The Lord was the center of conflict. His life of healing, preaching, teaching, and compassion was not without its due share of conflict. Interestingly, there is never a record of conflict with a sinner who came to Jesus for healing, or mercy, or help in any way. He never had conflict with the outcast or a woman, those who were berated by proud male-dominated society. He never seemed to be offensive to children or the elderly. But there was one class of people who always seemed to antagonize Jesus. They were constantly rejecting His Words. They were constantly accusing Him, always falsely. They were constantly attempting to trap Him by a Red Herring or other verbal/theological entrapment. In short, they were always wanting to see Him fail and they exalted. These were religionists-Pharisees, scribes, elders. These leaders knew the Law well, knew the traditions well, knew the people well. However, they did not know God at all. Had they known God, they would never have rejected His Son or His Sons Word. What is further hard to grasp: Jesus often exacerbated the conflict. He often forced it. He often grew it and drew it out of the hearts of these hypocrites. To follow Jesus and preach His Word will mean conflict for you. This is what we will see today in John 6:53-54. Second hour, we hope to conclude Proverbs 8.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 14:11:43 +0000