Thursday, February 18, 2016

Jesus to Be Glorified


Scripture Reading: John 12:20-28

Scripture Focus:

                              “Jesus replied, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
                                             John 12:23 (NIV)

               What did Jesus mean by saying “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified”? My research has shown me something I should have learned a long time ago but didn’t. “The Greeks and Jews took it to mean that subjected kingdoms would grovel before the conqueror’s feet; by glorified he meant crucified. When the Son of Man was mentioned they thought of the conquest of God’s armies of God; he meant the conquest of the cross.” 1

               Jesus told the people, including the disciples, that he would die several times but they chose to interpret his words to their liking. Is it any wonder the disciples felt betrayed and disillusioned when Jesus’s words came to pass?

               The people who heard Jesus say these difficult things are no different from those of us who live in the 21st Century. We have something in us that sometimes makes us hear what we want to hear.
               King Solomon gives us sage advice when he tells us to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding.”(Proverbs 3:5, NIV) Think on this thought as we go through the Lenten season. Have we watered down God’s message to us by applying our thoughts to the message God has for us?
Should we wait and look at these words, as He would want us to?
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1. Daily Study Bible, the Book of John, Vol. 2 by William Barclay Westminster Press © 1975 page 123


Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Thoughts at the Triumphal Entry

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Scripture reading: John 12:12-19

Scripture focus: 

               “They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
              
                              ‘Hosanna!’
                             
                              ‘Blessed is he comes in the name of the Lord!’
                             
                              ‘Blessed is the King of Israel!’”

               “Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!’”
                                                            John 12:13, 19 (NIV)

               The people traveling to the Feast of the Passover received word that the Teacher was coming to Jerusalem. (My research showed that there could have been close to 2,700,000 people attending this feast.1)
               There were several groups of people in this massive crowd. Those who followed Jesus, those who heard about Him and were curious, and those who were the governing officials—the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

               Those who followed Jesus may have been caught up in the mood of the larger crowd. Those who had heard of the Lord wanted to make Him an earthly king. (Verse 13.) This was not Jesus’ plan. The Pharisees watched and witnessed the horde of people going to where Jesus was and decided that they may have been fighting a losing battle. This scene seemed to cement their resolve to remove Jesus from this earth.
              
               Jesus, who came in peace and not war, did not have it in mind to be an earthly king. He knew what lay ahead for Him. I wonder what He thought when he heard the crowd say, “Blessed is the King of Israel.” Could it be He realized that the people had not been listening to his teachings?

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  1. Daily Study Bible: The Book of John Vol. 2 by William Barclay. © Westminster Press. Philadelphia 1975, Page 115

God Alone

  Jesus and the children at our church's prayer walk.          I will both lie down in peace and sleep;  For You alone, O LORD make ...