The Power of Christ

   “And they rose up and put him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong.  But passing through the midst of them he went away.” (Luke 4: 29 – 30)

   It seems that the people of Nazareth wanted to kill Jesus, yet He passed through them unharmed.  What was it about Him that kept them from throwing Him over the cliff?  Certainly there were enough people there to overpower Him if they chose.  There must have been something else that stopped them.

   This was not the only occurrence of this sort in His life.  He made a whip of cords and cleared the temple of all the traders and money-changers during Passover.  He drove them from the temple and overturned the tables of the money-changers (see John, chapter 2).  Certainly this would have angered many people; this was big business for those who took advantage of the visiting pilgrims.  Yet again, Jesus was not attacked or harmed.

   Even the Sanhedrin seemed unable to accost Him in public.  The people knew that they wanted to kill Jesus, still He preached openly in the temple and no one arrested Him.  In the words of John, “Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on Him.” (John 7: 44).  When they finally did arrest Him they did so under cover of darkness in a secluded area, the Garden of Gethsemane.

   Call it an aura, power, presence or whatever, it seems to me that there was something about Jesus that caused those who wished to harm Him to be unable to do so.  They let Him walk away when it would have been easy to do otherwise.  His time had not come and no one could alter His plan.

   I believe we are to exhibit such an aura or presence when we are filled with the Holy Spirit.  Not to protect us so much as to be a witness to the Lord we serve.  Our faith is to fill us with the desire to be like Jesus, to model our life after His.  We have the Spirit within us.  He will strengthen us in times of challenge to stand our ground and speak and act in faith.

   Yet we must always remember that Jesus suffered greatly for us, giving His very life that we may inherit heaven.  Therefore we too may be called upon to suffer.  If we are to model ourselves after our Lord we must be willing to accept the suffering along with the blessings.

Lord, You gave Your life for us.

You opened the gates of heaven that we might enter.

Help us to follow Your example in our life.

Teach us Your ways and bring us home to You.

Amen