Week
of Transfiguration - Lent B
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
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Podcast Download: Week of Transfiguration - Lent B
Sunday Transfiguration Lent B
First
Posted February 22, 2009;
Podcast: Sunday Transfiguration - Lent B
2 Kings 2:1-12a -- Elijah's
Ascension;
Psalm 50:1-6 -- Coming Judgment;
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 -- The New Covenant;
Mark 9:2-9 -- Prophecy About Elijah;
2 Kings Paraphrase:
There was at this time a sizable community of
prophets-in-training known as the “sons” (disciples) of
the prophets. It was generally known among the prophetic
community that the Lord was about to take Elijah up into
heaven. Elijah had appointed Elisha as his successor by
God's command. Elisha was accompanying Elijah from Gilgal
(north of Bethel), and Elijah suggested that Elisha should
stay at Gilgal, for Lord was leading Elijah on to Bethel.
But Elisha wanted to stay with Elijah as long as possible,
so they went on together to Bethel.
At Bethel a group of the “sons” of the prophets asked
Elisha if he did not realize that the Lord was going to
take Elijah away that day. Elisha said he knew, and asked
them not to say any more. Again Elijah gave Elisha the
opportunity to stay at Bethel, while Elijah had to go on
to Jericho, and again Elisha declined.
At Jericho they were again met by a group of “sons” of the
prophets. These also asked Elisha if he knew that the Lord
was going to take Elijah from him that day. Again Elisha
acknowledged that he knew, and asked them to say no more.
Again Elijah released Elisha to stay in Jericho, while
Elijah went on to the Jordan River, and again Elisha
declined.
Elijah and Elisha went on to the Jordan River, followed
this time by a group of fifty “sons” of the prophets, who
observed from a distance. Elijah took his mantle (cloak)
and rolled it up like a staff and struck the water, and
the Jordan river parted, allowing Elijah and Elisha to
pass over on dry ground.
On the other side of the river, Elijah asked Elisha what
Elijah could do for Elisha, and Elisha asked for a double
portion of the Spirit which was upon Elijah. Elijah told
Elisha that his request was a difficult one, but that, if
Elisha saw Elijah as he was taken up into heaven, Elisha
would receive his request. As they went on, a fiery
chariot with horses of fire separated them and Elijah went
up into heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw it, and calling
Elijah father, said that he had seen the chariots of
Israel and its horsemen, and Elijah disappeared.
Psalm Paraphrase:
The Lord God, the Almighty One speaks and summons the
earth from the farthest boundaries of east and west. God
shines forth out of Zion (the temple mount; the heavenly
city), the perfection of beauty.
Our God comes; he is not silent, he is bringing with him
a devouring fire and a mighty tempest. He summons the
people of earth and the heavenly beings to the judgment of
his people. He invites his people, who entered into a
covenant with God by sacrifice (of Jesus' blood) to gather
to him. God himself is the righteous judge, as attested to
in the heavens.
2 Corinthians Paraphrase:
The Old Covenant of the Law of Moses is passing away,
surpassed by the unfading splendor of the New Covenant of
Grace through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ. The
Old Covenant was temporal, but the New Covenant is
eternal.
Since we have such confidence we can speak boldly with
full assurance of unfading splendor, unlike Moses, who
covered his face so that Israel would not see the fading
splendor of the Old Covenant. Peoples' minds are hardened
and cannot understand the Bible scriptures, because there
is a veil lying over their minds, which is only removed
through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ.
“The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord
is there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17; Romans 8:9). The
veil is removed from believers so that we are able to see
the unveiled glory of the Lord, and we are being changed
from one degree of glory to another, into the likeness of
the Lord. All this is only from the Lord who is the
Spirit.
Since we realize that we have a ministry (of the Gospel)
by the mercy of God, we don't become discouraged. We don't
resort to the disgraceful, unrighteous ways of the world.
We refuse to use trickery or to tamper with the Word of
God. Instead we openly speak the truth, and leave it to
the consciences of our hearers.
Mark Paraphrase:
Jesus took his three closest disciples, Peter, James and
John, up to a mountaintop, where his appearance was
transformed and he became luminous. Moses and Elijah
appeared and were talking with Jesus. His disciples were
quite afraid and didn't know what to say. Peter suggested
building three booths (temporary shelters; shrines), to
Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Then they were overshadowed by a
cloud and a voice from the cloud told them that Jesus was
[God's] beloved Son, and they were to listen to Jesus.
Suddenly Moses and Elijah disappeared and they were alone
with Jesus. Coming down the mountain, Jesus told them not
to tell anyone what they had seen until after the “Son of
man” (Jesus) had risen from the dead.
Commentary:
God's Word is eternal and eternally true. It is fulfilled
over and over as the conditions for its fulfillment are
met. The history of God's dealing with Israel is also
intended to be a series of parables, metaphors for life in
this world. Moses foreshadows the Christ. Elijah
foreshadowed John the Baptizer. If we know the history and
the metaphors in the Bible we can see and understand when
we see them being fulfilled.
Enoch was the only other person in the Bible record who
ascended into heaven without dying physically (Genesis
5:24; Jesus ascended after he had died and risen again).
Since Elijah ascended into heaven it was conceivable that
he could return in the same way, and practically the last
word in the Old Testament prophesied Elijah's return to
herald the coming Messiah and prepare the people to
receive him (Malachi 4:5).
John the Baptizer was the fulfillment of that prophecy,
manifested to the world publicly. John the Baptizer was
dressed in the garb of Elijah (2 Kings 1:8; Zechariah
13:4). He called Israel to repent and prepare the way of
the Lord (Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 3:1; Matthew 3:3). Jesus
confirmed that John was the fulfillment of the prophecy
(Matthew 17:10-13).
John the Baptizer denied being Elijah because he didn't
consider himself equal to Elijah in greatness. John was
just a voice crying in the wilderness. Elijah in fact did
also return, in fulfillment of that prophecy, and appeared
privately to the three disciples on the mountain at Jesus'
transfiguration.
Elijah took his mantle, which was the symbol of his
office (1 Kings 19:16, 19; Luke 9:61-62), rolled it up
like a rod, and struck the Jordan River, which parted so
that Elijah and Elisha could pass over on dry ground, as
Moses had done to part the Red Sea (Exodus 14:16), when
the Israelites were brought out of Egypt.
Joshua, Moses' successor had parted the Jordan River, at
God's instruction, with the Ark of the Covenant, which
contained the rod of Aaron, the high priest of Moses, when
Israel entered the Promised Land (Joshua 3:11-17).
In a sense Elisha saw the glory of the Lord revealed to
him in the fiery chariot and horses. God's glory shines
forth from Zion. Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise;
Jesus is the light of righteousness (John 1:5; 3:19-21,
spiritual enlightenment (John 1:9), and eternal life (John
1:4; 8:12) shining forth from Zion.
The disciples of Jesus witnessed Jesus' ascension into
heaven as Elisha had witnessed the ascension of Elijah.
Jesus has promised to return on the Day of Judgment in the
same way he ascended into heaven (Matthew 25:31-46; 2
Thessalonians 1:5-10; Acts 1:9-11).
God came into the world in Jesus Christ and he will
return in Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:8-9; John 20:28; John
14:8-10), bringing with him a devouring fire and a mighty
tempest. His fire and tempest will eternally destroy those
who have not entered into the New Covenant of salvation by
grace (unmerited favor; a free gift) through faith
(obedient trust) in Jesus Christ, but they will save and
deliver his faithful covenant people who have been sealed
by the blood of Christ. Jesus is the fulfillment of God's
promise to judge his people by God's righteousness.
God's kingdom is spiritual and is spiritually perceived
(1 Corinthians 2:13-14). God's eternal kingdom is all
around us, but we cannot see it except through faith
(obedient trust) in Jesus Christ. Satan blinds the eyes of
unbelievers to keep them from seeing the glory of God (2
Corinthians 4:3-4). When we trust and obey Jesus he takes
away the veil over our minds which keeps us from seeing
the divine eternal truth of the Bible scriptures (Luke
24:45).
Moses' face shone with the reflection of God's glory
after he had been in God's presence, and the people were
afraid. So Moses would declare what God had said, with
face unveiled so that they would know that he had been in
God's presence, and then would cover his face with a veil
until the next time he entered God's presence (Exodus
34:29-35).
Paul used the analogy of the veiled face of Moses to
compare the Old Covenant of Law, of which Moses was the
mediator between God and the people, and the New Covenant
of Grace through faith, which Jesus instituted at the Last
Supper (Matthew 26:26-29) and mediated. The Old Covenant
was temporal; it was intended to be our guardian to
restrain evil until the coming of the New Covenant which
is eternal (Galatians 3:21-25). The Old Covenant revealed
the righteousness of God, as does the goodness of
Creation, but that splendor is transient and is passing
away.
Under the Old Covenant, the main sanctuary was separated
from the presence of God in the “Holy-of-holies,” by a
veil (curtain). Only the high priest could enter into the
presence of God, only once a year, bringing a blood
offering for the forgiveness of himself and the people.
Jesus opened a new and direct way into the presence of
God symbolized by the supernatural tearing of the veil of
the temple in two from top to bottom at Jesus' crucifixion
(Matthew 27:51). Jesus' blood is the only sacrifice
acceptable to God, shed once for all time and all people
who are willing to receive it by faith (obedient trust) in
Jesus (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God's Plan of Salvation,
sidebar, top right, home).
Jesus is the only way to have personal fellowship with
God our Creator (Acts 17:26-27) and this is only 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).
Through the indwelling Holy Spirit we experience the
glory and power of God. Through the indwelling Holy Spirit
we are spiritually “reborn” to eternal life, and are being
changed from the glory of this world, which is fleeting,
into the glory of God's eternal kingdom and into the
likeness of Jesus Christ which are so much greater and
eternal.
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)?
Monday Transfiguration Lent B
First
Posted February 23, 2009;
Podcast: Monday Transfiguration - Lent B
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:2;
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21;
2 Corinthians Paraphrase:
On Christ's behalf we beseech you to be reconciled to God. For our sake,
God made sinless Jesus to bear our sin, so that we could become the
righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. Christians working in behalf
of Christ urge all not to waste the grace of God we've all been offered.
“At the acceptable time I (God) have listened to you, and helped you on
the day of salvation” (Isaiah 49:8). Listen! “Today is the acceptable
time; ...now is the day of salvation” 2 Corinthians 6:2b).
Matthew Paraphrase:
Don't try to appear pious to impress other people, because then that
will be all the reward you will get from God in heaven. So when we give
alms (charitable donations for the poor) we must not do so conspicuously
like hypocrites (those who put on a false appearance of virtue or
piety) do in order to have the approval of other people. We should let
our charitable giving be so inconspicuous that our left hand doesn't
know what our right hand is doing. Let our giving be in secret, and then
God who sees what is done in secret will reward us.
When we pray we must not be like hypocrites who love to stand in the
synagogue and on street corners to pray to impress other people.
Instead, let us go into our room and close the door when we pray, so
that God who is in secret, and sees what is done in secret will reward
us.
When we fast, unlike hypocrites, we must not call attention to our
fasting to impress other people. When we fast we must not change our
outward appearance; let us conceal our fasting, so that only the Lord
knows it, and he will reward us.
Let us not store up treasure on earth. Material wealth is temporal; moth
and rust will consume it and it can be taken by thieves. Instead let us
store up treasure in heaven where it will endure for eternity without
threat of moth, rust and thievery. Our hearts will be wherever our
treasure is.
Commentary:
We have all sinned (disobeyed God's Word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10)
and the penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). Jesus Christ is
God's one and only provision for forgiveness of our sins and salvation
from eternal death and destruction in hell (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the
only way to be reconciled with God; to be restored to fellowship with
God which was broken by sin (John 14:6; see God's Plan of Salvation,
sidebar, top right, home).
Jesus is the “scapegoat” (Leviticus 16:8-26) who bore and took away our
sins. Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of Passover, whose blood, shed on
the cross marks and saves us from the destroying angel (Exodus 12:7,
13). Through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus, we have his righteousness
attributed to us by God (Romans 3:21-22; Philippians 3:9).
God freely offers forgiveness and eternal salvation to all who are
willing to receive it by faith. Salvation is by God's grace (unmerited
favor; a free gift), not by anything we can do to deserve, earn or take
by force or deception (Ephesians 2:8-9).
We can't do anything to change our past, and we have no certainty or
control of our future. Today is the day to receive God's grace; today is
the day to accept God's salvation. When we die, our eternal destinies
will be fixed and unchangeable, and we will be accountable to the Lord
for what we have done in this lifetime.
The Lord knows every detail about us; he knows our innermost secrets and
what we do when we think no one is looking. He is not deceived by
hypocrisy. We cannot save ourselves by religious ritual, or by doing
“good deeds.”
God is under no obligation to us to be all that a good, loving, almighty
God implies, unless we are willing to be his obedient, trusting people
(Jeremiah 7:23; Ezekiel 11:20; Leviticus 26:3; Leviticus 26:12; see also
Jeremiah 11:4c-5). God is not obligated to hear and answer our prayers
if we are not willing to hear and obey his Word (see God's Plan of
Salvation, sidebar, top right, home).
We can take nothing of this world beyond physical death except our
immortal souls. We are all eternal souls in physical bodies. What we do
in this lifetime determines where we will spend eternity.
Jesus' resurrection was documented in the New Testament by over
five-hundred eyewitnesses (1 Corinthians 15:3-10). Jesus' resurrection
demonstrates that there is existence beyond physical death.
Jesus warns us to seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). If we
pursue security through material resources we will never achieve it.
Security always requires just a little bit more than we have. If we
pursue material possessions we will never get around to seeking and
finding God's eternal kingdom.
I believe that the meaning and purpose is to seek and find God, our
Creator (Acts 17:26-27). We are all born physically alive but
spiritually dead (unborn). This lifetime is our only opportunity to be
spiritually “reborn” (John 3:3, 5-8) to eternal life and this is only
possible through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ. Only Jesus
gives the gift (“anointing,” “baptism”) of the indwelling Holy Spirit
(John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John
14:15-17). The “anointing” of the Holy Spirit is a discernible ongoing
event (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).
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 Transfiguration Lent B
First Posted February
24, 2009;
Podcast: Tuesday Transfiguration - Lent B
Psalm 51:1-13 -- Penitence;
Joel 2:12-19 -- Call to Repentance;
Psalm Background:
The superscription of Psalm 51 indicates that it was a Psalm of David,
after Nathan rebuked David for his adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel
12:1-14).
Psalm Paraphrase:
“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy steadfast love; according
to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly
from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51:1-2)!
I acknowledge my sins; I am unable to avoid remembering them. I realize
that my sin is really against you; I have done what is evil in your
judgment. You are blameless in your judgment and your verdict is just.
Remember that I was sinful from my conception and birth.
You desire us to acknowledge truth in our innermost self, so teach me
true wisdom within me. “Purge me with hyssop (an herb first mentioned to
be used to mark the door and lintel of the Israelites houses with the
blood of the Passover Lamb; Exodus 12:22-23) and I shall be clean; wash
me and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me know joy and gladness once
again; let my bones which you have broken (in punishment) rejoice again.
Don't remember my sins; blot them out of me.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit
within me. Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy
Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me
with a willing (magnanimous; generous) Spirit” (Psalm 51:10-12).
The Psalmist vows to praise and serve the Lord, so that sinners can learn God's ways and be restored to him.
Joel Paraphrase:
“'Yet even now,” says the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with
fasting, weeping and mourning; and rend your hearts and not your
garments”' (Joel 2:12-13). The Lord our God is gracious and merciful,
slow to become angry, and loving beyond measure, who regrets and turns
from evil (punishment). Why not turn and repent and give an offering to
the Lord our God?
Consecrate a fast; announce a solemn assembly with the sound of the
trumpet; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation. Gather the
congregation, the elders and the people, even children and nursing
infants; even newlyweds should interrupt their “honeymoon.” Let the
priests fill the inner court (between the vestibule and the altar) with
weeping and beseech the Lord to spare his people because they are his
heritage and possession; for God's name's sake let them not become the
subject of shame and reproach among the Gentiles.
Then the Lord became zealous for his land and had pity upon his people.
The Lord answered his people and declared “Behold, I am sending to you
grain, wine and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make
you a reproach among the nations.” (Joel 2:19).
Commentary:
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season: forty
days of fasting, self-examination, and penitence in preparation for
Easter. This is a call to us to examine ourselves honestly and confess
and repent of our sins.
David, the great shepherd-king of Israel, was a man after God's own
heart who God declared would do all God's will (Acts 13:22; Psalm
89:20; 1 Samuel 13:14). Yet he committed a great sin with Bathsheba, the
wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David's mighty warriors. David
committed adultery with Bathsheba while Uriah was defending David's
kingdom in battle, and Bathsheba became pregnant.
David summoned Uriah and tried to get him to sleep with his wife while
he was in Jerusalem, but Uriah was too honorable to enjoy the comforts
of home while his men were in the field of battle. So David sent a
letter to Joab, the Commander of David's army, instructing him to put
Uriah at the front of the army in a place of great danger, and then
withdraw so that Uriah would be killed; and that is what happened.
Nathan the prophet confronted David with a parable describing David's
conduct in a way that concealed the fact that he was referring to David,
and David recognized the injustice and denounced it. Then Nathan
revealed that it was David who was the guilty party that he was
referring to.
David confessed and repented of his sin, and he was forgiven and
restored, but he suffered the consequence of his sin. The child he had
conceived with Bathsheba died not long after birth.
We have to live with the consequences of our actions, and we must be
willing to endure God's rebuke and discipline; loving fathers discipline
their children. It is far better to confess and repent so that we can
be forgiven and restored, than to deny our guilt and be eternally
condemned to destruction.
We have all sinned (disobeyed God's Word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10).
The penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). If we honestly
examine ourselves and confess and repent of our sin (change our ways)
the Lord is faithful and generous to forgive us, but if we try to deny
that we are sinners we are deceiving ourselves, calling God's Word a
lie, and we do not know and acknowledge the truth (1 John 1:8-10).
Jesus is God's only provision for our forgiveness and salvation from
eternal destruction (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God's Plan of Salvation,
sidebar, top right). Jesus is the only sacrifice acceptable to God for
our forgiveness and salvation. By our faith (obedient trust) in Jesus,
his blood shed on the cross marks us to be “passed over” by the
destroyer. By faith (obedient trust) in Jesus, God attributes to us the
righteousness of Jesus Christ, the sinless beloved Son of God (Romans
3:21-22; Philippians 3:9).
Jesus is the cleansing fountain which can cleanse us whiter than snow,
by the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the new
and right spirit within us who can cleanse our hearts (John 7:37-39).
The Holy Spirit is the presence of the Lord which we experience within
us. Through the indwelling Holy Spirit we experience the joy of eternal
salvation, through whom we are upheld until Christ's return on the Day
of Judgment. Only Jesus gives the gift (“baptism;” “anointing”) 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).
Our repentance must be sincere, not just a matter of outward appearance
or religious ritual. God desires obedient trust, rather than animal or
material sacrifices. God is the owner and provider of every material
thing in this world. The only thing we can give to God that he doesn't
possess is our love, and the only way to give him love is by our trust
and obedience (John 14:15, 21, 23-24).
Jesus didn't come into the world to condemn us but to save us (John
3:17). God loves us and doesn't want anyone to perish eternally (John
3:16). If we have experienced God's love, forgiveness and salvation, we
can serve the Lord by letting him to guide, empower and use us to carry
on the mission of Christ to bring forgiveness, reconciliation and
salvation to this spiritually lost and dying world.
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)?
Ash Wednesday Lent B
First Posted February
25, 2009;
Podcast: Ash Wednesday - Lent B
Joel 2:12-19;
Psalm 51:1-13;
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:2;
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21;
Joel Paraphrase:
“'Yet even now,' says the Lord, 'return to me with
all your hearts, with fasting, with weeping, and
with mourning, and rend your hearts and not your garments.
Return to the Lord, your God, for he his gracious and
merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and repents of evil'” (punishment; Joel 2:12-13). Who
wouldn't repent and praise the Lord and leave an offering
for the Lord our God?
Declare a sacred fasting with the sound of the trumpet in
Zion (God's Holy hill; the people of God; the Church).
Gather the people in a solemn assembly, and consecrate the
congregation, the elders, and the children, even nursing
babies. Let even the bride and groom leave their marriage
celebration.
Fill the entire sanctuary, from vestibule to altar, with
the weeping and mourning of the priests, the ministers of
the Lord. Let them entreat the Lord to spare his people,
and not make his heritage a reproach and the subject of
shame and ridicule among the Gentiles. Why should the
Gentiles taunt them, asking where their God is?
The Lord became zealous and had pity for his people. The
Lord answered their plea and promised to satisfy them with
grain, wine and oil, and declared that they would no
longer be reproached by the Gentiles.
Psalm Paraphrase:
The penitential psalm of David, after he had been
confronted by Nathan the prophet for David's adultery with
Bath-sheba.
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love;
according to thy abundant mercy blot out my
transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and
cleanse me from my sin” Psalm 51:1-2).
I am constantly aware of my sin and my transgressions.
Against you have I sinned and done evil in your judgment.
Your verdict is just and your judgment is blameless.
Remember that I was conceived and born into sin and
wickedness.
I know that you desire truth in our innermost selves, so
teach me (divine) wisdom in my heart. “Purge me with
hyssop* and I shall be clean; wash me, and I will be
whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7). Let me again know joy and
gladness; after my punishment, restore me to rejoicing
once more. Don't keep remembering my sins; blot them out.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and
right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy
presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me. Restore to
me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing
(generous; magnanimous; sovereign) spirit” (Psalm
51:10-12).
Then I will be able and will try to instruct sinners
and urge them to return to obedient trust in you.
2 Corinthians Paraphrase:
Christians are called to be ambassadors for Christ. We are
the agents through whom God makes his appeal. In Christ's
behalf, we urge others to be reconciled with God. God made
his sinless Son bear our sin, so that through him we might
attain the righteousness of God.
In cooperation with the Lord, we urge everyone not to
waste the grace of God which is offered to us. At the
right time the Lord has heard our prayers and seen our
need, and has answered us with salvation. Listen! Today is
the right time; today is the day of salvation.
Matthew Paraphrase:
Jesus warns us not to adopt the outward appearance of
piety, or to participate in religious ritual to impress
other people. If we do, that will be our only reward, and
we will receive no reward from God our Father in heaven.
We are not to be ostentatious when we make charitable
contributions. We are not to be like hypocrites who call
attention to their to their acts of charity in church and
in the world, in order to be praised by people, because
then that is their only reward. When we give for charity
we should do so privately, so that our own left hand
doesn't know what our right hand is doing. Then God our
Father, who knows what is done in secret, will reward us.
Let us not pray like hypocrites who love to pray
ostentatiously in Church and on street corners, to be seen
and praised by other people. That will be all that they
accomplish. When we pray, let us go into our room and
close the door, and pray to God our Father privately, and
God, who knows what is done in private, will hear and
reward us.
When we fast, we should not be ostentatious in our fasting
to impress other people like hypocrites do. Instead of an
outward show of fasting through clothing or appearance, we
should fast inwardly, and outwardly appear as normal, so
that only the Lord knows that we are fasting. Then the
Lord who knows the inner thoughts and attitudes of our
hearts will see and reward us.
Let us not desire and pursue earthly rewards like wealth,
power, success, and lusts of the flesh, because they are
temporal and transient. They appear substantial, but they
can be lost in the blink of an eye. They have no value
beyond our physical lifetime. Instead let us desire and
pursue heavenly treasure: forgiveness, restoration to
fellowship with God, salvation from eternal condemnation,
divine, eternal truth, divine love, and true eternal
life. These things are eternal. If we love the
things of this world our hearts will be anchored here; but
if we love the things of God's eternal kingdom we will be
just travelers passing through this world on our way to
our eternal Promised Land in heaven.
Commentary:
Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Church season
of Lent: forty days (not counting Sundays) of
self-examination, confession, and repentance in
preparation for Easter. It is appropriate for the Church
to call its members and all people to examine ourselves,
confess our sin (disobedience of God's Word), turn from
pursuing our own will and desires, and turn or return to
the Lord in obedient trust.
We are all sinners who fall short of God's righteousness
(Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). We have all been born into
sin and wickedness, through our human flesh (Psalm 51:5).
The penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). Jesus
is God's one and only provision for our forgiveness and
salvation (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the only way to know
divine eternal truth, the only to be restored to
fellowship with God which was broken by sin, and the only
way to have true, eternal life (John 14:6; see God's Plan
of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home).
God knows all about us and everything we have done, even
what we thought we were doing in private. God knows our
innermost thoughts and desires. God is offering us
forgiveness of all our sins, if we will turn to him with
all our hearts. But he is not fooled by outward
appearance, by words, or by religious ritual. When we
truly return to the Lord, our Creator, he will receive us
with zealous love and will bless us, and provide us with
all our spiritual needs in abundance (and we will have our
material necessities as well; Matthew 6:31-33). Ultimately
we will be vindicated over those who reproach and ridicule
us.
God has had mercy on us and steadfast, unwavering love for
us. He has provided a way to blot out all our
transgressions and cleanse us from all our sin,
through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ. God
has provided a way to create a clean heart within each of
us and give us a new and right spirit through 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). The gift
of the indwelling Holy Spirit is a personally and
individually discernible ongoing event (Acts 19:2).
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ
(Romans 8:9) within us by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus.
We experience the presence of God and Jesus Christ within
us by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Through the indwelling
Holy Spirit we experience the joy of our Lord's presence
and of our salvation by the Lord. The Holy Spirit guides,
empowers, and will uphold us until the Day of Christ's
return.
Jesus
has promised to give his disciples the gift of the
indwelling Holy
Spirit, and we are to seek for and await it within the
Church (the New
Jerusalem; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8). Only then are we to
go into the
world to proclaim the Gospel ("good news") of forgiveness,
reconciliation with God, and salvation through Jesus
Christ. We are to
be ambassadors of God's eternal kingdom.
God has offered his forgiveness and salvation by grace (as
a free gift) to be received through faith (obedient trust)
in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). Christians (Jesus'
“born-again” disciples; John 3:3, 5-8; Acts 11:26c) urge
all people everywhere to accept the grace of God which is
offered to all. Jesus' disciples are to make born-again
disciples of and for Jesus Christ, and to teach them to
trust and obey all that Jesus, by word and example, taught
(Matthew 28:19-20). The kind of offering the Lord desires,
that we can give, in praise and gratitude for our
salvation, is to make the effort to extend the
salvation that we have received and experienced to others
who are spiritually lost and perishing (Psalm 51:13).
Today is the day of salvation. We have no control over the
past, and we have no assurance of tomorrow. Today is the
day to receive the grace of God, forgiveness, salvation
and eternal life. The moment that we die our eternal
destiny is fixed and unchangeable.
Note well that salvation is not by church membership, and
not by participation in some church ritual, like baptism
or the Lord's Supper (Holy Communion; Eucharist).
Salvation is not by doing “good deeds.” Singing in the
choir, or teaching Sunday School won't save us. Salvation
cannot be deserved, earned or purchased, or taken by force
or deception (note Matthew 7:21-27).
Salvation is the free gift of God by grace (unmerited
favor), to be received by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus
Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). Only a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ, by the gift of the indwelling Holy
Spirit will save us only through obedient trust in Jesus.
Remember that those who are humble, who realize and
acknowledge that they are spiritually needy, who mourn at
the fallen spiritual condition of this world, who long for
the righteousness of God, who are merciful, who long for
purity of heart, who strive to make peace among all, and
who are persecuted now for Jesus and the Gospel are the
ones who are and will be blessed (Matthew 5:3-9).
But woe to those who are rich, comfortable, well-fed,
satisfied, well-regarded and enjoying life now (Luke
6:24-26). Those who do not recognize and acknowledge
that they are spiritually sick and dying cannot appreciate
and receive the healing and salvation which only Jesus can
provide (Luke 5:31).
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)?
*Hyssop: a herbaceous plant first mentioned in the Bible (Exodus 12:22) to be used to apply the blood of the sacrificial Passover Lamb to the lintel and doorpost of the Israelites' houses in Egypt to distinguish them, so that the destroying angel would “pass over” them when God destroyed the firstborn of the Egyptians, in order to gain the Israelites' release from slavery to the Egyptians.
Thursday Lent B
First Posted February 26, 2009;
Podcast: Thursday - Lent B
Psalm 6 -- Prayer for Help in Tribulation;
Turn and save me, Lord. By your steadfast love, deliver me. The dead have no remembrance of you; they cannot praise you from the grave.
I am worn out with sorrow. My bed is flooded with my tears. My eyes are weary and weak from grief because of my enemies.
Depart from me all workers of wickedness, because the Lord has heard my weeping and my supplication. The Lord has accepted my prayer. My enemies will stop troubling me; it is they who will be troubled. They will quickly be put to shame.
Commentary:
Those who have taken refuge in the Lord in times of trouble learn that the Lord is the best possible refuge. When trouble comes, friends disappear. They cannot understand and have no desire to listen to our troubles. They are really unable to help.
We will all encounter troubles in life. How we deal with those troubles is important. The world says, “Try, try again.” That can lead to making the same mistake over and over. We may eventually succeed in what we're trying, but worldly success is of no eternal value.
If trials cause us to re-examine our lives and turn to the Lord for help we will find that he is accessible when we need him, he knows and cares about our situation and he can truly help. We will learn from experience that the Lord is faithful, and completely able to bring us through or deliver us from trouble. He gives us the strength to endure, and the promise of deliverance and vindication.
When we have been “born-again (John 3:3, 5-8), filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit, we have a personal relationship with the Lord. When we pray we can feel and know with certainty that he hears us and knows our situation. The Lord comforts and encourages us. Our faith grows as we experience his faithfulness and power to deliver and restore us.
This lifetime is our opportunity to seek the Lord (Acts 17:26-27), and if we earnestly seek him, he will allow us to find him (1 Chronicles 28:9c). If we trust and obey him, he will reveal himself to us (John 14:21). This lifetime is our opportunity to learn to trust and obey our Lord and to learn by experience that he is faithful and powerful to keep us safe and bring us through.
This lifetime is our only opportunity to be spiritually “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8), and this is only possible through 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 “anointing” (“baptism;” gift) is a discernible and ongoing event (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).
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)? Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Friday Lent B
First posted February 27, 2009;
Podcast: Friday - Lent B
Genesis 22:1-18 -- Abraham Tested;
Romans 8:31-39 -- Assurance;
Genesis Paraphrase:
God tested Abraham's faith (obedient trust). God called Abraham and told him to take Isaac, Abraham's only heir, through whom God's promise to Abraham was to be fulfilled, and offer him as a burnt offering on a mountain in Moriah which God would show Abraham. So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, cut wood for the fire, took two of his servants and his son Isaac, and went to the land of Moriah.
On the third day they could see the mountain in the distance. Abraham left his donkey with his servants, gave Isaac the wood for the burnt offering, and Abraham carried the fire-making equipment and the knife. So Abraham and Isaac set off for the mountaintop.
On the way, Isaac said to his father that they had everything for the sacrifice except for the sacrificial lamb. Abraham replied that “God would provide himself the lamb for the burnt offering” (Genesis 22:8).
When they arrived on the mountaintop Abraham built an altar, arranged the wood on it, then bound Isaac and laid him on the wood, and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel (Spirit) of the Lord called to Abraham, and told him not to harm Isaac. God knew that Abraham feared (had appropriate awe and respect for the power and authority of) God, since Abraham had been willing to offer his only son of the promise as a sacrifice to God.
Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by his horns in a thicket. Abraham took the ram and offered it as the burnt offering to God instead of Isaac. Abraham named that place “the Lord will provide (or see)” because the Lord had provided (or seen).
The angel of the Lord called to Abraham again, and said that because Abraham had not withheld his only son, God would keep his promise to bless Abraham and multiply his descendants so that they would be as numerous and uncountable as the stars in heaven or the sands of the seashore. By Abraham's descendants all the nations of earth would be blessed, because Abraham had obeyed God's voice.
Romans Paraphrase:
God is working for good for those who love him, to conform us to the image of his Son, so that we can share in the resurrection and the eternal inheritance with Jesus (Romans 8:28-29).
How shall we respond to this? “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him” (Romans 8:31-32)? Who is there to accuse us? It is God who justifies (the opposite of condemning); who will condemn us? Jesus Christ died, was raised from physical death, and is at the right hand of God, interceding for us, so who can separate us from the love of Christ? Nothing in this world, not tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril or sword, can separate us from Christ's love.
God's Word declares that his people are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered all day long (Psalm 44:22), but we are more than conquerors because of the love of God in Christ Jesus. We can be certain that nothing in all creation, not life nor death, not angels nor any other supernatural beings, not circumstances now or in the future, not height nor depth, nothing at all “can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Commentary:
When we respond to God's call, God will test our faith before he gives us the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (but note that God will never ask us to do anything contrary to the Bible, or which will harm ourselves or others). He wants to be sure that we will trust and obey his guidance (Isaiah 42:5e; Luke 6:46). The gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit is an unrepeatable event. Once we have been spiritually “reborn” (John 3:3, 5-8), if we deliberately, consciously (not just a momentary lapse in obedience) turn away from obedient trust there is no way to restore us again (Hebrews 6:4-6).
God's testing of Abraham was intended to foreshadow God's own sacrifice of his Son “of the promise,” Jesus Christ. Jesus has been designed into Creation from the very beginning (John 1:1-5, 14). God has designed this Creation to allow us the freedom to choose whether to obey God or not, but he will not tolerate rebellion and disobedience forever, or at all in his eternal heavenly kingdom. So God has limited this Creation and ourselves by time. From the fall of mankind because of sin (disobedience of God's Word; Genesis 3:1-7), God has been progressively revealing his provision for our forgiveness and salvation from eternal destruction, which is the penalty for sin (Genesis 3:3; Romans 6:23; see God's Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home) beginning in Genesis 3:14-15).
Abraham's faith had grown as he began trusting and obeying God's Word, from the time that God told him to leave his home and relatives and go to a new land God promised to show Abraham (Abram; Genesis 12:1-7). As he believed what God promised and did what God asked him to do, he learned that God's Word is absolutely reliable and trustworthy.
Abraham, had grown spiritually from the time when he thought he had to help God give him an heir by taking his wife's maid as a concubine (Genesis 16:1-4a). Now God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son and heir, and Abraham was willing to trust and obey God's Word. He believed that God could still fulfill his promise, through another son (although Isaac had been conceived by Sarah and Abraham when they were past childbearing age) or by raising Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19).
Isaac's sacrifice was specifically intended by God to prefigure and illustrate God's sacrifice of his only begotten Son on the cross. God did in effect provide himself as the sacrifice for us, since the whole fullness of God dwelt bodily in Jesus (Colossians 2:8-9). Jesus is God in human form (John 14:8-11; John 20:28). His word is the Word of God (John 14:10, 24) with the creative force of God's Word (Mark 4:37-41; Genesis 1:3, 9).
Jesus is God's only plan, the only sacrifice acceptable to God, for forgiveness of our sins and salvation from eternal destruction (Acts 4:12), once for all time and for all people who are willing to accept it by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus (Hebrews 7:26-27). Jesus is the only way to know divine eternal truth, the only way to be restored to fellowship with God, which was broken by sin, and the only way to have eternal life (John 14:6; see God's Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home).
Jesus teaches that one must be “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) in order to see the kingdom of heaven, which is all around us now, and to see it ultimately and enter it in eternity. Only Jesus gives the gift (“baptism;” “anointing;” “infilling”) 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). The infilling of the Holy Spirit within us is a discernible ongoing event. We don't need to rely on the word of some religious authority as to whether we have been “reborn;” they should be asking us (Acts 19:2).
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 Lent B
First Posted February 28, 2009;
Podcast: Saturday - Lent B
Then, after John the Baptizer had been imprisoned, Jesus came into Galilee and started proclaiming the Gospel of God, saying that God's perfect timing had been fulfilled, that the kingdom of God was at hand and that people should repent and believe in the Gospel.
Commentary:
This is the Church season of Lent: forty days from Ash Wednesday (not counting Sundays) of fasting and self-examination leading to Easter. It is our time of “testing” by God, as Jesus and Israel were tested in the wilderness.
Jesus' forty days in the wilderness recalls the forty years that Israel wandered in the wilderness, learning to trust and obey God's Word and guidance. Israel could have entered the Promised Land directly, but they didn't trust God's Word.
Moses sent twelve scouts, one from each tribe, to scout the Promised Land (Numbers 13:1-24. The scouts returned after forty days, and of them only two, Joshua and Caleb brought back a favorable report (Numbers 13:25-33). The Israelites wanted to return to Egypt (Numbers 14:1-4). God declared that none of the adults of the people would enter the Promised Land except Joshua and Caleb, because the people had refused to trust and obey God's Word to enter and possess it (Numbers 14:20-24).
Then the people tried to enter it on their own and were repelled by the people of the land (Numbers 14:39-45). The adults of the people died in the wilderness during the forty years of wandering, except for Joshua and Caleb.
We are all in slavery to sin and death in the “Egypt” of this world. Jesus is the only “Moses” who can lead us out of that bondage (Hebrews 2:14-15), through the wilderness of this lifetime, and the only “Joshua” (“Jesus” is the Greek form of the Hebrew name, “Joshua” or “Jeshua”) who will lead us through the “river” of physical death and into the eternal Promised Land of God's kingdom in Heaven.
Jesus is the only way, the door, into the Promised Land of God's eternal kingdom (John 14:6; 10:7-10). Since his appearing, announced by John the Baptizer, he is the revelation of God's “anointed” (Messiah and Christ each mean “anointed,” in Hebrew and Greek) Savior and eternal King. Jesus is the Gospel of God, the “good news” of forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and salvation from eternal destruction Acts 4:12; see God's Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home).
Jesus is at hand. Jesus is alive and present in this world. As we hear his Gospel, his word, his invitation to repent and believe in him, we must accept that invitation. Today is the right time; today is day of salvation. Today when we hear his call we must respond in faith (obedient trust). We can't do anything about our past, and we cannot be certain of our future beyond today. Will we trust and obey Jesus to bring us into the eternal promised land, or will we reject Jesus and die eternally in the “wilderness”?
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)?
