Jesus on tour
22Apr08
Have you ever wondered how your life would be different today if you could go back in time and spend just one week walking around with Jesus as one of his disciples?
Have you ever wondered how your life would be different today if you could go back in time and spend just one week walking around with Jesus as one of his disciples?
Would a week be enough? Hopefully after a week I’d echo Peter’s words in John 6 -> “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
I wonder what would be on Jesus’ rider?
Ever notice how the radical change didn’t take place till after He ascended? We gotz Jesus living on the inside! According to Jesus it is way more powerful then having Him on the outside.
I don’t know if it’s possible to get around Jesus at any level and not have to have more of him. Obviously people like the scribes and pharisees and the rich young ruler had no problem walking away; but to really have a revelation of who he is…and to be right there with him - how could you not want as much of that to be as literally and as often as you could get it? Peter says those prophets and holy men of the Old Testament who got the slightest glimpse of Christ were begging the Holy Spirit to let them see the Person they were being pointed to.
God is amazing just how dynamic he intends our relationship with him to be. He’s got to have heart responses. He really won’t let us get him under the microscope. As soon as Jesus asked who the disciples thought he was, and as soon as Peter said You are the Christ the Son of the Living God - he strictly commanded them not to tell anybody. That actually became insider information! It would color people’s reactions and step on something vital in the relationship.
Jesus deeply desired people to see him in action and hear him speak Father’s words and immediately know in their hearts that he was the promised Messiah. Faith had to jump up and eclipse everything, or there was no real connection.
Look at it this way. If there was a way to get on a plane and go spend a week with Jesus and crew circa 30AD - I personally would book that flight. I know it was expedient for me that he leave and send the Holy Ghost (wouldn’t trade that for anything). I know that I have way more now than they had then. My hope is not backward, it’s looking forward to living the life that I’ve hid in Christ and that being revealed when Christ is revealed. Still - I would book that flight!
I guess at a certain point, I tasted the life of Matthew Mark Luke John Acts at a level where I couldn’t not live there. There was no way it could be a narrative, a moral, an elusive ideal anymore. It became more tangible to me than my own life. So since that flight to Galilee 30AD doesn’t exist - where do those of us who hunger and thirst for the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God pack our bags for?
I’d book that flight too.
I’ve often wondered about being around during Jesus’ earthly lifetime. But there’s one thing that I always get hung up on though it may reveal a deficiency of my faith.
It’s written “. . .Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” I think, for me, the opposite is true. I think I am more willing to believe the Word as revealed by the Spirit than if some guy, almost out-of-nowhere said, “hey, I’m the son of God, here to save you from your own sin. I will die but come back to be with you always.”
Now I know it sounds like denial or blasphemous, but even Thomas had issues with his own sight and experience’s of Jesus. I think that not only meeting Him is important, but knowing His power is vital in anyone’s belief.
So who’s faith is the stronger? The one who believes because God’s word demands it or the one who believes because God has produced an effect in his or her life?
I think that’s very realistic - it reflects a real humility and desire for genuine faith. None of us wants to think we’d be the doubting Thomas; but it never hurts to humbly ask Jesus, “Lord, is it me?” Even Thomas wasn’t singled out for anything other than increased faith. We don’t lord it over each other in terms of faith, we’re helpers of each other’s faith.
The truthful answer to your question is really “both.” Believe because God has produced an effect on your life, and believe because God demands it desires it loves it. Treat everything that comes your way in life as an excuse to believe God above all other voices/evidence. Without faith it’s impossible to please God - so that means faith is how we cooperate with God.
I’m convinced Jesus was grooming his disciples to respond in faith at every turn. He didn’t hold anyone else as accountable as them for being continuously full of faith. At whatever level of faith we are willing to cooperate, God will always be there to confirm his word. And then he will raise the bar for us in terms of making an even greater level of faith available to us.
So does faith function any differently in the kingdom of God now than it did during Jesus’ earthly ministry?