On October 30, 1866, American outlaw, bank robber, train robber and murderer Jesse James and his gang robbed a bank in Lexington, Missouri, stealing $2,000.  They terrorized Missouri for about 10 years, until Jesse James was killed by a member of his own gang, who hoped to collect a reward on his head.

        “Words from Above” tell us in Philippians 2 that followers of God need to adopt the mindset portrayed by Jesus while He was here on the earth.  Paul said that Jesus, as the Son of God, was in the same form as God His Father, and considered Himself to be totally equal to God in every way.  He did not consider being equal to God to be in any way a matter of robbery, as if he were taking anything away from God. Instead, he was willing to take on the form of a servant and be made in the likeness of mankind. As a man, He submitted Himself to dying on a cruel Roman cross.                             

        Rather than committing robbery against God, Jesus very significantly contributed to the cause and advancement of the kingdom of God. Paul concluded that because of what Jesus did, God highly exalted Him, and gave Him a name which was above every name.  He said that as a result, every knee would bow and every tongue would confess that Jesus was Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

        Neither did Jesus commit robbery against the people of the world, but made possible the greatest gift that the world had ever received, which obviously was the gift of salvation.  If there was anything that would be considered taking something from the world, it would be releasing people from the bondage of sin, and giving people a new freedom to live as the Lord intended people to live when He created them. He snatches us from the grip of the devil, who does his level best to do as Jesus said in John 10, where he said he came to “rob, steal, and destroy” the human soul. It is the devil who is a robber in the worst sense of the word, because if he is able to rob the human soul, it means that the soul will spend eternity in hell.

        As far as robbery is concerned, it was Jesus who was robbed of a fair trial and legitimate trial when the scribes and the Pharisees accused him of crimes against their religion. They turned their accusations into alleged crimes against the Roman government, and in doing so they robbed him of truth that He represented so well. In fact, he was the embodiment of truth itself.

Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  For information, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.