Jesus: The Cost Was His

The word for today is “cost.” There are many forms of this word if you look it up in the Hebrew and Greek texts. There’s also many words that mean the opposite of “cost,” one of which is the word “dorean.” This word in Greek means, “as a gift; to no purpose.” It is used in context to mean “as a free gift, without payment, freely.”

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell the story of Jesus sending out the twelve. Matthew’s Gospel has a very unique statement though, not found in the others.

It reads:

“As you go, preach this message: ‘ The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”-Matthew 10:7-8

Freely you received. Freely give. Without cost. Free means you don’t pay for it. Well, if you don’t pay for it, who did?

Jesus. The cost was His. All throughout the Gospels Jesus went around doing things He was going to pay for.

In Isaiah 55:1, there is a prophetic statement by Isaiah about the coming Messiah.

“Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you without money,

come, buy, and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost!”-Isaiah 55:1 (BSB)

Doesn’t this Scripture sound like the above passage from Matthew that we just read?

Freely. Without cost.

It didn’t cost you or me. But it did cost Jesus. It cost Him his life. But He laid it down willingly. Nobody took it from Him.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus said,

“No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”-John 10:18 (BSB)

So it did cost something. But it only cost Jesus. We don’t have to pay for it.

Now, should we feel sadness that it cost Jesus his life? I don’t think so. Often people feel so bad for Jesus, but He did it of His own free will, His own choice. He paid something we could never pay.

In John chapter 7, Jesus makes a statement that sounds very much like the one in Isaiah 55:1.

“On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”-John 7:37 (BSB)

Finally, we hear these statements echoed again twice in the Book of Revelation.

“And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.”-Revelation 21:6 (BSB)

“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.”- Revelation 22:17

The word freely in both of those Scriptures in Revelation is the Greek word “dorean” that we started with in Matthew’s Gospel.

Freely. Freely.

My prayer for today is that we would continue to grow in grace and in our knowledge of Him. May we be anchored in the fact that He paid it all, not with feelings of sadness, but with gratitude and joy. I pray that we would move deeper into that knowledge, and learn how to share the blessing of the Gospel with our words to others, so they may come to know as well that He freely gives, without cost.

Jesus: He Nourishes Us with His Love

An image of a nice lights background heart shapes

Today I looked up the Hebrew and the Greek words for “nourish.” There are only 3 Hebrew words for the word “nourish,” but many others in the Hebrew and the Greek for variations of the word including nourished, nourisher, nourisheth, nourishing, and nourishment. The word I am going to cover today is the word “ektrepho” in Greek

There are only two occurrences of this specific Greek word being used in the New Testament. They are both in the book of Ephesians. One is Ephesians 6:4 that talks about nurturing your children in the admonition of the Lord. The other is found in Ephesians 5:29, and is the subject of what I am going to discuss today.

Ephesians 5:29 reads:.

“Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church. For we are members of His body.” (BSB)

That word “ektrepho” means to “bring up to maturity; to nourish.” There are quite a few variants of this word in Greek and they all have the connotation of nourishing.

When we look at Ephesians 5:29, we recognize that it’s about Jesus. It’s about Jesus taking care of the church in a specific way. He doesn’t hate us. In fact it is quite the opposite; He loves us. If you read the verses in Ephesians 5 before this one, it discusses a marriage relationship and how the husband ought to love his wife.

Because Jesus loves us, He takes care of us, nourishing and cherishing us. We are part of Him.

Do you ever slow down and meditate on Jesus this way? I want to make it personal for myself. I am part of the Body of Christ, so I can believe these thoughts that the Scripture shares.

Jesus loves me. He nourishes me. He cherishes me. He is bringing me to maturity in Him.

Earlier in Ephesians Paul prays,

“for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”-Ephesians 3:14-19 (BSB)

That’s my prayer for me today, and my prayer for you. I pray that we would allow Him to nourish us with His love, and that we would become mature in His love. I pray that we would swim in it daily, and feel safe, nourished, and comfortable in this love. Amen.

Jesus: Friend of Sinners

Today I looked up Greek and Hebrew words that mean the word “friend.” There are five Hebrew words listed in Strong’s Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words that mean “friend,” and there are three Greek words. I am going to look at one of the Greek words today that most people are probably familiar with. It’s the word “philos.”

The word “philos” can be found 29 times in the New Testament according to Biblehub.com. It means “beloved, dear and friendly.”

In Matthew 11:19, this word is used to describe Jesus.

“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated by her actions.”-Matthew 11:19 (BSB)

Jesus was beloved, dear, and friendly to people who were considered sinners. That word sinners is the word “hamartolos” in Greek, and it means sinful. It comes from the root word, “hamartano” which means “to miss the mark, do wrong, sin.”

I think that word for sinners would describe all of us at some point in our lives. And yet, Jesus would still be called our friend.

I love that the definition also means beloved. Later on in the New Testament, in the epistles, Paul, John, Jude and Paul all refer to us as “beloved.”

Jesus came to show us what that relationship would look like with Him.

Do you think of Jesus as your friend? Is it hard for you to imagine Him that way?

I think it helps, if we sit and meditate on Him, being our friend, and treating us the same way He treated those in the Gospel stories.

Healing in His Wings: Worthy

It’s Day 31 and the final day of the 2021 Five Minute Friday Writing Challenge. When I came to the end of this writing challenge, I discovered the last word prompt was worthy. The word worthy made me think about a couple of things.

First, was a scene from the television show, The Chosen. Have you seen it? There is a scene from that show in Episode 1 of Season 2 where Jesus asks the disciple John who is worthy, and John says to Jesus, “You.” I love that scene. And it is true. Jesus is worthy. There are many Scriptures that proclaim the worthiness of Jesus.

But what about people who follow Him?

So many people feel unworthy, but the Bible says Jesus has qualified us. He has made us worthy. How did it do that?

Several Scriptures in the Epistles back that up.

giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.-Colossians 1:12-14 (NKJV)

And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:6(BSB)

and they will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy. -Revelation 3:4 (BSB)

And here’s something else. I think that everything Jesus did during his earthly ministry is a picture of what would be available to us through the Cross.

This is an element of what the woman with the issue of blood went through on her journey to Jesus. Maybe she didn’t view herself as worthy. And then we have the Messiah, Jesus, come on the scene and everything changes. He starts making people worthy. He deems them as valuable and qualifies them.

She was technically not supposed to be in a crowd like that, according to Jewish law. She could have rendered other people unclean. But apparently she saw something in Jesus that made her feel worthy to receive that healing from Him. What she heard about him, made her feel worthy.

What did she hear about Jesus that made her feel worthy enough to be in the crowd that day?

We can probably go by the stories that are relayed before her, especially in the Gospel of Mark, since it appears it was in chronological order. And if she lived in the region near them, it would be more definite that she heard those specific stories.

Some of the Bible stories that seemed to happen around her, and that I also included in the story, were the healing of the leper, the calling of Matthew and the banquet at his home, and the miraculous catch of the fish with Peter (who also admitted he was sinful). Other stories of healing included the healing of the paralytic who was lowered in through the roof, Peter’s mother in law, the man with the paralyzed hand, and two accounts of men being freed from demons-one in the synagogue, and the other living in tombs.

Hearing all those stories about Jesus touching and freeing people, combined with the Scripture from Malachai, and probably others such as Psalm 91, created in her a revelation of Jesus as the Messiah, and his desire and ability to free her from her illness. She didn’t feel unworthy, but brave, and was courageous enough to go out into the crowd that day and receive her miracle.

One more thing. The Bible doesn’t say this about her, but I believe that she knew the Scriptures from a little girl, so she most likely knew that Scripture from Malachai that was the foundational Scripture for my story.

But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall. -Malachai 4:2

Couple that Scripture together with what she was already hearing about Jesus, and the things he was saying to people, and it would have created a faith that made her feel worthy, and she would have easily received from Him. He was righteous, and was healing people, so they were receiving total salvation, forgiveness of sins, resulting in righteousness, and healing for their bodies. So, why not her?

And why not you?

The Scriptures that I have shared are just as applicable to you and I today. They are for you. He has qualified you already, past tense. She is a pattern for us, hear, believe, receive.

I hope you enjoyed the story, and it has blessed you in some way. He has qualified you and made you worthy to walk beside him in white.

*To start at the beginning and read all the posts in the story in order, go to 31 Days of Writing a Short Story: Healing in His Wings.

Healing in His Wings: Equip

Epilogue

“Ariella, am I doing this right?” Thomas was helping the other young students stretch out his father’s net so they could clean it after it had been used for a night of fishing.

“Yes Thomas. You are doing fine. Stretch out that side a little more. It seems a little bunched up. Mahlah can help you.”

Jairus’ daughter ran around to the left side of the net, ready to help Thomas stretch the linen fibers so they could dry in the sun.

Ariella stood with her bare feet in the sea of Galilee, surrounded by children, her students who had become fisherman’s apprentices. She was glad to be back at teaching, and thankful for the job of mending nets once again.

“My father says you are the best at mending nets he has ever seen.”

“Please tell Elijah I said thank you. And thank him for sharing his nets so I have something to teach you with. My father was a fisherman, just like yours. He equipped me with this knowledge when I was your age and younger. He taught me and my husband Benjamin.”

There was no longer pain when she mentioned him, only peace. Jesus had restored her soul, and his words filled her heart with peace the day her body was healed.

“Shalom Ariella!” Shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand, Dassah waved at her friend as she walked up to the shore. “I have been looking for you. I forgot that you would be teaching today. Aren’t you cold standing there like that in the water?”

She laughed. “Yes! Maybe a little.”

She stepped back onto the shore and dried her feet with a small linen towel. Quickly replacing her sandals she continued, “I always teach the fisherman’s apprentices on Tuesday and Thursday. The rest of the week I bake, which reminds me.” She turned to Thomas, “Thomas, as soon as you are finished stretching out that net, please go to my house and fetch the bread I am warming in the stove for your father. I told him I would bake some bread. There should be five loaves. Take Mahlah with you. She will know where to find it if you have any problems.”

“Yes, Ariella.” The children ran off toward Ariella’s home in search of the fresh bread.

Turning back to her friend, she gave her a quick hug. “I have been teaching the young Mahlah to bake, per Jairus’ request. How are you today? Why were you looking for me?”

“I have more news about Jesus.”

Ariella’s heart swelled. She loved every single time someone would share a story. Hopefully Jesus would be coming back through Capernaum soon, so she could see him again in person.

Dassah smiled and gave her hand a squeeze. Turning to walk with her friend along the shoreline she began, “It is being reported from Gennesaret that more people are being healed. They are saying as soon as Jesus arrived there and got out of the boat, people recognized him. They started hurrying about, bringing their sick into marketplaces to be healed.”

Ariella gave Dassah’s side a squeeze as they kept walking along the shore, her heart full of joy and gratitude and peace. She sighed absorbing all the good things Jesus was still doing. “He is the healer. It’s who he is.”

“There is more Ariella. You will want to hear this part.”

Ariella stopped walking and turned to face her friend.

“There are people there who are begging to touch the tassel of his garment, and all that touch it are made well.”

“That sounds like my story. It sounds like what happened to me!”

“Yes, it does Ariella. I believe they heard about what happened to you, and they came to believe in Jesus just like you. People are believing and being saved because they heard your story.”

Ariella looked back out at the sea of Galilee. The sun had risen high upon the sky and was glistening on the water. She loved the sea, and her view would always remind her of Jesus and of the prophet’s words that led her to him and this moment. Now, others were hearing, and she knew hearing about Jesus would continue for a very long time.

*To start at the beginning and read all the posts in the story in order, go to 31 Days of Writing a Short Story: Healing in His Wings.

Healing in His Wings: Morning

The next morning the sunlight came streaming in waking Ariella from what she almost mistook for a dream. She was healed. The bleeding was no more. The illness would not return. It was over, and she was free forever. All because of Jesus.

Rolling over in a bed she hadn’t slept in for twelve years, she sighed a deep sigh. The bed was the only piece of nice furniture she had shared from her life with Benjamin, and now she could use it again.

No more cleaning her mat. No more cleaning the filthy rags. She could get up in the morning, bathe if she liked, but not out of necessity, and begin her day in peace.

Lying there, she began to think about her experience with Jesus yesterday. He just happened to walk by her house. She wondered, “I don’t think there are any incidents of chance with Him. It seems everything he does is with purpose. He came by her house on purpose. He came by for her.

“Thank you Lord,” she whispered, “For so many things. Thank you for giving me my life back.”

***

At lunchtime there came a knock at the door. It was Dassah. Ariella reached out and hugged her best friend, something she had not been able to do for a very long time. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Thank you my friend. Thank you for telling me about Jesus. And for always being there for me. For caring for me and loving me all these years. I will never forget it.”

They just stood there for a moment, looking at each other, both with tears of happiness streaming down their faces.

Sighing, Dassah showed Ariella the basket she brought. I thought we might have lunch together today. Ethan is retrieving the boys from Torah class, so I thought you and I might have a visit.

“That is wonderful. Thank you for the gift of a meal. I have some bread to go with it.”

Joyful laughter filled the courtyard. “Please come in Dassah. Come in to my home. No more standing in the courtyard. We have a table to fill with food and some cushions to sit on.”

Dassah entered her friend’s home, and emptied the basket of its contents on the table. She brought olives, honey, goat cheese, some lentil soup, and some dried dates. “I cannot wait to taste your bread.”

They sat down, and prayed,

Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the Universe who brings forth bread from the earth. Amen.

Ariella tore the bread and handed a piece to Dassah. Dassah dipped it in her honey, and then eyes wide looked at her friend.

“Oh my! This is the best bread I have ever tasted! You should become a merchant and sell this to others in the community. You will make a fortune. How did you learn to do this?”

Ariellla smiled at her friend, then giggled. “What do you think I have been doing all this time?”

*To start at the beginning and read all the posts in the story in order, go to 31 Days of Writing a Short Story: Healing in His Wings.

Healing in His Wings: Fail

All eyes were upon her. So many people from the community-they knew her story, what had happened to her after Benjamin’s death. They knew she had been bleeding, and now they knew it was no more.

Jesus looked at her and said, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go away in peace and be free from your illness.”

She looked at him for a minute, not wanting this moment to end. She was in the presence of pure love. He had called her “daughter” drawing her further into that love. He wasn’t going to let her go, feeling alone, absent from family. She was a part of his family, of the Messiah’s family.

What if she had escaped unnoticed? Maybe people wouldn’t have known she was healed. Maybe they wouldn’t have believed her. But Jesus had declared her righteous right in the sight of everyone there. There would be no doubting her healing now.

He said her faith had healed her. Her faith. All that she heard, brought her to this moment. She believed what the Scriptures said. She believed what her friend told her. She believed what she heard about him.

And then the messengers came. While Jesus was still speaking to her, they came and told Jairus, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher anymore?”

Ariella’s heart sank. What had just happened? She was healed and now it cost Jairus his daughter. Fear threatened to creep up on her. She looked at Jairus, and then at Jesus.

“Don’t be afraid, only believe.”

Was Jesus talking to her or Jairus? She looked up to see the synagogue leader with his head hanging down, and Jesus looking at him with the same compassion and love with which he had looked at her. He was talking to Jairus! She exhaled. The fear let go and she was able to follow what Jesus had told her and go away in peace. She had not interrupted Jairus’ miracle.

Her faith had not failed her. And Jesus would not fail Jairus.

*To start at the beginning and read all the posts in the story in order, go to 31 Days of Writing a Short Story: Healing in His Wings.

Healing in His Wings: Gift

“It stopped. It stopped.” The flow of blood from her body had ceased and she felt changed.

Her body was no longer tired and the pain was gone. She wanted to run and tell someone. She wanted to shout and jump up and down. But then she remembered where she was.

“What do I do now? Where do I go? The crowd was still thick and Ariella was in the center.

“I’ll just wait until they all go and then I will go back home.”

Jesus had stopped, which meant the crowd had too.

Droplets of sweat formed on her forehead. Her heart began to beat rapidly. She was trapped.

“Who touched my clothes?” Jesus turned around and started surveying the crowd. He looked her way.

Peter said to him, “Lord, what do you mean ‘Who touched me?’ There are people surrounding you and crowding you on every side. They are all touching you.”

Ariella knew she could not hide. She straightened herself up, and walked forward.

“It was me Lord.”

Jesus was looking straight at her now.

The crowd turned and parted, leaving a clear path between her and Jesus.

Everyone was looking at her, including Jairus. Dassah was there smiling from ear to ear. She looked at her for a second with a look of gratitude on her face. And then she looked back at Jesus.

She saw nothing but compassion in his eyes. There was only love staring back at her.

She knew she had to tell him what happened to her, but she was scared because of the crowd, worried about Jairus’ daughter, and overwhelmed by this great gift. She was healed. She was clean.

Slowly, she made her way forward toward Jesus, shaking with fear and awe. When she got close, she fell down in front of him.

“I am the one who touched your clothes Lord. The prophet Malachai said the sun of righteousness would arise with healing in its wings. I knew that meant the tassels on your garment, so I knew I must get to you. I have been an unclean woman, with a flow of blood for twelve years, isolated and alone without the touch of anyone. As soon as I touched the tassel, I felt warmth move up into my arm and down into my stomach. I could tell the bleeding had stopped. I am no longer unclean.”

*To start at the beginning and read all the posts in the story in order, go to 31 Days of Writing a Short Story: Healing in His Wings.

Healing in His Wings: Light

The next morning the light came streaming in waking her from a night that had not been very restful. She could not stop thinking about Jesus and the wings, the tzit-tzit. Slowly, and reluctantly, she got up, got ready for the day. She went about her morning cleaning, starting some bread, all the while thinking about what Malachai had said. The words remained a constant meditation of her heart.

After lunch she heard a loud group of people approaching her house, walking on the path leading from the sea. And then she heard a familiar voice. It was one she had heard many times before, a voice she knew and loved, but hadn’t heard in person recently.

“Teacher, my daughter is near death, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live.”

Ariella gasped loudly, and her hand flew to her mouth. It was Jairus! And Jesus!

She threw open the door, and there was a much larger group of people than she had imagined, with Jesus and Jairus at the center.

Without very little forethought, she moved out into the courtyard, and toward the gate.

***

“Just one touch,” she thought. Her eyes surveyed the crowd. She must move quickly. There were so many people, and Jesus was moving. The crowds swayed like fields of grain in the wind or the ocean waves at night. It was smooth and slow, like a sweet, soft lullaby, and Jesus was at the center.

She kept repeating in her heart what she had heard about Jesus. “He is a healer. He loves the people. I am no different than them. If I can just get close.”

Suddenly, she saw a small break in the sway. She picked up her skirt as she was accustomed, trying not to touch anybody, but it was no use. The crowd was thick-too many people.

She was close enough to touch his shoulder, but then she remembered the wings. The wings of the garment, the tzit-tzit, was where she must touch.

The son of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings, the prophet had said. The blue thread. She knelt down slowly. It was better there. Maybe she could get away unseen, and not disturb the crowd.

She saw it. Now, to just reach out. She felt the fibers of the thread gently touch the tips of her fingers. Heat moved up her arm, and down into her stomach. Instantly the bleeding stopped. And so did Jesus.

*To start at the beginning and read all the posts in the story in order, go to 31 Days of Writing a Short Story: Healing in His Wings.

*The second half of today’s post was originally published at Beth Listening to Him as part of an earlier Five Minute Friday word prompt, and was one of the first fiction stories I wrote about women in the Bible. You can read it here.

Healing in His Wings: Think

But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.

“Now think about that! Think about Malachai’s words, and then think about Jesus’ words, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

Dassah suddenly got very excited. “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners!”

Could he be the sun of righteousness? His name meant salvation. Jesus- to save. He had been healing many. Could he be the Messiah?

“Dassah, could he be the Messiah!”

“There sure has been healing and leaping!”

Dassah and Ariella grabbed hands and began screaming and jumping up and down. Shrieks of joy came from the courtyard. And then they remembered themselves. They stepped back and looked around. No one had seen them.

Both women laughed nervously, and Ariella adjusted her head covering. The faith in the air was palpable.

“And that means, if he is the Messiah, if he is the one the prophets spoke about, he can free me from this disease.”

She exhaled, closed her eyes, and dropped her shoulders. This could be over. It will be over. She just knew it. But when. When would she get to see Jesus?

She had to be brave. To her community, she was unclean. How could she get close enough to Jesus to get what she needed from Him?

“There’s more to that verse Ariella. There’s more than just the appearance of the sun of righteousness. It says he will have ‘healing in its wings’. Do you know what the wings are?”

Dassah covered her mouth and smiled. It tickled her that she might know something that Ariella didn’t seem to know.

“The wings are kanaph. They are the edges of the garments of men. They are the tassels, the tzit-tzit that hang from the corners, the ones with the blue thread.”

“How do you know all this Dassah? I know what the tassels are, but how did you know to connect all this to the kanaph and Malachai?”

Dassah shrugged her shoulders and said, “I have three brothers. It was the subject of many of our conversations growing up. When you started talking about Malachai, it brought all that back.”

Later, after Dassah had gone home, Ariella wondered what the prophet meant when he said that there would be healing in his wings? How did that connect to the tzit-tzit and how did that connect to Jesus? Ariella wasn’t sure, but she believed she would soon find out.

*To start at the beginning and read all the posts in the story in order, go to 31 Days of Writing a Short Story: Healing in His Wings.”