Amazing Faith

April 3, 2016 Background Scripture: Luke 7:1 – 10 Lesson Passage: Luke 7:1 – 10 When was the last time something truly amazed you? Why were you so completely shocked by it? Did you attempt to make sense out of it or convince yourself that maybe you shouldn’t be so surprised after all? Or better yet, when was the last time God amazed you? What was so amazing about it? When something or someone amazes us, we feel compelled to talk to others about it. But what happens when we amaze God? I believe that puts a smile on God’s face. Just imagine what it must feel like to know that you have put a smile on God’s face. Today’s lesson revolves around an unnamed centurion. Jesus found him to be amazing because of his faith. Although the centurion was not a Jew, he was well thought of by the Jewish elders because he was very benevolent towards them. That’s amazing in and of itself in that society. There are several indicators in the biblical narrative to suggest that the centurion was a person of high moral character. First, there is the centurion’s concern for his servant’s health. Although he perhaps had other servants, he showed compassion and concern for this individual’s well being. Second, there is the centurion’s view of himself against the person of Jesus. Although the centurion was held in high esteem in that society, he recognized that Jesus was superior to him. He didn’t feel worthy of being in Jesus’ presence to request healing for his servant. Therefore, he sent the Jewish elders to Jesus (who was probably seen as a Jewish prophet) to request the healing of his servant. The Jewish elders consented because they considered the centurion worthy to receive such a blessing from Jesus. They spoke of the love the centurion had shown towards the Jewish nation by building them a synagogue. When the centurion learned that Jesus was coming to his house to heal his servant, he felt that his house was not worthy of Jesus’ presence. By virtue of his position as a centurion, he understood the use of authority because he was in authority over one hundred Roman soldiers. The centurion applied his understanding of authority to what he perceived to be Jesus’ authority over his own words. The centurion expected Jesus’ words to obey him as much as he expected the Roman soldiers to obey his orders. In fact, the centurion’s faith rested firmly in the belief that Jesus’ word would obey him and accomplish whatever he commanded it to do. Note that this attitude was coming from a man who had not committed to leave his occupation and follow Jesus as the twelve disciples had. We really don’t know if he had even witnessed any of Jesus’ miracles firsthand. But we see in the narrative that he exhibited an amazing faith in Jesus’ ability to accomplish the impossible just by speaking. There is no wonder that Jesus, in his humanity, would marvel or be amazed at such a one as this centurion. Jesus turned to his followers and declared that he had not seen such great faith in Israel. What Christian wouldn’t want to be known as a person of great faith? The centurion demonstrated how to achieve such a distinction—and perhaps amaze Jesus. Robert C. Hudson March 21, 2016

Resurrection Faith

March 27, 2016 Background Scripture: Mark 16 Lesson Passage: Mark 16:1 – 8 Ultimately, the faith of every Christian must rest upon the reality that Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus’ self-proclamation prior to his crucifixion that he would die and rise from the dead on the third day is the crowning evidence of his divine nature and lordship of all. Of all the miracles he performed as recorded by the gospel writers, none of them has had more scrutiny and outright attacks as the many claims by unbelievers that he did not rise from the dead. Anyone who has trusted God and put their unfettered faith in the atoning death of Jesus as the ransom for their sin knows experientially the sureness of Jesus’ resurrection. We don’t arrive at this point by making ourselves believe against all logic we hold to the contrary. Jesus, through the Holy Ghost, manifests himself to believers. This was his promise the night he was betrayed and arrested and he is still keeping it today. No other event in the history of mankind has such far-reaching implications as the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Everything Christians hold dear and hang on to is firmly rooted in this reality. The storyline of the gospel is so simple that it often becomes a stone of stumbling for many. From a human perspective, a Jewish boy who was reportedly born into this world in the most unusual way proved through signs and wonders that he is the begotten son of God. He lived a sinless life and was arrested, falsely accused, and crucified because he was hated by the Jewish religious establishment. If that was the end of the story then Christians would be mere zealots who choose to idolize and worship a martyr. But the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead on the third day validated all of his claims. He is the Son of God. Resurrection faith allows Christians to set our affections on the promises of God of eternal life beyond this world. We know that everything in this world is temporary and our lives today cannot be compared to living in a glorified state of immortality in the absence of sin. Sin and its consequences make life in this world difficult as well as finite. No matter how well we take care of these mortal bodies we live in, they will continue to decay because they are corruptible. In the scheme of eternity, human lifespan covers a very short amount of time. The inward person was created to be an eternal being even though sin has sentenced our mortal bodies to only a few years. Our hope is not in this present life which is fading daily. Our hope is built on eternal things which do not fade or deteriorate. We embrace God’s promise of the bodily resurrection of the saints in glory. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead—to die no more—gives us the assurance that Jesus will fulfill his promise to raise us from the dead into eternal life. Mature Christians have no confidence in the flesh because God has shown us the corruptible nature of our flesh. Jesus warned that living in this world as Christians would bring tribulation but he tempered it with the assurance that we can have joy because he has overcome this world’s tribulation. He is the one who keeps us secure to the day of our resurrection. Robert C. Hudson March 10, 2016

Struggling Faith

March 20, 2016 Background Scripture: Mark 14:26 – 31; 66 – 72 Lesson Passage: Mark 14:26 – 31; 66 – 72 I am often intrigued by the “Unified Topic” chosen for these bible lessons. Some topics make it easier to do an exposition of the text while others not so much. The topic of this lesson is altogether different. It would be easy for many Christians to declare that this topic is the story of my life. What Christian has not struggled with their faith at some point—and quite frankly many points along the way? As we take a look at the text, we are reminded that sometimes we set ourselves up for failure by placing too much confidence in our flesh. Too often we believe we have the determination, the will power, the intellect, or whatever we believe it will take to persevere once we make up our minds about an issue or situation. This “can do” attitude seems to be welcomed as a dare or challenge by the devil. At times it seems as though this very attitude is perceived as an open invitation by the devil to come into our lives and have his way with us. The prophet said it best when he said “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” We so soon forget that we are easily tripped up by what’s on the inside of us. Additionally, we are admonished by the proverb writer to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not to your own understanding.” and “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” In spite of all this biblical guidance, we still find opportunities to believe that we are spiritually stronger than we really are. After all, we mature from children into young adults by learning how to be more independent of others and able to stand “on our own two feet”. As Christians we humbly return to a childlike state where we again learn to be dependent except now we depend on God. The more spiritually mature we become, the more we submit our plans and situations to God for His approval or denial. We struggle in our faith when we attempt to bypass God and depend on ourselves or other people. In today’s lesson, Peter was very confident in his determination to be a supporter of Jesus even if it caused him his life. Of course Peter also had his own idea about what that meant to him in terms of how he would choose to lose his life. Peter clearly expected to go down swinging as we can surmise from the verses not included in our text. John identified Peter as the disciple who cut off the ear of one of the high priest’s servants when they came to arrest Jesus. It is not likely that Peter expected Jesus to rebuke him for acting violently towards those who came to apprehend Jesus. Surely it added insult to injury that Jesus healed the man’s ear. Peter was confident in his ability to fight and defend himself and his friends. This required no faith on Peter’s part. Peter needed faith to be submissive to this type of violence and trust God with the outcome. It was at this point where Peter struggled. It was easier to deny that he knew Jesus than it was to forgo his own ability and trust God. One would think that Peter’s example would strengthen Christians everywhere to submit to God’s will and His way and forgo our own resources and abilities. That is where we struggle with faith. If we are to get pass this, we must look beyond Peter’s struggle and see Jesus’ example. We can continue to have struggling faith or we can submit to God in humility and in due time He will exalt us. Robert C. Hudson March 4, 2016

Simple Faith

March 13, 2016 Background Scripture: Mark 10:17 – 31 Lesson Passage: Mark 10:17 – 31 Many times we would rather do great deeds than exercise simple faith. There are times when we would prefer to depend on our own ability and intellect than trust a superior power. These attitudes can be exaggerated when we have great positions or substance to rely on. But if God required great wealth or substance, intellect or social attainment, or even physical strength, then salvation would not be available to everyone. Those physical things will always separate people into different categories or social castes. Thanks be to God that eternal salvation does not depend on our substance or ability. Yet, the simplicity of God’s plan will often leave many people perplexed and stumbling. Much of this appears to be the case with the man in today’s lesson who ran to Jesus one day seeking eternal life. When today’s text is combined with the account as recorded by Matthew and Luke, we learn that this was a young man who happened to be a ruler. All three accounts indicate that he was very wealthy materially. What Jesus offered him would have required an act of faith on the young man’s part. Instead, the young man was looking for a deed he could perform in exchange for eternal life. From a worldly perspective, it appears that the man had it all. He still had his youth, he had worldly position (fame), and he was very rich. Beyond that, how he responded to Jesus’ statements about good deeds indicates that he also had good character. It’s truly amazing that a young wealthy ruler could still have impeccable character from his childhood. This is what likely brought him to Jesus. He knew he was a good person but he also knew that something was missing in his life. Put another way, he was asking Jesus how he could behave better so that his character would be good enough for him to earn eternal life. As I stated above, he had it all: youth, position, and wealth. Jesus advised him to give up two of those: position and wealth. He would give up his position to follow Jesus and he would give up his wealth to donate to the poor. The gospel writers record that the thought of giving up his wealth caused him grief. I think it is prudent to take a brief look at grief before we rush to judgment concerning this young man’s decision. Grief is a normal human emotional response brought on by the loss or perceived loss of something in one’s life. But the greater question is: What value did he place on eternal life? I believe this is one of the challenges of evangelism. What does it take for a spiritually loss person to value eternal life more than whatever they have or wish to acquire in this life? Through lessons such as this, we are reminded that greed and hoarding are powerful attitudes. We may be willing to add but greed will make it unpalatable to consider giving up anything. How many times did we hear the invitation to accept Jesus before we surrendered? What held us back? There is no record of anyone being saved by performing some great act or kind deed. Spiritual salvation still requires simple faith. Do you trust God to save you based on His plan or would you rather develop your own plan and try to negotiate with God to accept yours? We are saved by grace through faith. God has a plan and all He requires of us is simple faith. Robert C. Hudson March 2, 2016