Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem
Have you ever heard the term "Inside Baseball"? That is an expression about people having a conversation about something they understand, but nobody around them does. It is like attending a party and feeling isolated because the host is deeply involved with someone in a conversation about binary code. Jesus is engaging in a little "inside baseball" with the Pharisees in this incident. They are infuriated with Him because Jesus equates Himself with God. This would have been egregiously sinful, had not Jesus backed up His words with action. That is why He asks, "For which of my Good Works do you want to stone Me?"
When they answer that it is not for what He does, but for what He SAYS, Jesus counters with this conundrum from Psalm 82. The Pharisees, being learned men, would have known exactly what He was saying, but for the crowd it may have been "inside baseball". So here is the Psalm in its entirety:
Psalm 82
A psalm of Asaph.
1 God presides in the great assembly;
he renders judgment among the “gods”:
2 “How long will you[a] defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?[b]
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”;
you are all sons of the Most High.’
7 But you will die like mere mortals;
you will fall like every other ruler.”
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance.
The one liner about the lower-case g "gods" was really an indictment of the haughty religious leaders of all stripes who talk the talk but do not walk the walk. The entire first part of this Psalm is about the good works that are evidence of godliness. These are the very deeds of which Jesus is speaking, healing the sick, freeing the oppressed, defending the weak, and not letting evil go unpunished. Jesus did not have to supply the context to the Pharisees, as they were scholars. However, sometimes Jesus had His disciples scratching their heads and wondering, "What on EARTH is He talking about???"
Come and Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.
"The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance..” Psalm 33 NASB
God Bless America!
Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.
This Symbol Represents Christians in The Middle East, who desperately need our Prayers.
Hallelujah and Amen
ML/LTOS