Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

Today we will find out WHERE Jesus is.  We will also think about WHEN this takes place and WHY too.

Jesus is in Ephriam which is likely the OT city of Ephron which is about 12 miles from Jerusalem. So this is the LAST TRAIN STOP before His ultimate destination.  It is obviously significant for HIM, but it is also significant for US too.  Without this journey of our hero, we'd all be in big trouble, so let's be interested enthusiasts. 

 When Jesus goes to Jerusalem, He never leaves except by way of RESURRECTION.
When the disciples DO leave Jerusalem, they don't leave the same.  They all have "spiritual superpowers" if you will, because they have the HOLY SPIRIT to help them with all the impossible things they will be doing from then on.  

The WHEN part is associated with the one final passover.  No believer ever could celebrate the passover in the same way again after what happens at the Last Supper/First Supper. 

The WHY part is the neato part for us.  He did it for us.  He "gathers into one" the children scattered abroad.  That is us knuckleheads everywhere.  We are literally mentioned in this passage.  We are not much.  He is everything.  Listen please!  It is almost good news today. bewithme.us

Gathered into ONE. John 11:52 (S2-Episode #25)

Things in today’s Scripture don’t quite add up in my mind.

·      Lazarus is dead for 4 days

·      Lazarus is raised from the dead

·      “many” believe

·      Jesus has revealed Himself in a way never before seen in history

• Jesus has engaged  in the biggest battle with the biggest enemy and WON

Yet, the conclusion isn't universal worship, submission, and face-falling.  Weird.

 Apparently there is a difference of opinion at the end of the story. The difference of opinion is  not as to the veracity of the  occurrence itself, but to its’ significance

·      The romans will come. (aren’t the Romans already here?)

·      Everyone will believe. (this was not, never has been, nor do I think will ever be except in the sense of “every knee will bow and every tongue confess)

·      They will take away our place.  (to the Sanhedrin’s credit, this actually DID happen.)

·      They will take away our nation.  (Israel continues even to this day to loom very very large in the footprint of the world and in the footprint of God’s eye)

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Today, join me as I ponder the biggest battle, with the biggest enemy since page 3 of the Bible.  Scripture tells us that DEATH will be the last enemy to be defeated.  Two big events of the crucifixion and the final battle in Revelation are to follow.  But for all of human history up to this point:  this is the biggest battle with the biggest enemy. 

Every action movie or even cartoon has this motif.  The battle with the arch enemy comes last.  We get a pretty good peek at this today.  We see Jesus as being in fellowship with the Father.  We see Him as creator.  We see Him as BREATH-Of-LIFE giver.  We see Him as One to BELIEVE in.  

I love the details of this story.  I love the stink.  I love the four days and the stone.  I love the wrappings of hands and feet.  I love the obedient Lazarus.  He had to wonder what exactly hit him.  Strangely, in the future, he's the only guy who gets to die twice.  I wonder after what he'd been through here, whether he was afraid the second time. 

Anyway, He tells us this is for our belief.  We get to see God's GLORY: that is, a display for us of HIS CHARACTER.  It is a real treat.  We should not let it go by with out our attention.  I am so so so glad you are here.  Listen with me to the Biggest Battle, with the Biggest Enemy.  www.bewithme.us

TEARS in a BOTTLE. Psalm 56:8 (S2-Episode #23)

 Today I am going to tell a story about a travel-experience-moment that I think directly speaks to our official main passage of John 11 and the mourning over Lazarus. 

Ironically, this all happens even though Jesus already knows that “this won’t end in death”.  It does however, go THROUGH death, so that is a nasty bit.  Perhaps more importantly, it is a personal experience of these 3 people that will universally apply to everybody.

We are going to go back to an old friend, DAVID when he had been pursued and captured by the Philistines.  We find him scared, stressed, seized, and most importantly for our discovery today:  CRYING.  

I know there has been pain in my life: grief, loss, regret, evil coming against me, being tempted and failing, and yes…TEARS.  (and that was just yesterday!) Perhaps you are a little like me.  

Where do those tears go?  Are they seen, heard, and quantified?  I know that God is going to eventually absolutely completely wipe all that crap off the map.  He promises so.  BUT IN THE MEANTIME what happens?  Listen and find out.

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GROWLS at the ENEMY…but WEEPS with US.  John 11:35 (S2-Episode#22)

Typically, we chat each day about approximately 9 verses of scripture.  Today, we will chat about 9 characters of Scripture.  That’s right:  9 Letters.  You just KNOW it will be good.

We are looking at chunks of the story of the eventual resurrection of Lazarus in John 11.  It is a massive piece of Scriptural real estate that we are enjoying one shovel-full at a time.  Today I suppose is a very precious spoon-full.  

The point of today is not that we aren’t weak.  We are.  We are finite in our current configurations. (Thank you, I know we will live forever) We are broken, sinful, frustrated, decaying, angry, afraid, sick, dying and too:  some pretty nasty stuff Puffs-up-inside-us.  

 In many ways, we are not exactly a prize. This is the lot that Jesus comes down to be with.  And He doesn’t throw us under the bus.  He has COMPASSION on us.  He comes WAY down to us.

 He growls at the enemy.  He is pissed off at our plight I suppose.  Listen and see and feel how Jesus responds to our situation.

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When my favorite 4 year old really really really doesn't like something, she doesn't speak:  she GROWLS.

In the original language, this is more accurate than our English, "deeply moved".  So let's go with the 4 year old today.

We find Jesus today feeling very strongly, indignant, scolding against something, angry, outraged.  In short:  Jesus is PISSED OFF.  Can you say that in a Bible devotional?  Don't know.  Just did.  Deal with it.  

If we explored your feelings about the topic that Jesus is growling about, I think we'd find you growling too.  What a great God we have that growls with us at our great enemy.

Listen and join me as we look at and appreciate a growling Jesus.

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I am assuming you have a funeral file to gather your transitional concerns to help your family after you die.  Today, I am going give you a Passage, a Person and perhaps even a Podcast to put into that file.  Note to family: As we speak, I am dropping a copy of this into MY funeral file.

Where are all the children named MARTHA?  When we left Martha in Luke 11, she was being rebuked by Jesus as being ANXIOUS, DISTRACTED and TROUBLED.  Probably those who did NOT name their girls Martha stopped there.  Here in John 11, she rallies to be one of my favorites in scripture.  She must have been one of Jesus' favorites too, because what He gives just to her has become such a cornerstone, that it deserves its place in your funeral file.

Today's word is overwhelming.  It is personal, it is private, it is public (eventually), it is probing, and it is powerful.  Martha brings herself to Jesus.  Then Jesus brings a new revelation of HIMSELF TO MARTHA.  This is a big one.  Listen as Jesus reveals Himself to be the RESURRECTION and the LIFE.  Martha gets first dibs at believing in this.  We get seconds.

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Jesus basically says He is GLAD that Lazarus died.  I suppose that means that Jesus is either some sort of a MONSTER, or He has got something else up His sleeve.

This is a spectacular miracle that is in store for His disciples, and now for us.  Everything depends on this.  If He doesn't have this power, then He is not God.  This miracle anticipates, foreshadows, and paves the way for His own resurrection.

Jesus HATES death.  He knows it is brutal.  He doesn't take it lightly.  The whole process is going to result in His weeping and being deeply troubled when He finally gets to Bethany.  He knows it is part of the curse.  He knows that it is TEMPORARY. (Do you know that we all will be living in an eternity where death, though it is a massive part of our lives here, WILL BE NO MORE?  Gone.  Poof.) He knows we bring dirt to the effort.  He knows what He will be doing in a very short time on the cross.  He knows He will be abandoned to do it all alone.  

It is in this milieu, that Jesus says HE IS GLAD that Lazarus has died.  He's GLAD the disciples get to see it. He is glad that YOU get to see it.  Listen and see why!

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Jesus devotes a massive piece of Biblical real estate on our next passage.  He tells us the end at the very beginning.  It is for His glory and for our belief.  We will get to each of those.  This is something that He really wants us to see; to know; and through the story, EXPERIENCE. This is not an illustrative parable.  It actually happened.  All of Christianity rests on this event.  Therefore, we should probably take it to heart, or if you are new to this, take it into our consideration.

But first there is an undisclosed illness of one of Jesus' best friends.  As soon as Jesus hears that Lazarus is sick, He   d-o-e-s   n-o-t-h-i-n-g    for two days.  Time and time again, Jesus does stuff that is unexpected, and sometimes just weird.  There is a method to His method.  (I was gonna say madness, but it sounded disrespectful) Then he says the event does not LEAD TO death, but it does eventually GO THROUGH death.  It all comes down to this. 

The drama of the event is the early drumbeats of the cross and resurrection.  Jesus is literally working His way toward Jerusalem and His passion and crucifixion.  What He reveals HERE applies THERE.  At the outset, Jesus is across the Jordan river, literally outside the borders of Israel.  The next time He leaves Israel, it will be by resurrection.  You just gotta love the Bible. 

Listen.  See if this is true.  We won't get to Belief today, but we will be wondering.

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When Christ asks people to move spiritually there is an element of CONTROL that He makes us the boss of.  And here is the rub:  It is so very difficult to do so.  The language in the passage today from Luke 17 describes it ultimately as "losing your life".  Ouch. 

We get the ceding.  We get the moving.  We get the falling upon the neck of Christ. 
In conclusion today we'll explore this losing of our life by dissecting it into

• head-moving our thoughts, decisions, committments
• heart-moving our affections, Who we think is TERRIFIC, allowing some smitten-ness
• hands-moving our actions, service, and asking, "what can I do for you?"

This will be difficult.  In no way that I can think of is this ever glossed over in the Bible.  I'm pretty sure that God knows that this is difficult for us knuckleheads. 

But it is urgent.  Today is the day for it.  Why? Simply because we don't know how many days we have left, if any.  And, there is a time, when the time for losing this life; ceding control will be too late.  Apparently, the time for "losing your life" is only when you are LIVING.  Thank you for listening. Check out the website www.bewithme.us