CTK Blog
Hardship and Spiritual Blindness
For Jesus it seems that how one thinks, feels, and acts toward the hurting is indicative of one’s own spiritual condition. Towards the end of our passage Jesus learns that the Pharisees kicked the blind man out of the synagogue and this is what Jesus has to say about it: “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind” (v. 39). One of the points Jesus is making here is that the Pharisees may be able to physically see but their treatment of the blind man reveals that they are in fact spiritually blind.
Delighting and Depending
Last week in our bible reading plan we read Psalm 81 which provides for us a helpful way to think about prayer. According to Asaph, the Psalmist, prayer is the habit of delighting and depending upon God’s strength. Before we consider prayer in this way, we must consider the nature of God’s strength.
Come to me and drink
Jesus invites all who thirst to come to him and drink—to find in him the life and love we’ve for which we’ve been longing.
Unity in Diversity
Among our members we need Democrats and Republicans, GEDs and PhDs, country bumpkins and city slickers, and the full spectrum of God-given melanin. We need diversity in all of its conceivable forms because we need to hear the gospel of the descended, ascended, and ruling Christ from every voice to grow toward being a Christ-like, unified community (Eph. 4:15-16).
Power and the Cross
Jesus came into conflict with the religious leaders of his day over power. They were using their faith as a means of power. It was about power to control their lives. It was about coming into positions of prominence to exercise power over others. Yet, Jesus comes, and he cannot be controlled. He comes as the sovereign Lord of the universe who is in control of all things. He comes, and he challenges the way they’ve been using religious power for their own prestige rather than for the good of others. Yet, his greatest dispay of strength was the cross, where he embraced weakness in order to rescue his people. We who follow our crucified savior are called to follow him in the way of the cross.
Three Reasons for Unity
Since the church exists to display God’s wise plan to unite all things in Christ, Paul strongly encourages the church in Ephesus to walk in peace-filled unity. In Ephesians 4:1-6 Paul offers three reasons the local church should live in a way that promotes the unity they enjoy in the Spirit.