A Life Worthy

Tag: John the Baptist

  • One-a-Day Thursday, 1/8/15

    number 1When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”  Jesus replied, “Go back and tell John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor …” (Mathew 11:2-5).

    Not to the wealthy.

    Not to the powerful.

    Not to the strong.

    All through this verse, we have seen Jesus giving to those that society ignored.  Now he caps it off by giving everything to those with nothing.

    His message?  Oh, I know you know it, but hear it again.  Drink it in—you can never get enough of this:

    God loves you. You, who feel so helpless…useless…

    Worthless.

    The God of Everything loves you enough to sacrifice the dearest part of himself, to know pain and shame and loneliness that he never earned, so that he could be with you.

    Always

    That, Beloved, is worth getting up on a Thursday for.

  • One-a-Day Wednesday, 1/7/15

    number 1When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”  Jesus replied, “Go back and tell John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised …” (Mathew 11:2-5).

    Zombies.

    They’re among Hollywood’s favorite monsters.

    We seem to be fascinated with the idea of people rising from the dead to walk among us.  Of course, when Hollywood raises the dead, you end up with empty, soulless creatures.  They are raised from death…to death.

    When you think about it, isn’t that what most of humanity is?  Animated, but not really alive.  Walking the earth, but empty and dead inside.

    Spiritual zombies.

    Jesus did not raise the dead to death.  He raised the dead to life.

    Inside and out.

    As in Adam all died, even so in Christ all shall be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22).

    Walk in life today, Beloved.

  • One-a-Day Monday, 1/5/15

    number 1When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”  Jesus replied, “Go back and tell John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured …” (Matthew 11:2-5).

    Unclean!

    OK, that would be a pretty unsettling thing to hear, back in the day.  You’re walking down the street, talking to your friends, maybe enjoying a tasty kosher snack, when you hear that word yelled out.

    Unclean!

    The call would have a certain edge to it—disgust, shock, a touch of panic.  It meant that somewhere nearby there was a person with leprosy or some other skin ickiness, and you were gonna want to clear out of the way pronto.  This person was blemished, damaged, unacceptable,

    Unclean

    and if you came into contact with them, you would be, too.

    Now imagine that you are the unclean one.  You are diseased, and there’s nothing you can do about it.  You walk through life knowing that your very self is filthy, inside and out.  No matter how hard you scrub, you just can’t get rid of it.  No matter what clothes or makeup or mask you wear, you just can’t hide the fact that you are blemished, damaged, unacceptable,

    Unclean.

    Oh yeah…that was you.

    And me.

    Until Jesus.

    But that is no longer you.

    Now you are cured.

    Now you are whole.

    Now you are clean.

    Now you are Beloved.

    Take that into your Monday.

  • One-a-Day Tuesday, 12/30/14

    number 1Jesus replied. “Go back and tell John what you hear and see…” (Matthew 11:4).

    I’m really glad that Jesus didn’t respond with a parable here.

    He often did, you know—particularly when he thought that questions stemmed from hard-heartedness, disbelief, or a challenge to his authority.  But John has already proven that he belongs in none of those categories.

    Jesus also didn’t respond with nebulous promises or obscure references to Scripture.  He answered directly, pointing to the things he was doing that clearly identified him as Messiah.

    He said, in effect, “Look around and see for yourself.”

    I like that he took John’s question seriously, because it means that he takes my questions seriously.

    It’s OK to ask him questions, Beloved.  He knows your heart.

    He formed it, after all.

    Happy Tuesday.

  • One-a-Day Monday, 12/29/14

    number 1When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”  (Mathew 11:2-3)

    Kinda startling, when you think about it.

    I mean, he’s John the Baptist.  He has served Jesus since the womb.  He baptized Jesus—hence the title.  He has seen the heavens open and the Spirit of God descend upon Jesus.

    And now he’s asking, “Am I right?  Are you the guy?”

    How could he ask that?

    Maybe, you know, because he’s in prison.

    Maybe John was having a hard time seeing God’s hand in his present circumstances.  Maybe he had the same picture of Messiah in his head that most Jews had—a King who would come and free them from their bondage.  I know he called Jesus, “The Lamb of God,” but did he fully get what he was saying?

    Here he sits, in prison, waiting for the whim of Herod to decide his fate.

    And Jesus doesn’t seem to be doing much.

    Now, I know you’ve never experienced this, but John was in need of a little reassurance here.  He needed to know that what he had been preaching, what he had been living, what he was preparing to die for was really true.

    Not a nifty little life philosophy.

    True.

    And so he asked.

    Have you asked, Beloved?

    Because, there is an answer.  We’ll look at it tomorrow.

    Spoiler alert—it’s pretty awesome.