Jesus, Our Example for Worship on the Appointed Day

By Paul Earnhart

After Jesus had been preaching for several months in Judea and Galilee, He returned once again to His hometown of Nazareth.  Would you like to guess where He went on the Sabbath day?  You will probably be right.  Luke says it this way: “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.” (Luke 4:16)

Notice three things from this verse.

• First, on the Sabbath day He went to the synagogue.  The synagogue was the place of worship during the second temple period.  The Sabbath day was the seventh day of the week—our Saturday.  This was the day ordained for worship in the Old Testament.
• Second, going to the synagogue was not something unusual for Jesus—it was His custom.  He did not go because He was back in town and hoped to meet some old friends.  It had been His custom as a citizen of Nazareth to attend the synagogue service regularly.
• Third, He was asked to read the Scriptures and willingly responded.  He had mastered the language and the Scriptures well enough to read in the synagogue when invited to do so.  The Scriptures were in Hebrew, the language which was not the everyday speech of Nazareth.  Jesus had learned that language so that He could read the Scriptures in their original form.

There are some important lessons for us here.

Jesus made it His regular custom to assemble with God’s people for worship.  If we would be like Jesus, we should do the same.

In the New Testament, the day of assembly was the first day of the week according to Acts 20:7, "when the disciples came together to break bread."  This implies that we should not be spectators, but participants.  And though we do not have to read in another language, we should surely prepare ourselves in every way that is necessary, especially by study, so that we can participate effectively.

The Lord's Supper – Experiencing Ambivalence

By Matt Hennecke

Ambivalence is defined as "the state of having mixed feelings about something."  It's when we simultaneously have contradictory strong feelings about a situation or event.  Many people confuse ambivalence with indifference.  They're not the same.  To be indifferent is to show little or no concern about something.  To be ambivalent is to care deeply – to have strong feelings about two conflicting things.

Ambivalence is what parents feel when their child climbs aboard a bus for their first day of public school.  They feel both happiness as their child embarks on a journey of learning and education but sadness that those precious "toddler" days have ended.  It's what parents feel when their daughter is joined to another in matrimony.  Joy at the blessed union, but sadness as their child enters a new chapter of life and transfers her greatest earthly affection to another.  It's what many of us feel when at a funeral of a faithful Christian.  Joy that the child of God has been freed from a life of pain and trials and welcomed into a much-deserved reward, but anguish to be left behind to carry on without their wisdom and insight.

Indeed, all who have lost faithful loved ones – faithful husbands – faithful wives – faithful parents – simultaneously feel both sadness and joy.  Heartache at the loss of the loved one, but bliss that their loved one now lives with God in eternity.

Paul expressed ambivalence in Philippians 1: 21-24 when he wrote: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.  I am hard pressed between the two.  My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.  But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account."

Even Jesus felt the tug of two opposing feelings as he prayed in the Garden.  Note his mixed feelings – the conflict between desire and duty – expressed in Matt. 26:36-39: "Then Jesus went...to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, 'Sit here while I go over there and pray.'  He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and became anguished and distressed.  Then he said to them, 'My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death.  Remain here and stay awake with me.'  Going a little farther, he threw himself down with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will.'"  Ambivalence often manifests itself in the mixed emotions we feel when our duty and our desire are at odds with one another.

Whenever I partake of the Lord's Supper, I feel ambivalence – two strong, mixed feelings: I feel great sadness and great joy.  I feel sadness because of the evil men who nailed the Son of God to the cross and because my sins contributed to that necessity.  I also rejoice, for it was Jesus' amazing, sacrificial act of love – his horrible death on the cross – that made salvation not only available to those vile men who nailed him there, but to me as well.

Think about it: whenever we partake of the Lord's Supper, we participate in a sorrowful celebration – a time of both heartache and happiness.  As we partake, we are simultaneously reminded of the horror and the hope of the cross.

Jesus and the Nobleman’s Son in Cana

By Paul Earnhart

As Jesus went about preaching in Galilee, he came to Cana where he had made the water into wine.  That was the only previous miracle Jesus had wrought in Galilee, but it had left its impression on the people there. (See John 4:46-54)

A nobleman, who lived several miles away in Capernaum, had a son who was at the point of death.  He came to Jesus, begging Him to come and heal his son.  Jesus did not immediately perform the miracle.  Miracles were secondary to teaching.  Their purpose was to encourage belief.  Jesus gently chided the man for requesting a sign.  Jesus said, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” (John 4:47).  But when the man persisted, Jesus said, “Go your way, your son lives.”

The man had enough faith to leave the presence of Jesus to make the journey back to Capernaum.  And he found that Jesus had indeed healed the boy, even from a distance, for the fever left the boy at the very time when Jesus had spoken the words.

There are several levels of faith revealed in this story: First, the man had faith enough to come to Jesus to ask for the healing.  Then his faith increased to the point that he was willing to return to Capernaum in the belief that Jesus had healed the boy.  Finally, we are told that after the miracle, the man himself believed and his whole house (John 4:53).

If Jesus felt that this man should believe without a miracle, how much more should we!  We have the account of numerous miracles that Jesus and the apostles did.  John said, “These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you might have life through His name.” (John 20:31).  We can believe today through the study of the scriptures.  And just as the faith of this man grew as he saw the works of Jesus, ours can grow as we read about them in God’s word.  So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).

Preaching in Samaria

By Paul Earnhart

Jesus had a powerful influence on the Samaritan woman whom He met at a well-side.  We read of this in John chapter 4 (John 4:5-42).  When He first began talking to her, she was so concerned with her task of drawing the water from the well that she was not interested at all in the spiritual water He offered her.  But after Jesus had talked to her for a few minutes, after He had demonstrated His supernatural knowledge of her life and had revealed Himself to her as the Messiah, she forgot all about her water pots and went running into the city, saying to her friends: "Come, see a man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" (John 4:29)

One of the greatest hindrances to true faith in Christ is our preoccupation with material things.  We are so busy making a living, providing for our families, looking for a bigger house, trading cars, attending concerts, going to ball games, hunting and fishing, and on and on.  And the result is that we just don't have time for Bible study and prayer and Christian service and attendance to worship.  We are just too busy.

It is altogether to the credit of this woman that even after Jesus had reminded her of her sinful life, she allowed Him to talk to her.  She considered the evidence that He was the Messiah and once she had come to believe in Him, she undertook to share that faith with others.  Like Andrew and Philip (John 1:40-46), she did not try to convince them herself; she brought them to Jesus that they might reach their own conclusions.

And the result was remarkable.  After they had spent time with Jesus, "They said to the woman, 'Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world'" (John 4:42).  Jesus is His own best witness.  Let us take the time to know Him ourselves; then let us take others to the Scriptures that they may see Him for themselves and know that He is the Christ.
 

The Woman At The Well

By Paul Earnhart

We read in John chapter 4 beginning at verse 5 that as Jesus was passing through Samaria, He sat down wearily by a well while His disciples went to buy food (Jn. 4:5-6).  A Samaritan woman came to draw water and was surprised when Jesus asked for a drink.  Jesus told her that if she had asked, He would have given her living water (Jn. 4:10).  He was speaking of the spiritual refreshment which He could provide.  But her mind was so much on the water and the well that she could not think of spiritual water at all.

So, Jesus changed his approach.  He asked her to go and call her husband (Jn. 4:16).  This was His way of getting her to examine her own spiritual condition.  Jesus knew that she had had five husbands, and at that time she was living with a man who was not her husband (Jn. 4:17-18).  It is interesting that she immediately changed the subject.  She did not want to talk about her sins; so, she brought up an old question about the proper place to worship (Jn. 4:19-20).

Many people today are happy to talk about religion so long as it does not get into their personal lives.  They like to talk about such things as where Cain got his wife, or about Jonah and the whale.  They might even be willing to discuss their own religious experience and tell you about their church preference.  But if we should meet Jesus today as that woman met him, I am sure He would ask about our personal lives... how we are living before God.

What would you say if Jesus asked you about your husband, or your wife?  Are you living with someone who is not your spouse?  What would you say if He asked you how you make and spend your money?  What would you say if He asked about your favorite recreation and entertainment?  Would you feel comfortable talking to Jesus about these things?  Whether you talked to Him about them or not, He knows.  He knew that Samaritan woman's condition without her telling Him.  And before He can save you, you must face up to your condition and repent of your sins.  No amount of religion can save you without a complete change of life to bring it into harmony with God's will (Lk 13:1-5; Acts 2:37-38)).