One at Your Right Hand, One at Your Left...

We are all familiar with the following story from Matthew 20:

A Mother’s Request

 ²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.    ²¹ “What is it you want?” he asked.
   She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”
   ²² “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”
   “We can,” they answered.
 ²³ Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”
 ²⁴ When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. ²⁵ Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

What I would like to address is this section:

“Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”  “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”  “We can,” they answered.  Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

Have you ever wondered who the people were/are that those places have/had been prepared for?  Did you know it was the two other men hanging on the cross with Jesus?  
 
From Luke 23:
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”  40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”  42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Those were the men with him on his right and left hand when he came into his kingdom.

Misusing Scripture

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. "

Jeremiah 29:11

Dear Friend,

This verse was not written to you!  It was written to the children of Israel who were in exile at the time.

This is how chapter 29 starts out (NIV):

* * * * * * * *

Jeremiah 29
A Letter to the Exiles
 ¹ This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ² (This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) ³ He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:

* * * * * * * *

Bible verses are not meant to be taken out of context to fit the situation in your 21st century life.   Please stop.  That is not to say there aren't many verses we can use by themselves if the context maintains its integrity in a stand alone manner.  Please use the scriptures wisely.

O God, I Have Tasted Thy Goodness

O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more.  I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace.  I am ashamed of lack of desire.  O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still.  Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee that so I may know Thee indeed.  Begin in mercy a new work of love within me.  Say to my soul, "Rise up , my love, my fair one, and come away."  Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wondered so long.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

A.W. Tozer

A Brief Note About Abel

Let's take a look at the beginning, back in the garden of Eden.  In Genesis 4:3, we read:  In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, ⁴and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. ⁶The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.   Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."

I always thought that Abel's offering was more pleasing to God because it was a blood sacrifice.  We know through the rest of the old Testament (beginning with Genesis 22), and Christ's coming in the New (Romans 3:25), that a blood sacrifice is necessary for Atonement*.   The text in Genesis doesn't say that a blood sacrifice was required, so what is the problem with Cain's?  We don't see any follow-up explanation until the book of Hebrews.

If you have done much studying at all, you know Hebrews 11 is referred to as the "Great Hall of Faith."  In it is listed many men of faith in the Bible.  This is how verse 4 reads regarding Abel.  "By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead."  So, we see here that it is not because Abel offered God a blood sacrifice, but that he possessed faith.  We see a couple of verses later, in Hebrews 11:6a, that "without faith it is impossible to please God."

And where does faith come from?  Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.  Rom. 10:17.  So faith is something that God gives through the hearing of the word of Christ.  It is not something we are able to conjure up within ourselves.

*****

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.

 *****

 * the doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind, esp. as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ.