Hello Brethren,

How do you see Jesus Christ?  A soft man in soft clothing carrying a little lamb in his arms, some people see Jesus in that manner.  Let’s not forget that Jesus went into the temple with authority , and cast out the money changers, he did this twice in his ministry. Let’s look at another classic act of Jesus.  Mark 3:1-5  “and when he (Christ)  had looked round about on them with ANGER, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts….”  These people had placed a man with a withered hand in the synagogue to see if Jesus would heal him on the Sabbath day. They did not care about the man’s condition, they wanted to bring an accusation against Jesus.

Jesus reflected God’s reaction to this type of act…Anger.. When we see Jesus walking  about and teaching, we see a man of mercy and of severity.  Jesus Christ was manifesting the Heavenly Father’s reaction to various situations.  Jesus statement to Philip--John 14:9

“……he that has seen me has seen the Father….”  Look in Matthew 16:22 “ then Peter took him (Christ) and began to rebuke him saying “ Be it far from you Lord, this shall not be unto you”---verse 23 “ but he (Jesus) turned and said unto Peter, “ Get you behind me satan, thou are an offence unto me, for you taste not  the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”  As you can see these are severe words to one of his own disciples (and apostle).

 In the Albuquerque congregation, in our weekly bible study, we are currently going through, “The Hard and Difficult Sayings of Jesus Christ.”  We are beginning to see the balanced and perfect character of God.  We are learning to have more reverence for the Father and his Son.  Maybe in your private studies or in your congregation’s bible studies, you can look at some of Jesus’ hard (harsh to us) and difficult saying, and keep in mind the book of Hebrews 1:3---“Who (Jesus) being the brightness of his (the Father) glory and the express image (character) of his person.”  This verse tells us that Jesus showed us the Father by his words and actions.  Some of those words and acts are hard and difficult for us to see the purpose of them, in today’s soft and compromising Christian world. 

In Christ service,

John shavers

- - editor