Achilles-the Heel Snatcher

A friend of mine from church passed this article on to me after I tore my achilles playing basketball.  The article is written by Mart DeHaan of RBC Ministries/Daily Bread, October/2013, w/o permission but I will pass it on anyway feeling crediting him with the article is satisfactory.
In Greek mythology, Achilles is a great warrior who dies from a poisonous arrow that lodges in his heel.  Prior to his birth, a prophecy had foreseen his untimely and early death. So when he was born, his mother dipped him in the River Styx that was thought to give magical protection.  Holding him by the back of the foot, she let the waters wash over his body. Achilles' (the baby's name) heel was the one place that remained dry and thus, unprotected.
This mythical account of a mighty warrior's "vulnerable heel" may sound familiar to readers of the Bible. In the first pages of Genesis, we find a foreshadowing of a son of Eve who would heroically crush the head of a great deceiving serpent while receiving a mortal strike to the heel(3:15).
For thousands of years, this obscure prophecy remained a mystery. Yet the lies and deception that gave rise to the prediction are woven into the bigger story of the Bible.
Just a few chapters later, Genesis introduces us to another deceiver who also went after the heel of his victim. This time, however, the aggressor and victim show up in the innocence of newborn twins.  As they came into the world, the second of the two infants grabbed the heel of his firstborn brother. The younger brother was therefore given the name Jacob, which means "heel-grabber" or "supplanter."
For whatever reason, the name was prophetic.  Jacob became a brother and son who did not deserve to be trusted. While still a young man, he defrauded his older brother out of his firstborn inheritance and family blessing.  Then, to make matters worse, Jacob repeatedly lied to his father who was too old and blind to see what was happening(Gen 27:1-29). Jacob's deceit was so bold that he had to leave home to avoid being killed by the older twin he had defrauded. This is where the story becomes even more difficult to imagine.  After all of Jacob's lies, God appeared to him in a dream and predicted that, like his grandfather Abraham, Jacob had been chosen to be part of a legacy that would bring blessing to all the families of the world (Gen 28:13-14). In the process, God promised to be His ever-present provider and protector (Gen 28:15).
The prophecy seems to defy moral logic. Jacob didn't deserve such honor. He was a born liar. How could God bless someone who seemed to have so much in common with the original snake-like deceiver of Eve? How could such a man become the father of the 12 tribes of Israel?  Yet, in the unfolding drama of the Bible, Jacob turned out to be a picture of "every man." The prophet Jeremiah describes all of our hearts as being more deceitful than any of us can imagine(Jer.17:9).
Now, fast forward to the event that sheds light on the complex intrigue and mystery of an ancient prophecy.  As the sun set over Jerusalem, a rabbi by the name of Jesus shared a Passover meal with fellow sons of Jacob.  As he broke bread with His friends, God's innocent Passover Lamb suggested that one of them was going to lift a heel against Him (John 13:18).
In Jesus' day, the idea of lifting a heel against another person had become a Middle Eastern way of expressing disrespect and contempt. Whether it was an idiomatic expression that can be traced back to the prophecy of the garden might be difficult to prove. But what can be said is that nowhere does "lifting one's heel" in contempt come to greater significance than in the way the ancient prophecy of Genesis 3:15 was about to be fulfilled. Nor could anyone have imagined that the One who would use His heel to crush the head of the Serpent would first liken Himself to a snake.
Yet, sometime before the Last Supper, Jesus had done just that.
Just before saying what God was going to do to show His love for the world(John 3:16), Jesus had predicted, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness[Numbers 21:9],so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him' (John 3:14-15).
Jesus let it happen. The Serpent struck His heel through the nails of crucifixion. The blow was fatal. Jesus died.
Yet, three days later, Christ broke the power of death. Rising from the dead, He crushed the head, and the case, of the accuser of our souls.
What wisdom and irony that God would use Satan's attempt to lift the heel against Jesus as a means of putting the Serpent himself under the crushing foot of God.

A Zoe Life

Matt 19:16-19
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  (KJV)
In this passage of the Bible, a man who we call the rich young ruler, comes to Jesus and asks Him a very serious question. He respects Jesus and feels assured that this miracle worker can answer his inquiry. The rich young ruler desires something that every person wants to know: something about what takes place after this life, something about eternal life, something about life after this one.
It is a very real question, a very deep issue. When you think about it, no one is searching for eternal death or trying to find ways to die.
We as Christians know that eternal life is not merely what we will experience someday when we pass on; our eternal "life" destination begins when we make Jesus the Lord of our life. As a Christian, we're aware that eternal life is the very life of God.  It is that which produces fulfillment, regardless of situations or circumstances. It is the very life of God that we possess within our spirits.
In the question posed to Jesus by the rich young ruler, the word that is used in Jesus' time for life  is zoe. It is the same word that is used in the Gospel of John when Jesus said, "In Him (Jesus) was life (zoe), and the life (zoe) was the light of men.
But what does Zoe mean? Zoe life is the very life of God.  It is the essence of His being and the personification of His character.  It is that which can only be received from Him because He is the point of its origin.  Did you get that last part....it is life received from Him because He (Jesus) is the point of its origin.  In other words it begins in Him, flows out to us from Him and also now, get this, since He is the origin, what we receive is a part of Him. 
Now think about this, Jesus could have given a lot of different answers to the question of what you need to do to experience life. He could have said, you need to pray more.  He could have said that you must be the servant of all, or you must give a "seed" of a certain amount of money (don't get me started on that one!)  Jesus could have told the man to do a 21 day fast. But that's not what He said. Jesus told the rich young ruler (and I'm quoting Jesus' very own words, right out of His mouth, {Matthew 19:16-19, }"if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments". "The inquirer said to Him, "?Which ones?" Jesus said, "You shall not murder', 'You shall not commit adultery', 'You shall not steal', 'You shall not bear false witness', 'Honor your Father and your Mother', and, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Jesus told the rich young ruler without blinking an eye that life (Zoe) begins by keeping the commandments.
 In light of much of what is being taught in churches today, that is a pretty strange statement!  Jesus said that the key to the longing of man and his most fundamental desire is to keep God's commandments.  Jesus connected Zoe life; the life begining in God and flowing out to us, to the commandments...hmmmmmmmm.
The problem today is that we have separated the personal commitment of receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and its connection to godly behavior and conduct. There are men trying to negate the necessity of righteous behavior and holy living. ?Why. Well, we are now being told that some may feel condemned if we say anything about sin.  We are told that raising a standard of righteousness and holy living is something that is unattainaable and will therefore cause many to give up.  We are told that the preaching of the Ten Commandments and holy living is "law" and not grace. That it's a thing of the past. Obviously, Jesus did not get that memo!