Nazareth: Part 5

Luke 4: 28-30

“28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.”

Jesus told the people of Nazareth, who were in the synagogue, that God had favored the gentiles over the Jews at different times in their history.  They reacted to this with rage and violence, even though Jesus was quoting stories from their own scriptures.

The words of Jesus are often hard to hear and harder to bear.  They make us look at ourselves in the light of God’s perfect love, His truth, mercy and forgiveness and we fall short.  Our need for a savior is laid bare.

It is at this point that we either fall weeping before Christ or we attempt to rid ourselves of Christ.   

The people of Nazareth attempted to throw Christ over a cliff.  But this is not how Christ would be lifted up.  

God had another plan.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Nazareth: Part 4

Luke 4: 25-27

“25 But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; 26 yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

The Jews in Jesus day had a dim view of the gentiles.  They believed that the gentiles were unclean and any association with them made Jews unclean.  Gentiles were regarded as unclean because of their lifestyle and eating habits.  Their lifestyle and eating habits also caused them to be sinners, and since they were sinners they had no hope of knowing the one, true God.

Yet, here was Jesus in the synagogue  preaching that, at different times in the history of Israel, God had favored the “unclean” gentiles over the Jews. 

The Jews of Nazareth thought they had God figured out.  Yet, Jesus used their own scriptures to show them that they did not know God.  

Jesus’ message was that God was willing to speak with and guide the Gentiles just as he did the Jews….

and that God’s love is for all people.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Nazareth: Part 3

Luke 4:22-24

“22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.  They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”  23 He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.  24 And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.”

Although his words are impressive, the people of Nazareth refused to believe that Jesus was who he said he was. To many Jews, the Christ would mysteriously appear and would be a man of power, education and credentials; not the boy who grew up down the street; not the son of a carpenter.

The people of Nazareth had a vision of who and what Christ would be and Jesus did not fit that vision.  Jesus read their doubts and knew they would ask him to perform miracles like he did in Capernaum, in order to prove that he was the Messiah.

The people of Nazareth were, in effect, asking the same thing of Jesus that Satan asked in order to tempt Jesus in the wilderness: “If you are the Son of God …” (Luke 4:3).

In our relationship with Christ, the conditional “if” is a sign of our unbelief.  

Let us approach Him in faith, without conditions… praying, “Your will be done.”

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Nazareth: Part 2

Luke 4: 16b-19, 21

“16b He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” …21 Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Scholars tell us that there were no professional clergy in Jewish synagogues back then. Apparently, the leader of the synagogue had the authority to invite a competent worshiper or guest to read and comment on the Scriptures.

Jesus stood to read and by chance or by God’s providence, He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.  He read what is referenced in our Bibles today as Isaiah 61:1-2a.  

Christ’s message that day was not really what he had read, but the fact that He was the fulfillment of what he had read.  

Through Him, the good news of salvation and eternal life would be brought to the world.

Through Him, all who were bound and oppressed by sin would be set free; 

Through Him, all who were blind to God’s presence in the world would see God.

The people did not know it, but the hope of the world stood before them that Sabbath day in Nazareth.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Nazareth: Part 1

Luke 4:16a

“16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. 

Have you ever returned to the place where you were raised and found that no one there knew you?  I mean, they knew the person you were before you left, but they did not know the person that you became after you left?  That can be a strange feeling.

Jesus returned to his hometown and, while there on the Sabbath, he went to the synagogue. Bible scholars tell us that the population of Nazareth back then was probably about 500. 

Everyone there in the synagogue that day probably knew Him as the carpenter’s son; the one who used to carry hammers and hold boards for His father.  No one knew Him as a teacher, a Rabi, and certainly not as the Messiah. 

But they were about to be surprised.  

God was going to introduce His Son to Nazareth.

“Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.” (1 Samuel 3:11)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Wilderness Part 6

Luke 4:14-15

“14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.  15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.”

Jesus emerged from the wilderness focused and on fire with the Spirit. The suffering and pain he experienced in the wilderness was used by God to strengthen Him.

In our lives, the wilderness is a time of suffering and pain.  It can be a time when we lose sight of what’s important; a time when we feel lost and alone (Jesus, being human as well as divine, may have felt all of these things, as well).

The wilderness of suffering and pain can also be a time that God uses to change and strengthen us, a time that God uses to draw us closer to him.   We may not understand this until we look back on the experience years later.

It is then that we will see our wilderness was filled with God’s love.

“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom;” (Isaiah 35:1)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Wilderness, part 5

Luke 4:14-15

“14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.  15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.”

Jesus emerged from the wilderness focused and on fire with the Spirit. The suffering and pain he experienced in the wilderness was used by God to strengthen Him.

In our lives, the wilderness is a time of suffering and pain.  It can be a time when we lose sight of what’s important; a time when we feel lost and alone (Jesus, being human as well as divine, may have felt all of these things, as well).

The wilderness of suffering and pain can also be a time that God uses to change and strengthen us, a time that God uses to draw us closer to him.   We may not understand this until we look back on the experience years later.

It is then that we will see our wilderness was filled with God’s love.

“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom;” (Isaiah 35:1)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Wilderness, part 4

 Luke 4:13

“When the devil had finished every test, he departed from Him until an opportune time.”

Luke tells us that Satan never gave up trying to lure Jesus away from His purpose.  Jesus, throughout His ministry, must have experienced the most terrible temptations that Satan had in his repertoire.  

If the wilderness was any example, Satan probably tempted Jesus time and again when he was exhausted or at a low point such as in the Garden of Gethsemane, or maybe when his disciples deserted Him on the night of His arrest.

We, like Christ, are never above temptation.  But, unlike Christ, there are times that we give in to the temptations of sin.  At those times, we are grateful for our savior, and grateful for His forgiveness of our sins…

and the sacrifices he made for us in the wilderness and on the cross.

“But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”(Romans 5:8)”

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Wilderness, part 3

 Luke 4:9-12

9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’11 and On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” 12 Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Satan begins the third temptation with a conditional “If”. “If you are the Son of God…”  But remember, after Christ’s baptism God, in an audible voice, said,  “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  Jesus knew that He was the Christ.   Satan knew who Jesus was.  But the world at large did not yet know.

Satan was asking Jesus to subvert God’s plan; to show himself to be the Christ to people in a flashy, worldly way that would not accomplish God’s plan of redemption, but would accomplish only temporary, worldly fame.  

But Jesus knew His purpose on earth. It was not the easy, flashy, way.  His way was the eternal way, the difficult way…

 but the only way that accomplished God’s plan for humanity.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”  (Matthew 7:13-14)

The Wilderness, part 2

Luke 4:5-8

“5 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”

Satan offered Jesus glory and authority over the kingdoms of the earth, things that were not his to give, and which Jesus would shortly possess.  

God never gave Satan authority over the earthly kingdoms.  These would be given by God to Christ after he completed his earthly mission (as we read in Matthew 28:18 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”).

The world promises us wealth, power, and glory, but as we pursue these, we find they are hollow and temporary.  Only God can give us the wealth of our faith in Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and the glory of our eternal salvation.  

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Wilderness, part 1

Luke 4:3-4

“3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”  Jesus answered him, “It is written, One does not live by bread alone.”

At the end of the 40 days, when Jesus was at his weakest point, Satan tempted Jesus.  He asked Christ to use his power to serve his own personal needs.  

God sent Jesus into the world to sacrifice himself for humanity.  By turning the stones to bread, he would have betrayed God’s plan of redemption for the world.

Sacrifice is a vital part of the Christian life.  Through the sacrifice of our time, our resources, our talents, and our presence we increase and make visible the Kingdom of God on earth.

Let us remember that Christ denied himself the pleasure of earthly bread…so that we might know the bread of heaven.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Looking Back

Ecclesiastes 7:10

“Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?”  For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.”

We all look back fondly on the days of our youth and think they were better than the days in which we now live.  Married couples like to look back on their earlier years of marriage and think they were the best years. Or parents look at when their children were younger and think those were the best times.  

But, in truth, there are many ups and downs in every period of a person’s life.

If we know God, we know that each day we live is a gift from God.  Each sunrise is another day unfolding in the love and mercy of God.  Each sunset represents another day spent in God’s ever unfolding plan of redemption.

God is the same today as He was yesterday.   

No day spent with God is any better than the next.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8:38-39)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Seek with God

Ecclesiastes 5:7

“With many dreams come vanities and a multitude of words; but fear God.”

People dream of becoming famous, rich, powerful, educated, having joy in their lives, finding peace, finding happiness, finding love. 

\Throughout our lives we may seek these things.  Some people may find them.  Others search their entire lifetime and never do.

The writer of this scripture warns us that nothing in life is meaningful or lasting without God.  Without God, His love, His grace and mercy, His forgiveness, and His gift of salvation, our dreams evaporate like words spoken into the wind.

Seek your dreams, but seek them in the company of God who so loved the world that He sent His beloved Son to save it.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Gift of Humility

Ecclesiastes 5:1

“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools; for they do not know how to keep from doing evil.”

Worship is an act of humility.  To truly worship we must humble ourselves before God.  This kind of humility is achieved in the heart and is not an outward act.  

We receive God’s gift of humility when we first realize our sins and our sinful nature; when we first realize that Christ is our savior and that He offers us forgiveness and redemption.

It is this humility that we are to carry in our hearts when we pray, when we worship,  and when we serve.  

Humility is an acknowledgment that Christ is our Lord and Savior and that our souls are lost without Him. It is not a sign of timidity, or fear; it is an indication that we know where our true strength lies. 

When we approach God, we are to guard our steps so that we do not pray, worship, or serve in an attitude of arrogance or selfishness.

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble,” (James 4:6)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Meaning of It All

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

“1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”

Without God’s presence, all of life would seem meaningless and tiresome, as it did to the writer of Ecclesiastes, who cried out that all of life was in vain. Without God's presence and sovereignty, everything in life would be without eternal value or significance.  

God gives us eternal values that enable us to transcend the material life into the spiritual, to see value in the ordinary, to see God in other creatures, to see God’s creative hand in nature.

And in each season, there is God…

giving life meaning

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Material Things

Ecclesiastes 2: 4-8

“4 I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself; 5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house; I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and delights of the flesh, and many concubines…

11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after the wind and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.”

Twenty-five years ago, my father died.  I was with him the last two weeks of his life.  During that time, the meaning of this passage was never more clear to me.

At the end of our lives our bank accounts, our houses, our cars, our properties will have no meaning.  The material world’s grip on us will be loosened.   

The spiritual, eternal things will be the things that matter most to us, such as love; the love of God, the love of Christ, the love for our family and friends.

The writer of Ecclesiastes warns us that the true meaning of life cannot be found in  a life obsessed with chasing things that rust, decay and fade away.  

Happiness found in material things is temporary at best.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal;” (Matthew 6:19) 

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Hope in This Life

Ecclesiastes 1: 14-15

“14 I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and chasing after the wind.  15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.”

Things in this world often seem beyond our control, or out of control.  There are many crooked roads that will never be straight, and many people who will always be hungry and in need of shelter.

Christ came to us to make the crooked paths straight; to restore us; to redeem us; to transform us into a people of love, mercy and compassion for one another.  

Christ came not only to give us the hope of eternal salvation, but to give us hope in this life; the hope of a better life, a higher life; a life where people live in peace and unity and reach out to those in need, and those who are lacking.

“for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’”(Matthew 25:35-36)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

A New Day with Christ

Ecclesiastes 1:2-9

“2 Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3 What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun? 4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hurries to the place where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south, and goes around to the north; round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. 7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they continue to flow. 8 All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing. 9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.”

Sometimes life seems as if it repeats itself; that we are caught on some sort of giant , never ending merry-go-round.  We get up in the morning.  We eat breakfast.  We go to work. We eat lunch.  We leave work.  We go home.  We eat dinner.  We watch TV.  We go to bed.  And we get up the next day and do it all over again.

The difference for Christians is that we do all these things with Christ and the Holy Spirit of God.  We get up with Christ.  We eat with Christ.  We work with Christ.  We travel each day with Christ.  The sun rises and sets each day with Christ.

And for everyone who is in Christ, the Holy Spirit is creating in us a new creation.

No day is the same with Christ.

Each day is a new day in the love of Christ.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)