Sitting in the seminar this weekend on the trials of Jesus, it struck me again. It really doesn’t matter how many times you read the gospel, there are truths for spiritual growth each time that are just as new and fresh as if you had never heard the story. I sat spellbound and amazed at the way my simple mind had never fully connected the two cleansings (John 2, Matthew 21). I had never even known that archeologists have unearthed a sign in the temple that translates “Bazaar of Annas”. This high priest who, in an act of disregard for the current legal system, turned Jesus over to be crucified without evidence, without witnesses, at an illegal time and place, did so because Jesus had hit him in the pocketbook when He turned over the tables of His own moneychangers and drove His extortion-filled merchants from the temple on two occasions. He was mad at the one who had vehemently objected to his temple market…the place where he was “making a killing” off the killing of sacrificial animals.
I had never really thought about the fact that when Caiaphas asked Christ “Is this the way you speak to the high priest?” (John 18:22), that my Lord, in His mind, must have responded “Is this the way you beat and mock and kill THE eternal high priest… the One who, by the way, formed you in the womb?” But he was the silent lamb led to the slaughter.
I hope you can take the time to go and watch this seminar. It will change your perspective of the last few hours of the life of Jesus. It will make you realize the gravity of the fact that God has entrusted you, as his priest, with the care of His modern-day temple, the church. If you are in the Digging Deep study, it will provide an excellent finale to your study of God, the Son.
If you’re doing the Digging Deep study, and you do not have the time to listen to the seminar in it’s entirety, may I especially invite you to hear the Saturday night lesson. As we pivot from our study of God, the Son, to a study of the Spirit, this lesson is particularly timely. The first half of this lesson goes into a bit of detail about the amazing work the Spirit has done in giving us the Word. The second half is a great close to your study of the Son.
If you do not have the time to listen to any of these lessons, do not despair. Keep plugging along at whatever rate you are able. I hope that we are all so immersed in matters of the kingdom that we have to pick and choose carefully which good things we are studying and doing. If this is the case with you, I know He is richly blessing you and filling your days with opportunities to grow the kingdom.
