A Friend Is Gone

This is a departure from my Advent postings but I wanted to write a tribute to a dear friend's husband.



While I was Christmas shopping yesterday afternoon, I stopped past the church office. Kathy told me they tried to call me but we weren't home. They had received a call from the daughter of a close friend of ours. Our friend, Mary Emma had lost her husband, Bernard. He died through the night Sunday.

Bernard served in the Civilian Conservation Corps. He was a cook in the CCC and also cooked during his tour of duty in the US Army during World War II. He turned 91 years old last July. He is the last of his siblings to die.
He and Mary Emma were married for 65 years. They came to the Midwest in 1946. They each got hired by factories here in town. He retired from his job. She worked until they knew they were going to have a baby. They had a daughter, then they had a set of twin girls. They moved back to their home state of Virginia a little over 15 months ago.

Bernard liked to fish. About the time he retired,they bought a trailer at a lake in the northern part of Indiana. After we got to know them, we discovered he was a Chicago Bears fan. If the Indianapolis Colts were playing and he knew the Bears were playing, he'd drive up to their trailer to watch his team play.

Before ill health took over, Bernard would walk around the lake at the city park in our area. They lived like two blocks from the park. The lake is actually two lakes connected by a waterway. It's about 3 miles around it. (I'm guessing the distance.)

In his better days, Bernard planted a garden. Sometimes with another man. He always shared the vegetables he harvested. He brought us tomatoes. He introduced us to the multi-colored ones. He called them Pineapple tomatoes. I enjoyed the yellow ones, as well.

One day he drove past our house. He saw us doing something around a car. Our son was going on vacation. A few minutes later, our phone rang. It was Mary Emma. “Did Roger (our son) get a new car?” I answered, “NO, he rented a car to go on his vacation.” Well, she told me Bernard was excited when he got home. He told Mary Emma that Roger had gotten a new car. I still chuckle when I think of that.
 
We are thankful his struggle is over.

King of Kings

“I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame

until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will

bring about in his own timeGod, the blessed and only Ruler,

the King of Kings. . . who is immortal and who lives in unapproachable

light. To him be honor and might forever, Amen. I Timothy 6:13c16 (NIV)

While we don’t have kings ruling the United States, I picture rulers of nations dressed in their long erminetrimmed robes, seated on massive thrones. Bright crowns adorn their heads. People in audience with the royalty bow before them.



Jesus is called the King of Kings by Paul in his first letter to Timothy and by John in Revelations for a total of four times. I have often wondered what the name means.

In history a king ruled over a definite area. Jesus’ kingdom is endless. Also, a king reigned from the time of his coronation until his demise. Jesus’ tenure is timeless, eternal. Historically, the rulers of some nations were considered despots or tyrants. Jesus and His Father are just.



When we see Jesus, He will be arrayed in splendor, “dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were like wool and as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire, his feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice like the sound of rushing water. Rev 1:13b15 (NIV)

Shepherd

“For the Lamb in the center of the throne

will be their shepherd; he will lead them to

springs of living water. And God will wipe

away every tear from their eyes.

Revelation 7:17 (NIV)

“For I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep

and my sheep know mejust as the Father knows

me and I know the Father I will lay down my life

for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this

pen. I must bring them also”.

John 10:1416 (NIV)

Jesus describes Himself as the Good Shepherd. He tells the Pharisees a good shepherd lays his life down for the sheep. He continues by stating He knows His sheep and they know Him. Then Jesus says something soberingthere is one flock and one shepherd.

A shepherd protects, leads, and guides the sheep. Most shepherds worked for someone else, which made them caretakers of the animals, not owners.

God sent His Son to earth to protect people from the outcome of their sins. Jesus’ role was also to lead those people to His Father’s Kingdom and to show them how to live while they were on this earth.

When we have problems we are to take them to Jesus and let Him work them out to His liking for us. He will, if we let Him.

The Root of David

“ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on himthe Spirit

of wisdom and of understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and of power. The Spirit

of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord and he

will delight in the fear of the Lord.” Isaiah 11:12 (NIV)

“ And again, Isaiah says, ‘The Root of Jesse

will spring up, one who will arise to rule

over the nations: the Gentiles will hope in him.’ ”

Romans 15:12 (NIV)

A lot of us study our family trees as we search out our backgrounds. In my husband’s genealogy, we learned of Civil War heroes. Our son discovered that my paternal grandfather’s grandfather died at Andersonville prison. I have always been told that one of my ancestors established the state of Georgia. I read later where this man hired John Wesley to come to the United States to teach the Native Americans. We all will find something interesting in our background, if we take the time.



The lineage of Jesus carries a lot of royalty. Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem in order to obey a proclamation of Caesar Augustus. The Roman Emperor called for everyone under Rome’s domination to be taxed. Each household must be accounted for and taxed in the birthplace of its head. Both Mary and Joseph had roots in Bethlehem and in the house of David, Israel’s second and greatest king.

The Alpha and The OmegaThe First and the Last

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word

was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:1 (NIV)

“ ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God,

who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’ "

Revelation 1:8 (NIV)

“ ‘Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me,

and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.’"

Revelation 22:1213 (NIV)

The Apostle John begins his account of Jesus’ life by stating Jesus Christ was with God. Then John further says, “The Word was God.” I find this statement very humbling.

The thought of God, the creator of the universe shedding His glory, donning rags and coming to earth as a baby humbles us all. And then, to think His message was for the poor people of Judea gives us pause.



The Biblical writers tell us we all will go before God to be judged when we die. These scribes also write of Jesus sitting at God’s right hand. Because of this Jesusbeing God plays a part in our judgment. But He has already paid the price for our sins.

Picture this, if you will: As each believer comes before God, Jesus will plead his or her case.

“But I died for those sins.”

“However, I shed my blood for her.”

“I love him, I went to the cross for him.”

Jesusthere with God in the beginning, there with God in the end.

Messiah Anointed One

“The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ)

‘is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’

Then Jesus declared, ‘I who speak to you am he.”

John 4:2526 (NIV)

When Jesus came to earth, God chose Him to represent the Father to the people of Israel. Part of Jesus’ title includes the word Christ a Greek word meaning ‘anointed one’. The Hebrew word for this term is Messiah.

William Barclay tells us, “In the ancient world, as today in (his) country, kings were anointed at their coronation.”* In some denominations, people are anointed for healing, being set aside for service, or for consecration. When we receive the anointing oils, we experience a very spiritual event.

God chose His SonJesus to come to earth to save us from our sin. The Son’s task was so specialto be the Father’s ambassadorthat God most likely anointed Jesus before sending Him down to walk with us.



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* William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Revised

John Vol I, pp 8889

JesusThe Way, The Truth, The Life

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the father except through me.

(John 14:6 NIV)

“ ‘See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare

the way before me. Then suddenly the

Lord you are seeking will come

to his temple; the messenger of the covenant,

whom you desire, will come,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

(Malachi 3:1 NIV)

“From the fullness of his grace we have

all received one blessing after another.

For the law was given through Moses; grace

and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

John 1:1617 (NIV)

Jesus traveled into a foreign area. He was thirsty. He met a woman who was getting her daily amount of water from the well. By custom, he shouldn’t be talking to hershe being a woman and He being from another land. She told Him she knew the Messiah would come soon. Jesus told her He was the one she spoke of.



Later in His ministry, Jesus told the twelve disciples He is the only route, the only path to God. The Master used terms the disciples could understand.



John described Him as being ‘’full of grace and truth.” We know people will tell untruths to us. We know others won’t forgive us when we do things that are hurtful to others. But Jesus is our model of grace, mercy, love and truth. Shouldn’t we look to Him when we have doubts, trials, and traumas in our lives?