April 3: Celebrating Another's Fuller Life

Luke 15-16

The Parables of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

Jesus Tells about the Rich Man and Lazarus

Luke 17:1-19

Jesus Teaches about Forgiveness and Faith

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the more well known stories in Scripture. “The prodigal has returned home” is as recognizable as other often used phrases that find their meaning and beginnings in the Bible (“giant killer” would be another such phrase).

But the Parable isn’t just about the lost son who was found or even about the father who loving received his son back who was assumed dead. Jesus tells us as he introduces the story that it is about the father and his two sons. Of course, the younger son is the main character throughout the first part of the story. Here’s an observation about the prodigal:

He underestimated his father’s love.

While feeding pigs and longing for the slop they ate, he came to his senses – realizing that living life as his father’s servant was better than his current state. He even rehearsed the speech he would give when he returned home: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.” (Luke 15:18b-19)

But his father never gave him the chance to finish that speech. Before he could even ask to be received as a hired servant, the prodigal was immediately restored to his position as son. The robe, the ring, the sandals, the fattened calf, the party – it was all because the father, “filled with compassion” (verse 20), loved his son despite the hurt he no doubt had caused.

But the last eight verses of this story deal specifically with the older brother, who doesn’t share in his father’s love of and forgiveness for his younger brother. He seems to be jealous of the attention his brother is getting and resentful towards his father for celebrating the prodigal’s return: “All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.” (verse 29)

Jesus offered this parable along with the two previous parables of Luke 15 (the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin) in response to the Pharisees’ criticism of his eating and communing with sinners. But allow me to apply a principle of this story to the discussion of the 40 Days to a Fuller Life. Part of the FULLER LIFE is the privilege we have of celebrating with others when the Lord blesses them. God’s resources are limitless, and his giving to one of his own does not hinder him from blessing others. There is no room in God’s kingdom for jealousy and resentfulness.

March 31: The Easy Yoke

Samaritan Opposition

Luke 9:52-56

The Cost of Following Jesus
Luke 9:57-62
Matthew 8:18-22

Jesus Sends Out the Seventy Two
Luke 10:1-20
Matthew 11:20-24

Jesus Praises His Heavenly Father
Luke 10:21-24
Matthew 11:25-27

Rest for the Weary and Burdened
Matthew 11:28-30

At the Home of Martha and Mary
Luke 10:38-42

Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer
Luke 11:1-13

What was Jesus’ occupation? You might answer “a carpenter”. But only once is ever he called a carpenter (Mark 6:3), and that was by those of his hometown who rejected him, not necessarily as the Messiah, but as a rabbi. That was actually Jesus’ occupation: a rabbi. Thirteen times in the New Testament he is called such, and 41 times he is called a teacher.

Jewish boys began school at an early age and they would memorize the entire Torah (for us, the first five books of the Bible). The best students would continue their education, and by the time they were teenagers would memorize much if not all of their Scriptures (our Old Testament) and be well versed in matters of the Law. It was every Jewish boy’s dream to be invited by a rabbi to follow him and to be taught by him. A rabbi would test a young man, asking many questions to see if he was the best of the best and therefore worthy of being his follower. If the young man – really the teenager – passed the strenuous test, the rabbi would say Lech Acharai, meaning “come, follow me”. He would then teach the young man what was called his yoke – his interpretation of the Scriptures and his application of the Law. For those that didn’t pass the test the rabbi would tell them to return home, learn the family trade, and hope their sons would make the grade.

On Saturday, March 8, in our 40 Days to a Fuller Life daily reading we read the account of Jesus’ calling four fishermen to follow him. Have you ever wondered why they so quickly dropped their nets, leaving their families and their profession, and did just as he asked? Because, like every Jewish young man, it was their dream to follow and learn from a rabbi. But they were fishermen, which means they more than likely had already failed a rabbi’s test. They had probably already been sent home and told to work with their fathers. And here was this other rabbi, calling out to them, telling them to follow him. They were getting a second chance to fulfill their dream.

And then in our reading today in Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says these words:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Why do you think Jesus used this yoke analogy? Because he was a rabbi; and as I mentioned earlier, a rabbi’s teachings were called his yoke! To those who are weary, Jesus is saying they can take on the burden of his teachings, his words, his application of the Law – his yoke – and they can find rest.

For the Christian desiring to live the FULLER LIFE, Jesus is here saying that he longs to place on you a yoke, a burden even; and that yoke is quite literally that which he has taught. It’s exactly what a rabbi would say and do. Don’t resist him; don’t ignore the expectations he has placed on those who follow him; take his toke – his teaching – and learn from him.

March 28: Everything Is Possible

Jesus Predicts His Death for the First Time

Mark 8:31-9:1

Matthew 16:21-28

Luke 9:22-27

Jesus Is Transfigured on the Mountain

Mark 9:2-13

Matthew 17:1-13

Luke 9:28-36

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Evil Spirit

Mark 9:14-32

Matthew 17:14-23

Luke 9:37-45

One of my favorite miracles of Jesus recorded in the Gospels is found in our reading today: “Jesus Heals a Boy with an Evil Spirit”. I’m actually going to preach on this passage this coming Sunday in a message entitled Facing Faltering Faith. But there’s one point in the message that is from Mark’s recording of this miracle that must be mentioned before Sunday.

The NIV translates part of the exchange between Jesus and the father of the suffering boy this way (dialogue from Mark 9:21-23a)…

Jesus: How long has he been like this?

The father: From childhood. It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.

Jesus: “If you can”?

I love words. I like to listen closely to the words people use. The old saying goes something like this: “The eyes are the windows to the soul”. But the Word offers this truth: “What you say flows from what is in your heart” (Luke 6:45b NLT).

Jesus listened closely to words as well, and he catches the boy’s desperate father in a moment of unbelief. His response can almost be interpreted as offense: “If I can? Do you know who I am? And you’re questioning what I can do?”

Allow me to draw a comparison…

I have been playing the piano for 35 years. The first song I ever played in a recital was When the Saints Go Marching In. If someone asked me today to play that song but did so with uncertainty in their voice and a lack of confidence in my abilities, I would surely be offended and honestly quite upset.

“Can you play When the Saints Go Marching In?”

“Can I play it? You obviously don’t know who I am!”

I’m certain that Jesus approached the boy’s father with a bit more care and compassion than that. He finished that statement with these powerful words: “Everything is possible for one who believes.”  He is able! He can do it! There’s no need to question him…just believe.

March 26: Wash Your Hands before Supper...or not

Jesus Is the Bread of Life

John 6:25-59

Jesus Teaches about What Is Clean and Unclean 

Mark 7:1-23 

Matthew 15:1-20 

Our Matthew 15 and Mark 7 readings report Pharisees from Jerusalem coming to the Galilee region where Jesus was ministering and living to confront him about – of all things – his disciples not washing their hands before eating. We might consider the disciples (and yes, even Jesus…read Luke 11:38) to be a bit unsanitary for not washing, but these Jewish leaders were not concerned with the disciples’ health. They were upset that these men were not following a particular tradition of the elders, which required ceremonial washing of hands, cups, bowls, and such before eating. 

Jesus immediately goes on the offensive, exposing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees’ question. They were offended that his disciples would ignore a Rabinnic tradition handed down by men while they themselves ignored Mosaic Law given specifically by God. Jesus eventually said that they do “many things” in this manner (Mark 7:13), but he gives one specific illustration of their inconsistency.

Jewish law permitted the earmarking of property as “dedicated to God” – a practice Mark tells us was called Corban (7:11). Once something was dedicated in this manner, it could not be used for any purpose outside of one’s own needs. So a man would have been unable to use resources deemed as “Corban” to help his parents if they were in need, since vows such as this would not have been reversible.

Jesus took serious issue with this practice. How can the tradition of man override the Law of God? It is more important for a man to honor his parents (the Fifth Commandment) and to help them if they are in need than it is for him to honor a commitment that he made based on the rules of rabbis. Jesus said concerning this hypocritical practice, “Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition” (Matthew 15:6, similar words also in Mark 7:13). 

Remember, this was all in response to the Pharisees’ question concerning the ceremonial washing of hands before a meal. The disciples were uncertain what all this meant, so Jesus explained the comparison. The Pharisees were too concerned with what entered the mouth (that is, foods touched by ceremonially unclean hands) while ignoring the more important issue of what came out of the mouth (that is, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, arrogance, and folly [Matthew 15:19 and Mark 7:21-22]).

Regarding these issues, the application for us in light of the FULLER LIFE discussion is this: part of the life that we have in Christ is the recognition of and adherence to that which God has commanded and not the limitations offered by man. There is a place for certain restrictions, requirements, and expectations that are based on God’s Law and are in accordance with the holy standard found in God’s Word. But if the restrictions of man interfere with God’s directions instead of facilitating them, then they will bring death and destruction. But Jesus came that we would have life and have it to the full!

March 25: Satisfied with Jesus

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

Mark 6:30-44

Matthew 14:13-21

Luke 9:10-17

John 6:1-15

Jesus Walks on the Water

Mark 6:45-56

Matthew 14:22-36

John 6:16-24

A quick review before we look at today’s reading… 

At Christian Assembly Church during the Lent and Easter seasons, we are reading chronologically through the four Gospels with a desire to attain the FULLER LIFE that Jesus in John 10:10 promised to us: "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." The Greek word translated full in this verse means “abundant, over-flowing, in excess”. Jesus longs to give us abundant life – more than we even need.

With that being said, our reading today includes the only miracle other than the resurrection that is found in all four Gospels: the Feeding of the Five Thousand. There was actually more than 5,000 there that day; that number only included the men. If they had counted the women and children, there was probably over 10,000 hungry people with Jesus.

And they all ate a-plenty. Mark tells us this in his Gospel: "They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish" (6:42-43). Matthew and Luke say almost the exact same thing, while John gives essentially the same report: "When they had all had enough to eat…" (6:12a). All four Gospel writers made sure to tell us there were 12 baskets left over after everyone was full.

Outside the facts that there are 12 tribes of Israel and there were 12 disciples, it’s difficult to find any other significance in the number of baskets of leftovers. But in light of our FULLER LIFE discussion, the significance is not so much in the number of baskets but in the fact that there was so much still available after all had eaten enough. This miracle of Jesus is a perfect illustration of John 10:10. He provided abundantly that day to all who were hungry. He provides for us life abundantly – excessively, even – as well. When it comes to Jesus, we are always satisfied.

March 24: Sheep with No Shepherd

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Mark 6:6b-11

Matthew 9:35-10:42

Luke 9:1-5

Herod Has John the Baptist Beheaded

Mark 6:14-29

Matthew 14:1-12

Luke 9:7-9

The Disciples Preach Repentance

Mark 6:12-13

Luke 9:6

Matthew 9:35 is an interesting verse in that it gives us a very brief synopsis of Jesus’ day-to-day activities. Though most reading this blog would say they were busy (and rightfully so), none are as busy as Jesus was. What is of interest is that the Gospel writers often give so much detail to just one event or sermon and then offer to us a verse like this one that literally crams days and weeks of activity into just one sentence. Consider all that Jesus did in fulfilling his daily duties.

1) Travelling. The Jewish historian Josephus’ records show 240 towns and villages in the district where Jesus would have been travelling and ministering, with the larger cities populated by more than 15,000 people. It is exhausting to even think about how busy Jesus must have been travelling amongst those towns and villages.

2) Teaching. Afternoon sessions at the synagogues were more like Bible classes, with those present asking and answering questions. No doubt Jesus would have always taken his rightful place as the teacher in these synagogue gatherings.

3) Preaching. Morning synagogue sessions were different than the afternoon sessions. There would have been a sermon offered that would have included an exposition on a particular passage of Scripture. Between just the teaching and preaching alone, Jesus was certainly very busy. And to do both of these things well requires much physical and spiritual effort.

4) Healing. Though people were impressed with his words, they were more impressed with his actions – namely, with his supernaturally delivering those who were sick and afflicted.

But as busy as Jesus was with travelling, teaching, preaching, and healing, he was not so distracted that he wasn’t able to recognize the needs of the helpless and harassed. Verse 36 tells us that when he saw the crowds, he was moved with compassion. I’m certain his reputation as the Healer brought out many who were in need of that healing. But notice how Matthew describes the crowds: they were “like sheep without a shepherd.” This doesn’t seem to be a description of people needing healing but more like a description of people needing a leader, a protector, one to take care of them.

This is important for us to remember as we continue to explore what the FULLER LIFE means for us. Remember, it was in the context of Jesus’ being the Good Shepherd that he told us he came that we could have life and have it to the full. Are you like the crowds of Galilee? Are you wondering, alone, without the protection, care, and direction of the Good Shepherd? If so, he longs to bring you into his fold and give to you a FULLER LIFE in him.

March 20: The Peace Speaker

Jesus Tells the Parable of a Lamp on a Stand

Mark 4:21-29

Jesus Tells the Parable of the Mustard Seed

Mark 4:30-34

Matthew 13:31-35

Luke 13:18-21

Jesus Tells the Parable of the Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30

Matthew 13:36-43

Jesus Calms the Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Matthew 8:23-27

Luke 8:22-25

The account of Jesus’ calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee is found in all three Synoptic Gospels. What I found of interest is how the three writers recorded Jesus’ actions and words in actually calming the sea and wind.

Matthew 8:26, "Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm."

Luke 8:24, "He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm."

Mark 4:39, "He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet! Be still!'"

Mark is the only writer who actually recorded the words that Jesus said in calming the seas. Like the rest of the New Testament, the Gospel of Mark was originally written in Greek. The tense of the original language implies that before Jesus had even spoken the words, the miracle had occurred simply by his will.

The Sea of Galilee was then and is still now known for its great storms that would quickly come up unexpected. So it seems that even quicker than the storm arose, Jesus was able by his words – and even more so by his sheer will – to calm that storm!

The same can happen in the storms of your life.  Jesus is there with you, and he is more than willing and able to calm those raging seas. 

March 19: An Abundant Harvest

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

Mark 3:31-35

Matthew 12:46-50

Luke 8:19-21

Jesus Tells the Parable of the Sower

Mark 4:1-20

Matthew 13:1-23

Luke 8:4-18

The Parable of the Sower and the Seed is one of the more well-known parables of Jesus. It is so well-known, taught so often, and so familiar that I almost read over it today without taking the time to really consider what Jesus was actually saying. In today’s blog, we’ll take a closer look at this familiar story.

In all three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) Jesus tells this parable and gives its explanation. The seed of the sower or farmer is the Word of God, and the farmer sows the seed into four different kinds of soil:

1) The PATH, where the birds came and ate up the seeds.

Jesus explained that the soil here is anyone who hears the Word but doesn’t understand it. The evil one comes and snatches away the Word just as the birds came and ate up the seed on the path.

2) The ROCKY SOIL, where the seeds produced quickly but the sun eventually scorched the young plants because they had no roots.

Jesus explained that the soil here is anyone who quickly receives the Word with joy but then quickly falls away when troubles come because he is not well grounded.

3) The THORNY SOIL, where the thorns grew up and choked the plants produced by the seed.

Jesus explained that the soil here is anyone who hears the Word but remains unfruitful because the cares of the world and the concern for wealth choke out the Word that was planted.

4) The GOOD SOIL, where the seed grew and produced incredible harvests of 30-, 60-, or 100-fold.

Jesus explained that the soil here is anyone who hears and understands the Word and experiences an overabundant harvest.

If the seed is the Word and the good soil is the person who hears and understands the Word, what exactly is the crop that is to be produced? In other words:

SEED = WORD

CROP = ????

What does the “crop” of the Word look like in the believer whose “soil” is good? My best answer is found in Paul’s words of Galatians 5 – the crop of the Word must be the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

One more interesting point concerning this parable. To hear Jesus talk of 100-, 60-, or even 30-fold harvests would have been surprising to his audience. At best, a 10-fold crop was considered excellent, and most crops were less than that. So the spiritual harvest in the one who hears and understands the Word is a supernatural, extraordinary produce of fruit that goes beyond what would normally be expected. In this sense, the FULLER LIFE consists of an overabundance of love, joy, peace, and the other Fruit of the Spirit. May it be so in my life and yours.

March 18: Go Tell John

Jesus and John the Baptist

Luke 7:18-35

Matthew 11:1-19

Sinful Woman Anoints Jesus’ Feet

Luke 7:36-50

Women Accompany Jesus

Luke 8:1-3

Jesus and Beelzebub

Mark 3:20-30

Matthew 12:22-45

Luke 11:14-26

Let’s look at John the Baptist…

- His parents were old and should not have been able to have a child.

- In his mother’s womb, he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

- Miracles surrounded his birth.

- He was given the responsibility of proclaiming the Messiah’s appearance.

But things didn’t quite turn out how you might have expected…

- His parents died while he was young.

- He lived in the desert eating insects and wearing clothes made of camel’s hair.

- He did proclaim the soon-coming of the Promised One.

- He baptized Jesus, giving credibility to his own ministry.

- He continued his boisterous preaching, calling people to repent for the Kingdom of Heaven was coming soon.

- He lost a few disciples to Jesus; and soon, his crowds diminished – they were listening to and following Jesus. That was fine; he even said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

But then things just got worse…

- He preached a message on divorce and remarriage, and the wrong person heard it, Herod Antipas, the son of the man who had tried to kill Jesus when He was a baby.

- This Herod got involved with his brother’s wife. He divorced his wife and took his brother’s wife from him. The Jewish religious leaders said nothing to Herod about any of this, but to the Jews this was incest. You weren’t to sleep with your brother’s wife.

- John continued his preaching against sin, namely this sin of Herod; so Herod threw him in prison.

After being in prison for over a year, John must have been thinking, “This is not what I expected.” And maybe, just maybe, a little doubt set in.

Are things not working out quite like you thought they would? Is your life not exactly what you had expected? We are laying claim to Jesus’ promise in John 10:10 that we would receive the FULLER LIFE that he has for us. But I must temper of all this with the understanding that God – in His infinite wisdom – will do whatever He wants to do. Just remember that the abundant life that God has for us may not look exactly like what the abundant life would be if we could decide for ourselves.

Selah (meaning “think on these things”).

March 17: Four Special Meetings

Blessings and Woes

Luke 6:17-49

The Faith of the Centurion

Luke 7:1-10

Matthew 8:5-13

John 4:46b-54

Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son

Luke 7:11-17

Our reading today includes the first of three times that Jesus raised someone from the dead. Luke 7:11-17 records four special meetings that took place that day at the city gate of Nain:

1) Two large crowds met.

One was following Jesus, heading into the city, while the other was following the widow and her dead son, heading to the cemetery. No doubt, these two crowds stood in stark contrast to each other. While the crowd from Nain was mourning the loss of one of their own, the crowd following Jesus would have been excited having witnessed his miracles and heard his teachings. At the central point of this meeting between these two crowds, we witness the second meeting…

2) Two sufferers met.

Jesus, called by Isaiah a “man of sorrows”, could easily identify with the widow’s grief. He doesn’t seem to be drawn to the large crowd leaving the city. He is, however, drawn to the suffering woman, so much so that the New Living Translation says, “his heart overflowed with compassion”. His attention is then focused on the one to be buried, and we see our third meeting…

3) Two only sons met.

One alive, but destined to die; the other dead, but destined to live. Jesus first does the unthinkable – he touches the bier (or coffin) carrying the dead son. It was a forbidden act that made Jesus ceremonially unclean; but in doing so he accomplished his purpose, namely to stop the funeral procession. He then wastes no time and tells the other son, the only son of his widowed mother, to arise – to get up. And he does – leading us to the final meeting to take place that day at the city gate of Nain…

4) Two enemies met.

Jesus met there with death, the last enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26), and overcomes! The dead man sat up and began to talk, a sign that he truly was alive. And though this cannot be considered a true resurrection but a resuscitation since the man would eventually die again, we know that Jesus eventually won the victory over death by his own resurrection after his death at Calvary.

One parting thought as it relates to our theme of the FULLER LIFE:

Jesus was definitely moved with compassion as he saw a grieving mother, but there is more to this story that Luke tells us. He made sure we knew that this woman, already a widow, was now childless with the death of her only son. Not only was her grief great, but now her financial needs would be great and very likely would remain unmet because first-century culture did not provide many if any resources for widowed women with no children. The restoring of her son to life also brought back her only means of survival.

Just as he most assuredly was concerned for the well-being of this woman, Jesus is concerned for you as well. It is why he came, so that you would have life and have it to the full!

March 15: The Good Eye

The Sermon on the Mount, part 2 

Matthew 6-7 

In Thursday’s blog I discussed Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” Specifically, I dealt with the real meaning of the words destroy and fulfill as Jesus applied them in that statement. The Gospels are full of such statements – Jewish idioms and sayings that lose their meaning when a working knowledge of the first century Jew is not known and understood.

Jesus employed another Jewish idiom in Matthew 6:22-23 when he spoke of a good eye and a bad eye. For the Jew of Jesus’ day, if one had a good eye, he would have been considered a generous person; if one had a bad eye, it meant he was stingy.

This makes perfect sense when you consider the context of these two verses. Jesus had just finished speaking about laying up treasures in heaven, and in the verses that would follow he made the point that we cannot serve the two masters of God and money. This entire section (Matthew 6:19-24) deals with our money and financial resources, and these verses concerning the eye fit perfectly.

If you have a good eye – that is, you are generous – then your whole body will be filled with the light that is supplied by the lamp of that eye. But if you have a bad eye – that is, you are stingy – then your whole body will be filled with darkness. At the risk of being redundant I will repeat this point: If you are generous, then you will be filled with light; if you are stingy, then you will be filled with darkness.

Having a better understanding of these verses provides for us an interesting aspect of the FULLER LIFE. Jesus came so that we would have abundant life – life that is overflowing and more than what we need. Part of the purpose of giving to us more than what we need is to provide us the means to bless others. That will not happen if we are stingy, if our eye is bad. Make sure you are generous, that your eye is good; and as God blesses you with that FULLER LIFE, be ready to bless others.

March 14: The Beatitudes

Jesus Appoints the Twelve

Mark 3:13-19

Luke 6:12-16

Jesus Heals the Sick

Matthew 4:23-25

The Sermon on the Mount, part 1

Matthew 5

Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes. The word beatitude is Latin, meaning ‘blessings’. We can learn much about the FULLER LIFE by taking a closer look at a few these verses.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit…” (Matthew 5:3a)

The blessed man finds himself in a place of spiritual poverty – or rather, he recognizes his spiritual poverty and seeks God for sustenance. Take a look at a couple different translations of this verse:

NCV – “Those are blessed who realize their spiritual poverty…”

NLT – “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him…”

I also like how The Message paraphrase completes this verse: “With less of you there is more of God and his rule.” It’s a wonderful dynamic. By emptying ourselves of ourselves we are giving even more room for God to fill us with his life and blessings.

“Blessed are those who mourn…” (Matthew 5:4a)

The contradiction is interesting: the mourners are actually happy. Look again at The Message paraphrase: “You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.”

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)

Meekness is not a sign of weakness, but rather controlled strength. Many would resist meekness, afraid they would probably lose out on what is rightfully theirs; but the promise of the kingdom is for the meek. There is no need to fight and aggressively grab on to what can be yours when you can remain meek and inherit everything! Remember, you don’t have to do anything to inherit the riches – you get them because you are already in the family. “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” (Psalm 37:11)

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

In Exodus 33:20 God said that no man could see him and live. Why? Because of sin. The pure in heart, though, will be able to see him. Remember what David said in Psalm 24: “Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure…” (verses 3-4a). Our ‘hands’ refer to our actions while our ‘hearts’ refer to our motives. And Jesus tells us here in Matthew that when our hearts are pure we will see God.

There is so much more that could be discussed here. But I wonder, as it relates to the FULLER LIFE what do YOU see in these verses of the Beatitudes? We can be blessed, happy, fulfilled; and these first few verses in Matthew 5 hold some of the keys to make that happen. Do you see anything in the Beatitudes that can help you attain the FULLER LIFE?

March 13: Lord of the Sabbath

Jesus Eats with Sinners at Levi’s House

Mark 2:13-17

Matthew 9:9-13

Luke 5:27-32

Jesus Is Questioned about Fasting

Mark 2:18-22

Matthew 9:14-17

Luke 5:33-39

The Disciples Pick Grain on the Sabbath

Mark 2:23-28

Matthew 12:1-8

Luke 6:1-5

Jesus Heals a Man’s Hand on the Sabbath

Mark 3:1-6

Matthew 12:9-14

Luke 6:6-11

Large Crowds Follow Jesus

Mark 3:7-12

Matthew 12:15-21

Today’s reading contains the first of many incidents where Jesus heals on the Sabbath. The Pharisees always became furious with Jesus when he healed on the Sabbath, since healing someone would have been considered work and working on the Sabbath was forbidden.

The three Synoptic Gospels all record this particular healing with slight variation, but Matthew’s account offers an interesting perspective. It is there where Jesus asks the Pharisees, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep!” (Matthew 12:11-12a)

Tomorrow, we will read where Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to destroy them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17) We can’t fully appreciate what Jesus is saying here without understanding that the words destroy and fulfill have different meaning in this context than what one might think. When a Rabbi was said to have fulfilled the law, it meant that he was properly applying the law in a particular instance. If the Rabbi was accused of destroying the law, he was improperly applying the law. Jesus was claiming in this Matthew 5 passage that he came so that he could properly apply the law.

With that in mind, consider again Jesus’ words in our Matthew 12 passage. Jesus is properly applying the law when he compares a person to a sheep. If it is lawful to save a sheep on the Sabbath who is in danger, then of course it is lawful to heal a person on the Sabbath who needs healing. The final word on this can be found in Jesus’ words in the last part of verse 12: “Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

How does this relate to FULLER LIFE? It would be a fair assumption to make that the man with the shriveled hand had no idea that Jesus would heal him in the synagogue on the Sabbath with hostile Pharisees watching him so closely. But Jesus did it anyway, and with sound reasoning! Don’t underestimate our God! Don’t assume that he can only work through obvious channels or with limitations placed on him by this world or the enemy. Remember his words in Matthew 12:8, “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” And he is Lord of your life as well!

March 12: Compassion for All

Jesus Teaches with Great Authority

Mark 1:21-28

Luke 4:31-37

Jesus Heals Many

Mark 1:29-39

Matthew 8:14-17

Luke 4:38-44

Jesus Heals a Man with Leprosy

Mark 1:40-45

Matthew 8:1-4

Luke 5:12-16

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

Mark 2:1-12

Matthew 9:1-8

Luke 5:17-26

A quick joke today with apologies to all mothers-in-law:

One of Jesus’ first miracles was healing Simon Peter’s mother-in-law – a deed for which Peter never forgave him.

Our reading today includes the recording by all three of the synoptic writers (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, who it seems lived in the same home as Peter and his brother, Andrew. Of all of Jesus’ recorded miracles, this one is the shortest, with each of the writers devoting only a couple of sentences to the miracle. But there is one important point that we can learn from this story:

Jesus had compassion for all, even - and it seems - especially for those considered second-class people by the Jews.

Already in Matthew’s account in chapter eight Jesus has healed a leper (who was unclean and would never have been touched, but Jesus did so) and a servant of a centurion (who would have been a Gentile and a Roman officer, both hated by Jews). Here, Jesus heals a woman. And though women definitely would not have been considered in the same extreme negative light as a leper, they did not have the same standing in the Jewish culture as men did. But Jesus didn’t care about that and even touches her to heal her, an action that probably would have been considered taboo in those days.

Take heart, my friends. If you are one who struggles with who you are, maybe because of your financial status, or your lack of education or supposed lack of skills, or just your lot in life, you need to come to grips with the fact that Jesus is not bound by your own opinions of you, or even how others perceive you. He came that we would have a FULLER LIFE, and that means all of us!

March 11: The Gift of God...Jesus

John 4:1-42

Jesus Talks to a Woman at a Well

Jesus Tells about the Harvest

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

Mark 1:14-15

Matthew 4:12-17

Luke 4:14-15

John 4:43-46a

Jesus Is Rejected in Nazareth

Luke 4:16-30

This past Sunday night at our 6 PM prayer time at Christian Assembly, I asked those attending to offer some thoughts as to what the FULLER LIFE means to them. I got some really great answers, and the picture below shows some of those answers. Outside of the context of that prayer meeting, this list may not make much sense – I was quickly and probably not very clearly summing up in just a few words what was being shared during that time of prayer.

I’ll come back to this list in a bit…

The conversations that Jesus had with Nicodemus in John 3 and with the Samaritan woman in John 4 have some very interesting contrasts, really too many to explore in this blog. In our Adult Bible Study this Wednesday night at Christian Assembly, we will take a close look at all of these contrasts and their implications; but here are just a couple:

Nicodemus, a Jewish man, came to Jesus by night; Jesus met the Samaritan woman at noon.

The conversation with Nicodemus became an eventual monologue by Jesus, while he dialogued with the Samaritan woman throughout their meeting.

There are also many comparisons in these two accounts, but one stands out in my mind. In quite possibly the most famous verse in all of the Bible Jesus tells Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son…” (John 3:16a, emphasis my own). Jesus referred to this gift in his conversation with the Samaritan woman as well: “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink…” (John 4:10 emphasis my own).

In both verses, Jesus is considered the gift of God; and when we apply the concept of the FULLER LIFE found in his words of John 10:10, we should get a clearer picture of what the abundant life really is. Yes, it involves all the answers that we wrote on the white board shown above, and it involves so much more that we didn’t touch on Sunday night in our prayer time. But one answer stands out in light of what Jesus said to both Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman concerning his being the gift of God:

Jesus is the GIFT that keeps on giving! The real beauty of the FULLER LIFE is that we can have an over-abundance of HIM!

The rest of that John 3:16 verse says, “…that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” And in John 4:14, Jesus said this, “Indeed, the water I give…will become…a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Don’t lose sight of the fact that the FULLER LIFE we are promised in John 10:10 is really just an INCREASE of JESUS!

March 10: Are You Asking for It?

John 2-3

Jesus Turns Water into Wine

Jesus Clears the Temple Courts

Nicodemus Visits Jesus at Night

The words of Jesus in John 3, especially verse 16, are some of the most recognizable and powerful in all of Scripture. Although that would be an obvious choice and necessary one for this daily blog, I will wait until tomorrow’s entry to discuss together Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3 and his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, which is part of our reading for tomorrow.

I preached a message this past Mother’s Day on the John 2 passage, so the first part of this blog entry may sound a bit familiar to the Christian Assembly family who might still remember the main point of that message. That Mother’s Day message emphasized the role Mary played in her son’s life at two important events: when he was 12 at the Temple and at his first miracle in Cana.

The first recorded words of Jesus are found there at the Temple when as a young boy he responded to his concerned and anxious mother: “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49 NKJV); and then in Cana at the wedding party, as that same mother expected him to somehow remedy the solution of the running out of wine, the grown Son responded with these words: “Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come.” (John 2:4 NIV)

So the twelve-year-old Jesus was ready to move forward, ready to fulfill what the Father had called him to do, while the thirty-year-old Jesus seemed reluctant for whatever reason. But in both instances, he obeyed his mother! As a boy at the Temple he left the amazed teachers and went home because Mary knew he needed to go home. As a man at the wedding party he intercedes and miraculously converts water into wine because Mary asked him to help.

I know the mother/son relationship is strong, and usually a mother has the ability to influence her children in a special way – the same seemed to be true for Mary. But I am certain that in some small way, we can have a similar effect on God. During these 40 days, as we seek the FULLER LIFE, we should not be reluctant to ask our Lord Jesus for those things that will make our lives abundant ones.

The very Son of God was pushed into action because someone needed him and continued to ask him for help. Maybe it’s time we started faithfully asking and sincerely expecting more from the Lord for our own lives. Consider the words of James, the writer of the epistle that bears his name and the actual brother of Jesus: “You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it.” (James 4:2)

March 8: Why We Fast

At Christian Assembly during the Lent and Easter seasons, we are reading chronologically through the four Gospels with a desire to attain the LIFE that Jesus in John 10:10 promised to us: I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. With everyday’s reading we will seek to see what the Word has to say about the FULLER LIFE we can have in Christ.

Daily Reading: Saturday, March 8

Satan Tempts Jesus in the Desert

Mark 1:12-13, Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13

The First Disciples Follow Jesus
John 1:35-51

Four Fishermen Follow Jesus
Mark 1:16-20, Matthew 4:18-22, Luke 5:1-11

A major focus of our 40 Days to a Fuller Life is fasting. These 40 days purposefully coincide with the 40 days of Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding on the Saturday before Easter. Remember, we are not fasting on the Sundays in Lent because every Sunday is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.

Fasting during Lent is a centuries-long tradition of the church. The 40 days/years motif is prevalent in Scripture, but the 40 days of fasting during Lent is mostly associated with Jesus’ 40-day fast found in our reading today. If you need a reason to fast – a reason to give up something of value and physical comfort for a greater spiritual good – it is this: we fast because Jesus fasted. Those 40 days in the wilderness were important for Jesus, so important that Mark tells us the Spirit “immediately drove him out” into this period of fasting (Mark 1:12 NRSV).

I can give you all kinds of Scriptural evidence for its value and purpose, but the greatest argument for why fasting is important can be found in Luke 4. As Jesus made his way out of the desert, having endured the 40 days of fasting and having overcome the temptations of Satan, Luke tells us he was “filled with the power of the Spirit” (verse 14).

THAT is the FULLER LIFE. The abundant, full life that Jesus has for us is one that is found as the power of the Holy Spirit fills our lives to overflowing. The Spirit rested upon Jesus at his water baptism; the Spirit led him to the temptation/wilderness experience; but now, Jesus begins in earnest his earthly ministry “filled with the power” of that same Spirit. His fasting played a major part of that – it can for you and me as well!