Tuesday, August 28, 2018

LUKE 14:15-24 EXCUSES, EXCUSES, EXCUSES!


EXCUSES, EXCUSES, EXCUSES!
LUKE 14:15-24

Luke 14:15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

Susie: Jesus is still dining at the Pharisee’s house. After Jesus talking about inviting the outcasts to dinner, a man tosses out that one is blessed to dine in the kingdom of God.

Susan: He may have wanted to take the focus off the uncomfortable talk of humility and serving others.

Susie: This man (possibly another Pharisee) may have assumed that only devout Jews will be at the heavenly banquet. Jesus uses a parable to dispel this belief.

Susan: These Jewish leaders seemed to assume that only Jews as God’s chosen people would be attending the heavenly banquet. They may have thought God’s invitation was only extended to righteous Jews, probably not people deemed to be “unclean” or certainly not Gentiles. They had forgotten that God’s promise to Abraham was not exclusive to Israel but included people of all nations who would trust in the One True God and ultimately, His Messiah.

Susie: They were too myopic to see that God intended to extend a blessing to all nations using the descendants of Abraham as His conduit.

Genesis 26:4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

Luke 14:16-17 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

Susie: Jesus launches into a parable to prove the point that all types of people are invited, but few respond to the invitation.

Susan: I would suppose that people invited to such a fantastic feast would clear their calendars long in advance of that date and be prepared to attend. If it were me, I would work hard to afford a new dress for the occasion because I’m a girly girl.

Susie: However, these potential guests did not seem that excited about the invitation. Apparently, no one had RSVP’d that they did not plan to attend, so the man, assuming they were all coming, sent out the servant to announce that dinner was ready. People were invited ahead of time but the exact time for the feast to begin would be announced only after everything was set up and ready.

Susan: Therefore, the servant was sent out to ring the dinner bell!

Susie: These pre-invited guests represent the Jewish nation, who had ample evidence in the Old Testament scriptures pointing to the coming of the Messiah and this heavenly banquet. They were the first to receive the invitation to trust the One whom God would send beginning with Eve to whom God promised a descendant who would stomp Satan on the head.

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Luke 14:18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

Susie: Jesus uses hyperbole here saying “all” the invited guests made excuses.

Susan: All the originally invited guests (symbolic of the Jewish nation) declined the invitation or at least “begged off” for this particular date.

Susie: The Jews as a whole did not acknowledge or trust Jesus as their Messiah. Thus, they refused to attend the feast.

Susan: Again, we would like to point out that there were Jews who believed and accepted Jesus’s call to follow Him, thus confirming their attendance at the marriage feast of the Lamb. Among these would be His disciples, the women who followed him, believing Pharisees such as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, as well as all who placed their trust in Him.

Susie: It seemed as if they had conferred with one another, for they all gave similar reasons for not coming to the party. The point of this passage is that all the excuses were flimsy. After all, who buys a piece of property sight unseen?

Susan: I didn’t know they had “flippers” in ancient Israel! In actuality, the man may have wanted to survey his land; but it seems he just wanted to avoid the banquet because evening would not be the optimum time to take a closer look at the farm. His land would still be there after the party since he already owned it.   

Luke 14:19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

Susan: He would not have bought these beasts of labor without trying them out first. If the oxen don’t plow well, the farmer cannot plant as much and his crop yield will suffer. Therefore, he might not eat.

Susie: Either this man is a total clodhopper or again, he is lying to get out of attendance at the feast. I believe these excuses demonstrate a total disrespect of the man throwing the banquet. Just as the leaders of the Jews completely disrespected our Lord, Jesus.

Susan: This would be like a girl who suddenly has a sick headache or an urgent need to wash her hair when the boy comes to pick her up for prom! This is obviously an excuse and not a reason.

Luke 14:20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

Susie: Newlywed men were excused from military service or business that would call them away from home in order to help his wife transition from her home to his and solidify the marriage relationship. However, this did not mean they could not attend enjoyable social functions.

Deuteronomy 24:5 When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.

Susan: In reality, meeting the man’s friends would help the young wife to acclimate to life as a married woman representing her husband and household.

Susie: All in all, these were lame excuses. The invited guests were quite rude to the host by not letting him know beforehand and making up excuses at the last minute. They represent the Israelites who should have been the first to recognize and honor the Messiah but instead rejected Jesus and plotted to kill Him.

Luke 14:21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

Susie: The servant reports back to his master that all the invited guests have made excuses not to attend. The man throwing the feast is incensed and rightly so. He had invited his peers in society. Since they refused; and he already had all that food prepared, he sent the servant to invite the outcasts—" the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.”

Susan: Wow! This would be me!

Susie: This group would represent people who were still Jewish but would not be considered worthy to attend the heavenly feast by the Pharisees with whom Jesus sat at the table.

Luke 14:22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

Susie: The servant reported back that he had invited all the outcasts, and many had come in to the feast, but there was still room at the tables for more.

Susan: There is always room until all is fulfilled for one more surrendered heart.

Luke 14:23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Susie: Therefore, the Lord of the banquet sent him back out to the highways and hedges which symbolizes the Gentile nations. He was to compel them to come in.

Susan: In modern usage, “compel” has a connotation of force. However, the servant was to be persuasive and engaging, compelling them with his words.

Susie: The man throwing the feast would not be satisfied until his house was completely filled with guests. Our Lord, in His divine plan, has built a kingdom with plenty of room for both Jews and Gentiles, all who are redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

Luke 14:24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

Susie: The host then declares that none of those excuse-makers would ever be allowed to dine at his banquet. Those Jews who rejected Jesus during His time as the God-Man on earth, and died in their sin, never having trusted Him, will not enter heaven. This is the reality for all who refuse the gracious gift of salvation that was purchased by Jesus on the cross.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ponder this and Apply it: The Lord invites us to partake of the Bread of Life and the Living Water, the spiritual feast found in a saving relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ. Like those outcasts and those in the bushes, we have done nothing to deserve the invitation; but by grace He has extended it to us. Have you been making excuses to Jesus, refusing to accept the gift of salvation because you are too busy living your earthly life? God is gracious to forgive us and offer us a place in His kingdom, but it is a limited time offer. If you have not already done so, respond positively to the invitation to surrender your life to Jesus. The ROI (return on investment) cannot be beat. We lay our sinful selves at His feet with nothing to offer Him, and He bestows upon us peace in this life and the promise of eternal life in paradise with Him.

Sunday, August 26, 2018

LUKE 14:12-14 BE BLESSED BY HOSTING THE HUMBLE


BE BLESSED BY
HOSTING THE HUMBLE
LUKE 14:12-14

Luke 14:12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee.

Susie: Jesus is still dining at the home of a leader among the Pharisees. He now turns his attention to this host and talks to him about the guest list for his parties.

Susan: This cannot be an excuse for not inviting difficult family members over for a meal. What matters is the motivation of your heart. 

Susie: Don’t be thinking to yourself, “I’ll invite my rich friend over for stew, and maybe he’ll return the favor by taking me out for prime rib.”

Susan: You should not invite only people who can repay your kindness for kindness.

Luke 14:13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

Luke 14:13 (VOICE) Instead, invite the poor, the amputees, the cripples, the blind.

Susan: I’m on Jesus’s guest list in at least 3½ out of the four examples! Seriously, though, we are to minister to the “least of these” which, according to Jesus, is the same as doing the good deed for and to Him.

Matthew 25:34-40 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Susie: This potential guest list is comprised of people who most likely will never be able to pay you back, at least not in kind. They may pray for you which is better than inviting you over for a small meal.

Susan: I take pleasure in being able to intercede for others because it is a privilege to humbly perform a duty similar to that of Christ who is ever interceding for us. Therefore, I am blessed to intercede for those who God has put in a position to help me along the way.

Romans 8:34b (NASB) Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Luke 14:14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

Susie: Even though the poor, disabled, blind or in other ways looked at by many people as “less than” ourselves may never be able to repay a kindness, those who minister to them will be blessed.

Susan: I am blessed to be a poor, disabled, visually impaired amputee because I know that I know that I know it must be Jesus who enables me to do anything worth doing. He deserves all the credit, honor, and glory I can offer Him.

Susie: We pray and trust that Jesus will bless those who bless us in any way, here on earth and certainly when He returns. Those who help people who cannot possibly pay them back will be rewarded by the Lord. This is one way that they are laying up treasure for themselves in Heaven.

Matthew 6:19-21 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Ponder this and Apply it: Jesus has used these illustrations to drive home the point that we need to be humble guests and gracious hosts. In both instances, we are not to consider ourselves higher and mightier than others. Not deserving of the best place and not too good to associate with certain other people. Sometimes it is far too easy to justify looking down on others (homeless people, addicts, beggars). Sometimes we treat disabled or mentally impaired people with less respect than we should. God’s kingdom is open to all who believe, who trust Jesus as Savior, regardless of social status, color, income, or abilities.  Make a point this week to be kind to someone you might normally avoid. Do something nice for someone who is unable to do anything for you.

Romans 12:16 (CJB) Be sensitive to each other’s needs — don’t think yourselves better than others, but make humble people your friends. Don’t be conceited.

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

LUKE 14:7-11 HAUGHTY MAN HUMBLED: HUMBLE MAN HONORED


HAUGHTY MAN HUMBLED:
HUMBLE MAN HONORED
LUKE 14:7-11

Luke 14:7 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them.

Susan: This follows immediately after the host and his guests were exasperated by Jesus’s behavior because they did not agree with His breaking their man-made traditions by healing on the Sabbath.

Susie: After healing the man on the Sabbath and leaving the Pharisees in attendance at the meal speechless, Jesus noticed something about the guests. They were each trying to elbow their way to the best seats, the ones closest to the head of the table.

Susan: They all wanted to be seen as being favored by the host, a prominent Pharisee, a leader.

Matthew 23:5-6 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues

Susie: Jesus gives them a bit of social etiquette advice.

Luke 14:8-9 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

Susie: Apparently, wedding banquets did not have place cards showing the guests where to sit. Therefore, Jesus tells them not to assume that they are one of the most honored guests and sit down at the head table.

Susan: Someone may come in who is of greater importance to the host or has a higher standing in society. Then both they and their host would suffer embarrassment and humiliation when the host has to tell them to move to the back of the room so this VIP can have the best place.

Susie: Thinking too highly of oneself is also advised against by the Apostles Peter and Paul.
1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, you who are less experienced, submit to leaders. Further, all of you should clothe yourselves in humility toward one another, because

God opposes the arrogant,
but to the humble he gives grace.

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Susan: Any talent, any importance we have is a gift from God, and we are stewards of it. Therefore, we should not be prideful and think ourselves more deserving than anyone else.

Luke 14:10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

Susan: Choose the worse seat in the house, the one of lesser importance. Then when the host comes, he may decide to elevate where you are seated, singling you out for honor.

Susie: Then, instead of being embarrassed and humiliated, you will be admired by the other guests for having been given such an honor. They may also respect your humility in not thinking yourself to be better than them. A win-win situation.

Proverbs 25:6-7 Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men:For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.

Luke 14:11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Susie: If you pridefully sit in the high place, you might be knocked down; but if you humbly choose the last seat, you have nowhere to go but up.

Susan: If we elevate ourselves, we are virtually putting a target on our backs for those arrogant and haughty to people to come and knock us off our high horse. If we give all the glory to God and wait on Him to lift us up, there is no one who can take that from us since the Lord Himself gave it to us.

2 Samuel 22:28 (NIV) You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Ponder this and Apply it: Self-aggrandizement, pride, is putting yourself in the place of God rather than humbly, gratefully giving the Lord all the glory for any achievement in your life. In a way, pride is the opposite of thankfulness. God elevates those with a servant’s heart. May we seek to serve rather than to desire prestige. Make a point this week to give God the credit and the glory for any success great or small in your life. Then honor Him with praise and thanksgiving.

Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Sunday, August 19, 2018

LUKE 14:1-6 DROPSY DEFEATED ON SABBATH


DROPSY DEFEATED ON SABBATH
LUKE 14:1-6

Luke 14:1 And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.

Susan: The question popped into my head, “What was a chief Pharisee?”

Susie: After skimming several websites, looking up the Greek word translated “chief,” and reading the verse in other versions of the Bible, we have concluded that there appears to be no official hierarchy among the Pharisees of Jesus’s day. Therefore, we feel that this man may have been someone who stood out as a leader among the Pharisees.

Susan: Perhaps he was a mentor to the other Pharisees, well-respected by his peers.

Susie: Apparently, this prominent Pharisee had invited Jesus to share his family’s Sabbath meal. We are not told if he was truly interested in following Jesus or not, but the implication given by “they watched him,” is that if not this man, at least others in the home were watching to see if Jesus made any gross errors in tradition.

Susan: In other words, did the Pharisee invite Jesus for a genuine learning experience or for sinister, deceptive reasons? Or were there other people at the table who desired to entrap and embarrass Jesus?

Susie: The word does not make clear the intent of the chief Pharisee’s heart, but the passage strongly implies that the group of people there did not approve of or believe Jesus.

Luke 14:2 And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.

Susie: There’s a word that has fallen out of common usage—what is “dropsy?”

American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828

DROPSY, noun [L, Gr., water; the face. Formerly written hydropisy; whence by contraction, dropsy ] In medicine, an unnatural collection of water, in an part of the body, proceeding from a greater effusion of serum by the exhalant arteries, than the absorbents take up. It occurs most frequently in persons of lax habits, or in bodies debilitated by disease. The dropsy takes different names, according to the part affected; as ascites, or dropsy of the abdomen; hydrocephalus, or water in the head; anasarca, or a watery swelling over the whole body; etc.

Susie: The man probably had swelling that was obvious to the naked eye. Jesus, of course, noticed him immediately.
Susan: Today there are medicines and surgical procedures that alleviate much of this problem. I had many friends at the boarding school I attended who had shunts to drain fluid due to hydrocephalus.

Susie: However, this man had no need of modern medicine, as we will see.

Susan: The Great Physician was on the scene!

Luke 14:3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?

Susie: Many times, Pharisees have tried to tell Jesus that it was wrong to heal on the Sabbath. This time, it is Jesus who poses the question to them before He proceeds.

Susan: To me, His question comes across as mocking or facetious.

Susie: Jesus, of course, knows the answer since He has given it many times.

Luke 6:9 Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?

Luke 14:4 And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;

Susan: I think the people held their peace because they knew Jesus could shut them up, and they didn’t want to be embarrassed.

Susie: Some of these people had probably already witnessed Jesus healing on the Sabbath and heard His logic and correct interpretation that healing was a good deed and, therefore, lawful on the Sabbath. However, these acts of kindness on a day when work was to cease, still chafed the Pharisees strict, nit-picky following of tradition. Jesus taught that the Sabbath was a day given to men to rest, not to cause them to struggle with the letter of man-made traditions associated with it.

Mark 2:27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

Mark 2:27 (NLT) Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.

Mark 3:4-6 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

Susan: After posing His rhetorical question, Jesus turned back to the man. In no time at all, with no medical intervention, the man was miraculously freed from the fluid-filled swelling by the Great Physician.

Susie: Jesus had probably taken hold of the man in some way because the verse then states that He let him go. Note that the man with dropsy never says a word. Jesus simply saw him and compassionately chose to heal him. Had he been an invited guest? I doubt it since Pharisees did not associate with people who had infirmities. Had he just wandered in off the street hoping to be healed? Maybe. The Bible doesn’t tell us.

Susan: The man was at the right place, at the right time to be an object lesson to the Pharisees.

Susie: God had perfectly timed the man’s entrance whether the man was aware of it or not.

Susan: The man ended up being blessed by the healing power of Jesus, the Messiah!



Luke 14:5 And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?

Susie: I didn’t see the guests ask a question. Did you see them ask a question?

Susan: Jesus was in their heads. He knew the question they were thinking, the one He had asked them earlier.

Susie: Once again, Jesus points out the fallacy of their Sabbath traditions that would allow them to minister to their domestic beasts but not to a fellow human being.

Luke 13:15-16 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

Luke 14:6 And they could not answer him again to these things.

Susan: They were dumbfounded by Jesus’s words of wisdom.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers as quoted at https://biblehub.com/luke/14-6.htm
And they could not answer him again.--The Greek is, perhaps, a little more emphatic--"They had no power, they were powerless to answer him."

Ponder this and Apply it: The Pharisees were constantly criticizing Jesus for healing on the Sabbath, but He continued to do so because He was breaking no law. It is always right to show compassion to a person created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). Hypothetical question for you: If you saw a person in need of medical attention, but stopping to help would mean missing Sunday worship, would you help?


Tuesday, August 14, 2018

LUKE 13:31-35 HEROD WAS HELPLESS BECAUSE THE FATHER IS FAITHFUL


HEROD WAS HELPLESS BECAUSE
THE FATHER IS FAITHFUL
LUKE 13:31-35

Luke 13:31 The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.

Susan: Since Jesus had been venturing into Perea which was a part of Herod’s territory, the Jews warned Jesus that Herod had issued a death warrant for Him. However, this was not because they necessarily wanted to save Jesus from Herod. There was no love lost between the Pharisees and Herod. They may have been trying to move Jesus back into their own jurisdiction in Judea because they wanted to be the ones to arrest Him.

Susie: The Pharisees were kind of the pot calling the kettle black since they were plotting Jesus’s demise themselves!

John 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Susan: We must point out that not all Jews wanted Jesus dead. His disciples were Jewish, and even some of the Pharisees—most notably Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea—secretly followed Him.

Luke 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected5048.

Susie: Describing someone as a “fox” was calling them crafty, but worthless. Foxes were also a symbol of destruction as they tore up crops. Jesus had perfect divine prerogative to put this label on Herod just as prophets were often called upon to confront leaders.

Susan: A well-known example would be when Nathan confronted David with his sins of adultery and murder (2 Samuel 12:7).

Susie: “Today, tomorrow, and the third day” are not meant to indicate a specific three-day time period. It is Jesus’s way of saying He was going to continue at His own pre-ordained pace to accomplish the mission the Father had for Him, namely becoming the final Passover Lamb to die on the cross.

Susan: He would be “perfected” when He had given His life for those who would trust Him, those chosen by the Father, because that would be the fulfillment of His purpose on earth. God sent Jesus expressly to redeem His people.

The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible

5048 tĕlĕiŏō – to complete, i.e. (lit.) accomplish or (fig.) consummate (in character): consecrate, finish, fulfill, (make) perfect.

Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Luke 13:33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and tomorrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

Susie: Jesus reiterates that He is on God’s timetable rather than that of Herod or any other man. He knew Herod would not, could not kill Him in Perea or Galilee because as John states in his gospel over and over, “His time had not yet come.”

John 7:6 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.

John 7:30 Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.

John 8:20 These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.

Susan: If our Father had a specific plan and time table for His son, He also has a plan for each and every one of us, His children, to fulfill.

Susie: God is sovereign, and His plans cannot be thwarted. He sees what will be even before it has begun.

Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Psalm 139:16 (CJB)      Your eyes could see me as an embryo, but in your book all my days were already written; my days had been shaped before any of them existed.

Jeremiah 1:4-5 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Susie: Not every prophet who died was killed in Jerusalem. However, many of the Jewish prophets died at the hands of their fellow Jews, not those of an enemy. Once again, Luke uses this to underscore Jesus’s determination to make Jerusalem His final destination.

Luke 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

Susie: Jesus laments over the city of Jerusalem. Rather than listening to the prophets and obeying what God said through them, they often had rebelled against God and killed His prophets. One example is the stoning of Zechariah in the very courtyard of the temple!

2 Chronicles 24:20-21 And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord.

Susan: Despite Israel’s constant rebellion, the Lord described His parental inclination to protect and shelter them with the example of a mother hen gathering her chicks under her wings. There, they are sheltered from rain or sun and hidden from peril and predators.

Susie: However, the Jewish leaders had rejected God’s protection and were now poised to have the Son of God, the Messiah, crucified! Jesus weeps over their rejection. Those who do trust in Jesus, those who place their faith in God are sheltered and protected by Him.

Ruth 2:12 The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

Luke 13:35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Susan: The nation of Israel, by rejecting Jesus as Messiah, had removed themselves from the protective covering of the Lord.

Susie: In A.D. 70, the temple and much of the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed by the Romans, left desolate. As history has shown, the people of the Jewish nation were scattered abroad and persecuted. They are now once more a nation, and in the end times, many Jews will recognize Jesus as the Messiah, in essence saying, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” Therefore, Jesus is holding out hope for Israel in the future.

Ponder this and Apply it: Although this passage is speaking of the nation of Israel, we as individuals can seek refuge under the mighty wings of God as Ruth did. When we place our trust in Jesus, we are adopted into God’s family, thus becoming His “chicks” or in another analogy, His “sheep”. The Lord is both our mother hen and our Good Shepherd. Nothing can remove us from the security of being in His hands.

John 10:27-29 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.