Give Me Jesus

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

GIVE ME JESUS

Luke 16:16-17

16 "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

NIV

This is one of those teachings of Jesus, or we should think of what he said as prophetic regarding himself. This is also difficult to grasp the whole of this meaning unless we were to be able to read and write the Hebrew letters as they were written and as they were transcribed or copied by scribes so more rabbis would have copies of the law. We understand that some Hebrew letters have little marks attached to them, or dots, sort of like our apostrophes, we have rules about when and how to use them and for what purpose. Without that jot or tittle which some translations use, as well as it is in the Greek, the Hebrew letter, thus its meaning would be incorrect. If a scribe missed one little jot or tittle the whole manuscript would have to be destroyed and he would need to start over. How does this apply to us? How can we take this into our way of life? Are we still bound to the law? For the heaven and earth have not passed away yet, although we know that someday they will and a whole new creation will exist, so then does Jesus mean that the law is still in effect? Luke does not record these words of Jesus in the same manner as Matthew does which gives us a little more insight into what Jesus was meaning. All the Law, which is meant as the first five books of the Old Testament, the Law given to Moses, and the other division of the Old Testament, the Prophets were all designed to point to Jesus, which the Pharisees were missing completely. We cannot pay too much attention to the law either for if we keep looking to being obedient to all the law, or as we like to think, the rules and regulations of Christianity, we might be missing the whole of Jesus and the truth about the kingdom of God. Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly and became the perfect sacrifice to fulfill the justice of God, so that we can live in the grace of God, not judged by every jot or tittle of the rules to live by, the doctrine of good works, or any other method of trying to be a “Good Christian” because we live in Christ and He lives in us, and grace in this context means we live in favor of God, as his loved children, in His house, His kingdom, for he sees us in Christ, washed in the blood of Jesus, cleansed, clean, without fault, blameless, not held accountable to the law that in one sense brings life, as it points to Jesus, but in another sense brings death without Jesus. Let us always live in Christ, and preach Jesus Christ crucified, buried, resurrected, ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father and coming back for us. There is no Jesus plus anything, no rules, no laws, no regulations that can be added to Jesus for our salvation or our lives in the kingdom. He has fulfilled everything. Just give me Jesus!