30th Mar 26 | 13:54
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Luke 23 06-17 THE LORD WATCHES 03 Luke 23 10 The church must remain rooted in Jesus
📖 Luke 23:6-17
Wed17Nov2021 – The church must remain rooted in Jesus - Luke 23:06-17 - THE LORD WATCHES (03) - Bible reading: Galatians 3:16-19
As we live in this world, as the body of Christ, we will be accused, vehemently, by the world but the Lord is watching. We need to understand the accusation of the world against the church and we must focus on what the Lord has for us to accomplish in these end times.
Luke 23:10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him.
Jesus was before Herod, to be tried by him. We have seen that Herod wished to be entertained by Jesus, nothing more. He was definitely not going to give any verdict, for or against Jesus.
The Jewish leaders and the crowd were becoming increasingly restless and agitated. We can understand the reason for their anger. They wanted a quick end to the trial and they wanted Jesus to be hung to death, on the cross. This was not taking place and therefore their frustration.
Let us consider the accusation that the Jews brought against Jesus.
Luke 23:2 And they began to accuse Him, saying, "We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a King."
Before Pilate, the slant in the accusation was of Jesus fomenting revolt against the rule of Rome. They thought this would work in their favour and produce the result they wanted from Pilate. Yet, in their accusation, we will notice the phrase, ‘perverting the nation’.
This matter of Jesus, perverting the nation, was their real anger against Jesus. Yes, they wanted Jesus eliminated because of envy but deep within, they were angry that Jesus was changing the very fabric of their society and their way of life.
Luke 23:2 They began to accuse him, "We found this man corrupting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that he is the Messiah, a king." (ISV)
Luke 23:5 But they were the more fierce, saying, "He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place."
Mentioning the regions where Jesus taught meant to say that Jesus was moving throughout the nation, deeply affecting the people, society, and culture. They saw Jesus as a serious threat to them in terms of their identity as a people.
As we understand the accusation of the Jews, we realise that this is exactly what the world is angry about, today, against the church. They see the church as a threat to the system and the construct of the social fabric.
The world sees that the message of the church will cause a total turnaround, inside out, upside down change, to the manner of life of the people.
We see this issue coming to focus on the way Stephen was killed. They killed Stephen but the subject in consideration was the teaching of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 6:14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us."
The world is accusing the church of bringing in a different way of life, which is contrary to the traditions and customs in which our societies are constructed.
This is why we will see increased persecution against the church.
When the church stands up and tells the world that they are heading in the wrong direction, that Jesus is the Creator, the Owner and also our Redeemer, that the only hope for man is to return to God through faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, then the world will be increasingly enraged against the church.
If the church says that we must be inclusive, all ways of life are acceptable and so forth…then the church will not experience persecution.
The church is calling the world, not just to accept Jesus as their Saviour, but to surrender to the lordship of Christ. The church is calling the world to come into the kingdom of Jesus by turning away from their earlier kingdom in which they have been living.
This message is not going to be received by the world, peacefully.
They will be infuriated with us and therefore the increased persecution.
To understand the accusation of the Jews more clearly, let us see how Apostle Paul explains this for us.
Galatians 3:16-19 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring; it does not say, "And to offsprings," as of many; but it says, "And to your offspring," that is, to one person, who is Christ. (17) My point is this: the law, which came four hundred thirty years later, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. (18) For if the inheritance comes from the law, it no longer comes from the promise; but God granted it to Abraham through the promise. (19) Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring would come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained through angels by a mediator.
The covenantal promise of being reconciled with God came from Abraham. 430 years after Abraham, came the Law. The Law was added because of transgressions until the offspring came.
The Jews needed to see that the Lord was reconciling both Jews and Gentiles to Himself. The Law could not give them life, it was only in Jesus.
The Lord is watching all that is going on. The Lord is watching the church. Are we compromising with the ways of the world? Or are we, in love, reaching out to the world to come to faith in Jesus?
Thought to ponder
Let us pray for boldness just as the early church prayed.