Read: Mark 3:7-12; Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:12-26; Matthew 5-6:4
Proverbs 25:2 says that it is the glory of God to hide a matter and the glory of princes to seek out a matter. Jesus didn’t want it proclaimed that he was the Son of God. He wanted to do acts of kindness and power that made people come closer and discover it for themselves - in their hearts. That is the only way to salvation. It can make sense on paper, but to be born again takes a spiritual rebirth.
Jesus spent all night with his father listening to who he chose for Jesus disciples. In the morning he gathered the crowd and called out their names. I wonder if he was surprised when that person came forward. He had already chosen a few of them in his daily walk. After Jesus had his government of twelve in place he launched out in his teaching ministry. One of his greatest sermons was the Sermon on the Mount. Only Matthew and Luke record this event and only Matthew gives us the sermon in detail. In his sermon, Jesus takes some of the Commandments of the law and spiritualizes them and applies them to their daily lives. First, he addresses the ones this privilege is for: the humble, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers. In other words, it is for the softened hearts. He tells them that they are the salt of the earth, the light of the world. Then he walked them through the 10 Commandments. He made them a heart issue instead of a capital offense. I doubt any of them had ever murdered… but all had called people names and judged their position. Jesus was trying to show them that God’s love was the heart of the commandment. Those stones that they threw in the Old Testament to condemn become words in the New Testament. And to God, they were the same. He even told them to love their enemies which had to have taken the wind out of their sail. They were being oppressed by the Roman government and we all think we can hate them. Jesus had a better way. Jesus took love to a whole new level.
Lord, help us to see everything through Your lens of love.
No comments:
Post a Comment