“Say ye to the righteous, that IT SHALL BE WELL with him.” Isaiah 3:10

But then, immediately in the next verse: “Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him.”

Wow!

I am so thankful that (by Grace through Faith) I have been made righteous through the Blood of Jesus. And that “it shall be well with me” because of my relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The same is true of you as well, IF you have been born again.

When death comes … “it shall be well with him.”

When judgment comes, the Judgment Seat of Christ … “it shall be well with him.”

When trials come … “it shall be well with him.”

When anything comes … “it shall be well with him.”

This Promise does not exempt us from pain or sorrow or suffering.

But it does guarantee us deep seated “wellness,” the Holy Spirit here employing the Hebrew adjective “tob!”

And “tob” means (in the King James Version) “better” (72 times) and “prosperous” (but only 6 times) and “precious” (4 times) and “favorable” (only 2 times) and “beautiful” (2 more times). You get the idea!

Now granted, this may not primarily be a physical promise as much as a spiritual one … but still … “it shall be well with him.”

Sure makes me want to praise the Lord!

From Whom this great blessing, promise flows!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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“But he answered him nothing.” Luke 23:9

No, this is not Jesus standing before Pilate. For even before the Governor, one Gospel tells us: “Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.” Quoting Matthew 27:13-14. (Yet, if you recall, later Jesus did talk to Pilate! As in John 18:37 … “Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus ANSWERED, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”

Our Text this morning, going back to Luke 23:9, records Jesus standing before King Herod, when He deliberately said NOTHING!

Now here’s how that happened … “When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean. And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time. And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. Then he questioned with him in many words; BUT HE ANSWERED HIM NOTHING.” Luke 23:6-9, the background, context.

Herod, far as I can tell, is the only man who every lived to whom Jesus deliberately refused to speak!

Wow!

I mean … not a word!

Never!

Maybe because this is the Herod who killed John the Baptist! (Had he sinned away his Day of Grace?”)

Herod is also the only man Jesus ever called a “fox!” (Luke 13:31-32 … “The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that FOX, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.) A sneaky, deceptive predator! A killer!

My “point” this morning?

If you are in communion with God, your prayers being heard from Him on High … PRAISE HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART!

If Jesus “walks with you and talks with you” day by day … count your blessings!

Call me crazy if you wise, but I really do feel that Jesus (through the Holy Spirit, silently not vocally) talks with me time and time again!

In fact, while I have been writing this little Meditation!

And all the riches at Herod’s command are NOTHINIG when compared to fellowship with the darling Son of God!

Now, as you pursue your daily activities and find the Lord Jesus leading/directing you … count your blessings! “Speak Lord, for Thy servant heareth …”

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

King Saul of old … equally as deep in rebellion and sin as King Herod … “And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD ANSWERED HIM NOT, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.” 1 Samuel 28:6, although God had often spoken to Saul earlier in his life. What a sad ending!

Never lose that sweet Fellowship with Jesus, folks!

Wow!

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Did you ever read a chapter of Scripture, one you have read several times before, only to see a Word or Phrase or Clause that seems “brand new?” Like … “Where did this little golden nugget come from?”

Such happened to me earlier this morning.

I have preached the Text, the Context, located there anyway. But missed this beautiful little “tree” because of the majestic “forest” surrounding it, I reckon.

Now here they are, just the Words that thrilled me (and taught me) and aided my worship earlier today, a while before sunrise … “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge …” Ephesians 3:19

“WHICH PASSETH KNOWLEDGE!”

And most amazing of all, Paul has just been trying to explain, define, quantify the Love of God, in the immediately preceding Verses! It’s “breadth and length and depth and height!”

But he gives up!

God’s Love … “which passeth knowledge!”

I have heard of joy unspeakable! (1 Peter 1:8)

And peace that passeth all understanding! (Philippians 4:7)

But now today, from a living Book … Love that “passeth knowledge!”

He loves you THAT MUCH my dear friend!

How sweet is His Love, Christ’s Love … we will never really know!

How unconditional?

How secure?

How eternal?

How forgiving?

How thrilling?

How divine?

We will never exhaustively know these answers!

Period.

As the jaybird (or mockingbird or hummingbird) has never flown to the moon … so can mere humanity never soar as high as the out-of-this-world Love of Jesus Christ for His followers, His people, His Bride!

Wow!

Yes, though I can never “know” it fully … I sure can enjoy it! Bask in it! Find my safety in it! Ride it all the way to Glory!

Hallelujah to the Lamb!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

John, so “not Paul,” expresses it this way … “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” He apparently can’t “know” it either, that ineffable Love! And quite interesting … that Greek word “manner” means “from what country!” I can answer that, from “out of this world!”

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Jesus had just called her a “dog,” startling speech from the loving Son of God! Yes she, in such dire need (her daughter being vexed with a demon), persisted in her request. Desiring Jesus to heal that precious little girl!

Again Jesus is blunt … “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” I can’t help a gentile like you, the poor woman being from Phoenicia, today called Syria!

Then, as I noted above, “Jesus answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” The “children” being Jews, the “dogs” being us gentiles.

I mean this rough answer after she had again begged: “Lord, help me.” And yet again: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David.”

But next … Matthew’s Account (and Mark’s) of this situation reports the woman’s witty response. “And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the CRUMBS which fall from their masters’ table.” Matthew 15:27

That did it!

Such a display of faith!

Her daughter is well! Instantly! (“Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”)

The Moral of that Story … Jesus’ crumbs will do more than the devil’s whole buffet!

So … next time you’re studying the Word of God (likening it to the Bread of Heaven) … remember that you don’t have to “eat” the whole Loaf! At those particularly hurried times, a few “crumbs” will get you by!

That’s why I titled today’s lesson … THE POWER OF A FEW CRUMBS!

Oh by the way … thanks for reading (eating) here this morning!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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In John 18:8, as Jesus was being arrested, said too the soldiers: “If therefore ye seek me, let these go their way.”

In other words, “Take Me.”

“But give these (the Disciples) their freedom to leave!”

That’s the Story of Jesus!

In a single Sentence.

He died, that we might not die.

He suffered that we might not have to suffer.

He actually gave His Life for a ransom for me and for you! Both Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45 say so!

“Let these go their way!“

I am free (in Christ) today because Jesus submitted Himself to the gruesome Ordeal (the Death) we call Calvary!

Still, at that very moment Peter drew his sword and tried to kill a man. Yes, he botched his liberty!

A lot of us Christians today are, I fear, not still enjoying the liberty that is ours through the shed Blood of Jesus.

Oh, how we should love Him!

“If therefore ye seek me, let these go their way.”

One might say, the Shepherd died that the sheep might remain safe!

We thank Thee, Lord.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

One key word describing Jesus’ Death on the Cross is “vicarious.” That means He died “in the place of” another! In the place of “whosoever” would (sincerely) call upon the Name of the Lord!

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