It’s a matter of fact!
Part 4
V24 n13
Many
people say they would like to be a part of God’s family. Many people say they
would like to share in God’s kingdom. However, most follow man and his ideas of
who they think God is, and what they think God is about. One seldom gives
thought to the fact, that the people that persecuted Jesus Christ, and
eventually put Him to death, were the very people that were supposed to be
leading the people into a closer relationship with God, when in fact, they were rejecting the very Messiah sent by God to
deliver them.
In
spite of all that Jesus Christ did during His earthly walk and ministry, people
seldom stop to take in and comprehend, all that the religious leaders said and
spoke against Him. In spite of who He was, and all
that He did, they found excuses to discredit all that He said and did.
Matt 12:23-25, And all the people were amazed,
and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they
said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by
Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, (KJV)
Let
us look at a few of Matthew Henry’s comments on these verses.
No
surmise could be more palpably false and vile than this; that he, who is Truth
itself, should be in combination with the father of lies, to cheat the world.
This was the last refuge, or subterfuge rather, or an obstinate infidelity,
that was resolved to stand it out against the clearest conviction. Observe, Among the devils there is a prince, the ringleader of the
apostasy from God and rebellion against him; but this prince is Beelzebub-- the
god of a fly, or a dunghill god. How art thou fallen, O Lucifer! from an angel of light, to be a lord of flies! Yet this is
the prince of the devils too, the chief of the gang of infernal spirits.
Christ's reply to this base
insinuation, v. 25-30. Jesus knew their thoughts. Note, Jesus Christ knows what
we are thinking at any time, knows what is in man; he understands our thoughts
afar off. It should seem that the Pharisees could not for shame speak it out,
but kept it in their minds; they could not expect to satisfy the people with
it; they therefore reserved it for the silencing of the convictions of their
own consciences. Note, Many are kept off from their duty by that which they are
ashamed to own, but which they cannot hide from Jesus Christ: yet it is
probable that the Pharisees had whispered what they thought among themselves,
to help to harden one another; but Christ's reply is said to be to their
thoughts, because he knew with what mind, and from what principle, they said
it; that they did not say it in their haste, but that it was the product of a
rooted malignity.
(from Matthew Henry's Commentary)
He,
God the Father, sent His Son, the Word of God to heal us, and to deliver us
from our own destructions. Yet, how often do we act the same as those mentioned
in the above verses? What one does not understand or comprehend, doesn’t one
often condemn? If it does not fall within the parameters of one’s understanding
or thinking, what does one then attribute it to?
The
Word tells us that His people perish for a lack of knowledge. In the above
instances, one should be able to see that the people were perishing, because
they were listening to the wrong voices, giving heed to the wrong knowledge.
The people were quicker to hear and follow the voice of the Pharisees, then they were to hear and obey the Son of God who plainly
stood before them.
John 7:19-20, Did
not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth
the law? Why go ye about to kill me? The people
answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee? (KJV)
Let
us look at a few of Adam Clarke’s comments on these verses.
Why go ye about to kill me?] The scribes and Pharisees announced our
Lord to the multitude as a deceiver; and they grounded their calumny on this,
that he was not an exact observer of the law, for he had healed a man on the
Sabbath day, <John 5:9-10>; and consequently must be a false prophet. Now
they insinuated, that the interests of religion
required him to be put to death:
1. As a violator of the law; and,
2. as a false prophet and deceiver
of the people.
To destroy this evil reasoning, our
Lord speaks in this wise: If I deserve death for curing a man on the Sabbath,
and desiring him to carry home his bed, which you consider a violation of the
law, you are more culpable than I am, for you circumcise a child on the
Sabbath, which requires much more bustle, and is of so much less use than what
I have done to the infirm man. But, if you think you do not violate the law by
circumcising a child on the Sabbath, how can you condemn me for having cured
one of yourselves, who has been afflicted thirty and eight years? If you
consider my conduct with the same eye with which you view your own, far from
finding anything criminal in it, you will see much reason to give glory to God.
Why, therefore, go ye about to kill me, as a
transgressor of the law, when not one of yourselves keeps it? (from
Adam Clarke Commentary)
If
you would have been there at this time, would you have followed the crowd, and
found fault with Jesus Christ, just as the religious leaders had? How often
does one justify what they do; by what the majority is doing, or in how the
majority is reacting? How easy is it to turn a crowd, into a mob?
Matt 26:4-5, And
consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and
kill him. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest
there be an uproar among the people. (KJV)
At
this time of year, Christians celebrate the death burial and resurrection of
our Lord Jesus Christ, but, seldom give thought or consideration as to why He
was put to death; or as to who it was that made the
accusations against Him. The religious leaders were able to get the people to
change their opinion, for the week earlier they had hailed Him as the king of
the Jews, but now were worked into a fury and a frenzy,
by the very people who said they walked and talked with God.
Luke
Let
us look at a few of Matthew Henry’s comments on this area.
When Pilate urged the second time that Christ
should be released, they cried out, Crucify him, crucify him,
v. 20, 21. They not only will have him die, but will
have him die so great a death; nothing less will serve but he must be
crucified: Crucify him, crucify him.
When Pilate the third
time reasoned with them, to show them the unreasonableness and injustice of it,
they were the more peremptory and outrageous (v. 22): "Why? What evil
hath he done? Name his crime. I have found no cause of death, and you cannot
say what cause of death you have found in him; and therefore, if you will
but speak the word, I will chastise him and let him go." But popular
fury, the more it is complimented, the more furious it grows; they were instant
with loud voices, with great noises or outcries, not requesting, but requiring,
that he might be crucified; as if they had as much right, at the feast, to
demand the crucifying of one that was innocent as the release of one that was
guilty. (from Matthew
Henry's Commentary)
John
19:6, When the chief priests therefore and
officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. (KJV)
What would you
have done if you had been there? Would you have followed the religious leaders?
Would you have followed the crowd? Jesus Christ plainly tells us to come and
follow Him. How close would you have stayed to Him during all this? Would you
have hid as the disciples did? Would you deny Him as Peter did?
He indeed is risen! Will you remain seated in the heavenlies
with Him, regardless of what the crowd does?
That
you may know Him,
In the service of Jesus Christ.
Larry
Gazelka
Copyright © 2002 Built Anew Ministries all rights reserved