The Jesus-kind-of-trouble

Monday   12-21-15  Home in Modesto 

Scripture reading:    John 9 - 11

S=Scripture  O=Observation  A=Application  P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S.  John 11:46-50  But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.  Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together to discuss the situation. "What are we going to do?" they asked each other. "This man certainly performs many miraculous signs.  If we leave him alone, the whole nation will follow him, and then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation."  And one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said, "How can you be so stupid?  Why should the whole nation be destroyed? Let this one man die for the people." NLT

O.  The religious leaders call a high caucus.  “This Jesus guy is nothing but a trouble maker.  Look at the mess He is making.  He calls Himself the Son of God and has the audacity to call us ‘a brood a snakes’.  He accuses us of ‘walking around with flowing robes with our nose in the air looking very religious, but cheating poor widows out of their money.’  The worst part is He keeps doing miracles. 

Can you believe He broke the Sabbath again last week by making mud and smearing it on the eyes of a man born blind, and if that wasn’t bad enough he sent the blind guy to wash it off at the pool of Siloam and now he can see.  This is getting out of hand. 

Now, hear this!  Yesterday He called a dead man out of his tomb... four days dead!  And the dead man, wrapped like a mummy with even his face covered... comes stumbling out of his cave tomb!  We’ve got to stop this!  Too many people are believing Him to be the Messiah... and we’re going to lose our religious position.  If the Roman government authorities ever think He might be our awaited Messiah, we are all dead meat.  Raise your hands all who think we should ‘eliminate’ Him.”

A.  Our tent crusade had gone beyond our intended 30 days in Merlo.  This was a sin-cursed area.  Alcoholics, addicts, criminals and all other kinds of sinners were filling the tent and placing an “ex” in front of their former life styles.  The huge canvass on the dirt floor in front of the platform was a moving sea of little kids enjoying my dummy, Felipe.  This was getting out of hand!

A little girl came early to the tent.  She was crying her heart out.  With tears she told us that the priest had visited the local school and prohibited all children from ever going to the tent again.  “But I love Jesus and want to follow Him!” she sobbed. 

There was no doubt.  We were trouble makers.  That tent meeting lasted 20 months!* 

P.  Lord, if all goes as planned, I will be back in Argentina in mid February until mid June.  Help me to make lots of the “Jesus-kind-of-trouble.”  The High Priest and his cohorts voted to kill You.  But then came resurrection, and in a few weeks a Holy Spirit Pentecost exploded into thousands of converts.  Jesus, giver of life... we need another resurrection.  We need another Holy Spirit explosion.  Maybe we need to stir up some “Jesus-kind-of-trouble” in the USA.  Amen.

Ralph

* I am writing a book and hope to publish it in 2016.  The rest of the Merlo story will be there for those interested.