FEAST OF DEDICATION AND MANY THINGS
FROM THE GOSPEL OF LUKE
FEAST OF DEDICATION IN THE WINTER
A few months or more had past and it was the heart of the
winter in Palestine. The word used by John in his gospel implies
that it was cold and inclement.
Jesus was again in Jerusalem, this time for the feast of
"Dedication" or as more literal a translation "feast of renewing"
or "feast of renovation." Why it was so called will be seen from
the following history of how this feast came into being in the
Jewish calendar.
The feast was instituted by Judaeus Maccabeus, in the year
164 before the birth of Christ. The Temple and city were taken
over by Antiochus Epiphanies in the year 167 B.C. He slew 40
thousand inhabitants, and sold 40 thousand more as slaves. In
addition to this, he sacrificed a sow on the altar of
bunt-offerings, and a broth being made of this he sprinkled it
all over the Temple. The city and Temple were brought back into
Jewish hands and domain three years later by Judaeus Maccabeus,
and the Temple was purified with great pomp and solemnity. The
ceremony of purification continued through 8 days, during which
Judaeus presented animal sacrifices, and celebrated the praise of
God with hymns and psalms (Josephus, Antiquities, book 12, c.11).
"They decked also the forefront of the Temple with crowns of
gold, and with shields, and the gates and the chambers they
RENEWED, and hanged doors upon them," 1 Mac. 4: 52-59. On this
account it was called the feast of RENOVATION or Dedication. Then
it is also known as the "feast of lights." Josephus the Jewish
Pharisee historian of the first century A.D. calls it such and
says the city of Jerusalem was illuminated, as expressive of joy.
The feast began on the 15th day of Chisleu, answering to about
the 15th day of December. The festival continued for 8 days with
festive joy (see Barnes' Notes on the NT, page 316, One volume
edition).
This Jewish feast then can be known as "dedication" because
the Temple was re-dedicated to God in 164 B.C. It can be known as
the feast of "renovation" or "renewal" because much repair was
done to the Temple. And it can be known as the "feast of lights"
because Jerusalem was ablaze with many lights and great joy when
the rededicating of the Temple took place after Judaeus Maccabeus
and his men defeated the pagan armies in 164 B.C. and retook the
Temple and Jerusalem for Jewish domain once more.
Jesus was walking through the porch of Solomon when the Jews
gathered around Him and asked, "Just how long are you going to
keep us in suspense by the way you talk? If you are the Christ to
come, then just tell us plainly." Jesus replied, "Look, I've
already told you with some plain words, but you will not believe
them. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness
as to who I am, but you do not believe because you are not a part
of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they
follow me; and I give to them eternal life, and they will never
perish forever, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My
Father, who has given them to me, He is greater than everyone,
and on one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. And
what is more, I and my Father are ONE."
Once more the Jews knew exactly what He was meaning by
saying that He and the Father were one. They knew He was meaning
that He was God. They picked up stones again, ready to throw at
Him. Jesus then said, "I have shown you many good works from the
Father: for which of these good works do you stone me?"
"Oh, it's not for any works that you have done, that we are
ready to stone you to death, but because you are just a man, yet
you make yourself to be God," the Jews answered.
"Well, look at your own law! Is it not written in the law of
Moses, 'I said, you are gods'? (Psalm 82: 6). So, if He called
them 'gods' unto whom the word of God was given, unto the people
in general (and the Scripture cannot be broken, it is ever true),
why do you say to Him that the Father has sent into this world,
that I blaspheme because I have said 'I am the Son of God'? "
When Jesus was saying that He was God, He was not telling
them that He was the God being who was still in heaven at the
time, the one He referred to as the Father. He was not saying
that He was the supreme God being, but that being a Son of God,
He carried the same name, and attributes....He was Jesus God, we
might say, and the one in heaven was the Father God. Jesus showed
that their Old Testament Scriptures clearing taught that those
human being who had received the word of God - the Israelites,
could be literal sons and daughters of God Almighty, and hence
they also could carry the name of God.
Jesus was answering them from the very word of God itself
and what the Lord had said, that He Himself called those who had
been given His word.....gods. It was part of the plan of God to
created more offspring from Himself, people who belonged to God,
so were God's children, and so would also carry God's name.
Jesus continued, "If I do not the works of my Father, then
you have a right not to believe me. But, on the other hand, if I
do God's works, then although you don't believe the words that I
speak about the matter, believe the works: that you might know,
and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in Him."
All this made the Jews more angry, and were more determined
to stone Him, but it was not time for Jesus to be killed, not
yet, so He escaped out of their hands. He went for a while beyond
Jordan into the place where John the Baptist first baptized, and
He abode there for a while. Many people came to Him there
because they said, "John did not perform one single miracle; but
all that he ever spoke about this man has been the truth."
It was while in this area that many more believed on Jesus
(John 10: 22-42).
THREE PEOPLE THOUGHT THEY COULD BE DISCIPLES
The days were fast drawing near for Him to offer Himself up
for the sins of the world. It was time again to go back to the
city of Jerusalem. He would be going through the area of the
Samaritans, and sent messengers ahead to people in a certain
village where He thought He would pass through on His way to
Jerusalem, but they would not receive Him because He was only
passing through and not stopping with them. They were hoping He
would stop and teach and work the works of God among them, but
because He was setting His mind on going to Jerusalem, they got
offended and would not allow Him and His disciples to stay
overnight in their village.
James and John, when they heard about this from the
returning messengers, said to Jesus, with righteous indignation
in their voices, "Lord, how about us calling for fire from
heaven, to come down and consume them?" Jesus rebuked them for
such evil thoughts and words. And they went to another village
that was happy to receive them all for whatever length of time.
As they were making there way to this village and walking
the dusty road, a man came up to Jesus and said, "I will follow
you wherever you go." He was probably taken up with way too much
emotion and not enough thinking about the cold facts of reality
as to what his words to follow Jesus anywhere, would really mean.
Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have
nests, but the Son of man has no permanent home. Often He does
not know where He is going to lay His head down to sleep. It is a
life of wandering around, always on the go."
The account does not say if the man continued to follow
Jesus after he heard those words.
Then, Jesus Himself said to another man, " Follow me," but
the man replied, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father who
has just died."
"Oh, you need to let the dead bury the dead; but as for you,
go and proclaim the Kingdom of God," was Christ's answer to the
man. We are not told if he listened and obeyed Jesus' directives
to him. There are times when we need to let the unconverted,
spiritual dead, take care of physical matters, and we need to be
about doing God's work, if God calls and if God has other
priorities He thinks we should be doing first, other than running
around over physical matters.
Then yet another fellow along the way, said to Jesus, "I
will surely follow you, but let me first say farewell to those at
my home."
The reply Jesus gave may not have sat too well with him. "No
one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the
Kingdom of God."
Jesus knew the heart of this man. It was not that it is
always wrong to say "good bye" to loved ones before going off to
do the work of God, that is not wrong of itself, or under certain
situations. Yet it is obvious Jesus thought there were some
situations where it would only be used as an excuse to
procrastinate, to put off, and to reject, the calling of God. If
you are called to go and do the work of God as a special disciple
of Christ (as these three men were called to be and to do), then
no physical thing should be allowed to stand in your way. This
calling is not for everyone, but it is a reminder from Jesus that
with such a calling, He and God's work must come first, and
physical things are to come second, even sometimes having to
leave off some physical things that are not wrong in and of
themselves, under a different situation. Jesus reminds those so
called in this special way for His work, that it is not always
easy to follow, as far as the physical is concerned (Luke 9:
51-62).
SEVENTY ARE SENT OUT TO DO GOD'S WORK
Jesus called seventy of His disciples together and sent them
out two by two to every town and village that He was planning to
go visit. They were to go ahead of Him and teach the Kingdom of
God and heal the sick. This was very much like what He had
told the twelve to do earlier. Luke records and mentions a few
things that was either not recorded or not specified when He sent
out the twelve in an earlier Gospel preaching mission.
They were not to go "from house to house." If people
received them, they were receiving Him, and in turn receiving the
Father. Again, it was a woe to the cities that did not receive
them.
Then the seventy returned with joy, telling Jesus how even
the demons were subject to them through His name. He then told
them that He saw Satan one day in the distant past, fall from
heaven like lightning. This was probably at the time Satan
rebelled and took one third of the angels with him in that
rebellion, to fight God in heaven, but was defeated and cast down
to the earth (see Revelation chapter 12). All of that took place
before mankind was created, for when we read Genesis chapters one
and two, Satan or the Devil, is already there in the garden of
Eden, ready to temp Adam and Eve. Two other parts of the
Scriptures that talk about who Satan was at the beginning and
what entered his heart, is found in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28.
Jesus had given the seventy authority over serpents, and
scorpions, over the powers of the enemy, so that nothing was to
hurt them. But He told them that they needed to rejoice not in
having such authority and power of the evil one and danger, but
that they should rejoice that their names were written in the
book of life in heaven. And that is the important thing, for this
authority Jesus had given them was for that particular time and
event He sent them out on. Later times showed that Christ's
disciples did not always have protection from harm or danger or
loosing their lives in His service. The book of Acts will show us
all this when we go through it.
The important thing is as Jesus said, to know that whatever
this physical life may hand out to us in a physical way, we have
our names written in heaven, that we are God's children, and will
be in His family Kingdom.
Jesus at that time when the seventy returned to Him, gave
thanks to the Father in heaven, that these wonderful truths had
been revealed to them by Him, that they had been hid from many of
the wise and prudent of this world, and revealed to babes so to
speak, ones who had simple belief and faith.
He reminded them again that they were blessed for many
prophets of old had desired to see these days that they were
seeing and to hear the words they were hearing (Luke 10: 1-24).
WAY TO LIFE AND GOOD SAMARITAN PARABLE
A lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test. He asked Him
this question, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal
life?"
Jesus answered, "What is written in the law? how do you
understand it all?"
The lawyer answered, "I understand it as saying, that you
are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all
your life, and with all your strength, and with all your
mind; and you are to love your neighbor as yourself."
"You have answered correctly, do this, and you shall live,"
Jesus told him.
But, the lawyer was not fully satisfied, he then asked Jesus
who his neighbor was, and Jesus gave this reply:
"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho (Jerusalem
is on a higher ground level that Jericho - Keith Hunt), and
robbers beat him up and stole his money, leaving him half-dead.
Now by chance a priest came along the same road; and when he
saw him, he just passed by on the other side. So likewise a
Levite, when he came to the place and saw him lying there, he
passed by also on the other side. Then a Samaritan as he
journeyed by, came upon the man lying there half-dead, but when
he saw him he had compassion upon him. He went over to him and
bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he sat him
upon his own beast of burden and brought him to an Inn, and took
care of him there. The next day he took out of his pocket his own
money and gave it to the Inn-keeper, saying, 'Take care of him;
and whatever more you need to heal his recovery, spend it on him,
and when I come back this way on my return home, I will repay
you.' Now, which of these three do you think proved to be
neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?"
The lawyer answered, "Why, of course, the one who showed
kindness and mercy to the man."
"Yes, indeed. Go and do you likewise to anyone," Jesus told
him and all who were present there.
Being a neighbor in the full sense of the overall law of God
as taught by the whole Old Testament, is doing unto any other, no
matter what race, religion, education etc. what you would like
them to do to you, especially if in dire circumstances as the man
in Jesus' parable. That is what God teaches and expects, for one
half of the conditions to receiving and inheriting eternal life.
The other half is to love God with everything you have, your
mind, your life, your all. This we have seen explained and
amplified in Jesus' Gospel work and teaching, in past chapters.
PUTTING PRIORITIES IN THE RIGHT PLACE
AT THE RIGHT TIME
Jesus and His disciples had over the time they had been
travelling up and down the country-side, preaching and healing,
made many friends in many towns and villages. They were coming to
such a village where lived two sister, Mary and Martha. They
received them into their house. Mary sat at Jesus' feet hanging
on to every word He spoke, listening intently. But Martha was
working her fingers to the bone in the kitchen, just consumed
with all the material things that she thought needed to be done
to look after the physical needs of them all. She finally had had
enough of doing it all by herself. "Lord, do you not care that my
sister Mary has left me alone to do all this physical work?"
she said to Jesus with some exasperation in her voice.
But the Lord answered her saying, "Martha, Martha, you are
anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful at
this time from you. Mary has chosen the correct good priority
here, which shall not be taken away from her (Luke 10: 38-42).
Under this situation where Jesus was wanting to teach and
expound the truths of the Kingdom of God, it was the correct
thing to do, as Mary was doing, to sit and listen and drink in
the spiritual truths being taught. The physical could wait, when
it was time for the physical then it was time, and many would
then pitch in and help look after that physical need. But at this
moment the priority was to listen to the Son of God teaching
the word of God.
So it is with us, we have to develop the sense and ability
to know what priorities must come first and when they should come
first.
TEACHING ON PRAYER
Jesus was praying in a certain place and after He had
finished one of His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray
even as John taught his disciples to pray.
He then took the opportunity once more to repeat much of
what He had taught early on in His ministry, which we covered
under the chapters on Jesus' sermon on the mount.
Jesus did add something new this time:
"Which of you who has a friend and will go to him at
midnight and say to him, 'Friend, please lend me three loaves of
bread, for another friend of mine had arrived on a long journey,
and I have no bread to offer him'; and he will answer, 'Do not
bother me; the door is shut, and my children and I have gone to
bed; I cannot get up and give anything to you.' I tell you,
though in his mind he does not want to get up and give him
anything, he will rise and give him whatever he desires, because
of his continual importunity, asking and asking, and not giving
up."
Jesus was teaching us that we also must ask, keep on asking,
and not give up until our Father in heaven answers us.
DOING GOD'S WORK THROUGH THE DEVIL?
Once again when casting out a demon Jesus was accused of
doing it by the prince of demons. It was a repeat of a similar
incident that occurred earlier and that we have covered. A woman
did this time cry out from the crowd, "Blessed is the womb that
bore you, and the breasts that you have sucked!" Jesus once more
took the opportunity to tell people what was really blessed and
important, "Blessed rather are those that hear the word of God
and obey and keep it!"
He again told the people that in the main this was an evil
generation that they all lived in, and the only sign He would
give them was the sign of Jonah to the men of Nineveh. He at this
time, did not go into the part about the three days and three
nights He would be in the grave.
He told them that many from the past who were not given
salvation and offered repentance, would rise in the great
judgment period with many of that generation who could see all
that He was doing, and would condemn it to shame, for they will
readily repent while those around Him at that time, were
hard-hearted and unbelieving.
He went through again the parable about the body, making
sure that it was full of light, and setting that light upon a
stand that all would see the light of your life.
PLAIN TALK WHILE DINING WITH A PHARISEE
And while He was speaking and teaching, a certain Pharisee
pleaded with him to come to his home and dine with him. So Jesus
went and sat down to eat. The Pharisee marvelled that He had not
washed before sitting to eat.
Jesus knew of course what the Pharisees taught and practiced
as a ritual before eating any meal, and we covered all that
before. It was time for Jesus to lay the cards on the table and
be very frank about this and other such things that were
relatively small, but what the Pharisees made into a huge
production of "spiritual importance." Jesus said:
"Now, you Pharisees make clean to a fault, the outside of
the cup and the plate; but your inward parts and motives and
attitudes are full of extortions and wickedness. You fools, is it
not that He which made the outside made also the inside? But give
to the needy what you greedily posses, and you will be clean all
over. But it will be terrible for you. Woe to you Pharisees! For
you are so careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income
and produce, but you completely forget and ignore true justice
and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but you should not
leave undone the more important things.
Woe to you Pharisees! For how you revel in respectful greetings
from everyone as you walk through the market place, and how you
love to have the seats of honor in the synagogues. Yes, how
terrible it will be for you all. For you are like the hidden
graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the
clandestine corruption they are stepping into and getting
involved in."
"Well Teacher," spoke up an expert in religious law, "you
have insulted us, too, in what you have said."
"Yes," replied Jesus, "that is very true. Woe to you also,
you lawyers of religious law. For you burden and crush people
under impossible religious demands, and you never lift a finger
to ease their burden. It will be terrible for you also, for you
build graves and tombs for the very prophets your ancestors
killed ages ago, so sanctioning them and their deeds. Murderers!
You are then actually agreeing with your ancestors that what
they did was correct. You would have done the same if you had
been in their boots so long ago. And this is what God had said in
His wisdom about you, 'I will send prophets and apostles to them,
and they will kill some, and persecute the others.' And you of
this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all
God's prophets from the creation of the world - from the murder
of Abel to the murder of Zechariah who was killed between
the altar and the sanctuary (2 Chron.24: 20,21). Yes, because
your attitude is the same as past murderers, it will surely be
charged against you. Yes, woe to you experts in religious law!
For you hide the keys to true knowledge from the people. You will
not enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from
also entering."
The attitude of mind for many of these so-called "religious
lawyers" or experts of the law of the Old Testament was no
different that the mindset of others who had in the past, even
from the beginning, killed God's honest and faithful people. So
in that respect they accumulated all their sins into their minds.
Jesus had shown them that their deeds with the people was like
killing them, ruling and governing them in such a heavy handed
way that they might just as well have taken a sword and killed
them. The power that religious leaders have used over the
centuries to burden and chain up people, emotionally,
spiritually, and even sometimes physically, is all over the
history books for all centuries of the past ages.
Such people who have ruled others in this religious way, are
ones who have found the many clever and deceitful ways to lock
away the true keys of knowledge and are able to keep others under
a kind of spell, we might say. They are what is known today as
"cult" leaders. They often exhibit profound technical "letter of
the law" knowledge of God's word, being able to remember and
recite whole chapters of the Bible. And because it has been and
still is so prevalent in the 20th century, many books have been
written on either escaping from cults or how not to get involved
with them in the first place. It is not only the cults we need to
be careful with, even many in so-called "orthodox" Christianity,
with their PhD's in religion, have it wrong and have entrapped
millions with their false theology. They also are guilty of not
lifting a finger to undo the chains from the people. They also
are guilty of keeping the keys of the Kingdom locked away from
the common person in the darkness of false ideas and false
traditions.
But the bottom line is always "buyer be ware" - it is up to
the individual to obey Isaiah 8: 20, no matter who comes to you
in religious clothes, even if they are recognized by the world of
Christian religion as "experts in their field" because their
field may be full of weeds and thistles.
As Jesus spoke these things the Pharisees and teachers of
the religious law were furious. And from that time on they
continued to hound Him with hostile questions, trying to trap
Him, and hoping He would say something they could use against
Him, in the eyes of the people and the governing secular
authorities of the land (Luke 11: 37-54).
TRUST AND WATCHFULNESS
The crowds of people were so multiplied that they were
falling over each other and even trampling on one another under
foot. It was a good time for Jesus to warn His disciples about
the "leaven of the Pharisees" which He had done on an earlier
occasion. This time He used a slightly different metaphor,
saying, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is
hypocrisy, mere play acting, pretending to be godly when they are
anything but. Nothing is covered up that will not be finally
revealed and shown to be what it really is, or hidden away from
people that will not be seen openly. Whatever you have
said in the dark and behind closed doors will be heard in broad
daylight, and what you have whispered in private rooms behind
closed doors, shall be proclaimed upon the housetops with loud
speakers."
The truth can be known. People do not have to "pull the wool
over your eyes" or keep you brain washed from the truthful
reality and righteousness of the Lord. Jesus had said in His
sermon on the mount that they who hunger and thirst after
righteousness shall be filled. Those in Acts 17 who heard Paul
preach and teach the word of God, did not allow themselves to be
psychologically manipulated to where they stopped thinking,
reasoning, and searching the Scriptures daily, for themselves, to
see if what Paul taught was from the word of God, or just his own
man made ideas.
It is the responsibility of each individual to prove all
things and to hold fast to that which is good, as the apostle
Paul taught should be done by each person for themselves (1 Thes.
5: 21).
Jesus went on to tell His followers once more who they
should really fear. Not men who cannot kill you forever, but Him
who can destroy you forever in the fires of the second death. He
told them again that they were dearly beloved of the Father. And
that everyone who would stand tall and strong in not denying Him
before men, would not be denied by Him. He told them once more
about the unpardonable sin, a refusal to repent when the Holy
Spirit was leading you to acknowledge sin and to turn from it.
And finished this discourse with not worrying about what words to
speak if brought before the courts of men because of your
religious faith in Him and the Father. He promised that the Holy
Spirit would, at that time, inspire you to speak what you would
need to say.
..........................
Written October 2002
  Chapter Twenty-five:
More Important TeachingsTHE FOOLISH RICH MAN
One from the multitude of people around Jesus one day asked,
"Teacher, I would like you to tell my brother to divide the
inheritance with me."
"I have come to teach and preach the Kingdom of God, not to
be a lawyer or judge of such matter between you and your
brother," replied Jesus.
He could see there was more behind this question than what
most standing there could perceive. Jesus could see the man's
heart and intent of wanting more physical wealth and goods. So He
went on to say:
"You need to take heed and beware of COVETOUSNESS; for a
man's life does not consist in the abundance of how many
possessions he has. Let me tell you about a rich man who brought
forth plentiful in his daily work and business transaction. He
thought within himself, 'What am I going to do, for I have no
more space to store all my crops and physical goods? Ah, I know
what I'll do, I will pull down my old barns and build larger
ones, and in them I will store all my grains and goods. And I
will further say to my soul, life, you have ample goods laid up
is storage for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink, be
merry, have a blast.' But God said to him, 'Foolish man! This
night your life is required, you will die, and all the things you
have set your mind upon and coveted in your heart, to lay up for
yourself, now who will they belong to?' So is he who lays up
treasure for himself, and is NOT RICH TOWARDS God" (Luke 12:
13-21).
We have seen, and the word of God teaches with many
examples, such as Abraham, Solomon, King David, and Job, among
others, that it is not wrong to have physical wealth. It is wrong
when your mind and the way you live is all wrapped up in your
material possessions and the money you have in the bank, to the
point where you have no time for God, and giving to others. With
physical wealth comes great responsibility. If you are blessed
with such wealth you need to use it to do God's service, to do
His work, which yes, includes spreading the Gospel so others can
be saved into God's family, but it also includes helping those in
need, giving to charities, helping the genuine poor and needy.
I may have mentioned the man in Vancouver, B.C. who some
years sold his land and found himself with 20 million dollars. He
was elderly, had done well in business, and he and his wife and
children (all now grown and doing well physically for themselves)
were living comfortably. He said he did not need 95 per cent of
the 20 million dollars, and so was having a ball, getting high we
might say, in giving it all away to needy individuals and
charities.
This is what Jesus was getting at, not setting your heart on
more and more physical goods and possessions and money, but if
having it all in abundance, to use it to do good for God's work
and to help the poor and those good organizations we today
call "charities."
We shall come later to where Jesus clearly shows us His
concern for the legitimate "poor" and needy of the land, in what
he tells a young rich man to do with his great wealth, because it
was a stumbling block to him in being in the Kingdom of God.
TRUST IN GOD AND THE LITTLE FLOCK
This was the time and opportunity to once more reiterate
what He had said in his sermon on the mount. People needed to NOT
be anxious and overly worried, and all consumed with the material
things of life. They needed to seek God's Kingdom first and
then know with confidence that God would provide all the
necessities of this life. They needed to have FAITH!
He did add one important thing this time, concerning the
SIZE of His church, the number of members that would be His
flock. He said, "Fear not LITTLE flock, for it is your Father's
good pleasure to give you the Kingdom."
The Greek for "little flock" is a DOUBLE diminutive, and in
English we would say something like, "Fear not VERY LITTLE flock"
or "Fear not LITTLE LITTLE flock." The true church of Christ, the
church of God, would never be the large in number "Christian"
church among those who use the name "Christian." It would always
be relatively very small, just the very little flock.
Then to them, the little flock, Jesus finished this teaching
of His, by saying, "So sell your possessions, and give away much
of what you have, if you have great material goods; provide for
yourselves purses that do not grow old, with treasures in heaven
that do not fail you, where no thief can break in and steal from
you, and moths cannot eat and destroy. For where your treasure
is, there will your HEART be also" (Luke 12: 22-34).
Jesus was saying that we need to prioritize our priorities.
If you have an abundance of physical wealth make sure you use it
in a godly way.
PARABLE OF THE WATCHFUL SERVANT
Jesus knew something that they then did not know, and we
today still do not know. They and us do not know when exactly the
Lord will return from heaven to establish the Kingdom of God on
earth. They then, and us today, do not know when it is our last
day in this physical life. We hear and see the news each day of
people who went to do their daily work one day, as the day before
(think of those who were in the two trade buildings in New York
on September the 11th 2001), and did not know it was going to be
their last day to live for them in this life time. This parable
is very important for everyone in all ages. Jesus said:
"Let your clothes be on and your lamps be burning, and be
like people who are waiting for their master to come home from
the marriage feast, so they may open the door for him when he
comes and knocks. Blessed indeed are those servants who are
awake and alert when their master comes. Truly, he will be so
pleased that he will put on the servants uniform and have them
sit at the table and he will serve them the meal. If he comes in
the second watch or in the third (anywhere from 9 p.m. to 3 a. m.
- Keith Hunt), and finds them so watching for him, they are
blessed indeed.
Now this, that if the house-owner had known the hour that
the thief was coming, he would have been awake and ready, so his
house would not have been broken into. You also must be READY;
for I tell you, the Son of man is coming again at an hour and
time you least expect Him to come."
"Lord," said Peter, "are you telling this parable to just us
or to all people?"
Jesus answered, "Who then is the faithful and wise servant,
whom his master will set over his household goods, to give his
family their portion of food at the correct time? Blessed is that
servant who is doing their work when their master comes. Truly I
tell you, he will give even more responsibilities to that servant
in handling his possessions. But, if that servant says within his
heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to
beat the men servants and maid servants under him, and to eat and
drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a
day when he least expects him to come, and in an hour that he is
not looking for him to come, and will punish him and put him with
the unfaithful.
And that servant who KNEW his master's will, but did not
make himself ready nor did according to his will, shall receive a
SEVERE punishment. But he who did NOT know, and did what deserved
a punishment, shall receive a lighter punishment.
Every one to whom MUCH is given, of him will much be
required; and to the person to whom people give more
responsibilities they will demand the more in fulfilling
those responsibilities" (Luke 12: 35-48).
If God has given us knowledge of Himself, His plan of
salvation, the understanding of His basic truths, then we are to
use them wisely and carefully. We are to appreciate them, to keep
them, to do His will in our lives all the time. We are not to
slack off, get complacent, or fall into wrong ideas of theology,
such as thinking we or others, know the year (or even the day as
some have proclaimed in just about every age over the last
2,000 years) of Christ's return. We are not to give up because
we think Jesus is delaying His coming again, and so delude
ourselves into thinking we can, eat, drink, be merry, or
as the saying goes, have our, "wine, women, and song." We are to
always be vigilant, watchful, careful, doing our Master's will,
and be ready for His coming, for His coming is as soon as our
last day of life on this earth, and most of us never know when
exactly that day may come.
INTERPRETING THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Jesus again talked about the fact that He had not come this
time to bring peace on earth, but that people in household
families would be divided over Him, and some would despise others
who followed Him. He talked again about being able to interpret
the signs of the sky, when it was going to rain etc. but that
they could not decern the present time which proved the Messiah
was among them. He talked about how they should judge what was
correct and if they were in the wrong they better settle out of
court with their adversary, unless they find themselves in much
deeper trouble with the courts (Luke 12: 49-59).
REPENTANCE IS A KEY TO SALVATION
There were some present who asked Him about the individuals
that Pilate (It might be interesting to know a few things about
Pilate. He was not a Roman by nationality, but by citizenship. He
was born a Spaniard and educated in Spain as far as the schools
of that country could take him. Then he went to Britain to study
in the universities of that country under the administration of
the Druids. It was Pilates ambition to become a Roman lawyer and
the future governor of Palestine. He studied long enough in
Britain to achieve not only his ambition but to absorb the
Druidic philosophy rather than the Greek and Roman. Vide Pilate's
question to our Lord as they were walking out the Praetorium,
"What is Truth?" This was the question which the Druids were ever
accustomed to debate) had killed while they were sacrificing and
mingled their blood with that of the blood of the sacrifices.
They were wanting to know if they were "great" sinners because
this happened to them. The Roman Government usually left the Jews
alone to worship in freedom. We are not told why Pilate in this
case had them killed.
Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were
worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered so?
I tell you, NO; but unless you REPENT you will all likewise
PERISH. Or, those eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and
killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders and
sinners than all others who dwelt in Jerusalem and/or worked on
constructing buildings? I tell you, NO; but unless you REPENT you
will likewise PERISH!"
And He told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in
his vineyard; and he came one day seeking fruit on it and found
none. So he said to his gardener, 'I have come these last three
years seeking fruit from this fig tree, and I have found none. I
want you to cut it down; why should it use up good valuable
ground?' And he answered him,'I think you should leave it stand,
sir, till I dig around it and put on manure. And if it bears
fruit next year, well and good; but if not, then I shall cut it
down' " (Luke 13: 1-9).
Jesus was in all this explanation talking about having life
eternal, or being cut down, destroyed, perishing, and never
gaining eternal life. There are few things to note. One, is that
God is willing to be patient with people to a point. He will work
with them, trying to nurture them and bring them along to what is
require for His grace and love, but there comes a day when if no
fruit is produced by the individual, He will have no choice but
to let them perish. We also note, that REPENTANCE is an absolute
requirement if you are going to live forever and not perish. And
we also note, that just because some people die in terrible
natural calamities and even by the hands of other human beings,
does not mean they are sinners above other people, and that God
is handing out severe punishment upon them.
The MAIN point Jesus was wanting to get across was for
people to think about sin in relation to salvation, not so much
about trying to tie horrible events in an individuals physical
life to sin. As the subject was to do with "sin" He was pointing
out that people have to REPENT or they will one day perish fully
and for ever, never to live again.
HEALING ON THE SABBATH MEETS WITH CRITICISM
It was a Sabbath day and Jesus was teaching in one of the
synagogues, and there was present a woman who had an infirmity
for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten
herself. When Jesus saw her He called her to come to Him and said
to her, "Lady, you are freed from your infirmity." He laid hands
on her and she was immediately healed and stood up straight. With
joyous and uplifted voice she praised God.
But the ruler of the synagogue (they were usually Pharisees)
became very indignant because Jesus had done this healing on the
Sabbath day. He turned and said to the people assembled there,
"There are six days on which work ought to be done; be healed on
those days, but not on the Sabbath day."
The Lord Jesus answered him, "You HYPOCRITES! Does not each
of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his horse from the manger,
and lead it away to water it? So should not this woman, a
daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be
loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?"
When Jesus put it to them this way, all His adversaries got
red in the face and were put to shame. The general people
rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by Him (Luke
13: 10-17).
ARE ONLY FEW SAVED ?
Jesus and His disciples still had not yet arrived in
Jerusalem. They were passing through many towns and villages. An
individual came to him and asked, "Lord, will those who are saved
by few in number?"
And He said, "You must strive to enter by the NARROW door,
for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
When once the householder had risen up and closed the door, you
will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying,
'Lord. open to us.' He will answer you, 'I do not know where you
come from.' Then they will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in
your presence, and you taught in our streets.' But he will say,
'I tell you, I do not know where you come from, you are strangers
to me, depart from me, all you workers of lawlessness!' I tell
you, you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham,
and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of
God and you yourselves cast out. And men will come from the east
and west, and from the north and south, and sit in fellowship
together in the Kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who
will be first, and some first who will be last" (Luke 13: 22-30).
Some of the words of Jesus are VERY SOBERING! Some of His
words are pretty PLAIN also. When Jesus comes again in glory,
when the resurrection takes place, when Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
are raised to life in that resurrection, when the prophets are
raised, and many others from the four quarters of the earth,
there will be many who thought they were "Christians" - who
thought they knew Jesus, thought they ate and drank with Him,
were "church" going people, and took it for granted they would be
with Jesus in His Kingdom. But they will not be in that first
resurrection at His coming again. And the reason as to the WHY,
Jesus gives.....they were workers of lawlessness! Lawlessness is
the breaking of God's holy and righteous commandments, the Ten
commandments being the basic foundation.
Many people will not be in that first resurrection who
thought they would be. They will have to wait for the general
white throne judgment resurrection, at the end of the 1,000 year
reign of Christ on earth, that we have talked about in past
chapters of this Gospel story.
Some near the end of this age, shortly before Jesus comes,
will be converted, will acknowledge sin, will repent, will turn
from lawlessness to walk in righteousness, and be in the first
resurrection, be in the Kingdom of God. They will be some of the
very last ones to find true repentance and conversion since the
time of Adam and Eve. So, it will be as Jesus said, the first
(long time ago could have found the true way of God and
followed it) will be some of the very last to enter the Kingdom,
while some of the last of this age will find true repentance and
enter the Kingdom first (Rev. 7), at the time of Christ's coming
again.
Then again, some of those first to have salvation offered to
them, who even thought they had it in their pocket so to speak,
but who would not turn fully from lawlessness (think about the
4th commandment, and how many Christians really observe and obey
it) , will not even be in the Kingdom period! They will be
weeping and gnashing their teeth. There will be many "Christians"
when Jesus returns who will be standing in their flesh, thinking
they should be changed from mortal to immortal (1 Cor.15),
thinking they should rise to meet the Lord in the clouds and be
with Him (1 Thes. 4) and THEY WILL NOT! They will be outside
looking in. There will indeed be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We need to be sure we are not among that crowd. We need to
be DOING the law, and not be lawless.
JESUS' ANSWER TO HEROD AND HIS WEEPING
OVER JERUSALEM
At that moment when Jesus was just finishing answering the
question about many or few being saved, some friendlier Pharisees
came running up to Him saying, "Get away from here, for Herod
wants to kill you."
The word Herod was actually the surname of a family, from
the great and famous "Herod the Great" (37 B.C. to 4 B.C.) There
were a number of male descendants from this "great Herod." This
one here that the Pharisees were talking about was Herod Antipas
(A.D. 6 to A.D. 39). He ended up (because his father determined
it be so) only being governor over the region of Galilee and
Perea, which embraced one fourth of the original territory he
would have liked to have had kingship rule over. It was this
Herod that John the Baptist denounced for marrying his brother
Philip's wife. His rule over the territory he did govern was
marked with cunning and crime. He was, history tells us,
intensely selfish and utterly destitute of principles.
This Herod Antipas wanted to see Jesus dead, but Jesus told
the Pharisees to "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out
demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I
finish my course. Nevertheless I must go on my way today and
tomorrow and the next day following; for it cannot be that a
prophet should perish away from the city of Jerusalem.' "
Jesus was talking in proverbial language to Herod Antipas.
He was in plain language saying, "Look, you fox, you cannot do
anything against me today, or tomorrow or any day, until I've
done the work God wants me to do. And even then I could not die
outside of Jerusalem, for so it is ordained, and there is nothing
you can do about it!"
As Jesus was thinking about the city of Jerusalem as the
only place where He could be put to death, the city itself came
before His mind, and its history of being a city where many of
God's prophets were killed. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, guilty of
killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How I
would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her
brood under her wings, and you would not let me do it! You
refused me! So, behold, your house is forsaken! And I tell you,
you will not see me until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in
the name of the Lord!' " (Luke 13: 31-35).
It was to be yet a while before Jesus would enter the city
of Jerusalem. He was making His way there, but He would not
arrive for sometime. When He did the people would be greeting Him
with "Hosanna to the son of David, blessed be he who comes in
the name of the Lord." This we shall see when we get to that part
of our story.
................................
Written November 2002
 
Chapter Twenty-six: Humility - The Banquet - Cost of Discipleship - Wayward Son - Stewardship - Start of New CovenantMAN WITH DROPSY HEALED
It was another weekly Sabbath, and Jesus was dining at a
house of a ruler who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees. And
the members of that sect were once more watching Him. There was
present a man who had "dropsy." This does not mean he kept
dropping things. The word "dropsy" is an old English word, it is
not used today for the decease that this man had. The man had
arms and legs that were swollen all the time.
Jesus said to the Pharisees and the experts of religious
law, "So, is it permitted in the law to heal people on the
Sabbath day, or not?"
They refused to answer Him. Jesus seeing that they refused
to say a word in response to His question, touched the sick man
and healed him, then turning to the people said, "Which of you
does not work on the Sabbath? If your donkey or cow falls into a
pit, don't you proceed at once to get it out?" (Luke 14: 1-6).
Again no one answered Him.
BEING HUMBLE
When Jesus noticed that all who had been invited to the
dinner were trying to sit near the head of the table, He gave
this advice:
"If you are invited to a wedding feast, don't always head
for the best seat. What if someone more respected and well-known
than you has been invited? The host will say, 'Let this person
sit here instead.' Then you will be embarrassed and will have to
take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table! Do this
instead - sit at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees
you he will come and say, 'Friend, we have a better place for
you!' Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests.
For the proud will be humbled and the humble will be honored."
Turning now to the host of this dinner, Jesus said, "When
you put on a luncheon or a dinner, don't just invite your
friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they
will repay you by inviting you to their dinners. Instead, invite
the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the
resurrection God will reward you for inviting those who could not
repay you" (Luke 14: 7-14).
Jesus was telling people that those who are "unknown" and
really "no-bodies" in the eyes of the world would be very wise to
stay humble in their dealings and practices with certain physical
meetings the world may sponsor. They should not try to be as we
say "pushy" - trying to put themselves into the lime-light or
notice of people attending such functions, because of some vanity
and self-important mindset. For it is better to be asked to "step
up" than be embarrassed by being publicly "put-down" a step or
two.
THE BANQUET IN THE KINGDOM
A man spoke up and said, "What a privilege it would be to
eat and share a fellowship meal in the Kingdom of God."
A privilege indeed, but one that many in that day who were
invited, will miss out on. Jesus gave this parable in response
to the man's statement.
"A man prepared a great feast meal and sent out many
invitations to people he knew and ones close to him. When all was
ready he sent his servants out to notify the guests that they
should come. But they all began to make excuses. One said he had
just bought a field and wanted to inspect it, so he asked to be
excused. Another said he had just bought five pair of oxen and
wanted to see how they worked together pulling his plow. Another
said he had just married and could not leave his wife.
The servant returned and told his master what they had said.
The master was angry and said, 'Go quickly into the streets and
the alleys of the cities and towns and invite the poor, the
crippled, the lame, the blind.'
After the servant had done this, he reported to his master
that there was still room for more people to attend the feast.
So, his master told him, 'Go then into the country lanes and
behind the hedges and urge anyone to come, so that my house will
be full. For none of those I invited first will get even the
smallest taste of what I had prepared for them" (Luke 14: 15-24).
God first gave the invitation to come into His Kingdom to
the Israelites, and specifically in the time Jesus was teaching
and preaching, to the people of the House of Judah (who consisted
of those from the tribes of Judah, Levi, and Benjamin, with a few
from some of the other tribes who had escaped the Assyrian
captivity and deportation from 745 to 718 B.C. and had fled to
the House of Judah in the south).
In the main, those people to whom the invitation was first
given, REJECTED the invitation, made excuse after excuse, and
just would not listen and turned away from entering the Kingdom
of God. Many were invited that were educated and experts in the
law of God, they were the ones who should have been the closest
to God, knowing His word, but they also rejected the true way
into the feast dinner of the Kingdom of God.
So, the invitation to enter was sent out and given to the
lowly and often uneducated of the land, to the poor, to the
crippled, to the blind. The invitation would also go to those
outside the fold of Judah, into the countries of other nations.
God will make sure His banquet feast at the coming of His
Kingdom, will be full. But those to whom the invitation was first
given would be left outside at that time.
We need to be careful NOT to turn down our invitation to be
in God's Kingdom when Jesus Christ returns to this earth to
establish it as the world ruling government for all nations.
COUNT THE COST OF BEING A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST
Great crowds were following Him around, looking like they
wanted to be His disciples, but they really did not understand
what it meant to be a follower of His way, so He turned and said
to them, "If you really want to be my follower you must LOVE me
MORE than your own father, or mother, wife, children, brothers or
sisters - yes, more even than your own life. Otherwise you cannot
be my disciples. And you cannot be my disciples if you will not
carry your own cross, particular problems, trials, tests, that
come in being my disciple.
But you better not begin until you COUNT THE COST. For who
would begin to construct a building without first getting
estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to
pay the bills as they would come in? Otherwise you might complete
the foundation only, and then find you have not enough money to
finish the project. How everyone would then laugh at you. They
would say, 'There's the person who started that building and ran
out of money before they could finish it!'
Or, what king would ever dream of going to war without first
sitting down with his counsellors and military leaders to discuss
whether his army of ten thousand is strong enough to defeat the
twenty thousand soldiers who are marching to fight against him?
If he is not able, then while the enemy is still a long way off,
he will send a delegation of people from his government to
discuss terms of peace.
So no one can become my disciple without giving up
everything for me and knowing what it will cost them.
Salt is good for seasoning. But if it looses its flavor, how
do you make it salty again? Flavorless salt is good neither for
the soil nor for fertilizer. It is just thrown away.
Anyone who is willing to hear, should indeed listen and
understand!" (Luke 14: 25-35).
Yes, you do not become a follower and disciple of Christ's
JUST on an emotional breakdown. Some form of emotion should be
felt in full REPENTANCE towards being saved and entering the
Kingdom through Christ, but it should never stand alone. There
should be also a practical no nonsense, serious contemplation,
meditation, and mental thought on what it will mean to be a true
"Christian." For wanting to be a real disciple of Jesus means HE
comes FIRST. His way of life, and His practices, must be first in
your life, above any other person, or any other thing. There is a
price dag on having God's grace and salvation, not that you can
ever earn it by any of your works, but you must be wanting to
have it more than anything else in your entire life.
As Jesus taught us in His sermon on the mount, we must first
of all seek God's Kingdom and His righteousness, if we want to be
in it on the resurrection day, when Jesus returns in glory.
STORY OF THE LOST SHEEP
The hated tax collectors and other notorious sinners from
the other side of the tracks, from the parts of towns most people
did not enter, often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the
Pharisees and the "experts in religious law" complain that He was
associating with the sum of the earth and the lowest of the
"despicable people."
So Jesus used again an illustration like He had done before:
"If you had 100 sheep, and one of them strayed away, and got
lost in the wilderness, would you not leave the 99 others and go
searching for the one that was lost? Yes, you would. And when you
found it you would carry it home on your shoulders. When you
arrived home you would call your friends and your neighbors to
come and rejoice with you because the sheep that was lost is now
found. In the say way, heaven will be happier over the one sinner
that repents and turns to God, than over 99 others who are
righteousness and haven't strayed away and got lost!" (Luke 15:
1-7).
THE SILVER COIN LOST
Jesus also illustrated the same with this story:
"Or suppose a woman has ten valuable silver coins and looses
one. Will she not light a lamp and look in every corner of the
house, and sweep ever nook and cranny and corner until she finds
it? Yes, she will! And when she finds it, she will call in her
friends and neighbors to rejoice with her because she has found
the coin she lost. In the same way, there is joy in the presence
of God's angels over even one sinner that repents" (Luke 15:
8-10)
STORY OF THE LOST SON
And with one more further illustration and story, Jesus
brought home the importance of one sinner repenting:
"There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them
said to his father one day, 'Father, give me my share of my
inheritance now, not later.' And the father did so, dividing his
working profit between the two sons. Not long afterwards the
younger son packed his belongings, gathered all he had together,
and departed into a far away country, and there he squandered
away his inheritance in loose living. After spending everything
he had, there came a great famine in the land he was living in,
and he began to be in physical need to keep himself from
starving. So he went out and found a citizen who needed someone
to feed his pigs. He was so desperate because no one would give
him anything, he fed on the pods that he was feeding to the
swine.
He finally thought to himself, 'How many of my father's
servants are starving to death, like I am? I will arise and go to
my father and say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven
and before you also; I am no longer worthy to be called your son;
treat me at one of your hired servants.' And so he arose and came
to his father. But while still a long way off his father saw him
and felt compassion towards him. The father ran and embraced him,
and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned
against heaven and against you, I am no longer worthy to be
called your son.'
But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best
set of clothes, and put them on him; and put a ring on his
finger, and shoes on his feet; and bring out the fatted calf and
kill it, and let us eat and be joyful; for this my son who was as
good as dead, is alive; he was lost, but now is found.' And they
all began to have a party of rejoicing.
Now his elder son was in the field; and as he approached
near to the house, he heard music and dancing and merriment. He
called one of the servants and asked what was going on and what
all this happy noise was all about. 'Oh, your brother has come
home,' the servant replied, 'and your father has killed the
fatted calf, because he has him back safe and sound.' But the
elder brother was angry and refused to go into the house.
His father came out and tried to entreat him, but he answered his
father, 'All these years I have served you, and never did
anything against your wishes and desires; yet you never gave me a
kid that I might have a party with my friends. But when this son
of yours comes back, who has thrown away and foolishly spent your
money you gave him, on prostitutes and lavish living, you turn
right around and kill the fatted calf and put on a celebration
for him. I just do not understand what you are thinking!'
And the father said, 'Son, you are always with me, and all
that I have is yours all the time. It was fitting to have this
celebration party and to rejoice, for this your brother who was
as good as dead, is alive; he was lost, but now he is found'
(Luke 15: 11-32)
Indeed, it is a time to greatly rejoice over even one sinner
who truly REPENTS and accepts Jesus as personal Savior and who
will love God the Father with all his heart and life and mind. We
who have been with the heaven Father for some time, who have His
love and all the blessing He gives to us each day, we who know
His ways, and have walked in them, and have so been able to
receive the blessing from so doing, each and every day, we need
to be able to greatly rejoice over even one sinner who has been
lost in sin, but who has now found the way to our Father in
heaven.
Jesus was trying to get through to certain ones of His time
that were so self-righteous in their approach to "religion" that
they could not see where it was all at, what the bottom line was
that God was doing with mankind on this earth. They could not see
that God was wanting sinners to REPENT and to become His literal
sons and daughters. They could not see that God and the angels in
heaven were greatly rejoicing over just one single sinner that
found the way to salvation.
We need to always be of the mindset of our heavenly Father,
and our brother Christ Jesus, in that we also rejoice with them
over the lost sinner coming to repentance and salvation.
THE FAITHFUL STEWARD BEING WISE
Jesus thought it was needed that His disciples be taught
that it was fine to be wise in physical ways with the world,
which might someday pay off when needing some help, so He said:
"There was a rich man who had a servant, and charges were
brought to him that the servant was wasting his goods. And he
called him and said to him, 'What is this that I am hearing about
you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no
longer be a servant in charge of my goods.' And the servant said
to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking this
stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig ditches
and I'm ashamed to beg. Ah, I know what I'll do, so that people
may receive me into their favor and houses when I'm put out of my
stewardship with this rich man.'
So, summoning his master's debtors to come to him, one by
one, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' The
man replied, 'I owe a hundred jars of oil.' And the servant said,
"Alright, take your account and write down that you owe 50 jars
of oil.' Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe my
master?' The man answered, 'It owe a hundred sacks of wheat.' The
servant said to him, 'Take your bill and write that you owe
eighty sacks.'
The master found out what the servant had done, but actually
commended the dishonest servant because of his prudence,
discerning rational and farsighted thoughts.
The sons of this world are sometimes wiser than the sons of
light. So, I tell you, make friends for yourselves in the
physical substance of material dealings with people, use your
worldly resources to benefit others and make friends, so that
when the physical things of money and goods fail you, you will
have friends to help you on your way in this life as you move
forward to eternal life" (Luke 16: 1-9).
Jesus was not endorsing that His disciples be dishonest or
cheats. That was not the main point of the parable. The main
point was that Jesus said it was wise, to be wise in the use of
your material resources, gifts, talents etc. so you could have
friends who were not disciples of Jesus. In so doing, there might
come a time when those friends would help you in physical ways,
if you run into hard times in this life.
Very interesting and revealing indeed, for Jesus was
teaching that sometimes friends outside of the Church of God, are
fine to have, and that they may be the ones to help you better
and faster than your friends in "the church" when hard physical
times come your way.
BEING FAITHFUL WITH WHAT YOU HAVE
Jesus continued with more instructions of being a wise and
faithful steward of what God gives you:
"He who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much;
and he who is unfaithful in very little is unfaithful in much. If
you have not been faithful with the physical material goods and
money you have, who is going to entrust to you greater riches?
And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who
will give you that which is your own?"
God expects us to be good stewards of all the physical goods
we have, to use them wisely and in the service of others. If we
do that then He will give us more to use and be faithful in,
especially so in the Kingdom. If you are not faithful and wise in
using material goods here and now, then people will not entrust
you to have more responsibility. We certainly find this in the
working sector of society. A boss is not going to entrust you
with great responsibilities if you cannot handle wisely the
little responsibilities you have now. And often if you have not
handled correctly duties and material goods that you do
not naturally or shall we say, "fall into sink with" (taking more
effort and work on your part) immediately, then even that which
does come easy to you, and that you are naturally talented with,
will be with-held from you. Life and work is not always doing
what comes natural or easy to us, sometimes we must do and be
faithful in things that task our body and mind. But we shall be
rewarded, often in this life time, but certainly in the next one
in God's Kingdom.
NOT ALLOWING THE PHYSICAL TO DOMINATE
Jesus did not want anyone to misunderstand what He was
teaching. Some listening would no doubt have thought He was
saying that we needed to be consumed, as on a drug, with the
material things of this life, making what we do with goods and
money and our talents, the number one priority in life, and sad
to say, many, from morning to night, are doing just that.
I was talking to a lady who has a daughter, unmarried, but
works at two jobs, one an office job, all day, and then goes to
work in a Casino till 2 a.m. in the morning. She has bought a
house but must have two others living there also as roommates.
She has to do all this just to make ends meet.
Then of course there are others who do such things as the
daughter above simply to get more and more money in the bank.
Their "god" is money and material goods.
Jesus was not wanting anyone to think He was teaching that
people should be all consumed with the material things in life,
so He said, "No servant can serve two masters, for either he will
hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one
and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and the physical
world."
Jesus wants us to do our faithful part while in this
physical world with the material things we have responsibility
over, but not to the point it becomes our every breath of life.
He wants us to make sure God and His way come first, but not to
let slip our physical obligations with what has been given to us
either by God or man or both.
The Pharisees, who loved "money" heard all this and just
laughed and scoffed at Him. Jesus said to them, "You are those
who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for
what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God"
(Luke 16: 10-15).
The Pharisees, to uphold their life style, their greed for
money, their love of being noticed on the street and at banquets,
would justified all they did as easy as blinking an eye. They had
all kinds of ways to justify, make it sound correct and
righteous, how they lived and acted to gain more and more. Jesus
told them they were only fooling themselves and maybe some people
walking the streets or in the market place, but they were not
fooling God, for He knew what was in their hearts. And what was
in their hearts was an abomination to God.
NEW TESTAMENT TEACHING SINCE JOHN
Jesus wanted to also make it very clear that the New
Testament or New Covenant had arrived and was being taught FROM
the days of John the Baptist. He said, "The law and the prophets
were until John; since then the good news of the Kingdom of God
is preached, and every one enters it by striving forcefully with
great determination. But it is easier for heaven and earth to
pass away, than for one dot of the law to become void"
(Luke 16: 16-17).
These few verses are very important verses, not understood
by many. There is much argument today over the Old and the New
Covenants, and exactly WHEN the New one took effect, was it when
Jesus died, or when He was resurrected, was it on the day
of Pentecost?
The truth of the matter is that the New Covenant took effect
at the coming and preaching and ministry of John the Baptist.
Then it was no longer JUST the law and the prophets, the Old
Testament books, but the "spirit" of the New Covenant that was
now in effect. Jesus and John were teaching and preaching the New
Covenant, this of course we can see plainly from Jesus' "sermon
on the mount." And those who wanted into the New Covenant, into
the Kingdom of God, had to strive hard, be determined in their
mind, to walk the straight and narrow path to eternal life, as
Jesus had already before taught and instructed.
Then He was also making it clear that just because the New
Covenant and the Kingdom of God had arrived to be preached and
entered, did not mean the old books of the Old Testament or
Covenant were done away with. On the contrary, He said, it would
be easier for heaven to roll away than for one word of those
books to perish.
Jesus was saying once more what He plainly taught in Matthew
4: 4, that people are to live by EVERY WORD OF GOD, all that is
contained in the Old and the New Testaments, what today we know
as the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
MARRIAGE BOND TIGHTENED UP
Jesus was still hammering at the Pharisees, it was they who
were laughing at Him for what He was teaching, so they needed to
be hit a little more. Jesus knew that the main school of the
Pharisees taught that people could get divorced for just about
any little reason, sometimes out and out silly and trivial, like
divorcing your wife because she didn't iron your clothes with the
pleats in just the right place. Jesus here recorded by Luke does
not go into details, but the Pharisees would have known exactly
what He was aiming at, He said, "Every one who divorces his wife
and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman
divorced from her husband commits adultery."
Later, Jesus gets into this subject once again with the
Pharisees and goes into more detail on the matter. We shall see
this when we come to chapter 19 of the Gospel of Matthew.
.............................
Written November 2002
  Chapter Twenty-seven:Rich man and Lazarus - Forgiveness - Increasing Faith - Kingdom Within - Day of Christ's Return - Praying for Vengeance - HumilityPARABLE OF LAZARUS
Jesus said, looking at the Pharisees, "There was a rich man,
who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted
sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named
Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from
the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his
sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to
Abraham's bosom."
Using the Bible to interpret itself, we know that death is a
sleep, that people do not continue to think, talk, walk around,
anywhere after they die. This poor man Lazarus was dead, asleep,
but one day is taken by the angels into Abraham's bosom, into a
loving embrace and close fellowship with Abraham This happens
when Abraham will rise from the dead, when both Lazarus and
Abraham will rise in a resurrection, the angels being present
(Matthew 24: 29-31) and all saints in close bosom fellowship one
with the other. So, this part of Jesus' parable brings us to the
FIRST resurrection, the resurrection of the saints, at the coming
of Christ in glory, to meet the Jesus in the clouds of the air (1
Thes. 4: 13-18), and the change from mortal to immortal for the
children of God as Paul spoke about in 1 Corinthians 15.
Jesus continued, "The rich man died and was also buried; and
in the grave, he lifted up his eyes, and was in torment, seeing
Abraham far off and Lazarus in close bosom fellowship. And he
called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus
to dip the end of his finger into water and come and cool my
tongue; for I am in anguish seeing this flame.' "
First we notice the rich man dies, he is also asleep, until
he is resurrected back to life. But this resurrection for him is
not until AFTER the first resurrection and AFTER the 1,000 years
period spoken about in Revelation 20.
Of course in this parable it is clear that Lazarus is a
saint or child of God, while the rich man is one of the
unrepentant wicked.
This wicked rich man comes up in a resurrection at the end
of the 1,000 year period, and what does he see? Well, already in
the Kingdom of God there is Abraham and Lazarus, who were
resurrected 1,000 years earlier. Then as we are near the very
end of all time and ages leading up to the cleansing of the earth
by FIRE (2 Peter 3: 8-13 and Malachi 4) and destruction of all
the wicked, and the coming of the new heavens and new earth, it
is only fitting that the rich man SEES the FIRE!
He is in utter anguish! The Greek here for this word
"anguish" mainly means "anguish of the mind and emotions." It
does not mean he is feeling physical pain from being in some kind
of never ending burning hell-fire, where he was thrown when he
died.
Notice he asks for Abraham to send Lazarus, to do what? Does
he ask him to get a fire engine and hose pipe and shoot torrents
of water over him and the area to put out the fire that some say
he is living in, and has been in for thousands of years? No! he
asks that Lazarus come over to put his wet finger in the tip of
his tongue. When you are in such mental anguish your mouth dries
up and you become "hot under the collar" as the saying goes.
This man could see the flames that were coming on the earth
to fulfil the prophecies we have quoted above. You bet he was in
anguish. He realized what fate awaited him.
Jesus said furthermore, "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember
that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus
in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you
are in anguish. And besides all this, between you and us is a
great wide chasm, so that those who would like to pass from your
side to this side, cannot do so."
Jesus was hitting the Pharisees right between the eyes with
a two by four. He was telling them that such people as they, had
had their physical comfort and luxury during their life time,
while not caring for the poor and needy, while not even giving
them some crumbs from their table. He was telling them that
people like Lazarus, who had none of the material goods they had,
in their physical life, but were true children of God (while
they only pretended to be religious), would have their comfort
and reward. They would be inside the Kingdom looking out at such
fellows who would be in anguish at not being in the Kingdom and
who would be waiting their fate in the fires at the end of time.
The great gulf or chasm that could not be crossed was the
chasm of "immortality." The chasm of eternal life as opposed to
mortal life. Lazarus now had eternal life, the rich man was
raised to mortal life. The rich man was representing those who
had refused to repent and enter God's Kingdom. It was now too
late for the rich man, his day of salvation had already come and
gone. He had thrown it away, he had refused to listen to God's
calling and God's WORD!
Listening to the word of God, living by every word of God,
is vital, as we have seen Jesus already expounding to us in
earlier parts of His ministry. This is again brought to the
for-front by Jesus' last words in this parable, "The rich man
said, 'Then I beg you, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my
father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may worn
them, lest they also come into this place of anguish.' But
Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear
what they have to say.' And he said, 'Oh no, father Abraham, but
if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' Abraham
replied to him, 'Ah, if they will not hear Moses and the
prophets, neither will they hear and be convinced and repent if
some one should rise from the dead'" (Luke 16: 19-31).
True repentance to salvation has little if anything to do
with "miracles." Physical miracles, seeing them, is not the way
to find repentance into the Kingdom of God. Satan with his
powers can work miracles. Paul tells us that he sometimes comes
as if he is an "angel of light" ( 2 Cor. 11: 13-15). True
repentance and being a child of God comes from a personal
relationship with Christ and God the Father, and from studying
and living by every word of God. When Jesus said you must listen
to Moses and the prophets, all in His day knew that meant all of
the books from Genesis to Malachi.
Yes, there were to be more books added to God's word, what
we today know as the New Testament, but Jesus, as we've seen,
said not one "dot" of the Old Testament would fade away. We have
seen He said it was easier for heaven to pass away than one
small letter to pass from the law and the prophets - the Old
Testament.
It was still true then, and it is still true today, that to
be a Lazarus, to be in the Kingdom of God, one would have to hear
and live by ALL the Bible. That way is the only way to repentance
and salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
When using the Bible to interpret itself, this somewhat
famous parable, is not even close to proving that people have an
immortal soul that either goes to heaven at death if you are
"good" or to an ever burning hell-fire if you are "bad."
The parable clearly teaches the truth about RESURRECTIONS, a
resurrection to eternal glory if you are a true repentant child
of God, and a resurrection to be burnt up in the fires that will
engulf the earth to destroy all unrepentant sinners, and then
will come the new heavens and the new earth where in only dwells
righteousness. So it is written in the last three chapters of the
book of Revelation.
INCREASING FAITH
Jesus went on to talk again to His disciples about the fact
that people will cause others to sin and be offended to the point
where they will seriously think about giving up on God. He told
them once more that people who do such offenses it would have
been better for them to have had a stone around their neck and
have been cast into the sea. He said that to cause a little one
coming to Him to be offended and give up was a very serious
matter indeed.
And as He was talking about sin and repentance He said,
"Take note of this and of yourself; if your brother sins, rebuke
him, and if he repents, forgive him; and if he sins against you
seven times in a day, and turns to you and says, 'I repent,' you
must forgive him."
We understand this as meaning true repentance, not a
deliberate play act, just to lead you on and take advantage of
your mercy. Jesus knew there were play actors in religion, He
called the Pharisees and Sadducees and those skilled in
"religious law" hypocrites and play actors, most of them were,
and certainly Jesus was not meaning your kindness and mercy
should be taken for a ride by the likes of those (Luke 17: 1-4).
The apostles then asked Jesus to increase their faith. We
would think they may have been thinking He would wave His hand,
utter a prayer and "presto" a greater supply of the Spirit would
have tingled up and down their spine. But what He said was the
way to increase ones faith:
"If you have faith even as small as a grain of mustard seed
you could say to this sycamine tree, 'Be rooted up, and be
planted in the sea,' and it would obey you, it would come to pass
as you desired. Then again, will any one of you who has a
servant plowing your field or watching over your sheep, say to
him when he comes in from outside, 'Please, sit down at once at
the table.' ? Will he not rather say, 'I want you to prepare
supper for me, and when I've eaten then you can eat' ? Does he
thank that servant for doing the things that he is commanded to
do? So you also, when you have done those things which are
commanded of you, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have done
only that which was our duty to do' " (Luke 17: 5-10).
Do you remember when the disciples could not cast out a
demon from a father's son? Jesus did the casting out, and was
disappointed with the disciples. They asked Him why they could
not cast out the demon. Do you remember what Jesus said in reply
to them? He said such a miracle could only be done through much
prayer and fasting!
We draw close to God through prayer and fasting. We gain
more faith to do greater works for God. Jesus here was saying
that even with a little faith, a small part of faith like a grain
of mustard seed, you could do great things, but if you wanted
still yet more faith, you had to go above and beyond just obeying
the written commandments of the Lord. Doing those commandments
was part of your duty as a servant and child of God. Increased
faith would come about by going beyond the call of duty.
It reminds me of what John said in 1 John 3: 22. There are
things that are pleasing to God that we should be doing also.
They may not be written down as laws and commandments per se, but
there are things that God is pleased with even if He has not
spelled them out to us in His written word.
Doing all of this, the written and the un-written
commandments of the Lord, draw us closer and closer to Him, and
in so living this way, we can add to our faith, or increase our
faith. It was probably not the answer that the disciples were
looking for or expecting, but Jesus gave it as the sure way to
increase a person's faith.
There is also a very sobering connection here with Jesus
saying that after we have done all that is commanded of us that
we are to say we are "unprofitable servants." For, if we now take
those words and put them with Matthew 25: 14-30.....well, very
revealing it is. How the Bible can interpret itself, brings us to
stark reality sometimes.
TEN LEPERS HEALED
Jesus was still headed for Jerusalem. He was now passing
along between Galilee and Samaria. He entered a village and was
met by ten lepers. The decease of leprosy is very contagious so
people in those days with the decease were isolated from everyone
else. And they themselves stood back from others so not to pass
on their leprosy. The decease is a whitish swollen bumpy
formation in the skin, very contagious as I've just said, and so
you really did become an "outcast" from the rest of society.
Well, ten people with leprosy stood far back from Jesus but
shouted out to Him, "Jesus, Master, have mercy upon us." Hearing
them He said, "You all go and show yourselves to the priests."
And as they left they were all healed.
It was the law of Moses that when you were healed from
leprosy you were required to show your proof of healing to the
priests.
It was one leper who seeing that he was healed, turned back,
and with a loud voice of praise to God, fell at the feet of
Jesus, also giving Him thanks. This man was a Samaritan, one
from the hated sect that the Jews of Judea despised. "Was there
not ten of you cleansed," said Jesus, "where are the other nine?
Was no one but this Samaritan found who returned and praised
God?"
The other nine we suppose were from Judea, being Jews who
thought they knew who the true God was, after all they had the
true Temple of God in Jerusalem, and had preserved all the books
of the Old Testament inspired Scripture, but they did not return
to thank God. Only this man, a Samaritan, that most Jews in
Palestine loathed and thought was the scum of the lake, only he
returned to praise God and thank Jesus.
Jesus told him to stand up and go his way, for his faith had
made him well and healthy.
THE KINGDOM WITHIN AND WHEN IT ALSO COMES
One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, "When will the Kingdom of
God come?" And Jesus, knowing that they could not see the signs
of the present time, and that He was the promised Messiah,
knowing they could not see the prophecies, or simply choice to
ignore them, about His first coming, knowing that all they cared
about was the prophecies of the Messiah coming in power and glory
to establish the Kingdom of God on earth (even then they had a
distorted idea about how all that would play out, they thought
Judah would become some kind of power over all the other nations
of the earth, with the Messiah being their leader to defeat their
enemies and establish a Jewish super world ruling government).
Jesus knew the Pharisees were only interested in the
prophecies regarding the Messiah's coming in glory and power, so
He deliberately did not answer their specific question about
those prophecies or the time setting as to when those prophecies
would come to pass. Jesus went straight to the Kingdom of God as
it was for the THEN present, as it was for each individual to
find and have for the NOW, for themselves personally, which the
Pharisees were far from finding.
Jesus answered them, "The Kingdom of God isn't only ushered
in with visible signs. You will not be able to say, 'Oh, look
over in this place, for there it is,' or 'It's over there, over
in that nation.' For the Kingdom of God is WITHIN you" (Luke 17:
20-21).
The Greek word for "within" means just that, within. Some
have objected that the Kingdom of God cannot be inside you, but
Paul clearly uses it in that sense in Colossians 1: 14, where he
says that Christians have been "translated" or "moved over" into
the Kingdom of the Son of the Father. Christ's Kingdom is the
Father's Kingdom, which after He has ruled with that Kingdom on
this earth for a thousand years (Revelation 19, 20), He will hand
over to the Father (1 Cor. 15: 24-26 with Rev. 20, 21). Yet, NOW,
at this present time, there is a reality to the Kingdom of God.
Christians are moved over into it when they repent, accept Jesus
as Savior, are baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit. This
for them, is a moving from the kingdom of Satan, sin, and the
unconverted world, into the Kingdom of God, here and now, in this
physical life time. You are already IN the Kingdom of God when
you become His literal Spirit led child.
Some object to this explanation, saying that Jesus could not
possibly be meaning the Kingdom of God was "within" those
Pharisees, to whom He was addressing His answer. But, they fail
to take into account the MANY "figures of speech" that is often
used in the Bible, by many people, just as we today in our
conversation often use figures of speech.
It is true that Jesus certainly did not mean those
hypocritical Pharisees had the Kingdom of God within themselves.
But using a figure of speech "the Kingdom of God is within you"
Jesus was saying and telling them that as far as they should be
concerned with, they needed to get the reality of the Kingdom of
God as it pertains to the present, as it pertains to having the
Kingdom within themselves, being a part of it NOW in the
spiritual sense, and not just looking to when it would come in
the literal sense, as ruling over the world.
And in that first sense, the Kingdom of God could not be
physically located as in some specific area of the planet we call
earth.
As I've stated, Jesus did not answer their specific
question, concerning the literal coming aspect of the Kingdom of
God. He chose to go rather to the more important state of things
for those Pharisees; being concerned with having in their lives
now, within themselves, the Kingdom of God.
Then, turning to His disciples He does tell them about the
last days, or more specifically THE very day upon which He would
return and establish the literal aspect of the Kingdom of God on
the earth. Keeping the CONTEXT in view at all times is the key.
We shall then clearly see Jesus was talking about THE LITERAL day
when He would come again in glory and power, and the basic state
of the world at large.
Jesus said:
"The days are coming when you will very much desire to see
ONE of the days of the Son of man, and YOU will not see it (as
Jesus taught elsewhere, He was going on a long journey back to
heaven for a long time, before He would return in glory to
establish the Kingdom. The disciples of His day would later LONG
to see that one day of His return, so would many others down
through the centuries, but they would not. They would rest in the
sleep of death, waiting the resurrection at Christ's coming -
Keith Hunt). Many will come along and say, 'Look here!' or 'Look,
there it is!' or "Behold He comes on this or that year and date.'
Do NOT believe them, do not get on their band wagon. For as the
lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the
other, SO will be the Son of man in His day. But first He must be
rejected and suffer many things by the hands of this generation."
(I grew up as a child and teenager in England. I can remember
many a day when out on the field playing soccer with the school
class, that it just stormed on us like it is hard to imagine. Big
black clouds, rolling thunder, raining like there would be no
tomorrow, and LIGHTENING that would make a fourth of July
fireworks display look tame. It would lightning flash and the
sky would literally light up from one side to the other, then
go black again from one side to the other, until the next
lightning flash. Quite spectacular it was. And all of this, sky
turning black, thunder, rain, and lightning, would all come upon
us quite suddenly, within a few minutes - Keith Hunt).
Jesus continued:
"As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of
the Son of man. They ate, they drank, they married, they were
engaged to be married, the worked, and they played, until THE DAY
when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed
them all. Likewise as it was in the days of Lot - they ate, they
drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built houses,
but on THE DAY when Lot went out from Sodom fire and brimstone
rained from heaven and destroyed them all - SO will it be on THE
DAY when the Son of man is revealed."
Noah entered the ark on ONE SPECIFIC 24 hour day, it did not
take him a month to walk into the ark. The waters of the flood
came on ONE specific day (of course the waters continued for a
while as is recorded in Genesis), and on THAT DAY Noah entered
the ark. The others were as good as dead men on that day, though
some did not die on that day that Noah entered the ark. But Jesus
is not concerned so much about that fact, as the fact that Noah
ENTERED the ark on ONE specific day of the year.
Lot departed out of Sodom on ONE specific day of the year.
It did not take him a month or a week to walk out of that city.
It took him just ONE day to leave Sodom, and on that day
destruction came upon those left in the city.
Jesus is clearly talking about the LITERAL 24 HOUR DAY in
the year (whatever year that may be) when He will RETURN to earth
with glory and POWER to save/and resurrect the saints, who will
join Him in the air, in the clouds (1 Thes. 4: 13-18), to be
will Him forever more, as they descend to the Mount of Olives at
Jerusalem (see Zechariah 14). He is talking about THE day when He
comes back again to earth to establish the Kingdom of God on
earth to rule all nations, and at that same time and for a while
afterwards He will punish and destroy many people who will rebel
against Him and will even try to fight Him (see Revelation 17:
12-14; 19; and 2 Thessalonians 1: 7-10).
We now have THE day that Jesus has focus on, it is one
particular literal 24 hour day, when He literally and bodily
comes again to earth from heaven. Speaking of that same day Jesus
continued with:
"On THAT day, let him who is on the housetop, with his goods
and money in the house, NOT come down to take them away; and
likewise let him who is in the field NOT turn back. Remember
Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, in that
night there will be two men in one bed; one will be taken and the
other left. There will be two women grinding together at the
mill; one will be taken while the other is left behind."
Oh, the many books that have been written on these last few
verses. Many have mistakenly thought Jesus was talking about a
coming great tribulation time, near the very end of this age,
when the saints would be "raptured' away to heaven - taken
suddenly, while driving their car, flying an airplane, driving a
school bus, to heaven. They think people will look around in
astonishment and ask "Where did...(name)...go to, what
happened to them, they were here a second ago and now they are
not." Of course the ramifications for such a belief is
mind-bending. If you are driving a school bus full of children
down a steep hill on a mountain-side and ....you suddenly
disappear, the conclusion could be deathly tragic.
Jesus was NOT talking about such a time nor about such a
"secret" event of suddenly having the saints disappear while they
were doing their daily chores or daily work, and possibly leaving
others to face death. Think about the death toll and crippled
bodies there would be from all of a sudden thousands of motor
vehicle drivers NOT driving, but sudden, in a split
second....gone....gone to heaven in a secret rapture!
Jesus WAS talking about THE day in the year upon which He
will return to earth. It will be a surprise to most, even the
saints will not know which day it will be (as we shall see Jesus
telling us later that fact), and people will still be living on
earth, doing their daily work and pleasures. Yes, the saints will
be on this earth during the last years of the Great Tribulation
period. Yes, some of the saints will be in captivity in their
enemies lands (the book of Revelation makes that clear), while
some saints will be in the wilderness (as it was in the dark and
so-called middle ages, to escape religious persecution and death
from organizations and Governments of nations who wanted to see
them dead). Some people will be converted during those last few
years before Jesus returns. They will be converted to true
Christianity while living where they are living and doing their
daily work.
Life at that time will still be going on, in many ways just
as it is for us today in our lives.
When Jesus returns on a specific day of the year, it will be
dark and bedtime for half the world. Hence Jesus saying two would
be in one bed. For the other half of the world, they will be
awake and working at whatever they do during their waking hours.
Jesus will come, not in secret! He will come SUDDENLY yes, but
not without great spectacular signs. So mighty will be the signs
it will be like one of those famous sudden English thunder and
lightning storm I was telling you about. The book of Revelation
tells us that every eye shall see Him when He comes. The round
earth will continue to roll and make its 24 hour turn. All will
finally see the mighty Jesus coming with great heavenly
signs. People will stop doing what they are doing. They will stop
driving, stop flying airplanes. Stop their school bus. If working
in a factory or grinding at the mill outside, they will stop and
look up. If still asleep.....well the one who is a true Christian
will be....gone indeed, gone in a RESURRECTION call of the blast
of the last trumpet (see 1 Cor.15 and Rev. 11: 15-19).
There will be no needless death of persons, or children, or
babies, as others around them suddenly disappear to be caught up
and led by the angels to meet Jesus in the clouds (Mat. 24: 29-31
with 1 Thes. 4: 13-18), as they are part of the first
resurrection (1 Cor.15).
After all this that Jesus told His disciples they asked him,
"Where, Lord, where will we be taken to?"
Jesus replied, "Where the body is, there the eagles will
also be gathered together" (Luke 17: 22-37).
How this saying of Jesus has also been misunderstood and
misapplied, all because of not keeping it within the CONTEXT of
the words before it. Jesus has been talking about THE day of His
coming back to earth to establish the Kingdom of God. The
disciples were understanding that on THAT day they would be in
safety, like Noah and Lot had been at their times of earth
shattering events. They understood that they, the saints of God,
would be taken....but they could just not finish putting it all
together, they were left a little bewildered. What would happen
when they were taken, where would they be take to, hence their
question, "Where Lord, where will we be taken to?"
Jesus was telling them about the RESURRECTION, which they
would be a part of, at His coming again, at the end of the age,
when He would return in glory and with spectacular signs. He was
"the body" that would attract the "gathering of the eagles" -
as the body is ONE and the eagles are MANY, so it is, that Jesus
is ONE and the saints are MANY. And where the body happens to be
there the eagles do come to it.
We can see the whole picture from Matthew 24: 29-31 and from
1 Thes. 4: 13-18 and from Zechariah 14. Jesus, as the "body" in
this analogy He uses, comes to just above the clouds of this
earth, and at that same time when the 7th trumpet is blown, the
saints who are dead rise in a resurrection, while the saints
living (sleeping in a bed or grinding at the mill) will be
instantly changed from mortal to immortal (1 Cor.15), and then
with the help of the angels (Mat.24: 29-31) they will be taken
WHERE Jesus is, to be gathered together with Him in the clouds,
and so ever be with Him for ever more, as He descends to the
Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14) in that very SAME day.
We must also remember that "analogies" are not always to be
taken to their ultimate literal sense. Because a "body" is a dead
rotting body in this analogy of Jesus' to which the eagles gather
to feed themselves on, Jesus was not saying that He would
be dead and saints coming to eat Him. That was not the point of
the analogy. The main point and only point of it was to teach His
disciples that the place where they would be, when in safety on
the day of His return, would be the place where He Himself would
be. To be WITH HIM on that day was ultimate safety.
We shall be with Him on the sea of glass in the clouds (1
Thes. 4: 13-18), and so be with Him for all eternity, as part of
the very literal born sons and daughters of the Father in heaven.
What a wonderful and breath-taking thought all of that is.
STICK TO IT PRAYER AND A HUMBLE MIND
Jesus told them a parable, to the effect that they should
always keep on praying and not lose heart. He said, "In a certain
city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man;
and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and
saying, 'Vindicate and revenge me against my adversary.' For a
while he refused; but afterwards he said to himself, 'Though I
neither fear God nor regard the position of any man, yet because
this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me
out by her continual coming.' "
The Jesus gave the meaning, "Hear what the unrighteous judge
says. And will not God vindicate and avenge His elect that cry to
Him day and night? Will He keep delaying for a long time over
them? I tell you He will give them justice and avenge for them.
He will do it speedily."
Here in this analogy the "judge" is obvious God the Father,
but the Father is not someone who does not fear Himself or
disregard men. This proves that analogies break down in parts and
not everything in the analogy is meant to be taken to prove
something. The main point of the analogy is the main point for us
to comprehend, not the used details.
Many evils have come upon God's elect down through the
centuries, from those who determined to be their enemies for one
reason or another. The people of God have cried out to Him for
justice and vengeance to be poured out on their evil enemies.
They have been crying out for a long time now. There is nothing
wrong with this importuning of God's people to see their enemies
brought to trial so to speak and handed their just reward of
punishment because of the evil the world and certain groups and
certain individuals have done against them. We see in symbolic
form the lives of many saints who have been killed for their
faith by evil persons, crying out to God in heaven, to be avenged
(Revelation 6: 9,10).
God's people are not to give up on this request. It is right
and proper justice that those who have done evil against peaceful
Christian saints, who wanted to do no more than just live their
faith, have their enemies pay for their evil. God has written in
His word that all shall be rewarded according to their works (see
Romans 2: 6-11).
Jesus went on: "Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes,
will he find THE faith on earth?"
In the Greek New Testament the definite article "the" is
there. So Jesus was asking the question as to whether THE faith
would be found on the earth when He came again. The answer from
the prophecies of the book of Revelation, is a YES, but it would
still be only a relatively small group who will hold THE faith,
the true beliefs and practices of God, when Jesus comes to earth
again.
Jesus spent a lot of time trying to get the sect of the
Pharisees to align themselves with the true spirit of godliness,
as opposed to their false religious attitude. He also told
this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were
righteous and despised others.
"Two men went up into the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee,
and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed like
this to himself, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax
collector. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I
get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even
lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying,
'God, be merciful to me a sinner.' I tell you, this man went to
his home justified rather than the other; for every one who
exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will
be exalted" (Luke 18: 1-14).
When we fully realize and admit to ourselves that despite
all the good things we may well do in this life, we have many
sins we also commit in mind, thoughts, words, and actions, as we
go about our lives, then we will at times not lift our eyes to
heaven, but admit to God we are a sinner. We shall then always be
in a state of mind that we ask for the mercy of God, knowing that
we need it, and knowing as the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 2:
8 that we are saved by grace and not by any of our "good" works.
For, as it is written, when compared to the holy perfectness of
our heavenly Father, all our own works of righteousness are but
filthy rags before Him.
Being humble, and admitting we are a sinner, is a must in
order for us to be justified and to inherit eternal life (I John
1 through 2: 2).
........................................
Written November 2002
  Chapter Twenty-eight:Divorce and Re-marriage - How to inherit eteranl LifePHARISEES ASK ABOUT DIVORCE
Jesus and His disciples were getting closer to Jerusalem.
One day as they were on their travels, the Pharisees wanting once
more to test Him, came asking this question, "It is lawful to
divorce one's wife for any cause?"
We have seen in the past chapters that there were two
schools among the sect of the Pharisees, and the main school of
thought and popularity among the Pharisee leaders was the school
that taught that the laws of Moses allowed for divorce for just
about any reason, large or very small. The Pharisees wanted to
see if Jesus agreed with the most popular of their theology
schools. And of course Jesus knew all this was what was going on
in their minds. He did not beat around the bush with them but
went on to state what would be the New Covenant teaching on this
matter.
"Have you not read that He who made them from the beginning,
made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall
leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the
two shall become one'? So they are no longer two but one. What
therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."
Jesus was telling them that the days of allowing divorce and
remarriage for just any silly little reason was over. Under the
New Covenant such conduct and allowances were now not to be
permitted. He was not agreeing with their most popular school of
theology, not for the New Testament age anyway.
They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a
certificate of divorce, and to put her away?" They were referring
to Deuteronomy 24: 1-2. And in their understanding of those
verses people in Israel were allowed to divorce for all kinds of
reasons, even trivial ones. Jesus did not argue with that
interpretation and practice. He just stated what God's original
intention for marriage was and that the days were over in
allowing divorce for any and every reason.
Jesus answered their question about Moses this way, "For the
HARDNESS of heart Moses ALLOWED you to divorce your wives, but
from the BEGINNING it was not so."
It was because the heart of the Israelite people was mainly
hardened and unconverted, not subject to the ways and laws of the
Lord, certainly not to the spiritual intent of the law. And when
it came to certain physical things like marriage, even having
more than one wife (which is called polygamy), they were far from
being in tune and in line with God's original intention for
marriage, when He first made man and woman. For how God looked
upon the heart of the Israelites see Deut. 5: 29; and 29: 4. God
ALLOWED MANY things under the Old Covenant that was not ideal or
as He would have wanted. Slavery was allowed, but that did not
mean God approved of it or sanctioned it.
He DID NOT, but because they were a carnal hard-hearted
people, who would have practiced it, He allowed it, but in
allowing it He gave strict humane and compassionate laws to
regulate it, as we see written in the laws of Moses.
From the BEGINNING of the creation of the world and man and
woman upon it, God's intention for many things to do with human
relations was far from what nations came to practice, far from
what the heart of the Israelites was set upon to also practice,
so He allowed things under the Old Testament, but many of those
allowances were not going to be allowed under the New Testament.
Jesus went on to say, "And I say unto you; whoever divorces
his wife, EXCEPT for unchastity (unfaithfulness, sexual
misconduct), and marries another, commits adultery."
Jesus was tightening up the marriage bond between couples.
No longer would it be permitted in God's eyes, to divorce and
remarry for many of the little reasons it was allowed under the
Old Covenant. Jesus DID ALLOW for one category of marriage
misconduct, He allowed divorce for UNCHASTITY....for any sexual
sin one partner may commit against the other, such as adultery or
any homosexual or lesbian sex act. The Greek word here used by
Jesus, when we look how it is used throughout the New
Testament, in many different passages, shows clearly that the
word covers ALL improper acts of sex that God does not allow
under His laws for sexual relations, which then include adultery
and homosexuality and/or lesbianism (as well of course as
"beastiality" or sex with an animal).
If one partner in a marriage union did commit such unlawful
sex acts then Jesus and God, did allow for divorce and
remarriage, if the offended party wants to take such action. The
offended party could of course show mercy and forgiveness if the
offending partner repented and turned away from their sexual sin.
God did not say there HAD to be a divorce, only there could be
grounds for divorce under that situation.
The disciples of Jesus you must remember were brought up in
a society where the main Pharisee school of religion was
practiced. They were accustomed to having divorce and remarriage
on a very loose scale. On hearing these words from Jesus they
could not believe it could be possible to live under a much
tighter marriage bond, definitely not as tight as their Master
was now proclaiming it would be, so as to be within the New
Covenant laws of God. So they responded to the Lord this way:
"If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not
expedient to marry!"
But He said to them, "Not all men can receive this precept
you state, but only those to whom it is given. For there are
eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs made
by men, and there are eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of
heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it "
(Mat. 19: 3-12).
First of all, Jesus did not answer or debate with them over
the matter of divorce and remarriage, you will notice. He had
said what He had said, and it was to be that way under the New
Covenant age, divorce for any silly reason was no longer allowed
by God. Jesus aimed right in on the disciples saying that it
might be better to NOT marry at all. He took the opportunity to
talk about people not marrying. Despite the tightening up of
the marriage bond for the New Testament age, most would still
want to marry, and only the relatively few could accept the
disciples thought about NOT marrying. It was only the
few, to whom it was given not to marry that would be able to live
and never marry, or remain un-married if they lost a mate.
We need to understand what a "eunuch" is. A eunuch is
someone (usually a man, or the word was commonly used for men)
who has no sex drive, and no desire to have a marriage with a
woman, because they have no desire for sex or to reproduce. Some
people, because of things that go wrong from conception, never
enter the life stage of sexuality, they never get any sex drive
as we say, which usually starts around the age of 10-13 for the
male.
Then some men back in Jesus day, had their testicles removed
by other men, usually men in government power positions or kings.
This made them lose any sexual drive, they had no interest in
women for sexual relations. Often kings put such man made
eunuchs in charge of their large concord of female dancers and
sexy women (rulers and kings of carnal nations had many women
just for sexual purposes only), because such men were not
effected by the beauty and sexuality of women, hence had no
desire to have sexual relations with them. Such eunuchs of men
could have normal conversations with women, could rule and manage
them, but had no desire to be sexual towards them.
Some persons (probably the apostle Paul was one of them, for
he indicates in his writings that he was not married when doing
the work of the Lord) have made themselves a eunuch, so to speak,
for the work of the Kingdom of God. They have the power and self
control to not be desirous for a sexual relationship with a woman
in marriage.
Jesus makes it plain that this voluntary "none marriage" -
"no sexual relationship" is not for the majority, but is only for
the few, who have the power to refrain from sex and marriage, in
order to put their whole life and energy into doing the work of
the Kingdom of God.
An example would be that of John the Baptist. He remained
un-married and a decided "eunuch" - no sexual relations with any
woman, all his life, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, and the
work he had been called to do. And of course the Lord Jesus
was also a eunuch for the Kingdom of God's sake. Only a few men
can so be, only a few are able to receive this, and Jesus said,
let him who can receive it, receive it.
JESUS BLESSES LITTLE CHILDREN
And it was that they were bringing children to Him that He
might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus
saw it He was indignant, and said to them, "Let the children come
to me, and do not hinder them; for to such ones belongs the
Kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the
Kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." And He took them
in His arms and blessed them, laying His hands upon them.
What a great example we see here, and we will notice that
children were not afraid to come to Jesus. He had a meek and mild
manner with them. We might say He had a soft and tender spot for
children that made such young ones feel quite at ease in His
presence and even in His arms (Mark 10: 13-16).
THE WAY TO INHERIT THE KINGDOM
As Jesus was once more setting out on His journey towards
Jerusalem, a certain very wealthy young ruler ran up to Jesus and
kneeling before Him, asked, "Good teacher, what must I do to
inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me
good? No one is good but God alone?" He was obviously wondering
if this man knew that He, Jesus, was God in the flesh.
Continuing to answer his question, Jesus said, "You know the
commandments, if you would enter or inherit eternal life, keep
the commandments, 'Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not
bear false witness, do not steal, honor your father and mother,
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.' "
The rich young man said to him, "All these I have done from
my youth, what do I still lack in how I should live?" And Jesus
looking upon him with love, said to him, "You lack one thing. If
you would be perfect, go and sell what you possess and give it
all to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and then
come and follow me."
When the young rich ruler heard this he went away very
sorrowfully because he had great possessions, and was physically
very wealthy.
Jesus turned and looked at His disciples and said to them,
"I tell you the truth, it will be hard for a rich man to enter
the Kingdom of God. And again, I tell you, it is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to
enter the Kingdom of God."
The disciples were greatly astonished when they heard Him
say these things. And they asked Him, "Who then can enter the
Kingdom of God and be saved?"
"With men," Jesus replied, "it is impossible, but with God
all things are possible."
Yes, the natural tendency of the human heart is, if wealthy,
to rely and covet, even putting faith into the material money and
goods you have, and to not think you need God in your life. Or,
as this young rich man found out, making your physical wealth
something you cannot give up. Jesus loved this young man for
observing the basic letter of the commandments of God from his
youth, but He knew there was ONE weakness that he had that would
keep him from entering the Kingdom of God. That weakness was that
he could not give up his physical wealth, give it to the poor and
needy and be a fully dedicated disciple of the Lord. His wealth
had become his "god" and he did not realize it until Jesus put
him to the test over it. Sometimes God does put us to the test,
not always, but sometimes, especially if we ask Him what we lack
in order to inherit eternal life. He may very well tell us in no
uncertain terms. Physical wealth is not wrong to have, for many
of God's people down through the ages have been blessed with
great material riches, such as Job, and Abraham, but their wealth
never became their idol or "god" - they would readily have given
it all up to be as King David once said, "I'd rather be a door
keeper in the house of the Lord than dwell in the tents of rich
people."
We need to make sure that we can give up ANYTHING in this
physical life time, IF God requires us to give it up.
It is very interesting and very instructive that you will
notice Jesus did not tell this rich young man to sell all his
possessions, give up all his money, and give it to the "church"
or in Jesus' day, to the Temple and to the priests. He told him
to give it to "the poor." We can also gather from this that Jesus
knows and believes that there are "genuine" poor people who need
help in a material way. Yes, there are what we term "bums" who
are lazy people, who will try to live off their society, as if
society owes them a free living. But Jesus and God also know
there are people that circumstances of life often deal them the
wrong hand, and they are in a poor situation because of it. Jesus
knew there were genuinely poor people that were worthy of a
helping hand. He gave this young rich man the wonderful
opportunity to serve and help such people, and to then also
be one of His very chosen disciples. Who knows, if this young man
had chosen to walk with Jesus, he may have become the disciple
that replaced Judas Iscariot, as ONE of the very TWELVE, that
would be given great honor and rulership in the Kingdom of God,
as we shall now see, that Jesus promised each one of the twelve.
Peter, hearing what Jesus had told the young ruler, and
knowing he and the others had given up much to be a disciple,
said to Jesus, "Master, we have left EVERYTHING to follow you.
What then shall we receive in the Kingdom?"
Jesus answered, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who
has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or
children or lands, for my sake and for the Gospel, who will not
receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and
sisters and mothers and fathers and children and lands, with
persecutions maybe, and in the age to come eternal life. As for
you twelve in particular, in the new age, when the Son of man
shall sit on His glorious throne, you shall sit on twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Many that are first
will be last, and the last shall be first" (Mat. 19: 16-30; Mark
10: 17-31; Luke 18: 18-30).
When we become a disciple of the Lord Jesus, we may have to
give up many friends and relatives who do not understand why we
have become a Christian, they do not like that we have become a
Christian, they may want nothing to do with us any more,
especially when we really serve the Lord in all aspect of our
lives. But we immediately become a member of the body of Christ
and we are one of a large and loving family, with spiritual
brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers all over the world.
We have in this life time, great blessings from being a part of
God's family. And in the world to come, we shall inherit eternal
life in the glorious immortal Kingdom of God.
Many who have put themselves first in this life time,
putting wealth, ambition, fame, family, jobs, etc. shall be last
to have their minds opened and to receive a chance to have
their names written into the book of life. Many of those first
will have to wait until the white throne judgment day
resurrection, at the end of the commonly called "millennium"
(Rev.20) or 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth, before they can
receive and have the book of life opened to them.
Those who have put themselves last, been willing to give up
anything and everything, in order to be part of God's family here
and now, shall receive and be the first to gain and inherit
eternal life, when Jesus returns to reign on earth and to
establish the Kingdom of God over all nations.
Looking beyond the present, into what can be, by being in
the first resurrection, the glory and splendor and rewards for
that age to come and for ever more, makes giving up whatever we
have to give up in this life time, well worth the sacrifice.
UNDERSTAND YOUR CALLING AND PAYMENT
Jesus taught them saying, "For the Kingdom of heaven is like
a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers
for his vineyard. after agreeing with the laborers for $100 a
day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the
third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place; and
to them he said, 'You go into the vineyard also, and whatever is
right I will give you.' So they went. Going out again about the
sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And then about
the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing; and he
said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They said to
him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You
go into my vineyard too.' And when evening came, the owner of the
vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and pay them
their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.' And when
those who were hired about the eleventh hour came they received
$100. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive
more; but each of them also received $100. And on receiving it
they grumbled and complained at the householder, saying, 'These
last worked only one hour and you have paid them equal to us who
have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' But he
replied to them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not
agree with me for $100. Take what belongs to you, and go your
way; I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I
not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do
you begrudge my generosity?' So the last will be first, and the
first last" (Mat.20: 1-16).
And the first thing we need to note is the overall general
meaning of this parable. God will call people to work for His
Kingdom as and when He wants to. And no matter how long or short
you work till the end of the day for you comes, all will get ONE
thing in common. It is not the reward for our works that the New
Testament talks about elsewhere, such as the twelve apostles each
ruling over one tribe of Israel, as Jesus promised them, but the
one thing each laborer for the Kingdom will receive that will be
equal and common to all, is ETERNAL LIFE.
You may have been called to the Kingdom when young, say a
teenager, and labored in it for decades, if you live a long life.
On the other hand maybe God did not call you to labor in the
Kingdom until you were elderly, in your sixties or seventies, or
older, and so you labored not that long before you died. Whether
you labor for a long or short time in this life for the Kingdom
of God, all will receive eternal life. Such laboring and living
for the Kingdom is God's choosing, it is all in His hands, to do
with what is His to do with.
The book of Revelation in chapter 7 (just as the great day
of God's wrath is to come upon this world, at the end of this
age) shows that many will be called and converted very near the
time of the coming of Christ in glory. They will be in the
Kingdom with eternal life, though they may have only labored for
a relatively short time (compared to others) for the Kingdom.
I also want you to note another important teaching, that
will be important to understand and remember when we come to the
events of the day upon which Christ died. Jesus talked about
certain hours of the day. The third hour was about our 9 a.m.
the sixth hour about noon and the eleventh hour was about the
hour we call 5 p.m. There were twelve hours in the day time part
of the day and twelve hours in the night portion as the Jews
split up the 24 hour day. The vineyard owner called his steward
WHEN EVENING came. Evening did not come until the twelfth hour
was finish, which would then correspond to our 6 p.m. At 6 p.m.
and not before, it was evening time. Then indeed the long heat of
the day was over with. But, the main thing to remember, and a
study in the word "evening" as used and as defined and
interpreted by the New Testament itself, is that evening is not
before 6 p.m. Anytime AFTER 6 p.m. it could be called evening,
but evening did not come until the twelve hours of the day had
been completed.
JESUS FORETELLS HIS DEATH THE THIRD TIME
And they were walking on the road, going up to Jerusalem,
and Jesus was walking ahead of them; and they were somewhat
amazed at His lonely solitude among them, even to the point of
being afraid, but not really knowing why. And He took the twelve
to one side and began to tell them for the third time what would
happen to Him, saying, "Behold, we are on the way up to
Jerusalem; and when we get there, the Son of man will be
delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will
condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Roman gentiles; and
they will mock Him, and spit upon Him, and scourge Him, and then
kill Him; and after three days He will rise from the dead and
live again" (Mark 10: 32-34).
Luke in his gospel account adds that the twelve still did
not understand all this that Jesus said to them. It was not yet
revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. They could not imagine that
such things could happen to the very Son of God. And they, like
many of that day, did not understand all the prophecies of the
Old Testament concerning the first coming of the Messiah to the
earth and all that was written would need to be fulfilled.
The journey to Jerusalem was near completed, and we are
close to the last few weeks in the physical life of Jesus.
...................................
Written November 2002
  Chapter Twenty-nine:Lazarus raised from the dead - Jesus condemnedSITTING ON JESUS' RIGHT AND LEFT HAND
IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD?
As they went on their way towards Jerusalem, the mother of
the sons of Zebedee (James and John) came before Jesus and
kneeling asked Him for something. "What do you want?" Jesus
responded to her, and she said, "Teacher, we want you to do
whatsoever we ask of you."
"Well, then what is it that you want me to do?" Jesus again
replied.
The mother of James and John then finally came out with what
she and her sons wanted, "Grant Lord that these two sons of mine
may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand, in
the Kingdom."
"Oh, you do not know what you are asking for," answered
Jesus. "Can you drink of the cup that I drink, and be baptized
with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
And they said to Him, "Yes Lord, we are able!"
Jesus then responded with, "Indeed, you will drink of the
cup that I drink from, and be baptized with the baptism that I am
baptized with; but to sit, one at my right hand, and one at my
left hand, is not mine to grant; but it is for those for whom it
has been prepared for by my Father."
The disciples would indeed partake of the life of Jesus,
they would drink what He was living. Drink and eat the physical
life as a servant of God. And they would be baptized with the
Holy Spirit (as we'll see when we come to the first chapters of
the book of Acts) as Christ was and do many of the same works
that He did through the power of the Holy Spirit. They would
partake of Christ in a very real and personal way, but what
these two disciples wanted (and their mother also) was not Jesus'
to grant.
And when the ten other disciples heard all this they were
very indignant towards James and John.
And Jesus called them all to Himself and said, "You know
that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over the people, and
their leaders and kings and great men, exercise dictatorial
authority over them. But it shall NOT be so among you! Whoever
would be great among you must be your servant. And whoever would
be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of man came
and set you the example. He came not to be served but to serve,
and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mat.20: 20-28; Mark
10:35-45).
Here we see that there will be "positions" in the Kingdom
when Jesus returns to establish it upon the earth. We also see
that the Father in heaven has reserved for Himself certain
positions of authority that only He will decide who will receive
them. We know from other Scriptures of the Old Testament that
king David of ancient Israel will rise in the resurrection and be
king over the restored 12 tribes of Israel. We have seen that
Jesus did have authority to promise to the twelve disciples that
they would each rule over a tribe of Israel. But, who is going to
sit at Jesus' right hand and left hand, was not for Jesus to say
or to give away those positions. Only the Father would determine
who would be given those seats of authority in the Kingdom.
When we think of all the great people of God down through
the millenniums of time, is it any wonder then that only the
Father could determine who shall receive those two positions of
sitting on the right and left hand of Jesus in the Kingdom on
earth.
We also note here a VERY IMPORTANT teaching of Christ.
Whoever was, or whoever desired to be, the greatest among God's
people at any particular time in history, had to become, MUST
become, the servant of all, the slave to all the rest of the
people of God. They had to become like Christ Himself, who came
not to be vain and pompous and mentally and emotionally smug over
all people, but came to give Himself in service and loving
sacrifice to all people. Just think how many hours Jesus spent in
a week and in His entire ministry in giving and to serving
others. Think about the love and compassion He gave out towards
others. Think about all the time He spent in teaching others and
His disciples, to know the truths of God, and to understand the
mysteries of the Kingdom of God.
So it must be, so must those who would be "great" among the
people of God do as Jesus did....serve and sacrifice for and
towards God's people. That is the mark of greatness according to
Christ. Greatness is NOT exercising dictatorial authority over
people, bossing them around, and telling them what to do and when
to do it.
Greatness is being kind, patient, loving, helping, serving,
and teaching God's word with all of those attributes, as a person
moves among the children of God.
BLIND BARTIMAEUS IS HEALED
Jesus and the disciples had arrived at Jericho. As they were
leaving a great crowd was following them as usual. On the
roadside they came across two blind men, sitting and begging.
Now, Matthew's account says there were two blind men. The
accounts of Mark and Luke only mention one man, someone who it
seems was well known for whatever reasons, as his name is given
as Bartimaeus - "blind Bartimaeus" in the popular speech of the
day.
Possibly Mark and Luke only record this healing as if one
man was involved, because Bartimaeus was the spokesman for the
two men, and because he was the most famous of the two.
Bartimaeus was known as the son of Timaeus, who then was
probably a man very well known in the community. When Jesus came
close Bartimaeus called out, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on
me and on us." Many started to rebuke him and told him to be
silent. But he cried out even the more, "Son of David, Lord have
mercy on us."
Jesus stopped walking, stood and said, "Call the blind man
over to me." And they did call him over saying, "Take heart blind
man, He is calling for you to come to Him." Throwing off his coat
Bartimaeus sprang to his feet like someone being chased by a
lion, and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, "What do you want
me to do?"
"Oh, Master, let our eyes be opened so we can have sight."
And Jesus, looking with kind compassion at him, touched their
eyes and said, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."
Their sight was restored immediately, but they did not run
off to their separate homes, they instead followed Jesus,
glorifying God. And when all the people saw what had happened
they also praised and gave glory to God. (Mat.20: 29-34; Mark 10:
46-52; Luke 18: 35-43).
ZACCHAEUS A TAX COLLECTOR IS CONVERTED
Jesus was still not far out of Jericho, just on the edge of
the town limits. And there was a man named Zacchaeus; he was a
chief tax collector, and through craftiness he had become very
rich. He wanted to see Jesus but he could not as he was a short
man in stature and could not see over the heads and shoulders of
the crowd. He was not going to give up that easy though. He
decided he would run on ahead and climb up a sycamore tree to see
Jesus.
When Jesus arrive at the sycamore tree that Zacchaeus had
climbed, He looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly;
for I must stay at your house today and for the night."
You can imagine how quickly Zacchaeus came down. He was
thrilled that Jesus would be staying in his house. He would get
to see Him up close for some number of hours. His heart beat like
a race horse ready to run a race. He was overjoyed at what
Jesus had told him.
But, some in the crowd, who hated people who collected taxes
for the Roman Government, murmured with some indignation at what
Jesus was going to do. "Why," they said, "he is going to be a
guest of a man who is a sinner, this is terrible!"
When they all arrived at the house of Zacchaeus, he said to
Jesus, "Behold Lord, the half of my goods I will give to the
poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I will restore
it to them even four times as much."
Jesus smiled with a happy heart and said, "Today salvation
indeed has come to this house, since this man is also a son of
Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which
was lost" (Luke 19: 1-10).
Yes, what often seems hopeless to mankind, is what God can
turn around and makes salvation from. Zacchaeus thought he would
only see Jesus from up a tree and nothing else would happen. Many
within the crowd thought Jesus was doing wrong by befriending a
despised tax collector. Everyone was wrong. God the Father and
Jesus His Son were about to convert and bring a man to salvation.
Nothing is impossible with God.
Some times in being converted, it is right and proper to
make restitution to some people we may have wronged, if it is
within our power to do so. We must realize that it is not always
within our power to restore, for some people may have moved away
and we have no possible means whereby we can locate them. God
does not expect that we can right every wrong we may have done to
people over our life time, but in some situations it may be
possible, and if so, then we should make an effort to give
restitution. And the example here given for us, which Jesus did
not disagree with, was that, restitution would be far above the
amount fraudulently taken. The example here also is that if you
are very rich, you will, when converted to follow Christ Jesus,
give a great part of your wealth to the poor. We will note "poor"
is the first priority, the "church" would be second, although
there are indeed many "poor" within the community of the church,
which would be grateful for a helping hand.
PARABLE OF THE POUNDS
As they heard these things He proceeded to tell a parable,
because He was getting near to Jerusalem, and they supposed that
the Kingdom of God was to appear immediately. So He taught them
saying, "A nobleman went into a far country to receive kingly
power and then to return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave
them 50 dollars, and said to them, 'Trade with this money till I
come again.' But his own citizens hated him and sent an embassy
of men after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to reign over
us.'
When he returned, having received kingly power and
authority, he commanded the servants to whom he had given the
money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had
gained by trading.
And the first came to him and said, 'Lord, your 50 dollars
has gain 50 dollars more.' And he said, 'Well done, good and
faithful servant. Because you have been faithful in very little,
you shall have authority over ten cities.' And the second came,
saying, 'Lord, your 50 dollars has gained 25 more dollars.' And
the king said to him, 'You shall have authority over 5 cities.'
Then another came and said, 'Lord, here is your 50 dollars,
which I looked after and kept safe in a steel box at home. For I
was afraid of you, because you are a severe man; you take up what
you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.' The king
replied to him, 'I will condemn you out of your own mouth you
wicked servant! You knew I was a severe man, taking up what I did
not lay down, and reaping where I did not sow. Why then did you
not put my money into the bank at least, and at my coming, I
should have collected it with some interest?'
And he said to those who stood nearby watching and hearing
all this, 'Take the 50 dollars from him, and give it to him who
gained the 50 dollars more.' And they said to him, 'Lord, he
already gained 50 dollars!' The king answered, 'I tell you, that
every one who has will be given more; but from him who has not,
even what he has will be taken away. And as for those enemies of
mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and
slay them before me.' "
And when Jesus had said all this, He went on His way,
heading for the city of Jerusalem (Luke 19: 11-28).
This parable teaches us a number of things. It was a parable
Jesus gave to tell His disciples that the Kingdom of God was not
going to appear as soon as they perhaps thought. They looked for
it to come while Jesus was still on earth, and to come in the
very near future of their life time. Jesus was here dispelling
such an idea, yet still not giving any specifics as to when in
time, the Kingdom would come. Hence of course many
disciples would still have thought, even after Jesus had ascended
back to heaven, that the Kingdom would come in the life time of
many of the first century disciples.
This is also a parable that shows all disciples get the same
gift to work with. The only gift that is equal among disciples of
Jesus is the gift of ETERNAL LIFE! Upon repentance and
conversion everyone is given this same equal gift. But from then
on God expects us to use it, to go on from there with that gift
and work in different ways with it, to increase yourself
spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and also to use whatever else
God has given us in ways of physical gifts and talents, to
increase what He had first given us. If we do increase, we shall
be rewarded with positions of authority in the Kingdom of God.
How much we increase will determine how much authority we are
given in the Kingdom.
But, if we think we can stand still, only keep what is first
given to us at conversion, if we think we do not have to move at
least a little more forward in spiritual growth, we are one day
going to have a rude awakening. If we think we can wrap up God's
gift of eternal life in a little box and simply keep it safe and
not use it after we are given it, then even that which we think
we have safely preserved, will be taken away from us. We shall
be on the outside looking in as they say. We shall find ourselves
as one of those who in earlier parables that Jesus gave, are
crying and gnashing their teeth, saying, "Lord, did we not
worship you, did we not go to church, did we not have you in our
home, and sitting at our table at meal times?" And Jesus will
say, "Depart from me, for I never knew you....."
Yes, as I've said before, some of the teachings of Jesus,
cut right to the bone, and they are often not what most teachers
of Christian theology want to tell you. They are often the parts
of the Gospels that are neglected and/or completely ignored by
far too many who claim to be reading the Bible. We need to be
willing to read the Bible from cover to cover, and let it teach
and correct us, inspire and admonish us, encourage and lift us
up, but also let it warn us.
And speaking of warning, there is in this parable also a
clear warning signal Jesus was wanting to get across. Those who
will not let Jesus "reign" over them, rule them, tell them how to
live, allow Him to direct their lives in the godly way they
should go, shall be one day slain before His presence. This
ultimate slaying of the unruly wicked will come just before the
arrival of the new heavens and new earth (see the last verses of
Revelation 20), when all the wicked will die in the lake of fire,
which the New Testament calls "the second death."
We must not only accept Jesus as our personal SAVIOR, but
also as our LORD and MASTER. We must let Him reign and rule in
our lives, letting Him and His word guide, teach, and lead us
into the way of thinking, speaking, and doing, that is pleasing
to Him and to the Father in heaven.
LAZARUS IS RAISED FROM THE DEAD
AND DEATH IS SLEEP
This next section of Scripture is very important in two
respects. It teaches the "resurrection from the dead" and it
teaches "death is a sleep."
It came to pass as Jesus and His disciples were going on
their journey up to Jerusalem, that a certain man named Lazarus
became ill. He was the brother to two sisters named Mary and
Martha. Now, it is John in his Gospel account, that tells us that
this Mary was none other than the woman who anointed Jesus feet
with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair. We read all about
that situation in an earlier chapter.
The two sisters sent to Jesus a message saying, "Lord, he
whom you love is very ill." They expected Jesus to immediately
come and heal their brother.
Jesus on hearing this news said, "This illness is not unto
death; it is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be
praised and glorified by means of it." Jesus of course knew what
was going to happen and what significance it would portend for
all who would witness the event and the outcome.
Jesus, did love all three of those people, Mary, Martha, and
Lazarus. He heard the news about the illness of lazarus, but did
not immediately start off to go to heal him. Probably to the
bewilderment of His disciples He stayed two days longer where
they were at, after hearing the news concerning Lazarus. Then
perhaps they were not surprised He did not go immediately to
Lazarus, for they knew He was in danger if He stepped into
Judea, as Lazarus lived in Bethany which was inside the area
known as Judea. We gather this from some of the words they said
which we shall come to shortly. Yet, as they knew Jesus was
heading for Jerusalem in Judea anyway, it seems they were
somewhat very confused about the whole situation of Jesus wanting
to go up to Jerusalem. You must remember that even when Jesus
told them about His being handed over to the religious
authorities and finally being put to death, but rising from the
dead, at Jerusalem, they did not understand it at all. So indeed
they were probably very confused about everything that was going
on in Jesus' life at that present time.
Well, two days after getting the news about Lazarus, He
said to His disciples, "Let us go into Judea again."
"Why, Master, the Jews there were recently seeking to stone
you, and are you really wanting to go there again?" said His
disciples.
"Are there not twelve hours in a day?" replied Jesus, "If
any man walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees
the light of this world. But if any person walks in the night, he
stumbles, because the light is not in him."
Jesus was telling them that while He was still alive and
walking, there was work for Him to do, so others could come to
see the light of God's truth and salvation. It was also a mild
rebuke that they could not yet see the light of day, they were
still in the blindness of the night.
Then He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has FALLEN a
SLEEP. But I go to awake him out of sleep."
"Well Lord, " the disciples replied, "if he has fallen
asleep, he will rest and recover."
The truth is Jesus was speaking about his death, but they
thought He was meaning Lazarus had taken a rest in sleep, as we
do at night time, or at other times when we are tired and
sometimes taking a "cat nap."
Then Jesus said plainly to them, "What I am saying to you is
that Lazarus is DEAD! And for your sakes I'm glad I was not
there, so that you may believe even the more. Let us go to him."
At least Thomas, called the Twin, was beginning to see what
it was all going to end with, it was beginning to sink into the
mind of Thomas at least, that Jesus would now probably die in
some fashion in Judea. He said to the other disciples, "Come on
then, let us go also into Judea with Him, and let us die there
with Him also."
Jesus arrived at Bethany to find that Lazarus had been dead
in the tomb or grave for FOUR DAYS. Bethany was near Jerusalem,
only about two miles away. Many Jews from Jerusalem and the area
had come to console Mary and Martha concerning the death of their
brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming she ran to meet
Him, while Mary sat in their house.
On meeting Jesus Martha said to Him, "Lord, if you had been
here my brother would not have died. Yet, even now I know that
whatsoever you ask from the Father, God will give it to you."
Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again!"
"Oh, yes Lord," replied Martha, "I know my brother will rise
again in the resurrection at the last day."
"You know, do you not Martha," answered Jesus, "that I am
the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he
die, yet shall he live, and he who believes and lives in me,
shall not die forever. Do you believe this?" She said to Him,
"Yes Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the
one promised to come into the world."
After this conversation Martha went quietly to her sister
Mary, telling her that Jesus was asking to see her. And when Mary
heard this she rose up quickly and went to Him. The Jews in the
house followed Mary thinking she was going to weep some more at
Lazarus' grave site.
Mary came to where Jesus was and fell at His feet, saying to
Him, "Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died."
Jesus saw Mary and the Jews with her weeping in great
anguish, and He was deeply moved in spirit, and said to them,
"Where have you laid him?" And they answered, "Lord, come with us
and see."
As Jesus was going with them to the grave where Lazarus was
laid to rest, we have the shortest verse in the Bible, but one
that shows us that there are times when it is right and proper
for MEN as well as women to literally cry, for John records for
us these words, "Jesus WEPT."
And some the Jews there said among themselves, "Ah, do you
see how he loved this man."
But others said, "Why, if he loved him so, this man who
could open the eyes of the blind, surely could he not have
stopped Lazarus from dying?
Then Jesus was deeply moved once more on hearing all this
talk among the people. He came to the tomb; it was a cave, and a
great huge stone lay upon it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone."
Martha, being surprised at what Jesus was now telling them
to do, said, "Lord, there will be a terrible smell, for Lazarus
has been dead four days now." Jesus responded with, "Did I not
tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" So
they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up His eyes towards
heaven and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I
know that you hear me always, but I have said this on account of
the people standing by, that they may believe that you did indeed
send me."
And after saying this, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus,
COME ON OUT!"
There was a shock that went through the minds of all
standing there, they froze in their stand, many mouths dropped
open, eyes were glued on the entrance to the cave.
Could this man really raise someone from the dead after they had
been dead four days, was the question that was now on everyone's
mind. There was hushed silence as all were steadfastly looking to
see if Lazarus would walk out of the cave.......more seconds
went by.....THEN, to the amazement of every person there, Lazarus
CAME OUT! He was once more alive. People were again frozen in
their minds and speech for a few seconds at what they were
seeing, then gasps of surprise filled the air, some fell to the
ground on their knees, praising God, others looked at one another
in astonishment, as they realized the power this man called Jesus
had, even power over death.
Lazarus was bound with bandages over the hands and feet, in
the manner that the Jews buried their dead. It was not at all
like a large piece of cloth put over a body, but wound around
bandages that were used over parts of the body like the hands and
the legs and feet, even the face and head. Lazarus could not
unwrap himself, so Jesus told them to unwrap the bandages and let
him go free.
What joy and praising God there was that day, when Jesus
raised Lazarus from the grave after his body had started to
decompose after being dead four days.
Here, as I've said, is one of the great Bible passages, that
tells us plainly that death is a SLEEP. We do NOT continue to
live after death in some heaven, hell, or purgatory, with an
immortal soul we are born with. Death is a sleep, a time to rest
in sleep, as we do at night time, waiting until the resurrection
day, to be raised back to life once again. Lazarus was raised
back to life as a physical person, to live and eat and breath
again, as he did before. Lazarus later died once more, as we all
do eventually, and is again sleeping till the resurrection day.
The resurrection that Martha knew about, and told Jesus she knew
her brother would rise in a resurrection at the last day, is what
the Bible calls the "first resurrection" (Rev.20), and this is
the resurrection that all saints and children of God will rise up
in. It is the resurrection day, at the coming of Christ in glory,
as I've mentioned and given Scriptures for, in previous chapters
of this New Testament Bible Story.
JESUS IS CONDEMNED BY THE JEWISH COUNCIL
Many Jews had come from various parts of the region to Mary
and Martha's home and had witnessed this great miracle Jesus had
done in resurrecting Lazarus from the dead after four days of
laying in the tomb. And many of those Jews believed in Jesus as
the Messiah to come, that was foretold in the pages of the Old
Testament prophets. But other Jews still not ready to accept
Jesus, went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together the
council or Sanhedrin (the body of men who ruled on certain
aspects of the Jewish religious life), and said, "What are we to
do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him continue
doing this, soon everyone will believe in him, and the Romans
will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation."
They thought that if the people all believed in Jesus, they
would want Him to be their king and leader in a revolution
against the Roman yoke of servitude, and so bring on the Jewish
nation the full armies of Rome, in a battle that could only mean
utter destruction for the Jews. This was of course wrong
thinking, as Jesus would never have been a part of such a
revolution and would never have allowed the Jews to try to use
Him in such a revolution against Rome.
Then a man named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year,
said to them, "You speak about things you know nothing at all
about. You do not understand that it is often best and expedient
that ONE MAN should die for the people, and not that the whole
nations should perish." Now, he did not say this of his own mind,
but being high priest that year he actually was prophesying that
Jesus should die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but
to gather into one family the children of God who are scattered
abroad in all nations.
So from that day forward they took counsel and sat around
figuring out how to put Jesus to death.
Jesus knowing and hearing what the Jewish Sanhedrin was
trying to plan, no longer went about among the people in an open
manner, but went from there to the country near the wilderness,
to a town called Ephraim; and there He stayed with His disciples.
Now the Passover of the Jews, the feast that God gave to the
people of Israel under Moses, was soon to be observed, and many
went up from the country-side to Jerusalem before the Passover
began in that city, to work through the purification rites,
and so ceremonially purify themselves as directed under the laws
of Moses.
They were looking for Jesus as they stood around in the
Temple courtyards, knowing it was Jesus' custom to attend the
Passover in the city of Jerusalem. Many were saying among
themselves, "Well, what do you think? Will he or will he not come
this year to the feast?"
The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if
any one knew where He was, he should let them know, so they might
arrest Him" (John 11: 45-57).
The air was tense with excitement and various emotions, in
anticipation that Jesus would come to observe the Passover in
Jerusalem as usual. Most at this time were for Him, that is they
were on His side, as we say. They knew He was a mighty miracle
worker, more and more were believing He was the promised Messiah.
Yet, they did not understand why He had come to earth this first
time. They did not understand the prophecies in the Old Testament
concerning His first appearing on earth, even Jesus' disciples
did not understand them, and most thought that being the Messiah
He would deliver them from the Roman Empire, make the Jewish
nation great and mighty, and so eventually the leading nation on
the earth.
The people were hoping that this is what Jesus would now
begin to do.....lead the Jewish nation out from under the Roman
yoke, and give them world dominance. The people were ready for
such a leader, to lead and deliver them from their enemies. The
emotional excitement in their hearts and minds was so high and so
thick for everyone to see, that as we say, you could "cut the
air" with a knife, and hand portions of excitement around to all
entering the Temple and even setting foot into the city of
Jerusalem.
Would Jesus come was the big question on all minds. If He
would they would surely be ready to greet Him in a mighty and
glorious way. They would not have long to wait for their answer
to their question.
.........................................
Written December 2002
  Chapter Thirty:Jesus' Triumphant entry into Jerusalem Reading the accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we can
come to a complete understanding of the events which transpired
as Jesus came near unto Jerusalem.
Arriving at the mount called Olivet (where the great even of
Christ's glorious coming is to take place that is recorded in the
14th chapter of Zechariah), which is near Bethphage and Bethany,
He sent two of His disciples to a village close by, saying to
them, "Go into the village, and immediately as you enter it you
will find an ass tied up, with a colt with her, on which no man
has ever sat; untie them and bring them to me. If any one says to
you, 'Why are you doing this?' say to them, 'The Lord has need of
them, and will send them back immediately when their work is
done.' And they will let them go with you."
An "ass" is from the horse family, often what we call a
donkey. A "colt" is a young male offspring of the horse family,
in this instant, a young male from the female donkey. The young
colt was still with its mother, hence Matthew records the ass was
"her" and she was tied up, the colt was "with her" and did not
need to be tied as the young colt would not leave its mother's
side. Such it is in nature with a mother and her young ones.
The colt was not as they say in the horse world, "broken" - no
man had ever sat upon it, yet it would have been old enough to
withstand the weight of the average size Jewish man.
Jesus would perform a small miracle here. He was going to
sit upon a young donkey that had never before had any training
with men, to carry a person with calm and quietness. It is often
missed (because only Matthew records it) by artists depicting
this scene, that there was two donkeys....the young one Jesus sat
upon, but the mother was along side her colt, in order to bring
no distress upon the colt, as would have been the case if its
mother was not there.
Now, some would argue that Jesus could have performed two
miracles, the second being "no distress" for the colt if it had
been taken away from its mother. That maybe true, but it is not a
case of what Jesus could have done, it is a case of what Jesus
CHOSE to do. He chose to show everyone His compassion for BOTH
the mother donkey and for her young offspring. He would not
divide them up and perform a special miracle of "peace" for both
of them when divided up, but would simply take both of them, keep
them together, and perform a small miracle on the colt, giving it
complete composure of mind and body, as Jesus sat upon it and as
He would make His way into the city of Jerusalem.
As a young man I worked for a while breaking and training
horses. Young colts or fillies (female offspring) of horses that
are used for saddle riding (horse trails etc), will grow up
around humans, and will of course have no fear of them, and if
handled with kindness become like dogs in nature towards humans.
But yet the day comes when they have to be "broken" to the saddle
and for humans to ride. Now, in my experience, such friendly
colts and fillies, hardly ever "bucked" or went wild (as did
horses we were breaking that had never been around humans before
- they would be scared crazy and often buck like the bulls you
see being ridden in the Rodeo). They just most often stood there
and acted plain "dumb" - not knowing of course what to do, where
to go, and not knowing how to react to commands you gave it,
either by the voice or by the heels of your boots or by any tug
on the bit. Naturally, all this stuff that the human was now
doing was very new. They were not frightened of the human but
just did not know what this human now wanted it to do.
So to help train the young colt or filly, we would have its
mother right alongside, and it would follow her just fine. After
a while the colt or filly would get to know what "stop" or "go"
(with a little heel kick) meant, and its training would progress
from there. It would take some time before its training would be
finished and complete, so to make a good saddle horse for any
person to ride on trail rides, by itself or with other horses
other than next to its mother.
Jesus, chose to keep the colt with its mother, but performed
a miracle of sorts by having the colt know exactly what was
expected of it. I'm sure many people knew the situation of the
mother and her colt (that no man had ever sat on the colt) and
knew Jesus was doing something with both of them (especially the
colt) that was quite different than the normal expectation of an
untrained young donkey.
Sure enough when the two disciples got to where the cold and
its mother were and started to untie the mother, some people
seeing what they were doing and knowing they were not the owners
of the animals, asked them why they were taking them. They
responded with the words Jesus had told them to say, and the
people said no more and let them go away with the two donkeys.
Those persons concerned by what they saw the two disciples doing
must have known who the "Lord" was, when told that "The Lord has
need of them." Jesus was indeed "Lord" to many by this time.
Jesus coming into Jerusalem on a colt was to fulfil the
prophecy in the Old Testament prophets of Isaiah 62: 11 and
Zechariah 9: 9. The Gospel of Luke quotes it this way: "Fear not,
daughter of Zion; behold thy king is coming, sitting upon an
ass's colt!"
The disciples did not understand all this at first, but
later, after Jesus had been glorified, then they remembered what
had been written and why Jesus had sat upon a colt to enter
Jerusalem.
There was by this time a massive crowd of people gathered
around Jesus, behind Him, and in front of Him. More and more were
hearing that Jesus was making His way to Jerusalem, and so were
gathering along the roadway. Many threw their coats on the
roadway to make the footing softer for the colt. Many took leafy
branches which they had cut from the fields and trees and placed
them on the road that the colt, with Jesus on its back, was
travelling.
All the people were worked up into great excitement. This
was the day most of them had been waiting for, surely Jesus was
about to deliver them from the yoke of the Roman government. This
is what most of them were thinking and quite sure in their
hearts that it would be so - Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah,
God's chosen one, God's promised one, the mighty MIRACLE worker,
the one who could raise people from the dead, would now lead them
to victory over their enemies, and bring in the glorious
Kingdom, where the Jewish people, and all the tribes of Israel,
would be the MASTERS of the world. Many had gathered because they
had heard about the mighty miracle Jesus had done in raising
Lazarus from the dead.
The people were so sure that Jesus was about to lead them to
victory over their enemies they all began to shout with uplifted
voices, "HOSANNA! HOSANNA! Blessed be HE who comes in the name of
the LORD! Blessed be the KINGDOM of our father David that is
coming. HOSANNA to the Highest!"
The Hebrew word "Hosanna" when broken down into its meaning
is very revealing, and gives the true understanding of what the
people were shouting loud and long. "Hosan" means "save, help"
and "na" means "please." The people were crying out, "PLEASE SAVE
AND HELP US!"
Putting it in our English words, the multitude was saying,
"He who is coming in the name of the Lord, Please help and SAVE
us. Please save us from the Romans, deliver us, set up the
Kingdom of David. Save us in the presence, in the sight of (the
Greek "en" translated "in" can mean "before, in presence, in
sight") the Highest.
The people wanted, now expected, that Jesus would save and
deliver them from the Roman yoke, and set up the glorious Kingdom
of God, a kingdom they thought would be like that kingdom in the
days of their ancient great king David.
How they wanted to be delivered, set free from under the
heavy yoke of what they considered a great evil. They could
understand, they could see what the prophets had written, that
the Messiah would come and deliver Israel from the yoke of its
enemies, when the Messiah would come with the power of the Most
High, to rule the world, and make Israel a prosperous and
fruitful nation, that all other nations would look up to, and
want to be like. But they were reading the Old Testament with one
eye shut. They could not see that first of all the Messiah would
come to save people, and that included people from within Israel,
from their sins, from Satan, from themselves, and give salvation
to the world.
They were going to be soon very disappointed with Jesus, and
deflated in their expectations of what He was going to do for
them. So disappointed they would be, that few would have ever
expected at that time, that the coming events would have them
turn their back on Jesus in a most drastic way...the most drastic
way possible to turn your back on someone you once praised and
glorified.
Then among all this praise for Jesus there were the ever
present Pharisees, who once more wanted to throw buckets of water
on the excited fire of enthusiasm being shown to this man riding
on the back of a humble colt.
"Teacher, rebuke your disciples for making all this fuss
over you," shouted some Pharisees.
"I tell you," replied Jesus, "if these were silent, the very
stones would cry out."
He drew near unto the city of Jerusalem, and when it all
came into His view, Luke in his Gospel account records that "He
wept over it." Once more we see the down to earth emotional side
of Jesus. He knew what trouble and pain and devastation the
people of that city were in for, if they did not all fully
repent, and turn to their God in humble service. Jesus said, "I
would that you knew what were the things that would make for
peace in your lives! But, they are hid from your eyes, you refuse
to see. The days shall come upon you when your enemies will cast
a wall of armies around you, and hem you in on all sides. Then
they shall dash you to the ground, you and your children within
you. They shall not leave one stone upon another, utter
destruction shall come upon you; because you did not know nor
want to understand your time of visitation and punishment"
(Mat.21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19: 29-44; John 12: 12-19,
29-44)
Jesus knew the vast majority in that city of Jerusalem would
never come to true repentance. Though many in the days ahead
would come to accept Him as Savior, acknowledge their sins, and
find the true way to salvation (all of that after His
resurrection and ascension back to heaven, as we shall see in the
book of Acts), for the most part the majority of people and
religious leaders would reject Jesus, and would not abandon their
false ways of living, and their wrong thoughts towards the Roman
powers. Hence in 70 A.D. the city of Jerusalem would be brought
to the ground by the Roman armies, and its inhabitants (including
children) stain by the sword.
Jesus foreknew this would all happen, and so with deep
emotion, He cried tears of sorrow, as the city of Jerusalem came
into His view. He knew He must die there, but He also knew the
punishment to come upon that city, because its people would not
turn from their sins, and look to seek the way of peace for
themselves individually, as well as for their city as a whole.
UNFRUITFUL FIG TREE IS CURSED, AND DIES
On the following day, returning from Bethany, where Jesus
and the twelve had spent the night, they were coming back to
Jerusalem again, and Jesus was hungry. He saw a fig tree by the
wayside in the distance, and walking up to it He discovered it
had only leaves on its branches and no figs. "May no fruit ever
come from you again," Jesus said to the tree. And the disciples
heard what He said.
The next morning as they passed along the same way, they saw
the fig tree was all withered away right down to its very roots.
And Peter remembered, said to Jesus, "Master, look! The fig tree
which you cursed has withered away."
"Have faith in God," Jesus answered, and went on to say,
"Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up
and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but
believes that what he has said will come to pass, it will indeed
be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in
prayer, believing that you will receive it, and you will. And
when you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against
any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven, may forgive
you your trespass" (Mark 11: 12-14, 20-25).
We need to understand that Jesus did not go around cursing
this or that thing at random, or just to over use, or abuse, the
power that He had. He did not take the mighty power from the Holy
Spirit given Him, and use it like a play toy. He did not go about
cursing things just for the fun of it.
A fig tree is one of the fruits trees that is very different
from most fruit trees. The actual fruit, the fig, comes on the
branches BEFORE the leaves come. So, when seeing a fig tree from
a distance, and noting it has leaves on its branches, you would
automatically gather it also had fruit on its branches. This is
what Jesus expected when He finally got up close to the tree, but
as we have seen, there was no fruit, or figs, on the tree at all.
It was really a useless, unproductive, fruit tree that was not
doing what it was designed to do. It was taking up space and
nourishment from the soil, and giving nothing back, certainly not
giving back what it should have been giving back.
We must take this as a lesson to learn from. God does not
want people, all of which have some gifts, talents, and
abilities, to just take up space so to speak, drink in and use up
what they can from society and from others, and never give back
to others, something that can enrich and help others in some
manner. Everyone has something they can contribute to someone
else, be it but a smile, a word of encouragement, some form
of a helping hand (i.e. opening the door for someone who has
their hands full of parcels, or helping an old lady cross a busy
street), giving of your time, energy, talents, to a charitable
cause etc.
If we do not produce something that gives back to others,
then we are fit for nothing, fit only to lose everything. And
that is exactly what will happen to us, if we do not repent of
living a useless, none productive, none giving life.....we shall
be rooted up, plucked up by the roots, we shall wither away and
simply be no more. God cannot use in His family someone who is
none productive for what they were created to be and to do in
service for humanity. A Christian's life, the life of a child of
God the Father, is to produce and serve, to give back to others,
what God has given to you, and God does give something to every
person so each can give something back to society and to
others.
This is also a lesson in "faith." Again, we do not, and
Jesus did not, go about demonstrating "faith" just for the sake
of demonstrating faith, and casting this or that mountain or hill
into the sea. But under the correct situation, where faith is
needed, for a good and correct purpose (and it was a good purpose
that this fig tree should be withered up, for it was taking up
good space and soil, for no good purpose, the soil could
be used to plant a productive tree), then having "faith" you
could do miracles, and things that most would never expect could
be done. Many a person down through history have performed things
(or had things done for them) that most would have thought was
quite impossible. They had faith in God that what they wanted and
needed (asking according to His will, not asking amiss, James 4:
3; with 1 John 3:22) for that situation, would be granted them.
And with faith, mountains could be removed into the sea, if that
was what was needed to be done for that particular circumstance.
Jesus also took the opportunity while speaking about
"prayer" to remind them that an attitude of being able to forgive
others, was a basic fundamental attribute of being a child of
God, for only by being able to forgive others, would we have our
sins forgiven by our heavenly Father.
JESUS CLEANSES THE TEMPLE ONCE MORE
The ways of sin and unrighteousness had crept back into the
practices within the Temple walls. Jesus had in the past thrown
out the greedy, unscrupulous, merchants who sold things to the
people who came to sacrifice in the temple. They had robbed the
people, taken advantage of them, sold in such a way that was only
to make as much profit as possible for themselves. Once more such
merchant robbers were back in the Temple, doing their selling to
the people as before. How soon the heart of man can forget
the correcting of the Lord, and return to its former evil habits.
Jesus entered the Temple in Jerusalem, and saw again that
the merchants had reverted back to their old sinful ways and
practices. Once more with righteous indignation He overturned the
tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold
pigeons and cried out, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be
called a house of prayer'; but you make it a den of robbers."
Jesus would not allow anyone to carry on their selling,
bringing in and taking out their merchandise through the Temple.
The sellers by now knew the mighty power He possed, and they
were not about to test Him with it. All stood in fearful awe of
Him.
The blind and the lame came to Him in the Temple, and He
healed them as before. Children were even crying out with loud
voices, "Hosanna, please save us, Son of David." And when the
scribes and the chief priests heard what the children were
saying, they said to Jesus with jealousy and frustration, "Do you
not hear what these are saying." They wanted Jesus to tell them
to stop, but Jesus looked at them and said, "Yes, I hear what
they are saying. Have you never read where it is written, 'Out of
the mouth of babes and sucklings you have brought perfect
praise'?"
And they could say nothing or do nothing to Him in response.
They feared Him, not only because of His great power in
performing miracles and healings, but also because the multitudes
of people were astonished at His teaching, hanging on every word
He spoke, and were at this point fully behind and backing Him up
all the way.
Leaving them, Jesus went out of the Temple and the city of
Jerusalem, and went again to Bethany and lodged there for a short
while (Mat.21: 12-17; Mark 11: 15-19; Luke 19: 45-48).
CHIEF PRIESTS QUESTION JESUS' AUTHORITY
It was not long before Jesus was back in the Temple
preaching and teaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God.
The religious leaders of the people were by now getting as
uptight and as jumpy as a cat on a hot tin roof. The chief
priests, and the scribes, with the elders (a good portion of the
Jewish Sanhedrin, or court of religious matters) of the people,
came to Jesus and demanded to know, "By what authority are you
doing these things, or who gave you the authority to do them?"
Jesus answered them with a question, "I also will ask you a
question; and if you will tell me the answer, then I will tell
you by what authority I do these things. My question is this:
'The baptism of John, where did it come from? Was it from the
authority of heaven or from the authority of men?' "
Now those leaders were in quite the pickle as we say. They
quickly reasoned among themselves that if they said John's
authority came from heaven, then Jesus would ask them why they
did not believe him. But if they said John's authority came from
men, they knew the crowds of people would be against them, and
might even do physical violence to them, for they knew the people
held John as a prophet from God. So with a sheepish voice they
answered Jesus, "Well.....we really do not know where John's
authority came from."
Jesus stared at them, paused for a moment....then with half
a smile on His face, said to them, "Well......neither will I tell
you by what authority I do these things" (Mat.21: 23-27; Mark 11:
27-33; Luke 20: 1-8).
Those leaders of the people had been caught in their own
trap. They went away seething with anger inside, and determined
even the more to destroy this man called Jesus.
...................................
Written December 2002
  Chapter Thirty-one:Parables of vineyard and wedding feast - Paying taxes - Marriage in the resurrection - Greatest commandmentPARABLES OF THE VINEYARD
It was another day or two later, and Jesus was back teaching
in the Temple once more. And as usual the Pharisees were not too
far away. Knowing their deceitful hearts, He said to them, "What
do you think about this? A man had two sons, and he went to the
first and said, 'Son, go and work in my vineyard today.' And the
son answered, 'No, I will not!' But a little while later he
repented and went to work in the vineyard. The man went to his
second son and said the same thing, and that son answered, 'Yes,
sir, I will go,' but he did not. Now, which of the two did the
will of his father?"
The Pharisees were quick to answer. They said, "Why the
first son of course." Jesus then said to them, "It is true what I
say unto you, the tax collectors and the harlots (prostitutes) go
into the Kingdom of God BEFORE you. For John came to you in the
pathway of righteousness, and you did NOT believe him, but the
tax collectors and the harlots DID believe him; and even when you
saw what was happening, you still did not afterwards repent and
believe him" (Mat.21: 28-32).
Many of those Pharisees were not blinded, and they will miss
out on being in the Kingdom of God, for they were not willing to
repent of their wrong attitudes, thoughts, and practices. Some of
those Pharisees were blinded to the truth at that time, some
later, as we shall see in the book of Acts, did repent and accept
Christ as the Messiah and the Savior. They shall be in the first
resurrection, at Christ's glorious coming, along with many of the
tax collectors and harlots of Jesus' day, who also repented of
their sins, and walked in the way of righteousness.
But Jesus was here giving a strong message to those
Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees, who gave lip service to God,
but whose hearts were far from humble repentance, who were far
from walking in the light of God's straight and narrow pathway.
He was telling those who were not blinded to the truths of God
that He was teaching and preaching (and John the Baptist who did
likewise), that they would be outside of the Kingdom, looking in.
They would be among those that He mentioned earlier in His
teachings, that would be crying and gnashing their teeth, and
saying, "Lord, did we not speak in your name, did we not do
miracles in your name, did we not regularly attend church
services in your name?" And Jesus will say to them, "I never knew
you, go away from me, you who work lawlessness."
Jesus went on to say to them, and to all that stood around
Him:
"Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a
vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it,
and built a tower. He rented it out for others to work and
produce from, while he went into a far country for a long stay.
Time went by and he sent a servant to the tenants, that they
should give to him some fruit from his vineyard. But the tenants
beat the servant and sent him away with nothing. And he
sent another servant, but the tenants beat him up, wounding him
in the head and treating him shamefully. He sent another servant,
and that one they killed. So it was with many others that he
sent, some they beat and some they even killed. The owner of the
vineyard said within himself, 'What shall I do?' He had a
precious son, and he said to himself, 'I will send him to them,
surely they will honor and respect him!' But when the tenants saw
the son they said among each other, 'This is the very heir that
he has sent to us. Let us kill him, that the inheritance may be
ours.' And they cast him out of the vineyard and did indeed kill
him. What then do you think the owner of the vineyard will
do to them? Yes, you know very well what he will do. He will come
and destroy those tenants, and give the vineyard to others who
will give him the fruit he deserves in its season."
When those standing by heard this they knew what He was
getting at and what He was saying to them. They said, "God
forbid!"
Jesus looking at them even more intensely said, "Have you
never read in the Scriptures: 'The very stone which the builders
rejected has become the head of the corner; this is the Lord's
doing, and it is marvellous in your eyes'? Everyone who fall on
that stone will be broken to pieces; but when that stone fall on
any one it will crush him to powder. Therefore I tell you, the
Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people
producing the fruits of it."
The chief priest and the scribes and the Pharisees in the
crowd hearing all this perceived correctly that the man called
Jesus was speaking about them first, and the nation of Judah as a
whole, secondly. It was they who He was saying were the evil
tenants beating and killing servants that God was sending, and
that God would destroy them, and give His work that was entrusted
to them, to other people who would bring forth the fruits that
God wanted to receive.
Once more, instead of repenting, because they knew the very
truth that Jesus was telling them, they just hardened their
hearts even more. They tried within that hour to figure a way to
lay hands on Jesus to arrest Him for speaking those words, but
they feared the multitude of people that were all around, for the
people estimated in their minds that Jesus was a prophet from God
(Mat.21: 33-46; Mark 12: 1-12; Luke 20: 9-19).
INVITED GUESTS TO A MARRIAGE FEAST
And again Jesus spoke to them in a parable, saying: "The
Kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage
feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who had
been invited to the marriage; but they would not come. Again he
sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, look, I
have made all things ready for my dinner, oxen and fat calves
have been killed, and everything is ready; so come to the
marriage feast.' But they made light of it and laughed and went
away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest
took hold of his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed
them. The king was angry, and he sent his army and destroyed
those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his
servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were first invited
are not worthy. Go to the highways and roads and lanes, and
invite to the marriage feast as many as you can find.' And those
servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they
could find, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled
with guests."
Jesus was here plainly telling them that the Jewish nation,
and especially its religious leaders, who should have been able
to recognize God's truth, were the first ones to be invited to
the Kingdom of God, through the preaching and teaching of John
the Baptist and now Jesus Himself. They not only refused the
invitation, but did shame and even killed some of the servants of
God sent to them over the centuries.
Jesus was telling them in pretty plain words that God, as
the king of the parable, would send an army that would come
against Judah and its religious leaders, to destroy them and burn
the city. This did take place in 70 A.D. when the Roman general
Titus came with his army against Judah and Jerusalem.
The parable did not end there. Jesus went on to say, "But
when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man
who did not have on a wedding garment; and so he said to him,
'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And
the man was speechless, he had no answer to the question. Then
the king said to the attendants, his servants, 'Bind this man
hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men
will weep and gnash their teeth.' So I say to you, many are
called, but few are chosen" (Mat.22: 1-14).
Here Jesus is telling people that although many will be
called to the Kingdom of God, after Judah and its people had been
given first chance to enter, though many from other nations would
be called (and we must remember that none can come to God unless
God first calls them by His Spirit - John 6: 44, 45, 63, 65) to
enter the Kingdom, there are conditions to meet in order to
inherit that Kingdom. One is repentance (Luke 13: 1-3) and
the other is to put on the righteousness of God as a garment
(Rev.19: 7-8 with Ps.119:171 with Mat.19: 17). Keeping the
commandments and works of God does not earn you salvation, for
you are saved by God's grace (Eph.2: 8), but doing the works of
God is expected of you (Eph. 2: 10). You are to have an attitude
of mind that is the garment of the wedding feast, in order to be
at the wedding feast and not be cast out. Those who do not have
the condition of the mind-set of a repentant and obeying
attitude, who are willing to say with Christ, "Not my will be
done, but your will be done Father," just will not enter the
marriage supper of the Lamb that is pictured in the book of
Revelation chapter 19. They will be, as we have seen many times
already in the words of Christ's ministry, in earlier chapters,
"on the outside looking in" to use a figure of speech.
Many may be called to walk in the way that leads to the
wedding feast of the Kingdom, but you have to be among the
"chosen" in order to enter and live for all eternity in the
Kingdom. God does the calling, but you personally have to choose
to come under the conditions to be in, and remain in, the wedding
feast. Many may be called, but only the chosen inherit the feast
of the Kingdom of God.
CONCERNING PAYING TAXES
The Pharisees were ever wanting to trap Jesus in His words
of response to their questions. This time they thought they had
the very question that would finally trip Him up and get Him in
hot water with all the people of Judah. This time they had the
help of the Herodians who also came with some of the disciples of
the Pharisees to question Him. Now, the Herodians were a party
among the Jews, formed probably under Herod the Great, and
basically held that it was right to pay homage to a sovereign who
might be able to bring the friendship of Rome and other
advantages. They had no title to reign in any way over the Jews
either by law or by religion. They differed from the Pharisees
on the answer to the question both parties would now put to
Jesus, but here they joined forces with them in disguised but
open opposition to Jesus. They also saw Jesus as an enemy. The
Herodians then were something more than a political party and
something less than a religious sect.
Both groups came to Jesus and with butter in their mouths,
or speaking in a way that would have turned stone to butter, they
said, "Oh teacher, we know that you are true, and care for no
man; for you do not regard the position of men, but truly teach
the way of God."
What a bunch of lies were now pouring out of those people
who represented the sect of the Pharisees and the band of
Herodians. They did not believe one word of what they had just
said to Jesus.
They continued with the question that they were sure would
be the final death blow to Jesus' popularity with the people, "Is
it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or
should we not?" Most in Judaea did not like being under the Roman
power. If Jesus said yes, give taxes to Rome, the Pharisees
thought He would then be on the "outs" with the people, and if He
said no, do not give taxes to Rome, then the Pharisees could
report Him to the Roman authorities, as someone trying to turn
the people against Rome. Either way they thought they had Him
this time.
They could not fool Jesus for one second. He knew exactly
what was going on and why they had come to Him with this
question. He knew they were a group filled with hypocrisy, on
both sides. He said to them, "Why do you try to put me to the
test? Bring me a coin, and let me look at it." And so they did,
they brought Him a coin, and that was their second mistake, the
first being the very question they asked Him. "Whose likeness
and inscription is this?" Jesus asked them. "Well.....well..."
they began to answer with some hesitation, "it is the likeness of
Caesar." They sensed by now that they, not Jesus, were in for the
public embarrassment.
"Very well then," Jesus began to reply, "you should render
to Caesar the things that are Ceasar's, and you should render to
God the things that are God's."
The faces of those who asked Him the question first went as
white as snow, then as red as a beet-root in embarrassment. They
were stunned and everyone of them was speechless, they could not
utter one word. They were both amazed at His reply, and also
angry at Him for once more turning the tables upon them, and
making them look silly and ridiculous among all the people
standing by. With not one single word, they turned away from Him
and departed (Mat.22: 15-22; Mark 12: 13-17; Luke 20: 20-26).
Jesus taught that we are to have a certain amount of respect
for secular Governments. Some Governments of men, we as
Christians, living in some parts of the world, need to move away
from, escape out of the land of that Government, for they are
very evil towards Christians (recently we had a large black
family come to the city I live in, and the church I attend. They
came to Canada to escape the harmful evil Government of the
Middle Eastern nation they were from, because they were under
possible physical violence from that Government because they were
Christians).
This situation above did not exist in Judea during the time
of Christ. The Roman Government allowed the Jews to have all
freedom to teach and practice their religion. There was no fear
of physical violence from the Roman Government if the Jews lived
in a peaceful way within the Roman Empire. Hence, under such a
living situation Jesus taught people should pay taxes to the
secular Government, and be thankful that they did not have to
flee for their lives as they taught and practiced the word and
truths of God.
A QUESTION OF MARRIAGE IN THE RESURRECTION
On the same day the Sadducees came to Jesus with a question
they thought was going to have Him treading on His shoe laces and
falling flat on His face (of course I use a metaphor as they wore
sandals not shoes with laces in those days). They were going
to show the Herodians and the Pharisees "how to do it." The
Sadducees did not believe in "the resurrection" of the dead to
eternal life. This was their question: "Teacher, Moses
wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no
children from her, the man must take the wife and raise up
children for his brother."
This was a law in the books of Moses, but here they only
state the basic law, it was not written in stone, that the living
brother HAD to do this, in other words there was a clause in the
law that could be used so the brother did not have to take his
dead brother's wife in marriage (see Deut.25: 5-10).
The question they had for Jesus was based on the basic
principle of this law of Moses. They continued, "Now there were
seven brothers; the first took a wife and died without having
children from her; and the second, and the third took her,
likewise all seven had her as wife and left no children, and they
all died. Afterwards the woman died also. Therefore in the
resurrection, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as
wife."
You could see all these Sadducees with a large grin on their
faces, oh how they thought they had won the day, finally they
were thinking, we the great priests of the Temple, have backed
this Jesus fellow into a corner and He is finally defeated in His
theology. Oh how they were thinking that they the Sadducees were
the victors over this man that many believed was the Messiah.
This question they thought would be proof that this Jesus was NOT
the promised Messiah, and the Son of God as He was claiming.
And Jesus said to them, "How wrong you are, for you know not
what the Scriptures teach nor the power of God."
The Scriptures that the Sadducees could read clearly stated
there would be a resurrection (see Daniel 12: 2; Ezekiel 37;
Isaiah 26: 19), and the "power of God" that Jesus was talking
about, is not only the literal power that God has, but it is also
knowing the "spirit" and essence of what the Scriptures of God
taught on that subject. With those two things in hand, Jesus was
able to continue to say, "The sons of this age marry and
are given in marriage; but those who are accounted worthy to
attain to the age to come and to the resurrection from the dead,
neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die any
more, because they are equal to the angels and are the very sons
of God, being sons of the resurrection. And as for the dead being
raised, have you not read what is written in the book of Moses,
in the passage about the burning bush, and how God said to him,
'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob'? Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for
all shall live in Him. You are very wrong in your theology on
this matter"
And when the crowd heard all this, they were astonished at
His teaching, and the Sadducees found they had tripped over their
own shoe laces, and it was they who had their faces in the dust
of the ground (Mat.22: 23-33; Mark 12: 18-27; Luke 20: 27-38).
Yes the Bible teaches very clearly there will be a
resurrection, in fact as we have seen, Jesus taught (John chapter
5) that ALL who had ever died would be resurrected. What Jesus
teaches here is that those who will be in the resurrection to be
very sons of God, will be like the angels in that they will
neither marry nor will they be given in marriage. There will be
no husband and wife marriages as we in this physical life know
them. There will be no sexual relations for those in the
resurrection to eternal life, no sexual relations as we know and
practice it in our physical marriages.
This explanation of Jesus' also tells us that angels do not
marry, neither do they have, nor can they have, sexual relations
among themselves or among and within human beings. Some teach
that in Genesis chapter six, angels, be it "fallen ones," came to
earth and married and had sexual relations with physical women,
and that union produced great giants. What Jesus said here in the
Gospels completely blows away such a wild idea that some hold
concerning Genesis chapter six. The Pharisees actually taught
that idea about angels marrying physical women, and we know that
Jesus had already warned His disciples about the "leaven" of the
doctrines of the Pharisees and the Sadducees (Mat.16: 6-12).
Much of what they taught was error and false.
We shall know each other when in the resurrection, be able
to do things together, even eat meals together, have all the
inter-actions with each other that we enjoy today in the flesh,
just as Jesus could with His disciples AFTER He was raised from
the dead. But in this passage we have the clear teaching from
Jesus that those in the resurrection to life in the Kingdom of
God, will not marry, nor have sexual relations as we do today
when we in this age, marry each other.
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT
It was not long before the Pharisees heard that Jesus had
silenced the Sadducees. They came together again in a little
huddle to determine what their next question would be for Jesus
to try and answer, with the view that He would not be able to
answer or give an answer that would disgrace or make Him look
inept before all the people.
Looking from above, with a bird's eye view, down on the
Temple, all of this would have seemed quite funny, if it was not
all so serious. You had the chief priests, scribes and elders of
the people, in the first huddle to plan their attack on Jesus
with a trick question, and Jesus scoring a touchdown against
them. Then the Herodians and Pharisees huddled down to plan their
attack question on Him, and again He scores a touchdown again
them. After that the Sadducees call time out and huddle down to
come up with a question He could not answer, and Jesus scores a
touchdown with the ball they kick at Him. Now, the Pharisees
regroup, they call for another time out, and huddle down again to
plan their attack against Jesus.
All really quite funny, looking from above on all these
little "sect huddles" going on in the Temple grounds, if as I've
said, it was not so serious a matter. This was not a game these
sects were playing, they were dead earnest about trying to nail
Jesus' hide against the wall. This time one of the Pharisees who
was also one of the scribe lawyers, asked Him this question,
"Teacher, which commandment is the first, the greatest
commandment in the law?"
Without any hesitation Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear,
O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your life,
and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second
is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no
other commandments greater than these."
And the lawyer scribe said to Him, "You are right teacher;
you have truly said that He is one, and there is no other but He;
and to love Him with all your heart, and with all your
understanding, and with all your strength, and to love one's
neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings
and sacrifices."
And when Jesus saw that the man answered wisely, He said to
him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God."
After all this questioning from the different sects, and all
of Jesus' correct and wonderful answers to them, there was not
one person who dared to ask Him any other question (Mark 12:
28-34).
ABOUT THE MESSIAH'S ANCESTRY
No one was brave enough to ask Jesus any more questions
after all this, but Jesus thought it was now His turn to ask the
Pharisees a question. While they were still as one group before
Him, He asked them, "Tell me, what do you think of the Christ?
Whose son is he?" The lawyer scribes were quick to answer, "Why,
the Christ is the son of David."
"Well then," replied Jesus, "if that is so, how is it that
David, inspired by the Spirit, calls Him LORD, saying, 'The LORD
said to my LORD, sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies
under your feet'? (Ps. 110:1). If David then calls Him LORD, how
is HE his son?"
And no one was able to answer Him a word, they had no answer
for the question Jesus now asked them. And from that time forward
not a single person asked Him any more questions (Mat. 22:
41-46).
Jesus was showing them that THE MESSIAH was not just from
the line of their great king David, but that the Messiah was
David's LORD, the Lord that David worshipped. The Messiah was
DIVINE God, as well as coming in the physical form to earth via
the blood line of David. This we saw way back in the very first
few chapters of this New Testament Bible Story. Mary, who was to
bear God's Son, was from the physical line or ancestry of
Israel's ancient king David.
The Messiah, Jesus was pointing out to them, was to be BOTH
humanly physical as well as DIVINE LORD or God.
Jesus had put up with a lot from the Pharisees, they had
questioned Him time and time again, they had attacked His
character, slandered Him, called Him names, even said He did
things by the power of the Devil. Times was short now, Jesus knew
He would soon be put to death, and the Pharisees would have a
large part in bringing that event to fruition. Jesus was going to
tell the Pharisees and all people standing around, just where it
really was with the Pharisees. He would speak plainly about them
and their attitude as never before. His words would, as we say,
makes their ears burn.
.................................
Written December 2002
  Chapter Thirty-two:Plain talk about Scribes and Pharisees - The Jews begin to reject JesusWOES TO THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
And Jesus said to the crowd and to His disciples, "The
scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat; so all therefore
that they bid you observe, that is according to the Word
of God, and what they have authority over, that observe and do,
but do not follow their works for they say, but do not do
practice what they preach."
Although the words "according to the Word of God, and what
they have authority over" are added by myself, it is clear from
all that Jesus has said as recorded in the four Gospels, this is
the true meaning of what Jesus was saying to them. We have seen
that Jesus said much of the doctrines and teachings of the
Pharisees was "leaven" and to be ware of their theology. We have
seen that Jesus many times did not agree with the ideas and the
theology of the scribes and Pharisees, so it is obvious that He
was not telling people here to BLINDLY, without question, do and
practice everything that came out of the mouth of those two
groups of people, the scribes and the Pharisees.
Yet, Jesus did admit that they did have a certain amount of
authority from Moses and did have some things correct, so where
their authority and teachings were in line with God's word,
people were to admit it was correct and so do the truth that they
taught. But, He was just as clearly teaching here that people
were NOT to follow the life example set by the scribes and
Pharisees, for as we have seen Jesus often told them they were
hypocrites...they often said what God's word did teach, and
wanted people to obey it, but they did not do it themselves. So
people were to be aware that their example was often far from
what people should follow.
Now Jesus got really to the point, did not hold back, and
painted in graphic words the foundational nature of the scribes
and Pharisees. He went on to say, "They bind heavy burdens, hard
to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders; but they themselves
will not move them off with even a finger."
Religious cults are prone to do this sort of thing. They
rule their members with all kinds of laws that govern every facet
of their lives, from the time they wake up to the time they go to
sleep. The scribes and Pharisees were in many ways a religious
cult, and how they loved to burden people with hundreds of "do
this" and "do not do that" laws of life, that were not the laws
of God. The people were under heavy burdens, and the leaders
of the two groups Jesus is addressing, were not willing to lift
the smallest of these man made regulations, that could, in a
figure of speech, be lifted from them with just one finger.
Jesus continued: "They do all their deeds and works to be
seen of people; for on their arms they wear extra wide prayer
boxes with Scriptures verses inside, and wear extra long tassels
on their robes."
In their religion of those days, there was a lot of meaning
to such clothing. Remember the Old Covenant of the Old Testament
age was in many ways full of physical rites, rituals, sacrifices,
Temple worship, and even decorating their homes and clothing
with Bible verses was often practices. The scribes and Pharisees
went to the ultimate extreme in decorating themselves with
Scripture verses.....but it was, as Jesus said, mainly for
outward show, in order to tell others how "religious" and how
"godly" they were, but in fact the opposite was the true case.
Continuing with Jesus' words, "And how they love to sit at
the head table at banquets and in the most prominent seats in the
church! They enjoy the adulation they get from people on the
streets, and they revel in being called 'Rabbi' or 'teacher' in a
vain religious sense. Do not let anyone call you "Teacher" in
this vain pompous religious way, for you only have ONE "teacher"
- God in heaven. You my disciples are on the same level as
brothers and sisters. Do not address each other with pompous
religious titles. And further more, do not address anyone here on
earth with the religious title of 'Father,' for only God in
heaven is your spiritual Father. And do not let anyone call you
'Master' in a spiritual religious way, for you have only one
Master - the Christ, myself, the Messiah."
Right away we can think of one large religious body of
people who use the word "Father" as a religious title for its
church leaders. Jesus here clearly said such a practice was not
to be done. It is so true in so many cases, that when Jesus said
"do this" people do not, and when Jesus said, "do not do this"
people do it. Such is the deception of the human heart.
To further amplify the state that Christians must have one
towards another, Jesus went on to say: "The one who thinks he is
the greatest among you, must be your servant. Those who exalt
themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will
be exalted. How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious
law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites you are! For you will not let
others enter the Kingdom of God, and you will not go in
yourselves. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites you are,
for shamelessly you cheat widows out of their property, and then,
to cover up the kind of people you really are, you make long
prayers in public. Because of this your punishment will be the
greater."
Yes, those leaders of religious law, were very clever at
getting money from people, even from the widow, who would often
give over whatever property they were left by their husband at
death, to "the church" as we say today. And so it still is in our
time that many "religious" teachers out there are masterful at
getting people to give and send them money. Now and again we see
such people and their "religious work" be exposed on TV. Such
persons usually have great personal wealth, or their organization
does, and they live off the organization with a life style is up
with the "rich and the famous" in the Hollywood circle of movie
stars.
Continuing: "Woe to you religious leaders of the scribes and
Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you travel around the earth, over
land and sea to make one convert, and when he is made, you make
that person two-fold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Woe unto you, you blind guides, which say, 'Whoever swears by the
Temple, it is nothing, but whoever swears by the gold on the
Temple, is a debtor and is obligated to pay and fulfil what he
has swore to do.' You silly fools and carnally blind: for which
is the greater, the gold, or the Temple that sanctifies the gold
that is on it? The Temple where God says He would dwell is the
greater of course!
And you also say, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is
nothing; but whoever swears by the gift of sacrifice on the
altar, he is a debtor to pay in full what he swore to do.' You
fools and you blind: for which is the greater, the gift on the
altar or the altar itself that sanctifies the gift? Why the altar
is the greatest of course!
So, whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and everything
that may be upon it. And whoever swears by the Temple, swears by
it and all things upon its walls, and especially by Him that
dwells in it - God.
And whoever swears by heaven, swears by the very throne of
God, and by Him that sits on the throne - God Himself!"
As we can see Jesus did not mince His words towards those
religious leaders of the people known as the scribes and the
Pharisees. Truly some of the teachings they held were by nature
and by common human logic, very silly and foolish, and as Jesus
bluntly put it "hypocritical."
Going on with Jesus' scathing rebukes: "Woe unto you scribes
and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are careful to tithe even on
the smallest parts of your income and goods, but then you IGNORE
the large important parts of the law - JUSTICE, MERCY, and
FAITH. Oh yes, you SHOULD tithe, but you SHOULD NOT leave UNDONE
the more IMPORTANT things. Blind guides you are! You strain your
water so you will not accidently swallow at gnat; then you turn
around and swallow a camel!
How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law
and for you Pharisees. You hypocrites! You are so very careful to
wash and clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but you
forget the inside. You are filthy - full of greed and
self-indulgence! You blind Pharisees! You should first wash the
inside of the cup, then the outside will get clean also, as you
wash the inside.
Woe, unto you scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! You are
like whitewashed tombs - looking beautiful on the outside, but
filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of
impurity. You all try to look like upright godly people
outwardly, but inside your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and
lawlessness.
Woe, unto you scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you
build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed and decorate
the graves of the godly people your ancestors destroyed. Then you
have the nerve to say, 'We would never have joined them in
killing the prophets.' In saying what you say, you are accusing
yourself of being the descendants of those who murdered the
prophets. Go ahead. Finish what they started!
You snakes, you sons of vipers! How will you escape the
judgment of hell fire?
I will send you prophets and wise men and teachers of
religious law. You will kill some, and whip others in your
churches, chasing them from city to city. As a result of
your evil heart you will be guilty of murdering all the godly
people from righteous Abel to Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom
you murdered in the Temple between the altar and the sanctuary. I
assure you, all the accumulated judgment of the centuries will
break and come upon the heads of this very generation."
Jesus as you see, did not mince His words at this time. His
time had just about come to an end as far as living in the flesh
as a human being. He had been very badly treated, shamefully
treated, by those religious leaders of the people of Judah. They,
of all people, should have known better, they were the ones
supposedly reading and understanding all that the word of God in
the Old Testament was saying. Many, many passages told of the
first coming of the Messiah, and how He would live, and teach,
and heal, and proclaim the truths of the Kingdom of God. Those
scribes and Pharisees should have been able to have recognized
that Jesus the Christ was indeed the very promised Messiah. The
words Jesus used against those two groups of religious leaders
were fair and proper words. They deserved every bit of Jesus'
condemnation.
Jesus finished this attack on the scribes and Pharisees by
thinking of the people in general, and how they had been
influenced to deception by those leaders, so much so that in an
overall sense, that deception would last for a great time to
come. He said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and
stoning those whom God sends to you! How often would I have
gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under
her wings, but you would not let me do it! Behold therefore, your
house is forsaken and will be desolate. For I tell you, you will
not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the
name of the Lord' " (Mat.23: 1-39).
Jerusalem, the city, and the majority of the Jews to this
very day, are still spiritually forsaken, and their house is
desolate. They still do not accept Jesus as the Messiah.
They have had great troubles for many centuries. They still wait
for the Messiah to come. They will indeed not see Jesus, until He
comes again in glory. Then as the prophet Zechariah (chapters 12
to 14) shows, they will see that the very Jesus Christ that
walked among them centuries earlier, IS the MESSIAH! They shall
then praise Him and will indeed say, "Blessed be HE who comes in
the name of the Lord."
A WIDOW GIVES ALL
Jesus had been teaching for some hours. He was getting a
little tired so He sat down across from the Temple treasury, and
watched the multitude putting money into the treasury box. Many
very rich people put in large sums of money. Then came along a
poor widow, and put in just two copper coins, which make a penny,
a very very small amount compared to what others had put in. So
small an amount that some would have thought it pretty well
amounted to nothing.
Jesus, knowing through His miraculous power of the Spirit,
the true situation of what this widow had done, called His
disciples to come, and He said to them, "I tell you of a truth,
this poor widow has put into the Temple treasury more than all
who have contributed. For they all contributed out of their
abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in EVERYTHING she
had, her whole living" (Mark 12: 41-44; Luke 21: 1-4).
Nothing more is mentioned by the Gospel writers. But we can
easily get the message Jesus was giving His disciples. The heart
of the woman was much larger in attitude than any of the wealthy
who had contributed. They may have given large amounts of money,
but they could have given more really. And you talk about "faith"
that was exhibited by this widow, yes, she had great faith that
God would provide for her. It does not say in the accounts, then
again, it does not need to. Jesus noticed it, and I'm sure this
widow was blessed in a physical way somehow, and that God made
sure her daily needs were met.
THE START OF REJECTION BY THE JEWS
The Jews had great expectations of Jesus. They were sure He
was going to start to lead them to full freedom from the Roman
Empire. They had welcomed Him to Jerusalem with great acclaim and
celebration. But all they saw was Him teaching in the Temple. His
teaching was fine and even spectacular, and shocking at times,
yet they thought, when was He going to break forth into a
rallying army type leader who would gather them all together and
lead them to victory over the Roman army. He had mighty
miracle working power that they thought could surely destroy all
the armies that Rome could send upon them. They were beginning to
get doubts in this Jesus who called Himself the Messiah, and the
Son of God.
Now among those that went up to worship at the feast time of
the Passover were some Greeks. These came to Philip, who was from
Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see
Jesus."
These Greeks had probably heard about Jesus' triumphant
entry into Jerusalem, and now wanted to learn more about and from
this man. We are told that Philip went to Andrew. Philip may have
wanted some other person to talk to about the matter, as these
Greeks were Gentiles, and Jesus did not normally go out of His
way to teach and preach to Gentiles. The Gentiles would have the
door to the Kingdom of God fully opened to them after Jesus'
resurrection, when God made it known to the Jewish disciples of
Christ that salvation was for everyone....Jew or Gentile.
Both Philip and Andrew went to Jesus to pass on to Him the
request from these Greek persons. The narrative, recorded by the
apostle John, simply goes into the words of Jesus. We are to
assume these are the words given by Jesus to both His disciples,
Jews, and to these Gentile Greeks.
And Jesus said, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be
glorified. Truly, yes true indeed, I tell you, unless a grain of
wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, and
fruitless; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his
life, looses it, and he who hates his life in this world will
keep it for ever in the eternal life to come. "
Jesus was here speaking of Himself, that would die, but in
so doing, much fruit would be brought forth by His death. He is
also speaking to His disciples who would want to follow Him. He
was once more telling them that they were to have their hearts
primarily set upon eternal life in the Kingdom, and not on being
wrapped up in the physical things of this life. His disciples
must even give up their lives like He was going to give up His
life, IF called upon to do so, for the sake of the Kingdom of
heaven.
Jesus going on with the last thought I've mentioned, said,
"If any one serves me, he must FOLLOW me; and in so doing, where
I shall be there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me,
the Father will honor them."
Yes, all who live and die as a follower of Christ, shall one
day be with Jesus. There will come a resurrection from death, at
the coming of Christ in glory, as we have seen, and the dead in
Christ will be raised to immortal life, and those living when He
comes shall be changed from flesh and blood to immortal sons and
daughters of God (1 Cor. 15; 1 Thes. 4 ), and meet Jesus in the
air, in the clouds, and as the apostle Paul said, so shall they
ever be with Christ.
Jesus, now looking at what the near hour of His death would
be like, said, "Now is my mind troubled. And what shall I say?
Shall I say, 'Father, save me from this hour'? No! For it was for
this purpose I have come to this hour just ahead of me. Father,
glorify your name."
Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I
will glorify it again."
Was this voice, the very personal voice of God the Father?
We need to be careful not to jump to that conclusion too fast,
for as John records, the crowd hearing that voice, did not
automatically believe it was God Himself speaking. As in our
Governments of this world, a "spokes-person" on behalf of a
leader of a nation, can speak in the first person, acting for the
President or Prime Minister of the nation. So, it could also be
in God's Kingdom. Here is what John recorded as the reaction of
the crowd when hearing this voice, "The crowd standing by heard
it and said that it thundered. Others said, 'An ANGEL has spoken
to him.' "
Whatever, either the voice of an angel or the voice of God,
Jesus went on to say, "This voice had come for your sakes, not
for mine. Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler
of this world be cast out; and I, when I am lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men unto myself."
As the apostle John recorded, he said this to show what
death He would die. Being lifted up, using that figure of speech,
was well understood by the Jews and all within the Roman Empire.
It signified being crucified on a cross or stake. Crucifixion was
a common method used by the Romans to slowly kill someone. In
most cases it was a slow death, over two or three days, but I'll
have more to say on that when we get to the actual crucifixion of
Jesus.
The ruler of this world to be cast out, that Jesus referred
to, was Satan himself. At the death of Christ, the works of Satan
were conquered. Sin began with Satan in the distant past. And
from the time of Adam and Eve and their sin, ALL people have
sinned, and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6: 23) - eternal
death in the lake of fire which is the second death spoken about
in Revelation chapter 20. Jesus' death would pay the penalty, He
would take our sins upon Himself, so upon our repentance and
accepting Him as our personal Savior, we could be freed from
Satan's hold and death's hold on us.
At the death of Christ for the sins of the world (John 3:
16) Satan would be in essence, cast out from holding the people
of the world in his grip. His power over us would be broken
through the shed blood of Jesus. He would still be allowed to do
his work on earth for another two thousand years or so, before he
would finally be chained up for a thousand years, as Revelation
20 tells us. But Jesus dying on the cross would make sure and
seal Satan's fate of being cast out....and as God often calls
things done that are not yet literally done, but so sure are they
that they will be done, God sometimes uses words that speak as if
they are now done. This is what Jesus did here, spoke as
if Satan would be cast out NOW, at Jesus' death. In one way as
I've mentioned Satan would be, but in the literal sense Satan is
not put away from the earth until the one thousand year reign of
Christ begins, when Jesus comes again in glory to establish the
literal Kingdom of God on earth (Rev. 19 and 20).
After Jesus had mentioned that he would be "lifted up" which
all present knew He meant that He would die by crucifixion, the
crowd said, "We have heard from the law of Moses that the Christ
remains FOREVER. How then can you say the Son of man must
be lifted up? Who then is THIS Son of man you talk about?"
Jesus replied to them, not in a direct way, He had over the
course of His ministry told them plainly WHO the Son of man was.
He replied in the way that showed they should have known by now
WHO the Son of man was, "The light is with you for a little
longer. Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake
you; those who walk in the darkness do not know where they are
going. While you have the light, BELIEVE in the light, that you
may become the sons and daughters of the light."
Once more Jesus was referring to Himself. He was the light.
They needed to BELIEVE in HIM! They needed to walk in the light
of truth He was teaching them. He was again telling them they
needed to become true sons and daughters of God the Father.
When Jesus had said all this, He departed and kept Himself
hidden and out of sight from them. And John tells us that though
He had done so many signs and miracles among them, they still did
not believe in Him, they did not believe in Him as they should
have believed in Him. It was all as the spoken word of the
Prophet Isaiah said, "Lord, who had believed our report, and to
whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" (Isa.53: 1). It was
not given for the majority of the people at that time to believe,
for Isaiah also said, "He has blinded their eyes and hardened
their heart, lest they should see with their eyes and perceive
with their heart, and turn to me to be healed" (Isa. 6: 9, 10).
Yes, Isaiah was inspired of God to say these things because
it would not be God's will to takes the blindness away from the
hearts of the majority of the people during the time of Christ's
ministry. Nevertheless God had called a number of the people to
believe in Him, even a number of the authorities within the
Jewish nation believed in Jesus, but for fear of the sect of the
Pharisees, who had a huge amount of pull and sway in a political
religious manner, they did not openly confess they believed in
Jesus, lest they should be put out of the synagogues. God had
called them to believe, but as we have seen, we have out part to
play in that calling. As free moral agents we can decide how
we will "run" with the belief God grants us. These people who
believed, did not run well with it. As the apostle John states,
they loved the praise of men MORE than the praise of God. They
made the synagogue or church their "social club" and did not want
to be "put out" on account of believing in Jesus. Possibly, after
Jesus' death and resurrection, some of them took a firmer stand
on their conviction and were not bothered about being put out of
the synagogues, but at this juncture in time, they were more
afraid of men than God.
We need always be more fearful (which is a deep respect and
honor) of God than of men.
Jesus was not yet through speaking. He cried out, "He who
believes in me, believes not merely in me but in HIM that sent
me. And he who sees me sees also HIM that sent me. I have come as
LIGHT into the world, that whoever believes in me may not
remain in the darkness. If any one hears my teachings and does
NOT keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not at this time
come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects me
and does NOT receive my sayings has a judge; the WORD that I
have spoken will be his judge on the last day. For I have not
spoken on my OWN authority; the Father who sent me has Himself
given me commandment WHAT I should SAY and WHAT to speak. And I
surely know that His commandment is ETERNAL LIFE! What I say,
therefore, I say as the Father has commissioned me to say" (John
12: 20-50).
Jesus' main purpose in coming the first time was to die for
the sins of the world, to give people a way out of sin, and a way
to eternal life (John 3: 16), through His shed blood on the
cross. It was not Jesus' time to judge the world, to judge all
the people on the earth. That day of judgement was not for that
time, it was for a much later time, but people would even then
not be judge out of Jesus' own mind per se, but judged by the
very word of God, which of course includes all the words and
teachings of Jesus that are recorded in the New Testament.
God has revealed His will for us, how we should live, what
we should practice, what we should think and say and do. It is
all in His word we call the Bible. Christians, the children of
God the Father, are to as Jesus said, live by every word that
proceeds out of the mouth of God (Mat.4: 4). All people, one day,
shall be judge by that very word. We need to read it, understand
it, love it, want to follow it and live by it. If we have that
attitude of mind we need not fear our judgement day, for we shall
be under the grace of God. We shall be loved by Him, and we shall
inherit eternal life.
.............................
Written January 2003
  Chapter Thirty-three:The Great Prophecy of the End Times - part one
MARY ANOINTS JESUS' FEET
The apostle John in his Gospel account relates to us that
six days before the Passover, Jesus was in Bethany, the town
where Lazarus (the man Jesus raised from the dead) was living. He
was at a supper meal. Martha, Mary's sister, was serving, and
Lazarus was also present, sitting at the same table with Jesus.
Mary took a pound of very costly ointment and started to
anoint Jesus' head and also His feet, and wiped His feet with her
hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the
ointment. But Judas Iscariot (the one who betrayed Jesus later)
said, "Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred denarii
(a large sum of money in our terms today), and given to the
poor?"
We may think that Judas was kind hearted, especially towards
the poor, but John informs us that he did not say this because he
cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he was
also in charge of the money box the disciples had, for their
living expenses, he would steal from it at times.
It is good to here realize that Jesus and His disciples had
a "bank account" as we might call it today. They were obviously
given money from many different people and sources, to help them
with physical expenses (such as food) as they travelled up and
down Palestine doing the work of God.
Jesus replied to Judas' statement, "Let her alone, do not
trouble her. For you will always have the poor with you, and
whenever you will you can do good to them; but you will not
always have me here. She has done what she could; she has
anointed my body beforehand, for burying me, preparing me for
death. And truly, I say to you, wherever the Gospel is preached
in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of
her."
When the people heard that Jesus was there in Bethany, they
came in large numbers, not only to see Jesus, for some were
already questioning and having second thoughts about Him, because
He was not doing what they expected Him to do, gather all the
Jewish men together to form an army to fight the Romans. They
came also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
Many were though wanting and starting to believe in Jesus, and
the power that the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees had over
the people was diminishing. So those groups of men were planning
to also put Lazarus to death along with Jesus (Mark 14: 3-9; John
12: 1-11).
THE MOUNT OF OLIVES PROPHECY
It is now only three days until the Passover and the fateful
events of the night and day of the fourteenth of Nisan, the first
month in the calendar that the Jews used, corresponding to our
March/April (see a good Bible Dictionary under the article
"calendar").
Jesus had been on this third day before the Passover, in the
Temple, once more teaching the things concerning the Kingdom of
God. He was now leaving the Temple, when His disciples, at least
one of them, said, "Teacher, look at the wonderful stones and
what wonderful buildings are within the Temple structure."
Jesus answered, "You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell
you, there will not be left one single stone upon another that
shall not be thrown down."
The disciples were astonished once more at His remarks and
they pondered and mused among themselves as they walked along,
what that remark was really meaning.
Jesus reached the Mount of Olives, and stopped to look at
all He could see, as well as have a short rest. It was then that
some of the disciples, namely, Peter and James and John and
Andrew asked Him privately this question:
"Tell us Lord, when will this be that you spoke about
concerning the stones of the Temple, and what will be the sign of
your coming and the close of the age?"
We need to notice very clearly, for it is written by Matthew
in very plain to understand words. The disciples were asking
Jesus to tell them about the signs that would signal His
RETURN....and the END OF THE AGE!
What we are about to read, the words of Jesus, as recorded
in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, is MAINLY and for mostly, an END TIME
prophecy. It has only a smaller fore-running local event of what
happened to the Temple and Jerusalem, in 70 A.D. What happened in
70 A.D. did NOT fulfil this prophecy, for TODAY we still have
part of the wall of the Temple in existence in Jerusalem. It is
called the "Wailing Wall." Hence in 70 A.D. not EVERY STONE, was
"will not be left one stone upon another, that will not be thrown
down" as Jesus had said would come to pass, BEFORE His COMING
AGAIN and the END of the age!
This prophecy of Jesus' is most certainly for the END TIMES,
yet ahead of anyone reading this New Testament Bible Story!
Jesus said, "Take heed that no one leads you astray. For
MANY will come in my name saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they
will lead MANY astray."
At the end times it is the MANY that would come saying that
Jesus was the Christ. They would come in His name, claiming they
were ministers of Christ. But they would be false ministers,
leading MANY, not the few, astray. And so it is today we have
dozens and dozens, even hundreds, of "religious" organizations
claiming Jesus is the Christ. But Jesus Himself said, the MANY
would be false ministries and false preachers, leading the many
into a false Christianity.
Jesus continued, "And you will hear of wars and rumors of
wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but
the end of the age is not yet. For nation will rise up against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines
and earthquakes in various places; all this is but the BEGINNING
of sufferings."
We have in the last 100 years seen all this fully come to
pass. More earthquakes then ever, more famines than ever, more
nations fighting nations than ever in the past. All this Jesus
said had to come to pass, but the end of the age was not just
yet, more specific things Jesus would now go on to name and
foretell, would be the signs of the stones of the Temple in
Jerusalem being cast down so not one would be left upon another
(the stones of the Wailing Wall still stand, which was once a
part of the Temple of Jesus' day), and the coming of Jesus again
to earth.
Continuing with Jesus' words, "Then they will deliver you my
disciples, up to tribulation, and beat you in the churches, and
you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear
testimony before them. Some of you they will put to death. And
you will be hated by all nations for my sake. Do not worry
beforehand how to answer your accusers; for I will give you the
words and wisdom to speak through the power of the Holy Spirit,
which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or
contradict. And at that time many will fall away from the truth,
and betray one another. You will be delivered up even by parents
and brothers and kinsmen and friends. Family members will betray
one another even to death. And at this time many false prophets
will arise and lead many astray. And along with all this,
wickedness will be multiplied and the love of most people
will wax cold."
This period, when all this will happen, will be the last few
years before Jesus returns, as the book of Revelation explains
and amplifies.
Jesus went on to say that those who would endure to the end,
stick it out, keep the faith, no matter what the cost, would be
saved.
And He said that before the end of the age came, the Gospel
would be preached throughout the whole world as a witness to all
nations. Some of that would be done by the servants of Christ,
some of it done by the two great witnesses that the eleventh
chapter of the book of Revelation speaks about, who will come to
Jerusalem for the last three and one half years or forty-two
months, and from there will witness for the truth of God. Then
the final world-wide witness will be by an angel that will
declare the Gospel to all that dwell upon the earth, to every
nation, every kindred, and tongue, and people (Revelation 14:
6,7).
Jesus said that after those specific events we just read
about, then the end of the age and His return would come. Then
the Kingdom of God would be established upon the earth.
Now Jesus, steps back in time somewhat, and talks about a
specific event that will lead up to and trigger this last days
persecution of God's spiritual children, as well as the physical
people of the tribes of Israel.
"When you see," Jesus said, "the abomination that makes
desolate, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it
should not stand, standing in the holy place..."
We are not to guess what this is that Jesus has reference
to. First, the Greek words for "holy place" are NOT unique. The
Greek for "holy" is the common word used throughout the New
Testament, and means, "consecrated, pure, holy, saint" - it is
the Greek "hagios." The word for "place" means just that -
"place, spot, location."
Jesus was saying something will make desolate a holy place,
a holy location, or holy spot on the earth.
Secondly, we do not have to guess what this is, or come up
with many different ideas, theories, interpretations, as many
have done in the last 200 years. The Bible "interprets itself."
Luke in his Gospel account of what Jesus said here, gives us the
meaning. We find it in Luke 21: 20, "But when you see JERUSALEM
SURROUNDED BY ARMIES, then you will know, its DESOLATION IS AT
HAND."
Jesus, was saying that what Daniel had foreseen and what he
wrote about for the end times, was the DESOLATION of JERUSALEM!
Jerusalem was God's chosen HOLY PLACE. It was and still is
the HOLY CITY! It is the city that God has chosen to have His
headquarters in under the reign of Jesus Christ during the
millennium or one thousand year period of Revelation chapter 20.
An end time power, the "King of the North" as Daniel calls
it (the book of Revelation calls it a "Beast" power, with a
"beast man" as army leader and "false prophet" as religious
leader) will come against the "King of the South" at the end time
and will defeat him, and then march on into the "glorious holy
mountain" and plant his seat or tabernacle of dwelling "between
the seas" (between the Mediterranean sea and the Dead sea) in the
very holy place, or holy city of Jerusalem (Daniel 11: 40-45).
Jerusalem will be surrounded by the armies of this Beast -
King of the North power about three and one half years, or forty
two months, or 1260 days, before Jesus returns to earth. This end
time power will then march into Jerusalem and destroy most of the
city. There will be great desolation of the holy city, and then
the final wall (Wailing Wall) of the Temple that stood in Jesus'
day, will come crashing down, and the prophecy will be fulfilled
where Jesus said that not one stone of the Temple would stand on
another stone.
When that event happens Jesus went on to say, "Then let
those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let him who is
on the housetop not go down to takes things from the house, but
flee. Those who are inside the city better flee, and those out in
the country-side better not enter the city. Those in the field
had better not return to their homes to gather things, but they
better flee. For these will be the days of vengeance, to
fulfil all that is written.
Alas for those who are pregnant and with child, and for
those who are still nursing their child! For great distress shall
be upon the earth and wrath upon THIS people in Palestine; they
shall fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away as captives
into all nations; and this city of Jerusalem shall be trodden
down and made desolate by the Gentiles, until the times of the
Gentiles are fulfilled, until God has allowed the Gentile armies
to do their devastation and evil.
You my disciples need to pray that your fleeing will not be
in the winter nor on the Sabbath day. For this will be the time
of GREAT TRIBULATION such the like that the world will never have
seen, no not from its very beginning, and never will see the like
ever again. If those days were not shortened, no HUMAN BEING
WOULD BE SAVED ALIVE; but for the sake of the ELECT, those days
God will shorten."
There can be no mistaking about the time Jesus is here
talking about. It was not the time of 70 A.D. It was not the time
of the middle ages, not the time of the first world war, not the
time of the second world war. No matter how bad those times were,
the time that Jesus is talking about (as we shall see further as
we proceed into the context of the next verses and what Jesus
said) is still ahead of all who are reading these chapters in
this Bible Story. Jesus is clearly talking about a time just
prior to His visible second coming in glory. It will be a time of
tribulation and distress and suffering, like the world
has never seen since man was created upon it. As Jesus said
unless those days would be shortened not one single human being
would be left alive on the face of the entire earth. Only in the
last 50 years have we had the weapons of mass destruction that
could indeed kill every man, woman, and child, from off the
planet.
This prophecy of Matthew 24 is, without question, an end
time prophecy, for the last three and one half years (the 42
months, the 1260 days, the times and time and half a time, of the
book of Revelation).
Jesus further said, "Then, at that time, if anyone says to
you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There He is,' do NOT believe
it! For false Christs and false prophets will rise up and even
show GREAT signs and wonders, so great as to lead many astray, so
deceptive they will be that IF it was possible they would deceive
even the VERY ELECT! You need to take heed; I have told you and
warned you of all these things beforehand.
So, if they say to you, 'Ah, look, He is in the wilderness,'
do not go out to look; if they say, 'Look, He is in this inner
room,' do NOT believe them. For when I COME AGAIN, it will be
like as LIGHTNING comes from the east and shines as far as to the
west. Yes, that is what my coming will be like. The Son of man
will come in a cloud with GREAT POWER and GLORY! Now, when these
things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because
your redemption is drawing near. Wherever the body is, there
the eagles will be gathered together."
Once more Jesus has warned His true followers that at this
end time, the last three or four years especially, many false
prophets and religious teachers would arise. Some will be able to
perform great and might miracles. The false prophet of the book
of Revelation will be able to bring fire down from heaven. Many
will come at that time claiming Jesus has returned, but Jesus
said He will not come in such a secret manner that people have to
tell you He had arrived and is over in this wilderness area or in
a particular room somewhere.
Jesus said His coming will be like the LIGHTNING comes from
the east and flashes to the west. As a young lad growing up in
England I witnessed such events. Some of the thunder and
lightning storms would come upon us very suddenly. Within minutes
the sky would be dark with huge black clouds, then loud thunder
would roll across the heaven, THEN SUDDENLY the lightning would
flash at on side of the sky and flash across to the other side.
It was all very SPECTACULAR and QUICK!
Jesus said as His disciples were watching these last day
events unfold, they were to realize their redemption was near. He
was referring to their being made immortal in the resurrection at
His return. The resurrection spoken about in 1 Thessalonians 4
and 1 Corinthians 15.
Jesus used the analogy of a carcase and the eagles or
vultures gathering together around it. We have either seen that
in person some time, or seen it in a movie or documentary on
eagles and vultures. We are to get from that analogy the main
thought, not the specifics as such. Jesus was not thinking about
the carcase being dead, or the meal the vultures would have. The
point He was making was the one carcase being there would draw
the birds to it.
He had just mentioned the redemption of His followers, and
that redemption was the time of HIM (the one person body, or the
one carcase of His analogy) coming to earth again, with glory as
the glory of lightning, and the resurrection of all the saints
taking place, their redemption glory, and they then coming to
where He was, just as the vultures come to where the carcase is.
Jesus and His followers would COME TOGETHER. We see this
perfectly explained by the apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians
chapter four.
Jesus will come like the glory of lightning to the clouds,
to the air of this earth. It will be a spectacular event, not
something secret or un-noticed. And when He comes the
RESURRECTION (or changing from flesh and blood to immortal spirit
for those saints alive at His coming - 1 Cor. 15) of the saints
takes place, their redemption is complete, and they gather
together where Christ is in the clouds, and so will be with Him
forever more.
The prophecy of Zechariah 14 finishes it all for us. In that
very day on which Jesus comes in glory, with the saints (who have
been resurrected or changed from human to divine), Jesus and the
saints land on earth, at the Mount of Olives, and start to
establish the literal Kingdom of God on earth. The reign of Jesus
for 1,000 years on earth begins.
Jesus now once more back-tracks some in the time period of
the last three or so years of this age. The great tribulation has
come and is just about over, Jesus has not yet arrived, His
coming like lightning is yet to happen. He wants to here tell His
disciples about another spectacular event that will happen, that
must happen, an event that they will see in the heavens above,
and then know that His coming is very close at hand.
Jesus gave definite signs for His servants to watch for during
the last years of this age, leading up to His return and their
completed redemption in the resurrection.
Jesus said, "Immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days
the SUN will be DARKENED, and the MOON will not give its light,
and the STARS will fall from heaven, and the powers of HEAVEN
will be SHAKEN! THEN, after those signs of the heavens, the sign
of the SON of man in heaven shall appear, then all the tribes of
the earth will mourn, and they will then see the SON of man
coming on the CLOUDS of heaven with POWER and great GLORY; and He
will send out His angels with a LOUD TRUMPET call, and they will
gather together His ELECT from the four winds, from one end of
heaven to the other end of heaven."
Yes, this is what I just explained above, the time of
completed redemption of the saints. The time of the resurrection
of the saints to meet Christ in the air, in the clouds.
We notice that the angels will have a part in bringing the saints
to where Jesus is, gathering them together, like the eagles
gather to where the carcase is, so the saints are gathered by the
angels to be brought to where Jesus is in the clouds of heaven.
Before this takes place Jesus gave His people the sign of
the "heavenly signs" to watch for, so when they saw the sun
darkened, and the moon not giving light and the stars falling
from heaven, AFTER the great tribulation, after a time of
distress such as never before on earth, then they could know
their completed redemption in the resurrection at the coming of
Christ in glory, was NEAR at hand.
The sign of the Son of man in heaven that shall appear,
maybe the sign that is talked about in Revelation 11: 19. The
sign of the Temple of God in heaven opened and the ark of His
testament shown. We notice the context of Rev.11: 19 is the sound
of the SEVENTH AND LAST trumpet, the time of the RESURRECTION of
the saints, the time for Jesus to COME AGAIN and rule the nations
of the earth. All fits together with 1 Cor. 15; 1 Thes. 4; Zech.
14; and Rev. 19 and 20.
Jesus really wanted His people to get the picture, and to
get in their mind some very important points within this whole
last days scene. He went on to tell us:
"I want you to learn the lesson from the fig tree; as soon
as its branches become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know
that summer is near. So likewise, when you see all these things
I've told you about, coming to pass, then know that the end is
near, even at the gates. Truly I say to you that this age of
mankind will not pass away until all these things come to pass.
Heaven and earth and physical mankind will one day pass
away, but my words will never pass away, so you can be assured it
will all come to pass what I am telling you about.
You need to take heed to yourself, lest your hearts be
weighed down with wickedness and drunkenness and with the cares
of this life, and that time come upon you suddenly like a snare;
for it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the earth
suddenly, they will not be expecting it. But you my disciples,
need to pray and watch at all times that you have the strength to
be counted worthy to escape all these things that will take
place, and to stand before the Son of man when He comes.
Of that specific day and hour when I come again in glory, no
one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son of man, but
ONLY my Father.
I tell you this, as were the days of Noah, so will be the
coming of the Son of man. For as in those days before the flood
they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,
right up until the day that Noah went into the Ark, and they did
not know until the flood came and swept them away, so will be the
coming of the Son of man.
So take heed, watch and pray, you do not know when that day
will come. It is like a man going on a journey, and when he
leaves he puts his servants in charge, each with his work to do,
and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. You need to
watch, for you do not know when the master of the house will
come, in the evening time, or at midnight, or at the time when
the cock crows, or later in the morning. Watch, lest he come
suddenly and find you asleep.
When that day comes for me to return, two men will be in the
field, one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be
grinding at the mill; one will be taken and the other left. Watch
therefore, you do not know WHAT DAY your Lord is coming."
This whole context is the VERY DAY, the literal 24 hour day,
that Jesus will come again from heaven back to this earth. So
when He said one would be taken and the other left, He was not
talking about some "secret rapture" - an invisible silent,
unseen, coming of His, that some people teach, to snatch away the
saints while leaving others behind.
All kinds of silly scenarios have been imagined by people
who teach and believe in the so-called "secret rapture" of the
saints, to be secretly snatched out of the world and taken
to heaven, while the great tribulation falls on all that are left
on earth. Such ideas lead to people driving their car and they
all of a sudden disappear, or they are driving a school bus and
they as a Christian suddenly disappear as they are caught up to
heaven in a secret rapture. You are left to imagine the horror
that takes place on the school bus when the driver suddenly
vanishes.
Jesus is here in the whole context talking about the VERY
DAY of His coming again. And as the book of Revelation clearly
shows there will be Christians on the earth at that time. Jesus
in this context of this great prophecy also makes it clear that
Christians will be on the earth when He returns in glory. Some
will be in the wilderness in safety from all the destruction
around them. Some will be called and converted only when the
tribulation of the last days is under way, and they will be in
different nations, doing different things, with many unconverted
people around them.
When the day comes for the Father to send Jesus back to
earth, as we have seen the RESURRECTION or CHANGE for the living
saints, will take place, ON THAT VERY DAY, as Jesus reaches the
clouds of heaven above us. The saints will be gathered by the
angels, they will be taken from the grave as they are raised to
immortal life, and taken from wherever they are on earth, in the
field, in the bed, working at the mill, if still alive (but the
live Christians will as we have seen, be changed from mortal to
immortal - 1 Cor.15), and taken to be with Christ in the clouds.
One taken and one left is to do with the RESURRECTION of the
saints on the very day that Jesus returns, the day that the
Father sends Him back to earth to establish the Kingdom of God on
earth for a thousand years.
And God will make sure that the Christian taken in the
resurrection will not be driving a bus, or flying a plane, or any
such thing, that would endanger innocent lives when they are
suddenly not there.
Jesus gave emphasis to His people to WATCH! He went on to
say, as He amplified the point of watching, "Watch therefore, for
you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this,
that if the householder had known in what part of the night
the thief was coming, he would have watched and have not let his
house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready; for the
Son of man is going to come at an hour you do not expect.
Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master has
set over his household, to give them their food at the proper
time? Blessed is that servant who when his master comes will find
so doing his job faithfully. Truly, I say to you, he will set him
over all his possessions.
But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is
delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and
drinks with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come
in a day when he does not expect him to come and at an hour he
does not know, and will punish him and put him with the
hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth" (Mat.24:
1-51; Mark 13: 1-37; Luke 21: 5-38).
We see that Jesus was very concerned that His disciples
would always be WATCHING! The watching Jesus had in mind was far
more than just watching world news and world events, in order to
tell whereabouts we are in Bible Prophecy. Jesus had in mind that
His followers should always be watching their LIVES, their
CONDUCT, and watching that they remain faithful to the calling
God. Then no matter when Jesus comes they will be ready to
inherit and to enter the Kingdom of God.
We need to remember that for each one of us personally, the
day of Christ's coming is just as close as our death, for the
very next thing for us after death is to awake in the
resurrection at the coming of Jesus. We will not know the passing
of time, we will not know how long we have been asleep in death.
And most of us do not know when we shall die. So we need, as
servants of God, to always be ready, so we can meet our Lord
in the clouds and forever more be with Him.
..................................
Written January 2003
 Chapter Thirty-four:The Great Prophecy of the End Times - Part TwoPARABLE OF THE TEN MAIDENS
AND OF THE TALENTS
The Gospel of Matthew chapter 25 is a continuation of the
great Olivet prophecy. Matthew is the only one to record the
second half, or the continuation of this large and somewhat
detailed prophecy of Christ's.
Jesus went on to say:
"Then the Kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens
who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of
them were foolish, and the other five were wise. For when the
foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the
wise maidens took a container of oil with their lamps. As the
bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and went to sleep. But
then at midnight there was a loud cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom!
Come out to meet him.' Then all the maidens rose up and quickly
trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us
some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise
maidens replied, 'Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for
you; go rather to the dealers and buy more oil for yourselves.'
And while they went off to buy, the bridegroom came, and those
who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the
door was shut. Afterwards the other maidens came also, saying,
'Lord, Lord, open to us.' But he replied, 'Truly, I say to you, I
do not know who you are.'
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the
hour."
Many have meditated over what the "oil" could represent.
Obviously the bridegroom is Jesus. The wedding feast is the
marriage feast at the coming of Christ, when He returns to
receive His bride and to enter the feast marriage of the Kingdom
of God on earth. This is all depicted in Revelation 19: 6-16.
The maidens represent those called to the marriage feast of
the Kingdom of God. Though they all went to sleep to some degree,
the bridegroom Christ, taking longer than anyone expected to
return, the church, half of them did think to make sure they had
extra oil in their lamps. The oil could as some have speculated,
represent the Holy Spirit, and I think there is some truth to
that claim. Whatever the case may be for what the lamps and oil
could represent, the main thought that Jesus wants to get across,
is what He says at the end of this parable.....WATCH, be ready,
and He had just before got through talking about watching and
being ready. It was all to do with a person's CONDUCT, how
they lived. If some of His disciples thought He was delaying His
coming, and only wanted to be a Christian and follow Jesus IF
they could live to see His return, but got tired of waiting and
living like Christ, and went back into the world, and all the
ways of the unconverted world, they may very well miss out on
entering the Kingdom, being too late, or just not ready as they
should be in order to enter the Kingdom.
Jesus was saying that His disciples, the children of God,
must be faithful in their conduct of the life, to the end. If
some gave up that life of light, and thought they could get it
all back at the last moment, when the shout went out that the
bridegroom Christ was coming, then Jesus was warning, they better
think again! Some just may leave off making sure they make their
calling and election sure (as Peter said we should in 2 Peter
1: 3-11), and find it will be too late to do so at the last
moment, and Jesus will refuse them entry into the Kingdom when He
does come.
Again, some very sobering words from Jesus, just not the
words most people want to hear, nor the words most are told from
their pastors that Jesus said here, and at other times also.
We may also wonder about Jesus saying the maidens were going
to meet the bridegroom at night, with lamps, and that he came at
midnight. In our modern twenty-first century, western world, we
have no such custom, but marriage customs differ in various
countries, and they have differed or changed in some countries as
the centuries have past.
Going back to the time when Jesus was relating this parable
analogy, the general marriage custom in Judea was like this:
"....the essence of the ceremony consisted in the removal of
the bride from her father's house.....After putting on festive
dress....the bridegroom set forth from his house, attended by his
groomsmen, proceeded by a band of musicians or singers, and
accompanied by persons bearing lamps. Having reached the house of
the bride, who with her companions anxiously expected his
arrival, he conducted the whole party back to his own or his
father's house.....On the way back they were joined by a party of
young girls (virgins), friends of the bride and bridegroom, who
were in waiting to catch the procession as it passed....At the
house a feast was prepared, to which all the friends and
neighbors were invited, and the festivities were protracted for
seven or even fourteen days......" (The New Unger's Bible
Dictionary, page 818).
Now it becomes clearer. The bridegroom would go to fetch his
bride in the very late afternoon or early evening, hence the
taking of lamps, for by the time he and his bride returned to his
house it would be dark. As the bridegroom returned with his bride
and all in attendance with them, they were met by young girls,
maidens, friends of both the bride and bridegroom. These young
ladies would also have lamps, as it was now dark. In the parable
Jesus says the bridegroom was long in returning, or delayed his
coming for some reason not stated and not important, for the
purpose of the main point of the parable Jesus wanted to convey.
The bridegroom was so long in returning that the maidens fell
asleep. Then at midnight the cry went out that the bridegroom was
coming, and the young maiden ladies arose to trim and light their
lamps, to meet him and join the wedding party back to his home
and so be part of the marriage feast. Some of the maidens were
wise enough to realize it might be possible the bridegroom would
stay with his bride at her home for longer than usual, before
returning as a group to his home, so they took extra oil for
their lamp just in case that should happen.
The point being that Jesus wanted to get across was those
five wise maidens were prepared for any and all situations, as to
how long the bridegroom would be before returning, and their
joining the bridegroom to the wedding feast.
Going on with more analogies of the Kingdom of heaven, Jesus
continued:
"For it will be as a man going on a journey and calling his
servants he entrusted to them his property; to one he gave FIVE
talents, to another TWO, and another ONE, to each servant
according to his natural ability. Then he went away. He who had
received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and
he made five talents more. So too, the one who had the two
talents made two more talents. But he who had received the one
talent, went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.
Now after a long time the master of those servants returned and
settled the accounts with them. And he who had received the five
talents came before him, bringing five more talents as well, and
saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here they are
plus five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good
and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I
will give you authority over much; enter into the joy of your
master.'
And he also who had the two talents came before him, saying,
'Master, you gave me two talents; here they are besides two more
talents.' His master said to him, 'Well done you good and
faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will
give you authority over a lot; enter into the joy of your
master.'
He that received the one talent also came before this
master, and said, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping
where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not plant. I
was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here it
is, you can have back what is yours.' But his master answered
him, 'You wicked and lazy servant! You knew that I reap where I
have not sown, and gather where I have not planted. Then you
ought to have at least invested my money with the bankers, and at
my coming back I should have received what was mine with
interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him that
has ten talents. ' For I say to you, that to everyone who has,
it shall be given; but from him that has not shall be taken away
even that which he has. And the unprofitable servant shall be
cast out into darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth."
It was not the first time Jesus used this type of parable.
The main point He wants us to get is that, although we may not
all be equal in gifts, abilities, money, natural talents,
although we may all differ in all these physical things and what
was given to us in our genes at conception, in so far as things
we can do with our mind, our hands, our feet, and our body (some
of us are good at sports, some are not, some are good at music
while others are not, some are good at art work while most of us
may not be, some can sing like the birds and others are more like
a fog-horn, etc.), we can all do something with what we have
been given. We need to find what we have been given and use it,
do something with our lives that make us a profitable servant. We
can find what secular job we would be good at, go for it as they
say, and be the best we can be at that job. We can look at what
natural abilities or talents we have and use them to serve, help,
do good to others with those abilities. If we have or come to
have large amounts of money, we can use that money to help, to
serve, to give to those who are in true need. Whatever and
wherever we are, we can make a difference in this life to
someone, somewhere, sometime. And we need to let that sometime,
be most of the time.
If we do not use what we have been given, God will count us
as an unprofitable servant, and the words Jesus said about what
happens to the unfrofitable servant, speak for themselves.
If we sit down and use our mind to think with, together with
the Spirit of God, going to the Lord to ask Him for guidance, we
can come up with something that we can do to be a profitable
servant, and so have our Father in heaven say to us one day,
"Well done you good and faithful servant; you have been faithful
over little, so I will give you authority over much, enter the
joy of your master."
THE GREAT SEPARATION OF SHEEP FROM GOATS
Being a follower of Christ is accepting Him as personal
savior, it is repenting of sin, it is a willing heart to obey
God, it is realizing the Lord does have teachings or doctrines,
and a way of life that we are to try and live, and part of that
way of life is VERY IMPORTANT! It is so important that Jesus in
Matthew 25 devoted a whole parable to and a somewhat detailed,
down to earth, explanation, making it very clear what He expects
from His disciples, and from those who claim to be have Christ's
name....Christians.
Jesus said:
"When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the angels
are with Him, then He will sit on His throne of glory. Before Him
shall be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one
from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
And He will place the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on
His left hand. Then the King will say to those on His right hand,
'Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you
gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a
stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I
was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'
Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see you
hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did
we see you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the King will
answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of these
my brethren, you did it to me.'
Then He will say to those at His left hand, 'Depart from me,
you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his
angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty
and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not
welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison
and you did not visit me.' Those on the left will answer, 'Lord,
when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or
sick or in prison, and did not serve and help you?' Then He will
answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it NOT to one of
the least of these my brethren, you did it not to me.' And they
on the left will go away into the punishment that lasts for
eternity, but the righteous into eternal life" (Mat.25 31-46).
Pretty clear and simple words coming from Jesus is what we
have just read. No University degree is needed to understand the
message Jesus was teaching. Christians who want to inherit
eternal life in the Kingdom of God, at the resurrection when
Jesus comes again to rule all nations of the earth, had better be
helping, serving, doing good, to others in this life time, in one
way or another. Jesus clearly taught that being a true child of
the Father and inheriting His Kingdom, meant that your life would
have to be one of service to others, in whatever way your
abilities, time, talents, physical resources, would allow you to
be able to help and serve others.
A Christian is not to shut themselves up, go out by
themselves and live the days of their life as a lonely hermit on
some island in the sea where no one else lives.
We shall see later where Jesus prayed to the Father that His
disciples would NOT be taken out of the world (as a general way
of life), but that the Father would keep them from the evil of
the world.
Jesus earlier had said that His disciples were to shine as a
light in a dark place, to be a city set on a hill, that all could
see. He had said their good works were to be manifested to the
world, so people could come to glorify God. You do not do all
that by being shut off in some secluded place all by yourself.
The Christianity Jesus taught was one of " being out there"
as we say, being out there to help and serve others. Jesus taught
that His followers where to be in essence "in the public eye,"
but not with vanity of mind and outward pomp, but with a humble
and loving attitude of caring for and helping others, as they
could and as their means of helping allowed them.
Those who would be Christians and who wanted to also have
eternal life in the Kingdom, but who would not serve and help
others, were just simply not going to make the grade. They were
not going to be numbered among the righteous. They would be
looked upon as goats by Jesus, and they would be on the left
side, and those on that side would be cast away into the
punishment that would last for all eternity, which is the
second death in the lake of fire, as we find in the last verses
of Revelation 20.
The righteous sheep, those on Jesus' right hand, those who
served their fellow man, are called "the righteous" by Jesus, and
they He said will go into eternal life.
I will say it again, we cannot "earn" our salvation by our
good works, for we are saved by grace through faith (Eph.2: 8),
but God is only going to give His gift of grace or forgiveness of
our sins through the blood of Christ, to those who will be
willing to have a certain mind-set as to how they will live. And
part of that mind-set attitude they must have as God's children,
is to serve and help others.
It's not hard, it does not take four years of University
book studying and exam writing, to get your degree in "public
service" - well not the public service Jesus was here talking
about. All you have to do is get up and serve your fellow human
being in one way or another. Do that, and as Jesus said to one
man who answered correctly about which was the great commandment,
"You are not far from the Kingdom of God."
.........................................
Written January 2003
  Chapter Thirty-five:Jesus' last Passover on earth - part oneJUDAS ISCARIOT PLANS TO BETRAY JESUS
After Jesus had finished His prophecy on the Mount of Olives
it was evening time, and He said to His disciples, "You know that
in two days it is the Passover, and the Son of man will be
delivered up to be crucified."
We know from the last hours of Jesus' physical life on
earth, what Jesus said to them (and it was not the first time He
had told them He would die in Jerusalem), went right over their
heads; once more they just did not get it, did not really believe
those words. To them it was just incomprehensible to conceive
that their Lord and Master, the one they knew was the Messiah,
could be put to death.
The chief priests and the elders of the people were at this
time busy gathering together in the palace of the high priest,
who was called Caiaphas, taking counsel with each other, as to
how to arrest Jesus in a secret manner and kill him. They first
thought they better not try to do this during the Feast of the
Passover and days of Unleavened Bread (which was eight days in
total, but during Christ's time the whole period was known
by the name "Passover").
Then something happened to changed their minds about when
they would try to arrest and kill Jesus.
The disciples were really not understanding what was all
going on at this time in Jesus' ministry. They did not understand
the prophecies in the Old Testament about how the Messiah would
come and have to die for the sins of the world. They were
somewhat familiar with the prophecy of the Messiah coming in
power and glory, to reign over the nations and rule the world,
but with all that Jesus was saying, and the people getting
divided over what they wanted to believe the Messiah should be
doing with them, and for them, and against the Romans, there was
confusion even in their minds. Judas Iscariot was as confused as
any of them. Surely he was thinking, the Messiah is going to rise
up with His mighty power and show these scribes and Pharisees and
priests, a thing or two. He was probably thinking Jesus had only
used "words" against them so far, but He must be going to use His
power and obliterate them, literally. Judas was probably thinking
Christ should do that, obliterate those silly hypocritical
religious leaders of Judea. And thought no doubt Jesus would them
continue using His power to bring the people of Judah together,
form an army, fight against the Roman power, destroy them, and
set up the Kingdom of God on earth.
How could he, he thought, help get Jesus started on this
road of conquest. His mind was not just confused, but anxious, on
edge, eagerly desiring to see all this take place. And with his
mind in such a state of unrest and looseness, it was all that
Satan needed. Luke records for us that it was at this time that
Satan entered, literally look over the body and mind of Judas
Iscariot.
Judas, now possessed by Satan the Devil, hurried off to the
chief priests and elders of the people, to offer his service in
how he might betray Jesus and hand Him over to them. The accounts
in the Gospels do not tell us if Judas did this thinking Jesus
would then have to use His power and fight and destroy the
priests and elders, and then move on to destroy the Roman armies,
or if Satan just simple got a hold of his mind, twisted it so
much out of normal, that Judas just wanted Jesus in the hands of
the priests and elders so they could do with Him whatever they
wanted.
Whatever the case as to what was going on in the mind of
Judas at this time, we are told Satan entered him, and off he
went to betray Jesus to the priests and elders of Judea.
The priests and elders of course were delighted that Judas
was offering his help so they could arrest Jesus. They had plans
to kill Him. Judas may not have known that, probably did not,
Satan no doubt kept that from the mind of Judas. Well, the
priests and elders were so grateful for Judas' offer that they
were ready to offer him money. Judas actually asked them how much
they would give him if he delivered Jesus into their hands.
They said they would pay him thirty pieces of silver. Thirty
pieces of silver was the price for a slave (Exodus 21: 32). They
regarded Jesus as worth very little. He agreed, and from that
moment on Judas looked for a way and an opportunity to betray
Jesus into their hands (Mat.26: 1-5, 14-16; Mark 14: 1, 2, 10,
11; Luke 22: 1-6).
PREPARING FOR THE PASSOVER
To understand some of the passages in the Gospels and the
events of the last day of the life of Christ on this earth in
human form, we need to understand some basics about the Passover,
as well as some of the traditions that many of the Jews were
doing at the time of Christ, as taught by the scribes and
Pharisees.
The original Passover of Exodus 12, was a household
Passover, a few families coming together. A priest was not
needed, nor a Tabernacle or Temple. The lamb was chosen and was
kept UP TO the 14th day of the first month. Then at "evening" or
"between the two evening" which was at dusk or sunset, the
beginning of the 14th, that portion of time when the sun first
goes down behind the horizon and when it become black of night.
As the sun set the family or small gathering of two or so
families, killed the Passover lamb, and roasted it, which took a
number of hours (some say 3 or 4 hours) and then sat down with
bitter herbs, unleavened bread, and ate the lamb. It was well
into the night when all of this was finally finished, often
everyone stayed up all during that night of the 14th.
The Passover day was not a Sabbath day, but at the end of
the 14th, the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread began,
and that first day of the Unleavened Bread feast, was a Sabbath
day. It was God's law that by the time the 15th day arrived, all
leaven was to be out of the homes of the Israelites. They had up
to and including the 14th day, to remove the leaven and prepare
for the feast of Unleavened Bread, which was to be observed for a
full 7 days.
Now by the time of Christ the scribes and Pharisees had
introduced and adopted a number of changes to Exodus 12. They and
their followers had gotten into the habit of getting rid of
leaven on the 14th day, and so in Jewish terminology, the 14th
day was "a day of unleaven" because of the tradition taught by
the Pharisees of putting out leaven on the 14th, so there was no
question of any of it being left in the home when the 15th day
arrived.
The Pharisees had taught the people that the lambs for the
Passover were to be slain in the Temple, under the Priests and
Levites. And they traditionally started to do this on the 14th
day, after the morning sacrifice. Some scholars claim they
started at 3 p.m. in the afternoon, but others state it could
have been much earlier, as the priests would not have been able
to kill enough lambs for the people, between only 3 p.m. and 6
p.m.
6 p.m. was when they would start to roast the lamb, which
was the beginning of the 15th day of the first month.
Whatever it may have been, the fact is the Pharisees had
taken the Passover meal and carried it over into the night
portion of the 15th day, which was the start of the 7 days
of the Unleavened Bread feast. They had MIXED the TWO separate
feasts of God and put them together as one, or putting it another
way, they had brought the Passover meal over into the first day
of the feast of Unleavened Bread.
With this in mind, we can begin to understand some of the
words used in the Gospel accounts of this last day of Jesus' life
as a human being.
We read in Mark and Luke that the day of "unleavened" when
the Passover lambs WERE BEING SLAIN (as the Greek tense is) had
just come. This was the "unleavened" day when the Pharisees and
their followers were TRADITIONALLY getting leaven out of
their homes (some even started to clear leaven out on the 13th
day), it was the BEGINNING of the 14th day, which was not a part
of the 7 days feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12), but had
become traditionally a day of "unleavened" because of what
the Pharisees were teaching and had been practicing for a few
centuries by this time.
The disciples knew, from being with Jesus for three years or
so, that He observed the Passover like many other Jews, at the
beginning of the 14th day, the "evening" of the
14th day, as prescribed in the beginning by God in Exodus 12.
The small groups of people in and around Jerusalem, were
beginning to gather together, they were already beginning to kill
the Passover lambs, at sundown. It was sunset at the beginning of
the 14th day of the first month, and Jesus had not said
ANYTHING about where they would keep and observe the Passover
meal. This was very unusual indeed. The disciples were getting
very uptight, very anxious, very bewildered.
Everything seemed very confusing to them, Jesus had said
things about His death that they just could not believe, and they
knew the scribes, Pharisees, and elders of the people were on the
war path as we might put it, with Jesus. And now, it was just
sunset, the beginning of the 14th, the time when groups of people
in their homes were killing the Passover lamb and making reading
to observe the Passover meal, and Jesus had said not one word to
them about where they as a group would observe the Passover meal.
They were now beyond themselves, and had to say something,
they could not retain their anxious thoughts any more.
"Master, master, it is late, you've said nothing to us about
where we shall observe the Passover. People are already killing
the lambs in their groups and places of gathering. Where Lord,
will you have us go and prepare for you and us to eat the
Passover?"
Jesus chose two of them, Peter and John, and sent them,
saying to them, "Go into the city of Jerusalem, and when you
enter you will see a man carrying a jar of water, follow him into
the house where he goes, and say to the house owner, 'The Teacher
says, my time is at hand, and I will eat the Passover at your
house with my disciples.' Ask him to show you the room where we
are to hold the Passover meal. He will show you an upper room
that is furnished; there make ready for us all."
And the two disciples went and they found it all as Jesus
had told them. And they there prepared the Passover meal
(Mat.26: 17-19; Mark 14: 12-16; Luke 22: 7-13).
Finding a man in Jerusalem as Jesus had described to them,
was not hard, for it was women who usually carried the water
pots, seeing a man doing this would have been very noticeable. To
kill and roast a lamb for Jesus and the twelve disciples,
probably would have taken about 3 to 4 hours. The two disciples
were not sent to find the room until sunset, dusk time, of the
beginning of the 14th day. By the time they arrived in
Jerusalem and found the room and killed and prepared the
Passover, for Jesus and the others to sit down and eat, it would
have been about 10 p.m. possibly even as late as 11 p.m.
This was fine, for as I've said above, the eating of the
Passover and reflections on the whole meaning of it, often went
on all through the night, then they would go to their tents in
the morning and sleep (Deut.16: 7). Of course in Jesus' day it
was not "tents" they went to, but homes or places where they
could sleep during the daylight hours of the 14th day. But this
Passover night and coming day would be like no other ever before
or ever again will be.
The Passover meal was now all prepared. They just had to
wait for Jesus to arrive with the other ten disciples.
JESUS EATS THE PASSOVER MEAL
WITH HIS DISCIPLES
It was late that Tuesday evening (it was a Tuesday evening
when this Passover was observed in the year 30 A.D.) and Jesus
arrived at this upper room with the other ten apostles. The hour
had arrived and they all sat down. Jesus said to them, "I have
earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you all before I
suffer; for I tell you I shall never eat it again, until it is
fulfilled in the Kingdom of God."
They then started into the ancient and traditional Passover
meal of the basic three thing that was always a part of that
observance, namely, the lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs.
You may want to here re-read the Old Testament Bible Story
of Exodus chapter twelve.
It was during this Passover meal that Jesus now introduced
the New Testament ordinance of the "bread and fruit of the vine."
Jesus took some of the unleavened bread and broke it into
pieces, gave thanks, and said, "Take a piece, this bread
represents my body, which is given for you: this do in like
manner in the memorial of me."
Jesus then took the cup of the fruit of the vine, and gave
thanks. He then said to them, "Each one of you, drink from this
cup. The fruit of the vine represents my blood of the New
Covenant, which is poured out for you, for the forgiveness of
sins. I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine again, unto the
day I drink it new with you when the Kingdom of God comes."
They all did what Jesus requested and each took a piece of
unleavened bread, and each drank from the cup of the fruit of the
vine.
The apostle Paul also outlines this New Testament ordinance
in 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26. It is THE memorial service,
remembering the Lord's death. It was introduced by the Lord Jesus
on the evening of the 14th of the first month in the Hebrew or
Jewish calendar. It was only observed in the apostolic Church of
God, once a year, in the first part of the hours of the 14th,
what we call evening time.
After Jesus had introduced and performed this New Testament
ordinance, He looked around at all twelve disciples and in a very
sombre tone of voice, said, "But behold the hand of him who
betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of man goes as it
has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!"
Amazement and shock came across the faces of the twelve, on
hearing those words. And soon they began to question each other,
as to which of them it was going to be that would betray Jesus
(Mat.26: 26-29; Mark 14: 22-25; Luke 22: 14-23).
JESUS' WASHES THE FEET OF HIS 12 DISCIPLES
John is the only Gospel writer to record this next event at
that last Passover Jesus held with His disciples.
The supper Passover meal had ended. The KJV translation is
correct when it says, "and supper ended" for the Greek tense here
used by John is "aorist" tense, which signifies a completed
action in the past, an event already finished in the past.
The Devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot
to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all
things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was
going back again to God, rose from the supper table, laid aside
His outer garments, and girded Himself with a towel. He then
poured water in a bowl, and began to wash the disciples' feet,
and to wipe them with the towel He had around Himself.
He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to Him, "Lord, are
you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered, "What I am doing now
you do not understand, but you will afterwards, later you will
understand." Peter still shocked at this thought of Jesus washing
his feet, quickly replied, "Oh no Lord, you shall never wash my
feet!"
We have to remember that it was the lowest of the servants
of the household that washed the feet of visitors, washing away
the dust and dirt from their travel. Also remember that the
people wore sandals, and on their bare feet. It was the custom of
the day that if you had visitors you had your lowest ranking
servant wash their feet when they came into your home.
Peter could not think that Jesus was acting out what the
lowest household servant would do. He just was not about to let
Jesus wash his feet, thinking if anything it should be the other
way around, and he should be washing Jesus' feet.
But Jesus answered him with, "If I do not wash your feet,
you have no part in me." Simon Peter then said, "Well Lord, not
my feet only then, but my hands and head!" Jesus said to him, "He
that has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but
he is clean all over; and you are clean but not all of you."
Jesus knew who it was that would betray Him, and that was
the reason He said, "You are not all clean."
The disciples would have bathed themselves before attending
the very important Passover meal. So they really were clean in a
physical way, but in a spiritual way there was need for a lesson
to be learned in Jesus washing all of their feet, even the feet
of Judas Iscariot. They all needed to learn the lesson, which
Jesus explained (and we'll get to that right away), but one of
them (Judas) was unclean in many ways other than the physical. We
have seen he was by now possessed by Satan the Devil himself.
When He had washed their feet, and taken up His garments
again, and resumed His sitting place, He said to them, "Do you
understand what I have done to you? I will tell you. You call me
Teacher and Lord; and you are right, I am indeed both. If I then,
your Lord, and your Teacher, have washed your feet, then you also
ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an
EXAMPLE, that you also SHOULD DO as I have done to you. Truly,
truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master;
nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know
these things, BLESSED are you IF YOU DO them. "
Jesus was demonstrating to them that they should be
servants. And if Jesus could get down and wash His disciples
feet, being much greater than they, being the one to send them
out to do His work, and so if He could humble Himself to wash
their feet, like a lowly servant, how much more should they be
willing to wash one another's feet. He said He had set them the
example, and that they knowing this should do likewise, and
they would be blessed for knowing and doing as He had done to
them.
So today God's people around the world, on Passover evening,
not only take the bread and the fruit of the vine (wine or grape
juice) but also wash each other's feet.
It is an outward symbol of a willingness to be a servant to
others, to not think too highly of themselves, to remember they
are called to serve each other, to live a life of serving and
helping each other, and all mankind, in whatever good ways they
can possibly do, with the gifts, talents, abilities, and material
goods, they have been given from God in order to share and serve
others with.
Jesus was saying all these things to all of them, but ONE,
for He finished this event by saying, "I am not speaking of you
all; I know whom I have chosen; it is that the Scriptures may be
fulfilled, 'He who ate by bread has lifted his heel against me.'
I tell you this now, before it takes place, that when it does
take place you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to
you, he who receives any one whom I send receives me; and he
who receives me receives Him who sent me" (John 13: 1-20).
The evening had taken on by now a VERY SOMBRE atmosphere, a
grave foreboding was in that upper room. Many of the minds of the
disciples were even more troubled and confused by all that Jesus
had said and done.
The part of that night had come, where it was customary to
leave the supper table and recline and lounge around as we say,
on various types of seats and cushions. It was the time to relax
and ponder and meditate on the Passover and all that it signified
in Jewish history. This Passover was way more significant than
any of them could have possibly imagined. Jesus was about to say
to them words that He had said a little earlier. This would once
more trouble them greatly.
........................................
Written January 2003
All studies by Keith Hunt may be copied, published, emailed, and
distributed, as led by the Spirit. Mr. Hunt trusts nothing with
be changed (except for spelling and punctuation errors) without
his consent.
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