"So a division occurred in the crowd because of him [Jesus]." (John 7: 43).
Saturday 20th March 2021, in the 4th Week in Lent.
As Jesus embarked in His public ministry, dissension and division followed Him everywhere. No surprise at all because Simeon prophesied this to Mary and Joseph in the Temple during the Presentation of Jesus.
"Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted." (Luke 2: 34).
Jesus was born to be a sign of contradiction. This is true while he was walking the muddy terrain of Galilee as it is today, 2000 years after He ascended into Heaven. Let us consider the cause of dissensions about Jesus in 2021:
#1. Ignorance: The dissenters in the days of Jesus could have easily learned that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and not in Nazareth. They did not care to find out. "Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ." (St Jerome).
#2. Today, people can look at the religious terrain in Christianity and ask: Did Jesus truly found 60,000 churches? They don't ask because they are comfortable with the present arrangement.
#3. The doctrine of Jesus is too harsh and restrictive. Why can't people destroy babies in the womb if they choose to or marry whoever they wish?
#4. Who is this Jesus to tell us how to live our lives?
“Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted," proclaims prophecy. The Day of reckoning is coming. It came for the Jews in 70 AD. It will come for everyone sooner than later.
Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com
We could easily just be like no this evil takes too much energy to fight like bleh. And that would cause us to be divided in our priorities to Jesus. For example being lazy or ignorant I think is something I do at times without realizing it. One thing that motivates me to keep going is the Laudate app and seekfirstcommunity.com insights as well as attending church in the weekdays or Sunday one it reminds me to wake up early enough to be there at 8am so I get my day going and two I get a lot of inspiration to be better because of these good influences they make an effort to reach out with.
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