40 Days After Easter - Peter

Matthew 16:18

"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."

Peter had to be reinstated

Jesus had called Peter the "Rock". Yet when the odds were against them, Peter ran away and denied Jesus. In his own eyes he had fallen, knowing he had betrayed as well. Twice he had shown his biggest weakness - fear. Once when he tried to walk on the water and again when Jesus had been taken away. 

But if Peter had to become the rock of Christianity, Jesus needed to reinstate his position among the disciples as well build Peters self confidence. This was critical if this group of 12 or G-12 was to be successful. Note the following verses: 

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

This is what Christ had to do. Reinstate Peter's leadership, Peters commitment and Peters assignment, after the debacle. 

These three commands may sound similar but they are actually different. 

**The three commands, although often translated the same way, are subtly different. The first time Jesus says it, the Greek means literally “pasture (tend) the lambs” (v. 15). The Greek word for “pasture” is in the present tense, denoting a continual action of tending, feeding and caring for animals. 

The second time, the literal meaning is “tend My sheep” (v. 16). In this exchange, Jesus was emphasizing tending the sheep in a supervisory capacity, not only feeding but ruling over them. This expresses the full scope of pastoral oversight, both in Peter’s future and in all those who would follow him in pastoral ministry.

The third time, the literal translation is “pasture (tend) the sheep” (v. 17). Here Jesus combines the different Greek words to make clear the job of the shepherd of the flock of God. They are to tend, care for, and provide spiritual food for God’s people, from the youngest lambs to the full-grown sheep** 

(** sourced from Got Questions Ministries). 

Very clear instructions to Peter as well as other disciples, and maybe to us today. 

Like Peter,  we often forget that God is in control, and we overstep our limited authority. God works through us in spite of our human frailties. No offense is too great to be forgiven by God. We can accomplish great things when we put our faith in God instead of ourselves and follow His purpose for our lives. 

the 40 days after Easter - Living by Faith. : Pastor Rajiv's Daily Devotional

Earlier we talked about why Jesus stayed on after His resurrection. In 2000 years, 12 followers became 2.38 Billion! So those 12 had to be well equipped in faith, in strength and vision. They had to have a shared vision with Jesus. They had to have faith, which needed to be built.

Live By Faith, not by sight.

He had one unfinished task and that was to replace Himself with His disciples and friends. Yes he was risen, but he knew He had to go. Look at the question they asked Him "will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel ''? They still had not grasped the fact that Jesus's kingdom was a different ball game! They still had a lot to learn and a lot to be taught, which He did at different times and places, throughout those 40 days. So what did He have to do?

For one, He had to teach them to live by and be led by faith, something they did not know as He was hitherto been with them physically. Till now the disciples were used to seeing Jesus, interacting with Him and following a leader. Now He had to teach them to live by faith and not by sight, as they had been doing. He had to tell them "I’m going to heaven, and you will have the Comforter in My place. You need to start walking by faith, Mary, not by sight".

Two very interesting incidents depict this. One where May tries to touch Him and is stopped and the other when Thomas is invited to touch Him. Both Mary and Thomas needed more faith. Mary needed faith enough to let Jesus go. Thomas needed faith enough to believe without empirical proof. Mary needed to loosen her grip; Thomas needed to strengthen his. The resurrected Christ gave both of them the faith they needed. He came in different guises to meet them and they did not recognize Him from His physical appearance, but did so from His ways and actions.

Tomorrow we will talk about Hope and why He had to give His disciples that Hope which drove them forward. 

Pastor Rajiv's Mid week Message

One week after He was crucified,  Pastor Rajiv talks about the Resurrection on Easter day. Is it valid today in 2022? 

The Great commission: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

He had to enable them for the Great commission with  Hope and Faith. 

Read Hebrews Chapter 11 HERE, if you have not read that fantastic Chapter from the Bible. 

Hope is the belief in what could be. Hope redefines what is probable and opens the paths to the impossible. Hope opens the door to even let yourself consider that there may be a way out of your problem. Our Christian faith revolves around hope and faith today, both going hand in hand.  

But in those days after His crucifixion, hope had to be rekindled. There was no Paul and no letter to the Hebrews. Jesus’ crucifixion had devastated His followers, just as it must have filled his enemies with pride. 

In Matthew 19:27 Peter said to Jesus, “We have left everything to follow you.” And in John 6:68 Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” 

Above all, in John 20:9 we also learn that they “did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.” 

As they watched Him being crucified, everything they had hoped in and believed in was destroyed before their eyes. They thought that once again, Rome had managed to steal the future of Israel right out from under them. They did not understand that Jesus would rise from the dead. They did not understand that it was not over yet. So, when He appeared to them after His resurrection, Jesus restored their hope. And this was one of the most important tasks Jesus had to achieve, to revive the disciples so they could carry His hope to a hopeless world, because this was the Great commission He had for them. 

This was a key success factor for their success in their life after Jesus's departure to heaven, and this is what we are called on to do today as well. Carry His word to the world, using whatever Gift God has given us - be it a good voice, communication skills, analytical mind, sales and marketing skills, physical strength, mental fortitude, exceptional education, - you name it. God needs everything, no matter how silly it sounds. For example why would God need  sales skills? Friends, sales skills , is the ability to convince other people of a need and a product or service to fulfil that need. Does not the world need God? Is everyone aware they need God? does everyone believe in God? 

Today, as we are filled with the hope that is in Christ, can we analyze our selves and identify one thing, just one thing we can do for the Great commission. 

I am not done yet! Pastor Rajiv's daily Reflections

John 20:7 "and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself".

Why would the Son of God, who had just conquered death, bother to pause and leave His tomb tidy?

According to the tradition of that day, after a servant set the dinner table, he would wait, just out of sight, until the family had finished eating. If one of them was done, they would rise, wad up the napkin and toss it onto the table -- the signal to clear their setting. However, if they got up from the table, folded their napkin and laid it beside their plate, the message was "I'm not finished yet." The folded cloth served to whisper to those who listened, "I'm coming back!"

And He did, as we all know. But why come back AND stay for 40 days? to do what? Jesus knew He had a lot of business to attend to, primarily to serve the singular objective of the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:19–20 contains what this Great commission is: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you".

In the coming days we shall see what were those tasks and why they were important enough for Jesus to have spent 40 days, before His ascension. We shall also see why they are important today an d how 12 people created a movement of 2.5 Billion people today! 

After all, the Great Commission is still alive.

Operation Sting

The Heavenly Gazette

Monday edition

STING OPERATION SUCCESSFUL ! 

It is with a great sense of relief and joy that we report that the sting operation we carried out against Satan, headed by the son of God, is concluded with an immense victory against his satanic  forces. 

According to our correspondent on Earth, God's son, Jesus, as He is known on Earth,  has succeeded in the most impossible task of standing in for the world's sins - past present and future, by offering Himself as the required sacrifice, ensuring the  humans down on earth can follow their original charter of being Gods people. Our correspondent has also been promoted and will remain on Earth after Jesus to ensure His work continues.

He further reports that Satan, along with his cohort was laughing in delight on Friday, when silly and selfish humans killed Jesus, little realizing that Jesus would over come even physical death and rise again. Today they have realized that no force in the universe is equipped to overcome God, our king.

We are also happy to report that Jesus's  resurrection means that eternal life is granted to all who believe in Him, meaning that those who do, are potential citizens of our heavenly world. We welcome all the new applicants as they qualify. Human followers of Jesus have been tasked with the job of maximizing applicants  by spreading Jesus's teachings and increasing His followers on Earth so that we can increase heavenly citizenship.  

While Satan and his forces tried their best to sow doubts about Jesus being the son of God, His resurrection rebuked all that and provided final and undeniable proof that He is really the Son of God and that He had overcome both deaths once and for all.

The resurrection further affirms Jesus of Nazareth  as the King and Lord of the new Jerusalem: a new heaven and a new earth, which is our Kings plan.

Some key humans were excited to know that Gods love for humans was proven in sending His son and our brother to the earth to be crucified and killed, in keeping with His promise to save the world. Jesus's love for humankind was what kept Him hanging on that cross, despite the extreme physical pain and finally, Gods love for His son, proving the sons heirship, which resurrected Jesus from the grave, defeating satanic forces and opening the door once again between humans and  God.

Perpetual Victory

The satanic world never realized what was going to happen and what was the actual plan of God. While they cheered and celebrated, Jesus neutralized their threat completely, triumphing over sin and spiritual death, once and for all. 

Our Lord the king has ruled that today should be celebrated by all, in heaven and the earth where humans now know that they can die to their old way of living and resurrect into a new life with Jesus Christ. They are calling it Easter. For followers worldwide, the importance of Easter will be in  praising and acknowledging Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead, and His glorious assurances of eternal life in heaven for all who believe in Him. On the practical side, every Easter will be an opportunity for Christ's followers to crucify their old self and resurrect into a new life in Christ. In fact, one senior follower of Jesus by the name of  שמעון בן יונה (or shimon ben yonah) is quoted as saying-

"Praise be to the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

Meanwhile Jesus has a few chores left and will be returning to us after 40 days. Mr. Moses and Mr. Elijah have been requested to accompany Him on His return journey.

Easter Blessing

1 Peter 1:3 3 "Praise be to the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..."

HE IS RISEN. CHRIST JESUS IS RISEN INDEED. 

Lord God, You loved this world so much, that you gave your one and only Son, that we might be called your children too. Lord, help us to live in the gladness and grace of Easter Sunday, everyday.

Let us have hearts of thankfulness for your sacrifice. Let us have eyes that look upon Your grace and rejoice in our salvation. Help us to walk in that mighty grace and tell your good news to the world.  All for your glory do we pray, Lord, Amen.

And now....

May the glory and the promise of this joyous time of year bring peace and happiness to you and those you hold most dear. And may Christ, Our Risen Savior, always be there by your side to bless you most abundantly and be your loving guide , in your journey of prosperity, in your job, your health, your family and your walk with Jesus. Amen. 

Why the "Good" in Good Friday? : Pastor Rajiv's Good Friday Message

 

Who Killed Jesus? : Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflection

 I DID

YOU DID

   WE ALL DID. 

The Pass Over promises: Our Daily Reflections

"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor" 

Please read the complete  Exodus Chapter 12 

The Passover or Pascha as it is called in Judaism, dates back thousands of years, but is as true today as it was then. At that time, the blood of the sacrificed lamb was used to identify Jewish households and spare them the agony of death.

It is as true today because we who believe in Christ, know that Jesus was the sacrificial lamb to spare us the horrors of a second death, the death of our spirit. This Passover was fulfilled in Christ, whose blood was shed to free humanity from bondage to sin and death.

The first Passover held three important lessons for us today:

1. The way to freedom is through the blood of the Passover lamb, our Jesus Christ.

2. We must be ready at all times to flee from our slavery to sin.

3. Gods promise of sparing believers is as true today as was then, with the scarification of Jesus.

4. Jesus (the sacrificial lamb) is personal as well as communal to be shared with people who do not have Him in their life. 

Furthermore, we need to remember that the Passover is all about Jesus! He came as the Lamb of God. His blood redeems us. By His death, judgment was turned away and the power of the enemy was broken. We were released from bondage and oppression. We were set free to enter into God’s promise. Everything in Passover is a picture of Jesus! Every element points to Jesus!

What is the connection between the Pasha and Easter? If Passover is largely about Egypt, Easter is largely about Passover. The Passover is a reminder of Gods promise, which He kept through Jesus. Easter is about our ressurected life. The Passover is communal, while Easter is personal. R R Reno in the Wall Street Journal has this to say

"I have come to see that Christianity’s most important day recapitulates Passover. Both days (Passover and Easter) face head-on the daunting power of death—and both announce God’s greater power of life"

Let us prepare today to celebrate life, our new life, gifted to us by our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us thank God for this covenant and Jesus Christ for this redemption. Lets remember the people who brought us to Him. Let us remember and thank mentors who explained Him, the Pastors who talked about Him Sunday after Sunday and all those, in whose life we saw His work.