Day 223: Appearances

John 7:1-24; 1 Chronicles 27-28; Zechariah 12

Here's why the world hates Jesus: because he tells them they do evil things. And he knows it. He recognizes that by pointing out the sinful things that humans do, by offending them with truth, they won't like him. But of course the point of revealing those things is to show them how much they need him and keep them from destructive behaviors.

Jesus also talks about the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders, what I always read as the religious people. He says that he tells the truth because he wants to honor God the Father, not himself. He points out that they do things on the Sabbath in order to follow the Law, but they are angry with Jesus for healing on the Sabbath because apparently that is different and not necessarily in the Law. He finishes by saying "Don't judge by appearances. Judge by what is right." There is a lot to learn in this statement and it could mean a whole mess of things. In the context of the scripture and how the Holy Spirit is speaking to my heart this morning, I think it means that we shouldn't judge based on the outward expression of people. It basically comes down to legalism. For instance, just because a person dresses up and goes to church doesn't mean they love Jesus with all their heart. In the same way that if a person doesn't dress up and may not even go, doesn't love Jesus with all their heart. Following Christ doesn't look the same for everyone and it is ridiculous to think that certain rules should be followed when Jesus clearly wasn't a man of rule following. It's kind of like baptism. The point isn't the water. The point is the life surrendered to the love and authority of Christ. But people get caught up in the process rather than the heart of that matter and that is where Jesus is saying they are wrong. For me, I choose to follow the example and words of Jesus. If I do that, I know I can't go wrong.

What an amazing display of leadership. I've written about it before, but again David shows great character in these chapters in Chronicles. He challenges the people to follow The Lord faithfully and support his son. He explains that everything is ready to build the temple, even though he doesn't get to build it. I think sometimes we think that if we don't get to do the honorable final project, then we don't want to help at all. I know my personality is like that; I'm kind of an "all or nothing" type person which can be both a good and bad thing. But David wasn't. He accepted he couldn't build the temple, so he served God and his people in every way possible besides that, and did an amazing job of encouraging and preparing Solomon and the people to carry out this important task.

In Zechariah, God gives the message that he is God! He stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth; he gave humans breath and life. If he wants to defend his people, he can do it! He even tells the people that when it seems completely hopeless and they are surrounded by every nation, he will still demonstrate his power with victory over the nations. Why we should doubt the Great I Am, the Creator, is crazy!