Hey Don, if I may add to Chris and Jesse I hope you do not mind, everyone was looking for the Messiah to set up the kingdom then. Even the twelve apostles, no one knew he was going to be crucified even though Jesus told them several times, it was hidden from them, even Satan did not know the purpose of the crucifixion. When Jesus was resurrected the disciples still did not believe until Jesus appeared to them but they still asked Him if He was to set up the kingdom then. Acts 1:6 When they, therefore, were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
If Satan had known he would have stopped the crucifixion because that would have stopped the plan of Satan's demise. 1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. The reason was fulfilling prophecy. Mark.4:11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
They were told the time when the Messiah would come in Daniel 9:25 but their time was up. and the old covenant was to be fulfilled and the new was not yet revealed. Jesus came the first time for the lost sheep of Israel and only the chosen by God was shown Jesus was the Messiah the Christ.
All the others, Matthew 13: 14-16 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
We get some sort of hint of this in Mark 1:41-45. Jesus had just healed a leper. In Verse 44 he commanded the man to tell no one but to go and show himself to the priest. But what would be the reason for Jesus commanding him not to tell anyone else? And by the way, this leper who was just healed, in his excitement he began telling everyone, disregarding the command Jesus gave him.
If you notice that throughout the gospels, whenever large crowds would start gathering around Jesus, He would depart from the crowd. You would think that the more the better, right? But Jesus avoided large crowds.
Jesus performed many miracles. And because of the miracles, He was attracting large crowds. People weren't coming because they wanted to hear the message. They were coming to see the miracles. This is probably why Jesus would command this leper not to tell anyone that He just healed him. Jesus was never looking for fame. He was never trying to attract a crowd. He knew why the crowds were coming. He knew that they weren't coming to hear the message, but that they were coming to see the miracles.
You see, the Lord didn't want an excitable crowd following Him. He didn't want people coming to Him for the wrong reasons, the wrong motives.
Hi Jesse. I do agree, as we see in Mark 1:41-45, that the people thronged Him & probably for the wrong reasons & this forced Jesus to withdraw from them & pursue the Father's Will in His Way & His Timing.
I also see the oft used phrase, "My hour is not yet come" (as seen in John 2:1-5: Wedding at Cana; John 7:1-9: when urged to present Himself; John 7:25-30 & John 8:20: when about to be arrested). It seems that all Jesus' miracles, His talks, even the places He went to, were directed by His Father according to the Plan laid out for Him. The Plan being, that certain things had to happen (not sooner or later) for the duration of those 33 years He lived on Earth. Even though He was encouraged by His Mother, brethren & disciples to do more miracles or take advantage of the crowds that gathered, Jesus knew that the time appointed to Him would be violated by doing so & that all that was necessary for Him to do during those years were foreordained for a reason. And so He could finally exclaim: "that His hour had come" ( Mark 14:41, John 17:1) when He knew that His Work on Earth was nearing completion, culminating at the Cross.
I wonder whether by making Himself more prominent or proving Himself as the Messiah in a greater more dynamic way, would have thwarted the Plan of God for His Life (from the cradle to the cross) and therefore would fail to bring on the full & proper results as the Father had ordained. Just a few thoughts to add to yours, Jesse.
Everything was to be done at the appointed time. Jesus knew they would try to Make him king before the appointed time.
John 6:15. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. But when the time came he didn't only allow himself to be presented as king he arranged it.
Luke 19:30-31. Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither.
And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.
And then...
Luke 19:37-40. And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, ""THE WHOLE MULTITUDE OF THE DISCIPLES"" began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;
saying Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
Fulfilling Zechariah 9:9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
A time the Jews should have known from the many prophesies. And he met all the criteria
Daniel even gave them a time.
Daniel 9:25. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem UNTO THE MESSIAH THE PRINCE SHALL BE SEVEN WEEKS, AND THREESCORE AND TWO WEEKS: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
Thank you Steven. To bring that to a personal level: when we are led of God's Spirit, the wrist watch, diary or calendar are both unnecessary & irrelevant. We may need those things for our day-to-day activities & to keep appointments, but in God's economy His Spirit gives us both timing & direction.
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God"; the Spirit will always lead us, as God's children, but do we always obey His leading? Can we ever step outside that leading & that Will for us & not grieve the Spirit by doing so? As Jesus always sought His Father's Will in everything ( John 5:30), He fulfilled God's Plan for Him & Israel to the very last minute. How often we wonder whether we're in the centre of God's Will & might even become despondent in our circumstances - rather, we ought to be sure that there's nothing hindering the Spirit's Words & Work in our lives & that our ears are always inclined towards Him, rather than to the voices around us.
And yes, the Jews ought to have known from the Scriptures that the Messiah had come to them & by the many proofs Jesus had shown them. But that knowledge mixed with human perceptions compelled them to reject Jesus.
They would have asked, 'How could the Messiah oppose or contradict the very Law He should have rather fully supported & expounded on? A breaker of the Sabbath? Allowing an adulterous woman to live? A forgiver of sins? How could He claim to be God's Son - God is One? Joseph was a descendant from David, & Jesus was not Joseph's son - Mary's lineage wasn't considered - Jesus didn't fulfil Messianic prophecy? Where is the liberator from the Roman oppression; instead we get a humble, self-sacrificing holy Man?'
As the Word says, "He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." ( John 12:40; Isaiah 6:10). BUT He became the Saviour to all who would believe.
Hi Chris ,i believe the Jews knew who Jesus was ,Mth ch 11 v2-5 ,there are lots of other verses to indicate they knew who he was ,the common people heard him gladly but the leaders didnt want to let go of their power and authority ,when Jesus is dying on the cross and he asks God to forgive them as they know not what they do ,i believe he is talking about the roman soldiers not the Jews .All things were done and accomplished exactly as God wanted them to be ,the only sign that the Jews kept asking for was the one thing Jesus wouldnt or couldnt yet do which was to restore the Kingdom to Israel ,that is yet to come ,thats what the leaders kept asking for even though Jesus did many awesome and beautiful things in their sight which they knew only God or the promised Messiah could have done .They wanted him to rid Israel of the romans and if he wasnt going to do that they werent interested in him .
Yes Chris, and great thoughts indeed! I'm sure everything was all part of God's perfect plan and timing. It still amazes me how when Jesus rode into Jerusalem that the Jews still didn't know that He was their Messiah. Luke mentions the fact that when Jesus rode into Jerusalem and wept over Jerusalem, He told them that "If you had only known this your day, you would not have rejected me."
So if somebody had a calendar going, they would have said "Hey, today is 173,880 day. Messiah is supposed to be here!" But they missed it, and Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the very day God had planned. Yes, we do have to wonder why Jesus couldn't have proved Himself to be their Messiah. We know He had the power to do so. Certain things just can't be answered I guess. Well, it's off to bed for me. Have a great evening (or day where you're at) my brother!
If Satan had known he would have stopped the crucifixion because that would have stopped the plan of Satan's demise. 1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. The reason was fulfilling prophecy. Mark.4:11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
They were told the time when the Messiah would come in Daniel 9:25 but their time was up. and the old covenant was to be fulfilled and the new was not yet revealed. Jesus came the first time for the lost sheep of Israel and only the chosen by God was shown Jesus was the Messiah the Christ.
All the others, Matthew 13: 14-16 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
God bless, Ron
We get some sort of hint of this in Mark 1:41-45. Jesus had just healed a leper. In Verse 44 he commanded the man to tell no one but to go and show himself to the priest. But what would be the reason for Jesus commanding him not to tell anyone else? And by the way, this leper who was just healed, in his excitement he began telling everyone, disregarding the command Jesus gave him.
If you notice that throughout the gospels, whenever large crowds would start gathering around Jesus, He would depart from the crowd. You would think that the more the better, right? But Jesus avoided large crowds.
Jesus performed many miracles. And because of the miracles, He was attracting large crowds. People weren't coming because they wanted to hear the message. They were coming to see the miracles. This is probably why Jesus would command this leper not to tell anyone that He just healed him. Jesus was never looking for fame. He was never trying to attract a crowd. He knew why the crowds were coming. He knew that they weren't coming to hear the message, but that they were coming to see the miracles.
You see, the Lord didn't want an excitable crowd following Him. He didn't want people coming to Him for the wrong reasons, the wrong motives.
I also see the oft used phrase, "My hour is not yet come" (as seen in John 2:1-5: Wedding at Cana; John 7:1-9: when urged to present Himself; John 7:25-30 & John 8:20: when about to be arrested). It seems that all Jesus' miracles, His talks, even the places He went to, were directed by His Father according to the Plan laid out for Him. The Plan being, that certain things had to happen (not sooner or later) for the duration of those 33 years He lived on Earth. Even though He was encouraged by His Mother, brethren & disciples to do more miracles or take advantage of the crowds that gathered, Jesus knew that the time appointed to Him would be violated by doing so & that all that was necessary for Him to do during those years were foreordained for a reason. And so He could finally exclaim: "that His hour had come" ( Mark 14:41, John 17:1) when He knew that His Work on Earth was nearing completion, culminating at the Cross.
I wonder whether by making Himself more prominent or proving Himself as the Messiah in a greater more dynamic way, would have thwarted the Plan of God for His Life (from the cradle to the cross) and therefore would fail to bring on the full & proper results as the Father had ordained. Just a few thoughts to add to yours, Jesse.
Everything was to be done at the appointed time. Jesus knew they would try to Make him king before the appointed time.
John 6:15. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. But when the time came he didn't only allow himself to be presented as king he arranged it.
Luke 19:30-31. Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither.
And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.
And then...
Luke 19:37-40. And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, ""THE WHOLE MULTITUDE OF THE DISCIPLES"" began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;
saying Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
Fulfilling Zechariah 9:9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
A time the Jews should have known from the many prophesies. And he met all the criteria
Daniel even gave them a time.
Daniel 9:25. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem UNTO THE MESSIAH THE PRINCE SHALL BE SEVEN WEEKS, AND THREESCORE AND TWO WEEKS: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
But they couldn't perceive. Matthew 13:14.
as Ron stated.
And it seems they were held accountable in
Luke 19:41-44.
Goodmorning and God bless.
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God"; the Spirit will always lead us, as God's children, but do we always obey His leading? Can we ever step outside that leading & that Will for us & not grieve the Spirit by doing so? As Jesus always sought His Father's Will in everything ( John 5:30), He fulfilled God's Plan for Him & Israel to the very last minute. How often we wonder whether we're in the centre of God's Will & might even become despondent in our circumstances - rather, we ought to be sure that there's nothing hindering the Spirit's Words & Work in our lives & that our ears are always inclined towards Him, rather than to the voices around us.
And yes, the Jews ought to have known from the Scriptures that the Messiah had come to them & by the many proofs Jesus had shown them. But that knowledge mixed with human perceptions compelled them to reject Jesus.
They would have asked, 'How could the Messiah oppose or contradict the very Law He should have rather fully supported & expounded on? A breaker of the Sabbath? Allowing an adulterous woman to live? A forgiver of sins? How could He claim to be God's Son - God is One? Joseph was a descendant from David, & Jesus was not Joseph's son - Mary's lineage wasn't considered - Jesus didn't fulfil Messianic prophecy? Where is the liberator from the Roman oppression; instead we get a humble, self-sacrificing holy Man?'
As the Word says, "He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." ( John 12:40; Isaiah 6:10). BUT He became the Saviour to all who would believe.
So if somebody had a calendar going, they would have said "Hey, today is 173,880 day. Messiah is supposed to be here!" But they missed it, and Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the very day God had planned. Yes, we do have to wonder why Jesus couldn't have proved Himself to be their Messiah. We know He had the power to do so. Certain things just can't be answered I guess. Well, it's off to bed for me. Have a great evening (or day where you're at) my brother!
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