Submitted by Sam Nobles
And
some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your
disciples." He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very
stones would cry out." Luke 19:39-40 ESV
When Jesus made his triumphal
entry into Jerusalem he had gathered quite a large, crowd, but there were
others standing around who were not His crowd – the Pharisees. The Pharisees
wanted Jesus to rebuke his disciples for praising him. The Pharisees were
telling Jesus that the crowd was out of order, but in reality the Pharisees
were the ones out of order – out of order with creation.
His Own did not Receive Him
The only part of God’s creation
that is out of order is mankind. John
1:11, speaking of Jesus’ incarnation says, “He came to his own, and his own
people did not receive him.” The first time the Greek word translated “his own”
is used in this verse, it is in a neuter form, referring to creation. The
second time, it is masculine, referring to humanity. In other words, Jesus came
into this world, and all of creation acknowledged him: the winds obeyed him,
the water supported him, and the stones were ready to cry out to him. There was
only one segment of creation that received him not: mankind. Man is innately a
worshiper, he does indeed worship, but it’s misdirected toward movie stars or
athletes rather than to the only One to whom worship is truly due. Humanity
worships with reckless abandon, but when it comes to worshiping Jesus, arms
fold, and voices hush. Our culture has a hard time accepting the worship of
Jesus.
There is great flexibility in the
churches today. Some are very reserved while others are highly emotional. Some
are very liturgical while others are informal. It must be noted that the Bible
does not give to us any direct teaching on how many songs we should sing, when
prayer should be offered, or if the offertory should be in the middle or at the
end of a service. There is only truly one way we can be “out of order” and that
is when we fail to worship God period.
2 Samuel 6:20-23 tells the story of King David being
confronted by his wife for dancing and worshiping the Lord as the ark of God
entered the city. David defended his worship and God saw to it that Michal bore
no children - she would never bear fruit. So too, the person, family, or church
that doesn’t praise or that rejects worship will be fruitless. I pray that the
Lord would help us to be people who would be expanded, not only in our forms of
worship, but in our desire to worship.
Scripture to Claim:
I will bless the
LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Psalm 34:1 ESV
Psalm 34:1 ESV
