“(All the people who listened, including the tax collectors, and who were baptized with the baptism of John, acknowledged the righteousness of God; but the Pharisees and scholars of the law, who were not baptized by him, rejected the plan of God for themselves.)” Luke 7:29, 30
Yesterday, my wife and I lost a very good friend of thirteen years, she was not old, a devoted wife for nearly ten years, a willing servant, and a fruit bearing Christian. At times like these many people question the rightness of death; it is always a shock when someone dies unexpectedly.
In Luke chapter 7 there is the account of Jesus stopping a funeral procession, raising a dead man back to life, and returning him to his widowed mother. Jesus was doing many great miracles and all the people were marveling and declaring God’s greatness. John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to question Jesus, ‘was he the Messiah or not?’
First Jesus tells of the healing care He was performing on the multitudes, then after the followers of John left, He gave a glowing report of John, who bore witness to Jesus as the Lamb of God. After the report we are told, all the people who were baptized by John, and at least went through the ritual of repentance, acknowledged that God’s plan was right.
All of life comes down to one question, do we acknowledge God as God with the right to do what He will, and that He is good and right in all He does?
God is good in earthly blessings as when Jesus healed the multitudes and raised the dead, He is good and right when he brings death and pain on a sinful world, and He is most definitely gracious, loving, forgiving, merciful, and kind when He bestows the blood of His dear Son to justify the guilty.
Blessed be the name of the Lord!