February 5, 2012
Scripture:
Leviticus 16:5-10,20-22 - I am thinking of the day of Atonement. One day a year the priest was allowed to go into the Holy of Holies after special preparation.
I have a few thoughts from John 19:30: “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” We have been thinking about that blessed One: the work that He did and His supreme sacrifice. He could say, “It is finished.” His work was fully complete.
Now let’s turn to Psalm 69. Here is another result to be reminded about.“Then I restored that which I took not away” (v. 4). Our access has been restored to the Father. The Lord fully restored forever that which sinful man had broken. How thankful we should be!
Hymn 335 - I’m so glad that our Father in Heaven
Prayer
Last time we looked at two verses on the growth of the Lord Jesus. Between those two verses, there is a story that took place when the Lord Jesus was twelve years old; we’ll look at that today.
Luke 2: 41 - 52
Most of us have had the experience of going to a conference. You have to pack everything up, load it all into the car, and go. In Bible times, they had what were called feasts, which were somewhat like conferences. Feasts were celebrations that took place at different times of year. The first feast of the year was the Feast of the Passover. These feasts took place in Jerusalem, so Mary and Joseph had to travel there from Nazareth. With them would have been many other families, all travelling together.
After fulfilling all their duties, Joseph and Mary got ready to return to Nazareth. At this point, I believe they had more children than just Jesus and in all the bustle, Jesus was left in Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph didn’t realize that Jesus was gone until they stopped for the evening. They looked for him among the other travelers, but he wasn’t there. The only thing left to do was to go back to Jerusalem. Can you imagine traveling a full day and then realizing one of your children was not with you? It would be terrible.
Mary and Joseph returned to Jerusalem and on the third day of searching, they found Jesus. He was in the temple asking questions of the doctors of the law. These men were astonished at Jesus’ questions and also at the answers that he gave to the questions they asked Him.
Mary asked Jesus why he had done this to them. Jesus’ reply was that he had to be about his Father’s business. Who was Jesus’ father? Jesus’ legal father was Joseph and Joseph business was carpenter. But this was not the business that Jesus was taking about. Jesus was talking about the business of His Father in Heaven.
Jesus was in the temple asking the teachers about His Father’s business. Jesus came to do His Father’s will and His father’s will was His whole focus while here on earth. These were Jesus’ first words in the Bible: “I must be about my Father’s business.” This morning we had His last words before He died. “It is finished.” The Lord Jesus completed all that His Father had for Him to do. I don’t believe that Jesus was being disobedient here. He had his priorities straight.
What does your Father do for you? He plays with you, provides for you, and protects you. Those who are saved have a Heavenly Father. He watches over us and cares for us as our earthly fathers do. We should desire to be about His will for us, as the Lord was.
Luke 9:57-62
In this chapter we’ve seen the Lord dispense grace in a time of transition from law to grace. In this last section, we see three people, and have the theme of following the Lord. These men didn’t have their priorities right: they put their own needs first.
The first man, it appears, thought that he would gain something by following the Lord. He said that he will follow Jesus; but Jesus saw his true heart and told him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” (v58.). Houses and such are needed for the body; but the Lord put His Father’s will first, while this man put his own needs first.
The Children of Israel, at Mount Sinai, told Moses, “All that the LORD hath spoken we will do.” (Exodus 19:8); and Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.” (Luke 22:33). If we think that we can follow the Lord in our own strength, we don’t know our hearts, or God’s heart. The Lord’s path was a path of rejection and privation. David was an example of this as Saul chased him from place to place. Let’s not be like Jonathon, who wasn’t with David. He said, “I’ll see you in the palace,” instead of, “I’ll stick with you wherever you go.” Jesus didn’t have a place to live while down here. He made everything, and owns everything; and yet He emptied Himself of all His glories (to come down here) and temporary blessings (while down here). The Lord’s path was contrary to everything natural. We can’t follow Him in our own strength; but Peter could follow the Lord after Pentecost. The Holy Ghost is what made the difference. V.57 tells us that Jesus and the disciples were “in the way”. What way? The way to the cross. This man couldn’t follow Jesus by himself, but at least he had the desire to.
The next man is the opposite. Instead of asking, he was called to follow the Lord. We are saints by God’s calling according to Romans 1:7 and 1 Corinthians 1:2. We don’t come to the Lord and present ourselves as able to do something for Him; He gives us the grace required to do His will. This man didn’t refuse to follow the Lord; but he had a hindrance, and it seems to be legitimate: he wanted to bury his father. Now, the Lord could raise Lazarus and Jarius’ daughter; but to this man He said, “Let the dead bury their dead.” Our Lord dealt in life, not death.
The last man also offers to go, but is still attached to the ones at home. However, when the Lord is our object of devotion, He must have the first place. This man was indecisive; he wasn’t ready to commit to following Jesus. Jesus mentions “looking back” (v62.); which reminds us of Lot’s wife, whose eyes were on this world. These three stories have to do with being fit for the kingdom, and in each of these cases Jesus asks that we be free from natural attachments.
Each of these stories also has to do with following Christ. It takes us back to verse 23: “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Paul could say, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1). In John it says: “If any man serve me, let him follow me.” (John 12:26), and “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Our Lord will not send us where He hasn’t been before.
Hymn 346 - Jesus who lives above the sky
Prayer