Tag: samaritans

32.g. “it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.”

 

 

Matthew 10:5  These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

 Because so many were so spiritually neglected, Jesus sent these apostles out. “The beginnings of the mission to the neglected ‘lost’ sheep of Israel.  Who were the lost sheep of Israel? In a sense, all of them were. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way. (Isaiah 53:6). Yet in another sense, there were also lost sheep that were abused and neglected by their spiritual shepherds, the scribes, priests, and Pharisees. This is the sense of Jeremiah 50:6: My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray.

The disciples both had a message to preach and a power to display. In this, they were truly followers of their Master. They were not to seek or desire payment – “You received without paying, give without pay”. They should expect God to meet their needs, without taking undue concern for their own needs. Furthermore, they should expect that God would normally meet their needs through the inspired hospitality of others. Even though the twelve could expect their needs to be met through the people they served, they should never require their needs to be met as payment. The foundational principle was freely you have received, freely give.

All we have we have been given by the author and creator. We are stewards of what He has given us.  We do well to keep this in mind and live humbly before God.

15.g. “They asked him to stay with them”

John 4:27  Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.

John 4:39  Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

John 4:45  So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him,

Mark 5:15  And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs.  And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.

Jesus so impressed this woman that she was compelled to tell those in her city that they should come to the well and meet Jesus. Jesus impressed and attracted her, even though He confronted her with her sin.  Jesus displayed so much love and such a sense of security that she felt safe with Him even when her sin was exposed. The woman’s invitation was effective. The people came when she told them who Jesus was and how He had impacted her life with their brief conversation. The people came to see this man who the woman claimed “Can this be the Christ?”  They came to see Him.  What is clear to see about their hearts is that after a brief time with Him at the well they asked Him to stay with them.  The same clarity can be seen in those in Galilee – they welcomed Him.  A different mindset can be seen in the country of Gerasenes.  After a great miracle of casting out demons from a possessed man the shepherds fled and told of it in the city and country.  People came to see, but what they did reflects their heart.  They begged Jesus to leave and depart from their region.  Such is the heart of man.  Some will have a heart that invites Him in and others will beg Him to leave.  Each individual will make a choice of invitation or rejection.  Each individual decision results in either eternal life or eternal hell.  The open heart will find peace, love, refuge, and joy with their invitation to Jesus to stay.  The closed heart will find torment, fear, hatred, and anger with their rejection of Jesus.

Only Jesus can bring peace to the heart, mind, and soul.  Everything else that we believe can or will do this is a deception and lie.

The Foundation

“If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Joh 4:39  Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”  So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.  And many more believed because of his word.  They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”  After the two days he departed for Galilee.  (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.)  So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.

1 Corinthians 2:4     and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,  so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Ezekiel 13:6    They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the LORD,’ when the LORD has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word.

Romans 16:18     For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

With the internet and access to mountains of information we have to be diligent to build and continue to build and fortify our Faith.  The foundation of our Faith is Christ.  Building on this foundation is what keeps our heart, mind, and soul anchored and by which we can discern that which is good, true, right and pure.  Things get twisted very quickly when our attention turns from building on our foundation (Christ) to things of this world that propel us away from humbly serving, honoring, following and obeying.  Take care to continue to build that which was started in you through faith in Christ.