Greg Laurie: Daily Devotions

“When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace.” (Mark 11:15–16 NLT)

On Palm Sunday, the people in Jerusalem mistakenly celebrated Jesus as the conquering Messiah, the King who would lead the Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire. On the following day, they got a glimpse of His true agenda.

After cursing the fig tree that produced no fruit, Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem. His focus was on the spiritual, not the political. Rather than worship or teach, however, He turned His attention to the money changers and merchants in the outer court. According to the passage above from Mark 11, He cleaned house.

The question is, why?

The merchants, the people who sold animals for sacrifice, served an important purpose. The temple in Jerusalem was the center of worship for all Jewish people. People traveled great distances to attend festivals and offer required sacrifices there. Those sacrifices often involved animals such as birds, sheep, goats, and bulls. Those who didn’t raise animals themselves had to buy them somewhere. And transporting them all the way to Jerusalem was a complication many wished to avoid. So the merchants who sold animals near the Jerusalem temple provided a necessary service. Of course, they made a profit. But they weren’t necessarily gouging their customers. At least, not all of them were.

The money changers were equally important. Many people offered money as sacrifices. However, the region of Judea, where Jerusalem was located, was under the rule of the Romans. The people who lived in Judea used Roman currency. That posed a problem because Roman coins were stamped with images of Roman rulers. And Roman people worshiped their rulers as gods. So Jewish people considered their images a form of idolatry—and inappropriate for sacrifices to God.

What’s more, the Lord said to Moses in Exodus 30:13, “Each person who is counted must give a small piece of silver as a sacred offering to the Lord. (This payment is half a shekel, based on the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty gerahs)” (NLT). The money changers at the temple exchanged Roman currency for Jewish half-shekel coins.

The problem was that the merchants and money changers were infringing on worship at the temple. Their booths were originally positioned outside the temple complex. Over time, however, they moved into the outer courtyard of the temple, the area where Gentiles worshiped. The merchants and money changers were misappropriating worship space for business. That’s why Jesus drove them out.

In Psalm 69:9, David wrote, “Passion for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me” (NLT). Jesus showed His followers what passion for God’s house looks like.

Jesus prioritized worship. And He wants us to prioritize it as well. It stands to reason that He would react strongly to anyone or anything that makes it harder to worship God. We can embrace that same attitude by removing the obstacles that hinder our own personal worship.

Reflection question: How do you keep things from interfering with your worship of God?

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“The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so he went over to see if he could find any figs. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit. Then Jesus said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat your fruit again!’ And the disciples heard him say it.” (Mark 11:12–14 NLT)

Staying in Jerusalem during the Passover celebration was out of the question for Jesus, especially after His hero’s welcome on Palm Sunday. The crowds would have mobbed Him and interfered with the vital work of His final days. So He stayed in Bethany, which was less than two miles from Jerusalem. He likely stayed in the home of His friends, the siblings Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

On the day after His triumphant entry, Jesus returned to Jerusalem. On the way, He saw a fig tree that had leaves on it. Usually, fig leaves indicate that a tree has fruit. Jesus was hungry, so He approached the tree to pick a fig to eat. Instead, He discovered that the tree had no fruit.

“May no one ever eat your fruit again!” He said. Jesus cursed the tree because it bore no fruit.

This may seem out of character for Jesus, as though He lost His temper because He was fooled by vegetation. But this wasn’t the first-century equivalent of kicking a broken vending machine. Jesus wasn’t “hangry.” He was giving His followers a real-life parable—an unforgettable lesson on the importance of being fruitful.

The Old Testament prophets used the fig as a symbol of Israel. Micah 7:1–3 says, “How miserable I am! I feel like the fruit picker after the harvest who can find nothing to eat. Not a cluster of grapes or a single early fig can be found to satisfy my hunger. The godly people have all disappeared; not one honest person is left on the earth” (NLT).

The passage is referring to the spiritual condition of God’s people. They give the outward appearance of being holy and obedient, but they produce no fruit—no real evidence of their holiness and obedience. Appearances can be deceiving, but genuine fruit can’t be faked. If a fruit tree doesn’t produce fruit, it’s useless. Likewise, if God’s people don’t produce spiritual fruit, they are useless.

In cursing the fig tree, Jesus was denouncing Israel’s relationship with God and warning the people of Israel of the coming judgment. He was also sending a warning to people who claim to be Christians but show no evidence of a personal relationship with Him.

In John 15:8, He said, “When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father” (NLT).

James was a little more blunt: “Faith is dead without good works” (James 2:26 nlt).

And the apostle Paul wrote, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (Galatians 5:22–23 NLT)

Those qualities please the Lord because they show that our faith is genuine and that our spiritual fruit can nourish others. If you nurture those qualities and allow them to blossom in your life, you’ll help others see just how life-changing a relationship with Christ can be.

Reflection question: What spiritual fruit has God produced in you?

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“Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.” (Matthew 21:8 NLT)

Jesus rode into Jerusalem for the Passover celebration on a donkey, as a king would. And that’s how the crowd treated Him when He arrived—as a king. Jesus accepted their praise and worship, something He rarely did during His earthly ministry.

Matthew 12 tells the story of Jesus healing many sick people. “But he warned them not to reveal who he was” (verse 16 NLT). And in Matthew 16, after Jesus commended Peter for declaring Him to be “the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (verse 16 NLT), we find this statement: “Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah” (verse 20 NLT).

Jesus issued no such warnings before He entered Jerusalem. He wanted everyone to know that He was the Messiah, the King they had been waiting for.

He understood that the people’s excitement was misguided. The crowds weren’t praising Him because He came to save the world from God’s punishment for sin. They cheered because they believed He was going to free them from Roman control (and taxes).

The people who lined the streets with palm branches and welcomed Jesus with open arms didn’t know that His actual mission was infinitely and eternally more important and more valuable than the military skirmish they envisioned. So days later, when their narrow-minded expectations were still unmet, their cheers turned to cries for His death. Their “Hosanna!” turned to “Crucify Him!” The people who hailed Him as a hero denounced Him as a fraud.

It’s interesting to note that the Romans, the ones who had the most to lose if Jesus had turned out to be the Messiah the Jewish people expected, apparently didn’t see His triumphant entry as a threat. Nowhere in the Gospels is there a reaction to Jesus’ arrival by Roman officials or soldiers.

The Roman military was stationed in Jerusalem to prevent rebellion. But they didn’t see Jesus or the crowds who gathered to greet Him as dangerous rebels. As far as Rome was concerned, the event was just a bunch of unarmed peasants waving broken tree branches to greet a local rabbi who was sitting on some old clothes as he rode a donkey.

Hardly the type of movement that could disrupt an empire. Or so they thought.

The Jewish religious leaders, on the other hand, saw an enormous threat. They received loud and clear the message Jesus communicated with His triumphant entry into Jerusalem: The Messiah had come.

The religious leaders had tried to rid themselves of Jesus since the earliest days of His ministry. But because His work had not been completed, they were helpless to do anything. With Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, they faced another problem: His popularity with the crowd. As long as He had the people’s support, the leaders could do nothing to Him. So they bided their time and worked to undermine Him in the eyes of the people.

And because their plans aligned with God’s plan, they succeeded. The Hero of Palm Sunday would be Public Enemy #1 by Good Friday.

Jesus knew what was coming. Yet He willingly faced rejection—and much worse—to fulfill God’s plan of salvation.

Reflection question: What preconceptions about Jesus can get in the way of sharing the truth about Him today?

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“‘Go into the village over there,’ he said. ‘As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, “The Lord needs them,” and he will immediately let you take them.’” (Matthew 21:2–3 NLT)

A Sunday school teacher asked her class, “Does anybody know what next Sunday is?”

A little six-year-old girl raised her hand and said, “Next Sunday is Palm Sunday.”

The teacher said, “Very good. Do you know what the meaning of Palm Sunday is?”

The little girl replied, “That is the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and the people laid palm branches at His feet.”

The teacher said, “That is exactly right. Does anybody know what the following Sunday is?”

The same little girl raised her hand and said, “That is the day that Jesus rose again from the dead. It is Easter Sunday.”

“Very good,” the teacher said.

The little girl continued, “But if He sees His shadow, He will have to go back into the ground for six weeks.”

For the next two and a half weeks leading up to Easter, we’re going to look at the meaning and significance of several different events that took place during the Passion Week—the days from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. And we’re going to start with the arrangements Jesus made for His arrival in Jerusalem for the Passover celebration.

Jesus had made the trip to Jerusalem countless times for various festivals and occasions. But His arrival on Palm Sunday was unique. Look at His instructions to His disciples in the passage above.

Hundreds of years earlier, the Old Testament prophet Zechariah had written these words: “Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—riding on a donkey’s colt” (Zechariah 9:9 NLT).

Jesus was certainly aware of the prophecy—and so were many people in the crowd that awaited Him in Jerusalem. Prophecies about the Messiah—the King, the Chosen One—loomed large in Jewish life. But always with a political slant. The Jewish people of Jesus’ day were waiting for a Messiah who would lead them in revolt against the Roman Empire.

Their baseless expectations often distracted them and kept them from embracing Jesus’ teachings about the kingdom of Heaven. So Jesus rarely announced Himself as the Messiah during His public ministry.

But that changed on Palm Sunday. When Jesus chose a donkey colt as His means of transportation, He was sending an unmistakable message. He was saying to everyone, “I am the king Zechariah prophesied about. I am the Chosen One, the Son of God. The Messiah has come!”

In the culture of the first century AD, a king who entered a city on a donkey came in peace; a king who entered a city on horseback came to conquer. So Jesus was also making it clear that He was not a political threat to Rome.

He was, however, a threat to the Jewish religious leaders. He knew they were plotting to kill Him. He knew that in a matter of days, His disciple Judas Iscariot would help them by agreeing to betray Him. So Jesus’ decision to enter Jerusalem on a donkey was also intended to provoke His enemies. He wanted them to follow through on their plans to execute Him so that He could fulfill God’s plan of salvation.

Jesus made it clear that He is the Messiah, God’s chosen One to save the world. Everyone who believes in Him will reap the rewards of His saving work—that is, eternal life.

Reflection question: How do you know that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior of the world?

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“Then he asked them, ‘But who do you say I am?’

Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’” (Matthew 16:15–16 NLT)

First Kings 18 tells the story of the prophet Elijah’s challenge to the false prophets of Baal. Elijah would build one altar and place a sacrifice on it. The prophets of Baal would build another altar and place a sacrifice on it. The deity who sent fire to consume his sacrifice would be declared the God of Israel.

The prophets of Baal went first—and failed. They couldn’t get their god to send fire, primarily due to the fact that their god didn’t exist. But here’s an interesting detail that reveals something important about the real God. When Elijah’s turn came, he instructed his servants to pour twelve large jars of water over his sacrifice and altar.

Every jug of water they poured made it less and less likely that anything but a miracle—the work of God Himself—would fulfill the requirements of the contest. God wanted everyone to know that when fire consumed everything on and around Elijah’s altar, it was because of Him.

The same principle can be seen in the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus. Each one is like one of Elijah’s jars of water. It makes it less and less likely that anything but a miracle could fulfill them all. God wanted everyone to know that when the Messiah came and fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies, it was because of Him.

And that puts the ball in our court. When we study Scripture and see Jesus’ miraculous fulfillment of prophecies made hundreds of years before His birth, we’re faced with a decision. Jesus proved Himself to be the Messiah, the Savior. We can’t treat that like a historical curiosity. We have to make it personal. We have to let it impact our lives. We have to answer deep within our soul the question Jesus asked Peter in Matthew 16: “Who do you say I am?” (NLT).

Jesus wants us to trust in Him for salvation. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NLT).

Jesus wants us to be like Him. The apostle Paul wrote, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” (Romans 8:29 NLT).

Jesus wants us to put Him first in our lives. He said, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:33 NLT).

Jesus wants us to tell others about Him. Psalm 96:2–3 says, “Sing to the Lord; praise his name. Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does” (NLT).

If Jesus is who the Bible claims He is, there’s no risk in any of those pursuits. And Jesus certainly proved that He is who the Bible claims He is.

Maybe you’re afraid to stand up for Jesus Christ. You’re afraid that it could hurt your career or a relationship or something else. But there comes a moment when you have to stand for what you know is true. You may be criticized and might even lose something important to you. But whatever you lose, God will make it up to you. He will bless you for standing for what is right.

Reflection question: Who do you say Jesus is, and how does that impact your life?

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“For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever.” (2 Samuel 7:12–13 NLT)

Charting the rise and fall of empires is not always easy to determine, as there are overlapping or conflicting dates of when nations rise and fall. Generally speaking, though, the Western Roman Empire lasted just over 500 years, from 27 BC to AD 476. The Ottoman Empire lasted 623 years, from 1299 to 1922 (although its remnants can still be found in living rooms throughout the world). The Assyrian Empire, in its different forms, surpassed the millennium mark beginning in 2025 BC through the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 609 BC, it spanned more than 1,400 years.

It’s hard to draw parallels between these empires or to say definitively why some endure longer than others. Some people might say the only real takeaway is that nothing lasts forever. But that’s not true.

The passage from 2 Samuel 7 above records the promise God made to David, the king of Israel and “a man after God’s own heart.” God promised David that his kingdom—and that of his son and successor Solomon—would last forever. And it would last forever because their descendant would be the Messiah, the Son of God, who will rule for eternity.

Psalm 89:29 offers a similar prophecy: “I will preserve an heir for him; his throne will be as endless as the days of heaven” (NLT).

And Isaiah 9:7 says of the Anointed One, or Messiah, “His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” (NLT).

When you think of all the things that can go wrong in a nation, empire, or kingdom, the idea of one lasting forever seems nearly impossible. But that speaks to the nature of Christ’s kingdom.

There will be no divisions, no corruption, no power plays, no dissatisfaction. The Lord will rule, and everyone in His kingdom will joyfully submit to Him. Revelation 21:4 says, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever” (NLT).

That brings us to one more point that absolutely must be mentioned. Not only will Christ’s kingdom last forever, so will everyone in it. The apostle Paul wrote, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 NLT). Jesus paid those wages when He gave His life on the cross in our place. His sacrifice makes it possible for us to live forever with Him.

He said so Himself: “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die” (John 11:25–26 NLT).

If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ and have asked Him to forgive you of your sin, the Bible teaches that when you die, you will go immediately into the presence of God in Heaven. That is God’s promise to you.

But God promises not only life beyond the grave; He also promises life during life—not just an existence, but a life worth living. Jesus said, “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10 NLT).

That is the hope and promise for all Christians. That is why the believer does not have to be afraid to die. Or afraid to live.

Reflection question: How do you know—or how can you know—that you will spend eternity with Christ in His kingdom?

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“O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past.” (Psalm 78:1–2 NLT)

Jesus’ twelve disciples had front-row seats to the most amazing three years in human history—the years of Jesus’ public ministry. They witnessed miracles that defied explanation. They heard the most profound truths ever spoken. They experienced life with the Son of God. They had access to the wisdom of the ages.

But it wasn’t all fish and loaves. Discipleship had its challenges, too. The constant crowd control. The sneering contempt of the Jewish religious establishment. The threat of arrest by Roman authorities.

One of the biggest challenges, though, had to be understanding Jesus’ parables. Often the disciples were the liaisons between Jesus and the people who came to hear Him speak. After one of His sermons or teaching sessions, those who couldn’t talk to Jesus Himself sought out His disciples. And it’s likely that one of the most frequently asked questions they fielded was, “What did Jesus mean by that parable?”

That may explain why, in Matthew 13:10, they asked Him the question that many people still ask today: “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?” (NLT).

So why did Jesus speak in parables?

You can make the case that He understood the power of imagery and analogy. The story of a wayward son, a lost coin, or even a mustard seed is more memorable than a three-point presentation.

You can make the case that He wanted to open the eyes of His followers and help them see the world around them in a different way. To help them understand that there are spiritual truths to be found everywhere, even in things as mundane as a lost sheep or a barren fig tree.

Or you can search Jesus’ reply in Matthew 13:10–17. Jesus spoke in parables to give people with a spiritual hunger something to feed on—and to make it harder for those whose ears had grown dull—and whose hearts had grown hard—to understand His message.

But there’s another truth we can’t overlook. Jesus spoke in parables to fulfill the prophecy of Psalm 78. That’s why we read these words in Matthew 13:35: “This fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet: ‘I will speak to you in parables. I will explain things hidden since the creation of the world’” (NLT).

The more Jesus obscured certain parts of His message, the more clearly He revealed His identity. Anyone who had searched Scripture for prophecies of the Anointed One would have picked up on Jesus’ use of parables. And it stands to reason that those same people would have had “the ears to hear” the spiritual wisdom in those parables. That’s who Jesus was targeting. He spoke in parables because He wanted people to recognize Him as the Messiah.

Jesus’ principal adversaries were looking for a different kind of Messiah. They were looking for someone who would support their religious system and their chosen way of living, someone who would cater to their whims and conform to their wishes.

A lot of people today want Jesus, but they want Him on their own terms. They want the kind of Jesus who will not challenge them. So they do nothing to meet the living Savior. Don’t make that mistake. Embrace the challenge that Jesus offers. There is life in His words.

Reflection question: Which of Jesus’ parables speaks most loudly to you and why?

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“And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!” (Isaiah 35:5–6 NLT)

In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord, ate the forbidden fruit, and brought sin into God’s perfect creation. But sin wasn’t all they brought into the world. Suddenly, sickness and death became part of human existence.

When the Messiah came, then, what better way to reveal Himself than by showing His power over these misery-makers? And by giving a preview of His coming kingdom, where “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever” (Revelation 21:4 NLT).

Jesus showed His power over death when He rose from the grave on the third day after He was crucified. Before that, though, He showed His power over sickness and pain time and time again. Two thousand years later, it’s hard to understand how everyone who witnessed even one of Jesus’ miraculous healings wasn’t immediately and forever convinced that He is the Messiah.

As word spread of His healing power, people flocked to Him, pleading for relief from pain, sickness, and other afflictions. Only Jesus’ deft handling of crowds—and expectations—kept His healing ministry from overshadowing His message.

Jesus healed from a distance. He restored full movement to the paralyzed servant of a Roman centurion without going anywhere near the centurion’s home (see Matthew 8:5–13).

Jesus healed with a word. He relieved the suffering of a Canaanite woman’s daughter simply by telling the woman that her daughter was healed (see Matthew 15:22–28).

Jesus healed with a touch. He spit in the dirt and rubbed the resulting mud on the eyes of a blind man. When the blind man rinsed off the mud, he could see (see John 9:6–7). Jesus placed His hands on a leper to cure the man of his disease (see Mark 1:40–45).

Jesus healed the casualties of spiritual warfare. Several times in the Gospels, He drove demons from the bodies of people who were possessed.

Jesus healed when religious authorities didn’t approve. He miraculously took away the afflictions of a woman who had suffered a crippling condition for eighteen years (see Luke 13:10–17), a man who had been born blind (see John 9:1–41), Simon Peter’s ailing mother-in-law (see Mark 1:29–31), a man with a withered hand (see Mark 3:1–6), and others. But He did so on the Jewish day of rest. So rather than praise God for allowing them to witness such miracles, the religious leaders of the day criticized Jesus for doing too much work on the Sabbath.

Jesus heals today. And it’s okay to pray for that healing. Maybe you’re going through a time of suffering right now, and you’re saying, “Lord, it’s enough. Could you just make this stop? Could you get me through this? Could you bring an end to this?” It’s okay to pray that. And sometimes, the Lord will heal. But other times He will not do that. And it is in those times that He will walk with us through the suffering, and we will see Him on the other side.

Reflection question: When have you or someone you know experienced Jesus’ healing power?

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“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.” (Isaiah 61:1–2 NLT)

The person speaking these words in Isaiah 61 is Jesus—seven hundred years before He was born. This is a prophecy about the Messiah. The speaker says, “The Lord has anointed me” (NLT). The word Messiah means “anointed one.”

Seven hundred years later, an audience at a synagogue in Nazareth was treated to an encore reading of these words by the original artist. The audience members just didn’t realize it at the time.

Luke tells us that after Jesus was baptized and tempted by the devil, He returned to Nazareth, the town where He grew up. As was His custom, He went to the synagogue to read Scripture and teach.

The passage He read was Isaiah 61:1–2. And then look what happened next: “He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. ‘The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!’” (Luke 4:20–21 NLT).

Translation: I am the Messiah!

The synagogue crowd didn’t need a translator to figure out what He was saying. As far as they were concerned, anyone who claimed to be the Messiah was guilty of blasphemy. They rushed Him as a mob and pushed Him out of the synagogue and toward the edge of the hill on which the city was built. They intended to kill Him, or at least harm Him. But that wasn’t God’s plan, so Jesus slipped away and continued His ministry—the work of the Messiah.

Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 61 throughout His ministry. When John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask if Jesus was the Messiah, “Jesus told them, ‘Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor’” (Matthew 11:4–5 NLT).

Jesus identified closely with people in need. And He wants us to do the same. That’s the message of Matthew 25:34–40: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’” (NLT).

If you only hang around with people who look like you and people you like, so what? That is no big accomplishment. Jesus said in Matthew 5, “If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that” (verses 46–47 NLT). It is when you love the unlovable that your love stands out.

Reflection question: What does having a heart for people in need look like in your life?

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“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.” (Micah 5:2 NLT)

The Bible speaks of the future with absolute certainty. That is because God is eternal. He can see the future as accurately as we can see the past. It is all a continuum to God. It is all the same to Him. So when the Bible says a certain thing is going to happen, it is not like God is going out on a limb. It is not like a tabloid prediction. It is basically a revealing of history ahead of time by the God who sees the future as clearly as He sees the past.

Earlier this month, we looked at the life of David, “a man after God’s own heart,” who was chosen to play a key role in the ancestry of Jesus. You may remember that God sent the prophet Samuel to a small town in the land of Judah, about five miles southwest of Jerusalem, to anoint David as the king of Israel.

You probably remember the name of the town, too. (If not, you read it in the verse above.) If this devotion had dropped three months ago, on December 25, you probably would have been hearing its name quite a bit. “Now the Lord said to Samuel, ‘You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king’” (1 Samuel 16:1 NLT).

The town shows up again in the passage from Micah 5 above. This is a prophecy, written seven hundred years before Christ came to earth, that the Messiah—“ruler of Israel”—would be born in Bethlehem. The phrase “whose origins are in the distant past” refers to One who is eternal. Jesus is the only eternal ruler of Israel.

God gave Micah this prophecy. So why, seven hundred years later, did He choose earthly parents for His Son who were from Nazareth? The answer is that geography isn’t an obstacle for Him. In fact, nothing is an obstacle for Him. A greedy Roman ruler who wants to conduct a census so that he can better control tax revenue? God can work with that. An order for all Jewish people to return to the cities of their ancestors to register for the census? He can work with that, too. A small town so ill-equipped to handle the crowds that descended on it that a heavily pregnant woman was forced to give birth in a shelter for animals? He can work with that, too.

It’s not like God was at the mercy of those circumstances. He was orchestrating them, bringing them together in a perfect way.

That’s how Mary and Joseph came to be in a stable in Bethlehem when the time came for her to give birth. That’s how Jesus came to be born in Bethlehem. That’s how a prophecy made more than seven hundred years earlier came to be fulfilled.

God used unlikely sources and extraordinary circumstances to fulfill His prophecy. Jesus’ virgin birth serves as yet another reminder that nothing is beyond the Lord’s control and that all things work together according to His will. We can trust Him to do what is best, in every circumstance.

Reflection question: How has God used extraordinary circumstances to accomplish something amazing in your life?

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