April 9

" His brothers, as the sons of Joseph were called, sided with the rabbis They insisted that the traditions must be heeded, as if they were the requirements of God. They even regarded the precepts of men more highly than the word of God, and they were greatly annoyed at the clear penetration of Jesus in distinguishing between the false and the true His strict obedience to the law of God they condemned as stubbornness. They were surprised at the knowledge and wisdom He showed in answering the rabbis. They knew that He had not received instruction from the wise men, yet they could not but see that He was an instructor to them. They recognized that His education was of a higher type than their own. But they did not discern that He had access to the tree of life, a source of knowledge of which they were ignorant."

          Desire of Ages, page 87 from the chapter, 'Days of Conflict'

     How on earth do we get access to the tree of life? These days we might think, “Google”, that’s how I get access to the tree of life. In an older age we might think, “Read our Bibles” that’s how we get access to the tree of life. That might work, but the Rabbis had that same access, as did Jesus’ brothers, so that might not be the source of access to the tree of life on its own.

     There is a TV programme that I like to watch, “Location, location, location.” There is a good maxim to help you understand the Word of God and other spiritual writings, “Context, context, context.”

     If you want to find out about this special access that Jesus had to the source of life you need to read the context. You don’t need to read the next sentence or the next paragraph. In this case you need to read the whole of the chapter – and get a clear picture of who Jesus is and what made Him different from His brothers.

     So, your homework for today is this. Read the whole chapter, the whole of chapter 9, and then, if you like, let me know what the answer is for you, “How do you get access to the tree of life?”