II Corinthians 4:5-7
"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."
November 16th
"...Jesus the Son of God...was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:14-15
I may have erred in judgment, but it is my opinion that the Lord's greatest temptations were not at the time immediately following His 40 day fast, but rather the greatest temptations commenced during that last night in the Garden of Gethsemane when His mental/emotional stress became so great that "His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Lk. 22:44)! We must bear in mind that the Lord had that power to vanquish His every foe and to triumph every moment in accordance with the human perspective. But our Lord's vision transcended and spanned the ages: He looked upon your lost estate and mine. As a Father, He yearned to conquer our obstreperous spirits and win us back into the glorified fold. Therefore, as the hour of horror approached on that last night, temptation's stress became too great for the human body to bear: somewhere within, a blood vessel erupted! Certain death of the physical body may have been within two hours. That was the "cup" which He prayed to the Father might be taken from Him. The Father heard and answered. Have you or I so struggled with temptations that our perspiration has fallen to the ground, heavy laden with blood?
The cup had passed from Him, but Lucifer stood by! The traitor's kiss was placed, the legions of hell hovered! Again, stress and torment tore at the Savior's heart: for the split part of one second, His power flung that gang of thugs reeling back, falling to the ground (Jn. 18:6) – temptation? Do you not realize that the Savior had that power to speak to the very ground underneath that gang and immediately it would have opened to swallow them up alive – even deep into the pit, as was Korah and his band long ago? Or He could have commanded fire to come down from heaven to consume every one of them. But, He remembered you and me! So, He rebuked the devil and submitted to the henchmen of hell (that you and I might have life eternal)!
Just Talking, Squawking, and Preaching (continued tomorrow...)