Good Tuesday morning! How do you attract children? I don't know all the methods, but a bunch of puppies does seem to do the trick. Someone brought some puppies to the neighbor's house last night and kids were popping out from everywhere. As kid bait, puppies work to near perfection. I noticed that puppies don't work too bad on adults either for that matter.
Today, we come to a verse in John that is a bit of a question mark. For whatever reason, the translators cut off the verse not only in mid-sentence, but between words. Sometimes a verse will stop at a comma or some other natural stop, but this one just seems to be oddly placed.
John 1: 24 - Then the Pharisees who had been sent...
I'm certainly tempted to add in verse 25 today, but I started the one verse at a time method and it's too early to give up on it. "Then the Pharisees who had been sent..." brings to mind many more questions than answers. Sent where? Sent to whom? and of course the basic, "Um, what?" that comes to mind when reading only this one verse.
Perhaps if we try a different translation in this case: Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. (John 1: 24 NKJV) Okay, now that is at least a sentence; this in turn gives a little more meaning to those of us trained since an early age to grasp the thought in a sentence. A nice declaration of who had sent these people.
Who sends you may be more important than who you are. John the Baptist was sent by God to announce the arrival of the Son, the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. Peter and the other apostles were sent by Jesus to spread the Good News. Paul was sent by Jesus to the Gentiles with more of the Good News. The Pharisees sent some of the junior Pharisees to question John. The Pharisees also sent Saul, before he became Paul, to arrest and persecute the early Christians. The Pharisees refused to believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah and worked with other groups to have him executed. Wow, not sure I would let it be known that the Pharisees had sent me.
We must take note of who has sent us. For us as Christians this is a very important question to answer. Have you sent yourself on a mission of material gain or pleasure of the flesh? You may attain your goal, but what good will that do you in eternity? Has Jesus sent you to wherever you may be to be a shining light for Him? Yes, we are sent by the Son of God! Wherever you may be: at work in a job you may or may not enjoy; at home in retirement working to help others through crafts or volunteer time; at the church making the most of your talents in service; or even, dare I say it, at your home office writing devotionals that may go too long on some days; we are all sent on missions by Jesus.
Where has the Holy Spirit guided you today? Whoever has sent you has a motive in the sending. The Pharisees wanted to discover another charlatan or fake to denounce. Jesus wants to save the world. Which is the better motive? The junior Pharisees were undoubtedly proud of who had sent them and their own status in being given the mission. They pursued their questioning diligently and hoped to please their masters. We have a mission much different, but our efforts should be much the same. Work for Jesus, our Lord, with perseverance, diligence, and strength, hoping to please your master. Don't feel like you have any of these qualities today? Trust in the Lord to give you the qualities you need to complete his mission!
Enjoy the peace of Jesus this day!
Bucky
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