Why Do We Miss It?

During the Last Supper, (John 13) Jesus said one of the Twelve would betray Him. That confused the disciples. Who would do such a traitorous thing?

Jesus told them the person to whom He gives a morsel of food is the one. Thereupon He dipped the morsel and gave it to Judas. Verses 28-30 read this way:

"Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him. For some were supposing, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, “Buy the things we have need of for the feast”; or else, that he should give something to the poor. So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night."

How was it possible the disciples missed it? Perhaps because they couldn’t believe one of their number, one who’d lived with the Lord for three years, even worked miracles in His name along with the rest of the eleven – they couldn’t believe their ears or their eyes.

Today I read this section in Luke’s gospel: "And He was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way. You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time? (Luke 12:54-56)

What are some of the signs of the times in which we live? And why do so many of Jesus’ disciples -- pastors and laity -- today miss it? Consider the epic and gravely serious cultural changes anyone over the age of 60 has witnessed in their lifetime – cultural changes that have resulted in the ruin of homes, families, and individuals.

In the 1950s it would have been unthinkable by virtually every American that in 2019 we would nonchalantly kill 3,000 babies every day in American abortion clinics. And not just kill them, but also sell their body parts for experimentation and research.

 

Think of it! None of us in the 1950s – just a few years after learning of the experiments the Nazis performed on men, women, and children in their concentration camps – none of us would have ever imagined Americans would do the same thing in our lifetime.

Since 1973 when the Supreme Court ruled that women have the right to kill their children in the womb (and now, in states like New York, even after they are born) we have killed more than 56 million pre-born children?

Let that number sink in a moment. 56 million.

That’s the combined populations of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and New York! In your mind’s eye, wipe those states off the map. They no longer exist. We’ve slaughtered their populations in the womb.

Our deviant culture is so upside-down that if you mistreat a dog, you can go to jail. But if you kill your baby in an abortion clinic, you can get invited to some television show to brag about it.

In 1950 who would have imagined the US Supreme Court would give same-sex marriages legal status in our country – and that a growing number of lower courts throughout the nation would call it ‘hate speech’ to argue against same-sex unions?

In the same era, who would have believed that unmarried couples living and sleeping together would be the stuff of television sitcoms and Hollywood movies? Yet the supernatural enemy of the family has convinced most Americans that living together outside of marriage is as innocent a thing as strolling through the park on a Saturday afternoon.

Only a few years after we defeated Nazism – NAZI, as some of you might know, is an acronym for the German phrase: National ‘Socialist’ German Workers Party – in 1950, just after we defeated Nazism and were about to be embroiled in a decades-long cold war with the Union of Soviet ‘Socialist’ Republics (USSR), would any of us over the age of 60 believed it possible that in our lifetime we would actually VOTE socialists into our congress and state houses?

During the days of Daniel, the Babylonian king did not understand the handwriting on the wall that foretold Babylon’s impending destruction.

In similar fashion, why do so many Christian pastors and laity today not understand the handwriting on our National wall? I haven't a clue.  But, oh, Christian! Pray for open eyes! Pray for revival in our churches and our nation. Pray that, if only for the sake of the Ten – as Abraham prayed – for the sake of the Ten, God will hold off our justly deserved punishment.

God was not One to be mocked in the past. He is not One to be mocked today.