In this lesson, the
last one for chapter 22, Jesus is mocked and beaten by the Sanhedrin
Luke 22: 63-71
Luke 22: 63-71
63 Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him.
64 And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him,
saying, "Prophesy! Who is the one who struck You?" 65 And many other
things they blasphemously spoke against Him.
66 As soon as it was day, the elders of the people,
both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council,
saying, 67 "If You are the Christ, tell us."
But He said to them, "If I
tell you, you will by no means believe.
68 And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me
go. 69 Hereafter the Son of Man will sit
on the right hand of the power of God."
70 Then they all said, "Are You then the Son of
God?"
So He said to them, "You
rightly say that I am."
71 And they said, "What further testimony do we
need? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth."
Parallel passages: Mathew 26:57-88, Mark 14:61-65, John
18:12-14, and John 18:19-24)
We come at last to the end of Luke 22, the account of the
first part of Jesus’ Passion. Our last study concluded with Peter broken and in
tears, after denying Jesus three times in the courtyard of the high priest.
Tonight we look at the Jesus’ interrogation by the Sanhedrin. I want to step
through the passage, focusing on the interaction between the Sanhedrin and
Jesus. There is, I believe, an important message for each of us in what we read
tonight.
Our passage tonight begins with a description of the
physical abuse that Jesus suffered during His interrogation by the Sanhedrin.
Jesus is blindfolded and slapped by the men who hold Him. As they strike Him,
they mock Him, asking Him to prophesy which person had just struck Him.
It
is worth mentioning that blows you do not see coming are often
far more damaging than those you can see. It is harder to roll with a punch you
cannot see coming. In Luke’s Gospel this abuse is simply described; it could
have occurred before, during, or after the interrogation. The Gospels of
Matthew and Mark seem to indicate that this abuse occurred at the close of the
interrogation, after Jesus had admitted who He was. The timing of the abuse is
not, I believe, as important as the heart condition that this violence reveals,
and we will have more to say about that later in our study.
Luke’s account states that as soon as it was day, the
Sanhedrin was convened to try Jesus. The Sanhedrim was a council of seventy-one
men, drawn from the elders of the twelve tribes, the scribes, and the chief
priests. Modeled on the seventy elders that the Lord commanded Moses to gather
in Numbers 11:16-18, the Sanhedrin was the supreme ecclesiastical and civil
court of justice for the Jews. It is, I believe, important to look a little bit
at the men who made up the Sanhedrin as well as some of the rules and
regulations that the Sanhedrin imposed on itself.
The
qualifications to be a member of the Sanhedrin were strict:
The applicant had to be morally and physically
blameless. He had to be middle aged, tall, good looking, wealthy, learned (both
in the divine law and diverse branches of profane science, such as medicine,
mathematics, astronomy, magic, idolatry, etc.), in order that he might be able
to judge in these matters. He was required to know several languages, so that
the Sanhedrim might not be dependent upon an interpreter in case any foreigner
or foreign question came before them. Very old persons, proselytes, eunuchs,
and Nethinim [temple servants] were ineligible because of their idiosyncrasies;
nor could such candidates be elected as had no children, because they could not
sympathize with domestic affairs; nor those who could not prove that they were
the legitimate offspring of a priest, Levite, or Israelite, who played dice,
lent money on usury, flew pigeons to entice others, or dealt in produce of the
Sabbatical year.
In addition to all these qualifications, a
candidate for the Great Sanhedrim was required, first of all, to have been a
judge in his native town; to have been transferred from there to the Small
Sanhedrim, which sat at the Temple mount or at its entrance, thence again to
have been advanced to the second Small Sanhedrim, which sat at the entrance of the
Temple hall, before he could be received as member of the seventy-one.
(Taken from McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia article
on the SANHEDRIM, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006 by
Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.).
It has been written that the main purpose of the
Sanhedrin was “to
interpret the divine law, and to determine the extension or limitation of its
sundry enactments”. For this reason, “the members of the
Sanhedrim were not only the most skilled in the written word of God, and were
in addition “the bearers of the oral law which was transmitted to them by their
predecessors, and which they again in succession handed down to the other
members of this body.” ((Taken from McClintock and Strong
Encyclopedia article on the SANHEDRIM, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2000,
2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.))
It
appears that the Sanhedrin tried to take seriously their
responsibility to act justly. From the many Talmudic passages pertaining to the
Sanhedrim, scholars have compiled the following overview of the philosophies
that the Sanhedrin held to and the safeguards that they put in place in their
trials, especially those for capital offences:
They always acted upon the principle that the
accused was innocent till he could be proved guilty.
Their axiom was that "the Sanhedrim is to
save, not to destroy life."
No man could be tried and condemned in his
absence.
No criminal trial could be carried through in
the night.
In trials of capital offenses, the verdict of
acquittal could be given on the same day, but that of guilty had to be reserved
for the following day, for which reason such trials could not commence on the
day preceding the Sabbath or a festival.
The judges who condemned a criminal to death
had to fast all day.
The condemned was not executed the same day on
which the sentence was passed; but the votes pro and con having been taken by
the two notaries, the members of the Sanhedrim assembled together on the
following day to examine the discussion, and to see whether there was any
contradiction on the part of the judges.
If he [the condemned] himself could say
nothing more, a herald preceded him as he was led to the place of execution,
and exclaimed, "A, son of B, has been found guilty of death, because he
committed such and such a crime according to the testimony of C and D; if any
one knows anything to clear him, let him come forward and declare it"
The only exception to this leniency was one
who gave himself out as the Messiah, or who led the people astray from the
doctrines of their fathers.
(Taken from McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia article
on the SANHEDRIM, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006 by
Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.).
With this background, let us return to our passage and
look at the interaction between Jesus and the Sanhedrin in our passage. The
Sanhedrin first asks Jesus, “If You are the Christ,
tell us.” (Lk 22:67)This question was a serious one, and I
believe the Sanhedrin would have understood the significance of the question
they asked. Indeed the Sanhedrin saw themselves as watchdogs over the religious
life of Israel and were concerned to bring to trial those who they felt were
leading God’s people astray in this area.
The
Greek word translated “Christ” means literally “anointed one,” an
individual consecrated or set apart for God by anointing. Inanimate objects,
priests, prophets, and kings are all anointed in the Old Testament as a sign of
their consecration to God. But running in parallel to this general meaning
throughout the Scriptures, we find also repeated reference to a coming
individual, through whom the Lord will work to bless the world. In the writings
of Isaiah (Isaiah 61:1) and Daniel (Daniel 9:24-25) this coming one is
explicated identified as Messiah, the Christ.
I would like to read to you two paragraphs from the
article on Christ in McClintock and Strong’s Encyclopedia, which I feel it
summarizes clearly many of the Old Testament statements about this coming
Messiah that the Sanhedrin would have been familiar with:
Thus the Messiah is the same person as
"the seed of the woman" who was to "bruise the head of the
serpent" (Genesis 3:15); "the seed of Abraham, in whom all the
nations, of the earth were to be blessed" (Genesis 22:18); the, great
"prophet to be raised up like unto Moses," whom all were to be
required to hear and obey (Deuteronomy 18:15); the "priest after the order
of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:30); the “rod out of the stem of Jesse”, which
should stand for an ensign of the people to which the Gentiles should seek
(Isaiah 11:1,10); the virgin's son, whose name was to be Immanuel (Isaiah
7:14); "the branch of Jehovah" (Isaiah 4:2); "the Angel of the
Covenant" (Malachi 3:1), "the Lord of the Temple," etc. etc.
(Malachi 3:1-4). When we say, then, that Jesus is the Christ, we in effect say,
as Philip told Nathanael, "This is He of whom Moses in the law and the
prophets did write" (John 1:45); and all that they say of Him is true of
Jesus.
The sum of this prophetic testimony respecting
him is that he should belong to the very highest order of being, the
incommunicable name [Jehovah] being represented as rightfully belonging to him
in that 'his goings forth have been from old, from everlasting" (Micah
5:2); that his appropriate appellations should be "Wonderful, Counsellor,
the Mighty God" (Isaiah 9:6); that he should assume human nature, and
become "a child born" of the Israelitish nation of the tribe of Judah
(Genesis 49:10), of the family, of David (Isaiah 11:1); that the object of his
appearance should be the salvation of mankind, both Jews and Gentiles (Isaiah
49:6); that he should be "despised and rejected" of his countrymen;
that he should be " cut off, but not for himself"; that he should be "wounded
for men's transgressions, bruised for their iniquities, and undergo the
chastisement of their peace;" that "by his stripes men should be
healed;" that "the Lord should lay on him the iniquity" of men;
that "exaction should be made and he should answer it;" that he
should "make his soul an offering for sin;" that after these
sufferings he should be "exalted and extolled, and made very high;"
that he should "see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied, and by
his knowledge justify many" (Isaiah 52 & 53); that Jehovah should say
to him, "Sit at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy
footstool" (Psalm 110:1); that he should be brought near to the Ancient of
Days, and that to him should be given "dominion, and glory, and a kingdom,
that all people, and nations, and languages should serve him-an everlasting
dominion which shall not pass away-a kingdom that shall not be destroyed"
(Daniel 7:13,14). All this is implied in saying Jesus is the Christ. In the
plainer language of the New Testament, "Jesus is the Christ" is equivalent
to Jesus is " God manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16) — the Son
of God, who, in human nature, by his obedience, and sufferings, and death in
the room of the guilty, has obtained salvation for them, and all power in
heaven and earth for himself, that he may give eternal life to all coming to
the Father through him.
(Taken
from McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia article on the SANHEDRIM, Electronic
Database. Copyright © 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights
reserved.)
The
problem was that the Sanhedrin did not look to God’s word to
tell them whether Jesus was or was not the Christ. Nor did they fast and pray,
seeking the answer from the Lord. Instead they seem to make their decision
based on their own understanding and interests. Earlier in our discussion of
Luke 22, we have seen how the Sanhedrin had decided to sacrifice Jesus for the
good of the people. In John 11:45-52, we read how the Sanhedrin gathered
together after the reports of Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus reached Jerusalem to
discuss what should be done about Jesus.
The Sanhedrin, I believe, as the passage from John makes
clear, viewed Jesus as a threat to the status quo. Jerusalem was full of Jews
preparing for the Passover. The report of Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus from
the dead was drawing followers to Him each day. If too many people believed
that Jesus was the Coming Messiah, whom Scripture (e.g., Isaiah 49) said would
re-establish Israel to prominence again, there could and would be trouble. And
riots and revolts would bring a swift response from the Romans, that the Romans
would “take
away both our [the Sanhedrin’s] place and nation.” Viewed from
such an earthly perspective, the actions of the Sanhedrin made sense: Jesus
needed to be dealt with and dealt with now.
But
the problem was that Jesus had not publically claimed to
be the Coming Messiah at all. What Jesus had done instead was to fulfill the
Old Testament prophesies made about Messiah. People had hailed Jesus with
language associated with the Messiah as He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey
colt. Therefore the Sanhedrim needed to ask Him that question directly now, to
see if Jesus would admit to being the Messiah. It strikes me that if the
Sanhedrin had looked carefully at all the Messianic prophecies that Jesus had
already fulfilled, at the miracles He had performed, they might have been more
cautious in their actions. It is after all not a light thing to put to death
the very Son of God.
If
they had looked they would have observed that:
- Jesus had been called Immanuel (God among us).
- That He had been born of a woman (Gen 3:15, Mat 1:20) who was a virgin (Isa 7:14).
- That He had been born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
- That He was from the tribe of Judah Gen 49:10, Lk 3:33) and the line of David (2 Sam 7:12-13, Lk 1:32-33).
- That a messenger had prepared the way for His coming (Isa 40:3-5, Lk 3:3-6).
- That He had spent time in Egypt (Hosea 11:1, Matthew 2:14-15).
- That He had brought light to Galilee (Isa 9:1-2
- Matthew 4:13-16) and had been rejected by His own people (Psa 69:8, John 1:11).
- That He had spoken in parables (Psa 78:2-4, Matt 13:10-15).
- That He had been betrayed (Psa 41:9, Lk 22:47-48) and was about to be falsely accused (Psa 35:11, Mk 14:57-58).
And shortly He would fulfill even more.
- He would soon be spat upon, struck (Isa 50:6, Matt 25:67), and crucified with criminals (Isa 53:12, Matt 15:27-28).
- Yet He would silent before His accusers (Isa 53:7, Mk 15:4-5).
- His hands and feet would be pierced( Zach 12:10, John 20:25-27).
- Soldiers would gamble for His clothes (Psa 22:18, Lk 23:34).
- His side would be pierced (Zech 12:10, John 19:34) but his bones would not broken (Psa 34:20, John 19:33-36).
- And so on….
Furthermore the
Sanhedrin would have realized that Jesus had performed the signs and miracles
that were associated with the Messiah. As He answered the disciples of John the
Baptist, when they asked if He was the Coming One, "Go and tell
John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the
gospel preached to them." (Lk 7:22)
Look at how Jesus responded to the Sanhedrin’s question.
He tells them "If
I tell you, you will by no means believe.
68 And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go. 69 Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the
right hand of the power of God." (LK 22:67-69) Jesus, I
believe, knew what was in the hearts of the Sanhedrin. Jesus understood the
Sanhedrin was looking to get Him out of the picture. They were not here to debate
with Him, or to be taught by Him, and they were certainly not about to let Him
go free. Jesus understood that they had already made up their minds about who
He was - and was not - and that even if
He told them the truth, they would not receive it. Yet He tells them the truth
anyway. “Hereafter,”
He answers them, “The
Son of Man will sit at the right hand of the power of God.” This
is tantamount to saying “Yes, I am the Son of Man, the Coming Messiah, who will
soon sit at the right hand of God.” At this point, I suspect that the Sanhedrin
felt that things were finally going their way. But an even more shocking
revelation was right at hand.
Jesus’ answer makes reference to Psalm 110, a Messianic
psalm of David, which reads:
The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My
right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool." 2 The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength
out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!
3 Your people shall be volunteers In the day
of Your power; In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You
have the dew of Your youth. 4 The Lord
has sworn And will not relent, "You are a priest forever According to the
order of Melchizedek."
5 The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall
execute kings in the day of His wrath. 6
He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill the places with dead bodies, He
shall execute the heads of many countries. 7 He shall drink of the brook by the wayside; Therefore
He shall lift up the head.
Jesus has brought up this Psalm to the Pharisees, Sadducees,
and scribes before, in Luke 20:41-44, where He asked them how the Messiah could
be David’s son when David calls Him Lord? I believe Jesus’ point was that
Messiah is not merely David’s son (descendant) but rather the Son of God.
Perhaps remembering this earlier conversation, the Sanhedrin as one asks Jesus "Are You then
the Son of God?" (Lk 22:70)
And when Jesus answers them in the affirmative, that
"You
rightly say that I am," (Lk 22:71) the Sanhedrim has an
additional claim with which to condemn Jesus, one which they believe is more
blasphemous still. Their response I think shows this clearly: “And they said,
"What further testimony do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from
His own mouth."”
There
is no need of further trumped up testimony from false witnesses, as
we find in Matthew 26:59-61. Jesus has claimed that He is not just an anointed
individual, not just the Coming Messiah, but the Son of God! The Sanhedrin has
what they sought all along, compelling reasons to declare Jesus a criminal in violation
of the Mosaic Law, one deserving of death, and hand Him over to the Romans for
execution.
What
can we say by way of conclusion? For me, perhaps what is most
striking about our passage tonight is how absolutely certain the members of the
Sanhedrin are concerning the correctness of their action. They do not consider
for a moment that Jesus might actually be the Coming Messiah or the Son of God.
Yet the evidence that He was both the Christ and the Son of God was right there
around them. They were familiar with the Old Testament prophecies concerning
the Messiah. They had seen firsthand and heard reports of Jesus’ miracles. They
had heard Jesus’ remarkable and insightful teaching. They had seen Jesus’ heart
for the poor and downtrodden. But they
were either blind to the significance of what they had seen and heard or were
unwilling to receive it for what it was. What a sad and curious turn of events…
Think
about the situation that our passage tonight describes. The
setting is Jerusalem, God’s holy city, where God’s temple was located. The city
is filled with Jews who have come to celebrate Passover, one of the most
important religious festivals, intended to be a memorial to the Jews of who God
is and what He had done for them. The chief actors, besides Jesus, are the
Sanhedrin, seventy-one men possessing great knowledge of God’s word, men who
were in some cases themselves anointed and consecrated to God, men whom most
Jews would have considered the holiest and most righteous of all, who are in
the midst of convicting their Messiah, the very Son of God, as a blasphemer
corrupting the religious beliefs of the very people He had come to die to save.
Ironic isn’t it?
How
could this have happened? The answer I believe is to be found in
the wickedness of man’s heart. Repeatedly throughout the Gospel of Luke we have
seen Jesus clash with the religious leaders who comprised the Sanhedrin. We
have seen, for example, how Jesus reserved some of His harshest words for the
scribes and Pharisees.
Turn with me to Matthew 23 and let’s read Jesus’ comments
about the scribes and Pharisees in verses 1-36:
1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to
His disciples, 2 saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses'
seat. 3 Therefore whatever they tell you
to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for
they say, and do not do. 4 For they bind
heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they
themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they do to be seen by
men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their
garments. 6 They love the best places at
feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,
7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi,
Rabbi.' 8 But you, do not be called
'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father;
for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11 But he who is greatest among you shall be
your servant. 12 And whoever exalts
himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
13 "But woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for
you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go
in. 14 Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make
long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is
won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say,
'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of
the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'
17 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that
sanctifies the gold? 18 And, 'Whoever
swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on
it, he is obliged to perform it.' 19
Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies
the gift? 20 Therefore he who swears by
the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. 21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it
and by Him who dwells in it. 22 And he
who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.23
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint
and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:
justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the
others undone. 24 Blind guides, who
strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they
are full of extortion and self-indulgence.
26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that
the outside of them may be clean also.
27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful
outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear
righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments
of the righteous, 30 and say, 'If we had
lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in
the blood of the prophets.'
31 "Therefore you are witnesses against
yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your
fathers' guilt. 33 Serpents, brood of
vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? 34 Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets,
wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them
you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 that on you may come all the righteous
blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of
Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the
altar. 36 Assuredly, I say to you, all
these things will come upon this generation.
Again
and again Jesus repeats the phrase “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites!” The scribes and Pharisees had become hypocrites,
literally actors, those who wear a mask, who pretend to be that which they are
not. They had cultivated the appearance of righteousness and emphasized the scrupulous
observance of the Mosaic Law, to the point of tithing even their spices, their
cumin and their mint. Yet they were nothing but white-washed tombs, outwardly
beautiful but full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness inside. And Jesus
was telling them that grief, sorrow, misery, calamity, even curses, for all of
these are what “woe” means, were headed their way because of their hypocrisy.
What was the root cause of their hypocrisy? We are not
told the cause in so many words but Jesus’ statements give us I believe some
important clues. Jesus condemns the Sanhedrin because they:
- Say one thing and do another [Matthew 23:3-4].
- Do their works to be seen by men [Matthew 23:5].
- Exalt, rather than humble, themselves [Matthew 23:5-12].
- Shut up the kingdom of heaven against men and do not go in themselves [Matthew 23:13].
- Value the things of man more than the things of God [Matthew 23:16-22].
- Neglect the weightier matters of the law [Matthew 23:23-24].
- Focus on appearances not on hearts [Matthew 23:25-18].
- Claim to be righteous when they are not [Matthew 23:29-30].
We see here that the scribes and Pharisees had grown
prideful. They did their works to earn men’s praises and exalted themselves
above other men. They began to place more value on worldly things than on
spiritual things. They began to call what was good evil, (Isa 5:20-21) and what
was common holy.
In my opinion, the root cause of the scribes’ and
Pharisees’ hypocrisy and pride was a failure to truly know God and understand
His ways. Let me clarify this a bit. I believe that the scribes and Pharisees
knew about God; they were extremely knowledgeable of God’s word. So much so
that I suspect that this knowledge had puffed them up and become a source for
pride. But although they had a knowledge of God’s word, I speculate that they
did not have the kind of relationship with God that Moses or Abraham had.
I believe that as you come to understand who our God is,
that He is God Almighty, God Everlasting, the Lord our Shepherd, the Lord our
Righteousness, The Lord our Healer, the Lord of Hosts, the Lord our Peace, the
Creator of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, a jealous God,
unchanging, in whom there is no shadow of turning or darkness, “dwelling in
unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see,” (1 Tim
6:16) and when you come to understand what man is compared to God, then you
will be incented to be humble and not prideful, honest and not hypocritical. It
is not for nothing that Proverbs 9:10 tells us that "The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
And yet I suspect that we are not so far removed from the
Sanhedrin as we would like to believe. I believe that it is extremely important
for us to realize how easy it is for us to do the same thing. Even though we
are believers, inhabited by God’s Holy Spirit, Who is over time sanctifying us
and conforming us to the image of Jesus, yet how easy is it for us to be led by
our flesh and not by the Spirit, to the point where we find ourselves outside
of God’s will? For my part I am convinced that far too often I am like Saul of
Tarsus, believing that I doing the will of God while in reality persecuting and
stumbling Christians.
We need to be ever mindful of the words of the Apostle
Paul in Romans 11:33-35:
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the
wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways
past finding out!
34 "For who has known the mind of the
Lord? Or who has become His counselor?" 35 'Or who has first given to Him And it shall
be repaid to him?"
We cannot know God perfectly; only Jesus was one with the
Father (John 10:30). 1 Corinthians 13 tells us rather that the best we can do
is to know in part and to prophesy in part. Now we see as in a mirror, dimly.
We need to realize how limited our understanding is and be cautious about what
we claim is of God. We need to examine ourselves to make sure we are in the
faith (2 Cor 13:5), walking according to the Spirit, decreasing so Jesus can
increase, reading God’s word, and praying for God’s direction.
Scripture tells us that Jesus is coming back again,
although the day and the hour only of His Second Coming are known to God alone.
Jesus warns us to be ready and watching, with our lamps filled with oil, our
wicks trimmed and burning. We need to make sure we know Him for whom we are
watching. It is not enough to know about Jesus; we must know Him personally, be
in relationship with Him. My prayer for myself and for all of you is that
remember John 17:3, “And
this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom You have sent.” Otherwise we run the risk that Jesus
will say of us what He said of Jerusalem in Luke 19:41-44, that we did not know
the time of our visitation.
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