asking the question

It was only a year ago that every night I of the week I turned on the TV to find either an interview with Mel Gibson, or a show about The Passion, or the identity of Jesus. I walked into the Cal Poly Books store today and of course ran into The DaVinci Code (4 million U.S. readers!) the forth-coming DaVinci Code movie. This week's issue of Newsweek has Jesus on the cover! Taking all these things together, it becomes clear to me that our culture right now is very interested to know who this Jesus guy is and what he’s all about.

This past Sunday as some of our group was away on the Crusade retreat we continued to ask the question, "Who is Jesus?" Mark is defending his claim that he is writing the great news about King Jesus, the very Son of God.

Last week we saw that Jesus has the power and authority to teach and Jesus has power and authority over sickness.

Jesus has power and authority over nature. Jesus can tell mother nature what to do and she does it! (4:35-41) Think about this—these guys knew the the OT and Psalm 89:8-9, where it says, “O LORD God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty LORD? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. You rule the swelling of the sea; When its waves rise, You still them.”

Jesus has power and authority over death. Even death is subject to Jesus’ command. We block death out and avoid it. Jesus confronts death as its Lord and master. (5:21-43) For Jesus, raising someone from the dead is like waking someone up from sleep. This compels the question, "Can you trust Jesus with your own death?" Check this out, “Quiet, Be still!” and “Get up!” aren’t the most outrageous things that Jesus ever said…

Jesus has power and authority to forgive sins. Jesus has the wherewithal to heal your broken, rebellious relationship with God. (2:1-12)

A paralyzed man comes lowering down from the roof while Jesus is teaching! What’s shocking here? Not the paralytic coming through the roof—it’s Jesus' response that’s shocking—he says to the guy, “Son, your sins are forgiven”! Does Jesus totally not get it? The guy is paralyzed—why does he say “Your sins are forgiven.”?! How insensitive can you get? The issue is understanding what does “sin” is. Most people think of sin as not very serious. It’s naughty acts of fun. But according to the Bible, sin is ignoring God in the world he has made. It’s rebelling against him by living without reference to him. The Bible clearly links sin with death, and not just death here, but eternal death (e.g., Heb 9:27). That’s why sin matters. And we’ll be looking more at those consequences next week. All of us—including the paralytic have done it—we have all sinned! Sin is not treating God as God. It’s relational. It’s to use and ignore God in his world. It’s to ask Jesus, ‘What right do you have to forgive sin?’

SO, here's the deal so far in Mark, Jesus acts like He’s the ruler of God’s world. If that’s true there are some questions for us to ask ourselves…
• Do I recognize who he is?
• Will I recognize that he is my Lord and teacher, whether I like it or not?
• Do I recognize that he has authority over my death, whether I like it or not?
• Do I see that he has the authority to forgive my sin or leave it unforgiven?

These are good questions to ask because if Jesus is who he claims to be then it is a scandal that we haven’t lived under his authority, for he gives us each breath. If he is the king then we are guilty of treason. If you believe this, you have to ask, “Will I submit to him?”

littlefaith

I am always struck by the way Jesus addresses the dicsiples in Matthew 6:30. Jesus exhorts us not to be anxious about our lives--food, drink, our bodies and the like. Contrasting us with flowers and grass (which never worry in case you were wondering!), Jesus calls those listening "Littlefaiths." The orignal there really carries a connotation that carries the emphasis of almost a proper name. Jesus goes on to exhort us "Littlefaiths" to "seek first His kingdom and righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

I am continually struck with the numerous ways in life and ministry that I live like such a "Littlefaith." The Lord wants to do so much more in us and through us for His Kingdom's sake than we can imagine! Let us seek His Kingdom and allow the Lord to add the rest!

Who Is Jesus?

This Sunday in college we began to explore Who Jesus really is. Recognizing that we each have so many questions on our minds--from the profound to the intensely personal--we have decided this Fall to focus our time together on Sunday mornings on the big questions of life such as:
• Does God exist?
• What is the meaning of our brief lives?
• Where do I belong?
• Can I know contentment and happiness?
• Where am I going?
• What about pain and suffering?

There's no better place to investigate these issues than by investigating the person of Christ Jesus. You see, the Christian faith claims to answer these questions. Yet so many still have questions about the Christian faith, because they've had experiences that lead them to wonder if Christianity is really just about boring lectures, or irrelevant ideas, or make believe stories. In the Gospel of Mark, we see that the Christian faith is about Jesus Christ and knowing Him. In fact, Mark opens his account of the life of this man, Jesus, saying that he is going to tell us the great news about King Jesus, the very Son of God! In the first verse of the book, he says, "The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Over the next few weeks we'll be putting Mark's claim to the test. What does he have to say about Jesus? What makes it news--what makes it GREAT news?? Is Jesus really King? The Son of God? That's what our time together will be all about this Fall.

It was great to meet another great batch of students this past Sunday! If you're still checking out churches, or even Christianity, I want to encourage you to check out the number of really good churches in the area. At Grace, we see ourselves as a part of a larger team working for the gospel on the Central Coast. At the same time, we're very excited about what God is doing in our midst here at Grace. It's fantastic the way young and old, rich and poor and people of diverse backgrounds gather together each week to hear God's Word and worship. We'd love for you to join us!