Return To Home Page

Divine Time Episode 5

Yo, Epizode IV came to a screechin’ halt wit Jesus spittin’ to poor, grievin’ Martha some o’ tha boldest--or madd craziest--words ever dropped by ANY human bein’ since ill Creation:

“I AM the resurrection and the life.”

Now, we don’t have to be seminary studentz to peep what Jesus iz claimin’ here, fam. He claimin’ to be God Himself in da flesh. He claimin’ dat He be not only da Great Physician, but da Great Resurrector. He claimin’ to be tha Source of Life itself.

Check it: a 30-sumthin’ 1st Century A.D. Jewish carpenter-turned-street preacha frum Nazareth claimin’ to be GOD?! Yo, even one o’ Jesus’ bwoyz, Nathaniel, spit: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” lol

Whatz even deeper is that all this “I Am” talk creates some madd drama—a trilemma—if you will, when we come face to Face with Jesus, an’ what He spits ‘bout Himself. Katz in Jesus day knew exactly what He was claimin’ when he spit “I AM” this or “I AM” that, or better yet: “Before Abraham was, I AM.” That’s because “I AM that I AM” is the sacred personal name that God used to introduce Himself to Moses in the book of Exodus in the Old Testament. God’s personal name essentially means “I Am the Self-Existing One,” and is made up of the Hebrew letters YHWH. This name used to be spelt in English as Jehovah, but today we jus pop in a few vowels and transliterate it as “Yahweh.”

So, when Jesus’ claims to be the “I AM,” there can be only three reasonable conclusions to come to:

1.Jesus iz ill trippin’. He be madd crazy wack. I mean no sane human goes around seriously claimin’ to be God..

2.Jesus be lyin’ like a cheap rug. Yo, he be sheisty, an’ frontin’ like no katz ever fronted, before or since. He be playin’ peeps throughout history--includin’ us--like a set o’ new dominoes.

3.Jesus be who He claimin’ to be. He be the “I AM” in tha flesh. He be God the Son. He be God’s promised Messiah or Savior. He be Jesus Christ.

But even if Jesus is God’s Son, God’s Messiah, so what? What does that mean? An’ mo important what does it mean to…me…? Well, Jesus actually anticipated that question in his next remarks to Martha:

“He who believes in Me, will live even though he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”

Now what is Jesus getting’ at? I mean, peeps say they “believe in God” an’ they die just like erryone else. An’ how can any kat live, even though He dies?? What kind o’ sanctified nonsense iz dat?!

Yo, if we let Jesus school us, an’ we deep peep what He means by “believe,” we learn dat a person’s very Eternal destiny depends on how that verb “believe” is understood, an’ then how a person responds to this new understanding.

For many peeps, the verb “to believe” means merely that they intellectually agree or assent that someone or something exists. “Yo, I believe in God”—i.e. “I believe God exists” or “I believe in ghosts,” meaning I believe ghosts exist, etc. But, satan and all his demons also believe in God dis way, an’ they tremble. An’ they ain’t gonna be chillin’ wit God in Heaven, fo sho. So, that kind of belief—in and of itself—keeps no one from dying, especially dying Eternally.

Also, when some peeps spit about “believing in God,” they mean He not only exists, but they also dependin’ upon Him to get their backs in this life, to provide for their needs, protect them from wackness, etc. Nuttin’ wrong wit dat. I “believe” in God this way too. But, believing or trusting God to provide for just their earthly needs, doesn’t address their Eternal needs. So believing in God for the things of this life gets no one to Heaven.

Yo, what Jesus is spittin’ to Martha about is a “believe” that goes a critical step further. Not only does it agree and accept that God exists; not only does it trust God for the things of this life; but it trusts God—specifically God the Son, Jesus Christ--to save them Eternally. The “believe” or trust in Jesus that causes dead men to rise and keeps living men from Eternal Death, is the belief that places the soul’s welfare and eternal destiny in Jesus hands. They willingly and confidently trust Jesus to save them from God’s future judgment and Hell. So, instead of trying to be one’s own savior by continually trying to “do good works” to please—or placate—God, a person instead trust’s God’s appointed Savior: Jesus Christ and His Good Work on the Cross—to save them. They repent of sin—the anti-God attitude and resulting actions known to displease God—and they transfer their trust or confidence from themselves to Jesus Christ, and His Death on the Cross as the full and complete payment for all their sin. And He accepts them, pardon’s them, and comes into their lives forever to transform them to be like Himself. He even calls them by His name—Christ Ones—or Christ-ians. Peeps who trust Christ for Eternal Life, offer their lives to Jesus, in gratitude, to do with as He wants. They step down from the “throne” of their lives and let Jesus be their King and Lord. They jump in wit Jesus.

I trust Jesus to save me Eternally, and I first believed in Him to save me one long minute ago. I have a story, too, like erryone else. I have had my share of life drama. An’ I plan to share ‘bout some of it, in future articles an’ posts. But, through it all, and in it all, Jesus never let me down. He was with me in my wackest moments, just like He wuz wit Martha--even thought it wasn’t always easy to feel Him. He always ill claimed me, even when, like Simon Peter I was at times embarrassed to claim Him. But, I’m ill proud to represent Him and be down az one of His homiez. I am humbly and deeply grateful to Jesus for welcoming an ill sinner like me into His clique, wit no strings attached, especially considerin’ dat He underwent the “initiation” in my place, on the Cross. He suffered one of the cruelest deaths man can devise, and worse--the experience of Hell—so I wouldn’t have to. No one has ever Loved me—or will ever Love—me like Jesus. Check it:

“He who believes in Me, will live even though he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”

Glory.

Next week: Episode VI. I’m out. Peace.

ONE

sun John 3:30