Tehillah Generation Chapel
Daily Manna | Tuesday, April 17, 2018 | Reading: Exodus 33:1-11, Exodus 4, Gen 3:1-21
Topic: The Tabernacle of God 410
Scripture: But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say not of this building. (Heb 9:11)
Note: Matt 16:18, “And I say also to you, You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Even though Judas Iscariot was a member of the privileged twelve disciples who were deliberately called on purpose by Jesus, doubts abound as to whether he believed in the divinity of Jesus and whether Jesus was the expected Messiah. The farthest Judas ever addressed Jesus was with the title, Rabbi, meaning Teacher in Hebrew. The ultimate desire for regime change politically, was the driving force behind the allegiance of Judas to Jesus until it became abundantly clear that Jesus didn’t share in the same vision.
The political aspiration of Judas Iscariot wasn’t exclusive to him. Judas was not different from the other members comprising the twelve disciples. They all imagined themselves rollicking in palatial ambience of the new kingdom that shall be established under the Messiah. In this belief, Judas wasn’t lacking in company. The whole religious and political climates in Israel were ripe for the festering of such beliefs. Roman domination and hegemonic rule of injustice meant that a regime change was the most popular thing in Israel at the time of Jesus.
The impressive beginning of Jesus, healing all manner of diseases, opening the eyes of the blind, the deaf hearing, the dumb speaking and the dead being raised back to life, authoritatively affirmed the belief in the mind of the masses of the arrival of the Messiah. The unusual miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead after 4 days in the grave, tipped the masses over in their belief of the Messiah. The religious ruling class was however, confused, as they sought for a verbal confirmation from Jesus as to whether He was the Messiah.
This class of people would rather prefer continued Roman subjugation to the discomfort of Jesus being their Messiah. They enjoyed perks from imperial rule through temple taxes. Jesus had been a constant thorn in their flesh. He wasted no time in exposing their hypocrisy and double standards. A Messianic Jesus was going to be bad business for them. He was revealing too much to the people. They felt their authority undermined through the teachings of Jesus. Hence, their decision to derail, arrest and kill Him with the connivance of a disenfranchised Judas, who was disappointed with the political direction of Jesus.
Food for thought: Dissenting spirit in politics is a vicious spirit that causes raised tempers, loss of self-control, divisions in families and turns friends into instant enemies. It should not be entertained in the Church.
Declaration: From that time many of the disciples went back, and walked no more with Him. Then said Jesus to the twelve, “Will you also go away?” John 6:66-67
©Author: Rev Fred Aboe
