March
16th Jesus
- John the Baptist
18:
And the disciples of John shewed him of all these things. 19: And
John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus,
saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 20:
When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us
unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for
another? 21: And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities
and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he
gave sight. 22: Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and
tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see,
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are
raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. 23: And blessed is he,
whosoever shall not be offended in me. 24: And when the messengers of
John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning
John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken
with the wind? 25: But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in
soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live
delicately, are in kings' courts. 26: But what went ye out for to
see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.
27: This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger
before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 28: For I
say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a
greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the
kingdom of God is greater than he. 29: And all the people that heard
him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the
baptism of John. 30: But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the
counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. 31: And
the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this
generation? and to what are they like? 32: They are like unto
children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and
saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have
mourned to you, and ye have not wept. 33: For John the Baptist came
neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.
34: The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a
gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!
35: But wisdom is justified of all her children.
Jesus
heals a sinful woman
36:
And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And
he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. 37: And,
behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that
Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box
of ointment, 38: And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began
to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her
head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 39:
Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within
himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who
and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a
sinner. 40: And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat
to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. 41: There was a
certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred
pence, and the other fifty. 42: And when they had nothing to pay, he
frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love
him most? 43: Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he
forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. 44: And
he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I
entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but
she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of
her head. 45: Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I
came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. 46: My head with oil thou
didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
47: Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are
forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the
same loveth little. 48: And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
49: And they that sat at meat with him began to say within
themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? 50: And he said to
the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
Some
say that John was loosing his faith, but l don’t think this. I
think that John was checking again that Jesus was the Christ just to
be sure again in his own mind. This is not doubt, this is seeking
further reassurance. What was the response? Christ said go and tell
John, - how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised; to the poor the gospel
is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in
me. The Jews understood that when the Messiah would come he would do
miracles which were far greater than ‘ordinary’ miracles in which
any man could perform if he were empowered by the Holy Spirit. The
miracles were termed messianic signs because only one would be able
to do them the Messiah himself. The first was the healing of a man
born blind. The second was the healing of a man who had been lame
from birth. The third was the cleansing of a leper, the fourth was
the raising of a man dead for more than four days, and lastly the
Messiah would preach specifically to the poor. All these Messianic
signs Christ performed. This was the confirmation John sought he was
no doubt blessed by this news. Then Christ spoke to the people about
his estimation of John. With humour, Christ says did you go all the
way into the wilderness to see one stalk of grass shaking in the
wind? Or maybe you went out into the wilderness to see somebody
clothes in fine clothes? The answer of course is no. Christ then
says, you went to hear a prophet, but l will tell you that he was
more than just a prophet; he was the Prophet that would come in
fulfilment of scripture to prepare the way of the Messiah. He was the
greatest Prophet this world has ever seen. Incredulously the
religious leaders rejected John’s ministry. One of the Pharisees
invited Christ to dinner so that he might have a closer look at him.
At the meal a sinful woman came and washed Christ’s feet with tears
and wiped his feet with her hair and anointed his feet with ointment.
She was abused but Christ defended her and rebuked the discourtesy of
the Pharisee Simon. Christ taught Simon the real meaning of this
event by the use of a parable of two men who owed money and were
forgiven.
- What answer to the Lord send back to John?
- What did the Lord have to say about John?
- Why did this woman come and what was her reward?
No comments:
Post a Comment