May 22, 2011
Scripture:
Prayer
Hymn 334 - Jesus my Saviour to Bethlehem came
Prayer
Genesis 40
Last time we looked at two bad things that happened to Joseph. He was sold as a slave to Potiphar; then Potiphar’s wife told a lie about him and he was put in prison. In both situations, Joseph prospered. Today, we are going to look at something that happened in the prison.
In this story, we have two men: the chief butler—who was in charge of Pharaoh’s food and wine—and the chief baker—who was in charge of Pharaoh’s baked goods. Apparently, they had been naughty and so were put into prison.
Remember that Joseph prospered while he was in prison: the prison guard put him in charge of some of the prisoners, two of which were the butler and baker. One night, both the butler and baker had a dream. When Joseph went to them the next day, he saw that they were sad. He asked them why they were so sad. The men told him that they had had dreams, but they didn’t know the meanings of them. Joseph said that the interpretation of dreams is given by God, but he asked them to tell him their dreams.
The butler’s dream went like this: there was a vine with three branches before him. It budded, then blossomed, then brought forth clusters of ripe grapes. Pharaoh’s cup was in his hand, so the butler took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup and gave it to Pharaoh. Joesph told the butler that the three branches were three days and that in three days he would be restored to his job. Joseph told the butler that he was in prison unjustly, and asked him to tell Pharaoh about it when he got out.
The baker thought that the interpretation of the butler’s dream was good, so he asked Joseph to listen to his dream. In the baker’s dream, he had three baskets on his head. In the top basket, there were baked goods and birds came and ate them. Joseph told the butler that the three baskets were, again, three day. “In three days, you will be hanged; and the birds will eat your flesh” Joseph told him.
Just as Joseph interpreted the dreams, so it happened. In three days, it was Pharaoh’s birthday. The butler was restored to his job and the baker was hanged.
So what do these dreams mean for us? The butler was crushing the grapes; this reminds us of how the Lord Jesus was crushed for you and me. The Butler’s dream is a picture of how we can trust in the work of the Lord for our salvation. The butler was bringing baked goods, which is like our own good works. This is a picture of a person whose trust is in his own works for salvation.
These two pictures run throughout the whole Bible. In early Genesis, Cain’s food of the ground was not accepted, because it was his own “good works.” These dreams are a good reminder that we must only trust in the work of the Lord Jesus for salvation.
One last point: Joseph asked the butler to tell Pharaoh about him; but instead, the butler forgot him. Jesus says, “Remember me”; and we had the privilege of remembering Him this morning.
Luke 4:38-44, 5:1-11
Last time we saw how the Lord dealt with the demon in the man. The people were amazed and said, “What a word is this!”. In the KJV, it’s an exclamation, whereas in Darby it’s a question: “What word is this?” This illustrates the fact that we can look at Scripture at different levels; we can look at the general meaning of a book, we can look at a chapter, a verse, a word, or - like here - even punctuation. Jesus delivered this man with just a word, “Hold thy peace and come out of him.” The crowd was amazed; no doubt, in part, because Jesus had grown up in the area. He hadn’t come in any special way, He grew up in a family like we did.
This miracle caused Jesus’ fame to spread, but He went out of the synagogue when they began to question the miracle. He left the public scene and entered a private one. It’s precious to have the Lord in our midst collectively, but we each have to remember to enjoy Him individually.
Our Lord went to Peter’s house, where He found another situation. Simon’s wife’s mother had a “great fever”, which was probably quite serious. They - probably Peter or some of the disciples - asked Him to help her. They had been with Jesus long enough to see and know His power. He came, stood over Peter’s mother-in-law, and rebuked the fever. It’s the same English word that is used in v.35. It was as if Jesus could speak directly to the fever, and it left like the demon did. Perhaps it was caused by Satan. Now, when we have a high fever and our temperature finally comes downs, we are generally still weak. Here, however, Simon’s mother-in-law is immediately well and uses her strength to serve them.
At sunset people brought their sick to Jesus, and He laid His hands on them and healed them. He rebuked the demon and the fever, but here we see our Lord’s compassion. He often touched the person He healed, especially lepers (showing that He had the power to touch leprosy and not become affected). Also, Jesus didn’t stop working when the sun set. He didn’t set a time, but asked, “Who needs me?”. The people brought their sick to the only One that could help them, and He healed them all. Jesus is also the only One that can save souls. We need to bring souls to him.
When our Lord cast out demons, they declared that He was the Christ. Jesus told them to be quiet, like He did before. He didn’t accept demonic testimonies. He bound the strong man when He overcame Satan’s temptations, and here He is dividing the spoil. What a deliverance it must have been for those people.
V42. Day came. You wonder if Jesus was working all night long. He is healing during the night season of this world. He left and went into the desert, but the people came and asked Him to come back to Capernaum. We often think of the Lord as rejected - and He was - but there were those that loved Him and said, “Don’t leave”.
We are like those that the Lord healed. Do our hearts say, not “don’t leave”, but rather, “I’ll go on with you”? It’s like the disciples of John the Baptist who asked Jesus, “Where dwellest thou?”.
In the book of Joshua, when the Children of Israel entered the Promised Land, the manna stopped and they ate the old corn of the land. That’s a type of Christ. We need to set our minds on things above. That’s where Christ is. We remember Him in death, and the fruits that came of that great work, but it’s precious to think of Him in the glory. He is responsible for the work of salvation, He intercedes for us, and gives us the hope of being with Him in glory.
V43. We are all children of the kingdom, but we preach the gospel of the grace of God.
Hymn 42 - The Great Physician now is near
Prayer