JESUS SPEAKING

            Then Peter said to him, “Lord do you speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”

           And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.  Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.  But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers” (Luke 12: 42-46.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

             Jesus is speaking with his disciples about his future delayed return; we are still waiting; impatience with his return can lead to sin as illustrated by the servant who began to beat the other servants.  Jesus references a Jewish marriage tradition to illustrate this truth.  Often, during wedding feasts, the master of a house would leave to celebrate a wedding; when all of the guests arrived at the home where the wedding was to take place, the doors were locked.  The wedding could go on for a day or two, or it could go on for a week or more.  The master’s return therefore could not be predicted.  He could return at 4:00 in the morning on Wednesday, or at midnight on Saturday.  When the master of the house left for the wedding feast, he placed someone in charge of his affairs, and they were all to be ready for his eventual return.  The lamps were to be filled with oil, the bed made ready, and the servants were to be prepared to serve the master upon his arrival.  Jesus used the description of the wedding feast, and the absent master to draw a picture for his disciples of something they didn’t yet understand.  They didn’t know that Jesus would be crucified and that he would leave for the Kingdom of God with a promise to return again.  Their duties would be to serve the body of Christ, and to give them their physical and spiritual food.  Failure to do so would result in punishment, and a reward would be given to those who were faithful in doing this daily.  Interestingly, Jesus puts the believing leaders who misrepresent God, and abuse their power, in the same category as those who are not believers.  It is possible that leadership in a church carries with it a greater condemnation than those who are members of the congregation.

             In the United States, a brand new industry has arisen, known as ‘Mystery Shopping.’  Most employers and corporations have recognized that when they tour their facilities the employees behave in a way that is unnatural; they ‘put on a show’ so to speak, to impress their bosses.  Some employees are lazy, and some are hard workers; some are polite, and some are cold, but when the boss is around, everyone is a hard worker, and everyone is polite.  Many employers now hire regular people off of the street to become shoppers at their stores and facilities; they observe and report all that they see and experience.  They are disguised to discover the truth, because it is human nature to pretend when it benefits the individual who is pretending.  When the employees experience a mystery shopper, it changes the environment.  They must continually be prepared to behave as though every customer were an in disguise ‘mystery shopper.’ 

             Jesus makes it clear that his servants are to treat each day, each hour, each minute, and each second, as the time of his possibly return.  Today, a lack of faith in the promised return of Jesus Christ has caused a great many church leaders to misbehave; many church leaders have used the churches money to gain vast quantities of material wealth and possessions.  Many have used their positions of authority and trust to gain sexual favors, and to commit sexually deviant behaviors.  Many have abandoned teaching the gospel, in favor of promoting some new ‘feel good book.’  Still others have completely walked away from God because they have become dissatisfied with God’s delayed return.  What can we do to avoid making these mistakes?  Being genuine for starters, and keeping hope alive in our hearts.  We can become disobedient when we lose hope in his return.  We must live in expectation of that return, every moment, every second, every day, and every hour.  We can recognize that God’s promise to return will come to pass.  We should all be serving God, continually, and we must never lose hope, but continue in faith to serve him, and to serve others, daily.

             “Lord Heavenly Father, we come before You now and we ask and pray that You would give us an expectant heart, and a hope in Your return that is not fleeting.  May You increase our faith in Your promises and give us a heart to serve You and to serve others.  Direct us Lord to know the duties and the responsibilities that You have given each one of us, individually.  We love You Father, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things, in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.

JESUS SPEAKING

             “He who believes in me, believes not in me, but in Him who sent me.  And him who sees me sees Him who sent me.  I have come as a light into the world, that whoever abides in me, should not abide in darkness.  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects me, and does not receive my words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.  For I have not spoken on my own authority; but the Father who sent me gave me a command, what I should say, and what I should speak.  And I know that his command is everlasting life.  Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak” (John 12: 44-50.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

             Jesus is making himself equal to God in this particular passage.  Many people had been placing their faith in God, and here he saying, ‘put your faith in me, and you will be putting your faith in God.’  Man was made in the image of God, implying that God has a shape, and here Jesus is confessing to be that shape.  Seeing Jesus is seeing God.

             Every human being is already under judgment and condemnation.  Most people don’t realize that even a little sin causes a person to be separated from God, and everyone sins.  Jesus says, “For I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.”  He doesn’t need to condemn and judge those who are already condemned.  His purpose is to present every person with a way to avoid the judgment of God.  That way, is too believe and have faith in Jesus Christ and to abide in him.  Anyone who rejects the provision that God has made is judged rightly and has no excuse for the wrath that remains on them.  This is why Jesus says, “The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.”  When we all stand before God those who have rejected Gods plan, and God’s son, and the message of Jesus Christ will stand condemned by their own free will.  The word ‘abide’ is used to refer to ‘physical location’ in other portions of scripture, and it is used in similar fashion by Jesus here.  When someone goes home for the night to sleep, they abide in their home.  When a person puts their money in the bank, that money abides in the bank.  When we put our lives in Jesus we abide in him.  He lives within us, and we live within him.

             To illustrate what it means to ‘abide’ in Christ, let’s imagine Noah and his family.  A man builds a boat in the middle of nowhere; in a place where there is no water.  The people who lived around him at that time were so wicked, perversion was common public practice.  Noah knew of the impending destruction, but no one outside of that boat knew they were doomed, and none recognized their own sin, and need for repentance.  Noah’s boat was a vessel, and when the rain came, Noah and his family did ‘abide’ in that boat.  They entered and shut the door, and as the world died Noah’s family lived because his boat was able to protect them from the destruction of the flood.  Had Noah decided to not enter the ark, he and his family would have been destroyed.  God provided this boat for Noah, just as He has provided Jesus Christ for us.  When we place our hope, our faith, and our trust in Jesus Christ we are entering God’s sanctuary; we are entering God’s protection from the coming storm (judgment.)  To abide in him is to live inside of his promise, and to dwell within his commands. 

             Today, we can place our lives, our hope, and our faith in Him.  When destruction comes, anyone who has believed, and has placed their hope in him will avoid destruction and inherit eternal life.  He has told us, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  Do we truly believe that today?  Do we look to the cross when things get difficult?  Are we resting in the promises of God?  Are we living for a time that has not yet come?  Are we living a life that resembles someone who lives in Jesus Christ?  If yes, continue on; if no, pray to him and ask Him to help you to have faith, and he will answer you, and your life will never be the same.

             “Lord Heavenly Father, we ask and pray that You would help us to abide in You.  Please assist us in giving ourselves completely over to You and to Your Son.  Help us to look to Your Son and to have faith in him, and to believe in all that he has told us.  Help us Lord, to live by faith, and to walk in faith, and to rest in You.  We love You Father, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.

JESUS SPEAKING

            Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they talked together of all these things which had happened.  So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were restrained so that they did not know him. 

And he said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” 

Then the one whose name is Cleopas answered and said to him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have you not known the things which happened there in these days?” 

And he said to them, “What things?” 

So they said to him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and crucified him.  But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel.  Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.  Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.  When they did not find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said he was alive.  And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see.” 

            Then he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter in to his glory?”

            And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24: 13-27.) 

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

            Jesus deliberately concealed himself from these two men to serve a purpose.  If he had revealed himself to them, they would have been unable to hear the things he was going to teach them.  We can also see that the things that occurred with Jesus were known openly by everyone.  These two men shared the sentiments of the people, which were that they had lost hope in Jesus, because of his crucifixion.  God’s plan for the messiah was unclear to them.  The Passover was finished and many of the millions of pilgrims were beginning to leave Jerusalem and return home.  So here were two men who were walking away from the place where Jesus’ tomb had been found to be empty.  There had been crushed, and they were disbelieving even though they had heard that the tomb had been found empty.  There faith was based upon their understanding, and they did not understand.  Jesus then addressed the source of their disbelief (a lack of understanding.)  He spoke to them of the necessity of the messiah to be punished, beaten and afflicted and crucified.  The crucifixion was not a trait of God’s weakness but of his strength; it was not a disappointing result of God’s inability to control things, but the result of God’s divine will.  Jesus revealed the truth of who he was to them as he walked with them and opened up the scriptures.  Jesus was honored by God when he was raised up on the cross, and he was glorified when he was raised from the dead.

             Why does Jesus go back to the Old Testament when he reasoned with these two men.  Prophecy is what makes the truth of God’s plan evident to all.  No one but God can know what is going to happen prior to it happening.  Jesus directs these two men back to the scriptures, no doubt pointing out all of the old testaments scriptures that described the coming messiah.  In many of the scriptures, God’s prophets wrote about a man who was going to be beaten, crucified, spit on, and rejected.  He was described as a lamb that would be slaughtered; he would raise the dead, heal the sick, and return sight to the blind.  He was described as having been born in Bethlehem, and born of a Virgin.  There are too many descriptions of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament to mention here.

             I don’t know if any of you have been involved in a class where you had no idea what you were learning.  Perhaps you just weren’t very good at the subject, or maybe you didn’t pay close enough attention to what was being taught.  I recall on a number of occasions, having a tutor come to my house to help me understand what I was learning in a particular class.  I was never very good at math, and so my friend helped me go through the book one line at a time, one problem at a time, until I understood correctly.  Jesus did this same thing with these two men on the road to Emmaus.

             Today, many people open up the bible and don’t necessarily understand what they are reading.  But God is still walking along side of them, speaking to their hearts, opening up their eyes, to whom Jesus Christ is, and why he had to come and die, and be raised to life.  Today, God has a plan in each and every person’s life, and that plan starts with a faith in Jesus Christ, and in his resurrection.  We don’t need to debate in our hearts, or with another person as to whether or not Jesus Christ was the messiah, we need only draw closer to him, and he will continue to reveal his truth to us; he will continue to open our eyes and to give us even greater understanding.  He doesn’t reveal all of his truth, all at once, and this is for his purposes and our benefit.  We will never be confused if we continue to follow him; we will never be in darkness, for he is with us, and in us, and among us, walking hand in hand through this life with us, and into the life to come.   

            “Lord heavenly Father, we ask and pray that You would come to those of us who lack understanding, and who are seeking You, and give us wisdom, and testify to our hearts the truth of Your plan for salvation in our lives.  Father, open the scriptures to us, open our eyes, and open our hearts to receiving Your Spirit and Your truth today.  We love You Father, we praise You and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things, in Jesus Christ’s name, amen.”  God bless all of you.