answer

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. (John 12:20-26, NRSV)

I always find this passage interesting… The disciples and Jesus at the Festival for the Passover and some Greeks see the disciples and tell them they want to see Jesus. So the disciples go to tell Jesus and He tells them if a grain of wheat does not die and fall into the ground it remains a single grain, but if it dies it will become much more.

Really Jesus, all these guys said is they want to see you, what is this about wheat and fruit and dying to be more?

You see Jesus was in Jerusalem, and He knew what was coming. And the fact that the Greeks were asking for Him, showed Him it was time. You see the nations are streaming to God…

We all must lose our selves in God, for if we remain in ourselves and do not die to ourselves we will only do us good, but if we die to our selfish desires we will produce much fruit for the kingdom.

So allow God to use you and bring fruit to the kingdom.

Worship!

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’ When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus. (John 12:1-11, NRSV)

a denarius was worth a days wages. So this bottle of perfume was worth a years wage. The current minimum wage in Wisconsin is $7.25 an hour. If we assume a 40 hour work week, that is $290 a week or $15,080 a year. So this bottle of perfume in 2014 wages would be about $15,000!

Now I can not image a bottle of perfume that would cost that much! I also can not image trying to put a price on what Jesus did for me, actually it is priceless, or it cost His life!

You see we will always have work to do in the vineyard. There will always be poor, widows,orphans, and those who are in need and are ones we as the body need to care for. But here in this passage is telling us that we also have to take the time to praise and worship Jesus.

That is really what Mary is doing, by anointing Him, she is worshiping Him. We need to take the time to worship and praise and wash the feet of our savior! We need to worship Him!

What do you need?

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, “The Lord needs them.” And he will send them immediately.’ This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,  ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who is this?’ The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’ (Matthew 21:1-11, NRSV)

Jesus is entering Jerusalem for the last time! Here He enters as the triumphant king as the messiah was to be.

The only problem is He is not the triumphant king that we want or expect. Hosanna to the Son of David! Come and free us and be our leader! Bring us to the place God has for us.

You see we think we need something that God does not have in the plan. We want Jesus to be a superman and to be our military king to set us free. We need a hero, and a king that dies on a cross is not in our plan.

But you see when it comes down to it, what do we really need?

It is interesting to me, that in the gospel of Matthew there is only one thing it ever says that Jesus needs.

When you think about what you need what is it?

Food. Shelter. Water. Companionship.

True… But I am sure we can come up with other things we think we need.

But the only thing that Matthew ever says Jesus needs is a donkey and her colt. Jesus needs a donkey to fulfill scripture, and that is all He ever needs. You see He is focused on Father and knows that His daddy will not let His needs go unmet.

We too can trust that our Daddy God will meet our needs, and provide for us. So the next time you think you need something, think hard and pray for our daddy to show you if it is really a need.

third time

They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.’ (Mark 10:32-34, NRSV)

For the third time, Jesus tells the disciples what will happen…

We hear it over and over again. I have heard it said that people have to hear something 11 times before it sinks in, or the get it…

We know the whole story, but every time I read one of these passages, I find myself right there with the disciples going, “No Lord, it can not be” “There must be another way Jesus.”

Why is it when Jesus tells us something that is not in our plan we have to question Him. We want things to work how we want them to. By my plan. But remember God does need you, He does not nee you to be an adviser, He needs you to follow Him!

So know what He tells you is the plan, and accept that we can not accept it, but know that God has been there and seen His way through and He will bring us with Him!

Death is not the end…

For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again. Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well— since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. (Philippians 1:21-30, NRSV)

Paul here is telling the Philippians that he knows that they need him, but if it was up to him, he would chose to be with Christ.

You see as humans death is something we can not escape. The death of our fleshly body will happen. But it is not the end, nor is it the beginning of anything. It is but a step in the whole master plan. You see we are with Christ as His brothers and sisters, He is always with us. He is walking with us through the valleys, and the mountain tops. He is living in that God shaped hole in our hearts where He resides.

So while we are here, in both kingdoms, we need to walk as if death has no hold on us, for we know that death is gain, and we are to show forth the glory of His love which has bridged the gap for us.

This world will not win for we have the victor living in us, so the victory is already ours! Death is not the end!