This is another book
by an author who has often brought me hope, encouragement, and a greater
knowledge of the Bible: AND THE ANGELS WERE SILENT by Max Lucado.
The last week of Jesus’s life. He knew what was ahead, and
he dreaded it. But he kept his focus on those who needed him. He continued to
show and teach crucial points.
In Matthew 20 he taught about the land owner who was
generous with the workers who stood around all day and no one hired them. Just
as God is generous with those of us who no one wants.
Two brave men, blind beggars, kept calling to Jesus to help
them, even though the crowd tried to silence them. Jesus took the time to stop
and treat them with compassion.
Jesus knew what was going to happen to him at the end of
this week, but he continued rigorously meeting our needs. In Matthew 23 he spoke
harshly against the teachers of the law and the Pharisees who made salvation so
hard for people to obtain.
In Matthew 24, he encouraged his disciples, and us, saying
those who hold on to God through horrible sorrows and troubles will be saved.
And John 17 shows us that Jesus thought of believers who are
alive today, and prayed for us, on his last night as he walked to the garden.
John 17: 20-21: “My prayer is not for them alone. I
pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of
them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also
be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
At the end of the book is a section which an individual, or
a study group, can use for discussion and Bible study. I often don’t pay
attention to these question sections at the end of books. But this one
impressed me, with thoughtful questions and an in-depth Scripture listing.