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Week 4: Listening to the Son
Only Speak What the Father Has Told Me / You Have Heard that It is Said...
Week 4, Day 2
Jesus had a lot to say. But He knew what to say, when to say it, how to say it, and when to keep silent. What wisdom! John 12:49 (ESV) 49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. How was Jesus able to speak only His Father’s words and
remain clear in what the Father intended for His people to hear?
The Son of God made it a priority to set aside time in communication with His Father. In Luke 6:12, we see that Jesus “went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God.” All. Night. The Son of God, who was one with the Father, spent all night in communication with Him. How does that reflect the importance of spending time talking and listening to the Father?
Like the teachers of the law, many of us fall into the trap of not listening—or sticking stubbornly to what we thought we heard the first time. They had lost the spirit of all God had taught them through the commandments. Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus rectifies the errant teaching and clarifies the truth of God’s message to His people. “You have heard that it is said, but I tell you...” There were a number of things that the Israelites had gotten all wrong. And before we quickly condemn them, we must recognize our confusion at some of God’s teaching as well. We listen through the filter of past understanding or current circumstances and muddy the waters of His clear message.
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Week 4: Listening to the Son
Make the Way Straight and Welcome
Week 4, Day 1
One cannot listen as clearly when there is interference. A muffled sound creates confusion and doubt regarding the clarity of the message. When John the Baptist came onto the scene, the priests and Levites were sent to ask him who he was and what he was doing. John affirmed that his purpose was in fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah, “a voice crying out in the wilderness, ‘make straight the way of the Lord’” (John 1:23, ESV). What does it mean to make straight the way of the Lord?
When building a normal road, the twists and turns, rises and falls of the road follow the lay of the land and the curve of the mountains. However, when a road is prepared for royalty, the way is made straight. Mountains are moved, curves are straightened, the path made smooth. When we prepare our listening ears, how can we make the way straight for the Lord?