October 10 - His Blood Be

Matthew 27:24-26

And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” (Matthew 27:25 ESV)

Pilate washed his hands as a symbolic gesture. A sign that he had given Jesus over to the mob, but did not recognize or understand their desire to see him crucified. He wanted no blame.

The mob took the blame. They knew according to their laws and traditions that they would be held responsible for Jesus' death. They accepted the notion that his blood would be on them—without even understanding that that was the whole point.

Jesus' blood was the permanent replacement for the Old Covenant's sacrifices. It is through the spilled blood of Christ that our sins are forgiven. It is the faithful acceptance of his work that salvation takes place. Yes, God, please let his blood be on us and on our children.

October 9 - King & Country

John 19: 12-16

They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” (John 19:15 ESV)

Who is your king? We all have one. For the Jews of Jesus' day they identified their king as Caesar simply out of spite. But who is our king? For many of us, our king is the person we see in the mirror every day.

And the question is a question of kingdom. What do you pronounce ownership over? Do you owe allegiance to yourself? There are a lot of good questions stirred up by the example of a bunch of super religious Pharisees rejecting God himself as their king to proclaim false homage to a pagan dictator and conqueror they showed no true love for.

The reality is that under Caesar the corruption of the Jewish Temple greatly benefited the religious bureaucracy. With Jesus as king they would lose their power base while seeing equality, fairness, and justice brought to the common people.

Just to be clear, Jesus is King. In fact, he is the King of all kings. It's not a matter of who actually is the king, rather it is a question of who we each proclaim as our king. Self-worship and humanism are the order of the day. Placing our pride upon the thrones of our own choosing are the trend. But acknowledging Jesus as your true King, and stepping into his Kingdom is the better future.

April 25 - Hide & Seek

Read: Matthew 6:31-34

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33 ESV)

I loved playing Hide and Seek as a kid. My brother, cousins, and myself used to run around all over the mountains where my grandparents lived playing games of this sort. Of course, the best part was always finding someone.

Unfortunately, I think many of us have this idea that God has hidden away a lot of really important things. So, instead of spending our time trying to draw nearer to the Father, we ironically, and tragically, reject Him in an attempt to uncover all of the things we unconsciously think He must have hid from us.

Jesus told his disciples that this is a completely backward way of living. He taught that if you really want to find any kind of meaningful fulfillment in life you must seek God and his righteousness first. Seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness may sound like a dual pursuit, but its actually not. Jesus wasn't talking about to two separate things, he was reemphasizing the same thing.

Seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness has nothing to do with pursuing our own righteousness. It has nothing to do with attempting to fill our wish lists. Seeking God's kingdom and His righteousness is about seeking Jesus. To come into all the added things first requires actually wanting Jesus more. As you pursue Jesus, as you become more like the person he wants you to be, your life will take shape in a way that God will then be able to trust you with all of the things that might have distracted you had He given them to you first.

April 16 - Pray: Kingdom Come

Read: Matthew 6:9-13

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10 ESV)

Jesus' spoke at length during his Sermon on the Mount about prayer, even demonstrating a very practical kind of way of praying for his followers. As such a hugely important aspect of the Christian life, I believe we can still model prayer after Christ's words. The second aspect of his prayer revolved around both the kingdom and will of God.

In the Old Testament people regularly referred to the Jews as the Kingdom of God. Jesus spent a lot of time speaking to that issue. The kingdom he referred to was not one of heritage or borders. Rather, God's kingdom was one of the soul. It was comprised of people following the heart of God.

Jesus told his people to pray for God to have His way among them. It was a way for them to intentionally set aside their own desires in recognition for the superiority of God's plan. It is the acknowledgement that for the Kingdom of God to be the reality for our lives that God Himself must be the king of our lives.

March 9 - At Hand

Read: Matthew 10:5-15

And proclaim as you go, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 10:7 ESV)

For hundreds of years the Jews had been waiting for the Messiah. He had arrived. Jesus was on the scene. As he selected, trained, and sent his disciples he granted them authority to do miracles, to proclaim the good news of the Gospel, and to invite people into the Kingdom of God.

They spread out across the region sharing the Gospel. The message; the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. It was at hand. It was near. It was now. It was attainable. It was within reach.

This incredible spiritual happening was happening in the here and now for them. It continues today. No longer was a relationship with God something to be gained through ritual, rules, and religious regulation. God could be known simply by reaching out to know Him. Jesus personified this. He made it possible.

Jesus is the door to the Kingdom. To know God is to know Christ. To know Christ is to know God. Want relationship with the Father? Get to know the Son. Need the restoration of the Father? Seek the hand of the Son.

Even today God longs to reconcile us to Himself. It is the work of salvation. It is the mission of the Incarnate Christ. It is at hand.