Breaking Hard Hearts
Mark 16 reveals some of the frustration that Jesus had with His followers. The ASV is translated this way. Verse 14, And afterward he was manifested unto the eleven themselves as they sat at meat; (That means they were at dinner) and he upbraided (That means that Jesus found fault and was frustrated with them) them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them that had seen him after he was risen.
The step Jesus took from there was not small. He didn’t say, “I know this is hard. Let’s go back to the beginning and start all over at Lesson one.” Patience was not the leading characteristic. He said, “There is only one way to shake you out of your hardness of heart. You need to realize the enormity of the task about to land in your lap. Go into all the world and bring My message of grace.”
In light of this, there is the end of Matthew chapter nine, where Jesus goes into communities, meets with people, and recognizes that the harvest is ready to be harvested but that it must begin with prayer for the workers. Those same workers would bring the gospel to the world. Bringing Jesus to the world starts with prayer for the workers. That is what Jesus said. And bringing Jesus to the world is the best way to break the hardness hearts, even of workers.
No comments:
Post a Comment