Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Mark 3:1-5.

We begin a new chapter in Hosea 1. We also go back to the days when Israel was still a kingdom and in Hosea’s time Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah are kings in Judah and Jeroboam and Jehoash are kings of Israel. When Jesus lived among us, He often gave parables to show God’s kingdom. In Hosea, Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, gives a living example of what unfaithfulness looks like in Israel and in Hosea’s marriage to Gomer. The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel: When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.” Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them – not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God, will save them.” After she had weaned Lo-Ruhaman, Gomer had another son. Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not My people, and I am not your God. Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people’, they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together; they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.”

Yesterday we watched in the theater the first two episodes of Season 5 of The Chosen which depicts The Last Supper, Holy Week, and the resolute desire of Jesus to go to Jerusalem knowing what would be the outcome there. It showed Jesus driving out the money changers from the Temple grounds because His Father’s house is a house of prayer and reverence for God. And as The Chosen is so good at showing, the people there were regular people – just like you and me. What about my heart and yours? What about God’s heart? Do we truly seek to understand God’s heart for all of us – regular people, children of the Living God – with hearts that are stubborn and not understanding God’s heart at all? Jesus lived in dark days and so do we, so did Hosea. The days are made dark by our own hearts. Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of Himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of Himself that He had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, He set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, He stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, He lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death – and the worst kind of death at that – a crucifixion. Because of that obedience, God lifted Him high and honored Him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth – even those long ago dead and buried – will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that He is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11 MSG. And none of that, for all of us, would be possible without the heart of Creator God’s love for us. God told Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman. Does that shock you? Jesus, with a whip, drove out the money changers and their livestock. Does that shock you? The heart of those looking to accuse Jesus couldn’t see God’s heart for that man with the shriveled hand. Does that wake us up? What does our heart want?