Jesus washed His disciples’ feet in an act of humility, servitude, and love.
Judas, a disciple of Jesus, departed from them to set up his betrayal of Jesus.
Some of Jesus’s most beautiful prayers were recorded when He prayed to His Father, God, for His disciples, and for you.
Jesus took 3 of His disciples to be with Him as he prayed to God, his Father, over the anguish He felt regarding His coming crucifixion.
Those 3 disciples repeatedly fell asleep while Jesus cried out to God in prayer.
Peter violently and foolishly attacked Jesus’ captures to prevent His arrest.
His disciples scattered, abandoning Jesus.
Peter denied knowing Jesus 3 times.
Jesus spent the night in trial in front of Jewish leaders, who insulted Him, slapped Him, spit on Him, and denied Him.
Jesus was then turned over to the Roman courts early in the morning. He would be tortured almost to death, then nailed to a cross.
Jesus Christ was fully human, just like you and me. He enjoyed the fellowship of friends, He felt pain and sadness, and had expectations of others (Mt 16:8, Mt 26:40). But His expectations didn’t get the best of Him, because His faith and His focus were on the Father and the Father’s plan for Him, not in the abilities or the willingness of any human heart.
How would you react after your closest friends repeatedly let you down in your greatest time of need? Or if an institution let you down, your government, or your boss? Would you reach for the bottle, commit intellectual suicide in front of the TV, or maybe act out in anger towards a loved one?
Jesus reacted in love. He says in John 15:13, at the Last Supper, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay downs one’s life for his friends.” This is the example every person needs to follow, and this is one reason why Jesus came to us fully human, to set that example.
Can we attain this standard of love?
Most of the world feels that this standard is impossible to attain, that it is out of their reach. But Jesus was human, and it was in His reach. How is that? It is because He focused, without ceasing, on His relationship with God. He immersed Himself in God’s word, which drew Him closer to His Father and gave Him revelation concerning His life on earth. Everything He did, either at work or play, in joy and sorrow, He kept His focus on God. This is how believers attain joy and freedom in a hurtful and enslaved world.
The root definition of sin is our separation from God, which started in the garden with Adam, opening the door for the evil that is in our hearts. That divide, our separation from the holiness of God, was bridged when Jesus died on the cross and overcame death, rising from the grave, making it possible for us to reunite with God in a very personal relationship, through the Son. That is what it means when they say that He took our sin upon Himself. Jesus bridged that gap and made atonement for the original sin of Adam.
What you can do on this Holy Weekend
Good Friday is a very significant and emotional day, the most significant along with Resurrection Sunday. Search your heart this weekend, talk to God in private (alone, by yourself, and in secret), and meditate on what happened this weekend. Consider for yourself that Jesus lived and what the Bible says about Him is true, then consider what that might mean to you. Lift up the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in your family, proclaim it as truth, and read the Bible daily. Don’t promote the Easter Bunny, it blurs our vision as a society. Often the “small and innocent” distractions are what separates us from Jesus the most effectively.
May God bless us, our nation, our families, and our international brothers and sisters.
Don’t talk to strangers is one of the most popular, and believed to be, one of the best pieces of advice this world can give to you. Whether you are 30 years old and walking the streets of Brooklyn, or 5 years old and hanging out at the neighborhood monkey bars, it is common knowledge that talking to strangers can only lead to bad things. Why is that? On the surface it is to protect us from people who might do us harm, as if knowing a person’s name and what they do for a living makes them exempt from hurting you. As a result, we have it habitually imbedded into our minds that people we don’t know are risky, and we come into adulthood with a fear that we do not realize is there. People who do not look like us become especially dangerous. We avoid having to interact with them and even go so far as to exclude them from the public places we enjoy. Fear of our fellow man creates an “us vs. them” mentality, and, before social media, in our quest for physical friendship we naturally gravitated towards those that look like us, calling them “safe” strangers due to our common attributes.
If the world’s view of strangers is fixed firmly on the foundation of fear, then what does the word of God have to say about it?
Let’s play devil’s advocate for a moment and attempt to justify this belief with God’s word. In the book of Joshua, God commands the Hebrew nation to cross the Jordan and completely destroy Jericho, man, woman, and child. Ouch, this doesn’t put talking to strangers in a positive light. We can’t get into this in depth, but I will say you cannot compare God’s relationship with the Hebrew people in the Old Testament and transpose it over our lives after Jesus Christ. God has chosen the seed of Abraham, who would become the Hebrews, to be His people, and that meant they would not have a normal existence. They would be held accountable for their actions and inactions, and they would be required to put God’s plan to save all people through the Messiah into motion. Securing the promise land, keeping the Hebrews safe from idolatry and demonic worship, and establishing a blood line to the Messiah all come into play here. We must also consider verse like Deuteronomy 10:19, when God tells this same group of people to “…love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Fast forward to Acts 10 and we watch as the household of Cornelius, a Roman, is saved, and furthermore, receives the Holy Spirit without the laying of hands by the apostles or water baptism. It concludes in Acts 11:18 with “…even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.” I point this out to stress that God is not a nationalist. He is love and His love goes out to all people who will accept it and the truth that comes with it.
What about when Jesus says in Mark 10:18 that “No one is good but One, that is, God.” Maybe this is where the world gets their sound advice of not talking to strangers. On the other hand, I doubt the world takes any advice from this book, at least when taken in context and understood through the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. What this verse refers to is the undeniable fact that all men, and all women, have sin in their heart, meaning we all fall short of standing up to God’s perfect standards, the 10 commandments. All of us have lied, probably stolen something (don’t forget digital stuff), have cursed and used God’s name in vain, and have looked upon another person with lustful desire. Saved or not, this applies to everyone, it is universal. We all struggle with the temptation to satisfy self at the cost of others. Not one of us is “good” when compared to God’s standards. Not one of us is worthy to stand before Him apart from the work of His Son, Jesus Christ.
What About the Strangers?
Let’s get to it then, what does the Bible say about talking to strangers? Well, it says to talk to them, of course. It tells us to love them in Deuteronomy 10:19 and in Leviticus 19:34, to stand up for them in Job 29:16, that they have favor with God in Psalm 146:9, that we find favor with God when we love the stranger as in Matthew 25:35, to treat them with respect in Romans 12:13, to provide for them in Hebrews 13:3, and finally to treat them as your friend as found in 3 John 1:5.
God is not teaching us to live separated from this world, but it does tell us over and over again to “stand separate” from this world. Standing separate means standing for God in a world that is hostile to Him. This means we can go to the birthday party of a co-worker who is a non-believer, we can partake in a trivia night that is sponsored by a secular firm and is benefiting a secular not-for-profit, and yes, we can talk to people, make friends with people, and reach out to people who are not like us and who are outside of our faith. To drive this point home, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians that we should associate with people living in sin outside the faith, because if we did not, we’d have to leave this world in order to avoid it. In the next sentence he clarifies that it is our fellow believer living in open sin that we should not associate with. Did you catch that? The former is likely the stranger, the latter a friend.
The World’s Teachings vs. Biblical Teaching
How do we apply this for the benefit of the Kingdom? “Don’t talk to strangers” is usually targeted towards our children, then it is carried into adulthood, so let’s focus on our kids.
This is what we teach our kids
Say hello to people, especially to people that don’t look like you or dress like you, it is important. Treat everyone with respect, especially people that don’t look like you or dress like you, it is important. Don’t be afraid of people, especially people that don’t look like you or dress like you, it is important. Safety and common sense is also important, so we back these words up with biblical truth. We tell them that people, all people, have the potential for evil, and that all people want to serve their self-interests, needs, or desires, above another person’s loss or hurt, including their own parents. We tell them that technically they can’t trust anybody, and that they must think when they are around people, not to avoid them, but to love them while keeping themselves safe. If your children understand selfish desire and sin, and if they know Jesus Christ and why they need Him for salvation, then they can understand the human heart, use common sense, and keep themselves safe while not living in fear.
The world wants us to fear each other, and it wants us to live in fear. Have you watched the news lately? If we live in fear our distrust can in turn serve the darkness mightily. But if we live in love, grounded in the word of God, our distrust will turn into common sense and allow us to reject fear and stand firmly, with confidence, on the rock of God.
When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”
Mark 10:18
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.
Deuteronomy 10:19
You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Leviticus 19:34
The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Job 29:15-17
I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I championed the cause of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the unrighteous, and made them drop their prey from their teeth.
Psalm146:9
The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
Matthew 25:35
I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
Romans 12:13
Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
Hebrews 13:1-3
Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.
3 John 1:5
Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the friends, even though they are strangers to you; they have testified to your love before the church. You do well to send them on in a manner worthy of God; for they began their journey for the sake of Christ, accepting no support from non-believers. Therefore, we ought to support such people, so that they may become co-workers with the truth.
In the Old Testament false prophets were rampant, and their mission was to tell the people what they wanted to hear. They wanted to be liked and non-offensive. They sowed seeds of peace and contentment, regardless of the condition of the people or the culture.
The pharisees in the New Testament were abrasive and demanding, proud and controlling. In their zeal to represent God on earth, they demanded obedience, not to God, but to themselves. They rejected entire segments of society, and personally shut the doors of heaven on them.
What we have here is a picture of the Church in the United States, and I have personally sat in their pews, and listened to their services online. Our society, culture, politics, and people are divided, so divided we wonder if union is possible, and I sadly see the church following the same path of culture and politics.
I see the church playing the part of the false prophets. These churches argue the validity of the Bible and embrace the modern cultural movements of our day. They deny Biblical truths and avoid talking to their congregation about them in fear that they may offend someone, in fear that they may offend men. They embrace modern cultural ideas and claim the Bible was not written for today’s culture, nor for today’s people. In an effort to show love, they have denied God.
I see the church playing the part of the pharisee. These churches are harder to discern, and are harder to disagree with, because they relentlessly stand for Biblical truths. But in doing so, they have let pride take over their motivations. They have chosen sides and reject anything that does not support their agenda. They have successfully alienated large parts of the population by their abrasive message and aggressive position. In response to the sin they see, they have lost love for the lost.
What you see here is more commonly attributed to politics and culture, the left and the right. And how it pains my heart and grieves my soul to see our beloved church drift more and more towards the habits of these institutions. The church has all but vacated the middle, save a few lonely and struggling, yet faithful, congregations who are ridiculed and isolated by their own brethren (the one I am familiar with serves the poor, who will always be with us, not on the right or on the left, but stuck in the middle).
The false prophets represent the church on the left. These churches support gay marriage, the right to abortion, pre-marital sex (the main cause of abortion), deny the Bible is infallible and perfect, claiming it is up for interpretation, and have all in all embraced the post-modernist view.
The pharisees represent the church on the right. These churches tend to start their sermons with a Fox News like commentary of the week’s events, fake news, and conspiracy theories. They have denied the urgency of the coronavirus and thereby show no respect for their fellow man, to whom a face mask and hand sanitizer could be lifesaving. They have taken strong political sides, isolating anyone who thinks differently, or who has serious questions or concerns.
Before I continue, let me pause to describe to you what I mean by the “middle”. I mean that we stand firmly and are 100% committed to Biblical truth. We do not waiver and we do not give leniency to stray from them. Obedience, and subsequently repentance, are critical to the Christian walk. We also believe that we need to continue to serve everyone, in love, and that by undeniably joining ourselves to a man-made movement outside of the church is not right.
The middle is such a lonely and confusing place to be today. It is as if you do not belong anywhere, as if you are rejected by both extremes, as if you are the only one in the world who sees that either extreme is bad. But is that not where Jesus spent His time? He rejected the pharisees and acknowledged they shut the gates of heaven on the people, and He warned us about false prophets and their false teachings, which would lead people into a false sense of eternal security. Jesus spent time with the sinner, with the people, both blue collar and white collar, saved and unsaved. He went to the preacher’s house and to the tax collector’s house, He served the centurion and the prostitute, and He gave to us His life, obediently submitted to death; an unmatchable and unquantifiable gift of love. Jesus told us we’d be lonely and rejected if we served Him. I plead to my brothers and sisters on the right and on the left, if you aren’t feeling lonely in your political and cultural view today, if you aren’t feeling lonely as a church body, then take a serious and careful look at your heart, your motivations, and which of your convictions have taken center stage in your life. The love of Jesus Christ does not reside on the left or the right, it resides in the middle, and is accessible by everyone.
Jeremiah 5:30-31
30 “An astonishing and horrible thing Has been committed in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?
Jeremiah 6:13-14
13 “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is given to covetousness; And from the prophet even to the priest, Everyone deals falsely. 14 They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.
Someone once asked me, “What do you think about abortion?”
When I think about abortion I think of desperation and fear
When I think about abortion I think of sadness and pain
When I think about abortion I think of death and destruction
When I think about abortion I think about the baby, in the mother’s womb, in the holy place, the place where it is safe, protected, and alive
When I think about abortion I think of the tool of death invading that sacred space, the vacuum coming for the baby’s feet, or the triceps coming to tear the leg from the baby’s body
When I think about abortion I think of that baby’s desperate attempt to escape
When I think about abortion I think of the silent scream, like that of one who is under water, where no one ever hears it
When I think about abortion I think of the 60 million silent screams that have been inflicted in the womb since Roe v Wade
Does that answer your question?
Psalm 94:21 They gather together against the life of the righteous and condemn innocent blood.
Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.
Recent Comments