SERVICES: SATURDAY 6PM | SUNDAY 9AM & 10:45AM. 

We Livestream at www.FaithFellowshipWeb.com/livestream, through the FFC App, and YouTube.

Distress

Distress

Words of Faith 9-12-18

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2018

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

 

Luke 12:50

[50] But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!

 

       Jesus said that where He comes there will be fire and distress. We often think that when Jesus comes into our lives that every problem will be solved and there will be no struggle. He is the Prince of Peace, the perfect center for the family, the core of family values and the very best thing to hold a family together. But, today Jesus brings us a strong dose of reality. Jesus had some things to say about what he had to bring into families and it was not always peace. In small ways and large the arrival of Jesus is always disturbing.

       Jesus brings distress. "But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!" This was not an easy time for Jesus. He was "distressed".   The word means to be preoccupied and afflicted with what was before Him.

       We often think that Jesus only struggled during one night at Gethsemane but Gethsemane was just the culmination of a stressful and agonizing human journey for Jesus that began at the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus had another baptism to go through that was like no other. He was headed to a place where He would take upon Himself not just your sin but the sin of the whole world.

       This word used here actually means to be focused. Jesus would not be distracted by the crowd or by those who came to ask irrelevant questions or those who came simply to accuse Him. He was pressing on toward a goal. While Jesus was clearly at peace with God   He was in distress and focused on the goal until this vital task was completed. How distressed I am until it is completed.

       The word here in Greek is ‘teleo’ and means ended, executed, concluded, accomplished, expired, finished, or discharged as a debt. This is the exact word that Jesus that will be upon the lips of Jesus when He dies: tetelestai-- It is finished (John 19:30). For Jesus, there was no relief from the distress until the payment was made and His earthly task was accomplished.

           The arrival of Jesus brings that similar distress into our lives. Until we have accepted the completion that Jesus accomplished on the cross, we are distressed. Our souls are not at rest until we are completed in Him. The woman at the well was distressed. The rich young ruler was distressed. Pilate was distressed. Herod was distressed. Everyone who met Jesus was distressed until they received His offer of peace with God. If they did not, then there was no resolution of that distress.

           What is the peace that Jesus brings? Peace with God. Peace within. It comes with the completion of His journey and the payment for our sin. But it is not necessarily peace on earth among people. Remember that Jesus said: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. . . (John 14:27).

 

           Lord, I am distressed without You. Help me to find my peace only in You. Show me the completion that I can find only in You. I don't want the peace that the world offers. Give me Your peace. In Jesus' name.