Have you ever wondered why the scribes and pharisees, who knew the scriptures inside and out did not recognize Jesus?
Have you ever asked yourself why did the very Messiah they were so desperate for come and live among them but go undiscovered?
When Jesus was born angels appeared to the shepherds, the wise men saw and followed the star. Herod the king was told of this Messiah by the wise men, Elizabeth and Mary were told of the Birth, Joseph, his earthly father knew of the birth of the Messiah.
So why was Jesus who was prophesied in the scriptures, who was announced by angels, who was hailed by the very stars in the sky at his birth, why was he so unknown? John the baptist knew Him when he came to be baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, God the Father spoke from heaven and proclaimed Him His Son.
So why did they not know Him?
Why did they forget? Why did they brush all this aside? Why did they refuse to see the very Truth in front of them?
You may say well Herod sent out the edict to kill all the male children, so any talk of the birth of the Messiah was done at that point as the people were convinced Herod had stymied the Will of God.
Did they not acknowledge the full might and power of God? They had a good head knowledge but no heart knowledge. After all it had been 400 years since the last great works of God had been done, the last of the prophets had long since died. The last of the great men of God had stopped preaching and prophesying 400 years before.
ok so if Herod killed the Messiah then they had no reason to rejoice, I get it.
Yet if you read the scriptures in Luke you will see that John the Baptist was respected and feared by Herod the king.
John denounced Herod, preached against the many sins of Herod, so why would that king respect him? perhaps because John the Baptist was born around the same time as Jesus? Perhaps because Herod never truly forgot that the wise men told him of the Messiah, and Herod inwardly suspected that he could not thwart the Will of God?
Herod respected John and feared him. Even when he had John beheaded he did so with great reluctance. Why?
Because they all knew John was from God.
Alright, now if they all knew John was from God yet the birth of John didn't have all the portents and fanfare of the birth of Jesus then why didn't they know Christ?
John knew Him when He baptized Him. God proclaimed Him to the multitudes.
Luk 3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
Luk 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
Satan knew Him.
Luk 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
Luk 4:2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
Luk 4:3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
The demons knew him.
Act 19:15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
Mat 8:28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
Mat 8:29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
Luk 4:33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
Luk 4:34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.
So all these knew and were aware of who Jesus was.
Then why did not the people know? Why didn't the religious leaders know? Why didn't the keepers of the scripture stand and say this is Him?
Jesus told them all who He was.
He fulfilled scripture right in front of them. He cured the deaf, gave sight to the blind, raised the dead just as prophesied.
Mat 11:2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
Mat 11:3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
Mat 11:4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:
Mat 11:5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
Mat 11:6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
verse 5 listed above is a very fulfillment of Scripture that John would know and recognize.
Isa 35:4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
Isa 35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
So if all this was done and said, and it was not said in secret nor was it done in secret then why did they not know Him?
Why did they not recognize the very God in their midst?
Why did they refuse to see, understand, know and follow?
Because He came in His own way, in His own time, in His own understanding of what He intended. Not in theirs.
They were looking for a Messiah of Power who would deliver them from their earthly circumstances. Who would set the country of Israel up as a world power for that is what they understood and knew.
They did not understand that while God did care about this earth or these moments, He cared more for their souls, their sins, their lack of understanding of Him.
He came in their image and they knew Him not.
He came in our form, in our weakness, in our way of life, in our world and they knew Him not.
Why????
Because they had their own ideas, their own interpretations of what the Messiah, the Mighty deliverer would look like, would sound like. They had their own preconceptions that they had built up in their minds.
They had no heart for God. For if truly they had desired of God for His Will to be accomplished then they would have sought the Savior in God's terms in God's way.
They wanted a mighty man, A strong Good looking man, with great oratory and leadership skills. One who would look the part they expected. One who would overthrow their earthly oppressors.
One who would deliver them from the bondage they had, not realizing their bondage started in the Garden of Eden in sin. They were too concerned with the flesh and the circumstances of this earth, this life.
Jesus even asked the religious leaders about their issues with John and with Him.
Luk 7:33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.
Luk 7:34 The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!
Now that we have these examples in the Bible of how not to act, Many today do exactly what the "religious leaders" of yesteryear are doing.
They are redefining God in their own Image instead of trying to fit into His. They are trying to fit Him into their life instead of making their life His.
They say Christ wouldn't do that, that a loving merciful God will not judge the world. That Christ did this or that, not what the scriptures say. They are trying to rewrite History to make it fall in line with their vision.
We have those who are preaching that God is a God of all religions and men. They do not want to single out any, therefore they will condemn all.
They have taken the Bible and have gone through kept what they liked and threw out the rest.
God gave us His Word. God gave us His Son. God gave us His timeline.
Yet they still revile it, they still turn from the truth.
They are still trying to make God in their image, They want Him to be what they perceive.
They have no true heart knowledge of God.
If you look at most colleges, their theology teachers are not Christian, They are not even believers.
This is one area where you must have a believer who truly follows the scripture, who truly knows God in an experiential manner not just a book manner. Otherwise there is no passion, no experiential knowledge, no Truth.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Jesus flat out told the people that He is God, He is the Way, He is the Truth.
Those who claim otherwise are liars, fakes and frauds.
Those who want to make Jesus an everyman instead of The God, lie.
1Jn 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
1Jn 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
If anyone, and I mean anyone denies that Jesus is the Christ, the very Son of God, They Lie.
If anyone denies that He is born of a virgin, Died and rose again, and now sitteth at the right hand of the Father, They Lie.
God made us in His image,
He came to this earth in our Image.
Now we must try to fit into His Image of what we should be.
To know Him is to want to be like Him.
Have you ever asked yourself why did the very Messiah they were so desperate for come and live among them but go undiscovered?
When Jesus was born angels appeared to the shepherds, the wise men saw and followed the star. Herod the king was told of this Messiah by the wise men, Elizabeth and Mary were told of the Birth, Joseph, his earthly father knew of the birth of the Messiah.
So why was Jesus who was prophesied in the scriptures, who was announced by angels, who was hailed by the very stars in the sky at his birth, why was he so unknown? John the baptist knew Him when he came to be baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, God the Father spoke from heaven and proclaimed Him His Son.
So why did they not know Him?
Why did they forget? Why did they brush all this aside? Why did they refuse to see the very Truth in front of them?
You may say well Herod sent out the edict to kill all the male children, so any talk of the birth of the Messiah was done at that point as the people were convinced Herod had stymied the Will of God.
Did they not acknowledge the full might and power of God? They had a good head knowledge but no heart knowledge. After all it had been 400 years since the last great works of God had been done, the last of the prophets had long since died. The last of the great men of God had stopped preaching and prophesying 400 years before.
ok so if Herod killed the Messiah then they had no reason to rejoice, I get it.
Yet if you read the scriptures in Luke you will see that John the Baptist was respected and feared by Herod the king.
John denounced Herod, preached against the many sins of Herod, so why would that king respect him? perhaps because John the Baptist was born around the same time as Jesus? Perhaps because Herod never truly forgot that the wise men told him of the Messiah, and Herod inwardly suspected that he could not thwart the Will of God?
Herod respected John and feared him. Even when he had John beheaded he did so with great reluctance. Why?
Because they all knew John was from God.
Alright, now if they all knew John was from God yet the birth of John didn't have all the portents and fanfare of the birth of Jesus then why didn't they know Christ?
John knew Him when He baptized Him. God proclaimed Him to the multitudes.
Luk 3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
Luk 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
Satan knew Him.
Luk 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
Luk 4:2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
Luk 4:3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
The demons knew him.
Act 19:15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
Mat 8:28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
Mat 8:29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
Luk 4:33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
Luk 4:34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.
So all these knew and were aware of who Jesus was.
Then why did not the people know? Why didn't the religious leaders know? Why didn't the keepers of the scripture stand and say this is Him?
Jesus told them all who He was.
He fulfilled scripture right in front of them. He cured the deaf, gave sight to the blind, raised the dead just as prophesied.
Mat 11:2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
Mat 11:3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
Mat 11:4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:
Mat 11:5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
Mat 11:6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
verse 5 listed above is a very fulfillment of Scripture that John would know and recognize.
Isa 35:4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
Isa 35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
So if all this was done and said, and it was not said in secret nor was it done in secret then why did they not know Him?
Why did they not recognize the very God in their midst?
Why did they refuse to see, understand, know and follow?
Because He came in His own way, in His own time, in His own understanding of what He intended. Not in theirs.
They were looking for a Messiah of Power who would deliver them from their earthly circumstances. Who would set the country of Israel up as a world power for that is what they understood and knew.
They did not understand that while God did care about this earth or these moments, He cared more for their souls, their sins, their lack of understanding of Him.
He came in their image and they knew Him not.
He came in our form, in our weakness, in our way of life, in our world and they knew Him not.
Why????
Because they had their own ideas, their own interpretations of what the Messiah, the Mighty deliverer would look like, would sound like. They had their own preconceptions that they had built up in their minds.
They had no heart for God. For if truly they had desired of God for His Will to be accomplished then they would have sought the Savior in God's terms in God's way.
They wanted a mighty man, A strong Good looking man, with great oratory and leadership skills. One who would look the part they expected. One who would overthrow their earthly oppressors.
One who would deliver them from the bondage they had, not realizing their bondage started in the Garden of Eden in sin. They were too concerned with the flesh and the circumstances of this earth, this life.
Jesus even asked the religious leaders about their issues with John and with Him.
Luk 7:33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.
Luk 7:34 The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!
Now that we have these examples in the Bible of how not to act, Many today do exactly what the "religious leaders" of yesteryear are doing.
They are redefining God in their own Image instead of trying to fit into His. They are trying to fit Him into their life instead of making their life His.
They say Christ wouldn't do that, that a loving merciful God will not judge the world. That Christ did this or that, not what the scriptures say. They are trying to rewrite History to make it fall in line with their vision.
We have those who are preaching that God is a God of all religions and men. They do not want to single out any, therefore they will condemn all.
They have taken the Bible and have gone through kept what they liked and threw out the rest.
God gave us His Word. God gave us His Son. God gave us His timeline.
Yet they still revile it, they still turn from the truth.
They are still trying to make God in their image, They want Him to be what they perceive.
They have no true heart knowledge of God.
If you look at most colleges, their theology teachers are not Christian, They are not even believers.
This is one area where you must have a believer who truly follows the scripture, who truly knows God in an experiential manner not just a book manner. Otherwise there is no passion, no experiential knowledge, no Truth.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Jesus flat out told the people that He is God, He is the Way, He is the Truth.
Those who claim otherwise are liars, fakes and frauds.
Those who want to make Jesus an everyman instead of The God, lie.
1Jn 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
1Jn 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
If anyone, and I mean anyone denies that Jesus is the Christ, the very Son of God, They Lie.
If anyone denies that He is born of a virgin, Died and rose again, and now sitteth at the right hand of the Father, They Lie.
God made us in His image,
He came to this earth in our Image.
Now we must try to fit into His Image of what we should be.
To know Him is to want to be like Him.
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