December 12, 2023
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Reading along with us in our Advent readings from “The Life of Jesus”? Here’s today’s reading:
Day 12 in the Book: “The Life of Jesus“
The Year of Popularity
Read Sections 3.9 through 3.12 (pages 36-40)
This book is an account of Jesus’ life and teachings told through in chronological order from the four Gospels to create one continuous story.
*If you do not have a copy of the book please contact the church at (401)667-0775 and we can get you a copy.
We can sometimes get stuck in the law and the rules of right and wrong and forget about relationship and people. Some people were so concerned about fasting and healing on the Sabbath they were missing the fact that they were looking at the Messiah.
We can never be so concerned with the law and the deeds that we forget the love, the grace, and the mercy! We are only able to be an extension of Him here on earth because of the work Jesus did to provide a way and the gratitude for that should dictate our motivation and our works.
Advent Day 12
The Life of Jesus 3.9-3.12; 1 Chronicles 1-6
These religious leaders knew scripture but never applied it to their lives. If they did they would have seen the messiah was before their eyes. So caught up in their own religion and themselves they missed the savior. Still happening a lot today. As Jesus continues whose praise do you seek. Obvious who they were looking from praise from. Jesus only concern was the approval of his Father. Same for us?
Jesus came to turn things upside down for those who thought the law justified them and focused on what people saw over what was in the heart. His message can’t fit in that way of thinking, and so for now it is a time to rejoice since Jesus is here. Fasting will be appropriate later. The heart of those who look on the outside and focus on the law is revealed in those who would see a lame man, that they probably saw suffering by the pool, walking, and make an issue out of him carrying his bed. Isn’t it more amazing and valuable that he is ABLE to carry his bed than any law that would say he shouldn’t? But the saddest thing about these people is they think they are doing what God wants them to do, when in reality THEY DON”T EVEN KNOW HIM. Their actions and their disregard of Jesus show that. See Jesus has come from the Father and is doing what the Father would have Him do. So if they don’t accept Him and His works, then you must not know His Dad. The miraculous things Jesus has been doing proves what He is saying is true. The Scriptures of the Old Testament pointed to Jesus. If they read it and don’t see Jesus there….or don’t realize who He is when He is living out the will of God before them…then they are missing something. The problem isn’t the Scriptures, but their understanding of it.
Let’s make sure we are being what God wants us to be before we point our fingers at others about what they are doing….
Jesus took a lot of criticism from the Jewish leaders. His answers were forthright and anchored in truth according to the scriptures. The verses that struck me were “I can do nothing alone… I am not trying to please myself. I want only to please the one who sent me.” and “I don’t want praise from you or any other person.” As followers of Christ, we should understand that we can do nothing of value if it is out of the will of God, and our intent should be to please him and not to win the praise of other people.
Jesus heals a man that was crippled for 38 years. It doesn`t say how he became crippled or when it happened but only that he found himself here at this pool that he thought would heal him if he was the first to go in after an angel stirred the water. It also doesn`t even say when he got there. We also don`t know of any family he might have had. We only know that Jesus healed him and that he told the Jews [ probably the Pharisees] that Jesus healed him. They were so angry with Jesus that He healed on the Sabbath and made Himself equal with God that they wanted to kill Him. They didn`t have a relationship with God but only tried to keep the laws. They were like dead men. Jesus even tells them that the scriptures talk about Him. They were deaf and dead spiritually. I remember how this crippled man was portrayed on the series The Chosen. He fell off a tree as a child and he had a younger brother that became a Zealot who latter became one of the 12 disciples. We often are not given back stories in the Bible so we really don`t know much about him. But we do know that he was a real person that Jesus healed to show the glory of God. May the Lord bless us.
18 “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen,
My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!
I will put My Spirit upon Him,
And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not quarrel nor cry out,
Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
20 A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench,
Till He sends forth justice to victory;
21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.”
What a contrast:
Peter’s response to the miraculous catch of fish – conviction and repentance and realization of who Jesus is.
The Jewish leaders’ response to Jesus healing a sick man on the Sabbath – try to make Him stop, determined all the more to kill Him.
I found this part very interesting too:
“Also the Father judges no one. He has given the Son power to do all the judging. God did this so that all the people will respect the Son the same as they respect the Father. Anyone who does not respect the Son does not respect the Father. He is the one who sent the Son”
This made me think of John 3:
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Jesus came to save and later He will come to judge. The Father has given all judgment to the Son. It is very interesting that Jesus is both Savior and Judge.
Why will people be judged? Because they don’t believe in Him.
Advent 2023 – Day 12