OzThoughts Friday 13th March 2009.

OzThoughts Friday 13th March 2009.

(Please forward this OzThoughts to your friends).

So often we think of Lent as a season of discipline. Some times the discipline is imposed by tradition (no meat on Fridays or no self indulgence) or it is a self imposed discipline which selects what we will do to personally and spiritually mark the period.

We should not lose sight of what the season is really about. It is a time of personal spiritual preparation for the coming Easter. Jesus did not lose sight of why he had come. Today , we read of his answer when he was challenged at the temple by the chief priests and elders. Jesus clearly shows it was the plan of God that he should come and he would be killed by the religious leaders. Others who had come as God’s representative had suffered at their hands. He would surely be killed.

(Matthew 21:33-46 (The Message)
33-34 "Here's another story. Listen closely. There was once a man, a wealthy farmer, who planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, put up a watchtower, then turned it over to the farmhands and went off on a trip. When it was time to harvest the grapes, he sent his servants back to collect his profits.
35-37 "The farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away. The owner tried again, sending more servants. They got the same treatment. The owner was at the end of his rope. He decided to send his son. 'Surely,' he thought, 'they will respect my son.'
38-39 "But when the farmhands saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed. 'This is the heir! Let's kill him and have it all for ourselves.' They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him.
40 "Now, when the owner of the vineyard arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the farmhands?"
41 "He'll kill them—a rotten bunch, and good riddance," they answered. "Then he'll assign the vineyard to farmhands who will hand over the profits when it's time."
42-44 Jesus said, "Right—and you can read it for yourselves in your Bibles:

The stone the masons threw out
is now the cornerstone.
This is God's work;
we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it!
"This is the way it is with you. God's kingdom will be taken back from you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life. Whoever stumbles on this Stone gets shattered; whoever the Stone falls on gets smashed."
45-46 When the religious leaders heard this story, they knew it was aimed at them. They wanted to arrest Jesus and put him in jail, but, intimidated by public opinion, they held back. Most people held him to be a prophet of God.

[Listen: Choir: http://www.salvoaudio.com/audio/music3/mus_4660.mp3
or
Band: http://www.salvoaudio.com/audio/music3/mus_4453.mp3 ]

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Saviour's blood?
Died he for me who caused his pain,
For me who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

He left his Father's throne above,
So free, so infinite his grace,
Emptied himself of all but love
And bled for Adam's helpless race.
'Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For, O my God, it found out me.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray;
I woke; the dungeon flamed with light.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in him, is mine.
Alive in him, my living head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne
And claim the crown, through Christ, my own.
Author: Charles Wesley (1707-88)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 283

[ In preparation for Easter read a Christian book during Lent which is now. ]


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