Author: Brian Burdett

“And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.” – Luke 23:26

Can you imagine being Simon? You’ve traveled (or perhaps moved) from North Africa and were innocently headed into Jerusalem for the festivities surrounding Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Suddenly a group Roman soldiers grab you and force you to carry the heavy cross of a condemned criminal. That criminal, one Jesus of Nazareth, is too weak from His earlier beating and scourging to carry the heavy wooden cross beam to His place of execution. So you’re shoved into this terrible procession, made to follow Jesus to the place of death.

It must have been confusing, embarrassing, frustrating, uncomfortable, and perhaps even terrifying. The casual violence and cruelty of Rome could easily have been directed toward Simon as he followed Jesus. And yet…

Mark’s gospel records that Simon is the father of Alexander and Rufus. This implies that those two boys, all grown up by the time of Mark’s writing, were well known to the Christian community. It would seem that the unexpected events of that awful day began a process that led to new life and salvation for the family of Simon of Cyrene. It would seem that by taking up His cross and following Him, Simon ultimately met Jesus.

For most, these things happen in the opposite order. First, we meet Jesus, then we’re called to take up our cross and follow Him. Either way, an encounter with Jesus should never leave us unchanged or unchallenged. Every true follower of Jesus must ultimately take up a cross and follow Him as Simon did. Through life and death, suffering and triumph. Have you? Will you?

“A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.” – Luke 22:24

That a group of guys sat around and argued about “who’s the greatest” isn’t surprising. However, the setting in which the disciples had this debate should force us into some honest reflection!

Jesus and His disciples had just eaten the Last Supper together. Jesus spoke of His body broken for them and His blood shed to establish the long-awaited New Covenant. Jesus told them one of them would betray Him. And in that solemn, dark time of reflection on God’s grace and faithfulness, and the ever-present human potential for treasonous sin, their minds wandered to…who’s the greatest!

The situation would be ridiculous if it weren’t characteristic of our own walk with Christ! Christ has given us everything: forgiveness of sins, new life, union with Him, eternal life. He’s the greatest and there’s no other! But rather than fully submitting to His greatness and following Him humbly, we still try to build empires and ever-larger monuments to our greatness. Often we’ll do things in His name, but we ultimately do them to receive the applause, recognition, and respect of other people.

We shouldn’t. We don’t need to. We’ve received everything we need and more than we deserve! We should live our lives to please Jesus. He’s the greatest. We need only receive His applause and approval, not that of other people. We need to let go our desire to have our name known and celebrated here on earth, as we humbly live our lives to hear just one thing: “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

“When there are many words, sin is unavoidable,
but the one who controls his lips is prudent.” – Proverbs 10:19

We live in an age of many words. It’s easier and easier for us to say many words, whether with our voices, our fingertips (texting, emailing, or posting), or by simply clicking a button to “Share” or “Re-Tweet”. Be careful!!! The more words we say, the likelier we are to sin.

If you’re a follower of Jesus, then you are NEVER just speaking for yourself. You are always speaking as a royal priest and ambassador of King Jesus. Always! Everything you say, post, or share also speaks on behalf of Him. If it isn’t in keeping with His character, then you are speaking sin!

Control your lips. Control your fingertips. Be prudent and glorify God by everything you communicate and through the wisdom of silence!

“Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, ‘Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.’” – Luke 21:3-4

Jesus is always more concerned with our heart, attitude, and thoughts than our external appearances. This is certainly true when it comes to our giving to advance His Kingdom! God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He owns all money and never “needs” money to accomplish His purposes. However, He invites every follower of Christ into the joy of giving to His Kingdom.

As we respond to that invitation, God is far more interested in our heart of gratitude, generosity, joy, and sacrifice than absolute amounts. He isn’t interested in a contract negotiation or in perfunctory and thoughtless check-writing to fulfill some perceived obligation. The poor widow gave an amount that from an earthly perspective was worthless. However, it was a huge sacrifice to her. Jesus praised her, because her gift represented great devotion, trust, and faithfulness.

God has given us everything we have and enjoy. He’s given us His precious Son Jesus, who died on our behalf. God desires for us to develop a grateful heart that likewise practices generous, sacrificial giving of self. In inviting us to give sacrificially to advance His Kingdom, God isn’t demanding exact, legalistic percentages. Instead, God’s inviting generous, joyful, “painful” giving that exercises the faith of that poor widow that God will provide for her while renouncing the fear that money easily instills in our hearts.

“God, within your temple,
we contemplate your faithful love.”
– Psalm 48:9

In the original Hebrew, God’s faithful, steadfast, enduring, rock-solid love that’s being contemplated here is “chesed”. It is a fundamental attribute of God’s nature – He is steadfastly faithful and loving. God’s love is enduring, unshakable, unbreakable, unending. His love doesn’t wander or shift. His love doesn’t wax or wane over time. Faithful love is who God is and what He does.

God’s faithful love guarantees that He’s always with His people, because He’s faithful. That’s who He is. God’s faithful love guarantees that even when He disciplines His people, it’s out of love and for our best. That’s who He is. God’s faithful love guarantees that even if he feels “distant”, “absent”, or “uncaring” He isn’t. He can’t be, because God is steadfast, faithful, and loving. That’s simply who He is – we just struggle to understand that.

In our prayers and our worship, let us make much of God’s love! Let’s contemplate and celebrate it often! God’s love isn’t conditional or transactional the way so much human love is. It isn’t affected by shifting moods, gloomy weather, changing seasons, or external circumstances.

God’s love is ultimately and perfectly expressed by His willingness to send His precious Son into our world to sacrifice Himself on the cross for our redemption. God’s faithful love is what’s described in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”