July 23, 2017
Scripture:
Hymn 341 - Jesus bids us shine
Prayer
There are sad parts to the story that we’re going through. Last time we saw Judas betray Jesus with a kiss. He had made a deal with the priests, and they came and arrested Jesus with a small army. They were all Jewish, just as Jesus was.
The Jews lived in their own country, but they didn’t have their own king. They weren’t their own bosses. Ever since the Babylonians had captured them they had been under the rule of different kingdoms. When Jesus was born, they were under the rule of the Romans. The Jews wanted to put Jesus to death, but they weren’t allowed to; only the Romans could do that. Because of that, they needed to make him look officially guilty of something, so they took Jesus to court.
In the end, there were actually six court cases that Jesus went to. The first three were in front of the Jews, and the second three were in front of the Gentiles. The Jewish leaders tried to make it look like Jesus was worthy of death, so that they could get the Romans to kill Him. This did eventually happen, as we remembered this morning. Jesus died for us! However, Jesus went about doing good, and bestowing grace on people. He was perfect! It was hard to make Him look guilty of anything, but we’ll see how they tried to catch Him.
John 18:12-14. Jesus’ hands had blessed so many. They had unbound people from the power of sin and Satan; people like the demon-possessed man in the grave yard. This was the person they wanted to get rid of, so they bound His hands. He wasn’t like Samson, who broke his bonds. No, Jesus obeyed His Father; this was why He came to Earth! What this really does show is man’s sinful heart.
John 18:15-25. These men led Jesus away to the palace of the High Priest. You would think that good thing would happen there, not wrong things. However, the High Priest started trying to catch Jesus in His words. He asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine. Jesus replied, “I taught openly for three years, why didn’t you listen to me?”
The priests tried to make Jesus look guilty. They also slapped and mistreated Him. However, they were just priests, they didn’t have the power to convict Jesus, so they passed Him on to a court called the Sanhedrin. However, the law had a rule that you couldn’t convict anyone at night. So the Sanhedrin held a court case at night, and then an official one at dawn before taking Jesus to the Gentiles.
So Jesus was arrested by people far more guilty than Himself, and they tried to make Him look guilty!
2 Thessalonians 3:6-18
Some of the Thessalonians had been so impressed with the Lord’s coming that they had given up their jobs. Because of this they had actually become busybodies. Paul called this being disorderly. The command he gave in verse six was to encourage a brother to get right. The opposite of disorderly is orderly. Do we live an orderly life? It’s not only with honest labor and work, but also in our manner of life. Paul told them to follow him as he followed the Lord. Paul hadn’t given up work.
Paul could have made a case that they should have provided for him, but no; he wasn’t in the money making business. There are so called Christian ministries that make millions from people. How wrong they are. Paul didn’t want to be chargeable to any of them. He may have gone short some times because he didn’t want to set an example of something that wasn’t to the glory of God. We need to be careful of our example.
Paul probably knew what weariness was. There have been some who said that they were “weary in the labor, but not of the labor”. What is well doing? One might think it’s trying to help others, but it’s doing the right thing in your life in the day to day activities. Paul was encouraging them. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” It’s the only way to recharge so we don’t grow weary.
Verses fourteen and fifteen aren’t like what is in Corinthians. This is to help point a brother in the right direction. We’re supposed to admonish and encourage that brother.
We can ask the Lord of peace for peace.
Hymn 381 - I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold
Prayer