Category Archives: Jesus

Advent impulses

The story of Jesus begins with an angel. An angel meets the Jewish priest Zechariah. Then he meets Mary and in a dream an angel meets Joseph.

There are many coded statements in the angels’ messages.

When the angel announced to Mary that she would have a child as a virgin, the angel assumed biblical knowledge. Mary is not a naive young woman; she knows the meaning of the individual words.

When Sarah, Abraham’s wife, gave birth to a child at the age of 90, God, like the angel to Mary, literally said: ‘No word that comes from God will be without power’ (Genesis 18:14).

It is a reference to the amazing story in Genesis 18, when God appeared to Abraham in human form. There we are told a radical depiction of God’s incarnation: He eats the food that Abraham prepared. This is therefore not a spiritual appearance, but a tangible human being.

If God could become man back then, then he can also limit himself and come into this world in a child. In Jesus, God reveals himself to us in a tangible way.

Love of enemies – God’s trademark

Jesus describes love for those who are hostile towards me as the hallmark of the heavenly Father (Matthew 5:43-48). We should allow ourselves to be motivated by this love of God.

Someone is an enemy to me, not because I have something against them, but because they are against me for some reason.

Treat all people equally and give even those who are hostile to you a chance to repent.

The heavenly Father, who lets the sun shine on all people and also gives everyone the rain, is a role model.

God wants to reconcile all people with Himself. That is why no hatred should emanate from people who live with God. We wish all people peace with God. And that is why we treat all people equally.

Loving our enemies means treating them with respect and not closing the door to reconciliation. David exemplified this very impressively in his relationship with Saul.

Trinity Sunday

The Trinity is the logical consequence of divine revelation in the Bible.

God reveals himself in three personalities. He is Father because a Son was born.

The Son carries the DNA of the Father and is not an inferior being because of his sonship, but voluntarily subordinates himself to the Father because of his sonship.

God is present because he is spirit and can be and act everywhere at the same time. God is not human and is therefore beyond our imagination.

No one does anything that the other would not do.

We cannot grasp this unity with our minds. When the Holy Spirit comes, Jesus promises: “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:20). “And we will come to him and make our home with him” (Johnn 14:23). This unity is ultimately a divine mystery. For God cannot be grasped by our thinking. Otherwise we would be divine. Because we cannot grasp it does not mean that it is not so.

Anyone who wants to explain God with human logic cannot believe that God is one and not one (achad and not jachid). Jesus already had the problem that people did not understand. He encourages them to believe (John 14:11).

The Holy Spirit places Jesus at the centre

At Pentecost, Peter picks up his listeners by explaining what has happened (Acts 2:14-21).

It is important for him to say that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. This Lord is Jesus, as he points out in verse 36.

Calling on Jesus in prayer is the hallmark of Christians (Acts 9:20-21). In Joel 3:5 quoted by Peter, Lord means God YHWH. Jesus is therefore God and Messiah. Today he sits at the right hand of God and through him we receive God’s Holy Spirit.

Even for David, Jesus is his Lord (verses 34-35). In the midst of our failures, we can turn to Jesus because the heavenly father has made him Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:36).  Continue reading The Holy Spirit places Jesus at the centre

You will be my martyrs

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

Christ the King

Matthew tells us by the birth of Jesus, that he is born as King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2).

In the Passion many mockingly refer to Jesus as King. They have no idea that here is the one who represents true kingship.

A kingship that is willingly at the service of others. Matthew 23:11: “The greatest among you shall be your servant.”

Eternal life

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25).

Eternal life is not the reward for living a good life or being “right believing”.

Eternal life begins when we entrust our lives to Jesus (believe), thereby honouring the Father in heaven and allowing ourselves to be transformed by the Holy Spirit.

Eternal life is a continuation of our relationship with God.

Jesus is asked what the key to eternal life is. The answer is love of God and love of neighbour (Luke 10:25-28).

Conflict management by Jesus

It is exciting to see how Jesus resolves the conflict with the angry people in John 8:

Keep calm.

– Do not respond immediately with counter-arguments.

Take your time. Take notes.

– Ask a reflective question.

– Give everyone the opportunity to withdraw elegantly from the discussion.

– Give them the opportunity to make a fresh start.

The other focus

Jesus does not condemn the woman who has been caught in the act of adultery in John 8. Jesus does not even raise the question of the adulteress’ guilt.

With this actions Jesus defines how to deal with the biblical law. He does not trivialise the sin. Adultery is not a “trivial offence”.

Nor does he condemn the woman. Rather, he calls for repentance: “From now on sin no more”. God’s love invites to surrender and reorientation.

This is the key to handle the divine commandments. The commandments are a goal and an orientation for us because they have the good intention of saving us human beings from chaos.

Our focus is not on guilt, but on reconciliation with God and with our fellow human beings, and on reconciliation with life.

No one ever spoke like this man

If you listen to Jesus properly, you will understand who he is. But whether you get involved with him is another question. People like to make decisions based on predispositions.

The incident in John 7 shows us this: in verse 31 the listeners recognise that Jesus is the Messiah (Christ) sent by God. The Pharisees, on the other hand, send their servants to bring him to them. They do not want to go to Jesus. The servants are unable to arrest him (verse 44). When they returned, they confessed: “No one ever spoke like this man!” (John 7:46).

Nicodemus says to the prejudiced Pharisees: “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” But their prejudice is clear: “No prophet arises from Galilee“. They don’t want to hear the real facts. They also argue that the elite do not believe him (verse 48).

Even today people make judgements about the Bible and Jesus without really listening or argue that no educated person believes today.

It is a decision not to engage with God at all. The other question is whether you want to accept Jesus for who he is. The Messiah sent by God – the Christ who brings us into a new relationship with the heavenly Father.