Week of 24
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, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and
Methodist churches:
http://www.commontexts.org/
and:
http://www.commontexts.org/rcl/usage.html
The daily readings are the Propers (Lections) for the following Sunday, so
that the daily devotions can prepare us for worship. Additional Lections are
from Common Service Book of the Lutheran
Church, "Scripture
lessons for Matins and Vespers," United Lutheran Church of America,
General Rubrics VIII. Scripture lessons for Matins and Vespers, p. 299 - 304, Philadelphia, 1918.
The previous 2- year Bible Study based on the Lutheran Book of Worship,
Daily Lectionary for personal devotions p.179-192, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, 1978, is
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Podcast Download: Week of 24 Pentecost B
Sunday 24
Pentecost B
First Posted November 15, 2009;
Podcast:
Sunday 24 Pentecost B
Deuteronomy 6:1-9 -- God’s Commandments;
Psalm 119:1-16 -- The Law of the Lord;
Hebrews 7:23-28 -- The New Covenant;
Mark 12:28-34 (35-37) -- The Great Commandment;
Deuteronomy Paraphrase:
The people of Israel were
poised in Moab
to enter the Promised Land. Moses had turned the leadership over to Joshua, and
in his farewell address, Moses reminded the people of Israel that
obedient trust in God’s Law, given through Moses, was the condition for long,
happy life in the Promised Land. Israel must fear (have the
appropriate reverence and respect for the power and authority of) God, and must
teach God’s Word and the fear of God to their children and grandchildren. The
people were warned to be careful to hear and obey God’s Word, so that life
would go well for them, that the land would be fertile and that they would
prosper in the Promised Land.
Moses reviewed the First Commandment: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is
one Lord (or Lord alone); and you shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). Moses
declared that God’s Word was to be on their hearts; they were to teach God’s
Word to their children, talk about it and meditate on it throughout the
routines of daily life. God’s Word is to be very present to them in daily life,
as if it were tattooed on their hands and their foreheads, and as if signs on
their gates and doorposts, so that they are constantly reminded of them.
Psalm Paraphrase:
Those who are blameless (in God’s judgment), who do no wrong, by obedience
of God’s Word, who seek him with all their heart, will be happy and blessed.
The Lord has given us his commandments for us to obey diligently; let us be
steadfast in keeping his Law. Those who trust and obey God’s Word will not ever
be put to shame. When we have learned God’s righteousness we will praise and
glorify God. If we obey his Word, he will not forsake us.
Only by trusting and obeying God’s Word can a person be unblemished (by sin;
i.e. disobedience of God’s Word). When we seek him with all our hearts and ask
for his help, we will not stray from obedience to his Word. The only way to
avoid temptation to sin is to store up God’s Word in our hearts (not only
knowing with our minds, but living daily by it). If we seek God’s Word he will
teach it, so that we can declare it to others. God’s Word is more valuable than
any amount of material wealth, and the joy of it is eternal. Let us promise to
meditate on God’s Word and commit ourselves to obey him. Then we will not
forget his Word, and will delight in our obedience.
Hebrews Paraphrase:
Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant of Law. Jesus is the mediator of
the New Covenant of Grace through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus. Under the
Old Covenant, many human priests over time had to offer sacrifices continually
for their own sins as well as for those of the people. But Jesus is our eternal
high priest and the mediator of a New Covenant. He is not limited by physical
lifetime, because he is eternal, and he is unblemished by sin, so that his
death on the Cross, has sufficed, once for all time and all people for the
entire forgiveness of all our sins, to be received by faith (obedient trust) in
Jesus.
The Law of God (God’s Word; given to Moses) appointed weak human priests,
until the fulfillment of the promise of the Son (of God; Jesus Christ), who was
made perfect for eternity (by perfect obedience to God’s Word, unto death on
the Cross).
Mark Paraphrase:
A Scribe (teacher of the Law of Moses) heard Jesus debating with the
religious authorities, and realizing that Jesus answered well, asked Jesus
which of the (Ten) Commandments was greatest. Jesus answered with the First
Commandment (From Deuteronomy 6:4-5), that one should love God above all else,
adding mind (intellect) to heart, soul and strength. Then Jesus added that a
second great commandment is to love one’s neighbor as much as one’s self. If
one truly loves God and one’s neighbor one has fulfilled all of God’s
commandments.
The scribe acknowledged that Jesus was a faithful and accurate “teacher” of
God’s Word, that God was the one and only true God, and that truly loving God
and one’s neighbor is better than any amount of religious sacrifice or ritual.
Jesus acknowledged the scribe’s understanding of God’s Word by saying that the
scribe was close to the kingdom
of God.
No one else dared to question Jesus, so Jesus asked the crowd how the
scribes could teach that the Christ is the son of David. Quoting Psalm 110:1,
Jesus asked how David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, could call his descendant
“Lord?”
Commentary:
God has always intended from the very beginning of Creation to establish an
eternal kingdom of people who would willingly choose to trust and obey God.
This lifetime is our opportunity to seek and come to know, trust and obey God
(Acts 17:26-27).
God has been progressively revealing his will and purpose for Creation,
first through Creation itself (nature), then through the Bible, which is the
history of God’s call of Abraham and the establishment of God’s people through
him. Through Israel God revealed his promised Messiah, Jesus, God’s anointed
Savior (from God’s eternal condemnation) and eternal King of the Universe.
Through our obedient trust of God’s Word in the Bible, God reveals his
Messiah, God’s “anointed” (designated) Savior, and God’s Plan of Salvation (see
sidebar, top right, home). As we trust and obey Jesus, Jesus reveals himself
and God our Father (our Creator and spiritual Father: John 14:21, 23-24), 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).
Jesus is our “Moses” who leads us out of bondage to sin and eternal death in
the “Egypt” of this world,
through the “sea” of Baptism into Jesus Christ, thorough the spiritual
wilderness of this present sinful world, through the “river” of physical death,
and into the eternal kingdom
of God in heavenly
paradise. Obedient trust in God’s Word is the condition for eternal life in
God’s eternal heavenly kingdom.
God is the one and only God. The word “Trinity” is not actually named in the
Bible, but the concept is apparent throughout (Matthew 28:19; Romans 8:9
Matthew 28:19). God is the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit; one God in three expressions. God is Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit
of Christ (Romans 8:9). Jesus is fully God and fully human; God in human flesh
(Colossians 2:8-9).
No one can see God; Jesus is what God is and looks like in human flesh. We
cannot know Jesus in his physical lifetime, but we can know and experience
Jesus personally through the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit. If we have
come to know God and Jesus Christ through the Bible, we will recognize Jesus
and God the Father in the Holy Spirit.
Those who seek God and God’s Word will be happy and blessed, and will find
God through Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:8-9, John 20:28). Those who seek to be
obedient to God’s Word will receive wisdom and eternal life. God has offered us
forgiveness for our disobedience of his Word, as a free gift, to be received by
faith in Jesus. God has given us his Word in the Bible, and in Jesus Christ, to
save us and give us eternal life.
America and the Church,
particularly in America,
are the “New Promised Land” on earth, and the New People of God, in the national
and spiritual senses. The condition for long happy life in the worldly
“Promised Land,” and also in God’s eternal heavenly kingdom has always been and
still is obedient trust in God’s Word.
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 24
Pentecost B
To be used only if there is a
25 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
First Posted November 12, 2012
Podcast: Monday 24 Pentecost B
Psalm 107:1-3, 33-43 -- Thanksgiving;
Paraphrase:
Let us give thanks to the Lord for his goodness; for his steadfast eternal
love. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,” (Psalm 107:2-3a) from east, west, north and
south.
The Lord causes rivers and springs to dry up and become parched ground; he
turns “a fruitful land into a salty waste because of the wickedness of its
inhabitants” (Psalm 107:34; consider Sodom and Gomorrah; Genesis
19:15-29; note v.26; bizarre salt formations exist in the area to this day*).
The Lord also brings forth springs of water in a dry land and turns a desert
into wetlands. There he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish cities,
fields, and vineyards. They receive a fruitful yield and by God’s blessing they
and their livestock multiply.
When the humble and needy are oppressed and abused, the Lord pours his
contempt upon rulers and causes them to wander aimlessly in the wilderness, but
he lifts up the needy and delivers them from affliction, and blesses them with
large families.
Those who are upright will notice God’s deliverance of the needy and will
rejoice, but the wicked will be confounded. Wise people will take heed of these
things. Let us consider the Lord’s steadfast love.
Commentary:
The people of Israel had
been in slavery in Egypt,
and the Lord confounded their oppressors (with 10 plagues; Exodus 7:8-11:10 and
delivered Israel from them
(on dry ground, through the Red Sea; Exodus
14:5-31). The Lord led them through the desert and provided food, quail and
manna (“bread from heaven;” Exodus 16:4-36), and water, transforming bitter
water (Exodus 15:23-25), and providing water from a rock (Exodus 17:1-7), for
thousands of people in the wilderness for forty years. The Lord led them into
the Promised Land on dry ground by causing the Jordan
River to stop flowing.
Throughout the history of God’s dealings with Israel recorded in the Bible God
has demonstrated, over and over, his goodness, his steadfast love, his
providence and deliverance for the poor and humble, and his punishment of the
wicked and arrogant. The Lord blessed Israel and prospered them in their
land, but they frequently forgot what the Lord had done for them and turned
away from obedience to him and to worship of idols. Then the Lord would
withdraw his favor and allow them to be afflicted by their enemies.
The purpose of allowing them to suffer the consequences of their spiritual
unfaithfulness was to show them their need for God’s providence and to teach
them to trust and obey God. When they were afflicted by their enemies they
would return to obedience to the Lord and call upon him, and he would deliver
and restore them.
In many ways America
is the New Promised Land and the New Israel. One of the main motives for
settlers was to find spiritual freedom; the opportunity to worship God
according to their consciences. God has blessed and prospered us, but as we
have grown rich we have forsaken God, have become disobedient of his Word and
have turned to “modern” idolatries (the love of anything as much as or more
than the Lord) of wealth, power, status, material possessions, pleasure, home,
and family.
I personally testify that the Lord has redeemed me from sin by his blood,
given me new, spiritual, eternal, life by his indwelling Holy Spirit, has
delivered me from all of numerous difficulties, blessed and provided
abundantly, beyond my expectations, for my family and myself for the past thirty-some
years that I’ve allowed him to be my Lord. The Lord wants us to trust and obey
him so that he can reveal his goodness, love and faithfulness to us and teach
us to trust and obey his Word.
The Lord is eternal and unchanging. He still blesses the humble and the
physically and spiritually hungry, and afflicts the rich and arrogant, but we
don’t always see that happening immediately. We’ve enjoyed his favor as a
nation and people, but he is also able to lift that favor from us and give us
into the hand of our enemies, physical and spiritual.
Our physical enemies are not people and nations only; they include forces of
nature, and environmental conditions; and there are also spiritual forces of
evil. The Lord is always ready to deliver us when we turn to him in true faith
(obedient trust), up to the moment of judgment, but once disaster strikes it
will be too late (remember Noah and the Flood; Genesis 6:11-7:24; consider also
the fall of the Northern Kingdom; 2 Kings 17:1-6, and the exile of Judah (the
Southern Kingdom) to Babylon; 2 Kings 25:21). We should spend more time
considering how to serve and please the Lord and less time trying to protect
ourselves from the consequences of our sins (disobedience of God’s Word) and
God’s judgment.
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 24 Pentecost B
To be used only if there is a 25 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
First Posted November 13, 2012
Podcast: Tuesday 24 Pentecost B
1 Kings 17:8-16 -- The Widow of Zarepath;
Paraphrase
Ahab was the most wicked of the kings of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes. He married Jezebel, the pagan daughter of the Phoenician king, and she introduced the religion of Baal into Israel. Elijah was the prophet of God in the Northern Kingdom, and he declared God’s Word to Ahab that there would be no rain until God’s Word commanded it.
After a while God sent Elijah to Zarepath in Sidon (in Phoenicia). When Elijah came to the gate of the city he met a woman gathering sticks, and asked her for a drink of water. As she was going to fetch the water he asked her for a little bread also. She replied that she had only a little of meal and oil and had been intending to prepare it for herself and her son as their last meal before starvation. Elijah told her that God promised that her oil and meal would not be used up before the Lord ended the drought and famine with rain. Elijah told her to first fix him a small portion, and then she could prepare some for herself and her son. She did as Elijah had said, and she and her household ate for many days without exhausting the supply of meal and oil.
Commentary:
The Phoenician idol, Baal, introduced by Queen Jezebel, was believed to control the rain and thus the food supply. Elijah, the prophet of God was directed by God to demonstrate that it is the Lord God who controls the rain and the food supply by his Word. Because of his declaration of God’s Word to the Northern Kingdom, Elijah was not welcome or appreciated there, but God was able to provide for Elijah in the drought and famine which arose by God’s Word.
Ahab and his kingdom didn’t want to hear and heed God’s Word spoken by Elijah, but the Phoenician widow believed and acted in faith (obedient trust) in God’s Word and she and her household survived the drought and famine. Israel, the people who considered themselves God’s chosen people would not trust and obey God’s Word, but a widow in a pagan neighboring culture responded in faith (see Luke 4:25-26).
Israel had the Bible, the "Old Testament" history of God’s dealing with Israel, and should have learned from the mistakes of their past, but instead they repeated their error in the days of Jesus’ ministry. They refused to recognize and acknowledge God’s Word, fulfilled, embodied and exemplified in Jesus Christ (John 1:1-5, 14) and chose to follow idols of wealth, power, success, pleasure, and self instead, while the Gentiles received the Gospel and salvation.
In many ways America and the Church in America are in the same situation today. We consider ourselves God’s chosen people, while pursuing the “modern” idols (anything we love as much as or more than God) of wealth, power, success, pleasure, and self, and we refuse to hear, trust and obey God’s Word and God’s prophets. Do we realize and acknowledge that it is the Lord who puts the food on our tables, or do we suppose that we have provided it ourselves by our own ability? Are we willing to eat the bread and water the Lord provides, or do we demand “haute cuisine,” believing that we have earned and deserve it?
There is a spiritual drought and famine in the world today. People accumulate material resources for themselves in an attempt to protect themselves from physical drought and famine, and all the uncertainties of life. Many people, including nominal “Christians,” pursue modern idolatry. Many do not want to hear God’s Word. They are unwilling to trust and obey God’s Word. The rich and powerful believe that they can control the rain and the food supply. They are dying eternally from spiritual starvation, but those who are poor and insignificant in the world’s view, who trust and obey God’s Word, are sustained by God’s providence. Those who seek to serve the Lord first will have the material things they need as well (Matthew 6:31-33), but many people put off spiritual matters until they feel physically secure, which they can never achieve.
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 24 Pentecost B
To be used only if there is a 25 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
First Posted November 14 2012
Podcast: Wednesday24 Pentecost B
Hebrews 9:24-28 -- Our Great High Priest;
Paraphrase:
Christ has entered into the true eternal presence of God in Heaven, not an earthly temple made by humans as a replica of the heavenly sanctuary, and he is in God’s presence to intercede with God on our behalf. Human priests were only allowed into the presence of God once a year, with the blood sacrifice of animals, but Jesus’ blood sacrifice of himself was once for all for the forgiveness of all sin. “And just as it is appointed for men (mankind) to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin (not to sacrifice himself again; he dealt with sin at the Cross once for all) but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:27-28).
Commentary:
God gave Moses the instructions for building the tabernacle to symbolize the true eternal temple in heaven (Exodus 26:1-37). The Old Covenant of the Law of Moses and the priestly sacrificial system prefigured the new and better Covenant of Grace (unmerited favor; free gift) to be received by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ (Messiah; God’s “anointed” Savior; eternal king; our Great High Priest and mediator of the New Covenant).
God’s plan for this Creation has always been to create an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly trust and obey God’s Word. Jesus has been God’s plan for our forgiveness and salvation from the very beginning (John 1:1-5, 14; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home). God has been progressively revealing himself and his eternal purpose through his dealings with Israel recorded in the Bible.
Jesus is the fulfillment, embodiment and example of God’s Word in human flesh (John 1:14). Everything in the Old Testament was intended to point us to the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Jesus’ crucifixion is the center of history. It was the end of the old age; the age of the Old Covenant of Law, of indirect and limited access to God, and the beginning of the New Messianic Age, the beginning of New Covenant of Grace, a personal fellowship with God through faith in Jesus Christ by 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 Day of Judgment at Christ’s return is the end of the age and of history.
Jesus instituted the New Covenant at his “Last Supper” (Matthew 26:26-28). Jesus’ crucifixion marked the opening of the way into God’s presence through Jesus Christ, symbolized by the tearing of the temple veil separating the people from God’s presence (Matthew 27:51). Jesus’ resurrection demonstrated the reality of existence after physical death. Jesus’ ascension prefigures his return (Acts 1:9-11)
God’s Word declares that after physical death comes judgment; not reincarnation; not nothingness! Jesus’ death on the cross has become the only sacrifice acceptable to God for the forgiveness of our sins (disobedience of God’s Word). Jesus’ died for the sins of all people for all time, but not all will be saved from God’s judgment and eternal condemnation. Only those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus and have been “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) will be saved (Matthew 7:21-27). 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).
Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans, and the temple has never been rebuilt. The people were scattered and the nation of Israel ceased to exist, until their return after World War II. The temple and the sacrificial system have been replaced by Jesus Christ. The (true) Church is the New Jerusalem and the New Israel, the City and People of God on earth. Truly born-again disciples are individually and collectively the temple of God.
Jesus has promised to return at the end of this age, the Messianic Age. His return will end the age with the Day of Judgment. Every one who has ever lived on earth will be accountable to Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead in both the physical and spiritual senses (1 Peter 4:5). Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus will receive eternal life in God’s presence in the paradise of Heaven, but those who have refused to trust and obey Jesus will receive eternal condemnation and eternal destruction in Hell (John 5:28-29; Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).
Are you prepared for and eagerly awaiting Christ’s return? 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 24 Pentecost B
To be used only if there is a 25 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
First Posted November 15, 2012
Podcast: Thursday 24 Pentecost B
Mark 12:41-44 -- The Widow’s Offering;
Paraphrase:
Jesus had come to Jerusalem the week of Passover (Mark 11:1-11), knowing that he was going to be crucified (Mark 10:32-34). He was in the temple teaching daily.
Jesus watched as people put their money offerings into the temple treasury, and as he watched, a poor widow put in two copper coins (the smallest Greek coin in circulation; 128 equaled a day’s wage*). Jesus said to his disciples that the woman’s offering was greater than the offerings of any of the others, because she had given everything she had, her entire livelihood, while the others were giving what was “leftover.”
Commentary:
A widow had no source of income in that time. This one didn’t have much, but she gave all that she had, while those who had much gave only what they could comfortably spare.
Jesus came to die as the one and only sacrifice acceptable to God for the forgiveness of our sin (disobedience of God’s Word), and to give us eternal life instead of eternal condemnation and eternal destruction (see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home). Jesus never accumulated possessions. He taught, healed and fed, without collecting an “offering.” Jesus sent his disciples out in ministry without any material provisions, teaching them to rely on the providence of God (Luke 10:3-12).
Jesus gave everything he had including his life and the clothes on his back (Mark 15:24), freely, without charge, because Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins. God’s forgiveness and salvation is by grace (a free gift; unmerited favor), to be received by faith (obedient trust) but it isn’t “cheap;” Jesus paid for it with everything he had (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Many of the people who came to Jesus seeking physical feeding were attracted because it was free (John 6:24-27). Many sought Jesus just for the physical healing and feeding he could provide. Jesus came not to provide free health care and free food. His miracles of physical healing and feeding were intended to demonstrate that he can also heal and feed spiritually.
Spiritual health and nurture is more important than physical wellbeing. We will all die physically sooner or later, but our spiritual health and nurture determines whether we will spend eternity in agony or in paradise.
The people who came seeking physical healing and feeding and didn’t realize how Jesus was able to do those physical miracles (signs revealing who he is), received only the physical benefits, while those who recognized Jesus as the Messiah, God’s anointed Savior and eternal King, and became his disciples, trusting and obeying Jesus’ teaching, received spiritual healing and rebirth (John 3:3, 5-8) through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Only Jesus gives the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The indwelling Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).
If we realize what the Lord has done for us through Jesus Christ, we will thank him by loving and serving him with all our lives and all our resources (John 14:23-24). We will seek to know his will and to please him by our obedient trust in his Word. Are we giving the Lord our lives and our resources or our “leftovers”?
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Friday 24 Pentecost B
To be used only if there is a 25 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
First Posted November 16, 2012
Podcast: Friday24 Pentecost B
1 Kings 17:17-24 -- Raising the Widow’s Dead Son;
Matthew 9:18-26 -- Raising Jairus’ Dead Daughter;
1 Kings Paraphrase:
Elijah had prophesied drought and famine by the Word of God to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and then God had directed him to stay with the widow of Zerephath in the neighboring Phoenician kingdom.
While Elijah was staying with the widow, the widow’s son died by a severe illness. The widow blamed Elijah for causing her son’s death because of her sins. Elijah told her to give him her son, and Elijah carried him up to his bedroom.
Elijah asked the Lord if the Lord had intended to bring calamity on the widow with whom he had taken refuge. Then he stretched himself upon the boy three times, and asked the Lord to allow the boy’s soul to return to his body, and the Lord heard and answered Elijah’s prayer. The boy was restored to life, and Elijah brought him down and delivered him to his mother. “…Elijah said, ‘See, your son lives.’ And the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth” (1 Kings 17:23b-24).
Matthew Paraphrase:
Jesus was teaching a crowd in Capernaum, and a leader of the synagogue (Jairus; Mark 5:22) came to him, asking Jesus to come to his house to heal his daughter who had just died, in faith that Jesus could raise her to life again. Jesus went with him and the crowd followed.
On the way there was a woman in the crowd who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and she thought that if she could just touch the hem of Jesus’ robe her hemorrhage would be healed. As she touched his robe, Jesus turned and told her to be encouraged, because her faith had made her well, and the woman was instantly healed.
At Jairus’ house, there was a gathering of professional mourners wailing loudly, as was the custom. Jesus told them to leave, because the girl was not dead but sleeping. The mourners laughed at Jesus, but after they went outside, Jesus went in to the girl's room, took her by the hand, and the girl arose. The news of this miracle spread throughout the region.
Commentary:
The widow had trusted and obeyed Elijah as a prophet of God, but the loss of her son was unexpected. She thought the Lord was perhaps punishing her for her sins. The loss of the boy was unexpected by Elijah as well. In faith he took the boy up to Elijah’s room and appealed to the Lord’s justice and mercy, asking if it was God’s will for the boy to die. The Lord heard and granted Elijah’s prayer, and the boy was restored to life.
When the boy was restored alive to his mother the woman’s faith was increased. She had trusted and obeyed Elijah in faith that he was a prophet of the Lord, and she was now convinced beyond doubt.
Elijah had spoken God’s Word to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, God’s “chosen” people, but they refused to trust and obey. Because they refused to trust and obey God’s Word declared by his prophets their kingdom was ultimately destroyed and they effectively ceased to exist as a nation and people.
Elijah was the forerunner and illustration of the coming Messiah promised in God’s Word (the Bible). He was not the Messiah, but pointed to him. Elijah had gotten to be God’s prophet by trusting and obeying God’s Word. He had a personal relationship with God. (John the Baptist was the fulfillment of the promise of the “Elijah” who was to return to herald the coming of the Messiah; Matthew 17:10-13).
Jairus believed that Jesus could restore his dead daughter, and acted on that faith by coming to Jesus and making his request. The woman with the hemorrhage believed that if she just reached out and touched Jesus’ garment she would be healed. She acted on her faith, reached out to Jesus and was healed.
Jesus came into this world to raise the spiritually dead to eternal life. He came into this world to give us the forgiveness of our sins, so that we wouldn’t have to die eternally for them ourselves (see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home). Jesus raised several individuals from physical death besides Jairus’ daughter, including Lazarus (John 11:1-44), and the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17).
Jesus’ resurrection miracles were intended to show that Jesus is the source of resurrection from physical death to eternal life. The miracles were intended to point to Jesus’ own resurrection demonstrating that there is existence after physical death, and that Jesus is the truth and the way to eternal life (John 14:6).
The promises of God’s Word must be received by faith (obedient trust), as the widow, Jairus, and the hemorrhagic woman demonstrate. God made a promise, through the example of Elijah, of a Messiah who would give life to the physically and spiritually dead, and Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise.
We are called to trust and obey God’s Word, and as we do so, God will reveal his faithfulness, power and love to us, and cause our faith to grow to certain knowledge and spiritual maturity through Jesus Christ, by the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit. Only Jesus gives the Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17).
As we trust in God’s Word, fulfilled, embodied and exemplified in Jesus Christ, we will come to know Jesus personally, to know that that Jesus is the Word of God, that God’s Word is true, and know that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God, and God’s anointed eternal King.
As we trust and obey God’s Word and receive the Holy Spirit we will be empowered to proclaim God’s Word, and what we say and do will testify to our relationship with the Lord and to the truth of God’s Word.
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 24 Pentecost B
To be used only if there is a 25 Pentecost Sunday - Otherwise skip to 27 Pentecost.
First Posted November 17, 2012
Podcast: Saturday24 Pentecost B
Colossians 1:9-14 -- Spiritual Growth;
Paraphrase:
Paul was writing the Colossian Church to “disciple” them in the true and full Gospel of Jesus Christ, to help them avoid false doctrines which were circulating, and to encourage them to grow to spiritual maturity.
Paul prayed that the new Christians “may be filled with the knowledge of [the Lord’s] will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10). Paul prayed that they would be strengthened by the Holy Spirit within them so that they would be able to endure in faith to the end, with patience, joy, and thanksgiving to God for making it possible for us to share in the inheritance (eternal life in God’s heavenly kingdom) of those who are accounted holy and righteous by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ. God has delivered believers from bondage to sin, and transferred us to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Jesus Christ), through whom we have been redeemed (purchased back from slavery of sin) having received the forgiveness of our sins.
Commentary:
Christian “faith” is a growing trust and obedience to God’s will, revealed through the Bible, through Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit, who only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus John 14:15-17).
Paul (Saul of Tarsus) is the archetype and example of a modern, “post-resurrection,” “born-again” disciple (student) and apostle (messenger; of the Gospel) of Jesus Christ, as we can and should be. (I believe Paul was God’s choice of a disciple to replace Judas, the betrayer of Jesus; Acts 1:15-26).
Paul was confronted by the risen and ascended Jesus on the road to Damascus, was converted, was “discipled” by a “born-again” disciple named Ananias, until Paul had received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and then was guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit to be an apostle, an evangelist, to the Gentiles (non-Jews; Acts 9: 1-21).
Paul’s conversion and spiritual growth were exceptionally fast, because Paul was already formally educated in the Scripture and Judaism. The other disciples are more realistic examples of normal spiritual growth. They spent almost twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for about three years with Jesus, and yet they were not fully ready to be apostles until they had experienced Jesus’ resurrection personally and had received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-13, note 14-42).
Paul was fulfilling the “Great Commission” given by the risen Jesus to his disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), to be carried out after the disciples had been “born-again” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8). Paul was a “born-again” disciple making “born-again” disciples, teaching them to trust and obey Jesus and to seek and wait for the promised gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ is the fulfillment, embodiment and example of God’s Word (God’s Will) in human flesh (John 1:1-5, 14). Jesus’ word is the Word of God (John 14:10, 24). To know and understand God’s Word in the Bible we must receive it through Jesus and through the Holy Spirit. It is the risen and ascended Jesus in the Holy Spirit who opens our minds to understand the scripture (Luke 24:45).
Believing in Jesus Christ is not the end of spiritual growth, but the beginning. In order to know God’s will, generally, and for us individually and personally, new believers must learn God’s Word, by reading God’s Word completely and daily, as well as hearing it and Bible-based sound teaching weekly in Church on Sunday. God will not reveal his will for us individually unless we are willing to trust and obey his Word; we must seek God’s will with the commitment to do it.
We must learn to trust and obey Jesus by doing it; it takes practice to learn his teachings and to apply them daily in our lives. Our society teaches us to be self-reliant. It isn’t easy to begin to relinquish our self-direction and let Jesus guide and provide for us. We must learn to recognize the Lord’s “voice;” to be able to distinguish it from Satan’s and false teachers’. We are delivered from bondage to sin, but we must learn to resist temptation. The Lord wants us to trust and obey him so that he can show us that his will is good, acceptable (possible; pleasing), and true (Romans 12:2 RSV). As we learn to trust and obey Jesus, our faith will be strengthened, as we discover his power and faithfulness and love.
We cannot endure in true faith, live a life that glorifies and pleases the Lord, and produce fruit for the kingdom of God except by the power of the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit within us. Genuine Christians are by definition “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) disciples (Acts 11:26b) of Jesus Christ (not “disciples” of some pastor or theologian). The gift of the Holy Spirit is not automatically conferred on “Christians” through church membership or even through baptism. Those who are receptive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and believe in him receive the power to become children of God by spiritual “(re)birth” (John 1:12-13), but they must appropriate and apply that power in their lives through obedient trust in Jesus.
One can know with certainty for oneself whether one has received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2); it isn’t a matter of some pastor’s or theologian’s assurance, and it isn’t something we have if we “believe” (“tell ourselves”) “hard enough.” 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)?
