Who Do You Call the One Who Comes In the Name of the Lord?
Good Morning Friends,
Today’s devotional is about hope in the face of adversity and fear. Not a worldly hope of satisfied desires and wants and wishes fulfilled but a biblical understanding that is very different. It teaches us that hope is a deep settled confidence that God will keep His promises. It is about preparing ourselves emotionally and spiritually for difficult situations when our natural allies abandon us and life looks grim. It is about overcoming fear by focusing on God; to have confidence not because we have no trouble but because God is right there with us in the hardship. In these tough situations we are called to stay with it, to take heart and not quit because there is hope not just because Jesus appeared after the resurrection but also because there is one more appearance to come. Friends, hope is a powerful thing that cannot be separated from our praise and worship and love of the Messiah. Who Do You Call the One Who Comes In the Name of the Lord?
Scripture: ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” ‘
Matthew 23:37-39 (NRSV)
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
Psalm 118:26-29 (NRSV)
Of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh—my adversaries and foes—they shall stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock. Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! ‘Come,’ my heart says, ‘seek his face!’ Your face, Lord, do I seek. Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation! If my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence. I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
Psalm 27 (NRSV)
A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
Mark 1:40- 42 (NRSV)
Message: The saddest story in the Bible might be argued to be the death of Jesus on the cross as the ultimate rejection of the Messiah. It is a story of high drama. Here on our journey during Lent with an image of the conquering King entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday we like Zacchaeus need to risk going out on a limb if we hope to experience the joy of meeting the Messiah. The Pharisees investigating the Messiahship of Jesus, and watching this unfold from the prophetic healing of lepers on makes the situation that much more dramatic. That Jesus’ own home town wanted to throw him off a cliff is sad.
But there is another sad story and it is of those who reject Jesus after the resurrection. With this train of thought we again pull from the daily lectionary and continue to be amazed at the Spirit filled selections that focus us on the Messiah. And here we remember angles proclaiming the good news of the Messiah. We remember how John the Baptist prepared the way and we remember that when Jesus first proclaimed to be the Messiah the reaction of His own hometown. The setting is really quite dynamic. There is great drama and tension between the Romans and the religious leaders of Jerusalem as well. It is clear the healings He exacted, point to Him being the promised Messiah. Jesus backs it up with Works and the Word, but there is still a major logical problem with a man claiming to be God. That is one reason that Jesus the Messiah was rejected. That is why belief in the Trinity has always been a revelation. We cannot get there by logic. Friends, it is a gift to believe. He has given us eyes to see. Each day brings something unexpected and in this uncertainty we are to expect Christ. So today’s message revolves around the unique event of God coming to earth incarnate and recognizing the need for a solution made possible through his sacrificial death on the Cross. In this single sovereign act God brought together all the guilt and the suffering of humanity and something was changed for the entire human race that effects all who believe throughout time and into eternity. Jesus Christ fulfilled prophecy in such a way that we cannot fail to recognize Him as the Messiah. The mathematical odds of all of those prophecies about the Messiah being fulfilled by any man are so great that only the Messiah could fulfil them. He is the only One who can free us from slavery to sin. Simple? Yes, but if we are honest we will all have to acknowledge a crisis of belief each and every time God invites us to do something. What we think we believe always comes into tension with what God asks us to do. So it is essential that we have an advocate in Jesus Christ. But it is also important we be an advocate for him. This is not because Jesus needs us but because of the change that occurs in us when we acknowledge Christ and the confession makes it to our hearts to honor the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Pray we gain a better understand the two Messiahs… the Servant and the King. …Ben Yosef and Ben David. Pray we distinguish the difference between man looking for God and God looking for man. Pray that despite all the problems of life we find joy. Pray we seek the Messiah. Pray we get ready for the Messiah. Pray we not forget the promises. Pray that this day we wake up in the joy of a new day…pray we dress up with a smile that comes from knowing God. Pray we shut up when we are about to grumble… Pray we stand up for our belief in Jesus….Pray we look up to Him for our every need…Pray we reach up to Him when everything else fails…pray we lift up to Him all of our burdens and cares with gratitude. Pray we bring focus on the Messiah and the authority of the Holy Spirit, as well as focus on our individual voices in the mission and the message of salvation found in Jesus. Pray we are blessed to recognize the presence of the Messiah, the prophecy fulfilled and celebrate His will in us. Pray we see the world in the message of hope accomplished though the Messiah. Pray expectantly that the Messiah has come to save and will come again. Pray we believe the Messiah has conquered death. Pray that we expect a miracle in the Messiah. Pray we call Jesus Blessed. Pray we are saved by faith in hope not just in the Messiah being born but that he died and was resurrected for the redemption of our bodies and the receiving of our spiritual inheritance. Pray we realize the dynamic of Jesus being rejected as the Messiah. Pray we never reject Him as our Savior. Pray we never take God’s gifts for granted. Pray we respond with humility believing that He is our Lord.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 