I Will Strike The Shepherd

Mark 14: 27 "You will all fall away," Jesus told them, "for it is written:" 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'

         The quote in Matthew 14:27 comes from Zechariah 13:7. And to understand the context read through verse 9 of Zechariah 13. The words of prophecy is fulfilled for all the world to see in Jesus Christ. The impact of the death of Jesus is also prophesied.  Those who did not listen closely to what the "Teacher" was teaching, missed the part about His returning in three days.  Sadly many failed to get the message and ran away in despair. 

         The same condition holds true for many weak-in-faith believers today.  All too often adversity sets in, a personal tragedy takes place and the weak fall away.  They scatter like sheep without a shepherd. The tragedy is two fold in nature. The words of Zechariah 13:7-9 make it clear we will have events in our lives that area used to refined us and there is a purpose to the refining process. "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!" Declares The Lord Almighty. "Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones. In the whole land," declares The Lord, "two-thirds will be struck down and perish.; yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is our God.'

         In the midst of trial and tragedy we call out to The Lord comforted by the sure and certain knowledge that He hears our cries. May the peace of God that surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Prayer: Father, Abba, in times of trial and testing we are tempted to fall away. We may feel anger in our situation and our lack of control of that situation. Help us to have the faith to persevere and to stand firm in our faith. Let Your love surround us and keep us safe. We ask this in the name of our shepherd, Jesus Christ, Amen.

He is Worthy of Death

Matthew 26:65-68 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" "He is worthy of death," they answered.  Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, "Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?"

         They seem to be some of the cruelest words I have ever found in the bible.  “He is worthy of death. “ Just how mean spirited can some one be to say that of another human being?  The sinister nature of the high priest is laid bare.  His desire to see his own prophesy fulfilled is exposed in five words.  We learned of the true desire of the high priest in John 11: 49-53 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all!  You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."  He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.   So from that day on they plotted to take his life.  The true intent of the whole arrest Jesus thing is exposed for all to see.  And you know what is disturbing, in spite of knowing the truth, they chose to act to protect the own interests.  The death of one man to protect their interests was almost as trivial as the death of a fly.

How incredibly ironic it is to see the words of the chief priest used as the basis for how the death and resurrection of Jesus was for not just the salvation of the Jewish nation, but for the salvation of all mankind.  The Apostle Paul hits it out of the park (so to speak) as he explains this so wonderfully in Romans 5.  In verse 12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.  And in verse 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.   And Romans 6:4-10 wraps up the explanation so very well.  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.  For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.  The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 

Jesus was truly worthy of death.  He died a death neither you not I would want to die.  He could have called out to His Father in Heaven and 12 Legions of Angels would have been sent to His aid.  But that would not accomplish the will of His Father.  The sacrifice of a perfect sinless one had to be if all mankind was to be made righteous.  Jesus took the cross, when you and I could not.  He was worthy of that death.  For that we should be grateful beyond words.

Prayer: My Lord we have been made righteous by the sacrifice of Your precious Son. For His death on the cross closed the books on sin in our lives. The prisoner was set free. For that sacrifice and freedom we give thanks in the name of Jesus, Amen

It Is As You Say

Matthew 26:63-64 But Jesus remained silent.  The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God."  "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."

“You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!”  That is a famous and often repeated line from the movie “A Few Good Men.”  The character, Colonel Nathan R. Jessep delivers that line in a heated exchange with the character Lieutenant Junior Grade Daniel Kaffee.  Kaffee is trying to elicit testimony from Jessep that Jessep issued an illegal order which led to the death of a Marine.  When I look at the exchange between Jesus and the high priest, the ‘You want the truth…” fits very well into that situation.   The ruling Jewish authorities really did not want to hear the truth.  You see the truth, the whole unvarnished truth, was a major problem for them.  How inconvenient for them it would be to have “The Christ” show up in their lifetime.  The Chosen One of God would really upset their wonderful situation.  To say they had mismanaged the faithful is charitable.

In our world today, we hear stories of someone leaving a particular faith, or congregation because they are disillusioned.  The “truth” as they taught was not really the truth.  Sadly many who are in that predicament simply fall away from any belief system.   Rejecting God comes so easy given their feeling of betrayal.  And that is how Satan captures another soul.  This is truly a tragic situation that begs not only for our prayer, but our involvement to correct.

          We all know that scripture is “God breathed.”  The scriptures in the bible we hold dear have been lovingly passed down through time to be cherished and studied by each and everyone on this earth.  The truth of the Gospel, like the Christ showing up in front of the high priest, can be inconvenient and upsetting for some.  The truth in the scriptures has a way of pushing people out of their comfort zone.  The truth in the scriptures shines a very bright light into the darkest, deepest recesses of some lives.  And hiding in those recesses are aspects of lives that people want hidden.  They want to deny that the sin in their lives.  And that is how Satan continues to win souls.

The lies of false teaching are also exposed by the truth of the Gospel. But some people want to stay on the their current path because they are afraid of what change can bring.  They do not think they can handle the truth, so they hide from the truth. And again, Satan wins another soul.  Change is needed, of that there is no doubt.  Prayer for that change is needed.

Let us close with the prayer Paul offers in Philippians 1.  For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.  And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.  Amen.