The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for a little break at Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power. I know it’s not always easy turning distractions off, but let’s do just that for a few. Grab your coffee and come on in so we can try and put the pieces of “deceived” together in the context of the Pharisees. Something tells me we may wind up recognizing a little bit of ourselves in these accusers.

So the Pharisees accused the officers of being deceived and backed their accusation up by saying no Pharisee has ever believed in Him, and also accusing the crowd – who was full of people beginning to change their hearts and minds about The Christ – saying they were accursed for they did not know the law. Now, these definitions all talk about a straying from something, such as the law, the religious beliefs, et cetera.

So what if we give these knuckleheads the benefit of the doubt by asking ourselves, “Were they just holding to what they believed?” And let’s not get into semantics about how much they lived by the law, or didn’t, themselves. By asking that question, would that give us a different and deeper understanding into the depths of their deception? It stands to reason that because they believed certain things about whom The Christ should/would be and would not be, they expected their peers to believe the same way, and when these officers made the statement, “No man ever spoke like this Man,” that released the accusations.

I can’t help but think about all the clues they had received, and the ones they missed completely. For example, when they jumped to conclusions and insisted He couldn’t be The Christ because He was from Nazareth without doing the research to find out He was born in Bethlehem. Or questioning His birth line and not doing the geneology study to trace His birth line all the way back to David. Why weren’t they able to see that they, not the officers, were the ones that were deceived?

What about in our lives, friends who get enticed away from the church? I see it happen all the time with women who are looking for love and become deceived by love. And what about within the church, those who claim to be in Him, all about Him, and do things that are contrary to Him and/or what He would do? Some even justify with out-of-context scripture bashing. What about the atheist who declares there is no god, let alone God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Or the New-Agers who claim there are hundreds of ways to heaven and that the god is mother earth and angels are the primary savior and answer to their problems? Or the homosexual who believes homosexuality was something God detested only in the Old Testament? I can go on and on and on with examples of people who we deem to be deceived but are they deceived just because I say so? Don’t these people in these examples believe that we, the Christian, are also deceived?

What is the common denominator here, Father? Why, oh why, are so many deceived, determined to be fixed on their false foundations, pointing the finger at others, either literally or figuratively? Does deception happen simply by and through standing for what you truly believe or does it involve something else?

I can hear something echoing ever so faintly in my heart . . .

Join me tomorrow for the answer.

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for joining me today and hanging in there even though we still haven’t met The Adulterous Woman. I promise; we are getting close. It’s just so important that we have as many of the puzzle pieces that will illuminate understanding on her entrance and upon herself as well! Grab your coffee and come on in.

So we are still in this detour about being “deceived” something that the Pharisees accused the officers of being, all because they dared to voice the questions overflowing from their pierced hearts after hearing Jesus cry out in the crowd. And the reason we are doing so much digging on this is because haven’t we come across so many in our lives who we deem to be deceived, even those who claim to believe in Him? Haven’t we ourselves been deceived one time or another? In addition to needing answers about this, I believe that this detour will help us when we finally meet The Adulterous Woman.

Let’s go right to the definition which pertains to the text we are reading from, which will be from the Greek concordance since it is in the New Testament and then if He leads us to do so, we’ll return for a few Hebrew translations.

Oh my, so the Greek word is “planao” and its root word is plane. Hmm, we fly away in a plane… Interesting. Let’s see what this translates to: “to roam (from safety, truth, or virtue)” – 24 times this word with “er” ending refers to Satan, the deceiver! – “to go astray, seduce, wander.”
In the passive form: “to deceive by leading into error, to seduce.” Hmm, “seduce” casts a bit of light on this subject.

Oh, this is interesting: “often it has the sense of deceiving oneself.” Now that’s about as clear as mud. Let me read a bit further to see if I can get any clarity for us.

“A straying from orthodoxy or piety, literally, ‘plane’ means a wandering whereby those who are led astray roam hither and thither and is always used of mental straying; wrong opinion, an error in morals or religion. It is akin to a forsaking of the right path.”

Oh, here’s another interesting fact: “In Scripture, doctrine and morals are never divided by any sharp line.” So I’m thinking that that means one finds morals or is moral when abiding in doctrine? Or to search the doctrine is a search of morality?Are they interchangeable?

Oh here’s a powerful statement: Errors in doctrine are usually the effect of relaxed morality.
Wow, what a lot to think about. It’s going to be interesting to put all of these pieces together that will give us a better understanding of how and why the Pharisees were deceived which will also open the door to finally meeting The Adulterous Woman.

Not deceived,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for a little break. I know life is full of demands and it can be challenging to stop what you’re doing and turn it all off. Grab your coffee and come on in for more of the history surrounding The Adulterous Woman.

So we’ve learned some interesting facts about this party that we’re eventually going to get to and I have to tell you, something tells me we haven’t skimmed all of the facets of its spiritual significance but I know we will see more of it as we get more into this true story. For now, let’s go check out who’s there.

Wow, there’s a bunch of important people here; you can tell by the way they are dressed, and I’m not just speaking of their clothing, either. Their body language is screaming authority in such an audacious way. They are everywhere, or so it seems, standing erect like stone walls with their arms crossed. I think they are the religious leaders.

And who is that lurking in the shadows? Oh, my goodness, is it really Jesus? Why does it look as though He is trying to hide? For some reason, He’s not the life of this party, or so it seems. I’m going to get in a little closer and see if I can hear why that is.

Ah-ha, apparently Jesus had just spoken openly in the Temple, the main location for this country-wide party. Wow, He’s really caused some ruckus among this party. I can hear some people saying “He is good,” and others are saying, “No, He’s not good. He’s trying to deceive the people.” No matter where I go in this crowd, people are in their little groups and Jesus is the topic of their conversations. I still can’t figure out why they are whispering.

Oh, that’s right; they are whispering because the religious leaders were more like dictators and they had a lot of power over the common people. Wow, they are not even trying to mask their authority. They are everywhere, lording over the crowds like a cloud threatening to break open with rain any moment. See, the more Jesus taught and worked publicly, the more these leaders would cause trouble for Him and His followers. Is it any wonder why they are whispering?
If these so-called leaders heard them, their worst nightmare would begin: ex-communication from the synagogue.

We’ll stop right there. Join me Monday as we get closer to The Adulterous Woman.”

Digging for the facts,

Evinda