Category Archives: Surprising Sayings of Jesus

Unfruitful or Fruitful Pursuits

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“‘If it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” Luke 13:9 ESV1

Read Luke 13:1-9

Where I live, Autumn quickly approaches. Crops ripen in the fields. Apple trees burst with fruit. Bright orange pumpkins dot the landscape. Farmers gear up to bring in the harvest. Children anticipate corn mazes, costumes, and candy. Adults look forward to sipping warm apple cider and pumpkin lattes while consuming fresh apple donuts. Everyone is abuzz with the talk of cooler weather and the soon-to-be changing color of the leaves. In my area, this time of year often brings with it a sense of peace and thankfulness for God’s provision.

When Jesus walked the Earth, He had a time when the changing of seasons and the hope of an abundant harvest were on His mind. Though it was Spring physically at this time in Jesus’ earthly life, spiritually speaking, Autumn approached as Jesus went along a specific road to a particular task. The harvest about which Jesus was thinking was not yet observable to the human eye. The awesome change about to take place was not apparent to the untuned heart. But what would soon happen would be the most significant change the world had ever experienced and the most momentous harvest of history was soon to begin.

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To Fear or Not to Fear

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“Do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear Him who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into Hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!” Luke 12:4-5 ESV1

Read Luke 12:13-21

We all fear something. That which we fear has the power to influence our characters and determine our destinies. Jesus emphasized this truth in the context of the next parable we will examine.

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The Head and Feet of Jesus

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But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing for Me … She has done what she could; she has anointed My Body beforehand for burial. And truly, I say to you, wherever the Gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”  Mark 14:6-9 ESV1

Read Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9 & John 12:1-8

“Six days before the Passover, Jesus, therefore, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So, they gave a dinner for Him there” (John 12:1-2a) “in the house of Simon the leper” (Matthew 26:6b). “Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with Him at the table. Mary, therefore” (John 12:3a) “came up to Him with an alabaster flask” (Matthew 26:7a) containing “a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard” (John 12:3b), “and she broke the flask and poured it over [Jesus’] head” (Mark 14:3b) “and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume” (John 12:3c). What a touching scene—Jesus spending time with His dearest friends, celebrating a miracle, being emotionally encouraged as He prepared for the future, soaking up the personalized way each of those in attendance shared his/her adoration of Him, all while a beautiful fragrance filled the air. But not everyone was feeling the love.

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Seeker Friendly

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 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the Lost.” Luke 19:10 ESV1

Read Luke 19:1-10

Only heartless Christians don’t care about lost souls. Only narcissistic Christ-followers want to keep the Good News to themselves. Only selfish Believers don’t want to create welcoming opportunities for those desiring to get closer to Jesus. But gearing church services and activities to reach those who don’t yet know Christ is easier said than done. Contemporary music can initiate intimate times of worship, but it can also become pure performance. Casual attire can promote humility as easily as it can unholiness. Sermons intended to be relevant can meet people where they are but often don’t lift up them to where they should be. Limiting religious decor can remove distraction or it can take the focus entirely off of Christ. Seeker-friendly services can become fabulous shows of what man can do instead of what God can do–if they are missing one crucial ingredient. Looking more closely at a familiar Scriptural account can help us discover what that often-lacking element is.

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What to Do with This?

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And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” John 8:11b ESV1

Read John 7:53-8:11

There is an account in our translations of The Holy Bible which most of the earliest manuscripts do not include. And those that do contain it, don’t always have it placed where we find it in our Bibles. Those who study language, word usage, and writing styles don’t know for sure who recorded this event or why it was placed where it now appears when the Canon of Scripture was compiled. It seems as if some really religious and learned individuals don’t know what to do with this passage. But I assure you, the most common sinner who understands the meaning of this portion of Scripture will know exactly what to do with it.

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Fully Emancipated

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Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you.” John 6:53 ESV1

Read John 6:29-67

As recorded in the latter half of John 6, Jesus, in some manner, repeatedly referred to Himself as the Bread of Life. He claimed to be “‘the Living Bread that came down from Heaven [and explained that] if anyone [ate] of this Bread, he [would] live forever … [He clarified] the Bread that [He gave] for the life of the World [was His] Flesh’” (John 6:51). Jesus insisted, “‘Whoever feeds on My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day’” (John 6:54). Why did Jesus push the issue of consuming both His Body and His Blood though it offended the religious and secular, the seeker and the devoted alike?

If Jesus’ Blood was shed for our sins, why did Jesus say we must partake of both His Blood and His Flesh? And why did “Jesus on the night when He was betrayed [take] bread, and when He had given thanks, … [break] it, and [say], ‘This is My Body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.’ [And] in the same way, also … [take] the cup, after supper, [and say], ‘This cup is the new covenant in My Blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me’” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25)? Why the emphasis on remembering both His sacrificed Body and His spilled Blood? Are they not for the same thing?

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A Team Effort

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“I can do nothing on My own. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is just because I seek not My own will but the will of Him who sent Me … I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me.” John 5:30 & 43 ESV1

Read John 5:17-47

It has been a sad week for me. I found out that two well-known, influential, Christian leaders are not getting along. This disharmony pains me because I greatly respect both of them, and I have learned much from each of them. Their books sit side by side on my bookshelf. Apparently, that is the only place where they can be in such proximity to one another. The one has publicly, pridefully, and unlovingly condemned the other. Is the berated one off-base? Possibly. Has she been fraternizing with others who, in some areas, are even more mistaken than she? Probably. But is she any more in error than one rebuking her? I don’t think so. His faults are just in different areas than hers.

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You Might As Well Ask

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And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to Him and said to Him, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” Mark 10:35 ESV1

Read Matthew 20:20-28 & Mark 10:35-45

When my children were small, I used to get together with my sister frequently. My sister also had small children, and the cousins enjoyed having playdates together. Once, when we came to visit my sister’s family at her home, we found her standing at her kitchen counter, eating a piece of candy. The other children ran off to play, but my son recognized what his aunt was doing. My son watched my sister nibble and said to her, “That piece of candy looks really good.” My sister continued to enjoy her piece of candy. My son noticed a bag of like candy lying open on the counter and stated, “Wow, I could really use a piece of candy.” My sister smiled and took another bite. My son, a little louder, exclaimed, “A piece of candy would really hit the spot for me right now.” My sister popped the remaining bits of her piece of candy into her mouth, closed up the bag, and placed it on top of her refrigerator. My son was shocked, but saying no more, he walked away saddened. My sister then turned to me and said, “You know, I would have given him a piece if he had just asked.”

I have the feeling God could say the same thing about us from time to time; He probably wonders why we don’t just ask. We spend a lot of time meditating on our problems. We mull over in our minds what we think we may need. We go to God and worry before Him, but do we really end up asking for anything? In the passage we will consider today, some people came to Jesus, and they audaciously asked for something they desired. They were surprisingly bold and asked for a grand thing. Let’s look at Jesus’ response?

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Truly Amazing

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Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven; and come, follow Me.”  Matthew 19:21 ESV1

Read Matthew 19:16-26, Mark 10:17-27 & Luke 18:18-27

Most of us want to be amazing at something. We want to stand out above the crowd in some area. We want to be noticed for some significant accomplishment. As a society, we venerate the surprisingly talented. We revere the exceedingly intelligent. We are mesmerized by the astonishingly beautiful. We worship the incredibly athletic. We esteem the exceptionally wealthy. And we honor tremendously influential. Because we are constantly trying to earn accolades and be more amazing than the next guy, we completely miss a great secret: it is actually a blessing to be extraordinarily average, because those who do have a great deal of talent, intelligence, beauty, athletic ability, wealth, or influence are often at a disadvantage.

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What Does it Really Say?

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He answered, “Have you not read … ‘What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate’?” Matthew 19:4a & 6b ESV1

Read Matthew 19:1-9

I thought one of our smoke detectors was chirping. I changed the battery, but the chirping continued. I assumed the replacement battery was bad, so I threw away that battery and installed a new one. The chirping continued. Naturally, I was convinced the unit must no longer be working. I planned on purchasing and installing another unit, but to hook up a new one, I needed to detach the clip which connected the current smoke detector to my home’s wiring. For some reason, I was unable to get the clip to release. So, the chirping continued.

My husband couldn’t help me change the smoke detector; he was on a business trip. So, I listened to the constant chirping for days. Finally, my parents came to visit; I asked my dad to try his hand at disconnecting the smoke detector. He was more successful than I had been. The smoke detector was detached, but the chirping continued.

It was my mom who discovered that the device which was signaling its need for a battery change wasn’t the smoke detector at all; it was the carbon monoxide detector! Once we changed the battery in the correct unit, the chirping quit. Day and night for the better part of a week, I had unnecessarily put up with the annoying noise. Because I was so sure that something was wrong with the smoke detector, I never considered the possibility that something else needed a new battery. I wonder how many times we experience needless suffering or cause avoidable pain because we are convinced of something which just is not true. In most such cases, much more is at stake than being slightly annoyed for a short period.

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