Two or More Ways of Seeing Something

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                        Acts 1:18

Two or More Ways of Seeing Something

by Robert T. Cooper

I was recently looking at a book that included the optical illusion involving a black and white line drawing that can be seen as a young woman if looked at one way or can be seen as an older woman if looked at another way. Most people have seen similar optical illusions. One simply has to change one’s focus and the way in which one organizes what is being seen.

It is something like a policeman getting the stories of several eyewitnesses. No two stories will totally match, but all will contribute to the truth of what really happened. It can even be the same if a single person tells more than once something that happened. The details will vary, but it is possible to harmonize the stories.

There is a story of a teacher who had four students who missed a test. The four insisted they had been headed to the test on time, but their car had a flat tire. Something about the situation made the teacher suspicious, but the teacher agreed to give them all a one-question make-up exam. The teacher had them sit in the four corners of the room. Then the teacher told them what the one question on the make-up would be: “Which tire was it?”

In Acts 1:18, it is reported that Judas used the 30 pieces of silver to purchase a field. While at that field, he fell headlong, his body burst open, and his intestines spilled out. That is one graphic and memorable image. But the Gospels report that Judas threw the money back to the priests and that it was the priests who bought the field. Then the Gospels say that Judas went out and hung himself. So just who bought the field? Just how did Judas die?

Is it possible to harmonize the two accounts? When the priests bought the field, they might have done so in Judas’ name so that the legal records showed that it was Judas who bought it. We don’t know that is how it was, but it is a plausible explanation. But harmonizing the rest of it takes a lot more imagination. One suggestion is that Judas was running with the rope around his neck (picture the crazed Judas of The Passion of the Christ) when he tripped. As he fell, the rope caught on something so that he hung himself. But rather than being suspended in the air, his falling body hit a jagged bit of ground that caused his body to burst open and his intestines to spill out. Gruesome, huh? Again, we don’t know that is how it was, and it is a little less plausible than the purchase of the field, but it might have been that way.

So what is the point of all this? Different people might see certain things in more than one way. Don’t you want people to believe you and be gracious to you when you say what you understand and they don’t understand it your way? We too should be gracious when others say things that we genuinely believe not to be so. The other person may not be a liar and may not be crazy. The other person might not even be mistaken.

If we truly love one another, we will think the best of one another and be gracious to one another.

What do you relate to in this blog post? Can you share a story of a time you and someone else saw something different ways?

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                          Acts 1:6

Curiosity Killed the Cat

by Robert T. Cooper

In 2009 I spent nearly the entire year preaching through the book of Revelation. The congregation wanted to do it again. After prayer, I decided that if I was going to preach through it again, I would do so in more depth. So I spent nearly all of 2010 – 2011 preaching through it a second time.

I first became aware of Revelation in the mid-1960’s when my mother listened to programs on the subject on the radio. When I was in college the big book was Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth. In seminary I spent some time examining the various -isms of interpretation of Revelation. In more recent days we have had the Left Behind series of books and related materials. And so on until just yesterday a Facebook friend said she was reading through the book of Revelation.

Folks are simply curious about what the future holds. We cry out, “Maranatha! Lord, come quickly!” In many ways we are anxious for the fullness of Christ’s reign to come.

The Twelve (or in this case, the Eleven) were like that. Their culture had driven into their minds the expectation that the Messiah would conquer the Romans and bring back into existence an independent Jewish state such as during the Maccabean period. Perhaps it was the realization that Jesus had no intention of doing so, at least not immediately, that drove Judas to betray Him. Yet after the Resurrection the Eleven were back to their earlier expectation of a literal earthly Kingdom with Jesus as monarch.

It is an issue. Whether it be the Millennial Kingdom or the Eternal State that comes next in history, we want to know, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom?”

When I was a child there was a cartoon called “Peeping Penguins.” I had forgotten the cartoon featured penguins, but I did remember all these years later the song sung by the mother, “Curiosity Killed the Cat.”

Perhaps having an interest in whether Christ will establish His Kingdom in the near future will not necessarily kill a disciple. Yet a person can become so fixated on the Doctrine of Last Things that one is not very well tuned into living for Jesus today or into the real-life ministry needs of those around us. I was once in a store in which an Adventist tried to engage me in conversation. All he wanted to talk about was Last Things. I had other things I wanted to discuss.

Indeed, as we will see, Jesus had something else He wanted to talk to the Eleven about before His Ascension. He wanted to talk about getting the lost into His spiritual Kingdom.

But God is like that. There will be plenty of time to think about whatever physical Kingdom will be established at the time of its establishment. Meanwhile, let us be faithful to the task of living for Jesus and ministering to people in this moment.

Questions: What proportion of your time do you spend contemplating Last Things? What would Jesus rather you be doing with at least some of your time? Will you start living according to His agenda for your life?

The Verb “to Give” Brings New Insight

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                          Acts 1:4

The Verb “to Give” Brings New Insight

by Robert T. Cooper

1.      There is a gift.

2.      The gift has recipients.

3.      The gift is the commands of Jesus.

OK, we get it! We are saved by grace. We don’t do anything to earn it. We just have to be careful that we don’t slip into thinking that our obedience to Jesus earns us any merit with God. We don’t do works to be saved; we do works because we are saved.

Then we get all those sermons on the Great Commission: “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” And from the Gospel of John, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” And wasn’t it nice of Bill Gothard to compile for us a list of all the commands of Jesus? I’ve got to get me a copy of that book one of these days.

But I thought Jesus’ yoke was supposed to be easy and his burthen light! Well, reading this verse a word sticks out at us and we suddenly discover a hint: Jesus “gave them this command.” It was a gift! Maybe it was kind of like that hapless fellow who gave his wife a new vacuum cleaner for their wedding anniversary; along with the gift was the implication that something would be done with the gift that did not involve pure enjoyment. But when you consider the commands of Jesus as gifts, they take on an entirely different color, don’t they?

In this particular case, the command was a gift to a particular group of people, or at least part of the command was. Face it, we aren’t all supposed to go to Jerusalem and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps another time we may consider whether there is anything in the command for some or even all of us today. But one should be careful in reading the Bible. Not all popular verses mean what they seem to mean when taken out of context. Sometimes it matters and sometimes it doesn’t. It simply means that care should be taken (and often people do not take enough care).

So we are left with the idea that Jesus gifts us with His commands. “Be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” “Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.”

What do you usually do with gifts? You receive them with joy, thank the giver, and use those gifts appropriately to enhance your life. Hmmm.

For your comments: What about this idea of receiving Jesus’ commands with joy? Have you ever thanked Jesus for particular commands He has given you? Have you ever considered how particular commands of Jesus might enhance your life?

What Does It Take to Make You Cry?

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                              Acts 1:3

What Does It Take to Make You Cry?

by Robert T. Cooper

Some people are tough and some are tender. Some cry over sunsets, kittens and babies. Others don’t shed a tear even when physically abused. Some cry in empathy at nearly every TV show or movie. I cry in some, but I confess that The Passion of the Christ had me weeping over what my sin caused my Lord to suffer.

In truth, I had heard and even told verbal descriptions of Christ’s suffering on several occasions over the years. You can find various descriptions of the sufferings of Jesus from His prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane all the way through His being pierced in the side with a spear. The brutality was fierce. In fact, while the portrayal in The Passion film was the most graphic to date, even it was not fully authentic. The truth was simply too gruesome to show in its entirety.

Isaiah wrote, “And with His stripes we are healed.” This did not mean that Jesus’ suffering would result in physical healing for believers. Rather it means that in Jesus’ shed blood and death on the cross He would take our sin on Himself, dying in our place, that if we will repent of our sin and place our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we will have forgiveness of sin and eternal life.

When I was a teenager, Jesus Christ, Superstar created quite an uproar. It first came out as a double LP record album. One of the criticisms against it was that the recording ended with the Crucifixion. So when the rock opera is staged, it is done in a way that hints at the Resurrection.

For us as believers, the Resurrection shows God’s Power over sin, death and hell. It shows that Christ is indeed the firstfruit from the dead. It shows that we too have hope in resurrection, that we too will rise. Since there was an “after the suffering” for Jesus, there will be an “after the suffering” for us as well.

Now, back to the question in the title, or perhaps a better question. As you reflect on the suffering that Jesus endured on account of your sin, what feelings do you experience?

Ending Up at the Place You’re Supposed to Be

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                              Acts 1:2

Ending Up at the Place You’re Supposed to Be

by Robert T. Cooper

Musicians joke that Beethoven would write several possible endings to a composition, not be able to decide which was best, and so would use them all! I was always amazed that Dickens could write two totally different endings for Great Expectations. But then, several authors have done that. Several movies have been released in versions with different endings.

When Luke came to the end of the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, following Jesus’ resurrection He made appearances for forty days “until the day he was taken up to heaven” (Acts 1:2). No alternative ending. Jesus went to a particular place. He sat down at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, and He stayed there.

Jesus makes a couple of later appearances in the book of Acts. He appears in Acts 7 standing at the right hand of God. He also appears in Acts 9 in a light from heaven.

Jesus is at God the Father’s right hand in order to help us with our prayers. We often don’t know how to pray as we ought. So Jesus takes our prayers and straightens them out for us so that God the Father receives them as they should have been prayed.

Jesus is also an advocate for us with God the Father. Face it, we often need someone to speak to the Father on our behalf. Sometimes we don’t even realize we need someone to do so. But Jesus knows, and He is right there on the job. He delights in caring for us so.

Finally, Jesus is at the place from which He will return when He comes back, as Acts 1:11 expresses it.

So for the final section of His earthly life, Jesus did what the Father assigned Him to do, and ended up at the place He was supposed to be.

What about you and me? We are in a section of our earthly lives. For all we know, it might be the final section. Are we doing what the Father assigned us to do? Are we making a point of ending up at the place we are supposed to be? Unlike Beethoven or Dickens or the movies, we don’t get a second chance.