The Apostle's Creed

Hmm. SJD is planning to do a series of sermons on the Apostle's Creed. That's a good idea. I wonder if that would work for Life Group. I'm all about borrowing good ideas. They are doing it line by line.

So this week was line three: I believe in Jesus Christ, his Son, our lord.

So the first two lines were about God the Father. Frankly I did not even notice they started the series.

Actually though the priest spoke mostly on the gospel message. I think it was Luke 15. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem where he knows he is going to die. This passages is about people who want to volunteer: "foxes have holes and birds have nests but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" and people who Jesus asks to volunteer: "let the dead bury their on dead". JD spent a lot of time explaining why these comments were not mean or rude.

Why did Jesus say those things? Do you have an understanding of this? We believe God, through Jesus, was loving and patient. Why did he say these things in these particular situations? Luke felt they were important or he would not have included them.

To give short and incomplete answers the first one seems to make it clear that following Jesus is not altogether easy. He wants this man to count the cost. But why? The second one could be any number of things. JD has a theory that since the dead in those days were buried immediately perhaps this man meant his father was not really dead. He wished to wait until his father passed on before joining Jesus. Or perhaps he had no intention of following at all, his dad was simply an excuse.