Layman's Pulpit

AUGUST 26  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#27  “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?”  (Matthew 22:12)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS I come today praising You for that “fresh anointing” that You bestowed on me yesterday for I had re-prayed a 2004 prayer asking that You would grant Your Holy Spirit in my life and Lord You proved Yourself Faithful in answering YET ANOTHER prayer.  Lord today  I pray that even though I am in the world that today I will not be “of the world” but that I will be a conduit of Your Holy Spirit that You have so abundantly granted me in my life and Your Spirit will flow out of me to that one that You will place in my way today that needs Your Holy Spirit — so let my spirit be yielded to Your Holy Spirit so that the desires of my flesh will give way to the surrender of my Faith and through Your Grace I will be a blessing to someone that needs what only the Christ can offer, Peace-Love-Joy and a Hope and a Future in our Lord Jesus Christ.     AMEN

AUGUST 26  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus paints a very clear picture of God and the kingdom of heaven with this third and most important parable that Jesus used in pronouncing the fate of the religious rulers of Israel and all those that reject God and fail to see His purpose for His creation! So let us look at this very, very important parable (Matthew 22:1-14) in enough detail to find the Truth of God that Jesus is Teaching. Jesus starts the parable with: “The kingdom of heaven is like…” (Matthew 22:1a) so there is no doubt that Jesus is talking about “heaven” and if we look at the simple phrase “kingdom of heaven” then we know that there will be “king” that is the Supreme Ruler over the Kingdom of Heaven and in this phrase we can easily assume that the “king” of “heaven” is that “Supreme Ruler”. When Jesus continues “…the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king…” then the religious rulers and everyone in Israel knew and accepted that God is the “certain king” for “God created the heavens and the earth…” (Genesis 1:1) and that God Himself is the Supreme Ruler over His Creation which includes the “heavens and the earth”! Jesus has introduced this third parable Lesson as being about the Supreme Power and Authority over the entire creation of God and that the Truth of God is Eternal! Jesus concludes His introduction of the parable with “…a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son…” so after the phrase about the “certain king” arranging a “marriage” for “his son”, the chief priests and Pharisees knew that the “certain king” is the Almighty God and that He is the Supreme Ruler over all creation, however, the concept of God having a Son and then God having “arranged a marriage” for Him is what the chief priests, religious rulers of Israel, the scribes, the Sanhedrin, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees were having a problem with  — because instead of embracing Jesus as the Son of God they were missing the main point of the Father God and His Begotten Son Jesus and God’s Plan of Salvation for the whole world and all future generations!  So this third parable is most important when we consider that Jesus IS the Son of God, that Jesus fulfilled ALL the prophecies of the Chosen One, the Messiah, and that Jesus is about to complete the Plan of Salvation as the Lamb of God!!!  The Holy Scriptures teach that as Abraham was about to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac who asked his father, “…but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? and Abraham said, ‘my son, God will provide for Himself the lamb…’” (Genesis 22:7-8) This ties back to the “Baptism-of-John” Question which started this series of “power and authority” Lessons that Jesus is Teaching in His last week on earth before being crucified at the end of the Passover Week. It was John who baptized Jesus and John bore witness of Jesus. When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him to be baptized in the Jordan River, the forerunner of the Messiah announced:  “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” and immediately after baptizing Jesus, John saw “the Spirit of God descending from heaven” and remained on Jesus — at which point John declared: “And I have seen and testified that [Jesus] is the Son of God.” (Genesis 1:26-34). Therefore this third parable joins together all the Holy Scriptures and all the prophecies except the crucifixion and the resurrection on the third day which are about to be fulfilled so that the Apostle John will write after the death, burial, and resurrection “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17).  Jesus Himself had said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill [the Law and the Prophets]” (Matthew 5:17) When we think of the significance of this third parable in the fulfilling of prophecy and God’s Master Plan we can take a deep breath of gratitude that with only a few days left on earth that Jesus is being so thorough in His Teachings of God’s Plan ——— The Divine Plan for mankind which the Apostle John summarized for us: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) — Jesus is always Teaching, the question is “Are we believing what Jesus is teaching?”