I asked Amelia to choose two apples from the crisper drawer. She wanted to help make apple cinnamon pancakes and she had already pulled her stool up to the kitchen counter. She turned to open the refrigerator and stopped. “Ezra can’t help,” she started. Then grinning slyly, she continued, “Tell me I’m gonna be last.”
This girl keeps me on my toes. I tell her stories from when I was a little girl and she remembers them better than I do! Last time she and Ezra helped me make apple pancakes together, she wasn’t happy about climbing down to get apples even though I was trusting her with the first task because that meant Ezra, who was still on his stool at the counter might get to do something she wanted to do. So I told her the story of little Yolly and Papa picking apples.
There was an apple tree that grew on the barbed wire fence along the driveway of the house where we lived until I was ten. The fence followed the winding gravel drive that divided my granny’s cousin’s horse pasture from our property. That little tree grew the knottiest apples that even the horses wouldn’t eat but when they were sufficiently ripe, my dad would let my cousins, my siblings and me help pick as many as we could reach from his shoulders. When it was time to choose one to munch, I must have assumed as eldest of the bunch, I would get first dibs. I remember reaching for the biggest one only to be told, “the first shall be last and the last shall be first,” before being sent to the end of the line.
Having learned my lesson, the next time we picked apples, I asked for the smallest one yet that’s exactly what I got. Why didn’t my reverse psychology work in reverse? God alone sees the motives of the heart but I believe He gives parents enough insight to train up a child in the way she should go. When I know I am in the wrong but do not want to own it, how quick am I to surrender my will? My parents called it hardheaded but Jesus called it hard hearted. Pertinacity can be a virtue when it brings persistence to bear in the face of overwhelming odds, but when impertinence rules the day, nobody wins.
“One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat.
But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”
Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat.
He also gave some to his companions.”
Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.
So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!””
Mark 2:23-28 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.2.27.NLT
Jesus is Lord and everything He said and did when he lived on the earth reflected this fact. Some of the most unlikely people got it. Some wrestled with God until He blessed them with second sight. Still others refused to believe. We are not so different from them. In fact Jesus told the disciples and Thomas that we are more blessed for believing without seeing. (John 20:29) We have eyewitness accounts preserved in the Bible yet some still disbelieve.
Why?
“The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book.
But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.”
John 20:30-31 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.20.30-31.NLT
“Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand.
Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely.
If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.
(Jesus knew their thoughts and He made no attempt to hide what He intended to do.)
Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.”
Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil?
Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?”
But they wouldn’t answer him.”
Mark 3:1-4 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.3.1-4.NLT
Some take offense to Jesus because they have already made up their minds about Him. This was not the first criticism of Jesus’s activity on the sabbath and it would not be the last. It was simply one more nail in the coffin of their decided enemy or so they thought. He would allow their barbs just as He would allow the nails in His hands and feet. This did not make Him weak, as they assumed. Jesus is, was, and always will be King of kings and Lord of lords. They too were just what He claimed.
“For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does.
He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.
So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me!
Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin?
And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me?”
John 8:44-46 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.8.44-46.NLT
“Why can’t you understand what I am saying?
It’s because you can’t even hear me!
Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God.
But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.””
John 8:43, 47 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.8.43-47.NLT
“Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God.
I am not here on my own, but he sent me.”
John 8:42 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.8.42.NLT
Pharisees squared off against Jesus that day in the synagogue, the very ones who should have anticipated His arrival and welcomed Him to His place of authority made themselves His judge and jury, bringing charges of blasphemy against the Son of the one true God of Israel. How was this even possible? God ordained the priesthood, assigning the leaders to represent His holiness before the people. They made the necessary sacrifices and taught the people to keep God’s law until Messiah. When the word of the prophets ceased and God was silent for four hundred years, the religious leaders charged with shepherding Israel neglected their charge. They wanted what was not theirs by right. They wanted to rule, not to represent One who already did. When Jesus told His parables about a vineyard owner and his wicked tenants or a journeying king and his servants, He marked them as negligent shepherds.
““What sorrow awaits the leaders of my people—the shepherds of my sheep—for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were expected to care for,” says the Lord.
Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to these shepherds: “Instead of caring for my flock and leading them to safety, you have deserted them and driven them to destruction.
Now I will pour out judgment on you for the evil you have done to them.”
Jeremiah 23:1-2 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jer.23.1-2.NLT
We are meant to learn from their mistakes, not to repeat them.
““Watch out!
Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.
When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity!
I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get.
But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them.
I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.
But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private.
Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting.
I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.
But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face.
Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private.
And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.
Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
No one can serve two masters.
For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.
That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear.
Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?
Look at the birds.
They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them.
And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?
Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
And why worry about your clothing?
Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow.
They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.
And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.
Why do you have so little faith?
So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’
These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”
Matthew 6:1-8, 16-21, 24-33 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.6.1-33.NLT
What dominates my thoughts? We are ever conscious of judging the salvation of another, as we should be for Jesus said it is God’s to judge, but Jesus addressed the obvious arrogance of the religious leaders with His teaching, labeling them unbelievers. As we read God’s word, we do well to recognize ourselves in His teachings. I am not always who I think I am in His narrative. Sometimes I’m the older brother of the prodigal. Others times I am the Pharisee. I am sometimes Martha but I am also Mary sitting at Jesus’s feet being taught by Him. I am the woman grasping for the hem of His garment and the one breaking open the alabaster jar of ointment, gratitude pouring out with tears.
“Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth— a stranger, not your own lips.”
Proverbs 27:2 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.27.2.NLT
“Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised.”
Proverbs 27:21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.27.21.NLT
“He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts.
Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.”
So the man held out his hand, and it was restored!
At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus.”
Mark 3:5-6 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.3.5-6.NLT
Their minds were made up. They conspired to destroy Him but He still gave His life for theirs, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God. (I Peter 3:18) Still, His mercies are new each morning. Great is His faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23) Mere days before his arrest and crucifixion, just before Passover, Jesus prayed over Jerusalem.
““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers!
How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.
And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate.
For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’””
Matthew 23:37-39 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.23.37-39.NLT
“Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God, shining upon us.
Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.”
Psalms 118:26-27 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.118.26-27.NLT
“The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.
You are my God, and I will praise you!
You are my God, and I will exalt you!”
Psalms 118:22-23, 28 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.118.22-28.NLT
“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!
The watchmen shout and sing with joy, for before their very eyes they see the Lord returning to Jerusalem.
Let the ruins of Jerusalem break into joyful song, for the Lord has comforted his people.
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has demonstrated his holy power before the eyes of all the nations.
All the ends of the earth will see the victory of our God.”
Isaiah 52:7-10 NLT
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