Taunts of yesterday and today

Wednesday February 2, 2022

Taunts of yesterday and today

The couriers went from town to town... and we laughed and made fun of them. 2 Chronicles 30:10

They mocked the messengers of God, they despised his words, and they mocked his prophets. 2 Chronicles 36:16

The leaders, on their side, made fun of (Jesus). Luke 23:35

To make fun, to laugh or to mock are verbs which convey contempt. In the three verses quoted today, they are used against messengers sent to gather the people of Israel and bring them back to God, or against Jesus himself, God's messenger par excellence. God cannot bear such attitudes which amount to despising his word and condemns them severely (Numbers 15:31).

Hezekiah, the pious young king of Judah, reestablishes, according to the Law, the worship of the Eternal in the temple. All the people of Jerusalem rejoice. So Hezekiah sends messengers to invite all the Israelites, whether from Israel or Judah, to come and celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem. But apart from the men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun (2 Chronicles 30:11), the people of the northern kingdom deride them and do not join Judah.

A little later, the inhabitants of the kingdom of Judah themselves mock God's messengers, despite the threat of war and deportation (2 Chronicles 36:16).

A few centuries later, the chiefs join in the mockery of the people by looking at Jesus whom they have just crucified... Yet he gives his life for them ! He bears the sins of those who believe in him and knows the abandonment of God. Jesus, our Savior, is plunged into extreme anguish... and the reaction of the world is to mock !

If people could laugh at Jesus in such a solemn moment, why wouldn't they laugh today when they heard the Gospel announced or the Word preached ? Let us stand firm, like the couriers of Hezekiah ; persevere in spreading the message of God, by preaching the gospel or by some other ministry. God finally blessed the work of these messengers : men from three tribes humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem.

Let's be thankful that the Lord sends messengers. Let us esteem them very highly in love because of their work (1 Thessalonians 5:13). Let us support them with our prayers or in a material way. We thus participate positively in the propagation of the gospel of the grace of God, despising the ridicule of a world in moral darkness.

Source (Pleasing the Lord)