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The verbiage in the New Testament concerning the coming of Jesus was that it was to be soon. From our perspective in the year 2023 the coming of the Lord was not “soon” in fact we’re still waiting on it and it seems rather “long” in coming.
Consider how you might act if the Lord sent a message and said specifically that in exactly one month he would come to pass judgment on the world. Maybe he validated those prophetic words with a sign… maybe as a sign God cured all the sick and suspended death of all believers.
So it’s the real deal. What would your life look like in those last thirty days? How would the 5, 2 or 1 talent Christian behave those last thirty days?
- probably might start attending services better… even Bible classes
- might request of the Elders that we assemble every single day
- we might quit our jobs and spend more time with loved ones
- we might spend some time convincing non-believers that Jesus is real and worthy
- we might decide to empty our bank accounts and give to the poor and needy or lay it at the feet of the Elders
- we might go look up anyone whom we have had an issue with and either forgive them or apologize to them
- I personally would start eating ice cream every day. Lol
So after thinking about what we might do let’s take a closer look at what the New Testament Christians did when they heard that Jesus was coming back “soon”.
- They started selling their lands and laying the proceeds at the feet of the Apostles.
- They were with each other continually.
- When the Greek Christians heard that the Judean Christians didn’t have enough food they emptied their bank accounts and sent financial relief to them.
- They changed their manner of living.
- Some of them quit working
- They walked into Roman Coliseums and gave up their lives to wild beasts rather than recant their faith in Jesus Christ.
If we thought Jesus was coming soon... say in a month or two it would certainly cause us to change our behavior just like New Testament Christians changed their behavior at the prospect of Jesus coming "soon".
I don’t know how “soon” its going to be before Jesus comes again to judge the world but I do know that it’s sooner than it was over 2000 years ago. Think about that and act accordingly.
The Samaritan woman had not had an easy life. By this point in her life she had already had five husbands. Maybe she was widowed from all five but probably her husbands had given her a bill of divorcement. Either way she had hard times… losing or being rejected by loved ones.
The good news was that at least for a while she had been shiny enough to attract a mate but by this point in her life that shine had faded and she was living with a man and seemingly neither one of them were interested in being married.
Plus she had to walk from the town every day and perhaps several times a day to draw water out of a well and carry it back to her home and cook and care for that man she was living with.
And then as she walked to the well (about noon-time) to get more water her day just got a little worse… a Jew was sitting at the well. Of course she knew the arrogance and condescension of a Jewish man. She prepared herself not to even be acknowledged… not a howdy, not a smile, not even a look of acknowledgment.
And then the Jew spoke… “Give me a drink”. My mother would have said… “what’s the magic word?” Of course not what she expected at all and she asked basically… I thought Jews didn’t talk to Samaritans especially Samaritan women?
Then the Jew said… if you knew who i was you could ask and I would give you “living” water. The Samaritan woman was a little like Nicodemus who took Jesus literally when he was informed that he would need to be born again. She thought he was talking about literal living water. But that’s Jesus… always talking with a little mystery.
Ultimately the woman says… okay (Jew) I’ll take some living water.
Then the Jew told her to go get her husband and revealed to her that he knew she had had 5 husbands and was living now with a man who she was not even married to.
The stunned woman rightfully concluded that (at least minimally) the Jew was a prophet and wanting quickly to be removed from the subject of her marriages changed the subject to the key religious difference between Samaritans and Jews… who was right on the correct place to worship… Samaritans or Jews?
She had to be surprised at the Jew’s answer. She expected him to say “Jerusalem” perhaps in a condescending manner but instead he said neither and introduced the concept of worshipping in spirit and truth.
The woman dismissed Jesus by saying… I guess we’ll know one day when the Messiah comes (end of discussion) and then Jesus said… “I am the Messiah”
Here’s what the woman’s problem was… she didn’t know who Jesus was. She saw a Jew and looked at him through Samaritan colored glasses and Samaritan colored prejudices.
But as she came to know Jesus her foregone conclusions and prejudices were shattered.
Many people today are just like that Samaritan woman because they don’t know Jesus. They may be satisfied with the spiritual pablum they are being spoon fed and neglect to do the study necessary to get to know Jesus.
Don’t be married to foregone conclusions like the Samaritan woman was. Investigate Jesus in the scriptures to understand just who he is and then maybe you'll be ready to drink "living water"
I got news of the death of an old client that I considered to be a friend even though I hadn’t see him in awhile or even very often. The news has troubled me ever since and even after the funeral I still think of him. I think about him a lot. I guess you could say that I’m a little surprised about those feelings.
Steve Hamlyn typified a lot of what I like about South Texas. He worked in the oil field all his life and on the side he had a place where he raised Santa Gertrudis cattle and that’s how I got to know Steve… helping him “work” his cattle from time to time. I had forgotten that I had taken my son with me to help but Steve would routinely ask me how Walker was doing.
Anytime you saw Steve he would be wearing his cowboy hat and cowboy boots and wearing a khaki long sleeved field shirt with a skoal can in the pocket and taking a dip from time to time. Steve talked kind of slow and was quick to laugh at a joke. He also wrote poetry… he was a cowboy poet.
Once we quit doing large animal work I didn’t see Steve that much. Most of the time when we ran into each other it was at one of the local BBQ joints. I was always glad to see Steve and it seemed like he was always glad to see me.
Steve and I both liked Texas history. His great great grandfather was a Texas Ranger and my great great grandfather served under a famous Texas Ranger during the Civil War. We could talk Texas history.
When I attended the funeral at one of the local Baptist churches it was about what I had expected… a parking lot full of pickup trucks and attendees wearing hats, boots and blue jeans. There were also four Veterinarians in the audience of about 300. Dennis Denman, Pancho Hubert, Tobin Pennington and myself.
I had known Steve for a long time but always wished I had known him a little better and after the funeral I thought I did. His daughter got up to speak and she reminded me of my daughter… she was articulate and spoke well and was at ease with the audience and put the audience at ease and just did a fine all around job of describing her daddy. It made me wish that I knew her a little better too.
I don’t know what God’s judgment day is going to look like but if God asked me to sit next to him (maybe on his left side) and when Steve Hamlyn’s turn came up that maybe Jehovah God would turn to me and ask… Rob what do you think about Steve Hamlyn? I guess I would respond… Lord God Almighty… if we can’t let Steve in who can we let in?
A while back I had an elderly widow inform me that she had sinned and had prayed for forgiveness but wanted my opinion on if she needed to make a public confession of sin to the whole congregation?
I asked her… what was the sin? She said she had been making cookies and other items and was selling them to the members to supplement her income. The church building was where the goods were being exchanged.
I then asked her… why do you think that is a sin? She said because Jesus threw out the money changers, etc. out of the Jewish Temple and charged those involved with making the Temple a den of robbers.
I told her I didn’t think the Jewish Temple was parallel to the church. That God didn’t dwell in a man made Temple anymore but dwelt in his people.
So just what did Jesus have in mind when he cast out those providers of sacrifices and money changers from the Jewish Temple?
Let me suggest that those activities in and of themselves were legitimate activities that facilitated Temple worship.
Apparently they had taken it too far and were taking monetary advantage of the worshippers.
My guess is that if there was an impoverished widow on the Temple grounds begging for money or selling a few small items to earn money that the dead last thing Jesus would do would be to call her a robber and thrown her out on her ear.
Note with me this verse 1 Timothy 5:9-10.
“Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man. Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.”
This verse is a verse that obligates the church to care for a “widow in deed” and gives qualifications for a woman being a “widow in deed”
This particular widow who I am referring to would definitely meet those qualifications.
So… if the church is required to assist her for her financial needs… cannot the church also help a widow in that same regard by allowing her to to sell (or deliver) a few homemade cookies even in the church building?
Isn’t that love for her and by extension love for God? I told her I didn’t think she had sinned.
“If we let him keep on doing this, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come. They will take away our temple and our nation.” John 11:48
This passage illustrates the mind set of the jewish leaders. If they let Jesus live and continue teaching the Romans would come and take over the nation and the priesthood… they were convinced of that. It’s not our purpose to investigate what led them to come to that conclusion but it is our purpose to ask what were the consequences of their reasoning.
Of course they killed Jesus and might have fooled themselves into believing that through that act they had preserved their position and nation.
However the hand writing on the wall was that they were doomed for that very act of killing Jesus.
You see kind reader God punishes the wicked and there was no greater act of wickedness than killing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
God punished the Jews in AD 70 with the very thing that they feared the most… the Romans taking away their place and nation.
But not only did the Romans take away the Temple… they razed it to the ground.
Not only did the Romans take the Jewish nation but they eliminated the High Priesthood so that it was forever gone.
Not only did the Romans take away the Jewish nation but they virtually exterminated the Jewish people and took the survivors into captivity and made them slaves.
In John 11:48 they were afraid that if they didn’t take Jesus down that the Romans would take over. Instead they killed Jesus and lost… everything. Far worse than what they had imagined.
What will you do with Jesus and just what are the consequences of rejecting him? Be careful… be very careful.
