The Holy Spirit speaks to all people. John 16:8 says: “ And when he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”
God speaks to all people. The decisive factor is how we react to this. Do we want to open ourselves up to him or do we barricade ourselves in and want to keep him away from us?
The Holy Spirit causes us to have a genuine interest in God. So the question is: do I want to know more of God or am I just questioning him?
The shock must first be dealt with (Acts 1:12-26), that someone who had even been entrusted with money was a traitor. The first Christians withdrew, reconciled themselves with history and had to find a new way of working together.
The name Judas Iscariot could indicate that he was associated with the particularly radical movement of the Sicarii (Dagger Men). This was a subgroup of the Zealots. They Continue reading The synod
The disciples want to know whether Jesus will now make Israel into a great and mighty kingdom (Acts 1:6).
Jesus replies that there is a time for everything. He does not deny an earthly kingdom, but first comes a time of waiting, then of witnessing in all the world and then the visible return of Jesus to this earth.
His reign begins in the place where people have decided against him (Jerusalem), then continues into the surrounding area (Judea), to the despised Samaritans and to the end of the world. Continue reading You will be my martyrs
The Sadducees were the liberals.
They rejected everything supernatural. God is a nice thought, but it has nothing directly to do with life. Religion is a beautiful tradition that needs to be preserved. But it all ends with death.
We find an indication of this in Acts 23:8, where it says: “For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.”
Josephus, a Jewish historian, writes in “Antiquities” (ant. XVIII 1,4): “The doctrine of the Sadducees allows the soul to perish with the body and recognises no other regulations than the law” (Five Books of Moses).
In the dispute with the Sadducees, Jesus said in Matthew 22:31-32: “As for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”
It is a hint from Jesus that not everything ends with death.
The story of the Good Samaritan is not about caring for the sick, but about stopping my busy life for someone I meet who needs my help.
Jesus is asked what the key to eternal life is. The answer is: love of God and love of neighbour. This simple sentence sums up the Old Testament.
But the questioner immediately tries to talk his way out of it by asking who his neighbour is. Jesus responds with a story (Luke 10:25-37).
My neighbour is not a person of my choice. I do not have to seek and fulfil a specific task.
I become a neighbour by changing my behaviour towards the people I meet.
As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word (John 17:18.20).
We cannot fulfil God’s mandate alone, but only together. Not only because the task is too great, but because we can only be a reflection of God together. God lives in perfect unity.
This means that we support, encourage and strengthen each other – even those who have received a completely different task from God than we have. Continue reading We fulfil God’s mandate together
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Isaiah 61:1-2).
Jesus reads these words in the synagogue in Capernaum and connects their fulfilment with his person. “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).
In Jesus, God gets to the root of the problem. His death and resurrection change our thinking, our values and our attitudes. The goal is salvation and healing, freedom and well-being for the wretched, the entangled and all those with a broken heart. Continue reading God invites us to comprehensive freedom
Verse of the day: “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
We love options. We are a culture where everyone believes only in themselves.
At the same time, there is a longing in us for overflowing love, for being held, for liberation and rest, for security.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Thank you, Jesus: I can entrust myself to you. Continue reading God invites us through Jesus Christ