Pastor’s Message – October 2018
What Was Jesus’ Purpose
John 18:36 – “Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
In October the lectionary gives us a glimpse of what and who Jesus is from the book of Hebrews.
Jesus was not sent to Earth without a purpose. He was sent to be fully human, yet fully God. He was sent to become a once for all, great High Priest. He was sent to be an obedient servant and to be an example of loving others. He was sent to be perfect forever.
If we are going to follow this Jesus, we are going to need to learn about who He was and what He wanted to accomplish. As human as Jesus was, He was not of this world. He was constantly preparing a place in eternity for those who hear His voice, and accept the truth.
In that very moment, in front of Pontius Pilate, Jesus could have commanded legions of angels to come in His defense, but He didn’t. It was just hours before this interaction where He prayed in the garden. He prayed that God, if it be His will, take this purpose from Him. He didn’t, and Jesus accepted it. He knew that in order to receive true forgiveness and freedom, He had a price to pay.
Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. Jesus was the blameless, scapegoat that God knew we needed!
Jesus calls us to love others the way that He did, even to death. He was a man who had problems, just like all of us, yet He stayed humble and served. He was a man who had His friends turn their back on Him, just like all of us, yet He continued to love them and sacrifice for them. He was a man, and yet carried the full power of God within Him, yet He chose to be a servant to the poor and the sick.
My prayer is that you will join us this October in finding out why? Why do we need Him? How can He be our greatest example? What can we do with this knowledge of who Jesus Christ is?
- – Pastor Mike
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