Thoughts for another day

Oct. 30, 2009

Today's verse: Mk. 10:33,34. Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again. (KJV)
(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)

Listening to the above, we feel anger; how cruel and stupid the Jews in those days were that they would condemn and slay a just and God-centered man like Him. Filled with anger, we believe if we were there, we’d fight against them with all our power and kill them for they dared touch Jesus, isn’t it?

But wait, even today we do exactly what the Jews did in those days. Shocked? I’ll explain.
Jesus told us to do many things in the Sermon on the Mount. He said, we’re the light of the world and we should shine so others looking at us will glorify the Father in heaven. Question: How many of us shine in the world? Many enlightened unbelievers have loved Jesus’ teachings and they adore the ‘man’ Jesus but sadly, they hardly find Him in His followers! Then Jesus told us to pray for our enemies. Do we do it? Leave alone enemies, we hate our own relatives; brothers hate brothers, sisters hate sisters, and so on. There’re fights over property and inheritances and when someone says, let it go, he’s your brother no? We say, brother, my foot, I am only fighting for justice!

Then there’re among us, many people of stately kind - Refined to the core - When people see us they say, ‘wow, what a wonderful person’. But inside we are messed up, like white-washed graves (remember Jesus referred the same for the Pharisees and scribes?) Ah, we like to show we’re wise and humble, but at our homes, we’re the epitome of bullying and pride. I can go on and on for I know well these things as I too indulge in them even while professing to be a man of God!

In all this don’t we mock Jesus? Don’t we spit on Him. Don’t we ridicule Him to the core? What have we made of Jesus, a slave to do our bidding? Ah, we’ve heaped everything that’s anathema upon Him and unpleasant in His sight. Are we willing to reform? That only we know. Remember, that the verse above says that Jesus rose on the third day. So there’s the promise of newer things and it sure will happen. As of now I pray that first I and then all you readers will shed our fallen nature and fall in line with God’s nature. Amen.