Devotedly Yours

I want to make this blog a place where students and their parents can grow in "wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men." In order to do this, all growth must be founded upon God as known through Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and as revealed in his word, the Bible. So, consider this post as a first in a series of devotional thoughts.

How much time did Jesus spend in "church"?

When I ask myself that question two things come to mind. First of all, as a Jew, Jesus did appear in the institutionalized "church" or synagogues of his day (mk 1.21, 3.1, 6,2; lk 4.16, 4.33, 6.6, 13.14, jn. 6.59; mt. 12.9, 13.54). He always seems to have cause quite a ruckus when he was there. This often led to him being kicked out of the synagogue. His life was threatened by what he said in a synagogue once (lk. 4.29-29).

When it came to the institution of the church, Jesus seems to have been a participant. But perhaps not the ones all of us would like for him to have been. Jesus cared more about the hearts of those in the institution then simply the institution itself. His involvement in the synagogues could be summarized with the words of YHWH, hence Jesus' words as well, found in Isaiah:

Isaiah 29:13 The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men."


The second response I have to this question is that Jesus spent a lot of time "being" and teaching others to be the church as well. The church is his body, so wherever Jesus was, that was where the true people of God were. That was were the church truly was. Not in the synagogue, but with Christ.

Imagine if Jesus had spent all of his time in a synagogue merely having a teaching ministry. What would have happened after his resurrection?

Instead, he trained men on how to reach other men. He showed them how to care for the lost by caring for the lost. He showed them how to sacrifice by being the ultimate sacrifice. His life was the gospel that they would teach.

So, how much time did Jesus spend in "church"? Quite a lot, actually! But whether in our out of the synagogue, he was interested in "being" the "church". If we are not about doing, then we are not following Christ. And if we do not follow him, we are not his disciples.