Help in the Face of Persecution
Robert Dawson
John 15:18-16
Pastor and author John Ortberg shares a fictitious manual for Peace Corp volunteers headed for South America. It offers advice on what to do if you are attacked by an anaconda (a large type of boa constrictor). This is the list of instructions under the heading ''What to Do If Attacked by an Anaconda'':
1. If you're attacked by an anaconda, do not run; the snake is faster than you are.
2. Lie flat on the ground.
3. Put your arms tight at your sides and your legs tight against one another.
4. The snake will begin to climb over your body.
5. Do not panic.
6. The snake will begin to swallow you from the feet end.
7. Step 6 will take a long time.
8. After a while, slowly and with as little movement as possible, reach down, take your knife, and very gently slide it into the snake's mouth. Then suddenly sever the snake's head.
9. Be sure your knife is sharp.
10. Be sure you have your knife.
After sharing these life-saving instructions he says, ''You never really know what life will throw at you, what's lurking around the corner ... But when you are called, and you will be called, you need to know what to do. If you wait until a crisis hits, because it will hit, you have waited too long. You need to be prepared first. [John Ortberg, ''The Daniel Project-Part 3,' (November 15, 2009)]
That's what Jesus is doing in the hours leading up to His arrest and crucifixion. He is preparing His disciples for a crisis. They were about to be consumed by a new and frightening reality, one without Jesus being physically present and by their side. They were about to face a danger that threatened to swallow them whole and destroy their faith.
The disciples vision of what their future with Jesus looked like had long been viewed through rose-colored glasses. Despite Jesus' previous warnings, that were very clear, these men were expecting some great and miraculous event that would propel Jesus to an ear ...
Robert Dawson
John 15:18-16
Pastor and author John Ortberg shares a fictitious manual for Peace Corp volunteers headed for South America. It offers advice on what to do if you are attacked by an anaconda (a large type of boa constrictor). This is the list of instructions under the heading ''What to Do If Attacked by an Anaconda'':
1. If you're attacked by an anaconda, do not run; the snake is faster than you are.
2. Lie flat on the ground.
3. Put your arms tight at your sides and your legs tight against one another.
4. The snake will begin to climb over your body.
5. Do not panic.
6. The snake will begin to swallow you from the feet end.
7. Step 6 will take a long time.
8. After a while, slowly and with as little movement as possible, reach down, take your knife, and very gently slide it into the snake's mouth. Then suddenly sever the snake's head.
9. Be sure your knife is sharp.
10. Be sure you have your knife.
After sharing these life-saving instructions he says, ''You never really know what life will throw at you, what's lurking around the corner ... But when you are called, and you will be called, you need to know what to do. If you wait until a crisis hits, because it will hit, you have waited too long. You need to be prepared first. [John Ortberg, ''The Daniel Project-Part 3,' (November 15, 2009)]
That's what Jesus is doing in the hours leading up to His arrest and crucifixion. He is preparing His disciples for a crisis. They were about to be consumed by a new and frightening reality, one without Jesus being physically present and by their side. They were about to face a danger that threatened to swallow them whole and destroy their faith.
The disciples vision of what their future with Jesus looked like had long been viewed through rose-colored glasses. Despite Jesus' previous warnings, that were very clear, these men were expecting some great and miraculous event that would propel Jesus to an ear ...
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