No Wonder They Loved Him

"No wonder they loved Him,"  I thought. 

Thousands of people crowded around this Teacher.  They came with their diseases, their hurts, their "unclean spirits," and Scripture says that Jesus "healed them all."  But that wasn't why my spirit was pricked with the realization that they loved Him.  It would have been enough to do so, but that wasn't why I marveled at this One called Christ. 

You see, Jesus didn't just heal them physically.  Of course, they DID need healing.  Many of them, were "tormented" by unclean spirits.  Many of them, I am sure, had spent all of their lives trying to find a cure for their specific infirmities.  Many of them were at their wit's end.  So, the Healer simply did what He does, and He healed them. 

Yet Jesus wasn't just after physical healing for these people.  He was after something eternal - spiritual healing.  Scripture says in Matthew 23 that the Pharisees - the ones who were supposed to be directing people to the Messiah - were actually the ones keeping people from the Messiah and out of the kingdom of heaven (vs. 13).  They had become so sure and proud of THEIR teachings, that they distorted God's teachings to the detriment of the kingdom, and Jesus wanted everyone to know it.  He spoke to the people and said, "Therefore whatever they (the Pharisees) tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers" (v. 3,4).  

The teachers of the Law had become distorters of the Law, no longer wishing to help the people, but instead to judge them.  The Pharisees, as Jesus said, had in essence placed heavy weights on the people's backs - weights that made them believe they could never be "good enough" for God.   

I don't know if you've ever had someone in a position of authority tell you that you were "nothing" and "would never amount to anything," but that is what was happening in the relationship between the Israelites and the Pharisees.  The supposed holy ones were "guilting" the people into obedience, and the people were exhausted and depressed, trying to comply - trying to reach holiness. 

Can you imagine - spending your whole life trying to be "good enough?"  Sadly, I think, that statement rings true in the hearts and minds of people today, just as much as it did back then.  Pretty depressing, don't you think? 

But then Jesus...

Jesus comes on the scene and lambasts the Pharisees for their hypocritical behavior.  I'm sure the people were completely shocked.  They probably thought that Jesus would have eloquent words and letters of commendation for all the hard work of the Pharisees.  But He didn't.  Instead, He looked deep into their hearts and called them "white-washed tombs" - pretty on the outside, but full of dead men's bones.  He said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also" (v.25, 26).  How would you like to be spoken to in that manner in front of thousands of people...talk about Someone with authority calling you out. 

Then Jesus turned His attention to the others.  But this time, instead of speaking judgment over them, as the Pharisees had done so many times before, Jesus spoke life.  He spoke HOPE into their weary souls.

To those who had spent their lives, scraping for a little here and there to survive on...to those who had struggled financially and physically trying to keep their family alive...to those who had been shamed by the Pharisees and told they were in sin and fought to "attain" righteousness, Jesus says, "BLESSED ARE YOU who are poor in spirit, for yours is the kingdom of God."  All the treasures of heaven...everything would belong to those who the Pharisees had spoken judgment over.  Everything could be and would be theirs.   

And for those who were hungry and thirsty for righteousness - for those who had also been shamed into believing they would never and could never be good enough - for those whose souls were depressed and empty - to those He said, "BLESSED ARE YOU are you who hunger NOW, for you shall be filled." 

Brings a smile to my face and hope to my heart.  It truly was no wonder they loved Him. 

It's no wonder I do, too. 

Oh my Jesus, You are so precious to me...speaking life into my own soul, as you did for those who walked in the same paths You did so many years ago.  Thank You for speaking deeply into my needs today.  May I respond with praise and adoration.  I love You, my Lord.  I love You.