Father, Can I Please Come Home?
His brown curly hair fell wispily to his shoulders and caressed the sides of his beard and mustache. His dark eye brows were arched slightly and his eyes shone with a brilliant light of love. A glimmer of white teeth flashed as his mouth curled up in a smile. Jesus was stylishly dressed and the anticipation of the moment was making His heart beat wildly with excitement. He had come home to share with His family and friends the Good News.
But when He arrived He questioned if it was possible to go Home, €Father, can I please come home?€ He asked.
Jesus had just come from Galilee where they had warmly received His teachings and the wonderful miracles of healings, He preformed. His family heard about what happened and they requested He come home.
Luke 4: 16-21: €Then Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath he went as usual to the synagogue. He stood up to read the Scriptures and was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written, €The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of the sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people.'
Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. All the people in the synagogue had their eyes fixed on him, as he said to them, €This passage of scripture has come true today, as you heard it being read.''
Jesus was excited to share the news that He was the long awaited Messiah. Instead the people only saw Him as the son of Joseph. He had come home to skepticism and ridicule from His hometown.
Luke 4:24-30: €€I tell you this,' Jesus added, €a prophet is never welcomed in his hometown. Listen to me: it is true that there were many widows in Israel during the time of Elijah, when there was no rain for three and a half years and a severe famine spread throughout the whole land. Yet Elijah was not sent to anyone in Israel, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the territory of Sidon. And there were many people suffering from a dreaded skin disease who lived in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha; yet not one of them was healed, but only Naaman the Syrian.'
When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were filled with anger. They rose up, dragged Jesus out of town, and took him to the top of the hill on which their town was built. They meant to throw him over the cliff, but He walked through the middle of the crowd and went his way.€
Jesus felt the pain of their rejection, but it did not diminish His determination to be the Savior of the World. He came to bring a new kind of teaching that focused on love and not judgment. Nazareth would no longer be His home. His home would be with the people who believed in Him. Together they would make a new home in the realm of Heaven.
Luke 6: 22&23: €€Happy are you when people hate you, reject you, insult you, and say that you are evil, all because of the Son of Man! Be glad when that happens and dance for joy, because a great reward is kept for you in heaven. For their ancestors did the very same things to the prophets.'€
As Jesus' ministry grew, people flocked to Him. He spoke with an authority they had never heard before. He taught them about love and how to get alone with each other. He taught them about forgiveness and acceptance for each other. His teachings touched the depths of their souls and many came to believe that He was the Messiah.
The Pharisees were jealous of Jesus and they plotted to kill Him. Yet even when Jesus knew about their plans He continued to teach the people. He healed the sick. He cast out demons. He fed the hungry. Many thousands were baptized and placed their faith in Him.
The Pharisees did everything possible to stop the people from believing in Jesus. They persecuted the believers by threatening to throw them out of the temple. They plotted to kill Lazarus who Jesus raised from the dead. Some of the Pharisees believed in Jesus but they were so afraid of the Sanhedrin that they hid their faith for fear of being excommunicated.
Luke 14: 26&27: €€Whoever comes to me cannot be my disciple unless he loves me more than he loves his father and his mother, his wife and his children his brothers and his sisters, and himself as well. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.'€
Throughout history the simple fact that following Jesus would lead to persecution became a badge of honor to His disciples. They were Christian soldiers fighting for Jesus Christ. They were people who knew that to follow Christ was to give up their earthly homes.
Hebrews 11:33-38: €Through faith they fought whole countries and won. They did what was right and received what God had promised. They shut the mouths of lions, put out fierce fires, escaped being killed by the sword. They were weak, but became strong: they were mighty in battle and defeated the armies of foreigners. Through faith women received their dead relatives raised back to life.
Others, refusing to accept freedom, died under torture in order to be raised to a better life. Some were mocked and whipped, and others were put in chains and taken off to prison. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword. They went around clothed in skins of sheep or goats-poor, persecuted, and mistreated. The world was not good enough for them! They wandered like refugees in the deserts and hills, living in caves and holes in the ground.€
€Father, can I please come home?€ Jesus knew that Nazareth could never be His home. He made a choice to die on the cross to save people. He became the risen Savior. His home would never be here!
€Father, can I please come home?€ Jesus called out to His Father in Heaven.
God answered. €Yes!€
Hebrews 12:1&2, €As for us, we have this large crowd of witnesses around us. So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God's throne.€
€Father, can I please come home?€ cried the children of Jesus Christ. They ran the race which God had planned for their lives. They fulfilled their life purpose. They never gave up and now they are ready to claim Heaven as their home.
With a resounding voice God answered. €Yes!€
€Father, can I please come home?€ the people asked.
Jesus replied. €Throw open the gates of heaven and let my people come home!€
Revelations 21:3: €I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: €Now God's home is with mankind! He will live with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.'€
But when He arrived He questioned if it was possible to go Home, €Father, can I please come home?€ He asked.
Jesus had just come from Galilee where they had warmly received His teachings and the wonderful miracles of healings, He preformed. His family heard about what happened and they requested He come home.
Luke 4: 16-21: €Then Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath he went as usual to the synagogue. He stood up to read the Scriptures and was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written, €The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of the sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people.'
Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. All the people in the synagogue had their eyes fixed on him, as he said to them, €This passage of scripture has come true today, as you heard it being read.''
Jesus was excited to share the news that He was the long awaited Messiah. Instead the people only saw Him as the son of Joseph. He had come home to skepticism and ridicule from His hometown.
Luke 4:24-30: €€I tell you this,' Jesus added, €a prophet is never welcomed in his hometown. Listen to me: it is true that there were many widows in Israel during the time of Elijah, when there was no rain for three and a half years and a severe famine spread throughout the whole land. Yet Elijah was not sent to anyone in Israel, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the territory of Sidon. And there were many people suffering from a dreaded skin disease who lived in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha; yet not one of them was healed, but only Naaman the Syrian.'
When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were filled with anger. They rose up, dragged Jesus out of town, and took him to the top of the hill on which their town was built. They meant to throw him over the cliff, but He walked through the middle of the crowd and went his way.€
Jesus felt the pain of their rejection, but it did not diminish His determination to be the Savior of the World. He came to bring a new kind of teaching that focused on love and not judgment. Nazareth would no longer be His home. His home would be with the people who believed in Him. Together they would make a new home in the realm of Heaven.
Luke 6: 22&23: €€Happy are you when people hate you, reject you, insult you, and say that you are evil, all because of the Son of Man! Be glad when that happens and dance for joy, because a great reward is kept for you in heaven. For their ancestors did the very same things to the prophets.'€
As Jesus' ministry grew, people flocked to Him. He spoke with an authority they had never heard before. He taught them about love and how to get alone with each other. He taught them about forgiveness and acceptance for each other. His teachings touched the depths of their souls and many came to believe that He was the Messiah.
The Pharisees were jealous of Jesus and they plotted to kill Him. Yet even when Jesus knew about their plans He continued to teach the people. He healed the sick. He cast out demons. He fed the hungry. Many thousands were baptized and placed their faith in Him.
The Pharisees did everything possible to stop the people from believing in Jesus. They persecuted the believers by threatening to throw them out of the temple. They plotted to kill Lazarus who Jesus raised from the dead. Some of the Pharisees believed in Jesus but they were so afraid of the Sanhedrin that they hid their faith for fear of being excommunicated.
Luke 14: 26&27: €€Whoever comes to me cannot be my disciple unless he loves me more than he loves his father and his mother, his wife and his children his brothers and his sisters, and himself as well. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.'€
Throughout history the simple fact that following Jesus would lead to persecution became a badge of honor to His disciples. They were Christian soldiers fighting for Jesus Christ. They were people who knew that to follow Christ was to give up their earthly homes.
Hebrews 11:33-38: €Through faith they fought whole countries and won. They did what was right and received what God had promised. They shut the mouths of lions, put out fierce fires, escaped being killed by the sword. They were weak, but became strong: they were mighty in battle and defeated the armies of foreigners. Through faith women received their dead relatives raised back to life.
Others, refusing to accept freedom, died under torture in order to be raised to a better life. Some were mocked and whipped, and others were put in chains and taken off to prison. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword. They went around clothed in skins of sheep or goats-poor, persecuted, and mistreated. The world was not good enough for them! They wandered like refugees in the deserts and hills, living in caves and holes in the ground.€
€Father, can I please come home?€ Jesus knew that Nazareth could never be His home. He made a choice to die on the cross to save people. He became the risen Savior. His home would never be here!
€Father, can I please come home?€ Jesus called out to His Father in Heaven.
God answered. €Yes!€
Hebrews 12:1&2, €As for us, we have this large crowd of witnesses around us. So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God's throne.€
€Father, can I please come home?€ cried the children of Jesus Christ. They ran the race which God had planned for their lives. They fulfilled their life purpose. They never gave up and now they are ready to claim Heaven as their home.
With a resounding voice God answered. €Yes!€
€Father, can I please come home?€ the people asked.
Jesus replied. €Throw open the gates of heaven and let my people come home!€
Revelations 21:3: €I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: €Now God's home is with mankind! He will live with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.'€
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