JESUS - "Saviour" Matthew 1:21

Matthew 1:21 “….you shall call his name Jesus, For he will save His people from their sins”

INTRODUCTION: Matthew intends the opening of his gospel to be dramatic and for those who hear - to see the links – connect the dots, understand the significance.

1. The Genealogy of JESUS THE SAVIOUR is connected with “Sovereignty and Mercy”.

• The (biblos geneseos) Genesis – Origins. – The New Genesis.
• For Jews the importance of Identity and where people came from.
• We find three themes in this genealogy

• The God who is sovereign in all things– Behind each name in the list we find human stories riddled with sordid, scandalous, glorious and honourable details. The human story is messy, unfaithful, complicated and inconsistent. Matthew reminds us that despite this human story God is weaving another story of harmony and redemption and that this should give us hope behind all our Human stories. Jesus comes as part of the story of a sovereign God and messy humanity and is fulfiller and saviour. So this is the story of Jesus who is connected and placed within the plan of God’s sovereignty over all. The plan of God’s sovereignty behind the lives of ordinary people.

• The God who is merciful to all people. – Injured and hobbling humanity, from soaring faith to sullied unbelief the people who have lost their way as well as the mercy hungry warfarer. The Jews and the non –Jews an odd bunch on human beings and doings. Jesus comes as a pro-sinner, he is for us in our sin. He is for the irregular and inconsistent, the damaged and broken. So this is the story of Jesus who is connected and placed within the plan of God’s mercy for all. The plan of God’s mercy to ordinary people.

• The Fulfiller of Sovereignty and Mercy: Jesus is seen as the fulfiller of God’s sovereignty and mercy to whole of creation. – Jesus is placed in the genealogy as the fulfiller of the covenants both of Abraham and David. The blessing of God to all (Abraham) and the establishing of an unshakable everlasting kingdom (David) Fulfiller of the promises of god to ordinary people on the whole earth. Reminds us of the other bookend of Matthew in which Jesus sends his disciples to the whole world with the good news.

2. The name of JESUS THE SAVIOUR - is connected with “Inheritance and Restoration”.
The name “Jesus” is also translated “Joshua” or “Jeshua”

• Here Jesus is connected with Salvation – The freeing of captives and the restorer of freedom.

• Joshua - Joshua was chosen to lead the people of God into the reality of their inheritance. Joshua takes over from Moses in fulfilling God’s promise of “leaving captivity and moving into freedom” 

• Jeshua – Jeshua was chosen to lead the people of God into the reality of restoration as a nation when they returned from captivity. Jeshua was chosen to be the first high priest and to fulfill God’s promise of that restoration “leaving captivity and moving into freedom” Jeshua and the priests build and establish a new altar of God they restore the offerings, and began work on restoring the Temple inorder to re-establish the presence of God in the nation. – Jeshua is mentioned in Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah.

Just as an aside – In Matthews Gospel connection play a bigger role that what we have looked at today. Jesus is more than the new Joshua or Jeshua. He is the new Moses, the new Elijah, the new Israel, the new Law, the New Priest, the new sacrifice and so on…….

CONCLUSION:  What a picture, what a story, what a beginning, what a Saviour, who really saves.

41. Rock Goes The Gospel - Bon Jovi "Dry County"

"Dry County" is a song by Bon Jovi from their 1992 album Keep the Faith. It was written by Jon Bon Jovi. "Dry County" stands as the band's longest song released so far, with a length of 9 minutes 52 seconds. A shorter 6-minute version reached #9 in the UK Charts and #1 in Latin America.

A "Dry County" is a county that prohibits alcohol, but in the context of this song, it's a county that was rich with oil, but the wells have dried up. Like many of fellow New Jersey music icon Bruce Springsteen's songs, this tells the story of someone trapped in a run-down town, yearning for a better life.

A dry county is a county in the United States whose government forbids the sale of alcoholic beverages. Some prohibit off-premises sale, some prohibit on-premises sale, and some prohibit both. Hundreds of dry counties exist across the United States, a majority of them in the South. A number of smaller jurisdictions also exist, such as cities, town.

Across the border they turn
Water into wine
Some say it's the devil's blood
They're squeezing from the vine
Some say it's a saviour
In these hard and desperate times
For me it helps me to forget
That we're just born to die

I came here like so many did
To find the better life
To find my piece of easy street
To finally be alive
And I know nothing good comes easy
And all good things take some time
I made my bed I'll lie in it
To die in it's the crime

You can't help but prosper
Where the streets are paved with gold
They say the oil wells ran deeper here
than anybody's known
I packed up on my wife and kid
And left them back at home

Now there's nothing in this paydirt
The ghosts are all I know
Now the oil's gone
The money's gone
And the jobs are gone
Still we're hangin' on

Down in dry county
They're swimming in the sand
Praying for some holy water
To wash the sins from off our hand
Here in dry county
The promise has run dry
Where nobody cries
And no one's getting out of here alive

In the blessed name of Jesus
I heard a preacher say
That we are God's children
And He'd be back someday
And I hoped that he knew
Something as he drank his cup of wine
I didn't have too good of a feeling
As I head out to the night

I cursed the sky to open
I begged the clouds for rain
I prayed to God for water
For this burning in my veins
It was like my soul's on fire
And I had to watch the flames
All my dreams went up in ashes
And my future blew away

Now the oil's gone
And the money's gone
And the jobs are gone
Still we're hangin' on

Down in dry county
They're swimming in the sand
Praying for some holy water
To wash the sins from off our hand
Here in dry county
The promise has run dry
Where nobody cries
And no one's getting out of here alive

Men spend their whole lives
Waiting praying for their big reward
But it seems sometimes
The payoff leaves you feeling
Like a dirty whore
If I could choose the way I'll die
Make it by the gun or knife
'Cause the other way there's too much pain
Night after night after night

Down in dry county
They're swimming in the sand
Praying for some holy water
To wash the sins from off our hand
Here in dry county
The promise has run dry
Where nobody cries

And no one's getting out of here alive

Of course the song takes us slap bang into John chapter 2 and the wedding at Cana in Galilee. That Jesus and his mother and his disciples are invited to. An everyday wedding but such a gran affair with such a grand atmosphere.  For a while at least they run out of wine and Jesus comes up with a solution. 

John 2:1 - 12 "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.” 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. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days."

Why does Jesus do this miracle at a wedding? To what purpose does he perform the unheard of?

At the wedding feast in Cana we catch a glimpse of Jesus’ kindness, the warmth of his personality, and his enjoyment of a good party. “I cannot imagine Jesus sitting alone with a serious face,” wrote Jean Vanier, founder of L’Arche, in Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus through the Gospel of John. “Instead, I see him a part of the celebration, singing with everybody else, rejoicing in the festivity, profoundly happy to celebrate with people he knows and loves. . . . Jesus is so beautifully human!” Yet at this feast much more than Jesus’ humanity and empathy was made evident – the divine glory of Jesus was manifested at Cana. Cana isn’t far from Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, so it’s likely that the wedding Jesus and Mary attended was that of a close relative or neighbour. To run out of wine would have been quite an embarrassment for the newlyweds, since Middle Eastern hospitality demands that hosts care for their guests graciously. So, at his mother’s discreet request – the only record in Scripture of Mary’s asking her son to fill a need – Jesus remedied the awkward situation.

An abundance of wine is one of the dominant images that characterized the visions of the messianic era foretold by the ancient prophets of Israel (Isaiah 25:6; Joel 3:18; Amos 9:13-14;). And the wedding feast mirrors the Old Testament image of marriage as an expression of God’s relationship to Israel (Isaiah 54:5-6; 62:4-5; Hosea 2:19-20). In the New Testament, this messianic age is likened to a wedding banquet (Matthew 22:1-14; Revelation 19:9). When Jesus changed the water held in jars used for Jewish ritual purification (John 2:6) into wine, he was hinting that the messianic age had now arrived. With this “new wine” (Luke 5:33-39), a new era had begun – an era in which Jesus himself is the bridegroom (John 3:29). For, by providing wine in plenty at a marriage feast – a responsibility of the bridegroom – he pointed to his identity as divine bridegroom and Messiah and to the new covenant he was to accomplish by his life and death.

The extravagance of God, the Grace of God is so evident in this scene that Ive done the maths. Jesus made over 4,000 glasses of wine at the wedding and it was not cheap plonk. God 's Blessings are not cheap that are extravagant and  like the wedding wine, God's heart is to bring blessing to your heart no matter what you've run out of.

40. Rock Goes the Gospel - The Blackout City Kids "Wrong Turn"

The Blackout City Kids or "TBOCK" are 20th Century Fox Recording artists that combine the art of DJ Mashups with live instruments and video to create a truly unique musical experience. Often compared to artists like Girltalk and Keys N Krates, The Blackout City Kids take the art of creating Mashups to a new and exciting level by creating original Mashups and incorporating live instruments, vocals, and DJ production and having it all synced to a live video show. In addition to creating Mashups, The Blackout City Kids also write, record and produce original songs for 20th Century Fox and other film companies. "Wrong Turn" is the name given to a franchise of six American horror films created by Alan B. McElroy. All six films are set in West Virginia and as in all horror films the plots are scary and full of suspense. This song is the title track to the film.

This is not the usual rock track that I would have chosen to blog about in the this series of devotions. Never the less this track by The Blackout City Kids grabbed my attention. "Wrong Turn" It is full of a kind of melancholic remorse. Of course it's been written for a horror film but there is hidden depths . It's the heartfelt feeling of someone who knows that his choices in life have led that person to make real mistakes. Mistakes that have caused life altering changes on the face of it seems they cannot get out of. 

Take a bruised chin take a skinned knee
take a million hits before I ever concede
scream is that all you got as I bleed

I always come back, I’ll never disappear
even if I take my final breaths here
I need you know
dont fade away on me
cause I made a mistake,

I think I took a wrong turn
somewhere along the way,
I sealed my fate
and all I know is your gone,
yeah your gone away
I’ll never touch your face
I’ll never see you again

And I watch each day through the falling snow,
the dead men walking through their high’s and low’s

and I stare at the cold and I feel their pain,
i watch as their life slowly fades away.
I see their eyes, they’re pearcing mine,
there’s nothing I can say

Cause I made a mistake,
I think I took a wrong turn
somewhere along the way,
I sealed my fate and all I know is your gone,
yah your gone away ill never touch your face
I’ll never see you again

Cause I made a mistake,
I think I took a wrong turn
somewhere along the way,
I sealed my fate and all I know is your gone,
yah your gone away ill never touch your face
I’ll never see you again

"Cause I made a mistake, I think I took a wrong turn" How many times have we done that. A few years ago while doing to visit someone in a remote part of Yorkshire, I took a turn that according to the map was the only turn I could take to get to the village that I was going and I ended up on a road where grass was growing up the middle of the road.  There was no place to turn the car around as the road started to become a track. If I had met someone coming in the other direction it would have been impossible. This turn that I took was unplanned for and unnecessary. I could have slowed down had a real good look before I committed myself and the car to going in this direction. After a while and some re navigation I got back on the right road and reached my destination, I was very late but very glad to be there as it was winter and the night was closing in quite fast. It would have been a different story again if I had got on the wrong road in the dark.

Taking a wrong turn on a road is nothing compared to taking a wrong turn in life. Making a choice and heading off in the wrong direction can be for some people a decision of no return. From making that wrong choice life and circumstances can rock us. Hurts and brokenness can come from wrong turns that stick with us for the rest of our days.  Sometimes taking that wrong turn can seem like the only turn we can make but before long we regret making the choice to head in the direction that we are going in.  Some wrong turns can have us feeling remorseful wishing that we had never been so hard headed in the first place. Many a person with drugs or alcohol problems are remorseful for taking the wrong turn into their condition. Many a person in a marriage break up are remorseful over the "wrong turn" choices that they have made in their marriage and now they simply cannot turn around, they feel trapped. Many a person in business regrets over financing themselves making a "wrong turn" that now is costing them their reputation and their time, energy and of course their finance.

There are many characters in the bible who took a wrong turn. Eve takes a wrong turn when she listens to a snake in the garden. Jonah takes a wrong turn and ends up in some serious trouble. When God calls him to preach revival in Nineveh, he runs in the opposite direction. Joseph makes a wrong turn when he boasts before his brothers. Israel continue to take wrong turns according to the old testament and God sends them prophets to waken them up to the fact. I could take a number of people and talk about their lives and "Wrong Turns" for me though David stands out as one who took a wrong turn and had to live with the consequences of that wrong turn for the rest of his life.

King David takes a wrong turn when he sleeps with Bathsheba and then plots to kill her husband.

2 Samuel 11:1-17. "In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house. David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?” Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!” Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home. In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.” So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died"

David tried to get out of the "Wrong Turn" by making a succession of "Wrong Turns" He tried to cover his tracks. He tried to wriggle out of the responsibility for sleeping with another man's wife and then plotting his killing. Heady stuff indeed. The story continues. After Bathsheba's husband Uriah is done away with David takes Bathsheba in his home and she becomes David's wife. she bears him a son called Solomon. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.  David is called to account by Nathan the prophet for this sordid part of David's life. We see David's real feelings about what he had done in Psalm 51, which is a psalm of lament and remorse.

Psalm 51 "Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin. 

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge. 

Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place. 

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity. 

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me. 

Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you. 

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Saviour,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.
May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem. 

Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

David's "Wrong Turn" was catastrophic and there seemed no way back from it. But just read the 1st chapter of Matthew's Gospel where Jesus is mentioned to be a son of David. Even though there was a wrong turn taken by David - God is bigger and he has bigger plans. Even though we may make a mistake and take a "wrong turn" - God is bigger and his plans are bigger. when we continue to make a series of wrong turns to deal with the first wrong turn - God is bigger and his plans are bigger. When we come to him humbly and contrite like David, Jesus can begin the work of restoration and re-building. all things are possible with God. If you've taken the wrong turn there is still hope and Jesus is only a prayer away.

In Isaiah 30:21 we find these thoughts about direction and navigating through life "Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left." also in John's gospel 16:13 …when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth… At all of life’s intersections, we have God’s Word and God’s spirit to help us make the right turns and not the wrong ones - Look at the map carefully, don't make rash decisions and my prayer would be that Jesus will keep you on the right track........after all It's Jesus who says "I am the Way"

"Maybe it’s us lot that took the wrong turn."

William Stopha is a poet, beat-smith and multimedia performer. 

Will has been writing and performing for the last eight years to packed venues all over London and the UK. these venues including The Poet’s Lounge, The Etcetera Theatre, Farrago Poetry, Writer’s block, The Roundhouse, The Poetry Cafe, The Albany Theatre and The Soho Theatre. 

Will has written and performed in two shows that he has taken to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. He is talented and his unique form has caught the eyes of many. Will has  also been producing shows for the Camden Fringe, Synergy at London Bridge and The Big Dress festival, as well as performing with Apples and Snakes which is the leading organisation for performance poetry in England, with a national reputation for producing exciting and innovative participation and performance work in spoken word. Will has also performed in the London Poetry System and winning a Farrago Poetry Slam. The Farrago Poetry series has an established tradition of presenting well-known poets side-by-side with new, emerging writers, on a lively stage that is home to all. Will is also involved in trying to get something off the ground called The Really HUGE Poetry Project which is an attempt at a huge collaborative poem that you and anyone else can contribute to.

The whale that lost it's way is a prophetic word, a reminder, a prompt, an attention grabber. The poem invites a deeper reflection of the world around us. Art and poetry have been vehicles that have carried important messages of God's intervention in the world. From the stained glass windows of the medieval period depicting stories of the bible in stained glass to the poetry of the travelling minstrel  that was pointed. The old testament is full of stories that were first remembered by god's people and retold before they were written down. Jesus in the Gospels spoke in stories, stories that were so simple but yet so sublime and so profound. But stories that had a twist at the end. William Stopha is of that genre. We really need poets and story tellers. The Whale that lost It's way is a dramatic telling of the whale that became stranded on the Thames and later died.

The Whale that Lost its Way

The whale lost its way
Heading for the North Atlantic Sea,
They say he just forgot to check the map,
Took the wrong exit and he couldn’t get back!
He Found himself stuck on a one way route,
The British Isles like a great roundabout and he was stuck on the loop,
The ring road, extra large vehicle
with a heavy goods load.

Poor fella,
Got redirected to the city centre,
On an accidental sight seeing adventure.

But who sent ya? Eh?
With Jonah in your belly and something to say
Like – ‘Listen London, there’s another way!’

I didn’t want you to die.
I prayed that the tide might come high,
The Thames rise,
Spill over its sides;
A clean up, city wide.
And we’d realise as ships capsize
And oil spills!
Quick, head for the hills!
Take the high ground.

Is that what you came to say?
Because we’re the Nineveh of today.
And I’m sorry you died that way,
Dried out on the boat’s deck
Buckets of water poured over
You lying there saying – ‘wait, I came to show ya.’

And now there’s another, even larger
Sicked up on the mud in Yorkshire
So we’re doing research to find out what brought ya,
You and your friend, to be beached on our border.
And when we looked, what we saw,
Were twenty and more
All in our channel around our shore.
They’re all off course, lost in our seas
Surely they can’t all have taken the wrong turn?
Please!
Someone go up there with a no entry sign
Maybe they’ll learn.
If you come this way, then you won’t return!

But then maybe that was the point?
Maybe that’s what you came to say,
‘Guys, I didn’t go the wrong way.
I didn’t fumble and stumble into waters that are toxic,
I did it on purpose to show you that you’ve lost it.
I did it to quicken and awaken concern,

Maybe it’s us lot that took the wrong turn.’

"Illuminate" - Monthly Guest Blog

39. Rock Goes The Gospel - Rainbow "I Surrender"

Joe Lynn Turner replaced Graham Bonnet on lead vocals for the "Difficult to Cure" album. Bonnet lasted just one album with the band: Down to Earth (1979). He recalls "I Surrender" being the only one they had during the painstaking rehearsals before he was replaced on Difficult to Cure. "That's the only song we had. So we're sitting around looking at each other and Ritchie [Blackmore] would come in for like half an hour and plonk on his bass pedals or whatever the hell, and then he would go. It was unproductive. The thrill had gone, so to speak. Bonnet had had enough. He went back to LA and the Band's management phoned him with some solutions to how he was feeling but he was finished with Rainbow. Bonnet left in frustration.

I surrender is a song that is about a breakup in a relationship. Reading between the lines something has happened for the girl in the relationship to go. Whether it something the guy has done, it's unclear. One thing is for sure there is remorse or repentance as he tries to reach out to her in this song. He places all that he is in her care. He invites her to be tender or merciful in return. It's song that is far reaching and carries with it the air of submission. 

I surrender to your heart babe
Do anything that you want me to do
Please be tender I'm in your hands girl
This is a feeling I never knew
You know I tried to make it on my own
That's not the way it was meant to be
Spend my time waiting by the phone
Oh darling come back to me

I surrender, I surrender
I'm giving up the role of pretender
Oh be tender, Girl be tender
Can't you feel the love that I send her
I surrender

I remember, seems like a lifetime
Can't believe it's a matter of days
Since you left me I'm near to heartbreak
I want you so bad don't turn away
What does it take to stay by my side
You know I'll do what you want me to
Don't take away this feeling inside
I'm still in love with you

I surrender, I surrender
I'm giving up the role of pretender
I remember, I remember
Can't you feel the love that I send her
I surrender

I surrender, I surrender
Darling now won't you be tender
Surrender, oh surrender
Feel the love that I send her
I surrender

Surrender is the starting point in any relationship. When you surrender you ambitions, your abilities, gifts, skills, talents. When you surrender you money, your wealth or lack of it, you future and your destiny. The theme of surrender was used in the old marriage vows "I cleave to you and no other" It's about laying down your life in submission. The other point to make about surrender is that you give up any prospect of your own individual rights, those are laid down as well. In a relationship surrender is the honesty that cements the thing together.

The same is true in a relationship with Jesus. Surrender is the starting point that you build out from. When there is no surrender then there will be ulterior motives at play that will cause friction in your own heart and walk with God. Being vulnerable to surrender is the beginning. Jesus teaches a parable about what this looks like in Luke's Gospel.

Luke 18:9-14 - “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The parable finishes with Jesus suggesting that the tax collector and not the pharisee went home justified. Why? Because the tax collector Surrendered himself to God. the tax collector knew his condition, knew his own heart and ways. He had held the mirror up to his own life and found it broken. The tax collector did not even have the garuntee of God's mercy as asked for it but may not have been sure of receiving it.  The point of the parable is that the pharisee lain nothing down, he did not surrender to God. He applauded himself for his actions, he gave himself a pat on the back for his religious observances. He invited God to do the same. He almost comes near to saying that he was doing God a favour and expected something in return. The tax collector on the other hand has nothing to ask God to applaud him for. He had no religious observances that we know about. He did not even know If he would receive mercy as he knew he was not deserving of anything. The were both there in the temple to pray.

When you come before Jesus with nothing except your broken heart and life - that is enough. Surrender is saying to Jesus - I come in rags, I give you my ambitions, my gifts, skills, talents, abilities, my experience, my past, my present, my future, my life and my all. When we say "Lord even what happens beyond now I leave in your hands. When God captures us and apprehends so to speak, when he takes us captive, so to speak we cannot agree the terms. We give up all rights to the consequences of our lives. Total Surrender. 

This is where God had brought me to recently. Will I give up my rights, my arrogance to do things my way. My audacity to tell Jesus that I know better. My clinging on to my tatted rags rather than to receive a royal robe that he gives to sons. My stupidity to tell God that the problems that I have are more powerful them his ability to give me freedom. When you say it like that it just does not make sense - When you say it like that .....Its a no brainer. 

In Luke 15 the story of the man with two sons places the younger son far away from home having squandered his inheritance. The passage says "When he came to his senses" He was filled with remorse over the things he had done and he knew he had to go to his father and plead for mercy. He knew that he might not get given forgiveness. So he returned home and pleaded mercy from a surrendered heart. He gave up his rights, humbled himself and awaited the outcome. Grace came and he began a new life that day far better then the old one.

Luke 15:17- 25 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!  I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.  I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’  So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

May we learn the ways of the tax collector and the prodigal son. Surrender is the only way to live the christian life in fullness. John the baptist said "Less of me and more of him" (Paraphrased) This is the way to real fulfilment when surrender, when we give up, when we humble ourselves under God's almighty hand. When we leave the outcomes to him.  "I surrender, I surrender" is the beginning of an amazing life in Jesus. Where are you today? Whats going on in your heart? Lay it all at his feet and lean heavily on his mercy, power and ability because in your broken you really have nothing to lose.

38. Rock Goes The Gospel - Queen " Who Wants To Live Forever"

"Who Wants to Live Forever" is the sixth track on Queens album A Kind of Magic, released in June 1986, and was written by lead guitarist Brian May for the soundtrack to the film Highlander. The song peaked at No. 24 in the UK charts. The song is used to frame the scenes in the film where Connor MacLeod must endure his beloved wife Heather MacLeod growing old and dying while he, as an Immortal, remains forever young. (It was later used in the episodes "The Gathering", "Revenge is Sweet", "The Hunters", "Line of Fire", and "Leader of the Pack" of the Highlander television series). The song's title is taken from a line in another movie scored by Brian May and Queen, Flash Gordon (the line can be heard on "Battle Theme" from the Flash Gordon soundtrack album) and is based on May's personal troubles (the death of May's father and failing first marriage).

There's no time for us
There's no place for us
What is this thing that builds our dreams
Yet slips away from us

Who wants to live forever?
Who wants to live forever?
Ooooooo

There's no chance for us
It's all decided for us
This world has only one sweet moment
Set aside for us

Who wants to live forever?
Who wants to live forever?
Ooooooo

Who dares to love forever? (Oh, whoa!)
When love must die

But touch my tears with your lips
Touch my world with your fingertips
And we can have forever
And we can love forever
Forever is our today

Who wants to live forever?
Who wants to live forever?
Forever is our today

Who waits forever anyway?

This song was allegadly written by Brian May in the back of a taxi. What ever the reason for the inspiration (the list is endless on that one) May could not have done better. This is a haunting song with words that seem to fit the film highlander but also fit with the theme of not being immortal and the quest for eternal life. A song that unsettles you and is full of melancholy. It's a real queen anthem. The mid 1980's were a time for queen anthems.

The Quest for eternal life is a quest that has lasted the years. From the Indiana Jones films which were about the Holy Grail (Incidentally this is a true passion of some) hunting for the elixir of eternal life/youth. Eternal life is a theme that is in many songs that have been written over the decades.

Eternal life is a theme that Jesus touches on and in this rock devotional what will be said will be the tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg. In John chapter the three a Jewish Teacher called Nicodemus  comes to Jesus by night in the the course of their conversations Jesus speaks to Nicodemus about his destiny. 

Everlasting life Jesus says is found when you have faith in me. If you have faith in me you will not perish. This seems to good to be true and too easy. Just believe in Jesus. That's it! Nothing else. Well, it the kind of belief or faith that matters. the word in the passage that is translated from the greek into the english - "Believes" This word means - "put you full weight behind it" or "Do not be distracted by anything else" or it could be paraphrased "Don't live you life for any other reason other than a relationship with Jesus"

On another occasion Jesus is stopped by a rich young ruler who was a religious man. who paid his taxes and did good. Who was upright and moral. He had followed the commandments from being a child. But he lacked one thing Jesus told him. The thing that he lacked was that he put his full weight behind his moral standing, his religious identity, his position in the community as a man of means. In other words all his thoughts were not on eternity but on temporal things, things that simply will not last. Jesus calls the young man to put all his weight behind him and become a disciple. "Then Come and Follow me"

Jesus talked about the danger of putting your full weight behind things that simply will not last. Jesus is more interested in where we will all spend eternity. Having all the riches, having all the status, having a pot of money for the future. This may be a stumbling block. It is possible to have riches and not put your weight behind them. It is difficult but not impossible. 

Mark 8: 35-37

…35"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. 36"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37"For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?…

"We all want to live forever" these are true sentiments. In these lyrics of Brian May and sung by Freddie Mercury the truth is nailed. "Eternity" Jesus says comes when you put your full weight behind him. when you are not distracted by the things of this life. Eternity is a gift to give and not something that you earn. Eternity is not a commodity to be bought......you get in when you put your full weight behind the one who will fill eternity.

37. Rock Goes The Gospel - Whitesnake "Is This Love"

"Is This Love" became one of the most popular hits for Whitesnake. When it was released in 1987 it reached number 9 in the UK charts and number 2 in the US single charts. The song was written by David Coverdale and guitarist John Sykes during the time they were putting together the album of the same name. David and John did this in south of France. The song had originally been written for singer Tina Turner. Coverdale confirmed these rumours in the booklet of Whitesnake '​s 20th anniversary edition, by saying:"Before I'd left [for the south of France] a friend at EMI had asked me for any ideas that would work for Tina Turner. So that was where the original idea for 'Is This Love' came from." "Is This Love" Is a pure power ballad and has lasted the test of time.

I should have known better
Than to let you go alone,
It's times like these
I can't make it on my own
Wasted days, and sleepless nights
And I can't wait to see you again

I find I spend my time
Waiting on your call,
How can I tell you, baby
My back's against the wall
I need you by my side
To tell me it's alright,
'Cos I don't think I can take anymore

Is this love that I'm feeling,
Is this the love, that I've been searching for
Is this love or am I dreaming,
This must be love,
'Cos it's really got a hold on me,
A hold on me...

I can't stop the feeling
I've been this way before
But, with you I've found the key
To open any door
I can feel my love for you
Growing stronger day by day,
An' I can't wait to see you again
So I can hold you in my arms

Is this love that I'm feeling,
Is this the love, that I've been searching for
Is this love or am I dreaming,
This must be love,
'Cos it's really got a hold on me,
A hold on me...

Is this love that I'm feeling,
Is this the love, that I've been searching for...
Is this love or am I dreaming,
Is this the love, that I've been searching for...

The song "Is This Love"? Is really about just that......... "LOVE". It's about a question? Behind the question is a hidden question, a deeper question. How do I identify love in the first place? Of course everyone needs love, deserves love, longs for love, and in a way cannot function properly as a human being unless they know love in some way. Whether in a marriage, or love that exists in a brotherhood, love that exists in friendship. Love helps us all function as human beings. The song is asking really "What does love look like?"

There are as many books written on the subject of  "Love" as the planets in the sky. Therapists offer love courses to identity the blockages to love.  Even the church has cashed in on the scene. From the "Marriage Course" to the University of Notre Dame in the US offering a degree course in "Love" Theology. 

Just think of the many songs that have been written about love in our lifetime and that appear on social media?  We’re talking about all of iTunes, Amazon MP3, Google, YouTube, Topspin, last.fm, Rhapsody, and now Facebook all have "Love" songs. It is reckoned that there are about 97 million songs that contain thoughts about love. I don'r know how the stats are researched but it gives us an idea that love is something that is prized and wanted by just about everyone on the planet.

The Bible is a book that speaks of love from the from the snake attacking Adam's love in the garden, to king David giving into his base desires in 1 Samuel 11 and his prayer of wrong doing in Psalm 51. Love is seen in the prophets, in their fiery condemnation of the people of God for backsliding and turning away from God laws and God's love for them. Love is seen in the book of proverbs the love of passing things down from father to son and the love demonstrated in Proverbs 31 with "The Good Wife" Love is seen in the book of song of Solomon, it's the most erotic book in the bible. Love appears in the New Testament with Jesus' birth and thought his life he offers people love. He dies a death of love, because God loves us (John 3:16) Love offers a way to be free. Perhaps the most famous chapter in the New Testament is 1 Corinthians 13 - Which is the answer to the search for "What does love look like?" and how do I recognise it when I see it.  "Is this Love" - Paul's answer would be "Yes".

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 "1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge,and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

"Is This Love"? - What does love look like. 1 Corinthians is a description of what Love looks like. Real love, dependable love - Love you can rely on. Love that remains. This is the kind of love you find in Jesus. It's the kind of love that you should find in the church. I'll leave you to figure out if you can see it in God's people or not. 

This is the kind of love that I'm longing for in all my relationships. the kind of love that is strong and true. I know that this love will make me a better man, a better lover, a better husband, a better father, a better friend and a better disciple of Jesus. Have you found love? Are you like the song "Is This Love" trying to recognise love and are not sure? Where ever you are in life's journey one thing is for sure...... You need love. This passage in 1 Corinthians helps us recognise it when it comes. Because infatuation and lust won't stand the test of time, infatuation and lust will never sustain us though our whole life..... only love will.

36. Rock Goes the Gospel - Bruce Springsteen "Born to Run"

By early 1974, Bruce Springsteen‘s career was stuck. Although his first two albums were critically acclaimed, he had trouble finding an audience outside the Northeast corridor where his live shows were knocking crowds dead every night. Knowing that Columbia Records would drop him if his next release stiffed, Springsteen knew he had, as he would say in ‘Thunder Road,’ one last chance to make it real. Enter ‘Born to Run.’

In "Born to Run" Bruce Springsteen is working with themes of loneliness and violence to the extreme. After "boys try to look so hard," he sings, "Like animals pacing in a dark black cage/ Senses on overload/ They're gonna end this night in a senseless fight/ And then watch the world explode." He fundamental trying to stay consistent with other songs that he is considering for the album. The "broken heroes" of this early version of "Born To Run" have "a loneliness in their eyes," and instead of loving "with all the madness in my soul," the narrator seeks to "drive through this madness/ Oh burstin' off the radio." 

Sometime between July and the end of the summer,1974 Springsteen transformed "Born To Run." He told one writer, "I'm still fiddling with the words for the new single, but I think it will be good." The notes of alienation, loneliness, and violence yielded to love, companionship, and redemption. "Born to Run" was released in 1975 and was a success. It became one of Springsteen's anthems and has been played at every Springsteen concert since then.

In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through the mansions of glory in suicide machines
Sprung from cages out on highway 9,
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected,and steppin' out over the line
h-Oh, Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run

yes, girl we were

Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend
I want to guard your dreams and visions
Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims
and strap your hands 'cross my engines
Together we could break this trap
We'll run till we drop, baby we'll never go back
h-Oh, Will you walk with me out on the wire
`Cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider
But I gotta know how it feels
I want to know if love is wild
Babe I want to know if love is real

Oh, can you show me

Beyond the Palace hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard
Girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors
And the boys try to look so hard
The amusement park rises bold and stark
Kids are huddled on the beach in a mist
I wanna die with you Wendy on the street tonight
In an everlasting kiss

1-2-3-4!

The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive
Everybody's out on the run tonight
but there's no place left to hide
Together Wendy we can live with the sadness
I'll love you with all the madness in my soul
h-Oh, Someday girl I don't know when
we're gonna get to that place
Where we really wanna go
and we'll walk in the sun
But till then tramps like us
baby we were born to run

Oh honey, tramps like us
baby we were born to run

Come on with me, tramps like us
baby we were born to run

Ru-uh-uh-un
Mm-mm-mm-mm
Uh-uh-uh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Ru-uh-uh-uh-un
Mm-mm-mm-mm
Whoa-oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Ru-uh-uh-un

There is something of destiny in this song. The two people that are in the lyrics are wanting to be together and to remain that way.  There is longing in the song for a better life. A dreaming and hoping quality to Springsteen's restless lyrics. "We've gotta get out while we are young" A song that grabbed a nation of teens and seemed to speak their language. 

When I listened to this track again the passage of scripture that came to mind was in Hebrews 12 and gives the encouragement to run the race.

Hebrews 12 1- 3 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

This passage is about giving things up in order to run. It's not just an aimless run it has a goal. The writer to the Hebrews says the goal is Jesus Christ. So often we read this passage and get fixated on the giving up sin angle. Sin is mentioned in the passage as something that entangles and holds people back, such is the nature of Sin. "Do I have to give it up"? May well be a question that is asked by countless people but it is the wrong question what needs to be asked is "Does it help me run?" Do the things that I'm being hindered by or that have entangled me "Do they help me run"? if they don't then It's a progression that is we give them up we can run better. Instead of the things that entangle and hinder we are encouraged by the writer to the Hebrews to "Fix" our eyes on Jesus. To not avert our gaze from. To constantly be in a place where we are looking in his direction. Looking at his strength and power, looking at his compassion and grace, looking at his truth and love. This gives inspiration to run.

Paul the great apostle uses the same illustration of a race in his letter to the church at Corinth. He encourages the church to run and to run with the purpose of winning the race.

1 Corinthians 9:24 "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Paul to is illustrating and encouraging followers of Jesus in his day to run the race to win. This was something that Paul himself believed that he was doing. Paul really believed that he was running to win and before the end of his own life he would state that fact. He does so in his letter to the church in Phillipi.

Philippians 3:13-14 "Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Paul forgets what is behind and is "straining" in his race. This requires energy and commitment it is not a race for the passive. Paul want to win. He wants to be first past the winning tape. Paul speaks of this again when he writes to a young paster called Timothy who is the pastor of the church in Ephesus.

2 Timothy 4:7-9 "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. "

Paul speaks in this encouragement to Timothy about how he has kept the Faith  and how he will win the prize because he has kept the faith. 

The Prophet Isaiah in the old testament speaks of "running". Running and not being weary because we wait on the Lord. Similar to what the writer of the letter to the Hebrews says. "fixing our eyes on Jesus"

Isaiah 40:31 "But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."

Are you in the race? Or are you just part of the crowds. Were you destined to Run - "Born to Run" or are you just content to be a spectator. Do you have what it takes to run the race of life and faith and win.