18:28 for he (Apollos)
vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is
the Christ.
Every religion is different. They all have different
priorities, different theories, and different systems. Peel that all away and
you find one consistent thread that runs through them all: the focus is on us
and our performance. Judaism was no different. If anything they had taken this
theme of performance to a whole new level. Sabbath keeping alone had 613
specific laws on how to do it right or not do it wrong. Their focus, you might
even call it obsession, was to be so good that God would have to bless them.
The great hope at that point in history was the arrival of
their Messiah. They were looking for a national hero, a military genius, a king
like none before him to deliver them from Roman rule and carry them to the top
of the world. Many Jews are still waiting even though their own time prophecy
has long expired.
It was into this religious and political climate that Apollos
came preaching. His message was simple. His message was not about the Jews or
about performance to gain a reward. It was not about being so good that God
would be forced to bless them. His message was about a man. A man who came from
Nazareth yet came from God. A man who was all man yet inside him was the heart
of God. A man who was so truly good that mere religious people didn't even
recognize it.
Ironic isn't it? People obsessed with being good didn't
recognize true goodness when they saw it...
There is a reason why Apollos refuted the Jews publicly with
vigor. They were completely on the wrong track. All religion is. Any system
that looks inward rather than upward is doomed to failure. Jesus is the
Messiah. He is the hope not just for Jews but for all men and women and
children everywhere. Religion looks for a method. Apollos pointed to a Man.
Jesus. If He is not our sum and substance we are on the wrong
track.
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