Easter: The Uncomfortable Reality!

Easter: The Uncomfortable Reality!                               Kelly Durant    3-27-16

Mark 16: 14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

2. How many of your went to see the recent movie “Risen”? I thought it was extremely well portrayed with much detail as it was in Jesus day. It was about the story of the resurrection from the point of view of a Roman Soldier that was sent to investigate what happened at the tomb. Try to rent it or see it, it is well worth it!

My favorite part was when the Roman Soldier found the ropes that sealed the rock frayed from being burst open. This Roman knew what a cut rope would look like, but ropes burst apart? I am sure many people in Jerusalem experienced revelations that caused them to believe in the resurrection as in the story of this soldier!

The truth is no one will respect or follow a leader once they are dead if they were an oppressor, liar, or a con. However, Jesus teachings still rules over thousands of millions even today because He was love and truth! When an evil person dies, as in the case of King Herod, the whole town celebrated! When Jesus died, many mourned but few, we observe by scripture, really expected Him to rise up out of the tomb. The first Easter, His resurrection, transformed humanity into a celebrated victory over death! But the first Easter did not exactly start out as a celebrated moment though.

3. Let’s go more into depth of the verses today. It says in Mark, “He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen”. I don’t know how you feel after getting rebuked for doing something wrong, but personally I feel embarrassed and humiliated! I would not feel too festive and happy. We celebrate Jesus resurrection today but the first encounter with Him made everyone feel afraid and ashamed of their selves.

Imagine witnessing a person die in such a horrific manner as Jesus did, and fearing the Sanhedrin might come to kill you now, but then you see the crucified Son of Man walking around with holes in their hands and feet, I think it would make any one of us so scared we would faint. It is like when you see a ghost, you feel mortified because you know it is a creature with supernatural power. Jesus showing himself to be supernaturally alive contradicted what is understood concerning reality, logic, and the physically possible!

So to prove it is Himself, Jesus appears out of nowhere to sit down at the table with them to talk. In another instance, He also ate fish with them on the beach. He took time with them but despite being undeniably in this world, they doubted in the beginning. Jesus does not like to see people afraid and doubtful and many times he repeated to all who saw Him the word, ‘peace’! For the doubters and unrepentant Jesus presence brings fear, but for those who love Him His presence brings peace! John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”.

4. To illustrate it was not such a celebrative moment at first, recall that the disciples when they first saw Jesus they were full of fear. Jesus had told them all several times that He would be killed and then come back, but it almost seems as if none of them really believed Him. Mark 8:31 “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again”.

Imagine seeing all the miracles the disciples had seen and then still not believing that He had resurrected! Remember these are dedicated followers that had given up everything to follow Jesus, they had no hopes to go back to their old life, and they saw dozens and dozens of miracles and yet they still doubted?!

It just goes to show how we cannot depend on all those who say they have experienced Jesus power to remain totally faithful and doubtless through every moment of their lives. Even the most dedicated have their weak moments but the comfort is that Jesus will still love you and receive you even though He may have to rebuke you and correct your lack of faith.

5. So take it to heart, if Jesus rebuked the disciples who were in it all the way until their own martyrdom, how much more you and I should expect to get rebuked by Jesus for our lack of faith, unbelief, and obedience! John 5:21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.

Our world today is the same as it was in Jesus time, there is a vast majority that will not even believe though there is proof that one was raised from the dead. And then there is also a large group that will not believe because they have not personally seen it. Both are hopeless doubters choosing death over life because they love darkness rather than light.

So what are we left to work with? Christians or believers that believe… but have doubts! But the hope is they will come around to have real faith and trust and obedience to what Jesus taught because the Holy Spirit will convict them.

6.  Easter then, in many ways, is an uncomfortable rebuke to the world! It is a mortal blow to Satan and his followers who can no longer reap dead men’s souls when the souls have been cleansed in the redeeming blood of Jesus. Jesus resurrection stripped away Satan’s power of maintaining a spiritual death over humans; that is if the human is repentant, believes, and obeys.

Easter, being a supernatural event, puts to the test every human mind and heart. A test usually provokes fear but after passing it, relief and peace come. It is amazing to me how many people in this life chose foolishly what they will believe in, thinking they will never answer for their actions. Read the Proverbs, they teach much about fools who refuse to fear and honor God, and their own destruction comes by their own choices.

Easter is a reminder that Jesus rebuked the doubting followers! Year after year during these special moments of celebration we must face the fact that some of our Christian brothers are not living pure repented lives displaying that they truly fear God, believe His word, and obey. Once you realize Jesus is alive and present in the here and now through the Holy Spirit speaking in your mind, it will make you be afraid as the 11 disciples at first were!

7. The most foolish thing one can do in life is to doubt something that gives you a win win situation such as is the case in believing in the resurrection of Jesus. If you and I simply accept and believe then we can be sure that we are saved by faith: saved meaning saved from the judgement for the wrongs we have done and also saved from a second death (spiritual one) and be resurrected. Romans 10: 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

What have you got to lose by proclaiming Jesus as risen except losing a dozen worthless prideful friends who are materialistic atheistic self-lovers? Start talking about Jesus to everyone you know for a week and see how many still keep you as a friend! They will be a good friend indeed if they are brave enough to allow your light of Jesus to shine in their darkened heart. I lost a few dozen so called friends at age 21 when I got on fire for God, yet I have gained thousands of trustworthy loving Christian friends in dozens of cities in return! You here are my friends that I never would have met if I had not taken the path of proclaiming Jesus risen.

The resurrection is real as 2 billion Christians proclaim today! However, if one were to entertain an idea that it were not real we would be as Paul states in I Cor 15: 16 “For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” But I KNOW we will not be disappointed!

8. You and I have full trust that these ancient records in the Bible are truth and come from God’s anointed; that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and all the 11, plus the hundreds of other men and women, had a supernatural experience witnessing Jesus’ presence in His resurrected body. This is an experience you and I have not personally had but choosing to believe their story will unexplainably fill your spirit full of hope, peace, and a sense of eternity. When you believe, you inherently know it is truth and you will even die for it!

I also trust the testimonies of the millions of Christians that have lived before me sincerely having convictions of the truth of Jesus resurrection. If His resurrection was not something real, then what miserable lives Christians have lived being martyred and humiliated by most every evil government that has ever existed!

Here is a personal belief, I think that people who ask God if Jesus is really who He says He is or not, that God reveals His truth to them. Jesus in a dream revealed to me I had a mission to stop being who I was and to go into the world and save souls. And I obeyed the call! I have been reading testimonies from Christian news sources that many Muslims are getting revelations that Jesus is the Son of God.

9. Now back to our verses of today. Did you catch how Jesus rebuked the 11 for not believing (vs14) “those who had seen Him after He had risen”. Who is He referring to? That was Mary! Jesus showed his resurrected body first to her. What does that mean? It means He trusted her to be the witness to all the others and it seems they thought that she was just a woman being emotional and delusional. 

So Mary was in essence being praised while they were being rebuked. The pride of man is an evil thing. Then the next uncomfortable part is vs 15. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”. This verse, in my opinion, has been one of the least obeyed verses in the Bible. Very few Christians, dedicate their lives to travel in all the world just to preach Jesus. Thank God every first disciple obeyed! Soon afterwards every believer obeyed and went out preaching Jesus after gaining power from the Holy Ghost as we read in Acts 1. 

So doubting resurrection and not recognizing the first Easter as a reality will get you a rebuke from Jesus! Not listening to those who make you uncomfortable with the good news will get you a rebuke from Jesus. But being spiritually uncomfortable is the way God gets you and me to move out into action!

10. And the final inconvenient uncomfortable reality is vs16 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” How clear is that? If you believe that Jesus lives, you will live as well! If not you will be condemned to let nature’s death take its course; it’s as simple as that.

And the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a must! John states in Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Do you feel uncomfortable? Let Jesus peace in!

The fire is what purifies our hearts and minds of all sin. It brings on the full repentance bringing us into holiness, obedience, and most importantly, living our lives motivated by God’s love! The Salvation Army’s mission statement makes it clear; we are “motivated by the love of God!”

Today, if believing that Jesus is as alive as He was over 2,000 years ago has not penetrated your doubtful heart, come and pray to accept Him in your heart and then Romans 10:9-10 will be a reality for you. You will be saved and resurrected when He returns. John 6:40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” Pray!

The First Palm Sunday and The Purge

The First Palm Sunday and The Purge                                  Kelly Durant

Mark 11:1-25

2. How many of you like crime stories? It usually begins with a piece of the evidence in front of you, but all the pieces you have to put together so you understand all of what happened. What led up to the incident? Who are the suspects involved? Often the initial evidence makes you think only one event happened, but later when you piece together all the events, things look quite different. The guilty ones at first might appear as good until we discover the bad things they were doing. Many unexpected things come out!

Today is Palm Sunday and it is a special Sunday celebrated by all Christians worldwide! At first glance praising and palms in the road seems all good, most everyone in Jerusalem was praising Jesus. Isn’t that beautiful? In places where church members cannot get palm branches they use other types of branches, or at least they do a special observance of some kind. Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem was something outstandingly phenomenal and this is why all Christians everywhere keep this tradition alive. It is a way for all Christians to relive the honoring of Jesus as the King of Kings, as the King of Jerusalem (the New Jerusalem), and as the promised Messiah from the linage of David.

Let’s follow the series of events as Mark records it in Chapter 11. There is first the grand arrival into Jerusalem, but then there is fig tree that gets cursed because it does not have any fruit? What does that have to do with anything? Soon we will see.

3. Jesus takes the initiative in preparing His entry as His instructions to his disciples were that they should bring Him a colt not ridden before. It was not customary for pilgrims to going into Jerusalem riding an animal, they generally completed the trip to the temple on foot. But Jesus always did things differently!  Zech. 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Jesus fulfilled all prophetic scripture as He is the King, and the people are jubilant, He rode upon a donkey, and humility and purity were represented. At that time, Jesus knew the messianic significance of his entry and later all could see it for what it was.

The fact that the people shouted, “Hosanna!” or Hoshana (Heb) implies that they knew they were honoring Him as the Lord, as that word of praise was applied for one who would “save”, so they were recognizing His messiahship as the “Savior”! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

4. After all that praise and excitement Jesus and his disciples were hungry and you would expect good spirits, right? But they came upon a fig tree that made Jesus mad because the tree was barren, and Jesus cursed it! Why? If you take into account the Old Testament you can discover how the fig tree and bearing fruit is symbolic. Jesus spoke clearly about bearing fruit comparing it to spiritual fruit. We as Christians must have fruit good or we will die dry and cursed. Those connected to Jesus should be as a flourishing vine that produces good grapes, healthy saved souls.

Jesus was letting the world know that Israel in His day was finished; it was as a dried tree yielding no fruit for God. Look up Jeremiah 8:13 “I will surely consume them,” says the Lord. “No grapes shall be on the vine, Nor figs on the fig tree, And the leaf shall fade; And the things I have given them shall pass away from them.” That is a very clear prophecy! Matthew 21:43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.”

The O.T. prophets used metaphors to illustrate what God was going to do for or against the nation of Israel. Here Jesus does the same; this event has meaning beyond its face value. When Jesus says to the tree in vs. 14 “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.”, he basically was affirming that no one would ever get fed spiritually ever again by remaining with spiritually barren Israel. Jesus was the new Israel bearing fruit, and Jews, gentiles, and all nations now were the fruit God accepted through Jesus as the Messiah.

5. The destruction of the fig tree is associated with judgment as we find in Hosea 2:12 “I will ruin her vines and her fig trees, which she said were her pay from her lovers; I will make them a thicket, and wild animals will devour them.”

John chapter 15, which was a message after the last supper, makes it clear that we as followers of Jesus are not to be fruitless as Israel was or we are worthy of a fiery judgement. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. Jesus warns there is a purge, a purge for those who have no fruit for God.

I see a contrast here of signals here. For one, Jesus is praised in the streets as never before and Jesus instead of mentioning it or elaborating on it, makes a symbolic point that He wants to be honored not by loud praises, not by coats and palms in the street, but rather by real fruit for God! It reminds me of his words to the Samaritan woman in John 4:23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The ones of Jerusalem were not worshipping Him in truth as one week later the Jerusalem crowds yelled to crucify Him!

6. So you may by now see why I connote Palm Sunday referring to it within the context of a purge. We just covered how the next event of the fig tree was a symbolic miracle event to show God’s purge on the fruitless establishment (trees). Now let’s notice, it was right after all that praise going into Jerusalem that Jesus went into the temple of the Jews to purge it of its greediness and worship of money over worship of God.

Jesus was angered that the temple of God, where believers gathered supposedly with the intent to worship, pray and learn from God’s word, had made God’s house a lucrative endeavor. They were there not to worship God but there for the money!  He took a whip to the money changers and overturned tables and what did He say?  Mark 11:17 (b)“Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves. ” 18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.

So this is why here in our Salvation Army we don’t allow people to come in and sell merchandise on Sunday! Some churches sell DVDs and books written by the pastor on Sundays, but we don’t allow any of that. If I write a book now, it is TSA property and no royalties go to me but to TSA. This modern materialistic trend is making merchandize of the people. 2 Peter 2: 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. Some mega churches ask to see your W-2 to be sure you will give 10% of that and your membership is just to finance their luxuries! In John 15 Jesus was speaking to His followers so Christians are forewarned of judgement as well for worshipping money using the name of Jesus! He will say one day to their spirit in the judgement say to them, “I never knew you!”

7. Jesus’ purging out of the Temple is a prophetic sign that the Temple of the Jews, being corrupted, would no longer be needed or relevant. Why? Because in a short time, Jesus was going to die and be resurrected and Jesus’ sacrifice of atonement is a sacrifice that is effective for all time, past, present, future. Heb 7:27 Who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he (Jesus) did once, when He offered up himself.

No longer would there be a need for the animals to be sold at expensive prices and sacrifices be made in their Temple anymore, because Jesus was going to be the sacrifice for all nations forever! And believing on Jesus, praying, worshipping, and studying is something anyone should have cost free! Many people come to our Corps with no money and always our doors are open to anyone, and those who know me, know that I treat those who cannot support with us money get the same respect as those who do!

This purging act has another meaning as well. It is to remind us how God is a jealous God and we are to gather to worship only Him with no other interests! Through Jesus reactive actions we get a confirmation that God violently hates people who are in a temple for any reason other than to pray, worship, and study. Making money is what most everyone does 6 days a week, so to continue to desire profit on the 7^th day instead of a time out with God is an offense to Him breaking the law to keep the Sabbath holy. We are not legalistic, but God had reason for all his commands.  

8. So the initial evidence, the first event of Jesus going into Jerusalem at first appears to be the highlight of His ministry. He is finally recognized as the promised savior and messiah fulfilling prophecy being a descendant of King David. You would think that going there to get honored with palms and coats was all the picture you needed to see. The disciples and all of us forgot this: Mark 10:33 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles

But as I mentioned like in a crime scene, one piece of evidence is not enough, you need all the pieces. The next two events of Jesus were those of judgement and purification. After all, Jesus multiplied fish and bread, He could have just caused figs to grow instantly on the tree but He didn’t. He wanted those who knew the words of the prophets to bear witness to the fact God will totally dry up a fruitless tree. The tree is symbolic of an organism with a central trunk and branches of followers, of a nation, or even an individual life. The disciples were astonished at how quickly the unfruitful tree shriveled up. Remember also Jesus Laments over Jerusalem.  Luke 13:34  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!

9. And after the frustration of going hungry over those who produce nothing, Jesus let explode His Godly wrath against those who were starving others spiritually using the Temple of God for their monetary personal gain in a final act of upsetting the money changers. The temple teachers were useless being, “Blind leaders of the blind” (Matt 15:14) seeking wealth from the people that they were exploiting in the name of God instead of teaching everyone about the love of God.  

Not long before Jesus crucifixion he said this to the hypocrites: Matt 22: 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Jesus hates hypocrites who rob God of souls!

So on Palm Sunday here is what we understand: 1) that Jesus is the Son of God, the savior of the world that takes away all sin and praise and submission is due Him; 2) that Jesus will not tolerate and will judge those who produce no good fruit for God, 3) that Jesus gets violently angry when the supposed people of God exploit others for their own material wealth profaning intended places of worship.

10. In conclusion, we know now that many of the praises heralding Jesus were hypocritical as they cried out to, “Crucify Him” a week later. This type of hypocrisy is hard to deal with as the false worshippers sing praises while in church and then they will curse the person who will not let them turn out of the church parking lot! Ask yourself, have I ever been a hypocrite in my worship of Jesus? Do I praise Him always no matter the circumstances, good or bad? Do I praise Him with a clean and honest heart? Praise is not just a “hallelujah’ or a ‘Hosanna’, praise to Jesus is a lifestyle of love and service to God!

We can observe today that many churches and religions do not have sweet fruits to feed the followers, but rather they gather thorns with rude and arrogant personalities. Matthew 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Matt.7:20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Each individual must bear fruit but that only comes if they are infused with the sap (the Holy Spirit) from the true vine, Jesus Christ. Ask yourself, am I sweet with good fruit, or am I like a thorn and a dried up tree? Tell us, what are your good works?

And finally, Jesus violently hated the hypocrisy of those whose God was not the true God of love, but rather Mammon, the God of money. Are you angry with the hypocrites and thieves?  You should be! There are many out there today! Imagine people not going to a temple to worship God but rather to admire and show off wealth or position and to gain wealth from church members. The replacement of God with the worship of Satan for material gain will not go unpunished. Palm Sunday brought on a purge! Ask God examine your heart and to purge you! so you worship Him in spirit and in truth, bearing fruit for Him in your life, getting clean of hypocrisy loving Him above any riches. Let’s pray… 

Lazarus Proves Life…Judas Proves Death

Lazarus Proves Life…Judas Proves Death                                               Kelly Durant    3-3-16

John 11:1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. 7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

2. Have you ever passed out? Have you ever blacked out and later they tell you all the things that happened to you? It is kind of scary knowing you were not in control, right? But sometimes people still have a consciousness and they saw their body while they roamed around watching what was happening. It is something unexplained like the articles about people who have died and then come back to life. Are you aware that your brain will die only after 3 to 7 minutes without oxygen since the cells of the body need the blood flow? We really are delicate creatures and God is keeping us alive for His purpose!

Today anyone can find thousands of stories and books about people who have died and come back to life. (Here is only one link…http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/29/us/to-heaven-and-back/) I find each story very fascinating! The factor though is most of them were dead several hours and then came back, but according to science this is impossible and is a modern day miracle that anyone could ever revive! And today it is unheard of for a person to be dead several days and then come back to life.

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after 4 days and that obviously was an amazing and frightening miracle! Imagine seeing a corpse walking like dead zombie coming out of the grave and taking off the wrappings on his body that for sure stunk horribly. And then after a few suspenseful minutes after Lazarus unwraps his body everyone starts to see the person they knew and he is well and in his right mind! After that miracle many believed on Jesus! John 11: 45 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. (But also note the non-believing Jews wanted to kill Jesus?!)

3. Have you noticed that Jesus did this miracle of raising up the dead a few days before He was to be crucified, buried in a similar manner as Lazarus, be resurrected? Jesus wanted to show that His power of giving life to the dead could extend to anyone. He also did this miracle out of love for Lazarus and his family! And imagine this, Jesus felt Mary and Martha’s pain so much over this loss that it is here we find the shortest verse in the Bible, John 11:35 “Jesus wept”. Reviving a dead person is something shocking and no one had ever witnessed this before and you would think all the townspeople would have wanted to honor and protect Jesus so He could heal and resurrect thousands more! But it was not that way, later in Chapter 12 it tells us that the Jews were trying to find Lazarus so they could kill him! Imagine the gall to want to kill a man who came out of the grave! They wanted Jesus dead too!

So with miracles some believed He was the Son of God, yet others only got irate and felt threatened. Imagine those being so full of Satan that they refused to recognize Jesus’ miracles! Plotting to kill Lazarus in order to stop other Jews from believing on Him to me seems beyond cruel and audacious. But the same reactions concerning miracles continue today; those that believe simply believe by faith alone despite not reconciling the facts that a miracle is simply from God! And Jesus also said in John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Most of us have not seen a direct miracle yet we believe. But those who reject Jesus and miracles get full of Satan and get murderously angry against those who believe!

John 9:9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

4. So Jesus showed off to the world that He had the power to resurrect the dead! How great that was, so everyone wanted to celebrate with Lazarus! Once together at the dinner party, Mary decides she’s wants to be special with Jesus and washes his feet with and expensive perfume and with her tears.

That act of love in itself requires a whole another in depth study and a message for another day! How many of you have heard sermons on the washing of Jesus feet? What love, compassion, appreciation, passion and inspiration! Mary felt the need to show love in an outstanding way, to give back; she wanted to give up all her savings and life for Jesus! This is the epitome of love and generosity! Everyone could smell the sweetness of the perfume and witness her great love!

But always when something wonderful takes place, there will always be those who think they know more than others to counter it. How many times must all of us experience the opinion of the naysayers? Hearing the opinion of those who do little, but they are always ready to criticize the good of others gets old fast. Invalid opinions are the plague in the news today! One of Satan’s tactics is to downplay the facts and the evidence of the good in a person and attack with a counter alternative so that the evil one can appear better than the truly good one! (This is self-declared goodness, not a goodness by merit). Satan has always been playing politics confusing who is better than who!

5. So Jesus, like many of us who love Him, never get a break from hearing those who want to criticize and downplay the good getting done. Jesus raised Lazarus and then the news is the priests wanted to kill Him and Lazarus! The priests wanting to kill?! Jesus must have just arrived at this wonderful supper to be with Lazarus and family, and coming in the door everyone’s feet needed to get washed and Mary chose to wash His feet with a perfume and to dry his feet with her hair, radical and shocking, right? So now the next criticism now comes out of the mouth of one of His own supposed followers, Judas. Everyone should have said, “Wow, look how she loves Him!” but instead, as usual, the critical comments overtook the stage ignoring the passionate good happening.

What did Judas say? Vs. 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” Let’s analyze this a minute. Judas is seeing something worth the salary of 300 days of work being applied to Jesus feet. What we know today is that Judas did not value Jesus feet or anything Jesus taught for that manner! He was the weak link through whom Jesus was betrayed. Jesus had done miracles to feed the poor in the past and everyone knew Jesus was in control of all situations. Jesus in the past had already showed that He cared for the poor feeding them, but in this case He knew that she was preparing His body with this special perfume as if He were already a dead corpse! It was for His burial and I doubt anyone at that moment perceived it as such, maybe not even she knew it. (Amazing all the pieces that factor into Jesus life!)

Jesus did not need a coach, someone thinking they knew better than Him telling Him what he should or should not allow. It is the same in the church, some leaders are anointed and take wise decisions but just because it was not the decision some less involved person wanted, then all hell breaks loose with criticisms and, “He should be doing it differently” and “This is so wrong” spreading around.

6. So let’s compare the righteousness of Jesus with the self-righteousness of Judas and then think about how we too might be affected by the same Judaistic arguments today. Just think how unfair it is; many people sacrifice their selves and give up much if not all as Jesus did, yet there are those on the sidelines who are not giving up much of anything criticizing them and how things are done.

The pretext here was that Jesus did not care enough for the poor to give the money to Judas to administrate it so he could distribute it to the poor. So the first thing we notice is that Judas, the bag holder, had a self-interest, he wanted to give it to the poor. Why, we need to ask? Did Judas really love the poor that much? Or maybe we should ask what was going to be his cut of the deal? The scripture tells the truth on character and it is for us to learn by.

Vs. 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. 7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

7. In the world today there are many who pretend they will care for the poor better than others, but could they be full of Satan as Judas was? Their solution is that they want to take away from the rich, and the church, and even the from the middle class to redistribute to “the poor”. The problem is all of them are like Judas, after forcing others to hand the goods over, they do not give it all to the poor as they said they would, but rather they keep half or more for their selves! All the communist dictators who torture, steal, and commit mass murder always live a life of luxury and so do the thug leaders of their party. They control all the land, factories, military, and money and they only let their pawn countrymen live off the crumbs of the spoils. Judas was the perfect example of the first religiously hypocritical militant socialist.

Look at modern day communism as in Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela, and any place where socialism/communism has been implemented; what happens when proud men without respect for God are in control? There is created a repressive, oppressive, corrupt Kingdom of Satan! Jesus prayed for God’s Kingdom to come, and we can see why He prayed that with all with all the murderous injustices man does. Jesus warned in John 10: 10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Here in the U.S. you may still have a little freedom of expression of faith and a little retention of wealth, but this is not so in 4/5ths to 5/5ths of the world today run by Satan!  Satan is always trying to convince others that He does not exist but He is the one who inspired Judas to betray Jesus and vocalize how He was more compassionate than Christ wanting to help the poor! It was all a lie! All self-righteous Jesus hating ‘accusers of the saints’ live to tell lies to others and they are totally deceived thinking that they are more compassionate, fair, and just than God’s people! Never believe them and expose their evil deeds! And remember, Psalm 118:8 It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in man. The facts prove evil men with or without religion always use their power to abuse and destroy but to live in the fear of God, to live loving Jesus brings life, freedom, and blessings!

8. Have you ever know people who joke about their self, like the amazing concert pianist who says to you, well you know I can’t really play so good? Jesus reveals this sense of humor with Mary when He says Vs. 8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.” Jesus was not going to be there anymore? Say what? That was only true in part, as later He came back proving differently.

First point, for the words in the first half of the verse, Jesus is revealing to Judas and to everyone, that no matter how much you might give to the poor, the poor will always continue to exist, and why? Because the money box controllers will always hoard more than their share and let the poor suffer. Because the poor are often comfortably stuck in a poor cultural lifestyle! Also, the radical rebellious zealots against the establishment like Judas always try to manipulate your emotions saying, “Look! The Romans steal so much in taxes from you! You need to let me be in charge!” But the reality is zealots as the replacements, as the next controllers of the coffers, usually come in and steal all of what is left that the previous ones did not steal! I have personally seen this cycle over and over in the governments in South America. It is here as well, and worldwide!

History reveals that a true Kingdom of God system has never been established on earth (except amongst Christian communities as in Acts 2:44-45) so the conclusion is that the more poverty, the more oppression, and the more Satanic is the system is governing. Check the corruption scale worldwide, poverty and corruption goes hand in hand! A true sharing of the wealth will only happen in heaven!

9. So after Jesus resurrected, how is it Jesus says this before ascending into the heavens? Matt 28:20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. This contradicts what he said to Mary that “Me you do not have always”. The obvious to me is that He was doing a word play with her. What He said at the time of the supper was a reality, that that particular body of His was not going to be around anymore, but His person, His presence, and His Spirit is now for always with her, and everyone who loves Him!

So what is the challenge today? To believe on Jesus power to give eternal life! To face the reality that you are going to die one day like everyone! You will not get the chance to come back as Lazarus did, but you will come back in a more glorious body on the last day of earth! John 6:40 “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” So the beauty of dying is that if you are friends with Jesus, Jesus will resurrect you from the grave no matter how many days or years dead you are!

Another reality in life while proclaiming this faith of Jesus and of the resurrection is it is going to bring on anger and persecution from the demon controlled people nearby! Many Satanic people today are just as vicious, just as murderous, as the Jewish priests were in Jesus day towards Christ believers! And they attack you for doing good in Jesus name! You have to always be ready for attacks from the self-righteous pretenders to defend the faith and what is rightly God’s. Are you praying and reading each day?!

10. And a final word of warning is that as a true Christian you need to be prepared to defend yourself from attacks from the people of the world or that come from within the fellowship as Jesus had to deal with. Many Christian churches today are sadly caving to the evil criticisms of Judas(s) invaders attacking how things are managed and even attacking the established Christian doctrines. Observe how many church denominations are getting divided and destroyed recently! Judases attack the Christian foundations or the way things are managed from within, and then they attack how the money is spent wanting control of that, and all because they have a pretentious pride that they could do things better.

Jesus raises the dead and he holds the keys to eternal life! Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”. (Jesus has this power) Watch out for people who criticize good leaders just as Judas criticized Jesus. Judas represents death, and he even killed himself! Judas like all zealots are out for their own worthless agendas (the zealots wanted the power over Rome) and we need the Holy Spirit to discern the characteristics and motives of those who seek their own gain instead of contributing to Jesus cause and contributing to the church which serves others in love for the salvation of souls unto life eternal.

I am not sharing this message because division is happening here in our Corps church, I am just warning everyone that division and harsh attacking words in general are dividing the people in society, and Christians amongst themselves, and we should be aware and forewarned of the enemy’s tactics. Always fight against the discouraging divisiveness people bring, it is like death, the death example of Judas!  

Come and pray and ask for Jesus to give you eternal life if you have never done it before! Don’t you want to come out of the grave like Lazarus? Come and pray and ask Jesus to give you the passionate generous love that Mary had for Jesus! Are you full of an intense love that just gives up all for Jesus? Come and confess it if you think you have ever been a mouthpiece of criticism against a good leader. Much was taught and needs to be learned from these days just right before He gives His life on the cross, but ‘remember’, then He came back to life with the power of resurrection and eternal life to grant it to anyone who seeks Him and He is with us always! Even to the end of the world!