Thursday, April 9: Luke 16- Jesus the great divide.

Luke 16: 16 grabbed hold of my thoughts as I read it. So upon completing the chapter, I returned to ponder it some more. What thoughts strike you as you read it again?

The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it.

Jesus is the great divide… Law and the Prophets before Jesus; Good news of the kingdom after Jesus!

I remember driving across the United States.  When we came to the Rocky Mountains, I recall reading a sign saying we had just crossed the Continental Divide. On the east side of the Divide all the rain and water flows to the Atlantic; on the west side of the Divide the water flows to the Pacific.

Jesus is God’s Great Truth Divide. Prior to Jesus, the Law and the Prophets encapsulated God’s covenant stipulations with His people. With Jesus, God’s new covenant came to be and its stipulations are summed up in the Good News of Jesus. Jesus came to complete the Law and Prophets.

Recently we read Hebrews together… Jesus is the priest of God’s new and forever covenant! And it is a covenant of Good News.

I marveled at how simply Luke stated this in this one sentence.

Yesterday we read how the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering to hear Jesus (15:1) They were ‘forcing’ their way in… excluded by the previous covenant, they hungered for the Good News of the kingdom and they gathered and hung on Jesus’ every Word.

Do I, do you, hang on Jesus’ every Word… His Words bring life!

Think about it…

Lord, thank You for the new covenant in Jesus. Thank You for grace and love and the Holy Spirit who brings Your love and Your power into my (our) lives. Praise to You, Lord God, for the new way in Jesus. Amen.