Seeds For Thinking

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* Scared Speechless
* Scripture: "Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the alter of incense."
Luke 1: 11, NKJV

Few things get your attention as much as someone suddenly appearing beside you when you think you are alone. Talk about an adrenaline spike! Blood pressure probably goes out the top, too. The effect is all the more heightened if you are the only person supposed to be there, such as a night watchman in a locked building. Or a priest serving in the temple at Jerusalem.
Most of the activity that we read about involving the temple in The New Testament took place in a large, open courtyard surrounding the sacred enclosure. This area was open to all, and was called the Court of the Gentiles.
The temple was enclosed with walls defining the Women's Court and the Court of Israel, or Men's Court. The great altar and vessels holding water for the rituals of washing and sacrifice were located in the Court of Priests, at the eastern end of the temple.
The temple proper contained two rooms. The first room, the Holy Place, contained a golden alter for burning incense, a table for showbread, and a lampstand.
It was separated from the Holy of Holies by a veil. It was this veil, dividing the two rooms, that was torn on the day of Christ's crucifixion.
The Holy of Holies was entered only by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement, and then only after purification rituals. Still, it must have been an awe inspiring moment for any priest to stand just outside that curtain, knowing that you were representing the entire nation of Israel before the Lord.
Imagine for a moment that you are a priest, and you have finally been chosen by lot to burn incense in the Holy Place. It a possibly a once in a lifetime event for any priest. You arrive at the temple complex, ascending the steps leading to the great court. The temple rises above you, gleaming golden and shining white in the sunlight. You make your way through the throng, conspicuous in your white linen garments and cap. You enter the court of Israel through one of the six sanctuary gates, and proceed to the great altar in the Court of the Priests.
The familiar rituals of preparation and cleansing seem extra special today. This is where you have spent much of your life, serving God and the Nation of Israel, praying, praising, accepting offerings, and ministering in the ritual of sacrifice. Today is different, though, for you will walk up those twelve steps, beneath the portico, and through those enormous, golden doors.
The sound of the multitudes praying in the outer courts behind you recedes as you enter the Holy Place. The curtain veiling the Holy of Holies hangs before you, but you can go no farther.
You are alone, in the presence of God.
The smoke from the burning incense rises slowly in the still air, carrying the prayers of priest and people.
People! You have heard no one enter; no one else is permitted to so much as ascend those steps leading to the only door, but a man is standing there by the altar of incense! In the presence of God, in this Holy Place. . .
Scared speechless? Well, fearful and trembling, anyway. Actually, a holy visitor in this holiest of places announces the beginning of a new age, the coming of the Christ, the Messiah, and you, Zacharias, will be the father of one who will make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Elizabeth, your long-barren wife, will bear you a son, John, the Forerunner of Christ. He will be great in the sight of the Lord.
The angel Gabriel not only delivers these glad tidings, but also takes away your power of speech. You will not be able to speak until the day these things take place.
Centuries have passed since God spoke through the prophets. But now:
"Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people."
Luke 1:68, NKJV
December 10, 2006

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Scripture: Jesus said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. (John 19:30b, NKJV)

What ever did we do for entertainment as we traversed the byways before they developed bumper stickers? Many show the owner’s preference for some place or thing, a red heart indicating “love.” Some announce what the driver would be doing if they were not driving around, perhaps fishing or golfing. Perhaps the real reason they are not indulging in fun stuff is summed up by the little jingle, “I owe, I owe, So off to work I go!”
Ah! Work. That which we do to pay for food and shelter. Hopefully. Better to be able to pay the bills than to have no source of income. Even so, some jobs are a labor of love, and some are just labor. “So off to work we go!”
I have reached that condition in life where I no longer have to go to work. I just wake up, and it is waiting here for me. But that is not all bad. Sure, there are some things that are more dreary than cheery. Tasks that have to be done, like it or not. Like having to dig up and repair a leaky water line to the barn, or pick up rocks from the field we are planting. The type of job that we are glad when it is over. It is finished.
Many jobs I choose to do, willingly, anticipating the end result. Like rejoicing at the first produce from the garden, or admiring a construction project that I have completed. I obviously enjoy writing, else why would I continue to do this?
Again, reaching the completion of the project I can say, “It is finished!” Same words, yet they somehow don’t fully express the emotional difference between the end of the cheery and that of the dreary task. Perhaps, looking at the fruits of my labor on a project that I have chosen as a labor of love, designed, and carried to completion, I might say, “It is accomplished!”
Think about the words from Jesus, hanging on a cross. “Jesus said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”
Finish, as in done, ended, over? Finish what? Not His life, for we know from the scriptures that He rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, where He sits at the right hand of God, the Father. The word used in the Greek text is most often translated as “finished,” but some versions use “accomplish.” Yes, His work, the reason the Word became flesh and lived among us, (John 1:14) was to bring salvation to all people by offering Himself as a single sacrificial offering for sin.
(Hebrews 10:14)
Pontius Pilate claimed to have power to free Jesus, or have Him crucified. Jesus replied, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” (John 19:10-11)
The crucifixion was indeed brutal, an extreme form of capital punishment, yet necessary to complete the divine plan for salvation. In John 17, vs. 4, Jesus prays to His Father, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished (accomplished) the work which You have given Me to do.”
Does the word matter? Perhaps not. But as you think about the great sacrifice, the single sacrificial offering for sin that brought salvation to all people, rejoice that God’s plan was accomplished. Alleluia!!

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Scripture: Gamaliel said, “If their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God. Acts 5:38b-39, NIV.

If you have been involved with a male child within the past several years, you have possibly come into contact with a rather ingenious toy that means “change” with a capital “T” - “Transformer®”. And change it does! What looks to be one object becomes quite different in appearance and function in the hands of the one who “transforms’ it.
Now that I have established “transformer” as my operative word for the day, let’s proceed to the main topic, the Sanhedrin. It was the highest Jewish tribunal during the Greek and Roman periods in Israel/Palestine, rather like our supreme court. Many versions of the Bible do not use the actual name Sanhedrin but follow the form of Matthew 16:21, which mentions the “elders, chief priests and teachers of the law.” This body, composed of seventy members drawn from the leaders mentioned above, plus the high priest, who was president of the Sanhedrin, was the final court of appeal for all questions connected with Mosaic law, including blasphemy.
The Sanhedrin quite naturally has a negative connotation for most Christians, for it was this body that convicted Jesus of blasphemy, and condemned Him to death. Convened by the High Priest Caiaphas, the night-time session of the Sanhedrin did not follow established protocol (See Mt. 26:57-66.)
However, it was this group of Jewish elders, chief priests and teachers of the law who in actuality, brought God’s work to completion! No, I am not suggesting that you come to revere these men, but to so transform your thinking that you appreciate how God can “transform” the actions of men to accomplish His purposes. (See Mt. 26:56)
First of all, consider that God sent Jesus to reconcile all His people to Himself. Under Mosaic law, reconciliation required sacrifice, a blood sacrifice. As Hebrews 10:1-18 explains, Jesus became that once-for-all-time sacrifice, the propitiation for our sins. Tell me, how would YOU have made this happen? If it were not for the crucifixion, we might still be under the Old Testament sacrificial system. Something to indeed think about.
Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin (John 3:1) was the one to whom Jesus spoke the words of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world . . .”, the same Nicodemus who helped Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus (John 19:39)
A man named Gamaliel, a Rabbi honored by all the people, counciled the other members of the Sanhedrin to let the Apostles go. (Acts 5:38) One of Gamaliel’s students just happens to have authored more books of the New Testament than any other person, one Saul of Tarsus, a.k.a. Paul, the Pharisee God transformed to become the missionary to the Gentiles.
Let the Greatest TRANSFORMER of all go to work on your life. You will be amazed at what He can do!
April 6, 2003

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Jesus said, “ Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:12, 13), NIV
One of the greatest treasures we can take with us on the journey through life is friendship. True friendship has to be distinguished from an acquaintance on friendly terms, and not so broad as “birds of a feather flock together.” My old “New Century English Dictionary (1920’s) defines friend as coming from the Anglo-Saxon word for love or free; thus one attached to another by feelings of personal regard.
Who are your true friends? I found what I think to be an excellent expression of true friendship in the Aug. 31 -Sept 2, 2001, USA WEEKEND tabloid, by Travis Smiley. He wrote, “I like to think of my friends as two parts of an egg-and-ham sandwich: Some friends are like egg laying chickens and some are like ham-producing hogs. The chickens can come by and lay an egg and keep on moving without any big sacrifice. But for you to enjoy the ham, that hog has made the ultimate sacrifice. When you go through an ordeal . . . your friends are on trial with you. You learn pretty quickly which ones are chickens and which ones are hogs who will actually put themselves on the line for you.”
One of life’s greatest trials is exemplified in the Book of Job, where he laments that “my familiar friends have forgotten me” (19:14) and “all my inward friends abhorred me”(19:19.)
The Book of Proverbs notes that “the rich have many friends” (14:20) and warns to not make friends with an angry man (22:24); that is, someone who is continually unfriendly with the world.
James also cautions that “friendship with the world (Satan) is enmity with God” (4:4.). It is noteworthy that Jesus spoke often of friends. Consider His words: “My command is this : Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:12, 13)
Jesus’ statements about friends include the man who calls his friends together when he finds the lost sheep (Lk. 15:6) and the woman (vs. 9) who finds the lost coin.
Many who encounter Jesus, including Matthew and the woman at the well, immediately go to share the Good News of Jesus with their friends.
Jesus, of course, did lay down his life for his friends. Shouldn’t we at least tell others about it?
September 23, 2001