KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Thursday, November 15, 2018
Chapters: Luke 23-24
Message: Open Your Heart To See Jesus
Hello My Friend,
As I was reading the chapters this morning something caught my attention, Jesus is with us more than we think, but because of the hardness of our heart, He may not always reveal Himself to us. Okay, so we do not need a physical body to feel the presence of Jesus, when He truly touches us we know it. Circumstances in life often put a barrier between us and Jesus, we can be looking right at Him (through someone else helping us), and not realize it is Him. Jesus often upbraided the disciples because of the hardness of their heart, it was not that they did not believe in Him, or the Gospel, it was that they allowed the circumstance to cause them to forget His words, that was until He opened their eyes to see that He was with them all along. The strongest Christian can let circumstances harden their heart to seeing that Jesus is with them, but we we only need to have a little faith and we will see Him. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” – Romans 5:1-5.
It is interesting to read about Jesus’ passion through all four Gospels, what each person witnessed and how they tell the story, all of them have the same message, the death, burial, and resurrection, but each one reveals something different. When Jesus was captured after Judas betrayed Him He first stood before the chief priests, when they could not lawfully put Him to death they sent Him to Pilate, but Luke tells another part of the story, Pilate wanted nothing to do with this, in fact, he tried to push it off on Herod, who governor in Galilee. Herod heard all the stories about Jesus and was ecstatic to see Him, hoping he would see Him perform some miracle.
“And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing. And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him. And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate. And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves. And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. I will therefore chastise him, and release him.” – Luke 23:8-16.
“And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together:” While neither one of these men understood Jesus they knew He was not guilty of anything, let alone what they were accusing Him of. Of course, that did not stop their men from beating on Him, nor did it stop the Jews from refusing to let Him go free. There is this movement among those in the world, and it gets worse every year, that protects and glorifies the guilty and publicly humiliates and condemns those not guilty, one that will never see Jesus for who He truly is. The Jews got what they wanted, they set the murderer free, and they convict an innocent man and sentence Him to death, all because they hated everything Jesus stood as he exposed who they truly were. Jesus was crucified along with two other men who were convicted and sentenced to death. Luke tells this a little different too and this explains why the only thing you have to do to be saved is believe in Him.
“And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” – Luke 23:32-34,39-43.
“Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Right there, the man believed and when he died he was with Jesus. There are some who are so absurd as to believe that during this time Jesus was in hell, this is incorrect, Jesus never sinned, there was no remote reason as to why anyone would even come up with something that ridiculous. Catholics believe in something called purgatory, in which the soul of a person stays until their sin debt can be paid off by the living giving their tithes to the church, and if it does then they enter heaven. I believe this is where they came up with that idea, but sadly there is no purgatory, no one can pay our way to heaven, except Jesus. Yes, Jesus did say that those whom have done good will receive the resurrection of life, but that good means to accept Him as our Saviour alone. We cannot do enough good to get to heaven on our own because we are natural born sinners, it is just in our nature to sin, and we do not even have to try sometimes. Look, I get it, no one likes the thought of ending up in hell, but it has been created and reserved for the devil and his angels, along everyone else that followed him including unbelievers of Jesus. “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” – Revelation 21:8.
It is the emotions that accompany the circumstances we face that harden our heart, and we can forget what God has said to us. It often takes something that brings sorrow for us to be reminded that Jesus is right in front of us. Now, three days had gone by since Jesus died, while the ladies went to the tomb to embalm His body, the rest of His believers mourned, they just swore that He was here to save them, but now He is dead, their Saviour was gone. Of course, once the ladies discovered that the tomb was empty they went running into town, telling the disciples, and they too were dumbfounded, forgetting all the things Jesus has been saying to them. Two of His disciples are walking about talking about the situation and wondering what to make of all this.
“And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.” – Luke 24:13-21.
“But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel:” Remember, we talked about this earlier in the week? Israel long awaited their Saviour, the one who would come and set them free. These men were so distraught that they forgot what Jesus had told them, and even what the Scriptures had told about Him since Moses. Jesus went through the Scriptures, showing them every passage that spoke about His virgin birth, death, burial, and resurrection, and after their faith was renewed that was when He revealed who He was.
“But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,” – Luke 24:29-32,36-40,44-45.
“Did not our heart burn within us,” Jesus closed their eyes to seeing who He really was. Why? Unbelief in their heart. How slow is our heart that we to forget the promises of God? How slow is our heart to let go of guilt or shame because of something we did in the past? How slow is our heart that we give up on God when things look hopeless? How slow is our heart that we to resort to the things of the world when something happens that goes against our expectations? We lose sight of Jesus when our heart is hurting, and then it tends to harden to the point that we forget He is right there with us. He gives us all kinds of signs, but because we are hurting, we do not realize He is right there. This is when something happens to get our attention, something simple and not even through affliction. Then He is gonna fuss at us for the hardness of our heart, tell us that He loves us, and to get back to work. “Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” – Mark 16:14-16.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” – Luke 24:39.
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, You faced Your biggest challenge when You took the beating, the mocking, and the pain to die on the cross for my sins. I cannot thank You enough for the great sacrifice You made for me, I know You finished the work for me and that my faith in You alone is the only thing that saved me, but I want to do more than just be saved, I want to live a victorious life with You while I am still here. I has been a challenge at times to walk by faith, but I know with every challenge I face You never fail to show up. Even when I do not see you because I have hardened my heart, I know that You are with me. Lord, keep me strong in my faith, and looking to You no matter what challenges I face as I challenge myself to be more like You. Lead me and guide me, give me Your power, wisdom, mercy, and grace to step up to that challenge. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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