Monday, September 24, 2001

The Man Who Hit Jesus

by David Scott Robertson

(Mat 26:66 NIV) What do you think?" "He is worthy of death," they answered.
(Mat 26:67 NIV) Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him
(Mat 26:68 NIV) and said, "Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?"

“Who hit You?”
Jesus knew him.
Jesus knew him well.
The God-Man had the power and capacity to respond to this question.

The Messiah could have wheeled around and replied:
“Who hit Me?”
I’ll tell you…”

“His name is Bildad, son of Hoshea, the son of Matthias, the son of…
(He could have correctly listed the genealogy all the way back to Adam.)
Bildad is from the west side of Galilee and lives next to Aholiab the Tanner.
Bildad has a wife, three sons and a daughter
Whose names are (in the order of their birth…)
Bildad by trade is a perfumer
And his net profit – not counting all the business he’s done under the table this year – is exactly….
Bildad has precisely 976,143,119 hairs on his body.”

The incarnate God, Jesus Christ,
Literally had access to this kind of information by the power of the Holy Spirit
That was in Him without measure.

Why didn’t He do it?
Two reasons, I think.

Reason #1: It wouldn’t have done any good.
These men surrounding him like a pack of wolves closing in on the kill
Weren’t interested in knowing the truth --
They just spat and slapped Truth in the face.

Instead of asking Jesus
“… in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Col 2:2-3 NIV),
They relied on their own flawed wisdom.

(Mat 26:66 NIV) What do you think?" "He is worthy of death," they answered.”

Who cares what man thinks?
What does Yahweh think of Jesus of Nazareth?

Reason #2: The scriptures had to be fulfilled concerning the Christ.
Jesus not only had at His dispatch unlimited spiritual gifts,
He also had unlimited angelic military resources.

(Mat 26:53 NIV) Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
(Mat 26:54 NIV) But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?"

Our Lord and Savior suppressed every natural, carnal, sinful desire
To retaliate in order for prophecy and the will of the Father to be fulfilled.

(Mat 26:56 NIV) But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.”

So, back to the original question…could He have answered it?
(Mat 26:68 NIV) “…’Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?’"

Yes.
But before my (and perhaps your) righteous indignation rises up
And, like Peter, I want to take a sword (my tongue)
To begin to assassinate the character of these religious leaders…
I must admit,
Shamefully,
That it was MY sin that hit Him too.
I had my share in the nailing of the Son of God to the cross at Calvary.
So did you.

But Jesus endured it obediently, courageously, valiantly and voluntarily,
Walking out “not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42)
To fulfill that which was spoken of by the prophets centuries prior.

True to form,
Jesus did this so that one more prophecy could be fulfilled in the future tense:

(John 14:1 NIV) "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
(John 14:2 NIV) In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.
(John 14:3 NIV) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
(John 14:4 NIV) You know the way to the place where I am going."


DSR
9/24/01

Friday, September 21, 2001

The Boy Who Touched God

by David Scott Robertson

(Mark 9:36 NIV) He [Jesus] took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them,
(Mark 9:37 NIV) "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

I’m intrigued by this short encounter that Jesus has with an unnamed child.

We don’t know the little boy’s name,
But we know that the child was quite literally touched by God.

Can you imagine what it must have been like
To be taken in the arms of Christ Jesus and physically held?

As I read my Bible,
One quick, light touch of the Master’s hand cured any and every disease.

I like to think that Jesus smiled tenderly at the lad.
Jesus must have been a warm and inviting Person to the child as He made eye contact with him
That caused the child to willingly come to Jesus and let Him hold him.
You know how kids can be if they are intimidated by an adult.
Jesus sure intimidated his share of adults so much so that they wanted to rid the earth of Him.
But this little boy was not intimidated in the least
And came to Christ freely, fearlessly, joyfully.

I also wonder what long-term impact this encounter with the Lord had on the young man.

I wonder if the child,
Then or later in his life,
Realized that God has used him as an object lesson to teach the world
About how God wants people to come to Him.

I’m curious what his parent(s) might have told him about being held by Jesus.
I wonder what friends or neighbors who were on the scene told the boy
As each described how the very Son of God scooped him up in His arms for a few minutes.

I can’t help but think that the child’s destiny was altered by this one brief encounter.
Whether or not Jesus verbally “blessed” the little one before He let him go is not known.
But just being lovingly held in the arms of Christ,
I should think,
Would allow for a transfer of a measure of the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Do you think the little boy grew up to be a man of God?
Do you think He might have joined Messiah’s Band?
Did he become a follower of The Way?
Did the nameless child grow up to be mentioned by name in scripture later on?
Only God knows.

I have an idea that this little boy’s life on earth and eternal destiny
Was forever changed by this one brief encounter with Christ.

DSR
9/21/01

Monday, September 3, 2001

Judas Iscariot: Remorse Without Repentance

by David Scott Robertson

“When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders.
"I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility." (Mat 27:3-4 NIV)

Judas Iscariot, the disciple of Jesus Christ.
One of the Twelve.
A follower of the Messiah of Israel.
A man privileged to hear words directly from the lips of the Master Himself.
Words that prophets long dead yearned to hear in person.

Judas witnessed first-hand
What tens of millions of Christians today would have loved to have seen with their own eyes.
Judas was there, real-time, on-site, up-close-and-personal with the only begotten Son of God.

Could it be possible that Judas Iscariot,
In the early days of following Jesus of Nazareth,
Was out there destroying the works of the devil?

One thing we know for sure,
Somewhere along the way Judas left a door open to his heart.
He allowed a window to remain open just a crack.
Satan didn’t need a mile-wide channel to enter --
Just an inch…
A tiny lowering of the barrier of Judas’ free will
To gain legal access and control.

Judas began his descent into compromise little by little.
He began to the downward spiral subtlety.
He helped himself to a portion of the offering plate.
He allowed greet, the love of money, to take a toe-hold.
On God the Father knows all the moral violations that Judas permitted
To seep into his soul and the degree to which corruption had its work in him.

Judas began practicing betraying Christ is a dozen discrete ways.
He became good at it.
He became proficient at suppressing his guilty conscience,
Ignoring profound truth spoken in his hearing by Jesus.

“Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, ‘Rabbi, is it I?’ He said to him, ‘You have said it.’” (Matthew 26:25 NKJV – emphasis mine.)

The word “betraying” here indicates that it wasn’t a future event.
You see, Judas had been practicing.

As I read along in the biblical account of this tragedy,
I observe that the thing that really seemed to push Judas over the edge,
As I read it “the straw that broke the camel’s back,”
Was when the woman broke the alabaster box of perfume over Jesus’ feet,
Prophetically anointing Him for burial (Matthew 26:6-7).

(Mat 26:13 NIV) I [Jesus] tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."
(Mat 26:14 NIV) Then one of the Twelve--the one called Judas Iscariot--went to the chief priests
(Mat 26:15 NIV) and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty silver coins.
(Mat 26:16 NIV) From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.” (emphasis mine).

Bible history tells the sorrowful story of how Judas Iscariot
(Who has rightly become the icon of betrayal)
Opened himself up for the devil personally to enter him
(Note that Satan didn’t delegate this important assignment to a subordinate demon).

Under the influence of the Prince of Darkness,
The pawn Judas played his part to betray Jesus of Nazareth to be condemned to death,
Yes, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8).

Jesus commented on this earlier at His last meal with His disciples:

(Mat 26:24 NIV) The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."

Now I want you to notice something:
Even at the intense climax of the betrayal,
The very moment before Judas is about to “officially” betray him “into the hands of sinners”
By the ironic signal of a kiss,
Jesus reaches out to Judas in a staggering show of love and mercy:

“But Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, why have you come?” (Matthew 26:50 NKJV)

Judas should have broke right then and there.
He could have stopped his part of the betrayal transaction.
He could have fallen at Jesus’ feet and said:
“Lord, I can’t go through with it! I just can’t betray you!”

I personally believe that even if Judas had a sudden burst of repentance before the Christ,
The momentum of the evil forces behind the chief priests and elders
Would have proceeded with the plot and plan
To murder Jesus with or without Judas.
It was past the point of no return.

Had Judas allowed his heart to be melted instead of hardened,
We might be reading today in scripture
Of one of God’s most massive objects of grace.
Some of us Christians may have even identified with Judas
Since we have all betrayed the Son of God to one extent on another.

Judas’ personal history and eternal destination,
In this one climactic moment,
Might (it was possible) have been altered forever in this,
His very last chance,
To gain an audience with the King of the Jews.
(Talk about your divine appointments!)

But he didn’t.

In a flash of time,
A moment of visitation in the very presence of God,
Choices were offered and available to Judas Iscariot:

To betray or not betray?
To repent or not repent?
Heaven or hell?
Join the ranks of one more repentant sinner who has come home or become the eternal betrayer?

Without “inquiring of the Lord” Judas made his split-second decision
In response to Jesus’ incredible question: “‘Friend, why have you come?’” (Matthew 26:50 NKJV)

Judas didn’t seal Jesus’ fate with a kiss but he did seal his own.

(Mat 26:50b KJV) “…Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.”

Now the horror story of Judas’ downward spiral begins to close.

(Mat 27:1 NIV) Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death.
(Mat 27:2 NIV) They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.
(Mat 27:3 NIV) When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders.
(Mat 27:4 NIV) "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."

Apparently, at some incredible moment during the night,
Judas had experienced an exorcism!
It seems apparent that a mighty deliverance had taken place in his life
And the Demon of all demons – Lucifer, Satan, vacated Judas’ body.

(John 13:27 NIV) As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. "What you are about to do, do quickly," Jesus told him…”

The above scripture confirms that Judas had indeed been possessed of THE devil,
And now - consider the paradox – Judas is “seized with remorse”! (Matthew 27:3)

Do you really think if Judas was still possessed by Satan
That he would have any remorse?
I should think that Lucifer would have taken the opportunity
To manipulate his human host into boasting and bragging and parading around
In his trademark of pride and arrogance.
But no!
We see Judas remorseful!

Could it be that Judas is like so many unfortunate souls today
That are just worthless refuse to Satan
And the only reason the devil has anything dealing with them at all
Is for the purpose of manipulation, persuasion and intimidation?
He uses human puppets – like Judas - to do his bidding to hurt God the Father.
Once they have outlived their usefulness
They are good for nothing but self-destruction and death.

What about you?
Are you facing a moment of truth?
Have you “done messed up royally” and feel like it’s too late to change?
No! A thousand times no!

(Psa 2:11 NIV) Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.
(Psa 2:12 NIV) Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

The kind of kiss that Jesus is looking for
Is a kiss of submission not a kiss of betrayal.

DSR
9/3/01

Verily I Say Unto You...

by David Scott Robertson

“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Mat 5:18 KJV – emphasis mine).

Fifty-two times (52) in the gospels Jesus used the term “Verily I say unto you…” (King James Version)

Twenty-five times (25) in the gospels Jesus used the term, “Verily, verily, I say to you [or unto thee]…”

Seventy-seven (77) total times the Christ used this important phrase.


When Christ says something once it is of paramount importance.
When He repeats a phrase it’s for emphasis.
Even the way He says it has purpose and meaning.
Anything that is recorded in the canon of scripture
That is repeated seventy-seven different times
Must have a deeper meaning that the Holy Spirit intends for us to explore.

I challenge you, dear reader,
To meditate for a few moments right now on why did Jesus Christ say this so often,
And what did the Holy Spirit mean for us to know since
All scripture is “God-breathed” and inspired of God and is profitable– 2 Timothy 3:16.

(1) Mat 5:18; (2) Mat 5:26; (3) Mat 6:2; (4) Mat 6:5; (5) Mat 6:16; (6) Mat 8:10; (7) Mat 10:15; (8) Mat 10:23; (9) Mat 10:42; (10) Mat 11:11; (11) Mat 13:17; (12) Mat 16:28; (13) Mat 17:20; (14) Mat 18:3; (15) Mat 18:13; (16) Mat 18:18; (17) Mat 19:23; (18) Mat 19:28; (19) Mat 21:21; (20) Mat 21:31; (21) Mat 23:36; (22) Mat 24:2; (23.) Mat 24:34; (24) Mat 24:47; (25) Mat 25:12; (26) Mat 25:40; (27) Mat 25:45; (28) Mat 26:13; (29 ) Mat 26:21; (30) Mat 26:34; (31) Mark 3:28; (32) Mark 6:11; (33) Mark 8:12; (34) Mark 9:1; (35) Mark 9:41; (36) Mark 10:15; (37) Mark 10:29; (38) Mark 11:23; (39) Mark 12:43; (40) Mark 13:30; (41) Mark 14:9; (42) Mark 14:18; (43) Mark 14:25; (44) Mark 14:30; (45) Luke 4:24; (46) Luke 11:51; (47) Luke 12:37; (48) Luke 13:35; (49) Luke 18:17; (50) Luke 18:29; (51) Luke 21:32; (52) Luke 23:43; (53) John 1:51; (54) John 3:3; (55) John 3:5; (56) John 3:11; (57) John 5:19; (58) John 5:24; (59) John 5:25; (60) John 6:26; (61) John 6:32; (62) John 6:47; (63) John 6:53; (64) John 8:34; (65) John 8:51; (66) John 8:58; (67) John 10:1; (68) John 10:7; (69) John 12:24; (70) John 13:16; (71) John 13:20; (72) John 13:21; (73) John 13:38; (74) John 14:12; (75) John 16:20; (76) John 16:23; (77) John 21:18.

DSR
9/3/01