Wednesday, November 13, 2019
So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished. For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him. “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man. Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment. John 5:19-29
My uncle, Marlen Schmidt, was a gifted athlete. In the 1930’s professional baseball scouts salivated
when they saw the lefty pitcher unleash his “hook” – a curve ball that went
into hiding when it got near the plate!
At family gatherings you could always find
Uncle Marlen playing with the kids; we loved how he always had time for us, and
how he could teach us to do our best. When
he was explaining something, he would check our attention span with a one-word
question; he would ask, Catch? He wanted to know if we were catching-on to his idea. At pick-up football games he always knew what
to do. In the huddle he’d describe some
elaborate play. The instructions
included things like running to the oak tree and cutting over to the old Chevy (awaiting overhaul in the back
yard). Be sure you fake left, he’d warn; don’t let Tommy get in front of you.
I’ll throw you the ball when you zig right – CATCH? Catch?
Catch what? Sure, I’ll catch the
ball – just – what’s a fake left and a zig right?
Uncle Marlen would look at those blank
stares in our faces; we were like a doe in the headlights. Then he would say, I’ll do it one time so you can see it.
Just throw me the ball when I holler ‘NOW!’ He would run some intricate pass pattern,
gliding with that Jamaica
Jesus was God’s way of saying
“catch?” Jesus showed us The
Father.
If you’ve ever wondered about connecting with God, knowing what He is
really like, watch Jesus in the Gospels, listen to the apostle Paul in his epistles,
follow Jesus’ followers around in the book of Acts. On every page you’ll see the Son of God
honoring his Father, and the Father honoring His Son.
If you listen closely as you follow, you’ll hear his voice; that’s what
you’ve been looking for, catch?
