Outwardly every time he turned around, there they were, the Pharisees, that Jewish religious/political group that hounded Jesus at every turn. They were relentless, and finally, they conspired to have Jesus put to death.
In the Gospels there are 89 references to the Pharisees (Matthew-31, Mark 12, Luke-27 and John 19) and nearly all of these don’t speak to your cozy relationship; there are four references to the Pharisees as a “brood of vipers,” which helps https://www.modernghana.com/news/216384/1/christ-embassy-concealed-sex-scandal-exposed-part-.html you to explain the sort of relationship they had.
All the same, there are three references, all found to Jesus having dinner using a Pharisee, in the Gospel of Luke.
Humanly speaking, we don’t often break bread with those we hate or mistrust – to share a meal is close, something reserved for our friends and companies that are trustworthy. Nonetheless, there we have it; Jesus going from his solution to dine along with his enemies. This is a message that we at Christ Embassy must come to understand.
This readiness to share a meal with those who loathed him speaks volumes of Jesus’ desire for us to carry on socializing with those with whom we disagree.
We are already isolated before we have the chance to make choices that result in additional isolation. It’s, therefore, more necessary than ever to heed the call of Christ and actively fall upon “our enemies.”
This call to encounter our enemies isn’t limited to Christ ‘s example of eating with all the Pharisees; to what Christ decided not to do it extends.
With infinitely less effort than http://www.easycounter.com/report/pastorchrisonline.com it takes me to snap my fingers, Jesus Christ, God-made-man, could have wiped the Pharisees from the face of the planet earth. Not just that, he could have removed all memory of them whatsoever.
It’s very easy to feel justified in our hate of “our enemies,” but the only one published who’s really justified gave a living example of mercy to us. In the place of obliterating the Pharisees, Christ shared a meal with them, and finally died for them.
Jesus shows us that with “our enemies” sharing a meal isn’t the limitation of how far we may be requested to go – for “our enemies, dying ” is not outside the realm of chance.
Yours in the Lord – The Christ Embassy
Noelles Thoughts And Feelings 