Asides

March 28
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“These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): The five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.”  (Judges 3:1-4, NIV)

In the life of a disciple of Jesus, even one’s enemies are a part of God’s plan.

In today’s scripture reading from the book of Judges, enemies existed to teach the descendents of the Exodus how to defend themselves, and to test their devotion to God. (Please see Judges 2:20-22.)

Today, our biggest threat is not the sword (although physical threats do, indeed, exist); it is, instead, all of the influences and agents that oppose the spirit of God within us.  Even here we must pray for our enemies as we utilize the weapons of the Holy Spirit, which are: Truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God. (Ref: Ephesians 6:10-18)

So, do not curse your enemies.  Pray for them.  (The more your enemies vex you, the more you should pray!)  Resist, defend, and attack with the weapons of the Holy Spirit, which alone are adequate for spiritual warfare.  The victory has already been won.  Wait for it.  – Luther

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March 27
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“When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?'” (John 5:6, NIV)

A little story (not true, but illustrative): Jesus encountered three disabled men along the roadside.  The first, He touched and he was able to walk.  He touched the second man, and his sight was restored.  As Jesus approached the third man, the man retreated and said, “Don’t touch me!  I am on permanent disability.”
 
It may be hard for some of us to fathom, but those who have spent time helping acutely needful people can attest to the fact that not all such people want to “get well”; especially if they have been in that “condition for a long time.”  Change — even for good — can be unsettling because it means releasing the old, familiar, ways.  Change means — well — change. 
 
Our Lord addresses each of us at the point of our need, and He asks, “Do you want to get well?”  – Luther
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March 25
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“‘For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.'” (Luke 22: 27, NIV)
 
To be a disciple of Jesus is to identify oneself as a servant.
 
It is difficult identity oneself as the servant when every component of our being hungers for recognition and adulation; and Jesus acknowledges as much in today’s scripture when He says that the “one who is at the table” is greater than “the one who serves”.
 
Yet, to be as Jesus is be a servant. Do not eschew servitude and humility. It is in these states we shall find the company of our Lord.  – Luther
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