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Luke 20

“Well said Teacher.” Vs 39

Being faithful to my goal as I read a chapter of Luke each day in December leading up to Christmas, and as I continue to reflect on the notes I took then to write GMUs now, I came across another challenging chapter. Jesus gets attacked from all sides and has to come up with some pretty straight answers to those He loves but who are trying to catch him saying anything by which they could condemn Him. What a way to have to live; under the spotlight, guarding or measuring each word against critics while trying to stay faithful to His mission to love and save everyone, even those critics. I actually felt sorry for Jesus as I read this chapter.

The religious leaders were at the forefront of the challenges, which again amazed me because they should be the ones who saw Jesus and His message clearest. But they were apparently so caught up in being “right” that they missed the real Truth. That was a moment for reflection for me.

He left the religious leaders speechless and spoke to the people in parables and stories, and they were receptive, which caused the religious leaders to hate Jesus all the more, but fear the people enough to not feel able to do anything about it. What a way to have to live.

So they paid off some spies to “pretend to be honest.” I wondered what it would be like if that described me—there’s the guy who pretends to be honest! Not exactly a compliment. They went to Jesus with a question and He saw right through them and it was one of the few times I can think of where Jesus actually answered a question directly. “And astonished by His answer, they became silent.”

Then the Sadducees came with their question about marriage and resurrection, which they didn’t believe in so it had to be hypothetical. His answer again went deeper that an answer, with an understanding of the bigger issues at stake. And at least some of them said, “’Well said Teacher.’ And no one dared to ask Him any more questions.”

And THAT was my ah-ha for this morning. That’s why I like to stay with Jesus. As much as I don’t understand about Him, what I do understand is that through all the junk that was thrown at Him from hateful, deceptive, and conniving “spiritual” people, He never seemed to lose His cool (except maybe when He cleansed the temple!), responded thoughtfully and accurately, and went way beyond just an answer to seeing under the surface to the root issues at hand. And to those root issues He spoke clearly IF they wanted to hear and understand. That’s another way I want to be like Jesus so I will continue, even with the tough challenging chapters of my life, to keep trying to learn to be more and more like Him.

Have a great day, even when challenged, to keep looking and learning from Him,

Pastor Rich

Quote for the day: “Resilience is not what happens to you. It’s how you react to, respond to, and recover from what happens to you.’ Jeffery Gitomer

PS Family Worship- 7:30pm in the church. Come and be blessed with some great praise and worship, followed by Jordi sharing his journey with Jesus.

PPS Afterglo- in the Student Center following Family Worship.