The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 23:33-35,
"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I [Jesus] am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar."
This scathing rebuke of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees is among the "Seven Woes" Jesus pronounced upon them on this occasion. All the things Jesus foretold they would do, they did do. In Acts 17:13 we read of just such an action by the Jews when Paul (whom Jesus had sent) had gone to Berea. The Jewish leaders in Thessalonica followed him there to stir up the people against him, pursuing Paul from town to town, just as Jesus said they would do.
I note that not only did Jesus say he would send "prophets, sages and teachers", but that he would do so knowing the Jewish leaders would kill, crucify, flog and pursue them. In the context of Jesus' rebuke of them, he said he would send these people, knowing they would be abused, for the purpose of filling up to the full the guilt of these Jews who rejected him.
Jesus would send his emissaries to be mistreated so this current crop of "religious leaders" would be fully identified with the very leaders in the past, (which they themselves condemned), who persecuted the prophets of old. These that Jesus would send would truly fulfill Paul's quote of Psalm 44:22 in Romans 8:36, "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
But wait! Didn't I hear that TV evangelist say that God loves us and wants to prosper us? That he would take away all of our difficulties in this life if we would but just send in our $1,000 faith-promise pledge? How about all those sermons we have heard, that if we would just live by these 6 or 8 or 12 Biblical principles (and tithe and attend church regularly) that God would provided us with an abundant life where all our marriages would be successful, the kids will get into the best universities, we will avoid catastrophic illnesses, have two cars, an SUV, a boat and a motor home all parked in the garage? How about that new big screen TV, the motorcycle, the new job, the raise in salary? The big new beautiful house?
Apparently, these "prophets, sages and teachers" did not get the memo from these people who peddle such things today... they were listening to a difference voice (perhaps we should as well).
How do these promises we hear so many promoting these days comport with what Jesus taught us? What about Revelation 3:19? Hebrews 12:4-13? Proverbs 3:11-12?
It seems to me that the Lord has his own agenda and that we are here for his use, not the other way around.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I [Jesus] am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar."
This scathing rebuke of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees is among the "Seven Woes" Jesus pronounced upon them on this occasion. All the things Jesus foretold they would do, they did do. In Acts 17:13 we read of just such an action by the Jews when Paul (whom Jesus had sent) had gone to Berea. The Jewish leaders in Thessalonica followed him there to stir up the people against him, pursuing Paul from town to town, just as Jesus said they would do.
I note that not only did Jesus say he would send "prophets, sages and teachers", but that he would do so knowing the Jewish leaders would kill, crucify, flog and pursue them. In the context of Jesus' rebuke of them, he said he would send these people, knowing they would be abused, for the purpose of filling up to the full the guilt of these Jews who rejected him.
Jesus would send his emissaries to be mistreated so this current crop of "religious leaders" would be fully identified with the very leaders in the past, (which they themselves condemned), who persecuted the prophets of old. These that Jesus would send would truly fulfill Paul's quote of Psalm 44:22 in Romans 8:36, "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
But wait! Didn't I hear that TV evangelist say that God loves us and wants to prosper us? That he would take away all of our difficulties in this life if we would but just send in our $1,000 faith-promise pledge? How about all those sermons we have heard, that if we would just live by these 6 or 8 or 12 Biblical principles (and tithe and attend church regularly) that God would provided us with an abundant life where all our marriages would be successful, the kids will get into the best universities, we will avoid catastrophic illnesses, have two cars, an SUV, a boat and a motor home all parked in the garage? How about that new big screen TV, the motorcycle, the new job, the raise in salary? The big new beautiful house?
Apparently, these "prophets, sages and teachers" did not get the memo from these people who peddle such things today... they were listening to a difference voice (perhaps we should as well).
How do these promises we hear so many promoting these days comport with what Jesus taught us? What about Revelation 3:19? Hebrews 12:4-13? Proverbs 3:11-12?
It seems to me that the Lord has his own agenda and that we are here for his use, not the other way around.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
No comments:
Post a Comment