30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 13 10-17 The nature of Christ 05 Nurtured in His presence
📖 Luke 13:10-17
05Oct19 - *Nurtured in His presence* - _Luke 13:10-17_ - Bible reading: _Matthew 23:37-39_
_Luke 13:14-17 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, "There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day." (15) The Lord then answered him and said, "Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? (16) So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?" (17) And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him._
Yesterday, we saw how the ruler of the synagogue was indignant for a wrong reason, when he should have rejoiced that the woman, who had been in the grip of a spirit of infirmity, was delivered.
The Lord called him a hypocrite but at the same time, gave us an understanding of the Sabbath. We saw that the Sabbath was related to work and work was to be an executive steward of God, on His behalf and in His image, over His creation.
When we work with this understanding, we need the Sabbath. Sabbath was made for us for our good. We must benefit from the Sabbath and not make the Sabbath a tyranny over us by rules and regulations. Sabbath therefore is a day of rest from our work but to be in the presence of our King, The Owner and Creator of all of creation. We are nurtured in His presence. He nourishes and strengthens us in His presence and we are renewed in every way, in order to go back to work. This is what the Sabbath has to be for each of us.
We see an incident in _Mark 2:23-28_ His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain on the Sabbath as they walked through a field of standing grain. The Pharisees found fault and said to Jesus, _"Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"_ The Lord answered giving an example of an incident, when David and his men ate the show bread. Then the Lord gave us the principle of the Sabbath. _(27) And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. (28) Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."_
The Lord longs to nurture us as we spend time in His presence. It is His presence that we must long for. If we are not nurtured in His presence, we have nothing but being desolate. _Matthew 23:37-39 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! (38) See! Your house is left to you desolate; (39) for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'BLESSED is HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!' "_
*Thought to ponder*
```Are being nurtured in His presence?```