"House of Affliction; House of Dates"

 "Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead." (John 12:1 KJV)

  ""For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will take you back. In a burst of anger I turned face away for a little while. But with everlasting love I will have compassion on you," says the LORD, your Redeemer." (Isaiah 54:7-8 NLT)

 If you are wondering about this title, these are the two meanings for "Bethany" the town to which Jesus went. Actually, there are two Bethany's, this one with Lazarus lived, and the other along the Jordan where John the Baptist was baptizing. The one where Lazarus lived was now well known, as the place where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. 

 John points out that this was six days before Passover, as it was a countdown to a very special date. Here is just a thought, if you want to try to make something of this date, that man was created by God on the sixth day. Not that it has much mystery in it, but Jesus, the Son of Man, was beginning to prepare for a very special event; one that would cause great affliction!

 I know, I can really step outside the box sometimes; but be that as it may, this was a chance for Jesus to bid His friend's farewell and to prepare Himself for what happens on that special day. As Matthew Henry puts it: "Devout men set time apart before, to prepare themselves for that solemnity, and thus it became our Lord Jesus to fulfil all righteousness. Thus he has set us an example of solemn self-sequestration, before the solemnities of the gospel passover; let us hear the voice crying, Prepare ye the way of the Lord."

 And exactly what was that way? As previously stated, Jesus had no worries about being taken before His time, as the time had already been appointed. And even then, when that time shall come, which was obviously quickly approaching, He would still have no worries about being captured, because it will be His time to surrender and allow it all to be, just as it was meant to be. 

 I was listening to Dr. Chuck yesterday, as he was trying to illustrate something that is hard to explain but easy to understand, how the Bible is a lot like a hologram. One manner in which it is likened, is that without the light, the image is not all that interesting: but with the light, it becomes amazingly beautiful.

 Interestingly, Jesus is within the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, obscure and hidden within the text; but with the Light, He becomes visible, amazingly and beautiful! Also, Isaiah says in 53:2, "There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance," but once we are born again, He is magnificent and magnanimous! 

 Another thing he mentioned was about the Truth, as the Bible is written in a way, that the Truth is spread throughout the Book; as with the hologram, you can remove part of the image, but it will still have the complete picture. So too, you can take away some of the Bible, but message of the Gospel will still be whole.

 Don't you just love it... 

"When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. For, "Who can know the LORD'S thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?" But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ." (1 Corinthians 2:13-16 NLT)