PASSION WEEK: TUESDAY IN THE TEMPLE

“And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him.” Luke 19:47.

     Just 3 ½ years before, Jesus conquered both Satan and His own hunger in those lonely forty days in the wilderness. Jesus was then fortified to begin His public ministry and succeed in every endeavor to bless humanity with miraculous displays of the Father's love:

“And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way, And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.” Lu.4:13-31.

     Some profound lessons are drawn from this passage:

1. Jesus established His reputation as a great prophet having the power of GOD attending Him prior to His returning to His hometown of Nazareth who heard of His miraculous ability to heal the people of their infirmities.
2. Jesus always kept holy the seventh day in obedience to the Fourth Commandment, setting the example for His church to follow.
3. After reading the prophecy of Isaiah to the congregation, the Holy Spirit convicted all that the prophecy was now being fulfilled through the life of Jesus.
4. Satan was there to counter the conviction by tempting minds to reduce Christ to be merely “Joseph’s son.”
5. Knowing this, Jesus prophesied of His crucifixion when the priests would mock Him saying, “He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.” Matt.27:42.
6. The people thought of Him as little more than entertainment by saying, “whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.” It is the same evil spirit displayed by the Pharisees when they said, “Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign.” Matt.12:38,39. They had heard of the testimonies of all the miracles Jesus did to bless the people. And even if Jesus 'performed' for their amusement they still wouldn't believe on Him. It was just another expression of self-serving pride, as when Herod also demanded of Jesus “because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him.” Lu.23:8.
7. Because the people of Nazareth stood naked in their sins before the holiness and purity of Christ, and because He would not perform ‘His act’ but rather remonstrated their spirit, they tried to kill Him by throwing Him off a cliff headfirst. But He escaped from their hands “for his hour was not yet come.” Jn.8:20.

     As it was then, so it is today. In fact, it is this evil spirit of selfish pride fostering bitter rage against Heaven’s Love displayed in the life of Jesus Christ that brings Earth’s final battle: Armageddon.

     But all throughout history there have been those whose affections have been drawn to the Spirit of GOD’S love. And those who received the knowledge of the promise of “Messiah the Prince” had an exceptional experience of hopefulness, "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Rom.5:5). GOD'S life-giving power and character transformation on the hearts of men and women have led the angels to stand in awe of how GOD draws the hearts of men to His own. Even Satan himself wonders at this heavenly renewal of the heart from Satan’s domineering spirit to that of Christ’s meek Spirit. It is to him an incomprehensible mystery! Praise the LORD! Truly Christ came to deliver the devil's captives in myriad ways.

     The Bible teaches that GOD intervened when our Premier Parents, Adam and Eve abandoned GOD’S Spirit and adopted the devil’s as it is written, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15. This was the first miracle of GOD in His salvation for His children, and it did not violate His Ten Commandment Law. Nor did it impose over our wills the will of GOD. But instead, in layman’s terms, it "leveled the playing field" to give us a fighting chance to be restored to GOD’S intended destiny for His children, which is summed up in the words of Jesus: “that your joy might be full.” John 15:11.

     There is no finer joy to be experienced in a sinful world than this knowledge. And anything that impedes this experience, whether of a materialistic lifestyle, or an unhealthy diet, or pharmaceuticals, or illegal drugs, or liquor, all of these effectively cripples the peace, joy, discernment, and love that GOD desires to maintain in the hearts of His children. In falling prey to these stumbling blocks and a thousand others multitudes have “limited the Holy One of Israel” in His desire to bless with the salvation of His Son, Jesus Christ. Psalm 78:41.

     All throughout Christ’s short 3 ½ year ministry: “they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.” Jn.7:30.

     How different was the laying on of Christ’s blessing hands vs. the wicked hands of the religious leaders who tirelessly worked against virtue. With Jesus, the common man knew he was safe. All knew that Christ only lived to serve the welfare of others as it is written: “Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.” Luke 4:40.

     Numerous times the life of Jesus would have been cut short, going as far back as when He was a little child and the demoniac ‘Herod The Great’ slaughtered every child from age 2 and under. Miraculously the Father commanded the angels to watch over His Son. In this the angels took great delight to care for their Commander. This Jesus that the powers of hell sought to destroy was the One who stood equal with the Father in heaven, as Jesus said, “I and my Father are one.” Jn.10:30. Christ was “the Angel of the LORD” before He became “the Son of man.”

     Little understood is the LORD Jesus Christ’s benevolent humility in stepping down from His throne in heaven. This very GOD of Creation, “the Captain of the LORD’S host” where “angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word,” humbled Himself to become a man—forever. The Creator became the created. He can never return to Who and What He once was. His Incarnation is to remain a mystery to the saints forever. And the humiliation He endured in being treated as less than a man by those who were created to act as men this lowly suffering servant named Jesus Christ willingly laid down His life. He knew of the ambush that awaited Him, but He did not flee. And through His Divine purpose of taking man’s condemnation upon Himself He has provided the means to save the whole human race from the selfishness and death caused by sin; for only the Creator who became the Christ could conquer sin and death through His Holy, sinless life.

     GOD’S legal framework of how He successfully secured man’s transformation from a fate of extinction to one of everlasting life is the most precious study of human thought. Essentially, those who repent and forsake all known sin will be more blessed because of man’s fall into sin than had we never fallen. On this the LORD has promised: “The LORD thy GOD turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy GOD loved thee.” Deut.23:5.