The Great Commission (Mark 16:14-18)

  ¹⁴ Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
   ¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

There are several things that are important to note about Jesus’ words when he speaks to the Eleven after his resurrection:

1.       He rebukes them for their refusal to believe that he had risen.(Mark 16:14)

God expects us to believe Him, to have faith in Him. Not only does he expect this faith in him, but He also expects us to believe in the impossible. Jesus said that he would rise, and he did. All he expected was for his disciples to believe this simple promise. Even if it is unthinkable that a person so brutally mauled as Jesus was when he was crucified would rise again from the dead, he expected no less. He made a promise and he fulfilled it.

Is the same thing not true of us -his modern-day disciples- everyday? Do we not let him down everyday, despite his ever-present goodness, his unfailing love? The bible tells us of all of God’s promises. And he shows us everyday that He is faithful. Whenever we ask, He answers. But do we have faith? Do we have that ‘faith as small as a mustard seed’ that can ‘move mountains’? Is it too much to expect, when there has been irrefutable confirmation that God is truly a living God who answers prayer? I believe we as Christians should practice faith. Yes, it takes practice to stop questioning God’s faithfulness, in these times of questioning everything and believing that is the right thing to do.

2.       He commands his disciples to go into the world and preach the good news to all creation. (Mark 16:15)

God has placed all the world’s resources at our disposal, because we are the children of an Almighty God who created all things. We are His children, and the Father will provide for us.  What does He ask in return? Just that we talk to others about this abundant love and provision. That we act as witnesses to what  we experience everyday. Really, is that too much to ask?

3.       He says that whoever believes will be saved and whoever does not will be condemned. (Mark 16:16)

God is a jealous God. Jesus wants us to choose Him. He has given us free will, but He wants us to choose him. If we turn away from Him we will be condemned for it. He says that if we fail to recognize Him before men, He will fail to recognize us before God the Father. This is not a pleasant truth to have to digest and accept. But the converse of it is extremely pleasant. If we do accept Him, He will accept us, no questions asked. We are forgiven and accepted, no matter what colour, race, gender or nationality we are.

4.       He speaks of what his believers would be able to do. (Mark 16:17-18)

These are the gifts God has bestowed on us, His disciples who proclaim His word. We should embrace these gifts, and believe that they are true, as we do God’s work. When we pray for healing, we must expect healing, and thank God for it. When we face adversity, we should know that we will not be harmed. We can cast out demons, and we will. We have that power in us, because God grants it to us.

It’s very comforting to remind myself of all this. 

The Second Coming

(Matt 24:36-51)

The Day and Hour Unknown

    ³⁶ “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,^[f] but only the Father. ³⁷ As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.   ⁴² “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.   ⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷ Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰ The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹ He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 




A thought that always scares me is ‘What if Jesus came now?’ Like, NOW. I find that extremely scary. There are so many little things in my life I need to sort out. You know when you are constantly angry at a person and don’t know what to do? When you snap at your mother or father, with no second thought? The little white lies you tell? The false signature you place unwittingly? That look of disdain you give when you see a dirty man sitting somewhere by the road? That immediate judgment of the man who looks drunk? Those numerous things you do in secret, when no one else is looking?
But we all know fact that God sees everything. Every little thing. What happens, then, when Jesus comes and stands in judgment of us? He has told us over and over again what we need to do. He has said that if we reject the poor and the downtrodden, He will reject us before God.
We think we’re sitting pretty, because we acknowledge God, and think we are now ok. But we forget that we should be constantly working out our salvation. What does this mean?
To me ‘acknowledging God’ cannot be nominal. True, God knows that we are prone to sin. That is why Jesus paid the ultimate price for us. But should we use this to our advantage/convenience? We make mistakes, willingly and knowingly, and say ‘God understands’. We know our parents understand that we make mistakes, but can we keep making the same mistake over and over again, and keep saying sorry? Can we continue to live in sin, yet claim to be saved? This, though, is where the comparison ends. God has unlimited grace, and can forgive us if we repent however much we have sinned. There again, it must be true repentance. Even a murderer has mercy at the hands of our loving Father.
But really, I ask you, how often do we truly repent? I think we know, in our heart of hearts, when we truly do regret what we’ve done. I know that if I don’t do something about setting things right, that means I don’t truly regret what I’ve done.
This is not to say that we may keep falling into sin over and over again. But if we truly regret each time, we will get better at keeping away from that sin, bit by bit. There may not be a dramatic shift from sin to righteousness, but there certainly has to be a progressive one.
Coming back to what the passage says, Jesus’ second coming may happen at any time. The hour and the day are known to God the Father alone. While we go about our daily business everyday, we need to keep in mind that the certainty of routine may not always be the truth. It may be disrupted by the arrival of the master at any time. We have been put in charge of many little things, our own little households that we are to take care of. It may be work, it may be our family, and it may be our friends or our university. Be it what it will, are we truly a reflection of God in all our little worlds? Are we defined by God? Does He have priority? Is it important to us to be faithful to His word?

Difficult and challenging questions, I know. But worth asking, don’t you think?

A Hypocrite?

James 1: 1-12

¹ James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

   To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

   Greetings.

Trials and Temptations

 ² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. ⁶ But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.⁸ Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. ⁹ Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. ¹⁰ But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. ¹¹ For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.
 ¹² Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.




 James encourages us to consider it pure joy when we face trials and temptations (James 1:2). What is our first reaction when we are faced with troubles? Does ‘joy’ – let alone ‘pure joy’ – even cross our minds? However, what is expected from a true child of God is a reaction that is completely opposite to someone who does not know God.
Now, why are we to consider this pure joy? The reason is clearly stated (James 1:3). It is because God is testing you, your perseverance. Think of it like this. You teach a child to read a few words. He practices these, and reads them everywhere he sees them, be it billboards, advertisements, his children’s books etc. Now, if he keeps making mistakes, would you try teaching him something else, or would you try to get him to read the same ones? I would go with the latter. Now the important aspects of this analogy are these:
1. The child reads the words everywhere. In the same way, we need to learn from the problems we face, and learn to apply the virtues we learn from the situation, to every relationship, to every instance.
2. He also needs to be consistent, in order to give you confidence that he can really handle it. Until he has learnt to master them and can read them, there is nothing to prove that he can handle anything more. If he keeps faltering, we lose that confidence. God our Father tests us in the same way.
Pure joy should come from the knowledge that God is teaching up discipline. It is this discipline that matures us in the faith. Discipline shows true strength. In the long run, having tiny spurts/periods of being close to God, while being well and good, don’t count for much. The real test of our faith is the discipline with which we persevere.
Now, this is clearly easier said than done. What do we do when that annoying person keeps doing what annoys us most? How do we react? What do we do when people are just plain unfair? What do we do when we are slandered for no reason? I am no saint, so I can’t really exhort you to be strong. But the advice I can offer is to try and be patient. This patience will do many things.
It will give you time. This time is important for many reasons. One thing is that this will help you keep your reactions under control. It will prevent you from saying things that you may regret later. It will stop you from judging others on the face of things. It will also give you time to pray!! You can pray about the situation, you can pray for the person who is annoying you or being unfair. Let’s face it, we can never know all the surrounding circumstances of a situation. Who is the one person who can? God! So let’s hand it to God in prayer, for Him to help us out.
This brings me to the next few verses in the chapter (James 1:5-7). When we hand our troubles over to our Father, we are conceding that we need help, that we need His divine wisdom. However, it is also an overt act of obedience. By doing this we hand over the reins to God. We are saying, “God, I need help. And I know you can and will provide. I will stop trying to control my life, I will stop playing god.” How good does that feel? It takes away the pressure, a heavy burden is unloaded. We are not in charge anymore!! How often do we stress out, trying to manage everything, when we have ALL the resources of the universe, all the help in the world, at our disposal?
The chapter goes on (James 1:9-11) to tell us that we should not be limited by our circumstances. If we are in a high position, we are to know that it will not last. But it is the same the other way around as well. We will not be in dire circumstances forever, either. It is important to note that there is joy in humble circumstances and sorrow in high position.
The analogy of the sun is important for true reasons. One is that the rising of the sun is a normal everyday occurrence. It is not like a flood that may or may not happen. It is a certainty. In the same way, the fact that our circumstances will change is a certainty! Then why do we flaunt or wealth, our accomplishments? They. Will. Not. Last. Hard as it may be to fathom, this is reality. All our insurance schemes, stocks, securities are nothing but a fallacy.
The sun also emanates extreme heat. It tests our strength to the fullest. It further sheds so much light that we cannot hide anything in shadow anymore. So in this light and heat we stand exposed. In the same way the rich man will be exposed and will fade away.
So now, what does God say to all this? (James 1:12) God says that the man who perseveres under this intense scrutiny will receive the crown of life ‘that God has promised to those who love him’. This brings me to my final point. How do we show our boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse that we love them? (I take this example because most of us find this easy to relate to.) We spend time with them, we talk to them, we make them feel included in our lives, we tell them our problems, and we go to them for advice. We do all of this and more. How many times over, then, should we do all these things with God? So, now, the question we need to ask ourselves about all this is, ‘How much of a hypocrite am I?’