Which Jesus do you choose? Matthew 27:17

 

After his arrest, and towards the end of his mock trial, Pilate offered a choice to the Jews as to who he should release to them according to his custom. In Matthew’s Gospel, we read, “Now at the Passover Feast the governor was accustomed to release for the people any one prisoner whom they wanted. And at that time they were holding a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, ‘Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ’” (Matthew 27:15-17 NASB 2020)? In the Greek text, Barabbas is taken directly from the Aramaic and simply means “bar abba” or “son of a father.” We might think of this as being akin to our last name. Interestingly, some of the manuscripts include the real name of Barabbas, or in our terms, his first name, and that name was Jesus. In some Greek manuscripts, this verse reads, “who do you want me to release to you? Jesus, the son of abba, or Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate was forcing them to choose between two Jesuses, one being the true Christ of God, and the other Jesus being one who was both a murderer and an insurrectionist (Mark 15:7).

This Easter season, we, too, ought to stop and ask ourselves, “Which Jesus do we choose?” We live in a time when many prefer a Jesus of their own choosing, of their own making, rather than the true Christ of God. People want a Jesus who thinks like they think, acts as they act, and who is accepting of all their decisions, opinions, and beliefs. Instead of conforming their lives to the life and teaching of Jesus, they want to conform Jesus to their way of life and their way of thinking. Instead of accepting and following the historical Jesus, the Jesus of the scriptures, they would rather follow a Jesus conformant to our modern mindset and sensibilities. For many, they prefer a counterfeit Jesus rather than Jesus, who was the true son of God. So, the question we must ask ourselves is, “Which Jesus do we choose?” My prayer for all of us as we enter into this Easter season is that we would all choose the true Jesus, the one who lived and died for us, and the only one who rose from the dead so that we might have new life in him. This Easter season, may you blest in the true Jesus, the one who is called Christ.

David Robison

Producing the fruit of the kingdom: Matthew 21:43

One day, Jesus told a parable about a landowner who planted a vineyard and leased it out to vine-growers who would tend the vineyard for him. Part of the price of the lease was that, when the harvest time had come, the landowner would receive a share of the harvest of the vineyard. However, when he sent servants to collect his fee, those who had leased the vineyard refused to pay. Finally, the landowner sent his son, saying, “They will respect my son” (Matthew 21:37 NASB 2020). However, vine-growers “took him and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him” (Matthew 21:39 NASB 2020). Jesus then reveals that he spoke this parable against the religious people of his day, warning them, saying, “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit” (Matthew 21:43 NASB 2020).

The Greek word translated here as “producing” is a very common word in the New Testament. It is often translated as to make or to do. Bearing the fruit of the kingdom is not something that naturally or automatically happens. It takes our involvement. We must engage in the process. We must participate in the making, or producing, of the fruit. Yes, fruit is the natural result of the life of any plant, but producing a crop takes effort.

So how does one bear and produce fruit for the Kingdom of God? The secret is to remain in Jesus. Jesus said, “Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5 NASB 2020). If we are to produce the fruit of the kingdom, we must abide in Christ. John goes on to tell us what it means to remain in Christ. He wrote, “the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked … No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him … The one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him” (1 John 2:5, 3:6, 3:24 NASB 2020).

To remain in Christ, and therefore produce fruit for God, requires us to walk like Jesus walked, to turn from sin, and keep his commandments. To remain in Christ is to live like Christ. While we are saved by grace alone, we are all called to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13 NASB 2020). Furthermore, this life of Christ that we are to live can be summed up in one statement, “and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him” (1 John 4:15-16 NASB 2020). To remain in Christ is to remain in love, to live a life of love towards God and towards one another, for everyone who remains in love will naturally bear fruit for God and for the world.

David Robison