Crucify Him!



But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.” (Luke 23:2-25)

In Luke 23:2–25, the accusation of Jesus is the topic of discussion—with the chief priests, religious leaders, and “council” being the loudest accusers. This Scripture tells us that the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him; they were fierce, and they became desperate. Across translations, we read the crowd being described as urgent, insisting, and desperate to get their point across that Jesus had basically been wrecking their world.

Jesus had travelled all over Judea forgiving sins, healing the sick, driving out demons, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God and repentance, challenging the religious law of the land, dining with sinners, and sending His disciples to preach the Gospel and heal everywhere.

The issue at hand for the religious leaders and Pharisees was that what He preached went against their normalcy, against their dishonest way of “earning” a living. Jesus confronted wrongs regardless of the consequences, and he called hypocrites—irrespective of their “social standing.” According to Luke 11:45, the message Jesus taught was “insulting” to some.

The real issue at hand was Jesus always spoke the truth, be it politically correct or not. As a result, the revolt had culminated to where we find ourselves in Luke 23. The religious leaders had absolutely stirred up the people to be against Jesus— regardless of what evidence there was of Jesus working for the good of their people and their land. It seems to be the reason for the revolt against Jesus was all about self-indulgence, where folks stood to lose temporarily and had no thought of the eternal. After the many miracles Jesus had completed throughout Judea, the crowd’s response was, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

These are our three questions: Are we listening to Jesus and fellowshipping with Him, or are we telling Him what we want and what He needs to do for us? Are we crucifying Him and His message of salvation with our attitudes of political correctness and personal gain? Should we be surprised if we are ridiculed for taking a stand for Christ?

LET US PRAY - Lord Jesus, please forgive us because we are sinners. We desperately need You in our lives. Please, Lord, abide in our hearts and allow us to fellowship with You each moment of every day. Thank You, Lord, for not turning Your back on us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Danger

Image
If you’re reading this right now then be warned. This devotional to spiritual warfare is a bit dangerous, not to you, but to your way of life. If ignorance is bliss, it aims to destroy that bliss forever. Imagine living in a house infested with termites. For years you never noticed them. Just beyond reach, just out of sight, they lived, they ate, they spawned, they festered. For all those years you blindly ate, played, and slept, unaware of the lurking presence right beneath your head at night. If you live in a house full of termites is it better to know or is it simpler to live in ignorance? If you prefer ignorance, then stop reading right now. If you don’t want to know about the spiritual forces that have been eating away at the foundation of your life and family like termites, then there’s no need to go any farther. Ignorance is in fact bliss, at least for the short term. This book’s aim is nothing short of ripping up the base boards, pulling out the sheetrock and exposing the d...
Read more

Worship

Image
Text: Psalm 104.24-35 Psalm 104 starts and ends with the words, “Praise the Lord, my soul”. The beginning and the end are a proclamation of praise to the Almighty God. In fact, the whole psalm is a review of the greatness of God in creation and, therefore, a meditation on God’s providence. To consider such things, helps us to draw closer to God and worship Him. If we are sincere with ourselves, our daily situations (children, work, news, stress, etc.) can take our attention away from God. It is not easy to just plug-in and worship the Lord. I find myself missing so much of God’s creation, because my mind wanders off to my daily concerns. My wife calls me to really see the beauty around us, otherwise I would miss it. How easy it is for us to be carried away and not once lift our eyes to the Lord, and worship Him that created the earth. Let us open our spiritual eyes, God has revealed through the authors of the Psalms that all of creation is called to worship. It is not just appreciation...
Read more

Fight Together

Image
Stand . . . Take . . . Pray. Ephesians 6:10, 14, 18 The final step in successful spiritual warfare is one that is as critical as the others but it is far too easily missed. The last step isn’t a specific verse or a piece of armor mentioned, but rather a verb tense. When most Americans read the armor of God passage in Ephesians 6, we read it through the lens of our individualistic, self-focused mindset. We worry about ourselves first and foremost. As harsh as it sounds, everyone else can fend for themselves. But that’s not the intention at all behind Paul’s instructions on spiritual warfare. When Paul tells us to stand firm, to take the pieces of armor, to pray, the verb is not in the singular form, it’s in the plural. To use Southern language, it’s as if he’s saying, “Y’all stand, y’all take, y’all pray.” Why is this important? Because too often our defeat in spiritual warfare comes from the fact that we try and engage in it on our own. And please understand this: if the enemy ha...
Read more