with devotion

The Grieving of Job

Beginning tomorrow, after a year and a half of sharing daily devotions on the red letter words of Christ in the gospels, I will shift my focus for a bit to the words of Job in the book named for him. My heart in sharing will be developing an understanding of the grieving process and what we can learn from someone who is suffering in deep pain. I hope that you will join me in these devotional bloggings.

You will receive power ...

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

Is there a more natural question for a resurrected Messiah than “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” It makes sense if the focus of your life, and the preoccupation of your mind, is a natural and physical freedom. If I lived back then I would have also been fixated on overthrowing Roman rule. Yet the Lord Jesus is a different kind of Messiah with a different sort of message. He responds saying that their concern should be heavenly and not earthly.

What do you think his disciples imagined when they heard that they would receive power? Perhaps they imagined some sort of blessing that would help them get rid of Rome? I imagine that they had no clue concerning the events of the Day of Pentecost. How could they ever understand something that had never happened before? Pentecost changed everything. Cowards became brave. The weak became strong. The Holy Spirit made witnesses out of weaklings.

I need your power Lord. Baptize me anew with the Holy Spirit.

Until you are clothed with power ...

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Earlier in this passage Jesus told these same listeners that they were "slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken". The problem that his disciples had was not one of knowledge but one of faith. When the word of Christ's resurrection came to them they had already heard Jesus speak of it before he died on the cross. These could not claim ignorance. As they stood before Jesus faith arose in their hearts and he was able to open their minds to the truth.

Even though their minds were being transformed they were still not ready for the road ahead of them. These who witnessed the miraculous works of Christ and saw him first hand after he was raised from the dead still needed something they did not have. They, like each of us, needed the Holy Spirit ... they needed to be clothed with divine power ... they desperately needed to experience the promise of the Father. So it is with us - we need the power of God.

Come Holy Spirit and fill us and baptize us afresh today. We so need to be clothed with your power.

See my hands and my feet ...

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

The two have returned from Emmaus with an amazing story - Cleopas and his friend report that the Lord Jesus himself walked and dined with them. Somehow his tomb is now empty. This small community of his followers is abuzz with wonder. Yet the resurrection of Christ seemed so unbelievable - until Jesus himself appears in their midst speaking to them and having them touch him. Oh my! What would it have been like to have been there that day?

Then, amidst wonder, disbelief and joy, Jesus asks for something to eat. Ever wonder why he wanted to eat before them? Do you think that he was hungry? My thinking is that the Lord wanted them to know that he was real and not a ghostly apparition. Since that day many have wondered what kind of body might emerge from our own deaths. I think that we miss the point of the resurrection if we focus on such things. Yet this story is still so amazing.

I am in awe when I read of your resurrection Lord. Open the eyes of my heart to see you today.

And slow of heart to believe ...

Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

Emmaus is about seven miles from Jerusalem. Why Jesus chose to walk that road with these two disciples is so interesting. He could have spent it with many but he chose these two. As he walked Cleopas and his companion shared their pain and disappointment with Jesus when they said: "But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel". Perhaps this heartache is what drew the risen Christ to walk that road to Emmaus that day?

I think that it is so interesting that they did not recognize Jesus until "he took the bread and blessed and broke it". I think that there is something that can be so intimate about sharing a meal with each other. I love it that there eyes were opened at the supper table. Perhaps in that moment Christ's hope sprung anew as his communal words witnessed deep in their hearts? I so love their reaction. I can see them running with joy and amazement back to Jerusalem.

In the words of the song Lord - You are alive! I am forgiven! Heaven's gates are open wide!

Into your hands ...

It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

Even at this very last moment of his life we are reminded that the Son of God was not a victim of circumstances or of man's evil plans. At any point after his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane he could have chose another path for his life. Yet love compelled him to stay the course and freely offer his life for us. Love compelled him to stay committed to the words he prayed in the garden saying "Not my will but thine be done".

And since that final moment we have all been beating our breasts. Like the centurion, and those who watched at a distance, we have all been wondering how this could have happened to an innocent man. Perhaps it could have happened no other way? Maybe the whole spectacle took place to reveal the darkness of man and the brilliant light of God? At the very last moment Jesus completes his life of love as he offers his spirit to his Father.

May love compel me today to resist temptation and stay the course laid out for me Lord.

With me in Paradise ...

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Two condemned men are watching Jesus.. these two are also nailed to crosses. Both have joined in with the crowd in their mocking of Christ. Both have heard Jesus pray and offer forgiveness to those who mock.. to those who drove the nails.. to those who gamble for his robe. One hears him forgive and continues to mock him - perhaps he saw forgiveness as a sign of weakness? Yet the other responds differently and rebukes the other thief.

What follows is truly amazing. Nailed to a cross a thief cries out for the forgiveness that Jesus offered. The mocker has been transformed by Christ's words of forgiveness and now defends him to the other thief. And all the while Jesus is listening.. not only to what the man says but to the faith that comes from his heart. Then, in an amazing mix of boldness and desperation, the thief cries out to Jesus. And, oh my, Jesus' response to him is truly divine.

Thank you Lord that it is never too late to cry out to you.

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