Jump Start # 2268

Matthew 16:3 “And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?”

As I write this, Saturday morning, we are under a Winter Storm Warning where I live. Heavy snow is expected. By the time you read this, Wednesday, the storm will have passed. There is a mad dash on the grocery stores for bread and milk. We have plans for this evening. Not sure what will happen. Already the two preachers have been discussing tomorrow. What happens if services are cancelled? What if the AM is cancelled but not the PM? Adjustments will have to be made.

In our verse today, Jesus used the weather as an indication of coming storms. The multitudes could tell the weather by the color of the sky. They didn’t have the Weather Channel app that gave immediate warnings nor local forecasters who showed what the temperature was in Canada and would be here in a few days. All they could do was look at the color of the sky. That was enough. That’s all they needed to determine if it was going to be sunny, rainy or stormy. They could look around and see that, but they couldn’t see the dangers of their times.

Some thoughts about warnings:

First, our lives are filled with warnings. Nearly every product you purchase has all kinds of warning labels on them. I suppose someone misused the product and to keep from lawsuits the companies have to fill pages and pages of warnings and place labels and stickers everywhere. The Bible has many warnings as well. Beware, be careful, watch, be alert are common warnings in the Bible. From youthful lusts, to angry people, to the influence of the wrong people, to strong drink, to our anger, the lists of Biblical warnings are many. It would make a great study someday just to look at the warnings of Jesus or the warnings found in Proverbs.

Second, the warnings are placed there to keep us safe. Some seem common sense, but these days, sense isn’t very common. On a chain saw you’ll find a warning not to grab the chain while it is running. On a hair dryer you’ll find a warning not to use in a shower. Biblically, the warnings are to keep us safe. We tend to think that we can be ok ignoring them, but when we do, we put ourselves in dangerous places. The safest place and the most sure way of pleasing God is to do what He says. We push things when we try to go beyond the boundaries and fly solo. We step across God’s lines and then we find ourselves in trouble and in a mess. Warnings are there for a reason.

Third, there are always those who will ignore warnings. When the word is put out to stay home, that’s all it takes for some to go out. Rather than stay home and be safe, some will go to the mall. Some will go out to eat. The roads may be dangerous, slick and hard to travel, but that won’t stop some. The same happens Biblically. There are those who flirt with other married people. There are those who question where the lines are to be drawn on modesty, social drinking, and other moral situations. There are those who don’t want to stay home and be safe. They think nothing will happen to them. But it usually does. That little flirting turns into a sexual affair. That playing around with drinking turns into drunkenness. Influence shot. Jesus forgotten about. The world pours back into the heart and a person must make up their mind, more of Jesus or more of the world. Too often, it’s more of the world because the warnings have never been taken seriously.

Fourth, unlike weather warnings, Biblical warnings do not change nor do they end. Our Winter Storm Warning is for tonight and tomorrow. By Monday, all should be fine. The storms pass quickly. Biblical warnings last a life time. We need to know them, pay attention to them, abide by them and then tell others about them.

Finally, more folks get excited about weather warnings than they do Biblical warnings. I’ve often thought that the TV weather forecasters and the grocery stories were in some secret deals together. The TV forecasters have a way of getting everyone hyped up and excited. Often the storms fizzle and do not amount to much. But by then, the stores have cleaned out of food and winter supplies.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is coming. Things will change instantly. The world will end. The dead will be resurrected. We will be cast into eternity, either Heaven or Hell. But people don’t want to hear talk about that. They’ll spend the day talking about the weather, but no one sees that Jesus is coming. Our choices, our lives reflect whether or not we believe that.

Jesus is coming soon, morning, noon or night—is the way one of our hymns expresses it. Are you ready for that? What needs to be done before He comes? Don’t wait too late!

Warnings—best pay attention to them, otherwise you’ll be caught in a nasty storm and you may not make it home safely.

Roger

Jump Start # 1742

Matthew 16:13 “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’”

  This week I have been doing an unannounced series about Jesus. We have looked at several different ways that people saw Jesus. Not everyone saw Him as God on earth.

• On Monday, Cornelius knew of the Jesus who went about doing good (Acts 10:38)
• On Tuesday, the Jews said that Jesus was a Samaritan (John 8:48)
• On Wednesday, the centurion at the cross declared, “truly this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54)
• On Thursday, His family came to take Him away because they thought He had lost His senses (Mark 3:21)

Just who is Jesus? Different impressions. Different reasons for their answers. The Jews, who claimed that Jesus was a Samaritan, already had their minds made up. There is no way that this Jesus would be the Messiah. Our verse today, adds even more suggestions and ideas. Who do people say? Jesus knew. He wanted His disciples to understand. He wanted them to make a claim on their own faith.

The answers that the disciples give to Jesus’ question is interesting. Some claimed He was Elijah. Others, John. Some thought He was Jeremiah. Some thought other prophets. Several suggestions. Several names.

First, other than Elijah, all the names given were of people who had died. John the Baptist was dead by this time. Jeremiah, dead. Other prophets, dead. All of them dead, except Elijah who was taken to Heaven in a fiery chariot. What were people thinking? Did they think these prophets had come back? From the dead? Did they think that somehow Jesus had the spirit of these people in Him?

Second, all the names submitted were prophets of God. No one repeated the “Samaritan” claim. Others had said that Jesus had a demon. That didn’t make this list either. I don’t know if the apostles “cleaned up” the list to make Jesus feel good or if this was the totality of what people said.

Third, all the names submitted were wrong. Jesus wasn’t Elijah, John, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Jesus was the Son of God. These guesses were all human. Jesus is God. No one saw Him as He really was.

Fourth, Jesus then asked the apostles. “But who do YOU say that I am?” Now the question becomes personal and relevant. Now, it doesn’t matter what others say. What do you say. Who were they going to stand with? Were they going to speak from faith, or hide behind a safe answer?

The question that Jesus asks the apostles, is the question that each of us must answer. Who is Jesus? This is not an academic question, but a question of the heart and of faith. What do you believe? That is what Jesus is asking.

For some, Jesus is the go to person when there is trouble. Mamas’ in the hospital, go to Jesus. Bills stretching you thin, go to Jesus. Some only see Jesus as the instant help in times of trouble.

Others see Jesus as the divine friend. He’s a friend you can talk to. He’s a friend that is not going to get on you about stuff. He’s there for you. Your buddy from Heaven.

Others find Jesus only in the church building. They believe He belongs there and needs to stay there. Go to worship on Sunday and find Jesus, but keep Him there until next week. Out there in the dog eat dog world of today, there is no room for Jesus. It’s mean and nasty out there and to survive you must run with the big boys. This Jesus stuff of kindness, forgiveness, putting others first, is great for church times, but not out there where things are tough. Jesus in the church building is how some see Jesus.

Others see Jesus as good in theory but out of touch when it comes to practical living. What Jesus says about divorce, many think, just doesn’t work today. Modesty, sex only in marriage, no lying, pure in heart, just doesn’t work today. Love Jesus, but He is hopelessly out of touch and behind the times. Jesus just doesn’t fit in today’s world of evolution, same-sex marriages and legal pot. Jesus is important, but don’t take it too seriously all the stuff He says. Consider the source.

Some want Jesus to be a good ole’ boy, who winks at mischief, looks the other way when folks are doing wrong and grades on the curve. Any other way and Jesus seems too stuffy and stiff.

Some want Jesus to be ever evolving. Contemporary. Hip. Into new ideas and new thinking. Global. Environmental. Social awareness. The causes are many. Women’s right to abort. One world government. Equality among the social and economic classes. A bridge builder between the different faiths and different religions. Some don’t want to pin a definition on Jesus. He’s changing as the times change.

The world still has a place for Jesus, but what have they done with Him? Is it any wonder that so many places do not take the Bible very seriously today. Why should they? Their Jesus is ok with what they are doing. Their Jesus happens to be a different Jesus than what we find in the Bible.

Who do you say that I am? Simply question. The answer that it demands is profound. The answer that we give shapes what we do and how we walk through this life. Some are so busy rewriting the rules of faith that they have forgotten what Jesus is really like. They have made Jesus answer to them.

Who do you say that I am? The answer to that question shapes how I view the Bible.

Who do you say that I am? Any answer can be given, but only one answer is correct. Peter found it. It was revealed to Him by Heaven. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. That answer calls me to bow before Him. That answer leads me to obeying Him. That answer humbles my heart and silences my lips. That answer puts the rightful crown upon the head of Jesus.

Who do you say that I am? What’s your answer?

Roger

Jump Start # 1188

Matthew 16:13 “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

 We continue our series on the questions of Jesus. The Lord’s questions were focused and not trivial. Being God, He could have asked the disciples anything, such as, “Do you know how far the moon is from the earth?” Or, “Do you know how many feet are in a mile?” The questions God asks in the book of Job deal with nature and things that Job never considered nor had any clue about. The questions of Jesus deal with character, faith, and understanding God’s will. Sometimes in Bible classes, we ask the wrong questions. We ask and chase rabbits that are curious to us but do not build faith and the answers are based upon speculation and assumptions.

The question found in our verse today was pinpointed to get the disciples to understand who Jesus really was. When He asked, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” He already knew the answer. He knew before He asked. This wasn’t a poll nor a popularity contest. The answer that the disciples gave was very revealing. “And they said, ‘ Some say John the Baptist; and other, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.’”

First, the answer that they gave was wrong. Jesus wasn’t any of those people. It matters who Jesus is. There are some things that we just cannot be wrong about. We must get this right. Jesus said unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. A person could think all of their life that Jesus was Jeremiah. He could write books about that. He could lecture that point. He could argue with his family and friends about that. But in the end, he would be wrong. Jesus was not Jeremiah.

Second, the names that they revealed were all safe answers. They didn’t reveal all that they had heard. Some claimed that Jesus was a demon. Others said that He was a Samaritan. Some, even in His family, thought that He had lost His mind. Those answers were not given. The names were all men of God. The names were all prophets. The names were all good men. Sometimes we tell people what they want to hear. Kids are great at that. They have a way of staying out of trouble because they know how to say what their parents want to hear. But telling people what they want to hear is not the same thing as what they NEED to hear. Sometimes the answer hurts. Sometimes the painful truth is better than false flattery that is used to make someone feel good.

Third, all the names that they gave were of men who were no longer around. Jeremiah was dead. The prophets were dead. Elijah was taken up to Heaven by God. John the Baptist was dead. If this is what people really thought, then were they also thinking that these people had been brought back? Sometimes people say things without thinking things out. Jeremiah had been dead for hundreds of years. If Jesus was Jeremiah, who and how did he come back? Why would Jeremiah come back? These things do not make sense.

Fourth, all of these names were of men. Good men. Godly men. Yet, men. Jesus was God. There is a huge difference. Jeremiah, as good as he was, had his sins. Elijah had sins. John the Baptist had sins. Romans 3 says that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” That “all” includes those men. A resurrected Jeremiah doesn’t change our destiny nor our plight with sin. We need a Savior. Jeremiah needed a Savior. Elijah needed a Savior. Only the pure sacrifice from Heaven could save us.

So this little experiment from Jesus’ question reveals to us that what people think can be way off base. So when somebody tells you what he thinks about same-sex marriage or abortion or salvation or worship or how to grow a church– he may be saying “Jeremiah,” when the answer is not Jeremiah. Things are not right or wrong because of what people believe. Doctrine is not determined by a democracy (the will of the people). Rather, God operates as a Theocracy (God-rules). Right and wrong has been determined. Sin is declared by God, not the church or you and I. What we are to do in worship, how we are to live, what determines righteousness has already been set by God.

Years ago in a neighborhood we were living in someone came by our house, going door to door, asking the neighbors what they would like in a church. He was going to start up a new church and he was interested in what people wanted. He came to our house. I was gone. Too bad. My wife answered better than I could have. She told him that we’d like a church that followed the Bible. He wrote that down but that wasn’t the answer he was looking for. He was into pleasing people. He was building a cafeteria style church—where you get what you want. Paul called that tickling the ears in 2 Timothy 4.

Who do people say that I am, is not the same thing as who I am. The people can be misguided and flat out wrong. Giving people what they want is a terrible idea. Pleasing God is what we need to do.

What I think and what Jesus thinks may not be the same. Guess which one of us is wrong and must change? Me. I may be in the Jeremiah group. Doesn’t matter. Jesus isn’t Jeremiah. Never was and never will be. My answers come from the Bible. Knowing the book shapes my thinking. It helps me to see what God sees. It helps me seek what God is interested in.

What a great question Jesus asked. A few verses later, He made the question personal to Peter. “But who do you think that I am?” Now, it doesn’t matter what others think. What do YOU think. What are YOU going to commit yourself to? What is YOUR answer? This is where questions do the most good. This is where Jesus was driving at. He wanted the apostles to see that they were not thinking like others. Their answer was different from others. Most would disagree with Peter’s answer. Truth will do that. Truth will often leave you standing alone, but standing upon the convictions of God’s word.

Who do YOU say? Don’t hide behind polls. Don’t disguise your answer with what others are saying. Jesus wanted Peter to say. Can we do the same? Can you stand upon what you believe even if it is counter to popular opinion? Can you commit to your beliefs even if you stand alone?

What a great teacher Jesus is. He knew what He was doing with that question. He knew where it would lead.

Roger