In the south, we have a saying that is used many times when a person says or does something that is basically kind of dumb! I have been on the back end of one of those statements and it is really embarassing. Not withstanding, it is a passive aggressive way to put someone else down, and it really hurts. Jesus had to deal with many dumb things his closest disciples said and did and some are listed below.
Matthew 17:14 When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying,15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” 17 And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” 20 And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. 21 But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
John 4:7 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
John 18:10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. 11 Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?
As you can see Jesus dealt with the disciples missing His point many times, and they also missed His purpose for even being on earth, but with gentleness and love, Jesus showed them the correct way to do things. No Bless Your Hearts and never Passive aggressive. Just pure and truthful and loving, always looking out for their growth into a better way of thinking and talking. We learn so much from Jesus' example and how He ministered to and befriended people. He "lived" the truth in front of those who followed Him and that truth was life changing. What a great example and what an awesome Savior. Jesus shows us our Heavenly Father through His example and when we learn from Him, the Word of God, we learn from the best example of how to live the life of truth. We may experience part of that truth in a surface relationship with Jesus, but it will fall short of the depth of meaning if we don't look further. May our hearts yearn for a deeper walk with Jesus, and thus with God the Father. In that deeper walk Jesus will take us to new heights in the reality of God. The end result will be lives that resemble Jesus and Glorify God.
The truths of Jesus are real and the Psalmist speaks to this in Psalm 84:5 How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the highways to Zion! That is where the depth of relationship takes a turn to the better way. If we run from that kind of relationship with Jesus, then "Bless Your Heart!"
The Pilgrimage Continues....
David Warren
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