From The Sheep Pen

One more ugly news story, this time from Barcelona. One more crazy person committing premeditated violence against innocent citizens and tourists. One more body count of the dead and wounded. One more day in a broken world imploding and exploding seemingly without restraint.

I am awaiting news from my cousin Brigitta and her husband Juan, a generational catalan, and barcelones. It is 3:00 A.M in Spain so I will have to wait hours before I call again. They were supposedly moving to Germany but I don’t know for sure or when. All of Juan’s family, including his parents, still live in Barcelona and they must be in terrible anguish as another disaster unfolds. I ask the Lord to be with them.

Instead of driving myself crazy with worry and “what if’s”, instead of delving into all the gory sensationalism and inevitable news of political misdirection and instead of allowing evil to steal God’s goodness, today I choose to write something positive while I wait to hear from my cousin.

Recently on a walk, I saw three words written in chalk on my neighbor’s driveway: Live, Love, Laugh. The words were scrawled in pink, yellow and blue sidewalk chalk by a child’s hand so obviously someone was visiting Grammie and Grampa and given free reign to draw on the road. I passed by several times in the last week, stopping each time to reread the message. In this day and age of skepticism, disillusionment and general grumpiness, it was so straight forward and life giving. For what can speak more directly from the heart of God toward us than these three words. God gave life to mankind by His very breath. He is Love, and loves us so fiercely that He sent Jesus for our redemption, our eternal life and joy.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.…John 3:16

…and no one can ever separate us from God ‘s life and love in Christ. He dances over us and delights in us. Who but Jesus offers us the love of God Himself, the hope of eternal life – and joy which turns mourning into laughter and delight.

The world has hijacked words like love and life and laughter and reduces God’s eternal truths into T-shirt slogans or worse, cultural lies and corruptions. Purpose, meaning and awe in life are trivialized into such gems as “No matter where you go, there you are,” “Life is what happens.” and “Do your own thing.” God’s agape love becomes navel gazing on your inner divinity. The singular exception is that no one seems to laugh anymore for laughter unless it is offensive has become offensive.

It’s tempting to think the chalk words are just too darned cute because they are childishly simplistic, something Forrest Gump would come up with in his innocence. I could easily walk on by, forgetting that God authored words and language and meaning and His intent hasn’t changed.

I should not forget that Jesus drew children to Himself and chided the disciples for trying to keep them away. He obviously thought them worthy of His attention.

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Matthew 19:14

God alone is in control over the tragic events in Barcelona. My hope is in His love, His life and ultimately His boundless joy. While I wait for news from Spain, I rest like a weaned child, like one of the children in Jesus’ arms, remembering every promise for my entire family.

Perhaps I’ll even scribble more words in the dirt for Him!

So the woman left her water jar and went away into town John 4:28

July has been unusually hot in the mountains. With afternoon temperatures climbing into the 90’s almost every day, I have to water the gardens and hanging baskets rigorously and faithfully. More than that, I need to drink a lot of water myself. When Dan and I leave the house, we take lots of water bottles with us. If not, we end up not only parched, but tired and more than a little cranky. This summer’s heat reminds me that all life depends on water.

The fourth Chapter of John’s Gospel is an incomparable narrative about physical and spiritual thirst as seen in Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman. She comes to an ancient well for water and finds instead the One who promises to give her water that will never run dry, the One who knows everything about her and reveals Himself as Messiah. After Jesus’s pointed conversation with the woman, the disciples reappear with food for Jesus and “they marveled that He talked with a woman.” Immediately, she departs, presumably because the disciples had come back and runs to tell the village about Jesus.

Then the woman left her water jar, went back into the town, and said to the people…John 28

Leaving the water jar catches my attention. It seems like a trivial detail in the larger context of the story, but I call it one of the Holy Spirit’s parentheses, a thought stirring within a thought. Why did she leave the water jug? At high noon in sweltering desert heat she needed to take water from the well back to the village. Yet she left it behind. Why did John even mention the water pot? Some have suggested that she left the jug for the disciples’ benefit, intending to come back for it later. Another commentary says that John’s inclusion of this detail proves that he was present at the scene. She may simply have been careless in her haste to leave. We will never know for sure.

Even the smallest details in Scripture are breathed by the Holy Spirit. God’s living Word stirs something in us, first curiosity, then surprise and finally, hopefully, a moment of revelation. Afterwards, we’re changed and delighted. The woman came to the well for water, carrying a jug to fill up just as she’d done countless times. Suddenly, she encounters Jesus and everything changes. He promises her “living water” that will quench all her thirst.

But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”…John 4:14

Jesus was speaking of the Spirit, but the woman may have understood Jesus’ words practically. Her problem seemed solved! At least that day she wasn’t worrying about taking water back. She had encountered the One who promised her water of a different kind from a very different source – the wellspring of Himself. Leaving her water jug behind was symbolic. Just as Peter and Andrew left their nets to follow Jesus, so the woman left her jug behind. She’d become the vessel into which Christ would pour Himself from the cross. She needed the water jar no more.

Do we still go to old historic wells for water like the Samaritan woman, carrying emptiness within like a water jar, hoping the waters of love or success or pleasure will fill our parched souls? In life’s scorching desert heat, when we’re dry and thirst overcomes , how often will we go back and forth carrying water that never quenches the longing for an encounter with the One who is already waiting to give us water?

Jesus told the woman, “You will never thirst.” Neither will we. First put down the glass decanter balanced on your head and the clay jar of your heart at Jesus’ feet. Then confess: “Lord, I don’t need to refill these any more. You alone suffice. Fill me up instead.”

The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way. Psalm 37:23

Recently my daughter showed me a health “app” on my I-phone. It counts the number of steps, miles and flights of stairs I walk every day. Each new day, without my saying yea or nay to it, the count starts all over. Disturbingly, the app also states my weight and that I am “older.” I don’t even want to think about how such personal information has been retrieved.

It seems that 10,000 steps is the magic, active health goal to reach and so because I wanted to stay healthy, I’ve tucked my phone into my pocket when I walk, checking progress during and afterwards. Oh, no. The loop I thought was 2 miles is only 1.76. I only walked 4,600 steps in an hour? Can’t be true. Next time I’ll take smaller steps or criss-cross the road like Rudy dog used to. Aha, I rationalize. I walk all over the house and gardens and climb lots of stairs at least a dozen times a day which isn’t recorded on my phone. I’m certain I walk at least 10,000 steps. Probably twice 10,000. Maybe I should get one of those cute “fit bit” wrist bands my friends wear to track my activity. I can push myself to 10,000 steps. Older, indeed!

Today I left the phone at home. My early morning walk was sweet. Birds sang in the pines, the purple asters bloom and berries are forming on the trees. I met others out walking and more than a few eager dogs sniffing my legs. At the edge of a ravine, wild gooseberries were ripening. The air was cool and clear as cut crystal. I thanked God for the morning’s loveliness, reminded that my life is a free gift from a loving, generous God. I don’t have to do anything to receive from Him or please Him or prove to Him.

I realize that this goal of 10,000 daily steps is about performance, trying to achieve an arbitrary goal set by strangers. I applaud the intention to have an active and healthy lifestyle. But when my walks focus on the number of steps, comparing my best efforts or being frustrated with the results, then it’s performance , not progress. Soon I get caught in the performance trap, how well I measure up. Performance at a job, in sports, in personal goals – all define how well the world – and we – value ourselves.

Physical, mental and spiritual health is not about the number of steps we walk. It definitely is not about an I-phone app or fancy wristband. I choose to stay active as well and long as possible but not by sacrificing beauty and blessing. In my daily walks with God, He counts my steps and orders them. He knows how far I‘ve come and how far I still have to go. I have the Holy Spirit who walks alongside, pointing out this and that secret treasure.

Jesus died on the cross to set everyone free from “performing.” Ten thousand steps into eternity began when Jesus walked to Golgotha. Because of Him, 10,000 by 10,000 times, God is near to those who believe in His Son.

I don’t need a satellite honing in on my devices to track my steps. Fit bit? No, thanks. I’m on a different walk.

Now Jacob’s well was there. John 4:6

Summer is in full bloom in my gardens. The purple clematis billows over the trellis like a queen’s fancy mantle. Snow-white Shasta daisies and golden Rudbeckia reach waist high below. Oregano, thyme and rosemary have overtaken the allotted herb garden space and even fussy roses are showing off . Dan says the gardens’ colors are brilliant this year. I agree. Monet hangs outside my door.

Heat, sun, water and fertilizer have done spectacularly, especially watering the gardens and the hanging baskets in the coolness of the morning. I don’t have an in ground sprinkler system and have to rely on the tangle of hoses and plastic sprinklers strung throughout to turn the water on and off. Pot and baskets get my personal hand sprinkled attention. And yes, it is a big pain to keep it up. On days when I’m lazy and want to skip, the effect is immediate: dried out roots, wilted flowers and plants in shock. So I have learned to water regularly and faithfully.

We are equally fragile and dependent on water to sustain life. Water slakes our thirst down to the deepest parched roots in both body and spirit. I’m not a water drinker naturally. I have to consciously force myself to drink even half of the 1.9 liters recommended. So I’ve learned to gulp several glasses early in the mornings – (after my coffee) just like my fuschias!

Likewise and much more so, don’t we need the living water of God’s Word to pour spiritually into our thirsty souls early in the morning? Long before scorching noon heat sucks the spiritual life from me, I need the reservoir of Jesus Christ to draw from.

I think of the Samaritan woman who went to Jacob’s well for water at noon “the sixth hour”. She must have walked a long way from her village of Sychar through blazing desert heat. Hot, parched and thirsty, she finds Jesus sitting at the well as if he were waiting for her. Looking for water for herself, she encounters a thirsty Jewish rabbi who says to her, “Give me a drink.” There follows one of my favorite dialogues in Scripture where Jesus deftly turns a request for a drink of well water into a revelation about Himself, “the living water. “

There is a sweet spot in this story which is often overlooked. Jesus too was thirsty. He’d traveled through Judea with his disciples and was tired and hungry. At that hour the sun beat down fiercely. He rested at the well until the woman came. In His humanity Jesus was thirsty for water. In His divinity the Lord thirsted for her soul and for her townspeople. He offers her a promise:

“Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst” John 4:14.

I wonder went through her mind at that point. No more trudging through the heat every single noon when no one else is around. No more carrying this heavy water jug all the way back to the village. No more wondering if I carried enough home for the day. No more thirst? Impossible.

Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.” John 4:15

Jesus was speaking prophetically, pointing to Golgotha. Only one other Scripture describes Jesus’ thirst and it is on the cross. Crucified and dying, he cries out:

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” John 19:28

Messiah whom the Samaritan woman met, bore all suffering upon the cross, even our unquenchable thirst. He thirsted first for us so that our souls would receive “living water” and be thirsty no more, forever. It is Jesus’ promise made at a well in the desert to the Samaritan woman, to you, me and to all believers.

You keep track of all my sorrows.[
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book. Psalm 56:8

This last week we lost our little dog Rudy. It was so sudden and fast that I am still reeling. In the morning he seemed normal, chasing balls, gobbling food and harassing chipmunks. By mid afternoon he was lethargic and not moving much. Soon he lay on the carpet whimpering, unable to stand up or move. A friend helped me take him to the vet in Council. She held Rudy wrapped up in his old blankets while I tried to drive sensibly. It was only half an hour drive, but Rudy was gone by the time we brought him into Dr. Bruce’s office. He was as shocked as we were. “It was probably a stroke or blood clot,” he said. “He was pretty old,” he added kindly.

I know it is all for the best, but Dan and I are grieving. No matter how big or small the loss, grief is still grief which stings the heart. It comes because we take the risk to love someone or something. He was our goofy, “makes me laugh” family pet for 13 years, even before the grand children were born. Everyone will miss him, especially Dan.

Rudy didn’t understand what was happening to him; he seemed surprised and confused, struggling to breathe. He looked at me woefully as if to say, “Help me, please. Can’t you do something?” I only had comfort to give, comfort and a heart wrenching compassion for his suffering.

In that moment I realized that such is God’s divine compassion toward us and that it is far beyond anything we can fathom. If I, being evil could feel deep empathy for our hurting dog, how much greater is God’s compassion when we suffer or are sick? The Bible says that ‘He is “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.” He sees our daily struggles, our fragility and hopelessness in trials and sorrows. One day we’re flowers in full bloom; the next day we are crushed and broken. The Father’s compassion, wedded to His chesed, loving kindness is ever close by and through Jesus we are unconditionally loved by our Father of Mercies. He is the Father in the parable of the Prodigal Son who never ceases looking for us when we are far off.

“And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” Luke 15:20

The Father’s compassion races toward us in an embrace. It overshadows every grief, forgives our sin and separation and restores us with His loving kindness. During His short ministry on earth, Jesus’ compassion reached out to the multitudes. He healed the sick, saved the lost, and restored broken people. He had mercy on sinners and outcasts.

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”Matthew 9:36

“Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.” Matthew 20:34

He especially comforted families who were grieving, like Jairus, the widow woman who had lost her son, and his friends Mary and Martha in the raising of Lazarus from the dead. .

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. John 11:33

Jesus’ Gospel of salvation and healing might be called , “Jesus Christ’s Gospel of Compassion.” From the Father, through His Son and now through the Holy Spirit, the Comforter sent to this age, divine compassion flows like balm from the very heart of God to “wipe away every tear.” When I’m feeling loss or lost or overwhelmed, what great peace and joy there is knowing that God is nigh, consoling me before I ask.

I am … the Life. John 14:6

Life is so very precious. As I get older and closer to the end of this journey, the grains of sand trickle faster through the hour glass. I often am left wondering, “How did this happen? How did my life go by so quickly?” The answer? It happens to everyone.

Every second of life is gift from our Creator. Too often we forget to say thank you for the most basic fact that we exist! If It is counter cultural to believe God alone breathed life into every human being, then how much more must believers thank the Giver.

My husband and I have been blessed with a “good life. ” We are not hungry or thirsty or homeless. We do not suffer persecution or displacement. Except for the hiccups of ageing, our health is decent. All told, my life is free, comfortable and secure and compared to 90% of the world we are enviable. But comfort, security and freedom are external trappings which do not speak to deeper questions. Why am I here on this planet? Is there a purpose to my life and what’s it all about anyway?

It’s the million dollar question asked by the wise and the foolish throughout the ages. If our life’s purpose is worldly fame, fortune and success, then why does the soul constantly itch for something else? Why the restless heart? St. Augustine of Hippo realized that only God answers what the heart longs for.
“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”

It is so simple. Our life is made for God and we will not rest until He fills the spiritual canyon in our hearts. Until we make peace with God by accepting His Son Jesus into our lives, those canyons are arid wastelands. When Jesus told the disciples,“I am the way and the truth and the life” He was not offering external purpose or meaning to the disciples’ lives. Jesus radically offered His own life in place of theirs. He was describing a supernatural exchange through the Holy Spirit: life in this world for life in the kingdom of God. Jesus is the Life when we are reborn. John testified that through the Word of Life we receive the promise of eternal life with the Father.

…this is the Word of life. And this is the life that was revealed; we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us.…1.John 1-2
And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life. 1 John 2:25

Why do we struggle against the Word of God? Why is it so hard to completely surrender our lives to Him? Why do we cling to the heart’s restlessness and dissatisfaction. ? If we’re completely honest, haven’t we all wished for a “do-over” Hasn’t there been a choice or decision or relationship or failure we wanted to live differently? Wouldn’t a “rebirth” of certain destructive outcomes be better? I’ve seen my past in the hourglass and it wasn’t always pretty. But when I finally stopped resisting and accepted Christ, when Jesus gave me Himself, I found purpose, hope and a quieted heart. We aren’t reborn to relive what has been. We are reborn into Him, the Life, present and eternal.

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. John 14:6

It’s not too well know even among believers that Christians were first called The Way or People of the Way as early as in the Book of Acts. The term referred to Jesus’ claim that He was “the Way.” It is interesting that of all that Jesus taught, claimed and revealed about Himself, the first Christians so identified themselves with Jesus as “the Way” it became their name.

Jesus had been preparing the disciples for His departure from them. I can only imagine their fear and agitation, realizing Jesus was leaving. With great compassion He then added “You know the way to the place where I am going.” They were not comforted one whit.

“Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way? John 14:5
Jesus responded: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.…”John 14:6

It was a radical claim. Jesus wasn’t only talking about His journey to the cross or the physical direction He was taking. He was describing a new access to God, the Way to the Father which can only be through Himself. And once again, the Lord turned everything upside down with His words. The Jews believed that the Torah, that is the Law and the Prophets, were the way to God. Any other way or person claiming so was blasphemy. In Acts 24:14 Paul describes how through Jesus, this is no longer so.

But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets…

Jesus’ death and blood atonement rent the veil which had separated sinner from God. When reborn by faith in Jesus as Savior, the believer receives direct, joyful access to the Holy God. Jesus is the Way and The Way is Torah. The Way leads to eternal life and God.

Jesus’ statement was of course a stumbling block to the Jews who rejected Him. How dare this man make such a claim! Their answer was to crucify Him. It is still a stumbling block to the world which rejects His Word. How dare Christians say their Jesus is the Way to God, the enlightened ones argue? Their answer is to mock Christians as feeble minded, irrelevant and intolerant.

The world view says there are many paths to God, not one, and most certainly not the Way Jesus offers. A popular bumper sticker proclaims tolerance for all beliefs: “Coexist” is printed in a string of graphic symbols: the Islamic crescent moon, the hippie peace sign, male/female icon, the six pointed Jewish star, yin /yang of Confucianism and finally – the cross at the end. How many tolerant Christians embracing co-existence realize that a Wiccan pentagram sits atop the letter “i” ?

It makes no sense that beliefs which are intrinsically contradictory to one another all lead to the One True God. They can’t. They’re more like a clutter of road construction signs planted at the base of today’s Mount Olympus. The God of the Bible does not coexist there! All paths do not lead to God.

Because of technology no one on this planet risks getting lost, not even in the traffic jungle of New York City. To paraphrase, “all paths lead to GPS,” the global system which locates where we are and where we should go. But we’re more lost than ever. The gods of this age have gotten our souls so far off course that no amount of satellites in the sky can find us. This “ism” of one path just leads to more paths, like rat mazes with no end or purpose except to go round and round in a cage in some one else’s experiment.

I am so thankful Jesus saved me while I was lost. I had followed the path of pride which led to arrogance, humiliation and despair. The path of legalistic religion led to decades of rebellion against God. Philosophy and psychology? Roads covered by amoral landslides. Tolerance of all and everything brought neither wisdom nor tolerance. All my intellectual, humanistic, enlightened paths led to a dark dead end on a high cliff – and I knew I could not fly.

I no longer need or desire to walk my own way. The peace, love and purpose I have in Christ now is undeniable evidence that His Way is the only Way. It is God’s positioning system which finds me and becomes the Way home.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
“What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. John 18:38

Several weeks ago Time Magazine’s cover asked, “Is Truth Dead?” The cover deliberately replicates a Time cover of fifty years ago. Then, on April 8, 1966 it had asked a similar provoking question: “Is God Dead?” The three- word text assaulted readers with sharp red letters against a black background. The Time logo banner was pristine white. The starkness of both covers meant to jolt and unsettle people. I can’t help but remember that the Nazi flag – a black swastika set in a white circle on a red background exuded power, domination and fear. Surely the artist and editors of Time are aware that those three primary colors are powerful and symbolic.

Much has been made of the 1966 cover, glowingly described as “iconic.“ Questioning whether God is dead was Time’s foray into supplanting the God of Judaeo- Christianity, that is the God of the Bible, with a pluralistic, impersonal deity emerging from every corner of the 60’s world view. Interestingly, two years ago Philip Goldman writing for the liberal on-line journal the Huffington Post, re-examined the 1966 article. Looking for intent more than content, he stated that “The Time reporters were tuned into the zeitgeist.” He elaborates:

“As it happens, in subsequent decades that anthropomorphic deity has largely been replaced by a conception of the Divine that’s more akin to The Force of Star Wars, or a coherent energy like something physics might describe, or the Brahman of Hinduism — formless, eternal and transcendent, and yet also imaginable in any number of forms.” Huffington Post June 21, 2014

Any and all forms are potentially divine in Mr. Goldman’s view. Hmm. The Divine as Star Wars fantasy? Perhaps Yoda as an all wise Buddha -like deity? Karma arising like Venus out of physics? Eastern TM and navel gazing as personal religions? This all embracing, all tolerant zeitgeist sounds all to familiar. It didn’t take very long to manifest itself.

Zeitgeist indeed. The German word means “spirit of the age.” We don’t have to dig far into the history of the 60’s to identify exactly what the “spirit of that age” let loose against the eternal Spirit of God. The dawning of Aquarius brought New Age –ism, post modern relativism and the deconstruction of moral reality. It can be summed up in two words: deception and rebellion.

The God of Christianity is still very much alive despite man’s puerile fist shaking. The same “zeitgeist” of the 60’s, Satan, the enemy of God, prowls about in the 21st century. He knows of course that God is not dead at all. Thus, He hones the tactics he knows best which are as old as time (not Time!) Deception, blatant lies and insinuations are Satan’s trademark.

He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”Gen 3:1

The serpent always attacks the cause of truth and plants doubt. Is God God? Is what He said true? Are you really, really certain? And then because he knows man’s weakness the serpent incites the heart to rebel. What God said is not true so why don’t you take His place? Truth will be whatever you say it is.

Regrettably, Time Magazine has again jumped onto the devil’s back. One needs only to scan the news headlines to realize that truth is under constant, increasing attack. People are duped to question reality and accept illusion; deny logic, rationality and truth and praise deception; denounce morality and deny God’s voice of reason. The pc gendarmes use intimidation and harassment to convolute empirical and moral truths. Insanity is taking over common sense.

Time’s question is self contradictory. First of all, any response to the question about truth requires an answer which is by nature a statement about truth. Logically, it assumes some kind of truth to exist. Even if disbelieved, it is still a “true” statement. I’d highly recommend a refresher course in Logic 101. Secondly, the question is certainly not original. It was posed and answered two thousand years ago in Jerusalem. Pilate asked Jesus a similar question. Pilate wanted to know if Jesus was a king. Jesus answered him:

“For this reason I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.”

Pilate replied with another question, “What is truth”? It was a philosophical response. The Greek word aletheiea used by Pilate means truth in reality as opposed to illusion or delusion. Pilate wanted facts about Jesus in accordance with what was real, not false ideas. Although he found no fault or falseness in Jesus, Pilate retreated into philosophy. Jesus claimed truth; Pilate chose illusion.

It is in the light of Jesus’ claims that Time’s margumentative question utterly fails. Truth is not dead at all. In an astonishing “I Am” statement, Jesus tells the disciples,

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

Jesus claimed that truth is neither abstract or intellectual. It is not culture or world view dependent. Jesus Himself, as a Person, the Son of God, is Truth. He and the Father are One – in Spirit and in Truth. He promised to send the same Holy Spirit into the world after His departure. Truth has always been Who, not What. All other zeitgeists are false. Jesus warns the true Spirit will be opposed.

He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. John 14:7

By asking if truth is dead, Time unwittingly implies that truth has to be first alive. Only animate beings can have life. There is no separate breath of life in concepts or even scientific laws. It is like asking Is Gravity Dead? The question becomes perversely subjective and unanswerable. No other person has ever made Jesus’ claim, to be truth. He came to proclaim and manifest the Father’s Truth and character. The Truth of God’s promises and purposes. The Truth of the Gospel. The Truth about salvation. The truth about eternal life.

I can answer Pilate and Time. Truth is not dead. He rose from the grave and overcame death forever. Death is the lie, not Truth. In the Spirit of Truth, by faith, I know Jesus. He is the truth and He has set me free. Finally, I offer this: If you sincerely desire to know the Truth, seek out the Word of God in the Scriptures. Therein, Jesus is revealed – in bold red letters!

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
This is My commandment, that you love one another as I loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends John 15:13

It is Easter morning. Christians, rejoice because Christ has risen! The tomb is empty for death has lost its sting forever. Christ the Lord is alive. Alelluia. Alelluia. Praise God. For us Jesus’ resurrection is the core and the culmination of our faith. He alone is our eternal hope.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.1 Cor.13:13

This week has surely been about love. It is the divine love of God for His human children. The great commandment of the Old Testament was a peek into the heart of God. He wanted man to choose to love Him, to say yes to Him. He commanded Israel to love Him with every molecule of their being – but He gave them free will, even knowing how men would rebel constantly and fail repeatedly. Nevertheless, God’s loving kindness kept Israel as His own people whenever they repented and returned to Him.

This week has been about the love of Jesus for the Father. Jesus, the only begotten Son, came to this earth in obedience and love to fulfill God’s plan of salvation for men. Jesus, full of truth and grace, epitomized God’s commandment to love: He loved God with all His heart and all His mind and all His soul and all His strength. Jesus taught his followers that God was a loving, caring Father, something unknown in the world before. He heard His Father’s Voice on the mountains as He prayed so often in the mornings. God was Abba to Jesus, a loving Papa. Surely the divine Voice speaking to His beloved Son poured love over and into Him, so that He would overflow that love into the world.

Easter Sunday testifies that Christ’s love conquers all darkness, vanquishes the grave and is the immortal light of eternal life. He who was prophesied as the sacrificial Lamb of God, who was bruised, beaten, crucified and bore the stripes of our punishment laid down His life out of love. He loved us first even as the Father loved Him even to the cross. There is no greater love. It overcomes the darkness. The empty tomb proves its power.

God’s love in Christ Jesus and in us has no equal. There is no other faith, religion or philosophy that offers what God has offered in His Son. The world does not and cannot comprehend Easter Resurrection because the world does not love God or His Son or His Spirit. Blind eyes and deaf ears reject love which is sacrificial. It is that precise kind of love which surrenders to God in love and offers mind, soul and body that faith and hope in Jesus offers everyone. For this He came into the world – so that no one would perish.

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:17

The message of Easter is this: God’s unfathomable love offers Jesus to all who ask. What greater gift is possible?

And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. Mark 10:52

Once Jesus arrives in Jerusalem for Passover, all his actions move toward the cross. He confronts the Pharisees, preaches in the temple and exhorts his disciples, especially on faith. But before theses events unfold, in both Mark 10 and Matthew 20, before Jesus enters Jerusalem two blind men and Bartimaeus. call out to Jesus with loud voices. “What do you want me to do for you”, Jesus asks Bartimaeus. He answers, “that I may receive my sight.” Jesus tells him, “Your faith has made you well. “ In both instances, the encounter ends beautifully with the men’s healing and following Jesus. By faith, blind eyes were opened and they saw Messiah.

This week the church continues to celebrate Christ’s last days. The faith of Christians in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is visible to a world very much lost and spiritually dying. Along with much else that is good and true and morally right, faith is under attack. Ask the man on the street what he believes in, what his faith is in and I’d surmise there might be one of these responses: (a) Faith? What’s that? (b) I’ve lost faith in everything. (b) In myself.

Faith in God, eternity, people, and history are replaced by cynicism and mistrust. Worse, like truth, faith is mocked as irrelevant or whatever the cultural watch dogs demean it to be. Believers, that is people of faith , are ridiculed and increasingly persecuted. It is a dangerous time to stand up for faith in the Lord Jesus.

How then should Christians witness our faith in Jesus’ salvation and resurrection? What can one say to the person who argues that faith is pointless, a delusional construct. Or for the realist who demands tangible proof? Is there anything to offer the person who lost his faith in God? Of course there is! Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Share the parable of the fig tree!

Read Mark 11 and Matthew 21. In both accounts as Jesus heads toward the temple, he is hungry and sees a fig tree. Despite it being the season for fruit on the tree, it bears only leaves. Jesus curses the barren tree which immediately withers. Astonished, the disciples want to know what happened. Jesus uses the incident to teach about the power of faith to move mountains. The disciples would need “fig tree” faith to sustain them in the days to comeBe assured, Jesus tells them,

So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have faith in God.’ Mark 11:22
“if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.…Matthew 21:20

Faith in God is inseparable from Jesus, especially in the last week of His life. He believes the Father, hears the Father and does only what the Father instructs him – even to his own death. Jesus has the hopeful assurance, substance and foundation of the things which are not seen – in his Abba Father. He has the conviction of things not seen, as Paul describes in Hebrew 11:1 Faith in God the Father takes Christ to His death and resurrects Him from the grave.

Is anyone still blind? In faith? In Jesus? The resurrection power of Christianity’s Holy Week is still, always, unendingly available to people of faith through Holy Spirit of Christ abiding in us. Faith opens our eyes to see Him just as the blind men did.

Our testimony? A week in which unshakeable faith in Jesus can miraculously proclaim, “Go your way. Your faith has made you well.”