Week of 12 Pentecost B - August 23 - 29, 2009

Week of 12 Pentecost B - August 23 - 29, 2009

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

Journalspace.com, my former 'blog host is being reorganized under new ownership. I no longer publish there. I have also lost mypodcast.com, my podcast host. This 'blog is mirrored at:

http://shepboy.multiply.com/

.mp3 Podcasts via Linux Festival Text-to-speech are available at:

Daily Walk 2 Year B Weekly Lectionary

Please Note: I will post weekly by Saturday, noon, (God willing), 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.

Podcast: Week of 12 Pentecost B

12 Pentecost - Sunday B
First Posted August 23, 2009
Podcast: 12 Pentecost Sunday B

1 Kings 19:4-8 -- Bread for the Journey
Psalm 34:1-8 -- The Lord Our Deliverer
Ephesians 4:30-5:2 -- Following Christ
John 6:41-51 -- The Bread of Life

1 Kings:

Elijah was a prophet of the Lord called to proclaim God’s Word to the disobedient and idolatrous Northern Kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel. Ahab was its King, and he had made Jezebel, the notorious pagan Canaanite his Queen. Elijah had demonstrated that the God of Israel was the only true God, by a contest with the priests of Baal whom Jezebel had installed.

Jezebel had sworn to kill Elijah and Elijah fled for his life to the wilderness in southern Israel. Elijah laid down under a tree to sleep, and was so discouraged that he asked the Lord to take Elijah’s life, but the angel of the Lord came to him and gave him a cake of bread and a jar of water and told Elijah to eat and drink. Elijah did so and then lay back down. The angel came again and gave him another cake of bread and water, and told Elijah to eat and drink, or the journey to the mountain of God (Mt. Sinai; Mt. Horeb) would be too much for Elijah to accomplish. Elijah ate and drank what the angel had provided and then went in the strength of that food and water forty days through the wilderness to the mountain of God.

Psalm:

The psalmist, David, who became the great human shepherd-king of Israel and forerunner of Christ, had fled for his life from then-King Saul. David took refuge with King Achish of Gath, but the advisers of King Achish told the King that David was a greater military threat than Saul. David became afraid that King Achish might turn against him, so David feigned insanity and Achish was glad to allow David to leave (1 Samuel 21:10-22:1).

The psalm is David’s testimony that the Lord is faithful and powerful to deliver his people from trouble and their enemies, and that when we turn to the Lord for help he hears and answers us with deliverance. David testifies that if we will turn to the Lord in obedient trust we will experience his goodness and faithfulness, and we will be glad that we took refuge in the Lord.

Ephesians:

Paul (Saul of Tarsus) is the prototype and example of a “modern,” “post-resurrection” “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciple and apostle (messenger; of the Gospel) of Jesus Christ, which we can also be. Paul was fulfilling the command given by Jesus to his disciples to go and make disciples and teach them to obey all that Jesus taught (Matthew 28:18-20), after receiving the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit as Jesus had commanded (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8; Acts 2:1-13, Acts 9:1-22).

Paul was teaching the Ephesians to be disciples of Jesus Christ; to follow the teaching and example of Jesus Christ, and to receive 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). It takes a born-again disciple to make born-again disciples, and disciples are to stay “in Jerusalem” (i.e. the Church), until they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit before going into the world to proclaim the Gospel.

John:

Jesus had miraculously fed five thousand in the “wilderness,” a desolate area outside of Bethsaida, on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee (Luke 9:10b). The Jews had followed Jesus seeking more “free bread.” Jesus warned them not to pursue worldly bread, which passes away, but instead to seek spiritual bread from heaven which only Jesus can provide.

The crowd “murmured” against Jesus for declaring that God was his father and that Jesus had come down from heaven, since they thought they knew, by “worldly knowledge,” that Joseph was Jesus’ father. They didn’t know that Jesus had been born by a virgin, by the will and power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:1-25).

Jesus told them that people can’t come to faith (obedient trust) in Jesus unless God the Father draws them. Jesus was going to be crucified, and his Crucifixion was going to draw people to him (John 8:28; 12:32-33). Those who have learned from God through God’s Word, the scripture, would recognize Jesus as the Son of God, the fulfillment, embodiment and example of God’s Word in human flesh (John 1: 1-5, 14).

Jesus declared that those who believe (trust and obey) Jesus have eternal life. Jesus declared that he is the true spiritual bread of eternal life which comes down from heaven to give spiritual life to those who receive him in faith. God had provided manna, “bread from heaven” for Israel in the wilderness, but it was merely physical sustenance; it didn’t give eternal life to those who ate it; they still died in the wilderness.

Jesus declared that he was going to give “living bread” for the world and that “bread” was his flesh, sacrificed on the Cross so that we could have eternal life in God’s heavenly kingdom. Jesus created a New Covenant, of forgiveness and salvation from eternal condemnation, out of the Passover feast which he shared with his disciples on the night of his betrayal (Matthew 26:17-29), according to God’s eternal plan.

Commentary:

The Passover feast originally commemorated the deliverance of Israel from the final plague of the death of the firstborn of the Egyptians, which gained the Israelites their freedom from slavery and death in Egypt. A lamb was sacrificed, the flesh was eaten, and the blood marked the doors of the Israelites to cause the angel of death to “pass over” them (Exodus 12:1-20).

Jesus is the only sacrifice acceptable to God for the forgiveness of our sins (disobedience of God’s Word), which allows us to be spiritually reborn to eternal life through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the “angel” of God’s presence (“angel” can be understood as “spirit;” compare Acts 12:14-15), God’s Spirit, the Spirit of the risen eternal Jesus Christ, that provides the spiritual bread and drink which we must have to strengthen us for the journey through the wilderness of this lifetime and come to the refuge of the “mountain of God” in heaven.

David trusted and obeyed the Lord and came to experience the goodness, power and faithfulness of God. David invites us to “taste and see that the Lord is good!”

Paul was confronted by the Spirit of the risen and ascended Jesus on the road to Damascus. Paul trusted and obeyed Jesus as his Lord, and he received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God (Romans 8:9b). It was only by the power of the Holy Spirit working in Paul that Paul was strengthened, guided and empowered to accomplish God’s will. 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).

Jesus invites us to believe him and receive forgiveness and salvation from eternal condemnation and destruction. If we will trust and obey Jesus we will experience his goodness, faithfulness and power to deliver us from our fears and troubles, and we will come to know that he is the Lord, the giver of (physical and eternal) life (John 6:68-69; John 1:2-3; the third person of the Trinity; the third article of the Nicene Creed).

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).

12 Pentecost - Monday B
First Posted August 24, 2009
Podcast: 12 Pentecost Monday B

Psalm 34:9-14 -- Fear the Lord

The psalmist, David, the great human shepherd-king of Israel, had come to experience and know the Lord’s goodness, power and faithfulness to deliver him from fear and danger. David had testified what the Lord had done for him, and now urged others to fear the Lord, (not like we rightly fear those who wish us harm, but that we have the proper respect and awe for God’s power and authority). Those who reverence God, who trust and obey God, have no want. “The ‘young lions’ (ambitious worldly people) suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing” (Psalm 34:10).

The Psalmist invites us to listen to him and learn to fear of the Lord. Doesn’t everyone want a long life filled with good things and experiences? Then avoid speaking evil and lies; stop doing what is evil, and begin to do what is right in God’s judgment.

Commentary:

This is God’s Creation and God has always, from the very beginning, planned to create an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly trust and obey God. This life in this world is our opportunity to seek and come to know and experience God (Acts 17:26-27). This is our opportunity to learn by trial-and-error that God’s will is “good, acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). This Creation is temporal; God intends to limit it by time, because God won’t tolerate disobedience forever. If we can learn to trust and obey God then we will be able to live eternally with him in his new heavenly Creation which is not subject to time and decay.

People who deny and defy God’s Word are like willful children, who do what they want and think they can get away with it, because they aren’t immediately struck down. We need not fear other people, because the worst they can do to us is kill us physically. Who we do need to respect is God who has the power of eternal life or eternal death over us (Luke 12:5).

Jesus Christ is God’s one and only provision for our salvation from eternal condemnation (Acts 4:12). We have all sinned (disobeyed God’s Word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1: 8-10), and God declares that the penalty for sin is (eternal) death (Romans 6:23). Jesus is the only way to have forgiveness, restoration to fellowship with God and eternal life (John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

Worldly people who choose to pursue their own will and desires will wind up unsatisfied. The only way to find true happiness and satisfaction in this world and eternally is to trust and obey God’s Word, and God’s Word is fulfilled, embodied and exemplified in (and only in) Jesus Christ, because that is the way God made this Creation from the very beginning (John 1:1-5, 14).

Only Jesus gives the “anointing” (baptism; gift) of the indwelling Holy Spirit (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). Those who have been “born-again” by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit experience and testify to the personal fellowship with the Lord and his guidance and power working through them.

If anyone wants to have a long life filled with blessings and satisfaction one is invited to trust and obey Jesus.

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)?

12 Pentecost - Tuesday B
First Posted August 25, 2009
Podcast: 12 Pentecost Tuesday B

Proverbs 9:1-6 -- Invitation of wisdom

Wisdom is portrayed as the hostess of a great house, who has prepared a great feast. She has sent her servants out to summon all who realize that they lack wisdom to come and dine. All are invited to leave foolishness and ignorance and live by wisdom and insight.

Commentary:

Wisdom referred to here is divine wisdom, not what the world falsely calls “wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:17-25; 2:1-8). “The fear (awe and respect for the power and authority) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10). No matter how much one knows, that knowledge is incomplete without a personal knowledge of and fellowship with the Lord.

I believe that the meaning and purpose of life is to seek God, groping in spiritual darkness until we feel him (Acts 17:26-27). God has always intended to create an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly trust and obey him. This temporal world is our opportunity to learn by trial-and-error to trust and obey God’s Word.

In order to provide the freedom for us to choose whether to trust and obey God, he designed this creation with the possibility of sin (disobedience of God’s Word). God’s Word declares that we have all sinned (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and that the penalty for sin is (eternal) death. God created this world “very good” (Genesis 1:31); the reason there is sin and evil in this creation is because of mankind’s disobedience of God’s Word.

But God is not willing to tolerate disobedience forever, so he’s put a time limit on this Creation and our lifetime in it. This is our opportunity to come to experience and get to know the Lord, to discover his love, righteousness, faithfulness and power, and to learn to trust and obey his Word. God has planned from the beginning of Creation to provide forgiveness and salvation from sin and eternal death by grace (as a free gift) to all who will receive it through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ (John 1:1-5, 14; Ephesians 2:8-9; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

There are not “many paths” to God; there’s only one! Faith is not wishing on a star; not getting what you believe, if you believe “hard enough.” Jesus is God’s only provision for our forgiveness and salvation (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). Jesus Christ is the truth, the power, and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24).

Jesus portrayed the kingdom of God in a similar allegory, in which the Lord is the host of a great banquet. At the appointed time he sent his servants to summon the guests, but each was preoccupied with worldly matters and did not exercise their invitation. The Master sent his servants into the highways and byways and brought in the poor, the disabled, the humble and lowly who appreciated and responded to the invitation (Luke 14:16-24).

Are we too busy and satisfied with worldly things to exercise the invitation which the Lord has given in Jesus Christ? Do we think we can put off Christ’s invitation until a more convenient time?

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)?

12 Pentecost - Wednesday B
First Posted August 26, 2009
Podcast: 12 Pentecost Wednesday B

Ephesians 5:15-20 -- True Wisdom

Christians are to learn the true wisdom which is only in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:17-25; 2:1-8) and to live according to that wisdom, rather than by what the world falsely calls wisdom. Instead of worldly wisdom let us seek to know God and do God’s will. Instead of getting drunk and partying in worldly celebration, let us be filled with the Holy Spirit and rejoice in the Lord and in our salvation, with psalms and hymns, praise and worship, always giving thanks with all our hearts to the God our Father in the name of Jesus.

Commentary:

Since the purpose of life in this Creation is to seek and find God and come to know and experience his truth and his will (Acts 17:26-27), we should make it our priority to know and live according to God’s Word, the Bible, and Jesus Christ, who speaks God’s Word (John 12:48-49; 14:14), for Jesus is the living Word, the fulfillment, embodiment and example of God’s Word in human flesh (John 1:1-5, 14). The Lord wants us to know his will, and as we seek it with the commitment of doing it, he will reveal his will to us, personally and individually.

The Lord wants us to be filled with his Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9) within us who gives us new, eternal life (John 3:3, 5-8), and the guidance and power to know and do God’s will as we trust and obey him, instead of conforming to the standards of our worldly culture. When we experience the joy of the Lord’s presence and salvation, we have found the true success and joy which are eternal.

While we’re living according to worldly wisdom and worldly standards, we’re missing out on the great fellowship and satisfaction we can have when we’re doing what God intends for us to do. If we put off seeking the Lord and his will until we have worldly success and security, we will never find and know the true joy and security we can have in the Lord (Matthew 6:31-34).

Salvation is not by membership in a Church or by participating in religious ritual. Salvation is only by grace (free gift; unmerited favor) from God to be received by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus. We must be “born again,” 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 gift of the indwelling 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).

This present lifetime is our only opportunity to learn to know, trust and obey God’s Word. No one can be certain about tomorrow. Today is the day of Salvation; today is the day to receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior and to begin living according to his word and example (2 Corinthians 6:2).

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)?

12 Pentecost - Thursday B
First Posted August 27, 2009
Podcast: 12 Pentecost Thursday B

John 6:51-58 -- Living Bread of Heaven

Jesus declared, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread he will live for ever” (John 6:51). Jesus gave his flesh (on the Cross, as a sacrificial offering) for the lives of everyone in the world who is willing to receive it in faith (obedient trust). The crowd discussed among themselves how Jesus could give them his flesh to eat. Jesus told them that, most assuredly, unless they partook of the flesh and blood of Jesus, they would remain spiritually dead. Those who receive and assimilate Jesus’ body and blood have eternal life, and Jesus will resurrect them to eternal life on the last day (the Day of Judgment).

Jesus declared that his flesh and blood were truly food and drink, and those who consume them abide in Jesus and Jesus abides in them. Because the (eternally) living Father has sent Jesus, and Jesus has eternal life in the Father, so those who participate in Jesus’ body and blood abide in Jesus and Jesus abides in them. Jesus is the true bread from heaven, of which manna was a preview. But manna just sustained God’s people physically in the wilderness; the bread Jesus provides gives and sustains eternal life.

Commentary:

When Jesus declares “I am” he is speaking with the creative force of God, the Creator of the Universe (Exodus 3:13-14; John 1:1-5, 14; Colossians 2:8-9). Jesus’ has been God’s one and only plan for eternal salvation from the beginning of Creation. God has always intended, from the beginning of Creation to establish an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly trust and obey him. All God’s dealing with the Israelites and recorded in the Old Testament was deliberately intended to be a picture revealing God’s plan for Creation. Then at the right time, Jesus came in human flesh to fulfill God’s word.

Jesus came to become the New (sacrificial) Lamb of Passover for us. His flesh provides the sacrificial meal which sustains us so that we can come out of bondage to sin and death in “Egypt,” pass through the “wilderness” of this lifetime, pass through the “Jordan River” of death and into the Promised Land of God’s eternal kingdom. Jesus’ blood marks his disciples to be spared from the angel of (eternal) Death, as the Israelites were “passed over” in Egypt during the final plague of the deaths of all the firstborn of Egypt.

Jesus’ flesh and blood were sacrificed on the Cross as the only sacrifice acceptable to God for the forgiveness of our sin (disobedience of God’s Word (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and restoration to fellowship with God and eternal life in his heavenly kingdom (See God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

On the night of Jesus’ betrayal he initiated the New Covenant of Grace (unmerited favor; free gift) through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus. In Judaism a covenant between God and his people was consummated by a sacrifice, by the sprinkling of blood as a rite of purification, and a feast upon the flesh of the animal of the sacrifice. Jews were forbidden to drink blood or consume it with the flesh, because the spirit, the life force of the animal was attributed to its blood and by consuming could receive the spirit of the animal. God doesn’t want us to be filled with the spirits of animals, but by his Holy Spirit.

In Jesus, the Passover was transformed into the New Feast of Holy Communion; the Eucharist; the Lord’s Supper. Jesus declared that the new feast is spiritual, and that those who participate in it in faith in Jesus receive Jesus’ body and blood.

Those who accept Jesus’ sacrifice and receive his body and blood receive the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. In order to accept forgiveness and salvation from eternal destruction, we must receive Jesus; we must invite him to come in and become our Lord (Revelation 3:20). Only Jesus gives the gift of the Holy Spirit (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).

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)?

12 Pentecost - Friday B
First Posted August 28, 2009
Podcast: 12 Pentecost Friday B

Isaiah 29:17-21
Mark 7:31-37

Isaiah:

Isaiah foretold a day when the farthest reaches of Israel would be transformed into a lush garden. In that day the deaf “shall hear the words of a book” (read aloud; Isaiah 29:18), and the blind will see and be delivered from gloom and darkness. The meek will receive new joy in the Lord, and the poor shall praise God and rejoice in him.

The poor, the meek and the disabled will rejoice because their oppressors, the ruthless, the scoffers and evildoers will be brought to an end, with those who give false testimony convicting the innocent and those who rebuke those who are doing what is right.

Mark:

Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. During Jesus’ earthly ministry he healed the physically deaf and mute, opened the eyes of the blind, he healed the sick and lame, and raised the dead. Jesus came to proclaim good news to the poor and meek and victims of oppression and injustice.

Commentary:

The truly blind and deaf are those who are blind and deaf spiritually; who cannot hear the Word of God in the Bible and in Jesus Christ, and cannot see their spiritual lostness (John 9:39).

In the week before his crucifixion, Jesus entered Jerusalem humbly on a donkey, and he went directly to the temple. Jesus found that the temple had been corrupted by merchants and bankers profiting from the people who came to the temple, and Jesus drove them out, declaring that they had made the temple a den of thieves (Mark 11:1-17).

The day is coming when the Lord will punish injustice and oppression, and will heal and bless the victims. Jesus has promised to return on the Day of Judgment to judge the earth. Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus will receive eternal life in the heavenly paradise of God’s kingdom, but those who have rejected Jesus and have refused to trust and obey him will receive eternal destruction and death in Hell, separated eternally from all love and goodness (Matthew 25:31-46).

At the time of Jesus' first advent (coming) Israel was unprepared to receive their promised Messiah (Christ). The religion and nation was being run for the benefit of the leaders and the rich and powerful. The poor and humble were receptive and responsive, but the rich and powerful were unreceptive and rejected Jesus’ message of justice and restoration, and their rejection led to the destruction of their nation and their temple by the Romans in 70 A. D. Israel ceased to exist as a nation, Judaism effectively ended, and the people were scattered throughout the world, returning only after World War II. The temple has never been rebuilt.

America is the New Promised Land, and the Church is the New Jerusalem, the New People of God. America and the Church are in the same condition as Israel and Judaism at the time of Jesus’ first coming. God expects his people to deal justly and care for the poor, the disabled and the meek, not to pervert democracy for the benefit of the rich and powerful.

At Jesus’ second coming he will be riding on the clouds, not on a donkey. He will come in great power and glory, and he will give justice and vindication to the oppressed, and punish the oppressors and evildoers. It is not those who call themselves “Christians” who will be saved, but those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus’ teachings (Matthew 7:21-27).

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)?

12 Pentecost - Saturday B
First Posted August 29, 2009
Podcast: 12 Pentecost Saturday B

2 Corinthians 3:4-9 -- Ministers of the New Covenant

Paul and all “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) Christian disciples can be confident before God through Christ, though not by our own ability or worthiness. Our qualification and empowerment to be ministers of the New Covenant are the gift of God, and the New Covenant is by life in the Holy Spirit, unlike the Old Covenant of written Law which condemns us to eternal death.

The Old Covenant of Law (the Ten Commandments) carved in stone, condemning us to eternal death, were accompanied by splendor. Moses’ face glowed so brightly from being in the presence of God that the people couldn’t look at Moses’ face until the glow faded. Therefore the New Covenant which gives (eternal) life in the Spirit will be accompanied with even greater splendor, since life in righteousness by the Spirit is so much better than life under condemnation by the Law. The splendor of life under the New Covenant is so much greater that life under the Old Covenant, which once had splendor, now has faded in comparison. If what was temporary had splendor, what is eternal will have greater splendor.

Commentary:

The Old Covenant of Law was given by God as a temporary “guardian” until the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, and his establishment of the New Covenant. The Law was intended to teach us what God requires, and to demonstrate that we are unable to fulfill all the Law by our own ability. Jesus’ death on the Cross has become the only sacrifice acceptable to God, once for all time and all people, for the forgiveness of our sin (disobedience of God’s Word) and salvation from eternal condemnation and destruction in Hell. Jesus’ death made it possible for us to be cleansed by his blood, and to receive the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit within us which gives us spiritual, eternal life and makes it possible for us to serve and please God.

The ultimate comparison of life under the Law and life in the Spirit is revealed in the Feast of Passover. Passover was the commemoration of God’s deliverance of Israel from bondage to sin and death in Egypt, and the anticipation of the coming of the Messiah. (A seat at the table was left empty for “Elijah,” the prophet who was to return heralding the coming of the Messiah.) A perfect lamb without defect was sacrificed and eaten, and his blood marked the doorway, so that the angel of Death would “pass over” them when the final plague of the death of the first-born of the Egyptians was carried out.

Jesus and his disciples celebrated the Passover feast on the night of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest. The Messiah has taken his place at the table. (John the Baptist was the fulfillment of the expectation of the return of “Elijah;” Matthew 17:10-13). During that meal, Jesus instituted the Feast of the New Covenant (Matthew 26:26-29), “The Lord’s Supper; Holy Communion; The Eucharist. Jesus has become the spotless Lamb, sacrificed for the forgiveness of our sin (disobedience of God’s Word) and salvation from eternal condemnation.

Those who trust and obey Jesus enter into the New Covenant of grace (unmerited favor; a free gift) by faith (obedient trust; Ephesians 2:8-9) in Jesus. Jesus is the only one who 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). 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).

Everyone else is under the Old Covenant of the Law of sin and death, still in the “Egypt” of this fallen world. God’s Word says that all have sinned (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and that the penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). Jesus is God’s only provision for our forgiveness and salvation (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

At Jesus’ crucifixion, the veil of the temple, separating the people from God’s presence in the Holy of Holies, was torn in two, from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51), symbolizing that Jesus has become the new (and only) way into God’s presence. The temple, the means of the sacrificial system on which the Old Covenant depends, was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans and has never been rebuilt.

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)?