May 1, 2011
Scripture:
Turn to Ephesians 1:1 - 23. We have been thinking about what God has done. When man sinned, they didn’t understand the ramifications of that. What did God do for us when His Son died for our sins? This chapter explains much of that:
Hymn 346 - Jesus who lived above the sky
Prayer
I Samuel 22
In the last chapter David was running away from Saul. First, he ran to Nob, where he was given food and armor by the priest. Then, David went to Acish, King of Gath; there he acted as a mad man. Then in v.1 of our chapter, David fled to the cave of Adullum. How do you think David felt? He was afraid and lonely. In Psalm 142:4 - 7, David shared his feelings of how he felt while he was in the cave of Adullum.
But David wasn’t alone anymore: his family came to the cave. After his family came four hundred other people. The people that came were in debt, discouraged, and discontented. As we go through the life of David, we are keeping in mind that David is a picture of the Lord Jesus. Although David was to be King, he wasn’t king yet. These people who went to David for refuge from distress remind us that we can go to the Lord Jesus when we are distressed.
David’s parents were among the people that came to David. He didn’t think that they would do well in the cave, so he asked the King of Moab if they could stay in Moab; they would be able to do this because Ruth was David’s great-grandmother, and she was a Moabitess. It is nice to see how David honored his parents. Another person that came to be with David was the prophet Gad. He told David that he should leave the cave and go to Judah. David took this counsel and went to the forest of Herath in Judah
The next scene opens with King Saul. Saul was upset that his servants were betraying him. Most of them knew where David was, but they wouldn’t tell Saul. And Jonathan wouldn’t do anything to hurt David, because of the covenant that was between them. Saul tried to win the people over by saying that he could give them more than David could give them.
In our last chapter, while David was at Nob we read about a man named Doeg. Now, this man came forward and told Saul what he had seen: the priest at Nob giving David bread and Goliath’s sword. This angered Saul, and he called all of the priests at Nob together. Saul didn’t like anyone that helped David, so he had all of the priests killed; only one of them escaped.
The one priest that got away went to David and told him all of that Saul had done. David told him to stay with him. David now had with him a prophet and a priest.
Just like David, the Lord Jesus is rejected in the world. We can go to the Lord Jesus and find comfort when we are going through hard times. It’s nice to see pictures of the Lord Jesus in David. We will see more of them as we go on.
So now we have Satan saying, “It is written”. There’s quoting Scripture, and then there’s misquoting Scripture (which Satan does).
This temptation is the temptation on the Pride of Life. Satan brought the Lord to the pinnacle of the temple, and basically told Him to challenge God. He also tried to cast doubt by saying, “If thou be the Son of God…”. That’s typical of Satan. Jesus didn’t need to make a display, and told Satan, “It is written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord Thy God”. With that, Satan walked away - for a season. Satan is out to derail our lives, and is never for us.
Our Lord’s whole temptation was unobserved. Luke had to be divinely inspired to write this. This took place in the desert for these trials and we just see the last three. Satan wanted Him to leave the path of obedience, but Jesus resisted Him with Scripture; and, as James tells us, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you”.
You would think that Jesus would be tired after forty days without food, but He returned in the power of the Spirit. It’s interesting to see the work of the Spirit in our Lord’s life. At His birth, the Holy Spirit came upon Mary. At His baptism, the Spirit descended like a dove, and then lead Him into the wilderness. Now He returns in the Spirit’s power. He was Spirit led. Galatians 5:16 tells us, “walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Later on here Jesus reads in the book of Isaiah (concerning Himself), “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”. The Spirit dwells in all believers, and we need to be in tune with the Lord if we want to be led by it.
The people saw that there was something special in our Lord. That was part of the fame He got by speaking in the synagogues. People said, “Never man spake like this man.” He spoke beautifully, with gracious words that glorified Him; and that was different.
Jesus started His ministry where He was brought up. It seems that our Lord was into carpentry with His father Joseph in His youth. He learned to labour with His hands. He went, as was His custom, to the synagogue. Here we have an excellent example. Our Lord went to meeting. It seems as though His family did when He was growing up. They did what was proper for Jews to do at that time. This day was different, however. Jesus stood up, which meant that you had something to say. Whether He asked for it or not, He received the book (or scroll) of Isaiah and went right to a certain passage. He knew it by heart, but He read it from the book. This showed everyone there that He had a respect for the Word of God.
Jesus read a passage that He had told Isaiah to write many years ago. It must have been something for Him to read it. Isaiah 61:1-2a. Jesus didn’t finish the sentence, because the rest of it went on to tell of a yet-future day. The comma He stopped at is today, the day of grace.
It’s interesting to see how Jesus used these Old Testament scriptures. John the Baptist used them, and He found himself in Isaiah. Now our Lord finds Himself in Isaiah as well.
Another point of interest is that the Lord stood up where He was brought up. Some of us need to be very thankful how we were brought up. We also need to be very thankful for the Scripture that we can stand up and share.
Now the Lord wasn’t Moses, bringing a stone tablet with commandments. He was helping the poor (in the Old Testament it says meek), healing those that had broken hearts, and liberating those that were captives to sin and Satan. He also healed the blind - both those with physical blindness, and those that were spiritually blind - and freed the bruised. No doubt some of the people in the synagogue could relate to these infirmities. He also came to preach the acceptable day of the Lord; “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation”, 2 Corinthians 6:2.
It wasn’t just the Lord’s words that reached people during His life, it was His pathos. He didn’t just appeal to their needs, but to their hearts.
As Jesus closed the book and sat down, all eyes were fastened on Him. He then preached His sermon: “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” It wasn’t long, but it was powerful. He just said, “This has come true, right now.” Those people could have entered into blessing by believing it. That was His spoken sermon, but His whole life was also a sermon.
Hymn 366 - We are little children, very young indeed
Prayer