For all the protection of God, the nation is no longer
sovereign. There was more lost than just
a period out of their own land. They
lost their own sovereignty and were at the mercy of the kings of Persia. The Lord is sovereign over all things,
however, and works even in and through pagan kings who do not recognize
Him. Artaxerxes is able to prohibit the
people from working on the rebuilding of the city and the temple during his
reign but his successor, Darius, allowed the work to resume. The people were obedient to their earthly
ruler in not working on the city and temple.
We live in such a time as well. We
are a people without a land and we are beholden to earthly rulers. In our day we have great freedom to preach
and teach and evangelize but what use are we making of that great freedom? Are we wasting the gift of freedom and
failing to make straight the way of the Lord?
Jesus says it is easy to determine the kind of tree you're
looking at by its fruit. I may not know
much about leaves and such but I am able to distinguish between a peach, pear,
apple and cherry tree once they begin to bear fruit. Unless, that is, they bear no fruit. If such is the case and fruit is expected
then we determine the tree is barren and remove it from the orchard. Jesus says that the bitter fruit of the leaders
is evident, they themselves are evil. Unable
to receive His words, they ask for a sign.
The sign Jesus offers is the sign of Jonah, three days in the fish prior
to his own resurrection of sorts. That sign
was for repentance and the Ninevites indeed did repent. Jesus says these pagan men as well as the
queen of the south, the queen of Sheba, recognize what these do not, the
presence of God among them. They cannot
discern the tree from its fruit as well as these pagans.
Paul's letter here is to a man, Philemon, who owned a slave,
Onesimus, who had run away. This slave
was also a fellow Christian, not simply a slave but a brother in Christ. Paul clearly wants Philemon to treat this
Onesimus as a brother and not only a slave who has wronged his master. Paul says that Onesimus has been such a
comfort and help to him that he would have kept him with him but he is aware
that this would be wrong to his owner and so was unwilling to presume on the
friendship. He also offers to make
restitution out of his own resources for any economic harm or damage that was
occasioned by the absence of Onesimus. Paul
shows love for both men in all his words and actions towards them, treating
them with great respect and not lecturing on what should happen here but gently
reminding them of their obligations to one another in Christ. The laws of men do not govern this situation,
but the law of God in Christ Jesus. That
changes everything. We reveal His
sovereignty in such situations by our actions, bearing fruit in keeping with
the Spirit within us.
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