Bible Mistranslation, Goals and Self-Care

Eli, Eli, lemana shabakthani! (Matthew 27: 46, Mark 15:34)

This phrase is uttered by Jesus on the cross and is often translated in the Bible verse as meaning:

My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!

It was always explained to me that Jesus said that because God had turned away from him because God couldn't look at sin, however, that really makes no sense.  Why? Well, for one thing, Jesus is God, just in another form.  So if that is true how can one form not look at sin, but the other be on a cross bearing the sin of the world? Also, if God's whole point of creation is to have a relationship with humans, by nature, sinful creatures, how can that work if God can't look at sin?  It just doesn't seem to fit the character of God or the rest of the Bible.  Turns out, its been misquoted.

I've mentioned before that I am reading, Light Through An Eastern Window, by Bishop K.C. Pillai and while I was reading in Chapter 5 (page 67) where he discusses this very passage above.  I then opened my Peshitta  Bible translation to follow along and see that Eli, Eli, lemana shabakthani, is actually mistranslated.  What is really says is, My God, My God, for this I was spared, or this is my destiny or even, it is fulfilled.

That translation makes more sense when in John 19:30 Jesus is quoted as saying, It is finished.  Jesus like any man on a mission, was stating that he had finished what He was sent to do.  I love this!

So what does this have to do with self-care?  Well, last month our theme was goals and I think this Bible passage is a great message in the middle of everything we've been talking about.

God had a mission: make a way for humans to get back to him. Jesus came as the final sacrifice, atonement if you will, so that our relationship established in the Garden of Eden could be restored.  Satan, our enemy, had gotten in there and blocked our path, but God protected us from our enemy and in true God form, provoked his enemy to help him fulfill his mission so that he could go on the cross, die for us, then 3 days later come back to life and go back up to heaven, leaving the other form of God - the Holy Spirit, with those of us who accepted this gift.

Jesus knew his goal, he knew what he was here to do and he did it.  Along the way he trained leaders, met the needs of the people he created and loved, and he pissed the religious leaders off, you know the ones claiming to represent him, but really just living for themselves and using religious laws to get what they wanted.

Jesus, is recorded in various passages in the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) as going to a solitary place and getting away from the crowds.  He met physical as well as spiritual needs when he was with crowds, because in the midst of meeting the mission, he knew the value of taking care of our physical bodies.

You will never meet your goals and fulfill your life mission if you neglect your body, your spirit and your soul.  Self-care is not just a plain way of talking about pampering.  Its actually being mindful of the tools we need and using them with wisdom.  Our body is the vessel that houses our spirit.  It has needs of food, water, rest.  The spirit and mind need quiet meditation and time from the go, go, go and draining moments of emotions of others or even our own.

Let us learn from Jesus, and not only stay focused on our job, our mission in life, but also care for the needs of ourselves and those who cross our path.

Where are you lacking?   Do you have goals and a life mission or are you aimlessly floating through life?  That is easy to do, we have more distractions than any other time in history.  Are you staying focused on that mission and are you caring for your needs so that you can do what you were called to do?  What would it mean for your mission to be completed?  If you can't answer that, maybe its time to get in prayer and Bible study and ask God to show you.  Maybe you don't know who you are? Then its time to take the personality tests and learn about how you tick, what you need and what kinds of things bring you joy or get you excited to go out and conquer the world.  Life is hard, like we discussed last week, so stay encouraged and keep going!!! Happy Wednesday!

Why Are We Here?

Do you know why we are here?

God met with his council and said, "Let's make man in our image." (Genesis 1:26-28) This with the purpose of us ruling with Him.  Satan wasn't a fan, of course then, he was Lucifer.  He didn't want us included just like first borns don't want to share mom and dad with their new baby sibling.  As we see the story unfold in the Bible, we can see, Satan became our enemy.  (I Peter 5:8) Satan's plans and God's plans stand in direct opposition (John 10:10). 

God did in fact create us (you know obviously, because we are here).  As we see the story unfold, we see that we messed up.  Adam and Eve left the garden.  God needed a new way to see his vision happen.  His new plan came in the form of a covenant, fancy word for promise or contract, with the children of Abraham, the nation that would come to be known as Israel.  If you've read the Bible you know they also messed up, so again, God needed a new plan to accomplish his goal.

Enter Jesus.

Who was (is) Jesus?  He was God in human form - not quite the Sci-Fi shape shifters but something like that.  Because Jesus was human he had the same issues we did (Hebrews 4:15) but because he was God he was able to be the perfect sacrifice.

In order for man to rule with God and his celestial council, (I Corinthians 6:3) we needed to be perfect, but no man had been able to do that.  In the pre-Jesus days, that perfection was sought through atonement - animal sacrifice.

Satan nor anyone of Jesus' day knew He came to die.

Everyone thought he came to rule like King David had.  They were expecting a government take over.  Jesus instead came to be the final sacrifice.  (Matthew 4:1-11) His blood would atone, not only for the wrongs of the Jewish people, but for all people.  His new covenant included everyone.

Good Friday is the day Jesus died.  Jesus first incited Satan with the purpose of being killed so he could take us back from our enemy - a rescue mission.

Then came Sunday.

Satan thought he had won, but he was duped.  Easter Sunday is the day Jesus came back to life.  He conquered the grave.  (I Corinthians 15:55-57) Good Friday and Easter re-established God's plan.  We can now rule with Him!

All we have to do is: 1) Believe, 2) Receive, 3) Follow (Romans 3:23, 3:10, 5:12, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9-10, 10:13, 10:17).  

In essence if we made the choice to accept God's sacrifice for our life, we are accepting a royal leadership role.

When we see stories in the news about Prince Harry's upcoming wedding with Meghan Markle, we read about the ways Meghan must transition into her role of royalty.  People have been up in arms over her requirement to give us social media, and yet trading everyday for royalty does come with perks and sacrifice.

Doesn't this same thing happen for us?  If we know we have become royalty with Jesus' act of love, doesn't that motivate us to live differently?  Instead of a focus on acquiring more on earth or getting what we want, shouldn't we be looking to the needs of others as more important than our own (Philippians 2:3-11). 

Easter is coming, and we have a story to tell.  That doesn't mean we don't participate in family gatherings, Easter egg hunts or shopping for a new outfit, but we have much more to celebrate!!!  Easter is a celebration of our freedom - our emancipation from death!!!  We aren't just waiting for the day we rule but we have part of God living in us (John 14:15-17) and heaven starts now!

So why are we here?  We are here to know God and make him known.  We are here to love one another.  We are here for purposes beyond this physical world!