Picture this: A father has to choose between saving a train full of people or saving his only son. His son falls down below the train tracks into the gears of the bridge. The father has to face this dilemma: does he lower the bridge to allow the train to pass over the water saving the passengers? Or does he save his son? This dilemma is from a short movie titled “The Bridge” which impacted my life when I first saw it back in middle school. It struck a new chord as I stepped into the role of a father and put myself in his shoes. As we pause and take in the weight of what Jesus did for us all, I hope this helps you to picture it a little more clearly.
Hello everyone, Pastor Matt here. If you need a good cry, you can find this powerful short movie (about 18 minutes) on YouTube or by clicking here. The father, in the final moment, has to sacrifice his son to save everyone. As you have probably figured out it has a lot of parallels to God the Father, who knows the full weight of the sacrifice on the cross and the suffering that Jesus is going to go through for you and for me. He did this so that the bridge between us and heaven as Ken illustrated Sunday can be formed. Jesus died and rose again to pay the price and the bridge was made.
So what are we going to do with that gift? The bible gives us a few ideas.
The one I am going to write about is the great commission. Found in Matthew 28:18-20 “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””
Jesus encourages us to go and make disciples (or students for a better definition) in all nations, teaching them to obey all of God’s commandments.
This is exactly what Titus is doing on the island of Crete. Paul gives a charge to Titus to appoint elders in every town. After a bit of digging, I found out just how many towns were a part of Crete. Around the time of Paul giving this charge there were believed to be anywhere from 40 to 100 towns, most of which were connected by sea. Titus had a big job ahead of him, not only in shear size, but in the rigorous qualifications required.
Furthermore, for these qualifications, I found it interesting that Paul does not state the elders should be the most gifted, he does not want the person who feels the most called. He states he wants men of character. Not just any character, but a person of godly character. The reason is pretty simple. Character takes time to develop while everything else can be gifted by the Holy Spirit and taught. Also, Paul emphasizes maintaining a pure heart. As many of Paul’s letters state, it’s all a matter of heart and keeping your heart pure and learning from God and from the right people.
I want to leave you all with this reminder from Romans 6:14
“Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.”
Grace paid in full so we could have life. So I ask again, What are you going to do with this gift?
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