Indescribable

Recently I was reminded of a couple stories I heard in children’s church when I was young. The teacher liked to read from a book of Christianized stories. I don’t recall whether any instruction accompanied the stories, but what I realize now is how deficient they were in explaining the gospel. (As a side note, I shudder to think what kids might remember from my classes when I was on summer ministry teams during college.)

The first story, in brief, was that a fire swept through a barnyard and a mother hen protected her chicks by tucking them under her and sacrificing her life for theirs. The second story was of a drawbridge operator who brought his son to work one day. When he heard the horn of an approaching boat he discovered that his son was out on the gears that would raise the bridge. He had to decide whether to save his son or the people on the boat, and he chose to sacrifice his son.

Aside from the questionable choice to read such stories to children, there were definite misconceptions about how Jesus’s death on the cross came about and how we were saved through that sacrifice. A few corrective lessons come to mind.

1) The cross was no accident or last-minute decision. The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:4 that “God chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world.” And in Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Similarly, Peter wrote, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories” (1 Pet. 1:10-11). The cross was not “plan B.”

2) Jesus was not an unwilling participant. God knew from before creation that mankind would need rescued from our sinful state, and the Trinity determined the plan before we knew we needed it. Jesus knew the time of His death was coming but still prayed “Thy will be done” (Luke 22:42), and then “for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).

3) We are not innocent bystanders, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:23-24). We weren’t just floating through life minding our own business, but instead were (and are) actively sinning against the God who created us. And though we did nothing to deserve it, God loved us enough to make a way for us. “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

4) And flowing from that verse, Jesus didn’t have to convince God to save us. Sometimes gospel presentations make it sound like Jesus loved us first, and only because Jesus gave His life does God the Father love us. Thomas McCall wrote,

“God is for us. It is not part of God that is for us—as if some divine persons or some divine attributes were opposed to me while others are for me—it is just God who is, in the impassible simplicity of the trinitarian life, radically for us. The death of Jesus does not make it possible for God to love us. The death of Jesus makes it possible for us truly to know God’s love, makes it possible for us to love God.” [See TGC’s bookreview here.]

I heard a quote from Thomas McCabe’s Faith Within Reason (which I have not yet read so I’m not sure if I’d recommend or not) that is worth pondering:

“[God] is just waiting to welcome us with joy and love. Sin doesn’t alter God’s attitude to us; it alters our attitude to him, so that we change him from the God who is simply love and nothing else into this punitive ogre... God never changes his mind about you. He is simply in love with you. What he does again and again is change your mind about him. That is why you are sorry. That is what your forgiveness is.”

It’s so easy for us to misconstrue the gospel because we try to break it down into bite-sized ideas. When we do that, we minimize the glory of the whole arc of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. We need to remember that our metaphors are just that—tiny, flawed pictures of something magnificent and awe-inspiring.

“How deep the Father’s love for us! How vast beyond all measure, that He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure!” (Stuart Townend, 1995).

© 2024 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Waiting

Simeon,
awaiting the Savior,
the consolation of Israel,
waiting faithfully,
waiting patiently,
salvation for all,
the light for Gentiles,
and the Jews’ Messiah,
waiting righteously,
waiting devoutly,
believing God’s promises,
trusting the Spirit’s revelation.
Lord, make me more like Simeon.

Anna,
awaiting the Savior,
worshiping daily,
fasting and praying,
waiting for decades,
the redemption of Jerusalem,
giving thanks to God,
speaking to all,
waiting for the Redeemer.
Lord, make me more like Anna.

Jesus,
the Christ,
the Messiah,
Savior,
Redeemer,
Son of God,
Friend of sinners,
coming again,
awaiting the Father’s cue,
wanting none to perish,
but all to repent.
Lord, make me more like Jesus.

Help me to live
in holiness,
in godliness,
faithfully,
trusting You,
waiting for the coming day,
for the new heavens
and new earth,
where righteousness dwells.
Lord, come quickly.

“And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book” (Rev. 22:7).

[See Luke 2:25-38 and 2 Peter 3:8-13.]

© 2023 Dawn Rutan text and photo. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Fast Forward

Reading through the Simplified Harmony of the Gospels, I came across a couple verses that got me thinking. The first comes from John 17:24:

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

Why did Jesus pray this? Like much of His “high priestly prayer” it states things that were already predetermined. In a way, the whole prayer is more of an encouraging word to the disciples than a petition to the Father. However, another verse just a little later in the timeline shifted my focus a bit:

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26:39).

It’s clear that Jesus would have preferred a less painful and difficult way to achieve salvation for mankind, but He submitted to the Father’s plan. If you take that perspective back to the verse in John, it sounds to me as though Jesus might have been praying, “Father, I wish we could just skip to the end where we all dwell together in eternal glory.” That is encouraging because it sounds like many of my own prayers.

Even if my interpretation is stretching it, we can still draw strength from the fact that Jesus knows our struggles and our desire to avoid pain. He can “sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb. 4:15) and He “endured the cross” for us (Heb. 12:1). When life is overwhelming and we want to fast forward to the end, He understands and He walks with us through it all. I imagine it brings a smile to His face each time we pray “Lord, come quickly!”

It’s okay to wish for and pray for an end to pain, suffering, and difficult circumstances, though we know that God may not answer those prayers in the way we want. It’s also okay to long for that final Day when all things will be made perfect. In fact, I believe that the longer we live and grow in faith, and the more we experience of the brokenness of this world, the more we should long for the “new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13b).

Jesus spent a lot of time speaking of eternal things, and He encouraged His disciples by point ahead. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3). He never sugarcoated suffering (e.g. Matt. 5:3-12), but He urged us to remember that this is not “your best life now” but merely a prelude to real life in His kingdom. So we can continue to wish and pray for the soon-fulfillment of our hope in the presence of His eternal glory!

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him... The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15, 17).

***

Here’s an episode of the Broken Vessels Podcast that touches on some of these ideas and more.

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Do They Know?

Down the road there is a sign in someone’s yard that says, “As in the days of Noah—are you ready?” Every time I see it I wonder how many people have any clue what it’s referring to. Even Christians may not recognize it as a quote from Jesus: “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:26-27). In short, just as the flood came and killed many people who weren’t expecting it, one day Jesus will return and will judge everyone. True believers will be granted eternal life, while the unrighteous will face destruction.

Another sign that sometimes makes me wonder is the “John 3:16” board that shows up at many sporting events. While I’m glad that some people are trying to spread the Gospel, I wonder how many of the non-Christian viewers have any idea what John 3:16 says, much less what it means. Maybe some curious few will google it and eventually come to faith, though I wouldn’t exactly call that an effective tool for evangelism. The “He Gets Us” ad campaign is another “pre-evangelism” approach that seems to fall somewhat short.

We are living in an increasingly post-Christian world. Even those of us who live in the Bible belt should recognize that our culture is not what it used to be. Biblical illiteracy is climbing, not just in society, but even among those associated with the church. The statistics on Bible reading and church attendance keep declining. As such, we need to adjust our assumptions about what people know or understand about Scripture and faith. We can’t simply use churchy terminology or quote Scripture out of context and without explanation.

Many years around Lent and Easter I remember one of my junior high teachers who was Catholic, and on Ash Wednesday he came to school with ashes on his forehead. Students asked him about it, which allowed him to explain his beliefs. One student asked, “What does it mean to be saved? What are people saved from?” At the time (in the late 80s), I was a little bit surprised because I thought most people had at least some idea what the Gospel was about, even though I knew many of my classmates did not attend church. Imagine how that conversation might go these days!

As churches gather this Easter Sunday, we know there will be many “Christmas and Easter” visitors, along with others who perhaps have never been to church at all. It is an opportunity to present the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ in clear and simple terms, in ways that can spark the curiosity of those who need to hear more. I don’t want to downplay the celebratory aspects of our services, but think how much greater the celebration would be if many people heard and responded to the Gospel for the first time on Easter Sunday? After all, that is why Jesus came!

“I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7).

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Not Me

Last Sunday at our church, Ron Thomas preached on Luke 9:

“And He said to all, ‘If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses His life for My sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (9:23-25).

As Ron pointed out, we have accepted a rather watered-down version of Christianity in the modern world. We settle for being “Christian-ish” rather than fully committing to Jesus as our Lord. During the sermon another passage came to my mind:

“After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God’” (John 6:66-69).

Do we truly believe Christianity is about life or death, or is it merely a lifestyle choice? If it is a lifestyle, then we have no grounds for asking others to make the same choice, no reason to share the gospel—for what is the “good news” of telling others to give up their comforts and pleasures? But if it is a matter of eternal life or death, our choice to obey Jesus as Lord really does matter. We don’t give up things that we enjoy simply for the sake of giving them up. We give up seemingly good things when we know that there is something supremely better to come. “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose” (Jim Elliot).

When the world is enticing, Lord, help us to choose holiness.

When people hurt or disappointment us, help us to seek only Your face.

When culture judges or ridicules, help us to look only to You for approval.

When life is hard, help us to look to eternity.

“The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17).

***

You can listen to Ron’s sermon here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/8612/12235779

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Doubtless

I’ve always felt sorry for Thomas. Scripture never calls him “Doubting Thomas,” but sometime in history he got labeled as a skeptic. Here’s the story from John’s gospel:

“Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.’ Eight days later, His disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’ Thomas answered Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (John 20:24-29).

The main thing that made Thomas different from the other disciples is that he did not happen to be with them the other times Jesus appeared. In Luke’s account of Jesus appearing to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, we’re told,

“He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!’” (Luke 24:25).

And then when Jesus appeared to the others,

“As they were talking about these things, Jesus Himself stood among them, and said to them, ‘Peace to you!’ But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Touch Me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, He said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He took it and ate before them” (Luke 24:36-42).

Thomas was really no different from the other disciples in his desire for visible proof of the resurrected Jesus. None of Jesus’ followers really understood that He was going to rise again in three days, even though Jesus had told them so. In fact, when Jesus tried to tell them (Mark 8:31-33), Peter rebuked Jesus and yet Peter wasn’t labeled a skeptic. If they had predicted the resurrection, would they have run away on the night of His arrest (Mark 14:50)? Would they have been hiding behind locked doors (John 20:19)?

The point is not that Thomas or any of the others doubted. We all have doubts at times. But Jesus understands our doubts and confusion and He comes to us in our place of need. I find it interesting that some Muslims come to faith in Christ because they see a vision. That seems to be a method that they are able to accept, whereas other people might just think of it as a weird dream. Some people are more convinced by historical proofs of the reliability of the biblical texts and authors (for example Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ). Whatever the case may be, if someone is genuinely interested in knowing the resurrected Jesus, they will not be turned away. God desires people to come to faith in Him even more than we do (2 Pet. 3:9). Thomas’s doubts were answered and he remained faithful to Jesus. It is believed that he carried the gospel message into India.

“Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:29-31).

***

© 2022 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Take Up Your Cross

The world tells us “Be who you are! Do what makes you happy!” But Jesus taught something much different:

“If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matt. 16:24-25).

Each one of us has a cross to bear. Your cross is that area of life where you want to just throw in the towel. It could be difficult relationships with parents or children, or unwanted singleness; it may be the physical suffering of a chronic or terminal illness, or multiple miscarriages; perhaps it is gender dysphoria, same-sex attraction, or other enduring temptation. Each person’s cross is a little different, but each is a heavy load. To follow Jesus requires us to carry that load while living in obedience to His Word. If we choose comfort and pleasure over taking up our crosses, we are in danger of condemnation. “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). Some have chosen to reinterpret or ignore portions of Scripture in order to avoid the burden of their crosses. We are meant to be people who—

• forgive those who hurt us 
• trust Him in the midst of loss and sorrow 
• believe that He has made us who we are and is with us in our struggles 
• turn to Him instead of self-medicating with whatever pleasures we can find

We can tend to forget that Jesus knows what suffering is. Easter is sometimes the only week we focus on all that Jesus went through in His death. He didn’t go to the cross eagerly. He wanted to avoid it if He could, but ultimately, He trusted the Father’s plan to bring perfect good out of the greatest evil.

“Then He said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with Me.’ And going a little farther He fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will’” (Matt. 26:38-39).

Even when the decision was made, Jesus didn’t breeze through the torture and crucifixion with a smile on His face.

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46).

Let’s not forget that Jesus also endured suffering during His life up to that point. Though we don’t know much about His childhood, He faced the same temptations and struggles that every child does (Luke 2:41-52). As He began His ministry, He endured specific temptation by the devil (Luke 4:1-13). During His years of ministry He put up with constant questioning and schemes from the Pharisees and Sadducees, doubts from those who heard His teaching, and eventually betrayal and abandonment by His own disciples. He went through all this so He could fully identify with us.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:15-16).

So when Jesus calls us to take up our own crosses and follow Him, it is not an abstract concept or a command from one who has never been there. And because He bore His cross, we are enabled to do the same.

“Therefore… let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:1-2).

© 2022 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Behold the Man

Haman

The king’s aid, Haman, was annoyed that the Jew, Mordecai, would not bow down before him. In his self-importance he plotted the destruction of all the Jews in the kingdom. Learning of the plot, Queen Esther invites the king and Haman to two banquets. Pleased, the king offers Esther whatever she wants, whereupon she tells him that she is a Jew and that her people are in danger because of the actions of one man. Who? “This wicked Haman!” (Esther 7:6). Haman is hanged and arrangements are made for the deliverance of the Jews from those who would annihilate them. Haman thought only of his own honor and it turned into defeat and destruction for him, his household, and his ten sons.

David

King David stayed home instead of going out with his troops to war. He sees Bathsheba, takes advantage of her, and gets her pregnant. He tries to cover up his sin by plotting the death of her husband and marrying her himself. The prophet Nathan comes to David and tells a story of a rich man who took a poor man’s pet lamb to feed a guest. David, not yet realizing the story was about him, says the man deserved to die. Nathan’s response was “You are the man!” (2 Sam. 12:7). David repented, “I have sinned against the Lord” (12:13), though because of his sin the child Bathsheba had borne became sick and died. David’s heart turned back to God, but there were still consequences for his family.

Jesus

John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan river when he saw Jesus coming toward him. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, 36). John knew that his job of preparing for the Messiah was nearly at its end as Jesus’s years of ministry were beginning. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (3:30).

Roughly three years later, Jesus prepared to enter Jerusalem for Passover. Jesus asks His disciples to go get a donkey. Matthew writes that this took place to fulfill prophecy: “Behold, your King is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden” (Matt. 21:5).

Following the Passover meal, Jesus is arrested. Pilate tries to release Jesus and brings Him before the crowd— “Behold the man! …Behold your King!’” (John 19:5, 14), but the Jews demanded crucifixion. A centurion keeping watch over the crucifixion rightly proclaimed, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54).

Our Response

We have a choice set before us. We can, like Haman, pretend we are the center of the universe, seeking attention and approval, but to do so will lead to our ultimate destruction. Or we can, like David, recognize our sinfulness and repent and turn to God for forgiveness. Our sin may still have consequences, but we will find salvation. Like John the Baptist, we should realize that we are just bit players in the drama of God’s plan for the world. Jesus must be lifted up, and we must bow down before Him. We all deserve death because of our selfish and sinful choices, but through Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, we can be forgiven and reconciled to God. Jesus alone can take away the sin of the world.

One day we will all behold His glory. “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him” (Rev. 1:7a). Let us not wait till it is too late to come to Him in humility, submission, and worship.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20).

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Thoughts on Luke 2-4

I had written the following devotions for publication elsewhere, but they didn’t end up being printed due to a complication.

Looking for Jesus - Luke 2

This chapter of Scripture is probably quite familiar because we hear parts of it every Christmas. What more is there to learn from it? Consider what the main characters have in common. When the shepherds saw the angels, they immediately went in search of the baby who was proclaimed to be the Savior. In Jerusalem, Simeon was waiting at the Temple because “it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (v. 26 ESV). Anna too “did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day” (v. 27). We also learn of Joseph and Mary that they “went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover” (v. 41). And finally, Jesus Himself said, “Did you not know that I must be in My Father’s house?” (v. 49). Each of them sensed an urgent need to pursue their faith and to go where they knew they would meet with God.

Church buildings today are not the house of God in the same way that the Temple was, but they are places set aside for the people of God to meet together. Do we have that same sense of urgency about gathering together for worship and fellowship? In many churches, the pandemic revealed that the faithful remained faithful while the marginal dropped away. Many of us grew up going to church every time the doors were open, and we have kept that habit because we see the need for it. It’s easy to make excuses not to do things if we don’t think they’re necessary. The question is, have we discipled the next generation to see the need for regular gathering with the Body of Christ?

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers… And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God” (Acts 2:42, 46-47a).

Moving On - Luke 3

John the Baptist apparently raised a lot of curiosity. Crowds came out to be baptized by him, and at least some who were present were rebuked for hypocrisy. He told the people to “bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (v. 8 ESV), and he gave them examples of generosity, honesty, and compassion. He baptized with water, but proclaimed the coming Messiah who would “baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (v. 16). There was a definite limit to John’s ministry. He could only point people to the coming Savior. He could not save them.

Likewise today, pastors and church members cannot save anyone, they can only direct people to the Savior. They can point out sin, commend good works, and baptize with water, but only Jesus Christ can save with the power of the Holy Spirit. There are many people who have been baptized without ever really believing in Jesus as Savior and following Him as Lord.

The author of Hebrews wrote, “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instructions about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment” (Heb. 6:1-2). In essence, John the Baptist’s job was to lay the foundation, to “prepare the way of the Lord” so that “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Now that Jesus has provided the way of salvation, we need to press on toward maturity in Christ for ourselves and our churches, building on the foundation that has already been laid.

“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me” (Col. 1:28-29).

Priorities - Luke 4

Jesus inaugurated His ministry by reading from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (vv. 18-19 ESV). The people of Nazareth evidently thought this was good news for their town and they marveled at His words. But they changed their minds when He refused to heal the people there, and they ran Him out of town.

He did heal many people in many places, and that was one proof of His identity. John later reported the Pharisees’ words, “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind” (John 9:32). Physical healing was never Jesus’ primary purpose. “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose” (v. 43). For Jesus, eternal life is far more important than health in this life.

There has long been a misconception that missions must meet the physical needs of people before they will be willing to listen to anything spiritual. That is belied when people in third world countries quickly accept the gospel while those in prosperous countries see no need for any form of religion. If we lose our focus, we can spend a lot of time and money and never get around to pointing people to Jesus. That’s not to say that hunger and illness don’t matter. Christian nonprofits provide all kinds of services that government agencies simply can’t do. We just need to be clear about what God has called us to as individuals, churches, and denominations. How can we best love God and love our neighbors with the resources we have?

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst’” (John 6:35).

 

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

How Long?

Most days I go online and skim through the headlines on my preferred international and local news sites. I may read a few articles, but often the headlines are enough to discourage me from reading further. Murders, wrongful deaths, pandemic deaths, accusations, abuses of power, political maneuvering, etc. The list is endless and nauseating. I repeatedly wonder with the psalmist, “How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile Your name forever? Why do You hold back Your hand, Your right hand?” (Psalm 74:10-11).

Jesus encountered similarly disturbing scenes in His day.

“When [Jesus] saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).

“‘O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?’ …And Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly” (Matthew 17:17-18).

“‘And when He drew near [Jerusalem] and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes’” (Luke 19:41-42).

“When Jesus saw [Mary] weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in His spirit and greatly troubled… Jesus wept” (John 11:33, 36).

“And a leper came to Him, imploring Him, and kneeling said to Him, ‘If You will, You can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, He stretched out His hand and touched Him and said to Him, ‘I will; be clean’” (Mark 1:40-41).

“As He drew near to the fate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow… And when the Lord say her, He had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then He came up and touched the bier… And the dead man sat up… and Jesus gave him to his mother” (Luke 7:11-15).

“In the temple He found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And He poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables… ‘Take these things away; do not make My Father’s house a house of trade’” (John 2:14-16). [This was an act He apparently repeated at the end of His ministry—see Matt. 21:12-13.]

Jesus healed many people and restored a few to life and He had the power to do much more, but His immediate purpose was not to fix every perceived wrong then and there. Instead, He provided the means by which eternal perfection would be made possible. He wasn’t the revolutionary reformer that the Jews expected of their Messiah. He knew that the only cure for the sin and brokenness of the world was for Him to carry it to the grave.

Because of His death on the cross and His resurrection, we now live in the time of “already but not yet.” The door to perfection has been opened, but we cannot enter in until we are resurrected to eternal life. In the meantime, we continue to groan and weep over this fallen world where there are so many things we can’t fix. “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:22-23).

We can take comfort in the fact that Jesus knows how we feel because He’s been through it Himself, and we cling to the hope that the day is coming when all things will be made new and perfect.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Eyes and Hands

I wrote the following poems around 1996 and just came across them again. They seemed appropriate for Holy Week.

Your Eyes

In my mind’s eye
I see you there,
Hanging on that rugged cross.
You don’t die like other men.
“Forgive them for they
Know now what they do.”
You lift your head,
Your eyes meeting the eyes
Of each one gathered there.
Each one turns away
Unable to bear your gaze,
And then your eyes meet mine.
Instantly I know you know.
You know my sin
Because you bear it there.
I am ashamed and
Start to turn away,
But then I remember,
“Forgive them for they
Know not what they do.”
I look back to your eyes.
You meant those words for me.
Even as you bear my sin
You ask the Father
For my forgiveness.
I meet your gaze
And I know
I am forgiven,
And I bow my head
In thanks.

 

With Open Hands

With open hands I come to You
I give You all my fears.
With open hands, release to You
The cares of all the years.

I tried to give them up before,
But held them in tight fists.
I come again to You once more
To give You all of this.

With open hands I come to You,
Hoping only to receive
The Holy Spirit, promised to
All those who will believe.

With open hands and open heart
And open life I give
To You alone, to cleanse each part
That in Your life I live.

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

The Family Tree

Our church is beginning a study of the book of Matthew, which opens with the genealogy of Jesus Christ. There is much that could be said about each person listed, but I want to note five people in particular—the five women. Women were not typically included in genealogies at that time, and this genealogy would have been sufficient even without them listed. So Matthew, as inspired by the Holy Spirit, must have had good reason to mention these five names.

Tamar - “Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar” (Matt. 1:3 ESV).

Tamar’s story is found in Genesis 38. She was married to Judah’s son Er who died. By Jewish law she was entitled to go to her brother-in-law Onan so that she could bear a son. Onan refused and God put him to death. Judah promised Tamar she would eventually go to his other son Shelah, but Judah reneged on his promise. Tamar had to find another way to carry on the family line, and she managed to trick Judah into being the father by posing as a prostitute, and thus she bore Perez and Zerah.

This is a bizarre story by modern standards, and yet it points out the fact that God will accomplish His purposes even through the sins of people. Judah and Tamar both made questionable choices, but God carried on the family line of Abraham through them.

Rahab - “Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab” (Matt. 1:5).

The story of Rahab from Joshua 2 and 6 is probably more familiar. She was a prostitute who had her home in the wall of Jericho. When the Israelite spies came into town she hid them and helped them to escape the authorities because “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us” (Josh. 2:9). From the stories she had heard about the Exodus (which took place 40 years earlier!), she knew enough about God to believe that He was going to overthrow Jericho. When Israel marched around the city and the walls fell, Rahab and her family were saved. Matthew’s reference to her is actually the first in Scripture that indicates her marriage to Salmon. Matthew evidently drew this from other rabbinic teachings.

So we have here another woman who was not only a prostitute but also a foreigner. Israel had been instructed to completely destroy the cities that didn’t make a peace treaty with them (Deut. 20:10-18), but Rahab’s actions and her acknowledgment of the God of Israel saved her life and earned her a place of note in the genealogy of the Messiah.

Ruth - “Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth” (Matt. 1:5).

We probably all know the basics of Ruth’s story. Naomi was living in Moab when her husband and sons all died. Her daughter-in-law Orpah stayed in Moab, but Ruth accompanied Naomi back to the land of Judah. There was no guarantee of a happy ending for Ruth. She was husbandless, childless, and a foreigner. The passage that is often cited at weddings was actually Ruth’s declaration of her love for her mother-in-law, “Where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). The rest of the book of Ruth tells how she met Boaz and found favor with him and became his wife. Once again God used an unlikely woman from an unlikely place to carry on the lineage of Jesus.

Bathsheba - “David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah” (Matt. 1:6).

Much has been written about David’s sin with Bathsheba. Fewer authors have contemplated Bathsheba’s point of view. When David summoned her to the palace, she would have had no ability to say no to him. It’s not clear whether she knew what was coming or if she had any desire to be unfaithful to Uriah. Like many women, she may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time when the king should have been out at the battle instead of walking around his rooftop. Not only does she end up pregnant, but her husband is set up to die in battle, and then her child dies. That’s not exactly a recipe for happiness. However, she then gives birth to Solomon, who bears the royal name, is known for his wisdom, and becomes an ancestor to the coming Messiah. God took a very messy and sinful situation and redeemed it for His own good purposes.

Mary - Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ” (Matt. 1:16).

Finally we get to the mother of Jesus. God had arranged the family trees of both Joseph and Mary. He brought them together in Nazareth and through angelic messengers ensured that Jesus would be born of a virgin as prophesied. Mary was evidently a woman of faith, as her song in Luke 1:46-55 brings together many scriptural references. Yet she too had to bear the pain of people thinking she was both a liar and an adulteress.

In each of these five women, we see evidence of God’s sovereignty over the course of history. He used sinful actions, untimely deaths, wars, mourning, pain, and shame to put people where He wanted them in order to bring about the birth of the Savior at just the right time and place. And through it all, He did not let these women be forgotten or overlooked. In a highly patriarchal culture, He made sure their names were included in the canon of Scripture.

From the beginning of time, God has used both men and women to accomplish His purposes, and He continues to do so today. Women are not merely supplemental to the story, but they have key roles to play in family, culture, and church. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3:28-29). Every believer will one day see our names included in the Book of Life, not as ancestors, but as children of the living God.

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Word of God Incarnate

“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3a ESV).

 “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7).

In a moment of seeming antithesis the Creator descended into His creation. He became flesh and was cradled in the arms of His mother. The Word of power was embodied in the tearful cries of an infant. We can’t even begin to comprehend it. What did the incarnate Christ remember from His timeless existence before He came down from heaven? What did He know without having to be taught as a little child?

When something is so far beyond our comprehension, we are likely to oversimplify it. I know at times I’ve thought of Jesus as having an adult consciousness in a child’s body, but Luke 2:52 says He “increased in wisdom and stature.” He apparently did not just grow physically but mentally as well. We may imagine that Jesus heard His Father’s voice constantly, like some kind of invisible earbud. If that were true, why did Jesus need to spend long hours in prayer? “All night He continued in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples and chose from them twelve, whom He named apostles” (Luke 6:12b-13).

Scripture is clear that Jesus entered fully into the human condition except that He was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). One author makes this observation about Jesus’s prayer in the garden of Gethsemane just prior to the crucifixion (Mark 14:32ff):

“The Greek conveyed the idea of being terror-struck, troubled, and fearful. This was no stoic Savior yielding without wrestling. He was overwhelmed—engulfed in grief and agonizing. He was anguished and agonizing. But terror-struck? Was it possible Jesus had felt afraid? …He was always perfect in obedience and trust. But was it possible trust and terror weren’t mutually exclusive? That someone could be full of trust while being terrified? …Was it here that he entered even more fully into the experience of human frailty by feeling afraid?” (Shades of Light, by Sharon Garlough Brown, ch. 32).

There is much we do not know and cannot comprehend about Jesus being both fully God and fully man. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). In humble flesh He still exhibited the glory of God through His words and deeds. It’s little wonder that the disciples didn’t get it either. “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9b).

Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
late in time behold Him come,
offspring of the Virgin's womb:
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th’incarnate Deity,
pleased as man with us to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.

We don’t fully understand it now, but one day we will. “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12b). We’ll not only understand, but “we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2b).

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

True Belief

In reading through the gospels, it has often struck me that throughout His ministry on earth Jesus healed many people, and only once did anyone question whether Jesus actually healed the person. In John 9 the Pharisees started investigating the man who was born blind. When they questioned him he said, “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing” (9:32-33 ESV). In Matthew 12, Jesus didn’t even touch a man to heal his withered arm, and yet “the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, how to destroy Him” (14). They had no doubt that He was actually doing these things. In modern America we’re a lot more skeptical about such claims. However, belief in healing didn’t help the scribes and Pharisees one bit. They believed Jesus had the power to heal, but they thought it could not have come from God (Mark 3:22-30). Jesus reminded His disciples after His resurrection, “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

At Christmas time we hear a lot of vaguely Christian lingo about belief in Jesus as the “reason for the season.” I wonder though what some people are wanting us to believe in. For many it seems to be just the fact of a baby who was born and laid in a manger, nothing more or less. Some may add that the baby was born of a virgin and was sent by God. Some may get so far as saying Jesus was a great teacher. But the story is incomplete if we don’t believe that He died on a cross bearing our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3), was raised again for our justification (Romans 4:25), and will come again to judge the earth (John 12:48). But even that belief is incomplete if we don’t accept Him as our Savior and follow Him as Lord. If our belief has no impact on how we live our everyday lives, it is meaningless.

In Luke 13 Jesus said, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able… Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from Me, all you workers of evil!’” (24, 26-27). There will be those among us who say, “I came to church and heard the teachings; I took communion; I recited the Apostles’ Creed.” Those things are good, but they do not save.

The angels proclaimed to the shepherds, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). This is only good news for those who believe He is in fact the Savior and Lord. There is no promise of peace for everyone, but for “those with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14).

This Christmas let’s not leave Jesus in the manger or on the cross, but remember that He is now at the right hand of God, “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come” (Ephesians 1:21).

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Fix Your Eyes

I’m in the midst of reading a couple books on prayer. In Pray Big: Learn to Pray Like an Apostle, Alistair Begg writes,

“All that matters may be brought before God, but what we bring before God is not always what matters most. When the eyes of our hearts are opened to our future, it changes our lives now—it reorders our priorities and our prayers. We pray less about the practical details of this life, and first and foremost about the spiritual realities of our eternal life” (29).

All too often we pray anemic prayers because we are distracted by the things of this world and we miss the things of eternity. That led me to think about what is most needed as churches gather together this Easter Sunday, perhaps with many visitors. The prayer I wrote in my journal included this: I pray that You will work in each of us to fix our eyes upon You as the author and perfecter of our faith... Let us not be distracted by words or music or flowers or people, but let us be captivated by Your glory.

After writing that down, I had to go back to Scripture to read the context of Hebrews 12:1-2 (NASB):

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

When I’ve read those verses in the past, I’ve always had this mental image of a marathon runner nearing the finish line, with crowds of people on both sides. In fact, the “cloud of witnesses” has dominated the picture. But the whole point is that we would fix our eyes on Jesus as our motivation for endurance. While the crowd can be encouraging, our eternal security depends on Christ alone. Don’t get me wrong—our relationships within the Body of Christ are important and will continue throughout eternity, but people can also distract us from what God wants to do in our lives and in others at any given time.

Easter Sunday may be especially prone to that distraction. Most churches have extra decorations and special music, people tend to dress up more than usual, and there may be unusual events planned. The intent is (hopefully) good—we want people to engage with the message of the Gospel. But I wonder if sometimes our extra efforts actually distract people from focusing on God. It can appear that we are working to promote our church rather than fixing our eyes on Jesus.

Easter is justifiably a celebration of all that we have because of Jesus’ resurrection, both individually and corporately. Beautiful decorations and music are entirely appropriate. However, if I’m honest, I prefer the solemn simplicity of the Good Friday service at my church. There are fewer parts and, for me, fewer distractions from the One we are there to worship.

An Easter sermon by John Henry Newman comments,

“At Christmas we joy with the natural, unmixed joy of children, but at Easter our joy is highly wrought and refined in its character. It is not the spontaneous and inartificial outbreak which the news of Redemption might occasion, but it is thoughtful; it has a long history before it, and has run through a long course of feelings before it becomes what it is… Accordingly, Christmas Day is ushered in with a time of awful expectation only, but Easter Day with the long fast of Lent, and the rigours of the Holy Week just past: and it springs out and (as it were) is born of Good Friday.”

For those of us who come from church traditions that generally ignore Lent and may not think deeply about Holy Week, his comments may seem foreign to us. We can appear to jump into the celebration of Easter without experiencing the depths of Good Friday. The Easter Sundays that have meant the most to me were those that followed serious contemplation of the cross, Jesus’ death, and my sin that nailed Him there.

Let us not rush forward to Sunday’s celebration without living through the darkness of Friday and Saturday.

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross... Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 2:13-24, 3:2-3 ESV).

--

Listen to Dennis Jernigan’s song, “It Was My Sin.”

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Behold the Lamb

John the Baptist, when he saw Jesus coming toward him said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29 ESV). He is the only one who directly referred to Jesus as the Lamb of God. The Apostle John in Revelation 5:6 described Jesus as the Lamb that had been slain. Back in Genesis, when Abraham was taking Isaac to sacrifice him as God had commanded, told his son, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering” (Gen. 22:8). Jesus is God’s sacrificial Lamb because only God can provide the permanent, perfect sacrifice.

The Old Testament sacrificial system was never intended to provide lasting atonement. It was simply a temporary measure to point people back to God. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice because He was the perfect man. “He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since He did this once for all when He offered up Himself” (Hebrews 7:27). “For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God” (Romans 6:10). “And by [His] will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all... For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:10, 14). I love this reminder that sanctification is “already but not yet.”

It is divine irony that when Jesus was presented at the Temple Joseph and Mary could not afford a lamb to sacrifice, but instead offered a pair of doves in accordance with the Law (Luke 2:24 and Leviticus 12:8). I’m sure as Mary pondered these things later in life she understood that the real sacrifice that day was not her small offering but the Lamb of God given to her and given through her for the sake of the world.

“For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7b). He became our Passover Lamb because He was first God’s Lamb. “[You] were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

In the Master’s plan, the Lamb of God is also the Good Shepherd (John 10). Who can better understand the needs of the sheep than One who has walked among us, was tempted in every way as we are yet without sin, and then laid down His life for us?

“It is He who made us and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture” (Psalm 100:3).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

Christmas Inconveniences

The down side of working in accounting is that the busiest time for me comes during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. I’ve often thought that we either need to move the holidays or change some deadlines. It didn’t help when the IRS decided to require wage reporting by January 31 instead of February 28 now! Anyway, I got to thinking about some of the inconveniences of the first Christmas.

Did Mary & Joseph grumble about having to go to Bethlehem to register to be taxed? “Those greedy government officials! Why’d they have to do this now and cause so much trouble?! Couldn’t they have come up with a better system that wouldn’t have everyone fighting over places to stay? Now we’re stuck in a dirty stable trying to deliver a baby with no supplies and no help!”

Did the shepherds complain about their disrupted night? “Who’s going to stay and round up all the sheep that ran off when those angels appeared? Did they have to be so alarming? How far are we going to have to go to find this baby they mentioned?”

Did the wise men fuss about their long journey? “Why did we have to travel so far to find this king? If we’d known it was going to take so long to get here, we’d have found a more comfortable mode of transportation than camels! I wonder why that guy Herod has no idea what’s going on in his kingdom? There’s something fishy about him.”

Though they may all have had doubts, there were also reassurances along the way—the word of angels, the prophecies of Scripture, the star to follow. Whether they knew it or not, God was arranging all the details of this unique event. He had planned it long before Jesus’ birth and revealed pieces of the plan to many prophets throughout the years. Luke 2:19 and 51 both say that Mary “treasured up all these things” and thought deeply about them. I suspect that throughout her life she searched the Scriptures and continued to make connections between the prophecies and the life of her son.

I’m sure Mary was disturbed to hear from Simeon, “a sword will pierce through your own soul also” (Luke 2:34 ESV). Her baby was still tiny, but already a shadow had appeared. And before too long they’d have to go to Egypt to avoid Herod’s wrath. Their celebration of a new life was probably nothing like they’d anticipated. As difficult as the circumstances were around Jesus’ birth, they were nothing compared to His death.

No matter what challenges we face during the holidays and at year-end, and how tempting it can be to grumble, the birth of Jesus helps put things in perspective. God chose to send His Son into a dirty, sinful world, under terrible conditions, just because He loved us too much to let us go. He could have said “Forget it; this whole Creation just isn’t worth it.” But He came, He lived, He died, and He rose again because of His love. And because He did, one day we will be freed from all the struggles, sin, sickness, and death that is part of this fallen world. Jesus is no longer the Baby in the manger, nor the body in the tomb. He lives so that we too may have eternal life. That’s something worth celebrating!

© 2016 Dawn Rutan.

When Life Is Hard

I ran across this quote a few weeks ago and have continued to think about it:

“‘Don’t apologize for your tears,’ he said. ‘Don’t ever apologize for your tears,’ he repeated with added fervor. ‘They reveal the feminine nature of God, a side that is soft, nurturing, deeply passionate, and caring. We need to see more of that side of God. Thank you for being brave enough to share it with me here today’” (Thrashing About with God, Mandy Steward, 186).

It made me think of the death of Lazarus as recorded in John 11, and that short verse “Jesus wept” (11:35). I’ve always pictured Jesus with a few tears sliding down His cheeks “weeping quietly,” as authors like to say. But looking back at verse 33, I’m not sure it was so sedate. “When Jesus saw [Mary] weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in His spirit and greatly troubled” (ESV). And in verse 38 He was “deeply moved again.” That doesn’t sound like a “dabbing at His eyes” sort of weeping. 

I think sometimes we tend to sanitize Jesus, never imagining that He could really experience the same intensity of emotions that we do. Didn’t His nose run or His face get red at times like this? Perhaps the reason verse 35 is so short is that Jesus was unable to speak through His tears at that moment. 

In his book When the Darkness Will Not Lift, John Piper states:

“One of the reasons God loved David so much was that he cried so much. ‘I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping’ (Ps. 6:6). ‘You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?’ (Ps. 56:8). Indeed they are! ‘Blessed are those who mourn’ (Matt. 5:4). It is a beautiful thing when a broken man genuinely cries out to God” (35).

We’ve done a disservice to God and to ourselves by creating a false stereotype. “Big girls don’t cry...” “Real men don’t cry...” Really? Was Jesus therefore immature or unmanly? There are events in this life that demand tears, as we have witnessed all too often lately. There are deep emotions and circumstances beyond our control. If Jesus, who was God incarnate, had reason to weep, how much more do we?

“Tears sum up everything gone wrong in this fallen world. Grief, frustration, pain, disappointment, loss, stress, tragedy, disaster, regret, mourning, depression, lament, brokenness, abandonment — all of it can be expressed through the universal language of tears” (Tony Reinke).

As one who struggles with depression, tears are all too familiar to me, but I’m trying to look at them a little differently. Tears were part of Jesus’ experience on earth because they are part of the human experience. It may not always be welcomed, but there is no shame in crying, and it can be a healthy expression of what is going on inside.

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15).

© Dawn Rutan 2016

The Dark Side of Christmas

The Gospel of Matthew 2:18 quotes the prophecy of Jeremiah 31:15 (ESV), “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” Matthew indicates that this prophecy was fulfilled by Herod killing all the male children in Bethlehem in an effort to kill the infant Jesus.

As I’ve commented here before, the plans of God don’t always make sense to us. In God’s sovereign will, it was important that prophecies be recorded and fulfilled in order to prove who Jesus was. Matthew points out this prophecy from Jeremiah as well as Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt I called my son,” (among others) as evidence for Jesus being the Messiah. Herod turned out to be the mechanism by which the prophecies were fulfilled, and because of him many families were left brokenhearted in the death of their sons. Estimates of the number of children killed vary widely, from 6 or 7 to 64,000. No matter how many boys were killed, this was a tragic event in the small town of Bethlehem.

It would be nice to think that all God’s plans would be accomplished without any suffering. But the narrative of the Bible says that is not often the case. Just think of the lives of Moses, Joseph, David, Ruth, Esther, Paul, etc. or read Hebrews 11. They were used by God in the midst of trying circumstances. “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised” (Hebrews 11:29 ESV). They had faith in God and hope for “things not seen,” which allowed them to keep following God no matter what.

Because we live in a fallen world, wrecked by our own sin and the sin of others, God’s path often leads through dark valleys. On the positive side, as we read through Scripture and see the lengths to which God went to fulfill His purposes and promises, we can have greater hope that He will do the same for us. Here are a few of the promises that I need to be reminded of frequently (just a few of the ones I have highlighted in my Bible app):

• “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21-23).
• “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?” (Psalm 27:1).
• “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:18-19).
• “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22).
• “I Myself will be the shepherd of My sheep, and I Myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice” (Ezekiel 34:15-16).
• “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten… You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And My people shall never again be put to shame” (Joel 2:25-26).
• “Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me” (Micah 7:8).
• “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).
• “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

I think it’s safe to say that we wouldn’t recognize Jesus as the Light of the World if the world weren’t so full of darkness, and that is reflected in the circumstances of His birth. So this Christmas, no matter what else is going on, may we find the light in God’s faithfulness to keep His promises and may we cling to the hope that provides.

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.” –Isaiah 9:2

Hope Not Yet Fulfilled

As our choir was practicing one of our songs for Christmas, I was thinking about the seemingly conflicting messages we hear. One verse of “Tell the World” says “Tell the hopeless He’s the Promise now fulfilled before their eyes. Tell the restless in His presence ev’ry need is satisfied.”

But historically, the birth of Jesus didn’t exactly fulfill these promises, at least not on its own. The angels proclaimed to the shepherds, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people... ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased’” (Luke 2:10,14 ESV). Although the Baby Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of a child born of a virgin in Bethlehem, it wasn’t until roughly three decades later that Jesus Himself said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).

While Jesus’ birth was a step closer to the completion of the good news, it would be more than 30 years before He would fulfill the requirements of being a Savior through His death and resurrection. But even that is not the end of the story. We still live in the between times—knowing that salvation has been made possible and sanctification has begun, but still awaiting the perfecting of the world and our bodies. It is good news that Jesus was born, but it’s not the best news. It’s good news that Jesus died on our behalf, but that’s an inadequate message. And it’s good news that Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to the Father. But if the story ended there we would still be without hope in this world. The good news won’t be completed until that day when Jesus returns. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3).

In the meantime we continue to live with brokenness, mourning, poverty, blindness, and captivity. “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved” (Romans 8:23-24).

We tend to approach Christmas as if the birth of Jesus is the whole story, the only good news needed in a fallen world. It’s often implied that if you just believe that God was born as a baby in a manger then all your problems will go away and you’ll be filled with peace and joy. It’s little wonder that this can be an overwhelmingly depressing time of year. Not only are there cultural expectations that can be hard to live up to, but the message proclaimed by the church can sometimes add to the burden. If the Baby Jesus is the answer to all our problems, why is there still so much suffering in the world?

We can’t leave Jesus in the manger as a baby, nor can we leave Him on the cross as a Savior. Neither is He still in the grave. He’s in heaven for now, but one day He will return and make everything right. All the suffering will be ended and the world will be made new. Then the good news will be finished. Then we will rejoice wholeheartedly. Till then we hold on and endure by faith, awaiting with hope the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Until then:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” -Romans 15:13

© 2014 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.