Yesterday, I left you with two questions that I was going to ponder.
Why did the Disciple Thomas find it easy to respond in BELIEF, in the current situation?
And, why did he ultimately respond with doubt, in a later situation?
I want you to know that I have an opinion about this now (some insight), but will write about it in a couple of days (just because it will seem more appropriate at that time). It’s always amazing to me how reading and studying the Word (and some wisdom from my “Hubby”), and letting it infuse (or penetrate) my heart can bring clarity in my mind. The Bible is the only book (for me) that I read, that causes me to become engaged in it’s Words. I would not hesitate to challenge anyone, yes, even a non-believer’, to read through the Gospels with an open mind…an not be affected by THE WORD. It is truly incredible..It is alive….as Christ!
The Passion of Christ
I love it, that here we are in John’s Gospel, at this time when we begin to focus on what Jesus Christ has done for us. Through this Gospel (as with Matthew, Mark and Luke), Christ has been preparing all who would hear Him, to BELIEVE that He has come to ”take away the sin of the world”. We are entering into “The Passion of Christ” and the “Resurrection of Christ”. From here on in, the hatred toward our Lord is played out in plots against Him, threats and cruel (more than we can imagine…even if we’ve seen “Passion of Christ”, the movie) physical punishment.
The passion of Jesus, what does it mean? The following is a quote from the website, ‘All About Jesus Christ’.
“Passion stems from the Latin word pati’, meaning to suffer. It was coined in the early 16thcentury to denote ‘the suffering of Christ on the cross’. Webster states the word passion is a strong feeling, especially of anger, love or desire. It says that passion is an emotion, an intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction. It also says that passion ‘is the suffering of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and His death….one version also states, ‘it is the capacity of being acted on by external agents or forces.’ What stronger force is there then God? Wasn’t it God who wanted ’The Passion of Jesus’ to be a reality?”
In John 11, verse 45, we see that “many of the ‘Jews which came to Mary (of Bethany), and saw (with their own eyes) that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, BELIEVED.” The Scripture also says, that after this some went and told the Pharisees what Jesus had done. Lazarus, being raised from death by Jesus, caused many to BELIEVE. Those Pharisees knew that if Jesus was allowed to continue, everyone would BELIEVE in Him (John 11:51-53). “So from that day on they plotted to take His life.”
In the beginning of Chapter 12, we read about Mary (of Bethany). We know from Scripture that Mary was a devoted Disciple of Jesus. When we read verses 1-11, we see that she has poured a costly perfume on Jesus feet and wiped his feet with her hair. This was an act that only one who understood who Jesus is, and what he was about to do, could have done. Jesus himself said, “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial (verse 7).” You can read more about Mary in the Bible Study “The Disciple”, Days 15,16 and 17.
As we make our journey into the “Passion of Christ”, may we place ourselves in the midst of the “Gospel Message”. May we stretch and grow, as Disciples of Jesus Christ. Embrace your “Calling”. BELIEVE and walk with Him. BELIEVE in his authority and power and that His Word is Truth. BELIEVE in THE CROSS and THE RESSURECTION.
If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, Do It Today. It is the most important decision that you will ever make.
To Ponder: ”This Life Has Many Choices, Eternity Has (only) Two“. Quote: Song Title
Scripture to Ponder: Mark 2:17
Next: John 12:12-50; John 13
This entry was posted on Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 3:09 pm and is filed under Bible Studies, Sharing The Gospel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
