"How did they Know"? Lesson 145

Lesson 145: “HOW DID THEY KNOW?”

There are ‘happenings’ in the Scriptures that makes us wonder why and how. One that stands out in my mind more than the rest is in Luke 23:32-47. Two criminals were led away and nailed to crosses along with Jesus; one on His right and one on His left. The crown grew quieter after the crosses were erected so the priests and leaders started a disturbance among the crowd by sneering and mocking Jesus. Do you suppose the leaders somehow knew that the crowd, if allowed to think things through, would decide Jesus was innocent and turn on them, insisting that Jesus be set free? The soldiers mocked Him and even the two criminals that hung on either side of our Savior hurled insults at Him. Then a change took place in the heart and mind of one thief. He rebuked his insulting cell mate saying; “Don’t you fear God”? The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and this fear suddenly took hold of this criminal. Where did this fear and knowledge come from? Sticking up for Jesus wasn’t going to get him any favors from the soldiers or the priests. The criminal continues to rebuke his fellow thief saying; “This man has done nothing wrong”. Surely he didn’t learn this in prison. Jesus was never in prison, right? He couldn’t possibly hear it on the way to the place of the Skull since there were large numbers of people following and it was most likely extremely riotous. True, the women mourned and wailed for Jesus but could this have been distinguished from the curses hurled at Jesus in this mob?

This crook, after turning from his sinful thoughts, asked Jesus to remember him when ‘you come into your Kingdom’. Everyone else, including the disciples, expected the Messiah to establish His Kingdom here on earth so how did the criminal realize that the Son was going to the Father? Could this be encouragement from the Father? By giving Jesus a conversion God gave Him proof and a reminder of why He was going through all of this. The dying convicted man recognized the righteousness of Jesus and His power and authority. Jesus told the repented sinner that; ‘today, you will be with me in Paradise’. Proving that if you call on the name of Jesus you will be saved (Rom. 10:13)! This is also proof that it is possible and within God’s will that a person be saved on his death-bed. However, it is not wise to wait until that last breath to make the most important decision of your life. “TODAY, IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS” (Heb. 3:15, 4:7). “He who is coming will come and will not delay” (Heb. 10:37).

The devil took Jesus out to tempt Him to jump off the highest point of the temple. Satan used Scripture from Psalm to make his point (Matt. 4:6, Psalm 91:11-12). How did he know the Scripture? He was there with God when the earth and heavens were created (Neh. 9:6). He was one of the angels created before earth. He is an eavesdropper (Job 1:6) and an imitator (2 Cor. 11:14). He knows the Scripture better than you and I and will not hesitate to use it to tempt us. Do as Jesus did and answer the devil with Scripture, for even the powerful angel Michael did not accuse Satan but instead said; “the Lord rebuke you” (Jude verse 9).

When the first two disciples were called they “left their nets”, their life long trade, their lively hood and followed Jesus. How did they know this man was the Christ? The same thing happened with the next two fishermen He came upon (Matt. 4:18-22). They followed immediately, leaving their nets and family behind. Isaiah 53:2 tells us that Jesus “had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him; nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him”. He was a carpenter and probably looked and dressed much like the working men He called. Matthew (Levi) obviously knew more about this man than just the way He dressed and looked. Jesus said just two words; “follow me”, and “Matthew got up and followed Him” (Matt. 9:9). The Scripture does not say that Jesus promised this wealthy tax collector substantial monetary increase. In fact the Scripture doesn’t say Jesus offered him anything at this time.

Here’s another favorite of mine. “Two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met Him. What do you want with us, Son of God? They shouted! Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time” (Matt. 9:28-29)? How did these demons know Jesus? How did they know about His ‘appointed time’? Could it be they were among the angels when this plan was made and followed Satan when he was kicked out of Heaven? In Mark 1:23-25 another man in the synagogue was possessed by an evil spirit cried out; “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are---the Holy One of God!” The demons not only know who Jesus is, they know where they are going (Matt. 25:41). “Whenever the evil spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, ‘You are the Son of God’. But He gave them strict orders not to tell who He was” (Mark 3:11-12). “He drove out many demons, but He would not let the demons speak because they knew who He was” (Mark 1:34).

Now we know how the Pharisees knew everything. They were always peeking through windows (Matt. 9:11), lurking in the crowd (Matt. 10:34), ducking behind the stalks of grain (Matt. 12:1-2) and they even arranged to ‘catch’ a woman in adultery to test Jesus (John 8:3-6). They followed Jesus into the synagogue, not to worship, but looking for a reason to accuse Him (Matt. 12:9-10) and even followed the disciples into the ‘washroom’ and reported; “They don’t wash their hands before they eat” (Matt. 15:2). Can’t you just see them pointing and yelling like a tattle-tale three year old? Actually the disciples were nearly as bad when they tattled to Jesus; “do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this” (Matt. 15:11-12)?

We know how Simon Peter knew that Jesus was the Christ. Jesus said that this was not revealed by man but by God. I am sure Peter was as surprised as he was proud when this bit of knowledge fell out of his mouth. Seems it made him a little over zealous though, since he rebuked Jesus (Matt. 16:13-22). Jesus transfigured Himself on a high mountain in the presence of Peter, James and John. Then the Scripture says that Moses and Elijah appeared, talking to Jesus. This particular passage was not spoken by Jesus but recounted by Matthew. How did the three disciples know Moses and Elijah? The Bible doesn’t say that Jesus introduced them or revealed who they were. He simply told the disciples not to tell anyone what they had seen (Matt. 17:1-0).

You would think this far into the Scripture that we would have lost the Pharisees but we have not. They have been in the ‘court house’ looking up divorce records to accuse not only Jesus but also Moses (Matt. 19:3, 7). Later in Matthew 21:45-46 the Pharisees finally caught on to the fact that most of Jesus’ comments were directed at them but instead of repenting and believing, they looked for a way to arrest Him. They continued to try and trap Him with tax evasion (Matt. 22:15-20), who would be married to whom after the Resurrection and which was the greatest commandment in the law (Matt. 22:24-28, 36). Jesus told the crowd that they had to obey the ones that sat in Moses’ seat (Pharisees) but not to do what they did since they did not practice what they preached (sound familiar)?

The king’s wife tried to persuade him not to judge Jesus, indeed, not even have anything to do with Him. How did she know this would bring judgment? She had a fearful dream about Jesus. God spoke through dreams often in the Old Testament; “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, He may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings” (Job 33:15-16). God still spoke through dreams in the New Testament such as the angel appearing to Joseph in a dream telling him to escape to Egypt with the baby Jesus and His mother (Matt. 2:13). If He wants, God can still speak through dreams but be sure and ‘test the spirits’ to see if your dream is from God. Remember the devil is a copy cat and can also cause you to dream.

Last, but certainly not least I wonder about John 19:25-27. “When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son’, and to the disciple, ‘here is your mother’”. I think I know this answer. There are two meanings just as there were in many of the parables that Jesus taught. The first is that He ‘found a home’ for His mother and the second appears to be an introduction or a confirmation that He is his mother’s son. Isaiah 52:14 speaks of His suffering; “just as there were many who were appalled at Him, His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness”. How did Mary know for sure this was her son? Was she in the court when they beat Him beyond recognition? How could she be sure this was not just another criminal hauled to the cross? I think this is one of the reasons that Jesus spoke to her. You may mar a person beyond human recognition but a mother always knows her son’s voice.