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What types of people gave Jesus his biggest headache while He was teaching here on earth? I don't mean what sect or group, but what intellectual or spiritual characteristics typified the people who always seemed to be confronting Him? Well, I would beg you to read this and the messages that follow to compare your thoughts on this matter with what I have concluded. The results can be life-changing!

First, indulge me to speak briefly about the term justification. Justification is a word which can be used in everyday language, but which has a more specialized usage in the spiritual realm. In ordinary vernacular, we might ask, “What justification can you offer for moving the door from where the plans call for it to be and the position that you chose?” In this case, the word justification simply means rationale or reason. In spiritual terms, justification takes on a meaning that is based on several fundamental premises. First, that God exists as man's Creator. Secondly, that God is the lawgiver and man is obligated to try to obey God's law. Thirdly, that man comes short in his attempts to follow God's laws and God has the authority to set the “terms of pardon” by which man can be declared not guilty when he sins (breaks God's law). And lastly, that God's terms are the final court of appeal in which such pardon can be granted; in fact, there is NO COURT other than His in which pardon can be granted. This granting of pardon is justification! It is not when we can give rationale for our actions or when others can suggest reasons for their actions; justification occurs only when God declares a person to be not guilty in spite of his or her sins!

Now back to the questions posed in the opening paragraph; Who and what were the people who gave Jesus the biggest problems during His ministry? The answer to this question is fairly simple when we understand His purposes here! Let Him tell us why He came to earth to live: “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19.10). This declaration came from Jesus' own lips and fairly summarizes His purposes here. This is what He was about; it was His passion and mission. Every thing that He did, every word that He spoke, every town that He visited, every person that He touched, every pain that He suffered, and every insult that He endured was to this end – To seek and to save that which was lost!

It would follow that Jesus' greatest problems were caused by those who stood in the way of the accomplishing of His mission. But, who were those people? It is here that the “rubber meets the road” and it is here that our own souls must be searched. Someone might say, “It was sinners who stood in the way of accomplishing His mission.” That would be a correct answer, but it was not all sinners who stood in the way; it was only those sinners who refused to acknowledge that they were sinners! Those who would freely admit their own weaknesses and inadequacies did not hinder Jesus. In fact, they were His success stories! They made His purpose real! He could point to them and say, “Now that's what I am talking about!” So, the problems that Jesus encountered were not at the hands of sinners; they came at the hands of folks who, for whatever reason, refused to acknowledge the fact that they were sinners.

We will continue along these lines for a few messages that follow and put faces and names on these people. Briefly, however, they were the Pharisees, Sadducees and other religious leaders of His day. In their minds, they had no need for Him; they had their own system which did not include the humiliating need to admit their own blindness! The greatest headache that Jesus had was in dealing with those who denied the need for His mission to seek and to save that which was lost!

Questions:

1. What does justification mean in common everyday speech?

2. What does justification mean in the spiritual arena? “Where” does man's justification take place?

3. What was Jesus' mission and personal passion here upon the earth?

4. How was Jesus affected by those who denied the need for His work/ministry here upon the earth? Was He affected in an emotional way? Why or why not?

"The Way" from Kevin Pauley

The Second Sin