healing, Moses, paralytic, Tad Lincoln

The Messiah’s Secret – Jesus is the Lord our God

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The Messiah’s Secret – Jesus is the Lord our God.  

 President Abraham Lincoln’s son Tad Lincoln used his accessibility to his father to help those people in greatest need who came to the White House to see his dad. When the person wanting to see the president entered the White House they gave their calling card to the valet. The valet would take the cards in order and then put them in a stack on a desktop. This desk was located in a hallway at the top of the stairs. As each person finished their business with the president, the valet would then go to the stack of cards and call the persons’ name that was on top of the stack. Many a time, however, Tad felt that this presented a problem: If others before them took too long and the hour approached 2, any remaining persons waiting would have to come back the next day and start the process over again, as that day’s cards were thrown out. However not to worry! Tad was on the lookout. He made a regular habit of chatting with those waiting. If the person had a particularly “sob” story — grieving widow, an unemployed family man and so forth — then Tad would help matters along. He would quietly go up the stairs and move that person’s card to near the top of the pile, making sure that they were seen by his father, President Lincoln.
Tad had access to his father, the President because of his relationship with him. Other people had to go through protocol and wait their turn.
Access to God.  Exodus 24.
Moses had access to God, he met with God on more than one occasion on Mount Sinai. There God gave him his laws and commandments to administer over the Hebrew people.
In our reading Moses wrote down the laws that he received from God approx 600. The Israelites having accepted these laws Moses ratified them with blood, the blood from the sacrificed oxen. Half of the blood was sprinkled on the book containing the laws and the other half on the people.
The significance of the blood; everything under law was purified by blood; the blood atoned for sin against God. Leviticus 17: 11. Hebrews 9: 22.                                                                                            
The people committed their lives to this agreement.
Moses went up the mountain again, with Aaron and his two sons Nadab and Abihu and the seventy elders, where on this occasion they all saw God, under his feet a sapphire pavement. It is interesting to note that the Israelites then and now have no statues or images of God in their places of worship. (The third commandment).
 Moses went up on the mountain again to receive from God the commandments written on tablets of stone and the laws regarding the sanctuary spending 40 days and nights on the mountain. Joshua accompanied him to a certain point. On this occasion Moses was given the plans to make a sanctuary, a dwelling place for God to be amongst his people. God travelled with them as they journeyed through the wilderness towards the Promised Land.                                                                                                                                                              

In the Gospels we read that everybody had access to Jesus the  Lord our God.
On Jesus’ arrival at Capernaum in Galilee a paralysed man was brought by his friends on a stretcher to be healed by Jesus. A number of scribes were present watching and listening, they overheard Jesus say to the man, “Take heart my son; your sins are forgiven.” Jesus knowing the scribes thoughts, “This man is blaspheming.” Jesus said to them, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’?
 The Jews believed that sickness was as a result of sin.                        
The book ‘Beyond Belief’  Y Course. Peter Medows & Joseph Steinberg with Donna Vann.
“Jewish people believed physical suffering was caused by the person’s sin. For a person to be healed meant their sin had been dealt with, and only God could do that.”
God could forgive sin through an offering being made at the temple. Sin and the causes of sin came into the world through the fall of Adam and Eve.                                                                                        
 For Jesus to forgive and heal this man meant that Jesus proved he was God.
“But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” He then said to the paralytic – ‘Rise, take up your bed and go home.” Matthew 9: 1-8.
The Messiah’s Secret page 57
Jesus referred to himself as the Son of man, a title belonging to the Messiah, the anointed one. Jesus was making the point that he had the authority from God his Father, as he and his Father are one, to forgive this man’s sin and through healing the paralysed man he proved that he was God made visible in the flesh. John 5: 17, 18.
Not all sickness is caused by a person’s sin. The man who was born blind, Jesus said that it was so that the work of God could be revealed in him. John 9
Jesus has made God accessible to us today through his cross.
The Communion commemorates and invites every believer to partake of the blessings of the New Covenant that has been ratified (legally binding) by the blood of Jesus. “This is my blood of the New Covenant.” Mark 14:24 The Covenant is based on love and forgiveness of sin and keeping faith in Jesus, in his words.
“Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my word, and my Father will love you, and we will come and make our home within you.” John 14: 23.
This becomes a reality when in faith we turn to Jesus in repentance saying sorry for our sins against God. Jesus has bore our sin upon the cross, so releasing us into the freedom of God’s forgiveness through his resurrection. As a result the Lord comes into our whole being and dwells within us.
 As a result we take hold of our position in our relationship with God our Father and Jesus Christ, and just like Tad Lincoln used his position to access his father, we have access to God’s throne of grace where we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Whatever our needs are we can expect the Lord our God to intercede on our behalf. Like Tad the Lord uses us to intercede for others. We are seated with God in heavenly places far above all principalities and powers; Satan has no dominion over us. When we pray to Jesus our Lord and God, we address or end our prayer in his name.

Lord Jesus, we pray for those who are struggling with doubts about Jesus of who he is in relation to God, may they take hold of the words recorded by the Apostles, proving that Jesus is the Lord our God and may these words become real to them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

                                                                                            

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