Father, a couple of fingers on my right hand are still pretty numb from my cortisone shots earlier today. But I am grateful that You prompted me to get it and get them checked out. Hopefully getting in this early on will help keep things running smoothly for some time. Thank You, Father!

Mark 11:27-33 (<<click to read the passage)

Before we delve into this passage let me put this one out there,

18 Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him [as personal Savior and Lord] is not judged [for this one, there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation]; but the one who does not believe [and has decided to reject Him as personal Savior and Lord] is judged already [that one has been convicted and sentenced], because he has not believed and trusted in the name of the [One and] only begotten Son of God [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, the One who alone can save him]. 19 This is the judgment [that is, the cause for indictment, the test by which people are judged, the basis for the sentence]: the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. John 3:18-19 (AMP)

In this passage from John, many will realize that these verses follow the well-known verses of John 3:16-17 when He was speaking to Nicodemus.

In today’s passage, the religious leaders weren’t really looking for the truth – it was all about position and power. My study Bible* points to John 19 as summing up their attitude towards Him – I think the proceeding verse and the Amplified Bible flesh it out even more.

A note from the Amplified Bible also expands our understanding of the word “darkness” (in verse 19) as well, saying that it is “the world immersed in sin: all that stands in opposition to God and biblical truth.” And that fits the religious leaders to a “t”.

Lord Jesus, their problem, and the problem of many today is not a problem of the mind – of acceptance – but is a problem of the heart -a flat out refusal to accept. I would pray that more people would have a “Damascus experience” as did Saul of Tarsus. (Read the story in Acts 9:1-31.) He refused to accept the truth until forced to have a head-on collision with You. It was still ultimately His choice but I am surely grateful he made the right one!

*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation

June 26th, 2019, Wed, 9:48 pm