The Final Journey Of Jesus......And The Path That We Are On Today!

              "Where do I start reading the Bible?" I've heard that question quite a few times....as recently as a week ago. For me that is a tough question to answer....and I have never been overly confident in the various answers that I have given. It depends on the individual. I might recommend starting with the gospel of John....or Matthew.....or with Acts....or even with Psalms. What I want to do in this post....is to give a recommendation to the seasoned Christian today....because time is short.
              The festival of Hanukkah this year begins at sundown or nightfall on Sunday....December 14....and lasts until sundown on Monday....December 22. The year was 164 BC when a Jewish man named Mattathias revolted against the evil Antiochus. He died soon afterwards but one of his five sons....Judas....who became known as....Judas Maccabeus....(Judas the Hammerer)....continued to lead the revolt. The revolt was successful in that the Jews got control of the temple back....and cleansed and rededicated it. Hanukkah....the Feast of Dedication....and the celebration of that victory at that particular time....has been celebrated....in good times and in bad times....ever since.
                Jesus of Nazareth went up to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast. We cannot be sure but this was probably in the year that we would label....29 AD....and it would have been in either our month of November or December.
                These tumultuous days that we are living in....days of great delusion and great deception and great danger....in my own way of looking at it....are as that time period from the Feast of Dedication....(29 AD?)....to Passover the next year....and the death and burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior and coming King!
                 I believe that the reader can tell if he or she looks closely and prayerfully at it....that the words of Jesus....as He began his journey from Galilee to Judea....and then finally to Jerusalem....begin to explode from the page in warnings and condemnations....particularly the confrontations that Jesus had with the Pharisees....and the serious warnings that He gave to the people....and the specific warnings that he gave to His disciples on the Mount of Olives....(all of which transfer to us)....in what has become known as....The Olivet Discourse....included in Matthew 24 and 25....and Mark 13....and Luke 21.
                  Please consider this.....and take the month of December....supplementing the glorious news and celebration of the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem....supplementing that with building intensity in the words of Jesus....beginning in chapter 12 of the gospel of Luke. I think that if you prayerfully meditate upon everything that you read....you will be more than set back on your heels....but sobered up....which we all need at this time....and blessed with the discernment....that just as Jesus knew what was ahead for Him in that final journey....you will realize what is just ahead for all of us....and become solemn yet joyful....that the King of Kings is coming for us!