John 4: 27-36 The Harvest is Plenty

At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?”  So the woman left her water pot, and went into the city and said to the men,  “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?”  They went out of the city, and were coming to Him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”  But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”  So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?”  Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.  Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.  For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”

This is the second part to what we started yesterday.  Jesus had intentionally sent His disciples into town for food, knowing the discrimination to the Samaritans’ with whom He was going to see.  He had a meaningful conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well and she receives him as the Promised One.  Now the disciples return saying “Master come and eat.”  And He replies His food is doing the will and the work of the Father.  He pronounces to them that the number needing salvation is many.  He refers to them as the harvest and declares that the harvest is many but the workers are few.

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, let it be my focus to proclaim the gospel.  Let all people hear about Your saving grace so that the do not perish in their sins.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.

John 4:15-26 Jesus Dwells With Us. Do We Recognize Him?

 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.”  He said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’;  for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.”  The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”  Jesus  to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.  But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.  God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”  The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.”  Jesus *said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

These passages illustrate many things.  Jesus deliberately went to Samaria to engage them there.  He intentionally asked a Samaritan woman for a drink from her well just to receive reproof that why would a Jew drink from a Samaritan well?  This is a life lesson that Jesus came to save the Jews, but the gentiles as well.  She speaks to Him of differences in worship style between them and the Jews.  Jesus explains to her that the reasons are different that what she thinks.   Just as God Himself is spirit, worship must be in spirit and in truth.  The differences that she knows of are not from God but from man.  It comes to  her mind that their Savior will come.  He declares to her that the Savior is here speaking to her!

Daily Prayer:  Lord, You are so often with us and we do not recognize you.  We become so involved in the world that we miss the Kingdom of God!  Let us settle down and listen to you so that Your words may go from our minds to our hearts and then to our feet so that we may come to You.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.

John 4:5-14 He Will Give You Living Water

So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph;  and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”  For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.  Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)  Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”  She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?  You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?”  Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again;  but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

“If you knew the gift of God who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would give you living water.”  Is this any different today.  If only we understand who Jesus is, that is, the Son of God, will we put him second in our lives?  What we have is an intellectual knowledge of God and Christ, but not a living knowledge of Him.  We continually underestimate his ability and willingness to bless us and to lift us up.  Instead, we say things like “I am determined to work hard for my reward.”  But the reward has already  been earned by Christ.  So let go and let God who is willing and able to do all that you can imagine.  In Jesus name I pray Amen.

John 3:13-21 Jesus Did Not Come To Condemn, But To Save

No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.  As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;  so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Jesus says, that He did not come into the world to condemn it, but instead to save it.  But many people do not come to Jesus, but instead they draw back.  Why?  Because they love the dark life they live and are not sorry for it.  It’s not that they do not know right from wrong, but they refuse to repent.  That’s the bottom line is that the reject Jesus and the righteousness be brings.  Their thinking is my way or no way.  But they fail to see themselves as prisoners to their flesh and will eventually pay the prisoner’s price.  So lets try again to encourage them to leave their baggage behind and try a new way that leads to life.  In Jesus name I pray Amen.

John 3:9-12 The Secrets of Heaven

Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?  Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony.  If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?"
Nicodemus was a member of the political elite Pharisees.  Most Pharisees did not follow Jesus because they did not have sufficient faith.  This is why Jesus said to him how can I share the secret of heaven when you find the facts of earth to be a stumbling block?  Nicodemus will in time come around because he sought Jesus and determined that God must be in Him for Him to do as He does.  Our journey even today is not to testify about what we can see, but to have faith in that which we cannot see.
Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, circumcise my heart and fill it with child like faith.  Let me not be the captain of my own ship, but a laborer in Your's.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.   

John 3:1-6 The Need to be Born Again

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;  this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”  Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”  Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Nicodemus was one of the few Pharisees that Jesus did not condemn.  He had insight beyond the others because he recognized that God was within Him.  Jesus reveals the key to the Kingdom of God which is the necessity of being born again, this time birth by the Spirit and not of the flesh, to inherit God’s Kingdom.  This is because the Spirit and the flesh war against one another for the possession of our soul.

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, You have given me the gift of eternal life because you have given me the ability to believe.  Let all who are under the sound of my voice today, receive faith enough to believe so that they will never perish, but have eternal life.  In Jesus  name I pray Amen.

John 2:13-25 "My House Shall Be a House of Prayer"

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;  and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.”  His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house will consume me.”  The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”  The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.  But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

When I first heard that Jesus had driven out the traders in the Temple, I was of the impression that they were bargaining for a profit in the House of God. But the scene is the Passover, and it seems they were selling animals to common folk for the purposes of sacrifice.  The conclusion of this matter is that God and His house are holy, more holy than what man can understand.  When Jesus said “The house shall be a house of prayer” , He was quoting the Old Testament prophet Isaiah.  The fact that He drove them out was a sign that the Temple leadership is changing.  It is changing from the self-righteous Pharisees’ to a new order selected by God.

Daily Prayer:  Most merciful Jesus, forgive Your people our sins, because we know not what we do.  Instead, lift us up and lead us so that we may prosper by Your Godly guidance.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.

John 2:1-12 Miracle at Cana

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;  and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”  And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.”  His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”  Now there were six stone water pots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each.  Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him.  When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom,  and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”  This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.  After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.

Jesus’ first miracle was more a matter of parental obedience than work for the Kingdom of God.  Jesus said that His time had not yet come, but His mother Mary kept pleading with Him.  In an act of obedience, He converts common water into extraordinary wine.

The text says that His disciples believed in Him, but more strenuous days lay ahead.

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, You are the God of the universe and yet I need you to lead my simple life.  Thank you for availing Yourself to me for my simple problems instead of raising Yourself up to the heavens where I cannot reach.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.

John 1:36-51 Jesus Calls His Disciples

“Behold, the Lamb of God!”  The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.  And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?”  He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.  One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).  He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).  The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.”  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”  Nathaniel said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”  Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”  Nathaniel said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”  Nathaniel answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”  Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”  And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

It can be said that belief in Jesus is a matter of faith.  Jesus did not overwhelm His first converts, but instead provided them a simple invitation to follow Me.  Jesus keenly identifies particular traits with these men and is what is common in Bible text, He renames Simon into Cephas or Peter.  Remember, Abraham was changed from Abram into Abraham, Jacob into Israel, and Saul into Paul.  Now Peter takes on his new God given name.  These men will be asked to leave all they have for the sake of Jesus and to become His disciples as He begins His ministry.

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, I realize Your invitation to me is the same as it was to these men, to leave what I have to follow You.  Everything about this is a transformation because we are leaving the physical world in which we live to learn how to take our first steps of living in the Kingdom of God which has come with Your coming.  Help us as we take our daily steps with You.  Amen.

Luke 24:44-53 The Holy Spirit Promised

Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”  Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,  and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,  and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.  And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”  And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.  While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.  And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy,  and were continually in the temple praising God.

The Gospel of Luke concludes with Jesus equipping his disciples from on high, which is the sending of the Holy Spirit to indwell them.  But not them alone but to all who place their trust in Christ.  The second of Luke’s books, The Book of Acts, tells the story of the apostles taking the gospel of Jesus Christ from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.  This is called the Great Commission and we are still fulfilling it today.

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, I carry Your gospel into the world in my lifetime where I live.  All who call themselves Your disciples join in this mission.  It is a mission that cannot fail, because it bears the stamp of God’s approval in fulfilling it.  When You return again, let me be found doing Your will and Your labor.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.

Luke 24:33-43 The Uncommon Savior Jesus Christ

And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.” They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread. While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be to you.” But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?  See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.  While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”  They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish;  and He took it and ate it before them.

This reminds us if the saying, “This is too good to be true.”  While they longed for their Savior, they also witnessed Him crucified.  Jesus had forewarned them of His resurrection, but because they had never witnessed it, it went in one ear and out the other. The future holds other startling events for the eleven.  In the days to come, they will watch Him ascend into heaven with promises of a Second Coming.

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, we need for You to build faith in our very souls.  In Your flesh, You appear as a common man, but being sent from God, everything else about You is not common.  We can no longer rely on our senses.  But by faith, we can walk a straight path and not be afraid.  This I ask in Your holy name Amen.

Luke 24:13-32 The Risen Christ Appears

Behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem.  And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them.  But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.  And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people,  and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning,  and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive.  Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.”  And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.  And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther.  But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them.  When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.  They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?”
Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, while it is true we await Your coming, when You do come, we don't recognize You.  Let us draw near to You as You draw near to us.  Set aside our transgressions and remember them no more.  Come in Lord, so we can fellowship together.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.

Luke 23:44-49 “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.” And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts. And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.

Can you imagine crucifying the Son of God?  As Jesus ended his life, even the Romans and the gentiles could see the injustice.  The text says that the sun quit giving its light and darkness prevailed.  The veil of the holy of holies was rent, as a symbol that followers of Jesus now have access to God.  There was no joy in His passing, only a feeling of emptiness and solitude.  Nobody was declaring victory as men and women were left alone with no spirit remaining. The Son of God was for a short while, removed from His creation, but does anyone remember or believe His promises?

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, the time of Your death was a short-while in history, but a long while who were awaiting your promises of resurrection.  We say we have faith, but our eyes deceive us.  You will indeed walk with us again, but will we recognize You?

Luke 23:39-43 Today You Will Be With Me In Paradise

One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”  But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”  And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”  And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Today’s message is one of the most profound lessons found in the Holy Scriptures.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ hinges on this, All who are saved, are saved on the grace of Christ alone without any good work from man.  Jesus Christ died on the Cross and was raised from the dead so that all that come to Him in faith alone will be saved.  The instance of this man, dying on the cross for his sins and repents and asks Jesus to save him, Jesus freely saves those who depend on Him alone and this instance was recorded for all of history to demonstrate this man, who hung on the cross, could not have done anything worthy for Jesus, but because he believed in Jesus, he was taken today into paradise.

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, why do we keep trying to please you in our flesh when our flesh will die, but our soul need Your saving grace.  Today, let me surrender to you, not on anything that I have done, but based on what You alone have done.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.

Luke 23:33-38 The Crucifixion

When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.  But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.  And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.”  The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine,  and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!”  Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

In this world, we have our hands full with trouble.  In the midst of our trouble, the people of This Day set aside their hunger, strife, domination by Rome, all for the purposes of setting to death the One who came to bring them everlasting life.  Jesus was correct in His saying, “Father forgive them, for they no not what they are doing.”  Our vision is limited by the amount of light which shines in our heart.  

Daily Prayer:   Most of the time, man’s heart is darkened by their own sin and they cannot save themselves.  Even now, it is time to recognize the Savior of man so that we are spared judgment for our crimes.  In Jesus name I pray Amen.

Luke 23:26-32 The Prince of Peace is Removed

When they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus. And following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him.  But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.  For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’  Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’  For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.

Jesus is on the way to the cross to be killed for the transgressions of man. In the Old Covenant, there was no forgiveness with the shedding of  blood, the innocent for the guilty.  And Jesus warns the weeping women of the days to come when the Prince of Peace is removed from this land.  He says there will be times of great distress and the world will seek to overcome the living.

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, protect us in the times to come.  Raise up the Spirit that dwells in us because greater is He who is in me, than He who is in the world.  Amen.

Luke 23: 1-5 Jesus before Pilate

Then the whole body of them got up and brought Him before Pilate.  And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.” So Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “It is as you say.” Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.”  But they kept on insisting, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee even as far as this place.”

While the Jews had the right to hold trials against their own, they had no law to put a man to death.  For this reason, the sought Roman officials to try Jesus seeking a conviction of blasphemy.  Repeatedly Jesus did not make bold claims that I am the King, but instead left it to others to say.   When the scriptures were fulfilled by their turning on Him and crucifying Him He said “Father forgive them, they no not what they are doing.”

Luke 22:66-71 Jesus before the Sanhedrin

When it was day, the Council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led Him away to their council chamber, saying, ^“If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I ask a question, you will not answer.  But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” And they all said, “Are You the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “Yes, I am.” Then they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.”

Up until this time, Jesus was betrayed by Judas, He was arrested without cause, He was beaten, and now stands trial before the Temple leadership.  They want Him to be arrested for blasphemy and now seek His confession.  During the trials, Jesus was mostly silent, but on this occasion, when they framed Him as the Son of God, His reply is that’s who you say I am.  They took that as a confession, and because their hearts are hard, they do not believe who He came into the world as. They will be the ones in the days to come who cry out crucify him!

Lord Jesus, even though the people turned on You and cried out “crucify him,” You did not fight back, but instead said, “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.”  Your love is great and unconditional.  I know that God is love, but let me imitate You who is the author and perfector of faith.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.

Jesus said, "The power of darkness are yours."

While He was still speaking, behold, a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was preceding them; and he approached Jesus to kiss Him.  But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”  When those who were around Him saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”  And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear.  But Jesus answered and said, “Stop! No more of this.” And He touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come against Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against a robber? While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours.”

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul taught us that our struggle in not against flesh and blood.  But instead against power, principalities, and dark forces of this age.  And this is what Jesus is declaring here.  In the midst of His betrayal by Judas, the one they call Iscariot, Jesus declares that while he was teaching in the open, even in the Temple of God, he was not interrupted.  Now, while he prays in the garden, gangs come against Him as with a robber or a criminal.   This instigation is the work of Satan, the Man of Perdition, and Jesus declares rightly that the power of darkness is yours.

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, the forces of evil are constant in this world.  It is possible to live apart from them by taking refuge in You.  If the world went against you and stuck you, they will surely do so to Your followers.  For this reason, I don’t ask that You build me up as though I can war against the Evil One along, but instead I ask for Your protection so that when forces of darkness oppress me, You will deliver  me.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.