January2 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus geneva@Matthew:1:18-25 - I notice the sequence of events surrounding Joseph and see details of the faith my Lord posseses. Joseph finds out, Joseph considers what to do, Joseph has it explained after the fact by an Angel, Joseph consents to what is already in motion. The Lord's faith seeks the consent of participating individuals. To gain that consent, at least in this instance, He proceeds before hand, creating the need for consideration and consent. Surely, He knows these people well enough to know their answer, but, it is a faith that is inclusive of other peoples needs and creates and at the same time proceeds with what must be done for the good of all mankind. In effect He is showing a faith in Joseph. He must have prepared Joseph and Mary for this consent along with everything else.
January3 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus geneva@Matthew:2:1-12 MAGI - The Herods play a key role in Gospel events, their first incling of Jesus received at the hands of a band of of mystics or astronomers from likely Persia (recent captors). The appearance of this band is certainly troubling to the public in Jerusalem as well. This is not a quiet and polite announcement. Of interest is how the Spirit allowed this Herod to become aware of the occurance of the Messiah's birth with such a disturbing foriegn parade and yet snuck the parade out the backdoor so as not to reveal anymore. Our glimps into the faith of Jesus remains with His preliminary consent beforehand, knowing that He would not be received by His own, and that significant handeling/directing of the human nature was to be required of the Holy Spirit at least during the time of His infancy.
January17 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:5:31-32 BUT I SAY UNTO YOU (DIVORCE) - The common teaching again falls short, this time concerning the writ of divorce. A vow is made before God, one or both want out. Adultery has been made atleast by one as defined in the previous verses perhaps even murder regardless of whether any act has been commited (throw in false worship and lying as well). The common teaching would be to draw up a writ of divorce presumably to legally protect the helpless wife. The spiritual effect of such a teaching is that not only would sin be allowed and continued, that it would be multiplied beyond anyones narrow minded intention. Even at it's sincerest best, the heart is looking from it inside out to search what God may have meant by a commandment. The faith of Jesus is that He is looking from outside in, knowing as the Father would know the command's intention, viewing down into the effects of the heart's self fashioned faulty drive and reasoning. The allowance we cloth divorce in is the same filthy wardrobe we dress our other sins up in. If only we could see as He does the naked truth.
January27 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:7:7-12 ASK SEEK KNOCK - Let's take this in context for a minute. If we were to ask for what we have already ready, what would be asking for? His Kingdom to come and Will to done on Earth as in Heaven. Our daily bread spiritually first and for our physical needs. Forgiveness of our trespasses in like measure. To be led from temptations such as judging one another from such hypocritical eyes. What does it mean to seek this? To seek it from Him? To seek Him to develop it within us? To seek as a distant wish or as daily presentable action? To hunger and thirst for His righteousness? What does it mean to knock then? It is the faith of the Lord that you have at least this in you. That you will see the need to ask. That you will search through our darkness for His light. That you will knock for the door to be opened for you. Would He really say no to this or provide something other?
February1 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:8:5-13 MANY SHALL COME SIT DOWN - The Centurion was a gentile Roman captain over one hundred. When the Lord says many from the east east and west, He means to include non-Hebrews at a banquet alongside even the Jewish patriarchs. When He says I have not seen such faith in all of Israel He is pointing to the fact that amongst His own something has been left amiss, apparently with their perception and acknowledgement of His authority. An outsider is portrayed as being in the inner circle while many of the covenant children are left out in the darkness. The man's faith and perception of authority is made an example of. The faith of our Lord believes that both Jew and Gentile would be able to see and sense His authority and thus be petitioned of to be put to use for the good of others. We are not told of the servants faith, but, we do know that he was healed by the faith of another convinced of our Lord's authority.
March4 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:15:21 NOT SENT BUT - I don't think that the Lord is giving this Phoenecian gentile the brush off. There are several at least partial references to Jesus/Gospel coming to the Jew first. God in His righteous wisdom and for the sake of His covenant with Israel has foreseen the maximum benefit to the entire world will be gained through the initial and final emphasis on the lost house of Israel. In the middle of these two points is an age primarily of the Gentiles. It is because of the Jew's rejection of Christ that the Gentile is grafted into the Kingdom. Jesus signals to us herein a soon to come means of grace to all believers by drawing out of this woman a desperate but amazingly humble confession of faith. Jews should take careful note of this particular exchange. The faith of our Lord is in the entire plan for all mankind by means of a single point of injection, the rejection of the one tissue producing the antibody in the another returning in the end to immunize the fevered and rejecting tissue.
March10 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:17:1-13 ARISE AND BE NOT AFRAID - The Disciples believed, and for at least four of them because of their belief they were granted a sign. Not just a sign but, the momentary presence and voice of God the Father. Why then only four? Why then keep it secret? To release such information would cause quite the stir; a stir amongst the other disciples, a stir amongst the public. A stir in one direction is productive, a stir in another counter productive. Egos are damaged and inflamed, issues get side tracked, importance becomes orphaned. Why then grant the sign? It has as much to do about the connection of Jesus to Moses and Elias and their where abouts in all of this. In their presence He remains the glorious object. Peter sought three tabernacles when the Father stepped in saying 'this is my Son; hear ye Him'. To contrast this glorious moment so abruptly with the road of suffering ahead is vitally important. The faith of our Lord is not just in who He is and what position He should rightfully be seen, it is in what He must do now to bring man along to a vantage point where we can see Him in that light and how much it will cost. It is a light that we are unaccustomed to. A light that makes us to drop to the ground as if dead in fear. But, by a touch of His hand and a whisper in His voice we are brought to stand and listen.
March15 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:18:15-20 THERE I AM IN THE MIDST - Within the flock there are things that can separate and drive members away. We have seen enticement/offense and then despising those gone astray and the effort made to regain them. Now we see internal trespass between two and the response to that trespass. Before either give the other up for lost there is a progression expected to include more and more witnesses to establish/settle the case. Plenty of opportunity is given for the one or both to work matters out civilly. Binding here is in the sense of legal agreement. If the two shall come to a mutually agreeable arrangement, Heaven and the Father will stand behind that; as agreement within the flock is most desired from above. It should be fairly natural for the two parties to desire/achieve this if both parties are sincere about moving forward in the name of their Lord. The picture of the flock very much describes the faith of our Lord. It is His flock, He is it's shepherd. The inner workings and resulting culture within the flock are therefore most important as it has the ability to keep souls away and drive souls out; and as this reflects directly upon His leadership. If we are truly gathered as a flock in His name then agreement amongst us, binding agreement, should be every man's pursuit and petition. If the offender or offended cannot abide by this then certainly He/they should be loosed from the flock at least until they fully repent from the hardness of their hearts. The offended party should then not despise the efforts of Christ and Christ's body to win the lost soul back else they become an offender as well.
March19 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:19:16-30 WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE - For the rich man it is his many possessions. For the criminal it is his pride. For the poor man his covetousness. For each of us there is something too hard to let go of in order to pass through the eye of the needle. It can be done, the Disciples are proof (at least 11 of them), but, even that was not by their own power; it was by God's. The rich young man approached kingdom entry by what further he needed to do. If judged by that criteria we would all be hopeless because there is always something more that we are unwilling to do, always something more that we are unwilling to give up, even more that the Law requires. However, if entry is based upon what God has done for us in Christ then there is the possibility. From that point what we are willing to have Him do through us becomes liberating. When there is nothing that we can do of our own, nothing of ours that can be given away as payment we are in a much better position of receiving His grace and therefore entry into His kingdom. These things we may be asked to leave behind after we have received His grace, but, not beforehand so as to buy into His grace. We find the faith of our Lord today displaying the perfection of the Father's grace instead of the pursuit of perfection somewhere other in man. Jesus is the evidence of the Father's grace, He Himself is in submission wholly to the goodness of that grace. This is about the Father's goodness and what the Father is able to do.
March24 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:21:1-11 HOSANNA - kjv@Psalms:118:26 is where 'blessed is he' comes from. Hosanna is better defined as both kjv@Psalms:118:25 'save us now I beseech thee' and kjv@Psalms:118:26 'blessed is he' combined. In turn we must recall kjv@Psalms:118:27 as well 'bind the sacrifice' 'unto the horns of the alter'. If Jesus is aware of the quote that the crowd is chanting (we must assume that He does) then He would know the context of how He is to bless/save them and why it is that He has come; He is the sacrifice. kjv@Zechariah:9:9 is where the 'thy King cometh' comes from which has it's meaning continued in kjv@Zechariah:9:10 'shall speak peace to the gentiles' and 'dominion...to the ends of the earth'. While this is the time for riding the ass and colt in, this is not the time for the ends of the earth. Why not? He is to be bound to the alter first. The palm branches I believe are from the Feast of the Tabernacles, a harvest time remembrance of the Lord leading the captives out of Egypt. The symbolism is to deliverance from sin. This day's events are rich with meaning, but, He is the only one that really knows really what that meaning truly is. The faith of or Lord stands alone. Even the closest to Him know little of what He sees even at jubilant times such as these.
March31 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:22:15-22 WHY TEMPT YE ME - Even today men seek to catch Him in a lie or contradiction, to entangle/corner Him in His talk. They present their question with flowery praise, the good lord, good prophet, good teacher, but, it is all done to disprove Him to believers or potential believers. They counsel together on the internet, in the class rooms, in the courts and temples. They come in both religious and political varieties. Strange/unlikely bed fellows intermix to come against Him. How do we know/spot them? By just that At the core they are hypocrites You will notice that the argument is over a penny, small change when it comes to the loftier things of God. With Simon kjv@Matthew:17:25-27 Jesus had made it a point that during an captivity/occupation tribute is extracted heavily from the occupied in order to lessen the burden on the true citizen. The Jews had whistled their self sovereignty away by rejecting the Lord and were now being taxed for it by their conquerers. The coin is Caesars just as they are. kjv@Luke:23:2 Jesus is accused of exactly the opposite of what He has said at least twice now. They are utter hypocrites. They puff Him up to tear Him down, they intellectually place Him in positions that they think impossible to defend when He is not in that position to begin with, they bring questions that are of little consequence to the overall debate. Render to God what is God's? They cannot, it is no longer their's to render. The faith of our Lord is in knowing that we will be met by such people. Though we give these people too much importance given their track record, though we might think they are finally coming around to see things as we do, they are constantly there and the same regardless. He believes that the truth will be proven out, the truth about Him, the truth about them.
April1 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:22:23-33 YE DO ERR - The Sadducees dict:easton Sadducee were largely defined by their non belief in the resurrection. They attempt the same brain twister on Jesus that stupefied so many a Pharisee. Unless one knows scripture dict:naves Resurrection which points to life after death and considers God's power kjv@Jeremiah:32:17 kjv@Philippians:3:21 one is left to fall into this conundrum of false logic. As to there being no marriage in the resurrection, I believe this is a new revelation or a composite of a larger base of scriptural doctrines. The Sadducee's case seems to involve more human logic than any particular scriptural knowledge, apparently they had not thought through the logic enough to have foreseen the logical resurrection confirming answer Jesus could use to easily escape their supposed trap with. We must be careful ourselves when scripture suggests something and our logic is spent exclusively attempting to disprove it; even more so when we cherry pick single scriptures to say what they do not. The Sadducee's are gone as a power by the time of the destruction of the Temple AD70, suggesting a change of public sentiment regarding resurrection and proof of Messiah hewing down the fruitless trees of that time. The faith of our Lord is rooted deeply in scripture and the sovereign omnipotence of God. It is also in the purpose to which He created man initially for. He is and will forever be the God of the living.
April5 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:24:1-35 AS LIGHTNING OUT OF THE EAST - It will be easy to deceive a great many but, perhaps not the elect. I think we have the impression that in the end days people just don't believe in God, that intellectualism will have out grown the need for God. The end Jesus teaches is of people flocking to false Christs. We live in an age now of relativism, a necessary precursor to an day of multitudes desperately gasping for any breath or hint of messianic slight. In a sense He is prophesying the end of intellectual relativism. Given that the gospel will have reached the ends of the earth (may have already have) this is a sign of just how much the people of Earth do not want to accept Jesus and will violently oppose Him, His approaching kingdom and His devoted followers. The injection of truth into the world causes it to fester and boil as if to expel it, but, somewhere in this process God's plan is fulfilled by producing vaccinated sin immune children from Earth to inhabit eternity. As the heat and pressure are turned up to final boil many false messiahs will bubble up leading to one ultimate false Christ; a world nearly of one religion. I suppose that there will be a sense of relief, even victory. Then, however, there will be an undeniable lightning from the east. The faith of our Lord is utterly remarkable. In so few words, how could such detailed insight into human nature and God's plan be revealed? Though we have a confirming picture of this event (disturbing in how quickly it can come about) in 70 AD it is clear that 70 AD is not this event. There will be no dispute remaining when this prophecy comes about.
April8 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:25:14-30 DELIVERED UNTO THEM HIS GOODS - The picture is of the servants responsibility with the Lord's goods after He leaves. A considerable amount is given to even the least according to his particular ability. Paul explains it as "grace given" kjv@Romans:12:6 "the manifestation of Spirit given to each man to profit withal" kjv@1Corinthians:12:7 "stewards of mysteries" kjv@1Corinthians:4:1-2. Peter says "minister the same one to another as stewards of manifold grace of God" kjv@1Peter:4:10. The fact is that He has given us His goods, spiritual gifts/ability and opportunity, this with any type of investment compounds with interest. It is not usury per se, not at the expense or misuse of anybody, it is natural and beneficial growth of the Kingdom. Withal implies the common good of all as does one to another. By the one man burying the grace given and not making diligent profitable use of it, he is accusing his Lord of reaping where He has not sown, profiting on the back on others, hardness in the ways of business. He is also burying it away from the profit of the collective. His own ability has been ceased by his mis-understanding of the Lords intentions/rights and by implication his association to the larger group. What he has been given is then to be taken away and given to those whose faithfulness has been proven. The faith of our Lord is in increase. He has given His grace; the Holy Spirit and it's manifestations, spiritual gifts to be ministered one to another for to profit withal and for all. What good is such an uncommon privilege if not faithfully executed as a good steward.
April9 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:25:31-46 UNTO THE LEAST OF THESE MY BRETHREN - Back up to the previous goods given the stewards to invest. Forward to the judgement of the tribes. Righteousness appears not only along the lines of individuals it appears also along lines of the human tribes. The implications are intriguing. The least of these my brethren appear in all cultures; they are the peoples Jesus identifies Himself most with. How these nations respond to the needs of these least brethren is the identifying factor that separates the nations on the right from the left. As stewards of the goods the Lord has given all tribes and nations, they are to faithfully invest such to the care of the least. It is interesting that tendencies could run so deep as to effect the judgement upon entire cultures. Men as individuals it seems can be heavily influenced by the attitude of the collective as it concerns the goods of the Lord being invested into the needs of the least. The Lord is seen either as a harsh man reaping where He has not sown or else a Lord of grace owed reinvestment toward those He would identify Himself so closely to. The faith of our Lord differs so greatly from the faith of most. What the righteous soul lacks most ahead of eternity is the judgement and clearing away of the unrighteous as a whole, nation and individual. Our's is not to presume this judgement on our own but, to be deeply conscious of it's universal need and to faithfully execute in it's stead the aid and investment required up to that. Some would ask where is the love of God? This is the love as given to us! We can draw men out from this impending judgement of nations by serving as would our Lord the needs physical/spiritual of their least.
April12 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:26:14-16 BETRAYAL PART 1 - The betrayal of Jesus by Judas came in two stages, this stage is the arrangement, the next the actual act of leading them to His whereabouts. He has opportunity still at anytime to talk himself out of this and yet does not. In fact he goes back and congregates with the others and partakes at the Lord's table. Wouldn't you like to crawl into his head for a moment to know why he has gone as far as this first stage? Many have pondered and there are all sorts of varying theory's. In some respect it is amazing that of the primary twelve over this amount of time and under this amount of pressure and scrutiny eleven now remain intact, testament to Jesus' ability as a shepherd. I think it quite natural to have many tire out, move aside, resign to the rigors of the road. Perhaps not to the level of betrayal, but at least to a level of wanting to do something else. Given all the pitfalls and enticements and ravaging wolves along the way His achievement is substantial. Where, we must ask as well, in our own walk have we also turned aside if only in small measure betraying the Lord's faith and trust or image. In the next hours Judas will be watching on with particular interest of seeing his opportunity; surely a gut wrenching yet intoxicating en-devour. There will even be awkward moments where Jesus identifies him to the others without pointing directly at him. The faith of our Lord continues even knowing what is going on behind His back. Betrayal is but one of the many painful steps up toward the cross ahead. The road itself He sees even as from the Father. The same thorny road for Him may not end even as of today.
April30 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:1:9-13 SPIRIT DRIVEN - The Holy Spirit is mentioned here descending upon Him, driving Him immediately into the wilderness. One action the result of an obedience the other testing for another obedience. And so He moves continuously one obedience to the next. We also have the ministry of angels and the symbol of the prophetic foundation that has been laid John the Baptist. All of these influences work together and are accounted for in Jesus. Then there are also the elements pushing against Him, the inhospitable wilderness, the danger of wild beasts and of course the probing of Satan. One other factor to consider is the voice from heaven confirming pleasure in the beloved Son. It is the faith of our Lord that because He is the Son, because He is anointed and driven of the Holy Spirit, ministered to by angels, He will continue onward in obedience to the goal at hand despite anything that would come up against Him. His faith contains a large measure of spiritual valor. So must ours, valor toward obedience.
May3 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:1:29-34 PETER'S WIFE - Not much thought ever goes into the tremendous role of Peter's wife in the early church. Her husband in a sense is stolen away. What becomes of the finances and family business while he is away? What becomes of their plans? Who is her daily companion? She is left to care for her mother and possibly raise kids (assumed) by herself. We see that the ministry frequents their house, a blessing to have him near but, extra work for her and her mom none the less. We must also consider the burden of being Peter's wife when she goes out in public. I don't know that we are ever told how she truly felt about this and the types of struggles she endured so that Peter could become the influence that he latter became. We do know that she joined him latter on and came along at least part of the time kjv@1Corinthians:9:5. I have no doubt that she loved her husband and the Lord dearly. I have no doubt that she approved very much of what the 'boys' were out doing. I wish to think knowing my Lord's sensitivity to everything/one around Him that He had private conversation(s) with her maybe out there on her porch in the sunset on other days. The faith of our Lord isn't in just what has been written for us to digest intellectually it is in the practical and personal matters that each of these things imply. As with any ministry there are people and burdens being carried by those people behind the scenes that outsiders may not ever notice. Hopefully the people that they are serving take note. Their service is just as important to the storyline as those up and out front. Their sacrifice is perhaps more than any of ours and they should know with certainty that our Lord is very much pleased and honored. I do not know if this woman lived to see her husband's death, odds are so, if not she would have sensed (or have been gently told) that this was part of the deal. And yet, she would have looked at Peter the way only a wife could and encourage him to continue with the joy of her smile and the tears of her embrace. This women and others like her should be, nay will be highly sainted. They are as much a powerful wittness to Christ as those exorcised of demons.
May8 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:2:18-22 THE BRIDEGROOM - There are some key elements to consider here. There is the purpose, the occassion, the vessel and the substance. The purpose of our Lord has always been the same, to have the Father gather all things back unto Him. Along the timeline of achieving said purpose, different occassions are brought up nessecitating different vessels and substance. Take the illustration of wine. There is wine for everyday events, there is wine for very special events. Approaching the first coming of Jesus a certain container and substance was called for. Now that He has come in person with the intention to marry a new and different container and substance is required, a vessel and substance of much greater honor as the occasion has dramatically shifted. Not that anything is wrong with the old wine, it has and continues to serve the overall purpose. It is not the purpose but, is a step toward the purpose. Pouring the new wine into the old container alongside the old substance is not good for either wine for the old container will burst, both substances will pour to the ground, the overall purpose will not be forwarded. The same truth can be illustrated in the original question as to fasting. The purpose is constant and moving forward, the occasion changes nessecitating totally new attitude of feasting, the occasion is promised to change again shortly, but, for that brief moment we had a glimps of the expectation and honor of being invitees/attendees of a most heavenly marriage banquet of our Lord. Don't get confused by the changing of vessel and substance as occasions are dynamically driven by His purpose. The faith of our Lord is much larger than the finite things our minds are left to consider. He attempts to illustrate them in terms that we can identify with, really though, how much do we actually understand? Just because it is bigger than we can understand doesn't mean that it doesn't exist or is anything less. Wine/Fasting/Sabbath/Law, these are but things to get us to understand slight as that may be His big big picture.
May21 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:6:1-6 HE MARVELLED - What is that? Our Lord marvelled? I find it interesting even in modern contexts the depths of prejudice within ethnic or racial groups themselves. We expect to see it spill out one group onto another back and forth, but, more curiously the type that never leaves it's own doorstep; it is a wickedness all it's own. Wouldn't you think that a Nazarene would have that home boy (small pond) making it big (big pond) hero coming home pride for the celebrity fellow Nazarene? Apparently not. They can't seem to get past the fact that at one point this was their town carpenter. I speculated previously that Jesus' family had sought Him out being convinced that He was beside Himself, that they had attempted to interrupt Him to draw Him back in, that I felt that they were under much pressure back home and had over reacted. Could this be the pressure that they lived under? Pressure from their own neighbours? If the works of Jesus to this point were not enough to change any minds in Nazareth then no future works while He was there would either. It almost makes you ask why did He go back home anyway? Was it to give them a final chance? Was it to minister to His mother and siblings? Was it a brief retreat? Was it for our viewing and further understanding? Was it simply because the Father told Him to? My own faith often differs from the faith of our Lord. I expect that if I am in the place God needs me then I will see the positive results and when I don't... I probably turn over/walk away from more crops than I plant because of this. But, who says that being in the right spot at the right time produces the right results? At least right as we see it?
June7 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:10:1-12 BUT FROM THE BEGINNING - This is a planned attack by the Pharisees. Somewhere along the way they have counseled together, decided, put out talking point directives to all that would come in contact with Jesus. These may be hired guns as well, men that are directed to seek out and trip up Jesus. It is obvious by what they are going after and the number of times that they have posed the same type questions that they believe that this is their best play. How would this be a no way out for Jesus? Is there really such unanimity amongst the sects regarding divorce and the law that all would disagree with Jesus' analysis? No, there is such hardened inflamed public sentiment about anything restricting to their personal freedoms and desires. The Pharisee have a less restrictive view of divorce and they want to make use of that to turn public opinion against Jesus and toward themselves. The same trick may have been used against John the Baptist. He told them what the law really meant, called them vipers to their face, and got in fatal trouble with the Herods for it. Why not try the same? Essentially, the hardness of the Pharisees is being used to stir or play the hardness of the people against the correct interpretation of the Law boxing Jesus into a corner. This is a much bigger test/temptation for Jesus that we today perceive. Jesus instead goes back to the beginning intention, Man, Woman, in God one flesh; hard to argue against that. If it were not for the hardness of a couples heart one or both toward the things of God they would have remained such. Now they make living together a living hell and their hearts harden all the more. If allowance had not been made in these cases the hardened would lash out all the more and take society down with them. The Law then can be used in at least two opposing ways, one as a warning against hardness or two as an easy justification for divorce. Jesus does not call them a broad of vipers, but, does make it known that the hardness of couples to the designs of God and hardness of the religious towards the true intents of the Law were not going to box Him into a place that truth can't still get out. The faith of our Lord is in the spirit of the Law as the spirit addresses the hardness of mankind complete. Without the Law we would not know our sin, knowing our sin makes us to resist and to sin all the more. Only being one with God through Jesus Christ makes us one flesh man to women and one with the spirit and design of all things.
June10 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:10:32-34 WHAT THINGS SHOULD HAPPEN - It says that they were amazed and afraid as they followed behind him. They knew something big was going on. They had been told at least two times previous and now they were marching forward towards the end. The determination of Jesus ahead leads to an odd sense of reverence the Greek suggests combined with uncertainty perhaps endangered concern within them. This is not as easy as just knowing what is about to happen, it is the struggle with why, it is the wrestling with where each of us fit into that. If Jesus is gone how does the movement continue? Who takes the lead? How do they stand against the forces building and soon triumphant over Jesus? What happens with the miracles? What happens with the crowds and adulation? Are they really ready to lead? Could this not be held off until they are better prepared? Jesus is depending on them, will they be up to the task. The lessons learned along the way of it being entirely God's power, faith the size to move mountains, eyes of a child, a pearl of great value, balanced against a faithless and perverse generation, sheep without shepherds, eye of a needle, darkness and tribulation like never seen; these things must be reconciled and brought to real and living faith. It is no wonder they are afraid and resistant. The faith of our Lord stands firm. This is the way. It must be thus. This is what He had come to do. The time is now. The rest is left in the Holy Spirit's hands.
June12 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:10:46-52 MADE THEE WHOLE/SAVED - kjv@Matthew:20:29-34; kjv@Luke:18:35-43 also give the same account. Mark here says "whole", Luke says "saved", Matthew omits the response noting Jesus' compassion but, he says that there are two beggars. Is there contradiction? Only if you want there to be. Why would you want there to be? So that you don't have to believe it. Is it that you believe that sight can't be restored as in a communicable eye disease? Is it that two men can't be present and one remembered in particular by Peter because of his name and perhaps as reference to those who might know him further? Is that being made whole cannot mean being saved? Is it that you think the Holy Spirit would make such an obvious mistake? There are plenty of other seeming contradictions if you want there to be. I would rather see it that the fame of Jesus was known well enough to the many beggars along the road near Jericho that some called to Him causing a disruption to the caravan of pilgrims to passover Jerusalem. The more they called out the more people tried to quiet them until finally Jesus was close enough to call at least two to where He was. They gladdly came and made petition of Him. He had compassion on them and seeing their faith was assured Himself that they were made whole/saved through the encounter. As others later read the account those who knew Peter would recognize the one name and be able to certify that he indeed could see and did remain in the faith perhaps having done or become something significant/memorable. The faith of our Lord is in the testimony that both had preceded Him and would follow Him. Where things needed to be further explained He made sure to mention, even repeat. Where things did not need but the benefit of a doubt He left it alone as a testing point. There are certainly challenging areas in our faith as there needs to be to prove our sincerity and give us room to grow, but, not one is contradiction unless one wants it to be. I would ask are you certain that you want this particular challenge to be the point your two paths split?
June15 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:11:20-26 HE SHALL HAVE WHATSOEVER - A mountain often stands between here and there. On one side of this passage there is a mountain like the fig tree, a corrupt way of religious life that bares not fruit, which has been cursed, is dried and withered yet still holds much power. On the other side of this passage stands a mountain of unforgiveness needing to be removed and tossed deep into the sea. Perhaps it is all part of the same mountain, be it a system or be it an individual trespassing the power these things have over you can be removed if only you believe in His righteousness and power to do so. So often we see the mountain as the hole that we have dug for ourselves financially or in our relationships or in our careers, health etc; what a shallow inverse mountain. Peter did not ask if he would ever be as rich as he wanted to be if he believed. Why do we contort this passage so? The fig tree represents something that is planted by the master intending to have plenteous fruit; often it symbolizes the Church or Israel. When it is contradictory it hurts His children and trespasses His will. His well intending children outside the church in turn can be just as fruitless holding hard to their unforgiveness of the trespasses against them personally or as they feel done onto their Lord. Thus it is an surmountable mountain for runaway church and injured believer and or rogue believer and injured church. To accept this, repent of this, to allow God the presumption of complete righteousness in all things and thus the power to cast aside any ill effect from such without any doubt; this is miracle producing faith. Believe that these things shall come to pass and they will at least for you. The faith of our Lord is in overcoming insurmountable mountains, in calling things not only by what they are but by what they will be. Jesus has not given up on Israel and not the Church. He has empowered accepting individuals the power to cast aside the insurmountable corrupt and unfruitful and unforgiving mass one by one and thus make the true Church and true Israel to be whole.
June21 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:12:35-40 BEWARE OF - The teachers of the law in that day were unwilling to correct an interpretation of David's words that the common folks were glad to hear. Maybe it was not so much that the public understood/agreed to the full implications, but, they knew the parading and predatory practices of those teachers in general. How could the scribes be right on the point of interpretation and so wrong on the point of practice? they might ask. If their infamous practices were so commonly known it is more likely that their interpretations were part of a means of disguising of hiding their false practices behind. Logically, the interpretation of Messiah being a mere descendant of David (not David's current Lord) puts the scribe always in charge and in supreme necessity, for there are many descendants of David and only the learned scribe could sort a certain one out. They alone would have the power to mark Messiah out. All that the scribe has become is a desire to be in charge; in charge of doctrine, in charge of interpretation, in charge of tradition, in charge of the law, etc... I have been conjecturing that this has been a day that the Jewish elite have gone about to do all that they could to prepare the public to move forcibly against Jesus. The success that they have been able to have will soon bare out. This passage however seems to tell that the crowd was at least as skeptical if not more so of the elite trying to call the shots and yet were easily whipped into a feeding frenzy when the blood began to surface. The faith of our Lord is that we need to be aware of the same type struggles for power and misuses of power as they effect us as well. Manipulation of a crowd did not stop with the scribes. Manipulation of a crowd against the truth seems to fairly simple fare. Audiences can be glad to hear, know exactly the examples and practices that you are pointing out and still when all is said and done be moved forcibly against you. We should not be surprised by any of this, in fact, expect it from both those who exhibit such self serving practices, and those who would still rather invest themselves under them.
June25 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:14:1-11 SHE HATH DONE WHAT SHE COULD - It can't be said that there weren't those who knew that this was the last they'd see Jesus. How much Mary of Bethany understood we are not sure but, at least enough accept this ending and to know to respectfully anoint the body for burial. Peter was willing to fight that the end not happen, others were more concerned about who would be promoted into charge should it end, others were not so sure where it was He was even going, most all could agree with Judas' complaint of her excess. It really is a somewhat sorry state of affairs concerning His disciples except for perhaps one. What is it that we are suppose to remember about this woman in memorial? That she could afford 300 pence of ointment? That she had long saved it for some proper (perhaps her own) occasion? That she had gone out earlier that day and sold something/everything of value to buy this for this specific reason? That God had worked through her to make this happen? We don't know the whole of it for sure. What we can take away from this is that something special happened for a brief moment, a deeply real connection, and that the Lord received the thoughtful and meaningful/costly act of adoration from an admiring follower without even a word. The faith of our Lord is on the look out for moments such as this, moments of connecting. There can be a crowd of intellectual diversions and hypocrisies all around Him and yet He seems quite attuned to these one on one opportunities. This Mary perhaps may be His first true convert.
June26 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:14:12-31 I WILL GO BEFORE YOU - Jesus could not have made it any clearer; betrayal, Shepherd smited, sheep offended/scattered, His body given, His blood shed, soon risen, will go before you to Galilee. All of this is said on the day (dusk to dusk) of unleavened bread (remember the parables?) at the feast of passover (remember leading up to the Exodus?). The many Hebrew connections are quite intense. Having been told this in advance how could one be offended? They are still convinced that there is an alternate way that Jesus could do this that He is not considering. Would He go through with it if they all vehemently swore to stand firm swords drawn at His side? How can you conquer death when you are dead? Is man's sin and transgression really serious enough to warrant this innocent miracle worker's sacrifice? Is this really the time or can He spend another three years preparing them? Can't a man the stature of Jesus make his own choices and determine himself when his time will be? Why is Jesus so set on this one thing and not listening to the counsel of His closest friends? After all of this time do they not have a say? Has He become moon struck like His kinfolk earlier suspected? We leave now out the back door and slip out to Galilee now and....? There are a hundreds way to look at this as a why not and what if. There are a hundred ways of becoming offended that Jesus carries through with this, puts you in the position He does. So He is betrayed, do something about it now beforehand Jesus! It is not like He hasn't escaped death many times before! The faith of our Lord is not moon struck it is awe struck by the righteousness of His Father, that the Father will see this act of obedient submission as satisfying the righteous demands of judgment and mercy, that the Father will see and be pleased, that HIS righteous servant shall justify many having bare their iniquities. The prophet Isaiah long ago asked "Who hath believed our report". The answer? Not even His disciples. When it should have been clear given all this simply by His words "I WILL GO BEFORE YOU INTO GALILEE".
July1 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:15:1-15 THOU SAYEST IT - It is interesting to see how an fresh set of eyes would see this case. Pilate now comes into the picture, surveys the situation, sees that the chiefs are largely driven by envy, makes his ruling. kjv@Proverbs:27:4 says "Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?". Is it any surprise that from the time of Cain and Able to Jacob and his brothers to Saul and David and beyond, when it comes to religion envy rules the day? Why would a man be crucified on the charge of envy? Missing in this account are the efforts of Pilate to pawn Jesus off elsewhere. Offering a switch of venue or a switch of accused is a poor excuse for justice when the just thing to rule is that this man is innocent and that his enemies are mad with envy. But, Pilate does not, he plays it to his own personal advantage putting the judgment back into the hands of the mob. The chiefs know how to move/play this crowd, they have been preparing for this several days at least with the types of staged inquiries they had made of Jesus publicly. This skill comes with plenty of practice. We should be aware of the same. The faith of our Lord was to remain silent like a "lamb to it's shearers" as He was commanded. For us we told to take no thought for that day as the Spirit will tell us the words to say; to do as directed. Stephen was not quiet. Paul several times beaten near to death was not silent. Now that Christ has done His silence it is time for us to do His talking.
July3 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:15:21-32 SCRIPTURE FULFILLED - The best explanation of what Jesus is going through is kjv@Psalms:22 prophesied nearly 1000 years before. The details are excruciating and graphic. Essentially two horrific things are converging upon Him at once, the sins of mankind past present future being transfered upon Him as with the symbolic Levitical sacrificial lambs, because of that sin the departing/forsaking of the Father never felt by Him prior in all eternity. The physical pain must be intense no doubt, but probably the least of His grief and ill. You think about the weight of the horrid sins of man like vile mass hatred and murder, rape and pillage, the woeful sins of oppression and bondage, the perversions of lust, the passive sins of idleness and unclaimed/stolen potential, how all this adds up to a terrible nausea/dizziness throbbing within Him. To that you add the loss of Himself to His Father; He is doing this in obedience to the Father and it is a great thing, but, the Father can not be with Him at this point because of the transference. No doubt He is in prayer throughout this ordeal to try to regain focus, the madness of all men laid upon must make it exceedingly difficult, but His prayer minus the Father's hand must seem vacant. What is there left Him to cling to in amidst this torrent except the expectation of a promise? We tend to think of the real suffering of Jesus to be after death perhaps in a hell. Though possible, much of that is conjecture/secular tradition. I believe the worst of His suffering to be now (what more could be done to His soul?). The faith of our Lord continues on however. It in essence is to simply obey the Father, trust that HE will at the right time pull Him through this all. This is paying the purchase price of redemption and what a price it is. We should not forget nor under appreciate what is being laid upon Him from all angles nor underestimate the cost to Him/Father in securing the forgiveness of our immense debts. It should vibrate through every cell in our bodies giving us new and substantial spiritual life.
July5 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:15:42-47 BOLDLY - The body of Jesus legally remains the property of Pilate at this point. I would think that there would be several interested parties at least as to the whereabouts of the corpse if not full possession of it. Joseph is taking a big chance here if he is a member of the Sanhedrin should Jesus rise the third day as it would mean that He rose or was stolen in Joseph's possession, Joseph would be in kahoots. If he is not Sanhedrin then Pilate's judgment would be called into question. We are not told what became of Joseph nor his partner in this burial Nicodemus. If not known to be believers then they are certainly outed now and with that there must have been a price to pay; how costly would be conjecture. It was a bold move indeed, a considerable honor, an obedience to the Holy Spirit who would be in charge. Perhaps someday we will get the chance to talk to these two men to find out just how bold of a move this really was. The faith of our Lord was that everything, body soul and spirit, happenings on the ground were in the Father and Spirit's capable hands. His faith puts the fates of His followers into the same hands as it always was and is and always will be. As it should be!
July12 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:1:57-66 FEAR CAME - It began with neighbors and cousins, it spread to all those that heard from them. It happened just as the mysteriously muted Temple priest wrote. Now you may not take notice when priest claims to have been visited by an angel. You are more likely to notice when he comes out unable to speak. You may not notice when a women passed her years has a child. You are more likely to notice when she is married to the muted priest and he claims that the angel foretold it to happen. Maybe you are not convinced until the couple name the child a non traditional name meaning "the grace and mercy of God" and suddenly the priest can again talk. So you are at least curious are you not? What else does the priest have to say? That the child comes in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the immediate way of the Lord? What manner of child will this be? Perhaps you are still not convinced but, you are likely to keep an eye on all this. Your reaction and the reaction of the others around you make you to fear. God does not just speak in words, He also speaks in motions and momentums. He produces curiosities and curiosities produce responses and responses produce environments and environments make for fear. Fear is the beginning of knowledge. Thirty years from now when the ministry of this John comes to a head and this John declares the son of the Mary (remember who spent three months with his mom Elizabeth early on) to be the "Promised One" enough people by then have been moved far enough along over the course that God can produce a larger fear nation wide. John then prepares the way of the Lord by what he says yes, but, also by what he has become and represents. The faith of our Lord is in supreme clarity objectively but, He often uses the noise of many others spreading abroad along with the focus of a few to bring that clarity about.
July20 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:4:1-13 FORTY DAYS TEMPTED - This passage seems to be one of the oddest passages in the Bible along with the Devil standing before God asking to test Job. The questions that come up are many, some turn bizarre. Satan has had since kjv@Genesis:3:15 to prepare for a moment like this to tempt Eve's promised seed, and at least to this readers eye he never really takes the gloves off with these three efforts. Luke gives us room to interpret that this was forty days of temptation climaxing in these three notable ordeals. Not being privy to the events of those many days we can further interpret that it may have been Satan's plan to wear at Jesus and then at strategic points flash a quick barrage of punches hoping to intimidate Him with a commanding presence, awesome power and authority. The individual events hardly seem like tests plural as much as the overall duration and display. If this is the correct interpretation, we must also be on the constant watch for this multi-front long duration attack. Seldom is Satan outright identifiable. He does typically hide behind others using peer pressure and intimidation, he does hide behind scripture as well. The tactic isn't always to scare us into doing something wrong, it is often to scare us off or scare us into doing nothing at all. Therefore it is advantageous for him to wear at a believer any way and any time he can. Forty days of dull pressure is just as effective as three minutes of fright. Combined together, the impact could be devastating. Note however that Jesus fasted. His chosen preparation was to put His human flesh into submission to His spirit and to feed and strengthen His spirit upon the Word of His Father alone. This He did knowing the the dull test was constant and the barrage was soon to come. The faith of our Lord is in preparation. Not just waiting for events to happen that are then responded to with prayer/fasting but, putting oneself in front at the ready at all times should any sudden assault or need come about.
July27 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:5:27-32 FOLLOW ME - Only people that know that they are sinners would know that they have need to repent, turn, follow. Those that don't consider themselves as such have absolutely no use for what Jesus would have to offer. I am not sure in today's terms that we understand how despised and hated tax collectors of that day were. This is yet another "in your face" move by Jesus. This reception would be difficult for even the loyal yet timid disciples, it would be revolting to the common citizen, it would be outright excruciating for a Pharisee or their scribe. But because of the undeniable command of matters Jesus is having this act must be fully considered (and for some countered). Matthew (Levi) is a truly inspiring story. Matthew not only leaves his lucrative position behind, he throws a huge reception and invites numerous friends over to meet Jesus. He puts on a huge feast. How many of us would be willing to do that for our Lord? Maybe for some this would be name dropping. Maybe for others this would be pomp ahead of his own career sacrifice. Jesus surely does not see it this way however else He would not be there. There is something important to notice here (many things); the importance of the balance of healing and teaching and public associations and staying on the offensive. The Pharisees have now made their decision about Jesus, but because they cannot explain away the mass healings for instance they cannot completely put down the teachings nor the associations. Because they must turn public perception they must somehow turn public associations that they themselves do not have. They are having to take hit and run sniper shots to remind the crowds of their disapproving presence. Really, how would you go about telling a blind man that can now see that he was healed by a devil or a leper that Jesus didn't actually have the power to forgive? That this was all a trick? Trick or not, they stand healed and sensing that they are forgiven. Likewise, how do you tell a reception of people that you have physical disdain for yourself anyway that they cannot congregate in this manner around this man? That He should not congregate with them? This is bold in deed. And it all is possible because of the balance of the many separate things that Jesus is doing right working together as a whole to multiply the effect of His ministry. Maddening it would be to to be on the other side of this tremendous unstoppable momentum. The faith of our Lord has no problem being with the people who need Him and desire to be with Him most. He doesn't mind even the occasional party to meet and greet a new disciples friends. There is a sincerity and a purity in this even when others might think that He is getting Himself dirty.
August5 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:7:1-10 NOT IN ISRAEL - A Roman centurion with a love for Israel that is tangible and very generous, this is not commonly seen. The same man being concerned enough over his Jewish slave who is near to death to have Jesus approached, this is more rare. That the same man who is respectful enough of the elders to involve them in the process to approach the Jewish Messiah, this is unheard of. That this same man yet remains humble enough to feel, unworthy enough to have Jesus enter his house, barely worthy to meet Him along the path is most amazing. That this same man understanding the inner workings of our Lord's faith enough to it to discern it's authority is simply staggering. Even today when we make the connection of our Lord's faith to His authority it seems vague and theoretical. Authority is nebulous to us that have not ever been exposed to it; we know it is there, but not of it's substance or workings. We are not told of the slaves faith nor that of these elders (they were at least respectful enough to the man to agree to go along to get Jesus). One concerned person of the bunch being good hearted, being generous, yet being humble of self, yet being respectful of others, willing to put it all in the Lord's hands, with the discernment of our Lord's faith and authority presents the Lord with the pleasure of making this healing happen. The faith of our Lord not only has all authority, but is on the lookout for the opportunity to use it amongst the faithful. I do wonder at times what Jesus would have seen had He gone into this man's house. I speculate that like us there was particular reason(s) (not just intellectual) for him to feel unworthy. For all of this talk of authority He may not have had as much authority over himself or his household as we've lead ourselves to believe. If true, the stunning thing is that our Lord is always willing to work with such men for at least their faith is faith seldom seen in neither Israel then nor America today.
August8 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:7:36-50 SOMEWHAT TO SAY - The host of this event apparently did no see Jesus as a sinner. Pharisees as I understand were very much wanting Israel to return to its former glory becoming once again sovereign. They (at least one of them) are still toying with the idea that this Jesus may become if properly swayed this type of messiah. The event must have been open to the public or at least to those Jesus would chose to bring along and thus this woman. The thrust of the parable is that we are all sinners and that regardless of how sinful any of us perceive ourselves to be there is not one dime we can offer to our redemption. The issue is not how much we owe it is that there is nothing we have that can pay that debt. This would be important to tell such a Pharisee because he believes that being a Pharisee is more than enough when in fact like everything else we could offer payment received yet remains zero pence. The debt instead is forgiven by the creditor, the sins of both are forgiven, payment for possession will soon be accomplished in Jesus at the cross, yet only the one is accepting of the transaction that has been made. The host stumbles over whether Jesus has the authority to forgive sins. Though he'd answered correctly his understanding of the parable did not include Jesus as being the creditor. The faith of our Lord is by being a triune member of the Godhead He can act and speak as representative for the other members and at the same time His having become flesh and made to pay for our complete redemption He is also the very transaction. How is it that the debt can be forgiven and still the creditor has to pay for the repossession? Ask yourself, what good is it to forgive when the forgiven remain in bondage to another?
August11 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:8:19-21 HEAR AND DO - Like His own family it is possible for some to not believe at all. It is possible that some want to believe, but their expectation of Him differs from who He actually is and what He must do. It is possible the some believe, but have yet to do. What is it to do? kjv@1John:3:23 simplifies it "believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another". How do we love? Jesus just gave a parable saying to receive the seed into good ground, keep out that which might wither or choke the word off; He just spoke of a light to those that entered in, were revealed and transformed, raised up His light as a body. It would be nice to think that one just set themselves to loving. Man is incapable of this kind of love however apart from it being a fruit of the Spirit. Doing good as any unregenerate man would do, doing a compassion is one thing; one would not be required even to "hear the word of God" as it would come naturally. This is not the type of doing Jesus is talking about. kjv@John:13:15-17 We should follow our Lord's example. It maybe early on in the developing faiths of His own family; this is not said to discourage them. This puts all men and women on equal footing "he who hears to do it". There is just as much opportunity for any of us should we take it. The faith of our Lord is that many will take Him up on this, not just love with our corrupted forms of love, but have that love revealed and transformed in His light and Spirit, have His love and our love for Him motivate us into doing as He has done. We have the proof that at least two of His half brothers James (the less) and Judas (Jude) took Him up on this at some point, likely several others if not all.
August20 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:9:46-50 FORBID HIM NOT - The name of Jesus alone is enough to cast out devils in the hands of one whom has the firm faith. Where this man heard of Jesus we do not know. He may have even been healed somewhere down the road; it is just not said. The disciples are not only seeing things as "who is great and greater", they are seeing things as "us and everyone along with us". It may have been a good point to interject some "why does he not follow us yet does all this". Surely it is important for Jesus to establish these twelve men as His primary disciples, especially in view of the written testimonies some will write that will be canonized. He must establish order and unity. At the same time it must be encouraging to Him that some are beginning to figure at least part of His kingdom message and authority. The disciples had been given authority and did well except for the once. This man is concluding that the name of Jesus is enough authority combined with faith to do the job as well. Think of how much authority the disciples would have if they just latched on to both facts. The faith of our Lord is in these twelve (eleven) men to establish them in the true faith. At times it may involve the illustrations of others' faith to draw them out and challenge them.
September10 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:14:1-14 WHEN THOU ART BIDDEN - Jesus is bidden to a Sabbath feast by a local Pharisee. There is an interesting relationship between some Pharisees and temple leaders with Jesus. They (some) do on the surface appear to be hospitable to Him. Why? The answer may appear in His teachings that day. First comes the healing before He even enters. He likely does not plan for such events, but is prepared to take hold of the opportunities when presented. His mission even on Sabbath is to rescue lost souls from the pit contrasted by the Pharisee seeking to leisure with His guests. Next, Jesus speaks of a guest that abases himself so as not to be shamed. What an odd thing to point out if there were not those in the room habitually doing exactly the opposite. Then, He addresses the host that invites only top level guests with the hope of return invitations. Was it that Jesus was invited to be the hosts' spot light presentation (the draw) to his well connected guests? No doubt that the afternoon's conversation was a bit uncomfortable Jesus having set the tone. Just imagine how the conversation went after He departed. Self exaltation verses self abasement is really the issue. Most everything the host and other guests are doing is to exalt themselves. Self exaltation may be the biggest problem we have today with our younger generations and why they feel so imposed upon regardless; because they view themselves as so much above it (the real world that is). One that lifts him/herself to any higher measure than reality will bare will naturally be put upon by anything lesser, things that they feel they're above. Those that abase themselves are truly lifted because real world matters are not bringing them down, matters are seen as opportunities especially concerning our help to others. Job once said "I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame". What a wonderful viewpoint. He was able to be that because he was focused on the needs of others around him, not focused on how to take another step up the social ladder. The faith of our Lord is in accepting when bidden, even when bidden by those who will very soon sentence Him. It is going into places that He knows if all be said that He is not welcome, a room filled with ulterior motives and dishonest gamesmanship. He is the bird and they are the fowler setting the trap' yet He holds to what is true and right.
September11 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:14:15-24 MEN WHICH WERE BIDDEN - It is somewhat of a pious assumption by the one guest that he'd be eating bread in the kingdom of God. Sure as a practicing Jew he is invited and he seems sure that he will/has accepted such an momentous invitation. What if the true honoree of that kingdom feast was this same radical rogue that is stirring up all this frenzy that he is talking down to at this very time? Would he be so willing to accept that invitation? He seems to have a vivid picture of what the kingdom feast will be and who all will be there; that picture probably doesn't include this Jesus fellow let alone this Jesus being the for whom this banquet is set. The guests have been bidden for some time, they are planning on it. Now that it is time and every thing is ready they see that this feast is not acceptable and so of one consent they make their excuse not to attend; lame excuses at that. The servants ready message is really the guests second bidding. You can imagine if you had prepared for certain guests and now with one consent they have all backed out on you. You would know that they are sending you a uniform message of blatant conspiring disrespect. The man may feel confident that he will be eating at a feast, but not this God's feast. A second group of the needy and crippled is invited and even a third compelled to come. Those men bidden that conspired not to come because it would involve coming to Jesus will not taste of His supper. Now that description doesn't match all Jews, just all that when all is prepared and ready still reject Jesus. The faith of our Lord is that the kingdom will be filled, maybe not with those whom He first invited, but those who will surely appreciate and come when bidden.
September16 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:16:1-15 WISER THAN CHILDREN OF LIGHT - Being wise did not make the unjust servant just. It got him no further than a commendation and an awkward place in a parable. So what is it that Lord is commending and wanting us to see as the example? Spiritually speaking, is the steward in the business of collecting other's debt or relieving it with the Lord's goods? The difference between being just and unjust may come down to the man's perception of this very point. The oddity of this passage is that He says "when ye fail". Servants will fail their Lord; fail in the small things, fail in the large. Many fail for fear of failing. Many will fail for letting the others skate by or trying to collect from the for one's own gain instead of applying the goods toward full relief (two masters). Failure apparently is tied into which of the two possible directions men most esteem. We often limit ourselves into being failures instead of risk our way into successful obedience. Risk may be at times going against that which is more esteemed. The faith of our Lord is much about our stewardship of His goods in service to His business interests here on earth. There is a debt that many others still owe. It is the stewards job to take the spiritual goods of the Lord and relieve the spiritual debt of the others. If His goods are wasted on something else then the steward will be called to accounts and his stewardship may be at jeopardy. We are the Lord's stewards just as this man was. Our best advantage is to be trust worthy at all times beginning with the smallest things including mammon. At various times we will fail that calling (wasting or re-purposing it mainly). Our second best advantage is to go back to proper stewardship of goods versus debt and at least do something in that direction. There is also the danger of despising the service to the Lord because of what it takes away from the more pleasurable forms of wasting and profiting and worldly esteem.
September21 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:17:20-37 LIGHTNING - If you are looking for the Kingdom of God don't follow where others tell you to look, that it is a place, a political/economic system, a particular denomination or cult; the Kingdom is within/inside you. If you are looking for the second advent don't think that Jesus will slowly appear in California to re-establish a group of latter day followers, He will appear as a bolt of lightening from one end of the heavens to the other. This message is spoken throughout prophecy. The second coming is nothing like the first. It will not be "I wonder if this is so". It will be sudden immediate determined judgment (and not the final judgment even). If there is the time to think back on all of the possessions you will leave behind, don't do it. If there is a brief moment to turn and look back on your city, don't do it. This is not a "pull all the data together to finally decide" moment, this is a "decisions already been made and lived forward for sometime... now it's time to go" half second. This is not the light of regular lightning as well. A ray of light from one end of the physical heavens to the other would take billions of years to travel. This is the pinnings of space and time abruptly superseded by something much more powerful, something (shall we say "someone") at the same time snatching His followers up and away. How can this then be explained by those that do not get raptured up? The message and implications will be perfectly clear to them. If this in fact happens early in the tribulation as many believe, the ugly time that follows is the workings of God condemned souls that seek to put forward a full fledged rebellion against God. Not a few souls, nearly all, and with extreme hatred. The great deception may be that they actually think that they can stage this rebellion against God and win. The Anti Christ not only becomes anticipated but welcome. The flushing out of remaining nominal Christians and Jews by economic and legal means becomes number one priority. The mark of the beast is worn with extreme pride. A worldwide celebration remember is broadcast with people exchanging gifts when the final two great prophets are executed. How can any of this be possible unless such a vile defiance and "in your face God" rebellion has not become the absolute worldwide cause. The faith of our Lord is a tremendous thing when His love and mercy for us is considered. However at this particular unprecedented moment all things change like at no other moment (save Adam and Eve's perhaps). There will be no turning back, not for Him, not for believers, not for those left behind. His lightning is not a mere line drawn in the sand, it is a vast gulf that none can traverse save the relatively few tribulation saints. There will be a final final judgment. It will not be sudden. Everyone of these evil men will look back on this rebellion, and know that He is God, and will have only to bow their knee and confess Him as God before accepting their rightful eternal sentence. It is crazy how much of the picture we don't see that Jesus does.
September22 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:18:1-8 ALWAYS PRAY - There is a nearly constant theme throughout the Old Testament of the just praying that God avenge them. Even in Revelations the martyrs under the throne are crying out "when". It may be something that we today miss as we look to the faith for prosperity and wellness, not to put us in a position of needing call upon God in our persecution to be avenged. Simply put, we at least in the west no longer have an adversary. Is that because there are no longer the unjust? Is that because the widow and orphaned and poor are so justly treated? Is that because the disadvantaged are so well off that we the just don't need to stick our nose into their business? Is that because the cause of God's righteousness is so widely excepted and welcome that the adversary is kept in his place? Jesus begins by saying "men out to pray and not faint". What have we today that we have to pray for other than our own comfort and self worth? What do we have that would cause us to faint if not for prayer? This widow? That poor man? The other persecuted elect? The prayers of David especially reflect a very interesting conflict, he himself being anointed being not able to lay his hand against another of God's anointed in hot pursuit. Much of what the early Christians suffered was from the other elect. Much of what the early reformists suffered was from within the church. Men ought always pray indeed, but that ought to be in a position of needing to pray as well. Not for prayer's sake, but for divine justice's sake. The faith of our Lord was always tried and tested. He put Himself in a position of needing to be avenged. He put His own self out there on behalf of those who are treated unjustly. His voice is the clearest of all those voices that have cried out and up, voices some to this day met above with only long-suffering for now.
September29 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:19:11-27 WOULD NOT THAT I SHOULD REIGN OVER THEM - The purpose of this parable is stated right off, some thought that the kingdom should appear immediately. What we have then is an prophecy/illustration of what will occur until He returns in the future. The first note of importance is that the nobleman Christ will leave to a place where He will receive His kingdom. In His absence ten servants receive ten pounds each from Him to investment. This differentiates this parable immediately from the parable of the talents where three servants receive three different sums for the same purpose. Second, the citizens here of His kingdom have rebelliously declared that they do not will for Christ to reign over them. This describes the general sentiment of the people/world all around us to this day. So we have the picture of a limited number of servants given the identical amount of resource (could be the gospel message whole as opposed to the varying of individual talents) being invested in a world where the majority of citizen are in outright rebellion. It would be natural to expect the return on investment to vary given differences in location and time, level of risk and engagement, etc... What we are shown however, is only two of the ten having any notable return and at least one of the ten not having invested the given resource at all. We are not told the end of these servants from whom what they had was taken away. We only know the end of the remaining rebellious citizens. So if you are a servant and if you are expecting the kingdom to appear immediately, it may be best that you ask what return on investment have we made in this interim. If you are waiting for the mood of the citizens to improve, don't. If you are of the mind that serving this Lord is bitter and course and that only He unfairly profits, don't. The faith of our Lord is not in finding the favorable conditions for investing His word, He is a sower that sows His word even on the wayside. Because we tend to think that the kingdom is right here or just rounding the corner home we tend not to serve (invest His gospel into the darkness) any more than need be. Because we tend to think the push back and effort required harsh and unrewarding we tend to hold to the gospel for ourselves and not invest. The Lord feels that He has given each of us equal resource. Along with the resource He has given us the time to put it forward. If the resource were to be taken away what would you then do? Would you go back to being a citizen?
October28 @ @ rRandyP comments: FaithOfJesus *John:1:2-11 MINE HOUR IS NOT YET - There seems to me to be a bit of a compromise made by Jesus here to His mother Mary. He proceeds with her request, but only a very limited number of the servers and of course the six disciples know what has occurred. Somewhere between the time that the servant drew the tasters glass and the taster tasting it, the water became a good wine. There are six hand washing water pots, there are six disciples, the six are by Jesus' request topped off to the brim. A measure was measured off, transported out into the feast and by the time tasted by the wedding foreman made into excellent vintage. How much wine is not mentioned. As it was toward the end of the feast there would be no need for twenty some gallons. Jesus will use the symbolism of a wedding plenty to describe His kingdom and it's guests. The true noble guests will refuse to come, yet here we see out from the vessels of their dirty purification water a miraculous transformation occurring somewhere between Christ's blessing and the foreman's sampling into a most excellent wine. The disciples had not seen a miracle up till now, yet they had followed. Mary must have had some inkling that Jesus could perform something perhaps feeling that the seven other guests of her party had taxed the supply to begin with. It was not Jesus' time publicly for miracles. He used the moment however as an occasion to draw a big spiritual picture for His disciples. It is a picture of their own coming transformation. The faith of our Lord knows (or patiently waits for the sign) of it's time and place and mission. He is in a gathering and initial establishing stage at present. He is working with the ceremonial refuse of the run away reprobate religious preparing a marvelous work.
November4 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:4:43-54 EXCEPT YOU SEE SIGNS - I do not believe that Jesus was attempting to rebuke the nobleman by what He said, but was preparing Him. It is not as if the man had come to Jesus, sought a sign in order to have the confidence afterward to ask Jesus for a miracle then on his son's behalf. The man had heard of the wedding miracle in Cana and the buzz from the pilgrims returning from the Feast in Jerusalem and had enough belief so as to wait for Him during His brief delay in Samaria. The statement is to focus the man upon the Messianic claims and not on all the observable things done up to this. The strength of faith is not in what has been done prior, but in what is about to occur and why. As to why, many would consider that they like the man because they believe strong enough to receive the healing that the healing takes place; like a partnership with the healer, our faith/His power. Here you will notice that Jesus told the man of the healing before the mention of the man believing. What if the man had delayed in his believing until further down the road? Would the healing have occurred two hours later? I fear that people who believe that their faith in healing must be there in order to receive the healing are the same type of people who seek signs and evidences to buttress up their faith prior. They are close kin to the people have to have a healing or observe directly a miracle themselves before they would ever consider that the performer to be in the class of a Messiah. John has verbally taken us to three distinct spiritual climates so far, the hyper religious in Jerusalem, the distant and half bread in Samaria, and now returns to a commoner's middle ground in Galilee. He has had tremendous success in all three and now previous successes are beginning to compound or multiply on top of each other. Knowing these distinct base climates now, we should begin seeing strange evolution's and twist's of these bases as people begin to talk themselves out of what appears to be the long awaited messianic fulfillment and the efforts of the elite to regain their control. The faith of our Lord is that He can compel us toward the core belief in His Lordship. It is not all about His showmanship and what we might be able to have Him do for us personally, it is about His being and presence and authority over all creation.
November15 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:7:45-8:11 AND TAUGHT THEM - With everything that is going on around Jesus it is good to know that there are still people that want to hear Him and are willing to be taught. Wouldn't you have loved to hear what the teaching was on this day? We are not told what it was and it seems that many times He is "teaching what?" when what we are told about what interrupts it or occurred outside of it. Take the feeding of the five thousand and others, times when He taught all day or three days straight, we know not a word, but we do know what else took place. We do have some of His teaching mind you, the sermon on the mount, the Olivett discourses, weaves of parables etc.. Chances are His teachings were much like those. Perhaps they were exactly those just for a different audience and that is why we are not told about it (we've already heard it). Wouldn't you like to hear Him tell it again and again? There is the chance just as likely that it was something completely different, perhaps reading and teaching from the Old Testament stories or from the Law or from the Prophets. Wouldn't you have loved to hear His take on ancient world history? A walk through the book of Job? Instead, we are privy to what the Pharisee's are thinking, how their minions are processing their reactions. We also have what He taught as a result of these occurrences. This leads us to believe that as important and engaging as the mystery teachings of Jesus were, often times what was going on around them is more of what we need to know; at least right now. I imagine that in Heaven we will have the time and opportunity to catch up to these lessons. There will be plenty of occasion to go over to Joseph's and hear Joseph himself recount his time in Egypt. It will be good to hear Job himself describe what he was thinking. How about an evening with Stephen or Silas or Luther; diner with the Grahms? There will be time for this I am sure, but for now we are faced with the task at hand which is often best understood by the contrary reactions of reprobates. It is a look into the heart of sin, the thoughts of those who seek to entrap, the insults and slander and hypocrisy of those who should know better, the short sighted reasoning's and justifications of the power hungry. The teaching actually is all about the cross and everything that led up to it so that we would be able to know what it means with and beyond and because of it. The faith of our Lord is there early in the morning every next day; He is always back at it. A storm surge of opposition and scheming can be brewing all around Him and you know what He'll be doing and where He will likely be found - teaching. Thank God our Father for that!
November21 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:9:13-34 A MARVELOUS THING - Since the world began, that is a long time. A man born blind is made to see. What difference would it make where the healer was from? He would still require serious consideration. How could just any person perform such a thing? Let alone a sinner? It is often asked why Jesus used the mud and the wash. It is commonly held that it was used to help build the man's faith. The man did not see what Jesus was about to do. The man at least would have known by touch that something had been done and feel it all the way down to the bath. Others point to the possible medicinal purposes of the mud (but to heal prenatal blindness?). What if the mud was to mark the man that a miracle had been performed again by Jesus on the Sabbath? What if it was a message to the Pharisees and had little to do with the event itself? The inquisition asked more than once "how was this again? Mud?". It was perplexing to them. Mud sticks to things. In mud things get stuck. If one is trying to get a perplexing puzzle stuck into a group of antagonist's brains why not stick it there with mud? The theory is interesting. As much as these men wanted to control the proceedings and rule out the miracle all together, their perplexity kept the inquiry in play, broadcasting to others that they were not all together sure what had taken place. It aggravated a division already occurring within their group and made to surface a policy they wanted to enforce that commoners insisting Jesus to be Christ would be excommunicated from the assembly. The mud is now on their face. How Jesus had healed has as little to do with the consideration of sin as when He did it or where He was from. The fact is that it hadn't been done to anyone's recollection ever before, that was the most urgent point. Some there came close to the matter, but apparently they lack the political strength and determination of the others. The faith of our Lord is in bringing the darkness to light, to make men to see the spiritual struggle happening daily all around them and the various intentions/motives being played out. Sometimes something as simple as mud can be used to remind one man who cannot see that his eyes are soon to open and at the same time reveal to a great many that certain so called seers are actually driven to blindness. That makes it an even more marvelous thing!
November28 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:11:45-57 JESUS THEREFORE WALKED - It was no surprise to Jesus how the Sanhedrin/Pharisee coalition would react, it was part of the equation going in to the miracle. One only has to go back to the times of Moses before Pharaoh to see how miracles tend rather to harden the hearts of those it should have softened. It is as weighing in the one hand the tremendous weight of the many works and believers in the works of Jesus against the weight of what is self important in the other; the more weight added to the side of Jesus the more the scale tips towards self. Self is a communal property here, there is much investment into it by these individuals. It is no less true in our day. What we call freedom of will is clearly very territorial and pack like. Measure again the imbalance between the one sent doing the works of God and the several who find it expedient for all that the one man be put to death. It is the same measurement we face today. Why should the works of God be put to death (in our case explained away)? Because they threaten the so called works of man. They see it as a work to keep their place and their nation. Their place is as spiritual and moral leaders of a pitiful run down thoroughly dominated depraved frontier outpost of Rome, a vague resemblance in name only to the nation that by God they once possessed. That is the work that they put above God's? What is our's? So what does it take, we must ask, for them / for us to see matters on the ground as they truly are? The results and consequences of our possessiveness and self (pack like) justifications? How the works of God are sternly pushed aside as if to the wildernesses? These men gather to purify themselves and at the same time they issue a state wide edict for His capture. The feast is being prepared for. The faith of our Lord knows more of what it is up against ahead of time than we tend to know even after the fact because it knows the heart of man; all men; the real state. He will spend this time now with His disciples preparing them and their faith for the similar battles they will one day face themselves. He will walk no more openly amongst these hardened.
December1 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:12:20-36 IF I BE LIFTED UP - There at least three objectives I see stated; that the Son of Man be lifted up, that the prince of this world be cast out, that men while they have light be drawn to follow Christ. Think of man's state as being compressed and flatted as if by a mechanical press where everything is at the same level. Look around and it all seems about the same including the person and works of Jesus. Slight variations, He (maybe another) might have been a better man, may have done some miracles and such, but near to our human level. Now think of Him as being lifted up off our compressed level by His resurrection and witnessed ascension. Our understanding is no longer as flat and perceptually relative, there is space between us and Him and we are drawn towards Him from out of our tight quarters. With that space we look back on His miracles, His healings, His parables, His teachings, confirming voices and testaments and we now see that God the Father was trying to show us something much bigger at the time than we could comprehend. There becomes an expanded middle ground so to say so that even the prince of this world cannot perceptually hide in the previous flatness. Satan is exposed and forced out into the open having not the same death hold on us as before; he then, when purpose unfolds, can be extracted. It all comes as a result of one man's death and resurrection; His uncommon lifting up. There have been those like Lazarus that have slept and been raise from sleep back into this earthly dimension. There is no one other than Jesus that has raised fully into His previous glorious state having conquered both sin and death, shown Himself tangibly to us glorified and ascended up through a parting of heaven and earth to the right hand throne of God His Father. Okay, so see how different that is, see how uncommon and not flattened that is, allow for what is expansive and drawing about that. "If any man serve me, let Him follow me" He says "where I am, there also my servant will be". Is Jesus in our flattened/compressed sphere or is He lifted far above it? There may be additional significance that there are Greeks in this audience with the Jews as well as they would more closely resemble us Gentiles today. For the moment they see the signs and hear the voices, but they as of yet do not know who the Son of Man is or what it means for the Son to be "lifted". The "Light" is amongst them also for this short preliminary time. Take notice of this time He tells them, remember what is said and done while I am here, it will help you to see how dark things are at my passion and death, how glorious and expansive things have become once I have raised and lifted up. The faith of our Lord is in the way things actually are that we cannot yet see and in the way they better need to be if we can just be made to see it. The first spiritual sight from our blindness we will ever see is Jesus Christ the Son of the Living Father God high and lifted up. These men are yet to see that, but then the act has not yet been physically performed. Today the act has been performed, are we willing now to see that? Are we willing to follow in the sense that He means for it?
December10 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjvJohn:15:18-16:4 BECAUSE I WAS WITH YOU - Notice that when the Holy Spirit comes He does not come to keep any of these things from happening. They happen, they continue to happen, they increase there is not an end of their happening at least till Christ returns. What does that say about the plan? The plan is to hunker down and absorb the fight that will be leveled by the world against Christ and His followers. And if that is the plan what does that say about the His love by which we are to love others? This passage does not say that eventually everyone will realize that the love of this world equates to hatred for God and turn from their ways, instead it says that what they do they will think that they are doing for God. It doesn't say that there will for a time be enough of a majority to hold the persecution off. It says that because He has called us out from this world and we are not of this world that the world hates us. It says because they persecuted the master they "will" persecute the servants. Why then do they today not hate the Christians in the United States? Is it that we are so Christ like? Could it be because we do not bear witness to the true image of Christ? Because they have not seen His works in us and are not called out from behind their cloak's? Earlier in the passage we were exhorted to abide in Him, to him who abides in the commandment the Father and Son will abide with him. Has this been done? Earlier in the passage we were exhorted to "keep" (fortress) the true meanings of His commandments from the influences of self and world. Have we done that? We are called to love one another as He has loved us. Have we done that? You see how the evidences stack up against us! I think the faith of our Lord is very evident here, that this is not the end of the process, this is the beginning. Added to His faith that the plan is right and that these disciples will be ultimately fruitful in it, it is a testament to the amount of effort/resource that He is investing into this long hard fought process to make it work. This is an important time for these men now to know this as without His physical presence they soon have to recall and depend solely on these words and the Spirit in the years to come as will we.
December17 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:18:12-14 BOUND - Without warrant and without charge Jesus is seized by the officers of the temple in the presence and with the consent of at least one Roman captain. He is taken to the one time high priest without legal precedence to await preliminary trail by son-in-law (current high priest) who has previously declared the expediency of Jesus' death. This should tell you everything that you will need to know about the Sanhedrin's side of this legal mockery. Before we go too far into this and leave the impression that Christians are antisemitic it should be reminded that Jesus is giving Himself to the Father for the sins of all mankind. It is almost as if two stories were being played out here God's and man's and man's as dark as it is is being used to fulfill God's. That the Jewish priests are the instruments of this is as it should be. Yes they are unaware of what the grand scale and meaning of what this really is, but haven't they been this with their other sacrifices for quite sometime? No I wouldn't want to be these specific men as they commit the unpardonable sin. At the same time, for us to lump the entirety of Jews past and present into the same judgment and hold them in contempt/hatred is a horrible sin against those for whom our savior also (primarily) gave Himself. Instead, these men are to be judged as individuals just like we are; this chosen people to be judged one by one just as we would wish to be by them. We are judged by our belief in a common Savior, Himself a Jew from the seed of David. One might say "well the Jews do not believe in this Savior" to which I conclude "if to judge a whole people by the actions of a few despite the expressed intentions of Jesus, I doubt that we believe as well". The faith of our Lord surely knows at this point that long after His departure these divisions and partitions will continue and fester, entire denominations will arise that eliminate the Jews and insert themselves as the chosen in God's plan, but He continues on with the hope and confidence that even this will rightly pass. That many Jews presently do not believe in their Savior having come in Jesus may be just as much our imperfect/prejudiced presentation of Him to them as it is any theological/interpretive difference.
December25 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:19:38-42 BEING A DISCIPLE - There is some apparent coordination between Joseph and Nicodemus. Nicodemus would not have bought so much spice unless there was some certainty the Joseph was going to be able to get the body from Pilate. There may have even been some discussion by the two of them with Pilate after the sentencing increasing the certainty. The two are both disciples of Jesus within their respective parties showing us that there may not have been a unanimous consent with the high priest, but not enough power to have changed the course of events. Some readers interpret this as a sign of their weakness of faith, I see it rather as just the harsh reality of things on the ground. They may have wanted things to be different, but this one thing was all that they felt the power to do. We must also be aware of such realities, that there are people in places and positions least expected of the faith and that there are limits to what believers within political structures can do. There is also the reality that this is what God the Father wanted to be done, there is no working against that. The faith if our Lord is presented in that during His life time He had measurable effect on a great many people, people that we would not at first expect. Whether He Himself had had any influence on these after plans we do not know, such a thought would be secondary to the greater sense that He trusted that the right thing would be done with His body regardless.
December29 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:20:24-31 BECAUSE THOU HAST SEEN - What would of happened with Thomas had Jesus not returned for Him? Thomas would have to come into his belief just like any other of us; by the testimony of others. The thing is that there are plenty of Thomas's out there that have their mind fixed that there is nothing in these testimonies to believe, that it is something that they will have to see and feel for themselves. Is Jesus obligated to return for them as well? The thing is that that don't really need to see and feel in so many other areas of their lives, why is it so important to them in this particular case? They will take another's word when it comes to politics. They will take another's word when it comes to economics, investments, history, future prediction, court testimony, science, global warming, etc... They will also swallow rumor and innuendo and false premise and distortion and murmuring and intimidation and unjust balance. Why is it not their intellectual creed in these cases? The point is that we try intellectually to be these things and to a certain respect we are, but the reality is that it is close to impossible to be this in the broadest respect. Truth is that we are inescapably made to rely upon the testimonies and opinions of others. Yes it is difficult and error prone and requires discernment; even trust. Yes others have their personal motives and view points and see the same event with dissimilar details. But for men like Thomas (well meaning though they think that they are) to say to the others "no, I won't allow your word even into my preliminary consideration" or "you all are liars" or "this is something so much different than what Jesus told us that would happen; I think you are all reaching" such is not much more than self inflating pride. So you won't believe until you see for yourself. Well where were you Thomas when the rest of us saw Him? How many times do you think Thomas that He has to come back when you just happen to show up? Is Jesus really obligated to meet you on your terms and with your objections? In a sense it is important for the over all record that there was dissent observed in the group, at least for us that long after would follow, but in Thomas's case it is merely a stroke of God's grace that he was given another opportunity to satisfy his hypocritical and prideful demands. What if Jesus had not come to any disciple? What if He had appeared to the common public or to Pilate and Ananias instead? Would that have changed the fact of our Lord's resurrection? The faith of our Lord is in the testimony of others testifying to the veracity of His word. He didn't even attempt to write it down Himself. He may be the only major world messianic figure that went about it this way. Such a defense would be more than proper in a court of law. Why would it not in the court of individual belief?
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