Death In Our Homes

Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him gladly, for they were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
(Luke 8:40-42)

Jairus, unlike the rest of the crowd, waited for Jesus in his time of need and then approached Him. He didn’t just want to see and hear Him; he waited for the Saviour because he wanted Him to do something for him, Jairus.

Why do we wait for Jesus? Do we really long for His help? It’s useful to hear a sermon, it’s good to pay attention to the Bible, but you need humility to take your problems to Jesus.

Jairus was a church leader. It probably wasn’t easy for him to humble himself before a barefoot Christ in front of others but he set aside his status, that of being a teacher of people, maybe because his need was so great. It wasn’t only Jairus who approached Jesus; Jesus approached Jairus. This is the only way the encounter could have happened.

Jesus came from heaven, His home, to this earth where He became homeless. He wants to create a home in each one of us. Jairus approaches that Jesus, the Jesus who seeks a home in our hearts. He cannot say to Jesus, "Come to me and rest," because there is death in his home; his daughter is dying. What tremendous mercy when we can admit that there is death in our home! In inviting Jesus, in pleading with Him to come to him, Jairus confesses that the biggest problem is in his home. He takes the death that is there very seriously.

Death threatens every home but not everyone calls out to Jesus for help.

[LH, (c)2003]

Accepting Blessing

And Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather that I may tell you what shall happen to you in the days to come... "Reuben, you are my firstborn... you shall not have preeminence... Simeon and Levi... Cursed be their anger,... Asher... will yield royal dainties."... All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him.
(Genesis 49:1-28)

Jacob gives this amazing pronouncement to his sons, talking to each of them in turn, and at the end the writer matter-of-factly says, "All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him." What kind of bizarre blessing is this, this strange litany of cold facts and rebuke?

Our modern understanding of blessing and benediction is that it means possibly saying something nice about someone and wishing them well for the future. Jacob’s words to his sons, however, tell them who they are today and where they are heading based on this. He describes his sons in turn: "Reuben, you are my first-born; Simeon and Levi are brothers; Their swords are implements of violence; Issachar is a strong donkey; Joseph is a fruitful bough;" and so on. Some are criticized quite harshly for their past behavior, while others receive no remonstrance; some get just a few words, while others get many.

Yet there is no mention of any murmuring among the brothers. Everyone accepts what Jacob said as "the blessing appropriate to him." I am so often consumed with what God is saying to my brother, with what God is giving my brother. Peter also says to Jesus, about John, "Lord, what about this man?" (John 21:21) But my only concern should be with what God is saying to me. Who does God say I am? What is He showing me about myself? Where is my life heading? I need God to bless me in this way, to show me my heart, to rebuke me, to direct me.

[AV, (c)2003]

The Unreasonableness of Love

Once you allow reason, which Luther called "the beast", to judge feelings, feelings are always defeated. ...Reason will tell you about the foolishness of the cross. Jesus was young, beautiful, vigorous. He could have made a good living as a carpenter or as a doctor of the law. He could have been married, and enjoyed life, and still remained religious and a philanthropist. Why die to save people who do not want to be saved? Why start a religion which will not be accepted, or even heard of, by the overwhelming majority of mankind, and which will be practiced by only a few isolated saints?

Who would conceive such an unreasonable project? Only St. Paul dared to answer this question. A chill runs down your spine when you hear the answer. This plan of salvation arose from "the foolishness of God." The Bible is the only religious book to contain such an expression, which must surely be considered a blasphemy by all the religions of the world, including Christianity - "the foolishness of God!"

Love must submit to being condemned by reason. ... We in [communist] prison use the same unreasonableness. When we hear the cries of someone being beaten, all the others begin to bang on their doors, crying "Help!"... What is the sense of expressing your solidarity with those who are beaten? It is non-sense, which means that it is pure love. Love does not think about what it will achieve, what it will gain. Love does not think at all. Love does not care about reason. Why should it?

If we are to love our enemies, why should we not love reason, that bitter critic, too? We can succeed in doing this. But we shall never persuade reason to love love. Reason considered Jesus and Paul to be madmen. My reason condemns me as mad too.

[RW, SISC, (c)1969]

The Defenseless Life

God is known in Judah, great is His name in Israel. Because His tent is in Salem, His dwelling place in Zion. There He broke the flashing arrows, the shields and the swords, the weapons of war. Selah.
(Psalm 76:1-3)

When Jerusalem was still a pagan city, it was called Urusalim and the Jews, using Hebrew, called it Salem. Salem means peace; it also refers to the kingdom of peace of the Messiah. It points us too to Melchizedek who was king of Salem and who blessed Abraham and, through him, all his descendants. Salem was a dear word for the Jewish people; it should be a dear word for us as well.

How do we know which city is the city of God? It is the city where God broke the weapons. He marked the place and made it His own by freeing the people living in it. Only those places that have been freed by Him belong to God. Only those people who have been marked by His deliverance (how wonderful a mark!) belong to God. Wherever God has brought deliverance, that is a place of peace and it is called Salem.

God breaks all my weapons, both my attacking swords and my defending shields. This is His peacemaking.

I will belong to God only when I live totally defenselessly, aware of the fact that I am powerless and that only the deliverance of God can save me. And He can save me only when I stop defending myself. God rose up to judge, to save all the humble, the needy of the land. (v. 9) God saves only these defenseless ones. All others suffer His judgment.

[GEN, (c)2005]