The

SUSQUEHANNA SENTINEL

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April 23, 2000

Vol. II, No. 52

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In This Issue

• WOULD YOU FOLLOW JESUS?
• THE DEITY OF JESUS

You and I are concerned with following Christ. We have committed as His disciples and made decisions to pay the price to do His will. However, at times the following is not as easy as we may talk about it. In Luke 9:57—62 we have an interesting section of scripture discussing this following. We shall think about this as the thoughts progress, vs. 57, “And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersover thou goest. In reply, “Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” Jesus is indicating here that if one would follow Him he must not have anything “selfish” in mind. He had nothing that would interest the common man in the way of this world’s goods and, therefore, if one were wanting to have the comforts of this world he was trying to follow the wrong person. His mission was spiritual in nature.

In vss. 59—60, we have another approach, “And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.” In this we have the person seeking to make the “condition” on which he would follow. This is one of man’s great failures. He is prone to look at the Bible and if something does not suit his thinking, or practice, he makes a religion of his own and believes within himself that God is going to be pleased with it. We learn, then, that following Christ must be “unconditional” on our part. It is God who reveals to us how he will save us from our sins. It is God who gives us a plan of worship, teaches us about prayer, living, and how to approach Him through His Son. This is a difficult lesson to learn, but it is necessary if we would follow Jesus. How did the Lord respond to this, “Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.” Here we have an important family situation presented and answered. Jesus must come first over family obligations. He shows that something is more important and it is in the spiritual realm, “preaching the kingdom.”

Note now the last one, vss. 61—62, “And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Jesus here teaches that the following must be “continuous”, but this one was also trying to make a condition. In my early life I walked behind a plow and am familiar to what takes place. It is easy to look back and see if the birds are getting the worms that are being turned up with the plow; or, to see how far along one is in the field, and, how much is yet to go. Thus, if he does not keep his mind centered on the work ahead he may find himself plowing a crooked furrow. The world one leaves behind when he becomes a Christian is attractive and holds many memories, but he must keep his mind on the goal that is ahead in order to win the prize.

Can we then learn from this that we must go to the Lord with an ‘‘unselfish’’ motive; to approach ‘‘unconditionally’’ and to follow “continuously.”

--James L. Finney

Note: The basic thoughts for this came from J. S. Lamar’s Commentasry on Luke.

After Jesus walked on the water and calmed the stormy sea, “Those who were in the boat came and worshipped Him, saying, ‘Truly, You are the Son of God’” (Matt. 14:33).

This is one of many passages that underscores the Deity or god-hood of Jesus.  Throughout the Scriptures, men are admonished against worshipping other men or angels or demons or stars or planets or anything else created by the one true God.

After Cornelius the centurion saw a vision in which he was instructed to send for Simon Peter to teach him what he needed to do to be saved, Peter came into his house and Cornelius “fell down at his feet and worshipped him.  But Peter lifted him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I myself am also a man’” (Acts 10:25-26).

The apostle John in a vision saw and spoke with an angel of God.  He later wrote, “I fell at his feet to worship him.  But he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that!  I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus.  Worship God!’” (Rev. 19:10).  One of the mistakes that has been made in various places and cultures through the centuries is described in Rom. 1:22-25, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man -- and birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things.  Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness... who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator.”

And although to completely understand and explain Deity escapes us, we rejoice in what knowledge we can attain unto, and in what God has seen fit to reveal about His eternal power and god-hood, Rom. 1:20.  After revealing that Jesus existed with the Father before the creation of the universe, and that “by Him [Jesus] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible...” (Col. 1:16), Paul tells us that “in Him [Jesus] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9).

We cannot put God in a test tube and examine Him.  We cannot measure and weigh and fully explain Him in our finite terms.  But by faith, we can accept what He has seen fit to reveal.  And one thing of which we can be sure is the god-hood of Jesus.  While godly men and angels refused to receive worship and reminded worshipers to direct their worship to God, Jesus rightly accepted the worship that was directed toward Him.  See also Matt. 8:2; 9:18; 15:25; 28:9.  Someday we too will find ourselves in His immediate presence, and perhaps can say with Thomas, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).

--CRJ