Grace

Just as some players love the game and some love the things that go with the game, so there are people willing to follow Jesus wherever through whatever. And there are those who love the idea of being called followers of Jesus without the commitment. Check out today’s passage.

Jesus understands. He gets what it’s like to be misunderstood. He dealt with being mistreated. Jesus understands the pain of rejection, even having his closest friends abandon him in his time of need. Jesus experienced what it feels like to lose a loved one, a dad, a friend. Jesus understands physical pain. He knows what it means to cry…and cry out to God.

The disciples had just received very disturbing news. Jesus was going away, and where he was going, they could not come, at least for the time being.

The rich young ruler had an urgent question. He asked Jesus how he could somehow grasp eternal life.

What do you have to do to become a Christian? What do you have to do to stay a Christian? Will God’s love still be there if you don’t clean up your act? Is a relationship with God on-again-off-again depending on your behavior?

In the Old Testament, those who worshiped God participated in animal sacrifice. The believer took their sacrifice to the temple, put the animal to death, and placed its body on the altar to be consumed in the fire. Because of their sin, the worshiper should have been the one who died. But God, in his great mercy, allowed the animal to die in place of the believer. culminated

So, you want a fresh start but don’t think you deserve one? You feel unworthy to be a follower of Jesus. You wonder why he would want you on his team. You are ashamed of your past. You have a history of messes. You feel the heavy weight of guilt for the hurt you have caused. Well, let me introduce you to the apostle Paul and offer you a fresh start.

When an angel appears, you can bet that something amazing is going to happen! The amazing certainly took place when the angel Gabriel told Zechariah that he would be having a son. For Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, that dream had died long ago. In fact, because of Zechariah’s unbelief, he was unable to speak a word until his son was born. Then, he broke out in a song of praise about the one who would prepare the way for Jesus.

The room was tense as we sat around folding tables in a small room at our church. One person had said something to hurt another person. We were there to make things right—to seek and grant forgiveness. Those are hard meetings, and on this day, forgiveness never came. The exchange was sharp; the emotions were high. After much discussion, prayer, and reading Scripture, one person got up and stormed out of the room. He never set foot in our church again.