Week of 4 Lent - C
This is a Three-Year Lectionary based on the Lutheran Book of
Worship 3-year Lectionary (for public worship), "Prayers of the
Day..." (Propers), p. 13-41, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis,
1978. It is based, with only minor variations, on the Revised Common
Lectionary, used by many denominations, including the Episcopal,
Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches:
http://www.commontexts.org/
and:
http://www.commontexts.org/rcl/usage.html
The daily readings are the Propers (Lections) for the following
Sunday, so that the daily devotions can prepare us for worship.
Additional Lections are from Common Service Book of the Lutheran
Church, "Scripture lessons for Matins and Vespers," United Lutheran
Church of America, General Rubrics VIII. Scripture lessons for
Matins and Vespers, p. 299 - 304, Philadelphia, 1918.
The previous 2- year Bible Study based on the Lutheran Book of
Worship, Daily Lectionary for personal devotions p.179-192, Augsburg
Publishing House, Minneapolis, 1978, is available at:
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Podcast Download: Week of 4 Lent - C
Sunday 4 Lent - C
First
posted March 14, 2010;
Podcast: Sunday 4 Lent - C
Isaiah 12:1-6 – Deliverance and
Thanksgiving;
Psalm 32 – Thanksgiving for Healing;
1 Corinthians 1:18 (19-21) 22-25 (26-31) Divine Wisdom;
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 – The Prodigal Son;
Isaiah Paraphrase:
In the coming reign of Messiah, we will give thanks to God
that though he was angry with us he set aside his anger
and comforted us. Watch and see: our Salvation is in God.
We will trust and not be afraid. God has given us strength
and a song, and in him is our salvation.
In the Day of the Lord, we will draw water from the wells
of salvation. We will call all to give thanks to the Lord
and call upon his name. We will proclaim his great deeds
and make his name exalted among the nations (Gentiles).
Let us sing praises to the Lord for his glorious deeds.
Let them be known to all the earth. Let us shout and sing
for joy, all the inhabitants of Zion (the Church). Great
is the presence of the Holy One of Israel among us.
Psalm Paraphrase:
Blessed are those who have received forgiveness of sin and
whose transgressions are blotted out. Blessed are those
who the Lord judges not guilty of sin and free of deceit
in his spirit.
The Psalmist testified that as long as he denied his sin
his body wasted away with groaning all day long. The
Lord's hand was heavy upon him. His strength evaporated as
by the heat of summer. Then he acknowledged his sin and no
longer hid his iniquity. Then he confessed his
transgressions and the Lord forgave his guilt.
So let all godly people pray to the Lord in times of
distress, when troubles seem to overwhelm them as in a
flood of waters, and the Lord will surround them with
deliverance.
Learn from the Psalmist the way to go. Don't be like a
horse or mule who has no understanding, and must be
controlled by bit and bridle, to do his master's will.
The wicked will experience many pangs, but those who trust
in the Lord will be surrounded by his steadfast love. Let
the righteous be glad and rejoice. Let those who are
upright in their inner being shout for joy!
1 Corinthians Paraphrase:
Jesus' crucifixion seems foolish to those who are
perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the
power of God. God's Word declares that he will destroy
worldly wisdom and thwart worldly cleverness. Where are
the wise, the teachers, and the debaters of this age? It
is not the wise, rich or powerful according to worldly
standards who will be saved, but those who believe the
Gospel. In God's wisdom he designed Creation so that God
cannot be known by worldly wisdom, so that those who
believe the Gospel, which seems foolish by worldly
standards, saves those who believe. Jews demand signs
(miracles proving they are from God), and Greeks seek
worldly wisdom, but what we preach is a stumbling block to
Jews and folly to Gentiles. But to those who respond to
God's call, both Jew and Greek, Christ is the power and
wisdom of God, for God at his most foolishness is wiser
than mankind, and at his weakest is stronger that mankind.
Luke Paraphrase:
Tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to
hear him, and the Pharisees (strict, legalistic Jewish
leaders) criticized Jesus for allowing them and even
eating with them. So Jesus told them a parable (a
fictional story of common earthly experience to teach
spiritual truth).
Jesus said that a man had two sons and the younger asked
his father to give him his share of the inheritance, so
his father divided his property between his two sons. Not
many days later the youngest son took his share of the
inheritance and went to a distant land where he squandered
it in loose living. When he had spent everything a great
famine arose, and he began to be in need. So he took a job
with a citizen of that land, feeding the citizen's pigs.
He would have been glad to eat what he was giving to the
pigs, but that wasn't allowed.
When he came to his senses, he realized that his father's
servants had plenty of food while he was starving. He
decided to return to his father, confess his sin before
heaven and his father, admit that he was unworthy to be
his father's son, and ask to be one of his father's hired
servants. So he left and went to his father.
But while he was far off, his father saw him coming and
went to welcome him. His father had compassion on him and
embraced and kissed him. The son confessed his
unworthiness, but the father told his servants to bring
the finest robe and shoes and to prepare a feast of a
fatted calf to celebrate the son's return from death to
life; from lost to found. So they began to celebrate.
Commentary:
God is our Creator, and thus our spiritual father, whether
we acknowledge him or not. We have all been given a share
in the eternal inheritance of our father, but what are we
doing with it? Are we squandering it on worldly pleasures?
There is a day coming when there will be a spiritual
famine and the only source of relief will be in faith in
God. If we realize that God offers so much more than the
world can provide, will we confess our sin (disobedience
of God's Word) and ask to be his servant?
God is watching us and is ready to welcome us as soon as
we turn toward him, even though far off. God will give us
the finest of robes, and will prepare the finest feast for
us, even though we are unworthy.
All of us are guilty of sin and fall short of God's
righteousness (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). But God loves
us and doesn't want any of us to perish eternally (Romans
5:8; John 3:16-17), which is the penalty for sin (Romans
6:23; see God's Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right,
home). Are we so stubborn that we would rather spiritually
starve to eternal death than return to God our Father and
confess our sin and our unworthiness?
God has always intended, from the very beginning of
Creation, to establish an eternal kingdom of his people
who willingly trust and obey God's Word. God has designed
this Creation to allow for the possibility of sin
(disobedience of God's Word). This Creation and we,
ourselves, are intentionally limited by time, because God
is not willing to tolerate rebellion and disobedience
forever, or at all in his eternal kingdom.
This lifetime is our opportunity to seek, find, know, and
have fellowship with God our Creator (Acts 17:26-27). This
is only possible through Jesus Christ by the baptism of
the Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34),
only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John
14:15-17). 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)?
Monday 4 Lent - C
First
posted March 15, 2010;
Podcast: Monday 4 Lent - C
Psalm 28:1-3, 7-11
Paraphrase:
I call to you O Lord; do not be deaf to my plea. Unless
you respond, I'm as good as dead. Hear my plea when I call
to you for help; as I lift up my hands toward your holy
sanctuary.
Don't cast me off with the wicked, with those who do evil,
who declare peace with their lips while their hearts plan
mischief.
Lord, you are my strength and shield; my heart trusts in
you; so you have helped me, and my heart rejoices; I give
thanks to you in song.
You give strength to your people, and saving refuge to
your anointed. Save your people and bless your heritage.
Be our shepherd and sustain us forever.
Commentary:
God is not obligated to hear and answer our prayers. Just
putting the name of Jesus at the end of our prayers does
not obligate God to give us what we ask. There are
conditions for answered prayer (see “Condition for
Answered Prayer,” sidebar, top right, home).
In the same way, how can we pray effectively unless we
have read God's Word? Why should God listen to us unless
we are willing to listen to him? God is willing to honor
the prayer of faith, as long as we have made a commitment
to read and follow his Word. The average reader can easily
read the entire Bible in one year. There are numerous
reading plans available. I prefer plans which include both
Old and New Testament readings each day (see Free Bible
Study Tools, sidebar, top right, home).
When we truly seek to know and follow God's guidance we
should do so one day at a time (Matthew 6:11; 34). One's
daily devotional can begin with a Bible-in-one-year
reading plan. Then it can follow one of the lectionaries
such as this or those listed on my homepage: "My Daily
Walk," (http://shepherdboy.byethost12.com/)
under the Links menu, sidebar, right, home.
God is God, the one true and only God, whether we believe
in him or not. But God is not obligated to be all that an
all-powerful, all-knowing, loving God implies,
unless we are willing to be God's obedient, trusting
people (Jeremiah 7:23; Ezekiel 11:20; Leviticus 26:3, 12;
see also Jeremiah 11:3-4).
We are all eternal beings in temporal bodies. We are all
born into this world physically alive but spiritually
“unborn.” This lifetime is our opportunity to seek, find
and know God, our Creator (Acts 17:26-27), and this is
only possible through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Unless we
are spiritually “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) by the gift
(“baptism;” “anointing”) of the Holy Spirit, which only
Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who
trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17), we will spend
eternity in eternal death in hell with all evil, eternally
separated from God who is the source of everything good.
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 4 Lent - C
First
posted March 16, 2010;
Podcast: Tuesday 4 Lent - C
Isaiah 43:16-21-- Rivers in the Desert;
Paraphrase:
The Lord is he who makes a path through the sea (the Exodus of Israel
through the Red Sea), who brings forth and causes chariot and horse,
army and warrior, to lie down, unable to rise, extinguished, quenched
like a wick (Pharaoh's Army; Exodus 14:5-29). The Lord declares that we
should not focus on what the Lord has done in the past. The Lord is
doing a new thing. It is coming forth; can we perceive it? He is making a
way in the wilderness (Israel's forty years of wandering in the
wilderness: Numbers 14:31-34; the messianic age: Isaiah 40:3; John 1:23)
and rivers in the desert (water from the rock: Exodus 17:1-7; the
messianic age: John 7:38; 1 Corinthians 10:4). God will provide water in
the wilderness for his people, that they may praise and glorify God.
Wild beasts, jackals and ostriches, will appreciate God's providence.
Commentary:
Do we appreciate God's providence of forgiveness and salvation to all trust and obey Jesus?
The history of Israel's exodus from Egypt is also deliberately intended
to be a parable, a metaphor, for life in this world. Baptism into Jesus
Christ is the new path through the sea which saves us from our spiritual
enemies, because they are unable to pass through.
Jesus Christ is the new and better way into God's presence (Hebrews
10:20; Matthew 27:51); the new and better way to be justified in God's
judgment than the old way of the Law of Moses (Romans 8:1-8).
Jesus is the way, the only way, to know divine, eternal truth, to be
forgiven for sin (disobedience of God's Word), to be restored to
fellowship with God which was broken by sin, and to have eternal life.
(John 14:6).
We are all enslaved to Satan, the “Pharaoh” of this present world. Jesus
is the “New Moses” who can free us and lead us out of the “Egypt” of
this world order. Our baptism into Jesus Christ separates us from the
forces of evil in this world. The Holy Spirit, who only Jesus gives
(John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey him (John
14:15-17) is the pillar of fire and cloud (Exodus 13:21-22) who leads us
through the wilderness of this lifetime.
Jesus is the rock who gives us water in the wilderness. Only Jesus can
give us the living water of eternal life. The Holy Spirit is the river
of living water which only Jesus gives, only to his disciples who trust
and obey him (John 7:37-39).
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 4 Lent - C
First
posted March 17, 2010;
Podcast: Wednesday 4 Lent - C
Philippians 3:8-14 – Christ's
Upward Call;
Paul testified that he counted every other thing in this
world as worthless, compared to the greater value of
knowing Jesus personally. Paul allowed himself to suffer
the loss of every other thing, counting them as worthless
trash, in order to gain Christ, being found in him having
the righteousness not gained through works of the Law, but
the righteousness that is attributed to him from God
through faith in Christ. Paul's hope is to know the Lord
and the power of his resurrection. Paul is willing to
share in Christ's sufferings, and death in Christ so that
he can share in Christ's resurrection from physical death
to eternal life.
Paul doesn't claim that he has already obtained
righteousness or spiritual perfection, but he presses on
to claim the promise because Christ has already claimed
him. Paul presses on, forgetting his past, and straining
forward toward what is coming, Paul presses on toward the
goal, to the prize of the upward call of God in Christ
Jesus.
Commentary:
I believe that the meaning and purpose life in this
temporal world is to seek, find and know God, our Creator,
personally, as Paul testified in Acts 17:26-27. This
lifetime is our “audition” for eternal life in God's
kingdom in heaven.
This lifetime is our opportunity to learn to trust and
obey God's Word. Disobedience of God's Word is the
definition of sin. God designed this Creation to allow the
time and freedom to learn by trial and error that God's
way is our very best interest, but God is not willing to
tolerate rebellion and disobedience forever, or at all in
his eternal kingdom, so he has limited this present
Creation, and we ourselves, by time.
God knew that, given the opportunity to choose whether to
trust and obey God's Word, we would choose to do our own
will rather than his. We have all sinned and fall short of
God's righteousness (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and the
penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23; see God's
Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right, home).
Jesus is God's only provision for our forgiveness and
salvation from eternal destruction (Romans 5:8; John
3:16-17; Acts 4:12). Jesus has been designed into the
framework of Creation from the very beginning (John 1:1-5,
14). Jesus is the only way to be restored to fellowship
with God that was broken by sin, the only way to know
divine, eternal truth, and the only to have true, eternal
life (John 14:6).
Eternal life begins now in this present world, by the
“baptism” (gift) of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which only
Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who
trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). It is by the
indwelling Holy Spirit that we have personal knowledge of,
and fellowship with God the Father and our Lord Jesus
Christ (John 14:21, 23). The “baptism” of the Holy Spirit
is a distinct, ongoing event (Acts 19:2); anyone who isn't
sure, or relies on the word of a clergy person or
theologian hasn't been “born-again.” By the baptism of the
indwelling Holy Spirit we are spiritually“born-again”
(John 3:3, 5-8). 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).
Paul (Saul of Tarsus) is the prototype of a modern,
post-resurrection, born-again disciple of Jesus Christ, as
we all can be. Paul didn't know Jesus during Jesus'
physical earthly ministry. He was confronted on the road
to Damascus by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the risen
and ascended Christ (Romans 8:9). He repented, accepted
Jesus as Lord and became obedient (Acts 9:1-9). He was
discipled by a born-again disciple, Ananias (Acts
9:10-17), until Paul was born-again, and then Paul began
fulfilling the Great Commission Jesus gave to his
disciples (Matthew 28:19-20) to be carried out after they
had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:20-22;
Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8), proclaiming the Gospel and
discipling others until they had been born-again (2
Timothy 1:6) and teaching them to repeat the process (2
Timothy 2:2).
Righteousness by faith in Jesus is a free gift but we must
claim it by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus (Ephesians
2:8-9). Faith is not getting whatever we believe if we
believe “hard enough;” it isn't like wishing on a star. We
can't earn righteousness by doing good deeds (keeping the
law). If we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we'll
do what Paul did: we'll repent, and become obedient to
Jesus' teachings.
A Christian is a born-again disciple of Jesus Christ (Acts
11:26c). Jesus warns that it isn't those who call
themselves Christians and call Jesus their Lord who will
be saved; it is those who trust and obey Jesus' teachings
(Matthew 7:21-27; Luke 6:46).
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 4 Lent - C
First
posted March 18, 2010;
Podcast: Thursday 4 Lent - C
Luke 20:9-19 – Parable of the
Vineyard;
Paraphrase:
Jesus told this parable (a story of common earthly
experience to teach spiritual truth) of a vineyard. A man
planted a vineyard and rented it to tenants. Then he went
to a distant country for a long time. When the time came
to receive the harvest of the vineyard, he sent a servant
to collect his portion, but the tenants beat the servant
and sent him away empty-handed. The vineyard owner sent
another servant, and the tenants treated him shamefully
and sent him away without the man's proceeds from the
vintage. A third time the owner sent a servant to collect
his proceeds, and the tenants beat him and sent him away
injured and empty-handed. The vineyard owner decided to
send his beloved son, in hope that the tenants would
respect him, but the tenants, realizing that the son was
heir to the vineyard, killed the son, thinking that, when
the owner died, they would possess the vineyard. What then
will the owner do? He will come and destroy the tenants
and give the vineyard to others.
When the people heard this parable they exclaimed, “God
forbid!” But Jesus replied, citing Psalm 118:22,
that the stone the builders rejected would become the
corner stone. Those who fall upon that stone will be
destroyed; when it falls upon anyone they will be
destroyed.
The religious leaders and teachers wanted to arrest Jesus
then and there, because they realized that Jesus had told
this parable against them, but they were afraid of the
multitude.
Commentary:
This world is God's “vineyard” which he established. He
has allowed us to be tenants and receive a portion of the
fruit, but God expects a portion of the fruit in return.
We individually are tenants. Are we returning a portion of
the harvest to our landlord?
The Lord has sent numerous servants, prophets of the Lord,
who proclaim God's Word. They are to receive the
landlord's portion of the harvest, but many have rejected
the Lord's servants and ignored the Lord's message. At
last God has sent his Son, Jesus Christ, but many have
rejected the Son and have crucified him because they
wanted all of the proceeds of the vineyard for themselves.
Jesus has promised to return at the end of the age, and he
will judge the tenants of this vineyard individually. Have
we given the Lord's portion of the fruit of the vineyard
to him, or are we keeping it for ourselves? The Lord's
portion is that we should hear and obey God's Word from
the Bible, from his servants, and from his Son, Jesus
Christ. The Lord's portion is also a tithe (a tenth) of
all that we receive in this lifetime. The Lord's portion
is also that we should pause from our earthly pursuits one
day a week, and to use that day to worship and give thanks
and praise to the Lord, acknowledging that this is the
Lord's vineyard and that we are his tenants of it.
The Day of Judgment at Christ's Second Coming is not far
off. It will come for each of us individually at the end
of our lifetimes, and no one can be certain of living to
see tomorrow. At the moment of our death, our eternal
destinies are fixed and unalterable.
Jesus is the cornerstone of God's eternal kingdom. Jesus
has been designed into the structure of this Creation from
the very beginning (John 1:1-45, 14). Jesus is God's only
provision for forgiveness of our sins, and our salvation
from eternal destruction and death (Acts 4:11-12; John
14:6; see God's Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right,
home).
The Jewish religious leaders and teachers at the time of
Jesus' first coming, his physical ministry on earth, were
treating the Lord's vineyard as their own, They denied
their responsibility to tend the vineyard for the Lord and
give him a portion of the “harvest.” They wanted it all
for themselves. They were taking the worship and praise
which belonged to God for themselves, and they were not
caring for the spiritual well-being of God's people.
For example, they paid Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus'
Twelve original disciples, to betray Jesus, and later when
Judas repented they cared nothing for Judas' spiritual
condition (Matthew 27:3-5).
Jesus is the rock on which we must build our lives in
order to survive the troubles of life and God's judgment
(Matthew 7:24-27). Otherwise Jesus will be the stone on
which we stumble, and are destroyed (Romans 9:32-33; 1
Peter 2:8). Jesus is the rock in the “wilderness” of this
lifetime from which we get eternal life-giving water (1
Corinthians 10:4; Exodus 17:3-6).
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you
Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying
Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy
Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you
making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey
all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know
with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John
5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Friday 4 Lent - C
First
posted March 19, 2010;
Podcast: Friday 4 Lent - C
Hebrews 9:11-15 – The New
Covenant;
Paraphrase:
Jesus is the high priest of the good things that are
coming (through him). Jesus entered once for all through
the heavenly Tabernacle into the most Holy Place, not the
earthly replica, not with the blood of animals, but with
his own blood, securing for us an eternal redemption. If
the sprinkling of the blood and ashes of animal sacrifices
can cleanse us of sin, how much more will the blood of
Christ, perfect and free from blemish, offered through the
eternal Spirit, purify us from works that lead to eternal
death, so that we can serve the living God. So Jesus has
become the mediator of a new covenant (testament; will)
and died so that we (who respond to God's call), can be
redeemed from the transgressions under the first covenant
and receive the promise of eternal inheritance of the New
Covenant.
Commentary:
From the very beginning God has been preparing us for, and
teaching us, his eternal purpose for Creation. God has
always intended to establish an eternal kingdom of his
people who willingly trust and obey God. Jesus has been
designed into Creation from the very beginning (John
1:1-5, 14).
This lifetime is our opportunity to seek, find and have
fellowship with God, our Creator (Acts 17:26-27) and this
is only possible through Jesus Christ, God's one and only
“anointed” Savior and eternal king (Acts 4:12). Jesus is
the only way to know divine eternal truth, to be restored
to fellowship with God which is broken by sin
(disobedience of God's Word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10)
and to have eternal life (John 14:6).
We have all been born into this world physically alive but
spiritually “unborn.” We are all eternal souls in physical
bodies. This lifetime is our only opportunity to be
spiritually “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8). This is only
possible through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ.
Only Jesus baptizes with (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).
God has been revealing himself and his purpose through his
relationship with Israel, recorded in the Bible for our
instruction (1 Corinthians 10:6, 11). God told Israel to
create an earthly replica of God's eternal temple in
heaven. God taught the Israelites what are sins against
God, and how to be cleansed of those sins.
Jesus is the fulfillment, embodiment and illustration of
God's Word (John 1:1-5, 14). He is the ultimate revelation
of God and God's Word in human flesh in this world. The
Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only
to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17),
is the ultimate revelation of God to believers
individually and personally.
The Old Covenant of Law, mediated by Moses, foreshadowed
the New Covenant instituted and mediated by Jesus Christ,
the “New Moses.” God delivered Israel from slavery to sin
and death in “Egypt” by the Passover Feast, and that
ritual prefigures the “Lord's Supper” (Holy Communion; the
Eucharist) which Jesus instituted on the night of his
betrayal and arrest (Matthew 26:26-28).
The Exodus from Egypt is a “parable,” a metaphor for life
in this world. We are all in slavery to sin and spiritual,
eternal, death. Jesus is the new “Moses” who can lead us
out of slavery in Egypt, through the “sea” of baptism into
Jesus, separating us from our spiritual enemies, through
the wilderness of this lifetime, through the “river” of
physical death, and into the Promised Land of God's
eternal kingdom in heaven.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you
Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying
Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy
Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you
making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey
all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know
with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John
5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Saturday 4 Lent - C
First
posted March 20, 2010;
Podcast: Saturday 4 Lent - C
John 8:46-59 – Refusal to
Believe;
Paraphrase:
Jesus challenged the Jewish leaders to convict him of sin.
If Jesus was telling the truth, why did they not believe
him? Those who are Godly recognize God's Word; the reason
that the Jews did not heed the Word of God which Jesus
proclaimed is because they were not of God.
The Jewish authorities accused Jesus of being a Samaritan
(one of mixed race and religion; a great insult) and being
possessed by a demon. Jesus replied that he was not
possessed by a demon; He was honoring God, his Father, and
the Jewish authorities were dishonoring Jesus. But Jesus
was not seeking his own honor; God seeks Jesus' honor, and
God will be the judge. Jesus declared that if anyone obeys
Jesus' teaching, he will not suffer (spiritual, eternal)
death. Then the Jewish authorities declared that this was
evidence that Jesus was demented. They cited the death of
Abraham and the prophets. Did Jesus claim to be greater
than Abraham and the prophets? Who was Jesus claiming to
be?
Jesus replied that glorifying himself would be useless;
God, who the Jews claimed as their God, would glorify him.
But the Jews did not know God. Jesus knows God
(intimately). Jesus cannot deny knowing God without lying,
as the Jewish authorities were. Jesus knows God and keeps
God's Word. Abraham longed to see Jesus' day, and he saw
it and rejoiced. The Jewish authorities replied that Jesus
was less than fifty years old and could not have possibly
known Abraham. Jesus answered that he was pre-existent
before Abraham, using the name “I am” (which is a claim to
pre-existence and oneness with God; Exodus 3:14). So the
Jewish authorities prepared to stone Jesus to death, but
Jesus hid himself and left the temple.
Commentary:
Jesus is God's one and only Savior and Lord, designed into
Creation from the very beginning (John 1:1-5, 14). Jesus
is the fulfillment, embodiment and illustration of God's
Word lived in human flesh in this world. If the Jewish
authorities had actually known God they would have
recognized that Jesus is God's Son and the fulfillment of
God's Word.
This is a common problem in the nominal Church today.
Leaders claim to know God and Jesus Christ, but they have
not known him by the indwelling Holy Spirit, but only by
the Bible scriptures. This is the problem illustrated by
the Book of Job. Job had not known God personally until
God revealed himself to Job (Job 42:5). Many theologians
know a lot about God but don't know God personally.
God has deliberately designed Creation so that it is
impossible to know God through (worldly) wisdom (1
Corinthians 1:17-25). Jesus promised that he would reveal
himself to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John
14:21).
There is only one sin which is unforgivable: the
blaspheming of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31). This sin
separates one from the only source of forgiveness and
salvation. If people cannot tell the difference between
the Holy Spirit and demons they are beyond redemption.
The Jewish authorities rejected Jesus' claim to give
eternal life. Everyone dies physically once, and then
comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27). The authorities were only
thinking of physical death. Jesus' miracles of physical
resurrection (Lazarus for example: John 11: 38-44; Jairus'
daughter: Luke 8:41-56), and Jesus' own resurrection (John
20:1-18) are intended to demonstrate that there is
existence beyond physical death.
At the original temptation in the Garden of Eden God had
told Adam and Eve that if they ate of the forbidden fruit
they would die (Genesis 3:3) but Satan told them that they
wouldn't die (Genesis 3:4). They didn't drop physically
dead the moment they ate, but they lost the eternal life
in paradise that God had given them. Jesus Christ is the
only way to be restored to eternal life in paradise with
the Lord.
Abraham and the prophets died physically, but the three
disciples, Peter, James and John, of Jesus' inner circle,
witnessed the return of Moses and Elijah on the mountain
of Jesus' transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13).
Every truly “born-again” disciple personally knows and
testifies that Jesus is risen from physical death to
eternal life. The “baptism” (“gift;” “infilling”) 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), is our spiritual “rebirth” to eternal
life and fellowship with God our Father and our Lord Jesus
Christ. 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)?
*Job may be the oldest book in the Bible. It existed as an oral tradition from around 2000 B.C.. It may precede the Creation account in Genesis by several hundred years.
