Category: Teaching Topics

Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him.  Mark 14:44-45

In some cultures, strangers greet one another with a kiss.  It’s a custom, not necessarily a sign of personal affection.  However, the kiss Judas gave Jesus was of the personal kind.  In Greek, it was a ‘phileo’ kiss ~ showing deep love, affection, covenant, and relationship.  Jesus wasn’t fooled.  He saw it coming and Judas knew Jesus saw through it.  It does reinforce, however, that betrayal is always personal or it’s not betrayal. 

Scripture says that Jesus ‘knew the hearts of men’ so even though the disciples didn’t see signs of Judas treachery on the horizon, Jesus did.  He’d always known.  Yet, Judas was hand picked anyway to fulfill the scriptures.  Judas probably believed he was autonomous in his mutinous decisions but he was a pawn in the sovereign will of God. 

Since none of us are divine, we don’t always see it coming.  We don’t know that the person we least suspect will hurt us so deeply.  Good behavior and their internal divided kingdom veil who they really are.  It is only as we look back that we can see signposts that posted a warning.  In the end, it is a journey of wisdom and forgiveness.

For any of you who are beating yourself up over past or present relationships, know that the nature of a wolf is to deceive.  If he/she weren’t good at it, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to warn us to be biblically street smart.  When we receive a Judas kiss, followed by betrayal, Jesus knows and His tears blend with ours as we grieve the loss.  What did He do for His disciples when Judas was revealed in the upper room?  He didn’t scold them for being out of touch.  He tended to their wounds and washed their feet.

As much as You knew Judas’ kiss was coming, it had to break Your heart.  I’m so grateful You are acquainted with all our griefs.  Amen

“Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.” Luke 11:44

Jesus words to the Pharisees made them angry. The lawyers among them were hostile and proceeded to question Him in private about His warning. It was obvious to Jesus that their status among the people was foremost in their minds and they couldn’t conceive that their hearts were really like tombs. Before God, they were unclean.

Jesus message was consistent with the prophet’s words. God looks at the heart. Mankind looks, and is obsessed with, exterior appearances. If we do things that make us look bad to people around us, it’s much easier to change our behavior than deal with our own sinful hearts.

If we are not careful, the church becomes little more than a catalyst for behavior modification. We can be consumed with asking the question, “What would Jesus do?” Then, gritting our teeth, we take on the challenge of acting like Him. While that can sound good, as evidenced by the millions of Christians who wore the bracelet that asks the question, our preoccupation needs to progress to an inward look.

I don’t want to just concern myself with doing what Jesus does. I want to think how He thinks. I want to feel how He feels. I want to love what He loves and despise what He hates. My sinful heart needs washing, then re-wiring. The water of the Word promises to do both but before I can walk in newness of life, I have to acknowledge the stuff in my heart that is not like Jesus.

I cannot butter you up and try to be the Teacher’s pet. You see right through me. I can dare look at my sin because You already died for it. I give up my defensiveness. Amen

 

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. Hebrews 5:8

I wonder if I’ve been realistic when I’ve thought about Jesus’ perfection. I’ve always viewed Jesus as an adult in ministry. He was One who certainly had instant access to righteous thoughts and behaviors. He listened expectantly to His Father and never struggled with what He was asked to do. But how do I connect that picture with the scripture that says Jesus was tempted in every way that we are tempted? The two concepts are both true but to marry, there needs to be an adjustment.

There is a pregnant moment between an offense and a sinful response – whether a thought or a behavior. The offense happens, then comes the temptation, and then comes the pregnant moment of decision when the heart decides how it will respond. To ‘learn obedience’ is to learn how to handle the pregnant moments within that temptation time period. That’s where Jesus achieved victory. That’s where my victory lies.

Think of Jesus as a child and let’s consider a few pregnant moments.

• He’s a toddler. He’s happily playing with a new wooden toy Joseph carved for him. A sibling or a friend takes it away from him. Mary encourages Jesus to share it. If Jesus were tempted as we are tempted, there is a pregnant moment where Jesus is encouraged by Satan (not His own nature – since He is holy) to hoard it, not share it. He’s like me. Temptation says, “The toy is mine. My father made it for me.” But Jesus chooses to share.
• Jesus is outside playing with his friends and is having a good time. Mary yells from down the street that it’s time to come and help His father with the chores. There is a pregnant moment where He is tempted to ignore His mother’s voice. He’s having too much fun. But Jesus chooses to obey.
• Jesus is a teenager and sees a group of friends plotting to cheat. He speaks up to expose their sin. They turn on Him and He is beaten up and bruised badly. There is a pregnant moment where He is tempted to disown their friendship and find a way to get revenge. Anger is hot and His body is sore from their beatings. Jesus moves through the temptation successfully and chooses a righteous reaction.

None of this was easy for Jesus. None of these pregnant moments are easy for me. As I think of Him in the throes of temptation, having to learn obedience, I am very aware that Jesus is my refuge when my temptations are too great and I fear that I will choose to sin. He knows. He is the perfect confidant. He is the One who lives to pray for me day and night – that I will learn obedience. He, from the inside of me, gives moment-by-moment grace to move successfully through the temptation phase to victory.

Open my eyes to Your struggle with Your humanity. You are a refuge for a soul in distress today. Amen

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” Matthew 23:13

Are you living around someone contentious? If so, you’re probably dreaming of deliverance – either for them or for you. You crave peace and harmony.   Perhaps the argumentative person is in your small group or in your Sunday school class. God’s grace is a stumbling block to them. That person sows discord by the many arguments he presents in favor of the letter of the law and God’s judgment. As a teacher, you wonder if he is hurting other’s faith. When class is over, you feel that he ruined everything that God was trying to do.

While I do believe that dissenters like this are under the influence of religious spirits, I am encouraged that they can cause many to think and study for themselves. People who experienced the tension are able to compare the appearance of a God who was presented as angry and unreasonable with the real God who shows mercy through Christ and forgives extravagantly. The discord was really more productive than destructive. The beauty of the Gospel was on full display against the backdrop of dead religion.

In this scripture, Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees for misrepresenting what was required to enter the kingdom. They were all about keeping the law, which in and of itself, wasn’t a bad thing. It’s just that they did it void of a relationship with God. They promoted self-serving obedience. They also added thing after thing to the existing law to make the whole package burdensome. Jesus’ words were strong and all who heard it felt the dissonance.

Was the discord productive? I imagine so. Suppose you were a bystander and you wondered who Jesus was. You had labored under the law and were tired of going through the motions of Judaism. Jesus’ rebuke would have shaken you to the core — a shaking that might have resulted in new faith and a new paradigm. Jesus’ scolding reinforced what you had already felt deep in your spirit. At that moment, in Jesus, you tasted something that made your heart feel alive.

If you are frustrated by the presence of one who promotes something other than the Gospel of grace, consider that God might have that person around for the purpose of providing comparisons. Sometimes, people learn what they want by seeing, firsthand, what it is they don’t want. For those in sincere search for Jesus, discord might propel them faster to the arms of the Grace-giver.

This just shows that I never know what you will use for Your glory. Open my eyes to see You at work, even in this. Amen

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3

Self-loathing plagues the church. Because I know that there was once a chasm between God and me, that shouldn’t erode my present view of myself. I shouldn’t wonder how God could, and will, love me if I have so far to go to be like His Son. That makes it all about me when it should be all about the nature and character of a loving God.

‘Poor in spirit’ does not mean pathetic. When someone we love suffers, we might say, “You poor thing.” We mean that they are laid low, downcast, and languishing. Is this the posture Jesus is advocating as a way of life?

No. To be poor in spirit is to know that I am completely dependent on God. I’m not arrogant. I’m honest with others and myself. I don’t inflate my abilities to look good. I don’t pretend to be perfect in order to rise to a position of spiritual leadership. I know that I struggle with my flesh and can freely admit it without injured pride. With great confidence, I cast myself on God’s grace.

The one who has never acknowledged his sinfulness and need for a Savior cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus made it clear that someone like the tax collector had it right, the one who beat his chest in the temple and said, “Be merciful to me, Lord, a sinner!” He would inherit the kingdom of heaven because he was poor in spirit.

Knowing that I am sinful and dependent on God for spiritual life is not the same as living with a nagging, low self-image. If a drowning man is rescued, does he live his life condemning himself for having nearly drowned? I think not. He’ll rejoice that his life was saved and extol the one who snatched him from the waters. He’ll be joyful that he was given a 2^nd chance at life.

I am poor in spirit and I am grateful that You saved me. I live life loved with my head tilted to the sky. Amen

Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Mark 1:16-17

Ron’s father, Jack Wyrtzen, was a well-known evangelist. His sermons were simple but powerful and memorable. The one I remember most was the one entitled, “What Is That In Thine Hand?”

He re-told the story of Moses holding a shepherd’s staff in his hand. God called him to become a leader of His people but Moses declared himself unqualified. God asked him what that thing was in his hand? He answered, “A staff.” God didn’t intend for Moses to leave his shepherding skills behind. Moses would use that same staff to lead people out of slavery.

Simon and Andrew were fisherman. It’s all they knew. Jesus didn’t tell them to stop being fisherman. They would keep fishing but would fish for men instead of fish. Their fishing skills would be translated into the kingdom counterpart. God gave them two decades of experiences related to fishing. He wasn’t going to waste their knowledge. He would expand it. Fishing is about timing. Fishing is about using the right bait. It’s about catching a few one day but then hitting a windfall the next. Doesn’t this sound like evangelism?  And isn’t strategy and timing also pertinent?

What was in my hand as a teenager? A piano and a flute. A love for telling stories. A love for hurting people. A love for creative language.  Instead of going into social work or attending music school to play the flute in a symphony, God called me to relinquish control of what I was grasping for myself. A ministry was born. Today, I use all the passions and experiences of my childhood in this ministry.

Perhaps you’ve wondered how your love for a certain ‘thing’ could have anything to do with ministry. Maybe you’ve felt like your past experiences (painful ones) were wasted. No. God doesn’t work like that.  Today, someone’s eyes (maybe yours) are flying open to put the puzzle pieces of their life together in a new way. In God’s work, even with suffering, there is joy and wonderment. What is in your hand?

You do all things well. I’ve seen 66 years of it. Amen

Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before Him.  Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they?  Has no one condemned you?”  She said, “No one, sir.”  And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.  Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”  John 8:9-11

Jesus did not do away with the law of Moses.  He simply applied it to the woman’s accusers.  They desired to see her pay for her sin but all the while, they turned a blind eye to their own sinfulness; sins that also required judgment by law. God does not pro-rate sin.

As the sun continued to rise in the early morning dawn, the judges disappeared.  The voyeurs fled.  The accusers vanished.  Stones hit the ground one by one and as they fell, I can imagine the woman’s disbelief.  The iron grips on her arm loosened as the vengeance of the hot blooded Pharisees began to dissipate under the convicting presence of Jesus.

Within minutes, there were only two people left standing there.  The warming rays of the sun bathed the encounter between Jesus and the woman as they faced each other.  She had never seen such a pure gaze that resonated nothing but love and compassion.

John revealed Jesus in the beginning of this book as ‘full of grace and truth.’  Never did a story showcase this better than this particular one.  Jesus was gracious and truthful.  He withheld condemnation but, simultaneously, told her the truth about a needed change in her lifestyle.   “Go, and do not sin again.”  

I do not know what happened to the woman when she went home.  Did her friends continue to point the finger?  Did her family shun her?  Would the man with whom she’d been involved with punish her for turning him down the next time?  If so, she would gain strength as she re-lived those beautiful moments with Jesus.  She would remember how He addressed her tenderly and gave her a gift no one had ever given her; love, forgiveness, and a fresh start.

Sometimes, others never forget our sins.  But you, Lord?  I rehearse the beautiful moments you touched me and forgave me.  Amen