. Peter undoubtedly felt it was over for him. He had caved in the face of persecution and had denied that he even knew Jesus. How could he be the leader of the church now?

    But Jesus will see through what he intends for us. He doesn't change his mind. Yes, there may be roadblocks and detours. Yes we fail in our efforts, but God doesn't. He intends to use us even though we are not perfect.

    So, Jesus showed up and reminded Peter and his companions that he had risen from the dead and that he had power. Power to catch fish, power to catch men, and power to forgive when we fail. He asked Peter if he "agape" loved him and Peter answered "that he was his friend". This happened twice. The third time, Jesus asked if Peter was even his friend. Peter conceded that that was all he was.

    If we will be honest with God and humble ourselves before him, he will use us in mighty ways we never thought possible.

The Emmaus Road

Luke 24: 13-23 (NIV): Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.  They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.  As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them;  but they were kept from recognizing him.  He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?" They stood still, their faces downcast.  One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?" 

    "What things?" he asked. "About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.  The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him;  but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.  In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning  but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive ..."

    Only one of these people is even named. The other may have been his wife, but we can't be sure. It is interesting that Jesus could have spent this time with the disciples, but chose, instead, to walk in the countryside with these two un-famous "nobodies". But Jesus' love is for all people, his salvation is for all people, and he reveals himself to us as individuals. He is just as present in a small, country home as he is in a huge place of worship with a well-known preacher in a big city. His truth doesn't change. His Spirit finds us where we are.

    The companions tell Jesus that they were disappointed in him. (Remember, they didn't recognize him yet.) They thought he was going to redeem Israel, but he had died instead. We, too, are often disappointed when we fail to understand what God is up to. God is always up to something good.

    If you read the rest of this story you see that Jesus taught them that what had happened was exactly what God had planned and had told them in the Old Testament all along. Jesus was indeed the redemption of Israel, just not like they thought he would be.

    They only recognized Jesus when the Holy Spirit allowed them to. But when they did recognize him, they ran back and told others about it. That should be our response too. We should go and tell.