My Inscription...

Luke 20: 19 - 26

So, the scenario is this - here is Jesus who has been teaching and preaching and talking to the people, and the Pharisees and Scribes, the 'big dogs' of the day, were so angry and hated Him so much, they were literally spying on Him!

They were so very desperate to catch him, snag him in doing something - anything that was against the law of Moses that they held so dear.

The text says that they wanted to lay hands on Him 'that very hour' - They were intent on catching Him in a wrongdoing. And fast. That way, they could get rid of Him. He would no longer be a threat to them and their religious system, and they could go on living their unconvicted, self-righteous lives.
They were afraid of Jesus.
They were afraid of the people.
They knew that they really could not stand against what Jesus said and taught, so their way of dealing with it was to do away with Him... if they could only catch Him in something...and they really believed they could.

The plot was so crafty, so shrewd - send in some of their own people to 'pretend to be righteous' (v 20) catch Him in a statement and 'deliver Him to the rule and authority of the governor.'

So, in they go - acting as if they wanted to be there, as if they really were interested in hearing the things Jesus had to say - but theirs hearts were filled with evil intent and greed... they began firing questions at Jesus...
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I hate to say it, but this sounds terribly familiar in some ways - the church today has its fair share of people that represent this type of person - the greedy, contentious, self righteous one that will argue and fight and insist they are right and righteous, and will attack the bearers of truth at any cost... "There is nothing new under the sun"

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"Teacher, we know that you teach and speak correctly, and You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth..."

Can we just stop for a moment?
This sounds like they are really trying to butter Him up - and here comes the big one - they thought they had this all figured out, and that they could use flattery and manipulation to catch Jesus - flattery to win Him over, to get him to 'let his guard down'. Lies to accomplish their mission... did they really believe that Jesus wouldn't catch onto this? That He would cave to flattery or deception? That He would really think they were sincere? THEY TRIED TO USE PARTIAL TRUTH to MANIPULATE. Geesh... glad we never do that.

"Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar?"

There it is. The clincher. The zinger.
HA! Surely this one will get him - Lets see what he has to say about THIS!

You can almost picture them sitting back, smugly waiting for his answer, smirking with delight, gloating over how very clever they are, drooling at the thought of how wonderful their scheme is, how great their reward will be when they finally get rid of this rebel...

But Jesus, detecting their trickery, said to them, "Show me a denarius."

I can see their jaws dropping a tad, maybe sitting forward, indignant, their smug attitudes crumbling maybe just a bit.... "What? A denarius? What is he talking about - what does that have to do with....?"

"Whose likeness and inscription does it have?"

"Ceaser's."

"Then render to Ceaser the things that are Ceaser's, and the things that are God's to God."

v 26 - "and they were UNABLE to catch Him in a saying in the presence of the people,
and being AMAZED at His answer, they became silent."

Oh Lord God, may I always remember that you are not a God to be manipulated, I cannot persuade you to my view with my version of the truth, and I can never twist what you say... Please let me bear YOUR likeness and inscription and know that I must simply trust you - I am unable to catch you in any fault, because you are faultless... I am unable to achieve my own righteousness because I have not one shred of it outside of what I have in you... I fall silent as the Pharisees when confronted with my own ways and means and my own version of 'truth'...and may I always remember that you love me - and because of this love, because of Your truth in my life, I can live freely and boldly....and honestly.

An Unholy Mess

Found this in an old 'notes' posting somewhere else and it just reminded me how very gracious the Lord is to me... His forgiveness is great and deep and His mercy truly IS everlasting!!!


"I was watching a movie today - well kind of- not paying much attention, until Katherine Hepburn says:

"I'm such an unholy mess of a girl!"

And I thought, wow, doesn't that sum up my life before Jesus! An unholy mess - betrayed and a betrayer, hurt, scared, insecure, filled with the rot of sin...and so lost, just so very, very lost.
Oh, but by the grace of God, I am now holy and beloved, His very own, and called according to His purpose - called by that precious name, "Daughter" - still a bit messy at times, but He cleans me up as we go... holy only by His great work on the cross and that alone!

I am grateful to be able to now say, this unholy mess of a girl was made new...thank you Lord Jesus!"

*This makes me think how much I need to remember this condition of "before Jesus" - I get so short of patience with others - and how dare I, really? I was no better and probably much worse than they are, and yet, I struggle in this... Oh God, let me be a giver of GRACE, on a mission of MERCY, to spread Your indescribable love...

Help me Jesus to remember that each and every person, no matter how tainted by sin, was made in Your precious image... you love each one so deeply and completely - Oh! May I be like You!

YOU ARE WORTH IT!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sFRoWIC92I

This is an amazing video - please take the time to watch it. Made me really think about the 'condition of my knees' ...just copy and paste the link into your browser.

YOU ARE WORTH IT.

May the Love of our God and the Compassion of Jesus Christ guide you and keep you as follow Him. Journey on!