Jesus is patient

 JESUS IS PATIENT

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

JOHN 14.9 ESV

Love is patient.

1 CORINTHIANS 13.4

READ THE STORY: JOHN 14

Have you ever wished you could have walked with Jesus? Been one of His disciples?

What a privilege to live with Jesus for three years, spending day and night with the Teacher, watching Him not just when He commanded the attention of thousands, but watching Him slumber in the helm of a boat tossed by waves. Watching Him play with little children. Watching Him enjoy a well-roasted leg of lamb. Watching Him command the winds to quiet and the dead to rise.

If anyone had a front-row seat to witness Jesus’ divinity, it was these disciples.

Yet even these twelve men didn’t quite comprehend Jesus.

After all they had seen, they still didn’t understand who Jesus was. After the Last Supper, Jesus comforts His disciples, but Peter, Thomas, and Judas (not Judas Iscariot) all ask questions for clarification. Philip speaks up, saying, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” In these last moments with Jesus, he wanted a theophany — a visible display of God Himself.

After all He had done, Jesus could have been understandably disappointed with Philip’s request.

Consider how patient Jesus had been with His disciples. He interpreted parables for them. He gave them unique glimpses into His power over stormy winds and waves. He gently rebuked their lack of faith while simultaneously reinforcing their faith. He redirected their attention when they bickered among themselves about who was the greatest. He corrected them when they wanted to call down fire from heaven on the inhospitable. Every step of their three-year journey, Jesus had been infinitely patient with them, answering their questions and reorienting their sight to see God’s kingdom, not as they expected it, but as Jesus was bringing it.

And here they are, on their very last night together, and still they don’t get it.

“Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?” He asks.

But rather than grow exasperated with Philip and His other disciples, notice Jesus’ patience with them. He doesn’t grow angry or insult their intelligence (though such a rebuke might be warranted). He reminds Philip that he had seen God this whole time he had been with Jesus, because: “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (Jn 1.18).

Throughout His three-year tenure with His disciples, Jesus revealed His Father through His character, His words, and His miracles. He lived and loved before them, and His greatest demonstration of love was yet to come.

Prayer 

Precious Jesus, Your patience knows no limits. Thank You for the patience You demonstrated toward Your disciples, because I can so relate to their limitations. Thank You for being patient with me on my imperfect journey of walking with You. Help me also patiently love my family and friends. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

If you want to read more 

Mk 4.35–41, Lk 9.51–55, Jn 1.16–18, 1Cor 13.4, Gal 5.22–24

Foolishness

 Foolishness 

Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”

PSALM 14:1

The wisdom of this world is foolishness to God.

1 CORINTHIANS 3:19

People who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.

1 CORINTHIANS 2:14

If we saw someone trade in a painting by a famous artist like Monet or Picasso for a painting by a first grader, we would think, What a fool! That person must not understand how valuable that painting is!

We tend to think of a fool as a person who doesn’t have the brains to grasp the meaning of things, or someone who can’t understand things. But foolish people are not unintelligent; they just have no sense of what is valuable and what is worthless, and that impacts how they live. They understand what they can have through the person and work of Christ but find it unnecessary, unsatisfying, perhaps even ridiculous. And instead of trading in their lives for something that will be satisfying and worthwhile in the end, fools trade in their time and energy and attention for what is worthless and won’t last.

The Bible tells us that on our own we are all foolish. We simply can’t see how valuable Jesus is. But as the Holy Spirit takes over our thoughts and our value systems, we begin to see the true value of things. We go from being bored by the Bible to enjoying God’s Word. We go from seeing ourselves as the centre of the universe to seeing God as worthy of all our worship. The Spirit enables us to see how worthless a life outside of Christ is and how precious it is to know and walk with Christ.

Jesus is not proud

 JESUS IS NOT PROUD

“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”

MATTHEW 20.28

“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.”

JOHN 13.14

Based on JOHN 13:1–17

There’s always that one job around the house that nobody wants to do. For some, it’s scrubbing toilets. For others, it’s emptying the dishwasher.

In first-century Palestine, it was washing feet.

Nobody wanted to wash feet.

Imagine the stench of sweat, dust, and dung, picture the callouses and ingrown toenails, feel the humility of doing what no one else wanted to do.

In fact, this job was considered so demeaning that it was reserved for the lowest of servants in a household. On this holy Passover night, Jesus and His disciples had already begun eating with their feet unwashed. No one wanted to do that job.

So in the middle of their meal, Jesus gets up, takes off His outer robe, and dons a towel. Every eye is watching His every move. Surely not! This cannot be happening. Out of everyone in the room, Jesus should have been the last person to wash anyone’s feet.

For those of us who have grown up hearing this story again and again, the wrongness of the situation may have become lost on us. It’s Peter’s visceral reaction that helps establish the absurdity of the moment: “No, you shall never wash my feet,” he tells Jesus.

Never.

This is wrong.

Maybe John should be washing feet since he’s the youngest. Or perhaps Philip or Andrew should run to fetch the servant girl. But not You.

It’s understandable why the disciples hesitated to volunteer for this task, even though disciples were expected to serve their rabbis, washing their teachers’ feet was one service specifically not expected even of them. Let alone washing their peers’ feet!

But Jesus demonstrated that in His kingdom, no person is too high for the lowest of tasks, for He Himself took on the nature of a servant though He was in very nature God. And He served not only His best friends, but the one who would betray Him, the one who would deny Him, and the ones who would desert Him.

His greatest act of love was yet to come, but washing the disciples’ feet was a shocking expression of love that foretold just how low Jesus was willing to bow in order to love His own until the very end.

Prayer 

King Jesus, You who humbled Yourself to the lowest of servant tasks, You are exalted to the highest place in heaven. I’ll admit, Your example humbles me. It’s hard for me to follow Your lead, but I want to. Help me lay aside my pride and any concern for my image, and empower me to kneel before others in humble service, out of love. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

If you want to read more 

Mk 10.45, Jn 13.1–17, Phil 2.6–7

The wisdom of God

 The Wisdom of God

Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom.

PROVERBS 9.10

Get wisdom; develop good judgment. Don’t forget my words or turn away from them.

PROVERBS 4.5

His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.

1 CORINTHIANS 2.10

If someone tells you, “Get some milk at the shop,” you know what you’re looking for and where to get it. But when we read the instruction in Proverbs to “get wisdom,” we’re left to wonder, what exactly is wisdom? And how do we get it?

Wisdom is knowing what the greatest goal is in any situation and the best way to achieve it. It’s different from knowledge, but you need knowledge to exercise wisdom.

Another way to describe wisdom is that it’s knowing the right and best thing to do with the knowledge you have. There are many people who are brilliant but foolish. And there are many wise people who are not well educated.

So how does a person get wisdom? The only way to get wisdom is to receive it from God. “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you” (Jam 1.5). Real wisdom doesn’t come naturally. It is not something you are born with or can develop through study. It is supernatural. It is a gift from God. To get the wisdom of God, you don’t need a certain level of intelligence, education, or experience. But you do need humility and a hunger for God. When we realise how big God is and how small we are, we are convinced that we don’t have what it takes to make it through life on our own. And it’s only then that we’re ready to receive wisdom from God as a gift. So if you want to grow in wisdom, ask for it — beg for it. God has promised to give it to you when you ask.

Jesus believes all things

 JESUS BELIEVES ALL THINGS

“Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”

LUKE 19.5

Love … believes all things.

1 CORINTHIANS 13.7 ESV

Based on LUKE 19.1–10

Jesus was constantly challenging the Pharisees’ assumptions of right and wrong, clean and unclean, and those who are “in” and those who are “out” of God’s kingdom. In their societal structure, tax collectors were at the very bottom, considered traitors because they gathered taxes on behalf of the Gentiles who ruled over them and often profited by exerting additional fines and fees to line their own pockets.

In their view, tax collectors were no better than unclean Gentiles, even though they were technically Jewish and included in God’s covenant with Abraham. Those devoted to the extra traditions added to Levitical law avoided contact with tax collectors at all costs.

But Jesus sees what is hidden from others’ view.

At the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus welcomed a tax collector, Matthew, to join Him as one of His disciples. Scripture tells us that when Jesus had dinner at Matthew’s house that night “many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples” (Mt 9.10), while the Pharisees rebuked Jesus’ disciples for this suspicious association.

Now, toward the end of His public ministry, Jesus again reaches out to a tax collector, this time the notorious Zacchaeus. Because of Jericho’s strategic location on the border between Judea and Perea, the city would have seen significant customs duties, and Zacchaeus and his tax crew would have been considerably rich. And considerably hated.

But Jesus does not write off Zacchaeus because of his occupation. Instead, He looks at his heart. This man longs to see Jesus, risking additional ridicule by climbing into a tree to see Him over the crowds. Jesus searches him out and honours him with His presence.

Zacchaeus’s response reveals the true nature of his heart, he gladly hosts Jesus and His disciples, he voluntarily offers half of his possessions to the poor, and he fulfils the law by vowing to make restitution for any of his cheating.

All that, simply because Jesus invited Himself over to his house. Because in loving Zacchaeus, Jesus believes “in the best outcome for the one who has done the wrong — that wrong will be confessed and forgiven and the loved one restored to righteousness.” And Zacchaeus responded to Jesus’ love with flourishing repentance.

In contrast, the enemy of our souls is quick to accuse us before God and to condemn us for our sins. He’s the one who sows despair and hopelessness in our hearts, convincing us that we will never be rid of the sin that entangles us.

Jesus knows the state of every person’s heart, and He takes time with those whose hearts are receptive to God’s Word and eager to repent. He knew the state of Zacchaeus’s heart, even though the Pharisees had no idea, and He acts on that belief even when no one else sees it or knows it or even believes it. Jesus believes the best, because He knows the truth about Zacchaeus that was hidden from everyone else.

It’s telling that Jesus demonstrates this believing love not only toward the outcasts, like tax collectors, but also toward the religious elite, like Nicodemus. This Pharisee, a member of the Jewish ruling council, came to Jesus at night, and Jesus greeted him not with suspicion but with sincerity, welcoming his earnest questions.

Zacchaeus and Nicodemus represent two extremes on the religious spectrum, but Jesus recognised the truth of their hearts, even when they themselves failed to see it. His love watered those seeds, and they couldn’t help but respond with an outpouring of love in action — Zacchaeus immediately and Nicodemus gradually.

Prayer 

Precious Jesus, thank You for never giving up on me. Even when I despair, You continue to believe because You Yourself are faithful. You’ve promised to complete the good work You’ve started within me, and You never break Your promises. Oh, how great is Your love for me! Help me to love those hard-to-love people in my own life and to believe in Your work within them.

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

If you want to read more 

Mt 9.9–13, Jn 3.1–21, 19.39–42, Eph 2.8–10, Phil 1.6, Heb 10.19–25

Clearing the pathway

 Clearing the Pathway

John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptised to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!

The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level.

The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth.

And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.’”

LUKE 3.3-6

If you live in a place where there are significant temperature changes, then you probably know what potholes are. Potholes are places on the surface of a road where a portion has broken away, leaving a hole.

Potholes can be annoying when we come across them on the road, but most of our roads today are luxurious compared to the roads in ancient times. Because the roads were so bad then, when a king was preparing to visit a certain area, a team of people went ahead of him to build smooth roads to make his journey as easy and direct as possible.

This is what the prophet Isaiah had in mind when he made the prophecy that John the Baptist would prepare the way for Israel’s future King, the Messiah. John was the “voice shouting” for people to prepare not their roads but their hearts for the coming of Jesus. Preparing a pathway for King Jesus requires repentance  — getting rid of anything and everything that puts a barrier between us and God. Repentance clears the pathway for him to come to us.

To prepare our hearts for the King means that we tear down mountains of stubborn opinions and fill up valleys created by shallow, pleasure-seeking habits. We clear away obstacles of meaningless rituals and lingering conflicts. We clean up everything that is cluttering the pathway between us and God. God wants to build a highway into our lives so he can come and dwell with us.

Jesus is not easily angered

 JESUS IS NOT EASILY ANGERED

The crowd rebuked [the blind men] and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” … Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately, they received their sight and followed him.

MATTHEW 20.31, 34

Love… is not easily angered.

1 CORINTHIANS 13.5

Based on MATTHEW 20:29–34

We all deal with minor annoyances every day, whether it’s morning traffic on our commute, milk spilled on freshly washed floors, or noisy children demanding attention while we’re on our phones.

People in Jesus’ time were easily annoyed too.

As Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho accompanied by a large crowd, two blind beggars on the side of the road heard the commotion, discerned it was the famed teacher, and decided today was their lucky day.

As beggars, their presence alone would be irritating enough to some. Their unwashed bodies and tattered clothes would have caused those passing by to wrinkle their noses and avert their gazes. But rather than blend into the background, they were causing a ruckus as they tried to make themselves heard above the crowd. The men and women rebuked them, they were trying to hear Jesus.

But these desperate men wouldn’t be shut up. They just kept calling louder and louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

Imagine the crowd’s annoyance turning into anger. Why couldn’t the two men just be quiet already? Didn’t they realise they’re interfering with their ability to get close to Jesus?

But Jesus stops and calls the men to Himself.

Where others were angered by the men’s persistence, Jesus rewarded them with His presence. What others experienced as inconvenience, Jesus experienced as compassion, welcoming interruptions as opportunities to love those He had come to save. He refused to allow others’ annoyance to keep these men away. And as soon as their eyes were opened, they immediately followed Jesus. Here was a man who finally cared for them.

Anger in itself is not sinful — it can be a healthy recognition that things are not as they ought to be. But when anger is directed against someone who inconveniences us, that is not righteous anger but rather self-centred anger. Jesus is quick to extinguish anger that puts people down because it’s antithetical to who Jesus is and how He loves.

Jesus was angered when God’s image-bearers were trampled on and abused for others’ selfish gains. Any action that pushes one’s own agenda at the cost of someone else’s dignity is an affront to God’s loving nature and cause for righteous anger. But anger aroused from personal inconvenience reveals our own pride, selfishness, and lack of love.

Many people try to pitch an “Old Testament angry God” against a “New Testament loving Jesus,” yet such caricatures completely misrepresent the unified nature of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is precisely God’s love that compels Him to anger when He calls out the wickedness of those who abuse the helpless for their own selfish gains. It is God’s perfect love that pours out wrath on those who seek their own advancement at the cost of others’ well-being. And it’s that same perfect love in Jesus that causes Him to lash out at the religious leaders of His time who abused those placed in their spiritual care and those who made money off of worshipers in the temple.

That same perfect love compels Jesus to show compassion toward these two blind men who inconvenienced the crowds and incurred their wrath. Jesus’ compassion and His anger both flow from the same heart of love — love not of self, but love of God and love for others.

Throughout the Old Testament, God’s anger is kindled by those who abuse the poor and helpless for their own selfish gains, and we witness this same anger in Jesus (Mk 7.5–13).

It is Jesus’ love that compels Him to anger against those who abuse and misuse the helpless. His anger burned against the disciples when they tried to keep the little children from Him. His anger burned against the moneychangers who made a profit off of those who came to worship at the temple. His anger burned against the religious leaders who misled the people placed in their spiritual charge. The God of both the Old Testament and the New Testament is the same God, made fully known in Jesus Christ, whose anger burns out of love.

Prayer 

Dear Jesus, I acknowledge that I don’t love perfectly. I can be easily angered, but usually because I’m not happy with how I’m treated. Forgive me for my selfishness. Remove this anger from my heart and replace it with Your love. Break my heart for what breaks Yours. Let it be Your love that compels me to righteous anger toward those who abuse others, and let it be Your love that compels me to forgive those who hurt me. In my anger, keep me from sinning against You and others. Teach me to love well. In Jesus’ name. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

If you want to read more 

Isa 58, Mt 12.11–16, 25.31–46, Mk 10.46–52, 12.38–40, Lk 9.51–56, 18.35–43, Eph 4.26