John 20:13-17 – Whom Seekest Thou?

John 20:13-17
13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

-Jesus arose from the dead early that morning with a very important mission, to appear in Heaven before God the Father and present His blood as atonement for the sins of all mankind.  “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” (Hebrews 9:12)  All the power and wiles of Satan had tried and failed to stop the Lord from completing His atoning work as Savior.  Surely now that He is arisen and glorified nothing could stop Him.  But He did stop.  Why?  To soothe the tears of a woman desperate to find Him.  The Bible is the story of how much God loves the human race and never is that illustrated more clearly than on the first Easter morning when Jesus paused the entire plan of redemption and a well-deserved return trip to Heaven to comfort one of His own.

Romans 9:8 – Children of the Promise

Galatians 3:7
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

Romans 9:8
8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

-In the book of Genesis, God makes some promises to Abraham; promises of blessing and prosperity.  God makes these promises both to Abraham and to his children for generations.  For a time, the Gentiles were outsiders to the people of Israel and strangers to God’s promises, but the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ changed all that.  Now, whosoever will believe on the Son of God can be indoctrinated into the family of Abraham and can receive all of the promises that were made to God’s chosen people in the Old Testament.  Such is the faithfulness of God; whereas humans have difficulty keeping promises even to the people we make them, God has been keeping His promises to generations of people to whom He never made them.

2 Peter 2:15-16 – Correction and Instruction

2 Peter 2:15-16
15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.

-How do you handle criticism?  It can be difficult for many of us as our natural instinct is to get defensive or shut down whomever is delivering the criticism.  We must remember, however, that wisdom is wisdom no matter the source and that oftentimes the things we least like to hear are the things we need to hear the most.  Imagine how Balaam must have felt being rebuked by his own donkey; Balaam was so mad that he threatened to kill the animal. (Numbers 22:29) But as Balaam learned and we should remember, it was the Lord who opened the donkey’s mouth. (Numbers 22: 28)  As such, we should never be surprised when our much needed correction or instruction comes from a trusted friend, a bitter enemy, or even a talking animal.

James 1:27 – Remain Unspotted

James 1:27
27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

-I have a blue shirt that looks very expensive and probably was (it was a gift).  Unfortunately, I stained it one time and ruined it.  It wasn’t a big stain, mind you, just enough to leave a quarter-sized spot that won’t wash out.  It doesn’t look like a blue shirt anymore, now it looks like a giant spot with some blue shirt left around it.  That’s how God sees our religion.  Even if it’s mostly clean, we still have to watch out for the spots that can gunk it up.  It’s easy to get spotted if you mingle with the world and it doesn’t take much before we can no longer see the religion because of the spots.  That’s why the Bible tells us that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” (Galatians 5:9)  Just like that blue shirt that hangs uselessly in the back of my closest, the Lord no doubt has many people that He would like to use, but they refuse to be clean.

2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 – Count him not as an enemy…

2 Thessalonians 3:14-15
14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.
15 Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

-The Bible makes it very clear that light can have no fellowship with darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14), however it seems that the exact course of breaking fellowship is made a matter of debate for some.  As stated here in 2 Thessalonians, breaking fellowship does not mean that we have only hatred and contempt for a person in our heart, neither does it mean forgetting about the person altogether.  Breaking fellowship with one who is disobedient to the Lord’s commands should be treated the same as dealing with a close family member who has done wrong; you’re always mindful of the conflict while it exists, but you never forget that they are still family.  You don’t look for reason’s to hate those you truly love, you look for reason’s to forgive those you truly love.  That’s how the Lord treats us and that’s how the Lord expects us to treat one another.

Genesis 18:25-32 – For the Sake of the Righteous

Genesis 18:25-32
25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
26 And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.
29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.
30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.
32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

-Abraham, in an act of compassion rarely seen among God’s people in the modern world, pleads on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah.  As a result of Abraham’s intercession, God agrees to spare the entirety of both cities if only 10 righteous people can be found.  We know how the story ends, with both Sodom and Gomorrah in ashes.  I know that God destroyed those cities because they were full of Sodomy and most likely other forms of wickedness, but the text also tells us that Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed because the Lord couldn’t find 10 righteous people.  Remember that when you choose your side and remember that when you choose the company you keep.

Mark 11:12-14, 20-21 – Behold, Now is the Day of Salvation

Mark 11:12-14, 20-21
12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:
13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

-Look at this fig tree as a type of a lost soul in need of salvation.  Jesus will pass by our way one day drawing each of us to drink from the well of living water.  Just as in the case of the fig tree, it may not be what we consider a good time (as the time of the figs was had not yet come.)  But the Lord said, “I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)  So Jesus will come to each of us and it doesn’t matter if we think the time to bear fruit is here or not, He said now is the appointed time.

The Lord is full of mercies, be thankful for that.  But He also said that “he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18), and people slip off into Hell every day, cursed just like the fig tree.  The Lord could have passed by the tree another day or could have visited another tree altogether, but he visited THIS tree on THIS day and the tree wasn’t ready.  The Lord will visit each of us one day, expecting fruits meet for repentance; when that day comes, will you be ready?

John 14:2-3 – “If it were not so, I would have told you.”

John 14:2-3
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

–“If it were not so, I would have told you.” Have you ever trusted someone so completely that you didn’t even worry about overthinking what they tell you?  You just knew if they said it, it was reliable.  In this section of scripture, Jesus puts Himself into that position for all of us.  He tells us what is true, and then He tells us that if it were not true, He would tell us that too.  For me, this makes faith much simpler because it puts all of emphasis squarely on Jesus.  If you think about it, we don’t have to worry about believing preachers, or study books or even the rest of the Bible; we just need to believe Jesus.  Because if He would tell us that John 14 was false, wouldn’t He also tell us if any of the Psalms had been false or if any of the Old Testament Prophets had been false?  “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 16:31)

Matthew 17:14-18 – Jesus Finished It

Matthew 17:14-18
14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

-Often the most straightforward events in scripture are packed with the deepest doctrines.  Consider this instance involving Jesus and His disciples.  Beyond just the fact that Jesus healed this poor boy from demonic possession, it is important to note that Jesus finished the work that the disciples had started.  Prior to these verses, there was an encounter between the boy and the disciples; the disciples tried to do things their way instead of God’s way and, as is always the case with our best laid plans, they failed.  But thankfully God’s story never ends with man’s failure.  Jesus entered the picture and, as is typical for Him, He finished it.  The Lord will always succeed even when we can’t- especially when we can’t.  His prayers will get through even when ours don’t (John 11:42); His mercy will endure even when ours won’t (Psalm 136); and His righteousness will please the Father even when ours can’t (2 Corinthians 5:21).

John 14:5-6 – Jesus saith, “I Am…”

John 14:5-6
5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

-Thomas asked the Lord a very good question; “How can we know the way?”  With His answer, Jesus establishes the answer to all of life’s questions.  Simply put, Jesus is the answer.  How can we know the way?  Jesus said, “I am the way.”  To know Jesus is to know the way.  Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:38)  Jesus said, “I am the truth.”  To know Jesus is to know the truth.  What is humanity’s biggest question?  What’s the meaning of life?  Jesus said, “I am the life.”  To know Jesus is to know life.  Jesus’ reply in John 14:6 also gives us a destination.  The Father.  What will we find at the end of the way, and the end of the truth, and at the end of life?  The Father; and “no man cometh unto the Father, but by [Jesus].”