SEPTEMBER 09 JQ#24-5 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

SEPTEMBER 09   JQ#24-5 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25) 

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, my Lord and my Shepherd, my Redeemer and my Passover Lamb, You Lord are all things Good! Lord, even when I find myself going through one of the valleys  that my earthen vessel and its aging process takes me into, my mind is stayed with a single verse, “Be still and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10) for to “be still” in the valley of shadow is a statement our spirit makes saying “Yeah though I walk through the valley, I will fear no evil for You are with me…” and then the Peace-that-passes-all understanding surfaces and I give praise to God that even though my circumstances change that my God never changes, You are the God of heaven and earth, the God of the mountains and the God of the valleys, the God who has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. Lord I know that my faith only fails because I have not yet learned to surrender completely to Your Unchanging Will so Lord keep me centered in Your will, Your Mercy and Your Grace.       AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SEPTEMBER 09   JQ#24-5  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25)   Jesus really walks the walk in this section and all one has to do is look at the actions of the Sanhedrin and the actions of Jesus to determine which is following the will of God and who is following the will of men. Jesus came to Bethphage, sent two disciples to retrieve a donkey and her colt reserved for the “LORD” and Matthew records: “All this was done that if might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet (Zechariah 9:9)…So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set [Jesus] on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road . Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out saying: ‘HOSANNA TO THE SON OF DAVID! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD! HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST!’ And when [Jesus] had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved…” (Matthew 21:4-10) This event is known as the Triumphal Entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the week before His Crucifixion! It is reasonable to pause at this point and take note that as Jesus “drew near to Jerusalem” that He was hailed by the multitudes that had been observing Him as “King” and “Son of David”. The multitudes proclaimed as Jesus made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” —but the scene changes after Jesus enters Jerusalem and starts executing the duties of His God-given office of Messiah and when those in Jerusalem asked “Who is this?” (Matthew 21:10) that the multitudes gave the “politically correct” answer, “This is the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:11) Not because of what the multitudes had observed Him doing among the multitudes was Jesus demoted from Messiah to just another prophet but it was at the hands of the “ruling powers” in Jerusalem and specifically the Sanhedrin, the scribes, and the Pharisees who were continually handing down their rules — this becomes the crux of JQ#24, where does “power and authority” really come from, “from heaven or from men”? Of significance here is the fact that regardless of what people said about Him or who He was, Jesus kept doing those things that only the Messiah would and could do, therefore it is not what men say about God that is important to our Eternal Security, it is what God Himself has done to secure our Salvation that has any bearing on our souls as they pass from death into Eternity! But we must pray that we do not get trapped into “political correctness” that is handed down to us by the Supreme Court of men that has assumed “power and authority” from God and then declare that what they say is “legal” for the masses by the law of the land as determined by the “doctrines of men” which Jesus referred to in JQ#12 “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” Jesus had already warned us “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is abel to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) Now Jesus is asking in essence “Who has the power and authority to destroy both soul and body in hell, men or God?” With less than a week left in His earthly ministry, Jesus is getting right to the point of the Passover and fulfilling all the prophecies about the Messiah. “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says…” (Revelation 2:7) Maybe its time to  Listen Up, and Stand Up for Jesus?!?!?!?