Luke 4: 28All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. 30But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
What a model our Savior gives us here. Jesus has just finished explaining that a prophet is never accepted in his hometown, so seldom is there any signs or miracles preformed there.…..to say the least the folks did not like it. We read that they were furious, they drove Him out of town…..and they don’t mean they loaded Him up and took him to the outskirts of town. No, back in the day when you were drove out of town, it was all done on foot! Imagine that for a moment, a large group of people shouting, and for all intensive purposes herding Christ out of town. I am sure there was some pushing, and shoving involved, some choice words shouted, many accusation, all the way from the Synagogue to the edge of town, until they were at the edge of a cliff…and how does Jesus handle the situation? Well, he walks right through the crowd and went about His business. No anger, no condemnation, just a look around, then a I gotta go. Now I don’t know about you, but I have never been chased out of town by a mob, honestly I can’t remember having more then 2 or 3 people upset at me at any given time, but when I think of those time, and I think of the emotions that I felt. Very seldom do I recall felling calm, peaceful, or ready just to walk away. Oh no, I remember very clearly being ready to scrap. If I am to be honest, I would have to say even today I find myself if put in the right situation I still am ready to labor the point, ready to defend my ground….but all too often the truth is the truth, and if people don’t like it, or do not want to accept it, well, all of the arguing in the world will not change their mind. Christ knew that, and since we have a piece of Him living inside of us….well we know it too. Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins, but He also died so that He might give Himself to every person alive, and every person who will live. His death gives us a direct line to God, and a shelter of peace in our lives. This is what we need to draw from. Instead of giving in to the world, we would do well to surrender to the Lord. Learn to walk through the crowd, and go on your way. There is one relationship that counts, and that is your relationship with Christ. That is the one to fight for, that is the one to chase after, and that is the one that will deliver you. Christ’s focus was His task at hand, His relationship with His Father. By focusing on His Father, He allowed the unimportant to be just that. He did not beg, He did not plead, He did not debate. He spoke the truth, and then went on about the work of His Father. Might we all learn to do the same. The world might be driving you to the cliff, but don’t take the bait, walk through the crowd, and go on your way…..doing the work of your Heavenly Father.
God Bless,
Brian Thetford
The New
<))))><
No comments:
Post a Comment