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Sitting At the Feet of Jesus During my life here on this earth, I have had the opportunity to sit at the feet of numerous preachers. Some men had a great knowledge of the Greek language and could quote the whole Bible. Others had the great ability to put together various passages so as to answer complex questions. Yet some were able to take the most difficult passages and make them sound simple. But have you ever wondered what it would have been like to have studied with Jesus. We may think this would be great for He was the Master teacher. However, I noticed that some decided to walk away from Jesus and His teachings. “And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore” (Matthew 22.46). Why would people not want to question and listen to the Son of God? Perhaps one reason is because He knew their hearts. In Mark 2 we read of a paralytic whose friends brought to Jesus. He forgave this man of his sins which brought thoughts of condemnation from the scribes. “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Verse 7). They did not say this out loud but they did not have to for Jesus knew their thoughts. “And immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, ‘Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?’” (Mark 2.8). How many of us in a Bible study would want the teacher to know our thoughts? How many times have people asked questions with ulterior motives, or seeking to justify themselves? Jesus would know and get to the meat of the problem. Some may not want to study with Jesus because He knew the right answers to every question. That may sound great because we all have questions that we would like to have answered and Jesus could do that. But we might not want the true answer to our questions. On numerous occasions Jesus would take the most complex or convoluted question imaginable and give a simple answer. For instance, Jesus was asked about a woman who married a man and he died. According to the Law of Moses the next of kin had to marry her so as to produce offspring. This poor lady eventually married seven brothers, for each one before died. The question dealt with the resurrection and whose wife she would be. Now that sounds like a great question and a hard one too. But Jesus gave them the answer. “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.” (Matthew 22.29-30) Speak about blunt answers, Jesus gave them one. He told them they were ignorant! They had made two false assumptions dealing with the resurrection. The first was assuming there would be marriage on the other side of the grave. The second was limiting the power of God. God is able to raise man from the grave and that does not change because we ask a difficult question. Perhaps Jesus would answer us the same way when we ask “difficult questions.” He might point out that the question about the man on his way to the baptistery and gets struck by lightning or killed by a tree branch has nothing to do with us. Don’t worry about the guy in Africa who has not heard the Gospel but worry about your own soul first and then go and covert the African who has not heard the Gospel. We might not really want to hear Jesus answer our “hard questions.” Another reason some might not want to study with Jesus is because He would tell us to do what the scriptures reveal. To the woman caught in adultery He said to go and sin no more, John 8.11. To the man who asked who is my neighbor Jesus taught that everyone is his neighbor in the parable of the Good Samaritan. But Jesus ended by saying, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10.37). The Son of Man was not content to just reveal the will of God, He lived the will of God, and demanded we do the same. I just wonder how we, I, would respond to His demand for obedience. How many people would like to study with Jesus to learn about salvation? That would be great until Jesus looked and said “do it.” Some people might not like that. The reason I say this is because some asked that very question only to walk away sad. A rich young ruler came to Jesus asking what he needed to do to have eternal life, Matthew 19.l6. Jesus pointed out the teachings of the Law of Moses and this man had apparently been faithful in carrying out the Law. Then Jesus told the man to go and sell all that he had, and follow Him. “But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions” (Matthew 19.22). How many today would be told to repent, confess Him as the Son of God, be baptized for the remission of sins, and then walk away sorrowful? Finally, some might not like studying with Jesus because He did not compromise or soft sell the word of God. There were times His disciples were amazed and may have tried to soften Jesus’ speech so as to be more politically correct. “Then His disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?" (Matthew 15.12, emphasis mine D.T.). Jesus called the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites seven times in Matthew 23. He was not concerned about their feelings but their souls and the souls of those who were being misled by their teaching. What would Jesus say to today’s situation ethics and emotional excuses? Make no mistake about it, listening to Jesus would be great but also challenging. Actually we today are listening to Jesus’ teachings. Or at least we should be. Any Gospel lesson built upon the word of God is revealing the will of Jesus. Think about it the next time you hear a sermon. Dennis Tucker
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