Author: Dave Dishman (Page 328 of 475)

I’ve always liked Thomas, the doubter among those who walked around with Jesus, probably because I’m a doubter myself. Lots of questions swirl around in my head when I hear someone speak, and although I rarely voice them, I give attention to my doubts.

As Jesus prepared his disciples for his impending crucification and resurrection, he spoke of leaving and returning and how the disciples should understand this—You know the way to the place where I am going.

Thomas responded, “Huh?” Actually, that’s my paraphrase. Thomas really said, Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way? Seems like a good question to me.

Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.

Jesus was going to the Father, and there’s only one way there. That’s what Jesus helped Thomas understand. Thomas knew the way because Thomas knew Jesus.

Despite common platitudes, only one road leads to the top of the mountain—the way of Jesus. Not Buddha, not Confucius, not Krishna, not Kali, not Mohammad, not witchcraft, not paganism, not secret societies, not wisdom, not education, not donating massive amounts of money to charity, not a life of good works outweighing the bad, and especially not some vague belief in an absorption into the universe.

Only Jesus.

No doubt.

John 14 in week forty-five of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Quaritsch Photography

In an unforgettable flash of creative energy, God breathed life into a valley of dry bones. The passage reads like something from The Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien, a committed Christian, undoubtedly held Ezekiel 37 in the back of his mind while writing that section).

Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!

God called for tendons and flesh and skin. There was noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together…tendons and flesh appeared and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

Next, God breathed life into their bodies. Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe life into these slain, that they may live. Breath entered, and born again they stood on their feet—a vast army.

Reminiscent of the creation account in Genesis when the Lord breathed life into Adam, after molding his body from the dust.

Also reminiscent of the cross, where God took one life, and by doing so breathed fresh, eternal life into the world. What were we in our sin but dry bones? Piles of discarded pieces with no spiritual life? The Lord animated you and me, put tendons and flesh together and breathed new life in us. And so we stand before him today.

I will put my Spirit in you and you will live. With the Lord is life. Without the Lord I’m just a bag of bones.

Ezekiel 37 in week forty-five of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Trollinho

Several passages I read this morning reminded me of the heart of God for the nations. Fascinating how reading from various books of the Bible in the same sitting reveals themes I might miss if I read them on separate days.

Here’s my progression of writers today, from Ezekiel to David to John:

I will show the holiness of my great name…Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes (Ezekiel 36:23).

Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name (Psalm 86:8-9).

Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Phillip with a request, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus” (John 12:20-21).

God proclaimed through Ezekiel that the nations would see his holiness. David predicted the arrival of people from all nations to worship the Lord. Then—in nearly the exact same spot—travelers of a distant land arrived with the goal of meeting Jesus.

Jesus came first to the lost sheep of Israel, and because God’s plan included everyone in the world, the good news flowed far beyond their borders.

The expansion continues to this day. Check out this graph illustrating one aspect of the growth of the Christian faith over the centuries. It shows the world-wide ratio of non-Christians to practicing Christians from the first century to today:

For every active Jesus follower in 100 AD, roughly 360 people remained uninformed or uninterested. Today that ratio is 1 to 7—astounding growth, with more still to come.

Why? Because God wants the nations to know that He is the Lord, and even today there are millions of people who would like to see Jesus.

Ezekiel 36, Psalm 86, & John 12 in week forty-five of reading the Bible cover to cover.

Photo by Jireh Mark

It’s hard to know what to say at a funeral.

At least I’ve never been very good at it. I suppose it depends on the life of the deceased. When a person lived a long life, knew the Lord, and died with family and friends intact, the service sits different than a gathering for one who’s life was cut short by tragedy. That’s when the words come harder.

Jesus stepped into a heart-wrenching situation when he arrived in Bethany to visit the sisters of his now dead friend, Lazarus. Jesus’s interaction with Martha sounds fairly typical:

Jesus: Your brother will rise again. Martha: I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

Then typical disappeared. Jesus looked into Martha’s eyes and stated, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?

Eternity flared inside Martha. The resurrection arrived in the person of Jesus. Martha ran for her sister, and Jesus joined them in weeping for their loss.

Jesus, of course, did more than weep. Going to the tomb and ordering the stone covering the entrance removed, Jesus called in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out!

Lazarus exited the tomb, not like a zombie, but healthy and renewed. (I’ve heard it said that Jesus needed to be specific when calling Lazarus from the dead, because if he’d commanded a general come out!, all the dead people entombed there would have risen. Certainly an interesting conjecture).

What to say at a funeral? Still hard for me, but much easier when knowing the person we’re honoring now stands face to face with the resurrection and the life.

John 11 in week forty-five of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Rosie Sun