Week of Last Pentecost - C - November 14 - 20, 2010
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.
This Bible study, and 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, are available at:
http://shepherdboy.byethost12.com/ (Please bookmark this link).
.mp3 Podcasts via Linux Festival text-to-speech and Panopreter Basic text-to-speech are available at:
http://shepherdboy.byethost12.com/#AUDIO_.MP3_PODCASTS:
Please Note:
To get the most from these studies, it is suggested that you first read the scripture texts for the entry, and then the paraphrase and commentary. It is also recommended that you look up the scripture references, unless you recognize and recall them from memory.
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 Download: Week of 25 Pentecost C (Variable)
Podcast Download: Week of 27 Pentecost C (Variable)
Sunday - 25 Pentecost C (Variable)
First Posted November 14, 2010;
Podcast: Sunday 25 Pentecost C (Variable)
1 Chronicles 29:10-13 – David's Prayer;
Psalm 148 -- All Creation: Praise the Lord;
2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5 –Thanksgiving and Exhortation;
Luke 20:27-38 – Questions about Resurrection;
1 Chronicles Paraphrase:
(On the occasion of the succession of Solomon, the son of David, to his father's throne), David (the great human shepherd-king of Israel) offered a prayer of eternal blessing to the Lord in the assembly of the congregation in the temple. David acknowledged the greatness, power, glory, triumph and majesty of the Lord, who is the creator, and owner of everything in heaven and on earth. The Lord is the exalted rightful head of the kingdom. The Lord is the source of all riches and honor and the Lord is the sovereign ruler over all. To the Lord belong all power and might, and his is the power to exalt and give strength to all. So David and the assembly of the congregation gave thanks and praise to the glorious name of the Lord.
Psalm Paraphrase:
Praise the Lord, all things in heaven! Praise him, all angels and the host (all who fight for the Lord's cause). May all the astronomic bodies and the sources of weather praise his name, since they have been created and are controlled by the Word of the Lord.
Let all the creatures, and all the elements of earth -fire, hail, snow, frost and wind- praise their creator and ruler. May all the geographic features, and every living plant and creature of the earth, glorify and praise the Lord. Let all people, the great and the lowly, old and young, male and female, praise the Lord!
May all the created universe praise the name (character and person) of the Lord! Only his name and his glory are highly exalted, above heaven and earth! The Lord has raised up a horn (of salvation) for his people who are near to him. Let us praise the Lord!
2 Thessalonians Paraphrase:
Paul and his missionary team felt compelled to constantly give thanks to God for the Thessalonian Christians. Paul was convinced that God had chosen them from the beginning (as the first converts -Paul entered Europe for the first time at Phillippi in Macedonia, a Roman province. He founded the first Church in Europe at Thessalonica; Acts 16:6-17:10), to be saved through belief in the truth (God's Word; the Gospel of Jesus Christ) by sanctification by the Holy Spirit (the process of carrying to spiritual maturity the work begun in regeneration -spiritual “rebirth” to eternal life; John 3:3, 5-8).
Believers are called to spiritual maturity through the Gospel, so that they may attain the righteousness of Jesus Christ (which comes by faith -obedient trust- in Jesus; Romans 3:21-22). So Paul urged the new believers to hold fast to the doctrinal, moral and liturgical (ritual of public worship) teachings; see 1 Corinthians) taught by Paul and his missionary team by direct word or by letter. In the name of Jesus Christ and God the Father, who gave us eternal hope and comfort as a free gift, unmerited by us, Paul prayed that the Thessalonian Christians (and all believers) would be comforted and established in righteousness in word and deed.
Paul asked for the prayers of the Thessalonian congregation, that Paul's proclamation of God's Word would be hastened and would triumph, as it had among the Thessalonians. Paul asked them to pray for Paul's deliverance from wicked and evil people who did not believe in Paul's Gospel. Paul was confident that the Lord would strengthen and protect the congregation from evil. Paul was confident that the congregation was doing and would continue to do what Paul taught them. Paul prayed that their hearts would be guided to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
Luke Paraphrase:
Sadducees (members of a sect of Judaism which did not believe in resurrection from physical death), came to Jesus and asked him a hypothetical question (to challenge Jesus' teaching). Suppose a married man died without producing children (heirs to his inheritance in the Promised Land; according to Jewish practice, one of his brothers was obligated to take his widow as wife, in order to produce heirs for the deceased). Suppose that the deceased had seven brothers, each took the widow as wife, and each died without producing heirs for their brother. Then the woman died. In the resurrection who would the woman's husband be, since all had taken her as wife?
Jesus replied that people in this age (by physical birth) marry (to protect their children), but people of the age to come (in the eternal kingdom; by spiritual “rebirth” -John 3:3, 5-8- and resurrection), don't marry, because they no longer produce children; they are eternal, like angels, and are children of God. Jesus referred to the scripture passage about “Moses and the Burning Bush” to affirm the truth of the resurrection, since Moses referred to God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God is God, not of the dead, but of the living, because they live to serve and glorify God.
Commentary:
God is God, our Creator, whether we acknowledge him as our God and Creator or not. We exist to please and glorify God.
This world has been designed to allow us the freedom to choose whether to trust and obey God's Word, in the Bible and in Jesus Christ, the “living Word,” the fulfillment, embodiment, and example of God's Word lived in human flesh in this world (John 1:1-5, 14), or not. But God is not willing to tolerate rebellion and disobedience forever, or at all in his eternal kingdom, so God has limited this Creation and we ourselves by time.
The meaning and purpose of life in this world is to seek, find, and come to fellowship with God, our Creator, and to be spiritually reborn to eternal life in the age to come, in God's eternal kingdom in heaven, by the “baptism” of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Only Jesus gives the baptism 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).
Jesus is God in human flesh (Colossians 2:8-9). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9). We can only come to a personal knowledge of and fellowship with God through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus (John 14:6) by the baptism of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Those who have come to know Jesus through the indwelling Holy Spirit have known and come to fellowship with God (Matthew 11:27; compare John 14:7, 21, 23).
We have all sinned (disobeyed God's Word) and fall short of God's righteousness (doing what is right, good, and true, according to God's Word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). The penalty for sin is (eternal) death (Romans 6:23). God has designed a savior, Jesus Christ, into creation from the very beginning (John 1:1-5, 14; see God's Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home). Jesus is the only way to be forgiven of sin, the only way to know divine, eternal truth, and the only way to have true, eternal life (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).
Jesus is the “horn of salvation” which God raised up in our midst (in his physical coming, and in his resurrection from the dead). God instructed Moses to build altars to the Lord, made with raised triangular projections at each corner, called “horns” (Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 4:7a), symbolizing strength and power. A sinner could flee to the altar for refuge and be saved from punishment by taking hold of the “horn” of the altar (1 Kings 1:50; 2:28).
In ancient times, the name of a person revealed his character and essence. Knowing the name of someone gave a person the right to make and receive requests of the person. God has gradually been revealing his name, character and person to us, first through the goodness and complexity of nature, then through the physical ministry of Jesus, and ultimately, in this world, through the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit within born-again believers, who is the first-fruits, the “down-payment” on eternal fellowship with the Lord in the kingdom of heaven.
When we come to realize and experience who God is and what God has done for us in creation and in Jesus Christ, we will be glad to praise and give thanks to him. Those who are spiritually, eternally dead cannot praise and glorify the Lord.
Paul is the prototype and example of a modern, “post-resurrection,” born-again disciple (student) and apostle (messenger; of the Gospel) of Jesus Christ, as we can and should be. Paul was carrying out the “Great Commission” (Matthew 28:19-20) which Jesus gave to all his disciples, to carry on the mission of Christ: To proclaim the Gospel, to make born-again disciples of Jesus Christ (regeneration), to teach them to trust and obey all that Jesus teaches (the process of spiritual growth to maturity at the Day of Christ's Second Coming). This is only possible by the power and guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit (sanctification), but only after they had been “born-again” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, &8; 2:1-4; 9:17-18). Only born-again disciples can make born-again disciples (Acts 9:10-12).
Paul was repeating the process of making born-again disciples of Jesus Christ among the Thessalonians, as Jesus had demonstrated with his original Twelve disciples, and as Paul had been “discipled” by Ananias. Paul taught the Thessalonians (and Timothy; 2 Timothy 2:2) to repeat the process also (2 Thessalonians 2:15, 17:3-4).
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? 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)?
To be used after the last Variable Sunday of Pentecost until Christ the King.
First Posted November 15, 2010;
Podcast: Monday 27 Pentecost C
Psalm 95:1-7a – God's Kingship;
Paraphrase:
Let us sing the praise of the Lord together; let us make joyful music to the Lord, our rock and salvation! Let us enter his presence with thanks, joyful shouts and songs of praise! Great is the Lord our God; a great king above all gods. He holds the heights and depths of the earth in his hand. He created the sea and dry land. “O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand” (Psalm 95:6-7a).
Commentary:
The Lord is worthy of our praise and thanks because he is our rock of solid foundation, our refuge and salvation. We will experience great love and joy when we enter his presence, both by the indwelling Holy Spirit within us in this lifetime, and in his eternal presence in his kingdom in Heaven.
The Lord is the Creator of the universe and everything in it. He is the great king above all worldly gods and earthly rulers.
The Lord our God is our Creator and Shepherd. He provides us with the good pasture of every earthly necessity in abundance. We are his sheep, whom he protects and for whom he provides.
In one sense we are all God's people, because he is our Creator. In another sense God's people are his sheep who follow in obedience to his Word (in the Bible, and in Jesus Christ, the “living Word” (John 1:1-5, 14). We are all called through the Gospel (the “good news” of forgiveness of sin -disobedience of God's Word,- salvation from eternal condemnation which is the penalty for sin, and restoration to fellowship with God our Creator, which was broken by sin) to be people of God by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ.
The Lord is the (only truly) Good Shepherd. God has designed a savior into the fabric of Creation from the very beginning. The “Good Shepherd” was intentionally prefigured in Moses, in Joshua, and in David, and foretold in every book of the Old Testament. That promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
We can begin to experience the love and joy of the Lord only through the “baptism” 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 baptism of the Holy Spirit is a personally discernible, ongoing, daily experience (Acts 19:2). 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).
The baptism of the indwelling Holy Spirit is the source of spiritual rebirth to eternal life. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ within believers (Romans 8:9). It is only possible to praise and glorify the Lord through the indwelling Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3; Romans 8:15-17; Zechariah 4:6).
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? 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)? Tuesday 27 Pentecost (Last) C
To be used after the last Variable Sunday of Pentecost until Christ the King.
First Posted November 16, 2010;
Podcast: Tuesday 27 Pentecost C
Jeremiah 23:2-6 – Messianic Oracle;
Paraphrase:
Through Jeremiah, the prophet, God declared that the shepherds (religious leaders) of Israel had not given God's people proper care, but instead had scattered and driven them away. The Lord promised to punish the shepherds' evil doings. When he had done that, the Lord promised he would gather the remnant of God's flock out of all the countries where they had been scattered, and would bring them back to God's fold, where they would be fruitful and multiply. The Lord promised to raise up shepherds who would properly care for them; they will no longer be afraid or dismayed, and none shall be missing.
The Lord promised to raise up a righteous Branch from the descendants of David. That one will reign as king; he will reign with wisdom, justice and righteousness. In his day, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in security. He will be known as, “The Lord is our righteousness.”
Commentary:
The test of prophecy is its fulfillment (Deuteronomy 18:21-22). This text is a Messianic oracle, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the son (descendant) of David, the great human shepherd-king who prefigures the Christ (Messiah; both mean “anointed” in Greek and Hebrew, respectively).
God promised David that David's throne would be eternal; that his descendant would reign forever (2 Samuel 7:5-13; Psalm 89:20-29). Jesus is the descendant of David through his earthly father, Joseph (Matthew 1:20-21). Jesus was recognized by the people of Israel as the son of David, the heir to the promise (Matthew 21:9) of a Savior and eternal King.
Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promise of a “Good Shepherd,” who takes care of his people and brings them back to the safety of God's “sheepfold” (John 10:11-18). Jesus has other sheep (the Gentiles) beside the Jews (John 10:16), and they will be united in one flock through Jesus Christ.
At the time of Jesus' first, physical, coming, the religious leaders of Judaism (the Pharisees and Sadducees), were using their position to their own benefit (Matthew 23:2-7), instead of caring for God's “flock” (consider Matthew 27:3-5). In many instances the conditions within the nominal Church today are the same as they were in Judaism at the time of Christ's physical ministry. Too often, ministry is a “career choice,” the congregation is regarded as the leaders' personal “empire,” the church teaches what members want to hear and false doctrines which lead members astray (2 Timothy 4:3-4; see False Doctrines, sidebar, top right, home).
Jesus asked whether he would find faith (obedient trust) when he returned, as he promised (the Second Coming; the Day of Judgment). From the time God called Abraham and began to establish Israel as his “flock,” until the first coming of Christ, was about two thousand years. From Jesus' crucifixion until now, about two thousand years have passed. Jesus' Second Coming is imminent.
Jesus is the righteous judge who will reign with wisdom, righteousness, and justice. Jesus is God's anointed eternal king (Matthew 28:18). Jesus has promised to return to judge everyone who has ever lived in this world (John 5:28-29). He will judge the “living” (“quickened”) and the “dead” in both physical and spiritual senses (1 Peter 4:5).
Jesus is the example of righteousness (doing what is right, good, and true, according to God's Word). He came in human flesh with all its weaknesses. He was tempted in every way just like we are, yet without sinning (disobeying God's Word; Hebrews 4:15), even to the extreme of submitting to crucifixion, the most “excruciatingly” (meaning “from the cross”) painful death ever devised.
Jesus is the standard of judgment by which all will be judged. Those who have accepted Jesus as Lord and have trusted and obeyed Jesus' teachings will have been spiritually “reborn” (John 3:3, 5-8) in this lifetime by the “baptism” 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). At the Day of Judgment, they will enter eternal life in God's heavenly kingdom. Those who have rejected Jesus as Lord, who have refused or failed to trust and obey Jesus, will be spiritually “un-reborn” and will be condemned to eternal death and destruction in hell with all evil (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a personally discernible, ongoing, daily experience (Acts 19:2). 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).
Judah is the remnant of God's “flock” who were scattered, and have been brought back, historically from exile in Babylon (Jeremiah 25:11-12; Psalm 126:1-3; 2 Chronicles 36:17-23; Ezra 1:1-4), and spiritually from the “Babylon” of this world to the eternal “Promised Land of God's eternal heavenly kingdom.
The Church is the “New Israel,” the new people of God. Jesus is the “New Moses” who leads us out of bondage to sin and death, through the “sea” of water baptism into Jesus Christ, through the “wilderness” of this lifetime, by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, who is the “pillar of fire and cloud” (Exodus 13:21-22); Jesus is the “New Joshua” (Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name, “Jeshua;” that is, “Joshua”) who leads us through the “river” of physical death, and into the eternal “Promised Land” of God's kingdom in heaven.
We are all sinners,who fall short of God's righteousness (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). The penalty for sin is (eternal) death (Romans 6:23). Jesus is God's only provision for our forgiveness of our sin, our salvation from eternal condemnation and death, and the restoration of our fellowship with God which was broken by our sin (see God's Plan of Salvation, sidebar top right, home).
We cannot “earn” salvation by doing “good works.” By faith (obedient trust) in Jesus, we receive the righteousness of Christ, not that of our own (Romans 3:21-22).
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? 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)?
Wednesday 27 Pentecost (Last) C
To be used after the last Variable Sunday of Pentecost until Christ the King.
First posted November 17, 2010;
Podcast: Wednesday 27 Pentecost C
Colossians 1:13-20 – The Image of God;
God has delivered us from our domination by darkness (evil; sin) and transferred us to the kingdom of his Son, through whom we receive forgiveness of sin (disobedience of God's Word) and by whom we are redeemed from the penalty of sin (eternal death; Romans 6:23).
Jesus is the image of the invisible God made visible. He is the first-born (pre-existent and supreme) of all Creation. Everything in Creation was was made in, by and for Christ. He existed before all things, and the entire universe is held together by him. He is the head of the Church, which is his body; he is the beginning of all things, and the first-born from the dead, so that in everything he is pre-eminent. God in all his fullness dwells in Jesus (Colossians 2:8-9; Matthew 11:27; John 14:7). Through Christ reconciles to himself and makes peace with all things, in heaven and on earth, by the blood sacrifice of Jesus' crucifixion.
Commentary:
Jesus is the light of the World: the light of (eternal) life (John 8:12), the light of righteousness in the darkness of sin and evil in this world (John 1:5), the light of (spiritual) enlightenment (John 1:9), in the darkness of spiritual ignorance and what the world falsely calls wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:18-30; 2:1-8).
I'm intrigued by the association of light and eternal life. Light is the cosmic speed limit in this world. Science says that it is impossible to exceed the speed of light, because as the speed of light is approached, time slows down, and at light-speed, time stops: the definition of eternity.
God's Word declares that this Creation and we ourselves are limited by time. At the end of this age of time and grace (the free gift of God of forgiveness and salvation) there will be a Day of Judgment. At that Day, time will cease and our eternal destinies will be fixed and unchangeable.
At that Day, Christ will return to judge the living and the dead (1 Peter 4:5; John 5:28-29), in both physical and spiritual senses. Those who have accepted Jesus as Lord (One who has power and authority; a master; a ruler; a governor; a prince; a proprietor), and have trusted and obeyed Jesus, will have been spiritually “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) to eternal life by the “baptism” 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). Those who have rejected Jesus as Lord, and have refused or failed to trust and obey Jesus will be spiritually “un-reborn,” and will enter eternal destruction and death in hell with all evil (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).
Jesus is God's only provision for our forgiveness of our sin (disobedience of God's Word) and salvation from eternal death, which is the penalty for sin (Romans 6:23). God has been teaching us that there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). At Jesus' crucifixion, Jesus became the only sacrifice acceptable to God for our forgiveness (Hebrews 9:11-15; 25-28; Acts 4:12; see God's Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home).
God is a spirit (the Holy Spirit; the Spirit of God; Romans 8:9). Jesus is the very image of God made visible in human flesh. Jesus said that those who have known Jesus personally have known God the Father also (Matthew 11:27; John 1:18; 14:7).
Jesus was pre-existent with God from the very beginning of Creation (John 1:1-2). Jesus was not only with God; he was fully God from the beginning (John 1:1c). Jesus was designed into Creation from the very beginning; he was not some afterthought, after mankind sinned. The entire Creation was begun in, by and for Christ. The entire Creation is held together by him; otherwise Creation would be pointless.
Jesus is the head (Lord) of the Church. The Church is the body of Christ; each believer is a part of the body, each having unique abilities and roles assigned by God (Romans 12:4-8).
Jesus is the first-born and only begotten Son of God, begotten by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:31-35). Jesus is the first-born from the dead; the first to die physically and be raised to eternal life (Matthew 28:5-7a). In Jewish Law, the first-born son had pre-eminence over the other sons (Hebrews 12:10-15), and received a double portion of the inheritance (Genesis 25:31-33; 43:33; Exodus 13:2; 2 Chronicles 21:3).
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? 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)?
Thursday 27 Pentecost (Last) C
To be used after the last Variable Sunday of Pentecost until Christ the King.
First Posted November 18, 2010;
Podcast: Thursday 27 Pentecost C
Luke 23:35-43 – The Thieves on the Cross;
Paraphrase:
After Jesus had been crucified, the Jewish religious leaders who had demanded his crucifixion ridiculed him, telling Jesus that since he had saved others, to come down from the cross and save himself, if he truly were the Christ, God's Chosen One (God's “Anointed;” both Christ and Messiah mean “anointed,” in Greek and Hebrew, respectively). The Roman soldiers also mocked Jesus, telling Jesus to save himself if he truly were the King of the Jews. A sign had been placed on the cross, which said, “This is the King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38; Jn19:19-22).
Jesus had been crucified between two thieves (Luke 23:32-33). One of them also asked Jesus to save himself and the criminals, if Jesus were truly the Christ. The other thief rebuked the fellow criminal, saying that he should fear God, since he was also under condemnation. The second thief acknowledged that both deserved their condemnation, while Jesus had done nothing wrong. The second thief then asked Jesus to remember him, when Jesus had received his kingly power, and Jesus replied that repentant thief would be with Jesus in paradise that very day.
Commentary:
The Jewish religious leaders ridiculed Jesus, because although they knew that Jesus had done many miracles, including raising the dead, they still didn't believe that Jesus was God's anointed eternal Savior and King. Even if Jesus had come down from the cross they still wouldn't have believed. Jesus had been tempted to not go through with his crucifixion (Luke 22:39-46, but realized that it was necessary to fulfill God's Plan of Salvation (which see; sidebar, top right, home). When Jesus did arise from the dead, they still didn't believe (Matthew 28:11-15). The Roman soldiers also mocked Jesus while he was dying on the cross, but when he died, at least one was converted (Matthew 27:3-4).
One of the thieves believed in Jesus (Luke 23:40-42), and he was saved from eternal death. Jesus promised that the repentant thief would enter eternal life in paradise, because of the thief's faith (Luke 23:43).
We are all “criminals” in God's judgment, because we have all sinned and fall short of God's righteousness (doing what is right, good, and true according to God's Word). We are all under condemnation to (eternal) death, which is the penalty for sin (Romans 6:23). Only those who recognize and acknowledge their guilt to God in faith in Jesus can be saved from eternal condemnation, and receive eternal life in paradise restored in God's eternal kingdom. Will we continue to deride Jesus until that moment, or will we turn to him in faith?
An “ordained” (licensed) Christian minister once suggested that one must be “baptized” with water (by the Church), in order to be “saved.” I asked her if there was any instance in scripture of a person being saved without having been baptized, and she could not recall any. So I reminded her of the repentant thief.
That is a symptom of a problem within the “nominal” Church today. Some religious authorities think they have received a “franchise” to grant salvation by Church ritual.
This extends to the issue of spiritual rebirth. Some mainline denominations assert that one is automatically “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) only by the Church ritual of water baptism. I assert that the Church is the heir to the ministry of water baptism of John the Baptizer (Luke 3:2-3; John 1:26-27). Remember that only Jesus baptizes with the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). Jesus did not baptize with water; only his disciples did (John 4:2).
In too many instances the nominal Church is failing to make born-again disciples, because they do not require discipleship and obedience to Jesus' teachings. It takes born-again disciples to make born-again disciples. The unregenerate (un-born-again) don't know what they are lacking or how to get it, or they wouldn't be unregenerate (Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8; 2 Timothy 2:2). If the Church fails to make born-again disciples, there will be no born-again candidates to choose for Church leadership.
Christian discipleship is not an “optional” category of super-Christians; Christians are by very definition, disciples of Jesus Christ who have been born-again by the baptism of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Acts 11:26c; John 3:3). Born-again disciples are called to make born-again disciples (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4-5, 8; 9:10-17; 2 Timothy 2:2).
Faith is not getting whatever one believes, if one believes “hard enough.” Faith is not like wishing on a star or when blowing out birthday candles. Saving faith is obedient trust in Jesus Christ.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? 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)?
Friday 27 Pentecost (Last) C
To be used after the last Variable Sunday of Pentecost until Christ the King.
First Posted November 19, 2010;
Podcast: Friday 27 Pentecost C
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 – Christ's Return;
Paraphrase:
Believers don't need to hear “times and seasons” (speculation on the Day of Jesus' Second Coming), because they know that the Day is unpredictable, like a thief's break-in at night. When people begin to think they have peace and security, the Day will come like labor-pangs to a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape.
But believers are not in darkness (spiritual ignorance; comparable to the preferred time of thievery), that they should be taken by surprise. We are children of light (spiritual enlightenment; of God's Kingdom), not of the night, not of spiritual darkness. So let us not be be sleeping (or drunk); let us be awake and sober. Those who sleep, sleep at night, and the drunk get drunk at night. But we belong to the day (the kingdom of light) so let us be (alert and) sober.
Let us put on the armor of God: the breastplate of faith and love, the helmet of hope of salvation, because it is not God's will for us to be eternally destroyed, but to be saved from eternal destruction by the Lordship of Jesus Christ (who is the one who has power and authority; a master, ruler, governor, prince, proprietor over us, by our faith -obedient trust- in him). So then it is our responsibility to encourage and strengthen the faith of one another, as the Thessalonian Christians were doing.
Commentary:
Believers are called to trust and obey Jesus as our Lord. As we do so we will personally experience his power, love and faithfulness to deliver us from troubles and temptations in our lives, and we will come to know (that Jesus and his Gospel are true; John 6:68-69).
We can't really testify to what we haven't personally experienced. Unless one has personally witnessed a crime, one cannot take the witness stand in court and testify.
Church membership and Church ritual, such as water baptism, don't qualify us to testify about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to have a personal relationship with Jesus through the “baptism” 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). How can one encourage and strengthen another in faith in Jesus Christ, when one has not believed and has not personally experienced the certain conviction of faith.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a personally discernible, ongoing, daily experience (Acts 19:2). 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).
Watch out for false teachers who claim to know the time or season of Christ's return and the Day of Judgment. We can be sure that we will all be accountable to the Lord for what we have done in this lifetime, whether we have died or are still living (“quickened;” in both physical and spiritual senses) at the Second Coming (John 5:28-29; 1 Peter 4:5). But none of us can be sure of living until tomorrow. Today is the only day we can be certain of; today is the Day of Salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2); the only chance we may have to be saved from eternal condemnation. At the moment of our physical death (or at the moment of mental disability, such as stroke, or the onset of dementia, preventing cognition), our eternal destiny will be fixed and unalterable.
Expecting the Lord to return today is the only way to be ready. Any other expectation lulls one to think one can do whatever one pleases today, because one has plenty of time to prepare (Matthew 24:44-51; Luke 12:39-40).
Faith and hope in salvation in Jesus Christ are the only “armor” which can preserve us from temptation and eternal destruction.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? 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)?
Saturday 27 Pentecost (Last) C
To be used after the last Variable Sunday of Pentecost until Christ the King.
First Posted November 20, 2010;
Podcast: Saturday 27 Pentecost C
Matthew 25:1-13 – Wise and Foolish Maidens;
Paraphrase:
Jesus told the parable (a fictional story of a common earthly experience used to teach spiritual truth) of ten maidens who went, with oil lamps, to meet a bridegroom. Five of the maidens were wise and took extra oil for their lamps, while the other five were foolish and did not. The bridegroom was delayed, and the maidens fell asleep waiting.
At midnight, a cry announced the bridegroom's arrival. The maidens awoke and trimmed their lamps. The oil in their lamps was running low, and the foolish maidens asked the wise for oil to replenish their lamps, but the wise were worried that then their own lamps might run out. They suggested that the foolish maidens hasten to dealers to purchase more oil for themselves.
While the foolish maidens were out buying oil, the bridegroom arrived and those who were ready went in to the wedding feast with him, and the door was closed. Later the foolish maidens returned and knocked at the door, to be let in, but the bridegroom denied knowing them. Jesus warned that we must be watchful, because we don't know the day or hour of the “bridegroom's” -Christ's- return.
Commentary:
This parable is based on the custom in Israel at the time, of the the bridegroom fetching his bride from her parents home. Jesus is the “bridegroom,” whose time of return is not known. His bride is the Church; the wedding feast is the fulfillment of the Lord's Supper, instituted by Jesus on the eve of his trial and crucifixion, with his disciples in Heaven (Matthew 26:26-29).
We are the “maidens,” members of the wedding party who have been invited to attend the feast. Now is the time for us to obtain oil for the lamps of salvation (which is the “oil of gladness” of the “baptism” of the Holy Spirit; Psalm 45:7; Exodus 29:7; Leviticus 8:12; 21:12b). Those who are wise will seek the “baptism” of the indwelling Holy Spirit now, while there is time; when Christ's return is announced, it will be too late to seek and acquire it. If we are “born-again” (by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17), we will enter the marriage feast (the “New Passover”) in heaven. Then the door will be shut, and those who were not “reborn,” now, while possible, will be “unknown” to Jesus, because they have not had a personal relationship with Jesus in this lifetime by the indwelling Holy Spirit. They will not be able to enter.
The baptism of the indwelling Holy Spirit is a personally discernible, ongoing, daily experience (Acts 19:2). 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). The indwelling Holy Spirit is our “invitation” which we must have to enter the eternal wedding feast in heaven.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? 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)?
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