A rabbi was walking home from the Temple and saw one of his good friends, a pious and learned man who could usually beat him in religious arguments. The rabbi started walking faster so that he could catch up with his friend, but he was horrified to see his friend enter a non-kosher Chinese restaurant. Standing at the door, he observed his friend talking to a waiter and gesturing at a menu. A short time later, the waiter reappeared carrying a platter full of spare ribs, shrimp in lobster sauce, crab, and other stuff the rabbi couldn’t even bear to think about.
As his friend picked up the chopsticks and began to eat this food, the rabbi burst into the restaurant and reproached his friend, for he could take it no longer. “Morris, what is this you are doing? I saw you come into this restaurant, order this filth, and now you are eating with apparent enjoyment and clearly without any regard to your pious reputation and everything we’ve been taught about our dietary laws!”
Morris replied, “Rabbi, did you see me enter this restaurant?”
The Rabbi nodded yes.
“Did you see me order this meal?”
Again he nodded yes.
“Did you see the waiter bring me this food?”
And again he nodded yes.
“And did you see me eat it?”
And the Rabbi nodded yes once again.
“Then, Rabbi, I don’t see the problem here. The entire meal was done under rabbinical supervision.”
Legalism sure can put people in bondage. This is why Jesus focused on love. Because love sets us free. In Christ we are set free.
I no longer go to church out of a sense of duty, but I go to church because I love Jesus. I don’t stay faithful to my wife and family because I have to, but I do so because I love them with the love Christ has for me. The “Holy Week” is no longer just another feast and tradition for me. It’s now a reminder of the great love Jesus has for me – the love that brought Him to the cross to bear my sins so that in Him I may have forgiveness and a new life.
This truth is simple yet complex; hard to believe yet is believable by faith; and experiential and subjective, yet historically proven and fact-based. To embrace this truth, we need to have faith in Jesus like that of a little child. This is the way to heaven.
A church in Atlanta was honoring a senior pastor one time. After a warm welcome and introduction, and a greeting of applause from the congregation, the 92-year-old pastor rose from his high back chair and walked slowly, with great effort, to the podium. He was without a note or a paper of any kind. He placed both hands on the pulpit to steady himself, and then quietly and slowly he began to speak. “When I was asked to come here today and talk to you,” he said, “Your pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson I ever learned in my 50-odd years of preaching. After thinking about it for a few days, I arrived at this conclusion – of that one thing that has made the most difference in my life and that has sustained me through all my trials. The one thing that I could always rely on when tears or heartbreak or pain or fear or sorrow paralyze me, is this: ’Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. We are weak but He is strong.Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.’” The church was quiet when he finished. One could hear his footsteps as he shuffled back to his chair. What an unforgettable moment. When all is said and done, all our theology boils down to Jesus loving us so much that He died for us. Oh, the simplicity of it all! Look to the lyrics of the song. I won’t scare you away by singing it, but think about the words. Try to put this song in your heart.JESUS LOVES MEJesus loves me, this I know, Though my hair is white as snow.Though my sight is growing dim, Still He bids me trust in Him. YES, JESUS LOVES ME!
YES, JESUS LOVES ME! YES, JESUS LOVES ME!
THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO. Though my steps are oh, so slow, With my hand in His I’ll go On through life, let come what may. He’ll be there to lead the way. Though I am no longer young, I have much which He’s begun. Let me serve Christ with a smile, Go with others the extra mile. When the nights are dark and long, In my heart He puts a song. Telling me in words so clear, “Have no fear, for I am near.” When my work on earth is done, The curtain closed, the race been won, He will take me home above, Then I’ll understand His love.
YES, JESUS LOVES ME!YES, JESUS LOVES ME! YES, JESUS LOVES ME! THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO.
May you all have a glorious Resurrection Sunday celebration!