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Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
As we complete Luke Chapter 20 and prepare to move into Chapter 21, a question arises is my mind. Why is there all this challenging? Why is Jesus Christ being challenged by so many people, and when you read it, it is more than a challenge. It is attack.
Well, the Son of God, the Saviour, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings has finally arrived in Jerusalem to do His Saving Rescuing Work, and where there is life there is challenge, and where there is light, darkness will not appreciate that.
Do you not find that as you serve Jesus Christ and as you seek to serve Jesus Christ more and more faithfully challenges increase and attacks come from various directions? Do not be too surprised when these things happen. Jesus warned us about this spiritual reality and John’s Gospel details some of the experiences which can confront disciples of Jesus. In many nations persecution of believers is violent and painful, physically and emotionally. Make sure you are informed and fairly familiar with what some of our brothers and sisters in Christ are enduring.
The tension is increasing. The warfare is becoming fierce, and it is all taking place in Jerusalem and in The Temple. The coming of Jesus Christ into the city riding on the prophesied donkey arouses all kinds of opposition, and we are witnessing a very similar battle today.
In verse 41, Jesus challenges their preconceived ideas of what they wanted the Christ to be and do. We need Jesus to challenge our thinking at times, and open our eyes, to see what as disciples we should be saying and doing.
Jesus quotes from Psalm 110. Christ will be a Son of David, a descendent of David, and David calls Christ, LORD. You call God, Lord. God the Father said to Jesus the Son, “Sit at My Right Hand”. David, the man who was your mighty king, knew that the Messiah, the Christ, would be His Lord. He knew that Christ would be God.
They thought the Messiah would be a political leader. King David knew He would be much more than that. The Holy Spirit had revealed this to David, King of Israel.
David's Son is David's Lord, just as Mary's Son is Mary's Saviour.
Now, they could not see this, or rather, they did not want to see it. Take time and understand these spiritual truths and realities. We need to be sure of our faith and be able to answer to those who ask us why we believe what we believe and the answers we need are all in the Scriptures, as we have them in the Old and New Testaments.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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