Author: BTP

“It cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem” (Luke 13:33).

The Pharisees, who did not like the Lord Jesus, had warned Him that if He stayed around in Jerusalem, Herod would kill Him. The Lord Jesus did not die at Herod’s hands, but He told those Pharisees that a prophet could not perish out of Jerusalem. What did He mean?

The answer is rather solemn. All the prophets who had perished, all through the Old Testament, had generally been killed in or around Jerusalem—the very place where God’s temple was, and where people were supposed to be able to learn about the true God. The place had become so corrupted that the prophets God sent to warn His people were killed there. Finally, the Lord Jesus Himself would be taken outside that same city of Jerusalem, and crucified. This was the end of man’s testing; he had failed every test God could give him. But then God began to act in grace towards this world, and we can be saved now, not through our own efforts, but through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

“There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of His disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee” (John 21:2-3).

When the incident related in these two verses took place, the Lord Jesus had already risen from the dead, and been seen by His eleven disciples. We have already noticed that Peter was a natural leader, and when he decided to go fishing, the six others who were with him wanted to go too. If you read on in the chapter, you will see that they did not catch anything until the Lord told them what to do.

You will remember that the Lord Jesus had called Peter to give up fishing, in order to do something more important—to catch men. See if you can find the verse where the Lord Jesus says this to Peter.

Peter should not have gone back to fishing, but because he was a leader, others followed him. This is a good lesson for us to remember. We all influence one another, and especially those who are natural leaders. Let us be careful not to lead others in a wrong way. On Monday we will see what the Lord said to Peter the next day about what he should be doing.

“My son, give Me thine heart” (Proverbs 23:26).

Here we have another verse that is closely connected with what we had yesterday concerning Mary Magdalene. Her heart was right, and that was what counted with the Lord. Once we are saved, the Lord wants our hearts. Note that this verse is not written to unbelievers, for the Lord does not want our wicked sinful hearts. But after we are saved and have new hearts, He wants our affections.

We may follow the Lord for different reasons, such as wanting to please other believers, or feeling that we ought to follow the Lord, but the only proper reason for doing so is when we have given Him our hearts.

When we really love someone, we are ready to do anything for them. As we saw yesterday, Mary Magdalene loved the Lord, and was ready to do anything for Him. The Lord valued this love very much. If you are truly saved, have you given your heart to Him?

“The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre…but Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping” (John 20:1,11).

In these verses we find yet another woman who was closely associated with the Lord Jesus while He was on earth. She was apparently a simple woman, naturally, but she certainly made up for it with her devotedness to the Lord. She would not leave the grave of the Lord Jesus, and wanted His dead body, thinking somehow she could carry it away. She had been delivered from seven demons by the Lord Jesus, and she loved Him dearly. For this reason it was to her that the Lord first revealed Himself after He rose from the dead, and it was to her that He gave a special message for the disciples.

It is good to be intelligent in both natural and divine things, but the Lord Jesus values our devotedness to Him more than our intelligence. Mary was given a special place because of her devotedness and love to the Lord.

This too is a good lesson for us. It is good to be spiritually intelligent, but even more important to love Him, and be devoted to Him.

“Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him” (Matthew 10:4).

This is a very sad verse, for it tells us about Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve disciples. He went about with the Lord Jesus just as the others did, preached, probably performed miracles, and in every way acted like the others. Yet he was not a believer, and in the end betrayed the Lord Jesus for money. He was the one who handled the shared money of the Lord and His disciples, and evidently also stole some of that money.

Surely the Lord Jesus knew right from the beginning how Judas would turn out, for He is God. We might wonder why He picked such a man to be a disciple, knowing very well what he would eventually do. I would suggest that there is at least one reason why the Lord did this, and it is a solemn warning to us.

The history of Judas Iscariot shows us how far someone can go in pretending to be a real believer, while really being an unbeliever. He acted so well that none of the other disciples ever suspected that he was not real. Sadly, there are people today who are doing this, for if they have grown up in Christian homes, they know how to say the right things, and act the right way. Yet they are not truly saved. It is a very serious thing to pretend. We may be able to fool others, but the Lord knows our hearts.

“Now the names of the twelve apostles are these…Bartholomew…James the son of Alphaeus, and…Thaddeus; Simon the Canaanite” (Matthew 10:2-4).

In this list of the twelve disciples, we find the four names I have noted today—names about which we do not hear much. We do not know much about their personalities, nor what they might have done for the Lord. We do know, of course, that they were with the Lord throughout His earthly ministry, and were all present on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down and the church was formed, but we do not hear anything more about them. Likewise, only Judas the brother of James is mentioned as saying anything at all during the time our Lord was on earth. (Note that Lebbaeus, Thaddeus, and Judas the brother of James were all the same person.)

This does not mean, however, that the Lord did not use them. Sometimes those who are quieter are much used of the Lord, and accomplish His work just as effectively as those who are more outgoing. The Lord knew whom He was choosing, and used a variety of men to follow Him.

Again, it is the same today. The Lord uses outgoing people who are leaders, but He also uses quieter people who work “behind the scenes,” yet still do His work for Him. He wants to use each one of us!

“Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with Him” (John 11:16).

Another of our Lord’s disciples was Thomas. Most of the time he is remembered as “doubting Thomas,” for he was the one who refused to believe that the Lord Jesus was risen from the dead, unless he could put his finger into the nail prints in His hands, and his hand into His pierced side. But Thomas had a real love for the Lord, and we see it in today’s verse. The Lord Jesus was going from Galilee back to Judea to raise Lazarus from the dead, and the disciples knew that the Jews in Judea wanted to kill Him. Thomas was ready to go with his Lord and Master, even if it meant dying with Him.

While you and I may not be called upon to do anything this serious, we should be ready to go wherever the Lord leads us, even if it is a hard thing to do. Do we love the Lord Jesus enough that we want to follow Him wherever He wishes us to go?

“Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day” (Genesis 41:9).

What faults did the chief butler remember? Was it the fault of not remembering to mention Joseph to Pharaoh, as he had asked him to do, or was it his earlier fault in offending Pharaoh, and landing in prison because of it? I believe that it was his faults in offending Pharaoh. This is the real reason why he had also forgotten Joseph. He probably did not think he had done anything all that bad, and when he got out of prison, he forgot all about the one who was so kind to him.

It is often the same with us. We do not realize how much our sins have offended God, and how much suffering the Lord Jesus had to go through to put those sins away. Then we do not think it is important to remember the Lord Jesus, as He has asked us to do. But perhaps later on, the Lord helps us to realize how much we have been forgiven, and then our hearts are filled with gratitude.

“And as Jesus passed forth from thence, He saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and He saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed Him” (Matthew 9:9).

Today we are introducing another of the Lord’s twelve disciples. He was a tax collector, and in the Roman Empire, those men were usually rich. Matthew had a good job, but when the Lord Jesus called him to follow Him, Matthew immediately got up and followed the Lord Jesus. We do not hear much about Matthew during the Lord’s time in this world, but afterward, the Lord used Matthew to write the book that bears his name.

Matthew also gives us a good example to follow. He was ready to give up a good job and follow the Lord Jesus. Are we ready to give up the advantages we have in this world, if the Lord calls us to do so? It is not wrong to have a good job, but we should never let something like this interfere with what the Lord wants us to do. Remember that when Matthew followed the Lord Jesus, the Lord used him to write a book of the Bible that we are still enjoying today. That was much better than having a good job as a tax collector!

“And she [Martha] had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard His word” (Luke 10:39).

Here we have another woman who was associated with the Lord Jesus during His time in this world, and who often entertained Him in her home, along with her sister Martha and her brother Lazarus. There was something special about Mary, for she enjoyed sitting at Jesus’ feet, and hearing His Word. This does not mean that she was lazy; I am sure that she was a hard worker. But she recognized the need to hear the Word of the Lord Jesus, and took time to listen to Him.

This is a good lesson for all of us. Because she knew the Lord Jesus well, Mary did not go to the cross, nor did she go to the grave of the Lord Jesus. She was spiritually intelligent and could see beyond it all. She knew that the Lord Jesus had to go to the cross, and that this was the only way sin could be put away. Spiritual intelligence and real devotedness come from spending time listening to the Lord Jesus. Of course, we cannot literally sit at His feet now, but in reading His Word and walking with Him, we learn more of Him.