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"He set His face toward Jerusalem." in 40 years of teaching, i have never heard anyone pretend to know when exactly He knew He was going to be ripped apart and stuck on the cross like a fish on a bar wall. our pretty pictures are lies. if they depicted Him as He really was on the cross, no parent would let his or her child look. He was naked. period. He was a mass of open wounds, enough that He easily would have died on the whipping post if He wasn't being supernaturally kept alive to finish His work. and honey, this was the entertainment of the day. there were no sit-coms to go home to. Springsteen was just learning guitar. HBO was only showing B-movies. these folks went to watch crucifixions like we go to see the 4th of July fireworks. many in the crowd had been fed on the hillside when He fed 5000 plus families with the fish and loaves that andrew (my favorite disciple) got from the kid. Jesus is preaching a sermon that every generation in history will study, and andrew is whispering and hanging with this kid. Jesus never yelled at him for talking or anything. i love andrew.
so anyway, Jesus is wading through the crowd. there are people EVERYWHERE. He knows this is it. crucifixion is coming. and some lady grabs the hem of His garment. and she gets healed. now here is the cool part. it says, "He felt the virtue go out of Him." look at this.
1) He felt. Churchianity says, "don't trust your feelings." um ... Jesus did. He said, "who touched me?" the disciples said, "are you high? we are in woodstock. EVERYBODY touched you!"
2) "the virtue" He felt the healing leave Him and go into someone else. this wasn't a shock and a hail Mary pass-prayer hoping something would happen. He knew what was in Him and could feel it change addresses. your gifts are quantifiable. if you are a prayer warrior, you carry that virtue with you. if you are an encourager, you carry that virtue with you. some folks have the virtue of being listeners. some folks have the virtue of visiting shut-ins. this may make you a little mad, but you all have all of those.
3) "go out of Him." rubber, meet road. road, meet rubber. "virtue" doesn't sit around. your virtue is meant to be shared. the inside of the hose gets wet. but it your one responsibility to remain hooked up to the Faucet. Jesus was always just picking up and going to be with Father. He said, "I do what I see Father do." and there, friends and relations, is the formula. some of us have a bit of a chasm to jump to get from human dad to Heavenly Daddy. ("Abba" is a loving, familial term meaning Daddy.) but seeing Father work is what keeps us working. in other words, stop reading me right now and go read Him. see you soon. |
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Posted by AllThingsBuck on 2008-01-13 21:46:45 | Rating: | Views: 51
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