Wisdom from the Word

Wisdom from the Word #4 - 6/5/2023

While studying a section of the gospel of Luke on Wednesday nights recently we discovered that Jesus considered the cost of His life for our salvation, and He paid it all for us. In chapter 14 we see Jesus having been invited to the house of a Pharisee, not because this Pharisee believed in Jesus, but because he wanted to put Jesus to the test. A man sick with “dropsy” (bodily fluid retention) is thrust on the scene before Jesus. Jesus, who is all-knowing, poses a question to the host asking, “Is it lawful to heal someone on the Sabbath or not?” Crickets...no one replies. He then asks, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” Again, crickets...no one replies because they would then be found guilty. Jesus then heals the man and sent him home.

Two important things are going on in the room: 1. The text says they watched him “closely.”
 2. Large crowds of people were around Jesus. What seemed an untenable situation for Jesus (scrutiny of the leaders and crowds of people) became an embarrassing situation for everyone else. Jesus did not intend to embarrass them, but to instruct them. They had every opportunity to admit fault in rescuing a son or an animal on the Sabbath. No one would have been concerned about the implications of such acts of love. Jesus simply demonstrated the value of life, and in so doing, he demonstrated what forgiveness looks like for the one who calls upon the name of the Lord; the man was as completely healed as we who are in Christ are completely saved and washed clean of our sins.

As believers, we are under the ever-watchful eye of the world who awaits among great crowds of people seeking our defeat to mess up somehow so that they can say, “Aha! We got you!” “In this world,” Jesus says, “you will have tribulation, but be courageous, I have overcome the world.!” (John 16:33)

A recent display of such a “gotcha” moment was when Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass apologized for sharing an online video that proclaimed the truth for believers to stop supporting companies that are targeting our children toward ungodliness and sin. While he believes the truth of the video, he had to decide between the truth of God’s Word and his career. Sadly, his faith was weak, and he bowed down to the altar of anti-Christian crowds.

Later in the chapter, Jesus tells a parable and says we must consider the cost of following Him. Jesus considered the cost and went to Calvary. Remember, He let go of Heaven and came down to the sin-cursed Earth to save sinners. Oh, what a cost. How can we ever consider less in our walk with Him?

As time draws near for the rapture, we must continually count the cost knowing what Jesus did—He saved us!