Josiah set out to restore the temple and in the process
discovered the real purpose of the temple.
Initially, he instructed the priest to count out the money that the
“keepers of the threshold” had taken in, the money collected from those who
would enter the temple to worship. This
money was to be given to the overseers of the work who then were to give it to
the workmen to buy materials for the restoration. Did you notice that these were not to be
required to give an accounting of how they spent the money? The reason given was, “because they deal
honestly.” What an amazing little detail
this is and how well it speaks of the workmen that these were orders of the
king. Accountants would completely lose their minds over this. As the money is being emptied, the priest
“found” the book of the Law and realized that there was a serious problem in
the land, the nation had forgotten the covenant. The book, we presume, was
Deuteronomy, complete with the blessings and curses, because Josiah’s reforms
take the shape prescribed by Deuteronomy.
The finding of this book resulted in the fear of the Lord and a turning
back, repentance. The words were taken
seriously.
The paralytic is brought to Jesus on the faith of his
friends and this is what moves Jesus to act.
Forgiveness is proclaimed first and then healing. Which is more important? If you believe that God has indeed forgiven
you, would you not believe then that anything else He did was an act of great
mercy and compassion? Would forgiveness
have been enough? Is it enough for you
or is your faith contingent on Him doing something else in your life? The scribes were shocked at Jesus’
proclamation of forgiveness and He knew it. The healing was an outward and visible sign of
an inward and spiritual reality. The
paralytic had internalized forgiveness from God through Jesus’ speaking it and
because he did, he also had faith to believe he could rise up and walk. Now, all who see it have to come to grips
with whether Jesus does, in fact, possess the authority to speak for God.
Apparently the celebration of worship in Corinth wasn’t
exactly the ordered affair we have today.
Some were eating their own meal and others were getting drunk while some
went hungry. It would seem that they had
forgotten the reason for the gathering together as one. Paul was strident in his teaching regarding
the unity of the body of Christ, that there were no longer divisions among
people based on race, gender, finances, or any other particular because there
was unity in their confession of Jesus as Lord, all needed Him equally. When we gather for worship we leave all those
distinctions at the door but that mentality is to extend beyond the time of
corporate worship as well. The cross is
at stake when we allow ourselves to think and act in ways that separate and
divide us. We all need to be aware of
maintenance of that unity.
No comments:
Post a Comment