Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Christian Podcast Central

Home
Evangelical - Sponsored
Jesus in HD 105: “Bye-Bye Jesus”

Jesus in HD 105: “Bye-Bye Jesus”

Last updated on: February 24, 2016 at 3:28 am by Christian Podcast Central

Jesus in HD 105: “Bye-Bye Jesus” 2016-02-24T03:28:45-08:00 Christian Podcast Central

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Jesus in HD Slider

Jesus in HD 105: "Bye-Bye Jesus" [ 1:01:50 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

From Dewey Bertolini, Pastor of The Safe Haven in McMinnville, OR:

On the night before Jesus was crucified, He huddled with His disciples for one last time for a Passover Seder Celebration. Jesus knew that within hours of their Passover Dinner, He would be betrayed, arrested, tried, convicted, and crucified.

As you will hear in this PODCAST, at that Passover Celebration, Jesus made a series of remarkable statements to His disciples, in the Upper Room, during their final Passover Seder together.

John 13-17, those five chapters, are often referred to as Upper Room Discourse. They contain rich and rewarding teaching that we’ll dissect and digest in, oh… three years or so when we get there.

There is, however, in that wide swath of Scriptural truth one statement that I want to highlight here, that really sets the stage for this discussion. In John 14, Jesus said this to His disciple Philip, in front of the other 10 (Judas having left to betray Jesus):

“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!” (vs. 9)

When we began this study of Jesus in HD, we said then, and I remind you frequently, that we are on a journey of discovery. Over two years ago now, we embarked together on an ongoing quest to discover exactly who Jesus is.

In this statement in John 14, Jesus assured us that as we discover together who Jesus is, we are equaling discovering who God is. And this discovery has been nothing short of EXCITING!!!

“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!”

What we learn about Jesus, we learn about God.

Jesus’ heart is God’s heart.

What Jesus is like, God is like.

What Jesus thinks is what God thinks.

What would Jesus do is what God would do.

And Oh. What. Pleasant. Surprises we have discovered along the way. Soul-enriching, spirit-reviving surprises, that we have uncovered along the way, about the heart of Jesus; about the heart of God.

Therefore, contrary to what many people think, Jesus reveals a very gentle God. When Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light”, He was also speaking on behalf of God.

This compassionate description has revolutionized my perspective of God and of His Son who repeatedly reached out and touched those who Jewish society had deemed “untouchable”, just as God does.

This causes me to pause and wonder, “How many of our religious leaders today would react to a living and breathing Jesus who went around in our Christian culture, touching those whom most American Christians deem untouchable?”

Sadly, it is today as it was then.

Yet, the truth is that people need love the most who are the most unlovely.

Jesus put it this way: “I didn’t come to heal the healthy. I came to heal the sick.”

All this being said, what on earth happened just before Jesus left Capernaum, as we read in Mark 6:1

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.

For that answer, we read Matthew 9:27-34

27 After Jesus left the girl’s home, two blind men followed along behind him, shouting, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”

28 They went right into the house where he was staying, and Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can make you see?”

“Yes, Lord,” they told him, “we do.”

29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, it will happen.” 30 Then their eyes were opened, and they could see! Jesus sternly warned them, “Don’t tell anyone about this.” 31 But instead, they went out and spread his fame all over the region.

32 When they left, a demon-possessed man who couldn’t speak was brought to Jesus.33 So Jesus cast out the demon, and then the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed. “Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!” they exclaimed.

34 But the Pharisees said, “He can cast out demons because he is empowered by the prince of demons.”

Get the picture? Jesus does these amazing things. These “out of the box” miraculous, loving acts of mercy. And the crowd goes wild! Then the Pharisees calmed the crowd down. The religious leaders took it upon themselves to “set the record straight”. Remember, these are the people’s rabbis. These are the teachers whom the people went to every week to learn about God. These are the leaders whom the people trusted.

And they said that Jesus could cast out demons because He was empowered by the prince of demons. He is not God in the flesh… He is Satan in the flesh!

So, Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.

Then, right after He left Capernaum…

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36)

And that’s how he sees you and me today: confused, helpless, weary, scattered, bewildered, harassed, distressed, and dejected. He sees us as fragile. Left to face a daunting world all alone.

You see, Jesus did things differently than the religious leaders of His day. He didn’t use the law as a measuring stick that no one – not even the Pharisees – could live up to. Instead, He came to fulfill the law, living according to God’s will, not the Rabbis’ examples, as we see in Matthew 23:

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. 3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. 4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

But, sadly, it is today as it was then.

And too often, it’s not just the pastors who live out poor examples of what it means to follow Jesus. You see, given the right constellation of circumstances, we are capable of doing the unthinkable.

We are fragile.

But Jesus was not. Even when those in His own hometown of Capernaum rejected Him:

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (John 1:11)

His family, friends, people, nation, even world rejected Him. Rejection was the reality that He lived with every single day of His ministry. Even after He miraculously fed 5,000 people, when He told the regathered crowd the next morning:

“I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. 27 But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”

28 They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”

29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

30 They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? 31 After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

32 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”

35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me. 37 However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. 38 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. 39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day.40 For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”

41 Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

And one by one, they walked away until only Jesus’ disciples remained.

Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”

68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”

Yet, we all know that Peter was the first to bail out after Jesus was arrested, denying that he knew Jesus three separate times, walking away from the ministry and back to the family fishing business after Jesus was killed.

Yet the loving, gentle Jesus – even after being rejected by His dear friend, Peter – restored him completely.

There is no doubt that Jesus understands when you and I feel the rejection that we may encounter. Because rather than rejoicing that two blind men could see, or a bleeding woman’s condition was healed, or a man’s demon was cast out of him and he could now speak, or a little girl was brought back to life… instead of rejoicing, the religious leaders rejected Jesus and even accused Him of being empowered by Satan.

So Jesus left Capernaum and went to Nazareth.

You would think that things would go different in the town of His childhood, yet we read in Mark 6:2-6

The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?” 3 Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.

4 Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” 5 And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Rejected.

So, after being excommunicated from Capernaum and scoffed out of Nazareth, Jesus began to intentionally train His twelve disciples for the world’s first missionary trip. And the homeless Savior’s ministry took a new turn.

For more encouraging and engaging podcasts and videos, visit the E-Squared Media Network

christian bible study podcast

christian culture podcast

is the bible reliable

Previous Post

April 2, 2015

Christian Home & Family: Delight In Her

Next Post

April 3, 2015 Meeting People Head On 20: Clean Slates For Everyone!*

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Brad Stine Has Issues Christian Podcast Central Classic Podcast Experience God Life Grounded Ouxano Parent Like You Mean It The Protest Show with Thor Ramsey The Summit Lecture Series Uncategorized What You’ve Been Searching For

Select a Month July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 June 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz