April 15  

"Of the bitterness that falls to the lot of humanity, there was no part which Christ did not taste. There were those who tried to cast contempt upon Him because of His birth, and even in His childhood He had to meet their scornful looks and evil whisperings. If He had responded by an impatient word or look, if He had conceded to His brothers by even one wrong act, He would have failed of being a perfect example. Thus He would have failed of carrying out the plan for our redemption. Had He even admitted that there could be an excuse for sin, Satan would have triumphed, and the world would have been lost. This is why the tempter worked to make His life as trying as possible, that He might be led to sin.

     But to every temptation He had one answer, "It is written." He rarely rebuked any wrongdoing of His brothers, but He had a word from God to speak to them. Often He was accused of cowardice for refusing to unite with them in some forbidden act; but His answer was, It is written, "The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." Job 28:28 "

          Desire of Ages, page 89 from the chapter, 'Days of Conflict'

     Yesterday we noted that Jesus was playing the long game with his brothers. He infuriated them with His calm demeanour, His pleasant replies and His goodness. We would want to add a few words of rebuke or teaching.

    Jesus, with all the mental abuse that He faced from His elder brothers, took a different view and approach. While His brothers did wrong Jesus rarely rebuked them. What we read is that Jesus had a word from God for His brothers.

     We used to speak of prophetic writings as a hammer. A simple well-chosen quote driven home hard with the object of ending all discussion is the weapon of choice. The argument is won, the opponent destroyed.

     Do you think Jesus would have such a word for His brothers? Take the sentence seriously, “He had a word from God”. What we see next is one of those words from God, "The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." Jesus would put that into action, a kind word, a good word, a helpful word.

     Would you be able to do the same? I would suggest a couple of things. The first is to saturate yourself in the word of God so that you can use it effectively. The second point is rather less easy. Don’t go for the quick, smart, cutting reply. Aim for the thoughtful pause, the quiet pray and a few beats of a clean heart to pass.

   The song for this morning is really appropriate for the reading today. Bryn has chosen  – ‘Create in me a clean heart’