Matthew 27:62-66 English Standard Version

62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

We can only imagine what was on the minds of the priests and Pharisees when they called Jesus an imposter. We know that they said this to Pilate which makes their meaning even more complicated because it takes into account what Pilate thought and what influences he had over the previous day’s events.

Were they saying Jesus was a false Messiah or a false King? We tend to draw our own conclusions on these matters based on our own personal understanding of the scriptures. In some ways those who accused Jesus of being an imposter might have done the same thing. They might have gotten the interpretation of the coming Messiah wrong and Jesus did not fit what they believed.

This is one of the things we have to deal with in reading the scriptures. The word reveals what was said and done without dealing with the motivations. We can only look at what is said and done and draw our own conclusions. Scriptures only take us so far in what is revealed.

These men did everything within the power to hold onto their beliefs and motives and Christ proved them to be wrong. Everyone who said He was not the Messiah was proven wrong. Everyone who said there is no resurrection were proven wrong. Everyone who said there is no life after death was proven wrong.

Then there was that group who in the face of the truth still denied the truth. For their own reasons they refused to accept they were wrong.

That sounds a little like people that live today, acting on their own beliefs and motives with total disregard for the truth.

What is the truth? Jesus Christ will reveal the truth when we meet Him and we will no longer be able to deny we were wrong.

Come, meet Jesus Christ. He is no imposter.

In remembering the large things He did for us, let us not lose sight of what that one act still accomplishes daily.

Supplements

2 Peter 1:3-8 English Standard Version

Confirm Your Calling and Election

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we go to the pharmacy to buy supplements we will look at the labels to determine which ones are best suited for us as individuals. Men will not choose prenatal vitamins nor women that are pregnant vitamins marked for men over 55. We take what is good for us. Our control over the effectiveness of those supplements ends with our taking the right supplements.

The label for the supplements in the above verses were added for us by the translators of the English Standard Version. Those labels do not exist in the original text. Now the question might be for us in worldly terms, are these the right supplements for us?

Let me put any troubled minds at ease. “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness”. We already partook of all the goodness required and the supplements noted are not things we choose to add but the results to expect because we have already partaken of His Divine Nature. This is not about choosing to be any one of these attributes but rather that we can expect to show signs that we have already taken our medicine..

The key to these truths is found in the very last verse. They will be found in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is not a head knowledge but a heart knowledge. This knowing is a deep personal knowledge that comes from our relationship with our Lord, the bride to her betrothed.