Week
of 22 Pentecost - 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,
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The daily readings are the Propers (Lections) for the following
Sunday, so that the daily devotions can prepare us for worship.
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Church of America, General Rubrics VIII. Scripture lessons for
Matins and Vespers, p. 299 - 304, Philadelphia, 1918.
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Podcast Download: Week of 22 Pentecost - B
Sunday
22 Pentecost - B
First Posted
November 1, 2009;
Podcast: Sunday 22 Pentecost_B
Isaiah 53:10-12 -- The Suffering Servant;
Psalm 91:9-16 -- Our Refuge;
Hebrews 4:9-16 -- God’s Promised Rest;
Mark 10:35-45 -- True Greatness;
Isaiah Paraphrase:
God declared through Isaiah, his prophet, the
promise of the Messiah, the suffering servant who would be the
Savior of and intercessor for God’s people. It was God’s will that
the Messiah suffer and die as the one and only sacrifice
acceptable to God for the forgiveness of our sin (disobedience of
God’s Word). God promised that the suffering servant would see his
spiritual offspring, and have long (eternal) life as the reward
for his obedience to God’s will and purpose. God’s will and
purpose will be successfully fulfilled in his servant. He will see
the fruit of his suffering and will be satisfied.
By his (divine) knowledge, the righteous
servant will make many accounted righteous (in God’s judgment),
and the servant will pay the ransom for their sins. Because of his
obedience, God will reward his servant with greatness, and the
servant will share his reward with the (spiritually) strong, [who
endure and persevere in faith (obedient trust) in the servant
(Jesus Christ)]. The servant accepted suffering, death and
dishonor, being judged as a criminal, so that he could pay the
penalty for our sin, and make intercession to God for our
forgiveness and salvation (from eternal condemnation and death).
Psalm Paraphrase:
God promises that those who take refuge in him
will be protected from evil and danger. God will give his angels
to protect God’s people. God’s protection will keep them from
stumbling, and give them power over the spiritual young lions and
snakes of this world.
Because God’s servant trusts and obeys God in
love, God will deliver him. God will protect his servant because
his servant knows God’s name (God’s person and character). God
will answer when his servant calls (see Conditions for Answered
Prayer, sidebar, top right, home), will be with him in troubles,
will rescue and honor him, will reveal his salvation to him and
give him long (eternal) life.
Hebrews Paraphrase:
God has created a day of rest for his people.
God ceased his labor on the Sabbath, and we must also cease ours
on the Sabbath in order to enter into God’s rest. The Israelites
who disobeyed God’s Word in the wilderness were forbidden to enter
into the Sabbath rest of God’s people in the Promised Land.
We must be careful not to lose our chance for
rest by the same sort of disobedience. “For the Word of God is
living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to
the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and
discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews
4:12). In our examination by the Lord on the Day of Judgment, no
one will be able to conceal anything; he will know every detail of
our lives, our every thought and intention, and we will be
accountable to him.
Jesus, the Son of God, is our great High
Priest, who has ascended into heaven, so let us hold on to our
“confession;” our obedient trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior,
as our intercessor in God’s presence. Jesus has experienced every
trial and temptation we might face, but without sinning (note that
Satan used Isaiah 53:11-12 to tempt the Lord in the wilderness;
Matthew 4:6-7), so he is able to sympathize with us, and is able
to save us and give us power over temptation, so that we can
successfully resist. So we can and should come to his “throne of
grace” where we can receive mercy (undeserved forgiveness) and
grace (unmerited favor) to help us when we are in need.
Mark Paraphrase:
Jesus and his disciples were on their way to
Jerusalem where Jesus knew he would be crucified, and on the way,
he told his disciples, for the third time (Mark 8:31, 9:31;
10:32-34), plainly, of his impending crucifixion. James and John
were members of Jesus’ inner circle of disciples, but they were
preoccupied with their worldly concept of status and success, and
failed to hear and understand what Jesus was saying. They wanted
to be among the ruling elite in God’s eternal kingdom.
Jesus asked them if they were able to share the
same “cup” (destiny), and the same “baptism” (divine commission;
calling). They replied that they were able, but they hadn’t yet
understood what that cup and baptism would require. Jesus told
them that they would share the same cup and baptism (as will all
disciples), but that wouldn’t give them special status and power
in God’s kingdom.
Jesus called the rest of the disciples to
gather around, and Jesus told them that greatness in God’s kingdom
is not based on worldly concepts. Worldly rulers expect to be
served, but greatness in God’s kingdom is based on servanthood,
exemplified in Jesus, who came to serve us, rather than to be
served. Jesus came to take our sins upon himself and die for them
to ransom us from the penalty of our sin (the penalty is eternal
death; Romans 6:23).
Commentary:
Jesus Christ has been God’s only provision for
our forgiveness and salvation from the very beginning of Creation,
and has been "built into" the structure of Creation (John 1:1-5,
14). God has been progressively revealing that plan to us, first
in Creation, then in the Bible, then in Jesus Christ, the “living
Word,” (Messiah; both words mean “anointed” in Greek and Hebrew,
respectively), and ultimately, in the gift 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; see God’s Plan of Salvation,
sidebar, top right, home).
The whole chapter of Isaiah 53 is messianic
prophecy, revealed over five hundred years before the birth of
Jesus, and which was perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus
became the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for the forgiveness of
our sins, once for all time and all people, provided that we
accept it by faith (obedient trust). “Born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8)
disciples are his spiritual “offspring” and the “fruit” of Jesus’
travail.
Jesus imparts divine knowledge to his disciples
who trust and obey him. God’s Word is divine knowledge, unlike
false, worldly “knowledge.” Jesus not only teaches the knowledge
of God in the sense of information and wisdom, but in the sense of
personal acquaintance, in the revelation of God’s character and
person, in Jesus’ example, and ultimately and individually in his
indwelling Holy Spirit, through whom we have personal knowledge of
and fellowship with Jesus and God the Father (John 14:21-24).
Jesus is the name (and the character and person) of God in human
flesh (Colossians 2:8-9; John 20:28).
God has rewarded his servant, Jesus Christ,
with greatness; Jesus’ name is above every other name in heaven
and on earth (Acts 4:12; Ephesians 1:20-22; Philippians 2:9-10)
and God has given Jesus authority over all things in heaven and on
earth (Matthew 28:18). Jesus shares his eternal inheritance with
his disciples who trust and obey Jesus. Jesus was sinless, but he
was condemned by the religious leaders of his time for sin, and
was punished by crucifixion as a sinner, between two robbers
(Matthew 27:38).
God’s Word is eternal, and is fulfilled over
and over as the conditions for its fulfillment are met. Isaiah’s
prophecy was perfectly fulfilled by Jesus, but it is also
fulfilled in Jesus’ disciples as they trust and obey Jesus. We are
called to be suffering servants, and as we do so, we receive the
promises of God’s Word.
God’s Word is “living” and “active.” God’s
Word, unlike the word of humans, has creative force; God’s Word is
the Word by which the world was created (Genesis 1:3) and is
sustained. Jesus is the living Word of God, who is eternally
alive. God’s Word is the sword of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is going to return on the Day of Judgment
to judge the physically and spiritually living and dead (Matthew
25:31-46). Everyone who has ever lived will be accountable to him
(John 5:28-29), and the standard of judgment will be God’s Word,
fulfilled, embodied and exemplified in Jesus Christ. Jesus knows
every detail of our lives (John 2:25; John 1:47-51; 4:16-19).
Jesus knows our every sin, and yet he offers abundant mercy and
grace, the forgiveness of all our sins. Jesus will either be our
Savior or our Judge and executioner (but we condemn ourselves by
unbelief; John 3:16-18).
Believers are called to be disciples of Jesus
Christ, to accept the “cup” and “baptism” of the suffering
servant, to complete the mission of Christ to bring salvation from
eternal condemnation to a lost and dying world. What kind of
“disciples” will we be? Will we be distracted by worldly concepts
and pursuit of worldly status and success, and miss the “call” and
“anointing” the Lord has for us; or will we produce spiritual
“offspring,” “fruit” for salvation, and share in the eternal life
and inheritance of Jesus Christ in God’s heavenly “Promised Land,”
the place of Sabbath rest from the struggle in the battlefield of
this world? Will we fight the good fight of faith in this world,
so that we can find rest in eternity, or will we pursue comfort
and pleasure now, and spend eternity in misery and agony in Hell?
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 22 Pentecost - B (Variable)
First Posted November 2, 2009
Podcast: Monday 22 Pentecost_B
Psalm 126 -- Bringing in the Sheaves;
Paraphrase:
The Psalmist recalled how God restored the
fortunes of Zion, (the remnant of Israel; after Judah’s seventy
year captivity in Babylon). The exiles were filled with joy; they
had longed for their return to their land for so long that they
thought they must be dreaming. God was glorified among the nations
for his great act of restoration for his people. The Psalmist
acknowledged the great things God has done for his people.
The people of God were again in need of
restoration. The Psalmist asked God to again bless and restore his
people; that the “desert” of their present circumstances would be
transformed by the “river” of God’s blessings. God’s people sow
God’s Word with tears, but they will rejoice in the harvest, and
they will return to the Lord of the harvest, bringing the “fruit”
of their sowing with them.
Commentary:
Being God’s people doesn’t remove us from
trials and hardships in this lifetime. Serving the Lord is going
to require sacrifice and labor. As we begin to follow the Lord, he
will show us that he can bring us through those trials and
hardships. So we grow in faith (obedient trust), and when the
going is tough, we are sustained and encouraged by recalling the
Lord’s faithfulness and past deliverance and restoration.
We are called to be “sowers” of God’s Word, the
Gospel (“good news”) of Jesus Christ. First we must obtain good
“seed;” we must be discipled in the Church by mature “born-again”
disciples until we are also “born-again” by the gift of the
indwelling Holy Spirit. We have to know the Word of God: the
Bible, and the “living Word,” Jesus Christ, the fulfillment,
embodiment and example of God’s Word in human life.
I’m totally convinced that the meaning and
purpose of this lifetime is to seek and come to a personal
knowledge of and fellowship with God (Acts 17:26-27), and this is
only possible through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see
God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home). Jesus died on
the cross once, for all time and all people, as the only
sacrifice, acceptable to God for the forgiveness of our sins
(disobedience of God’s Word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). Our
forgiveness makes it possible to be restored to fellowship with
God, and those who trust and obey Jesus receive the gift of the
indwelling Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God
(Romans 8:9) who 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 river of “living
water” (John 7:37-38), which flows out into the spiritual desert
of this world from the hearts of Jesus’ “born-again” disciples and
gives true (eternal) life to those who are willing to receive
Jesus. Jesus is the source of that river. Christians are to be
channels of “living water” to those who are dying of spiritual
thirst. The people around us will see our transformation and
restoration by the indwelling Holy Spirit, and God will be
glorified.
Christians are by definition “born-again” (John
3:3, 5-8) “disciples” of Jesus Christ (Acts 11:26). 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). We are to sow the seed of the Gospel and the Holy
Spirit working through us will produce the harvest. We cannot
accomplish Christ’s mission without having received and
experienced the full and accurate Gospel, and without the personal
relationship, guidance, and empowerment of the Holy Spirit within
us.
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 22 Pentecost - B (Variable)
First Posted November 3, 2009;
Podcast: Tuesday 22 Pentecost_B
Jeremiah 31:7-9 -- Return and Restoration;
Paraphrase:
Jeremiah was a prophet in the Southern Kingdom
of Judah from 627 to 560 B.C. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had
been conquered by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. and effectively ceased
to exist. Judah became the remnant of Israel, the people of God.
Jeremiah warned Judah that punishment was going to come upon them
because of their idolatry and disobedience of God’s Word, but
despite the warnings of the prophets and the example of the
destruction of the Northern Kingdom, Judah didn’t repent. Jeremiah
prophesied that Judah would be captive in Babylon for seventy
years, but that a remnant would return to the Promised Land.
Commentary:
Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled. Judah was
taken captive to Babylon by King Nebuchadrezzar (Nebuchadnezzar)
in 587 B.C. and returned in 517 B.C., after seventy years. The
Lord brought a remnant back “from the north country” (Babylon) to
the Promised Land as he had promised. God promised to bring them
back from the farthest corners of the world. They would return
with weeping (for joy) and with consolations. The Lord promised to
lead them beside brooks of water, and in a straight path in which
they would not stumble (compare Psalm 23:2-3). The Lord is the
father of Israel, and regards “Ephraim” as his first born.
Ephraim, the second son of Joseph, had received
his grandfather, Jacob’s, blessing which belonged to the firstborn
(his brother, Manasseh; Genesis 41:51-52; 46:20; 48:10-14). Judah
was not “entitled” to God’s grace (unmerited favor), but God chose
to make Judah, the remnant of Israel, his “firstborn.”
Those of his people who went into exile because
of sin (disobedience of God’s Word) and idolatry (loving any thing
or person as much as or more than God) died in Babylon; seventy
years is a life sentence for any adult at the time of the
deportation. The people who returned were a renewed people.
Judah was to have learned to trust and obey the
Lord during the exile in Babylon, and so be willing to be led by
the Lord in straight paths without stumbling. God spared and
restored the remnant of Israel so that his plan of salvation
through Jesus Christ could continue and be fulfilled. God is able
and faithful to fulfill his promises without our help or
cooperation. But we will bear the consequences and lose the
blessing God wants us to have, unless we cooperate with his will.
The history of God’s dealings with Israel is
intended to be a parable, a metaphor for life in this world.
Babylon represents the exile to Hell of those who refuse to trust
and obey God’s Word. But God is also able to restore his people
and bring them back to his eternal Promised Land, if they learn to
trust and obey his Word in this lifetime. When we die physically,
our destiny is fixed for all eternity; there’s no way of coming
back from Hell.
Judah should have learned from the example of
the fall of the Northern Kingdom. Because Judah didn’t learn from
God’s Word proclaimed by God’s prophets and the history and
example of God’s dealing with the Northern Kingdom, Judah had to
experience God’s condemnation for themselves.
This lifetime is our “exile” from God’s eternal
kingdom. The meaning and purpose of this lifetime is to seek and
find God (Acts 17:26-27) and to learn by trial and error to trust
and obey him. Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for our
salvation from the eternal “Babylon” of Hell (Acts 4:12) and our
restoration to the “Promised Land” of God’s eternal kingdom (John
14:6).
We need to learn to be led by Jesus. As we
begin to follow Jesus with the commitment to trust and obey him,
he gives us the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, through whom
we are “reborn” (John 3:3, 5-8) to spiritual, eternal life. Only
Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only his
disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy
Spirit within us will guide us in straight paths and keep us from
stumbling.
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 22 Pentecost - B (Variable)
First Posted November 4, 2009;
Podcast: Wednesday 22 Pentecost_B
Hebrews 5:1-10 -- The Great High Priest;
Paraphrase:
The author contrasts Jesus Christ with Judaism.
Human priests are humans chosen and appointed to be mediators
between men and God; to present offerings and gifts to God on
their behalf. Since they share human weakness they have empathy
for those who sin, because the human priests also sin, and human
priests must offer sacrifices for their own sins as well as those
of the people. Priests cannot assume the office of priesthood by
their own initiative or worthiness, but must be called by God, as
Aaron (high priest of Moses) was.
Likewise Jesus did not exalt himself to the
office of priesthood, but he was called by God, in fulfillment of
God’s Word. The verse in Psalms where God declared Jesus his Son,
whom he had begotten, was fulfilled at Jesus’ baptism by John the
baptizer (Luke 3:21-22). God’s Word also declared him an eternal
priest, after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4; Genesis
14:17-20).
During Jesus’ physical life and earthly
ministry Jesus offered up prayers and supplication with loud cries
and tears to God who was able to save him from death, and God
heard him because of Jesus’ “godly fear” (awe and respect for the
power and authority of God; Mark 14:32-42). Although Jesus was the
Son of God, God allowed him to suffer in order that Jesus would
learn obedience and trust in God’s Word. So Jesus became
completely obedient and thus “the source of eternal salvation to
all who obey him,” (i.e. Jesus; Hebrews 5:9), having been made, by
God, our eternal high priest forever, after the order of
Melchizedek.
Commentary:
Christian ministers must be called and anointed
by God 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). People can choose “Christian” ministry
as a career, but unless they are “reborn” (John 3:3, 5-8), by
obedient trust in Jesus and the “anointing” of the indwelling Holy
Spirit they cannot make “born-again” disciples of Jesus Christ, or
accomplish the mission and ministry of Christ.
Melchizedek was a king of Salem (i.e.
Jerusalem) and priest of God Most High (Genesis 14:18; the Lord
God of Israel), “the maker of heaven and earth.” Abram (later
named Abraham, the Patriarch) had defeated an alliance of four
kings and their armies with a small force of men, and on his
return Melchizedek went out to meet Abram in the Valley Shaveh
(the Valley of the Kings), bringing bread and wine, and blessed
Abram and praised God for giving Abram victory over his enemies
(Genesis 14:19-20). Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything
he had recovered from his enemies (Genesis 14:16).
Melchizedek is the forerunner and illustration
of Christ. He was King of Salem (meaning “Peace”) and King of
Righteousness (the translation of his name; Hebrews 7:2). He was
also the high priest of God Most High; creator of heaven and earth
(the God of Israel). He met Abram, who had conquered his enemies
by faith in God, in the Valley of the Kings, bringing bread and
wine, as a feast of celebration of the victory and praise to God.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophetic image
of Melchizedek. Since Melchizedek has neither family, nor birth
nor death recorded in scripture he therefore is, symbolically,
eternal (Hebrews 7:3). The early kings of Israel were both king
and priest as was Melchizedek. Jesus is the fulfillment of the
prophecy of an eternal priest-king. The vision of Melchizedek
bringing a sacrificial offering of bread and wine, celebrating God
giving us victory over our earthly enemies against great odds, is
fulfilled in the Lord’s Supper.
Jesus struggled with the call of God upon him
to trust and obey God’s Word even unto great physical suffering
and death on the Cross. As he headed toward Jerusalem where he
knew he would be crucified he tried to prepare his disciples for
what would happen, telling them three times that he would die, and
after three days rise again (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:32:34). His
disciples unknowingly and unintentionally added to Jesus’
temptation to turn aside from God’s will and call (Mark 8:32-33).
Jesus knew his betrayal and arrest would take
place at Gethsemane that night, and he went there with his
disciples to wait for it. While he waited, he prayed with great
anguish, asking God, if possible, for Jesus to be saved from his
destiny, but accepting, in obedient trust, God’s will (Luke
22:39-46). His prayer was heard and answered. Jesus received the
grace and strength to trust and obey God’s will, and God delivered
him from physical death by raising him to eternal life.
Jesus’ obedience to God’s will shows us the way
to triumph over our spiritual enemies including death. His
resurrection demonstrates that there is existence after physical
death. Jesus has become our eternal priest, making intercession on
our behalf, once and for all, for the forgiveness of our sin
(disobedience of God’s Word) as we trust and obey Jesus. Jesus has
become the eternal Lord and King of God’s heavenly “Promised
Land.”
Jesus is Lord, whether we acknowledge him or
not. Jesus has received power and authority over all things in
heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). Jesus is going to return on
the Day of Judgment in great glory and power, and he will judge
everyone who has ever lived on earth; the physically and
spiritually living and dead. Those who have trusted and obeyed
Jesus will receive eternal life in the kingdom of God in heaven;
but those who have rejected Jesus and refused to trust and obey
him will receive eternal destruction in Hell with all evil (John
5:28-29; Matthew 25:31-46; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar,
top right, home)
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 22 Pentecost - B (Variable)
First Posted November 5, 2009;
Podcast: Thursday 22 Pentecost_B
Mark 10:46-52 -- Blind Bartimaeus;
Paraphrase:
Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, where he
knew he would be crucified. With his disciples and a large crowd
following, Jesus was leaving Jericho when he passed a blind man,
the son of Timaeus (“Bar-“ means “son of”), sitting at the side of
the road. Hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was passing, he called
out saying “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” (Mark 10:47).
People told him to be quiet, but he kept calling loudly.
Jesus had mercy on him and called him to come to Jesus. The crowd relayed the message, telling Bartimaeus to be encouraged. Bartimaeus jumped up and came to Jesus. Jesus asked the blind man what he wanted Jesus to do for him, and Bartimaeus asked Jesus to restore his vision. Jesus told him to go his way; the blind man’s faith had healed him. “And immediately Bartimaeus received his sight, and follow him (Jesus) on the way” (Mark 10:52b).
Commentary:
Bartimaeus was physically blind, but he was
aware that something special was happening along the road. When he
heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth passing by, he called out to
Jesus, addressing him as the “Son of David” (the Messiah; the
Christ; the eternal heir to the throne of David).
Bartimaeus was hoping and watching for the
promised Messiah. He undoubtedly knew from scripture that the
Messiah would heal the blind (Isaiah 29:18-19; 35:5-6; 61:1; Luke
4:16-21); this was a sign that would accompany the coming of the
Messiah. A blind man would certainly note that. Believing that
Jesus was the Messiah, he cried out in faith (obedient trust)
asking to be healed of his blindness. He didn’t let the attitude
of people around him discourage him, and he persisted; he kept
calling until Jesus answered.
When Jesus answered and invited him to come to
Jesus, Bartimaeus jumped up eagerly and came to Jesus. He didn’t
let his blindness prevent him from coming. When he came to Jesus
he knew that his need was for vision, and he asked Jesus to heal
it. Jesus commended his faith, and the man’s vision was restored.
Jesus told Bartimaeus that he could go on with his daily life, but
Bartimaeus used his healing to follow Jesus.
Jesus did many miracles of physical healing
(and feeding), but his real mission was to heal and feed us
spiritually; his physical miracles were to demonstrate that Jesus
can also heal and feed us spiritually, and to give us spiritual,
eternal life, through obedient trust in Jesus. In order to receive
spiritual healing we have to recognize our spiritual need and we
have to come to Jesus in trust that he can and wants to heal us.
We must begin to obey what he commands, with the commitment to use
that healing to be a disciple; a follower of Jesus’ teachings.
Timaeus means “defiled.”* Bartimaeus had been
born “defiled;” he was the son of one who was “defiled.” The “Son
of defiled” was calling on the “undefiled” (Hebrews 4:15) Son of
God to heal Bartimaeus’ “defilement.”
We are all born “sinners;” we share in the
“sinful nature” of our earthly father, Adam. All have sinned (sin
is disobedience of God’s Word) and fall short of God’s
righteousness (“right-doing” in God’s judgment; Romans 3:23; 1
John 1:8-10).
All of us are born spiritually blind, all of us
are born physically alive but dead spiritually, until we recognize
our spiritual need and turn to the only one who can heal us and
raise us from spiritual death to eternal life. Only Jesus can heal
us and save us from eternal condemnation and eternal death (Acts
4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right,
home).
To be spiritually, eternally alive, we must be
“reborn” by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 3:3,
5-8), now, during our physical lifetime. Only Jesus gives the gift
of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only to his
disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). 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 passing by! Do you notice? Do you
realize who he is?
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)?
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)?
*Easton’s Bible Dictionary, “Timaeus,” digital edition, bibledatabase.org - http://bibledatabase.org/eastons.html
Friday 22 Pentecost - B (Variable)
First Posted November 6, 2009;
Podcast: Friday 22 Pentecost_B
Proverbs 3:11-20 -- Divine Wisdom;
Philippians 1:3-11 -- Growing in Christ;
Proverbs Paraphrase:
We are exhorted not to despise the discipline
of the Lord, or to become tired of his correction of us. We are
reproved by the Lord as a son or daughter by the father who loves
them.
The man who finds (divine) wisdom and gets true
understanding will be glad, because they are worth more than gold
or silver. Wisdom is more valuable than jewels; nothing is more
desirable. Wisdom brings long life, riches and honor. The ways of
wisdom are pleasantness and peace. Wisdom is the tree whose fruit
gives life, and those who posses her will be truly happy.
Philippians Paraphrase:
Paul, the Apostle, was in prison for
proclaiming the Gospel. He was writing to the Christians in
Philippi, Macedonia, the first Christian congregation founded in Europe, by
Paul. Paul was continuing his “discipling” of the
Philippian Christians.
Paul gave thanks to God for their sharing in
the Gospel, and prayed in faith that the Lord who had begun
transforming them would bring them to spiritual maturity at the
“Day of Jesus Christ;” the Day of Judgment at Christ’s return.
Paul was confident of this because the Philippians had shared in
the grace (unmerited favor; blessings) of God in Paul’s
imprisonment, and in the “defense and confirmation of the Gospel”
(Philippians 1:7b).
Paul expressed his longing for the Philippian
Christians, and prayed that they would grow and abound in the love
and knowledge of Christ Jesus, “with all knowledge and
discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be
pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruits
of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and
praise of God" (Philippians 1:9-11).
Commentary:
Christians are called to be disciples of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We are to learn to live in obedient trust in
Jesus Christ in accordance with his teachings. God sent Jesus into
the world to show us how to live in obedient trust in God’s Word;
Jesus came to show us a better way to live, according to God’s
will, rather than according to the world and mankind’s sinful
nature.
Worldly ways are opposed to God’s way. What the
world seeks and calls “wisdom” is not true wisdom. The Wisdom of
God is true wisdom, by which the world was created (Proverbs
3:19-20; 1 Corinthians 1:17-25; 2:1-8). Jesus is the power and
wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). Jesus Christ has been God’s
plan for our forgiveness and salvation from eternal condemnation,
from the beginning of Creation (John 1:1-5, 14). Jesus is God’s
only way, God’s eternal truth, and the giver of true eternal life
(John 14:6).
Living according to Jesus’ way requires
discipline and self-denial, but the reward is true life now and
for eternity. On our own we don’t know what we truly want; what we
think we want doesn’t satisfy. As we surrender what we think we
want and do what the Lord wants we find what is truly satisfying
and eternal.
Paul 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.
Before Paul encountered the risen Spirit of Jesus on the Damascus
road (Acts 9:1-20), Paul (then known as Saul of Tarsus) was
pursuing what he thought he wanted and though God wanted, but he
wasn’t doing God’s will or what was Paul’s best interest. It
wasn’t until Paul surrendered his will to God’s will through Jesus
Christ that he found real life; real purpose and meaning in life.
Paul was transformed by the Holy Spirit as he
yielded his will and became obedient to the Holy Spirit, the
Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God (Romans 8:9). Paul became the
principal figure in the New Testament after his conversion. Paul
became the great Christian evangelist to the Gentiles (non-Jews).
Paul was obeying the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) which
Jesus gave to his disciples, to be carried out after they had been
“reborn” by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49;
Acts 1:4-5, 8), to make (“born-again”) disciples of Jesus Christ,
teaching them to obey all that Jesus taught.
Paul was teaching the disciples at Philippi to
grow spiritually to spiritual maturity by the guidance of the Holy
Spirit. God wants to train us to be his children by the motivation
of love rather than fear. God demonstrated that love by sending
his Son to die on the Cross for our sin (disobedience of God’s
Word) so that we wouldn’t have to die eternally for them
ourselves.
The indwelling Holy Spirit is the ultimate
expression of God’s love for us personally and individually. It is
the Holy Spirit through whom we feel the love of God for us and
through whom we can learn to express our love for God, when we
realize who he is and what he has done for us. Paul is the example
of that growth and transformation.
But the Lord is God whether we acknowledge him
or not. He wants us to respond to him in love rather than fear,
but if we refuse to accept and respond to his love we will receive
his condemnation. The fear of God is the appropriate awe and
respect for his authority and power. “The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight
(Proverbs 9:10, compare Ps 111:10).
Jesus is the Holy One. Jesus is the only One
who opens our minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45).
Jesus reveals the Wisdom of God to those who trust and obey Jesus.
Only through Jesus Christ, by the gift of his indwelling Holy
Spirit, can we come to personal knowledge of and fellowship with
Jesus Christ and God the Father (John 14:23).
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 22 Pentecost - B (Variable)
First Posted November 7, 2009;
Podcast: Saturday 22 Pentecost_B
Matthew 18:21-35 -- Forgiveness;
Paraphrase:
Peter asked Jesus how many times one must
forgive another. Was one to forgive as many as seven times? Not
just seven times but seventy times seven times, Jesus replied.
Jesus then said that the kingdom of heaven can
be compared to a king whose servants owed him money, and he
decided to settle his accounts. He summoned his servants and began
asking them what they owed. One servant owed him ten thousand
talents (a talent worth perhaps a thousand dollars). The servant
couldn’t pay, so the king ordered him sold, with his family and
possessions, to settle the account. But the servant knelt before
the king and begged him to have mercy on the servant, and the
servant promised to pay. In pity the king released the servant and
forgave the debt.
As the servant left the king, he saw another
servant who owed the forgiven debtor a hundred denarii (a denarius
worth about twenty cents). The forgiven debtor demanded payment of
the other servant, and refused to have mercy on him. He had the
servant imprisoned until the debt could be repaid.
The other servants, seeing what had taken
place, were upset, and they informed the king about what had
happened. The king summoned the servant and confronted him. The
king had forgiven that servant of a large debt, and the servant
should have also had mercy on his fellow servant who only owed a
small debt. Then the king had the wicked servant imprisoned until
his debt could be repaid. Jesus warned that the situation is the
same in the kingdom of God. God will likewise punish his servants,
if they do not forgive their brethren from their hearts.
Peter was thinking in worldly terms when he
asked Jesus how many times a person was obligated to forgive
another. Worldly people think that forgiving once is generous, and
forgiving twice is foolish. Surely seven times is as much as
anyone should be required to do.
The Lord is our king, and we are his servants,
whether we acknowledge that or not. In addition to providing our
living he has already forgiven all our sin. All we have to do is
to receive it through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ. The
Lord expects us to be faithful servants who do as our master does,
and to make every effort to please our master. If we realize the
great debt we owe our Lord we should be able to forgive others as
we ourselves have been forgiven, not limiting our forgiveness to a
certain small number of times.
We have all sinned (disobeyed God’s Word) and
fall short of his righteousness (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and
the penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). God loves each
one of us and doesn’t want any of us to perish eternally (Romans
5:8; John 3:16-17). Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for the
forgiveness of our sins (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of
Salvation, sidebar, top right, home). Jesus became the only
sacrifice, once for all time and all people, for the forgiveness
of all our sin.
Jesus is our Lord and King, whether we
acknowledge him or not. We owe him our whole lives and all our
possessions. Our Lord has had mercy on us, and doesn’t make
demands that we are unable to fulfill. Being the Lord’s servant is
the best job in the world.
Every one of us will be the servant of someone
or something. Why not serve the best Lord, with the best “fringe
benefits” and “retirement plan?” Can we imagine being in the
wicked servant’s position and refusing to accept the king’s
forgiveness?
The problem is that we want to be our own
lords; we think others should serve us. We may even try to get the
Lord to serve us through “religion.” We think we deserve the most
and best things in life. We think we’re good people and don’t need
anyone’s forgiveness.
There is a Day of Judgment coming, when each
one of us will be summoned to appear before the Lord (John
5:28-29). We each owe a debt which is beyond our ability to pay.
Each of us has been offered the forgiveness of that debt, but what
have we done with the forgiveness we have been offered? Have we
tried to serve and please the Lord or have we used our freedom to
abuse our fellow servants? Will we be commended as good and
faithful servants of the Lord and receive eternal life in his
heavenly kingdom, or will we be condemned as wicked servants and
sentenced to spend eternity imprisoned in Hell (Matthew 25:31-46)?
