I Was Urged to Go to Jerusalem

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

October 18, 2019

I Was Urged to Go to Jerusalem

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We Stopped at Mary and Martha's Home

Page 153

Mark 10:1a; John 7:2-10; Luke 10:38-42

The Festival of Shelters was held at harvest time, and was a reminder for the Jews of the time their ancestors spent camping in the wilderness during the exodus from Egypt. It was one of three great annual celebrations for the Jews, Passover and Pentecost being the other two. Jesus’ brothers taunted him to go to Jerusalem, where he would find a big audience for his miracles. In the exchange between Jesus and his brothers, you can hear the echo of Jesus words spoken in Nazareth, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family” (Mark 6:4). Jesus demurred about going to Jerusalem in the autumn of the year for the Festival of Shelters because he knew the time was not right. His time would come in the spring, the time for the Passover and the sacrificial lamb. “But after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view” (John 7:10).

On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus went to Martha’s home in Bethany where he was called upon to referee Martha’s dispute with her sister, Mary.  “It’s not fair” is one of the most over-used phrases in our culture. While a call for fairness seems rational, implicit in the cry is the individual’s belief that their self-interest lies at the center of the universe and the scales of life should tilt in their favor.  Sometimes you just want to scream at those crying for fairness, “Life’s not fair! Get over it!”

My Takeaway: Jesus isn’t a screamer, but his lack of volume doesn’t diminish the making of his point. Jesus responded to Martha’s request by once again reminding his disciples of his words in the Sermon on the Mount, “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:42; see Matthew 6:31-33).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.