Doing what’s right?

And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea. Luke 4:42-44 (ESV)

There is a plan. Jesus knew the plan and was to keep the plan regardless of the people’s desire.

It is possible that Satan uses the response of the people to hinder the plan of God. It is possible to be seeing a great response, as Jesus was, and to think that because the response is spectacular, it must be God’s will that we continue.

God’s will has to do with God and His will, not necessarily the response of the people. Those who walk with Him and minister to the people must be in tune with God’s plan, and not allow it to be messed with by human manipulation.

Jesus was doing what was right. The crowd was doing what they thought was logical. Sometimes the two do not mix.

No Doubt

And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ."  Luke 4:38-41 (ESV)

There is not a disease that God cannot heal. There is not a problem that He cannot solve. However, that does not mean He chooses to heal all diseases and solve all problems.

God works to demonstrate Himself and His faithfulness to us, and sometimes He uses sickness or other tough experiences to accomplish His purposes. We may never understand His ways, but we should never doubt His power and purposes.

Acknowledging Truth

And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. Luke 4:31-35 (ESV)

Satan and the demonic world know who Jesus is and know they must acknowledge Him and do so. They not only must acknowledge Him, they must obey Him. When you know the ultimate truth, really know it, you cannot ignore it. Satanic forces know God, they know their eventual demise, and they are committed to destroying as much that God loves as they can.

However, like every human, in the presence of God, they will acknowledge Him as God.

Those who want to live and end well realize the importance of acknowledging truth. The sooner the better. The more tenacious the better. For now, the choice is mine.

In the end...

When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away. Luke 4:28-30 (ESV) Can you imagine being filled with wrath towards Jesus? What did He do to spur this response? All He did was speak the truth. Does truth always cause people to get angry? If it challenges your lifestyle, if you have eloquently spoken about the lies you believe as truth, or if your pride is wounded, you might react with anger. Yet the wise realize that truth stands alone, apart from our feelings or ideas, and can even go against the majority opinion. The truth is what we evaluate our lives upon, not the other factors. It is a good idea to start each day acknowledging that God is God and I am Dave. It is good to acknowledge that there is truth, and that my life needs to be evaluated by that, not by my peers. In the end, I stand alone before God with Christ as my only advocate. If I stand with no regrets, it will be because I sought the truth and lived according to it. For now, the choice is mine.

Unwelcome Warnings

And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”  Luke 4:24-27 (ESV)

No prophet is welcome in his hometown. This was true of Jesus and is probably true of those who speak the truth today.

Prophets spoke for God, warned the people of evil, and spoke definitively about the future. If you are warning people, then the people need warning, and people do not like warnings, especially when given by a local who grew up with them, the same way as them.

They could think that this prophet grew up and became too good for them, and he was judging them. In reality, the truth was judging them, and they just put a face with it. Their hatred for the truth is then translated into hatred for the one who gave the message.

This is the way it is. I cannot change culture, but I can change my attitude towards those in positions of authority, and must, or I chance being irrelevant.

FREEDOM

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  Luke 4:16-21 (ESV) When you proclaim the truth, are you arrogant or just truthful? Jesus had a tough assignment here. He is God and needed to proclaim that fact. It is not an enviable position. Yet, when we hesitate to speak the truth in love because it is hard, we fall into Satan’s trap. Truth is often hard in that it cannot be manipulated and lies can be arranged so that whatever we do is justified and even noble. I need to always remember that it is truth that sets me free--pure, unadulterated truth. May God alone help me sort it out and allow me to live in the freedom of His truths.

What Do You Know?

The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’” Luke 4:3-8 (ESV)

Satan talked to Jesus as if He needed to prove He was God’s Son. He knew He was God’s Son. It would be as if someone came to me and asked me to prove I am the son of Richard E. Wager. I am, and those who know me and my family know who I am.

Satan often uses the ridiculous in a way that sounds reasonable to entrap. He is a liar, a manipulator, and the definition of evil. He knew the window of opportunity had to do with Jesus being hungry. He used that with which he was given to work.

He will use that which with I give him to work. What is it with which I have given him to work? Do I have the will and the courage to get rid of it in order to minimize his grip?