March 25
“Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22).
In Mark 11:11 we have the account of the fifth visit of the Lord Jesus to Bethany. After He
had seen the condition of the temple, our Lord came back to Bethany (v. 11). That day He
had seen what was happening in Jerusalem in the temple. Before He could pour out His wrath
upon them He turned back to Bethany perhaps to share His burden with those there. As in
Genesis 18:17-22 God appeared to Abraham before He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah,
saying, “How can I hide this great secret from my servant Abraham, because he is My friend.
At Jerusalem He had seen with His own eyes what was happening in the temple (Mark 11:17).
He had openly said that it had become a den of thieves. Such was the condition of the city.
As we begin to grow spiritually, we begin to know what it means to have partnership with the
Lord. As was the condition of the people in the day of Malachi 1:6,7, so it was then, and as
the Lord Jesus went about with His disciples, He could see the priests offering polluted
sacrifices (v. 8).
The Lord Jesus was found without sin, for He had no sin. He was perfectly blameless in
thought, word and deed. To foreshow His moral perfection, the people had to offer an animal
without blemish, and the priest was supposed to examine the animal before it was sacrificed.
Otherwise, there was no value in the sacrifice. God was foreshowing how for their own
salvation somebody had to be offered on their behalf without blemish.
our daily bread
Twelve foundations | February 21
February 21
“And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles
of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:14).
Here we have a vision of the wall of the Holy City, which have twelve foundations, on which
the names of the twelve Apostles are written. These precious stones speak of the strong
Apostolic foundation on which we are built (Eph. 2:19-22). Now the Apostles were only
ordinary men, they were men of like passions as we are, yet they were made strong by God.
We know what kind of a man Simon Peter was, yet, in spite of his failure; he became God’s
precious stone.
How did Simon Peter become a precious stone? That name ‘Peter’ means just an ordinary
rough stone, but the same rough stone became in the end a very precious, shinning
foundation stone. “The first foundation was Jasper (Rev. 21:19). Peter, the rough stone is
now linked to a shining, bright, beautiful, precious Jasper stone. How did he become like that?
Precious stones have to go through extreme heat under the ground to become so brilliant.
God asks us to believe in His perfect will and to allow the trials He may send to work His will
in us. That is how He can make of us shining stones. If we allow the light and truth of God to
work in us, we shall become like precious stones drawn close to the heart of God, to enjoy
His full love and affection.