Luke
23 – 24
Verse 23:8 has Jesus before Herod:
Herod was fascinated to meet Jesus
for he had heard about Him for a long time. He was hoping he might be treated
to a miracle or two.
If you had someone before you who had reported to do
miracles, would you not want to see one? The interesting thing was the way
Jesus did his miracles; it was not to satisfy a hard heart, but rather to
change hearts. Look at all that were done, they were not done to impress people
but rather to change their hearts. Often God is mocked by unbelievers who want
a believer to walk across their swimming pool, yet nothing happens. Why? I am
sure if God revealed himself, the short term impact would be great but unless
the miracles were directed at the heart they would be forgotten quickly.
Think about it, God parted the Red Sea and the hearts of
Israel were quickly turned away for a Golden Calf. Yet Jesus walked on water
and 2000 years later He is changing hearts with that story. Am I a miracle of
God or medicine? All I can say is I was dead and now I am alive!!! I thank God for that as much as I can!!
Verse 23:45 has symbolic significance:
and at some point during this
darkness, the curtain in the temple was torn in two.
The significance of this is very critical when looking at
our relationship with God. You see before that point man had to interface with
priests who would go behind the curtain and interface with God. Now God is open
to all, He is not behind a curtain. Today we do not need to go someplace
special to communicate with God. With the tearing of the curtain, God
symbolically showed He is open to all.
Now as we read the Bible we notice Moses, Noah, or even post
temple prophets like Jonah and Elijah never went to the temple to communicate
with God. I often wonder if God had man erect the temple as a reminder of His
glory and man twisted it to be the only way to interface with God. Jesus
tearing down the temple was not suddenly giving us access to God, but rather
showing everyone they have access.
Now one suggestion is the temple curtain was primarily for
confession of sins, and the sacrifices involved. When Jesus died on the cross
this ended the need since His sacrifice covered all. No longer do we have to
pack up our unblemished lamb, travel to Jerusalem and have the ritual to
cleanse us of our sins. Now we just need to confess the sins and repent before
Jesus.
Verse 24:38 Jesus tries to calm his disciples:
Why are you upset? Why are your
hearts churning with questions?
Think about it they were thinking they were seeing a ghost
and not Jesus in flesh. It is easy to see how someone you saw die is suddenly
standing before you can cause some questions. Jesus is trying to bring them
peace and show them He is the Messiah. The whole triumphal march into Jerusalem
a week earlier was the disciple’s procession into battle to over throw Rome.
They did not thing the Messiah was going to lead them to HIS death on a cross.
They did not see the larger picture that the life here on earth would have evil
dictators and His salvation was not a short term freedom but an eternal
salvation and union with God.
q�|kP�