The Three Strangest People That Jesus Ever Met

number one the pennant and Thief when Jesus was on the cross many people hurled insults at him however one person stopped in that moment and quickly repented the person was able to talk with the Lord and is known as the penitent Thief or the wise Thief what led to this man being here with Christ it was a day unlike any other despite Pilot's efforts to release Jesus the religious leaders demanded that he be crucified in addition they stirred up a furious mob during Passover crucifixion was a common method of execution used by the Romans on heinous criminals so it's unsurprising that two other people were to be executed alongside Jesus along with Christ the penitent thief and a second man were to be put to death that day this man surely did not expect to spend his last moments with the Lord the soldiers LED them to the execution site a foreboding location called the skull however Jesus was one of a kind will being tortured to death Jesus remembered why he came to open the door to Divine forgiveness for all who would accept him he prayed to the father to forgive his executioners as well because they had no idea what they were doing nonetheless even as he begged for mercy for them when Matthew and Mark mentioned the criminals crucified with Jesus they reported these two taunted him Matthew chapter 27 verse 44. the thieves also which were crucified with him cast the same in his teeth Luke informs us that although both criminals began their journey together one of them chose to deviate from the path despite hearing and seeing the same events the each arrived at opposite conclusions joining the crowd was the rebellious Criminal he hurled insults at Jesus ridiculing the idea that he was the Messiah Luke chapter 23 verses 39-43 one of the criminals who had been hanged on a cross beside him kept hurling abuse at him saying are you not the Christ save yourself and us from death but the other one rebuked him saying do you not even fear God since you were under the same sentence of condemnation we are suffering justly because we are getting what we deserve for what we have done but this man had done nothing wrong and he was saying Jesus please remember me when you come into your kingdom to send to him I assure you and most solemnly say to you today you will be with me in Paradise the New Testament instructs all believers to follow the Lord by getting baptized joining a local church with fellow Christians and striving to become better disciples by showing love towards God and others however none of these things are capable of saving a person they racks of obedience performed in response to God's saving work in our lives through Jesus Christ when we put our faith solely in Christ we are saved that's exactly what this criminal did he didn't have the opportunity to follow the lord in a life of obedience though he would have if he had lived nonetheless he did everything necessary to be reconciled to God later that day despite the fact that his physical body died his spirit and soul went to heaven with King Jesus where they await his future bodily Resurrection from the dead this confirms that Believers enter God's presence immediately after death at the last moment that condemned man received God's mercy and was gloriously saved one of the thieves died in sin but the other died too sin and was redeemed in a place and a time where we would least expect it a man reached out by faith and claimed the mercy of Christ number two the woman with five husbands all she ever wanted was to be loved and accepted as a woman of Shame all she had ever known was rejection and shame that is until Jesus came to town Jesus is crossing many boundaries men rarely speak to women in public in this world even if they are married to them that no time should a single man speak to or touch a woman above all a rabbi as Jesus is known would strictly adhere to these ideals John Chapter 4 verses 4 through 8. now we had to go through Samaria so he arrived at a Samaritan town called sichar near the tract of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph and Jacob's Well was there so Jesus tired as he was from his journey Stand Down by the well it was then about the sixth hour noon then a woman from Samaria came to draw water to send to her give me a drink for his disciples had gone off into the city to buy food she is a woman carrying the history language religion and mindsets of individuals on the far margin of Judaism a first century reader would be surprised if Jesus and the woman even acknowledged each other's presence let alone smoke Jesus arrives at the well sits on the edge of the wall and becomes an unavoidable impediment to a woman seeking water two notes are useful first in this culture women were responsible for collecting water in a world where women were socially isolated the task became an opportunity for women to meet and talk as a result Wells became the only place where women could be avoided or met when Abraham's server returned to Heron in search of a wife for Isaac he came across the local well and met Rebecca there historically water drawing is done in the early morning or late at night to avoid the Mediterranean Heat while mid-afternoon work was not uncommon the scene highlights This Woman's social isolation when the other women are not present she draws water of course we later discover the reason for her isolation she has ruined her reputation and violated the morals of her community this heightens the significance of Jesus Overture and conversation the conversation between Jesus and the woman is that engaging and dramatic dialogue Jesus asks questions that helped the woman shift her thoughts from mundane topics like well water tomorrow's spiritual Concepts such as living water John chapter 4 verse 10. Jesus answered her you knew about God's Gift of eternal life and who it is who says give me a drink you would have asked him instead he would have given you living water eternal life as a local of shechem the woman knows the place of every water source but here Jesus says something surprising he is able to provide Living Water however the woman stumbles upon the metaphor and misinterprets it Jesus wants her to look further to the spiritual significance of this water this is thirst quenching water the water that leads to eternal life Jesus talking about a new life that is available through the spirit of God John chapter 4 verse 15. the woman said to him sir give me this water so that I will not get thirsty nor have to continually come all the way here to draw the woman is clearly intrigued but skeptical however her understanding of what she is asking is flawed the woman has asked for water but she does not understand the gift nor does she know the identity of The Giver John Chapter 4 verses 16 through 26. this Jesus said go call your husband and come back the woman answered I do not have a husband Jesus said to her you have correctly said I do not have a husband for you have had five husbands and the man you are now living with is not your husband you have said this truthfully the woman said to him sir I see that you are a prophet our fathers worshiped on this mountain but you Jews say that the place where one ought to worship is in Jerusalem at the temple Jesus replied woman believe me a time is coming when God's kingdom comes when you will worship the father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem you Samaritans do not know what you worship we Jews do know what we worship for salvation is from the Jews but a time is coming and is already here when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit from the heart the inner self and in truth for the father seek such people to be his worshipers God is feared the source of life yet invisible to mankind and those who worship Him must Worship in spirit and Truth the woman said to him I know that Messiah is coming who is called Christ the anointed when that one comes he will tell us everything we need to know Jesus said to her I who speak to you am he the Messiah unveiling his divine power he reminds her that she has had five husbands and her current lover is either a sixth husband or man to whom she is not married regardless she is committed a sin and her reputation has resurfaced but Jesus is not just passing judgment on her she correctly recognizes that this Reveals His abilities as a messenger from God and recoils looking for a way to deflect this stranger's moral probings despite what she says she continues to speak with Jesus and not walk away John Chapter 4 verses 27-29 just then his disciples came and they were surprised to find him talking with a woman however no one said what are you asking about or why are you talking to her then the woman left her water jar and went into the City and began telling the people come see a man who told me all the things that I have done can this be the Christ the Messiah the anointed it was highly unusual for a man with Jesus profile to speak with anyone with such features in this culture he is a man a single man a religious man and a Jew and clearly to find Social boundaries should prevent him from speaking with a woman in such a private setting other Jews wouldn't even speak with her yet because Jesus was unique he spoke with his Samaritan woman the Samaritan woman was not traditionally considered as a leader she held no authorized position or label we do not even know what her name is she was nonetheless an influencer which means she was a leader others followed her all the way to heaven number three the demoniac it marked chapter 4 verse 35 Jesus told his disciples they needed to go to the other side of a body of water he was about to go on a journey that it will be spoken about for thousands of years he was going to meet the demoniac Mark chapter 5 verses 1-6 they came to the other side of the sea into the region of the garrisons when he got out of the boat immediately a man from the tomb was with an unclean Spirit met him he lived among the tombs and no one was able to bind him anymore not even with a chain because he had often been bound with shackles and chains and chains had been torn apart by him shackles broken in pieces and no one was strong enough to subdue him constantly night and day he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains and cutting himself with stones seeing Jesus from a distance he ran up and bowed down before him Jesus knew that multitudes of demons plagued the man man of gadarah however when the man began speaking with Jesus he began to speak with Jesus in the singular person of I Mark chapter 5 verses 7 through 9. and shouting with a loud voice he said what business do you have with me Jesus Son of the most high God I implore you by God do not torment me for he had already been saying to him come out of the man you unclean spirit that he was asking him what is your name and he said to him my name is Legion for we are many a legion of demons was equivalent to six thousand demons after the order of the Roman army there are varying opinions on the exact number of soldiers in a legion some believe it to be 666. While others consider it to be even more significant at 12 500. you can contrast it with a demon in Matthew 12. in the passage there is a man who had only seven demons with him what the demon possessing the demoniac was the leader of six thousand demons it's a great comfort for believers to know that we have the support and protection of countless good angels as well as God on their side when we have this kind of backing it it doesn't matter who opposes us the demons begged Jesus not to leave that locality Mark chapter 5 verses 10 through 14. and he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region now there was a large herd of pigs feeding nearby on the mountain and the demons begged him saying send us into the pigs so that we may enter them Jesus gave them permission and coming out the unclean spirits entered the Pigs and The Herd rushed down the Steep Bank into the sea about 2 000 of them they weren't round in the sea the herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside and the people came to see what it was that had happened demons would instead go into the pigs than roam without a body they are spiritual viruses than most things in the physical have parallels in the spear also we can see this at play in Matthew 12. the demon was cast out of a body but could not find any other body to inhabit must see count seven other demons who were more evil than him to reclaim their possession of the body we can also see this at play in The Book of Daniel location specificity is key in the kingdom of darkness as we are told of a Prince of Persia and also the prince of Greece the demoniac Man became a minister of God's word the demon-possessed man was unique his case was so bad that he lived on the outskirts of the town gathera was a city south of the Sea of Galilee and east of Jordan in a region referred to as decapolis an area of 10 cities the region of gadara refers to Parts outside the city reaching the sea the demoniac of gatara lived in tombs or caves the Bible also tells us that no one could chain him down they tried to bind him with different Fetters and chains but he would break them off like flax in other words the devil had blocked this man from fulfilling purpose or being useful on Earth thank God Jesus located him without Jesus help the person wouldn't have become the great evangelist that God intended him to be foreign

Channel: Grace Digital Network

Views: 22,606

Keywords: grace digital

Id: t51n7_CHpW8

Length: 19min 34sec (1174 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 01 2023