Posts that discuss the life of Jesus

Into the Wilderness: Communion

But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray. Luke 5:16 (NASB)

We’re winding down our study of the wilderness in Scripture with this next-to-last post. We’ve seen a lot happens in the wilderness. Wandering. It is also a place of transition. The restoration of relationships can happen in the wilderness. Sometimes it is an opportunity for instruction. Last week it was a place of temptation. But if we look closely at the gospels, we’ll see that Jesus regularly spent time in the wilderness. Why? Communion. Not the bread and wine kind, but the sharing intimate fellowship kind.

Jesus is God, and He enjoyed a unity with the Father beyond our comprehension. To redeem us, Christ had to set aside His glory and take on humanity. It is no wonder that He needed, longed for, enjoyed His times of prayer and communion with the Father. Those times left Him focused and energized for the work before Him. Throughout the gospel of John especially, Jesus attests that He is on assignment from the Father and He only does as instructed. (See John 5:36 for example.)

Do we, like Jesus, need and long for those times of intimate fellowship with the Father? We certainly need them. God help us long for them. No doubt, those times would help us regain perspective that God is sovereign and His kingdom work is our highest priority and privilege.

Communing with the Father wasn’t the only reason Jesus headed for the desolate, wilderness places. Look at these verses from Mark.

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they went away in the boat by themselves to a remote place, Mark 6:30-32

Jesus was watching out for His guys. He knew they had just finished an emotionally and spiritually draining mission. Even though they had great results to report and were excited and energized, He knew they needed to decompress and recharge.

We would be wise to see the wisdom in Christ’s actions. He wanted them to take some time away with Him after the great success. Why is this wise? We would keep going as long as things are going well, wouldn’t we? Build on the momentum. Seize the opportunity. Jesus has a bigger picture in mind. He knows He is preparing them to be servant leaders after He returns to the Father. His disciples cannot shepherd His church without close

The other consideration is that this break helps inoculate the disciples against the idea that the success is all their doing. He reminds them in John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.”

Pride is sneaky and regular communion with Jesus, after success as well as failure, can help keep it in check.

One more quick point– the crowds weren’t far behind the disciples during this break. They trekked around the Sea of Galilee, and once they caught up with Jesus and the disciples, it was back to work. Don’t put off those opportunities to get away with Jesus and tell Him everything.

(After teaching the crowds and it got toward dinnertime, the disciples suggested Jesus send them home. Jesus instead challenged the disciples to feed them. You can read more about the feeding of the 5,000 in each of the gospels.)

Next week, we’ll finish our time in the wilderness.

Into the Wilderness: Temptation

By Paula Wiseman

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Matthew 4:1

We continue our study of the wilderness in Scripture. And we’ve seen a lot happens in the wilderness. Wandering. It is also a place of transition. The restoration of relationships can happen in the wilderness. Sometimes it is an opportunity for instruction. This week we will see it can be a time of temptation.

Jesus Himself was tempted during a time in the wilderness. Now, His experience is unique because first, the Spirit directed Him to the wilderness, knowing that the temptation was coming. Second, it was necessary to prove Christ’s sinlessness so He was more than qualified to be the sacrifice for our sins. But if we look closely at His experience, we can see some lessons for us.

Jesus was physically weakened after a forty-day fast, but He was also alone (humanly speaking). Now I tend to believe that what we see recorded in the gospels is only the final round of temptation. I doubt Satan stood by for forty days and then tried three temptations and left. I believe the temptations were constant through those forty days, making it an emotionally, mentally and spiritually exhausting time as well.

Temptation is a danger for us when we are isolated and exhausted.

Circumstances cut us off from our support system. It’s hard to find enough good, spiritual food, and it’s not long before the tempter is whispering in our ear, drawing our eyes away, sowing rotten seeds in our hearts and minds. “You are alone. God is tired of hearing your complaints. It’s not worth the effort.” These recent days have certainly proven that the temptations to despair, or to laziness in our faith, or to any number of thoughts and actions that don’t honor God, are a very real and very formidable challenge.

Jesus was led into the wilderness after a very public affirmation of His Sonship and His mission. There was no time to simply enjoy that victory before the attacks came.

Temptation is a danger after times of confirmation or victory.

Maybe that’s when our pride opens the door. Maybe our guard is lowered. Maybe we are frustrated that the good times ended and we are in the wilderness.

Many, many commentators have written extensively on Jesus’s use of Scripture in the face of intense temptation. We would be wise to follow His example of knowing the Word and being able to apply it to our lives. (The whole reason I write is to demonstrate that.)

In the wilderness (or anywhere else), truth is our best weapon against temptation.

When we hear, “You are alone,” the truth is Jesus said He would never leave you or forsake you. When we hear, “You don’t matter,” the truth is God loves you with an everlasting love. And on and on. Lean on truth, God’s proclaimed truth, rather than our feelings or our circumstances or even our own take on things.

Satan fights dirty and he will come after you at the worst possible times, especially wilderness times. Reliance on Christ and His word can flip the script and remake the temptations in a wilderness time an opportunity to grow stronger in faith, move closer to God and bring Him honor and glory.

This time of temptation was not Jesus’s only time in the wilderness. Next week, we’ll look at another time He got away from it all.

Jesus and Women: Mary Magdalene

By Paula

Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). John 20:16

One of the things that set Jesus’s ministry apart was the way He interacted with women. Each encounter teaches us something about Jesus and our relationship to Him. It is important to notice in each case, Jesus treated these women with dignity and respect that was unheard at that time and in that culture. That in itself is instructive as we interact with people now.

This week we’ll finish up with Mary Magdalene.

Mary is the subject of a lot of legend, a lot of speculation and conjecture, and a lot misinformation. The truth is, the Bible says very little about her. Luke introduces her in 8:2, simply saying she was from a Galilean town, Magdala, and that Jesus had driven seven demons from her. We know she was devoted to Christ and was present at His crucifixion. At daybreak on Resurrection morning, she came with the other women to properly anoint the body of Jesus.

However, they found the tomb empty, and the angelic messengers explained that Jesus had raised from the dead. Peter and John confirmed that the tomb was empty and everybody went back into town. Everyone except Mary Magdalene.

She hung around the tomb alone, privately grieving. In spite of the fact that the angels had explained Jesus was risen, it was too much to believe. We live on the other side of the resurrection. It is a familiar reality. However, Jews in Mary’s day had only a vague understanding of a general resurrection. We see that in Martha’s conversation with Jesus after Lazarus’s death. Mary mourned not only Jesus’s death, but now there was nothing left of Him. No place. No marker. No memorial.

I can identify with Mary. I have followed Jesus for a long time. But I admit, sometimes His words are difficult to grasp, even with the evidence right in front of me.

But for Mary, it was more than evidence in front of her. It was Christ himself! He asks her two questions to help her understand what was happening. Why are you weeping? Jesus, whom she loved, was gone. She could not perform the act of devotion, caring for His body, for Him. She had been robbed of that opportunity and she was utterly devastated. Jesus was gently prodding to think about her situation. Why was the body gone?

Then He asked, Whom are you seeking? Jesus was not like anyone else she had ever known. She had heard His words. She had experienced His liberating power in her own life. Essentially He wanted her to consider who Jesus is. Ordinary men are buried in tombs, Mary, Jesus is no ordinary man.

Do we weep and mourn when our plans, even our ministry plans, are disrupted? Do we cling to our loss rather than considering who it is that we worship and serve? I know I have.

Jesus doesn’t belabor the lessons, though. He speaks Mary’s name. (This moment chokes me up every time I read it.) That’s when she recognizes Him. After all, Jesus said His sheep would hear His voice. He IS alive! Her natural reaction is to embrace Him, but Jesus holds her off. Instead He entrusts her with an amazing mission. You see, Mary Magdalene is the first person to see the risen Christ. Not Peter. Not John. Not even Jesus’s mother. Mary of Magdala. What an honor! What a privilege!

Mary vindicated Jesus’s trust in her by immediately carrying the news to the other disciples.

Jesus has called us by name and honored us by commissioning us to carry this amazing transforming message to others. Because He lives, we will live also (John 14:19) Let us, like Mary, be faithful to carry that message!

Read more from the Jesus and Women Series

Jesus and Women: Mary, Again

By Paula

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” John 19:26

In the very first post in this series, we looked at a conversation between Jesus and His mother at a wedding in Cana. That exchange signalled a change in their relationship as Jesus began His public ministry. This exchange marks Jesus’s last words to His mother. It is just two short sentences, but we can still learn some key lessons from it.

Mary displays courage and devotion to her son, her savior in not abandoning Him in this terrible moment. No matter how awful, no matter how painful, she cannot, she will not leave Him. Once again, Mary sets an example for us.

It is remarkable that in the midst of enduring the outpouring of God’s wrath, an agony we cannot imagine, that Jesus is moved to act with compassion toward His mother. He sees her and He realizes His obligation to her as the oldest son. No doubt she is widowed at this point and by every societal custom, and tradition, He was responsible for her.

Announcing this to her from the cross is an amazing affirmation that He sees her, that He has not forgotten her, even now. That is incredible encouragement, that we are seen, that our needs are known and that Jesus in compassion, acts to meet those needs.

Then Jesus speaks to John, entrusting Mary to his care, not to Jesus’s brother James, the next oldest son or even to John’s older brother, James. Perhaps it was because John would not have responsibility for his own mother, being the younger son. Perhaps Jesus trusted John because John’s faith and devotion most closely matched Mary’s. James and the rest of Jesus’s brothers were not yet believers. The bond of love through Christ was even more significant than blood relationships. John immediately shouldered that responsibility.

As members of the body of Christ, let’s make sure we selflessly love and care for each other, and that we readily accept that holy responsibility.

Even in such a short encounter, we are amazed at the care and compassion Jesus shows and how His followers, including His mother show their commitment and obedience to Him. May we be encouraged to follow those examples.

Easter at a Distance: Peter, revisited

By Paula

“Don’t worry about him. You follow me” (v. 22). No more following at a distance, Peter.

We’re finishing up our series on Easter at a distance. Our first entry was Peter, following at distance to the home on the high priest and eventually denying Jesus. Today we’ll revisit Peter sometime after the resurrection. Meeting up with the disciples back in Galilee was part of the plan. Jesus had instructed them in Matthew 26: 32. The angels at the empty tomb told the women that was the plan (Matthew 28:7) and Jesus Himself told the women to pass that on to the guys (Matthew 28:10).

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:6-7 that the risen Christ was seen by 500 people and particularly by His brother, James. It is likely those appearances happened in Galilee. But here, John records a particular conversation Jesus had with Peter. It is one of my favorites in the Gospels, so my own challenge will be to keep this post to a reasonable length.

John tells us seven of the disciples were there with no comment on where the others were or why they weren’t there. That presents us with a bonus takeaway before we even get to the discussion of Peter. When we disregard the instructions of Christ, we miss out. We miss out on His presence. We miss out on Him revealing Himself. We miss out on the amazing work He is doing. Notice Thomas is included in this group (John 21:2). He missed the Resurrection Day appearance of Jesus. He learned his lesson. He wasn’t about to miss out again.

While waiting for Jesus, Peter goes back to fishing. It was familiar and comfortable. After all he’d been through in the last couple of weeks, it was probably a welcome distraction. Something simple, physical. Something connected to his family, his heritage. They spent a long night and had exactly zero fish to show for it. Jesus is on the shore but they don’t recognize Him. He calls out to them to throw the nets on the right side of the boat and they pull in a miraculous haul of fish.

Here’s another important takeaway. When we are following Jesus, the results are His responsibility, not ours. It is easy for us to get caught up in metrics and thereby get discouraged. We are called to faithfulness not production quotas.

After cooking a breakfast of fish, Jesus engages Peter in a grace-filled, but very frank conversation about love and feeding sheep. Commentators and perhaps the notes in your study Bible will explain that Jesus and Peter use two different Greek words for love. Jesus used the word agape. That’s way Jesus loves, with a committed, self-sacrificing love. Peter responds with phileo. It’s committed, but not all in. Perhaps after his denials, Peter is not willing to agree to something he can’t follow through with.

Jesus, however, keeps on him. Not only will the job of feeding and tending the sheep, other believers, require a full commitment, but Jesus very frankly says that Peter’s ministry will cost him his life. He has to be all in.

Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” John 21:22

Then Peter asks Jesus what will happen to John. Jesus recognizes the stall tactic, and responds. “Don’t worry about him. You follow me” (v. 22). No more following at a distance, Peter.

John leaves the ending out. We know from Acts and from Peter’s letters that he embraced that mission Jesus gave him. He was bold. He was obedient and he and the other guys turned the first century world upside down.

Just like Peter, we can no longer follow at a distance. We must be all in when it comes to our love and commitment to Christ. We need to follow His instructions and go where He leads. What will happen when we do? I don’t know. But Jesus says, “You follow me.”

Journey to Easter: The Garden

By Paula

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” Matthew 26:36

Jesus was not a victim of circumstance. He was not swept up by the events around Him. Every moment of His entire life was part of a divine plan laid down before time began. Each stop on the journey to Easter was purposeful and planned. Last week we stopped in the Upper Room. Today’s stop is the Garden at Gethsemane.

The name Gethsemane means olive press. How fitting. It was here Jesus faced a spiritual test beyond our imagination. The content of the temptations are not recorded, but Jesus’s prayers are. “If there is any other way, let this cup — the cup of divine wrath and judgment — pass.” A few verses later He says, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” That’s not simply a proverb. Jesus speaks from His experience just moments earlier and just yards away.

One remarkable thing about Gethsemane is that even in these moments of deep struggle and anguish, Jesus never stopped teaching His followers, and in this crucial moment, He taught them how to handle crushing sorrow and anguish. We can take those lessons to heart when we find ourselves in a crucible.

He enlisted the support of His friends. Granted, they failed Him. But He didn’t head off to the Garden alone. He wanted His friends close by. They guarded the entrance to the garden and kept watch so He could pray without being interrupted. He invited His closest friends to pray with and for Him.

Then He prayed for the support of His Father. He was strikingly honest, yet unwaveringly reverent. He was persistent and when He faced His enemies it was with the resolve and strength the Father sent.

We will go through intense periods of trial, sorrow, and anguish. Count on it. Thankfully, this stop on our journey to Easter gives us Jesus’s own example on how to face it.

Next stop: The Chamber

Into the Wilderness: Communion

Into the Wilderness: Temptation

Temptation is a danger for us when we are isolated and exhausted.

Temptation is a danger after times of confirmation or victory.

In the wilderness (or anywhere else), truth is our best weapon against temptation.

Jesus and Women: Mary Magdalene

Jesus and Women: Mary, Again

Easter at a Distance: Peter, revisited

Journey to Easter: The Garden

Encounters Series

Covenant of Trust Series

Foundations Series