Death Doesn’t Compare to Christ
Message by: Don Chubb II
When we read the Bible, we should read line by line…. We should not skip the stuff that is uncomfortable. We need to read and study and work through each part of God's word.
Death. We don't know when it's our time.
The message of the Gospel is really quite simple.
John 3:14-16
[14] Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, [15] that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” [16] For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
We just need to have faith, look to Him and accept Him.
How many times in the Gospels did we read, He looked on them and He had compassion.
We should all be ready for when He calls us home.
John 1:19-23
[19] Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. [20] He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” [21] They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” [22] Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” [23] John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ”
John 3:26-30
[26] They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” [27] To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. [28] You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ [29] The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. [30] He must become greater; I must become less.”
John has the heart of a servant. He recognizes that he is not greater than Christ.
The Greek words for signs, miracles, and wonders are:
σημεῖον
sémeion
This term translates to "sign" and indicates a miraculous event that serves as a token or indication of divine authority.
δύναμις
dunamis
Often translated as "power" or "miraculous power," it signifies the dynamic force behind miracles.
Τέρασ
teras
This word means "wonder" and refers to something extraordinary that evokes amazement.
John 2:1-4
[1] On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, [2] and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. [3] When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” [4] “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
Syntax is the way we order words. Some words translate differently between Greek to English.
“What is to you is to me.” Is the plainest translation of verse 4.
John 2:5-11
[5] His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” [6] Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. [7] Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. [8] Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, [9] and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside [10] and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” [11] What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
Let's talk about the washing of hands with this water…. This is not a biblical tradition. This was a man-made step, introduced for Jews who felt dirty from being in contact with Gentiles.
What did Jesus say about this form of legalism?
Mark 7:1-23
[1] The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus [2] and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. [3] (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. [4] When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.) [5] So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” [6] He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. [7] They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ [8] You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” [9] And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! [10] For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ [11] But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— [12] then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. [13] Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.” [14] Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. [15] Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16] If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” [17] After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. [18] “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? [19] For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) [20] He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. [21] For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, [22] thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. [23] All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
A lot of Christians actually believe that this miracle wasn't really water being made into wine but rather into juice and that consuming alcohol at all is a sin. While the Bible tells us not to drink to the point of drunkenness, thinking that drinking wine is a sin is a man-made rule - much like the ritual cleansing.
Psalms 104:14-15
He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the service of man, That he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine that makes glad the heart of man, Oil to make his face shine, And bread which strengthens man’s heart.
So, we can know confidently that Jesus made wine, not juice.
God is not worried about cleaning the external. He is worried about the internal. He wants our heart.
You never know when it's your day. Give Him your heart.
