Jesus' Last Days I – Son of David

Confession: I'm obsessed with Bible chronology. Where the authors of Scripture relate events as a whole, telescoping details which cover days and even years into a single story, I compare verse with verse and pick them apart. Join me as look at events leading up to God's greatest work to date—the Resurrection of Jesus.

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Today is Friday. Jesus makes the journey from Jericho to Jerusalem. In two days, on Sunday, throngs of people will hail Jesus as "Son of David," acknowledging Him as Heir to the throne of Israel's mightiest king.

The path from Jericho's deep, below-sea-level valley to Jerusalem's Mount Moriah is steep. But the path to His throne on High will plunge Him into the depths of Hell. Today, the sacrifice that awaits Jesus at Calvary surely weighs His every uphill step.

And here in lowly Jericho, echos are heard of Palm Sunday's cheers.

Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!" Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"
Matthew 20:29-31 (NKJV)

Mark, the Gospel evangelist with a flair for detail, tells us one of the blind men is "Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus" (Mark 10:46).

Matthew, the Gospel evangelist writing to Jews, records just three occasions during Jesus' ministry (before Palm Sunday) on which the messianic title is used of Jesus. In Matthew 9 we hear of two other blind men calling out to Jesus as "Son of David." And in Matthew 15, a woman of Canaan also uses the title—a Greek woman, Syro-Phoenician by birth (Mark 9:26). At least the Samaritan woman of John 4 was half Jew. This woman is despised by the disciples and, initially, turned away by even Jesus.

But in the end, Jesus affirms her great faith and heals her daughter, just as He healed two pairs of blind men.

In our own valleys, on steep journeys to glory, might we lay hold of the vision of blind men and the desperation of an alien to call out to Jesus as King of all?

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Copyright 2013, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Winning at Monopoly

monopoly (mə•nop'ə•lē) noun 1. the exclusive possession or control of the means to produce or supply of a commodity or service … 4. exclusive possession or control

For an eight-year-old playing a board game, Monopoly is defined by pewter tokens, an extra turn on doubles, and acquiring matching colored cards. Getting ahead comes by bold use of assets, and "share the wealth" means you pay me to come on my property. The satisfaction of winning comes when I prevail over everything that others once owned and build up a monopoly.

At least that's how I describe it to my eight-year-old. The only version he knows is Bibleopoly. He still gets extra turns on doubles and acquires those matching colored cards, but "share the wealth" means I'm offering what I have so we can both build churches. You can get ahead by reciting John 3:16 or naming 15 out of 24 Bible cities. Satisfaction comes in choosing the space to which you send another player, with an opportunity to take away or give.

So the child of a thousand questions and I roll dice and talk about absolute control, and about the One with exclusive possession and control of everything. And we realize that sovereign and omnipotent God is both a monopoly and the opposite of a monopoly. Our Lord is securely in control, yet also releases control to us in liberal provision of both free will and free access to His power—a downright dangerous combination when you really think about it.

"And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.' "
~ Luke 15:31, Parable of the Prodigal Son (NKJV)

The prodigal son's father no doubt knew the character of his impudent son when handing over the inheritance. However disappointed the father, it surely came as no surprise that his younger son quickly made off with his newfound fortune and soon lost it. Shouldn't a good father have acted more sensibly?

And yet our good Father has a liberal hand with His careless children.

And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
~ John 1:16 (NKJV)

To be sure, access to unlimited power doesn't equal use of unlimited power any more than an electrical outlet enables use of the entire power grid. I can connect to the entire source of electricity, but I'm enabled to handle only as much as my electrical lines can transmit and my electrical gadget can translate.

God's Holy Spirit does not enable anything or everything we ask. The Holy Spirit always acts in accordance with God's will, and He operates more fully and freely in the soul more fully and freely given over to Him rather than the soul filled with self-will. But our Lord does bestow spiritual gifts—valuable gifts with spiritual power of their own—to sons and daughters who don't always use them wisely.

"… for God does not give the Spirit by measure."
~ John 3:34 (NKJV)

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
~ Romans 11:29 (NKJV)

However we might misuse or bury our spiritual gifts, our Father doesn't take them back. Whatever childish way we ask to use either spiritual gifts or temporal gifts, our Father doesn't cut off our access to the power He shares with us.

By His grace, and patience, and the ministry of His Holy Spirit, God brings us to the place where we utilize His power not only to prevail over demonic serpents (toward the day of a spiritual monopoly), but also in building the Kingdom we are destined to inherit.

"I have given you power to tread serpents and scorpions underfoot, and to trample on all the power of the Enemy; and in no case shall anything do you harm. Nevertheless rejoice not at this, that the spirits submit to you; but rejoice that your names are registered in Heaven."
~ Luke 10:19-20 (WNT)

Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – use @gmail.com *after* buildingHisbody
Copyright 2013, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

The Case for Love: Damning Evidence

If we are to prove the case for love—that God's love is first our salvation, and then the answer for every problem—we must overcome the most damning evidence against our case: division.

"He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters."
~ Luke 11:23 (NKJV)

On football field or battlefield, whether shaping an offensive to take the goal or maintaining defense to protect the goal, one soon understands the value of a united team and the danger if adversary isolates individual. "Divide and conquer" is a fundamental weapon of the contest.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
~ 1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV)

Our adversary has become adept at dividing us. In earliest days of Christianity, Jewish and Greek believers in Jesus worked to overcome differences. A thousand years later, a great schism between Greek and Roman churches was solidified, followed by Protestant breakaway from Rome in another half millennium. Like the web of cracks that forms when the surface of ice or glass is hit, hundreds of denominations separated from one another during the centuries to follow, with factions among even denominations and congregations.

Most certainly, divisions are sometimes necessary (Amos 3:3, 1 Corinthians 11:19), such as during the Reformation era. But far too often, we Christians distance ourselves from the people we most need because we foolishly allow diversity to become division.

What our adversary intends for evil, God can and will use for good. Truth is necessarily affirmed when the righteous boldly suffer in its defense—whether a Christian sheds blood or is simply shunned. Diversity has flourished amid the divisions, creating a rich variety in worship styles and development of spiritual gifts. Ministry can be particularly effective when structured to reach specific people.

When we capitalize on diversity, we become the body of Jesus Christ in the fullest sense:

… by speaking the truth in love, we will grow up completely into the one who is the head, that is, into Christ, in whom the whole body is united and held together by every ligament with which it is supplied. As each individual part does its job, the body's growth is promoted so that it builds itself up in love.
~ Ephesians 4:15-16 (ISV)

The key to seeing growth and being built up (rather than being divided and weakened) lies both in that first line—

… by speaking the truth in love …

—and in the understanding that not every truth of the faith is a fundamental Truth for which the body of Christ must bleed:

And decline stupid and ignorant debates, because you know they breed strife. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but must be gracious to everyone, articulate, willing to suffer wrong, in humility educating those who are in opposition …
~ 2 Timothy 2:23-25

As we study and discuss and wrestle with one another over how we will practice the many truths of faith, we can avoid unnecessary divisions when our argument returns to affirmation of fundamental Truth. And if we find no such affirmation, we don't then have cause for division, but discover that we are already divided. Our choice is not whether or not to distance ourselves from one another, but if we will recognize existing distance between separate foundations.

"Everyone who comes to Me, and hears My words and does them, I will show you to whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep and laid a foundation on the rock."
~ Luke 6:47-48 (EMTV)

A time comes to silence our words, that perchance the Word of God will reach into places we cannot.

For the Word of God is alive and effective, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit … a Discerner of the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
~ Hebrews 4:12

+ + +

… if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
~ Romans 10:9 (NIV)

If compelled to choose three most important elements of Truth—Truth for which I'm willing to suffer, Truth over which I'm willing to be divided:
• I affirm the absolute authority of God's Word as preserved in Scripture;
• I confess Jesus the Christ as God and living Lord;
• I have salvation through no more and no less than faith (belief, trust) in Christ's death and resurrection.

For me, few truths rise to this level in my aspiration to stand for Truth, to build up Christ's body of believers, and to unite us in proving the case for His love.

"He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters."
~ Luke 11:23 (NKJV)

Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – use @gmail.com *after* buildingHisbody
Copyright 2013, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

The Case for Love: Relationship Crash

Among countless analogies in the vast myriad of relationship books that I've read, a few stay with me. One of them—(and if you recognize the source, please refresh my memory)—likens relationships to a bank account. In this comparison, all the goodness and love shown to another person is like a deposit toward the relationship, while negative words and actions are a withdrawal. As I recall, the goal is to keep the account well in the black, never permitting the account balance to fall into a dangerous condition of being overdrawn.

Perhaps my years in banking and banking school give me a dim view of this concept. While I certainly appreciate the fact that positive needs to outweigh negative (in both banking and relationships), I also know that a checking account is technically called a DDA, or "demand deposit account." Unlike an investment certificate or bond with a maturity date, a bank account holds deposits for safekeeping, but must relinquish them immediately upon "demand."

If anything forebodes certain injury to a relationship, it is making a demand for that to which one feels entitled.

" 'So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.' "
~ Matthew 25:27 (NKJV)

Perhaps relationship is better likened to an investment in business or stocks than a demand deposit account. Investment expects a return, but has no guarantee of it. Rather than arbitrarily deposit money, one must thoughtfully consider where money is placed, maintain diversity of investment, and watch closely for when a change in strategy is indicated. Money simply deposited in an account gives its owner an expectation to receive back only what's given, and perhaps some nominal interest. But with investment, the expectation is to receive a much greater return than the capital; the dream is to reap a windfall.

With investment, however, one also runs the risk of losing everything. Bankruptcy has a way of taking away even more than the capital. The stock market crash of 1929 precipitated The Great Depression. Relationship crash also tends to bring on great depression.

We spend years and decades and entire lifetimes pouring love and prayers, positive words and deeds, our very selves into close relationships. And we have every expectation of a good return—every dream of eternal harmony. Whether that relationship is marriage or parent-child, family or friendship, we each have special people in our lives who have received our thoughtful investment of time and energy, diversity in loving words and actions, and close watch through life's changes.

When we invest in relationships this way, we usually do reap a healthy return.

But sometimes, bankruptcy strikes. The relationship crashes, and we see everything lost. We may be able to pinpoint where we've been negligent, assuming our initial investment would cover it. Or we may perform a careful examination and remain stunned that our steady attention failed to overcome unavoidable mistakes by imperfect people. The signs of relationship crash may have been steadily growing, or a single disaster can wreak havoc.

However relationship crash comes, depression follows because of the perception that all is lost.

"Gather together the remaining broken pieces, in order that nothing might be lost."
~ John 6:12

As I've said before, Jesus is a capitalist. He speaks often of money, and clearly demonstrates that God will obtain a return on His many investments in us, one way or another. He allows nothing to be wasted, not even the broken pieces.

The broken pieces of our lives are sometimes related to losses of health and wealth. But relationship crash shatters us as nothing else, bringing on the notion that our investment has been a failure—maybe even the notion that we have been a failure.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal."
~ Matthew 6:19-20 (NKJV)

Relationships of this world and this time may prove temporal, despite our best efforts to take them into eternity with us.

But.

We are not investing in the temporal and the seen. We are investing in the eternal and the unseen, laying up treasure in Heaven. We remain unaware, for now, of what return will be paid on our investment—for us, for our children, for every seen and unseen witness to our testimony.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
~ Hebrews 12:1 (NKJV)

The case for love will not be lost—cannot be lost. The case for love is God's case, proven by us through His power.

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
~ Galatians 6:9 (NKJV)

Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – use @gmail.com *after* buildingHisbody
Copyright 2013, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

The Case for Love: "Love is the Answer"

"Love is the Answer"—or so it's said. Does whatever Question, posed first, have relevance? Or is there truth in the hippie mantra? And is the Christian who says likewise being either naïve or overly simplistic?

Perhaps "whatever Question" is less important than how one defines love.

"Love" is a commonplace word in our world. "Love" is seen as humanity's true nature. "Love" conveys warm feelings toward those who do good to us, and those for whom we have natural affection (such as our children). We use "love" in connection with anything or anyone important to us—or simply pleasing to us—from food to someone we find attractive. "Love" is also a synonym for sex, even the most casual or torrid sex, for our world makes little distinction between sex as a marriage bond and sex as a call of nature.

But there is another love, decidedly uncommon, set apart from all natural instinct: God’s holy love.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices over the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always endures.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NCV)

This love is anything but our true nature. Our nature dictates self-gratification and self-preservation. From the moment of birth until the last struggle against death, our nature is not love but avoidance of injury, pain and discomfort to body and soul. The "love" defined by this world is willing to love only if it furthers the goal of self-preservation and self-gratification. Suicide—the willingness to destroy one's own life—is the result of pain avoidance overcoming even the instinct for self-preservation.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
~ John 3:16 (NKJV)

The nature of holy God is to love regardless of Self-preservation or Self-gratification. God's Son Jesus did not commit suicide but rather laid down (John 15:13) His life. Rather than avoid suffering, Jesus embraced horrific pain and death in order to overcome both the self-destruction inherent to sin and humanity's instinct for sin.

"To be holy is to look like God. His beauty—His ultimate beauty—is the beauty of love and goodness."
~ from my last post, "Why Holiness is Beautiful"

Did the last post seem to argue for love and holiness being synonymous? Did it cross the line of biblical integrity?

Yes, love and holiness are distinct. Even so, I maintain that holiness cannot exist apart from the holy and wholly unnatural love of God. God is holy because He is wholly set apart from what humanity is by nature. To be a Christian is to be set apart to God as holy and to love with His wholly unnatural love. To the question of what holiness is, "Love is the answer" if it is the love of God.

"In the last analysis, it is our conception of death which decides our answers to all the questions that life puts to us."
~ Dag Hammarskjold

Whatever the question, the answer is never "love" as the world defines it.

To every question, and especially to the ultimate questions posed by death, God is the Answer, and "God is love" (1 John 4:8).

Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – use @gmail.com *after* buildingHisbody
Copyright 2013, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.