This is the third book

What some Folk said about Jesus

To we Christians our Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest person who ever set foot on Planet Earth.Yet having said that we all express our feelings about The Master using different words, this depending on our personal experiences with our Lord and our own working vocabulary.Se let us consider some of the words other people have used when speaking of our Lord Jesus, in doing this understand Him more so, enriching our lives

The words of Simeon in the temple when he saw Jesus were

?This day mine eyes have seen Thy salvation?

First we have Simeon who was an AGED SAINT living in Jerusalem at the time our Jesus was born; we read he was full of the Holy Spirit and waiting for the consolation of Israel.It had been revealed to this man that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.As The Babe was born heaven, earth, angels and men rejoicedgreatly.When The Babe was brought to the temple to be presented tothe Lord, Simeon took the baby in his arms, looking at The Babe his face lit up and he uttered those glorious words, ?THIS DAY MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THY SALVATION?.We will now examine these words closely to see what more we can understand of our blessed Lord

I will group the words into four pairs to help us understand some of the teaching, the first set being ?THIS DAY?.The elderly gentleman Simeonwould have known so much of the teachings of the Scriptures, upon seeing the child he was fully satisfied and ready to depart this life in peace, he then uttered the words we are considering.The experience for Simeon that day was up to date as he understood that The Babe was none other than the Son of God Himself.The very day we personally understood who this Jesus was experimentally in our lives, understanding this more fully as time passes by, all other days fade into insignificance.But now for me ?this day', as I am writing in my study, I rejoice even more greatly today in a fuller understanding of the Master, in His love, joy and peace as the days go by.This is what He should mean to us in our lives

The next two words are 'MINE EYES', what is being taught here?The experience Simeon had when he saw Jesus was very personal indeed, the good man was not living in his experiences of bygone years, nor was he resting on the faith of a colleague in the temple.Simeon did not look backwards in life, nor making claims because of his position or own spiritual integrity, no he saw Jesus himself and understood at once who He was, this is how it must be in my, in your experience with our Lord.It is not enough to say that one went to Sunday School years ago, worked in the church and what respect others had for us, no we must all understand who this Jesus is through our very own spiritual eyes, He must be part of our own Christian experience.As I, aswe wake every morn may we understand for the day, which lies ahead, something more of the blessedness of our risen Lord with this deepening as the years go by. This is how our experience with our Lord should be everyday in our lives

We now come to the words ?HAVE SEEN?.Simeon must have knowso much of the teaching from the Scriptures, would have learnt from the writings of Moses, David and Isaiah of the one who was to come one day, so Simeon was waiting for the ?Consolation of Israel?.Previous to the visit he was making to the temple that day, he would have viewed matters from the minds of the saints who had gone before.But as Jesus was brought into the temple he saw The Babe with his own eyes, so he said, ?This dayMINE EYES have seen Thy salvation? our Jesus was from then onwards part of his experience.This is how He must be in our lives, remember we must be able to say, ?The Lord is MY Shepherd, I, YES,I shall not want'

Finishing on this quote by Simeonabout Jesus, we have the words, ?THY SALVATION?, we will now dwell on these for a few moments and we will come straight to the point.The salvation we can have from the penalty of sin, this salvation is not of our own making, it cannot be done by works, nor our position in society in any sense, that is not the way.We have those lovely words in Scripture, in Revelation that, ?Salvation BELONGETH to our God?.and the Lamb?.Our Lord Jesus is the only way, this thinking being supported elsewhere as we are taught, indeed the words of Jesus Himself, ?I am the way, the truth and the life, no one cometh unto The Father but by Me?.Salvation is of our Lord Jesus; He is the author and finisher of our faith, finally sealed by His shed blood on The Cross at Calvary.How dare we suggest there is another way, please do not have the gall to think like this, if we do then we are implying that Jesus did not tell the truth

The words of the Baptiser when he saw Jesus were

?Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world?

John the Baptist was the last of the OLD TESTAMENT prophets, he would have know all about the meanings of sacrifices as taught and practiced in the old spiritual economy.Also knowing that one was to come in God's appointed time, to completely fulfill all that had been prophesied in times of old.John had a special understanding of the significance of sacrificial lambs, how a life had to be given as a penalty for sins committed, and these sacrifices covering a period of twelve months.I think that John the Baptiser also knew that the one who was to come would deal with sin not just for twelve months but to take them away for ever and ever, John's work was to declare this to the people, preparing the way for Jesus.When Jesus saw John on the banks of the Jordan at Bethabara, our Lord approached him asking to be baptised, John said, ?BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD WHICH TAKETH AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD?.I think that John would have understood that Jesus was the King of kings and Lord of all and the pathway He would take would lead to The Cross.In those days when folk were baptised they confessed their sins, this was the custom, Jesus because of who He was, the impeccable Christ had no sins to confess.We are told that as Jesus was baptised ?straightway', not waiting for a confession the heavens opened and the great Lord God Almighty spoke, ?THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED?.At the Jordan that day there was God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit, no wonder spoke those world, ?BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD WHICH TAKETH AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD?.Through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus lies the wonder of our salvation and on the banks of the Jordan that day the people saw something of the glory of our God

Wewillpause for a few moments and consider what has justbeenwritten.

Our Lord Jesus was the One who was crucified, then He came through that

experience to the might and majesty of the resurrection on the third day.

BUT as we believe,our blessed Lord is with us in oureverydaylives

Please consider the following few incidents taken from the life of Jesus

The JOY of a baby being born in a manger, the incarnation became real in the lives of Mary & Joseph

?Jesus was there'

At The Cross where our dear Lord Jesus suffered so much for us, had a crown of

thorns placed on His head, it would not have been done gently.In that

?coronation' our Lord became sin for us and all this meant,

what AGONY

?Jesus was there'

The disciples had WORKED HARD all night trying to catch fish to give themselves a living,

they were tired, worn out and caught nothing.It was a ?Hard Days Night?, then

Jesus appeared, gave them instructions where to cast their nets and they

drew in a net full of great fish, 153 in all

?Jesus was there'

Finally after the resurrection our Lord Jesus prepared breakfast, He and His twelve

Lads ENJOYED breakfast with Him by the sea of Tiberias

?Jesus was there'

In our JOYS, HARD WORK, AGONIES & ENJOYMENTS,

indeed in all the circumstances of life

?Jesus is always there'

The words of the Woman at the Well about Jesus were

?Come see a man, who told me all that I ever did?

The woman of Samaria was of ILL REPUTE, A PROSTITUTE but as a result of her encounter with Jesus at the well, she understood that our Lord knew all about her and she uttered those well known words, ?COME SEE A MAN, WHO TOLD ME ALL THAT I EVER DID, IS NOT THIS THE CHRIST??We are familiar with these words and circumstances which led to them being said, but we must go much deeper

In this incident we are being taught that our Lord in none other than the omniscient God, He knows everything in your life and mine, therefore all things are for a purpose.There is a reason for everything under the sun; the world is based on fixed principles, if not our God cannot be a God of order.Just think of the words of Mordecai as he was speaking to Esther, ?Thou art come to a kingdom for such a time as this'.For many of us, some of the ways in our lives have been hard and difficult.A new life given, bringing with it enormous difficulties, the divorce and all the hurt that still goes with it, the loss of a loved one, those financial strains which almost seem too hard to bear, the rough and tumble of family life and those health problems.I understand some of these difficulties for myself a little in my experiences, all that has taken place in our lives is for a purpose, and I can now see this in my life as I look back in retrospect and give thanks

So the woman we are considering, remember the type of person she was before she met Jesus, call to mind her association with men folk in her earlier life, then after her encounter with Jesus she said those remarkable words to the men in the city.Changes had been made in her life through her personal experience with Jesus; the good lady had a testimony.As the men folk saw Jesus they said, ?We know that this is indeed The Christ, the Saviour of the world?.What an impact the words of that woman had on those men folk, the type of men they were that this woman was associated with in earlier times.Yet as the lady spoke to the men the words about Jesus, they were blessed to them by the power of God and they believed.This is how it should be in our lives

The words of the disciples about Jesus were,

?What manner of man is this that is amongst us,

that even the winds and waves obey Him??

Our Jesus and His YOUNG MEN had a hard working day, they were tied, and weary so went for a break on the Sea of Galilee, got in a boat and rowed away.A sudden storm arose as one often did in that area, the disciples were terrified, Jesus was asleep so they called to Him in their distress, Jesus just spoke three words ?Peace be still? and The Master stilled the storm.When the disciples recovered from this amazing incident they marveled saying, ?WHAT MANNER OF MAN IS THIS THAT IS AMONGST US, THAT EVEN THE WINDS AND WAVES OBEY HIM??

The one who stilled the storm so long ago is our living Lord Jesus Christ, who can still the ?storms' of our lives today if we let Him.These ?storms' can be so sudden and unexpected in our experiences but Jesus still speaks those words to us ?Peace be still?.Aswe come through a crisis we reflect on those wonderful words, ?What manner of man is this??

The words the Apostle Peter spoke about Jesus

?Thou art The Christ, the Son of The living God?

The most important question every thinking man and woman has to face is the one about our dear Lord Jesus, the only begotten Son of the living God, the impeccable Christ.PETER the FISHERMAN was asked by our Lord, ?WHO DO YE SAY THAT I AM??In Peter's answer to our Lord, the good man speedily understood that he had to face up to the challenge himself

It was an utter waste of time the disciple Peter falling back on the opinions of others, say of The Baptiser, Elijah or Jeremiah, he had to face the question himself.Our Lord Jesus was the truth, in picture language in the Bible we are told that ?Out of His mouth went a two edged sword?, this indicating His perfect truth.As our Lord spoke to folk, the very way in which they were addressed, from this they knew that only the truth would satisfy the mind of The Master.In the situation Peter found himself in, may we not criticize him, but rather thank the good man for the truth which was being taught then and can be learnt now by ourselves

The value of words spoken or music played can be grasped by how long they remain in the minds of men and women.Just dwell on the words of William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill or a contempory, there are many ?Quotable Quotes'.Consider the music of Handel, Gilbert & Sullivan or Mike Oldfield, their CD's are still in demand today.Now for the words of Peter, ??Thou art The Christ, the Son of The Living God?, almost every word is pregnant with meaning.This quote by Peter was in answer to Christ's question, ?Who say ye that I am??That question which was asked Peter will continue to be asked right throughout this dispensation, it must be answered by every soul on earth

As we dwell on the question asked by our Lord Jesus, what would my, your answer be?On our answer to this question hangs our eternal destiny, we will either have everlasting life, or perish.This dear friend is an absolute certainty

The words of Rufinus the Centurion about Jesus were

?Truly this was The Son of God?

We now look at what could have been the understanding of the CENTURION who was on guard at The Cross when our Lord Jesus was crucified, I understand his name was Rufinus.One would have thought that he would have known something of the life style of this Jesus of Nazareth, for me this is a certainty.To many folk this Jesus was a threat to the authorities of the day as many of the ordinary people wanted to make Him King.Rufinus must have known of some of the miracles our dear Lord had accomplished, those whom our Lord had raised from the dead and the teaching of our Lord, at least some of it.Our Lord Jesus must have been the talk of the town

Rufinus would have known our Lord as ?Jesus of Nazareth?, the son of the carpenter.Our Lord had no home of His own, we are told that, ?He had no where to lay His head", He had twelve followers with none of them being men of much teaching.This Jesus also seemed to be appart from the ecclesiastical authorities who had such powerful influence on the people of that day

Rufinus had special responsibilities in Jerusalem at the time we are considering.Rufinus would have known of the journey our dear Lord Jesus took on that first Palm Sunday, he knew of the authority of Pilate and all the court proceedings and how Jesus had come through it all

Jesus was upon The Cross, the centurion faced our Lord,

grasping every word He uttered

?My God, My God why hast Thou forsaken Me??

then the plea

?Father forgive them, for they know not what they do?

heard those words

?Father into Thy hand I commend My Spirit?

he saw our blessed Lord as

?He gave up the ghost?

What in impact all this had on Rufinus and he declared

?Truly this was The Son of God?

Upon making this declaration and all that led up to it, I wonder where Rufinus is now?

As we understand, through the power of the Spirit of our God who our Lord Jesus is, convicted of our sin, this being the main ministry of the Holy Spirit, to be convicted of sin in the rejection of The Saviour.Understanding what Jesus did on The Cross was for us all as individuals and seek the forgiverness from our Heavenly Father, then we can say those blessed words

?Truly this is The Son of God?

Have you said that special word yet?

The words about Jesus from the mouths of Cleopas & Mary

?Did not our hearts burn within us as he walked with us by the way??

The words just quoted were part of the conversation between Cleopasand the one who traveled with him, this could have been his wife Mary, they chatted together as they walked along the road to Emmaus.Now we could build up a nice picture in our minds for these two folk walking along a country lane, holding hands and chatting together as they walked to the village where their home was which has to me a romantic name ? but that was not the case

I will keep to the record of Scripture and try to capture these followers of our Lord Jesus at the time we are considering.Their leader, their Lord and Master, the one upon who all their hopes had depended was crucified, the bottom must have fallen out of their world.Some of the disciples had experience because of which they ?trembled, were so amazed and so afraid'.The ?door' of the sepulchre had been removed by what to them was an unknown power, we are told, ?That the keepers did shake and become as dead men', and then the record is that some of them ?wept'.As we consider these points, whatever picture we had in our minds about those two on the road to Emmaus, it must have changed

These two folk must have been depressed, dejected, downcast, maybe on the point of suicide and not knowing what the future would hold out for them, but then Jesus came to them and walked along that country lane, chatting as they moved forward.This one who came alongside as they journeyed forward taught them from Moses, the Psalms and Prophets about what had taken place in Jerusalem regarding this Jesus.Indeed we have those lovely words from the Scriptures about this conversation, that Jesus taught them of ?All the things concerning Himself', showing how in the events of the past few days in their lives, the Scriptures had been fulfilled

The folk came to the end of their journey, arrived at home, the traveler was invited in for a meal and as He took bread and broke it they fully understood who this person was, their Lord Jesus. They would have seen in His hands those marks which were He received at Calvary, be reminded of that time in the Upper Room, what a joy would have filled their hearts and minds ? then Jesus vanished!

As they reflected upon the moods and experiences of that day, they were thrilled, excited and said, ?Did not our hearts burn within us, as he walked with us along the way?, and they did not have to go to the local doctors because of heart burn!No they sped back to Jerusalem with joy and thanksgiving and reported to the eleven who gathered.What a wonderful evening it must have been!

As we have a personal encounter with Jesus, do we cry out to our Lord

?This day mine eyes have seen Thy salvation??

In seeing our Lord Jesus in fulfillment of all taught of Him, can we say

?Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away my sin??

Do we in encouragement to others say

?Come see a man, who told me all things that I ever did??

As we gather together, do we think in amazement

?What manner of man is this who is amongst us??

As we understand something more of our Lord, do we declare

?Thou art The Christ, The Son of The living God??

As we continue our journey in life, are we able to say

?Did not our hearts burn within us, as he walked with us by the way??

This is the third book