32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.
Jesus testified to the Truth yet, as our verses for today state, “no one accepts his testimony”. The people of His day regarded His words as non-important - a non-issue to them - not too dissimilar to what we find in our own times. People do not want to be bothered if it means the ultimate authority of their life must change. Satan has blinded eyes from the certain abundance - albeit mixed with fear - of living and dying apart from salvation in Christ Jesus. Proverbs wisely tells us:
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Prov 1:7 (NIV)
It is common for those to make a joke of the word of God who are resolved that they will not be ruled by it.” Matthew Henry
A mouse was caught by its tail in a trap the other day, and the poor creature went on eating the cheese. Many men are doing the same. They know that they are guilty, and they dread their punishment, but they go on nibbling at their beloved sins. C. H. Spurgeon
What God holds out to mankind is glorious – “exceedingly, abundantly above all we can ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20) – yet, sadly, many shrug their shoulders apathetically continuing on in their ignorance or in their selfish sinful ways – having a total disregard of God’s best for their lives. I am reminded of the words prophetically describing Jesus penned by the prophet Isaiah:
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Isaiah 53:3 (NIV)
Despised and rejected by those He came to save, it is no wonder Jesus laments as He looks out over the city of Jerusalem – symbolizing those who willfully chose to refuse to turn to the Lord - bringing upon themselves their just condemnation:
37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' " Matt 23:37-39 (NIV)
Yet our God is always about doing the “unexpected for the undeserving” as Mike Huckabee so aptly stated in a recent article I read - calling and wooing us back to the point of our departure. From Jesus’ perspective one can only imagine how the need of the people must have seemed overly rampant. Like helpless sheep, our Shepherd knows each need and how to fill it:
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Matt 9:35-38 (NIV)
"Our Creator is infinitely good, and His will is love: to submit to one who is ‘too wise to err, too good to be unkind,’ should not be hard." C.H. Spurgeon
God’s heart beats for man to turn to Him. That is what gets Him off His throne running toward the repentant. He tells us:
1 "I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, 'Here am I, here am I.' 2 All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations-- Isaiah 65:1-2 (NIV)
"While I regarded God as a tyrant I thought my sin a trifle; But when I knew Him to be my Father, then I mourned that I could ever have kicked against Him. When I thought God was hard, I found it easy to sin; but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I smote upon my breast to think that I could ever have rebelled against One who loved me so, and sought my good." C.H. Spurgeon
Jesus’ job description which He read in the synagogue from the scroll of Isaiah sums up our verses for today:
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Luke 4:14-21 (NIV)