Heralds Digest

““Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.’ But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭20:13-14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.20.13-14.nkjv Investment on leased properties can readily gets personal with time. Moveable assets with mixed emotions will readily displace the relevance or tangibility of fixed assets. In the parable of the wicked vinedressers, the vinedressers have assumed the ownership of the vineyard, after a long time absence of the owner. Unfortunately, we are all tempted to assume full ownership of what are not really ours in life, including our time, talents, treasures and basically our entire life. When a man deliberately becomes unprepared to give account of how he traded with his time, trained his children, and trusted his life, it is apparent tha...

“But He answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me: The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men?”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭20:3-4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.20.3-4.nkjv Argument on superiority is often difficult to manage without the expression of anger and hostility among conflicting parties. When the chief priests, scribes, and the elders confronted the Lord while on one of His teaching assignments, it was clear they were prepared to express anger at His apparent usurpation of their rights to the authority of who does what in field of ministry. In Jesus’ response, the scriptures noted “But He answered and said to them...”. Obviously, two wrongs cannot make a right. Direct responses to angry expressions have always shown to produce wrong results. They came with angry excitement, but Jesus responded with soft engagement. Truthfully, the ability to engage angry and heated parties in any relationship with soft and thought provoking questions expresse...

“Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭19:45-46‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.19.45-46.nkjv Without a deliberate desire to clearly distinguish between exploits and exploitation in business activities, anyone would make little sense out of the zeal in our Lord Jesus Christ in driving out those who buy and sell their merchandise inside the temple. The sense of indifference would readily query what was wrong with the trading of the items that the visiting worshippers need for sacrifices right inside the temple. The clue from Jesus is the reference to distinction between the ‘house of prayer’ and ‘den of thieves’. Exploits is attained in life’s activities by lifting up holy hands in the house of prayer; while exploitation of any system composed of people’s disorganized lifestyle through hypocritical hands is possib...

Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Luke 19:41‭-‬42 NKJV https://bible.com/bible/114/luk.19.41-42.NKJV When a man sincerely weep over the socio-economic and political imperfections of a city, citizens are easily moved to acknowledge the good heart and the desire for change from the status quo. Notwithstanding, the root cause analysis of the problems of any man and the pursuit of peace are mostly remote to the understanding of carnal man. Likewise, in the days of our Lord Jesus Christ, Jerusalem had a misunderstanding of the right strategy for peace prospect in her moment of visitation by the Prince of Peace. And when the Prince of Peace truly weeps over the plight of the soul of a man, the consequences are eternally devastating. The prospect for socio-economic or political peace at home, workplaces and the society reques...

“And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it? ’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’ ”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭19:29-31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.19.29-31.nkjv Anyone would wonder how the colt that Jesus rode on His triumphant entry to Jerusalem was prepared and reserved from birth. However, it is certain that the owner must have had divine encounter somehow, showing that the Lord’s use of the colt was not a news to him. Apparently, it was an event hoped for and an assignment in anticipation. After this first use, there is no doubt that every other use of the colt will be on special assignment, special order, or even just the special recognition of riding a privileged colt. Today’s...

“‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭19:26‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.19.26.nkjv When God said to man in the beginning “Be fruitful and multiply”, it implied that faithfulness is the only expectation from man as value-addition to the divine endowment after creation. Even after the fall of man and his redemption from the captivity of sin, it is obvious that faithfulness remains the bedrock for human productivity in the sight of God. Using the parable of the minas, Jesus debunked the misconception of fruitfulness without faithfulness. With faithfulness in any situation and circumstance of life, there is always value-addition to the system (home, workplace, and society) that generates fruitfulness. However, without faithfulness, all that is left in any man is fault-finding as a justification for unfruitful disposition. Whereas, everyone with breadth is preserved f...

“And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭19:9-10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.19.9-10.nkjv Familiarity is a well-known robber of the people’s privileges with the Saviour Jesus Christ. Therefrom, the concept of religion gets easily mixed up with the desire for communion and relationship. While Zacchaeus sincerely sought to see who Jesus was, religious people would have offered to help him with a comprehensive download of Jesus’ persuasive personality, penchants for parables, and power over principalities. But such documentaries would fail to address the concern of a man who truly desire a change to the lack of satisfaction in the privileges of sin. Because Jesus was more interested in a relationship than a religion, He could connect with the sincere heart of Zacchaeus. Even today, sincere sinners get easily connected to the Saviour tha...