June 23, 2013
Scripture:
Read Song of Solomon 1:12-14. Here we have three illustrations of something precious. In verse 12, we have a king sitting at a table. We are the ones sitting at the table with Him, like Mary of Bethany, who had learned at His feet. She understood when the proper time to worship was—she anointed His feet when they made Him a supper. That is why we are here today. It is precious to gather around Him to praise Him for who He is and what He’s done. V. 13 - Myrrh is a resin, hidden in a plant. This is an example of personal enjoyment of the Lord as we pass through this world. V.14 - We can enjoy Him as an object of our love; this is outward love. We can enjoy His glory and love as an object. So these three things—worship, intimacy and love—we can enjoy in our hearts!
Hymn 335 - I am so glad that our Father in heaven
Prayer
Matthew 20:1-14
A vineyard is a place where grapes grow. Grapes grow on vines and if you don’t give them attention, these vines will grow along the ground. Most vineyards have trellises for the vines to climb. Taking care of a vineyard is a lot of work. In our parable, a man owned a vineyard, and one day he needed some workers. Back then, you could go to the local market and find people to hire for that day. He found some people and they agreed to work all day for one penny. Back then, this was a fair wage for a day.
The work day here started at 6:00 A.M. At 9:00, 12:00, 3:00, and 5:00, the vineyard owner went back to the market and hired more men. This time, instead of agreeing to a certain wage, he said that he would pay them whatever was right. And they agreed to this.
At the end of the day (probably 6:00 P.M.), when the vineyard owner gave out the wages, all the workers were given a penny. Those that were hired at the beginning of the day thought this was unfair: they had worked all day, but had only made as much as those who had worked for one hour. There is a lesson for us in this parable. Jesus is the vineyard owner, and there are times that we help Him in the vineyard. Some people negotiate with the Lord for something as pay working for Him, and some work for the Lord and trust Him. The Lord often blesses these people with a bigger blessing. The Lord is no man’s debtor, and He will always repay.
Luke 24:1-26
This chapter opens on the first day of the week. That’s important, for the Jewish covenant had now passed and the New Covenant had come in. The Lord’s body was no longer in the grave! The Resurrection had taken place. We have an empty tomb and a risen Lord.
The women came to the tomb and found it already open. They also found—to their astonishment—that the Lord’s body wasn’t there. The high priests had put guards around the grave so that this wouldn’t happen, and when the guards told them their story, the high priests said, “Tell people that his disciples stole the body while you slept. We’ll make sure that you don’t get into trouble.” Being able to tell what happened while you were asleep is an interesting skill.
The angel revealed an empty tomb when he rolled that stone away. The Lord’s body was already gone, having no need of a door. His grave clothes were still there, though. Everything that had to do with death remained in that tomb, because our Lord was free from it all. If the disciples had stolen His body, they would have taken everything, and not removed the grave clothes.
The angels told the women, “This is the place for the dead. Christ is living!” Then they tried to jog their memories, “Don’t you remember that Jesus said He would rise?” V. 8.
The women told the disciples these things, but the disciples didn’t believe them. They were just sitting around wondering what to do next. Peter, however, jumped into action, ran to the tomb, and saw the grave clothes. The Lord hadn’t met with Him privately yet, but would later on. His emotions must have been very mixed because he loved the Lord, but had denied Him.
Only Luke gives us the story of the two on the road to Emmaus. The Lord left his other followers in Jerusalem and went to pursue these two that were leaving. They thought that Jesus was the One that would restore Israel; but the Lord calls them fools for not believing the prophets.
Some things the Lord can do with merely a word; like create the world. Other things He choses to do in person. Like a stranger pumping for information, Jesus asks these two what their problem was. Cleopas asked in return, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who doesn’t know?” The whole city was abuzz with what had happened! Jesus WAS a stranger, but He couldn’t have known more about it.
Hymn 186 – One day when Heaven was filled with His praises
Prayer