Our presentation of “Hell House”, this week has made us the target of much criticism from those who accuse us of promoting hatred, toward homosexuals and abortion providers. An old proverb says, “There is a kernel of truth in every criticism.”
Someone said, “I bet the Funeral Parlors in Jesus’ day just about went broke. Anywhere Jesus went, the dead were being raised.” Jesus probably raised many people from the dead during his earthly ministry, although the Bible records only three of them.
Speaking of the name of Jesus, years ago when I was a small boy, I used to suddenly wake up in the middle of the night, unable to speak, move or do anything for that matter. Doctors call it, sleep paralysis, a transitional state between wakefulness and sleep, characterized by a temporary inability to move muscles. According to them sometimes it can be accompanied by hallucinations also. I never had hallucinations but still, the experience was scary enough.
The persecutors of Jesus were determined to heap discredit and infamy upon his memory. Therefore they crucified two criminals with him. One of the criminals was crucified at his right and the criminal at his left. Luke 23:39-43 says that a conversation broke out between our Lord and these criminals. The Christian tradition calls the criminal that was crucified on the left-hand side of our Lord the impenitent criminal while the criminal that was crucified on his right-hand side the penitent criminal.
People ask “If God really exists why do we suffer so much in life?” There are many answers. A possible explanation is that God has a great purpose in man’s sufferings. He uses suffering to bring the sufferer to know his saving power. Luke’s narrative of Jesus healing the ten Lepers is a classic example (Luke 17:11-19). We can draw six life applications from this incident today.
Parents today name their children after Peter (who doubted Christ three times), James (the greater and the younger), John, Andrew, Nathanael, Jude, Matthew, Philip, Simon (the Zealot) and even Thomas (who doubted Jesus’ resurrection) but not Judas Iscariot. Not even in their dreams. It’s the name of a treacherous man who betrayed Christ with a kiss, (Matthew 26:47-56) and the name of a man that was cursed by God, (Psalm 69:25)
As a child, he was probably brought up in a godly Jewish home for many years long before he became a disciple of Christ. He was an eyewitness to the miracles Jesus performed. He had the privilege of learning directly at the feet of his master. He was in the company of godly men and women 24/7. He walked with God himself! Then what made him the man that he was or what made him so sinister?
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