Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

We recall the last US combat death of World War II:  Charles Havlat.  A cease fire had been declared 9 minutes before, but word hadn't quite got to the front lines yet.

Similarly, we'll meet today the last SIN-TAKING lamb in history.  All the sin-taking after this moment was not from a lamb, but from the Lamb of God.  

It is Thursday morning of the Great Week.  Jesus is likely still in Bethany and sends John and Peter into Jerusalem to prepare the Passover.  It is a big deal: purchasing a lamb, spices, side dishes and then roasting it for a number of hours, all before sunset.  This is the last meal of Jesus on earth.  He will never eat again.

What struck me this morning is that this event was likely just after Jesus awoke from sleep from Wednesday night to Thursday morning.  This was the last time He SLEPT ON EARTH.  Thursday evening is the passover.  Thursday night is the Gethsemane and arrest and interrogations all night long.  Friday morning is the scourging and crucifixion.  He is busy saving the world as the Lamb of God from here on out.

Join me and listen.  Like I said yesterday...we are just getting to the good stuff! Thank you for listening.  Subscribe at your favorite podcast provider.

Today is the 365th episode of Be With Me.  A Year of daily 7 minute segments that seek to find and revel in the Lord Himself.  We call it wonder.

I'm grateful today for faithful listeners.  I'm even more grateful today for not so faithful listeners. 

We learn today that the Lord's mercy is new every morning HERE.  My wonder today is to how that will continue.  I think that the Lord's mercies will be new every morning THERE too.  That is, in heaven.  Could it be that the mercies NEVER COME TO AN END?  What a treat we are in for.

Join me as we DIG to find the Guy who buried the treasure.  What is He like?  The passage today refers to that as "The Lord is my PORTION."  ie: you get ME! We are just getting to the good stuff in this podcast. Keep listening.  Starting with today.  Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or Podcast Addict or send me an email at [email protected]

Poetically, 30 pieces of Silver was the price paid for the life of a slave.  (Ex 21:32) Jesus was initially priced as a slave.  Likely, it was meant as an adequate amount enough that the thief Judas would be interested, but poetically disrespectfully low enough to insult Jesus.

But then after Judas has a change of his assessment in Mt 27:9 he brings the money back and throws it in the temple.  Then we find out the real kicker:  this act fulfills a PROPHECY.  What? Judas fulfills a prophecy?  Yup. 

Back in Zechariah 11:11-13, the prophet Zechariah's work was valued at 30 pieces of silver.  He asked the people for his wages and they assessed it at 30 pieces of silver.  Not enough.  Outrage.  Insult.  The Lord told him to throw it into the temple at a potter who was sitting there.  We find the prophet of God grossly mis-valued by the people.  Judas will do the same thing 500 years later.

But the Matthew passage says it fulfills a prophecy in JEREMIAH.  That's from Jeremiah 19:1-15 that also references a potter that makes a pot that is broken in judgment against a stiff-necked, rebellious people.  If Zechariah describes the event, then Jeremiah describes the era.  It is the hour of judgement against Israel.  I think Jesus is proclaiming a similar hour. 

The mis-valuing of the prophet was first done by the people of Zechariah's time.
The amount was rejected and thrown into the temple.
The mis-valuing of the Son of God was then done by Judas.
the amount was rejected and thrown into the temple.
So even JUDAS realized that 30 pieces of silver wasn't enough!

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There is a PLOT agains Jesus.  There are secret meetings, secret thoughts, and secret payments.  The disciples are surprised.  The Chief Priests think they are surprising Jesus. 

No, Jesus knew all along that Judas was not a believer.  Jesus knew there was a devil among the 12 who would betray Him. (John 6:64, 70)

In fact, Jesus has been waiting for this moment since Noah got off the boat.  There, we find that the virus of sin continues to infect mankind.  The Flood and the destruction did not in fact cleanse the heart of man.  So not only is Jesus waiting the three years of His public ministry, He is waiting for the 1000's of years since NOAH to get this rescue mission underway.  When the betrayal happens, it is as if Jesus is saying:  "I've been waiting for this.  I've been expecting you.  I knew all along."  Why?  So that He can do what only He can do:  S-A-V-E sinners.

I'm pretty sure the betrayal of a friend did not feel very good.  In my opinion, it was the most 'painful' part of the crucifixion.  I am not underestimating the scope of the physical pain.  That was horrible too. Listen and see if you agree.

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When you get to "Stand before the Son of Man" in heaven, here's my advice:  Just fall down. Just bow down.  Who can stand before His glory, judgment, wrath, redemptive goodness, sovereignty, etc?  You get the picture.  Just bow down when that moment comes.

In the meantime, the passage today tells us what we should be doing in the meantime.  Some are cautionary items.  Finally, He tells us to be 'in conversation' with Him.  Pray.  Have the Holy Spirit be doing His job in your heart.

Dissipation was one of the cautionary items.  It means to have squandered or scattered something that you should have been stewarding.  So, at the end, when there was to have been some sort of a faithful offering at the judgement seat of Christ, there was...wait for it...nothing.  Yikes, let's not be that guy or gal.  Let us not have scattered and wasted the gifts of common grace, or energy, or resources, or giftedness to the church.

Let us be ready enough to when we hear the trumpet sound, to "straighten up, raise your head, for your redemption is drawning near".  Let us also be ready when we "stand before" Him, to FALL DOWN.  Listen and let's get ready together. 

The tree I am looking at right now will pass away and everything like it.  Why?  It is tainted by the fall.  Broken.  Impaired.  We are going to get a whole new set of sky and land that isn't contaminated when this is all over.  Look around you, every person and every thing is stained by the fall...except for ONE THING.

God's Word.  Was perfect. Is Perfect. Will be perfect.  No need to destroy or remake it.  It is already perfect.

Now our STUDY of it is flawed, our readings have some error, your podcaster has some sin that affects his view, our considerations are incomplete, our interpretations sometimes are not correct.  Occasionally though, we hit the mark and make it through to admiration AWE and AWE-STONISHMENT as we 'see the face of God' with our current study.  But I am the weak link, not the WORD.

So will there be Bible S-T-U-D-Y in heaven?  I don't think so.  When our flawed-ness goes away, we will perfectly enjoy the perfect Word. That won't be a Bible STUDY, it will be a Bible PARTY that goes on day after heavenly day.  Listen today and see if we get to Bible PARTY or if this was a flawed, limited, inaccurate, incomplete STUDY.

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Today's message about the end of the world as we know it just charmed me.  Everything is hitting the fan:  nature is going crazy. Powers of heaven are shaken. Signs in sun moon and stars. earth is in distress.

No surprise that people are freaking out.  Perplexity.  Fainting.  Foreboding.

And then it happens:  Jesus Comes Back.  Just like He said He would.  On a cloud with His GLORY being displayed.  His character and characteristics are not being shrouded at all.

So what then is the response of believers?  Are they shrinking in fear and distress?  NOPE.  they straighten up, raise their heads and say, "HEY, MY RIDE IS HERE!"  I got a big kick out of this this morning.  Listen and see if you do too.

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Before Jesus leaves the earth, He spends a considerable amount of time clarifying His COMING BACK.  This is in a substantial piece of Scriptural Real Estate called the Olivet Discourse.  It teaches, warns and reassures about His return and about all the craziness that is going to happen.

Yup.  Just crazy.  Woes in the World.  Woes for Christians.   Woes in the family.  The details are a little scary, even terrifying if you miss the good parts.

The good part, the best part as I read today was the PRESERVATION of RELATIONSHIP for the believer.  In many ways, things don't change for the believer.  If anything, they get BETTER.  So God warns about all the noise, but reassures and even enhances His PRESENCE with us.  He's gonna give us a witness and arguments that have UNWITHSTANDABILITY. Bingo.

You might get killed during this time, but you are not going to PERISH. He's got this.  And He's got YOU as You got this; as you go through this.  Listen as you Wait FOR the One WITH the One.

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When is "small" MORE THAN "large?"
We have to do the Lord's crazy math to figure this out.  We probably have to see as God sees, and judge as God judges.

We look at "the Widow's Mite" story.  There is more here than meets the eye.  Jesus knows all kinds of things that a casual observer wouldn't know.  Right from the start, He seems to be observing with His 'God-eyes'.  I just made that concept up.

He sees she is poor.  He sees that she gives two coins.  He also sees that she is a widow.  Perhaps all of those things could be seen from a human standpoint.  Then He sees that this is EVERYTHING SHE HAS; That this is ALL SHE HAD TO LIVE ON.

Here is the crazy math part: Jesus pronounces that the SMALL that she gives is GREATER THAN the LARGE amounts given by others.

I think this only works as we add to the "small" side of the equation some of the other stuff that Jesus sees:  The Lord looks at the heart; the Lord sees everything; the Lord values and judges.  He sees her trust.  He sees her willingness to go right to the edge.

We get all of this for the price of two lepta:  about $1 in today's dollars. Listen and see if it is worth it.

Jesus loves 'Jerusalem', and all that she represents.  He says He loves her like a CHICKEN.  He is funny like that.  He loves us like we are under His wing.  It is beautiful.  He flutters over us. He fusses over us.

We are finishing a long diatribe against the Pharisees and it has been a journey worth taking.  We are humbled.  We are listening.  We are censured.

Today, we confront a WRONG VIEW OF HISTORY.  The Pharisees say they would have honored the prophets if they had just lived in that time.  Yet, the greatest revelation of God was literally standing in front of them, and they refused to see HIM.  In fact they wanted to kill Him. They view themselves as the HERO OF HISTORY yet they are the FAILURES OF THE PRESENT.

So today, if we get opportunity to KNOW GOD better, or to ACT better, or to be corrected, let us embrace the conviction.  If we find the Lord FLUTTERING OVER US like a mother eagle or a chicken, let's receive it GLADLY.  Let's listen one last time and see what correction the pharisees might have for us.  Thank you for listening and following and wondering.