Dept. of Education is just a corrupt slush fund for teacher’s unions, educational elites, and social experimentation on our children.
What Happens When Christ Returns?
Last time, we left off with Jesus dressing down the Pharisees and their cohorts for their distorted, self-serving religion. (See Pulling the Teeth Out of False Religion and Selfishness.)
Next, we find Christ addressing another large crowd about the nature of His return to Earth (second coming / second advent). He begins His illustration with a parable that prepares them:
“Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.
“Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.” Lk. 12:35 – 40. NLT
So, it is vital that we get our spiritual house in order and keep it that way to the best of our ability, (i.e., living in alignment with God) before Christ returns, or before our body wears out, whichever comes first). Or it will be too late; and salvation will no longer be offered.
Both of Jesus’ examples calls for a constant readiness – staying prepared for His return. He’s trying to get this stubborn crowd to see that the Messiah is standing before them! He belts them with a metaphor:
“When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain,’ and that is how it turns out. And when [you see that] a south wind is blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it happens. You hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders)! You know how to analyze and intelligently interpret the appearance of the earth and sky [to forecast the weather], but why do you not intelligently interpret this present time?” Lk. 12:54 AMP
He sums it all up to the crowd with a call to action:
“…unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish.” Lk. 13:5 AMP
It is now the winter of 29 A.D. Jesus enters the Temple to teach during the Feast of Dedication (an early version of Hanukkah, which celebrates the 165 B.C. liberation of this same Temple from the tyrannical occupation of the Syrian king, Antiochus IV.)
Jesus upbraids His Jewish audience for not believing He was the Son of God:
“I have told you so, yet you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name testify concerning Me [they are My credentials and the evidence declaring who I am]. But you do not believe Me [so you do not trust and follow Me] because you are not My sheep. The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they will never, ever [by any means] perish; and no one will ever snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater and mightier than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are One [in essence and nature].” Jn. 10:25 – 30. AMP
Christ then travels to the region of Perea (east of the Jordan River), and preaches to another crowd about the final disposition of the unbelievers who will be left behind:
“Strive to enter through the narrow door [force aside unbelief and the attractions of sin]; for many, I tell you, will try to enter [by their own works] and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and closes the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door [again and again], saying, ‘Lord, open to us!’ then He will answer you, ‘I do not know where you are from [for you are not of My household].’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; but He will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers!’ In that place there will be weeping [in sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [in distress and anger] when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out and driven away.” Lk. 13:24 – 28. AMP
You can call yourself a follower of Christ, but you must do the following. Then, you will be invited to eternal life:
(“Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.” Is. 55:3. NLT)
At this point in time, I believe that Jesus knows the culmination of His earthly ministry is coming to an end. He knows that a lot of Jews (personified by Jesus as ‘Jerusalem’) will waste their opportunity for salvation. You can feel His heartbreak as He laments:
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones [to death] those [messengers] who are sent to her [by God]! How often I have wanted to gather your children together [around Me], just as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you were not willing! Listen carefully: your house is left to you desolate [abandoned by God and destitute of His protection]; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed [to be celebrated with praise] is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” Lk. 13:34, 35. AMP
With or without you, all of God’s words come to fruition. Will you be ready on that day of deliverance? It’s up to you…
(“Remember [carefully] the former things [which I did] from ages past;
for I am God, and there is no one else; I am God, and there is no one like Me,
declaring the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient times the things which have not [yet] been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will do all that pleases Me and fulfills My purpose,’ Is. 46:9 – 10. AMP)
And what is that purpose?
(This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 1 Tm. 2:3, 4. NLT)
Goodnight and God bless.
Building Better Americans 189
History has to be kept. ‘Who controls the past controls the future.’ George Orwell
Pulling the Teeth Out of False Religion and Selfishness
We left off with Jesus celebrating the successful evangelical tour that He commissioned with 72 disciples. He had chosen them to preach the Gospel and empowered them to heal the sick. (See Messengers on the Golden Path).
Immediately afterwards, a Jewish lawyer approaches Him and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life.
Jesus perceives that the lawyer wants to test Him regarding His grasp of the Mosaic Law. He threw it right back into the lawyer’s lap by asking him what the Law requires. (Jesus is looking for the lawyer’scommand of God’s laws. Christ always aligns with His Father’s authority, because He is Jehovah’s living word.)
The lawyer answers by quoting the two ‘Great Commandments’ – to love God and to love your neighbor. Jesus says that he is correct. However, the lawyer is only trying to justify his own beliefs and to put his self-righteousness on display. Out of that, he has the temerity to goad Jesus by asking:
“And who is my neighbor?” Lk. 10:29 CSB
(‘Clear knowledge in the head, when accompanied by determined impenitence of the heart, is a most dangerous state of soul.’ J.C. Ryle)
The lawyer had his own interpretation and wanted Jesus to whittle it down to do the least amount of work required for him to satisfy his obligation. Instead, Jesus launches into the Parable of the Good Samaritan:
Christ describes a Jewish man, who while traveling along a road, is beset by thieves who rob and beat him, leaving him to die. A Temple priest comes upon the beaten man lying in the road, and crosses to the other side to avoid him. A Levite (one who works for the priests), did the same.
Finally, a Samaritan, (whom Jews held in derision over their mixed ancestry), took it upon himself to practice love and mercy without prejudice, tending to the needs of the man on the street.
Jesus told the lawyer to go and do likewise. He pulls no punches, nor does He credit him for his supposed piety…
The apostle James clearly elucidates the related behavior and attitude that we must practice with one another:
What is the benefit, my fellow believers, if someone claims to have faith but has no [good] works [as evidence]? Can that [kind of] faith save him? [No, a mere claim of faith is not sufficient—genuine faith produces good works.] If a brother or sister is without [adequate] clothing and lacks [enough] food for each day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace [with my blessing], [keep] warm and feed yourselves,” but he does not give them the necessities for the body, what good does that do? So too, faith, if it does not have works [to back it up], is by itself dead [inoperative and ineffective]. Jas. 2:14 – 17. AMP
Christ then went off to pray by Himself, but He was interrupted by an apostle, who asked Him to teach the apostles how to pray.
(Apparently, they didn’t listen very well when He taught them this very thing at the Sermon on the Mount.)[1]
He repeats the lesson and augments it with a parable. It tells of a man that receives an unexpected visit from a friend, but finds he has no food to offer him. He hurries to another friend’s house looking to get some food, but his ‘friend’ won’t answer the door. He persists in knocking on his friend’s door until the friend finally opens the door and gives him what he needed.
The meaning illustrated in the parable for the apostles, was when you pray, you must do so persistently. Jesus offers the ‘why’:
“For everyone who keeps on asking [persistently], receives; and he who keeps on seeking [persistently], finds; and to him who keeps on knocking [persistently], the door will be opened.
What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you, then, being evil [that is, sinful by nature], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!” Lk. 11:10 – 13. AMP
During His continued journey towards Jerusalem, Jesus was surrounded by a crowd watching Him successfully exorcise a demon from a man. The crown is amazed but some accuse Him of marshalling the power of Satan to do it. Furthermore, they demand that He perform a miracle to demonstrate His authority.[2]
Jesus responds:
He knew their thoughts, so he said, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart. You say I am empowered by Satan. But if Satan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive? And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said.
“But if I am casting out demons by the power of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. For when a strong man is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe— until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings.
“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.” Lk. 11:17 – 23. NLT
Christ is putting their logic to shame. He is the ‘strongman’ that has defeated the devil. Finally, He draws a line against His detractors.
Still, Jesus’ primary outcome is for one where He can bring salvation to as many as He can. So, He elaborates a little more:
“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.” Lk. 11:24 – 36. NLT
Jesus is saying that when one gets in ‘right standing’ with God, they must follow with a rigorous practice of living in a godly manner. Otherwise, the demonic spirits return with reinforcements to imprison the host with even greater strength.
While Jesus was speaking, a woman cried out to Him, asking a blessing of God over His mother for having birthed and nursed Him. He answers:
“But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” Lk. 11:28 NLT
At that point, the crowd pesters Him again for a ‘miraculous sign’ of His messiahship. He retorts:
“This [present] generation is a wicked generation; it seeks a sign (attesting miracle), but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah [the prophet]. For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man also be [a sign] to this generation.” Lk. 11:29, 30. AMP
The Queen of the South (the kingdom of Sheba) will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and look, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up [as witnesses] at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and look, something greater than Jonah is here. Lk. 11:31, 32. AMP
The Jews revered the prophet Jonah and his evangelism to the Ninevites which prompted their repentance from paganism, as well as King Solomon for his wisdom. Jesus is telling them that the very Son of Man is standing right in front of them – far exceeding the importance of the two stalwarts of the Old Testament.
Finally, Christ implores them to see the Light of God that is standing before them, to make sure they are properly prepared:
“No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.
“Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is unhealthy, your body is filled with darkness. Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.” Lk. 11:33 – 36. NLT
During Jesus’ discourse, a Pharisee asks Him to dine with him. However, he becomes irate because He won’t submit to their ritualistic hand washing as a public show of their piety. Christ clarifies the Pharisees’ hypocrisy and other evil ways:
“Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and plate [as required by tradition]; but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish ones [acting without reflection or intelligence]! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But give that which is within as charity [that is, acts of mercy and compassion, not as a public display, but as an expression of your faithfulness to God], and then indeed all things are clean for you.” Lk. 11:39 – 41. AMP
“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces. Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.” Lk. 11:42 – 44. NLT
A scribe (lawyer) was also present at this meal. He had the temerity to tell Christ that he felt insulted. Bad move. Jesus counters:
“Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. What sorrow awaits you! For you build monuments for the prophets your own ancestors killed long ago. But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you join in their crime by building the monuments! This is what God in his wisdom said about you: ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others.’
“As a result, this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world— from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will certainly be charged against this generation.
“What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.” Lk. 11:46 – 52. NLT
Jesus was exposing religiosity at its worst; and He certainly did not create a fan club with the adherents. He is our pugilist for God. And we should take up a like mantle as well.
Goodnight and God bless.
[1] Mt. 6:5 – 13.
[2] Mt. 12:22-37; Lk. 11:14-16.