I apologize for those of you who follow this blog and were looking for my post for the week – I have been to Celebrate Recovery in Tennessee and didn’t get to post my normal Thursday post. Anyway here is it.
In Luke chapters 4-8 we find a very difficult time for Jesus and His ministry. The odd part about it, is that the conflict comes from His presence and activity while attending the synagogue on the Sabbath. It was Jesus’ normal routine to visit the Temple when He could, and to attend the local Synagogue when He was in town.
After the Temptations in the wilderness [just a thought, Satan defeated man in the Garden under ideal conditions for man; yet when he tempts Jesus in the Wilderness – under extreme conditions, he fails; thank You Jesus! Also Satan couldn’t defeat the Father- hence cast out of Heaven; so he goes after then Son – another failure.] which are an attempt by Satan to get Jesus to get “the Crown without the Cross.” You know we really do have an awesome Savior!
Jesus enters into the synagogue on the Sabbath and reads Isiah 61:1-2; sits down and says this “day these words have been fulfilled in your hearing.” Rather than reflect on what was said, the people disregard the prophecy fulfillment because they “know Jesus” as the carpenter’s son and his family. Often people disregard a testimony or miracle right before them because of either familiarity with the person or the thing said or done violates the senses of the mind.
An often overlooked passage is Luke 4:25-27; Jesus came for many reasons, one of them was to bring a final indictment upon the Jews for failure to accept the prophets and the Word of God. Jesus uses two Old Testament stories to show how that the Jews just aren’t all that and a bag of chips! The willingness to help the widow [gentile] and Naaman [gentile] when there were plenty of Jews He could have helped; reveals that God is a God that loves all people, and that if we think that God HAS TO DO for us because of who WE ARE; we are really mistaken. Obviously those who got it, were offended. Hmm, preaching of the word in the synagogue [church] being offensive? Over the course of the next few chapters we see that this trend of Savior on the Sabbath in the Synagogue repeated over and over. As I read the difficulties that Jesus experienced while “going to Church,” I wondered if He ever got tired of going to Church on the Sabbath, because of all the drama?
In chapter 5, Jesus gets great fallout over forgiving sin, not over healing the lame guy. The Church has often been the source of frustration and great conflict for pastors, prophets and the Word of God. Paul experienced the same things while on his missionary journeys. The Trouble making Judaizers followed him just as the Jews, Pharisees, Sadducees and religious leaders followed Jesus, not because they wanted to know more about the Kingdom of God, but that they might find fault with Him. News flash the same thing happens today.
Word for us who have to deal with all the junk of the Church today; Jesus never stopped loving and healing the people – neither should we! Jesus continued to minister to those around Him. The healings and miracles of catching fish and casting out demons didn’t stop because people [religious people] couldn’t wrap their minds and hearts around the love of Christ. His works of healing and great words of teaching affirmed Him as the Promised Messiah; yet there were skeptics that even though the facts substantiate Jesus, they asked “Are you the Christ, or is there another?” Even John the Baptist was found to have doubts. Jesus is ridiculed for the company He keeps, of course the Religious leaders wanted Jesus to BE WHAT THEY WANTED not who He was. Today many still try to claim Jesus as their own, yet try to twist Him and make Him FIT what they think a Savior and Lord should be. When the Bible and Jesus do not support the ways of “the people” they walk away in disgust.
In chapters 7-8, we have Jesus teaching in His favorite way – Parables. We sort of understand parables today, only because Jesus gave us insight into the parable. The story of the centurion salve healing reflects back onto the healing of Naaman earlier except with a twist. The Jews were okay with Jesus healing this Gentile, for he was a great contributor to the synagogue. Really, not much has changed. I know that Pastors and Churches will pressure what is or isn’t done based on the acceptance of those who “give the most” rather than what is right by God’s Word. Even though the synagogues and churches are messed up; Jesus died for the Church, it is His Bride. He will build His Church and Present His Bride [Church] pure, unblemished, chaste and adorned in radiant White to the Father. Yeah we’re messed up, but God hasn’t given up on us – let’s not give up on us either!
preachbetweenthelines 
Quarantined Easter
April 10, 2020
Stay at Home orders, pandemic issues, quarantined people, drive-in and videoed services, financial upheaval and the list goes on. Obviously this is a different time for all of us. I think it is admirable how so many churches/preachers are making sure that their Easter services and sermons are going to be on the internet. My prayer is that the Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified and honored by what is done. This is serious times, so many are trying to understand the impossible situation the World is experiencing.
Sometimes I think that this Easter is analogous of that first Easter. The had self-quarantined by this time Friday; Jesus has died on the Cross with the words “It is Finished.” The disciples have all ran for fear, and wound up in a holy huddle in the very Upper Room they had been enjoying the Last Supper only hours ago. Bewildered and shattered to the core, the unbelievable has happened – Jesus is gone! In a mere week, everything changed. For us today it was about three weeks. We find ourselves also asking questions about the UNKNOWN. What do we do now? When will all this end? What will NORMAL look like?
These obviously are not the same questions the Disciples had at the time. But, questions they did have. For them as well as us we have been taking actions of SURVIVAL. As this horrific scene on Golgotha’s Hill settles into their minds, they have become isolated, and dependent on each other. They could at least embrace one another and have the comfort on not being alone.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus have taken Jesus’ body down, with the help of the women, His body is laid in the TOMB. The stone is rolled to seal it. The haphazard BURIAL is complete, so they return to the Upper Room. We like they are trying to make the best of the situation. [We have the end of the story and know what is coming then, but we don’t know the end now]
WAITING – none of us like it, most detest it! Our question is HOW LONG? Theirs was restriction because of the SABBATH – 24 hours to think, cry, lament and fear. I don’t now what happened during that SABBATH, but it must have been a very dark time for all of the Believers then. Surely, nothing like they had ever been through before. Besides, the ONE they turned to was JESUS and He was dead. We, believers must turn to Jesus during this time of QUARANTINE – use it to reflect ad think about our lives and the future of the Gospel we are to share. Many unorthodox actions have been taken by the Government and Churches. We must learn from this time – like it or not our NORMAL is no longer ACCEPTABLE. Good Friday changed everything for the WORLD; this GOOD FRIDAY should change OUR world as well.
There was so much the early believers were not in control of at the time; likewise for us. We are not hunted or persecuted, but we are stressed and stretched right now. As we go into a Friday evening into an early Saturday, I pray we will ponder where we are with Christ and renew our HOPE that this unknown – unstable time will grow us stronger in our FAITH.
Just as an additional note: I always wondered WHY IS IT CALLED GOOD FRIDAY? After some research, Good used to mean HOLY. While we might struggle with what happened, when we think of the result of Jesus’ death for SIN and the LAMB of GOD, then we can see that the actions were not accomplished by men, but the loving Heavenly FATHER. Surely, salvation is a GOOD or HOLY thing. We look at the result of something to determine if it is good or not – my opinion while going through something may or may not be accurate. Surely, it was HOLY FRIDAY!
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Filed under Misc. commentary
Tagged as cross, Easter, faith, Good Friday, new normal, Nicodemus and Joseph, quaratined, sabbath, Upper Room