Sun.’s Devo - The Justice of Jesus

Read:1Samuel 1:1-2:21; John 51-23; Psalm 105:37-45; Proverbs 14:28-29 Elkanah was a prosperous man who had two wives - Hannah and Peninnah. They lived in the fruitful area of Ephraim. Every year they would travel to the Tabernacle in Shiloh and offer sacrifices. Elkanah would give Hannah the best part of the animal to offer to the Lord because she had no children and he felt sorry for her. Peninnah had many children and would taunt Hannah because of this. It seemed that Hannah was her husband’s favorite. ***Hannah would be so upset by the time she reached Shiloh that she wouldn’t be able to eat the sacrificial meal. One time she went apart to pray and cried out to the Lord for a son. She made a vow to the Lord that if he would give her a son, she would give him back to him. *** Eli, the priest saw her mouth moving and thought she was drunk. She explained to him that she was deep in prayer, so he prayed also that she would get her request. *** She did get her request and became pregnant and had a son. They named him Samuel and when he was weaned, she brought him to Eli to be raised to serve the priest in the Tabernacle. *** Eli’s sons were selfish and dishonest and they did not respect the Lord’s sacrifices. They would take the best for themselves and if anyone complained, they would threaten to kill them. Samuel lived with Eli and grew up serving the Lord. He wore a linen robe like the priests and Hannah would bring him a coat every year on her annual visit. Eli blessed her with more children and she had three sons and two daughters. Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord. *** In John, Jesus walked by the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. He was there for one of the feasts. He saw a paralyzed man lying on the porch and asked him if he wanted to get well. He told Jesus that he couldn’t because he couldn’t make it to the water fast enough when it bubbled up. This man had been lying there with that hope for 38 years. Jesus told him to get up, pick up his mat and walk, and the man did. The Jewish leaders objected that he was carrying his mat on the Sabbath, but the man told them that the man who healed him told him to do it. He couldn’t tell them who told him because Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. *** Jesus found him later and told him to stop sinning or something even worse might happen to him. He went and told the leaders who had healed him and ratted on Jesus. I wonder if something worse happened to him. *** When the Jewish leaders found Jesus and rebuked him for healing on the Sabbath, Jesus told them that he did what he saw his Father doing. His Father had given him the authority to judge men so he who didn’t honor the son didn’t honor the Father. *** God had sent Jesus to earth to live, feel and experience being human. Then he could be our faithful and just High Priest, like Hebrews says. He also could judge fairly and righteously because he understood temptation and sin. *** Jesus, thank you for being the righteous judge. Thank you for your grace and love for us. We trust in your judgments because they are just and fair.