Mark 12:12 KJV
And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.
There are a couple of lessons I get from this verse.
First, the parable is against the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees. Knowing who Jesus was referring to gives a definite sense of direction for properly understanding the parable.
Secondly, and this is what I felt led to meditate upon today, that Jesus spake the message against them and they knew it but did not repent.
Convicting messages don't always have the result we would wished they would have.How we would desire that those who hear the Word of God, and sense in the message something right for them, would make things right with God. Sadly, that is often not the case. Jesus preached this message. They knew it was pointed at them. But they went away and tried to trick Him.
Yet He still preached the message.
Of course, Jesus, knowing all things, knew they would not respond rightly. He still preached it.
At no time have I preached a message just to point fingers at someone, just to get back at them. I have often preached messages that are pointed and more than once knew that there would be people who head the message who would be directly impacted by the message. While I have not preached a message designed to point fingers at any particular person in the church, I have often preached messages knowing that someone would think I was preaching right at them.
If we can learn anything from Jesus' ministry it would be that faithfulness to preach the message is of far more importance than the results we get from our preaching.Jesus did not attempt to build a crowd. He simply preached the truth in as many venues as He possibly could and He led others to do the same. The greatest ministries are not those with the largest followings. The greatest ministries are those that are completely true to the message regardless the cost and those who inspire others to be true to that same message.
And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.
There are a couple of lessons I get from this verse.
First, the parable is against the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees. Knowing who Jesus was referring to gives a definite sense of direction for properly understanding the parable.
Secondly, and this is what I felt led to meditate upon today, that Jesus spake the message against them and they knew it but did not repent.
Convicting messages don't always have the result we would wished they would have.How we would desire that those who hear the Word of God, and sense in the message something right for them, would make things right with God. Sadly, that is often not the case. Jesus preached this message. They knew it was pointed at them. But they went away and tried to trick Him.
Yet He still preached the message.
Of course, Jesus, knowing all things, knew they would not respond rightly. He still preached it.
At no time have I preached a message just to point fingers at someone, just to get back at them. I have often preached messages that are pointed and more than once knew that there would be people who head the message who would be directly impacted by the message. While I have not preached a message designed to point fingers at any particular person in the church, I have often preached messages knowing that someone would think I was preaching right at them.
If we can learn anything from Jesus' ministry it would be that faithfulness to preach the message is of far more importance than the results we get from our preaching.Jesus did not attempt to build a crowd. He simply preached the truth in as many venues as He possibly could and He led others to do the same. The greatest ministries are not those with the largest followings. The greatest ministries are those that are completely true to the message regardless the cost and those who inspire others to be true to that same message.
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