April 21, 2013
Scripture:
A portion came before me: Exodus 6. Here the Lord is speaking to Moses and in theses verses we have seven I will’s. Read vv. 6 - 8. This is a wonderful message. We can enjoy these promises as a type of Lord Jesus, in His work on the cross for us.
Hymn 381 – I’d rather have Jesus
Prayer
Last time, we read about Naaman’s visit to Elisha the prophet, because of his leprosy. He heard about Elisha through one of his maids, who told him that Elisha could heal him. Elisha got Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan River and he was healed. We saw how leprosy was a picture of sin and how Naaman’s healing was a picture of salvation.
2 Kings 5: 15 - 27
After being healed, Naaman returned to Elisha’s house. He realized that he couldn’t have been healed any other way. He praised the Lord for his healing. Naaman wanted to give Elisha gifts for his healing, but Elisha wouldn’t take any of it. There is nothing that we can do or give to get salvation. Naaman now knew that there was only one God and that the gods back in his country were fake.
Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, saw all the gifts that Naaman had offered Elisha (the money and all the fine clothing) and he wanted some of it. He ran after Naaman and told him that there were some prophet’s sons coming and they needed some clothes and money. This was a lie and it displeased the Lord very much. But Naaman believed Gehazi’s lie and gave him clothing and money.
When Gehazi got back, Elisha asked where he had been and Gehazi lied again: he said that he had been nowhere. When you lie once, you need to continue to lie to hide your first lie. God told Elisha what Gehazi had done and he felt very sad. Gehazi had seen the Lord provide and here he had lied to get some money and clothing. Because of Gehazi’s sin, he became leprous; but it was not only him: because of his sin, his children were also going to be leperous. He wanted the wealth of Naaman and he got it, but he also got Naaman’s sickness.
Hebrew 13:5
The Lord takes care of us and he will provide for our every need. Gehazi went after riches and lied to get them, but in the end he got leprosy, which is far worse. Gehazi practically learned the meaning of “be sure your sin will find you out.”
Luke 22:63-71
Last week we saw Peter deny Jesus, lacking the courage to identify with Him. He had boasted that he would never deny the Lord, but he was trusting in his own strength. We can’t count on our own love! We need the Lord’s strength to be a testimony for Him.
Notice the way that the men who held our Lord treated Him: they mocked, smote, blindfolded, struck, and spoke against Him. These men made a spectacle of Him! They had no cause to treat Him like this! It reminds you of Isaiah 53:3-4. What kind of man would take the Lord Jesus and make fun of Him? Those that are full of wretchedness. What a picture of the human heart. Our Lord said nothing, and did not hide or shrink back from this torture, but He had the power to stop it all if He wanted to. Remember, too, that all these sufferings are before the cross; and we’ve already seen our Lord’s sufferings in the garden.
As we said, this torture shows how horrible the human heart is. Romans tells us that “There is none that doeth good.” Proverbs 6 tells us of seven things that the Lord hates: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that thinks up wickedness, feet that are swift in running to mischief, a false witness, and one who sows discord among brethren. These men committed many of these sins!
The men kept Jesus until day, when He was led to the council. There were six councils/court sessions that Jesus went through:
The men of this council were those that—above all others—should have known the Scriptures, and should have recognized the Son of God. How did they miss Him? How do people today miss it? The Bible is very clear in it’s teaching, and we have the Holy Spirit; yet people disregard the Bible and insist on believing that humans evolved and that there is no higher being than man.
Verses 67-69 show the judicial glory of the Lord. Did it frightened these men? No. They said they wanted to know if Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus made it very clear that, yes, He was. Peter was frightened of a maid, but these men were not frightened of the Son of God. They proved the truth of His words: “You will not believe”. Nobody stopped and said, “Maybe He is the Son of God!“
These men could find no testimony against our Lord, so they had to condemn Him on His own testimony. Jesus’ testimony of being the Son of God backed up what these men had witnessed in the miracles that He performed. They decided that they needed no more witnesses. They couldn’t condemn Jesus to death, though, because they were Jews. They needed to coax Pilate to do that, which we’ll get in the next chapter.
All this is leading up to the greatest display of God’s heart, and the greatest display of man’s heart. And they are direct opposites.
Hymn 191–Saviour through the desert lead us.
Prayer