People sometimes come to realise that some of the things they
always thought to be right do not even make sense; but they find it
so hard to admit that now! What would their friends think if they
did not continue to think the same as they did? So they still argue
for those things they are not really convinced about. They have
allowed themselves to become trapped in their thinking by their
friends, or religion, or teachers. They are prisoners by choice
because they are not free to think for themselves.
Maybe you have felt like that!
Here is the story of some very respectable people who were clearly
trapped in their minds.
It was "at daybreak" when "the council of the elders of the people,
both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met together".
Jesus was brought before them - He was in a terrible state.
Throughout the night the soldiers who had been guarding Him had
been mocking and beating Him. 1*.
"If you are the Christ, tell us," they demanded. Jesus answered,
"If I tell you, you will not believe Me, and if I asked you, you
would not answer." 2*.
Jesus knew that those religious men were like prisoners -
they were not free to answer for themselves what was obvious about
Jesus. They were taught that they must NOT believe that Jesus was
their Messiah - the Saviour sent from God. 3*. And they were not allowed to believe
that Jesus was the One who alone could "take away the sin of the
world." 4*.
They were not free to consider Jesus own words - they were
prisoners to the teachings of their religious leaders whose
words they had chosen to trust rather than listen to Jesus for
themselves.
Beware of choosing to become a prisoner in your mind
to someone. You become a prisoner by
choice when you decide that you will accept someone or some
teaching without question and are not free to use your mind to
check everything out for yourself.
Are you a prisoner? See if you are free to check out these things
about Jesus for yourself!
Are you free to check out and believe Jesus when He says
He is the only Saviour 5*. - or are you told by others that you must
believe you can only be forgiven by their words and
actions?
Are you free to choose to believe that Jesus paid for all
our sins by His death on the cross 6*. - or have you accepted from others, without
question, that you must make satisfaction for your own sin?
Are you free to believe Jesus when He says that He is the
only Mediator between God and man 7*. - or does the pressure of friends and religion
keep you thinking you can pray to God through many other people as
well?
Jesus encourages you and me to use our minds and to "search the
Scriptures" for ourselves to hear and understand and believe the
truth about God. 8*.
Don't be like the religious leaders who were judging Jesus in this
story from Luke chapter 22, verses 63-71. Make sure you are free to
make a wise decision about who Jesus is and what He can do for you
today. 9*.
Bye for now,
John Nixon, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland. P31HD98. Contact: jnixonj@gmail.com
For the next reading from Luke's Gospel go to NEXT
In order to browse further "Good News Compage" prompts and
commentary for Luke's Gospel check out the review index.
---------------oOo---------------
Footnotes. Bible quotations from N.I.V.
1 Luke
22:63-66.
2 Luke 22:67-68.
3 Luke 22:71. John
9:22.
4 Mark 2:7. John 1:29.
5 1st John 4:14. Acts
4:12.
6 1st Peter 3:18.
2:24.
7 John 14:6. 1st Timothy
2:5. 1st John 2:1-2.
8 John 5:39-40. Acts
17:11.
9 John 20:31.
3:16-19.
