Second Sunday in Lent: Jesus is Abiding In Us

Bottom Line Spirituality: Worldly and Godly Thinking

Click here to go to the Bottom Line Meditations for The Second Sunday in Lent

Godly Abiding Spiritually in Jesus Changes the Meaning of What we See Worldly When Not Abiding in Jesus.

Spirituality is our innate ability to feel the difference worldly or godly thinking makes to the way scripture translates to our daily life and relationships.

Luke 13:31-35 “Go and tell that fox ...”

We need to be clear that Jesus loved being Jesus in this world. He loved all people unconditionally in the Love of the Father. Jesus enjoyed being with everyone He met. He had a Joy no one could take from Him. Some might argue that He did not have joy over His crucifixion, being tortured to death for three hours. However, St Paul hits it in Hebrews 12:2 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross.”  The Joy of His Resurrection and what it would bring into the world overcame that terrible dark Friday. His Joy was not because of what happened. His Joy was beyond what happened.

Some Pharisees came to Jesus. Why did the Pharisees, whom Jesus put down so much and who enraged them so much, come to Jesus to warn Him of King Herod Antipas?

Part of the explanation goes back to who Jesus’ earthly Father was. Joseph was well liked and respected. In those times there was no middle class. There were the wealthy and the poor. Joseph was a carpenter, who in those days, was in great demand. Most everything of value was made out of wood. Joseph was a just and honest man who fit in well with the in crowd of Pharisees. He had Jesus circumcised at birth and Bar Mitzvah’ed in the temple according to the Law. He was an older man who just disappeared by the time Jesus started his minister thirty years after His birth. Joseph may be gone, but his old friends were still there.

Jesus had taken the road less traveled. He was becoming   further out from the way of the orthodox. He gathered disciples and became a rabbi, moving from teaching in synagogues to healing on the Sabbath day. Joseph’s old friends would invite Him to dinner with other Pharisees to try to bring Him back into the pack. He was so charming and had so much going for Him. He had to be saved. This is why Jesus was at some Pharisees’ houses for dinner on several occasions. They were trying to convince him that His father would have been very disappointed in Him. If Jesus came from a poor family with no connections, He never would be at their homes for dinners, especially when there would be confrontations over the politics and religion of their time.

These were Pharisees who were friends of the Herodians. They knew what they were talking about. “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” Herod was ruler of Galilee. The description of him was as a cruel, heartless king. This was the Herod who had brutally murdered Jesus’ best friend and cousin, John the Baptist. There is no reason he may not do this again to Jesus and right soon.

His reply to Herod was with humor calling him an old fox. Tell him I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.” The third day referred to His resurrection. It was a “what else can you do to me?”

Jesus is filled with the Peace of God. He is not foolhardy but His Wisdom gives Him the direction that is needed. His Wisdom tells him to stand His ground. He knows what His fate will be when it is in God’s time. He knows His work will be finished on the third day. In the Presence of God’s Love, He is able to stay at Peace.

When you think of some specific event that has happened or will happen or perhaps is happening, can you feel how much difference it makes to have Jesus' Love in you in this difficult time?  When we open our heart we can have His Wisdom that He has been there and done that.

Philippians 3:21 “He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory…” Spirituality can change our lives. Our old lives are transformed when we consciously feel in our heart, the glory of His Presence.