Thoughts From Luke - Day 65

                                                 Luke 13:31-35

At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”
³² He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ ³³ In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
³⁴ “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, and you were not willing. ³⁵ Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”


          I am reminded, as I read this passage, of Tobiah and Sanballet trying to scare Nehemiah from building the wall or the nations hostile to Zerrubabel in Ezra trying to scare him into stopping the building of the temple. The Sanhedrin tried to scare the disciples in Acts from proclaiming Christ by threatening them and beating them. Jesus is wise to the devil's tricks since He personally witnessed Nehemiah and Ezra and knew the future of the Apostles. Therefore it comes as no surprise to Him that the Pharisees would try to scare Him into leaving the area and staying out of Jerusalem with threats of death, not by them although eventually they will kill Him, but with threats of Herod coming after Him.

        Jesus, however, isn't afraid of men or their threats. Why? Because He knows that Satan can't do anything without permission from God, whose side Jesus is on. He is on a mission from God (just watched The Blues Brothers again) so He knows that not even the King can kill Him because He knows that He will die on the cross in Jerusalem during the Passover. Not only that, He knows that death isn't the end, He will rise on the third day, so even if someone killed Him, He would come back to life. There is a movie like that called Edge of Tomorrow where Tom Cruise keeps getting killed and coming back to life at the beginning of that day. It's a little like Bill Murray and Groundhog Day. Tom Cruise, once he figures out what is happening, welcomes death each day because he knows he will start each day off without broken bones and with increased knowledge of how to defeat the enemy. Like these movies, if we die we will live again, being rid of this body of sin and knowing God and being known by Him finally free of the enemy. Oh Death, where is your sting.

        I wonder if we can live life without fear and stopping witnessing because of threats. I know a guy who was witnessing with a friend at the outlet malls and management came out and told him he couldn't anymore so he stopped. Should he have? I know teachers who won't talk about Jesus in their classrooms because of fear of losing their jobs. Should they be anyway? I know pastors who won't preach the whole word of God because of fear of their transcripts being analyzed for hate speech. Should they edit what they say? I know Doctors who don't pray with patients for fear of offending them, being sent to administration, losing business, etc. Should they be afraid? There are multiple other examples but the point is that these are all scare tactics by the Devil to silence us and we must not give in to Him. The safest place to be is in the Lord's will. Even if you get fired, He will provide for you. Share Him and be bold. One hundred years from now, when you are in Heaven, you will be looking for those who responded to the gospel you shared and be embarrassed that you didn't share it more because of fear. We will say, "Seriously!!! What was I afraid of? That was crazy!!"

         Lord, help me not to fear today. Help me to trust You knowing You won't let anything happen to me which isn't in Your plan for my life. Help me to be a bold witness. Deliver me from the fear of death. Amen