Matt 21:15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders that He did and the children who were crying out in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, they were indignant. (17) And leaving them, He went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there. (18) Now in the morning as He returned to the city..
After the Lord Jesus comes into us and cleanses our spirit, we may sense that He leaves us, just as He left Jerusalem for Bethany after cleansing the temple. Perhaps you will say, "This is not my experience. My experience is that after the Lord Jesus has cleansed my spirit, He stays with me." If this is your experience, then you must be one of the lovers of Jesus like Mary, Martha, Lazarus, or Simon. However, after many Christians receive Christ into them and experience His cleansing of their spirit, they do not love Him. Thus, in their experience the Lord leaves them to lodge in another place, a place called Bethany. In the New Testament we read of two houses in Bethany: the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus and the house of Simon the leper. All these dear ones were lovers of the Lord Jesus. During the last week of His life on earth, He went every day into Jerusalem, but every night He went out of Jerusalem and lodged in Bethany. Jerusalem was the place where He was examined, tested, and slaughtered; but Bethany was His lodging place. We should not be the Jerusalem people, but the Bethany lovers. If the Lord Jesus comes into you and cleanses your spirit, yet you still do not love Him, it means that you remain among the Jerusalem people. You are not one of the Bethany lovers. Although He cleanses the temple in Jerusalem, He does not lodge there. Rather, He goes out of the city to lodge in Bethany. How meaningful this is!
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Matthew, pp. 665-666. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
To unsubscribe from the mailing list, either: Send an email to: [email protected] (No subject or message needed; a blank email will work) or visit www.emanna.com and fill out the unsubscribe form there.
