February 28, 2024
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in our Lenten readings from “The Life of Jesus”? Here’s today’s reading:
Day 10 in the Book: “The Life of Jesus“
The Year of Growing Opposition
Read Sections 4.64 through 4.66 (pages 122-123)
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.
The Life of Jesus 4.62 – 4.66
The Life of Jesus 4.64-4.66, and Roman’s 7-8.
4.66 – Ten were healed but where are the other nine? Only one came back to give praise to God. You were healed because you believed.
It’s an interesting excerpt that I think implies, even though other 9 were healed they didn’t believe the way the one that came back to Jesus did, and gave all the glory and thanks to God in flesh. Because it wasn’t like Jesus said to the 10, be healed directly. He just said go to the Priest. Almost a true test of faith.
Lenten Day 10
God’s miracles are for all people—that we would believe.
4.64 Jesus Raises Lazurus From Death (John 11:38-44) John 11:41 “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” I love how many times Jesus does things that are not necessary for Him to do. But he does them as examples for us, to help us believe and to help us know how to live. I think John 14:31 is the greatest example…”but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.” Jesus demonstrates His love for the Father through His obedience, as an example to us of how to demonstrate our love for Him. The most amazing thing however, is that in obedience to God’s will for us, we find the most peace, the most blessing, the most comfort…the most God. In Christ, we are delivered from bondage to sin and death…and given the Freedom to obey Christ, for it is there, in His Will, that we are safe, secure, and protected.
4.65 Religious Leaders Plan to Kill Jesus (John 11:45-54) The spiritual blindness is staggering, we say. We are overwhelmed that people could see the works of Jesus and not recognize Him as Lord and Savior. This goes to our section from Luke a few days ago where Jesus told the story of the Rich Man and a different Lazurus…though…coincidence they are both named Lazurus? I think not. Jesus said in that story, that if the people will not believe the Words given by Moses and the Prophets…they will not believe, even if they see someone raised from the dead. Well…here we go. But let us not be too hasty to condemn the Pharisees. What about my own life? Where am I failing to believe in Jesus? What area of my life have I told Jesus, “You don’t get it, Jesus…you don’t understand, and you can’t take care of me the way I need to be taken care of.” May God reveal these places of lack of belief and trust to me, and help me to surrender to His will and fully trust and love Him!
4.66 Jesus Heals Ten Men with Leprosy (Luke 17:11-19) Another wonderful example of the broadness of the Gospel and evidence that God’s Word is true when He says in 1 Tim 2:3 “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth.” Let us never fail to acknowledge what Christ has done for us, and to give Him praise and worship. It is a continual remembrance and acknowledgement of our sinful, broken nature that will compel us to heights of surrender, dependence, and growth in Christ, as God completes the good work He has started in us… “For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:29)
When Jesus heals people, He always says, “Your faith has made you well.” God is merciful and He loves us though we are quick to turn our faces from Him. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”(Ephesians 2:10). God loves His creations and plans for those who chose to love Him to be reunited with Him for eternity in heaven. Praise the Lord!
“We love because HE FIRST LOVED US.”(1 John 4:19)
Go show yourselves to the priests. As they had to pronounce a person was. Healed of sickness. Over and over the Pharisees saw miracles done by Jesus Looking right past the miracles jealously sets in.
The Life of Jesus 4.64-4.66; Luke 8
Jesus when He arrived at tomb had the people do their part. First Jesus had the people show Him where the tomb was; then He had them roll the large stone away; and after He had called Lazarus to come forth; He had the people loose him. Jesus being who He is probably already knew where Lazarus was buried. Just as He knew where Nathanael was sitting under the fig tree before Philip called him. { Nathanael became one of the twelve} Or how He knew many other times what people were thinking. Jesus Himself could had rolled the stone away with His spoken word as He raised Lazarus from the dead. But He didn`t. He chose to have others take part. John 1:48. This is the same Jesus who desires to have a personal relationship with each one of us. It is interesting of the reactions of the people after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. It says that many believed in Him while others went and told the Pharisees what Jesus did. The Pharisees reaction was one of fear about what the Romans would do to them. They could lose their temple and their Nation. In other words their money, privilege, honor, and everything that went along with it. They should had been afraid of the One who had power over their souls. Jesus even warned of such. So instead of falling down to worship Jesus the Christ; they instead put a plan in place to kill Him. They were so blind or maybe they were deliberate not to believe because they didn`t want to face the consequences of Rome. As far as the ten men who Jesus healed. Only one came back to thank Jesus. This man was a Samaritan and by the way that it was stated implies that the others were Jewish. If this is true; we have another example of a Samaritan being very grateful while the Jews were taking for granted their inheritance as Jews. After all weren`t they the chosen people. But thanks be to God that wants all men to be saved. That He also grafted us Gentiles in that we may be saved. Praise be to God.
Evan good comments about the ten lepers.
Lenten 2024-Day 10
As you read the plot of the Pharisees to kill Jesus it makes you angry and yet they don’t realize they are actually doing the work of God in their own prideful way. Pastor always says God will be glorified either through you or in spite of you and isn’t this the ultimate example of that. They are actually carrying out the big finish of god’s plan to save us all and yet they don’t see it they just see their own fear, pride, and stubborness!
I do love the reminder that jesus gives the healed man that it is his faith that healed him. We have the ability to see great miracles even today when we have faith even as small as a mustard seed!
Lenten Day 11
Day 10
Jesus does the greatest miracle of all, raising someone who was assuredly dead, and many people believe because of it. And yet it is truly incredible that the Jewish leaders do not and instead they come up with a lame reason that these miracles are a bad thing and will bring about hardship from Rome. Clearly they are threatened by Jesus, and so rather then recognizing what is right before their eyes, they do what will protect their status and rank, and plot to get rid of Him. Jesus knowing what was going on, does what He can to avoid them, but then finds himself on his way to Jerusalem where he runs into some leapers. Jesus’ only command was to go show themselves to the priest. Now someone would only do that if they thought the priest would declare them clean. So there is faith expressed in the act of going. And so as not to make His command empty or problematic for them, He heals them on the way. And yet only one, a Samaritan in fact, makes the connection between being healed and the words of Jesus. May we be far more ready to recognize God’s work in our lives and give Him the praise and thanksgiving that He is due…..
Jesus healed people in a way that could not be construed as anything other than miraculous. The Pharisees knew this, so they were afraid the people would turn away from their leadership to follow Jesus. Because of their selfish motives, they plotted to kill an innocent man, the Son of God. Let us aim to support and encourage those people who do great things for God’s kingdom, and call out those people who want to destroy it.
Lenten Day 10
Tells us all we need to do is have faith, believe and praise God. Yet I fail at that. Sounds easy but always need to take “me”out of the mix first. It should be the 1st thing I do. It’s a daily thing to get good at it. Has to be done on purpose as is not man’s way.