The Race Set Before Us

Hebrews 12: 1 - 4 (NIV): Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

    The writer of Hebrews tells us there is a great cloud of witnesses watching us run the race set before us. That cloud of witnesses is the heroes of the faith in chapter 11 and all the saints who have gone before us. He says "cloud" instead of "crowd" because he is giving us the idea of grandstands full of spectators watching a race. A grandstand that surrounds us and goes high into the sky, like the grandstands at the Olympics. A great number of people cheering us on, encouraging us by their example, and seeing how we do.

    So let us throw off what hinders us. Olympic athletes in Jesus' day would strip to their underwear to compete so nothing slowed them down. We too should strip away anything that comes between us and God. Even good things in our lives can hinder us if we put them first. And sin tangles our feet and makes us lose our own race. It trips us and keeps us from running. Sin makes you a loser.

    And let us fix our eyes on Jesus. This means we stay focused on him and do not look away. Not for anything. Not ever. Jesus is the author of our faith -- he gave it to us, and he is the perfecter of our faith -- he will see us through. He will give us the power to run if we will just stay focused on him.

    And Jesus, of course, is the ultimate example of running a good race and winning it. He endured the shame of the cross, gave up his life to win, and received a reward of being seated at the right hand of the throne of God. We will receive our reward too, for winning our race. Don't give up and don't lose heart. You can do it by God's power. Run to win because God's prize is so worth it.

John the Baptist Doubts

Matthew 11: 1 - 6 (NIV): After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.  When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples  to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"  Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see:  The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.  Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."

    John the Baptist was the very one who fulfilled Old Testament prophecy by being a great prophet, like Elijah, who came and prepared the way for the Christ, preaching repentance. Jesus said John the Baptist was the fulfillment of prophecy in the last paragraph of the Old Testament. John the Baptist was the very one who baptized Jesus.

    Yet, now he doubted that Jesus really was the Christ. How could this be? John the Baptist was undoubtedly expecting Jesus to conquer Rome as the Christ. John the Baptist was sitting in prison -- having been thrown there by Herod because John called him out on stealing his half-brother's wife -- and John the Baptist expected Jesus to come free him. It wasn't happening. He was disappointed in Jesus because Jesus was not who he thought he was. Jesus' Kingdom was a spiritual one, not a political one. Jesus' Kingdom is eternal, not temporal. 

    Don't be disappointed because Jesus isn't doing what you think he should. Don't fall away or abandon your faith when things are not going your way. Remember, God knows what is best.

    And Jesus offered him evidence to prove that he really was the Christ. The same evidence we have today: eye-witness accounts of his healing and preaching and raising the dead. Remember, don't base your faith on your feelings, but on the evidence. Your feelings will let you down; your understanding will let you down. The evidence is solid. Examine it for yourself and embrace Christ as Lord and God.

The Message of John the Baptist

Matthew 3: 1 - 9 (NIV): In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea  and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."  This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' "  John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.  People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.  Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.  And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

    John's job was to prepare the way for the Messiah. And his message was: repent. When we approach the Messiah, we do so knowing that we are sinners who cannot save ourselves by our good works or by our heritage. We realize that we must turn from our sinful lifestyles that do not please God, and accept the Messiah's free gift of salvation. 

    Repent means to change your direction. It means to stop going where you are heading and go back the complete other way. We change our minds and realize that we need a savior. And yes, we feel sorry that we have disappointed God with our lives, and we desire to do better.

    John was much like a street preacher today. He would go out to where people were and preach to whoever would listen. Because of his appearance and message, he began to draw a crowd. He got in the face of the religious leaders of his day. He told them not to count on their heritage for their salvation. We cannot count on our parents' faith to save us. We must make our own decision to follow him -- to believe in him -- to accept him -- to repent. We must have our own faith.

Epiphany

Matthew 2: 1 – 2, 9 - 11 (NIV): After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." ... After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

    January 6th, the twelfth-day of Christmas, is celebrated by many churches as "Epiphany". An epiphany is a revelation - a manifestation or appearance. We think of epiphanies as moments when we see or understand something we hadn't before. We also use to word to describe moments when God reveals something to us.
Most churches use the visit of the Magi as part of their Epiphany celebration because the Magi represent the Gentiles. Epiphany Sunday celebrates the revelation that Jesus Christ is God's son who came to save everyone who believes. It celebrates Immanuel, God with us -- that Jesus came as a human being, God in the flesh, to redeem us from our sins and offer us salvation.
The Magi's gifts symbolically tell us who Jesus was (and is). The gold was a gift for a king. The incense was a gift for God, a sweet fragrance that drifts up to heaven. Myrrh was a sweet, expensive, thick oil used to anoint the body of a dead person. These amazing gifts reveal to us who Jesus was: King, God and Savior.
My question to you, though, is have you had this epiphany? Has the light shined on you? Have you come to the moment when you realize that Jesus is the king of kings, God of creation and the savior of mankind? Accept his gift of salvation and invite him to be your personal king, God and savior.