JESUS' LAST WORDS

6^th WORD FROM THE CROSS

‘It is finished’   -   John 19:30

·          Last words of people usually mean a lot – it usually reveals that person’s deepest values & beliefs (or) something which is close to their heart.    

It is believed that Mother Teresa, kept saying:  “Jesus, I love you – Jesus, I love you”, as she breathed her last.

In my younger days, I used to think that this was when Jesus succumbed to His death – after the immense torture He went through.

-  The movie PASSION OF CHRIST .. and our understanding of Jesus’ struggles suggests that this is an end to Jesus’ suffering … In one way, YES!  But the meaning is much broader.

It doesn’t mean: I AM FINISHED!  This was not a cry of defeat, but one of victory / not a victim, but one of a VICTOR!

The MESSAGE Bible puts it nicely as:  IT’S DONE .. [IT’S] COMPLETE

WHAT IS FINISHED?

We can only say it’s finished, when we set out to do something.

Jesus’ last words take us back to His first few words, when He was just 12 years old.

What Jesus said and did is not recorded for us in the Holy Scriptures, up until this time.

Luke 2:48, 49      Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. ⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom.  

⁴³ After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 

 ⁴⁴ Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day ..

48  When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You treated us this way? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You."

49  And He said to them, "Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father's house?"

At that age, He knew what His business was … It's believed that being in Father's house, meant He was about His business.  

A little further on in John 4:34,35 - 34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest."

Half way through, He had kept His focus, as He claims in John 9:4 (KJV) - ^“I must do the works of him that sent me…”

God’s work of salvation which He initiated at the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden – Jesus came to do that – and that work was now finished, at the Cross.

-          Salvation is what God initiates & it’s not a RELIGION or about any religious ritual.

-          We don’t need to do anything to earn our salvation, to be reconciled back with God.

In the Temple, there was a place called the ‘Holy of Holies’ and there was this curtain which prevented people from entering the presence of God – becoz of sin.

Once a year, the High Priest was permitted by Jewish law to enter this place to make the sacrifice on behalf of people’s sins. (cf. Heb.9:7)

This was known as the ‘Day of Atonement’ - ghtg; ghpfhu ehs; (Lev. 23:27)

Matt.27:51 – After Jesus had spoken the Sixth Word The veil of the temple was torn in 2 – no ref. in Scriptures to the thickness of that curtain; but Josephus (a church historian / Jewish scholar) describes it being 4 inches thick .. and horses tied to either end could not pull it apart.

Now, this curtain was no longer necessary.  Jesus Christ would now be our only mediator between God and His people. Now, it’s thrown open for all to enter.

Hebrews 4:14-16 [KJV] (*14,16)   

¹⁴ Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

¹⁵ For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

-         And having accomplished His Mission, Jesus was now ready to go home!  

J

      Jesus knew exactly what it was to be in His Father's business.

      Some of us need an assurance of what we are called to do!

      Only when we know, we can go all-out for it. 

      And for those of us who know our call and vocation, let's be faithful, rather than trying to do something else or doing some other job, for which we are not called.

We all need a Guide in life

If Virat Kohli is the man of the moment in Indian cricket, then Sachin Tendulkar is not far behind - perhaps, he is even miles ahead of this new batting sensation.

Obviously, the wait for the 100th century was long for Sachin - much more to his liking, and the cricket fans around the world.
Though, not open about it, he surely felt the pressure when he went in to bat every single time - "would this be the moment?"
But sadly, it was not to be - for a while at least.
And no wonder, after he scored that century, with a huge sigh of relief he said like it felt he was 50 kgs. lighter after scoring that century.

Two days later, the man who has seen it all, even went to the extent of saying "I wish there was someone to guide me, about how to deal with this. I am not complaining but it happened for the first time", after he scored that elusive 100th Int'l century against Bangladesh during the Asia Cup in Dhaka.
Times of India put that on the headlines on Sunday's newspaper on 18th March '12.

While indeed there was no one who had ever scored 100 hundreds in Int'l cricket - the question to ask is:
"Was there really no one, who could have guided him?"
"Did he look around as to who he could possibly turn to?"

It seems like he was caught up with his own burden, and clearly thought or failed to see that there was no one out there who had trudged along similar terrain.
Sadly he missed out on being guided during the most strenuous time in his career, when he could have gained momentum and strength.

Much alike Tendulkar, Roger Federer too, had to wait for six long years since becoming No. 1 to win the French Open, a title that made critics agree he was the greatest ever. When Sachin was asked to compare the two situations, the Master paused, "I am sure what Federer went through was tough. I would not compare the 100th hundred with the French Open, rather it would be the World Cup. I had to wait 22 years and that wait was much longer (than Federer's)".

Again, we see a justification that his was a much longer wait than any body else.
Sachin had known Federer personally - so, he could have possibly sought his help or at least discussed things with him.
There are a number of others who have scaled such heights, whom he could have turned to.
But it was not to be!!

When we rationalize our viewpoint, we are in danger of missing out on learning a vital truth in life, which God wants us to learn.

- Do we miss a trick or two, because we feel that we are going through something which no one else has ever gone through?
- Do we feel over-confident that we can do things on our own without anyone's help?
- Do we think that no one else will ever understand, because they have just not gone through this themselves?

These are warning signals that we need to pay heed to. A sign that we are aloof and clearly not interested in the 'common good' & to learn from others.

The fact is, we all need A GUIDE IN LIFE.
In John 14;16, Jesus said, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever" - the word Counsellor (or) Comforter in some translations is the word 'parakletos' (or) 'parakleet' in Greek.
Though it doesn't have a one word meaning in our language today, it literally means ~ someone who comes alongside us and puts his hand over our shoulders and walks with us.

Jesus felt it was important that we have a guide in our spiritual journey and has given us the gift in the Holy Spirit, who is with us at all times.

And practically speaking, we all need A GUIDE / A MENTOR / A LEADER - to whom we are accountable and relating to on a regular basis - so we can maximize our learning experiences along the way.

Why do we need a Guide?
This is an extract from Pr. E.D. Chelladurai's message at the "Good Shepherd Community Church" in OM, Bangalore last week.

1) To save our soul
- Acts 8:31 - The Ethiopian Eunuch, needed Stephen to come alongside and explain to him the truth from the Scriptures.

2) To oversee our soul
- I Peter 2:25 / Hebrews 13:17 - Leaders are watchers over us
Primarily, Jesus is - but we need people around us too!

3) To help receive the anointing for our soul
- Elisha received the double portion of the anointing from his master Elijah

A friend when in dire straits

Have we heard of people betraying the other person, when one person trusted the other?
It happens all the time in the world around us. Why, it happens within the church as well.

It's a nasty feeling when we hear of someone who was betrayed by his/her friend - let alone, when we are involved.
How about this?
- Have we ever felt betrayed by someone, whom we trusted?
- Have we done that to people close to us?


We are going to look at a story from the Bible, where a person trusted his friend, even when things didn't look like it - and he was rewarded for that act.
In fact, both of them were rewarded - because it takes 2 to come together to form that kind of trust.

I Samuel 20:1,2 (NIV) - Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to kill me?”
“Never!” Jonathan replied. “You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why would he hide this from me? It isn’t so!”

Leading to this conversation was Saul's rage and raving madness in wanting David killed.

In the early verses of chp.18, we see that even before Saul contemplated killing David, Saul's son Jonathan 'became one in spirit with David' and established a covenant of friendship.

And in chp.19 opening verses, its pretty obvious that Saul didn't like David's growing popularity among his citizens that he gathered his inner circle and conveyed his plans to kill David - Jonathan was present too!

Now that Saul went in search of David to Naioth to kill him, David turns to Jonathan for help .. and at first glance Jonathan's reply seems flattering.

Imagine ourself in David's shoes and consider the response given by Jonathan - we would think that Jonathan is playing the game with Saul in betraying the 'covenant friendship'.
What is so open and obvious is seemingly covered up by Jonathan or at least it looks like it at face value.

- Is Jonathan trying to protect his father, Saul's image?
- Is Jonathan not concerned about his covenant with David (cf. I Sam. 18:1-4)

An old proverb is quoted very often: "A friend in need, is a friend indeed"!

The test of true friendship will reveal its true colours - ie: when things are not going well.

But take a close look at the following verses in chp.19 (vs.4-6) ... "Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly.
5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The LORD won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?”
⁶ Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death.”

Jonathan had every right to believe that Saul was genuine in this .. in fact, he even comes and tells David everything that happened there - which is probably why David trusted his friend even when Saul was full-on after his life notwithstanding the travel he undertakes in order to find David, forgetting all about the oath he had taken a few days ago.

Jonathan's response in the Hebrew text (in vs.2) is emphatic, as he insists vehemently and denies that David's life is in danger.
Surely, he (Jonathan) was convinced, as a result of that conversation he'd had with his father and the vow that Saul had taken - hence he must be safe!

Jonathan, a true friend is faithful not just to David, but also to his dad - not wanting to betray either one.

And at the center of that belief was his conviction that his father would always confide in him - though Saul's action were proving otherwise.

How many of us can say that of us in our life?
- Do we care enough to not smear the reputation of those around us, when we have an opportunity?
- Do we care enough to stick our neck out in the cutting block, when our friends need us?
- Do we care for the overall good of others, even if it means letting go of things, which we could enjoy otherwise?

Jonathan, because he valued his own words and commitment, was expecting those around him to do the same as well or at least gave them the opportunity to do so.
When we do well, it spurs others to good works.

I'd rather be proved wrong in believing the best about others than live in a state of cynical suspicion, where I'm just waiting for them to do their worst.
One of the greatest gifts we can be given is the confidence of others, and the knowledge that they really do believe in us.

A prayer:
Lord, save me (us) from cynicism. Help me (us) to trust and risk disappointment, rather than believe that others will fail me. Help me (us) to be a friend to those in need of my friendship. Amen.

Hearing God's Voice - A Commitment to Keep-On Hearing (Video)

For a change this time I decided to upload a video file of my devotional. It's actually a sermon, which I preached at the 'Mercy Vineyard' Church in Bangalore on the eve of the Advent season.

There is a key principle in HEARING & OBEYING the Voice of God.
I have split the message into 7 equal parts, and hopefully it will minister to you.

Blessings & love this season.

May Christ be the real reason for our celebration!

I am quoting something I found on the net:

THE REAL CHRISTMAS???

It was the week before Christmas. Parking spaces were hard to come by.
There were long lines, crowded stores, rude people, and grossly inflated prices.
In one long checkout line, one man was heard to say, "They should kill the guy who started Christmas."
One wise and godly woman in the line said, "They did - they hung Him on a cross".
Therein lies the REAL Christmas story.


Part 1 of 7


Part 2 of 7


Part 3 of 7


PLEASE NOTE: There is an error on Part 3 of 7 video at the 3:30 - 3:32 minute:
I said, "There's no point in going to the astrologers to see what my day will look like" - actually, it should have been: "There's no harm in going (or) it's worth going to the astrologers for guidance, to see what my day will look like".


Part 4 of the series had a technical glitch, which I just spotted a few moments ago. I had been trying to upload that file over few days, but it was getting nowhere. I was under the impression that the internet was slow in uploading.
Finally, it got sorted out now - it's 2:15 am and I am glad I spotted it :-)
Sorry for the inconvenience caused to any of you, if any one was out there waiting to listen to it.
Now it stands complete.


Part 4 of 7



Part 5 of 7


Part 6 of 7


Part 7 of 7



Hope you were blessed listening to the sermon and have made a commitment to keep listening to Him - which is the ultimate goal of this message.

To Minister or To Be Ministered Unto? (Part 2of2)

"For the Son of Man came not to be ministered to but to minister, and to give His life as a ransom for many" - Mark 10:45

This is an excerpt taken from Winkie Pratney's "a handbook for FOLLOWERS OF JESUS".

Part 2 of 2

Not praised?
You have been kind to someone. You did him a service. It cost you something to do it. Naturally you thought he would appreciate your good deed. But he didn't at least not the way you thought he should have. You expected warm thanks, a little fuss made over it, but your friend took it quite cooly. And now you are disgusted. You feel in your heart that you will never help anyone else again. Why?
You have ministered to another. You helped someone in need. But you have not been ministered to by his thanks and praise, and perhaps by a little flattery, too!

Not consulted?
You have great taste, sound judgement. Your head is together. You really have what it takes to give advice. But no one asked you. Or when they did ask, they ignored what you said even though you really felt you knew what you were talking about.
You can't understand it. You feel rubbed the wrong way. Your spirit is ruffled.
What is the trouble?

Is it that you came wanting to minister to your friend, and by not taking your advice he is now in a real mess? Not at all.
As a matter of fact, he has done very well without your help. The trouble is this: you have not been recognized. Your reputation as an authority has not been ministered unto.
You came not to minister, but to be ministered unto!

You may speak in public. A good crowd comes out to one of your rap times. You see with satisfaction that Mr. X, a famous and important Christian, is there too. You have a great subject and you wax eloquent. At the end you feel very pleased with yourself.
You naturally expect Mr. X to come up at once, grab your hand and thank you warmly.
But he walks out of the hall quietly without a word. How disappointed you feel!
And why is this?
You ministered to a lot of people. But this was not quite what you wanted. In your heart you wanted that sermon to minister to you.

Perhaps you are bothered about your job.
You are doing fairly well. Your needs are met. But you want great things, and circumstances just haven't lived up to what you expected. You feel down constantly over it.
What is really at the bottom of all this?
You want to make a bigger show, to be thought more of. You want to be rich, and you covet things God doesn't want you to have. And when your desires are not granted, when your love for success is not ministered to, you are discouraged or angry.


Think it through. Whatever we do in life, you will be surprised to find how much of your unrest and how many of your troubles arise from this same cause: coming to be ministered to instead of coming to minister, even in the little things.

• You want a wet day, but it turns out fine
• You want it to be sunny, and it rains
• A visitor calls, when you want to go out
• You are asked to sing, but your voice is husky and fails you in the middle of the song
• The answer to the letter doesn't come
• The phone rings
• The phone doesn't ring
• The pen won't write
• The dress won't fit
• The power is off
• The roads are bad
• The traffic is chaotic, and it's the other person's fault
• Something is wrong with the meal
• There is no meal

There is nothing big, nothing we can really put our finger on, but we are always coming into the world with our likes and dislikes, wishes and wants; and if we are not ministered to in these little things, we get bothered and uptight and hassled with ourselves and with everyone else.

There is a better way to live!
Instead of having the spirit of being to, we can have the spirit of ministering to others.
We can remember that Jesus said, "Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant" (cf. Matt.20:27)

To Minister or To Be Ministered Unto? (Part 1of2)

"For the Son of Man came not to be ministered to but to minister, and to give His life as a ransom for many" - Mark 10:45

This is an excerpt taken from Winkie Pratney's "a handbook for FOLLOWERS OF JESUS".

Part 1 of 2

This coming 'to be ministered to' is the spirit of the world. It is at the bottom of fights in the nursery, arguments at school, quarrels between people and wars among nations.
Isn't it true that we are too often cross, angry, hassled?
Sometimes we show it by blowing our cool. Sometimes we keep our cool outwardly but the rotten feelings are still there. And why? Most probably because we have come to be ministered to and have been disappointed.

The fact is, we are always wanting to be ministered to by people, by fortune, by circumstances, even by the weather. It is so natural, so needed, so "right".
If we are frustrated (as we often are), we are apt to get uptight and sulky, and we usually wind up making ourselves and others miserable.

You are slighted, ignored, brushed aside.
Your boss doesn't show you the proper consideration. Your brother doesn't treat you with the respect due to your awareness, your wisdom, your talents - and you feel it very much.
In fact, you are really very hassled by it. It is because your feelings, your rights, your gifts, your position, your dignity, your importance were not recognized.

You were not ministered to!

Perhaps, you are jealous; another is praised and put before you.
He does better than you.
She is luckier than you.
The honour, the success, the popularity, the reward went to the others.
They got what you thought you ought to have.
You wanted it for yourself.
You came to be ministered to. And because they have been ministered to in your place, you are jealous.


Think about it:
Have you been hassled lately because someone slighted you or put someone else before you? Can you see now that your feelings were hurt because you were expecting to be ministered to?

Have you ever been treated like dirt?
There is no excuse for people who have rotten attitudes and who deliberately put you down. But you are a follower of Jesus.
I ask you, if you had come, like your Master, "not to be ministered to, but to minister", would you be feeling so sore and angry?

Think about that for a minute.
How would your attitude be different if your main purpose were to minister rather than be ministered to?

Well, the list is endless -- I think I will stop here for us to pause and to meditate on some of these thought-provoking statements.

Part 2 of 2 from this thought will continue in my next post .. so, please keep a watch for it in a few week's time :-)

My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?

The 4th word / phrase from the cross is one of the difficult passages, as that creates more doubt in my mind about God's presence with me at all times.

I was asked to speak in the church today on this word and my first reaction to this was: "My God, My God - why this passage out of the 7?"
But I am so glad, I was asked to preach on this, as I learnt something new and very important for my Christian faith.

The common understanding of this passage is: Because Jesus was carrying the sins of the world; the Father couldn’t bear to see it, because He is a Holy God – which is why He turned His face away!
While it’s a good concept, I always found it very hard to believe … because God came in search of men, who were sinful - in fact, it started off like that in the Garden of Eden, when Adam & Eve sinned.

Also, when Jesus was on this earth physically, He made a very bold declaration in John 8:29 – “The One who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases Him”

Now on the Cross, was Jesus doing what God wanted Him to do? Absolutely!!
- Then why did God leave Him?

It doesn’t make sense that God would leave Jesus alone, on a Mission which was His initiative?

And if that's true, I have a problem with that because I am committed to the Great Commission - and as per Matt.28:18-20 He promises He will be with me always, even to the very end of the age.

But if God deserted Jesus while He was on the cross, there is no assurance, that He will be with me, while I endlessly pursue the Great Commission!
If God can forsake Christ, He can certainly do that to me, because I am not perfect!

I would like to explain 2 things here:

1) Did God really forsake Jesus – at that point?

I would say ‘NO’ – not really!

Naturally, the next question then is: Was Jesus lying? - well, an EMPHATIC 'NO' to that as well!

So, how do we get around it?

A good Hermeneutics (~ the art of interpreting the Scriptures) when dealing with difficult passages is always allow the Scriptures to interpret Scriptures - because the Scriptures don't contradict itself!

So I look at where else this phrase is repeated?
Psalm 22:1,2 - "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent"

What Jesus is doing here is adapting a common rabbinic teaching technique known as REMEZ (a Hebrew word ~ hint).

By the way, the English word 'reminiscence' comes from this root!

- This particular technique alludes to / hints at something which would have been known on that day, by the majority of Jewish people – given the fact, that they knew the entire Hebrew Scriptures by memory (the Torah & the Psalms).

Similar, to how people respond now-a-days with 'ALL THE TIME" when we say, “God is good …”

Jesus used this technique on quite a few occasions during His ministry and here at the Cross, it's no different - because He is telling people (without actually telling them, but making them think), that this is NOT THE END!

Take a look at Psalm 22:

Vs.4,5 – “In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.

They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed”.

The Jewish people, though slow in picking things up (including the disciples), would have certainly understood what Jesus meant at that time and would have reflected on the Psalm.

The Roman soldiers and others were unaware of the Scriptures, so they kept taunting Him.

Vs.7,8 – is what they have been doing to Him – mocking Him, taunting Him, hurling insults …

The whole Psalm is a reflection of what God can do, when things are looking bleak.

2) Secondly, have you ever noticed that when we go through struggles, it always seems to be the biggest struggle ever, in the face of the earth? Be it a cold or a headache?

And it feels like God has left us alone to battle it out.

I am not saying that Jesus is doing that here – but as I had mentioned earlier, He’s getting them to think that this is not the end.

- The call is to see the problems in God’s perspective & not be bogged down by it.

For eg: if you place a small coin against a big table – the table looks considerably big. But when the small coin is kept against the eye, the table (which is much bigger) is covered – and we can’t see it!

Our problems are like that compared to a God who is big – but we don’t see Him, because we put the problems so much in front of us.

The famous story – FOOT PRINTS ON THE SAND (Mary Stevenson)

“One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.

Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.

Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,

other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed

that during the low periods of my life,

when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat,

I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord, "You promised me Lord, that if I followed you,

you would walk with me always.

But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life

there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.

Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied, "The times when you have

seen only one set of footprints, is when I carried you."

So, though it seems like God is far off – realistically He is there.

Jesus knew His Scriptures and He quoted Scriptures right throughout His life-time - from the beginning, when He was 12 yrs. old, when He interacted with the Religious leaders; and in the wilderness when satan tempted Him; and during His ministry ...

And on the Cross, it was no different – He was quoting Scriptures …

Jesus said these words only once … but it’s echoing all over the world every time, as people say it all the time - and usually quoting it out of context.

And in times of trouble for us – rather than, just quoting half the Scriptures and sulking in our problems .. it’s time, we realize the fullness of His Word and see the Lord’s presence carry us through that struggle – as we see Jesus come through victoriously from the Cross.

God did not abandon Him and He wouldn't do that to us as well!

'Real' Fear or 'Realistic' Faith

I haven't posted anything here in a while, as things have been busy ... but I came across this article, which I had written for a magazine, where I was working earlier and I thought, it's a good one to put up here:

There’s never a place where ‘fear’ & ‘faith’ can co-exist in its totality. There are umpteen scriptures which talk about an ‘either-or’ situation, both explicitly & implicitly.

Fear is natural & so real; whereas faith is unnatural & optimistic – yet, it can be realistic!

Everyone has a certain measure of fear – to fear is human.

But when that fear start to dictate terms, we dwell on that reality and DOUBTS creep in – that’s why it’s so important for us to develop a habit of focusing on that which help us nurture our faith – so, we can look beyond the natural, which causes us to drown at times.

Faith can be as real as fear is!

The study for this issue is taken from: Matt.14:22-34 – ‘JESUS WALKING ON THE WATER’

BACKGROUND INFO:

The incident prior to this event was Jesus feeding the 5,000+ crowd.

In vs.15, the disciples seemed very concerned for the people, who were with them this long. However, Jesus didn’t panic.

In fact, in vs.18 – Jesus directs the people to sit down for a meal.

Note that Jesus did this job? Why didn’t the disciples do it? Well, this is a faith project and the disciples showed that they didn’t have much of it – they were perhaps ‘grumpy’.

If the disciples would have been told to do so, they would have gone into the crowd and said something like this: “Look, we told him, but He insists we sit down for a meal. There’s only 5 loaves and 2 fish – so, if you want a piece of that food, you better be the first in line otherwise it wouldn’t last for too long”

That would have surely dampened the spirit in the crowd & probably a stampede would have occured. The Disciples didn’t even expect Jesus to meet this need.

It’s in this context we read the passage before us (please read the scripture, before you proceed further):

From this passage there are 2 things which are evident: FEAR & FAITH

1) FEAR

There are 2 expressions of fear. One involved all the disciples, and the other involved Peter. Both circumstances were so real and it justified their fear.

How is it that the disciples didn’t recognize someone who was so close to them? Whom did they cry out to anyway?

THEIR RESPONSE IN FEAR:

On both occasions, they pray out instantly – it was neither fabricated nor fancy, but straight to the point. And note that the answer was immediate too!

Peter, being a fisherman must have known some swimming. Why wasn’t he ready to swim back to the boat, or even towards Jesus, when he began to drown? What does that show about his faith in Jesus? When Peter was drowning did reality matter or the words of Jesus? What are its implications?

2) FAITH

Jesus demonstrated faith; Peter demonstrated it; and so did the people at Gennesaret, when they brought the sick to Jesus to be prayed for, believing in His ability to cure.

WHAT MADE THEM TICK?

*** Jesus developed a life-style of balancing His time with:

· the Disciples – in Private with the 12 and the inner circle – Peter, James & John

· the People – in Public

· the Father – in Prayer (this discipline being the key)

The prayer aspect enabled Him to keep His focus right at all times. He was never too busy to spend time with the Father, in spite of being extremely busy with the people. Here we see Jesus sending the disciples & the crowd away to go up on a mountain to pray. He was there from evening until the fourth watch – a long time since he started praying.

Info: An evening time is before the commencement of the ‘watch’. There are 4 watches during the night as per the ancient custom. First watch is from 6-9 pm; second watch from 9-12 midnight; third watch between 12-3 am; & fourth watch from 3-6 am.

Jesus went up the mountain in the evening and returned only during the 4th watch of the night. As per the above time-frame, even if we calculate the end of 'evening' and the beginning of the 4th watch .. Jesus spent time alone with the Father for about 9 hrs.

*** Peter’s faith must have been spurred to action, by him confirming his call at this juncture.

Vs.28,29 – Seems like Peter is asking a dumb question. At least, it seems like it. A ghost (as they feared it was!), could have easily said COME too! So, what is Peter trying to do?

Perhaps trying to associate this word ‘COME’ with his call (cf. Matt. 4:18-20).

Faith is not being blind to the situation around us nor is it being presumptuous – it’s a trust in a God, who is Almighty & Sovereign (cf. Heb.11:1).

HOW DO WE CULTIVATE THIS FAITH IN THE MIDST OF FEAR?

1) Meditate on His Word

Rom.10:17 – “…faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ…”

- Let’s make a commitment to read His Word (Bible) on a regular basis & meditate on it.

2) Meditate on His Works

Faith is built as we reflect on His goodness in the past

- Let’s analyze our life to see how He has proved Himself in the past – this will give us the confidence in taking the step of faith NOW and in the future.

FOR FURTHER STUDY

From the Passage:

** Vs.22,23 – There was a huge crowd – 5000 men + women and children. Jesus sends the disciples on their way first and then dismisses the crowd? Why didn’t Jesus let the disciples disperse the crowd, or why didn’t they volunteer to do that, before they left that place?

** Vs.31 – Peter chastised for doubting. Actually, he’s the one who took the step of faith. The 11 disciples didn’t even venture, but they were spared. Why is this directed at a man who once took that bold step of faith? What does it say about the life of faith?

** Vs.32,33 – It could have been so tempting for Peter to raise his collar and grab all the attention once they stepped back into the boat. The disciples could have praised Peter for his effort – but, they show exemplary model in worshipping Jesus. What does this say about the attitude of the disciples and Peter?

** Vs.35,36 – The people at Gennesaret passed the message about Jesus immediately and brought many who were sick. This is in sharp contrast to the disciples, who had been with Jesus all along and saw all that He did and still failed to comprehend His true nature – here were some simple folks, who believed & passed the word around so quickly and saw many healed. What does this say about our responsibilities in fulfilling the Great Commission in South & Central Asia and beyond?

From other Scriptures:

Mark 4:35-41 (*40) – Can fear exist, when there is faith? What is Jesus saying to the disciples regarding believing in His ability, after experiencing His goodness?

Mark 5:21-43 (*36) – Is it possible to believe the words of God in faith, when the reality is totally different? What makes it possible or impossible?

Mark 10:46-52 – Blind Bartimaeus receives his sight. Jesus declares that his faith has made him well – he did have reasons to fear, when the disciples and the others rebuked him in vs.48, when he cried out to the Lord? What made him persist?