ALIVE

"When (the Pharisees) heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away." (Matthew 22:22, NIV)

I won't be the first to say this: You can't trust first impressions.

How many times have you driven left or right into some thicket of trees and declared yourself "dead"--but upon arriving at your ball, you discover the lie isn't so bad, the trees leave an opening, and the distance is perfect for your favorite club?

OK, not often. But it happens. And it sure leaves us feeling good when it does!

First impressions were the common mistake of the Pharisees who continually tried to trap Jesus with various hypotheticals and theological riddles. Each time, they were sure they had Him "dead."

The woman they caught in adultery and dragged before Him--surely He would invoke the Law against her. Instead, He cast light on their sins and forgave her with compassion.

The question of taxes--should Caesar really be handed a portion of their income? Jesus separated the stuff of earth and the stuff of heaven: "Let Caesar have what is his." After all, the undercurrent ran, what good will it do him before God?

And how about the seven-times widow? When she died and was resurrected, whose wife would she be? Oh, what a good one! Except that it had nothing to do with Scripture, and Jesus uncovered this fact plainly.

Each time, in front of the crowd, Jesus looked "dead." Each time, He responded coolly and directly, no fooling around. Each time, He blew down the Pharisees' house of cards.

Many of those who doubt Jesus do so on the basis of miracles. "No such thing," they contend, in the tradition of the naturalists. Others dismiss Him as simply another religious leader, no different than Confucius or L. Ron Hubbard.

Well, let them have their say, then ask them what they know about Jesus' intellect. If "the wisest of all men," Solomon, dispelled arguments, Jesus utterly dissolved them. His opponents melted away. That's the wisdom not of a man, but of the God-man, the only begotten Son.

And every argument was a foreshadowing. For in His last days, Jesus, before the crowd, would again look finished, undone, dead. He was dead this time, of course. Blood and water flowed, and His functionless body was placed in the tomb. But His response was yet to come. And ever since that early resurrection morning, He has never been so alive!

--

Jeff Hopper

May 30, 2006

Copyright 2006 Links Players International

The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.