Holy Week Reflections: Tuesday
Who do you say Jesus is?
"Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”
Who do you say Jesus is?
"Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”
Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn't you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” (Matthew 21: 23-26)
It must have galled them to see Him there. The chief priests and elders, the scribes and big shots, all to have the crowds not listening to *them* but to....Him. And really, who was He anyway? A carpenter's son from Nazareth? An itinerant preacher? One thing they were pretty sure on was that He was a trouble-maker.
They had a nice thing going, nice enough anyway. The Romans didn't want to stir up problems more than necessary, so they left the religious life of the Jewish people in the hands of the Priests, Pharisees and Sadducees. These elite of the Jews had their own religious courts, they got to wear fancy clothes, they got to be more righteous than the rest of the Hebrews....and almost no one questioned them, or their power. As long as they could keep the dance up with the Romans, no one got hurt and life remained...comfortable.
Then He comes along. This Jesus of Nazareth, who keeps contradicting them on Holy Scripture and using verbiage to say that *He's the Son of God*....blasphemy! All those "I AM" statements...they knew what He meant. And then He goes and does all these works, these miracles...touching lepers and giving sight to blind men...casting out demons. Who ever heard of a righteous man touching the unclean? Or dining with rabble...He even had a tax collector trailing after Him! And everywhere He goes...the people follow after.
He's dangerous, they know that. They're not sure exactly where He gets His authority from, or from whence His power comes...but He has to be dealt with. Before He upsets the whole balance of things, and brings the Romans crashing down in fury upon them.
They were fine with another Prophet in the desert if need be, or a teacher in a village. But a man who can do miracles and who says, "Before Abraham was, I AM,"....a man who would turn their religious society on its ear and change everything? That they couldn't have.
So many of us, while we can feel scorn for the Pharisees and Saducees, are little different from them. We like the idea of a tame-God, a manageable God, a Jesus we trot out for holidays, family graces and political rallies. We like our social club Deity, but we don't want to have to really believe....because if we really believed, we'd have to change.
And we don't like change anymore than the old scribes and chief priests did.
We don't want to have to answer for how we live our lives. What we watch. How we spend our money. How we dress, what we say, and who we are nice towards.
But if we believed, truly believed...we'd have to answer for it all. Because Jesus says that if we love Him, we will follow His commands. Jesus says that if we want to follow Him, then get in line and pick up our cross. Jesus says that if we want to be His, we better love God, love our neighbors, love our enemies (and we hate that one), be generous to those in need and actually Live.Out.Our.Faith.
We can't just mouth the words....we have to live it.
And we're not sure we want our lives turned upside down. We're not sure if we want someone else in charge of our lives. We're not sure we want to believe in an absolutely good and holy God, who by our actions, we have made our enemy....and from whom only Christ can offer us salvation. Because..deep down, we know we're sinners. We know in our heart of hearts that we're not righteous, and that we don't deserve mercy. So we don't really want to see that holy God.
So we have to make a choice...who do we believe Jesus Christ to be? Is He Lord, or not? Do we surrender ourselves to Him and live for Him....or not?
Everything ultimately boils down to what our answer is to that choice. If we believe that Jesus is just a man, just a rule giver and a teacher, then we will harden our hearts against the parts of what He taught that we don't like. And we'll end up no better than the Pharisees....or Judas.
Or.... we'll declare Him Lord. And He'll turn our world all around, and change how we see everything and everyone. And we'll live for Him and His kingdom, above our own lives and wants. We'll pick up our cross and we'll follow our Master, wherever He might lead. And we'll trust in the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep.
Who is Jesus to you?
On towards the Cross,
--Beth Haynes Butler
It must have galled them to see Him there. The chief priests and elders, the scribes and big shots, all to have the crowds not listening to *them* but to....Him. And really, who was He anyway? A carpenter's son from Nazareth? An itinerant preacher? One thing they were pretty sure on was that He was a trouble-maker.
They had a nice thing going, nice enough anyway. The Romans didn't want to stir up problems more than necessary, so they left the religious life of the Jewish people in the hands of the Priests, Pharisees and Sadducees. These elite of the Jews had their own religious courts, they got to wear fancy clothes, they got to be more righteous than the rest of the Hebrews....and almost no one questioned them, or their power. As long as they could keep the dance up with the Romans, no one got hurt and life remained...comfortable.
Then He comes along. This Jesus of Nazareth, who keeps contradicting them on Holy Scripture and using verbiage to say that *He's the Son of God*....blasphemy! All those "I AM" statements...they knew what He meant. And then He goes and does all these works, these miracles...touching lepers and giving sight to blind men...casting out demons. Who ever heard of a righteous man touching the unclean? Or dining with rabble...He even had a tax collector trailing after Him! And everywhere He goes...the people follow after.
He's dangerous, they know that. They're not sure exactly where He gets His authority from, or from whence His power comes...but He has to be dealt with. Before He upsets the whole balance of things, and brings the Romans crashing down in fury upon them.
They were fine with another Prophet in the desert if need be, or a teacher in a village. But a man who can do miracles and who says, "Before Abraham was, I AM,"....a man who would turn their religious society on its ear and change everything? That they couldn't have.
So many of us, while we can feel scorn for the Pharisees and Saducees, are little different from them. We like the idea of a tame-God, a manageable God, a Jesus we trot out for holidays, family graces and political rallies. We like our social club Deity, but we don't want to have to really believe....because if we really believed, we'd have to change.
And we don't like change anymore than the old scribes and chief priests did.
We don't want to have to answer for how we live our lives. What we watch. How we spend our money. How we dress, what we say, and who we are nice towards.
But if we believed, truly believed...we'd have to answer for it all. Because Jesus says that if we love Him, we will follow His commands. Jesus says that if we want to follow Him, then get in line and pick up our cross. Jesus says that if we want to be His, we better love God, love our neighbors, love our enemies (and we hate that one), be generous to those in need and actually Live.Out.Our.Faith.
We can't just mouth the words....we have to live it.
And we're not sure we want our lives turned upside down. We're not sure if we want someone else in charge of our lives. We're not sure we want to believe in an absolutely good and holy God, who by our actions, we have made our enemy....and from whom only Christ can offer us salvation. Because..deep down, we know we're sinners. We know in our heart of hearts that we're not righteous, and that we don't deserve mercy. So we don't really want to see that holy God.
So we have to make a choice...who do we believe Jesus Christ to be? Is He Lord, or not? Do we surrender ourselves to Him and live for Him....or not?
Everything ultimately boils down to what our answer is to that choice. If we believe that Jesus is just a man, just a rule giver and a teacher, then we will harden our hearts against the parts of what He taught that we don't like. And we'll end up no better than the Pharisees....or Judas.
Or.... we'll declare Him Lord. And He'll turn our world all around, and change how we see everything and everyone. And we'll live for Him and His kingdom, above our own lives and wants. We'll pick up our cross and we'll follow our Master, wherever He might lead. And we'll trust in the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep.
Who is Jesus to you?
On towards the Cross,
--Beth Haynes Butler
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