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STRETCH FORTH THY HAND

The scribes and the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were very strict keepers of the Law.  They took great pride in their adherence to the commandments and precepts that God delivered to Moses.  Even their name implied that they were the “chosen ones.”  Josephus, a Jewish historian, describes them as “a body of Jews who profess to be more religious than the rest, and to explain the laws more precisely.”     On a certain Sabbath day, Jesus entered a synagogue and taught from the Word of God.   There were Scribes and Pharisees present who were watching Him very closely to see if He would heal anyone on the Sabbath, for they interpreted this as “work” which was prohibited by the Law of the Sabbath.   They were seeking to find some accusation against Jesus so that they might defame Him and His teachings.   In this crowd was a man with a paralyzed (or withered) hand.   This man was unable to work or do many normal tasks because of his condition; b...
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EXPECTATIONS

"My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him." (Psalm 62:5).   We all have expectations.   We expect to be reasonably healthy in our lifetimes and to grow old before we die.   We expect to be financially stable and be able to care for ourselves and for our loved ones.   We expect to be valued and respected as individuals and to be treated justly by those who rule over us.   Those are just a few of the big things that we expect, but it goes much further than that.   We expect that our favorite sports team will always win.   We expect that every light will turn green for us when we are in a rush, and that we won't get behind any slow or elderly drivers.   We expect that our private time be respected and not interrupted by unplanned phone calls, visits, or requests for assistance or time.   Our expectations are all too often dashed, however.   We are told to "hope for the best," but by doing this very thing aren't ...
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CLIMB A TREE!

As Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem to suffer His final Passion, He passed through the town of Jericho where there lived a man by the name of Zacchaeus.  Zacchaeus was the chief of the publicans in that area and very rich.  The people in general despised Publicans at the time because they gathered the taxes that were exacted upon them by their Roman oppressors.  Often they were unscrupulous in their methods and weren’t above collecting extra to pad their own purses.   Scripture tells us that Zacchaeus “…sought to see Jesus who He was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.”   It was in his heart to see Jesus.   This was not just a casual curiosity to see a famous figure and be able to boast about it later.   No, this was a deep desire to know “who He was”.     There were some obstacles to seeing Jesus that stood in Zacchaeus’ way.   For one, he was rich.   Riches have a way of robbing a man of those ...
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