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In Luke’s gospel account we have the longest of the four gospels and the most thorough. In its pages we find the story of the Good Samaritan, the ten lepers that Jesus healed (out of which only one returned to say thanks), the Prodigal Son, the rich man and Lazarus, and the two men on the road to Emmaus. Of course we also read of the Lord’s death, burial and resurrection which sealed His purpose which Luke also reveals for us and that was to seek and to save that which was lost!
It is possible that some of the most stirring words Luke wrote are found in Luke 2:1 where in the first words of that chapter he pens this: “And it came to pass…” In the original language that line is actually, “Then it happened!” Any lady out there who has ever carried a child for nine months knows the excitement of those words. I guess about the maddest I ever saw my wife was the time when the doctor told her to come for the next visit with her suitcase because “after the exam this time we are going to admit you to the hospital.” That was on a Friday. Instead, when she got there he informed her that the hospital was indeed filled to capacity. He said, “If you were in labor they would find a place for you,” but since she was to be induced she would have to wait until Monday. Needless to say I spent that weekend watching movies I never had heard of starring folks I didn’t even know existed.
It doesn’t matter whether we are in the middle of the battle, burden or situation. Whether it is sickness, heartache, or financial strain, a problem with our kids, talk going on about us, confusion or some lack that we are experiencing. It could be a midnight we are facing, a valley or just a place that we don’t want to be the promise of scripture is that it won’t last forever. Scripture says when we pass through the fire we will not be burned. When we go through the flood we will not be overtaken. The “bad stuff” will not last forever. It did not come to stay; it came to pass!
The Children of Israel were in bondage under Pharaoh for over 400 years but that was not their ultimate destiny. It came to an end; it came to “pass.” They wandered in the wilderness for 40 years but the plan for their lives was not to be a band of wandering, desert-dwelling nomads. Their wandering ended when they inherited the precious plains of the Promised Land! The wandering they endured to get there didn’t come to stay. It was not their destiny and it came to “pass!”
They looked for a messiah for hundreds of years to come and deliver them. Every sacrifice they made pointed to the day when Messiah would someday come. In Galatians 4:4 Paul writes: “When the fullness of time was come God sent forth His son made of a woman…” Romans 5:6 says, “For when we were yet without strength, IN DUE TIME Christ died for the ungodly.” Here Luke writes to those looking for the fulfillment of this messianic promise and says, “It’s time!” Deliverance has come. God has spoken. “I told you,” He says …Weeping has endured for a night but now JOY has come in the morning in the form of a Baby in Bethlehem. You wandered, wondered and wept but “unto you is born this day, in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord!”
By Dr. Jeff Steele
First published by SGN Scoops in Juky 2014. For current issues of SGN Scoops visit the SGN Scoops mainpage.