The Funky Corinthians

These scripture help remind me that Jesus says that He is God because He keeps on saying He is God.  He says that He is the Messiah, the Son of Man, and the Son of God.  These are all well known religious terms in the Jewish religion for the one and only God.  Jesus is saying that He is truly the one and only God who became a human, Immanuel, God with us.  The only question to ask is whether I believe Him or is He lying?

Luke 22:63-70 (CEV)

⁶³The men who were guarding Jesus made fun of him and beat him. ⁶⁴They put a blindfold on him and said, “Tell us who struck you!” ⁶⁵They kept on insulting Jesus in many other ways.

 ⁶⁶At daybreak the nation’s leaders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law of Moses got together and brought Jesus before their council. ⁶⁷They said, “Tell us! Are you the Messiah?”

   Jesus replied, “If I said so, you wouldn’t believe me. ⁶⁸And if I asked you a question, you wouldn’t answer. ⁶⁹But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right side of God All-Powerful.”

    ⁷⁰Then they asked, “Are you the Son of God?” ^[j] Jesus answered, “You say I am!” ^[k]71They replied, “Why do we need more witnesses? He said it himself!”

63.  지키는 사람들이 예수를 희롱하고 때리며

64.  그의 눈을 가리고 물어 이르되 선지자 노릇 하라 너를 친 자가 누구냐 하고

65.  이 외에도 많은 말로 욕하더라

1. 날이 새매 백성의 장로들 곧 대제사장들과 서기관들이 모여서 예수를 그 공회로 끌어들여
2. 이르되 네가 그리스도이거든 우리에게 말하라 대답하시되 내가 말할지라도 너희가 믿지 아니할 것이요
3. 내가 물어도 너희가 대답하지 아니할 것이니라
4. 그러나 이제부터는 인자가 하나님의 권능의 우편에 앉아 있으리라 하시니
5. 다 이르되 그러면 네가 하나님의 아들이냐 대답하시되 너희들이 내가 그라고 말하고 있느니라

Luke 22:63-70 (The Message)

^63-65The men in charge of Jesus began poking fun at him, slapping him around. They put a blindfold on him and taunted, “Who hit you that time?” They were having a grand time with him.

 ^66-67When it was morning, the religious leaders of the people and the high priests and scholars all got together and brought him before their High Council. They said, “Are you the Messiah?”

 ^67-69He answered, “If I said yes, you wouldn’t believe me. If I asked what you meant by your question, you wouldn’t answer me. So here’s what I have to say: From here on the Son of Man takes his place at God’s right hand, the place of power.”

 ⁷⁰They all said, “So you admit your claim to be the Son of God?”

   ”You’re the ones who keep saying it,” he said.

This helped as I think of the Jesus having his back ripped to shreds as He is attacked by His enemies.   Except those people (all people including me) attacking Him included the people He came to love and serve.  He loved those people so much that He made the enemies of those people His enemies.  The enemies of people are death, sin in the world, the sinful hearts of people, all evil, and the demonic forces.  These enemies deceive people into believing that God is their enemy.  These people don’t deserve anything good.  But God in His unfathomable love and grace gives these people everything good through belief in His person of Jesus Christ.  Through faith in Jesus Christ, our sinful hearts are cleansed by His blood, He destroys death, unites us in Him, and defeats the demonic forces and all other kinds of evil.

 Psalm 129 (CEV)

¹Since the time I was young,

   enemies have often attacked!

   Let everyone in Israel say:

    ²“Since the time I was young,

   enemies have often attacked!

   But they have not defeated me,

    ³though my back is like a field

   that has just been plowed.”

    ⁴The LORD always does right,

   and he has set me free

   from the ropes

   of those cruel people.

    ⁵I pray that all who hate

   the city of Zion

   will be made ashamed

   and forced to turn and run.

    ⁶May they be like grass

   on the flat roof of a house,

   grass that dries up

   as soon as it sprouts.

    ⁷Don’t let them be like wheat

   gathered in bundles.

    ⁸And don’t let anyone

   who passes by say to them,

   ”The LORD bless you!

   I give you my blessing

   in the name of the LORD.”

Psalm 129  http://www.holybible.or.kr/B_NIV/

1. 이스라엘은 이제 말하기를 그들이 내가 어릴 때부터 여러 번 나를 괴롭혔도다
2. 그들이 내가 어릴 때부터 여러 번 나를 괴롭혔으나 나를 이기지 못하였도다
3. 밭 가는 자들이 내 등을 갈아 그 고랑을 길게 지었도다
4. 여호와께서는 의로우사 악인들의 줄을 끊으셨도다
5. 무릇 시온을 미워하는 자들은 수치를 당하여 물러갈지어다
6. 그들은 지붕의 풀과 같을지어다 그것은 자라기 전에 마르는 것이라
7. 이런 것은 베는 자의 손과 묶는 자의 품에 차지 아니하나니
8. 지나가는 자들도 여호와의 복이 너희에게 있을지어다 하거나 우리가 여호와의 이름으로 너희에게 축복한다 하지 아니하느니라

 Psalm 129 (The Message)

^1-4 “They’ve kicked me around ever since I was young” —this is how Israel tells it—
   ”They’ve kicked me around ever since I was young,
      but they never could keep me down.
   Their plowmen plowed long furrows
      up and down my back;
   Then God ripped the harnesses
      of the evil plowmen to shreds.”

 ^5-8 Oh, let all those who hate Zion
      grovel in humiliation;
   Let them be like grass in shallow ground
      that withers before the harvest,
   Before the farmhands can gather it in,
      the harvesters get in the crop,
   Before the neighbors have a chance to call out,
      ”Congratulations on your wonderful crop!
      We bless you in God’s name!”

These days, God has given me more faith in His love for me as demonstrated in the good news about Jesus.  I have been blessed by this increasing awareness of His love coupled with increasing awareness of the realities that: He is perfectly good, I’m ridiculously sinful in my heart and mind, and Jesus has gifted an undeserving me the right to be in His perfect goodness so I can happily enjoy His presence. 

As a result, I have come to enjoy asking God to show me my particular sins in my heart and my mind, as well as my overall sinfulness.  I increasingly enjoy attentively listening to His guidance and reminders.  I’m grateful for the comfort I find in Christ since He has removed my spiritual and moral vulnerability in the presence of God with His own blood.  Taking time a few times a day to confess my sins to God in prayer, including the ones that I’m not normally aware of has surprisingly brightened up my life as I follow Him.  I increasingly celebrate Christ more in my daily life.  These scriptures that I read this morning have reminded me of these recent blessings from God.

Proverbs 28:9,13 (CEV)

⁹God cannot stand the prayers

   of anyone who disobeys

   his Law.

¹³If you don’t confess your sins,

   you will be a failure.

   But God will be merciful

   if you confess your sins

   and give them up.

1 John 1:8-10 (CEV)

⁸If we say that we have not sinned, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth isn’t in our hearts. ⁹But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.

    ¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and his message isn’t in our hearts.

Proverbs 28: 9, 13 

사람이 귀를 돌려 율법을 듣지 아니하면 그의 기도도 가증하니라

자기의 죄를 숨기는 자는 형통하지 못하나 죄를 자복하고 버리는 자는 불쌍히 여김을 받으리라

1 John 1:8-10

만일 우리가 죄가 없다고 말하면 스스로 속이고 또 진리가 우리 속에 있지 아니할 것이요

만일 우리가 우리 죄를 자백하면 그는 미쁘시고 의로우사 우리 죄를 사하시며 우리를 모든 불의에서 깨끗하게 하실 것이요

만일 우리가 범죄하지 아니하였다 하면 하나님을 거짓말하는 이로 만드는 것이니 또한 그의 말씀이 우리 속에 있지 아니하니라

Proverbs 28:9,13 (the Message)

⁹ God has no use for the prayers
   of the people who won’t listen to him.

¹³ You can’t whitewash your sins and get by with it;
   you find mercy by admitting and leaving them.

1 John 1:8-10 (the Message)

^8-10If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.