“Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt
LEVITICUS 24, 25
One of the Israelites is accused of blaspheme. They bring him to Moses and the following command is given from God
15Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God will be held responsible; 16anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death.Moses gives instructions regarding the 50 year Jubilee celebration and answers the question of how they are to live in the seventh year of rest.
18“ ‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. 19Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. 20You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” 21I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. 22While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.
MARK 1:23-45
Jesus begins to heal and he begins to be followed, crowds start forming. Jesus begins to get up early and go off alone to spend time praying to God.
35Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”Jesus is approached by a leper who asks to be healed. Once he is healed...
38Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”39So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
43Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44“See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
JOURNAL
Why is blasphemy put on the same level as murder? Doing some research...it is speaking or acting in ways that manipulate or denigrate the identity of God in a way that hurts or destroys. In essence it is joining forces with Evil, because true evil uses and manipulates good in order to destroy it...usually and most always for selfish purposes.
The thing I notice about Jesus is how he rejects fame. It is one of the temptations of Satan in the desert and he continually moves away from being idolized. Jesus understands that idolizing him as a Man and seeing him just as a healer is missing the entire point. His constant surrender to God and rejection of ease and comfort confirms his radical counter-cultural love. It also runs counter to anything that could ever be construed as blasphemy. Jesus always seems careful to walk this line of who he is while pointing all glory back to God.
Thinking about our world of self-promotion and image consultants, the life of Christ continually flies in the face of this. Here the son of God never takes advantage of his building reputation, he constantly rejects and removes himself from opportunities to profit from his growing "brand".
Jesus knows his destiny, he knows his ultimate path as a man is to be crucified. Worship of him as a man will only serve to focus on the earthly flesh instead of the spiritual and heavenly kingdom. It is here that I again am reminded that my ultimate call is to be surrendered to God in obedience to my spiritual home. I am to walk the fine line of gratitude and appreciation for the gifts of life and all its goodness, while never getting too comfortable in using it as a substitute for God's love.
The thing I notice about Jesus is how he rejects fame. It is one of the temptations of Satan in the desert and he continually moves away from being idolized. Jesus understands that idolizing him as a Man and seeing him just as a healer is missing the entire point. His constant surrender to God and rejection of ease and comfort confirms his radical counter-cultural love. It also runs counter to anything that could ever be construed as blasphemy. Jesus always seems careful to walk this line of who he is while pointing all glory back to God.
Thinking about our world of self-promotion and image consultants, the life of Christ continually flies in the face of this. Here the son of God never takes advantage of his building reputation, he constantly rejects and removes himself from opportunities to profit from his growing "brand".
Jesus knows his destiny, he knows his ultimate path as a man is to be crucified. Worship of him as a man will only serve to focus on the earthly flesh instead of the spiritual and heavenly kingdom. It is here that I again am reminded that my ultimate call is to be surrendered to God in obedience to my spiritual home. I am to walk the fine line of gratitude and appreciation for the gifts of life and all its goodness, while never getting too comfortable in using it as a substitute for God's love.
1Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (Philippians 2:1-4)
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