Kathryn Lindskoog said…

To live in a fully predictable world is not to be a true man, and Christ was a true man. His prayer in Gethsemane, his sweat of blood, show that the preceding anxiety is a part of human affliction, which we must try to accept with some sort of submission. 

Luke 22: 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Many people who find it difficult that Jesus was truly human, the scene in Gethsemane is almost an embarrassment.  Luke even mentions that an angel from heaven came to strengthen Him (22:43).  Here we see Jesus in weakness.  Jesus does not only struggle with God’s will, but also with the reality of death and anxiety.  The author of the letter to the Hebrews says, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death” (5:7).  In other parts of the gospel, Jesus is in control.  Here it is different.  He struggles.  He is anxious.  He is weak.

With such a Jesus, I can identify.  He totally identified with me.  He did not look at me from a distance, but experienced the weakness and anxiety that I often experience.  He understands when anxiety fills me because of my health.  He understands when I do not want to die now, even though the doctor gave me just a few months to live.  He understands when I struggle with God’s will.  He understands my weakness when I have no strength left.

The world is not predictable.  Unexpected things happen.  I know that I can fully submit to God’s will in all these things, because I do not walk alone.  Jesus, the real human being, walks with me.

Lord, Jesus Christ, thank you for understanding my anxiety, uncertainty and weakness.  Amen.



Paul Tillich said...

Forgiveness is the highest form of forgetting because it is forgetting in spite of remembering.

Isaiah 43: ²² ‘‘Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel. ²⁴ … you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offences.  ²⁵ ‘‘I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. ²⁶ Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state the case for your innocence. ²⁷ Your first father sinned; your spokesmen rebelled against me.

Forgive and forget.  We hear these words so often!  It is a misconception to think that forgiveness means that we should suffer from a loss of memory.  We know that it does not work that way with human beings.  We are remembering beings!  Forgive and forget means something different. 

Forgiveness would have been much easier if we could erase the things that have been done to us from our memory.  No, forgiveness is to say, “I forgive you, even though I remember everything that you have done.”  It is to forget, even though the past is indelibly written in our memory.  It means that noting that I remember will ever stand between us again.  The Lord reminds Israel about their past (43:26,27).  He reminds them about their sins many times in the Old Testament.  He remembers.  But this makes the act of forgiveness so much more wonderful – to forgive, even though He remembers. 

Let us today say the words to one other that we have heard from the mouth of the Lord:  I remember your sins no more (43:25).  I do not consider it anymore.  It does not play a role in our relationship anymore, even thou I remember everything.  This is forgiveness.

Lord, give me your heart for those who sin against me, in Jesus’ name.  Amen.



Napoleon Bonaparte said…

If Socrates would enter the room, we should all rise and do Him honour.  But if Jesus Christ came into the room, we should fall down on our knees and worship Him.

Hebrews 13:⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Religious remarks were often heard during the election campaign in South Africa in 2009.  Pastor Isaac Malehope of the New Covenant Pentecostal Church in Rustenburg welcomed Jacob Zuma at his service with the words, “I believe that Jacob Zuma is a chosen one of God … and that God anointed him as a great leader of South Africa.”  These words remind us of the Old Testament kings.  Can Zuma govern South Africa in such a way that the kingdom of God will become visible? 

At the beginning of the letter to the Hebrews, we read that Jesus will always be there (1:11,12).  In the passage above, the author divides Jesus’ existence in yesterday, today and tomorrow.  In the past (yesterday) Jesus died for our sins.  He was the unique sacrifice of God (10:10-14).  At present (today), He is the one interceding for us (7:24,25; 9:24).  He is seated at God’s right hand (12:2).  He will return in the future (9:28).  We have the certain hope that we will then receive everything that he has promised. 

This verse is sandwiched by two other verses.  In 13:7, we read that they should remember their leaders who preached God’s word to them.  They should follow the example of faith left behind for them by these leaders.  These people died already.  When we lose our leaders, Jesus is faithful.  He can always be followed.  In 13:9, we read about people with strange teachings.  These strange teachings could make them lose their way.  Not the teachings of these people, but the grace of God in Christ that will always be there, makes them strong. 

I think it is better to see Jesus as the anointed one.  We can trust Him for the past, present and future, because He remains the same and lives forever.  When we follow Him, the kingdom of God will become visible!

Lord, we trust you, our Leader and Lord, who is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Amen.