March 23 – Jesus said, “I Am"

And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” - Mark 14:60-62 (ESV)

Our passage today from the Gospel according to Mark, covers the illegal trial of Jesus before the Seventy of the Sanhedrin (Jewish Council).  Witnesses have lied about Jesus and twisted His words into things Jesus never said. The High Priest wants to find legal means according to Jewish law to condemn Jesus to death. In Matthew 26:63 The High Priest is puts Jesus under oath by declaring, “by the living God” and demands an answer, an admission or denial, as to whether Jesus considered himself to be the Messiah and the Son of God.* Jesus unequivocally answered, “I AM,” meaning, “I am indeed the Christ, the Son of the Blessed.*” In fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 53:7, Jesus refused to reply to the false accusations or open his mouth to defend Himself. Now He responds with an absolute by saying, “You said (it), I am the Messiah, the Son of God.” Therefore, His meaning is a majestic, assertion that He is indeed The Anointed of God. “Yes, I AM.” He confirms that He is the Messiah. Our promise from Jesus is that one day we too will see Jesus come again in power with the clouds of heaven.

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*The title “Blessed One,” used in this way is only here in the New Testament, is a Jewish substitute for “God”. The Jews avoided every opportunity to say or even write the name of God YHWH and instead created substitute titles known to be references to God.  These two titles of Jesus both refer to His claim to be the Messiah. The Jews also know very well the implication behind the name “I AM” for that is the name claimed by God YHWH Himself.

November 27 – Soul Singing our Thanks

“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever..” Psalm 30:12 (NASB)

We should expect that we will experience times of sadness and mourning in our lives. We should know and believe that God's heart is with us in that sorrow.  The good news is that God frees us from the period of grief and restores in our hearts praise for His name.  It is evident that David was not waiting for a special day of Thanksgiving to express his thanks to God. He declares that he would give thanks to God forever. One interesting and helpful thought in this verse is that David was singing his thanks from deep within his soul or heart. David was a singer and song writer and he and others sang the songs he composed with their voices.  But David speaks of his heart singing too. How now can we be thanking God, from or with our hearts?  We can by putting our whole being into the song of thanks.  From deep within where we know and believe in God. It will be as if our hearts are singing to Him. And we can do that wherever we are, in whatever circumstances.

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