He Cares

When we look at babies we see the most beautiful little things, innocent, with brand

new brains that as yet contain very little knowledge. Aveline, this little Great Grand Daughter of mine (Ava, for short), lives in our English speaking Australia, and English is not a very easy language to learn, but by the time Ava is about six years old she will have a very good grasp of the language. However, Australia is a fairly isolated country and we hardly ever hear other languages spoken so if she hears another language she will not understand it, unless she studies it at school, of course.

Likewise, she was born into a devout Christian family so will visit a church to worship God every Sunday, will say grace at meal times, and pray for family and loved ones as well as lots of other people before going to bed at night or to school each day. Therefore, by the time she is about six years old she will not only understand English, but will also look on Christianity as a normal part of her life and if she hears someone say that Jesus was the “Son of God”, she will have no problem accepting that.

I know all this is true because I was brought up in a similar manner. However, in recent times there have been a lot of people from foreign countries coming to live in Australian and these people, in many cases, don’t speak or understand the English language very well, and to complicate the matter still further they often don’t understand the Christian way of thinking, so if they hear me talk of Jesus as “the Son of God” or talk about Him being “Divine” they may well think I am being sacrilegious, and even deserve to die for making such a statement about a person, after all, (when you think about it), it was the very religious Jews who arranged for Jesus to be Crucified because he made such a claim, and people don’t change: for example, the war in Syria at the moment is between two religious groups who just have two different interpretations of the same religion. Considering all the above and its importance to the future of peace and understanding within our land, I will attempt to explain, very briefly, why Christians believe the way they do and what backing they have for their beliefs, (obviously I will have to leave a lot out or this will become a book). Of one thing you can be certain though: I love my God and would never be sacrilegious.

Firstly, then, Jesus was born to a virgin and I am pleased that the Muslims believe this too. Virgin birth does occasionally occur.  It happens under a process which is called parthenogenesis. However, on her own a woman cannot produce a male baby, only a female. That is why when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary (as recorded in Luke 1 verse 26) He said in verse 35 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you therefore also the Holy One who is to be born will be called The Son of God”. A deliberately arranged virgin berth would be miracle enough, but a male baby as well, requires God’s intervention.                                                                                                                           At 12 years of age Jesus showed that he knew who His Real Father was: on a visit to Jerusalem he became parted from his family and when they found him he was “in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, (religious leaders), both hearing them and asking them questions, and all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers”. When Mary said they had been looking for him everywhere, he replied, didn’t you realise “that I must be about my Father’s business”. (Luke 2: 49).

When he reached manhood he had many followers, but the closest ones were the 12 disciples who were with him constantly: they saw him feed five thousand men plus women and children with 5 loaves and 2 small fish and collect 12 baskets full of leftovers, and later feed four thousand in a similar manner. They saw him walk on water, heal mentally and physically sick people. Raise the dead, one of which had been dead for 4 days and whose body was putrid. But when he said “Lazarus come forth” he came out of his tomb perfect. They heard him tell a raging storm “peace be still” and it stopped immediately. They heard him preach wonderful sermons, and when he asked these disciples who they thought he was, Peter replied immediately: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” and his reply was: “Flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you but My Father in heaven”. Then speaking to Phillip he said: “he who has seen me has seen the Father, for I and the Father are one”. For this sort of statement, the Jews had him crucified and he went along with that because it was the reason he came to earth (to die for the sins of all of us so God could forgive us and accept us into heaven, if we repent and believe on Jesus (John 3:16)). Of course that wasn’t the end of him. After 3 days he rose from the dead and mingled with the disciples and others for many weeks; just appearing in locked rooms but nevertheless having a body that was solid to the touch (not like a ghost).

I have run out of room, so I will continue next week, or you can read the New Testament. It is all there.  Best wishes, Tom.

He Continues to Care

Last week, under the heading “He Cares” I was writing about Jesus and ran out of room so here is a “Post Script” to help complete the picture.

Having been in Jesus company for a number of years, his disciples, were devastated when he was suddenly crucified, but he anticipated that and because he cared for people he spoke to John from the cross, even though he was in great pain, and asked him to look after his mother, Mary. Which John did from then on. You will also recall that Peter, who said that he would never forsake Jesus, did actually deny knowing him three times, at Jesus’ trial, and was very upset when the full realisation of what he had done dawned on him. However, Jesus showed his compassion as recorded in Mark 16: 7, where the angel sitting in the empty tomb told the ladies, who had come to anoint Jesus body with spices, that Jesus had risen and to go and tell the disciples and Peter, that he would meet them in Galilee. Jesus subsequently went to a lot of effort to tell Peter to “feed his sheep and feed his lambs”. It is very reassuring that when we let Jesus down without meaning to, we can ask his forgiveness and receive it.

In the last article, I was remarking on the fact that after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples, and many other people, over a period of 40 days, not as a Ghost, but in complete bodily form. John 20 verse 19 is a good example: the disciples were gathered in a locked room for fear of the Jews and Jesus just appeared and showed them his wounded hands, feet and pierced side, and in Chapter 21, seven of the disciples spent the night fishing and caught nothing. Jesus was standing on the shore as they returned, although they didn’t recognise him. He called out to them, asking if they had caught anything and when they replied “no” he told them to cast the net on the right side of the boat and immediately their net was full with 153 large fish.

It was then that John recognised Jesus and told Peter “It is the Lord” and when they came ashore, Jesus already had fish cooking on coals, and some bread ready. A very welcome sight, I’m sure, you see He showed how he cares in that case by providing fish for them to sell as well as a very much appreciated breakfast and they were also astounded that even with such a large catch they were able to pull it ashore without the net tearing.

After his resurrection he spent a lot of time with them; reassuring them and helping them to come to terms with what had happened and explaining what it all meant. Finally, though, he had to go back to the Father, but he didn’t just leave them (and us who have been born since), without help to cope with life and all the difficulties and trials that are a normal part of living. His actual words were “It is expedient for you that I go: because if I don’t go, He cannot come”. The “He” mentioned here is the Holy Spirit, and Jesus told his followers to virtually “do nothing” until they received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in a few days’ time. (Luke 24:49 and Acts1:4&5). This confirms what Jesus said prior to his Crucifixion, as recorded in John 14:26, where he promised that the Father would send the Holy Spirit to be their Comforter and would remind them of the things he had said. We see then that God wants to help Jesus followers in a very special way.

Let me explain how this is to work out in practice: If you have ever been extremely cold and had a hot shower or a hot bath to “thaw out” you will recall that the warmth of the water finds its way into every portion of your body and you feel warm through and through and if you come out and place your hand on someone cold they will exclaim “Oh your hand is so lovely and warm” as you impart some of your warmth to them. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is somewhat similar to that, because the original meaning of “baptism” was to submerse something e.g. a sunken ship was said to be baptised in the sea. Likewise, a piece of cloth submersed in dye to change its colour was said to be baptised in the liquid. Similarly, then, God wants us to be saturated with the characteristics of the Holy Spirit, just as the person in the hot bath absorbed the waters warmth. And just as that absorbing of warmth was a quiet, comforting and exhilarating experience so is the Holy Spirits anointing. The difference being that He doesn’t just help us and then move on as Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 6:19 & 20, “What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you?” etc. Thus we can be assured of His continuing presence and guidance as we endeavour to live the Christian life. Therefore, the “fruit of the Spirit”: Love, Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self- control, and faithfulness, should become evident in us., with the overall aim of blessing others with love and kindness so they too feel the “warmth” of His love.

Best wishes,  Tom.