No Quarreling

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

NO QUARRELING

1 Cor 3:1-4

3:1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?

NIV

As with most of what Paul writes in this letter, it is difficult to cut his complete thought into segments, yet if we were to put the whole of this discussion, it would be the complete letter. So we deal with one bite at a time. It is certain there were problems in this early church in Corinth. Paul is making a distinction between behaving in the manner of the world and behaving as believers in Christ. Certainly, it is true that when a person is born again, they have merely accepted the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ. Above that, they have little to no knowledge of spiritual matters. We certainly fit into that category, as before becoming a believer, we behaved in accordance with the world. We were an infant when it came to spiritual matters, but we learned and we grew, and we made mistakes along the way, and even after many years we are still growing and still making mistakes along the way. However, this milk and solid food that Paul speaks of were not part of our growing process. We began chewing the filet mignon from the very beginning, digging into the scriptures, consuming them as if we had been starving our whole life, which in fact we had been. Without the spiritual food from God, we would starve to death, but because we are feasting on his truths, we have life, in fact, everlasting life. Yet there is still division within the church and it may not show up as one following Paul and one following Apollos, but rather in quarreling over matters of interpretation and forming whole groups, or denominations splintering the body of Christ. There are even some, perhaps minor, quarrels within one denomination, with the multitude of churches available groups do not gather according to their location, but rather according to their wanting to follow a certain pastor because of his type of message, or personality. When asked about the church, a typical response might be about the pastor, rather than about Jesus. Then we have even witnessed quarrels within the local church because of either envy, or jealously, but most often it comes from none forgiveness. Quarrels over hurt feelings stem from thinking more of ourselves than we should. When we the church behave like mere men, we cannot accept as well as are not able to chew that filet but need only the milk. We will see how Paul deals with this in the next segment of his letter, but for now, let us consider the one and only important spiritual matter as to who we follow, and He is Jesus. We follow Jesus and only Jesus. There can be no quarreling about that.

Having The Mind of Christ

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

HAVING THE MIND OF CHRIST

1 Cor 2:13-16

13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.   14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: 16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

NIV

This is the rest of the story, the rest of this thought of Paul’s regarding wisdom. He has compared the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God. Although in reality, there is no comparison as the so-called wisdom of the world is nothing but foolishness to God. Paul, although being an intelligent man, having been a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, which meant he was learned in the Law, says that he has set aside any of this world's wisdom and speaks as inspired by the Spirit, speaking spiritual things, the wisdom of God. Paul also makes it clear that unless we have the Spirit of God dwelling within, we cannot understand nor accept the spiritual truths that come from the wisdom of God. This would mean, that if we do have the Spirit dwelling within, we can accept these spiritual truths. The other interesting fact is that being a spiritual person, we can make a judgement about all things. There is some debate among our scholars as to the exact meaning here, especially in light of the rest of that statement, saying that we are not subject to any man’s judgment. We can judge, or scrutinize or examine and make judgments about every animal, or carnal man, in regard to their error and vice. That is we can see the errors in their lifestyle, their choices, their sinful ways. This does in no way, mean that we do not love them, for if we have the mind of Christ, then, just as Jesus loved the whole world that he died for all mankind, then we too should love everyone. This is taught to us by Jesus himself when he tells the greatest of all commands is to love the Lord with our whole being, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are also taught that we should not think more highly of ourselves as we should, for we are but sinners saved by grace. All Paul is saying is that because we have the Spirit, we can discern the sin in the world, whereas those without the Spirit do not know they are living in sin. They are void of the things of God, but we are not, we know the wisdom from God, we have the spiritual truth. Those of the world do not have the mind of Christ and therefore they cannot instruct us. However, we having the mind of Christ, can and should instruct them. That is really an awesome thought, that we have the mind of Christ. We think the same way Jesus thinks, or we agree with the mind of Christ. Jesus has endowed us with the same disposition, being born again by His Spirit; therefore we are capable of knowing His mind and receiving the teachings of His Spirit. Having received these teachings we are therefore well qualified to convey them to others. This is having the mind of Christ.

Knowing His Thoughts

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

KNOWING HIS THOUGHTS

1 Cor 2:10-12

10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.

NIV

We are not finished with this complete thought of Paul. However, there is something within these words that is enough for us to ponder on. Paul just said that he speaks words of wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time. God’s plan for us was before time, this glory, Jesus was destined to be our salvation before time. No man could understand that, except the person to whom the Spirit revealed this wisdom to. Here we see the Spirit searches all things. Some have seen this to mean the Spirit searches our heart, and knows our thoughts. That may very well be true in the sense that we have the Spirit dwelling within us. However, what is being said here is that the Spirit searches all the thoughts of God. Paul makes this comparison between us and God. No one in the entire world can know our thoughts, including Satan, except our own self. We are the only one who truly knows what we are thinking. There is not anyone who can perceive our thoughts. Now the Spirit is able, but not anyone else. In the same way, not a single person or spiritual being, such as angels or demons or Satan himself cannot know the thoughts of God, except the Spirit of God. Now, if the Spirit of God knows the thoughts of God, and we have received the Spirit who is from God, what does that tell us? We can know the thoughts of God through the Spirit who dwells within us. What may hinder us from hearing and understanding the thoughts of God is that we may be wanting to listen to the spirit of the world too much. The truth is that this is not a both, and, situation. This is not a grey zone, as it is absolutely black and white, an either or, condition. We cannot have both the spirit of this world and the Spirit of God within us. When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He sent the Spirit to us, to dwell within us. There are some who believe that has to be a second event, calling it the baptism of the Spirit. Some believe it happens at the same time of salvation. Either way, the fact remains that Jesus sent us the Spirit of God so that we would know the thoughts of God. Who are we that God would be mindful of us? We are his children, co-heirs with His Son, and as such He wants us to know His thoughts, He desires for us to know Him in the fullest sense. Consider how we started, walking in the cool of the day side by side with God, talking things over, totally intimate with each other. This is how the Spirit works in our lives, creating this total intimacy between the Father and us, so that we know His thoughts.

Destined for Glory

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

DESTINED FOR GLORY

1 Cor 2:6-9

6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"—

NIV

As it is often with Paul, he has very long sentences and that includes all one thought that he continues on using many words. In order to get the whole of this thought we are in now, we would need the whole of chapter two. Yet within this singular thought we do have something we can consider along the way. Paul had just said that at first, his message was simply Jesus Christ Crucified, and that was for the reason of exposing the truth of Jesus to non-believers in order they might believe. Now,  he says that to those who have believed and have been growing in their faith, he speaks with wisdom, but not the wisdom of this age, or the wisdom of the world, however, he speaks from the wisdom of God. He calls God’s wisdom a secret. It is interesting that Paul says this wisdom has been hidden and that God destined this wisdom for our glory before time began. Paul is talking about Jesus is the wisdom of God, and that His plan for Jesus to be crucified was before he created time. That would be before the foundation of the earth. In other words, before he created man, God already knew all that His creation would do, the choices they would make, and the consequences of their choices. He knew before time that we sin, and in essence, turn our backs on Him. He had determined before time that as a consequence of our turning away from Him we would pay the price with our lives and that death would be our end, and we would spend all of eternity out of His presence. However, that was unacceptable, as he did and is and will forever love his creation. So, before time He knew He would make a way for creation to turn back toward Him and return to the place He wanted us. Our salvation was determined before time began. The rulers of this age, people who live according to this age cannot understand that truth, that wisdom from God. What is also interesting is that Paul says that if those rulers of this age, which would have to be the council of elders that made sure Pilate crucified Jesus, knew and understood who Jesus really was, they would not have had Jesus crucified. Is that saying that God never intended for Jesus to take all our sin, and paid our penalty for sin? We think not. It was always God’s plan but had those Jews seen the plan of God, had they understood God’s plan, they would not have assisted Him in executing His plan, for they were all about their own plans. But in being all about themselves, they did exactly what God had planned before time began. The wisdom of God is so far beyond any wisdom man could possibly have. How glorious it is to be within the plan of God, to be right where he wants us to be, in Christ. This is our destiny, we are destined for glory.

God's Power

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

GOD’S POWER

1 Cor 2:1-5

2:1 When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.   2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

NIV

Paul was not a simple or uneducated man. From his own testimony, he has said that he was a Hebrew of Hebrews, from the tribe a Benjamin, a Pharisee. He knew the Law and was in fact a persecutor of the early church until he met Jesus on that road. Then his life was turned upside down and inside out. However, here he tells these believers in Corinth that he did not come to them using all the great vocabulary he could have. He did not exhibit great wisdom. He merely gave a testimony about God. What is interesting, and Paul will get to this later in his letter, is that there were various religious ideologies in Corinth. Because of Corinth’s location with both two seas, the Aegean and the Ionian sea. It had become a very wealthy seaport city that had a large temple to the goddess Aphrodite. The Romans also brought in their gods, and so there was a mixture of different gods within the cities culture. Paul says he did not come to debate all the beliefs in these other gods, but to simply give a testimony about the one true God. We have to remember, he is writing to the church, to those who left all those other gods and came to believe in the one true God, the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ, as their Lord and Savior. Paul reminds them it was Jesus Christ crucified was his message. Here are the two life lessons we learn. First, that we accepted this same message, Jesus Christ crucified. This means we have been freed from the bondage of sin, but also that we have been freed from the penalty of sin, for Jesus took all our sin and paid the price. So we have this peace, this freedom from guilt, shame, and fear of the wrath of God, as he will not punish us, nor condemn us, because we are in Christ Jesus and thus He has declared us holy and blameless in his sight. The second lesson we learn is that we too only need to share a message of Jesus Christ crucified. We need not debate all the ideologies of this world, nor condemn them. Our only message needs to be our testimony of Jesus crucified, that he took our sin, that we have been set free and that others can also be set free, and live a full and rich life in the here and now as well as have life eternal. True, there are those who might say they are a Christian, but may not understand the truth of Jesus Christ Crucified. But again, it is not up to us to teach or preach but to simply give them our testimony about Jesus. If we rest on our own abilities to persuade others, we are sure to fail. However, if we rest in and on the power of the Spirit, then God will do the rest. The power of the Spirit will do all that is needed to convict men of their sin and need of repentance. We cannot do that, But the Spirit can and does. Then people will not just turn from their ways and believe because of our find words of wisdom, but because they experienced the power of the Spirit in their lives, just as we did. This is God calling men unto himself, rather than men calling men to God. The Spirit is at work, we simply need to give our testimony about Jesus. We have no power, for it is all God’s power.

Boasting

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

BOASTING

1 Cor 1:26-31

26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.   31 Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."  

NIV

It doesn’t take much to think of what we were before, or at the time we were called. We were sinners, in fact, we could have been considered the chief of sinners. However, Paul is asking us to remember or think about our position in life when we were called. We were not anyone with any influence in society at all. We have no position of authority. We were just ordinary people of low ranking in our society. Oh, sure, we were trying to make our mark, so to speak, but we still were of no consequence in the grand scheme of life. In the culture of the Corinthians, it certainly was a class system, as Paul includes those of noble birth as well as those who must have been the wise, or educated, scholars or philosophers of the day. And, of course, there was the political or ruling class, but again, those might have been the ones of noble birth. It does seem odd that today we do have people from various classes of society who believe in Jesus. But in comparison to the world in general, the mainstream thinking of those who influence our culture, we were and still are just a very little insignificant cog in a very big wheel. However, God called us, he chose to call us, who are lowly, or at least far lowlier than all those important people, the politicians, the entertainers, the multi-billionaires, and the like. Although it is possible some of them have decided to follow Jesus, it seems, for the most part, money and power are their gods. But, here we are, still a small cog in the sense of the grand scheme of things, but God has given us His wisdom. We certainly cannot boast about any of our accomplishments, or achievements in this society. We cannot boast about our life at all. In fact, any training or skill set we once had, has been set aside, so that who we are today and any gifts that we may exhibit are all the result of God working in our life. We can only boast about how God took us from where we were and brought us into where we are. This includes both moving us from the city of darkness and death into His city of light and life, and from what we thought should be our vocation to a calling He has put on our life that requires us to rely totally upon Him, for without Him, we can do nothing. We can boast that Jesus is our righteousness, for without him we have none at all. We can boast that Jesus is our holiness and our redeemer. We could and still cannot do anything to be worthy of being holy and blameless before God. However, in Christ, we are all of that and more. We have the right to be called children of God, co-heirs with Jesus. It just cannot be any better than that. We have been risen from poverty, into being a royal priesthood, a holy nation before our God. God has transformed us and we, who once belonged to the evil one, now belong to God. How great is this? We have been taken from the wisdom of the world and given the wisdom of God. All the world’s wisdom means nothing compared to that which God has bestowed upon us. Praise God, although we cannot boast about ourselves, we can certainly boast about God.  

Strength and Wisdom

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

STRENGTH AND WISDOM

1 Cor 1:18-25

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."  

20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

NIV

It could not be any plainer than this. So many who do not believe in the authority of the scripture, and thus do not believe in the saving grace of Jesus Christ, think of themselves as intellectuals. In reality, they are living in the dark, void of all truth. They may think they are the wise ones, but they are the foolish ones as declared by God. Education is important as it provides us with knowledge and certain skills that we need in order to obtain certain or abilities we need for whatever profession, position, or trade that we have been called into. So we can say that we may have a certain level of education, but to say that we are wise, or have wisdom is simply foolishness. Having faith does not require education and cannot be obtained through human wisdom. In fact, we cannot even conjure up faith on our own, for the scripture tells us that God gives every man a measure of faith. What is rather interesting is that even within the church it seems that some would admire the intellectuals. What we have to consider is that God can give His wisdom to whoever, however, it seems he gives wisdom to the humble, and to the wise, he gives frustration. No, we need to see that God is the author of wisdom and if we want to be wise, then we will simply believe. Knowing Jesus is the wisest course of action any man can take. Jesus is the wisdom of God and having Christ in our heart gives us the wisdom of God. Yet, we see so many who despise God, refuting the scripture and wanting to take God out of all aspects of life. We do not call those who think themselves wise, scholarly, or philosophers. It is interesting the word philosopher comes from an ancient Greek word that means lover of wisdom. The world is full of those who think more highly of themselves than they should. We see it all around us in the political arena, the entertainment industry, the commentary, and supposed news media, as well as in business and finance. Many of them espousing their form of wisdom. But it is all foolishness to God. We need to simply focus on God, focus on Jesus, being saved, and learning from Him. For when we are weak, God is strong and he gives us His strength and His wisdom.  

No Human Wisdom

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

NO HUMAN WISDOM

1 Cor 1:13-17

13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? 14 I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. 16(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel — not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

NIV

This is the continuation of Paul’s discourse, right out of the gate, regarding division among this new church. We have considered how things have not changed that much in our post-modern church and so now we look into some of the rest of what he says. Paul makes the point, and at least, most denominations today baptize in the name of Jesus, although there are some who baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, while others baptize only in the name of Jesus. However, we are at least not baptizing in the name of some preacher, which is the point Paul was making. What we see here is something special regarding how Paul was sent to them. He was not there to be a baptizer but to be a preacher. This too might relate to our lives in that same sense. Our role in the church, as in the world, is to preach the gospel. This does not apply only to those who have gone to a bible school or seminary and have received the hand of fellowship, or the degree or certificate, or the certification of ministry, or license, or ordination, or whatever each demonization calls those given the right to become a pastor of a church. This applies to all of us who believe in the name of the Lord. Has not Jesus told us all to go out into the world and preach the gospel? Again, we have considered this before and it may not mean that we should all go traveling the world, as we pay missionaries to do that for us. But we have been called to go into the world of business, engineering, medicine, construction retail,  manufacturing, or whatever profession or trade there is. Whatever we have been called to in order to make a living here in this world, we also have been called in some sense to be a preacher, or at the very least, a witness. Our life should be a witness for Jesus, yet at the same time, we need to speak about him as well. We all cannot actually preach, that would not be right to preach a sermon at work. But our words are preaching in a sense. What we say, says volumes either for or against Jesus. But we cannot conjure up those words, for they would be of human wisdom, for that Paul says empties the cross of Christ of its power. Whatever we say needs to be inspired by the Spirit. Our words need to come from the power of God, and not from us. This may be the fallacy with many who have learned the skill of preaching at some seminary or biblical type school. Learning the correct format of sermon preparation has become the norm today. Again, we have to earn the right to be a preacher, learning all the right ways, the right speaking skills, etc. Yet it may be all but from human wisdom. This is not to say all preachers come from human wisdom, for it is certain many are inspired by the Lord and preach the word with the wisdom from God. This too should relate to how we approach life and how we should be prepared to hear wisdom from God before we speak about the things of the Lord. If we look to Him, He will give us the words we need to say when we need to say them, and to whom we need to say them. There is a difference between human and divine wisdom, and we should not rely on this human wisdom.

Divisions

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

DIVISIONS

1 Cor 1:10-12

10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ."

NIV

Paul gets right into it, right after his introduction of this letter. There were divisions among the church, wow, what time has done to the church. It has only been a few years and already they cannot agree with one another. Of course, there were others traveling around sharing some content of the gospel message. We do not know what Apollos taught. We know what Cephas taught if this is the Cephas who Christ called Peter. Yet, Peter was the Apostle to the Jews and Paul would have been the Apostle to the Gentiles along with Apollos as we know him from the Acts of the Apostles going into Achaia, something after Paul. We also see that Apollos was in Corinth, while Paul took the road to the interior. However, the point is that there were three different preachers of the gospel that made their way into Corinth and as with people, they take a particular liking to either the personality or the style of their preaching, or maybe just because of their appearance. Then again, their messages would have some differences in how they perceived the gospel. Nevertheless, division happened, as it does with every group because we are people. It has been said that if you gather one hundred Jews together, there would one hundred different opinions. This saying certainly cannot be confined to Jews. It would seem if two people were together, there would be two different opinions. Time has not changed the church much either. We are still divided and most over opinions as to how the word of God is interpreted. They did not have the complete bible at their disposal, as we do. They only had the gospel from the mouth of men, which could have had different slants. Today, we all have the same word, perhaps different translations, but the same word and still, we cannot all agree. We have divided ourselves up over many secondary and tertiary issues, although it seems as do all agree that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and we need to accept him in order to get into heaven. Well, maybe not all think exactly in those terms. Not all denominations agree that in order to see the kingdom of God we have to be born again, yet those are the exact words Jesus spoke to Nicodemus. How is it that some churches do not preach that message? Perhaps that idea comes from the fact there are so many that have been raised in Christian homes, they believe they have been a Christian their whole life, and just started out as a child being born again. Others may never have had an epiphany, but just evolved into being a believer. Again the point is still the same. We have more denominations, more divisions among ourselves than those people in Corinth. What happened? We even have people who attend certain churches because of the personality of the Pastor or follow those more famous preachers who broadcast their messages over various forms of media. We know of some who simply like the particular accent of a certain preacher, and thus what to listen to him, and are influenced by his opinion of the gospel. Divisions among divisions, and Paul wants nothing to do with it. It is all about Jesus and let us keep it about Jesus. Why do we allow want to make it about all the fluff and puff, and not just about Jesus? Oh, if we could just all get along, but that does not appear it is going to happen anything soon, as long as people are people, there will be divisions.

Strong and Blameless

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

STRONG AND BLAMELESS

1 Cor 1:4-9

4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way — in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

NIV

Now that we have been enriched because of the divine influence of Jesus on our hearts and minds and we lack nothing concerning spiritual gifts because we eagerly wait for our Lord to appear in the sky and call us home, we now focus our attention on what Paul says something else we can expect to happen. Paul says that Jesus will keep us strong to the end so that we will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is interesting the Greek word translated as strong carries this meaning of to make firm. So the word strong does justice to this Greek word and we also have to understand that it is He who will make us firm. That is not up to us because we are not able to do it. The Greek word also can be seen as confirm or establish, which is also all Jesus and none of us. Of course, we should try to live as uprightly as possible, however, no matter how much effort we put in to being righteous, we simply cannot ever be righteous, or strong enough, or confirm or establish ourselves until the end in order to be blameless on the day of the Lord. We are entirely dependent on the faithfulness of God, who is the one who called us into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Oh sure, we might try to appear blameless, but in reality, we simply are not blameless unless God declares us so, and the only way that we are declared blameless is being in fellowship with Jesus, for He is blameless. Jesus is the one who is keeping us strong, he is the one who has and is confirming and establishing us until the end. How could we possibly go on, if it were not for Jesus? As it is we still fail in so many ways and so often that if it were up to us, we would have been condemned to everlasting death. Jesus took all our failure, all our sin, past, present, and future upon himself on the cross so that we do not have to be condemned, but so that we can be set free from that penalty of sin. Yes, we make every effort not to sin, but the reality is, we cannot make sufficient enough effort, so we have to rely completely on Jesus to keep us strong, to make us firm to the end. Again, this may not be Him making us, as in making a cake, or how He made all that is made, and that nothing was made that he did not make. This keeping us strong has everything to do with us being in fellowship with him. That is because we are in Christ and He is in us, it is Him who is strong, it is Him who establishes us as blameless. When God looks at us, He sees His Son Jesus, who is strong and blameless. God sees us through Christ, and then we are blameless until the end because God is faithful. We fail, but He does not. He is the reason we are strong and blameless.

Lacking Nothing

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

LACKING NOTHING

1 Cor 1:4-9

4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way — in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

NIV

Having been given the grace of Jesus Christ, that is His divine influence upon us and that has enriched us in every way, which is every aspect of our life, we also notice that we do not lack any spiritual gift as we eagerly wait for Jesus to be revealed. It is interesting in the Greek the way this not lacking is expressed. It is that we will not come behind, or be late, tardy, in any spiritual gift. This gives a clear picture that God does not show any favoritism in any aspect of our lives. That is no one is left behind when it comes to spiritual gifts, we all have them equally. It is true that we struggle at times trying to figure out just exactly what gift God wants to use through us and maybe that is just the point, he is the one who decides and he can use any of His gifts at any time in any way in anyone. We just have to be willing for Him to work in and through us. His spiritual gifts will be given, and we will not be lacking in any of them. But, then again, there seems to be a qualifier on not lacking any spiritual gift. We must eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus to be revealed. This Greek word translated as revealed can also be seen as manifested, or appearance. This could be seen then as eagerly waiting for the coming, the appearance in the sky, of our Lord Jesus Christ. Eagerly, or to wait fully, to assiduously (showing great care and perseverance) and patiently to wait for his return. This looks to be the key to spiritual gifts. If we are not eagerly waiting for the return of Jesus Christ, then it would seem that we are way too invested in the things of the world. If we are not totally living in expectation of that day he is revealed, or his coming or appearing in the sky, then we are most likely lacking in spiritual gifts. So what does eagerly waiting look like? As we have been thinking, it certainly looks like not being too invested in the things of the world. When we spend too much time planning for our own future, or too much time being concerned about how we live, that is what kind of house, clothes, car, or other things we have, or how much we give, or what we are doing then maybe that has something to do with this being too invested in the world. It is hard to put an exact handle on how that looks as we do need to have certain things in this world to survive, so to speak. We do need a house, clothes, car, food and other things. Those things require the use of funds, and we have to spend a fair amount of time in the accumulation of those funds for the world does not just give them to us, we must purchase them. Maybe this eagerly waiting has more to do with our priorities, or how we approach all these things we need to live. Maybe it is still this too invested thing, which is those things become the focus of our attention, rather than the day that Jesus comes for us. Although we talk about how wonderful heaven will be, we actually do not know how it will be, it is still in some sense the unknown and the path to it is through death, unless he comes very, very soon, while we are still alive. Death is still, in a certain sense an unknown, although we believe in death we are absent from our body and thus present with our Lord. However, the point being is that what we have in the here and now is known and maybe we become too invested in that which we know and are not as eager to find out that which we might think of as the unknown. We know Jesus is real, we know God is real, we know all the scripture is true and inspired by God and thus we know everything that is to come is our reality and so we have to wait with eager anticipation of our being in his presence. In the meantime we occupy, we do that which we must, but this is not in any way as important as our relationship with our Lord, and He is the focus of our lives, and so we lack nothing concerning spiritual gifts.

Grace Given

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

GRACE GIVEN

1 Cor 1:4-9

4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way — in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

NIV

 

It is interesting that Paul always thanks God for those believers in Corinth because of the divine influence Jesus Christ has given them. Would that not be a clue as to how we should approach life in regard to other believers? Should we not thank God as well for others because of the divine influence given them by our Lord Jesus Christ? Perhaps the reason Paul is thankful to God is that they are reflecting that influence. However, that is unlikely as the whole tenure of this letter is dealing with the struggles this young church is dealing with because of the culture in Corinth. There were factions, lawsuits, immorality, questionable practices, abuse of the Lord’s Supper, and spiritual gifts. So it would seem they were not necessarily reflecting the divine influence upon their hearts. Nevertheless, Paul was thanking God because of the grace given to them in Christ Jesus. The Lord was still giving them his divine influence, but whether they were allowing that influence to have its way may be another story. His influence is upon our lives all the time. It is somewhat like a gift and we receive it all wrapped up. We have to unwrap it in order to enjoy the full benefit of the gift. If we simply leave it in its wonderful wrapping paper and just look at it, we never get to use the gift. So it is with the divine influence, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we simply just look at it and never open our hearts, open the gift, we never get to use it, and there is no reflection of his influence in our lives. However, this influence, this grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, if we allow it to, will enrich our lives in every way. His grace will be reflected in how we speak, and in our knowledge of him. We will be changed because of his influence on our hearts and minds. This is the point Paul is driving at because it appears this young church in Corinth was not making those changes or was allowing the culture, the world, to have too much influence on them, rather than allowing Jesus to influence them. Maybe the post-modern church, that would be us, might struggle with some of those same issues. Maybe we struggle as well with either allowing the world to have too much influence in how we live or at least try to mix the two, the influence of the world and the grace of God, hoping that it would be just fine. Surely, we have to live in this corruptible world. It is certain we have to make our living in it, and do whatever is needed to survive, so to speak. However, again those words regarding being in the world, but not of the world, speak volumes to what was going on in the young church in Corinth, and may also speak volumes to us, being this post-modern church. How much do we, the church, function as the world? How much do we, the church, function under the influence of our Lord Jesus Christ? It is amazing how we have seen some churches we have been in, function somewhat like being under the influence of our Lord, but in other respects, especially with the budget, function more like the world. We have seen ministry determined by budget, rather than budget determined by the ministry, which seems backward, as we are allowing the world’s system more influence than the Lord's influence. Maybe we need to learn this lesson which is spoken here in this lesson. We may also be in danger getting too close to the things of the world, letting them sway the way we think. So, again, let us closer to Jesus, and allow His influence to have the main impact on our lives, both as individuals and as the church.

Grace and Peace

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

GRACE AND PEACE

1 Cor 1:1-3

1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ — their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

NIV

We are still in the introduction of this letter and having considered the change that occurred in the life of Sosthenes and us, then how we have been declared sacred and set apart exclusively for God, we now turn our attention to this grace and peace. Although Paul uses this phrase often and it might be a common way if an introduction to a letter, it would not be that common, as this would not have been used among the Jews who wrote letters to each other nor would it have been used by any gentile. So then it might be common with Paul, as he writes to this new church formed around Jesus Christ. We noticed he has not called them Christians as that term has yet to be identified with those who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. As for this grace and peace, we have delved into those Greek words before, and still, they are always interesting to meditate on. The Greek word translated here as grace is Charis, which is directly used as graciousness, (as gratify), however, it is specifically seen within the spiritual sense as the divine influence upon our heart and, its reflection in life, including gratitude. So then when Paul says to them that Grace is upon them, he may well be saying that the divine influence of Christ is in your hearts, and having His influence in your hearts, your life should reflect it. This then would also apply to us, as we are among those everywhere who call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The question then begs to be asked. Do we reflect the divine influence that is in our hearts? The fact is that this divine influence is there. That is not in question. Jesus is there, and yes, through the power of the Spirit, who is actually dwelling within us. He is there and making his influence known to us, however, we are still the ones who must yield to His influence. He does not force himself upon us, making us into some form of robot or puppet, He having the controls or being the puppet master. We must learn to listen to his influence and allow him to be reflected in our lives. The Greek word translated here as peace carries a direct meaning of tranquility. It can be used as the opposite of war, such as in national tranquility, however, this is not how Paul is directing this word. It is meant to be directed into the hearts of men, much as grace is. So then in that sense, it carries this meaning of the tranquil state of our soul, assured of our salvation through Christ, and thus fearing nothing from God and content with our earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is. This is meant to be applied to every aspect of our lives, nothing is to be excluded. So then nothing should matter in regard to our condition in life, for we should be content. We have considered this before in regard to the opposite of content, which is discontent, which leads to envy, jealously, greed, lust, and all sorts of trouble within our hearts and minds. Discontentment can lead to disappointment and even discouragement or even depression. However, that too would have its root in refusing His divine influence. We need both his grace and peace in our lives if we are to live.  How rightly paired are grace and peace.

Sanctified

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

SANCTIFIED

1 Cor 1:1-3

1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ — their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

NIV

Having considered the change that occurred in the life of Sosthenes and how that same change has been the case in our lives, we now should look into this idea of being one of those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy. The reason we can expect this to apply to ourselves and not to just those believers who lived in Corinth is that Paul continues and includes all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. What we have to conclude is that this letter was written to us. Certainly, Paul did not think of us when he included all those everywhere, as he may have been thinking of the other churches throughout the area that he had once visited and started a new church. However, as his words were inspired by the Spirit and we know that God knew before the foundation of the earth that we would be calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and so then according to the holy inspired word of God, we are included as recipients of this letter. So what exactly does it mean that we are among those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy? It is interesting the Greek word translated as sanctified carries this meaning of being rendered or declared sacred, set apart for God. This is not something we can do or cause to be done, yet in some sense by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have caused ourselves to be rendered by God as sacred and set apart to and for him. But we cannot render ourselves, or declare ourselves to be sanctified, that is reserved holy for God to do, and the only way, or reason that he would render us as sacred is if we are in Christ Jesus. Again, we cannot be good enough, or righteous enough, or do enough good deeds, or act spiritual enough, or even study the scriptures enough to make ourselves worthy of being declared scared. All we can do is be in Christ Jesus, or in other words, accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, being born again, as He told Nicodemus. Then and only then God renders us as sacred, and separated from things profane and dedicated to Him, or consecrated, being dedicated to a special service, as we are to God. In addition, we have also been called to be holy. This Greek word translated here as holy has also been seen to mean saints. This word carries the meaning of someone who is connected with God and possess a certain distinction and claim to reverence, as places sacred to God. As for people, it is employed to mean that we are set apart for God, as it were, exclusively His. Again, we cannot call ourselves to be set apart for God, to be exclusively His. He has called us to be holy. He has called us to himself and He has set us apart to be exclusively His. This would have to mean that we cannot be divided in our hearts and minds. How can we have desires for the things of the world and also have a desire for God? How can we be set apart for Him while still engaging in the affairs of the world? Yes, we live here, and we have to employ ourselves to work within the framework of our culture or society. Yes, we have to do certain things in this world in order to function. But we have not been called to be of this world, to be partners with it, to be exclusively set apart to this world, to claim it as our own, our home, what we worship. God and God alone is who we have been called to be set apart for and in, and to be His sacred place, as we have been told we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. So we are sanctified and called to be holy.

Changed

 

DEVOTION

The 1^st Letter to the Corinthians

CHANGED

1 Cor 1:1-3

1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ — their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

NIV

This is not an uncommon greeting from the apostle Paul to the church or Christians within a particular region or city. What we know is that he is still in Ephesus and may or may not be in prison as he was when he wrote his letter to the Colossians. This person, Sosthenes that he mentions, is not a total stranger to us as Luke records his name in his writing regarding the Acts of the Apostles. This Sosthenes was the ruler in the synagogue in Corinth and we see that he had been beaten by the servants of the court of Gallio because he was the chief ruler of the synagogue who brought this complaint to the court regarding words that Paul had spoken, creating a disturbance in the city among the Jews. But now we see him as being converted and a companion of Paul. It is interesting how accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior make a great change in our lives. Here is a man who was a Jew among Jews, a leader, a chief ruler in the synagogue in Corinth. We do not know when or how exactly his conversion took place, but we know he is no longer in the place or position he once was. He now stands at the side of Paul and may actually be the one who is writing this letter for Paul, or at the very least is a firm companion, traveling with Paul, helping in the spreading of the gospel message. It could be that Paul is bragging a little mentioning his name, as many of the Christians in Corinth were also Jews and could very well have known Sosthenes when he was the chief ruler. The point is still the same, this man changed completely from who he once was, left his old life behind to move forward under the call of the Lord. We understand this concept as we too had a previous life, one that was not only not pleasing to the Lord, but was in active rebellion against the Lord, mostly by not wanting to acknowledge His existence. Perhaps deep within we may have known he was there, but we did not want to be associated at all with him, refusing any knowledge of him. Then the day came and God came crashing into my world as I challenge Him to prove he was real. What happens when God comes in, when Jesus makes his call on us and appears in our lives is astonishing. Just as this Sosthenes made a change, so we too make this dramatic shift in our style of living. We move from refusing Jesus, to accepting Jesus. He moves us from living in the city of darkness and death across that great chasm into the city of light and life. We were transformed, changed, recreated into a new creature in Christ. Our life would never be the same, we could no longer live where we did, nor occupy the same role we once had. Just as Sosthenes was once associated with the Old Law, and now is a part of the new covenant of Christ, we too have left the old law that meant our death, and now we are in Christ, which means we have life. We have already been changed.

Accompanying Signs

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

ACCOMPANYING SIGNS

Mark 16:19-20

19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

NIV

These are the last works of this gospel according to Mark and he tells us something very interesting. First, there is no question as to where Jesus is. Mark makes sure to tell us that after he has spent some days appearing to various people and as we know from the other gospel accounts he spent time with his disciples. We know that he met them on the seashore one day and was preparing a meal as they came to shore and again, Peter jumped out of the boat and got to shore first. But after all those times and people that he appeared to it was time for Jesus to return to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. This is where Jesus is now and of course, we know that he sent the Spirit to be first convict us of our need to repent of our sin and to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but also to be our guide. He leads us into all truth, he guides us to that truth and gives us the understanding or the discernment to know truth from falsehood. There is also something here which is very interesting and of what we can also expect as we do that which we have been called to do. The disciples went out and preached everywhere. Of course, we may not be called to preach everywhere, although in some sense we all have been called to go into all the world and preach the good news. We could interpret that in both the sense of traveling the world and preaching, which we are doing in the sense of supporting those who have been called into the mission field and do go to parts of the world. However, we too can go into the world in the sense of the world of business, the world of medicine, the world of science, or the service industry or whatever profession or career path we have been called to, and in that path, we are still called to be His witnesses. That would be in some sense preaching the good news, even if it is by our good life, our working as though we are working not for men, but for the Lord. Whatever we are doing, we can be sure that the Lord is working with us and confirming his word in our lives by signs that accompany it. The question we have to ask ourselves, is what are the signs that accompany our lives, that confirm the word in our lives and that the Lord is working with us? We think that we would have to be doing that which we have been called to do in the first place. It would seem inappropriate for us to expect the Lord to work with us if we had made the choice as to what career path we wanted and thus we would not be on the path he chose for us or called us to. So then we have to believe we have listened to him, and we have walked this path, this journey we have been called to, both this spiritual and physical journey of his choice. We then would have to believe he is working with us and confirming his word in us. How does he work with us? What is he doing as he works in us? We would have to believe that there would be signs in our lives, signs that he is with us, and that we have the word in us. We talk about the signs of the times as though we understand what that means. As our culture changes, as the years pass by, we see differences in what is acceptable and more openness of blatant disregard for God. These are the signs of the times. But Jesus said there would be signs that appear in our lives. Signs of his working with us and signs he has and is and will be confirming the word in our lives. We could see this in one respect as we are in a constant state of change, that we are always growing, not stagnant in our walk, but always on the move, growing to be more and more like Jesus. However, in another sense, we should expect some kind of signs in our lives, signs that other people take notice of. Jesus had just told them they would speak in new tongues, they would handle snakes, could drink poison and they would place their hands on sick people and they would be healed. We considered these signs already, but did Jesus mean just those, or did he mean some other signs? Either way, if we are doing that which Jesus has called us to do, there will be signs that accompany his confirming his word in us. There are and will be accompanying signs.

Believing in HIs Name

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK
BELIEVING IN HIS NAME

Mark 16:9-20

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. 12 Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13 These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. 14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. 15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."  19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

NIV

We have notes that comment regarding this last verse of Mark. It is noted that some of the oldest manuscripts do not have these verses, which means they were either added by some scribe or left off some of those older manuscripts for whatever reason. However, they do appear in many of the newer versions or translations of the New Testament. They are a shorter version of what other gospel accounts record of events that occurred after the resurrection of Jesus. This fits very well with the rest of this gospel according to Mark as he is a whole lot briefer than any of the others. This would or could indicate that Mark did not copy others, but did give his first-hand account of what he knew to be true. This is not to say the others did not have firsthand knowledge, but there has been some question about this ending of Mark. Nevertheless, the truth is still the same. Jesus spent time with various people, mostly his disciples, but also he appeared to many, assuring them all he said was true and that he was indeed alive. This commission of his disciples has significant meaning as if it were not for them following his commands, we would not have known about Jesus. Sure, we would still have all the Old Testament, but maybe that would have been kept to the Jewish people themselves and they would have felt no need to share those writings with gentiles. But now, we have all these writings that were inspired, just as the writings of the Old Testament, and give us a wonderful record of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, bringing us the hope of eternal life. We are so thankful that Jesus inspired these men, through the power of the Holy Spirit to go into all the world and preach this gospel. We have also taken his command and men and women have picked up that mantel of spreading the gospel message throughout the world. This message is still in the process of being spread, as there are still people who have not heard this message. There are some people who have heard it, and may have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but have not completely grasped the whole of his message. Who of us has ever driven out a demon? We could say that we have, in one sense when we worked at Teen Challenge in Chicago, as we were involved in several cases of men who were possessed and had the demon leave them. We could also say, in some sense, that we exercised our own demons through the power of the Spirit. We can also say that we have spoken in new tongues. This is controversial in some sense, as some denominations, being considered as Pentecostal, believe the gifts of tongues still exist and practice speaking in this new tongue which they are not learned in, but rather speak through the inspiration of the Spirit, like the disciples did on that Day of Pentecost. There is another sense of a new tongue in that before salvation we spoke words or the world and considered not about God. But now our language is new as we speak not like the world, but we speak of the things of God. Yet, we have experienced both new languages. As far as the snakes, we cannot be certain we have ever handled such a thing. However, in some sense, Satan, the great serpent has been handled. We have cast him out and told him to get behind us. So we have picked up that snake and have thrown him asunder. We cannot say we have ever drunk poison and lived, however in some sense many of our daily intake of food and drink may poison our bodies, but we continue to live, and that is contributed to the power of the Spirit. This idea of placing our hands on sick people and they're being healed is a practice we believe in, but how many of us actually do this? Maybe we need to reassess just how much we believe Jesus. Maybe we just believe all this was just for those twelve and not for the rest of us, yet we want to go into all the world. We spent much time and effort along with money in the spreading of the gospel, funding those who say that have been called to the mission field. So why do we do that and not the rest of what Jesus told them would be the signs of those who believe in his name.

Good News

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

GOOD NEWS

Mark 16:1-8

16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6 "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'" 8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

NIV

There is far more than has been accounted by the other gospels than what Mark tells us. Nevertheless, the fact is all the same. Jesus is no longer in the grave, He has risen, just as he said he would. This Sabbath being over, which is our Saturday which ended at the setting of the sun and now very early Sunday morning, the day the Jews considered as the first day of the week, the woman was headed to the tomb. It is interesting that if Joseph and Nicodemus laid his body there, and Nicodemus had brought what is considered as about seventy pounds of spices, did the women not know and that is why they were bringing spices? Not sure why more spices, but again here are the women wanting to make sure everything was done right, making sure of taking care of the needs of Jesus. However, the main point here is that Jesus is not there, he is not in the tomb, and the grave could not hold him. He has risen, He has risen indeed! Although the good news of the kingdom of God is related to our sins being forgiven because of the blood of Jesus, through the cross, this does not give us eternal life. However, because Jesus rose from the grave, because He lives, having victory over death, we too have this same victory because we are in Christ and He is in us. The grave cannot hold us either, we will not remain there, for we too will rise from the death and enter into eternal life in the everlasting presence of our Lord. This is indeed good news. The other accounts give us some more of what happened and that Jesus had a conversation with Mary who lingered after the other women went and told the disciples what had happened. Still, everything is the same. No matter what any other details occurred that Mark does not tell us, the fact remains the same. Jesus has risen from the dead, the grave could not hold him, as so will we. The grave is but a temporary place for our body, as we have to know, Jesus was not there, only his body was. We are not sure where Jesus was for those few days, but he was not in his body. This too is good news, as our bodies may be committed temporally to the grave, but we will not be there, for we too will be absent from our bodies, but we will be present with our Lord. But just as with Jesus, his body was resurrected and once again He was present in his body and will be forevermore. This too is good news for us, as one day our bodies will be resurrected and we will be present in them in the new city on the new earth with our Lord forevermore. All this is good news.

 

A Good Day

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

A GOOD DAY

Mark 15:42-47

42 It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

NIV

Mark leaves out some details about this Joseph of Arimathea that Matthew and John give us. First, Joseph had been a secret disciple of Jesus, for he also feared the Jews, as he was a prominent member of the Council. Still, it is interesting that up until now he could have been considered a coward, believing that Jesus was the Messiah, but not wanting to let anyone know about his faith. Now, Mark tells us that he boldly went to Pilate and asked if he could remove the body of Jesus from the cross. Mark also does not tell us that Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council accompanied Joseph. We remember Nicodemus coming to Jesus in the night confessing he believe Jesus came from God. He would not dare say that in the daylight in front of his fellow council members, let Joseph a secret follower of Jesus. What or rather who prompted them to be so bold now? We have to believe the Holy Spirit was at work in their lives. Although in the truest sense, Jesus had not sent the Spirit, which we see in Luke’s account of the Acts of the Apostles. This was the day of Pentecost, and power was given to all who the Spirit was giving. However, as we know, God in three persons has always been engaged with his people and thus it would have not been possible for two men having so much fear confessing Jesus in the open, now after his death on the cross, go boldly to Pilate asking to take his body down from the cross. Now, on the other hand, it is also interesting that because this would have been Friday, as we call it, and the evening was approaching. This would have meant the Sabbath was about to begin, as the Sabbath was from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Because of the Law of Moses, no criminal should continue hanging on a tree, or the cross, on the Sabbath. It is interesting the other two criminals were not removed, nor were they dead, as Jesus was. Perhaps they were not even Jewish, all we know is they were criminals. Nevertheless, Pilate was surprised that Jesus died so quickly. This form of execution took far longer than the few hours Jesus was on the cross, but Jesus gave up his Spirit, again taking control, or being in control, rather than being a victim, as we have noticed before. So, Joseph and Nicodemus take Jesus down and put him in a tomb. From the other accounts, we also know Nicodemus brought spices, which was the normal method of preparing a body for the grave. So it is done, Jesus has paid the price for our sin, and now he lay in the grave, but we know the rest of the story and we know the grave will not hold him, and therefore it will not hold us either. The church usually makes this Friday, that day Jesus gave up his Spirit and the day he was buried as this solemn dark day, although we call it, “Good Friday”. Instead of making it a mournful event, maybe we should make it a day of celebration, for it was the day that our sins were taken away, and that is a good thing, hence, “Good Friday”. Sure we want to celebrate Easter Sunday morning, the day Jesus rose from the grave. Yes, it is considered the best day ever, because he won the victory over death, so then we too have that same victory over death, for death is the greatest of all man’s fears. But what is eternal life if our sins are still held against us? No, it was the reason Jesus had to go to the cross. It is the reason he gave up his Spirit there so that he would take all our sins upon himself and put them to death with himself. Now he lay in the grave and our sins with him. Although he will rise, our sins will not, for when he raises from the grave glorified, back into his divine person, we too, as we are in him, and he is in us, are also a new person, a new creature in Christ, cleanse from all our sin. So that Friday was a good day, a good day indeed,

Caring

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

CARING

Mark 15:40-41

40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

NIV

Although there is some debate regarding just who are all these women, there is enough evidence from three of the gospel accounts to know that one was Mary, the mother of Jesus, the other was her sister Mary, wife of Cephas, who was the mother of James the younger and Jose, who is also thought to be Joseph, and Mary Magdalene, who is thought of as the one who poured perfume on Jesus. It is also thought that Mary and perhaps Martha the sisters of Lazarus were there. The point here or the reason so many women were there watching from a distance was a simple fact. Women are the nurturers of the world. We see they are identified as women who followed Jesus and cared for his needs. This seems to be a great gift for women, which men just lack. Oh, there may be an exception here and there, but men just are not caretakers in the sense that women are. It may not be the most popular thinking in our culture today, however, God did create woman from a man for the reason to be his helpmate. In our free to be me, hear me roar, women’s equality movements, women still cannot deny they feel this sense of nurturing, for caring for the needs of people, or at the very least, one person. There is this inner core that cares about others. Sure, there may be an exception here and there, but this is an inner, God-instilled, sense to care for the needs of someone. We do not hear about these women throughout the gospels during all the times that Jesus taught or traveled from one town to the next. We do not hear about these women in the sense of caring for Jesus. We have seen them mentioned, Mary the mother of Jesus surely cared for her son. Mary and Martha hosted Jesus and his disciples often and we have seen Martha preparing meals, caring for the needs of Jesus. We have seen Mary, perhaps the one from Magdala pouring perfume over him. What we need to see here is the role throughout scripture of women being the helpers of men.  God knew from the beginning that it was not good for man to be alone, he needs a mate, a helper, a caring loving person to care for his needs. It is interesting the first time the word woman, and not female, appears is in Genesis. This Hebrew word is the feminine form of the Hebrew word for man. The Greek word here that Mark uses for woman has the direct meaning of the female version of man, woman, and has been interchangeable and translated also as a wife. The old English word “wif” was used to mean the wife or the woman of a marriage, and it has evolved from that into wife or wifman, thus woman. As interesting as all this is, the point here, that we see women being in the center of caring for the needs of others. As unpopular as this may be in our culture, this is the reason God created woman, to be this helpmate, this partner, this caring, loving, nurturing half of mankind, for without women where would we be. We need their caring.

The Veil is Gone

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

THE VEIL IS GONE

Mark 15:33-39

33 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"    35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah." 36 One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down," he said. 37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. 38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"

NIV

Jesus breathed this last and the world has never been the same. We have already come to the conclusion that God never turned his back on himself, although from our perspective it was the Father turning his back on His Son. Yet, as we have thought, Jesus and the Father are one and therefore they cannot be separated, not alone from each other. Mark does not give us all the details, including some of the other things Jesus spoke, such as stating forgiveness for these men because they really did not understand what they were doing. He also spoke to the one he loves, which was John, and transferred his mother’s care from himself to John. This would have certainly meant that Joseph had already died, and Mary was a widow so was in need of care. But now as the earth was in darkness for three full hours, the people had to know this was something other than an ordinary man on that cross. Even a full-fledged eclipse of the sun does not last for three hours. The last eclipse happened a few years ago and lasted six minutes and a few seconds. So these three hours of darkness was a supernatural event, because of the momentous occasion of the light of the world being crucified, or we could say being snuffed out. Without the light of the world, there is total darkness. That is certainly a metaphor for the condition of a person who does not have Jesus in their heart, living in total darkness unless the Light of Jesus shines within them. The other most interesting event that happened when Jesus breathed his last was the veil in the temple tearing in two from the top to the bottom. From one standpoint, this veil separated the most holy place from the rest of the temple. It was the place of the Ark of the Covenant, the place God resided with his people. Only once a year was the high priest allowed to enter the holy of holies which was the Day of Atonement. Even then he would have a rope tried to his angle so that if he was not worthy enough, God would strike him dead, and the other priests could drag him out. This was the type of access men had to God then, but now with the death of Jesus, the veil has been torn and because of Jesus, we have full access to God. The Israelites were taught to fear the Lord, in fact, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, yet the most used Hebrew word translated as fear, especially in relationship to God, meant revere, or moral reverence. Thus this fear of entering the Holy of Holies, but at the same time, they wanted to kill Jesus. It just does not seem to make sense on the human level, but God had determined this course from the beginning. This fear of God has now been replaced by the peace of Christ. When Jesus said that he gives us his peace, that word carries the meaning of being at peace with God, being assured of our salvation through Christ and thus fearing nothing from God and being content with our earthy lot, whatsoever that is. The veil is gone, and we can come to God anytime, anyplace in whatever state we are in, for he will not strike us dead, but has instead given us life. We are so thankful the veil is gone.

Always Teaching

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

ALWAYS TEACHING

Mark 15:23-35

23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. 25 It was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27 They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.   29 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!"   31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! 32 Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him. 33 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"   35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."

NIV

We are at the cross, Jesus has been nailed to it and lifted up, there are two others there, true criminals according to Rome, one to each side of Jesus, and thus three crosses stood on Golgotha. What we see playing out here is a direct result of what was spoken about by David in the twenty-second Psalm. We would need to read the Psalm in its eternity to get a full meaning of what is happening here at the cross of Christ. This heaping of insults is in this psalm, the casting of lots for his garment is in this psalm, and the words that Jesus spoke are the first verse of this psalm. What has been said by many believers is that Jesus experienced God turning his back on him because he was full of all the sins of the world and God could not look at that sin. This does not fit with the whole of the situation. First, If Jesus was truly forsaken, God has lied. He has promised that he would never leave us nor forsake us. Second, if Jesus was speaking as a man, desperately pleading with God, feeling all alone, then his sacrifice as the perfect Lamb of God, a deity that died for the sins of the world, would be for nothing. If Jesus is a man on the cross, we have no salvation. Jesus is the Christ in the cross, the Son of God, the second person of the triune Godhead. Jesus is God, and therefore he was not alone, for He and the Father are one. Jesus said that if we have seen Him then we have seen the Father. There was never any separation, in our opinion, from the Father and the Son, at any time whatsoever. Jesus taught every opportunity there was. He is still teaching from the cross. It is thought by many of our scholars that most Jews were very familiar with this twenty-second Psalm and referred to it as speaking about the Messiah. Jesus sees all they are doing as fitting right into this psalm and he was showing them by quoting the first verse that he was that Messiah. There are other explanations that go far too much in-depth about Jesus’s exact language and what else it might have meant if we use this manuscript or another. Some head toward his words being Aramaic others head toward Hebrew. Some say that Jesus had to experience all the emotions of humankind, but we should never ever, not ever feel that God has abandoned us because of our sin. If that were the case then what hope do we have? How could perfection be the standard for God remaining with and in us? While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Jesus was divine and he never felt abandon by his Father as he was in His perfect will. So let us not ever feel that God has turned his back on us, although he has a perfect right reason to do so, for we still have sinned. If then God cannot look upon Jesus full of our sin, then God could not look upon us, and we know that is simply not true. Let us learn from Jesus, and know that He is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Jesus is always teaching his people.