Party pooper

Happy Birthday ! Hopefully you had a party with lots of people over. Hopefully you celebrated a bit today. Imagine if one of your closest friends that you have known most of your life, declared himself to be God’s chosen One at your party. You and he played, worked, and hung out together. He was just an average guy with an average job. Up to this point there wasn’t all that much spectacular about him.  Up until a little while ago.

     In the beginning verses of Luke 4 we see Jesus had just finished being tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Jesus overcame His adversary by the Word and the Spirit. Shortly thereafter, He was visiting his hometown of Nazareth. The place which knew Him the best, or so it seemed.  

     While they were worshipping and celebrating together in the synagogue, He read from Isaiah 61 and proclaimed to all his friends and family that this passage about the coming Messiah was about Himself. Then He irked their sensibilities even more and declared that the promises of God were not just intended for the Jewish people but for the Gentiles (Non – Jewish) as well. He may as well of just called them all pig farmers and spat in their faces – they took it the same way.  They were so angry they took him up to a cliff and wanted to throw Him off. They turned very quickly on their childhood friend – what a party pooper.  

     I am sure none of your friends or family has ever declared themselves to be God’s Anointed One. Hopefully not.  But, put yourselves in the sandals of Jesus’ friends and family on that day. What would we have done? Accept what Jesus said about Himself? Get angry like the crowd? Or just stay in the background? We, fortunately, have the benefit of having more information about Jesus then they did. We know that He performed many miracles, taught great lessons, was tortured, crucified, and then rose again. We may have a clearer picture, but we still have the same 3 choices. Do we accept who Jesus declares Himself to be? Do we reject His claims? Or do we just sit back and ponder? In John 14:6 – “ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.”

On your birthday, you need to make a choice. Only choice # 1 grants you access to heaven and a personal relationship with Jesus. Option #s 2 & 3 leave you angry and confused, just like Jesus’ childhood friends and family.

We are praying you choose to accept what Jesus said about Himself and celebrate your birthday in a glorious fashion – along with the angels.

Dave R

   ’69 / ’83  Quarryville PA