Monthly Archives: October 2014

Luke says Jesus sobbed – He got all torn up.

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt (Luke 19:28-36).
Some folks were giddy with excitement while others were furious (Luke 19:37-39).

Part of the crowd welcomed Christ as their earthly sovereign whom they thought had come to establish the Davidic kingdom and overthrow the Roman empire.

A smaller segment of the people experienced anger towards Jesus because they interpreted his ride into the city as rank arrogance and blasphemy. Somewhere between all of this praise and verbal aggression, Jesus cried.

“Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it”
(Luke 19:41). It’s interesting to note that according to the Greek, the word “wept” in verse Luke 19:41 is different from the word used of Jesus at Lazarus’ tomb.

The word in John 11:35, means “to weep silently.” But the word here in Luke 19, refers to laments and sobs.
It’s the same word employed in Luke 8:52, when folks were upset over the death of Jarius’ daughter.

Think about it for just a moment. Jesus didn’t just weep and cry over Jerusalem. He sobbed; He got all torn up.

God has:

chosen
nurtured
loved
forgiven
chastened
protected
and restored her.

And yet she rejected and killed the prophets–and would soon crucify the Son of God. And just as she was judged by the Babylonians in 586 B.C., she would again be judged, in A.D. 70, by the Romans.

Josephus claims that 1,100,000 people were killed during the siege of Jerusalem, and that 97,000 were captured and enslaved. H.H. Milman, in The History of the Jews, notes:

“The slaughter within was even more dreadful
than the spectacle from without. Men and
women, old and young, insurgents and
priests, those who fought and those who
entreated mercy, were hewn down in
indiscriminate carnage. The number of the
slain exceeded that of the slayers. The
legionaries had to clamber over heaps of
dead to carry on the work of extermination.”

The sad thing about it all was that Jerusalem refused to see what was going to happen to her again (Luke 19:43-44; Matthew 24:2).

She was blind to her own iniquities and inevitable doom. But Jesus wasn’t; He could see her sins and deficiencies all too well. He knew her streets would run red with blood. And that got him “all torn up.” He didn’t just weep, he sobbed.

May I ask a personal question, dear reader?

What gets you all torn up?

As you contemplate the spiritual plight of millions who are lost in sin and headed for eternity in a devil’s hell (Matthew 7:13-14; Matthew 7:21-23), what gets you all torn up?

As you think about your own deliberate sins and how they separate you from the pardon of Jehovah (Hebrews 10:26-31), what gets you all torn up?

As you ponder loved ones who embrace religious error and division (1 Corinthians 1:10-13; 1 Corinthians 3:1- 4), what gets you all torn up?

As you recall the awful price paid on Calvary’s mount on your behalf (2 Corinthians 5:21), what gets you all torn up?

Luke says that Jesus sobbed. He got all torn up.

Think about it.

–by Mike Benson

Am I my brother’s keeper?

It was Cain, of course, who asked this question.

“The Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel, your brother?’
He said, ‘I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?'”
(Genesis 4:9).

It was a rhetorical question. Cain meant, “Of course I’m not responsible for my brother’s welfare!” Seldom in history has anyone been more wrong. “Yes Cain, you are your brother’s keeper.”

So can I move the apostrophe over for a moment? “Am I my brother’s keeper” (see the punctuation mark between the “r” and the “s”?) Put it after the “s.” Am I my brothers’ keeper? Because, beloved, we are. We are to look after all our brothers and sisters.

They say that in churches 20% of the people do 80% of the work. That means that 8 out of 10 church members basically sit in pews and do nothing for God’s kingdom.
Their inaction becomes a lifetime habit.

I urge you to begin a lifetime habit of service to your local congregation. Mentor little children! Visit elderly saints! Teach Bible classes! Volunteer to help!

Get to know, not just friends your own age, but those from different demographic groups. Greet visitors before you greet your friends. The latter (that is, your friends) will still be there after you’ve met the newcomer.

Your local congregation provides you with Biblical preaching, rejoices when you rejoice, weeps with you when you weep, provides a pool of Christian friends, mentors, and offers opportunities to serve.

As author and preacher Dan Winkler put it:

“The church ‘somewhere’ cannot weep with us when we weep,’ cannot serve us when we are in need, cannot provide guidance when you’re lost. Every Christian should be a part of a local church. “Floating members make sinking churches!”/1

Every Christian should feel the responsibility for his congregation, its moral and spiritual health, its unity, its faithfulness to God and his word! Frequently Christians want all the blessings of a church without the responsibilities of a church.

So I have just one question for you. Where is your brother (or sister)? You are their keeper!

–by Stan Mitchell

God’s ever-present help

“Be diligent to come to me quickly; for
Demas has forsaken me, having loved this
present world, and has departed for
Thessalonica” (2 Timothy 4:9-10 NKJV).

Occasionally over the years of travel I have found myself unexpectedly alone in strange places. I have known of others also who were in similar circumstance, by themselves with limited knowledge and resources for dealing with unfamiliar situations.

Once I had to leave a companion behind at a foreign airport, because the correct papers for flying back into the United States had not been filed.

On another occasion a friend spent more than a week trying to deal with customs issues. More commonly I have traveled alone spending several days en route without company.

It would not be difficult, nor perhaps inappropriate, to read a little human despair or discouragement into the words of Paul as he described his lonely state.
Imprisoned in Rome, under sentence of death, left by his most trusted associates, he pled with Timothy to hurry to him.

Yes, Luke was there, so he was not totally abandoned, but even late in his life Paul had goals yet to accomplish and time was running short. He needed help–not just human companionship, but fellow laborers who could assist him in his important work. Hence his appeal to Timothy.

It is often observed that humans are social creatures.
From creation it has not been good for us to be alone (Genesis 2:18). Even Jesus could express the feeling of abandonment.

His most poignant words on the cross were “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). However one may interpret the meaning and purpose of that cry, it serves to illustrate the human need for help.

Thankfully, help is assured to all who are in Christ.

“For where two or three are gathered
together in my name, I am there in the midst
of them” (Matthew 18:20).

“If God is for us, who can be against us”
(Romans 8:31)?

God’s help is certain, and he will not abandon us. Nothing can separate us from his love in Christ (Romans 8:38-39). We cannot go anywhere that he does not see and hear us (Psalm 139:7-12).

We cannot ask for anything which he is not able to provide (Ephesians 3:20).

As vital and true as it is that we trust in God’s ever- present help, this does not diminish the value and need of human assistance as well. At least part of the reason for the establishment of the Church is to provide fellowship in work, worship, and all of the challenges of life.

Christians are not asked to resist Satan alone. Nor are we expected to do the work of Christ by ourselves. Help is provided. Paul described the process by which the Church can succeed:

“But, speaking the truth in love, may grow
up in all things into Him who is the head–
Christ–from whom the whole body, joined
and knit together by what every joint
supplies, according to the effective working
by which every part does its share, causes
growth of the body for the edifying of
itself in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16).

The church, and every member within it, is brought to maturity and completion by mutual effort. What each one does helps support and encourage every other person.
None are insignificant.

by Michael E. Brooks