Wednesday: Personal Ministry
Examples of Christ’s public ministry abound. Equally fascinating are Christ’s personal encounters, both with ordinary and elite members of society. These stories offer unique insights into the centrality of Scripture in Christ’s ministry.
Image © Providence Collection from GoodSalt.com
Read John 13:18-20 and Luke 10:25-28, 24:13-32. What role did Scripture play in these passages? What purpose did Jesus have for quoting these particular verses? What resulted from these small group encounters with Scripture?
Repeatedly Christ quotes Scripture in conjunction with His calls to discipleship. This clearly implies that Jesus’ authority and credibility rested on Scripture, not merely on personal charisma. This is seen especially in the ways in which Jesus used the Scriptures as He worked with two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus.
“Beginning at Moses, the very Alpha of Bible history, Christ expounded in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Had He first made Himself known to them, their hearts would have been satisfied. In the fullness of their joy they would have hungered for nothing more. But it was necessary for them to understand the witness borne to Him by the types and prophecies of the Old Testament. Upon these their faith must be established. Christ performed no miracle to convince them, but it was His first work to explain the Scriptures. They had looked upon His death as the destruction of all their hopes. Now He showed from the prophets that this was the very strongest evidence for their faith.
In teaching these disciples, Jesus showed the importance of the Old Testament as a witness to His mission.
-Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 796-799.
Dwell on Luke 24:32, especially the phrase that their heart[s] burn[ed] within.
What does that mean? When was the last time your heart burned within you over the truths that we have been given? If it hasn’t in a long time, might it be because your heart has grown cold? If so, how can you change?
What does it mean, “their hearts burned within”? I would like to think that they found favor with God. He sparked a desire to shine through out their hearts, setting their whole countenance aglow. Read with me Job 22:27-29 from the Amplified Bible. Job 22:27-29.
“You will make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you, and you will pay your vows.
You shall also decide and decree a thing, and it shall be established for you; and the light [of God’s favor] shall shine upon your ways.
When they make [you] low, you will say, [There is] a lifting up; and the humble person He lifts up and saves.”
Praying personally on a daily basis, reviewing Bible texts daily (Some may even be put to memory) goes a long way to being effective in personal ministry.
I do believe the humble shall be His disciples.
When you hear the truth it will penetrate your heart. These disciples just realized that they were forewarned about Jesus’ death and resurrection, but they forgot what to expect. No wonder Jesus rebuked them harshly: “O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoke .” Prophecy has reveal to us what to expect in these last days; do we marvel about the political instabilities and ungodliness that we see?