Do you consider yourself a calm person? As people of Christ, allowing the peace of Christ to rule within us, we should exhibit a calm demeanor...not easily ruffled, not overcome with anxiety, and certainly not given to outbursts of anger or the very worst behavior that I can think of, an adult "temper tantrum".
Listen to this quote from Frederick W. Robertson, "The real strength and majesty of the soul of man is calmness, the manifestation of strength, the peace of God ruling."
When you ponder that quote, doesn't it make calmness a much desired attribute? Sometimes we equate calmness with blandness...to be an intriguing person you have to have some outbursts of emotion. But when you think of the most intriguing people you know, if you're like me, you will probably think of those who aren't the ones who are demanding the attention, but the ones who sit back and calmly insert the most profound statement of the night, or the dry wit that throws just the perfect sentence in at the precisely right time that completely cracks the room up.
Or, on a much more serious note, you think about Jesus, who maintained such a perfect sense of calm through His life. No matter what the circumstance, Jesus was in control. Now I can hear someone saying, "What about that time in the temple when He overturned the tables?" I think we've had a picture in our heads of Jesus "losing it", but when you actually read the story, it seems to me that Jesus went into the temple with a purpose, which He accomplished. He definitely wanted to make a point, which He accomplished. There is a time and a place for a planned moment and to accomplish what needs to be accomplished. Jesus wanted the people to see that His Father's house was to be a place of prayer - and definitely not a place where people were able to take advantage of others. (Read text in Matthew 21:12-16, Mark 11:15-18, Luke 19:45-47, or John 2:13-16.)
But read this scenario of the perfect calm of Jesus as written by Robert J. Morgan:
The Biblical definition of "peace" as used in our verse is "the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is." That's what we are called to...knowing who we belong to, where we are going, with nothing to fear. That's the peace and calm that Jesus possessed and exhibited.
That's the peace that we are to allow to rule in us.
Listen to this quote from Frederick W. Robertson, "The real strength and majesty of the soul of man is calmness, the manifestation of strength, the peace of God ruling."
When you ponder that quote, doesn't it make calmness a much desired attribute? Sometimes we equate calmness with blandness...to be an intriguing person you have to have some outbursts of emotion. But when you think of the most intriguing people you know, if you're like me, you will probably think of those who aren't the ones who are demanding the attention, but the ones who sit back and calmly insert the most profound statement of the night, or the dry wit that throws just the perfect sentence in at the precisely right time that completely cracks the room up.
Or, on a much more serious note, you think about Jesus, who maintained such a perfect sense of calm through His life. No matter what the circumstance, Jesus was in control. Now I can hear someone saying, "What about that time in the temple when He overturned the tables?" I think we've had a picture in our heads of Jesus "losing it", but when you actually read the story, it seems to me that Jesus went into the temple with a purpose, which He accomplished. He definitely wanted to make a point, which He accomplished. There is a time and a place for a planned moment and to accomplish what needs to be accomplished. Jesus wanted the people to see that His Father's house was to be a place of prayer - and definitely not a place where people were able to take advantage of others. (Read text in Matthew 21:12-16, Mark 11:15-18, Luke 19:45-47, or John 2:13-16.)
But read this scenario of the perfect calm of Jesus as written by Robert J. Morgan:
In Luke 4, Jesus was asked to preach in His hometown of Nazareth. After reading his text in Isaiah 61, He closed the book and announced that He Himself was the one of whom Isaiah was speaking. Isaiah's majestic words, written seven hundred years before, amounted to a specific prediction about the hometown boy who stood before them now. The Nazarenes, Jesus implied, were seeing the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy before their very eyes.I think that's the same thing that could be said about Jesus in the temple with the crooked merchants, He had an authoritative calmness, even as He was turning their tables upside down and driving them out with a whip!
It triggered a riot. Thinking Jesus was speaking blasphemously, the worshippers exploded in fury and indignation. The crowd was on its feet, and angry hands grabbed Jesus and shoved Him out of the synagogue, pushing Him, pulling Him toward a nearby cliff. They intended to kill Him on the spot.
But as Luke laconically puts it, 'He passed right through and went on His way' (Luke 4:30). We don't know if this was a miracle or not. But we have the distinct impression that Jesus was unruffled, steady, composed and self-possessed. I've often visualized Jesus passing calmly through these walls of liquid indignation like the Israelites through the Red Sea. There was about Him an authoritative calmness.
The Biblical definition of "peace" as used in our verse is "the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is." That's what we are called to...knowing who we belong to, where we are going, with nothing to fear. That's the peace and calm that Jesus possessed and exhibited.
That's the peace that we are to allow to rule in us.
No comments:
Post a Comment