But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:35)
What does it look like to follow Jesus? What can we expect from the Christian life? Is what we think of as the good life the same as God’s? How should we treat other people? How does God treat us?
Photo by Mike Bird
But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’ (1 Samuel 16:7)
With King Charles’ coronation on the 6th May, we’re going to think about how God chooses a king. What is it that makes a good king? What kind of king do we really want? What kind of king does God provide for us?
Then Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.’ (Luke 6:6)
On Sunday mornings, we’re going to spend a few weeks continuing in Luke’s gospel. As we remember Jesus Christ, our risen king, what kind of king is this? Is he a king who rules us harshly, or with love and care? Jesus is the one who cares for us better than anyone else, and who provides for our needs.
But Thomas said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’ (John 20:25)
That first Easter day, the disciple Thomas didn't see Jesus when the others did, and he wouldn't believe that Jesus was alive. Jesus needed to appear to him for him to see and believe. We are those who haven't seen Jesus, and won't until we either die or he returns. How can we believe?
Then Jesus told Thomas, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:29-31)
John wrote his gospel so that we can believe that Jesus is alive because of what we read. His book is designed to give us certainty about Jesus, so that we can believe and be blessed because of that.
“They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus” (Luke 24:22-24)
That first Easter day, two disciples trudge to Emmaus. They have heard that Jesus is missing from his tomb, and that angels have said that he is not dead, but alive. But they don’t believe, and so they trudge slowly to Emmaus. What they haven’t yet spotted is that the one they are talking to is Jesus. Jesus is alive.