Most Jews, as most Christians, believe the Law is the Ten Commandments. In fact, discerning Jews call them the “Ten Words,” and as such, they are the very words of pre-incarnate Jesus. That means Jesus before he was ever born of flesh. What do you think Jesus was explaining in the Temple? Perhaps it was his Ten Words. That makes sense because by then most Jews took them as Commandments – things Jews MUST DO.
The only “must do” in the New Testament is to, “Marvel not; ye MUST BE born again.” Ironically, that is a “must do,” but God does it for you when a person’s heart is receptive. If it was something YOU DO, then you would be endeavoring to deliver yourself from the evil one! Our only MUST DO is done by God; hence MUST BE is what people should marvel at.
The Jews is the Temple marveled as the words of Jesus:
And it came to
pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst
of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that
heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. (Luke 2:46-47)
Astonishment is “marveling.” The doctors at the Temple were marveling at the words of Jesus. Note that Jesus was the Divine Healer, and he was teaching doctors of the physique how to heal. Again, I say, Jesus must have been explaining the Ten Words, not as Ten Commandments, but as the “Ten Prescriptions” for eternal healing! He was teaching the doctors how to fill prescriptions for longevity. Ironically, all Ten Prescriptions are fulfilled by one “dose” for remedy: “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law” (Rom 13:8). Love fulfilled the whole Law, and the Ten Ways for eternal life are consummated by loving the Good Doctor!
Jesus, therefore, had his doctorate at twelve years old. He was so qualified that he tutored doctors of the remedy for eternal life. Why were they astonished? Why were they marveling? Because eternal life could be achieved, not by hard works, but a new beginning. Jesus must have told them to quit their marveling, and humble themselves. Humility is loving God and others more than oneself. Jesus reduced (for the serious doctors) what dosage was effective. Putting it in modern terms, they must cease esteeming themselves, and esteem The Teacher/Doctor – or God Himself!
It took me years to understand that the Ten Commandments were not commandments at all, but ten ways to love God and others. (The first four – how to love God, and the remaining six – how to love others.) Hence, love fulfills all the Words of Jesus! The Ten Words are the metrics for the Greatest Commandment and the one like unto it. Jesus surely was teaching the doctors about the following:
“Master, which
is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus said unto
him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind; this is the first and great commandment.”
“And the second
is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
“On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Mat 22:36-40)
What readers miss much of the time was the clarification of what Jesus just said; “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” I was astonished when I learned that after forty or so years. Jesus knew that at twelve years old! How did he know that?
Many theologians say that Joseph took time during their reprieve in Egypt to teach Jesus the Law; that the wisdom of Jesus was the wisdom of Joseph. Well, Joseph and Mary did not even understand that it was not Jesus who was lost, but themselves! When they found Jesus, they were “amazed” and were “anxious” (Luke 2:50). They did not at that time understand their brilliant son! Jesus explained to them, “I MUST BE about my Father’s business” (Luke 2:49).
What was his Father’s “business?” “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye MUST BE born again” (John 3:7). Why so? “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Joseph and Mary did not know those things! If they had, they would have merely let Jesus find his own Way home. It seems that Jesus was teaching both the Doctors and his parents the only MUST BE for salvation.
Where, then, did Jesus obtain such wisdom if not from his father?
And the child
grew (and at twelve-years old), and waxed strong in spirit, filled with
wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. (Luke 2:40)
Jesus IS God. It was Jesus who wrote the Ten Words on stone for this very occasion. He came not to replace the law, but to fulfill it (Mat 5:17). Jesus was surely explaining that to the doctors. The Ten Prescriptions would all TEN be fulfilled by the grace of Jesus and his love. Jesus wasn’t taught anything. He wrote his Ten Words directly from his own Mind. The Grace of God was the Holy Spirit guiding Jesus’s finger when he wrote the Ten Prescriptions. The Ten Words have a reason written in the midst of them. It should have been a preamble: “Shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments (Exod 20:6).
“Mercy” is the act of demonstrating grace, and consequently, is a display of love! The reason for the Ten Words was to demonstrate love to those who demonstrate love to Jesus. The Ten Prescriptions are demonstrative of how to love God! It’s hard to put arms around God, so that is demonstrated by loving others!
Why was Jesus so wise? Not because of Jesus or Mary, but because of his Father in Heaven. Jesus spoke the words of the Law; they were his thoughts about love! He was teaching the doctors all about love. Love conquers all:
Love suffers long
and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes
all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Cor 13:4-7 NKJV)
The wisdom of Jesus was and is the wisdom of God. When Jesus spoke, even at that young age, it was the wisdom of God! How did that come about? Jesus became “strong in spirit, filled with wisdom” (Luke 2:40). Just as Jesus was not created an adult, he was not created spiritually matured. His flesh was nothing more than an impedance. As his body grew, his wisdom grew. As he got older, the Spirit of God got fuller within his soul. Jesus’s soul was surely empty when he crowned, but because it was consecrated to the Lord, with time, Jesus became more imbued with the Holy Spirit. He was further imbued with the Holy Spirit after he was baptized by John. He as so consecrated, that when John baptized him, he was the ONLY one on whom the Holy Spirit remained (John 1:33)!
By default, the Holy Spirit consecrated all the others, but only imbued the others after Jesus ascended (Acts 2). Just as Jesus grew in the Spirit, so do Christians. “Filling” requires time. For the first disciples, “filling” started with cleansing, and the imbuement came in Jerusalem during Pentecost. As iniquity was expunged with John’s Baptism, it made the time right for the Spirit to grow within the disciples at Pentecost.
I have written before that “filling” as in “filled with the Spirit” is a process. Just as Jesus was commenced with the Spirit upon him, the disciples first encounter was the same process: “It (the Spirit) sat upon each of them” (Acts 2:3), and only then were, “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:4). “Filled” in this context is “pimplēmi” – or to “fulfill,” which is time dependent. Strong’s Concordance uses the word “imbued” as well. “Imbuing” is permeating, and is also time dependent. Were they all filled instantaneously? That is not explained. Perhaps, they start of the filling process commenced during Pentecost, but filling progressed as they were sanctified, or ridded of their sinful practices.
This is commentary, and it should be considered just that. But how else can Christians still sin if they are indeed filled with the Spirit? Christians are a work in progress, finishing whenever endurance is completed. That is why death is gain, for those living according to Christ.
credit: AmazingFacts.org |
No comments:
Post a Comment