Some of us dread stepping onto the bathroom scales, for more often than not, they tell us the unwelcome truth of weight gain! There are some things we might be tempted to say, could never be weighed. One of them might be ‘grief’. However, we learn from the experience of the Old Testament man of God, Job, that in one sense grief can be weighed. He said, “Oh, that my grief were fully weighed, And my calamity laid with it on the scales!” We ask Job, “How heavy would it be?” and immediately the reply comes, “It would be heavier than the sand of the seas!” Wet sand is of course heavier than dry sand, and this be an indication of the awful ‘weight’ of sufferings that belonged to Job. The Christian too often suffers for his or her faith, but Paul calls these sufferings, ‘a momentary and LIGHT affliction’. This is because he compares them to the ‘eternal WEIGHT of glory’ that awaits.
‘an eternal weight of glory’ -
The Lord Jesus did many miracles, and invariably it brought a reaction: sometimes
negative and sometimes positive. Let’s consider four positive reactions. When He
encountered the blind beggar, Bartimaeus [Mark 10:46] He granted him sight and consequently
he FOLLOWED Jesus. While in ‘the house of Simon and Andrew’ [Mark 1:31], He was informed
that Peter’s mother-
‘Immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them’ -
‘And Herod sware unto her …’ -
Herod ‘had … bound [John Baptist] in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife; for he had married her. For John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful … to have your brother’s wife.” In spite of this, Herod had a deep respect for John. However, the daughter of Herodias, having danced for Herod, so pleased him, he issued her a ‘blank cheque’, saying, “Ask me whatever you want, and I will give [it] to you … up to half of my kingdom.” Prompted by her mother, the young girl asked for ‘the head of John the Baptist’. Herod was ‘exceeding sorry; YET FOR HIS OATH'S SAKE … he would not reject her.’ – We learn from this that the ‘swearing an oath’ in the culture of that day, was ABSOLUTELY binding! In Genesis 26:3 we read, ‘I [the LORD] will perform THE OATH WHICH I SWARE unto Abraham.’ The land sworn under oath to the Patriarch, was given as an everlasting possession!
What grace that He should allow Himself to be LED. Following His arrest in Gethsemane, Luke in his Gospel will emphasise the fact that Jesus was LED several times – 22:54 ‘Having arrested Him, they LED Him and brought Him into the high priest’s house.’ – v.66 ‘As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and LED Him into their council’ – 23:1 ‘Then the whole multitude of them arose and LED Him to Pilate.’ – v.26 ‘Now as they LED Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.’ – With each successive ‘LEADING’, He drew ever closer to the cross, that place which is called by Isaiah ‘the slaughter’ there to be our ‘Passover [Lamb] … sacrificed for us’ 1 Cor 5:7. The evil purposes of man, only accomplishing the determined plan of God!
‘He was led as a lamb to the slaughter’ -
As Paul brings the first chapter of his letter to the Thessalonians to a close, he
will take them to the PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE. In recalling his visit to Thessalonica,
he remembers that the Gospel went forth ‘not in word only, but also in power, and
in the Holy Ghost.’ There had been a great response. As to the PAST, such was the
power in the Gospel, the Thessalonians turned from their ‘lifeless’ idols to the
‘living God’. The PRESENT was marked by service and patience. They were now serving
God and preaching the same Gospel that had so mightily transformed their own lives.
They were also living in the attitude of FUTURE expectation -
‘How ye turned to God from idols’ -
The blindman had been blind from birth. No doubt his only means of income would be begging. It is highly likely that he lived with his parents and as he left home that morning, being led to his begging spot, he would have little idea that when he returned home, he’d be able to see. One would have thought that everyone would have been delighted for the blindman. But no! The Pharisees, in their blindness, were annoyed, because, ‘it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened the blindman’s eyes.’ These religious zealots, not able to see beyond a violated Sabbath, quizzed the healed man and then called upon his parents. They were aware they needed caution in answering the Pharisees questions. A wrong answer would see them turfed out of the synagogue! This is what eventually happened to the healed man! ‘And they cast him out’ (v.34). Out of the synagogue but into Christ!
‘And they cast him out’ -