Young People’s Blog

“All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver Him: let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him” (Psalms 22:7-8).

David wrote this almost one thousand years before the Lord Jesus came into the world, yet he prophesied exactly how the world would treat the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus had escaped from the hands of those who wanted to harm Him many times during His earthly ministry, but when it was time for Him to go to the cross, He submitted to the will of God His Father. There was no other way for sin to be put away.

When He was hanging on the cross, people passed by and commented just as David had said. We read what they said in Matthew 27:43, “He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him: for He said, I am the Son of God.” These were awful words for men to say, for the Lord Jesus could easily have come down from the cross and sent this whole world to hell. But He remained there and bore the punishment for sin. What wonderful love and grace He displayed!

“And Enoch walked with God…and begat sons and daughters…and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took Him” (Genesis 5:22,24).

Enoch lived a long time ago, for he was probably born about 3380 B.C. That is more than 5,000 years ago! He lived to be 365 years old, which seems to us like a very long life. Yet in Enoch’s time most people lived longer than that. Enoch’s son Methuselah had the longest life of anyone in the Bible—969 years.

Two things are important about Enoch. First of all, Scripture tells us twice over that “he walked with God.” How did he do it? He did it the same way you and I can do it—one day at a time. The Lord appreciated Enoch and his godly walk and has recorded it. You and I can walk with God too, every day of our lives.

Secondly, Enoch never had to die. The Lord simply took him to be with Him in heaven. Only one other man had this happen to him. Do you remember who he was? You can read about him in 2 Kings 2. You and I will not be taken as Enoch was, but if we are truly saved, we are waiting for the Lord to come and take us home. We may not have to die either!

“And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron…and…after he had made it a molten calf…they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:3-4).

“Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them…behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt” (1 Kings 12:28).

It is very sad to see these verses in the Bible, and to realize that twice the Israelites made golden calves to worship. They made them once shortly after leaving Egypt, and then king Jeroboam made them again, more than 500 years later. Yet in both cases they said the same words—“These be thy gods, O Israel, that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”

They had learned to worship the cow in Egypt, for the Egyptians worshiped the cow. The Israelites knew the true God, yet they turned so quickly to worshiping false gods like a calf. They had seen God’s power in delivering them from Egypt, yet they turned to idols. Even today there is at least one country in the world where they worship the cow.

Why did the Israelites do this? It was largely because they did not have faith, and wanted something they could see, rather than trusting a God whom they could not see. But they had seen clearly God’s power in saving them from the oppression of the Egyptians. We have seen not only God’s power, but also His love. Are we trusting only in Him?

“The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil” (John 7:7).

When the Lord Jesus spoke these words, He was speaking to His own natural brothers. Their names are given to us in Matthew 13:55—James, Joses, Simon, and Judas. At this point in time they did not believe in the Lord Jesus. (They did believe later on, probably after His death and resurrection.)

Why did the world hate the Lord Jesus? Our verse today tells us clearly; it was because He told people that they were sinners, and needed a Savior. As we saw yesterday, He told them plainly that there was no good in them at all, in their natural state. They needed a new life, and they did not want to hear that.

It is the same today. People will listen to you if you want to make this world a better place, if you want to feed people who are hungry, help those in need, etc. But they do not want a message that tells them they are helpless sinners.

“It is the Spirit that quickeneth [gives life]; the flesh profiteth nothing” (John 6:63).

According to John 3:5, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” The water speaks of the Word of God, and the Spirit uses the Word of God to give us new life in Christ. We read the same thing again in today’s verse, for the Spirit of God quickens us, using the Word of God. But what about the rest of the verse?

Many years ago, a young man asked a much older Christian what advice he would give him, as he just started out on his Christian pathway. The older Christian simply said, “Learn well four words—‘The flesh profiteth nothing.’” What did he mean? He meant that the old sinful nature with which we were born does not do us any good. The Jews thought that somehow they could be saved through their own efforts, and many people today think the same thing. Sadly, even we who are believers sometimes persuade ourselves that there is still some good in the old nature. Let us believe God’s Word and recognize that it is bad—all bad.

“Then answered the Jews and said unto Him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:18-19).

Even though the Lord Jesus did many miracles the Jews continually asked for a sign, meaning some kind of miracle that would clearly demonstrate to them who He was. After He had driven out of the temple the people that sold animals, the animals themselves, and the moneychangers, again the Jews asked for a sign. The Lord told them what we read in verse 19—“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews misunderstood, and thought He was speaking of the big temple Herod had built, which had taken 46 years to construct.

However, the Lord was speaking of something more miraculous than that; He was speaking of His own resurrection. He was speaking of the temple of His body, that would be raised up again the third day. But even this miracle, when it happened, did not convince them; they invented a lie, saying that the disciples stole the body while the soldiers slept. Only a real work of God in the heart can bring souls to repentance.

“Nathanael saith unto him [Philip], Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46).

“Nathanael answered and saith unto Him [the Lord Jesus], Rabbi, thou are the Son of God; thou are the King of Israel” (John 1:49).

Nazareth was evidently a rather poor place, and Nathanael did not think very highly of it. When Philip told him that they had found the Messiah, Nathanael was very skeptical, and questioned whether anything good could come from Nazareth. However, he was going to get a shock and a surprise.

When Nathanael went with Philip to see the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus immediately addressed him as if He knew him. Nathanael was surprised, and even more surprised when the Lord Jesus told him that he had seen him sitting under a fig tree some time before. The Lord Jesus had not been there to see Nathanael with his natural eyes, so Nathanael immediately knew that he was speaking to the Lord Himself. His immediate reply was to recognize Him as both the Son of God and the King of Israel.

This is a good lesson for us too. We should not make judgments about people just because of what their background might be. Let us accept people for what they are, and not make a judgment based on where they come from.

“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:30).

The Lord Jesus spoke seven times while He was on the cross, and what is recorded here is the sixth one. It is recorded only in John’s gospel, the gospel that portrays the Lord Jesus as the Son of God. As the Son of God, He could dismiss His own spirit, and He did so in full command of what was happening. We learn from other gospels that when He said those words, “It is finished,” He said them in a loud voice, and with His head erect. Then He bowed His head, and said, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit” (Luke 23:46). All this showed clearly that He was the Son of God.

The expression “It is finished” was a triumphant cry, for the work of bearing that awful load of sin was done. Now you and I can rest on that finished work, for nothing needs to be added to it, nor can anything be added to it. God has shown His acceptance of that work by raising the Lord Jesus from the dead, for God is not only satisfied with that work; He is glorified by it.

“Whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister [servant]: and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45).

Normally the person who is the greatest is the one who is served by others, and those who have the highest place in this world expect others to do things for them. However, the Lord Jesus said exactly the opposite to His disciples. Sometimes His disciples had discussions about who would be the greatest, and the Lord Jesus had to remind them that the greatest among them should be the one who served others.

Then the Lord Jesus used Himself as the example of this. Here He was in this world, the Son of God who became a man, and who took the most humble place. He had created this world, and we read in Hebrews 1:3 that He upholds “all things by the word of His power.” Yet He came into this world to serve, and will remain a servant for all eternity. He is our example, for He deserved to be served, yet voluntarily became a servant.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matthew 23:37).

In this chapter the Lord Jesus had been calling the Jewish scribes and Pharisees hypocrites, which simply means that they said many right things, and taught them to others, but did not do those things themselves. They found excuses in order to get away with doing wrong things. The scribes and Pharisees needed to hear all this, for it was very serious for them to teach the people the right thing, and yet do all the wrong things themselves.

However, the Lord Jesus also wanted them to know how much He loved them. He did not want to see them come under judgment, and as He says in our verse today, He would gladly have gathered them together and protected them, the way a mother hen protects her chickens whenever there is danger. But they would not let Him do this, and it made Him very sad.

We may sometimes have to speak plainly to people who are not saved, and tell them that they are sinners and need a Savior. However, at the same time we should be sure to tell them how much God loves them and wants to save them.