THE REJECTED SON

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.”

“Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way.”

“Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.”

“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”

“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:”

“‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew He was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that He was a prophet.

Matthew 21:33-46

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today is the third in a series of messages centered on what is known as Passion (or Holy) Week, the final week of Jesus’ earthly life, the week that spans from Palm Sunday to Easter.

First, we looked at Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, an arrival marked with a pomp and circumstance reserved for royalty. Indeed, the King of all kings had arrived in the holy city but when the people were asked who Jesus was, you’ll recall they said He was just a prophet from Nazareth, prompting the question, “Did they really know who He was?”

Then, we moved onto Jesus’ second day in Jerusalem, a day that saw Him cause a stir in the courtyard of the Gentiles after finding illicit money changers and sellers of sacrificial animals crowding a place intended to be a place of prayer. Through His actions, we were shown the absolute necessity of taking a stand for God the Father when the need presents itself.

And that brings us to today and the third message in this series. As we move to the third day Jesus is in Jerusalem, we find Him going back to His ministry roots and teaching those who had gathered to listen. Of course, that teaching took the form of parables and as we see in one of them, Jesus specifically targeted a certain audience while providing a glimpse into what would happen in just a few short days. Look again at this passage as we continue to look at the 21st chapter of Matthew’s Gospel:

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.”

“Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way.”

“Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.”

“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”

“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:”

“‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew He was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that He was a prophet. Vv.33-46

Before we probe deep into the depths of what Jesus was conveying, we need to first define the parable’s key components to help us in our understanding.

To begin, we must understand what the landowner and his vineyard represent in the parable.

The landowner Jesus is talking about here is none other than God, His Father and ours. Note the vineyard would never exist had it not been for the landowner creating it first. The landowner planted the vineyard and put things in place to make sure the vineyard was protected and able to be productive.

So if the landowner was God, who or what did the vineyard represent?

We go to the Old Testament and the Book of Isaiah for the answer:

The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines He delighted in. Isaiah 5:7

The word of God makes things easy for us. The nation of Israel is the vineyard, planted by God the landowner to be productive for Him. His people, the Israelites, are the tenants, the vines through which God intended to bear fruit.

With these points in hand, we now have the base with which to look at the rest of the parable. Let's return to that and answer some questions while adding additional meaning to Jesus' teaching.

What did the landowner do?

The scriptures tell us that he left the vineyard in the hands of his tenants who had an obligation to produce for the landowner. In other words, God’s people, the tenants, were not just living in the land for free. There was a rent to be paid to the landowner, in this case, the fruit that Jesus mentions.

The landowner allowed the tenants to live in the vineyard and, in return, they were to pay him at the appointed time. We read that the landowner did not go directly to the tenants to collect what they owed him but rather sent a succession of messengers to collect what was due with each being mistreated in some way with at least one killed.

So, who did the messengers represent?

They were none other than the prophets that God had sent to His people and if you know anything about the Old Testament, you know the Israelites mistreated God’s prophets over and over and over again as they rejected God’s word and will to follow their own desires. We should note here that God was very patient with the tenants just as He was with His people before Jesus came. He could have sent immediate judgment on them for the way they disregarded Him and those He sent but He didn’t. He gave His people every possible chance to try and correct their ways before taking action and such was the case with the landlord in the parable Jesus was telling.

Unfortunately, there came a juncture when the landowner realized that sending mere messengers was not achieving the desired result and so he came up with another idea. He would send his son because he felt that the tenants would surely respect him, the very flesh and blood of the landowner who was the rightful owner of the land.

Of course, the son in the parable represented none other than Jesus Himself, the very flesh and blood of God the Father.

Sadly, the end outcome wasn’t any different.

For when the tenants saw that the landowner had sent his son, they saw the opportunity to capitalize on the situation thinking that if they killed the landowner’s heir (the son) then they could take his inheritance.

And so that’s what they did, they took the son, “threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.”

Hopefully by now you’re starting to get the big picture of what Jesus was getting at. For if the vineyard’s tenants were representative of the Israelites and the landowner’s son was representative of Jesus, then we know Jesus was foretelling what was about to happen to Him while in Jerusalem.

For in three days, Jesus would be put to death, a death carried out by the Romans but instigated by the very chief priests and Pharisees who stood in the company of those listening to Jesus deliver this parable. As the scriptures tell us, the Jewish religious authorities certainly understood Jesus was talking about them but instead of repenting and turning their hearts away from making the parable come true, we read where they immediately began to ponder ways to arrest Jesus with the intent of eliminating Him altogether before week's end.

So what’s our takeaway?

Well, God had sent His Son Jesus to try and get His people to produce the fruit He expected them to provide. But as we know, the Israelites were going to reject Jesus and kill Him just as readily as the tenants killed the landowner’s son in the parable, an act that would bring God’s judgment upon them, a judgment that would soon fall on the Jewish religious leaders that Jesus was teaching.

Ironically, they would be the very “wretches” who would be brought “to a wretched end” and such will be the case for anyone who chooses to reject Jesus today. For a time is coming when the once rejected Son, who was crucified, died, and resurrected from the dead before ascending into Heaven to sit at His Father’s right hand, will return as the victorious Judge of the world. And when He does, He will take those who placed their belief, faith, and trust in Him as Savior to the new Heaven and earth while vanquishing everyone else into the lake of fire where they will be utterly destroyed with the earth and heavens as we know them now (Revelation 20:14-15).

Until then, we are still God’s people, placed in His “creation vineyard” to bear the fruits of the Spirit, make disciples, and lead them to salvation through Christ Jesus, the once rejected Son who now serves as the blessed Savior, the precious Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world (John 1:29, 1 Corinthians 5:7).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

PASSION WEEK SERIES: TAKING A STAND

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” He said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

Matthew 21:12-13

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s devotion, the first of this special Passion Week series, we saw where Jesus had entered Jerusalem to the cries of a gathered crown who were proclaiming:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest Heaven!” Matthew 21:9

If we then go to the Gospel of Mark, we learn that it was late when Jesus entered the temple courts during His first day in the holy city and so He went out to Bethany (located 1 1/2 miles east of Jerusalem) with His disciples (Mark 11:11). The next day, the second day in what is commonly referred to as Passion Week, Jesus then returned to the temple courts and what He witnessed brought on a righteous indignation as we see in this excerpt from our passage from Matthew:

Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” He said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” 21:12-13

So what got Jesus so riled up?

In order to understand His actions, we need a little background for context.

First, it’s important to know that the main part of the temple where the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies existed was surrounded by four courtyards, each with limits as to who could be within them. The closest courtyard to the temple was reserved only for the priests which made sense as they were the only ones who could perform duties in the temple.

The next courtyard outside of the courtyard of the priests was the courtyard of men and outside of that was the courtyard of women. It should be noted that not all men could be in the courtyard of men nor could all women be in their designated courtyard. Rather, only those who were Israelites, male or female, whichever applied, could be within their respective, designated places.

This left one remaining courtyard, the one furthest from the temple proper. This was called the courtyard of the Gentiles and anyone could be in it even though you probably wouldn't find any Israelites hanging out there as they typically didn't associate with the Gentiles who they viewed as unclean and spiritually inferior.

We also need to know that Jesus entered Jerusalem during Passover week and the city was filled with Jews and Gentiles. The temple itself would have been packed with Israelites who had come to offer up the prescribed sacrifices and a marketplace had been set up outside the temple with two distinct transactions taking place at tables which were located within the courtyard of the Gentiles.

The first transaction involved currency exchange. Many people came to Jerusalem from points outside of the city, points that carried their own currency. That currency would need to be exchanged to do business with the temple as only sanctuary shekels would be permitted to pay the temple tribute. Like the tax collectors of that day, the money changers had a reputation for levying exorbitant fees for exchanging currency from people who often had little money to begin with. The money changers knew the people wanted to be faithful to paying the temple tribute and would dole out whatever was required to remain faithful to God and His holy place. And so they, the money changers, took advantage of the people’s desire to be obedient to the Lord.

The other transactions that took place surrounded birds and animals that people could purchase for sacrifice. The animals offered within the temple courtyard could also be bought outside the temple grounds in the city but as a matter of convenience, people would often look to make their purchases inside the Gentile courtyard. The sellers of the sacrificial birds and animals knew this and would drastically elevate their prices, sometimes as much as twice as much as people were paying elsewhere.

And so wha we find that both of these transactions within the courtyard of the Gentiles was nothing more than an exercise in sinful money grabbing, corrupting a place that was meant for devoted hearts to lift up prayers to God…and this was something that Jesus didn’t settle for.

The Gospel of John tells us that He (Jesus) “made a whip out of cords” (John 2:15) before He drove out all who were buying and selling within the courtyard of the Gentiles, overturning the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling birds and animals. It was quite a chaotic scene, one that would have immediately drawn attention and so Jesus used the moment to make a declaration about the motivation for His behavior, proclaiming:

“‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

You see, the temple courtyards were not simply social gathering places for those who would assemble there. Rather, they were to be holy places where people could go to pray and draw nearer to God, whether Jew or Gentile. Through His words, Jesus was simply upholding the very words of His Father God who said the following through the Old Testament prophet Isaiah:

“My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:7b

God’s house, His holy temple, had indeed become just that for it was constructed in such a way where people from all nations could pray unto Him, even the Gentiles. This is why Jesus became so incensed about the marketplace location because the special, holy place for the Gentiles had been turned into a place of commerce and a sinful one at that. The money changers and sellers had taken the "house of prayer" that God had intended the courtyard to be and made it into a “den of robbers”.

And so Jesus took a stand, showing He wouldn’t permit anything to violate the standards set in place by His Father, even though He fully knew that His actions wouldn’t be popular.

Friends, we need to follow the lead of Jesus and take our own stands for our Father God and those He loves, reinforcing His righteousness and holiness every chance we get. And while we may not find ourselves fashioning whips out of cords and driving out money changes and sellers from sacred courtyards, there are plenty of other instances when we need to be speaking out and defending the Word, will, and way of our Lord.

One thing’s for sure. The world today is trying to force God and Jesus out of every aspect of life with every chance it gets. Persecution and godlessness are on the rise, even in nations that proclaim themselves to be democratic and free, nations that even declare themselves as being “under God”. As a result, it should come as no surprise that sin is becoming increasingly rampant, acceptable, and permissible. The name of the Lord is only invoked when it is convenient and can be used to someone’s advantage to support something that isn’t of Him.  

As we continue through the Holy Week and beyond, this is not the time to stay silent and be inactive. It’s time to take a stand for our God and follow the example that Jesus set.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

PASSION WEEK SERIES: DID THEY REALLY KNOW WHO HE WAS?

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Matthew 21:1-11

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today, we’ll pause our study of the Book of Deuteronomy to enter into a series of messages on what is referred to as “Passion week”. Beginning today, Palm Sunday through Easter, we will walk with Jesus as He makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem and start the countdown to the end of His earthly ministry by crucifixion before being resurrected in power and into authority three days later, defeating death and the grave.

We begin with this passage from Matthew:

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest Heaven!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” Matthew 21:1-11

I think the first thing we need to note here is that this wasn’t a random, impulsive, event.

Like so many other aspects of Jesus’ life, prophecy had predicted what was to come and in this instance, the prophecy had come from the prophet Zechariah who foretold of a future king who was coming who would be righteous and victorious, a king who was worthy of their shouting and rejoicing.

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9

And so as we look at the scene painted in our scripture passage from Matthew’s Gospel, we see that Jesus, the king Zechariah told of, had now come to Jerusalem but as He did, I wonder about this…

Did the people who gathered to greet Him really know who He was?

Yes, Zechariah had said that a King was coming, and not just any king (small "k") but rather the King of kings and Lord of lords, a King that deserved all the pomp and circumstance of any other king who had come to Jerusalem and more. That pomp and circumstance was evident in the way the people responded to Jesus, following the customary traditions when any royalty would come to the city.

We read where some spread their cloaks out on the road while others cut branches from trees and placed them on the path Jesus would travel on, paving the path before Him. And there weren’t just a few people there for God’s Word tells us that crowds went ahead of Jesus shouting and proclaiming the following praises to Him:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest Heaven!”

You see, it’s clear that the people who came to welcome Jesus to Jerusalem knew something about the man who was riding the donkey across their cloaks and palm branches. They acknowledged Him as David’s son, a man in the lineage of their beloved former king who had a reputation for being someone who was after God’s own heart. And they declared Jesus as being blessed, seeing Him as having come in the name of the Lord and calling for adoration to come on Him from the highest heavens.

But did they really know who He was?

I think we get a sense that they didn’t for within the clamor and excitement over Jesus’ arrival as He moved from the road into Jerusalem itself, we read where His coming caused quite a stir in the city, leading people to ask on simple question:

“Who is this?”

The question show us that the people truly didn’t recognize this Man who had come with great fanfare, this Man who had been predicted through prophecies of old, this Man who rode into the city as the Messiah, not on a warhorse but rather humbly on a donkey.

So what answer was given regarding the curiosity over Jesus’ identity?

We see it in our scripture passage:

“This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

It’s interesting that they knew more about where Jesus had come from than who He was. In regard to that, we see that they didn't view Him as the Messiah or the Son of God who had been sent to save them and all mankind but rather as a mere messenger, a prophet who had been sent to speak to them. With this, it’s of little wonder why the people would be shouting something completely 180 degrees out from “Hosanna!” after just a mere five days, demanding this be done to Jesus:

“Crucify Him!”

And when they got what they wanted, we go to the cross and find the crucified Christ saying this to the Father, a statement that only affirmed that the people in Jerusalem were clueless about His true identity?

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34

If the Jewish people had really known who Jesus was, they wouldn't have falsely accused and convicted Him, brutally beat Him, and then execute Him. They would have continued to treat Him as royalty long after He rode across the cloaks and palm branches on the road into Jerusalem. But they wouldn’t open their hearts and minds to God to understand and discern that He had sent His Son to save them and all other sinners of the world.

Today, we have so many people in our world who either don't know Jesus at all or think they know Him but really don’t for if they did, they would respect and revere Him in their lives. They would be proclaiming His greatness and goodness while bowing down to worship Him. They would strive with every ounce of their being to live like Him in all that they do, seeing Him as the greatest role model ever. And they would realize that without Him and the salvation found only in believing in His name, they have no hope in this life.

My brothers and sisters, as we enter this final week of Jesus’ life, let our prayer be that all would come to really know Jesus as the scriptures define Him:  

That He is the Good Shepherd who was willing to lay down His life for us, His sheep (John 10:11).

That He is the Lamb of God who gave Himself up freely as a living sacrifice to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

And that He is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), the Savior of all who would come to save all who would place their trust and believe in Him as the only way to God the Father (John 3:16, John 14:6).

This is who Jesus is.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

GOODBYE TO AN EYE FOR AN EYE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

“If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

Deuteronomy 19:15-21

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the closing verses of Deuteronomy, chapter 19, we find the Lord continuing to speak through Moses on the theme of justice as it applies to witnesses who might come forward and report crimes. The scriptures tell us that “one witness (was) not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed”. Instead, the “matter (was to) be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses”.

In other words, one person could not come forward and make a false claim against another with the malicious intent of them being harmed.

So what happened if there was a conspiracy against someone? Couldn’t a person get others to say they witnessed the same thing he or she did in order to still get their way?

Well, that could have happened but we see where the Lord puts in a provision that would hopefully deter anyone from bearing false witness.

“The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him as he intended to do to his brother.”

The hope here was that the “rest of the people (would) hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you”.

In the end, Israel was to “purge the evil from among (them)” and “show no pity…life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot”. The penalty was to match the crime. Nothing more, nothing less.

This mindset would last in the scriptures until Jesus came on the scene. During His first formal teachings during the Sermon on the Mount, He said this:

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

“You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:38-48

Why were these teachings important?

Imagine if the “eye for an eye” principle had remained in place after Jesus was crucified. Anyone who falsely accused Him would have been subject to the same fate He went through. In other words, there would have been a lot of crucifying going on.

But Jesus didn’t come to destroy or avenge. Rather, He came to forgive and He did so out of love, even love for His enemies. In His life, Jesus didn’t just preach these words from the Sermon on the Mount and then not back them up. He modeled them perfectly just as He did everything else in life, and in doing so, taught His disciples, past and present, how to deal with the same matters ourselves.

Given all this, a few questions:

1. Have you been ever been wronged by someone in life to the point where you felt (or maybe still feel) the need to get even?

2. Do you find yourself looking for ways to make someone feel the same level of pain, hurt, and suffering that they brought on you?

3. Has someone made you angry to the point where you feel consumed and blinded by it?

If your answer to one or more of these questions is “yes”, I encourage you to go to the scriptures and see how Jesus handled what was the greatest injustice in the history of mankind. For after being wrongly accused, convicted, and sentenced; beaten and then nailed to a cross before being lifted up to die, Jesus didn’t strike out at those who were mocking Him. He didn’t ask His Father to send legions of angels from Heaven to kill everyone who had something to do with His crucifixion.

No, Jesus simply said these words:

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34

Friends, if Jesus, the One through which we owe our identity as Christians, could do forgive in those circumstances, then we can follow His lead and do likewise. We need to forgive as He did just as much as we do everything in life as He did.

Today and every day, let us honor our Savior by giving thanks for the example He set and then commit ourselves to replicate His every thought, Word, and deed…and that includes forgiving our greatest enemies.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

OUR HOLY CITY OF REFUGE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“When the Lord your God has destroyed the nations whose land He is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their towns and houses, then set aside for yourselves three cities centrally located in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess. Build roads to them and divide into three parts the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that anyone who kills a man may flee there.”

“This is the rule concerning the man who kills another and flees there to save his life - one who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought. For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life. Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death, since he did it to his neighbor without malice aforethought. This is why I command you to set aside for yourselves three cities.”

“If the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as He promised on oath to your forefathers, and gives you the whole land He promised them, because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today - to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways - then you are to set aside three more cities. Do this so that innocent blood will not be shed in your land, which the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance, and so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.”

“But if a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him, assaults and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities, the elders of his town shall send for him, bring him back from the city, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die. Show him no pity. You must purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so that it may go well with you.”

“Do not move your neighbor's boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.”

Deuteronomy 19:1-14

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

One thing that we see God make clear in the scriptures is that He commands and expects justice. He sets the standard for this and does so in a perfectly just way, and as we see in our scripture passage for today, this included protection for the innocent which is the chief premise behind establishing “cities of refuge”. Look again at the opening fourteen verses of Deuteronomy, chapter 19:

“When the Lord your God has destroyed the nations whose land He is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their towns and houses, then set aside for yourselves three cities centrally located in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess. Build roads to them and divide into three parts the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that anyone who kills a man may flee there.”

“This is the rule concerning the man who kills another and flees there to save his life - one who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought. For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life. Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death, since he did it to his neighbor without malice aforethought. This is why I command you to set aside for yourselves three cities.”

“If the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as He promised on oath to your forefathers, and gives you the whole land He promised them, because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today - to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways - then you are to set aside three more cities. Do this so that innocent blood will not be shed in your land, which the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance, and so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.”

“But if a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him, assaults and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities, the elders of his town shall send for him, bring him back from the city, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die. Show him no pity. You must purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so that it may go well with you.”

“Do not move your neighbor's boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.”

Deuteronomy 19:1-14

Here we find God commanding the Israelites to “set aside…three cities centrally located in the land” after entering Canaan. They were to “build roads to them and divide (the land) into three parts…so that anyone who kills a man may flee there”.

The reason this was important was that not all killings were intentional. Just as we see in present times, tragic accidents could and did happen but in biblical times, this unintentional killing of another would put a person at risk. They would face death themselves at the hands of an avenging family member of the deceased and this is the chief reason why God ordered for cities of refuge to be put in place for an innocent person who took a life by accident could there and be protected.

In our passage, we see an example given as to how someone might kill another unintentionally. We read a scenario where “a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him”. This man had no intent to murder his neighbor; the death happened by accident. Still, the scriptures tell us that danger loomed as an “avenger of blood might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death”. This is why the city of refuge was needed…so “innocent blood (would) not be shed in (Israel’s) land”.

So what would happen if someone fled into the city of refuge even though they had killed with intent?

God’s Word tells us “…if a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him, assaults and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities, the elders of his town shall send for him, bring him back from the city, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die”. The Lord makes it clear here that the cities of refuge were reserved for the innocent.

As I thought about the innocent and a place of refuge, I couldn’t help but think about our Savior, Jesus. We know He was innocent and yet was crucified on Calvary’s cross and on the surface, it would appear as if evil had won. But Christ’s death was necessary so God’s greatest miracle could be performed, raising His Son from the tomb, delivering Him from death to eternal life and back into the heavenly city of refuge from which He had come. From that point on, no one could ever pass a deadly judgment upon Him again for He ascended and was placed in honor at His father’s right hand, safe there until His glorious triumphant return when He would set creation straight and restore God’s order and justice to earth.

The good news for us is that Jesus opened the gates to God’s heavenly “city of refuge” for anyone who would believe and trust in Him as Savior. Christ’s victory over death was extended to us as well, not because we’re innocent like He was and deserve it, but because He has paid the penalty for us and purchased our pardon. He covered our sin debt with His shed blood, a blood that washed us clean and redeemed us while bringing the sure promise of abiding with our Savior and Father God forever. Further, in the holy city of refuge, the New Jerusalem, no enemy will ever be able to come after us ever again. We will be perfectly at peace because we are perfectly protected.

As we rejoice in this truth, let us give thanks to God for the gift of His Son Jesus, our precious Redeemer and Friend.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.