Jump Start # 2815

Hebrews 2:14 “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil”

Coming off of the Easter weekend, when the religious community takes a look at an empty grave, we remember the precious death of our Savior and our Lord. Our verse today reminds us of two powerful truths about the death of Jesus.

First, He died, as we will die. It’s not so much the cause of death, or the circumstances that led up to death, but the fact that He breathed His last, as we too will one day. And, the remarkable aspect about this is that Jesus didn’t avoid death. He didn’t tell us that He’d meet us on the other side, while He Himself never died. Not at all. He died. He was buried. And, He arose. Jesus never asks us to do something that He first hasn’t done Himself. His goodness, service, perfection, obedience, God focused heart all demonstrate and leave footprints of what is expected of us. The steps of a true leader are not to shout out orders and send people to do what he doesn’t want to do. A true leader leads. Jesus was not beyond dying. And, in His death, we are reminded that He understands and He knows. As we face that door of death, our Savior has already passed through it. Our prayers at that time are not only heard, but they are felt by one who has faced what we face.

Second, our verse today also reveals that the death of Jesus and His resurrection was truly a death blow to Satan. It was the bruising of the Lord’s heel, but it was the crushing of Satan’s head. The devil’s greatest prison is death. All people head there and there is no getting around it. That is, until Jesus. The Lord blew the doors off of that prison cell by His glorious resurrection. Up from the grave He arose and with that, Satan was without any more powers or weapons. He had thrown his hardest pitch and Christ smacked it out of the ballpark. Jesus had to die in order to be resurrected. And, those steps remind us that we too will be raised one day. The grave doesn’t hold us. The cemetery doesn’t have the final word. There is no “The End,” to our story. We shall live on and on. The day of death will come for us, but we face it not in fear and trembling. Our Lord has already gone through that door. It is only a door and it is necessary for us to pass through it in order to be with the Lord on the other side. The finality of death, the fear of death, the frustration with death, are all removed through the resurrection of Jesus.

Could Jesus have defeated Satan without death and resurrection? Yes, in a way, because God is all powerful. He is not co-equal with Satan. There is not a cosmic battle seeing who is the greatest. The Lord is. The Lord has always been. So, in one aspect, yes, Christ could have defeated Satan without death. However, there would have been no example for us and the fear of death would linger above us. There would have been no perfect sacrifice to redeem us. The death was necessary. Jesus lives. And, we know that we too will live. We are not physical bodies that happen to have a soul. We are spirits that happen to be wrapped in a physical body. We are made to be with God. The death of Jesus shows us that for believers, it will be ok.

And, what awaits us on the other side, is a wonderful world with the Lord that will not end and a world that Satan is not invited to. Once we pass through that door, we are finished with Satan. We are finished with this physical realm. We are finished with struggles, pain and sorrow.

It is troubling to see so many brethren fear the subject of death. We preach about Heaven. We sing about Heaven. We want to be in Heaven, and yet, when one of us gets to pass through that doorway of death, you’d think it’s the worst thing that could ever happen. Sure, we will miss each other. Tears of love are natural and right. But the despair, the feeling of loss and emptiness should not be found within our hearts. One of us got home safely and they will never leave again. They are where they are supposed to be. A course has been completed. A race has been won. A battle has become victorious. Safe in the arms of Jesus.

And, all of this was made possible because Jesus first died and rose again. This is why His death is remembered, not once, every Spring, but every Sunday. Believers remember that death and believers know that He arose. And, those same steps will be taken by us one day.

Roger

Jump Start # 2105

Hebrews 2:16 “For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendants of Abraham.”

Over the winter, we had an unusual guest. It was a stray cat. My wife loves cats. I like them, but not quite to the level she’s at. She was concerned about this cat who kept hanging around. So we started feeding him. I fed him. He stayed. Who wouldn’t. Free meals are nice. Then it started getting cold. She was worried about the cat, that she had named Georgie. We didn’t know if Georgie was male or female. So, we got a tub that we put a Styrofoam cooler on the inside. We got some straw and put that inside the cooler and cut a hole just the size of a cat. On cold nights, Georgie went inside his winter house. By spring, Georgie was gone. The food supply was turned off.

I thought about Georgie when I read this passage. It seems that we did more for that stray cat than what God did for the angels. Angelology, that’s a real word, is the study of angels. There are more theories, ideas and thoughts about angels than what the Bible tells us. Greeting cards and little statues represent angels as chubby little kids with wings. Figurines display angels as women with long hair and beautiful wings. Some believe that children become angels when they go to Heaven. Lots of ideas and not much Bible behind these concepts.

There are only two angels named in the Bible. They were both male. There is a “strong” angel in Revelation and there is such a thing as an archangel, which seems to imply an order among angels. Angels are spirits. They are not eternal. They were created by God at the beginning. Some angels disobeyed God and are reserved for punishment. There doesn’t seem to be any salvation for angels. Jesus didn’t die for angels. Angels were not created in the image of God. Hebrews tells us that angels serve the people of God. Many important Biblical events involve angels. It was angels who announced to the shepherds out in the field the wonderful news of Jesus’ birth. Angels were at the resurrection of Jesus. When the Lord returns, He will bring all the angels with Him. One angel slew thousands of enemy during the days of Israel. Jesus declared that He could summon legions of angels if He wanted to. The story of the Bible involves these special heavenly host.

Our verse today shows that God does not give help to angels. God helps the descendants of Abraham. God helps His people. This statement, God helps the descendants of Abraham, tells us a couple of valuable things.

First, we are not left alone. God is there to help us. We pray, believing not only will God hear our words, but that God is moved to help us. Why pray if He won’t do anything? Why pray if nothing will change? God helps us. What an amazing thought. There are times we can feel very alone. There are times when our own family seems so busy or unconcerned about our plight in life. There are times when we feel just like a number at work. No one really cares. There are times when we can even feel that way in a congregation. There is no one who understands. There is no one who can help me. God can. God helps in a number of ways. Prayer is one way. Another way is instruction, comfort and hope that is found in Scriptures. Another way is through fellowship and encouragement. Worship helps. Counting your blessings helps.

Second, God thinks more of us than He does the angels. He doesn’t help angels. He helps the descendants of Abraham. That’s hard to grasp. It’s easy to believe that it ought to be the other way around. The angels are around the throne of God. The angels are in Heaven now. The angels come at God’s beckoning. It’s easy to think that in the order of things that angels are nearer to the heart of God than we are. We certainly needed a Savior. We needed the Bible. We need God’s help. I don’t know who named Michael and Gabriel, their names. I expect it was God. The names seem like human names. The angels longed to know what we have found in the Bible. The angels are serving us, not the other way around.

All of this is simply special.

Now, there remains one other lesson here. It’s there, but we often miss it. God helps His people, but do we take that help and do we thank God for that help. Self reliant as we are, we don’t read directions, ask for help or call a neighbor. We do all that we can just to figure things out on our own. That’s the way we are. Yet, God is there to help. Do we take God’s help or do we just drown in our sins? Do we take advantage of the encouragement God provides or do we just smoother in discouragement? Do we utilize the open doors of opportunity that God gives us or do walk right past them with our eyes closed.

God helps. Does my life reflect that? And, am I thankful for that? Suppose, through a sermon or the words of a friend, God stepped on my toes to wake me up. Do I get upset at those things or do I realize God is helping me? Suppose God slows me down by allowing me to get sick, so I can take a long look at what really matters in life? Suppose God made some of the dreams that I am chasing to go away? Maybe those dreams weren’t best for me. God knows.

God helps. Do I take Him up on His help and am I thankful for that help? He’s doing things for you that He won’t do for angels? All of this shows how special we must be to God. I wonder if we think about God as much as He thinks about us?

Sure makes a person wonder, doesn’t it?

Roger

Jump Start # 2028

Hebrews 2:14 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil.”

Sorry about no Jump Start yesterday. I was not feeling well. Much better today. And that leads us to our thoughts for today. Jesus partook of the same flesh and blood, just like the children. What all does that mean? It means there were probably days that Jesus didn’t feel real good. We have days like that. It means that there were days when He was busy. We have days like that. He probably had days when things didn’t go right. We have days like that. He had to deal with weather. We have days like that. He had to deal with people. We have days like that.

We can pull some specifics from the Scriptures.

Jesus was interrupted while teaching when Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and demanded that he declare where He stood on punishing her.

Jesus was interrupted while teaching when Martha demanded that He tell Mary to help her serve

Jesus was interrupted while teaching when a man demanded that Jesus tell his brother to share the inheritance

There were times when things happened without any planning. Jesus and the disciples land on the shore and Jairus comes with a 911 plea. His daughter is dying.

The interruptions. The unplanned situations. Then there were the people who didn’t understand. Several got angry with Jesus. The synagogue official did, when Jesus healed the withered hand. Some got upset when Jesus healed the bent woman. They didn’t like Jesus doing those things on the Sabbath. Then there were the disciples, those closest to Him. They so often misunderstood. They argued more than once about which one was the greatest among them. Right before Jesus fed the five thousand, the apostles wanted to send the crowd away. They tried to keep the children from coming to Jesus. They tried to send the Canaanite woman away.

The interruptions. The unplanned situations. The misunderstandings. The name calling. The accusations.

There are a few things we learn from this:

First, Jesus never let people get the best of Him. He never sinned. He was disappointed in people. He was frustrated. He never let out a stream of obscenities. Let down, He never gave up on people. Jesus always remained focused, spiritual and determined. We can learn from that. Too often, we allow others to mess us up. We allow people to get under our skin. We lose our cool and have to try to make things right. Jesus wasn’t like that. He is the ultimate example. He shows us how to overcome disappointments and defeat in others. We stand in Martha’s shoes when we get upset with what others are doing. This is where road rage comes from. This is why some walk out of a marriage. This is why some leave a church. It’s not the concept. It’s not the principles. It’s how people are doing it. When upset with the way some drive, we don’t sell our cars and choose to walk. We keep driving. The principle of driving remains true, even though some don’t know how to do it.

According to the stats, the number one reason why people switch jobs is because of poor relationships with co-workers. The toxic, gossipy, mean spirited work environment gets to them and they leave. Sometimes that’s a good thing to do. It’s better to do that than to loose your sanity or your faith. Jesus was surrounded with toxic people. Every word was analyzed, criticized and challenged. The Pharisees on many occasions presented situations, and questions in order to “test” Jesus. They tried to trip Him up. They tried to catch Him. They tried to expose Him as a fraud. Jesus never walked away from the Pharisees.

Second, Jesus didn’t allow others to change what He knew was right. Jesus never apologized. He never apologized for healing on the Sabbath. He never promised to stop doing that so that everyone could get along. This wasn’t Sesame Street. This was real life. He didn’t compromise. He was right and He stood His ground. He was not going to allow their narrow and petty arguments to change what was right. Healing on the Sabbath was not work. The people were gathered and He continued to do it. Our culture today, makes us apologize for being right. It makes us find some middle ground of compromise. There are times when one cannot do that. Smoking the peace pipe works well in Western movies but not in dealing with matters of faith. Jesus wasn’t ugly about these things. He always explained and tried to get people to see. His confidence and assurance in what was right, allowed Him to hold his ground. This may be our issue. Maybe we are not so confident, or maybe we are intimidated by the loud voice of others. Volume doesn’t make one right. Jesus did not allow others to change what He knew was right.

Third, Jesus brought the best out of people. He did that by simply being Jesus. He didn’t go to their levels. You don’t find Jesus in a bar having drinks with others. He was pure. He was holy. He was Jesus. Like Him, or not, one knew where Jesus stood. When we carry ourselves that way, not being uppity, not being too good for others, not being self righteous, but by being ourselves, simply a Christian, a follower of Jesus, people will see and understand where you are coming from. You’ll find people apologizing for letting a bad word slip. You’ll find some who try to be on the best when around you. Some will not appreciate what you are doing. Some will test you. But many will appreciate you. They don’t have a spiritual back bone like you do. They admire you. They will come to you for advice. They will ask you to help them find a verse in the Bible. Being with Jesus brings the best out of people.

To walk with Jesus is to learn how to get along with others. To walk with Jesus is to learn what matters most. To walk with Jesus shows us that He didn’t get into every one’s business. His focus was spiritual. His goal was the glory of God.

It makes you wonder, if Jesus were in your skin today, had your schedule you have today, have your job, you have today, how would He do things differently? It makes us wonder how many opportunities we walk right past, that Jesus would have seen. It makes us wonder how many times today Jesus would have paused and thanked the Lord for things we just take for granted. How would your day be different if Jesus were living it? Would He be a stressed as you are? Would He be as bothered as you are? Would He be as worried as you are?

Something to think about.

Roger

Jump Start # 122

Hebrews 2:14 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.”

  Jesus became like us. He left His world to live in our world. He did this so that in the end, we could live forever in His world. Jesus became flesh and blood. We understand from the Gospel of John and other places that Jesus existed before He came to earth. He was God. But to redeem us, He had to come.

  There are two expressions in our verse today that we need to consider. First, Jesus “partook of the same.” That means He partook of flesh and blood. But I think there is more than that, He partook of the things that come with flesh and blood. Jesus felt hunger. God never got hungry in Heaven. Jesus experienced the elements, heat, dust, cold. That doesn’t happen in Heaven. He experienced pain, especially at the cross. Jesus partook. He didn’t come to earth like a celebrity who travels in limos, waves at crowds and stays in the best hotels and every whim is catered to them. Not Jesus. He was right among the people, all the time. His feet got dirty, His eyes got sleepy, His legs got tired. He did the human experience. Later in Hebrews we are told that Jesus is our High Priest who can sympathize with us. He knows. He’s been there. The only difference is that He never chose sin.

  The other statement to consider from this verse is, “He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Jesus unplugged Satan. He defeated Satan. There is little to fear if the opponent has no power. In a boxing match, the referee will stop the fight if one of the boxes is standing powerless. The match is over. In 1 John, we find, Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. How did He do that? It was two fold. First, by living without sinning. None of us can do that. We might go a short while, but not very long. All have sinned, the book of Romans declares. Jesus did it. Satan threw everything at Him and gave Him every reason to sin, but He never did. But secondly, He especially defeated Satan through the resurrection. Jesus declared ahead of time that He would lay down His life and then take it up again. Satan’s greatest tool is death. There is no getting around that. Sooner or later it catches all of us. Everyone resurrected in the Bible eventually had to die again. Except Jesus. He was the first raised, to never die again. He is the first fruits, Paul said in the resurrection chapter of 1 Cor 15. There will be more after Jesus. The resurrection was the death blow to Satan. Long ago in the garden God promised that the seed of woman would crush the serpent’s head—that’s what He had in mind. The resurrection.

  All of this tells us that we know the outcome. We know how all of this will end. We are not in the midst of a drama in which the outcome could go either way. Satan’s power, Satan’s outcome, Satan’s future—all fixed by Jesus Christ. Our task is to walk with Christ. We will win if we do. We know what will happen if we do.

  Jesus was flesh and bones like us. I wonder how your day would be different if Jesus walked in your shoes, kept your schedule, did all the things you have to do today, except, He had His heart? Would He see your job differently? Would He look at people differently? Would He not let things bother Him as much as they do you? The heart of Jesus in you. Give that some thought. It might make a difference, even today.

Roger