65. "Believe It or Not, There is A Vine, and He Has Branches!", John 15.1-8

Now this chapter, particularly the first eleven verses, is well known by most Believers. In fact, it may very well be one of the most read passages in all of the Gospel record... but also one that raises the most questions. In fact again, do any of us truly understand the true meaning of the lesson that Jesus is teaching here? Why does He speak of a vine and branches and fruit, anyway? Why does He speak of unfruitfulness and of casting off and of burning, there in the first eight verses, while in the next seven His emphasis is on loving God and loving each other?

Well, we may as well start at the beginning. We finished chapt. 14 with Jesus and His disciples leaving the upper room, following the Passover meal. And they're on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane where we will hear the great prayer that He prayed there, both for them, and for us, as recorded in ch. 17. And as they passed through the dark streets of Jerusalem, Jesus began to talk to His men about life in Him, and in the presence of Father God, as well as the soon-to-be-present Holy Spirit...with them and in them. Remember that these had been the topics of His teaching back in the upper room

Now keep in mind that this passage does not apply to people who are outside of Christ; lots of His teaching does, but this does not. And we can trace that right back to ch. 13.1. He had been teaching about communion with Himself, about preparing a place for them, and manifesting Himself to them through the presence of Holy Spirit...what to be, and to do, while He was away from them. 

Now to begin with, we need to realize that although "vine-talk" is strange to us, it was not strange at all to the Jews. In fact, the Old Testament symbol for the nation of Israel, was that of a fruitful vine (see at least, Psalm 80, and Isaiah 5). In the case of Israel, the vine had not quite borne the intended fruit, nor had it remained fruitful, which is exactly why Father God had sent the Son to live amongst His creation, to begin with. Where national Israel had failed, Jesus would succeed! They had failed to abide in God, but soon Holy Spirit would bring about a new fruitfulness, as they began to experience real productivity under the government of the Kingdom of God. After all, that's the sole purpose of a vine, isn't it? And the means by which a healthy vine is identified, is the quality of its bountiful and beautiful fruit. Remember, Jesus' teaching here is of those who are committed to obedience to Him!

Now you may still be wondering why, and how. And what makes the difference anyway? Well the answer is found in these very verses. Therefore, this chapter is not one to be glanced-at, or to be brushed-off, either one. Remember that it's dyed-in-the-wool Holy Spirit-filled Believers that God is raising-up here. Believers who would bear spiritual fruit, and bring glory to Him rather than to self. Remember that...this is critical!

Take notice that the word "abide", apppears nine times in the first ten verses of this chapter...an expansion of the seed-thoughts which Jesus had taught in chapt. 14. So "the vine and the branches" speak of an intimate oneness, dependency, and a shared health and goodness, don't they?! Yes, they do.

Now as we look at vs. 1, we again see those two, telltale little words, "I Am", used fifty or more times throughout the Gospel according-to John. Not simply "a vine", like Israel was a vine , but "the true Vine", as we have learned in earlier chapters, that He is "the true Light", and "the true Bread" and "the true Water". And remember that He, Himself is "Truth", with a capital "T", in completee contrast with all other allegorical lamps and breads and waters, referred-to througout the Old Testament. Jesus is the real thing, while all those other things, as recorded in Hebrews 8.5, are mere shadows of "the Truth" which was to come. 

"And My Father is the Husbandman"...the Proprietor of the vineyard...the Vine-dresser, the Cultivator, and the Caretaker of the Vine and His branches. And the Vine, as we read in Isaiah 53, "...had grown up before Him as a tender plant, a root out of a dry ground." 

So exactly what does a husbandman do? Well for sure, He watches and protects every branch, big and small, and every little green shoot. And he takes notice of every leaf and blossom and every piece of fruit...watering, pruning and training, as the reason or season demands. When a disease strikes, he tends to it, and when no fruit comes, he prunes it, and when there are too many blossoms, he purges some away so that the developing fruit will be bigger and better and more abundant. And so it is, Jesus says, with our Heavenly Father...constantly concerned for the spiritual wellbeing and fruitfulness of every individual Believer. 

Next time we'll be getting right to the meat of the matter, so be prepared to have your thinking, or your teaching, challenged. And in anticipation of that, I'll be praying for you!

64. "Holy Spirit...Who, and Why?", John 14

Now I don't think we should entirely leave John 14 without a closing word concerning Holy Spirit. Certainly, in my lifetime, I have had no small amount of confusion at times, as well as a host of unanswered questions regarding this mysterious Person, third in the Godhead...the very essence of Jesus the Christ Himself, and the very Agent of Father God! And He has a definite personality, infinite power, and a permanent relationship with the Believer. 

He was Jesus' promise to the twelve, that when He returned to the Father, He would ask that they (and we!) be sent Another, Who would fill them, comfort them, and empower them for a lifetime till eternity come. Now that, would be Divine, because He is as Jesus, Himself...the very Spirit of very Truth, by, and of, the great I AM! So don't let your heart be troubled!

And this Person will have a permanent relationship with the Believer...for the rest of your life? No...into eternity itself! I believe that when this Holy entity comes in, He comes to stay...through thick and thin, as we say, which is the exact point stated by Jesus to the twelve. Ready, willing and able to give us precisely what we need, for when and what we need it. And if that seems impossible to you today, you need to get on your knees and have another little talk with Jesus!

Secondly, Holy Spirit has at least, a fourfold purpose for His presence in His people. And they are, first of all, to indwell us; to be a part of us from the moment that we believe...at that moment upon which we become a living stone in the living temple of the living God! Just think on that for a minute, because I fear that most of us have become so familiar with bible truth, that it has lost much of its luster; it lacks the "punch" that it one had for us. But this is a great truth...that there can be no greater resource, than that of God dwelling in you! And He wants to be in the way of every move you make.

Next, His purpose is to invest all that He has and is, in order to enrich and empower the life of the Believer. It's not a bit of an exageration to say that, without His investment in my life, I would amount to no more than a mere mineral deposit! Do you realize that without Him, anything that is accomplished for the faith, brings only glory to self...nothing for God? No glory for Jesus' sake; nothing for Kingdom growth; no jewels and no crowns...just a hearty handshake and maybe a half-hearted thank you.

But Jesus' purpose in sending His Holy Spirit to the church is also to instruct us in the things of God; to teach us spiritual truths; to reveal to us the depths of the faith, and to take us to our fullest potential, on behalf of the One Whose servants we are. 

And finally, His goal is to inspire us; to literally, encourage us in our duty; to be for us as well as in us, what we cannot be on our own; to keep us moving in His direction, and to gather us out of the shade and off the shoulder. To inspire us.

Those disciples were easily discouraged, but He is the Prince of Peace, vs. 27...and we still have that assurance today! Our world may be on track for destruction, but we have given to us and for us, the peace that surpasses all our understanding. What a mighty God we serve!

63. "Jesus Speaks, and Who is Listening?", John 14.21-31

Well we should know by now, what the intent of Jesus is, in giving His disciples this long dialogue as recorded for us by John in the 14th chapter...and was, in order to comfort them before the full impact of His leaving was to become reality. And we can can see that as we peek ahead to vs. 27, where the Lord repeats all that He had said in the first verse, and adds a further comment, "...neither let (your heart) be fearful." 

Let's just review what it is that He has told them throughout the chapter so far. First, that He was returning to the Father; second, that He was going to prepare a place for them there, too; third, that He would eventually return to take them back with Him; fourth, that He had provided them the Way, and would provide them the means; fifth, that He would give them power to do and to be; sixth, if they lacked any thing, all they had to do was ask; seventh, that the Spirit of Truth would be sent to them, to comfort them from the inside out; eighth, that someday their eyes would be opened and it would all become clear to them; and finally, and perhaps best of all, as a result of their faithfulness to His commands, He would be their Peace, with a capital "P". God would provide!

Now we can't really get into verses 22-31 without fully grasping vs. 21. I truly believe that the Believer's main desire in every area of life, must be to have a personal revelation of the Lord Jesus. Of course, I can really only speak for myself, but I would have to say that every other spiritual blessing would have to take second place, in comparison.                                

"But", you might ask, "How does Jesus reveal Himself in this ultra-modern church age?" After all, He is no longer "the Word in flesh, tabernacling among men", nor does He say, as He did to the Doubter, "Reach out your finger and touch my hand", or "...your hand, to My side." Or even, in a vision of His throne, "Holy, holy, holy"! So the revelation that we have is a spiritual one, brought about through our bible reading and our praying, and our personal meditation and our fellowshipping...there is no other way in this present age, to experience His Being, and his nearness and His acceptance. By no other means than these...only by giving Him first place and first thought and first deed; and by sharing in His concern for the lost, and the dying and the castaways. That's the point at which Jesus becomes a Reality in our lives!

But how...on what terms does He choose to reveal Himself? Well the 21st verse makes it clear, doesn't it...by keeping His commands. Are you anxious to learn the key to earthly peace and joy? Well learn it from Him...by engaging in Heavenly pursuits! Saving faith begets loving obedience; that is, an obedience that does not hesitate when the way is a little unclear...or unclean; and does not hesitate to bear the cross, and the shame that goes along with it...because in fact, glory's in it! It's then and only then that we come to realize that He is not a God far away, and that the Kingdom is not a place far away; Jesus is in the here-and-now, for every one who knows Him and obeys Him, and who truly loves Him enough to be-so, and to do-so. 

Remember that we obey out of love, and not of necessity. We don't obey His commands because it's necessary, but because we've come to love them! If there's any difference between keeping His commandments and having His commandments, there's a whole world of difference between a love-walk and a sentimental journey....the one, for a special occasion...the other, for a lifetime! And the greatest revelation of them all? Well, again, as we've learned from vs. 21, "He who loveth Me...will be loved"! Named to eternal life, united to Jesus by faith, and trasformed by the sanctifying work of Holy Spirit! My oh my.

Now let's look back to ch. 10.17,18 to see the importance of this... "Therefore does My Father love Me...". If it's true for Jesus, it most certainly is true for us! And on the heels of that, there's "the other Judas (not Iscariot)", back again, in 14.22, with another question, "But how can that be, Lord?" Judas is the last of the three disciples in this chapter to reveal his lack of understanding of the words of the Master Teacher. So as I say on other occasions, not to worry...we're in good company! 

Then, "How is it that You manifest Yourself to us, and not to the rest of the world, relating back to vss. 19 and 21..."To whom, and why?" Judas (not Iscariot!), simply could not grasp truth when he heard it...that the goats were already being separated from the sheep. He was still thinking like a Jew, rather than a Jesus Freak! He hadn't yet grasped the teaching that God's Kingdom is a spiritual one. Remember Thomas' exclaimation, back in vs. 5..."Just tell us where and when, Lord!" 

You know, there are still those in the world today who would universalize the teachings of Jesus...who would attribute spiritual and scriptural truths to every citizen of planet earth. But as Jesus has very clearly said, He would be revealed to those who love and obey Him...unlike His unbelieving brothers back in ch. 7.4, who had told Him, "...Go and show Yourself to the world!"; to which Jesus had replied, "My time is not yet come." 

This was a real mystery, even to those who knew Him best, but He was speaking about dying, and about leaving this world without accomplishing the Jew's great hope of a new earthly kingdom. To them, the Kingdom of which He spoke was a far cry from the one they were dreaming-of. But Jesus, true to form, refused to be distracted, but kept pressing home eternal truth, as seen in vss. 23 and 24.

May we today, love Him such that we keep His words, perform His works, and reflect His wisdom in and through our every day. And God bless us, every one. 

62. Lesson 30 cont'd, John 14.12-21

Now in the previous lesson, we had been considering our obedient walk in the faith. And up to this point in their experience, Jesus, in the flesh, had been comforting His disciples, but beginning in vs. 16, He begins teaching truths for eternity. His physical presence would soon be missing, but as we read in vs. 18, the disciples would not be left "comfortless"! You know, if you were to start reading at vs. 13, skipped vs. 15 and continued to the end of vs. 20...and then insert vs. 15 just before vs. 21, you would have a much clearer understanding of what Jesus is teaching here. 

Do you have a "comforter"? I mean a flesh, blood and bone comforter? One who will love you without ever letting his words get in the way? Well that's the kind of comforter Jesus is referring-to here. And that's exactly the kind of comfort that Jesus knew those twelve (and us), would need...to minister by His very presence when we have been cast down, or are broken up, and when we are weak or afraid. Even when we're just plain obstreperous, turning-off anyone who dares speak...He'll even comfort us then! And this Comforter...this Spirit, is One that the world can never receive, because rather than the Giver-of-Life, they possess the destroyer-of-life. And because they can't see Him, neither can they know Him (vs. 17). As Paul would later write to the Corinthian church, "...the natural man cannot receive (Holy Spirit comfort), because they are not spiritually discerned."

You realize of course, that once Jesus left the disciples, they would be like sheep without a shepherd; an army with no defense; street people without a cardboard box to call home... comfortless, inconsoleable...and lost! But what a promise...He would come to live IN them, rather than beside them, before they even realized how much they really needed Him...orphans in need of the Father's care (vs. 18). 

Now that is one precious promise! And you can deposit it in the promise bank when Jesus saves you, so that God possesses you, and Holy Spirit indwells you...we are not left comfortless. In Matt. 28.20, He promised, "Lo, I am with you always"; in Hebrews 13.5 we read, "I will never leave you or forsake you", and Paul, in Gal. 2.20..."Christ lives in me!" How comforting is that?! And these promises are credited to the Believer's account, generating comfort-credit into eternity. My, oh my.

Then finally, in verses 19-20 we read that, "Now you see Me...then you won't!" That is until, as we're promised in the Revelation, there will be no going, but a great return in all His glory, when "every eye shall see Him"; when, as John has recorded in his first letter, "we shall see Him as He is!" 

But what's the point? Well in vs. 20 we read that, "In that day, you will know that I Am...in the Father; and you in Me, and I, in you." Of course His reference here, is most likely to the coming of Holy Spiirit at Pentecost (Acts 2), when the church would receive our marching orders, as the Spirit of the Lord Jesus fell upon His disciples in all power! Right now we have a glorious life in Him; then, we will have HIM, in glory!

But we mustn't overlok that greatest of promises in vs. 19, "Because I live...". Our lives have been secured by His life, and most especially, by His death. That truth alone should convince us of our own spiritual potential, until that day when we see Him face to face! It's mind-boggling, that the mysteries of the faith can be believed and received and put into practice, even without our understanding how...but not without our obedience, as is again so clearly stated there, in the 21st verse. 

Thus endeth the lesson.

61. Lesson 30 cont'd...John 14.12-21

Now we must remember that our Lord's mission is to bring us to the Father, Whose priority it is, to bring lost souls into the Kingdom...and importanly...for His own purposes. It's not about us! As we read in vs. 12, He has returned to His Father, and in the next verse, that He did-so in order that the Father receive all the glory. You need to know that that was and is, the full focus of Jesus' life, death and resurrection...that God be the focus of our attention, as it was His...and that He be given the glory for it...not even Jesus, and God forbid...not us! It was, and is for the One Who is central in all of life and in eternity.

That's not too difficult for us to grasp is it? But we're so distracted by our own existence that for many of us, Heavenly Father is only a bi-line. Just an afterthought before we drop off to sleep at night; only a familiar perception as we muddle through our day; little more than a familiar face on our Google Photos app. Well I think I've made my point.

Do you realize what value prayer really has in terms of our relationship with the Father? What our Lord is doing there in vs. 13 is telling the twelve to have greater confidence...as we would say, greater faith...in Him and His words. He was on His way to the cross and the tomb, but He was not untouchable. He would be out of sight, but hopefully not out of mind... and most certainly not beyond the reach of their prayers. Prayer, especially when yoked with fasting, and in tandem with obedience (vss. 15 and 21), is a force to be reckoned-with...as vs. 14 says, when done in the Name of Jesus!

Now how do you pray? Not like the Pharisee in Luke 18, I hope...“I am not like other men...robbers, evil-doers and adulterers”. In fact, Jesus teaches that we must pray in union with His will; that we pray that the Father be glorified in it; that we pray by His authority, He be the One Whose power is manifested, and nothing of our own. 

But we must understand here that Jesus was not handing His disciples a blank cheque. Our Father does not honour our prayers simply because they bear the Saviour's Name. We mustn't be deluded into thinking that all we need do is to make application to God, and all our dreams will come true! In fact, the opposite applies...we don't only need to be IN His will, but we need to BOW to His will. We need to belong to more that the local bible carrying chapter of the Kingdom...we must hear Him and obey Him, and keep His commands; even to anticipate His commands. In fact, that's what being in His will implies...that it's not that we're willing to obey THEM, but that we're eager to obey HIM! There's a big difference between obeying the Law, and obeying the Law-Maker...the one, a tablet of stone, the other, the onion skin of our hearts. The one out of necessity; the other, out of love!

So what was it the Lord was so concerned they obey? Well for sure, the first and greatest commandment, and "the other, like unto the first". That's the test of our love for Him, isn't it? Just as for anyone else, all "Jesus People" love because they are loved. That's a pretty simple concept. 

I remember talking with someone who had grown up absent from her grandparents; very rarely getting to visit, but loving them intensely, because they loved her so much. She knew it because they loved her first. And by their letters to her, and their phone calls to her, and by their prayers for her. And she would never have neglected those dear souls for all the tea in Taiwan! In fact, she would have done anything for them that they might have asked of her.             

Sound familiar? We are more than servants, more than friends...we're family, and we love Father God because He loved us first. And He hears us when we speak to Him, and we should hear Him...and obey Him, when He speaks to us. My, oh my... why don't we obey Him cheerfully, and willingly? And why don't we even deem it a privilege, rather than a handicap? These are hard questions, aren't they. May God equip us with "sufficient grace" for the journey!

60. Lesson 30 cont'd..."Jesus Will Take As Long As It Takes", Pt. 3, Jn. 14.12-21

This is a remarkable passage, with some remarkable statements made by our remarkable Lord! That His powerful works, in and through the lives of those disciples, would come about as a direct result of their faith in the Master (vs. 12a); and that their prayer lives would result in Jesus’ hearing and doing (vss. 13,14); and that their love for Him meant keeping His commands to them/demands on them (vs. 15); and that another Comforter would be coming to them/for them (vs. 16). And so you have the connection...faith, power, prayer, obedience, all coming together in the comforting presence of Holy Spirit...and what else might you expect? So if you find yourself among the missing today, give these words of His, some sober second-thought.

Now let’s go all the way back to vs. 1 for just a minute, where we begin to see three (of course) chief points concerning the comfort that our Lord promises. We read that He had been teaching that He would be going to His Father’s house, and that He would be preparing a place for them, and that He would come again to receive them to Himself...forever! But then, He had been interrupted by Thomas and Phillip, so now He’s telling them that there was no way they (we) could understand these spiritual truths until after Holy Spirit was given to them, as we begin to read in vs. 16. And by Holy Spirit power He would be in them, and they, in Him, vs. 20. And it would then be Holy Spirit...not Jesus in person, who would be their Helper, and by Holy Spirit they would finally make the connection, as they called to remembrance His teaching, vs. 26. Now that’s where we are on this day...at the “verily, verily”, or “truly, truly” of vs. 12...sit-up-and-take-notice words. These are critical teachings for us as well as for the twelve, and it’s critical today that we pay them heed. Now, of course, there’s little doubt here that Jesus is speaking of His own miraculous works...that is, those which prove He is, Who He has said He is. And for us, those works which prove we are who we say we are, as well.

Now Mark has recorded that “certain signs will follow them that believe”. So we must, as Jesus and the Father already have, determine once and forever, whether we do or do not, believe. Well, I must confess that to my knowledge, I’ve never performed any miraculous works such as Jesus promises here, or seen (m)any of the signs referred-to in Mark 16. But if you and I are in the same boat there, we mustn’t beat ourselves up over it, because Jesus, in that passage, was speaking to apostles-to-be.

I’m a firm believer, as I trust you are, in examining the context, and not simply accepting the record as a matter of fact, if not a prophecy of, or a command for a certain expectation for behaviour of future believers...us. So it could very well be, considering the context, that what is recorded in vss. 12 and following was directed to the twelve to whom He spoke, as what is recorded in Mark 16 must have been directed to the eleven, to whom He spoke. Most certainly, the promise of answered prayer and of giving Holy Spirit has been a part of the church’s doctrine since its beginning. We have complete trust in Holy Spirit’s power to make us new in Jesus, and that the second birth brings us into a new family and a new life!

Now having said that, it is perfectly clear from the New Testament record, that truly saving faith was directly connected with miraculous events. If we go back to Luke 10.19, when Jesus specifically commissions the seventy disciples to missions, He tells them that neither serpents, nor scorpions nor the power of their enemies, would hinder them in their God-given duties. You have to take a commission like that, and believe it and make it personal, just as those seventy seem to have done, in order for Holy Spirit power to percolate, resulting in names being recorded in heaven!                                                                              We have to remember that these disciples were in the very presence of Jesus! But of course many, like Judas Isacriot, being under the influence of the world, the flesh and the devil, aren’t satisfied with the presence of our Lord. And in that case, they, like Judas simply cannot be and will not be, a force for the Lord God Almighty. So it’s no wonder that the twelve were questioning and doubting, even if they did have enquiring minds. I believe it might be a good idea for any of us to empty our lives of the things of the flesh occasionally, in order that Jesus be heard...good reason for a Fast! And verses 15 -21 give us pretty clear teaching as to how critical it is to make certain to have open ears and open hearts to receive and obey the words of Jesus.

We know today that Jesus’ teachings have been, or will be fulfilled to the tiniest detail. The eleven would believe Him, and they would be filled with Holy Spirit power, and He would use them to the fulness of His own spiritual potential...far beyond their wildest dreams. In fact, as we read in vs. 12, “...he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and even greater works than these he will do, because I go to the Father.” But what could be greater, you might ask. Well anything that is done in the mighty, saving Name of Jesus, that results in the salvation of a lost soul, would be a great place to start! The turning of the worm of sin, and the threat of destruction and eternity lost, is where the first and greatest need lies, in our Lord’s estimation.

We mustn’t let Satan distract us, or to deflect us from our mission. Always remember that the Father’s priority is to draw lost souls into the Kingdom...and His house has many mansions. The Father has honoured the Son, and He has honoured us too, by His eternal, internal Holy Spirit presence. You, my Brethren and Sistern in Christ, have through Him been given the Power... and He has a Name. And He is eveready to give us the spark we need to get the fire of belief ignited in unbelieving and dark souls!

Thank you Jesus, for your great and good gift to those who would hear and respond to Your call to salvation.

Easter 2022

It’s getting close to Passover, and I’ve been watching this man for some time now. I don’t know just who he thinks he is, but he has the crowds right under his thumb...hypnotized even, the way they hang on his every word! Telling them just what they think they want to hear, while all the time, he treats them like sheep, and him, of all things, their shepherd!

Why, the people of Israel are God’s chosen ones, not just one more victim nation of the Roman war machine! Israel doesn’t need a shepherd...we’re in need of a king...one who has the authority to lead us out of oppression, not simply lulled into a state of self-satisfaction, roaming around in greener pastures!

We need to return to the old laws of the fathers, and work on rebuilding the temple, and restoring the old sacrificial system, and get the people swarming again to Jerusalem, that gem in the crown of God! The capital of Judaism! And most of all, encouraging a greater respect for real Jewish leadership.

Why, I’m a Pharisee...maybe even the best of the lot of us, educated from a child by some of the greatest of the rabbis, sages, scholars and philosophers ever to stand before an audience. For centuries now, we’ve worked our way up the ladder of Jewishness, and we’ve paid our dues alongside the scribes, and even those miserable Sadducees, as much as I can’t stand even the sight of them.

And now this man, Jesus, out of Nazereth, wherever that is, come out of no-where and headed only God-knows-where, has decided he’s going to take us on! Why just the other day, some of my friends and I decided to come down from Jerusalem to see him for ourselves, and found his so-called disciples eating bread with unwashed hands! Well let me tell you, we told them off in no uncertain terms, what our tradition has to say about that!

Now get this...this Jesus began quoting scripture at us...that bit where Isaiah had been yammering against the hypocrites. I don’t know where he gets off, using our own scriptures to make us look small in front of our own people! Why, he even went so far as to accuse us of making God’s word ineffective, because of our love for of tradition! And next he began pronouncing woe against us, just as though we were the enemy, rather than the friends of God.

But that’s not the worst of it. It’s come to light that even some of our own Pharisees are beginning to be taken in by him! Just this morning I heard through the grapevine that one of our own, by the name of Nicodemus had snuck off after sunset last night to meet with him, asking about his teaching and his miracles. And do you know what that man’s response had been? You won’t believe it! That “God so loves the world that He gave His only begotten Son, and that whoever believed in Him, would never perish, but have everlasting life.” Now what do you suppose he was getting at...that he was God’s Son?! Blasphemy, I say! A man who equates himself with the very person of God, on any level, deserves to die! So we had only one recourse...to meet with the high priests and devise a plan.

Of course, I took it on myself to go to Caiaphas, and he consulted with Annas, and they both consulted with the scribes and the elders, who counseled together to put him to death. From there it was just a matter of convincing Pilate, the Roman governor, that he was guilty of crimes against Rome, calling himself a king. At first, Pilate objected, and sent him over to Herod, who only made sport of him and sent him back to the governor. But from there, it was only a matter of time.

It wasn’t long before a cross was constructed, and Jesus, that self-proclaimed king of the Jews, was nailed fast to it, pierced and bleeding like a sacrificed lamb. And then, I heard it. At first I thought I’d been mistaken, but others confirmed it...”Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” They know not what they do?! Those words are ringing in my ears yet! All I could think-of, in that moment, was that one day, I too would die, and after that? Judgment! And this man was praying for my forgiveness!

But day after week after month, I carried on, breathing out heresies and chasing down Jesus freaks, until I began to lose the heart for it. I could bear it no longer, when finally, on my last manhunt, I was literally struck down along the way by the voice of the crucified One. I don’t remember much about what happened after that point...only that a friend told me later, how he had had a vision as well, that seemed to confirm my own...in which he had been told that I, Saul the Pharisee, had been chosen by God from eternity past, to experience forgiveness for the worst crimes known to man, being a vessel to be used by the Lord to bear that most blessed Name to all peoples!

Now years later, as I sit reflecting on these things, I cannot help but think how foolish I had been. So I'm penning my confession to the little church in Corinth, that I, a former Pharisee, the greatest of the great have been made anew, because… “...the word of the cross, which is foolishness to them that perish, is unto us which are saved, the very power of God.”        Thank you, Jesus.