Sharing Bread Philippians 1:1-2

SHARING BREAD

¹ Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Phil 1:1-2 (NIV)

Paul (a/k/a Saul) had a particular fondness for the Church at Philippi, a fatherly care so to speak, and so begins his letter with a tender tone which remained evident throughout its entirety.  He had been instrumental in planting this church and indeed looked upon them as his spiritual children by way of the Gospel.  He was motivated by love for them to nurture and build them up in the faith through this same Gospel just as a father would do for his own children.  His faith was the well-spring of his work.  Paul writes of spiritual children in 1 Corinthians:

¹⁵ Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.   1 Cor 4:15 (NIV)

 

Paul begins his letter by stating his highest honor was being a servant of Christ Jesus.  He was not in to being the big dog, the master, the high and mighty one that perhaps in the past his position as a Pharisee might have drawn him to.  No, this man had been humbled by true Humilty.  He had had an encounter with the Savior and he was forever changed.  Encounters with true humility tend to do that.  When we are not all about lifting ourselves up in the eyes of others – all of our actions pointing to self-aggrandizement – but lovingly and humbly seeking the best for those in our spheres we are most like the Savior. Goodness is beneficial to others.  Jesus’ Words come to mind:

 

²⁵ Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”   Matt 20:25-28 (NIV)

 

After our Lord stoops to wash His disciples’ feet He gives His guys the true meaning of the lesson:

 

¹² When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”   John 13:12-17 (NIV)

 

“Nothing sets a person so much out of the devil’s reach as humility.”   Jonathan Edwards

 

Humility is profoundly Christian.   It is a virtue not a weakness.  To be sure, it is restrained power.  True humility is beautiful, inspiring and wooing.  It has nothing to prove.  While pride masks and makes us artificial and unapproachable, humility makes us genuine, real and welcoming.  It is a quality which does not repel rather invites and attracts.  Just like our Lord Jesus.  True humility is a mirror that reflects Christ’s glory.

  

“For those who would learn God’s ways, humility is the first thing, humility is the second thing, humility is the third.”   Augustine

 

“Because Jesus Christ came into the world clothed in humility, He will always be found among those who are clothed with humility.”    A.W. Tozer

 

Next Paul address all his recipients as “saints” – those set apart for God, separated from ordinary or common usage, holy, devoted to God, designated by God as having a sacred purpose or special significance to Him.  Christ shows no favoritism among saints – the rich and the poor, the young and the old, the lowest in society as well as the highest, the extraordinarily gifted and the not so gifted - all are gathered together and are equal at the foot of the cross – Paul calls them saints.  Each person has a God ordained purpose in this world for their lives and is loved by God who desires none to perish but all to come to repentance.

 

“God's mercy is vast and beyond our comprehension. He will never reject anyone who turns to Him for mercy. Nor will He force Himself on anyone who chooses to live without Him.”
Michael Youssef

Lastly, we read Paul’s apostolic benediction of grace and peace.  The order is important as there is no peace without grace.  Grace, the free favor and goodwill of God, must precede peace, which is the blessed fruit and effect of that grace.  Inward peace comes from the sense of divine favor.  God is the fountain of all blessings and it only comes to us through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

What I glean from this:

 

·       Paul was motivated by love to build up his spiritual children in the faith.

·       True humility makes me like Jesus.  “Love and humility are the highest attainments in the school of Christ.”    John Newton

·       There is no peace apart from grace.  No Jesus, no peace.  Know Jesus, know peace.

 

 

 

Sharing Bread Matthew 28:18-20

SHARING BREAD

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matt 28:18-20 (NIV)

Wow, how on earth does one do any justice in commenting on these powerful verses?  We are first told by our Lord Jesus that “all authority in heaven and on earth” has been given to Him.  We are also told our greatest calling from God is to “go and make disciples” in His powerful authority.  And lastly, we are also thankfully told that the Lord Jesus will never leave us as He firmly states “I am with you always”.  This is the Great Commission.

In these concluding words of Matthew, our Lord sends His guys forth (and His every other subsequent follower) with the firm directive of “Go and make disciples” in His all-encompassing mighty authority.  The key to this commissioning is the authority of Jesus and the key to this authority is the disciple’s knowledge and worship of the One whose name they bear.  We cannot give what we do not possess.  We must make it a daily divine appointment to be filled - enabling us to be spilled to all we encounter that day.  Like manna, we are to collect the grace sufficient to meet our needs for the day.  We cannot gobble up and hoard – it does not work that way.  Our God is relational and desires to meet with us daily.  Yet He is a Gentleman and will never force Himself upon us.  We are the great losers when we neglect to meet with Him.  His desire is to overflow our cups empowering and equipping us to splash His grace upon all in our spheres of influence.  Abiding in Him is the only way for the disciple to keep going forth in the proper direction which is God’s profitable, pleasing and perfect way.  God will sovereignly engineer our goings from the neighbor next door to the child in Ethiopia and everywhere in-between.  He stirs up the hearts of His disciples to disperse them throughout the world.  We do not have to sit around scratching our heads wondering what direction to take.  He will make it clear.  We must be readied – prepared vessels for His use going forth in Christ’s power and authority not in our own weak strength and capricious decisions or else our works will be fruitless - not eternal.  I am reminded of Paul’s prayer in Ephesians regarding Jesus’ authority:

¹⁸ I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, ²⁰ which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.   Eph 1:18-23 (NIV)

 

“In short, the rod of Moses was a rod of power, a rod of authority.  But it could not avail to hush the murmurings of the children of Israel; nor yet to bring the people through the desert.  Grace alone could do that; and we have the expression of pure grace, --free, sovereign grace—in the budding of Aaron’s rod.  That dry, dead stick was the apt figure of Israel’s condition, and indeed of the condition of every one of us by nature.  There was no sap, no life, no power.  One might say, ‘What good can ever come of it?’    None whatever, had not grace come in and displayed its quickening power.  So it was with Israel in the wilderness; so is it with us now.  How were they to be led along from day to day?  How were they to be sustained in all their weakness and need?  The answer is found in Aaron’s budding rod.  If the dry, dead stick was the expression of (our) barren and worthless condition; the buds, blossoms and fruit set forth that living and life-giving grace and power of God on which was based the priestly ministry that alone could bear the congregation through the wilderness….Priesthood alone could supply what was needed; and bring fruit out of a dry rod…..All ministry in the Church is the fruit of divine grace---the gift of Christ, the Church’s head.”    C H Macintosh 

 

To be sure, this same power is made readily available to all believers in the present day.  We are to make the command of Christ our rule as well.  As Jesus sends us out as His ambassadors, we go forth in His credentials.  He is the Lord of all.  He has all power in heaven – He has authority and power over the angels and He has the power of intercession with the Father interceding not as One who appeals but One who desires.  He has all power on earth as well by the ministry of reconciliation.  Paul states in 2 Corinthians:

 

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.   2 Cor 5:17-21 (NIV)

 

“All souls belong to Him, and to Him every heart and knee must bow, and every tongue must confess Him to be Lord.”   Matthew Henry

 

¹¹ It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’” ¹² So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Romans 14:11-12 (NIV)

 

Lastly, we are sweetly reminded of His continual spiritual presence.  The Comforter abides with believers.  He is with us – not far away.  He is not against us rather for us.  He is at our side and takes our side.  He is our very present help.  He bears us up and pleads our cause.  His eye is ever on us.  He is with us in all service and in all sufferings – in all joy and in all sorrows.  He makes our ministry effective and triumphant.  All this is a continual favor even to the end of the world.  His presence is constantly with us – all day, every day without intermission.  Amazing!

 

“The God of Israel, the Saviour, is sometimes a God that hideth himself but never a God who absents himself; sometimes in the dark, but never at a distance.”   Matthew Henry

 

What I glean from this:

 

·       All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus.

·       Jesus’ command to me is to “go and make disciples”.

·       Jesus will never leave me nor forsake me.

 

Sharing Bread Matthew 28:16-17

SHARING BREAD

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

Matt 28:16-17 (NIV)

The result of obedience is sure blessing.  This is a golden theme throughout all of Scripture.  The faithfully obedient are privy to enjoy more and more of God. We are to look to Jesus for every blessing we stand in need of.  His grace being sufficient to meet each need, He abundantly pours it down on all those seeking like gentle showers on receiving hearts.  When God blesses He gives in such measure that there is not room enough to receive it.  Open wide your mouth, He states, and I will fill it.  Indeed, Scripture tells us:

²⁵ “'I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety. ²⁶ I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.”  Ezek 34:25-26 (NIV)

 

“All the commandments of God are commandments of love tending to our real good and great happiness; far from being grievous to those who have faith and love, the practice thereof is life and peace.   The world may think it a grievous burden; but this is a great mistake indeed.  Sin is grievous.  In hatred, envy, anger, revenge, pride, there is nothing but torment and slavery; but in love there is a sweet rest and pleasure.  Thus a sinner always punishes himself, and is robbed of great peace and blessing, by transgressing the commandments of God.”   K. H. Von Bogatzky

“Deep in your heart it is not guidance you want so much as a Guide.”  John White

Earlier in this same chapter of Matthew, the disciples had been told the angel’s proclamation by the women that they would see Jesus in Galilee:

⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”  Matt 28:5-7 (NIV)

Indeed, Christ had even told His guys prior to His crucifixion that after He had risen from the dead He would go ahead of them into Galilee:

³² “But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”   Matt 26:32 (NIV)

In our verses for today we discover the disciples were present when the Lord Jesus appeared according to the appointment.  In obedience, they went to where He told them to go.  To be sure, a long journey to behold the sight of Christ yet an amazingly worthwhile one.  They had learned to obey Christ’s commands and not object to them – not kick against His best for their lives – even when it seemed unusual.  Oh that we would do likewise!  Those who desire to keep up their fellowship with Christ must go where He appoints.

“He knows the way He taketh,” even if for the moment we do not.”  J.I. Packer

“We must remember that God will never drag us along the path of true-hearted discipleship. This would greatly lack the moral excellency which characterizes all the ways of God. He does not drag, but draws us along the path which leads to ineffable blessedness in Himself; and if we do see that it is for our real advantage to break through all the barriers of nature, in order to respond to Gods’ call, we forsake our own mercies. But alas! Our hearts little enter into this. We begin to calculate about the sacrifices, the hindrances, and the difficulties, instead of bounding along the path, in eagerness of soul, as knowing and loving the One whose call has sounded in our ears”. C H Macintosh

Next, Scripture tells us these disciples were moved to worship by His appearance.  Of course they were!  They bestowed upon Him the divine honor due Him.  To be sure, those who encounter the Lord Jesus with the eyes of faith fall prostrate in worship.  He is worthy to receive all honor and glory. 

“We are saved to worship God.  All that Christ has done for us in the past and all that He is doing now leads to this one end.”     A.W. Tozer

“We should dedicate ourselves to becoming in this life the most perfect worshipers of God we can possibly be.”    Brother Lawrence

We also discover in our verses that some doubted.  Doubting is not bad if it causes us to delve deeper in seeking the Truth.  Even among those worshipping Christ some doubted.  The faith of those who are sincere may be weak and wavering.  It leads to Jesus’ honor that some of His guys doubted prior to belief as it could not have been said about them that they had been too eager to believe and therefore willing to be deceived.  They first questioned, proved all things and then held fast to what was true when they found it to be so.

²¹ Test everything. Hold on to the good.   1 Thess 5:21 (NIV)

 

What I glean from this:

 

·       Jesus sends forth showers of blessings as I seek His presence in obedience.

·       All of God’s commandments are for my good and His glory.

·       I am saved to worship.  He is worthy.  

 

  

Sharing Bread Matthew 28:11-15

SHARING BREAD

¹¹ While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. ¹² When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, ¹³ telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

Matt 28:11-15 (NIV)

They paid money to kill Him, they paid money to cover the Truth and they began a lie that circulates to this very day…..really, what kind of desperate people were these religious leaders anyway?   While the women were running to tell the good news of Jesus’ resurrection, the roaches remained ridiculously romping about to keep the Truth from being revealed.  Yet you can’t shut the Truth up nor keep it in a tidy little box.  God has a unique way of removing the lid and bringing the Truth to life no matter how hard the darkness seeks to keep it covered.  Truth will always stand.

Therefore love truth and peace.   Zech 8:19 (NIV)

 

⁴ Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; ⁵ guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.   Psalms 25:4-5 (NIV)

 

“He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.”   Blaise Pascal

“To do what is right is to side with the truth of God.  And never doubt it, the truth of God will always prevail.”  “To do what is right is to join the winning side of the fight, though the battle will not be without pain or struggle.”  Chuck Swindoll

In our verses for today we discover the macho Roman guards going to the chief priests and telling them everything that happened:  the earthquake, the descent of the angel, the rolling away of the stone and the coming alive of Jesus from the grave.  Surely they had to have been breathless over the scenes they had just been eyewitnesses to.  Seriously, these were no ordinary every day ho-hum happenings.  Indeed, these events were the greatest means of conviction that could have been given.  It would stand to reason that these religious characters would now seek to embrace Christ yet they stand staunchly and stubbornly in their faithlessness and unbelief and were therefore remained sealed in it.  The clearest evidence will not persuade people without the Holy Spirit enlightening that evidence which begins with faith.  Pharaoh hardened his heart and hardened his heart until at long last God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.  God is patient and long suffering but He is also just and He sets limits – just read about Sodom and Gomorrah:

²⁰ But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.  Ex 10:20 (NIV)

“Faith is reason at rest in God.”   C. H. Spurgeon

“Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.”     Augustine

When we hear Truth we are called to respond.  It is our time of opportunity and who knows if we will have another?  Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians:

 

¹ As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. ² For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.”  I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.   2 Cor 6:1-2 (NIV)

 

Next, the religious elite make the decision to seek to cover the Truth.  They themselves chose not to believe the account and sought to keep others from believing it as well.  They decided to bribe the soldiers and instructed them to tell tales.  They wanted them to deliberately lie against their own consciences.  They very extravagantly pursued their malicious intentions by placing a large sum of money into the hands of the soldiers to silence the Truth and put a lie into their mouths – as sorry as that lie was.  How would the soldiers know if the Lord’s disciples stole Jesus’ body if they were asleep?  Why all of a sudden did the fearful disciples who fled Jesus’ death become fearless and take His body – and for what reason, so that they could preach a lie of a feigned resurrection.  Seriously???  I think it is also interesting that these teachers of the law would so go against the law in offering these bribes.  Did they believe they were above what was commanded?  God is a God of justice and Truth not of bribery and lies.  We find in Exodus and Deuteronomy the following:

 

⁸ “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.”  Ex 23:8 (NIV)

 

¹⁹ Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. ²⁰ Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you.  Deut 16:19-20 (NIV)

      

“No resurrection, no Christianity”   Michael Ramsey

What I glean from this:

 

·       Truth will stand.

·       God is patient and long suffering but He is also just and He sets limits.

·       A bribe blinds.   

 

 

 

Sharing Bread Matthew 28:8-10

SHARING BREAD

⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Matt 28:8-10 (NIV)

For those who love Jesus, His presence is essential.  With Him we enjoy relationship, without Him it is merely a practicing of cold religion.  When we play religious with our faith - doing all the “to – do’s” – following the letter of the law and working all hard to get to heaven, we stop listening for His still small voice and quit discerning His ways.  We begin to lean on human wisdom and understanding and end up with lack luster expectations – things that mere man can accomplish (ho-hum).  Yet for those who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, practicing religion is a pitiful substitute for walking in His presence.  It’s emptiness at best. Contrast this to joyfully walking with Him. King David tells us in Psalm 16:

¹¹ You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.   Psalms 16:11 (NIV)  

“The believer is in spiritual danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the love of Christ and savoring the felt comforts of a Savior’s presence.  When Christ ceases to fill the heart with satisfaction, our souls will go in silent search of other lovers….By the enjoyment of the love of Christ in the heart of a believer, we mean an experience of the “love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us”(Rom 5:5)….because the Lord has made himself accessible to us in the means of grace; it is our duty and privilege to seek this experience from Him in these means till we are made the joyful partakers of it.”  John Flavel

Call me silly, but recently I just flat out needed to sit on the Saviors lap.  I was having one of those days where I simply wanted to rest my head between His powerful shoulders.  Sometimes it seems we need even more of Him!  Being visual, I pulled a rocking chair next to my desk and imagined the Master sitting with me throughout the day.  I practiced His Presence.  All the mundane chores He remained right beside me.  All the problems He was right there to guide me.  While I know this to always be true - that He is always there - sometimes it helps to have a visual reminder.

“Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.”  Deut 33:12 (NIV)

 

⁶ “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Deut 31:6 (NIV)

 

“Few delights can equal the mere presence of One whom we fully trust.”  George McDonald

 

In our verses for today we see the women obediently hurrying from the Master’s tomb with their angelic orders ringing in their ears.  Their mood was a strange mixture of terror and super-sized joy all working together in the same soul.  Surely they must have felt this news too good to be true yet they were oh so hopeful.  Could this have been a dream?  Casting aside the doubting thoughts, they scurry off to fulfill the angel’s wishes.  Those sent on God’s mission must waste no time in loitering of lollygagging.  They were sent to bring the disciples the wonderfully good news of Jesus’ resurrection.  They ran to comfort them with the comfort they themselves had received.  Disciples should be eager to share their experiences with one another.  They should tell what God has done for their souls.  God ever remains the source of our comfort in the midst of our troubles.  Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians:

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.  2 Cor 1:3-4 (NIV)        

“Peace comes not from the absence of trouble, but from the presence of God.”  Alexander Maclaren

Next we see Jesus appearing to the women to confirm the angelic testimony.  He graciously (and unexpectedly) comes to them while they are merely fulfilling their duty.  Jesus is closer to His people than they might think.  These zealous women were rewarded for their faithfulness “immeasurably more” than they could have asked or imagined.  They were first to hear the good news and had the first sight of Him as well.  Christ is often better than His Word yet He is never worse.  He never frustrates the faithful expectations of His people of His tender love, mercy, kindness and compassion.

 

When He appears to them these precious women immediately showered Him with the love and affection they had for Him - forcefully holding on to Him so as not to let Him go.  I am reminded of how a young child grabs hold of its mother in a deathlike grip if he thinks she is about to leave without him!  I think this was perhaps the reaction the women were having.  They did not speak, they just affectionately embraced.  Their adoration spoke volumes.

     

“We are not only to sing the doxology, but to be the doxology.”   Francis Schaeffer

What I glean from this:

·       Relationship is different than mere religion.

·        There is fullness of joy in Christ’s presence.

·        Christ is the comforter of my soul.

Sharing Bread Matthew 28:5-7

SHARING BREAD

⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

Matt 28:5-7 (NIV)

Those disciples who are constantly seeking after the Savior – not casually but cluster continuously about Him – ever yearning and learning more and more - are privileged indeed to receive deeper and higher revelations of Truth.  All are invited yet few take Him up on this.  The busyness of life, the cares of this perishing world, the demands of a job, a home, a family, sadly, even the lack of desire, keeps us from closer intimacy with the God of all creation.  Somewhere along the way we have gotten our priorities flipped and we find ourselves flopping all about like a fish out of water. We easily spin out of control when our sights are not centered on the Master.  He is to be our gaze, our fixed focus.  The writer of Hebrews tells us this:

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.   Heb 12:1-3 (NIV)

“No one has ever lost out by excessive devotion to Christ.”   H. A. Ironside

Kindly, Jesus ever woos us to go further still with Him.  His constant command towards us is “Come”.  Like a mother who is teaching her young one to walk, He sweetly holds His hands out bidding us towards Him.  He knows He is the answer to all our questions.  He knows He is the only One who can truly satisfy our souls – true peace cannot exist in a heart void of Christ.  Neither can it exist in a divided heart between the love of the world and the love of the Master.  There is no room left in a heart that is filled with anxiety, anger, hate, bitterness, greed, distrust and selfishness.  On the other hand, when one is filled with the Living Water, there is no room in the inn for that sort of nonsense.  Ah yes, the sufficiency of Christ.  Of Psalm 23 Chris Tiegreen writes:

“David’s psalm was a statement of perspective.  He understood from his youth as a shepherd that My shepherding changes the way a person sees.  He no longer focused on what he lacked, questioned his path, feared death, obsessed about getting the upper hand over his enemies, failed to notice blessings, or planned only for the short term.  He knew Me as Provider, Guide, Comfort and Strength, Victor, generous Giver, and eternal Lord.  That’s why he began his song with a statement of not living in want.  He knew that in Me, he had all he needed.”   Chris Tiegreen   

 But we have work to do.  We have errands to run.  We are too busy now.  And we find ourselves flat out missing the angelic visit.  I wonder if Magdalene and the other Mary had work to do.  I wonder if chores lay unfinished on their floors.  I wonder if dishes were stacked in their sinks.  Somehow I think they chose higher and were therefore abundantly rewarded for it.  Funny how we go from minutes, to days, to weeks, to months, to years, continuously soft pedaling our faith – compartmentalizing it, making it a Sunday matter only - one that we can barely squeeze into our all-important schedules.  Surely, this is why we often remain babes on milk in lieu of gobbling steak. 

“Your only hope for joy, your only hope for peace, your only hope for comfort, your only hope for strength and your only hope for love in this life — is found in the cross of Jesus Christ.  Your only hope in this life is found in the brutal, bloody, humiliation of a naked man on a wooden post.  My hope is that you go out of this building clinging to the cross of Christ.”  David Platt

These ladies in our verses for today had their priorities straight and they were blessed by their choice.  They were hand-picked to be the first to hear and given consolation of Jesus’ resurrection - and by an angelic visitation at that!   The angel’s first words to them of “Do not be afraid” demonstrate he came in kindness to encourage.  He did not come to frighten or terrorize.  He knew they were looking for Jesus.  Those who seek Jesus have no need to be fearful.  The angel assures them of Christ’s resurrection, encouraging them to go and examine the empty tomb and reminds them this was just as our Lord had said.  He gave sight to their faith.  This was enough to silence their fears.  Also, as recompense for their constant affection towards Jesus, these ladies were sent as our Lord’s first missionaries.  They were told to go in haste as good news is meant to be shared!

The angel ends with the words “Now I have told you” indicating his mission was accomplished and now placed in the hands of those who would proclaim it to the world.  He had done his errand and faithfully delivered the message.  Now it was their turn.  Now it is ours.

What I glean from this:

·       Those who diligently seek after the Savior are privileged to receive deeper revelations of Truth.

·       Jesus woos me to “Come”.

·       Jesus is my sufficiency and strength.