The Thoughts of Wesley son of Cornelius

"Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 'I'm going out to fish,' Simon Peter told them, and they said, 'We'll go with you.' So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, [a certain man stood on the shore]. ... He called out to them, 'Friends, haven't you any fish?' 'No,' they answered. He said, 'Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.' When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved [and author of this story, John] said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!'" (John 21:2-7 NIV)

Many times I read the Bible as a guide on how to live. But as Joe read this story this morning in Sunday school, I was reminded that the Gospel of John was a personal story from the eyes of John, whom Jesus loved, the son of Zebedee. Unlike the Qur'an or Book of Mormon, this book was not written to be a holy book but a personal story. John seems to have been a good friend of Peter. He saw the transfiguration of Jesus with Peter; he went a little further into the garden at Gethsemane with Peter; and he went to the empty tomb with Peter. To the casual reader, the above story is just another story about Jesus and his disciples. But John was telling the story with certain feelings. I can imagine John grabbing his friend Peter by the shoulder and saying, 'It is the Lord!' How did John know? The section I edited read, '... Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.' So it was not by appearance. Why did John address Peter? Because of something from the past ...

"He [Jesus] got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 'Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.' Simon answered, 'Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.' When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat [remember this phrase] to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, 'Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!' For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners [recall previous phrase]. ... So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him." (Luke 5:3-11)

The impression of the second catch would impact John so much that he would remember the number of fish they caught after seeing Jesus alive: 153! (John 21:11) God is a personal God; for real.

"Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome; Cretans and Arabs--we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues! Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, 'What does this mean?'" (Acts 2:9-12 NIV)

Today, the graduate students in Nuclear Engineering had a International Picnic. The idea came out of a conversation between myself and a friend. We decided to have the picnic after classes were over. I suggested Charter E. Doyle Memorial Park. So today, my friend and I arrived early at the park and set up tables and chairs. Around 12:30 the crowd started to arrive. I counted around 32 people present: from China, India, Lebanon, Thailand, Russia, Canada, and a few Yankees. The food was excellent.

After eating, we all played kickball (even Youssef's mother. She is from Lebanon and speaks no English. Her head was covered by a scarf, and she wore a long skirt. It was great.) Following kickball, Bo Lu and I played tennis with Ravi. Several others played badminton or hit golf balls. Still others sat around and ate or tossed frisbee.

It was a success. The weather was perfect, the food was great, and the 'broken' conversations were entertaining. Praise God!

We live in families just like Israel's. We see God's grace and mercy on this sinful family. So how should we live in our messed-up families?

"Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Romans 6:1,2 NIV)

Joseph
"The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant." (Genesis 39:2-4)

"By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones." (Hebrews 11:22)

Dinah
"Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and violated her." (Genesis 34:1,2 NIV)

Simeon and Levi
"Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob's sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. They said to them, 'We can't do such a thing; we can't give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. ... We will give our consent to you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males.' ... All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised. Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and attached the unsuspecting city, killing every male." (Genesis 34:13, 14, 15, 24-25)

Reuben
"Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it." (Genesis 35:22 NIV)

Judah
"When Tamar was told, 'Your father-in-law [Judah] is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,' she took off her widow's clothes [for God had killed Judah's sons, that is, Tamar's husbands Er and Onan], covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. ... When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, 'Come now, let me sleep with you.' ... So he ... slept with her, and she became pregnant by him." (Genesis 38:13-16, 18c)

"Jacob was in love with Rachel and said [to Rachel's father Laban], 'I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.' ... So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and Jacob lay with her. And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter as her maidservant. When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, 'What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn't I? Why have you deceived me?' Laban replied, 'It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. Finish this daughter's bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.' And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. Laban gave his servant girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maidservant." (Genesis 29:18, 22-29 NIV)

Leah gave birth to Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. Rachel got jealous and told Jacob to sleep with her maidservant Bilhah. Bilhah gave birth to Dan. Bilhah conceived again and gave birth to Naphtali. Leah, who had become barren, gave her maidservant Zilpah to Jacob. Zilpah bore Gad and then Asher.

"During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, 'Please give me some of your son's mandrakes.' But she said to her, 'Wasn't it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son's mandrakes too?' 'Very well,' Rachel said, 'he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes.' So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. 'You must sleep with me,' she said. 'I have hired you with my son's mandrakes.' So he slept with her that night." (Genesis 30:14-16)

This encounter made Leah pregnant. She gave birth to Issachar. Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to Zebulun. Some time later she gave birth to a daughter, Dinah. Rachel then became pregnant and had Joseph. Rachel would also die in child-birth. This last child would be named Benjamin.

And this was the beginning of Israel.

In the last few weeks, funerals and a wedding have brought families together. And along with these mini-reunions comes the most important question: “Now how are we related?” Discussion of this question inevitably follows. Everyone has a story about how they met distant relatives at past funerals or weddings. On the side, discussion arises about odd and screwed up family ties. Many of these confusing family connections originate from divorce, remarriage, and more divorce. We come to the conclusion that the modern family is so messed up. Is there any hope? Can God use such families? Yes, and he did.

“He [Jacob] had a dream … and he [the LORD] said, ‘… Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.’” (Genesis 28:12, 13b, 14 NIV)

“Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel…’” (Genesis 32:28)

Jacob (maybe better, Ya’akov) had a messed up family. Jacob’s great grandfather Terah was a pagan. Jacob’s grandfather Abraham had a sexual relationship with his wife’s maidservant. To make matters worse, it was his grandmother Sarah who set up the relationship. Sarah finally gave birth to a son, Isaac, Jacob’s father. But Isaac loved Jacob’s twin brother Esau, while Isaac’s wife Rebekah loved Jacob. Sounds like a soap opera. But through all this mess God kept his promise that Israel would be his chosen people.

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen." (Romans 11:33-36 NIV)

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. ... They have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.'" (John 15:18-21, 24b-25 NIV)

Two ideas to ponder:

(1) Does the world hate you? I do not mean abstractly. Do you know someone who hates you for the Absolute Truth you belong to?

(2) What love Jesus had to enter a world that hated him: hated by nations, leaders, and his own people.

"Why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One." (Psalm 2:1-2 NIV)

"Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus." (Acts 4:27-30)

"... up from the grave he arose!"

"Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior,
waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord."

"With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last." (Mark 15:37)

“He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.”

“As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of rock.” (Matthew 27:57-60)

“Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer …”

“Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayer, ‘My father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’” (Matthew 26:39)

“… and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering …”

“If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD’s commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible. He is to bring to the priest as a guilt offering a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the wrong he has committed unintentionally, and he will be forgiven. It is a guilt offering; he has been guilty of wrongdoing against the LORD.” (Leviticus 5:17-19)

“… he will see his offspring …”

“He [God] took him [Abram] outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’” (Genesis 15:5)

“…and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.”

“And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:8-11)

“After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life, and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:9-12 NIV)

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

“But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.” (John 19:33, 34)

“He said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.’” (John 20:27)

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalms 14:1-3, 53:1-3; Eccles. 7:20; quoted in Romans 3:10-12)

“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;”

“When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, ‘Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?’ But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.” (Matthew 27:12-14)

“he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘[Behold], the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29)

“By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.” (Isaiah 53:5-8 NIV)

“He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.”

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52)

“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

“…an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’” (Matthew 2:13)

“Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded him to leave their region.” (Matthew 8:34)

“And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, ‘Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.’” (Matthew 13:57)

“’I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’ At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.” (John 8:58, 59)

"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted." (Isaiah 53:2-4 NIV)

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.
In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.
They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed."
(Psalm 22:1-5 NIV)

"Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.' And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying 'Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.'" (Matthew 26:26-29 ESV)

This supper engagement shows the difference in Jesus behavior at a dinner with the 'sinner' versus the 'righteous.'

"... Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. 'Follow me,' Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, 'Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and "sinners"?' Jesus answered them, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.'" (Luke 5:27-32 NIV)

"When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things [see last post], he said to him [Jesus], 'Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!' But he said to him, 'A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, "Come, for everything is now ready." But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, "I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused." And another said, "I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused." And another said, "I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come." So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, "Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame." And the servant said, "Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room." And the master said to the servant, "Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet."'" (Luke 14:15-24 ESV)

Last post I asked you to think about what Jesus would say to you. Now think on how you would respond to what he said. Would you make excuses?