The Heart of Jesus for Reconciliation

6 June, 20205 June, 2020Marissa

What was Jesus’ reason for coming to earth and preaching the Good News of the gospel? What are the core desires of His heart when He looks at human beings? How can we become more like Him in how we preach and what we desire?

I’ve been thinking about these questions, and others, a lot this week. Part of it’s prompted by some messages I heard last Sabbath and part by recent events. There is a lot of strife and division in today’s world. We fight and bicker and separate ourselves by classes, genders, races, and churches. Such division is not what God desires. In fact, I don’t think it is going too far to say that such things break His heart.

God is grieved deeply by human sinfulness and suffering. He’s also deeply motivated to change things for the better, which means we should be motivated to work toward a better future as well. This truth carries with it a great deal of hope and purpose for us both in this life and in the future. And it’s all connected to the reasons Jesus came to this earth and the core desires of God’s heart.

Why Jesus Came

Jesus Christ is our example. He is the Word made flesh; God who became man. We’re supposed to mimic Him and to tell other people about Him and why He came to this earth. In order to do that, we need to understand these things for ourselves. There’s no better place to start than with what Jesus Himself said about why He came to this earth.

To preach. “He said to them, ‘Let’s go elsewhere into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because I came out for this reason.’” (Mark 1:38, all quotes from WEB translation)
To call sinners to repentance. “Jesus answered them, ‘Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’” (Luke 5:31-32)
To give abundant life. “The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)
To die as a sacrifice in our place. “Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this time?’ But I came to this time for this cause.” (John 12:27)
As a light for those in darkness. “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in the darkness.” (John 12:46)
To testify to the truth. “Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.'” (John 18:37)

Gentle Wisdom

18 January, 202016 January, 2020Marissa

The Bible speaks of two different kinds of wisdom, one that is of the world and one that is of God. In his epistle, James gives us a list of characteristics that describe “the wisdom that is from above.” he says that it “is first pure, then peaceful,” two characteristics we talked about in posts titled “Pure Wisdom” and “Peaceful Wisdom.”The next characteristic on this list is “gentle.”

Intelligent people often have a reputation for having a cutting wit and a low tolerance for those who don’t see things their way. Wisdom doesn’t act like that. It is gentle in a fitting, proper, and unassertive way

Defining gentleness

There are several Greek words you can translate as “gentleness.” The one James uses is epieikes. This word has to do with legal fairness and indicates moderation, clemency, and equable dealings with others. It involves being “lenient, yielding, and unassertive.” The closely related word epieikei expresses “the virtue that rectifies and redresses the severity of a sentence.”

This type of gentleness is about actively choosing equity and justice in our dealings with others, even when you could assert your legal rights against them. Gentleness keeps us from “the danger that ever lurks upon the assertion of legal rights lest they be pushed to immoral limits” (Spiros’ Zodhiates’ The Complete WordStudy Dictonary: New Testament, entries 1932 and 1933). Read more →

The Fruit Of Gentleness

9 March, 20198 March, 2019Marissa

Meekness, gentleness, and mildness get a bad rap in today’s society. People tend to think of them as synonyms for being weak or boring. A door mat. But those three words I opened with are all possible translations of the Greek word praotes (G4236), which is listed as part of the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.

The spirit of God is not weak or boring. It is full of power, and it is also “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control.” Indeed, though we may not think of these traits as “powerful,” we cannot display them all unless we’re empowered by God. It takes a great deal of inner strength, commitment, and willingness to be transformed by God to live-out the fruit of His spirit, including gentleness.

The Meekness of Christ

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul opened one of his lines of thought with the words, “I Paul, myself, entreat you by the humility and gentleness of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:1, WEB). The traits of gentleness, humility, and meekness that the world spurns are key to understanding Jesus Christ’s character. Read more →

Redefining Meekness

7 October, 20137 October, 2013Marissa

There are several words the Bible uses to describe Godly character that have a bad reputation in today’s society. Take “meekness” for example. If you ask Google for a definition, the first result says “quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on; submissive.” An even shorter way to put this would be “doormat.” If asked, the typical person today would probably agree with Mordred (from the musical Camelot) that “it’s not the earth the meek inherit, it’s the dirt.”

When Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,” was He really talking about the same trait we just defined? Though we do see from scripture that gentleness and submission are admirable qualities, what we do not see is the “easily imposed upon” weakness that our modern definitions for meekness carry.

Greek for Meek

The Greek word translated “meek” in the Beatitudes is from a word family that includes praos (G4235), praotes (G4236), praus (G4239), prautes (G4240). In the discussion of G4240, Zodhiates says the words refer to “an inwrought grace of the soul, and the expressions of it are primarily toward God.” Furthermore, he writes,

Prautes, according to Aristotle, is the middle standing between two extremes, getting angry without reason (orgilotes), and not getting angry at all (aorgesia). Therefore, prautes is getting angry at the right time, in the right measure, and for the right reasons. Prautes is not readily expressed in Eng. (since the term “meekness” suggests weakness), but it is a condition of the mind and heart which demonstrates gentleness, not in weakness, but in power.

Wow. That’s not at all like the English-language idea of meekness. This is strength of character that balances our emotions and helps establish our relationship with God. In the discussion of number 4236, Zodhiates adds,

It is the acceptance of God’s dealings with us considering them as good in that they enhance the closeness of our relationship to Him. … It is not the result of weakness, and in the third Beatitude it expresses not the passivity of the second Beatitude, but the activity of the blessedness that exists in one’s heart from being actively angry at evil.

Active Meekness

Prior to reading these definitions, my idea of meekness did not include gentleness demonstrated in power or activity against evil. No wonder these words are used to describe Jesus Christ (Matt. 11:29; Matt. 21:5; 2 Cor. 10:1). With such an example to follow, Paul instructs Timothy to pursue meekness (1 Tim. 6:11), women are told a “meek and quiet spirit” is valued in the eyes of God (1 Pet. 3:4), and the church is expected to relate to other people with a spirit of meekness (Gal. 6:1; 2 Tim. 2:25; Tit. 3:2; 1 Pet. 3:15).

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph. 4:1-3, KJV)

Meekness is a necessary attribute for God’s people, but not quite in the way the world views it. Godly meekness is a strong character attribute that we must cultivate if we are going to become like Jesus Christ (Col. 3:12). It is anger at the right time for the right reason, but expressed in a gentle way that helps others instead of tearing them down. It is aceptence of God’s work in our lives that humbly says, “Not my will, but your’s be done.”

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. (James 3:13)