When Jesus Wept - By Bodie Page 0,73
Sabbath by healing him. Jesus, who had commanded him to break the law when he picked up his mat.3
I heard also that they paid him to inform on Jesus.
But what was that to me?
Because Jesus had done good for a man on the Sabbath, the religious leaders dedicated themselves to persecuting him. But the truth Jesus lived out before us was undeniable. I wanted only to grow and ripen and become more like him.
My heart was at peace that day as I listened to Jesus teach.
“… The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do. For whatever the Father does, the Son does … and he will show greater works than these that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whoever he will. He who does not honor the Son, doesn’t honor the Father. I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and will not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear it shall live. Don’t marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”4
He aimed his message fiercely at the Pharisees who stood with arms crossed and fists clenched.
“I don’t receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I’ve come in my Father’s name, and you don’t receive me … There is one who accuses you—Moses, whom you say you trust. But if you really believed Moses, you would believe in me, because Moses wrote about me. If you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”5
There was much more he taught that day that has been written down by other witnesses. These words of Jesus were guaranteed to offend the Pharisees even more than a beggar healed on the Sabbath.
After that, the religious leaders plotted all the more to kill Jesus because he said that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
Jesus was serene in his purpose and in the truth. He saw clearly into the hearts of all people. The battle lines were drawn, but Jesus knew the end of the story.
Part Four
The scepter will not depart from Judah …
until he to whom it belongs shall come….
He will tether his donkey to a vine,
his colt to the choicest branch.
GENESIS 49:10–11
Chapter 24
Jesus came to stay with us again during the Feast of Dedication, which we call the Festival of Lights. It was the time of year after harvest when the vines are dormant, leafless, and unkempt. It was a cold, dark winter, and Jesus was our Light.
We all went together to the Temple to remember its desecration by the Greeks and the battles of the Maccabees to restore it. I believe this was the Jewish holiday our oppressors feared most. It was the holiday of rebellion and victory!
In every home along the route, lamps glowed in the windows facing the street. A drizzling rain chilled our faces as we climbed the steps, but we felt excitement in our hearts. When we reached the summit of Mount Moriah, the mist became flecks of snow that scudded on the wind.
Questions rang across the Temple Mount and into the halls of the mighty:
“Is Jesus of Nazareth another Judah Maccabee?”
“Will he call the people to rebel?”
“If the Maccabees defeated the Greek Empire, is it possible Jesus will rally many to defeat Rome?”
It was evening when we walked with Jesus in Solomon’s Portico. A number of Jerusalem Sparrows, orphan boys of the city, guided us with torches. For the eight nights of the feast the Temple courts blazed with illumination. The glowing tribute to Almighty God could be seen for miles, as if the mountain were a beacon of freedom in a dark, weary world.
We circled the Temple courts in two files of worshipers. We sang with one chorus proposing and the other replying:
“Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
‘The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!
The LORD’s right hand is lifted high!’ “1
Jesus spoke to the boys of our forefathers and noted that