King CharlemagneSITUATION The Pharisees and the Sadducees were two prestigious groups of Jewish teachers who jockeyed for influence and power. Leaders in both groups failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
OBSERVATION Jesus did not seek to have earthly power like the Pharaisees and Sadducees. He sought to build a kingdom that would last into eternity.
INSPIRATION The pole of power is greasy.
The Roman emperor Charlemagne knew that. An interesting story surrounds the burial of this famous king. Legend has it that he asked to be entombed sitting upright in his throne. He ask that the crown be placed on his head and his scepter in his hand. He requested that the royal cape be draped around his shoulders and an open book be placed in his lap.
That was A.D. 814. Nearly two hundred years later, Emperor Othello determined to see if the burial request had been carried out. He allegedly sent a team of men to open the tomb and make a report. They found the body of Charlemagne just as he had requested. Only now, nearly two centuries later, the scene was gruesome . . . . But open on the skeletal thighs was the book Charlemagne had requested--the Bible. One bony finger pointed to Matthew 16:26: "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?"
You can answer that one. (From The Applause of Heaven by Max Lucado)
APPLICATION It is easy for us to be wary of false teachers who don't know Christ at all--such as people form other world religions. But we must also guard against those teachers who claim to follow Christ, yet misinterpret his Word.
EXPLORATION False teachers-- Jeremiah 50:6; Matthew 7:15-20; Romans 16:17-18; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 1 Timothy 1:6-7; 4:1-2, 2 Timothy 4:3-4; 2 Peter 2:1-3.
The Devotional Bible - Experiencing The Heart of Jesus - Max Lucado General Editor, New Century Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers
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