Week of 19 Pentecost – September 21-27, 2008

Seasonal Note: This is a Three-Year Lectionary based on the Lutheran Book of Worship 3-year lectionary (for public worship), "Prayers of the Day..." (Propers), p. 13-41, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, 1978. It is based, with only minor variations, on the Revised Common Lectionary, used by many denominations, including the Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches:

http://www.commontexts.org/

and:

http://www.commontexts.org/rcl/usage.html

The daily readings are the Propers (Lections) for the following Sunday, so that the daily devotions can prepare us for worship. Additional lections are from Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church, "Scripture lessons for Matins and Vespers," United Lutheran Church of America, General Rubrics VIII. Scripture lessons for Matins and Vespers, p. 299 - 304, Philadelphia, 1918.

The previous 2- year Bible Study based on the Lutheran Book of Worship, Daily Lectionary for personal devotions p.179-192, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, 1978, is available at:

http://shepboy.snow.prohosting.com

Please Note: I will post weekly by Saturday, noon, (with God's help), Pacific time (UTC-8:00) for the week of the Church Season which begins on Sunday. Please scroll down for the desired day, or save the week to your desktop/hard drive.

19 Pentecost – Sunday
Posted September 21, 2008

Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32 -- Individual Responsibility;
Psalm 25:1-9 -- Teach me thy Paths;
Philippians 2:1-5 (6-11) -- Christs Example;
Matthew 21:28-32 -- Obedience;

Ezekiel:

The Lord told Ezekiel that Israel was to no longer use the proverb which said that the children's teeth were on edge because the fathers have eaten sour grapes. The Lord declares that all souls belong to him, both fathers and children's, and each soul which sins shall die (eternally).

People call the Lords ways unjust, but it is actually worldly ways that are unjust. When a righteous person turns from righteousness and does what is sinful he will die (eternally) for his sin. But a sinful person who turns from sin and does what is lawful and right in Gods judgment will save his life. Gods ways are just; it is worldly ways which are unjust.

The Lord will judge his people individually according to what each has done (John 5:28-29). All people are called to repent and turn from sin and evil, or their sin will be their eternal ruin. "Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed against me and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit" (Ezekiel 18:31)! Why would anyone do what will cause their eternal death. The Lord doesnt desire the death of anyone, so turn to the Lord and live.

Psalm:

I lift up my soul to the Lord, my God in whom I trust. Lord, do not let my enemies exalt over me and put me to shame. May none who wait for for the Lord be put to shame. Rather, let those who are deliberately treacherous be ashamed.

O Lord, show me your ways and teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, because you are the God of my salvation; I wait for the Lord all day long.

Remember your mercy and steadfast love, O Lord, for that has always been your nature. Forget the sins and transgressions of my youth. Lord, remember me, instead, according to your steadfast love, for your goodness sake.

The Lord instructs sinners in the right way to live, because the Lord is good and upright in all his ways. The Lord leads and teaches what is right to those who are humble.

Philippians:

If the Philippians (and all Christians) have experienced the encouragement of Christ, the incentive of love, and participation in the Holy Spirit, if they have any affection and sympathy, they should work together in unity and agreement, so that Paul could have unreserved joy in them. Believers should be motivated, not by selfishness or conceit, but humbly consider others as better than themselves. We should look not only to our own self-interest but to the interests of others. We should share this attitude with one another, following the example of Christ.

Jesus was fully God in human flesh (Colossians 2:8-9), yet he set that aside, not trying to establish his equality with God. Instead he came in the form of a servant, and humbled himself, in obedience to God, even to death by crucifixion. "Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth (the realm of the dead), and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).

Matthew:

Jesus was in the temple speaking to a group of priests and elders (Matthew 21:23). Jesus told a parable to illustrate obedience. A vineyard owner had two sons. He told the first son to go and work in his vineyard. The son told his father that he would not go, but later he repented and went. The father went to his second son and told him to go to work in the vineyard, and the son politely agreed to go, but did not go. Jesus asked his hearers which son had done the will of their father. The people answered that it was the first son who had done his fathers will.

Then Jesus told the Jewish leaders that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before them. John the Baptizer had come teaching the way of righteousness, and the tax collectors and harlots responded to his message, but even when the Jewish leaders saw these sinners repentance they did not themselves repent and believe Johns message.

Commentary:

The Lord has designed this Creation according to his purpose, which is to establish an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly choose to trust and obey Gods Word. God has designed this creation so that we all start out equal: We've all sinned (disobeyed Gods Word), and fall short of his righteousness (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). Jesus Christ is Gods one and only promised and anointed eternal Savior and King (Acts 4:12). Jesus has been designed into the very structure of Creation (John 1:1-5, 14).

Were all born physically alive but spiritually "unborn." This lifetime is our opportunity to be spiritually "born-again" (John 3:3, 5-8), which is only by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus, who alone gives the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (see Gods Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). Were all born sinners, in need of a new heart and a new spirit and this is only possible by gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit within us.

There is a Day of Judgment coming when Christ will return at the end of time to judge those who are living and dead in both the physical and spiritual senses. In that Day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Everyone who has ever lived on earth will be accountable to him for what we have done in this life. Those who have accepted Jesus as Lord in faith (obedient trust) will have been spiritually "born-again" and will receive eternal life in Gods heavenly kingdom. Those who have rejected Jesus as Lord, and have refused or failed to trust and obey Jesus will be condemned to eternal destruction in hell with all evil.

The Lord has given us his plan and instructions for life in this Creation, in the Bible, and in the teaching and example of Jesus Christ, the "living Word," fulfilled, embodied and exemplified in this world in human flesh (John 1:1-5, 14). God has done every thing he could to give us forgiveness and salvation as a free gift to be received by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). No one will be able to claim he didn't know about Jesus. No one will be able to blame his eternal destiny on his father or anyone else but himself.

Worldly people think Gods ways are unjust. They think some good deeds in their past should earn them salvation, even though they're not living according to Gods Word now. They also don't think that having been a great sinner in the past should be completely forgiven, regardless of a persons current repentance and commitment to following the Lord.

The Lord doesn't want any of us to perish eternally. He sent Jesus into the world not to condemn the world but to save us (John 3:16-17). The Lord wants to show us how to live an abundant, true life, now and eternally, through the Bible and through the example and teaching of Jesus Christ.

Only those who realize and acknowledge their sinfulness and their need for a Savior can be healed and restored by Jesus Christ. Those who think they're "good people" who don't need spiritual healing and salvation cant receive what only Jesus can give them.

Those who are willing to wait on the Lord, who are willing to yield their own plans and agenda to the Lord, so that they can do his will and fulfill his purpose for us, will be spiritually reborn, and will experience the love, encouragement, and joy of the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ the Lord personally, through the indwelling Holy Spirit. By being obedient to the guidance of the Holy Spirit we will grow spiritually and be empowered to follow Jesus example and teaching.

The Jewish religious leaders had forgotten that they were to supposed to be stewards of a relationship of the Lord with his people. "Their" religion had become just that: "theirs." They were convinced of their own righteousness by their "keeping" of the Law; their past "good deeds." They considered themselves authorities in the biblical scriptures, but didn't recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah, the fulfillment of Gods Word. Because they didn't understand the scriptures, they fulfilled them by putting Jesus to death on the cross (Acts 13:27).

In many ways the nominal "Church" is in much the same situation today that Judaism was in at the time of Jesus first advent (coming). Many "Christians" think that participation in Church ritual will save them; or that doing good deeds like teaching Sunday School or singing in the Choir will save them.

Many nominal "Christians" call Jesus their Lord but don't live according to Jesus teaching and example (Matthew 7:21-27, Luke 6:46). Many "Churches" teach Salvation by grace (a free gift; unmerited favor) which is true, but without the requirement of discipleship and obedience, which is false (see False Teachings, sidebar, top right).

Jesus calls us to be his disciples, to learn to trust and obey him, to seek and wait for the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8), and then to go into his "vineyard" and make "born-again" disciples, teaching them to obey all that Jesus teaches (Matthew 28:19-20).

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

19 Pentecost – Monday
Posted September 22, 2008

Psalm 80:7-14 -- Prayer for National Restoration;

God of hosts (all people of earth), restore your (particular chosen) people. Cause your favor to shine upon us and save us. You brought a vine out of Egypt; you cleared the land of nations and planted your vine. Its roots grew deep and it filled the land. It covered the mountains and the mighty cedars with its shade from its branches. Its branches spread out to the sea, and its shoots to the River (Euphrates).

Why have you broken down its walls and allowed its fruit to be picked by all who pass by? The animals of forest and field feed on it. Turn again; look down from heaven and have concern for your vine.

Commentary:

The vine is a metaphor for Israel, and also for the Messiah. God had brought his people out of Egypt and "planted" them in the Promised Land. The Lord had cleared the ground of his vineyard of the "nations," the Gentiles (non-Jews), the original inhabitants of the Land. The Lord had blessed Israel and caused it to root deeply and spread to fill the land. But when Israel departed from obedient trust in God and turned to idolatry, God removed his "wall" of protection from his "vineyard" and allowed the surrounding nations to plunder it.

Israels history is a succession of cycles of repentance, blessing, falling away, punishment, repentance, and restoration. The Northern Kingdom of the ten tribes was ruled by a succession of more and more wicked kings who led that kingdom into disaster. They were repeatedly warned to repent and return to obedience to God but they did not give heed to the prophetic warnings up to the very moment of the fall of Samaria, the Capital, in 721 B.C. by Shalmaneser and his successor, Sargon. Because of the Assyrian policy of subduing the conquered lands by transporting the people to other conquered lands and bringing in aliens, the Northern Kingdom of ten tribes effectively ceased to exist. The remnant of the northern tribes intermarried with the aliens and became the Samaritans, of mixed race and religion.

The Southern Kingdom, Judah, failed to learn the lesson of the Northern Kingdoms demise. They also were warned to return to obedience to the Lord, and refused to give heed to the warning until it was too late. Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in, and the remnant of Israel was carried off to exile in Babylon for seventy years, from the destruction of the temple in 598-597 to its restoration in 517 B.C. as the prophecy of Jeremiah foretold (Jeremiah 25:12).

Judah, the remnant of Israel, was restored to the Promised Land after seventy years, but they forgot the lesson of the Babylonian exile. They again turned away from God to disobedience and idolary and refused to heed the warnings of the prophets, including John the Baptist to repent and return to obedient trust in Gods Word (Matthew 3:1-12). As a result, they were unprepared to receive the promised Messiah, their eternal Savior and King.

The metaphor of the "vine" is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. His parents had fled with him to Egypt to escape King Herod's attempt to kill the Messiah. After Herod died, God called him out of Egypt and "planted" him in the Promised Land in Nazareth of Galilee (Matthew 2:13-23).

Jesus is the vine and his disciples are the branches (John 15:4-6). We must abide in Jesus and Jesus in us by spiritual "rebirth" (John 3:3, 5-8) by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).

In one sense America is the New Promised Land, and the Church, particularly in America, is the New Israel and the New Jerusalem. In many ways America and the Church are in much the same condition as Israel and Judaism at the time of Jesus first advent (coming). We have forgotten the lessons of Israels experience recorded in the Bible for our instruction (1 Corinthians 10:6-12). We have turned from listening to, trusting and obeying Gods Word, and have turned from God to "modern" idolatries such as money, power, status, possessions, success, pleasure, and self.

In too many instances, nominal "Churches" have failed to make disciples and have settled for making "members" and building "buildings," instead of building Gods eternal kingdom. In too many instances the nominal Church has failed to teach obedient trust of Jesus teaching and example, and have allowed false teachings of Salvation by grace (unmerited favor; free gift) which is true, without discipleship and obedience, which is false; salvation by doing certain "good deeds" (Ephesians 2:8-10). Such false teachings have been present in the Church since the very beginning, and are refuted in the New Testament (see False Teachings, sidebar top right).

In too many instances the nominal Church has failed to teach Christians to seek spiritual "rebirth." In that sense, such Churches are like the fable of "The Emperors New Clothes;" they're strutting around spiritually naked, while imagining that they are well-clothed (see False Teachings, Spiritual Rebirth, sidebar top right). Churches that have failed to make "born-again" disciples have no "born-again" apostles to fill pulpit and leadership positions.

In too many instances the Church leadership is like the Pharisees and Saducees of Judaism at the time of Jesus. They have forgotten that they are stewards of a relationship between God and Gods people. They enjoy their status and influence, and they consider themselves righteous by their own standards, rather than by the Word of God. They (think they) know a lot "about" God, but don't know God personally (Job 42:5-6).

Faith isn't getting whatever we believe if we believe "hard enough." Saving faith is trusting and obeying Gods Word, in the Bible and in the teaching and example of Jesus Christ, the "living Word," fulfilled, embodied and exemplified in human flesh in this world (John 1:1-5, 14).

Are we willing to hear Gods Word of warning? Are we willing to see the signs of spiritual illness and disaster all around us? Are we willing to recognize and acknowledge our sin and our need for repentance and restoration? Are we willing to turn to the Lord and pray for national and personal spiritual healing and restoration?

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

19 Pentecost – Tuesday
Posted September 23, 2008

Isaiah 5:1-7 -- Song of The Vineyard;

This is a love song concerning the vineyard of my beloved. The vineyard was on very fertile ground. He cultivated the land and cleared it of stones and planted it with choice vines. In the middle, he built a watchtower and a wine vat. He waited in anticipation for it to produce grapes but it yielded only wild grapes.

Now, people of Jerusalem and Judah, judge between the vintner and his vineyard. What more could he do for his vineyard? Why did it yield wild grapes?

Therefore the vintner will remove the hedge and walls around the vineyard, and it will be trampled down and devoured. It will not be pruned or hoed. Wild briers and thorns will overrun it, and it will not be irrigated.

The house of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord and the people of Judah are its plantings. The Lord is the vintner who looked for righteousness and justice but it produced crying and bloodshed.

Commentary:

The history of Gods dealing with Israel has been recorded in the Bible for our instruction (1 Corinthians 10:6-12). Israel was the beloved of the Lord; they were his planting in his vineyard. He brought them out of slavery to sin and death in Egypt into the Promised Land which he gave them as an eternal inheritance. He blessed them and made them thrive, but they repeatedly turned from obedience of Gods Word and to idolatry. The Lord expected them to produce the fruit of righteousness and justice, but they kept producing sorrow and bloodshed instead.

Through his prophets, God repeatedly warned Israel of the consequences of their rebellion and disobedience, but they refused to heed the prophetic warnings until it was too late. The Lord removed his hedge and wall of protection from them and allowed them to be trampled and devoured.

The Northern Kingdom of Israel is one example. They didn't heed the warnings and were trampled and devoured by the Assyrians with the destruction of Samaria, the capital, in 721 B.C. The Northern Kingdom of the ten tribes effectively ceased to exist, because of the Assyrians policy of transplanting the people of conquered lands to other conquered nations in the empire. The remnant of the ten tribes intermarried and mingled their religious tradition with the aliens and became the Samaritans, of mixed race and religion, at the time of Jesus.

Judah, the remnant of the people and nation of Israel, didn't learn from the example of the Northern Kingdom, and didn't heed prophetic warning, and God lifted his hedge and wall of protection from them and allowed them to be conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and carried off into exile in Babylon for seventy years, from the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 588~587, to its restoration in 517 B.C. as the prophets had foretold (Jeremiah 25:12).

Israel didn't learn and remember from their exile in Babylon, and so they were unready to receive the promised and awaited Messiah, Jesus Christ (Messiah and Christ each mean "anointed," in Hebrew and Greek, respectively). As the result, God removed his hedge and wall of protection from the remnant of Israel; and Jerusalem and the temple were again destroyed, by the Romans in 70 A.D. The Jews were scattered throughout the world, and Israel ceased to exist as a nation until reestablished following World War II. The temple has never been rebuilt.

In a sense America and the Church are the New Israel, the New People of God, and the New Promised Land on earth. The Church is the New Jerusalem, the New City of God on earth. In many ways, America and the nominal Church, particularly in America, are in the same condition as was Israel and Judaism at the time of Jesus first coming. We've fallen away from a personal relationship with the Lord and turned to "modern" idolatries such as wealth, power, success, pleasure, home and possessions. Christianity has become a "religion," an attempt by mankind to manipulate Gods favor, instead of a "discipling" relationship to God where we learn to know and do Gods will.

In what way is Isaiah's prophecy a love song? The Lord loves us and doesn't want us to suffer or to die eternally (John 3:16-17). He has given us his Word in the Bible and in the teaching and example of Jesus Christ, to guide us in the way we must live in order to have true, eternal life. Jesus is the "living Word," Gods Word fulfilled, embodied and illustrated in human flesh in this world (John 1:1-5, 14). Jesus came to die on the Cross as the one and only sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sin which acceptable once for all time and all people, to be received by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus (see Gods Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

Jesus is the true vine to which we must be attached, in order to bear good, spiritual, eternal fruit. We must abide in Jesus and he in us, by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-24), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).

Can we honestly say that we are producing the fruit of righteousness and justice for all, according to Gods standard of judgment?

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

19 Pentecost – Wednesday
Posted September 24, 2008

Philippians 3:12-21 -- Citizens of Heaven;

Paul was willing to suffer to attain eternal life. Paul didnt presume to have already attained it, but pressed onward, knowing that Jesus had persevered in order to make Paul (and us) his own. Paul didnt look backward at what was past, but ahead, straining to reach the target, which is the reward for the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Those who are spiritually mature will be like-minded, and God will also reveal this to those who have not yet learned this. We must hold fast to what we have attained.

Believers are to live according to the example of Paul and the other disciples, and to note others who also live according to the apostolic example. Sadly, there are those who live as enemies of the Cross of Christ (even though they may profess to be "Christian"). Their minds are focused on desires of the flesh and worldly things, and they take pleasure in what is shameful. But we (believers; disciples) are citizens of a heavenly kingdom, and we await the Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, who will transform our physical bodies to be like his eternal body, by the power by which he subjects all things to himself.

Commentary:

Salvation and eternal life are the gift to us from God, but we must claim and receive them by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9; Revelation 3:20). That gift is intended to be a life-transforming event. We cannot continue to live as we did before we were "saved." We must practice and learn to live according to Jesus teaching and example, and according to the example of the other "disciples" who have gone before us, like Paul.

Paul (Saul of Tarsus) is the prototype and illustration of the "modern," "post-resurrection," "born-again" (John 3:3, 5-8) disciple and apostle of Jesus Christ, which is what we can be. Paul was confronted by the Holy Spirit of the risen Jesus (Acts 9:5b) on the road to Damascus, where he intended to persecute and imprison Christians (Acts 9:1-2). Paul repented (Acts 9:9), accepted Jesus as Lord (Acts 9:5a) and became obedient to him (Acts 9:6-8), was discipled by a "born-again" apostle, Ananias (Acts 9:10-17), until Paul was spiritually reborn (Acts 9:18), and then Paul, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit, began proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 9:19b-20).

Paul's conversion was unique because of its speed, but remember that Paul was already formally educated in the Scriptures and loved God. He just needed to be pointed to Jesus as the promised Messiah.

Paul was Gods intended replacement for Judas Iscariot, who had betrayed Jesus. Paul is unique among the other original Apostles (messengers; of the Gospel) in having not known Jesus personally during Jesus earthly ministry. From his conversion on, most of the rest of the New Testament was written by or about Paul.

The Eleven original remaining disciples had chosen Matthias to take Judas place, while they were supposed to be awaiting the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8). They used a worldly method of choosing him, because they had not yet been filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:12-26). Matthias is never mentioned again in the New Testament.

It was an effort for Jesus to continue in obedience to Gods Word to fulfill his destiny by death on the Cross (Matthew 26:37-39). He persevered in obedience so that we could belong to him, and we must persevere, in obedient trust, to belong to him, also.

In order to follow Jesus we will have to give up our past manner of living. The only way to persevere in the new life Jesus gives us is to focus on him. The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). "Born-again" believers have received eternal life, now, in this world and lifetime, but we must hold fast to what we have attained by the infilling of the Holy Spirit. We must continue in obedience to the Holy Spirit within us.

There are many "church members" who claim to be "Christians" in our world today. Their manner of life indicates their spiritual condition. We must remember that our citizenship is not of this world; we are to be obedient to the laws of the Kingdom of God.

Christian discipleship is a spiritual growth process. The infilling of the Holy Spirit is not the end, but the beginning, of that process. We have no spiritual life prior to our spiritual "birth." From then on we are learning to hear, trust and obey our Lords direction.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

19 Pentecost – Thursday
Posted September 25, 2008

Matthew 21:33-43 -- Parable of the Vineyard;

A landowner planted a vineyard, with a hedge around it, a watchtower, and a winepress in it, and he rented it to tenants while he went to another country. At the time of harvest, he sent his servants to collect his portion of the fruit. The tenants beat one, killed another and stoned a third of the servants.

The owner sent other servants, more than before, and the tenants did likewise to them. Then the owner sent his son, believing that the tenants would have more respect for the son. But the tenants killed the son, thinking that with the heir dead, they would inherit the vineyard when the owner died. What will the owner do to the tenants? He will have the tenants executed, and will rent the vineyard to others who will give him his fruit in its season.

Commentary:

Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22-23, that the stone rejected by the builders has become the keystone, by Gods will, and his people delight in it. So Jesus declared that the kingdom of God will be taken from the unfaithful tenants (the Jews) and given to another nation (the Gentiles; the Church) which will produce the fruit of it.

This world is the Lords vineyard. The Lord intends for it to produce people who learn to know, trust and obey Gods will. We are the tenants of the Lords vineyard. This lifetime is our opportunity to learn to produce the "fruit" the Lord desires. We will be accountable to him for what we have done in this lifetime.

Jesus is the owners son. This world has treated badly the servants of the Lord who came before him. The world should have recognized Jesus as the son of the owner of Creation, but instead of respecting him, they killed him, thinking that this world would belong to them.

There is a day of judgment coming, when Christ will return, not humbly as a servant as he first came, but with great power and authority to judge the living and dead, in both physical and spiritual senses (Matthew 28:18; John 5:28-29; 1 Peter 4:5).

Now is the Day of grace (unmerited favor); God allows us to live in his Creation. Now is the time of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2b); this is our opportunity to seek and come to know God (Acts 17:26-27), which is only possible through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ, by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). It is possible for one to know with certainty whether one has been "born-again" (John 3:3, 5-8) by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2). Anyone uncertain, hasn't been. Any one who hasn't been should ask themselves why not.

Jesus is the keystone of Gods Creation. Jesus has been "built -into" the very structure of Creation (John 1:1-5, 14). Jesus is the one piece which holds everything else together. Those who know and acknowledge him delight in him.

Jesus is the eternal Savior and King promised by God to the Jews (and through them to the world), but they were "unfaithful tenants." Jesus has been given to another nation, the Gentiles, his Church, on the condition that they produce the "fruit" that God intends, and give it to him.

How are we doing, Church? This world is Gods vineyard. All we have to do is show up for work, and he will give us a job and the power and resources to do it. The Lord deserves a portion of the proceeds of our work. Are we giving him his portion in due season, or do we keep it all for ourselves? We are no more deserving than the Jews to work in Gods vineyard. Gods kingdom will be torn from those of us who don't produce its fruit, and will be given to others who will.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

19 Pentecost – Friday
Posted September 26, 2008

Isaiah 44: 21-23 -- Forgiven and Redeemed;
1 Corinthians 12:12-27 -- One Body in Christ;

Isaiah:

God calls his people, Israel, the descendants of the sons of Jacob (Israel) to remember that the Lord is the one and only true God, the king and redeemer of Israel. God formed Israel to be his servant, and God will not forget them. The Lord has swept their sins away like the lifting of a fog or mist. The Lord calls his people to return to him because he has redeemed them.

Sing O heavens and earth; rejoice O mountains and every tree in the forests, because "the Lord has redeemed Jacob and will be glorified in Israel" (Isaiah 44:23c).

1 Corinthians:

The Church is the body of Christ, composed of various members, like the physical human body, united in Christ, by participation in the one Holy Spirit. In that unity there are no longer distinctions of race or social position between members.

As it requires many members of various functions to make a human body, it likewise takes many members with differing gifts and functions to make the Church function properly. There is no function or member that is more or less important than any other. God has arranged the various organs of the body to work in harmony for the common good. What we regard as weaker parts are indispensable, and those we regard as less honorable are treated with greater modesty that our more presentable parts do not require, so that there is no discord among the members, and they have the same care for one another. When one rejoices all rejoice, and when one suffers all share in their suffering together. So together we are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

Commentary:

In one sense we are all God's people, because he is our Creator, whether we acknowledge him as our Lord and God or not. In another sense, God's people are those who willingly trust and obey God.

God has always intended to establish an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly trust and obey God. This lifetime in this world is our opportunity to seek and find God, and to learn, by trial and error that God's way is the way to find true, eternal life.

All this is possible only through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ (John 14:6). This lifetime is our opportunity to be spiritually "reborn" (John 3:3, 5-8) by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). It is possible for one to know with certainty for oneself if one has received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2).

Jesus has been designed into the very structure of Creation (John 1:1-5, 14). Jesus Christ is the eternal redeemer and king of God's people. God began his work of redemption by the design of his Creation, and began to carry it out by his call to Abraham to leave his home and go to a new land that God would show him, and God would make his descendants a great nation.

Jesus is the promised, long-awaited redeemer and king of Israel. When Jesus died on the Cross he became the one and only sacrifice acceptable to God for all time and for all people who are willing to receive it by faith (obedient trust). Jesus established a New Covenant of salvation by grace (unmerited favor; a free gift) to be received by faith, replacing the Old Covenant of Law.

Judaism effectively ended at Jesus' crucifixion. The veil of the temple, separating the people from the presence of God, was supernaturally torn in two, from top to bottom (Luke 23:45), symbolizing that Jesus has opened a new and better way into God's presence, by the indwelling Holy Spirit. In 70 A.D. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans, and the Jews were scattered throughout the world. Israel ceased to exist as a nation, until it was reestablished following World War II. The temple, essential to the Old Covenant of Law, has never been rebuilt.

The Church is the New Israel, the New Jerusalem. God calls everyone to return to him and receive the redemption (the purchase of the release of our souls from slavery to sin and eternal death) which is only through faith in Jesus Christ. We are called to be the Lord's servants, guided and empowered by his Holy Spirit, so that the Lord will be glorified through us.

Christians are, by definition, disciples of Jesus Christ (Acts 11:26c) who trust and obey Jesus and have been "born-again" by the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit. We are the "living stones" with which the Church is built (1 Peter 2:4-5). We are individually temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16).

The Church is intended to be a "disciple-making" organization (2 Timothy 2:2). Jesus came and demonstrated the Church's mission. Jesus prepared his original disciples and told them to go into the world and make disciples teaching them to obey all that Jesus teaches (Matthew 28:19-20), but only after they had received the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8).

It takes "born-again" disciples to make "born-again" disciples. The role of the Church is to lead members to spiritual rebirth, and then they will be guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit. This is a spiritual growth process. As we learn to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he will lead us to discover spiritual gifts he has given us and into opportunities to use those gifts.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

19 Pentecost – Saturday
Posted September 27, 2008

John 1:35-51 -- Come and See;

John the Baptizer was standing with two of his disciples when Jesus walked by. John told his disciples to look and see the Lamb of God (the sacrificial offering of Passover). Hearing John, the two disciples followed Jesus. Jesus turned and looked at them and asked what they sought. They replied, addressing Jesus as Rabbi (teacher) and asked where he was staying. Jesus invited them to come and see and they stayed with Jesus that day, since it was about 4:00 P.M.

One of the two disciples was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. Andrew went and found his brother, saying that they had found the Messiah (“Christ;” both words mean “anointed” in Hebrew and Greek, respectively). Andrew brought his brother to Jesus. Jesus looked at Simon and knew he was Simon the son of John, and gave him a nickname, Cephas (“Peter;” meaning “rock” in Aramaic and Greek, respectively).

Jesus decided to go to Galilee the next day, and he went to Philip and told him to follow Jesus. Philip was from Bethsaida in Galilee, where Andrew and Peter lived. Philip went to Nathanael and told him that they had found the one (the Messiah) written of in the Books of Moses and the Prophets (the Jewish Bible). Nathanael asked cynically if anything good could come out of Nazareth, and Philip invited him to come and see.

When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said that Nathanael was an Israelite who was not deceitful (unlike Jacob, i.e. Israel, who had deceived his father and his brother out of the family inheritance before his “change of heart;” Genesis 25:29-34; Genesis 27). Nathanael asked Jesus how he knew Nathanael, and Jesus told him he had seen Nathanael under the fig tree before Philip found Nathanael. Philip was amazed, and addressed Jesus as Rabbi (Teacher), the Son of God, the King of Israel (i.e., the Messiah; God’s “anointed” eternal king and heir to the throne of David). Jesus told Nathanael that he would see much more amazing things than this. Nathanael would see heaven opened, and the angels of God would descend and ascend upon the Son of man (Jesus is the fulfillment of the dream of Jacob, later named Israel, of Jacob’s ladder; Genesis 28:12).

Commentary:

John, the Baptizer, was the last of the Old Testament prophets, the fulfillment of prophecy of the return of Elijah to herald the coming of the Messiah (Matthew 17:10-13).

God had revealed the Messiah to John as he baptized (John 1:30-34). Then John identified Jesus to the people who had come to hear John and be baptized with water by John for repentance, in preparation to receive the Messiah, Jesus Christ (both Messiah and Christ mean “anointed;” God’s chosen). Jesus is the only one who baptizes with the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11; and with fire; Acts 2:3).

God had instituted the Passover while Israel was in captivity in Egypt. Each household took a lamb and slaughtered it for the Passover meal. The blood of the Lamb was applied to the door frame of the house as a mark of protection, so that the destroying angel would “pass over” the Israelites houses when he destroyed the firstborn of the Egyptians in the final plague upon Egypt (Exodus 12:1-13), before Israel was allowed to leave.

Jesus is the ultimate Passover Lamb, his blood sacrifice on the Cross marks believers to be “passed over” by God’s judgment of eternal death, which is the penalty for sin (disobedience of God’s Word; Romans 6:23). His flesh sustains us as we leave the “Egypt” of bondage to sin and eternal death. We escape from our spiritual enemies in Egypt through the “Sea.” The gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit is the pillar of fire to lead us through the spiritual “Night” of darkness through the “Wilderness” of this world, through the “River” of physical death, and into the eternal “Promised Land” of God’s eternal kingdom in heaven.

Jesus instituted a New Covenant (Matthew 26:26 note g, RSV; Hebrews 8:8, 12:24) of Grace, and a New Passover on the night of his Last Supper (which the Church celebrates as Holy Communion; Eucharist) before his crucifixion. The elements of bread and wine are the spiritual body and blood of Jesus Christ (Matthew 26:26-28).

God’s Word forbade Jews to consume blood as a drink or with its flesh, because the blood of the animal was believed to contain its spirit. God wants us to be filled with his Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, not by the spirit of animals. (That doesn’t mean that one receives the indwelling Holy Spirit just by taking Communion; only Jesus gives the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17).

When John identified the Messiah to Andrew and Simon Peter, they believed John and followed Jesus. As soon as they did so, Jesus began to reveal himself to them; he told them to come and see, and invited them to follow and stay with him.

Simon and Andrew had read God’s Word and believed in God’s promise to send the Messiah. They started following Jesus on John’s word, but they soon became convinced from their own personal experience that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. So they began bringing others to Jesus too. They were repeating the process of John, the Baptizer, testifying that Jesus was the Messiah, and inviting them to come and see for themselves.

Nathanael was skeptical, but he came to see, and Jesus revealed his supernatural personal knowledge of Nathanael. Jesus revealed that he was the fulfillment of Jacob’s dream of a ladder by which God’s spiritual blessings descend upon us and by which we can ascend into the presence and kingdom of God in heaven.

Christians are “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciples of Jesus Christ (Acts 11:26c) who have a personal knowledge of and relationship with Jesus. They have followed Jesus and have come to know that his words are true. They want to share their discovery of Jesus with others they care about. They testify to their own experience, and they invite others to “come and see.”

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?