January 30, 2024

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“What does ‘He ascended’ mean except that He also descended to the lower, earthly regions?  He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.” (Ephesians 4.9-10)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Let’s rally the troops, shall we? If we are captivated by the call to live worthy lives, lives made worthy by the call of Jesus the Christ, then we also possess a power, a dominion and an authority which is not manifested by the world but in the world. We are a force to be reckoned with. We are a force for “good,” as we know good means accomplishing the will of God. We are a force of “hope,” as we know our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. We are a force of “love,” as we know love is the essence and nature and character of God’s existence throughout time and space. And all of these are made known to us in faith as we align ourselves with Jesus the Christ, Yeshua bar Joseph and Yeshua bar Yahweh Elohim. We are able to trace His journey through the depths and heights of life and living in this world. There was no place where He could not go nor another place He would not go to “seek and save” those who are lost. That included, mind you, those who believed they were not lost being held “captive” by their own version of self-righteousness and indignation making God in their own image a servant of themselves and not of the people.

Low: He was born in a cave used as a stable for the livestock of both the owner of the house and those visiting from distant lands. He was laid in a trough depression in the stone which was usually filled with food to feed the animals in that stable. (How the words “I AM the bread of life, take and eat and you will live” resonant even then in that place.)

High: Within two years of His birth, ambassadors of distant kings from distant lands called maggoi came to confirm what they had learned about and experienced upon His birth as the Word of God in the prophets had declared. They brought with them gifts for a King of kings: gold, frankincense and myrrh. From the poorest of situations to the richest of expressions, Jesus was Lord of all from lowly shepherds to kings and all inbetween.

Low: He was taken to Egypt by His parents under angelic direction and thus escaped the horror of Herod. He lived in the lowlands of Egypt among His own people. There His life was symbolic of those descendants of Jacob who dwelt in Goshen for four hundred years in captivity of indentured servitude.

High: In due time, perhaps in His bar-mitzvah, He was taken up out of Egypt and on Passover was taken to the Temple to celebrate the deliverance of God’s people from bondage. He Himself sat on the steps of the Temple and taught the rabbis there concerning the will of God whom He knew to be His heavenly Father. He began to preach about the liberation of the nation of Israel but it was not yet His time to take on the role of confronting the ruling authority to declare from God “Let My people go.”

Low: On His thirtieth birthday, He went down to the Jordan River and there confronted His cousin John the Baptizer with the call to righteousness. He submitted Himself to be baptized though He was without sin in order to descend into the depths of the waters and be delivered into the Promised Land of God given to all who would believe and be baptized as well.

High: He was directed by the Holy Spirit following His baptism, an anointing for ministry akin to the practice of rabbis in Israel, into the wilderness of Sin. There He was found on a high mountain and tempted three times to deny the Word of God, the life of worth by which He had been called. He refused to lower Himself to serving Satan, the Fallen Lucifer. Instead, He raised up the Word of God as His identity and His defense. It was sure and its righteousness endured and endures forever.

Mighty ones of God, these are but a few of the “ascend and descend” moments in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God and humanity, who is the Messiah and Christ. But, it is not His life alone where these moments exist. They exist in ours as well. By His witness and by His testimony we are able to move through those moments in our own lives and be established in the true promise of God and in His Promised Land. Let’s take a few moments and reflect ourselves where Jesus has gone with us having gone before us and will now lead us to where He is going with the promise that He will return to take us to be with Him forever.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit spoke us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit so that others may be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind that we would know that we are Your people and that You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.